Hazards 3.1.5.1 Flashcards
3.1.5.1-3.1.5.6
What is a natural hazard?
Natural hazard = A natural event with the potential to cause harm to people and to property
What is a natural disaster?
A natural disaster = The realisation of a natural hazard where harm has occured
When can a hazard be defined a disaster?
- 10 or more deaths have occured or when there is a declaration of an emergency by the relative government
- Insurance companies define it when economic losses exceed 1.5million
What can hazards be caused by?
- Human actions (explosions, chemical releases into atmosphere and nucler incidents)
- Natural (earthquakes, storms, volcanoes and wildfires)
- Natural events are often caused by human action e.g wildfires due to human carelessness
What factord affect the impacts of hazards?
-The location of rge hazard relative to areas of population and the magnitude and extent of the hazard
- Specifc to the type of hazard e.g. type and exposivity of a volcanoe, Nature and continental shelf and shoreline for tsunamis
What are geophysical hazard?
Geophysical= caused by the movement of tectonic plates, driven by the earths own internal energy
E.g. Plate tectonics, volcanoes, sesimic activity
What are atmospheric hazards?
Atmospheric = Caused by processes occurring in our atmosphere
E.g. Tropical storms, Droughts
What are hydrological hazards?
Hydrological = driven by water bodies, mainly the ocean
E.g. Floods, Storm surges, Tsunamis
What are primary impacts?
Primary impacts = Those that have an immediate effect on the affected area, such as destruction of infrastructure and contamination of water supplies
What are secondary impacts?
Secondary impacts = impacts that have occurred after the disaster has occurred such as disease, economic recession and contamination of water supplies
What is hazard perception?
Hazard perception = the way in which someone understands or interprets a hazard
What is hazard perception determined by?
- The effect that the hazard may have on our lives and this increases if people have a direct experience with a hazard and the long term impacts it caused
What are the negatives of urbanisation for hazards?
- The pressure of an increasing population and subsequent demand for land has resulted in building on areas that are at increased risk
Population expansion can increase the risk of a hazard
How are hazards percieved as advantageous to some people?
- some people make use of the fertile soils on floodplains or in the vicinity of a volcanoe can be considered a risk worth taking and living with the threat is accepted
What are the effects of diasters on HDES ?
HDES effects tend to do little long term damage to the economy as there is enough wealth and potential for redevelopment to br able to rebuild infrastructure and supporting those directly affected
What are the effects of disasters on LDES?
LDES are more reliant on support and aid both in the immediate aftermath of an event and also in the long term
What are the local level responses to a disaster?
Saving possessions, and safeguarding property
What are the global responses to a disaster?
Co-ordination rescue and humanitarian aid
The intensity and magnitude if the event as well as the original state of the infrastructure affects the spread of international response
What is the automatic disaster analysis and mapping system (ADAM)?
A database that pools informarion from the US geographical society, world bank and world food programme
It allows almost immediate access to such information as the scale of the disaster and what supplies are avaliablly localy
What is fatalism?
Fatalism = acceptance - a view that nothing can be done to mitigate the hazard and therefore the outcome and the loss will be inevitable
What is community prepareness/risk sharing?
Prearranged measures aimed at reducing the loss of life and property damage
Can be done throigh public education and awareness programmes, evacuation procedures and provison of the neccesary resucres before hazards occur
Prediction
The ability to give warnings so that action can be taken to reduce the impact of hazardous events
E.g. remote sensing and seismic monitoring, advances in communications and warnings communication promptly
Preparation
Prearranfed measures that aim to reduce teh loss of life and damage to property throuhh increased awareness
E.g. Buildings/infrasturtucre made to withstand gazards
Prevention
Trying to stop the natural hazard occurring at all (impossible)