Hazards: The Concept Of A Hazard

Question 1

What is a natural hazard?

Answer 1

A perceived event that threatens both life and property.
- They often result in disasters that cause some loss of life and/or damage to the built environment and create severe disruption to human activities.

Question 2

What are the 3 forms of a natural hazard?

Answer 2

• geophysical
• atmospheric
• hydrological

Question 3

What is a geophysical hazard?

Answer 3

Driven by the earths own internal energy sources, for example plate tectonics, volcanoes, seismic activity.

Question 4

What is an atmospheric hazard?

Answer 4

Driven by processes at work in the atmosphere, e.g. tropical storms, droughts

Question 5

What is a hydrological hazard?

Answer 5

Driven by water bodies, mainly the oceans, e.g. floods, storm surges and tsunamis

Question 6

What is a disaster?

Answer 6

a major hazard event that causes widespread disruption.
The UN records a hazard event as a disaster if one or more of the following criteria are met:
> 10 people killed
>100 people displaced
- Government declares a state of emergency
- A request for international assistance by the national government

Question 7

What is a risk?

Answer 7

The of a hazard causing harm

Question 8

What does vulnerability mean?

Answer 8

The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.

Question 9

When does a natural event become a hazard?

Answer 9

A natural event becomes a hazard when there is an interaction with people and human activities. This because there is the possibility for disaster.

Question 10

What are some physical factors that may determine the risk and impact of a natural hazard?

Answer 10

• magnitude of the hazard
• relief —> topography
• frequency —> previous occurrences
• location

Question 11

What are the human factors that may determine the risk and impact of a natural hazard?

Answer 11

• population density
• Built environment
• economy —> government, etc
• wealth (studier houses)
• age

Question 12

Why do people continue to put themselves in the way of risk?

Answer 12

• unpredictable nature of hazards
• lack of alternatives
• changing level of risk in some places
• costs vs benefits
• their religion
• past experiences
• personality (some may find them exciting)
• family
• education
• wealth (insurance, ability to recover, stronger infrastructure)

Question 13

What is fatalism?

Answer 13

The view that humans are powerless against natural hazards and should simply accept them. The phrase ‘it’s in the hands of the Gods’

Question 14

What is risk sharing?

Answer 14

The burden of loss is shared amongst parties, such as whole communities uniting or govs taking a lead in compensating for the losses of its people.

Question 15

What is mitigation?

Answer 15

Actions taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from natural hazards, such as creating exclusion zones or developing building codes for seismic areas - aseismic design

Question 16

What is preparation?

Answer 16

The creation of plans and actions to reduce vulnerability in the event of a disaster. It does not avert/eliminate the hazard, simply deals with the consequences more effectively - e.g. planning for distribution of emergency shelters.

Question 17

What is prediction?

Answer 17

The view that hazards can be foreseen and therefore the risk presented an be reduced - e.g. weather forecasting

Question 18

What is adaptation?

Answer 18

This involves changing human routines and practises to reduce the risk, such as the seasonal farming of flood plains or installation of hurricane shutters along beachfront homes.

Question 19

What are some examples of preparedness?

Answer 19

• Education and raising public awareness
• Practising earthquake drills
• Ensuring medical supplies and food aid is ready

Question 20

What are some examples of responses?

Answer 20

• Communicate warnings and evacuate people to safety
• Search and rescue teams sent out to rescue survivors
• Providing immediate assistance such as shelter

Question 21

What are some examples of recovering from a natural hazard?

Answer 21

• Restore running water and ensure food aid is being provided
• Reconstruction of homes
• Rebuilding businesses and getting back to economic normality

Question 22

What are some examples of mitigation?

Answer 22

• Designing buildings to be earthquake resistant.
• Heightening and strengthening defences such as sea walls.
• Ensuring survivors have help in the form of aid and insurance to reduce long-term impacts.
• hazard mapping

Question 23

What are the phases of a park model?

Answer 23

• pre-disaster - before the event
• the disruption - during or directly after the event
• relief
• rehabilitation
• reconstruction

Question 24

What does the shape of the park model represent?

Answer 24

• the steepness of the downward curve during disruption depends on the nature of the event. A tsunami or earthquake would have immediate disruptive impacts (meaning it would be a steeper curve). A volcano may give weeks of warning, during which time, preparations can be made to mitigate the impacts so would have a less steep curve
• the depth of the curve is the factor of the scale of the disaster, which is dependant on the magnitude of the event and the nature of the locality.

Question 25

What is the relief stage of the park model?

Answer 25

• hours - days after the event
• immediate local and possibly global response in the form of aid, expertise, search and rescue

Question 26

What is the rehabilitation phase on the park model?

Answer 26

• days - weeks (maybe months) after the event
• longer lasting phase, when infrastructure and services are restored, albeit possibly temporarily, to allow the reconstruction phase to begin as soon as possible

Question 27

What is the reconstruction phase in the park model?

Answer 27

• weeks-years after the event
• restoring to the same, or better, quality of life as before the event took place. This is likely to include measures to mitigate against a similar level of disruption, in case event occurs again.

Question 28

What are some strengths of the park model?

Answer 28

• how hazards events vary over time
• can be adapted to show impact severity and speed/onset (start) (e.g. steepness and gradient shows onset, depth shows severity)
• focusses on quality of life (not simply the actions taken)
• helps us understand preparedness and success of responses/recovery

Question 29

What are some weaknesses of the park model?

Answer 29

• simplistic
  —> E.g. multi-hazard zones (Haiti)

Question 30

What is the hazard management cycle?

Answer 30

Illustrates the ongoing process by which governments, businesses and society plan for and reduce the impact of disasters, react during and recover after an event.
- can manage both pre and post event situations

Question 31

What are the strengths of the hazard management cycle?

Answer 31

• management strategies sequencing (e.g. for wildfires- need to clear bush before fire, need to build watchtowers before)
• model for action at all stages to help speed up recovery process/minimise impact of future hazards.

Question 32

What are some of the weaknesses of the hazard management cycle?

Answer 32

• too basic - no depth or adaption to show the impact of the event
• some hazards are difficult to prep for
• centred around human responses