Knowledge Test 1 - practise Flashcards
What is a natural hazard?
A naturally occurring phenomena that occurs in the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere[1]. That is a threat to life, the built and natural environment.
What are the three types of hazards?
- Geographical
- Hydrological
- Atmospheric
What are the main 5 characteristics of natural hazards?
- Origins are clear and their effects are distinctive e.g. earthquakes cause buildings to shake
- Most only offer short/little warning.
- Exposure to risk is involuntary in LICs and NICs whilst in HICs they are aware of hazards however chose to minimise or ignore them.
- Most loses of life and damage to property happens soon after the hazard though the natural hazards can be felt in other communities long after the event (disease, economy etc.)
- The scale and intensity of events requires an emergency response.
Define the following:
- Vulnerability
- Risk
- Multi-Hazard Environment
Vulnerability: how susceptible a population is to damage caused by hazard - potential for loss which varies over time and space.
Risk: The likelihood that people will be seriously affected my the damage.
Multi-Hazard Environment: places where two or more naturally occurring hazards occur and may interact to form more complex disasters. E.g. California, Indonesia, Japan. Areas tend to be geographically young, tectonically active, on major storm tracks and have global climate perturbations.
What are natural hazards? [2]
Naturally occurring phenomena that occur in the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere [1]. That is a threat to both life, the built and the natural environment [1].
What are the 3 types of natural hazards? [3]
- Geophysical
- Hydrological
- Atmospheric
What are the 5 characteristics of natural hazards? [5]
- Origins are clear and their effects are distinctive e.g. earthquakes cause buildings to collapse.
- Most only offer short or little warning before the event.
- Exposure to risk is involuntary in LICs and NICs whilst in HICs they are aware of the hazards however they choose to minimise or ignore them.
- Most losses of life and damage to property occurs shortly afterwards even though the effects of natural hazards can be felt in communities long after that time (disease, economy etc).
- The scale and intensity of the event requires an emergency response.
Define the following:
- Vulnerability
- Risk
- Multi-Hazard Environment
Vulnerability: 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 which two or more natural hazards occur which may interact to form a more complex disaster e.g. California, Indonesia and Japan. Areas tend to be geographically young, tectonically active, on major form tracks, have global climate perturbations.
Describe the spacial distribution of tropical storms? [5]
- 5/20 N/S of equator (coriolis effect)
- Hurricanes: North Atlantic and NE pacific - Caribbean sea, Gulf or Mexico and Western Central America.
- Cyclones: Southern Pacific/Indian
- Typhoons: NW pacific affect SE Asia.
- Found in areas with oceans over 27 C 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? [5]
- Hazard events are unpredictable - we cannot predict the frequency, magnitude or scale of a natural hazard event.
- Lack of alternatives - Due to social, political. economic and cultural factors, people cannot simply uproot themselves from one place to another, giving up their homes and employment.
- CHanging level of risk - places that were once safe many have been through time far more at risk. e.g. deforestation could result in more flooding from torrential rain.
- Cost/benefit - advantages of living somewhere outweigh the disadvantages e.g. California Perception.
Define the following:
- Adaption
- Fatalism
- Mitigation
Adaption: 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 against it. People with such attitude put in place limited or no prevention measures. “God’s will”.
Mitigation: Attempts to lesson the severity of hazards.
Why is perception important in context of hazards? [1]
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? [3]
- Falamism
- Adaption
- Fear
How do each of the following affect perception of risk? [4]
- Socioeconomic status: Wealthier areas better prepared /protected/consider hazards more controllable/voluntary > 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 experiences: Prison of experience - limit perception to risk of past experiences - more likely to fully understand. Vs “lightning never strikes the same place twice” approach.
Define the following:
- Community preparedness/risk sharing
- Integrated risk management
- Resilience
- Community preparedness/risk sharing [1]: Involved 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: The ability of individuals or communities to 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? [4]
- Preparedness
- Response
- Recovery
- Mitigation
Give two positives and two negatives of the disaster risk management cycle? [4]
Positives:
- Shows effects of preparedness before/after event.
- Place detail onto model rather than determining it.
- Each disaster is a chance to minimise future hazards.
- Risk management is an ongoing process - hence the cycle
Negatives:
- Less reflective of slow onset disasters as no obvious event to trigger movement between stages.
- Generic - no specific figures.
- The key players in this cycle are governments and businesses less considerate of individuals.
Describe the six parts of the risk disc model. [12-6 marks for name, 6 marks for brief description]
- Disaster preparedness (national plans and management e.g. evacuation and stockpile)
- Disaster response (coordinating/quick and appropriate relief/local participation in assessment).
- Disaster recovery (assessment of risk during rehabilitation; both reconstruction and risk-reduction advocacy for the future; local partners)
- Disaster mitigation (hazard proof infrastructure; crops and hobs; insurance public awareness etc.)
- Development (mainstream risk assessment/strengthen livelihoods/sustainable agriculture and resource use etc.)
- Adaptations to climate change (disaster preparedness and mitigation.)
What are the five stages of the Park model? [5]
- Pre-disaster
- Disruption
- Relief
- Rehabilitation
- Reconstruction
What does the following tell you about a country’s response to a disaster? [3] (park model)
- Depth of curve
- Steepness of upward curve
- Steepness of downward curve
Depth of curve: intensity of impacts
Steepness of upward curve: Effectiveness/speed of recovery
Steepness of downward curve: Type of hazard (rapid or slow onset.)
The park model shows changes of ________ over time? [1]
Quality of life.
Give two positives and two negatives of the park model?
Positives:
- Allows for comparison between events to show what was effective in recovery.
- Shows how responses progress to planners can predict what resources will be needed
- Helps planners plan for future events can be rehabilitate to higher standard and implement mitigation strategies.
- Versatile - can be applied to both rapid and slow onset events.
Negative:
- Doesn’t show spacial variation
- Doesn’t show quantitative data making comparisons difficult.
- Only shows a single event impacting on a single event.
- Doesn’t show pre-onset mitigation methods for example evacuation - so cannot compare these.
Explain the rehabilitation stage of the park model? [1]
Immediate impacts are under control so people start to resolve longer term problems e.g. providing temporary accommodation. Few days to weeks past disaster.
The distribution of hazard through time is called the…? [1]
Frequency
