Disaster Risk Reduction and Hazards Quiz
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Questions and Answers

How do biophysical processes influence the elevation of islands and their vulnerability to storms?

Biophysical processes can lead to higher elevations on islands, reducing their storm vulnerability by allowing sediment erosion on the upper beach to create more stable nearshore conditions.

What role does climate change play in enhancing the frequency and intensity of wildfires?

Climate change increases temperatures and alters precipitation patterns, which together contribute to more frequent and intense wildfires.

In what ways can social factors exacerbate the vulnerability of communities to disasters such as wildfires?

Social factors like settlement expansion and increased tourism in arid regions can heighten vulnerability to wildfires due to greater human presence in fire-prone areas.

What are the implications of the Brunn rule in understanding island vulnerability during storms?

<p>The Brunn rule suggests that sediment dynamics are critical; if storms dominate, islands may remain at low elevations, increasing their vulnerability and hindering recovery.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Why is the relationship between climate change and hazards like drought and earthquakes important for disaster management?

<p>Understanding this relationship enables better prediction and preparedness strategies, as climate change may influence the frequency and severity of these hazards.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main categories used to classify hazards according to UNDRR?

<p>Location, intensity, and frequency.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Give an example of a biological hazard and explain its impact.

<p>Epidemic diseases, which can cause widespread illness and strain healthcare systems.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do quasi-natural hazards differ from natural hazards?

<p>Quasi-natural hazards result from the interaction of human activities with natural processes, increasing their severity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a na-tech hazard and provide an example?

<p>Na-tech hazards are hybrids of natural and technological hazards; for example, the Fukushima disaster.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define vulnerability in the context of disasters.

<p>Vulnerability reflects the exposure of people and assets to damaging natural events.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What has been the trend in disaster events and their severity from 2015 to 2023?

<p>There was an increase in events and severity over the years, culminating in $250 billion losses worldwide in 2023.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role does environmental security play in reducing vulnerability?

<p>Improvements in environmental security can lower the level of human vulnerability to hazardous events.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Identify a technological hazard and explain its relevance.

<p>Major accidents in the built environment are technological hazards, such as industrial explosions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the Standardised Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index help improve our understanding of?

<p>It improves understanding of drought characteristics, spatial coherence, causes, and impacts.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What relationship was observed between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and UK droughts?

<p>There was no significant relationship between the NAO and UK droughts.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What technology is crucial for agricultural and water resource planning during droughts?

<p>Technological developments in real-time drought monitoring are crucial.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the purpose of the 2009 'Black Saturday' wildfire initiative in Victoria?

<p>It aimed to expand prescribed burning to reduce wildfire risks.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one method of modifying earthquake loss potential?

<p>Creating warning systems and emergency evacuation plans is one method.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What knowledge gaps were identified in drought monitoring from a water resource perspective?

<p>There were gaps in early warning systems for drought conditions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary goal of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategies?

<p>To prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk while managing residual risk.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role does the USGS play in drought management?

<p>The USGS is involved in real-time drought monitoring.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was a key takeaway from the Yokohama Strategy concerning disaster reduction?

<p>It acknowledged the gaps between the IDNDR's goals and the existing reality.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How did Severn Trent contribute to understanding drought history in Britain?

<p>Severn Trent produced a temporally extended set of robust rainfall records.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the Hyogo Framework for Action aim to achieve by 2015?

<p>To substantially reduce disaster losses in lives and social, economic, and environmental assets.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does the Sendai Framework aim to promote disaster risk reduction?

<p>By coordinating UN disaster reduction programs and encouraging partnerships among governments and communities.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Aleutian Low, and how does it relate to the PDO?

<p>The Aleutian Low is a semi-permanent area of low atmospheric pressure off the Aleutian Islands, influencing weather patterns in the North Pacific, including the PDO.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How do extreme floods influence local culture and memory?

<p>They become part of local folklore and are recorded in songs and stories.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How does the Kuroshio Current impact sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the North Pacific?

<p>Changes in the strength and location of the Kuroshio Current can either enhance or reduce SSTs in the western half of the North Pacific.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of informal/alternative sources in the context of disaster impacts?

