Natural Hazards Flashcards
What is a hazard?
A hazard is something that’s a potential threat to human life or property.
What are geophysical hazards and give examples of them?
A hazard caused by land processes, these include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides and tsunamis.
What are atmospheric hazards and give examples of them?
A hazard caused by climatic processes these include tropical cyclones, storms, droughts, extremes of hot or cold weather and wildfires.
What are hydrological hazards?
A hazard caused by water movement, these include floods and avalanches.
What is a disaster?
When a hazard actually seriously affects humans.
How are peoples perception of hazards affected by their economic, social and cultural background?
- Wealth- e.g. richer people may be able to afford to move to areas that are less prone to hazards, or to build their homes to withstand hazards, so they may perceive the risk as smaller.
- Religion- e.g. some people view hazards as acts of God, sent to punish people.
- Education- e.g. people with more education may have better understanding of the risks of hazards, or they may believe that they are abler to reduce the risks or mitigate the impacts.
- Past experience- e.g. people who live in hazard prone areas may have experienced hazards before, which may affect the perceived risk from future hazards.
- Personality- e.g. some people fear hazards and other might think of them as exciting.
What does risk sharing involve?
Risk Sharing involves sharing the costs of reducing a hazard, the benefits of preventing it or the costs of not preventing it – e.g. people buy insurance to help them repair a property after a disaster.
What is fatalism?
Some people believe that hazards cannot be avoided, so they must be accepted.
What is hazard incidence?
How often the hazard occurs.
What is the magnitude of the hazard?
How powerful the hazard is.
What is the distribution of the hazard?
The areal extent of the hazard.
What does the Park Model show?
It shows the different phrases of response to hazards.
What happens during the disruption phrase?
During and directly after the hazard event occurs, there is destruction of property, loss of life etc. before people begin to respond.
What happens during the relief phrase?
In the aftermath of the event rescue efforts focus on saving people and preventing further damage.
What happens during the rehabilitation phrase?
Once the immediate impacts are under control, people start to resolve longer term problems, e.g providing temporary shelter and aid for those affected.
