Hazard Theory

• What is Adaption?

  Adaption is the attempts by people or communities to live with hazard events. By adjusting their living conditions, people are able to reduce their levels of vulnerability.
• What is Fatalism?

  A view of a hazard event that suggest people cannot influence the outcome, therefore nothing can be done to mitigate against it. People with such an attitude put in place limited or no preventative measures - 'God's Will'
• What are Natural Hazards?

  Events which are perceived to be a threat to people, the built environment & the natural environment. They occur in the physical environments of the atmosphere, lithosphere & hydrosphere.
• What is Perception?

  The way an individual or group views the threat of a hazard event. This will ultimately determine the course of action taken by individuals or the response they expect from governments & other organisations.
• What is the difference between a Hazard & a Disaster?

  A disaster occurs because of a hazard. For example, living on or near a fault line is a hazard whereas an earthquake on the fault line that has enormous impacts on people & property is the disaster
• Synoptic Links to Global Populations:

  'Loss of property from natural hazards is rising in most regions of the Earth, and loss of life is continuing or increasing among many of the poor nations of this world.'
• Can humans cause hazards?

  • Wildfires can be ignited by human carelessness
  • Floods can be cause by poor land-use management
  • Human-driven climate change can cause more frequent & more intense tropical storms
• Does wealth affect your chance of surviving a hazard?

  • More prediction, planning, protection, & monitoring
  • People in LICs more likely to have fatalist viewpoint & more dependant on their house/business (i.e. "There's no point living if my house goes, i'll never recover"
• When does a Hazard become a Disaster?

  • Many natural events are made worse due to what people do to the environment & where they locate buildings e.g. avalanches in ski resorts
  • DREGGS MODEL: Size of Hazard & Vulnerability of Population determine the size of Disaster
  • E.g. A 7 magnitude earthquake in Port-Au-Prince (Haiti) will more damaging than a 8 magnitude earthquake in Tokyo (Japan) as Tokyo is more well adapted

  
• What constitutes an official disaster (i.e. entered into the database of UN's International Strategy for Disaster Reduction)?

  Meets 1 of these criteria

  • 10 or more killed
  • 100 or more affected
  • State of Emergency declared by government
  • International Assistance requested by government
• What is Frequency?


  The distribution of a hazard through time

  
• What is Magnitude?

  The assessment of the size of the impact of a hazard over time

  
• Why do people choose to live in areas of risk?

  • Hazards are unpredictable
  • Lack of Alternatives - Social, political, economic, & cultural factors means people cannot simply uproot themselves
  • Changing Levels of Risk - Previously safe places have become increasingly risky over time (e.g. deforestation leads to flooding & landslides)
  • Cost/Benefit - positives > negatives
  • The person's perception of hazards
• Why are people in LICs generally more at risk than those in HICs?

  HICs are more able to build defences, have safer buildings, better emergency services, education of risk, etc

  ------------------------------------------------------

  LICS have increasing levels of urbanisation so more people live in risky environments (e.g. living on slopes = landslides, building on floodplains & coastal areas = hurricanes & flooding)
• What is Vulnerability?

  Vulnerability to physical hazards means the potential for loss. Losses vary geographically, amongst different social groups + over time. People's wealth and the level of technology has an impact upon them
• Why might people live in areas of risk:

  • Poverty
  • Geography (fertile soils, resources, geothermal energy)
  • Tourism
  • Family & Friends (inertia)
  • Employment
  • Ignorance
  • Beauty
• What is Fatalism (Hazard Perception)?

  • Known as 'acceptance' or 'God's Will'
  • Hazards are seen as natural events that are part of living in the area
  • Action is usually direct, but losses are accepted as inevitable
• What is Domination (Hazard Perception)?

  • Hazards are predictable & can be better understood with scientific research
  • Most common view in HICs - this is due to available money, technology, & skilled personnel
• What is Adaptation (Hazard Perception)?

  • People see they can survive events by prediction, prevention & protection
  • Depends on economic & technological circumstances of the area
• What is Fear (Hazard Perception)?

