Lecture 1

Question 1

What does the UNDRR define a hazard as?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What does the UNDRR state that a hazard can be in origin? (2 points)

Answer 2

• Natural, anthropogenic or socio-natural
• Single, sequential or combined

Question 3

What are natural hazards associated with ?

Answer 3

Natural process and phenomena

Question 4

What is a hazard characterised by ?
(4 points)

Answer 4

• Location,
• Intensity or magnitude,
• frequency,
• and probability

Question 5

What is a multi-hazard event?

Answer 5

When two or more natural hazards interact or overlap in time and space creating larger risks

Question 6

What would be an example of a multi-hazard event?

Answer 6

Earthquake triggering a landslide, followed by a tsunami

Question 7

Why is multi-hazard analysis important when considering a disaster risk management plan?

Answer 7

An analysis would provide identification of compounded risks, allocate resources more effectively, and develop mitigation strategies

Question 8

What does the UNDRR define a disaster as ?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What does a disaster lead to ?
(3 points)

Answer 9

• Human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts
• Immediate and localised but can be widespread and could last a long time
• Could test or exceed the capacity of a community or society to cope using its own resources (assistance

Question 10

Is a disaster natural ?

Answer 10

No - it is as a result of a hazard

Question 11

What do natural hazards include?

Answer 11

Geophysical and biological events that may cause large impacts on society

Question 12

What can human interactions interrupt?
(2 points)

Answer 12

• Exacerbate some natural processes
• Increased flood magnitude due to deforestation (quasi-natural hazards)

Question 13

What are technological hazards?

Answer 13

• Disaster threats from the built environment
• Major accidents

Question 14

What can hazards also be?
Natural & technological

Answer 14

Hybrids of natural and technological (Na-tech)

Question 15

How do hazards with high levels of human causation differ in terms of acceptance and impact?

Answer 15

Hazards with high levels of human causation are often more voluntarily accepted (e.g., industrial activities or pollution) and tend to have more diffuse disaster impacts, meaning their effects are spread out over time and space rather than being immediate or localized.

Question 16

What is an example of ‘Na-tech’ hazard ?

Answer 16

Fukushima

Question 17

What happened at Fukushima?

Answer 17

A Tsunami triggered by the Tohoku earthquake (magnitude 9.0) caused the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011

Question 18

What happened due to flooding in Fukushima ?

Answer 18

Cooling systems in the nuclear power plant failed and heating of reactors leading to partial meltdown of fuel rods

Question 19

What happened due to the partial meltdown of fuel rods?

Answer 19

Radioactive material was released due to gas explosions and deliberately released by discharge of coolant water into the sea and gas venting into the atmosphere

Question 20

What does the Fukushima highlight?

Answer 20

The complexities of hazard managements, clear ups and adaptations

Question 21

What are biological impacts of natural hazards?
(3 points)

Answer 21

• Epidemic diseases
• Insect infestations
• Animal stampede

Question 22

What are geological impacts of natural hazards ?
(4 points)

Answer 22

• Earthquake
• Volcano
• Mass movement
• Rockfall, landslide, avalanche, subsidence

Question 23

What are climatological impacts of natural hazards ?
(3 points)

Answer 23

• Extreme temperatures
• Drought
• Wildfire

Question 24

What are hydrological impacts of natural hazards?
(2 points)

Answer 24

• Floods
• Mass movement

Question 25

Meteorological impacts of natural hazards

Answer 25

Storms

Question 26

How have the impacts of natural hazards changed over time?

Answer 26

They have become much larger and have had significant impacts on societies and economies

Question 27

What does human vulnerabilities determine?

Answer 27

The extent to which a natural hazard leads to a disaster

Question 28

What does vulnerability reflect in the context of natural hazards?

Answer 28

vulnerability reflects the level of physical exposure of people and assets to potentially damaging natural events at a particular location, indicating how susceptible they are to harm from such hazards

Question 29

What can improvements in environmental security reduce?

Answer 29

Vulnerability
(protective structure, planning regulations, management actions such as fuel reduction burns to reduce wildfire intensity and rate of spread.

Question 30

When does a natural process become a hazard?

Answer 30

A natural process, such as rainfall, may be considered acceptable within a certain environmental range, but when exceeds that range, it becomes a hazard

Question 31

How is the degree of risk from a natural process determined?

Answer 31

By the relationship between the probability of a natural process occurring, and the element of risk and the level of vulnerability to that process

Question 32

How is the risk defined in the context of hazards?

Answer 32

Risk is the combination of the probability of a hazardous event (p) and its negative consequences (losses, L)
Risk = p x L

Question 33

What is the key balance in flood risk management?

Answer 33

Flood risk management requires balancing the cost of investing in flood defences with the risk of flooding and the associated cost of repairs

Question 34

How is flood risk defined?

Answer 34

Flood risk is the combination of the probability of a flood occurring (p) and its negative consequences, such as property damage or loss (L)

Question 35

What does Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) involve?

Answer 35

SFRA involves modelling possible future flood magnitude and calculating the probability of flooding

Question 36

How does SFRA identify assets of risk>

Answer 36

Determining their exposure to a given flood height and assessing their vulnerability, including potential mitigation options

Question 37

How does SFFRa estimate the probability of losses (L) ?

Answer 37

SFRA combines the probability of flooding with the vulnerability of assets to estimate potential losses and determine financial impacts, such as repair costs and insurance expenses

Question 38

What is the act of god paradigm in disaster thinking?

Answer 38

View disaster as punishment for moral failings, promoting the belief that disasters were inevitable and beyond human control

Question 39

What is the engineering paradigm in disaster management?

Answer 39

Hardening of the built environments to withstand hazards. Emphasising emergency services, forecasting, and infrastructure, emerging with early dam-building and dominating from the 18th to early 20th century

Question 40

What is the dominant (behavioural) paradigm?

Answer 40

Developed by Gilbert F. White (1930s-40s) links human societies to hazards, noting that humans often settle on hazard-prone land. Combining engineering forecasting, and social science like land planning and insurance.

Question 41

What is the Radical (Structuralist) paradigm in disaster thinking?

Answer 41

Emerging in the 1970s and focuses on human vulnerability, especially in less developed countries. It emphasizes the social and economic factors that increase risk in hazard-prone areas.

Question 42

What is the Complexity paradigm in disaster management?

Answer 42

from the 1990s, emphasizes mitigation, long-term recovery, societal vulnerability, and resilience. It also addresses global issues like climate change and sustainability in disaster planning.