<p>They provide access to voices and information that might not be captured in formal records.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does the Volcanic Alert Level scale measure and how many levels does it have?

<p>It measures the level of volcanic activity with four levels of alert.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Explain how the NAO index influences temperature and precipitation patterns.

<p>Positive NAO values lead to warmer conditions in the U.S. East and Northern Europe, while negative values result in cooler temperatures and altered precipitation patterns.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What do discussions on adjustment, mitigation, and management focus on?

<p>They focus on society's responses to natural hazards.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was a significant consequence of the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo?

<p>There was a large-scale evacuation of residents, resulting in temporary shelters being set up.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is one of the commitments of public authorities under DRR policies?

<p>To implement disaster reduction policies and actions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Describe the relationship between the NAO and storm activity in northwestern Europe.

<p>A strong NAO is associated with more frequent and intense storms traveling across northwestern Europe.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What role do ocean memory anomalies play in the PDO?

<p>Ocean memory anomalies, caused by past weather events or phenomena like El Niño/La Niña, can be trapped at depth and significantly influence the PDO's behavior in subsequent years.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How many Volcano Observatories (VO) globally monitor active volcanoes?

<p>Over 100 Volcano Observatories monitor approximately 1551 active or potentially active volcanoes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What purpose do weather-based statistical approaches serve in wildfire management?

<p>They forecast fire risk several days to one week in advance.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) used for?

<p>It is used to assess fire risk and inform firefighting strategies.</p> Signup and view all the answers

According to marginalization theory, what significantly affects the impact of disasters in developing countries?

<p>The pre-existing marginalization of different sectors of society affects disaster impact.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What implication does marginalization theory suggest about disaster aid in developing countries?

<p>Relief aid often reflects dominant interests, which can undermine those most affected by disasters.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is suggested as a way to reduce vulnerability to disasters according to marginalization theory?

<p>Concentrate disaster planning within the broader context of development planning.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Disaster Risk Reduction and Hazards

  • Disaster risk reduction aims to promote common understanding of disaster risk reduction and assists authorities, practitioners, and the public.
  • A hazard is a process, phenomenon, or human activity that causes social, economic, or environmental degradation or disruption.
  • Hazards are categorized by location, intensity, frequency, and probability.

Types of Hazards

  • Biological: Epidemic diseases.
  • Geological: Earthquakes, volcanoes.
  • Meteorological: Storms, cyclones.
  • Climatological: Droughts, wildfires.
  • Hydrological: Flooding.
  • Hydrometeorological: Quasi-natural hazards caused by the interaction of humans and natural environments, such as increased flood magnitude due to coastal settlements.
  • Technological: Disasters stemming from the built environment, e.g., accidents.
  • Na-tech: Hybrid hazards combining natural and technological factors, for example the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Example: Fukushima

  • A tsunami triggered by an earthquake (magnitude 9.0) in March 2011 caused the Fukushima nuclear accident.
  • Flooding of the nuclear power plant caused cooling systems to fail and led to partial fuel rod meltdown.
  • Radioactive material was released through gas explosions and coolant water discharge into the sea and atmosphere.

Disaster

  • Disaster is the disruption of societal functioning arising from the interaction of events and vulnerability. This can be immediate or localized.
  • Hazards interact with vulnerable populations to cause disasters.

Vulnerability

  • Vulnerability assesses the level of physical exposure of people and assets to damaging natural events.
  • Human vulnerability determines the extent to which a natural hazard results in a disaster.
  • Vulnerability can be reduced by improvements in environmental security such as protective structures and planning regulations.

Risk

  • Risk is calculated by multiplying the probability of adverse consequences (p) by the magnitude/severity of losses (L).
  • A high degree of vulnerability results in high risk.

