Is Aeolian risk as significant as other environmental risks?

Wind is the origin of many risks. These are identified and defined in Sections 1 and 2 of this paper. The effects of climate changes are discussed in Section 3, while structural vulnerability to wind actions is the object of Section 4. In addition to the heavy damages that can be caused by windstorms, the wind climate affects significantly the quality of life through phenomena like wind-borne pollution that are addressed in Section 5. Section 6 addresses specifically experimental research on wind effects. The final sections discuss some current and forthcoming research on assessment and reduction of wind risks. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.