Hazards & Disasters Flashcards
What is a hazard?
A hazard is any natural or man made event that has the potential to cause harm and or destruction to man and his environment.
What are the two types of hazards?
Hazards can be categorized into two types: Natural or Man-made/Technological
Define a natural hazard
A natural hazard refers to any event created through the forces of nature, that is; any spontaneous atmospheric or physical phenomenon that is not created by man and which has the potential to cause loss of life and damage to property.
Define a Manmade/ Technological hazard
A Manmade hazard refers to the threat or potential harm that can occur as a result of man’s direct or indirect influence on his physical and human or Man-made environment
Give some examples of seismic hazards and state some features associated with them
Earthquakes:
- ground shaking
- liquefaction and ground failure
- tsunamis
- terrestrial and submarine landfalls
Volcanoes:
- lava flows
- pyroclastic flows and surges
- ash clouds
- tsunamis
- earthquakes
What makes a volcano or earthquake probable to cause a tsunami?
It’s proximity from a large body of water
Give 3 examples of Meteorological hazards
3 of the following:
- tropical storms
- hurricanes
- tropical depressions
- northers
- high winds
- flash flooding
- storm surges
- riverine flooding
- coastal flooding
- drought
- water logging
Give 3 examples of geomorphological hazards
Any 3 of the following:
- mass movement
- landslides
- mudflows
- rock flows
- soil erosion
- silting of rivers, harbours and coral reefs
- beach erosion
- coastal erosion
Give 3 examples of biological hazards
Any of the following 3:
- human diseases
- insect pest outbreaks
- epidemics
- plant and animal diseases in farming
- forest, bush and grass fires
- plant and animal invasions
Give 3 examples of Technological hazards
Any 3 of the following are applicable:
- oil and other toxic spills
- ground and atmospheric pollution
- waterborne pollution
- industrial explosion
- fires in urban centres
- collapse of buildings and other infrastructure
- pipeline leakages
- poor health systems
- biological warfare (lab diseases)
NB: anything humans create can be hazardous
What is a disaster?
A disaster refers to the aftermath of a hazard, it is the resulting impact of a hazard on man and his environment. It is the level of destruction that occurs after a hazard has struck a region or an island.
In other words it is when an event causes loss of life or injury, damage to property or disruption of normal, social and economic activity.
What is a natural disaster?
A natural disaster is the aftermath of a natural hazard that has caused harm to man and his environment.
What is a man-made disaster?
A man-made disaster is the aftermath of a man-made hazard that has caused harm to man and his environment.
A disaster can only be called a disaster if one or more of 5 conditions apply.
List those 5 conditions.
1) When 10 or more people are killed/die
2) When 100 or more people are injured
3) When a call is made for international assistance
4) When a state of emergency is declared
5) More than 5 days without basic necessities or aid
What is vulnerability?
Vulnerability describes the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that makes it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.
In other words, it is the degree at which you or an are is at risk
List some:
1) physical
2) social
3) economic
4) environmental
factors that make a place or people vulnerable to hazards
1) physical- materials used to build EX:poor design and construction of buildings
2) social- people’s attitudes towards these events EX: lack of public information and awareness, limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures
3) economic- how much money is invested in being prepared and prevention EX: inadequate protection of assets
4) environmental- layout of the surrounding/design EX: disregard for environmental management
What is risk?
Risk is the potential disaster losses (in terms of lives, health issues/status, livelihoods, assets and services) which could affect occur to a particular community or society over some specified future time period.
What does risk consider?
Risk considers the probability of harmful consequences, or expected losses (deaths, injuries, property, livelihoods, economic activity disrupted or environment damaged) resulting from interactions between natural or human induced hazards and vulnerable conditions.
How can risk be calculated?
Risk can be calculated using the following equation:
Risk = Probability of Hazard × Degree of Vulnerability
Give 3 examples of why people place themselves at risk and explain them.
Choose any of the 3:
• Lack of space - population is growing and some areas lack space, so people have to live in the areas available.
• High Cost of living/High Poverty levels- People maybe poor and cannot afford land that is suitable, so they live in areas that are available which are usually prone to hazards
• Emotional Ties- People may have emotional ties to areas or areas maybe of sacred and religious value to people and as such they stay in the area. Maybe their ancestors have lived there for generations.
• Cost versus Benefit - Some areas may be rich in resources or facilities that can be found only in those areas. People may choose to live in those areas as they may be paid higher even though their life may be in jeopardy.
• Lack of knowledge - persons may simply not know that an area is at risk due to lack of public knowledge/assistance, they’re uneducated
• Russian Roulette - people may know the risks but choose to take their chances
• Destiny
What is a natural event? Give an examply
A natural event is a naturally occurring physical occurrence.
for example: A Hurricane that is in the middle of the Atlantic ocean is a natural event because it is occurring naturally but because it is away from people or any land mass and the area has no economic value, it will not pose a threat to anyone.
