L1: Disaster Risk Concepts and Definitions Flashcards
Define a hazard
A process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation
Define exposure
Situation of people, infrastructure, housing, production capacities and other tangible human assets located in hazard-prone areas
Define vulnerability
Conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or processes which increase the susceptibility of an individual, a community, assets or systems, to the impacts of hazards
Define disaster risk
potential loss of life, injury, or destroyed or damaged assets which could occur to a system, society or a community in a specific period of time, determined probabilistically as a function of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity
Define disaster
a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society at any scale due to hazardous events interacting with conditions of exposure, vulnerability and capacity, leading to: human, material, economic, or environmental losses and impacts
Define disaster risk reduction
aimed at preventing new and reducing existing disaster risk and managing residual risk, all of which contribute to strengthening resilience and therefore to the achievement of sustainable developement
Define resilience
ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the restoration and preservation of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management
What is the risk equation
Risk = hazard x exposure x vulnerability
How to reduce the hazard
engineering or structural measures, good environmental management practices
How to reduce the exposure
planning controls, early warning, evacuation
How to reduce vulnerability
increase resilience of building, infrastructure, community, economy
Classification of hazards - NATURAL
NATURAL Geological (earthquakes, tsunamis) Biological (epidemics, infestation) Hydrological (floods, droughts) Atmospheric (cyclones, storms)
Classification of hazards - CONTEXT
CONTEXT Environmental degradation (deforestation, desertification) Land pressure (urbanisation) Climate change (sea level rise, extreme events)
Classification of hazards - MAN-MADE
MAN-MADE Transport accidents (air, road, rail, seas) Hazardous materials (storage, transport) Intentional (conflict, terrorism) Industrial failures ( explosions, fires)
Hazard magnitude
amount of energy released, or size of event (richter scale/moment magnitude scale, volcanic explosivity index (VEI), saffir-simpson hurricane scale, beaufort wind scale)
Hazard intensity
effects of an event related to the presence of damageable assets or people in the area. when natural phenomena exceed certain intensity threshold it becomes a hazard
Hazard frequency
can be expressed in terms of magnitude and frequency. curves extrapolated to represent low-probability, high-magnitude events
Human and social DIRECT IMPACTS
fatality, injury, loss of home and property, loss of income or livelihood
Human and social INDIRECT IMPACTS
disease, food scarcity, disability, displacement, unemployment, civil and political unrest
Physical DIRECT IMPACTS
structural damage or destruction, non-structural damage and damage/loss of contents
Physical INDIRECT IMPACTS
deterioration of damaged buildings and infrastructure
Economic DIRECT IMPACTS
capital costs, interruption of business due to loss of workforce and economic infrastructure
Economic INDIRECT IMPACTS
loss of markets and investments, insurance losses, disruption to economic growth
Environmental and cultural DIRECT IMPACTS
damage to ecological zones, sedimentation and pollution, damage to cultural heritage
Enviromental and cultural INDIRECT IMPACTS
enviromental degradation, loss of biodiversity, loss of cultural diversity
For infrastructure: RESISTANCE
inherent strength, protection, ability to resist stress
For infrastructure: REDUNDANCY
system capacity providing alternative options or substitutions to allow continued functioning when some elements fail
For infrastructure: RELIABILITY
ability to operate under a range of conditions, frequency with which hazard protection devices fail
For infrastrucure: RESPONSE AND RECOVERY
speed with which disruption is overcome and functionality/service restored
Characteristics of resilient communities
good health, knowledge and education, reliable services and robust infrastructure, diverse livelihood opportunities, healthy ecosystems, ability to organise and make decisions, access to external assistance
3 main sources of global disaster data
- the EM-DAT database
- reinsurance company data
- the DesInventar system
Why do you have to be cautious when analysis disaster data?
- most countries don’t systematically collect data
- small events often neglected
- most disasters are compound events, creating problems with classification
- only direct tangible impacts recorded (deaths and losses)
- no internationally agreed criteria on what constitutes a disaster
- vested interests and socio-political influences may affect figures reported
Where is data for the EM-DAT sourced?
UN agencies, governments, NGOs, insurance companies, research institutes, press agencies
EM-DAT criteria for risk
at least one of: 10+ killed 100+ affected Declaration of a state of emergency Call for international assistance
Example of reinsurance company data
Munich reinsurance company:
-NatCat SERVICE: catalogue of natural hazards and losses since 1980
-World Map of Natural Hazards on NATHAN (Natural Hazards Assessment Network)
Swiss reinsurance company:
-Sigma
Difference between EM-DAT and reinsurance comapny data
reinsurance company data has higher thresholds for inclusion than EM-DAT and more emphasis on economic losses
Reinsurance bias: hazard
assumed every hazard is reported:
-selective reporting may occur depending on priorities of agencies collecting data
Reinsurance bias: temporal
assumed losses are comparable over time:
-recording processes may change
Reinsurance bias: threshold
assumed all losses are counted:
-criteria for inclusion in databases means that many smaller events are filtered out
Reinsurance bias: accounting
assumed all types of losses are counted:
-highly variable and depends on collecting agency interests/ease of data collection
Reinsurance bias: geographic
assumed losses are comparable within and across different geographic areas:
-political and administrative boundaries change; geographical units are not uniform internally
Reinsurance bias: systematic
assumed losses are computed uniformly:
-economy may or may not be inflation-adjusted; agencies may select upper, lower or mean estimates
Define ‘everyday disasters’
small, local events triggered by natural hazards that do not usually require external humanitarian assistance - cumulative impact may be greater than that of less numerous official ‘disasters’
Who adopts the DesInventar system?
- UNDP asia-pacific regional centre
- UNISDR sendai framework for DRR
What does UNISDR stand for?
United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
What is the Global Assessment Report (GAR)?
biennial global assessment of DRR and analysis of natural hazards affecting humanity. Uses EM-DAT and DesInventar data to calculate Disaster Risk Index
What is the Global Platform?
main global forum for strategy, coordination and review of progress on international DRR policies
What is the Natural Disaster Hotspots Report?
-developed by TH
he World Bank and Columbia University (2004)
-6 hazards represented in terms of hazardousness
-exposure and vulnerability derived from EM-DAT data
What is the World Risk Index (WRI)?
- developed in 2011-16 by Institute for Environment and Human Security of the United Nations University
- relates vulnerability to susceptibility and capacity
Comparisons and limitations of global disaster risk assessments
- inclusion of hazards and methods used for quantifying hazards varies
- vulnerability parameters different
- DRI and WRI at national scales, hotspots sub-national
- all assume hazards act separately, instead of interacting
Why does disaster risk seem to be increasing?
INCREASE IN REPORTING -official databases -wider media reach -more open societies -social media and remote sensing INCREASE IN HAZARDS -human-induced -climate change INCREASE IN EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY -urbanisation -unplanned development -sustainability issues
