Summary AQA A Level Geography: Hazards Detailed Notes
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Full, detailed, A* level notes about the Hazards topic in the Geography A Level. Case studies included. Clear and concise notes to help you build knowledge on the topic and achieve higher grades. Send me a message if you have any questions about what is in the document!
Hazards Revision
Natural Hazards ● Plate Tectonics ● Types of Plate Margin ● Volcanic
Hazards ● Volcanic Hazards - Impacts and Responses ● Seismic Hazards ●
Seismic Hazards - Impacts and Responses ● Storm Hazards ● Storm
Hazards - Case Studies ● Wildfires ● Multi-hazard Environment - Case
Study ● Hazardous Setting - Case Study
Natural Hazards
A hazard is something that’s a potential threat to human life or property. Natural
hazards are caused by natural processes like lava flow from a volcanic eruption,
and can be divided into 4 types:
● Geophysical hazards caused by land processes, such as earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions, landslides and tsunamis
● Atmospheric hazards caused by climatic processes, such as tropical
cyclones, storms, droughts, extremes of hot and cold weather and
wildfires
● Hydrological hazards caused by water movement, such as floods and
avalanches
● Biological hazards caused by organisms, such as animal and plant
invasions, disease epidemics in humans and forest fires
Disaster- when a hazard seriously affects humans
Hazard Risk- the likelihood that a hazard will take place and that humans will be
seriously affected by it
Hazard Vulnerability- how susceptible a population is to the damage caused by
a hazard and how they will be impacted. Factors that affect this include
population density, poverty, building design and defences and hazard hotspots
Hazard Capacity- how able a population is to react and recover from a natural
hazard. Factors that can affect this include having search teams, medical care
and helicopters at the ready to respond at any moment.
Vulnerability to a hazard can be graphed so we can see that it is based on a
range of human and physical factors.
,Hazards can have significant impacts whilst they are occurring and often require
an emergency response such as evacuation. However, the impacts can also go
on for a long time after the hazard itself has happened.
Perceptions of Hazards
People can view hazards in different ways through fatalism, adaptation and fear:
Fatalism- believing that hazards can’t be avoided, losses are inevitable and
therefore they must be accepted. People are likely to stay where they are.
Adaptation- a positive view of prediction, prevention and protection, which will
depend on the economic status of the area and adapting their lifestyle to
minimise risk. People are likely to stay and try to help out.
Fear- feeling vulnerable and they cannot live with the threat. People are likely to
move away.
Others may believe they will never experience a particular hazard and so may be
unprepared when it happens.
People’s perceptions of hazards can be affected by social, economic and cultural
backgrounds:
● Wealth- richer people may be able to afford to move to areas that are less
prone to hazards, have access to better transport for evacuation or build
their homes to withstand hazards, so may perceive smaller risks e.g.
Hurricane Katrina. Poorer people may not be able to leave because their
entire livelihood exists solely at home e.g. Indonesian volcanoes
● Religion- some may view hazards as an act of God sent to punish people
e.g. Vanuatuan volcanoes or may believe that God will save them.
● Education- people who are more educated may have a better
understanding of the risks of a hazard, or may believe they are able to
reduce the risks or mitigate the impacts. Governments can encourage this
by spreading information e.g. Bōsai No Hi, a day in Japan when everyone
has earthquake drills
● Past experience- people who live in hazard-prone areas may have
experienced hazards before, which may affect perceived risk from future
hazards
● Personality- some may fear hazards whilst others find them exciting.
People may remain exposed to risks by staying in a certain location for many
reasons:
● Changing Risks- places change over time, so a risk that is present now
may not be in 5 years and vice versa e.g. Costa Rica, Caribbean Coast
● Lack of Alternatives- people are unable to move due to a variety of social
and economic factors e.g. Phnom Penh, Cambodia
● Cost-benefit Analysis- hazards may present a risk to individuals, however,
they may also provide benefits e.g. Etna, Sicily, Italy
● Risk Perception- an individual or group perception of the hazard which
may influence their behaviour before, during and after the event e.g. Phi
phi island, Thailand
,Response to Hazards
There can be different responses to a hazard:
● Prevention- The hazard may be prevented or its magnitude reduced. For
some hazards like volcanic eruptions, this is impossible, but for others like
flooding, building flood defences can prevent or reduce its magnitude.
○ Risk sharing is a way of sharing the costs of a hazard, sharing the
benefits of preventing it or sharing the costs of not preventing it.
For example, buying insurance can help you to repair your property
after a disaster. Most people won’t be affected by a particular event
so they won’t claim insurance- this means lots of people contribute,
so the cost is shared.
● Mitigation of impacts- The impacts of the hazard may be reduced
through prediction, which is working out when and where a hazard is
likely to occur, which allows people to respond by evacuating the areas-
and through adaptation, such as adding earthquake-resistant features to
buildings.
Governments can coordinate responses to hazards to manage them effectively.
The success of attempts to manage hazards depends on hazard incidence,
magnitude or intensity and distribution. Generally, hazards of low incidence and
high magnitude are the most destructive. The level of development can also
affect how a place is able to react as less developed countries may lack the
wealth and technology to manage hazards effectively.
, The Park Model
The Park model shows the different phases of response to a hazard and how
they affect quality of life.
● Pre-disaster- before the event, the situation is normal
● Disruption- during and directly after the event, there is destruction of
property and loss of life before people can begin to respond
● Relief- in the aftermath of the event, rescue efforts focus on saving people
and preventing further damage
● Rehabilitation- once the immediate impacts are under control, people
start to resolve longer-term problems like providing shelter and aid for
those affected
● Reconstruction- this involves rebuilding permanent houses and
infrastructure. The buildings can either be built to the same standard as
before and the area returns to normal, or they can be built to a higher
standard than before, so the area improves as they are less vulnerable to
future disasters.
The Park model shows how responses progress during a disaster, which may
help planners predict what resources will be needed at each stage. The model
can also help planners prepare for future hazard events as the reconstruction
phase shows that conditions can be improved after a disaster by designing
hazard-resistant buildings or installing warning systems, which will help
mitigate the impacts of future hazard events.
The model can be used to compare different hazard events and their responses
by plotting the 2 curves onto the same graph. However, this is a very general
model which does not account for other factors that can affect disruption and
recovery, such as the level of development.
Hazard Management Cycle
There are four phases authorities go through in managing hazards:
1. Mitigation- this aims to minimise the impacts of future disasters by
building flood defences or adding fire-resistant roofs to buildings near
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