Hazards Flashcards
What is slab pull?
When a plate subducts due to its negative buoyancy (as a result of cooling of the oceanic rock over time), the plate sinking into the mantle pulls the rest of the plate (slab) with it, causing further subduction.
What is ridge push?
When plates at a higher elevation (after being pushed upwards by positive upwelling of hotter mantle rock) move apart due to gravity on it.
- Gravity widens the gap in a process known as gravitational sliding.
What is a hazard?
A potential threat to human life and property caused by an event.
What is a natural disaster?
When a vulnerable population is exposed to a hazard.
What are the 3 types of hazards?
Geophysical
Atmospheric
Hydrological
What are hazards that are both atmospheric and hydrological known as?
Hydrometeorological
What factors affect hazard perception?
- Wealth
- Experience
- Education
- Religion and beliefs
- Mobility
What is fatalism?
The viewpoint that hazards are uncontrollable, and any losses should be accepted as there is nothing to do to stop them.
What tectonic process does gravitational sliding have a role in?
Ridge push
What tectonic process does positive upwelling of hotter mantle rock have a role in?
Ridge push
What tectonic process does subduction have a role in?
Slab pull
What tectonic process does negative buoyancy have a role in?
Slab pull
What is an example of a passive response to hazard risk?
Fatalism
What are examples of active responses to hazard risk?
- Prediction
- Adaptation
- Mitigation
- Management
What is the difference between adaptation and mitigation?
Mitigation = strategies carried out to lessen the severity of a hazard.
Adaptation = Attempting to live with hazards by adjusting lifestyle choices so that vulnerability is lessened.
Example of an adaptation response to hazards
Earthquake proof houses
Example of a mitigation response to hazards:
Sandbags to offset impact of flooding
What is frequency also known as in terms of hazards?
Incidence
What are typically more severe, high incidence hazards or low incidence hazards?
Low incidence hazards
What are the problems with managing low incidence hazards?
- Harder to predict
- Less management strategies are put in place
- More intense when they actually occur
What is intensity in terms of hazards?
The power of a hazard (how strong it is and how damaging its effects are).
What is magnitude in terms of hazards?
The size of a hazard
What is typically used to measure intensity of a hazard?
Magnitude
What is the difference between intensity and magnitude?
Magnitude is definable and numerical.
Intensity relates more to the effects on the person.
What is the Park Model?
A graphical representation of human responses to hazards, including stages of response and a time frame.
What does the steepness of the curve on a Park Model show?
How quickly an area deteriorates and recovers
What does the depth of the curve on a Park Model show?
The scale of the disaster (lower the curve = lower the quality of life)
What are the 3 states in which general quality of life can be in on the Park Model?
(i.e. on the y axis)
- Improvement
- Normality
- Deterioration
What are the 3 stages of response on the Park Model?
(i.e. on the x axis)
- Relief
- Rehabilitation
- Reconstruction
Why is the Park Model useful?
Can be used to compare hazards with each other
What is stage 1 on the Park Model?
- How long is it?
- What typically occurs?
Relief
- Hours/days
- Immediate local response
What is stage 2 on the Park Model?
- How long is it?
- What typically occurs?
Rehabilitation
- Days/weeks
- Restoration of services, coordinated foreign aid, food and water distributed.
What is stage 3 on the Park Model?
- How long is it?
- What typically occurs?
Reconstruction
- Weeks/months/years
- Infrastructure rebuilt, mitigation efforts for future events.
- Restoration to normality (hopefully?)
What does the Hazard Management Cycle outline?
The stages of responding to events.
What are the 4 stages of response in the Hazard Management Cycle (in order)?
Event occurs:
1. Response
2. Recovery
3. Mitigation
4. Preparedness
What is the key problem with hazard models in general?
The unpredictability of some hazards makes the models less effective at accurately representing human responses to hazards.