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Summary Natural Hazards AQA A level
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Summary notes, case studies and marked essays from the AQA Natural Hazards A level course, got me an A at a level
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Natural HazardsA natural hazard is a perceived event that threatens both life and property
The risk from natural hazards is increasing due to building shanty towns on unstable tropical slopes,
urbanising volcano zones and living in areas with active faults and on coasts susceptible to
hurricanes and tsunamis. The risk is also increased by failure to recognise potential hazards and act
accordingly.
Characteristics of natural hazards:
Magnitude (e.g. earthquakes on the Richter scale)
Frequency/how often an event of a certain size occurs
Duration (periods of extreme heat, time of earthquakes)
Spatial concentrations (e.g. the Ring of Fire, a concentration of earthquakes and volcanos in
the Pacific Basin)
Speed of onset
Temporal spacing (e.g. the seasonal regularity of cyclones)
Risk and Vulnerability
Why do people live in hazardous areas?
- Poverty, people are too poor to move
- Fertile soil, minerals released during volcanic eruptions make soil fertile and good for
agriculture
- Geothermal energy, can come from volcanic activity
- Tourism
- Employment
- Ignorance
- Hazards can be unpredictable, the frequency, magnitude or scale of an event is unknown
- Lack of alternative options, due to social, political, economic and cultural factors people
cannot easily move their homes, land and employment
- The level of risk has changed over time, places that used to be safe can now become more
dangerous, areas with recent deforestation can then be more susceptible to flooding and
landslides
- Many people believe the benefits outweigh the negatives. Areas like California are high
earthquake risk but people believe the advantages of living there to be greater than the risk
Vulnerability in relation to natural hazards means the potential for loss. Vulnerability and losses vary
between among social groups, geographical location and time.
Why are some people more vulnerable to natural hazards than others?
People living in poorer countries can be more vulnerable due to having less money for defences and
stronger materials so there is less building destruction if there is a natural hazard. They also may
have less access to technology that can enable people to identify the risks of these hazards and
prevent major devastation. People with less money may also live in more dangerous areas as they
don’t have the financial means to moveout, this means they will likely be more heavily impacted that
richer people.
,Perception - This is the way in which an individual or group views the threat of a natural hazard. This
will ultimately determine the course of action taken by individuals or the response they expect from
governments and other organisations.
Perception can be influenced by many factors including:
- Socio-economic status
- Level of education
- Occupation/employment status
- Religion, cultural and ethnic backgrounds
- Family and marital status
- Past experience
- Values, personality and expectations
Perception of a hazard determines the course of action taken by an individual in order to modify the
event or the responses they expect from governments and other organisations
People may perceive natural hazards in the following ways:
Fatalism (acceptance): hazards are natural events that are part of living in an area, some say
its ‘God’s will’, action is usually direct and concerned with safety, losses are accepted as
inevitable and people remain where they are
Adaptation: people see that they can prepare for and therefore survive the events by
prediction, prevention and protection, depending upon the economic and technological
circumstances of the area
Fear: the perception of the hazard is such that people feel so vulnerable to an event that
they are no longer able to live in the area and ,oy away to areas perceived to be unaffected
by the hazard
Resilience - The sustained ability of individuals or communities to be able to utilise available
resources to respond to, withstand and recover from the effects of natural hazard events
Factors impacting levels of resilience:
Money
Beliefs
Community resilience is the sustained ability of a community to utilise available resources to
respond to, withstand and recover from the effects of natural hazards. Communities that are
resilient are able to minimise the effects of the hazard making the return to normal life as effortless
as possible
,Management of Hazards
Modern management techniques (gathering of information, careful analysis, deliberate planning)
aim to make the most efficient use of the money available to confront natural hazards.
A process known as integrated risk management is used which incorporates identification of the
hazard, analysis of the risks, establishing priorities, treating the risk and implementing a risk
reduction plan, developing public awareness and a communication strategy and monitoring and
reviewing the whole process.
People try to manage natural hazards by:
- Prediction
- Prevention
- Protection
The park impact/response model
, - straight line at the beginning: normalcy, life before the event
- Line suddenly decreases: the event happens, the line decreases further depending on how
serious it is
- Line steadily increases: recovery after the event, slow process can take longer depending on
the severity of the event
- Line goes back straight: back to normal life OR line keeps increasing: improvement made on
life before the event OR line never reaches its original position: long lasting impacts, never
makes a full recovery
The curve may vary in response to:
o The type of hazard – more serious hazard would mean the curve is deeper as it has more of
a serious impact on the people and the area, a less serious hazard would mean the curve
only deepens a little as the impact on the area is not as serious
o The degree of preparedness – if the area is more prepared the graph would show the line
increasing back to normalcy at a faster rate as they are more equipped to deal with the
disaster meaning the relief and rehabilitation periods will be shorter
o The speed of the relief effort – the faster the relief effort, the faster the line will increase as
the relief effort will often be helped by outside agencies
o The nature of the rebuilding and reconstruction – if the area decides to drastically change
its reconstruction from what it was prior the event the rehabilitation process will take longer
and the curve will take longer to reach normality and then could eventually improve. If the
area is seriously economically impacted the reconstruction could take longer to reach
normalcy.
The Hazard Management Cycle
Evaluate the usefulness of hazard management models [9]
The hazard management cycle is used to identify risks and put in place measures to mange the risks
caused by natural disasters. The hazard management cycle consists of three main stages; pre-
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