Social Vulnerability

  • Social vulnerability includes factors influencing a person or group's response, resistance, and recovery from natural hazards.
  • Vulnerable populations are marginalized, and their lives are often fraught with 'permanent emergency' due to their vulnerability.
  • Societal responses to disasters frequently involve acknowledging the 'Act of God' (disasters are inevitable) and parallel practice (holding seemingly contradictory views).
  • Global hazard events have fluctuated across time, from 1060 registered events in 2015 to significant decreases in events but increases in severity between 2017 and 2018.
  • Costs due to natural disasters have been high, in 2023 alone, exceeding $250 billion worldwide.
  • Infrastructure development often accompanies economic and social development, increasing disaster event severity, particularly in cases of flooding.

Flood Characteristics

  • Floods can span from minutes to months, depending on whether they have rainfall or not (such as arid environments.
  • Floods can manifest in a range of geographical settings, from localized areas to entire regions.
  • Human settlements frequently develop around water sources, implying that flooding risks are well known, and have been present for a long time.
  • Floods can influence the structure, purpose, and function of human settlements.

Disaster Risk Reduction: Concepts and Approaches

  • Recent research focuses on integrating disaster risk reduction strategies into socioeconomic and political frameworks.
  • Disaster risk reduction focuses on reducing existing risk, and also on managing the residual risk (as well as managing the residual risk).
  • Disaster risk reduction requires addressing not just the hazards themselves, but also the societal vulnerabilities that can exacerbate the impact of those hazards.

Resilience

  • Resilience is an individual's capacity to recover quickly from a difficult or harmful experience.
  • Resilient societies are able to adapt and overcome the damage caused by natural hazards.

Engineering Paradigm

  • This paradigm focuses on hardening built environments to withstand natural hazards based on increasing scientific knowledge, and mainly emerged between the 18th to the 20th century.

Radical Paradigm

  • This paradigm emphasizes human vulnerability to natural hazards, concentrating on less-developed countries.
  • Critics have suggested that disasters are rooted in societal structures rather than solely in the hazard itself.
  • This perspective highlights the role of societal factors such as poverty and inequality in increasing vulnerability to hazards.

Complexity Paradigm

  • This paradigm emphasizes the importance of mitigation and long-term recovery, societal vulnerability, and resilience
  • It's connected to global issues like climate change and sustainability

Current Research Agendas and Frameworks

  • The field has moved from reactive measures to proactive, long-term disaster reduction strategies.
  • Several frameworks/strategies (e.g., Yokohama, Hyogo Framework, and Sendai Framework) have emerged, aiming to strengthen global resilience to disasters and link disaster risk reduction to sustainable development.

Floods: Social Impacts and Memories

  • Extreme floods are often incorporated into local folklore as songs and stories, reflecting their prominent place in social memory.
  • Informal/alternative sources, including local narratives, are important for understanding and analyzing societal responses to flooding.
  • Flood events leave lasting marks or commemorations that are critically important for understanding community responses to the event.

Flood Defences: Design and Implementation

  • Designing reliable flood defences requires knowing expected flood levels and using historical flood data.
  • Flood defences are usually constructed with a maximum risk level, this means that if the actual event goes beyond what was planned, the defences become ineffective
  • Flood defences are often expensive.

Hazard Predictions

  • Volcano prediction relies on past performance data and continuous monitoring.
  • Earthquake prediction is based on seismic activity monitoring and the analysis of historical patterns.
  • Fire danger prediction models use weather conditions.

Models of Marginalization, Theories, and Marginalization Theory

  • Marginalization theory argues that disasters in developing countries stem from pre-existing social marginalization rather than the hazard itself
  • This means that disaster outcomes (in vulnerable countries) are already the result of pre-existing marginalization, which then exacerbates any disaster impact
  • Disaster impacts are disproportionately felt by the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society in disaster-prone countries.

Climate Change and Extreme Events

  • Climate change impacts are intertwined with hazard events such as wildfires, floods, droughts, etc.
  • The frequency and intensity of extreme events could increase, and societies are unprepared, as these events are now intensifying.
  • Understanding these trends is critical to predicting future hazards and developing robust disaster mitigation strategies.

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Description

Test your knowledge on disaster risk reduction and various types of hazards. This quiz covers biological, geological, meteorological, climatological, hydrological, technological, and na-tech hazards. Understand the definitions and implications of each hazard type in the real world.

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