  • People feel so vulnerable to an event that they move away to unaffected areas as they cannot face living in the area
• How does development affect Hazard Perception?

  • HICs - Domination & Adaptation
  • LICs - Fatalism & Fear
• What is Prevention?

  • This is unrealistic for natural hazards
  • One proposed scheme involved seeding clouds in tropical storms, to evoke more precipitation & weaken the system before it approaches land
• What is Prediction?

  • The ability to give warnings so that action can be taken to reduce the impact of hazard events
  • Improved monitoring systems + communication technology have meant that predicting hazards & issuing warnings has become more important in recent years
• What is Planning?

  • One method involves modifying the built environment to better protect people, their possessions & the built environment
  • Examples include Sea Walls & Taipei 101 building (swinging ball)
  • Another method involves trying to change attitudes & behaviour towards hazards
• What is Community Resilience?

  • The sustained ability of a community to utilise available resources to withstand & recover from natural hazards
  • Communities that are resilient are able to minimise the effects of a hazard, making the return to normal life as effortless as possible
• What is Integrated Risk Management?

  • The process of considering the social, economic & political factors involved in risk analysis and then deciding on the actions that need to be taken to minimise damage & disruption
  • Governments (e.g. from New Zealand) utilise these schemes
• What is Integrated Risk Management?

  • The process of considering the social, economic & political factors involved in risk analysis and then deciding on the actions that need to be taken to minimise damage & disruption
  • Governments (e.g. from New Zealand) utilise these schemes

  
• What is the Hazard Management Cycle?

  • Displays cycle of Emergency Management as Mitigation -> Preparedness -> Response -> Recovery

  
• Example of Mitigation in regards to the Hazard Management Cycle:

  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) exists in the USA to co-ordinate disaster response. They have created major analyst programmes for floods, hurricanes, & earthquakes

  
• Example of Preparedness in regards to the Hazard Management Cycle:

  National Hurricane Centre in Florida = example of prediction depending on monitoring through satellites

  
• Example of Response in regards to the Hazard Management Cycle:

  Weeks of search & rescue after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 by local authorities helped to save thousands of lives

  
• Example of Recovery in regards to the Hazard Management Cycle:

  2 years of basic aid (food, water etc) was supplied for Haiti after the 2010 earthquake due to the vulnerable conditions Haitians were living in before the earthquake even struck

  
• Evaluating Management:

  • Management must be evaluated in terms of success
  • Use of dynamite to divert lava flows on Mt Edna = success! :)
  • Japanese preparations for the 1995 Kobe earthquake = failure! :(
• Evaluating Management:

  • Management must be evaluated in terms of success
  • Use of dynamite to divert lava flows on Mt Edna = success! :)
  • Japanese preparations for the 1995 Kobe earthquake = failure! :(

  
• Evaluating Management:

  • Appropriate actions at ALL points of the cycle lead to greater preparedness, better warnings & reduced vulnerability
  • The complete cycle includes shaping public policies and mitigating the effects on people, property, & infrastructure
  • Main goal of disaster management = promotion of sustainable livelihoods

  
• Park's (1991) Disaster/Response Curve

  • Park devised a impact/response model to show how a hazard event has varying impacts over time
  • It plots quality of life against time -considering before, during, and after a hazard event

  
• What is Stage 1 of Park's Model?

  Pre-disaster so normal quality of life

  
• What is Relief stage of Park's Model?

  • Where medical attention, rescue services and overall care are delivered
  • This can lasts from a few hours to days. From this point, quality of life slowly starts to increase

  
• What is Rehabilitation stage of Park's Model?

  • Where people try & return to a state of normal by providing food, water & shelter to those most affected
  • This can last from a few days to months

  
• What is Reconstruction stage of Park's Model?

  • Where the infrastructure & property are reconstructed and crops are re-grown
  • People use this experience to shape their response to potential future events
  • Can build back better
  • This can take weeks to several years