This paper highlights that central banks from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru (the LA5 countries) reaped the benefits of what they sowed in successfully weathering the global crisis. The adoption of far-reaching institutional, policy, and operational reforms during the last two decades enabled central banks to build credibility about their commitment with the objective of price stability. Thus, when the 2007 - 08 supply shock and the financial crisis hit the world, the LA5 central banks reacted swiftly and effectively based on a flexible policy framework and with the support of strong macroeconomic and financial foundations. Building on the experience of the LA5 central banks and complementing with recommendations from the IMF’s technical advice, the paper provides several suggestions for countries seeking to strengthen the effectiveness of monetary policy.

Resilience enables us not only to survive adversity, but to be transformed by it. This book offers simple and proven strategies to develop resilience that will be of enormous benefit to anyone who is yearning to feel more peaceful and prepared. Coast Guard veteran, interfaith chaplain, and pastor Tracy Mehr-Muska shares the stories of her own struggles with self-esteem, sexual assault, and miscarriage that inspired her to research resilience and to enthusiastically reach this conclusion: resilience is not something that is inborn, but instead is a set of characteristics we can cultivate. Mehr-Muska brings these characteristics to life using inspirational secular and multifaith stories, as well as compelling scientific evidence. She ties each chapter together with an uplifting story of a personal friend that bravely and gracefully overcame obstacles and embodies each of these essential characteristics. Weathering the Storm also poses insightful questions for reflection and offers concrete strategies for implementation that can be used individually or in group contexts such as faith communities, families, and therapeutic relationships. Just as we practice fire drills before a fire happens, this book will help us be better equipped for the eventual storms of life so we can live with greater peace and preparedness.

This book presents the memoirs of Sverre Pettersen, prominent leader in the field of meteorology. Delving through his recollections of his childhood in Norway, education and work at the famous Bergen school of Meteorology to the World War II crisis and D-Day, Petterssen uncovers the history of meteorology, documenting it from his perspective. Meteorology today is the beneficiary of his work.

Was Sandy a freak of nature, or the new normal? On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy reached the shores of the northeastern United States to become one of the most destructive storms in history. But was Sandy a freak event, or should we have been better prepared for it? Was it a harbinger of things to come as the climate warms? In this fascinating and accessible work of popular science, atmospheric scientist and Columbia University professor Adam Sobel addresses these questions, combining his deep knowledge of the climate with his firsthand experience of the event itself. Sobel explains the remarkable atmospheric conditions that gave birth to Sandy and determined its path. He gives us insight into the science that led to the accurate forecasts of the storm from genesis to landfall, as well as an understanding of why our meteorological vocabulary failed our leaders in warning us about this unprecedented weather system—part hurricane, part winter-type nor'easter, fully deserving of the title "Superstorm." Storm Surge brings together the melting glaciers, the warming oceans, and a broad historical perspective to explain how our changing climate and developing coastlines are making New York and other cities more vulnerable. Engaging, informative, and timely, Sobel's book provokes us to think differently about how we can better prepare for the storms in our future.

In this challenging sequel to A Millennium of Family Change Wally Seccombe examines in detail the ways in which large-scale economic changes shape the microcosm of personal life.

The author profiles real tornadoes and severe weather patterns over six thousand miles of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, known as Tornado Alley.

They explore how weather forecasters today formulate their ideas through state-of-the-art mathematics, taking into account limitations to predictability.

From leading climate scientist Dr. Friederike Otto, this gripping book reveals the revolutionary science that definitively links extreme weather events—including deadly heat waves, forest fires, floods, and hurricanes—to climate change. “Meet the forensic scientists of climate change; if you like CSI, you’ll be equally enthralled with the skill and speed these folks exhibit. But the stakes are infinitely higher!” —Bill McKibben, author of Falter and The End of Nature Tied with Hurricane Katrina as the costliest cyclone on record, Hurricane Harvey caused catastrophic flooding and over a hundred deaths in 2017. Angry Weather tells the compelling, day-by-day story of the World Weather Attribution unit—a team of scientists that studies extreme weather events while they’re happening—and their race to track the connection between the hurricane and climate change. As the hurricane unfolds, Otto reveals how attribution science works in real time, and determines that Harvey’s terrifying floods were three times more likely to occur due to human-induced climate change. At the forefront of cutting-edge climate science, Friederike Otto uncovers how the new ability to determine climate change’s role in extreme weather events can dramatically transform how we view the climate crisis: from how it will affect those of us who are most vulnerable, to the corporations and governments that may find themselves held accountable in the courts. The research laid out in Angry Weather will have profound impacts, both today and for the future of humankind. Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

The global financial and economic turmoil of 2008–09 plunged Europe and the United States into their worst economic downturns in 75 years. Many experts feared that developing regions like Latin America, which had experienced many of their own crises in recent decades, would be even worse affected. Instead, Latin America suffered only limited damage. Indeed the region’s GDP is 20 percent higher than its pre-crisis level. José De Gregorio, governor of the Central Bank of Chile from 2007 to 2011, explains Latin America’s success with a perspective that only an insider can have. This book focuses mainly on the seven largest economies of Latin America—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela—which together account for more than 90 percent of regional output. The author argues that strong performance during the crisis resulted from the sound macroeconomic and financial policies that these countries followed beforehand. Their accomplishments allowed them to undertake significant monetary and fiscal expansion in the context of robust financial systems. De Gregorio acknowledges that there was also an element of luck—in terms of improved terms of trade. This is a candid, searching, and dramatic case study of crisis preparation—and crisis management.

_______________ 'When the history of the climate crisis is written, Hansen will be seen as the scientist with the most powerful and consistent voice calling for intelligent action to preserve our planet's environment' - Al Gore 'Few people know more about climate change than James Hansen ... This unnerving and fluently written book is the definitive one to read' - BBC Wildlife 'Anyone concerned about the world our children and grandchildren must inherit owes it to themselves to read this book' - Irish Times _______________ An urgent and provocative call to action from the world's leading climate scientist Dr James Hansen, the world's leading scientist on climate issues, speaks out with the full truth about global warming: the planet is hurtling to a climatic point of no return. Hansen - whose climate predictions have come to pass again and again, beginning in the 1980s when he first warned US Congress about global warming - is the single most credible voice on the subject worldwide. He paints a devastating but all-too-realistic picture of what will happen if we continue to follow the course we're on. But he is also a hard-headed optimist, and shows that there is still time to take the urgent, strong action needed to save humanity. _______________ 'James Hansen gives us the opportunity to watch a scientist who is sick of silence and compromise; a scientist at the breaking point - the point at which he is willing to sacrifice his credibility to make a stand to avert disaster' - LA Times