Midterm Prep

Question 1

What is a natural hazard?

Answer 1

• normal operation of planet’s geological, hydrological, meteorological, and ecological systems
• only a hazard when human population is involved
• limited to inhabited areas or resource areas

Question 2

What are the five stages of the temporal model of hazard management discussed in class.
Rank them in terms of effectiveness of disaster management/interventions and explain why

Answer 2

1. Assess: understand hazard regime, understand vulnerability, forecasting
2. mitigate: reduce vulnerability, alter hazard profile
3. prepare: educate, warn, evacuate
4. respond: remove bodies, locate and treat survivors, destroy unstable infrastructure
5. recover: rebuild communities and infrastructure
   - ranked this way because assessing and preparing prior to a natural hazard taking place is what saves the most lives

Question 3

In assessing physical hazards, what are the six key characteristics we are interested in.
Describe each one

Answer 3

magnitude: type and degree of destructive energy released by an event
frequency: how often event occurs in given time frame
nature of impact:
temporal spacing: can we identify a cycle in which the hazards take place
speed of onset and duration: how quickly hazard occurs and how long hazard is present
areal extent and spatial dispersion: how large of an area the hazard impacts

Question 4

What is the magnitude-frequency relationship common to most natural hazards

Answer 4

inverse relationship, larger magnitude less frequent, smaller magnitude more frequent

Question 5

Explain the concept of a hazard threshold and how this varies between different places or
with respect to different types of impacts (ie. fatalities versus property damage).

Answer 5

• given that there is always risk involved with hazards, individuals or groups will identify an acceptable threshold of risk in terms of fatalities and infrastructure damage
• this varies between places due to geographic reasons and socio-economic factors, for instance, a densely populated area with poorly designed infrastructure would have a lower hazard threshold in terms of fatalities

Question 6

“Risk” assessment is an attempt to evaluate the danger posed by a particular natural hazard.
Theoretically speaking, how do we assess “Risk” and why is this particularly challenging?

Answer 6

• theoretically, we can assess risk by probability x potential impact
• this is challenging because decisions over acceptable risk are subjective and not always rational

Question 7

Outline current global trends when it comes to changes in the frequency and impact of
natural hazards and suggest causes (3 points).

Answer 7

• natural disasters are increasing in number
• increase due to meteorological events, and perception/information being more attainable
• natural disasters are increasing in terms of impact (increase in property damage however loss of life has decreased in the long term)
• increase in impact due to population growth/population and wealth concentration and poverty

Question 8

What are risk thresholds and why are personal perceptions of hazards and risk important?
What influences perceptions of hazards and risk?

Answer 8

• given that there is always risk involved a risk threshold is an acceptable range of risk
• personal perceptions of risk are important because not everyone has the same perception of risk
• this perception of risk can be influenced individually by previous experience of natural hazards, high anxiety/low anxiety people, and low probability- high consequence hazards

Question 9

How does social capital (social trust, norms and networks) influence peoples resilience to
natural hazards?

Answer 9

• through group/community trust and social cohesion
• strong sense of community can lead to collaboration and assistance both before and after
• institutional trust also is impacted by social capital

Question 10

Briefly outline how a population’s level of trust in government institutions affect the impact
of, and response to, natural disasters

Answer 10

• less trust in gov can lead to a higher incidence of death as seen with Alabama and Illinois, Alabama did not trust gov and this led to more deaths
• however opposite can be true as greater levels of distrust can lead to a more informed and self-reliant local population

Question 11

Identify and briefly explain four reasons why some people might choose to live or work in
high risk areas.

Answer 11

• due to urbanization, increase in number of megacities many of which are in areas prone to natural disasters
• an example of this is San Francisco

Question 12

Be able to define Vulnerability, based on lectures and readings.

Answer 12

• the susceptibility of people/infrastructure to different natural hazards
• takes into account demographic/social/behavioural factors, economic factors, and political factors

Question 13

Why is a clear operational definition of vulnerability important?

Answer 13

• leads to better risk management and assesement
• leads to better policy- making surrounding vulnerability

Question 14

Why is scale important when looking at vulnerability?

