Unit 2: The World in Spatial Terms (Lessons 8-9)

Natural Disasters

A natural hazard occurs when Earth’s natural physical processes have a negative effect on people or the environment. There are many events in nature that we define as natural hazards. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami, typhoons, and landslides are some examples of natural hazards. Sometimes the devastation is so extreme that it triggers a natural disaster.

To determine whether a natural hazard is also a natural disaster, we look at the effects of the event. A natural hazard is considered a disaster if the human consequences are severe like widespread damage, injury, loss of life or property with which the community cannot cope. For example, if a volcano erupts on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean where nothing is destroyed and no people are harmed, it is just considered a natural hazard. However, if a volcano erupts near a town and people are injured or killed and many homes and buildings are destroyed, it may be considered a disaster.

Who is Vulnerable?

Some countries or regions are more at risk for damage by a natural hazard. This means they are more likely to experience a natural disaster when a natural hazard happens. The term, “developing country,” is used to describe a nation with a low level of material well-being. These countries are poor. They tend to lack the basic infrastructure (roads, buildings, power supply, hospitals, etc.) for society activities. These countries are

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Figure 1: Natural Hazard in Oklahoma – 1999 Tornado

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Figure 2: Natural Disaster in Kansas – 2007 Tornado

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more likely to experience a natural disaster from a natural hazard because they are less prepared to respond.

The wealth of a country can impact its ability to respond to a natural hazard. For example, Japan and Nicaragua are both prone to earthquakes. However, Nicaragua is much more vulnerable because it is a developing country. As a result, more people are likely to die or suffer from a natural hazard in Nicaragua than if the same environmental impact happened in Japan.

Japan can invest in improving their preparedness in order to lessen the severity of the effects of a natural hazard. Being more prepared for an earthquake would include training and drills, communication systems, and strict building codes. Building codes are rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed structures. Developing nations often do not have the resources to invest in disaster preparedness.

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Figure 4: Highly Vulnerable Neighborhood in Somoto, Nicaragua

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Figure 3: Low Vulnerable Neighborhood in Tokyo, Japanhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/ 御茶ノ水外堀 通り .jpg

What Contributes to Vulnerability?

How humans interact with their environment can sometimes contribute to their own vulnerability to natural disasters. The choices people make may cause a natural hazard become a disaster. For example, people may choose to build a town on the slope of an active volcano. When that volcano erupts, it is much more likely to become a natural disaster because that town is there.

It is also fairly common for people to build homes on the banks of flood-prone rivers. Locating homes in such an area is then more likely to lead to a disaster.

Clearing forests or destroying reefs, which may act as natural wind breaks

for hurricanes or tsunami, also increase a place’s vulnerability and make it more likely to experience the severe damage of a disaster.

A natural disaster will always begin as a natural hazard. However, whether a natural hazard becomes a disaster depends on the effects to people and property.The Effects of Natural Disasters

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Figure 5: Kagoshima City: 5 km from Mt Sakurajimahttp://www.eee.kagoshima-u.ac.jp/~haku-lab/misc/misc-photo/

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There are both short-term and long-term effects that countries experience due to a natural disaster. Effects fall into one of five categories: health, social, economic, political, or environmental.

Health effects are any physical or emotional problems that people experience as a result of the disaster. They might include injuries, spread of disease due to poor sanitation, lack of medical care, or malnutrition due to food shortages.

Social effects relate to the way people in groups behave and interact. They might include loss of family members, the disruption of transportation or communication networks, or the disruption of education.

Economic effects involve the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. These effects could include disruption to the economy, loss of jobs, physical damage to businesses, or interruption of trade.

Political effects occur when government services are interrupted or government officers are cannot respond in a timely manner. The loss of leaders due to death or injury, the disruption of the government programs and services, or damage to government buildings are all possible political effects of a natural disaster.

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Figure 7: The Red Cross bring aid to the injured. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/FEMA_-_35445_-_Red_Cross_Disaster_Relief_truck_in_Colorado.jpg

Figure 8: Roads under water in Nashville, Tennessee http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Welcome_Downtown_Nashville_Flood.jpg

Figure 9: California earthquake damages transportation. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/FEMA_-_43319_-_Road_damage_in_California.jpg

Environment effects are those that affect the surroundings of a region, including its air, water, minerals, and organisms. Examples of environmental effects of a disaster are damage to buildings, destruction of natural features, decreased quality of water supplies, and destruction of crops.

Sometimes many countries experience the effects of a natural disaster whether regardless of where the disaster takes place. For instance, a hurricane can strike in one country or region, but trade or transportation may be disrupted in many countries as a result. When this happens, the disaster is considered a global problem.

Varying Effects of Natural Disasters

There are some countries in the world that are overall more vulnerable than others to a natural disaster based on their risk factors. First of all, some areas are more exposed to, or likely to experience, natural hazards simply based on their geographic location. For instance, in Michigan, we have a low exposure to volcanoes but a higher exposure to tornadoes. Countries in the tropics, like the Philippines or Haiti, are much more likely to experience tropical cyclones.

In addition to a country’s exposure based on geographic factors, there are other risk factors. These risk factors determine a place’s overall vulnerability to death and destruction. Even natural disasters of similar strength can have vastly different results in two different countries or regions because of susceptibility, coping capabilities, and adaptive capacities.

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Figure 10: MC3 Project. Graphic Organizer. SS060206.

Susceptibility is the likelihood that a natural hazard will result in harm and damage. Some countries are more susceptible to damage than others. If a county has a weak economy, poor nutrition, and unsound housing or infrastructure (government provided goods and services including hospitals, electricity, schools, roads, parks, water supply), there is a far greater likelihood that it will suffer damage. Developing countries like Kenya or Guatamala might fall into this category.

Coping Capability basically means that some countries can cope better in the face of disaster because they are prepared in ways that other countries are not. They may have warning systems in place, emergency services for medical help, or the financial means to provide emergency food and/or housing for people in need. Developed countries like the United States and Japan are examples of countries that tend to cope well in disasters.

Adaptive Capacity also influences a country’s overall vulnerability. Some countries are in a better place than others to learn from their past. After a disaster, they are the able to see what went well and what didn’t. They make changes to help prepare for the next one. Being prepared for a future natural disaster can help mitigate, or reduce, damage in the future. Investing in education and research, ecosystem protection, organized community drills, or improved building codes or warning systems are ways that communities and countries adapt to past events.

Not all countries respond by putting preventive measures in place. Some countries must expend all their energy and resources focused solely on recovery from the current disaster. There are no extra resources left to look toward preventative or adaptive responses. Countries that cannot adapt and take precautionary measures against anticipated future natural disasters are typically developing countries. Haiti, Tanzania, and Nicaragua are countries that have low adaptive capacity.

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Clearly, some countries are more vulnerable to natural disasters than others. A country’s exposure is the risk factor that determines if a hazard is even very likely to happen. For example, countries in the Pacific Ring of Fire have very high exposure to volcanoes and earthquakes. Exposure is only one risk factor, however. The effects of natural disasters vary from one country, or region, due in part to three remaining risk factors: susceptibility, coping capability and adaptive capacity. Developing countries are often very vulnerable to natural disasters because of these risk factors.

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Figure 11: Pacific Ring of FireSource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Fire

Figure 12: MC3 Project. Graphic Organizer. SS060209.

Figure 13: MC3 Project. Unit Graphic Organizer. SS0602.

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