Lecture 2

Question 1

Why can maintaining databases on disaster events be difficult? (Name 3 points)

Answer 1

• disasters can co-occur (ex: hurricanes cause floods)
• mortality can be difficult to count
• a general lack of census taking (in developing countries)

Question 2

What events officially qualify as a ‘disaster’?

Answer 2

A threshold has been developed by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)

Question 3

List the criteria of what qualifies as a disaster:

Answer 3

- 10 or more deaths per event
OR 
- 100 or more persons affected (injured, homeless, etc.)
OR
- government declaration of disaster
OR 
- for international assistance

Question 4

Exceptions to the CRED threshold:

Answer 4

• for droughts/famines: at least 2000 persons affected

- for technological disasters: 5 or more deaths per event

Question 5

Statistical data is reported in _______ terms.

Answer 5

answer: absolute

The impact of losses is felt differently from one place to the next

ex: 10 fishers in a remote village of 200 people vs. 10 factory workers in a city of 200,000

Question 6

The media tends to concentrate on:

Answer 6

• human interest
• visual impact
• events prioritized according to a North American perspective

Question 7

Impacts vary greatly by disaster type. Example:

Answer 7

• Earthquakes tend to cause more deaths than tornadoes

- floods affect more people (homelessness) than most disasters but cause fewer deaths

Question 8

True or Fale: Technological disasters are more liekly to occur in developed countries

Answer 8

True

Question 9

Disaster Impact Trends:

Globally, most impacts from disasters have increased over time:

Answer 9

• Property Damage
• Economic losses
• Persons Injured
• Deaths

Question 10

Economic ______ have _______ at a faster rate than _____.

Answer 10

losses, increased, deaths

Question 11

Haiti Earthquake (state 3 points)

Answer 11

• poorest country in Western Hemisphere
• one of the worst natural disasters in history
• death toll was over 160,000

Question 12

Where did Haiti Earthquake occur?

Answer 12

along a transform fault

Question 13

Haiti Earthquake: The destruction was enhanced by ______________ and a ___________

Answer 13

poor construction materials, lack of building materials

Question 14

What leads to unsustainable farming practices?

Answer 14

Poverty and lack of land availability

Question 15

What are the reasons for Increases in Impacts?

Answer 15

Land Pressure, Urbanization

Question 16

Urbanization

Answer 16

around the world, people are increasingly moving from rural areas to urban areas

Question 17

Resiliency

Answer 17

The rate of recovery from the occurrence of an event

Question 18

Reliability

Answer 18

The frequency with which protective devices against disasters can withstand the disaster

Question 19

Both resiliency and reliability tend to be _____ in developing countries

Answer 19

lower

Question 20

Risk Assessment

Answer 20

Involves estimating the likelihood that a particular event will harm human health

ex: what is the hazard?

Question 21

Risk Management

Answer 21

Involves deciding whether or how to reduce a particular risk and at what cost

ex: How will the risk be reduced?

Question 22

Risk is viewed by individuals as ________

Answer 22

subjective

Question 23

Event Data

Answer 23

• best to have at least 100 years of data
• the amount of data is not available for several hazards
  (high-magnitude earthquakes, nuclear accidents)

Question 24

Economic Loss Data

Answer 24

• this is often less available than event data

- there are many currencies worldwide, values must constantly be adjusted for inflation

Question 25

Equation for Risk:

Answer 25

R = P * L 
r = risk
p = probability of hazard occurrence 
l = loss (economic, health, etc)

Question 26

Interpretating Probabilites:

Answer 26

Cumulative probabilities sum to 1 therefore we can read each probability as a percent

ex: if an event has a probability of 0.01, that event have a 1% chance of happening

Question 27

When is a Risk Analysis Event Tree Used?

Answer 27

• when the event database is inadequate (too small)
• the chain of events leading to a disaster must be known
• probabilities within the chain must be calculable

Question 28

What is the risk associated with a technological system?

Answer 28

The overall reliability of a technological system is the product of two factors

System reliability = Technology reliability x human reliability

Question 29

Human reliability is usually ______ than technology reliability and is _______ to predict

Answer 29

lower, difficult

Question 30

Suppose the technological reliability of a nuclear power plant is 95% and the human reliability is 75%. What is the overall system reliability?

Answer 30

71% (0.95 x 0.75)

Question 31

What is the greatest risk factor leading to a reduction of life expectatancy? Why?

Answer 31

Poverty
Linked to: 
- malnutrition
- increased susceptibility to fatal diseases
- lack of access to health care 
- contaminated water supplies

Question 32

What happens if there is a reduction of poverty?

Answer 32

• lead to increased life expectancy

- improved human health

Question 33

Indirect benefits of reducing poverty:

Answer 33

• stimulates economic development
• reduces environmental degradation
• improves human rights

Question 34

Risks from hazards are more accepted by people if the risks are perceived to:

Answer 34

• be voluntary vs imposed
• be under our control vs controlled by others
• have clear benefits vs little or no benefit
• Be natural vs anthropogenic
• Be statistical vs catastrophic
• Be familiar vs exotic
• Affect adults vs children

Question 35

How can we become better at perceiving risks?

Answer 35

• carefully evaluate what the media presents
• compare risks (the question is not “is it safe?” but rather “how risky is it compared to other risks”)
• concentrate on the most serious risks to your own health and not risks you have no control over