Answer 14

• vulnerability is scale dependent
• can be expressed at different scales from human to household to community to country

Question 15

What is meant by place based approach to vulnerability and why is this important?

Answer 15

• intersection of factors that shape the vulnerability of a place of events
• location matters due to the site where different systemic or scales of vulnerability converge in the presence of specific and potentially destructive environmental processes

Question 16

What is a vulnerability index?

Answer 16

• uses variables that correlate with vulnerability to build a weighted index that represents vulnerability
• an example is the social vulnerability index
• problems with indexes due to high data needs, invisible people, and dynamic variables over time

Question 17

identify and briefly summarize in one sentence or less five key factors that influence human
vulnerability to hazards.

Answer 17

• gender due to cultural behaviours
• social capital due to social cohesion
• economic factors due to more deaths occur in areas with increased poverty
• political factors due to appropriate urban planning
• physical environment due to unsafe conditions

Question 18

Over the past century and a half, we have seen a clear trend in the number and impact of
natural hazards occurring worldwide. Summarize current global trends when it comes to
changes in the type, number and impact (people affected, people killed, and damage) of
natural hazards and describe the drivers of these trends discussed in lecture.

Answer 18

• natural disasters increasing in number
• increase in number attributable mostly to meteorological events
• increase in the amount of property damage and people affected but loss of live has decreased over the years due to population growth and population and wealth concentration
  -this increase is due to an increase in information and perception, better overall data collection,

Question 19

Linkages exist between different types of natural hazards; different hazards often share
similar roots and one type of hazard can serve as a trigger for other types of hazards. You
should be able to identify how volcanism, storms, landslides, avalanches, and flood hazards
are all linked linked to each other

Answer 19

Volcanism:
Volcanic eruptions can trigger a range of secondary hazards, including:
Pyroclastic Flows and Lahars: These fast-moving currents of hot gas, ash, and rock can generate lahars, which are volcanic mudflows that can travel long distances, burying and destroying everything in their path.
Volcanic Ashfall: Ashfall can disrupt transportation, damage infrastructure, and lead to respiratory problems for humans and animals.
Tephra: Volcanic ash and other ejected materials can accumulate on slopes, increasing the risk of landslides and avalanches.
Glacier Outburst Floods (Jökulhlaups): Volcanic eruptions beneath glaciers can melt ice rapidly, triggering catastrophic floods downstream.
Storms:
Severe storms, including hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons, can cause a variety of hazards:
Heavy Rainfall: Intense rainfall from storms can lead to flooding, landslides, and mudslides, particularly in areas with steep terrain or poor drainage.
Storm Surges: These are abnormal rises in seawater level during storms, which can inundate coastal areas, causing flooding and erosion.
High Winds: Strong winds from storms can uproot trees, damage buildings, and create flying debris, posing risks to infrastructure and human safety.
Tornadoes: These violent rotating columns of air associated with severe thunderstorms can cause extensive damage to structures and vegetation.
Landslides and Avalanches:
Landslides and avalanches can occur independently or as secondary hazards triggered by other events, such as:
Heavy Rainfall: Saturation of soil and destabilization of slopes due to heavy rainfall can increase the likelihood of landslides and debris flows.
Earthquakes: Seismic activity can trigger landslides and avalanches by shaking loose rock and soil on slopes.
Volcanic Eruptions: Tephra deposits and lahars from volcanic eruptions can destabilize slopes, leading to landslides and avalanches.
Flood Hazards:
Floods can result from various factors and can also trigger or exacerbate other hazards:
Heavy Rainfall: Excessive rainfall can overwhelm drainage systems and cause riverine or flash floods.
Storm Surges: Coastal flooding caused by storm surges can inundate low-lying areas and erode coastlines.
Landslides and Debris Flows: Floods can mobilize sediment and debris, leading to landslides, mudslides, and debris flows downstream.
Ice Jams and Glacial Outburst Floods: Ice jams on rivers and glacial outburst floods can cause sudden and extensive flooding in downstream areas.

