Hazards: Human Flashcards
What is a natural hazard?
Naturally occuring phenomena that occur in the lithosphere hydropshere and atmosphere. That is a threat to life, the built environment
What are the three types of natural hazard?
- Geophysical
- Hydrological
- Atmospheric
What are the five characteristics of natural hazards?
- Clear origin
- Little to no warning
- Involuntary exposure (LICs)
- Immediate losses after
- Emergency Response
Vulnerability definition
how susceptible a population is to damage caused by a hazard - potential for loss which varies over time and space.
Risk
The likelihood that people will be seriously affected by a hazard.
Multi-hazard environment:
places where two or more natural hazards occur and may interact to form more complex disasters e.g. California, Indonesia and Japan. Areas tend to be: geologically young; tectonically active; on major storm tracks; have global climate perturbations.
Describe the spatial distribution of tropical storms.
5-20N/S of equator (coriolis effect)
Hurricanes: North Atlantic and NE pacific - Caribbean sea, Gulf of Mexico and Western Central America.
Cyclones: Southern Pacific/ IndianTyphoons: NW pacific affect SE Asia
Found in areas with oceans over 27C and 70+m deep, low level convergence of air in lower atmospheric circulation systems
Why do people consciously put themselves at risk of natural hazards?
Hazard events are unpredictable Lack of alternatives Changing the level of risk Cost/benefit Perception
Define the following key words in the context of hazards
Adaptation
Fatalism
Mitigation
Adaptation: Attempts by people or communities to live with hazard events. By adjusting their living conditions to live with the hazards and to reduce their vulnerability.
Fatalism: People cannot influence the shape or outcome therefore nothing can be done to mitigate against it. People with such an attitude put in place limited or no prevention measures. ‘God’s will’
Mitigation: Attempts to lessen the severity of hazards.
Why is perception important in the context of hazards?
People’s perception will ultimately decide and determine the course of action that individuals take or the response they expect from governments and other organisations.
What are the three ways people may perceive natural hazards?
Fatalism
Adaption
Fear
How do each of the following affect perception of risk? Socioeconomic status: Level of education Religion Past experience
Socioeconomic status: Wealthier areas better prepared/protected/consider hazards more controllable/voluntary > lower risk. Poorer areas: less able to afford protections etc/may be involuntary, lack of alternatives means cannot move away > risk seems greater.
Level of education: people with a better education may better understand the risk of hazards or believe they are able to reduce the risks.
Religion: If hazards are an act of god > people may perceive as uncontrollable and be less likely to mitigate them.
Past experience: prison of experience - limit perception of risk to past experiences - more likely to fully understand. Vs ‘lightning never strikes the same place twice’ approach.
Define the following key terms
Community preparedness/risk sharin
Integrated risk management
Resilience
Community preparedness/risk sharing [1]:Involves prearranged measures that aim to reduce the loss of life and property damage through public education and awareness programmes, evacuation procedures, the provision of emergency medical supplies and the taking out of insurance
Integrated risk management [3]:The process of considering the social, economic and political factors involved in risk analysis; determining the acceptability of damage/disruption; deciding on the actions to be taken to minimise damage/disruption
Resilience [1]:The ability of individuals or communities to be able to utilize available resources to respond to, withstand and recover from the effects of natural hazards events. Communities that are resilient are able to minimise the effects of the event enabling them to return to normal life as soon as possible.
What are the four stages of the disaster risk management cycle?
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Mitigation
Give two positives and two negatives of the disaster risk management cycle.
Positives:Shows effects of preparedness before/after event
Place detail onto model rather than determining it
Negatives:Less reflective of slow onset disasters as no obvious event to trigger movement between stages
Generic - no specific figures
Describe the six parts of the risk disc model.
Disaster preparedness Disaster response Disaster recovery Disaster mitigation Development Adaptations to climate change
