1.9 Mitigation and Adaptation Flashcards
What is mitigation
Reducing the impacts of the hazard
What is adaptation
Taking actions to adapt lives to the hazard, helping people to cope
What are methods of modifying the event
- aseismic buildings
- tsunami sea walls
- replanting mangroves
- lava diversion
- hazard risk zoning
What are aseismic buildings and how effective are they
Buildings designed to withstand an earthquake either eg base idolaters
- rubber in the foundation absorbs the earthquakes impacts and reduce shaking and swaying
High cost, very effective
What is a tsunami sea wall and how effective is it
Sea walls that are built extra tall to absorb wave energy from tsunamis
- eg 10m high ad 2.3km long wall in Taro, Japan was too short to protect the area
- it is now 14m tall and has a wider base
Expensive, quite effective
What are mangrove forests and how effective is replanting them
Nurture fish, accumulate sediment and store carbon, all reducing flood risks
- 70,000 planted in Gle Jong, Indonesia
Somewhat expensive, very effective
What are lava diversions and how effective are they
Earth mounds to divert lava flow and reduce destruction
- Mt Etna, Italy 1993
Very expensive, somewhat effective
What is hazard risk zoning and how affective is it
A colour-coded map based on previous eruptions, helps to identify high lava flow however the boundaries between zones are unclear
- eg Mt Etna, Italy
Medium cost, quite effective
What are strategies to vulnerability and resilience
- high tech monitoring
- education and community preparedness
- PAGER
What is high tech monitoring and how effective is it
Tech used to monitor and predict eruptions, such as seismometers measure tremors and tilt meters measure swelling and bulging
- eg Kilauea, Hawaii
Medium cost, very effective
What is education and community preparedness and how effective is it
Making sure the locals know how to react by running drills especially with primary school children
- eg Japan
Cheap, very effective
What is PAGER and how effective is it
It analyses earthquake events and sends information to government and aid agencies
- set up by the US Geological Survey (USGS)
Medium cost, very effective
What are strategies to modify loss
- aid from NGOs and governments
- insurance
What is insurance and how effective is it
Seismologists and computer risk analysts calculate risk, only available to wealthy / developed countries
Very expensive, very effective if available
What is aid and how effective is it
Basic supplies sent from NGOs or governments to support victims of an event
- eg RedCross
Free to recipient, quite effective
How did RedCross help to modify loss in Haiti
- provided almost 230,000 households with essentials
- distributed 1.2L of drinking water
How did RedCross help to modify loss in Pakistan
- provided 500,000 tents and 6million blankets
- emergency medical care
- seeds to grow food
- helped to build schools
