year of the 1990’s except for 1995. California’s one
quiet year was not so in Canada, however, where
wildfires in Saskatchewan cost of $89.5 million and
those in British Columbia cost $120 million.
Impact By the 1990’s, it seemed apparent that, de-
spite continuing debate over its causes and rate,
global climate change was occurring. This change
almost certainly promised to increase the number
and severity of climatic disasters, as what was consid-
ered normal was altered and extreme weather in-
creased in frequency worldwide. Meanwhile, the
growing world population put more people and
property at risk. Even geological disasters, which can
be expected to remain relatively unchanged in fre-
quency, became significantly more expensive as
more people crowded into more of the world’s less
stable areas.
The natural disasters that occurred during the
decade served as reminders that these events are, for
the most part, inevitable and can produce devastat-
ing costs, prompting calls for improvements in prep-
aration efforts, such as better engineering, better
site usage, better event prediction, and better emer-
gency-response systems.
Further Reading
Bolin, Robert, and Lois Stanford.The Northridge
Earthquake: Vulnerability and Disaster. New York:
Routledge, 1998. Presents details about the
Northridge earthquake, providing the reader
with excellent photographic documents.
Greenberg, Michael.Disasters. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones
and Bartlett, 2006. A compendium of natural and
human-made catastrophes.
Hough, Susan Elizabeth.Earthshaking Science: What
We Know (and Don’t Know) About Earthquakes.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2002.
Presents basic information about earthquakes for
the nonscientific reader.
___.Finding Fault in California: An Earthquake
Tourist’s Guide. Missoula, Mont.: Mountain Press,
- Provides readers with pertinent observa-
tions on faults.
Spignesi, Stephen J.Catastrophe! The One Hundred
Greatest Disasters of All Time. New York: Citadel, - Gives a brief synopsis of each of the one
hundred greatest disasters of the last two thou-
sand years.
Yeats, Robert S.Living with Earthquakes in California:
A Survivor’s Guide. Corvallis: Oregon State Uni-
versity Press, 2001. Provides suggestions on how
to live safely in earthquake-prone country.
Denyse Lemaire and David KassermanSee also Chicago heat wave of 1995; Hurricane
Andrew; Mississippi River flood of 1993; Northridge
earthquake; Oakland Hills fire; Oklahoma tornado
outbreak; Perfect Storm, the; Storm of the Century. NC-17 rating
Definition Certification mark prohibiting
children seventeen years of age and younger
from attending such films
Date Established September 26, 1990
Created to replace the original X rating, which had ac-
quired the stigma of pornography, the NC-17 rating enjoyed
a brief flurr y of acceptability before falling into disfavor.
When the classification and rating system was first in-
troduced in 1968 for motion pictures released in the
United States, the letterXwas reserved for films con-
sidered inappropriate—because of sex, violence,
and/or aberrational behavior—for viewers seven-
teen years old and younger. Although the other rat-
ings—initially G (general audiences), M (mature au-
diences), and R (restricted), and later PG (parental
guidance suggested), which essentially replaced M,
and PG-13 (parents strongly cautioned)—were
trademarked by the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA), the X rating was not, and soon it
was appropriated by hard-core pornography, which
proudly proclaimed itself XX, XXX, and higher. As a
result, some newspapers and television stations
would not allow advertisements for X-rated films,
and some theaters refused to show such films. Seri-
ous motion pictures in danger of receiving the X rat-
ing were usually self-censored, with producers trim-
ming footage deemed too graphic or offensive.
The issue came to a head in early 1990, when two
serious art films—The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and
Her Lover(1989; Great Britain) andTieMeUp!TieMe
Down!(1990; Spain)—were both rated X. At the
same time, two lawsuits were filed that challenged
the constitutionality of the X rating, and a petition
to the MPAA was signed by major film directors, ad-
vocating a new rating that might signal the presence
of themes or images unsuitable for minors, albeit
without the X stigma.The Nineties in America NC-17 rating 609