Hazards:Natural Hazards

Question 1

what is a nature event?

Answer 1

a natural process that occurs such as landslides, volcanoes tornadoes etc.

Question 2

what is a natural hazard?

Answer 2

a natural event that occurs which affects people through loss of life ,injury, economic damage, disruption to lives and environmental degradation

Question 3

what is a natural disaster?

Answer 3

an extreme natural event that causes great damage ,disruption, death or injuries

Question 4

what is the difference between geophysical, atmospheric and hydrological hazards?

Answer 4

geophysical-driven by earths own internal sources

atmospheric-driven by processes in the environment

hydrological- driven by water bodies(mainly oceans)

Question 5

define risk

Answer 5

exposure to hazardous events

Question 6

define vulnerability

Answer 6

potential for loss (high risk doesn’t always equal high vulnerability)

Question 7

draw the Park Model

Question 8

what are factors that increase the risk of hazards?

Answer 8

-building shanty towns on unstable slopes
-urbanising volcanic zones
-living in areas with active faults
-living on coasts susceptible to hurricanes or tsunamis
-climate change
-urbanisation
-level of development
time of occurrence

Question 9

what are the 3 things that play a role in turning a hazard into a disaster?

Answer 9

• risk
• vulnerability
• resilience(withstanding the hazard event)

Question 10

what is the hazard-risk equation?

Answer 10

risk=hazard x vulnerability/capacity to cope

Question 11

3 main perceptions of hazards

Answer 11

-fatalism
-adaptation
-fear

Question 12

fatalism?

Answer 12

a view of a hazard which suggests people cannot influence or shape the outcome so nothing can be done to mitigate against it.

Question 13

fear

Answer 13

where people feel so vulnerable they flee to safer regions

Question 14

adaptation

Answer 14

suggest hazards are predictable and we can prepare for them

Question 15

what are the 5 stages of the park response model (PRM)?

Answer 15

• pre-disaster (quality of life at normal level)
• disruption(hazard occurs quality of life at normal level)
• relief(aftermath, search and rescue begins quality of life low)
• rehabilitation(resolving long term problems)
• reconstruction(property and infrastructure re-built quality of life returns to normal and may increase)

Question 16

pros of the PRM

Answer 16

-useful to compare different events
-helps to visually check the impact and extent of the responses to a hazard
-shows how QoL is impacted

Question 17

cons of the PRM

Answer 17

-really general
-doesn’t how how different areas can be affected
-doesn’t show mitigation strategies beforehand

Question 18

factors that influence perception.

Answer 18

socio-economic status
- past experience
- wealth
- level of education
- religion/culture
- personality
- family or marital status

Question 19

what are the 4 stages of the hazard management cycle(HMC)?

Answer 19

• mitigation (before & after)
• preparedness (planning how to respond e.g. education)
• response(action taken when disaster occurs e.g. evacuation)
• recovery(long term responses e.g. rebuilding )

Question 20

cons of the HMC

Answer 20

doesn’t take quality of life into account–>cant determine whether country is rich or poor.

Question 21

define distribution

Answer 21

the spatial coverage of a natural hazard

Question 22

define frequency

Answer 22

the distribution of hazards over time

Question 23

define magnitude

Answer 23

the size of the impact