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The difference makes it important for us to pay attention to how "disaster" is defined. Now that you have read a bit about what natural hazards are, here are a few multiple-choice questions that will test your understanding of the differences between extreme events, hazards, and disasters.
These should be very simple questions and the purpose here is to give you some confidence in understanding this material so far. Katrina was certainly also an extreme event, but along the Gulf Coast, its defining feature is the major damage it caused, making it a big disaster.
Because these events occur near the poles, they tend to not damage things that we care about. People do not live in the region, and what ecosystems exist there are not substantially disturbed. But polar lows do have unusually high winds, making them extreme events. Natural hazards can be classified into several broad categories: geological hazards, hydrological hazards, meteorological hazards, and biological hazards.
Geological hazards are hazards driven by geological i. This includes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In general, geological extreme events are beyond human influence, though humans have a large influence on the impacts of the events.
Meteorological hazards are hazards driven by meteorological i. This includes heat waves, cold waves, cyclones, hurricanes, and freezing rain.
Cyclones are commonly called hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific Ocean. Hydrological hazards are hazards driven by hydrological i.
This includes floods, droughts, mudslides, and tsunamis. Floods and droughts can cause extensive damage to agriculture and are among the main contributors to famine. The deadliest natural disaster in world history not counting pandemics was the Central China floods, killing three or four million people. Biological hazards are hazards driven by biological processes.
This includes various types of disease, including infectious diseases that spread from person to person, threatening to infect large portions of the human population. Many discussions of natural hazards exclude biological hazards, placing them instead within the realm of medicine and public health. If biological hazards are counted, then they include the deadliest disasters in world history, including the Black Death outbreak of bubonic plague in the s, killing million people, and the "Spanish" flu pandemic, a global affair the name "Spanish" is due to historical coincidence killing million people.
A natural disaster can cause damage to property, loss of life and effect the economy of the local area. Soil erosion is caused by the wind and rain which washes away soil and rocks. This can be a contributing factor for flooding, mudslides and landslides. The change in ocean currents can change the temperature of the seas, which can increase the intensity or frequency of storms as well as kill sea life, which can lead to food shortages. The risk from natural hazards, while it cannot be eliminated, can, in some cases be understood in a such a way that we can minimize the hazard to humans, and thus minimize the risk.
To do this, we need to understand something about the processes that operate, and understand the energy required for the process. Then, we can develop an action to take to minimize the risk. Such minimization of risk is called hazard mitigation. Although humans can sometimes influence natural disasters for example when poor levee design results in a flood , other disasters that are directly generated by humans, such as oil and toxic material spills, pollution, massive automobile or train wrecks, airplane crashes, and human induced explosions, are considered technological disasters, and will not be considered in this course, except when they occur as a secondary result of a natural disaster.
Some of the questions we hope to answer for each possible natural disaster are: Where is each type of hazard likely to be present and why? What scientific principles govern the processes responsible for the disasters? How often do these hazards develop into disasters? For example: Throughout Earth history, volcanism has been responsible for producing much of the water present on the Earth's surface, and for producing the atmosphere.
Earthquakes are one of the processes responsible for the formation of mountain ranges which which direct water to flow downhill to form rivers and lakes. Erosional processes, including flooding, landslides, and windstorms replenishes soil and helps sustain life. Classification of Natural Hazards and Disasters Natural Hazards and the natural disasters that result can be divided into several different categories: Geologic Hazards - These are the main subject of this course and include: Earthquakes Volcanic Eruptions Tsunami Landslides Floods Subsidence Impacts with space objects Atmospheric Hazards - These are also natural hazards but processes operating in the atmosphere are mainly responsible.
Anthropogenic Hazards These are hazards that occur as a result of human interaction with the environment. Effects of Hazards Hazardous process of all types can have primary, secondary, and tertiary effects. Primary Effects occur as a result of the process itself. For example water damage during a flood or collapse of buildings during an earthquake, landslide, or hurricane. Secondary Effects occur only because a primary effect has caused them.
For example, fires ignited as a result of earthquakes, disruption of electrical power and water service as a result of an earthquake, flood, or hurricane, or flooding caused by a landslide into a lake or river.
Tertiary Effects are long-term effects that are set off as a result of a primary event. These include things like loss of habitat caused by a flood, permanent changes in the position of river channel caused by flood, crop failure caused by a volcanic eruption etc.
