mega disasters and disaster trends

Question 1

since what year have the trends in disasters change?

Answer 1

1960

Question 2

how have the trends in atmospheric hazards changed?

Answer 2

• due to human activity
• frequency and intensity increased due to enhanced greenhouse effect and climate change
  e.g. tropical storms and droughts

Question 3

how can trends of tectonic disasters change?

Answer 3

• through human actions on the environment like deforestation and land degradation
• this can increase the impact and sometimes the frequency
• however, tectonic disasters haven’t seen an increase in frequency or magnitude

Question 4

what changes has the growth of the global media caused?
+ Why may more disasters be reported

Answer 4

1. that disasters occur more frequently (as they appear more in the news, due to being easier to report)
2. often focuses on those with high speed of onset as they seem more dramatic
3. developed nations that are affected get more coverage

• improvements in the way they are recorded and monitored: more sensitive and integrated which reduces the need for humans to take observations

Question 5

explain how the number of people being affected by tectonic disasters is increasing:

Answer 5

1. increased number of people living in locations considered at risk
2. more people living in urban+ dense living conditions are more vulnerable
3. increase in the number of people who become homeless and need long-term support

Question 6

explain how the impact of disasters on the general population has fallen:

Answer 6

1. The number of fatalities has fallen
2. increased investment in buildings which withstand earthquakes
3. increased preparedness of communities
4. increased number of building codes and regulations
   - however, developing countries struggle to invest at the same scale
5. while a development gap exists, general wealth is rising and general poverty is decreasing
6. improvements in communication technology mean that warnings and responses are quicker and better coordinated

Question 7

explain how the economic impacts of tectonic disasters are increasing:

Answer 7

1. a rise in relative wealth has led to an increase
2. developing countries need less money to rebuild their previous state compared to developed nations with more complex infrastructure
3. increase in middle-class people, infrastructure, property and services which become more expensive to replace

Question 8

why should we question data that are obtained about disasters?

Answer 8

1. no universal definition of a disaster or a threshold number for classifying an event as a disaster
2. reporting deaths depends on whether just direct deaths OR indirect deaths (from subsequent hazards or related diseases) are included too.
3. events in remote locations are frequently under-recorded as they’re not in the media spotlight, so about 10% of the data is missing
4. disaster deaths and casualties can be subject to political influences (e.g. to protect certain industries)
5. statistics are hard to collect in remote regions (may be due to densely populated shanty towns)

Question 9

what factors may increase the increase in disasters?

Answer 9

1. technological innovation
2. land pressure
3. economic development and growth
4. population growth and change
5. rapid urbanisation and growth of megacities
6. poverty
7. political change

Question 10

characteristics of tectonic mega-disasters:

Answer 10

1. has a high regional or global significance
2. high impact and low probability
3. they highlight the interdependence between regions as other countries may be affected directly or indirectly (global financial systems and supply chains link all countries of different development levels)
4. large scale disasters in terms of:
   areal/spatial extent
   human and/or economic impacts
5. can cause problems for effective management to minimise short and long-term impacts
6. communities and governments need international support in the short and long term
7. mistakes made in one country can prompt other countries to act to prevent similar events

Question 11

why don’t most disasters reach the level of a mega-disaster?

Answer 11

1. preparedness of communities
2. quicker and more efficient actions taken in the aftermath

Question 12

what are two examples of mega-disasters:

Answer 12

1. 2010 eruption of Eyafjallajokul, Iceland
2. 2011. Tohoku tsunami, Japan

Question 13

global impacts of Eyafjallajokul:

Answer 13

1. cancellation of commercial flights
2. perishable goods couldn’t be transported causing temporary unemployment for 5,000 Kenyan workers
3. €2.2 billion loss for aviation companies
4. tourists stranded away from home
5. delivery of key components for car industries stalled production

Question 14

global impacts of Tohoku:

Answer 14

1. impact on global trade of high-tech and car products
2. protests in Germany caused the decommissioning of all nuclear power plants
3. raise in price of natural gas as Japan joined the demand market
4. increased carbon emissions as they moved to more fossil-fueled energy production
5. debris affected marine ecosystems as they washed into the pacific ocean (5 million tonnes)