Question 20

What is political ecology

Answer 20

• an intellectual convergence, a historical outgrowth of central questions asked by social scientists and ecology, usually about the relationship between human society and humanized nature
• looks at the processes of social, economic, political, and environmental change and how they intersect

Question 21

Governance has been conceptualized in multiple different ways. Explain state centric
theories, governance theory, governmentality, and Neo-gramscian theories of governance?

Answer 21

• state-centric: analyzes democratic processes and how they interact to make laws, and policies, and enforce them
• governance theory: idea that the singular public interest state is largely outmoded, political authority is multi-layered, shared, and operates on different spatial scales
• governmentality: discourses and discursive practices that shape social institutions, professors, and expert knowledge
• Neo-Gramscian political economy: to shift ideology to address economic and political crises and accommodate and neutralize social opposition, power lies with those who can shape ideas and values circulating in society and not who holds political positions

Question 22

Identify and explain the three key characteristics of a political ecology approach discussed in
lecture.

Answer 22

Analytical: how are decisions made, how is knowledge reproduced, the importance of scale, historically and environmentally contextualized understandings

Normative: focus on equality, concerned with those struggling in society eg the poor or marginalized, articulation of liberation ecology

An empirical body of work: has emerged from a wide range of empirical works, explored people-land relations to better understand drivers of environmental change and its implications

Question 23

Contrast political versus apolitical ecologies, and illustrate how these are different drawing on
a real world example.

Answer 23

• apolitical ecologies tend to focus solely on biophysical aspects of ecosystems and disregard any political, economic, and social factors
• simplistic explanations of environmental change or degradation as seen with the eco scarcity paradigm

Question 24

What would an apolitical explanation of famine look like, contrast this with what would a
political ecology analysis of famine would look like.

Answer 24

• Apolitical explanation would focus on biophysical factors such as a lack of soil fertility or a change in climate patterns, would ultimately blame overpopulation as the main cause for famine

a political ecology analysis would look look at political, social, and economic factors that would have led to the impact being felt by the population due to the drought,

Question 25

Based on course materials and lectures, what is Capitalism? What do we mean by variegated
capitalism?

Answer 25

• capitalism is an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit
• variegated capitalism = differentiated forms of capitalism that can exist depending on country/region

Question 26

Based on readings (UNDRR 022) and lectures, what is neoliberalism?

Answer 26

• economic ideology advancing “supply-side” economics, international free trade, elimination of the welfare state, deregulation of major industries, reduction of corporate taxes and greater capital mobility

Question 27

Can disasters be good for the economy? Discuss with reference to readings (ie Naomi Klein,
UNDRR) and lectures

Answer 27

• disasters can stimulate economic growth
• seen in the 1998 ice storm in Ontario and Quebec, some initial loss in GDP due to ice damage but led Canada in economic growth that year at 6%
• this is due to infrastructure being rebuilt which stimulates the economy through investment, construction and employment

Question 28

Based on Alagona, Peter S. 2006. “What makes a disaster “natural”?
 According to the authors, what is the main differentiator between a natural and an unnatural
disasters? What do they mean by this, explain?

Answer 28

• the amount of human involvement in the disaster
• while disasters may have natural origins the severity and impact are dependent on on human factors
• an unnatural disaster refers to a disaster where humans play a role in exacerbating the impacts of a natural hazard

Question 29

Sovacool, B. K., Tan-Mullins, M., & Abrahamse, W. (2018). Bloated bodies and broken bricks: Power,
ecology, and inequality in the political economy of natural disaster recovery.
 In their article on the political economy of disaster recovery, what four processes do the
authors identify that are associated with adverse outcomes in disaster response and recovery.
Explain each one. Provide a real world example from the reading of where and how these
have occurred.

