Hazards & Disasters

Characteristics of Hazards

Characteristics & spatial distribution of: Volcanoes; Hurricanes; Droughts; Oil Spills (Deepwater Horizon)

"Distinguish between the chosen hazards in terms of their spatial extent, predictability, frequency, magnitude, duration, speed of onset and effects."

* By the end of unit 1 you should have 4 case studies

Drought in the Yangtze river basin - in pictures (Guardian 2011)

Chernobyl (National Geographic)

Fill in the table below to compare/summarise the key characteristics

Explain whether you think there is a relationship between the frequency and magnitude of a hazard event.

Write a paragraph to compare the effectiveness of predicting any 2 of the above hazards.

Definitions:

• Hazard: A threat (whether natural or human) that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury, property damage, socio-economic disruption or environmental degradation.
• Disaster: A major hazard event that causes widespread disruption to a community or region that the affected community is unable to deal with adequately without outside help.

Deepwater Horizon pupil presentation

Droughts Pupil presentation

Current Horn of Africa Drought 2011

Read the following articles & make case study notes:

• Pre-famine conditions
• From one drought to another
• Long term strategies
• UK Aid pledge

Predicting Volcanoes

Case Study: Montserrat

Make notes about the different methods of predicting erruptions.

Predicting Hurricanes

BBC article (May 2011): Can earthquakes be predicted

How have the intensity and impact of disaster events changed over space and time?

Look at the pictures & follow the links. Answer/discuss the subsequent questions:

Source: http://maps.grida.no/library/files/web_trends_in_natural_disasters_004.jpg

Changes in disaster numbers

1) Describe the trends in disaster frequency (total disasters & types of disasters)

2) Offer explanations as to why you think there are increasing numbers of disasters & why specific ones are increasing. (You should consider issues such as: increasing populations, urban areas, climate change, agricultural practises & deforestation).

Disaster Risk Reduction

Disaster Risk Management Asia

3) How can the risks of disasters be reduced?

4) Follow this link (UN disaster risk reduction) & explain what you think the statement means:

"There is no such thing as a 'natural' disaster, only natural hazards."

Responses to the risk of hazard events.

Strategies designed to reduce damage from hazard events/ disasters

Volcanoes

Hurricanes

Nuclear

• Fukushima
• Personal planning
• Evacuation zone
• US Nuclear regulatory comission