What is the connection between these pictures?

Thunderstorm

Cyclone Wild fire

What is the connection between these pictures?

Tsunami
Land slide
What is the connection between these pictures?

Floods

Drought
 Answers
Cyclone Thunderstorms Wildfire
ALL 3 ARE CLASSED AS HYDRO-METEOROLOGICAL

Tsunami Earthquake Landslide

ALL THESE ARE CLASSED AS GEOPHYSICAL HAZARDS

Floods Drought
THESE COULD FIT INTO EITHER
Know – the
different
categories of Hazards and
hazards Disasters
Assess
Understand – why some
populations
why disasters are more
affect people in Explain the
vulnerable difference
different ways to between a Describe the
disasters different
natural categories of
Skills – recognise than hazard and hazard and
the difference others a disaster, give
between a hazard using a examples of
and disaster theoretical hazards in
each
model category
Why are there different types of hazard?

Our focus is on natural

hazards:
• Geophysical
• Hydro-meteorological
• Caused by earth processes.
• They can be caused by either
internal earth processes of
tectonic activity
• Or by external processes of
geomorphological origin involving
mass movement

• Caused by running water and its

processes (hydro) and those
associated with weather
patterns (meteorological)
 Why are there different types of hazard?

Our focus is on natural hazards:

Geophysical Hydro-
•meteorological
Caused by earth • Caused by running water
processes. and its processes (hydro)
• They can be caused by and those associated
either internal earth with weather patterns
processes of tectonic (meteorological)
activity
• Or by external processes
of geomorphological
origin involving mass
movement

Give examples!
 When does a
hazard become
a disaster?
 What is the difference between a hazard
and a disaster?
A naturally occurring process or “The realisation of hazard,
event which has the potential to although there is no universally
cause loss of life or property. agreed definition of the scale on
Without people it is just a natural which loss has to occur in order
event. to qualify as a disaster”(Smith 1996)

Dregg’s model
What type of hazards are these?
1. A cyclone affecting Hong Kong
2. A hurricane passing over a remote
unpopulated island
3. A flood in a rural area which floods the
roads, but does not affect any houses
4. A volcano erupting in isolation in the
middles of the Pacific ocean
5. An avalanche in a ski resort
6. An avalanche high on the mountain slopes
remote from any settlement
7. A tsunami wave 50cm high off the coast
of Japan
8. An earthquake in Kashmir, Northern
Pakistan
9. A drought in Australia’s outback
10. A landslide in a favela in Rio
In 1990 Swiss Re insurance defined
a disaster as an event that where at
least 20 people died, or insured
damage of over 16 million US
dollars was caused.
But values and currencies change
all the time!
 Why are some places affected
Importance
more byof Vulnerability
disasters?
The impact of any
hazard are a result of
peoples vulnerability -
not necessarily the
hazards strength.

Explain why some places are

more affected by others when
natural disasters impact…
Why are some places affected
more by disasters?
1. Vulnerable
people do not
live in dangerous
places because
they want to;
they do it
because they
have to. Land
may be cheaper
or unwanted by
others
 Why are some places affected
more by disasters?

2. Vulnerable people cannot afford to

build well, even if building regulations
are enforced.
 Why are some places affected
more by disasters?

3. Rapid urbanisation has

forced the poor into high
risk areas of cities
Why are some places affected
more by disasters?

4. Changing risk – Rising

sea levels mean that
safe areas are now
prone to flooding &
storm surges.
Deforestation reduces
interception &
increases the risk of
flooding.
Why are some places affected
more by disasters?

5. Cost v
Benefits – for
example benefits
of fertile soils
on volcanoes
verses the risk
of eruption
 Why are some places affected
more by disasters?
Remember!
Vulnerability is not the same as poverty.

e.g Earthquakes
It is possible for the middle
classes to be more affected
by the collapse of their
unsafe homes than the poor
in a shanty town whose
flimsy homes collapse and
cause little damage
Match the key terms to the correct definitions on your sheet

• Natural Hazards
• Disaster
• Vulnerability
• Hydro-meteorological Hazard
• Chronic Hazard
• Geophysical hazard
 Natural A naturally occurring process or event which has the potential
Hazard to cause loss of life or property.
Without people it is just a natural event.

Vulnerability Is to be susceptible to physical or emotional injury.

Chronic A hazard that is long term-term and persistent e.g. El-Nino or

Hazard Global Warming.
“The realisation of hazard, although there is no universally
Disaster agreed definition of the scale on which loss has to occur in
order to qualify as a disaster”(Smith 1996)
Geophysical The cause of the hazard is geological or geomorphological (e.g.
Hazard landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes and earthquakes).
Hydro- Natural processes of atmospheric or hydrological (eg. Cyclones,
meteorological droughts, floods, storm surges, thunder/hailstorms, rain and
Hazard wind storms, blizzards, desertification, wild fires, temperature
extremes, sand or dust storms, avalanches).