Answer 29

• enclosure which is an economic process where a DR project transfers a public asset into private hands
• exclusion is a DR project that excludes a group or limits access to resources due to due process
• encroachment is when a DR project degrades the environment
• entrenchment is when a DR project aggravates the disempowerment of women or minorities
• hurricane Katina 2004, expanded corporate control of infrastructure, restricted the free movement of those in the city, were discriminated against when attempts were made to leave the city

Question 30

UNDRR (Sandoval et al) (2022) “The role of public and private sectors in disaster capitalism: an
international overview” , United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
 How does (disaster) capitalism manifest differently ex-ante and ex-post disasters? Explain
and provide examples

Answer 30

• ex ante covers neoliberal reform and practices that amplify disaster risk
• ex-post covers refers to the use of disasters as a market opportunity for economic profiteering
• ex- post example, Brazil in 2020 used the pandemic to dismantle environmental protection on mining, giving permission for mining in indigenous areas
• ex-anti example, Columbia late 80s early 90s, the privatization of housing system finances led to risk being amplified due to a housing market crisis

Question 31

What does Naomi Klein mean by “Disaster-Capitalism Complex”? Illustrate with examples
from her article.

Answer 31

• aims to replace the state with own profitable enterprises
• an example is Iraq where all conflict and disaster related functions can be performed by corporations for profit
• happened in New Orleans with corporations taking advantage of the damage to keep the gains of profit by reconstructing military bases on the coast

Question 32

What is the “Davos Dilemma”? Explain with examples. (Klein Article)

Answer 32

• the contrast between the worlds favourable economics and troublesome politics
• while the economy had a faced a series of shocks such as dot com bubble, housing market crash, 911, it is still in a golden period of shared growth

Question 33

Define Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive capacity (Adger and Brown article)

Answer 33

• exposure is the nature and degree to which a system experiences environmental or socio-political stress
• sensitivity is the extent to which a human or natural system can absorb impacts without suffering long term harm or significant change
• adaptive capacity is to ability of a system to evolve to accommodate environmental perturbations or to expand the range of variability in can cope with

Question 34

According to Adger and Brown, what are the three primary sets of interactions between
ecological changes and society

Answer 34

• human action drives environmental change
• impact of ecosystem state changes on the availability of said ecosystem to society
• the interaction of ecological resilience and society is reflected in the question of whether whole systems themselves are resilient

Question 35

in this article, what are the three mechanisms of interdependence linking vulnerabilities and
resilience of socio-environmental systems around the world. Explain each one. (Adger and Brown)

Answer 35

• linked physical, biological, and social processes that constitute global environmental change due to a collection of processes that manifest in the locality but with causes and consequences at multiple spatial =, temporal, and socio=political scales
• economic market linkages can be a driver of interdependent vulnerabilities, and economic policies such as trade liberalization can lead to an increase in vulnerable groups when shocks or stress come along
• the closer connection between p[laces in the world through movements of people and resources, this is due to the globalization of travel and economic linkages can lead to spread vulnerability of susceptible populations around the globe more than ever before

Question 36

What do we mean by uncertainty when it comes to natural hazards, and according to Robbins
where does this uncertainty stem from? Give examples

Answer 36

• uncertainty due to the highly uneven or unstable behaviour of environmental systems over time
• can also come from encounters with new hazards

Question 37

Explain why risk perception is important in the study of hazards, and discuss according to
Robbins what affects risk perception (ie. culture, voluntary, impact size, frequency)

Answer 37

• important because risk has important implications for rational management of hazards
• risk as culture, humans think of risk neither universal nor everyone thinking something different
• risk communication can inform the public on how they want to gauge risk in terms of natural hazards
• however the political economy of hazards leads to risk perception being meaningless at times as often policy makers are left making decisions on risk and not the general public

Question 38

In discussing the need for a political economy of hazards, Robbins argues that a risk approach
is inadequate for three reasons. What are they? Explain each one and provide examples.

Answer 38

• risk is something imposed on others because the risk decision maker is not the individual or group making the decisions for instance the problem of toxic hazards and waste with policy makers leaving communities to suffer the consequences of their risk assessment
• practical range of decisions limited by political and economic context for instance farmers in west African communities suffering drought and they suffered from policy makers making poor risk assessments
• ability to make informed risk decisions hampered by political control and interpretation of crucial information for instance tetra-ethyl being used in gasoline while being known as toxic to the environment and only being changed after decades