LETRAN DE DAVAO OF MACO, INC.

8806 Poblacion, Maco, Davao de Oro

DISASTER
READINESS AND
RISK REDUCTION

TEACHER: CHARLES C. ARSOLON

 Lesson 3

EXPOSURE AND VULNERABILITY

The determinants of risk are exposure and vulnerability. Vulnerability and exposure
are both dynamic which vary across temporal and spatial scales. Both depend on
economic, social, geographic, demographic, cultural, institutional, governance, and
environmental factors.

VULNERABILITY
Vulnerability is the lack of capacity of a community or system to prepare, absorb, or
recover from hazard. Based on SOPAC, vulnerability is the tendency of an entity to be
damaged. These entities can be physical (people, ecosystems, coastlines etc) or
abstract concepts (societies, communities, economies, countries etc) that can be
damaged (responders). Vulnerability is a function of exposure sensitivity and adaptive
capacity (IPCC, 2001) mathematically expressed as Vulnerability = f(exposure,
sensitivity, adaptive capacity). This means that the greater the exposure or sensitivity,
the greater is the vulnerability.

There are two categories of vulnerability: social and bio-physical. Social vulnerability
is a state that exists within a system prior to a hazard. It is determined by factors such
as poverty, inequality, food and water, access to insurance and housing quality.

EXPOSURE
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001), exposure
means a degree of climate stress on a particular unit of analysis. It is represented as
either long-term changes in climate stress on a particular unit of analysis. It is
represented as either long-term changes in climate conditions including the
magnitude and frequency of extreme events. The elements to consider in exposure are
things that can be affected by climate change such as populations, resources and
property and change in climate such as sea level rise, precipitation and temperature.
Exposure is the element affected by a hazard.

SENSITIVITY
The factor affecting the level of vulnerability is sensitivity which refers to the degree to
which a system will be affected or responsive to stimuli (Smit et al., 2001). For
example, sensitivity is the biophysical effect of climate change but can be altered by
socio-economic change like a new crop variety that could be either more or less
sensitive to climate change.
RESILIENCE/ADAPTIVE CAPACITY
Vulnerability is the characteristic of a community, system or asset that makes it
susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard. The opposite is resilience which is the
ability of a system exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate and recover
from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the
preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions.

In terms of climate change, adaptive capacity is the potential or capability of a system

to adjust to variability and extremes of climate, to moderate potential damages, to take
advantage of opportunities or to cope with consequences (Smit and Pilifosova, 2001).
According to Smit et al., 2001, adaptive capacity can be determined in terms of wealth,
technology, education, institutions, information, infrastructure and social capital.

VULNERABILITY OF THE EXPOSED ELEMENTS

The elements at risk can be social, physical, economic and environmental. In the social
aspect, the vulnerable population may refer to groups of people who need special care
to cope with impacts of natural hazards such as the poor, physically challenged,
elderly, children, women and others. Physical vulnerability of an area depends on the
exposure of vulnerable structural elements within an area such as buildings,
dwellings, critical facilities, and other infrastructures. Economic vulnerability refers to
the area’s wealth, income, potential for growth, among others. Social vulnerability
means the characteristics of individuals or groups in the area that determine their
well-being in terms of their income and access to basic services such as education
and health. Finally, environmental vulnerability refers to the state of the environment
such as species and ecosystem and habitats (UNDP, 2004).

ACTIVITY: Answer the following

1. Write VUL for vulnerability and RES for resiliency on the space provided before
the statement (20 pts.).

_________ coastal areas in the country

_________ residents along the rivers
_________ people in the floodplains
_________ areas with proper evacuation centers and basic supply
_________ early warning systems issued always
_________ elderly and the young people
_________ houses made of light materials
_________ availability of funds and government support
_________ survival kits during emergency
_________ rescue and rehabilitation activities
2. Draw a vulnerable community and a community resilient to flooding. Write your
answer on the appropriate box provided below (20 pts.).

VULNERABLE COMMUNITY RESILIENT COMMUNITY