Vulnerability to Hazards and Disasters Vulnerability refers the way a hazard or disaster will affect human life and property Vulnerability to a given hazard depends on: Proximity to a possible hazardous event Population density in the area proximal to the event Scientific understanding of the hazard Public education and awareness of the hazard Existence or non-existence of early-warning systems and lines of communication Availability and readiness of emergency infrastructure Construction styles and building codes Cultural factors that influence public response to warnings In general, less developed countries are more vulnerable to natural hazards than are industrialized countries because of lack of understanding, education, infrastructure, building codes, etc.
Development and habitation of lands susceptible to hazards, For example, building on floodplains subject to floods, sea cliffs subject to landslides, coastlines subject to hurricanes and floods, or volcanic slopes subject to volcanic eruptions. Increasing the severity or frequency of a natural disaster. For example: overgrazing or deforestation leading to more severe erosion floods, landslides , mining groundwater leading to subsidence, construction of roads on unstable slopes leading to landslides, or even contributing to global warming, leading to more severe storms.
Hazard Assessment consists of determining the following when and where hazardous processes have occurred in the past.
Risk Assessment involves not only the assessment of hazards from a scientific point of view, but also the socio-economic impacts of a hazardous event. Risk is a statement of probability that an event will cause x amount of damage, or a statement of the economic impact in monetary terms that an event will cause.
Risk assessment involves hazard assessment, as above, location of buildings, highways, and other infrastructure in the areas subject to hazards potential exposure to the physical effects of a hazardous situation the vulnerability of the community when subjected to the physical effects of the event. Prediction and Warning Risk and vulnerability can sometimes be reduced if there is an adequate means of predicting a hazardous event. Prediction Prediction involves: A statement of probability that an event will occur based on scientific observation Such observation usually involves monitoring of the process in order to identify some kind of precursor event s - an anomalous small physical change that may be known to lead to a more devastating event.
Once a tropical depression is identified, monitoring allows meteorologists to predict how long the development will take and the eventual path of the storm. Volcanic eruptions are usually preceded by a sudden increase in the number of earthquakes immediately below the volcano and changes in the chemical composition of the gases emitted from a volcanic vent. If these are closely monitored, volcanic eruptions can be often be predicted with reasonable accuracy.
Forecasting Sometimes the word "forecast" is used synonymously with prediction and other times it is not. In the prediction of floods, hurricanes, and other weather related phenomena the word forecast refers to short-term prediction in terms of the magnitude, location, date, and time of an event.
Most of us are familiar with weather forecasts. If an earthquake measures 12, there is far-reaching devastation. Many scholars believe this concept is entirely feasible. One thing known for certain is that there has been a tremendous change from the environment of the ancient earth, compared to that of today.
The facts of the fossil record reveal that the early earth flourished in a temperate, paradise-like atmosphere that was quite unlike the harsh differentials that obtain in the modern world. Alfred R. This was the challenge that the inflexible dinosaurs could not overcome. Surprisingly, the forces of change that led to their destruction did not originate on the surface of the earth, but deep inside it.
The continents moved apart, and new mountains were created; the Alps and the Rocky Mountains were among the great ranges formed at that time. The question for our present consideration, then, is this. What precipitated these subterranean explosions that separated certain landmasses, pushed up mountains, etc.? Informed people who have a regard for the integrity of the sacred scriptures are aware of the fact that many centuries ago there was a catastrophic flood, sent by God as a consequence of the wickedness of mankind Genesis This deluge covered the entire globe Genesis ,21 , and was utterly devastating in terms of the destruction of almost the whole of the human family Genesis ; cf.
Moses described the initial events of the third day of the creation week as follows:. A look at a world map reveals this arrangement, even as the waters stand in the post-flood world — which must be somewhat different from the pre-flood circumstances. Psalm ; ; Have you walked in the recesses of the deep? There are, even today, freshwater springs beneath the ocean floor in many parts of the world, e.
Almost certainly they were significantly greater in the antediluvian world. The original word has a variety of applications in the Old Testament. The term frequently is associated with violent action. It is applied to the ripping open of the belly of a pregnant woman Amos There must have been hundreds of violent subterranean quakes and convolutions on that day when the undersea fountains violently burst forth in orchestrated judgment.
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