Different factors that affect the risk of a hazard

Question 1

Vulnerability

Answer 1

1) The more people that are in an area exposed to natural hazards, the greater the probability they will be affected by a natural hazard.
2) For example, an area with high population density on a flood plain (like much of Bangladesh) is very vulnerable to flooding caused by extreme weather, and a city at the base of a volcano (like Naples, Italy) is very vulnerable to volcanoes

Question 2

Capacity to cope

Answer 2

1) The better a population can cope with an extreme event, the lower the risk of them being severely affected.
2) For example, higher income countries (HICs) are better able to cope with flooding because they can afford to build flood defences and evacuate people.

Question 3

Nature of natural hazards

Answer 3

1) Type- the risk from some hazards is greater than others. E.g. tropical storms can be predicted and monitored, giving people time to evacuate. But earthquakes happen every suddenly, with no
warning, so it’s much harder to protect people.
2) Frequency- natural hazards that occur more often may carry a higher risk.

Question 4

Magnitude (A nature of natural hazards)

Answer 4

More severe natural hazards tend to have the greatest effects. E.g. a magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in 2011 killed over 15000 people, whereas 6.3 magnitude earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy, in 2009 killed 300 people.

Question 5

Greenhouse effect

Answer 5

Increases the risk of more extreme weather such as drought.

Question 6

Deforestation

Answer 6

Which increases the risk of hazards such as flooding.