M.Sc.

Program in OHS

Muhammad Abbas khan

Reg.: 1058-116104

M.Sc. Program
DISTANCE LEARNING ASSIGNMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Q. No. 01:

Explain Environmental Hazards in detail

ANS: Environmental Hazard: A hazard is a potentially damaging physical event,

phenomenon or human activity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social
and economic disruption or environmental degradation or The event / events originating in, and
transmitted through the natural and built environments that lead to human deaths, economic
damage and other losses above certain predefined threshold of losses.
Hazards represent the potential occurrence of extreme natural events, or likelihood to cause the
severe adverse effects, while disasters result from actual hazard events. A hazard is a threat not
the actual event. In fact, threshold of losses are used to define disaster and hazards and disasters
are two sides of the same coin; each emerges from the other and neither can be fully understood
from the stand point of either physical science or social science.
As shown in the figure they are very much interrelated and interdependent.

Fig. Assignment 1
In the current modern era, people with latest technology and utmost development are also facing
lots of risks that are originating from build environment such as industrial pollution and

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technological failure. In addition there are lots of self-emerging dangers like earth quakes, sea
level rise, climate change and loss of biodiversity.
As the world population grows, these insecurities increased and people become more exposed to
environmental hazards. As agriculture intensifies and urbanization spreads, so more complex and
expensive infrastructure is exposed to damaging events. These trends towards potential losses are
underpinned by huge human consumption of natural assets such as land, forests and water.
Although the people in developed countries have developed a well-managed plan to withstand
the hazards but many people in less developed countries already experience insecure lives due to
poverty, weak governance and less resources making them more vulnerable to natural hazards
and other threats.
Talking about environmental hazards we come to the conclusion that there are two basic types of
environmental hazards which are being discussed below.
1. Natural hazards.
This is probably the most important group of hazardous events and can be defined as any
natural process or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts,
property damage, loss of livelihoods and severe social and economic disruption or
environmental damage is called natural environmental hazard.
The term "natural hazard" refers to all atmospheric, hydrologic, geologic (especially seismic and
volcanic), and wildfire phenomena that, because of their location, severity, and frequency, have
the potential to affect humans, their structures, or their activities adversely.
It is important to understand that human intervention can increase the frequency and severity of
natural hazards. For example, when the toe of a landslide is removed to make room for a
settlement, the earth can move again and bury the settlement. Human intervention may also
cause natural hazards where none existed before. This human influence may be either deliberate
or unintended e.g. a river flood may be a result of deforestation or a hazard may be reduced by
constructing a dam. Such hazards are called quasi-natural hazards.
Similarly some hazards are very clearly of hybrid nature i.e. natural-technological hazards. (natech) e.g. the earthquakes and tsunami in japan in the result of damage to nuclear power plant.
2. Technological hazards.
The other disaster threat comes from the built environment and has been defined as hazards
originating from technological or industrial conditions, including accidents, dangerous
procedures, infrastructure failures or specific human activities, that may cause loss of life, injury
or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihood and services, social and economic
disruption or environmental damage.

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M.Sc. Program in OHS

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Reg.: 1058-116104

This includes accidents, dangerous procedures, infrastructure deficiencies, and specific human
activities that can cause death, injury, disease, or other health impacts, as well as jeopardize
property, livelihood, and services, provoke social or economic disorder, and cause environmental
damage. Examples of technological hazards include industrial pollution, nuclear radiation, toxic
wastes, dam failures, transport accidents, factory explosions, fires, and chemical spills.
Most threats in this category arise from human errors which reflect flaws in design and/or the
functioning of built structure or industrial scale processes although this definition provides no
numerical scale of loss.
Technological hazards can also result directly from the consequences of an event related to
natural hazards, as in the case of the explosions of two nuclear reactors with the associated
hazards of radioactivity in Fukushima, Japan, following a tsunami that accompanied an
earthquake. This category of hazards encompasses a very wide range of events and associated
potential impacts on health.
Sometime apparently localized threats are often linked with wider scale processes e.g. rain-storm
resulting in river flood may originates from ocean-atmosphere mechanism far beyond the
mountain range. Some change is due to natural variations in climates change, but human induced
modifications of the Earth-atmosphere play an increasing role.
Global interactions and environmental changes are not necessarily hazards in themselves.
Sometime they offer opportunities as well as risks, but all too often they amplify the disaster
potential of existing natural and technological threats.
Human settlements located close to industrial plants are very common in developing countries,
which makes the populations involved more acutely vulnerable to the hazards of chemical
accidents. Chemical products pose potential health risks if they leak or spill, either due to
accidents in processing plants or because of human error in managing the safety mechanisms
involved in complex industrial processes.
Similarly an accident at a nuclear plant can produce extensive environmental pollution by
releasing radioactive materials into the atmosphere that spread over large regions, as particles are
spread by the wind and permeate to the soil. Accidents involving a source of ionizing radiation
used in industry or medicine can also contaminate, though in a more limited way.

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M.Sc. Program in OHS

Q. No. 02:

Muhammad Abbas khan

Reg.: 1058-116104

Explain in detail the dimensions of disaster.

ANS: DISASTER: A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a

society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts,
which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.
Although there is no agreed definition internationally but the most important feature is that the
losses have to be sufficiently large to disrupt the functioning of the community beyond its ability
to cope. Over the past few decades, disaster data on a global level reveal a distinct pattern with
two main features; an increase over time of the number of people affected and a geographical
correlation. In figure 2.1, despite the great variation from year to year, a definite rising trend is
quite visible. Figure 2.2 shows the countries most severely affected by major disasters in 1991.
Disasters affect every country of the world, but it is the poorest countries where people most
frequently lose their lives.
Figure 2.1 Number of persons affected worldwide by disasters per year during 1967-91

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Figure 2.2 Number of people dead from major disasters in 1991: Top 20 countries

Numerous and different definitions and classifications of disasters are available and have been.
Three of them are mentioned here as examples: The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC 1989)
identified three major categories of disasters: geographical events such as earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions; weather-related problems, including hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, cold
environments and floods; and, finally, human-generated problems, which encompass famines, air
pollutions, industrial disasters, fires and nuclear reactor incidents.
Although agencies measure the severity of disasters by the number of people killed, it is
becoming increasingly important also to look at the number affected. Across the world, almost a
thousand times more people are affected by disaster than are killed and, for many of these
people, survival after the disaster is becoming increasingly difficult, leaving them more
vulnerable to future shocks. This point is relevant not only for natural disasters (table 2.1) but
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Reg.: 1058-116104

also human-made disasters (table 2.2), especially in the case of chemical accidents whose effects
on exposed people may become apparent after years or even decades (Bertazzi 1989).
Addressing human vulnerability to disaster is at the heart of disaster preparedness and prevention
strategies.
Table 2.1 Number of victims of disasters with a natural trigger from 1969 to 1993: 25-year
average by region
Africa

America

Asia

Europe

Oceania Total

Killed

76,883

9,027

56,072

2,220

99

144,302

Injured

1,013

14,944

27,023

3,521

100

46,601

Otherwise affected

10,556,984 4,400,232 105,044,47

6

563,542 95,128

120,660,363

Homeless

172,812

67,278

4,613,224

360,964

3,980,608

31,562

Table 2.2 Number of victims of disasters with a non-natural trigger from 1969 to 1993: 25-year
average by region
Africa

America

Asia

Europe

Oceania

Total

Killed

16,172

3,765

2,204

739

18

22,898

Injured

236

1,030

5,601

483

476

7,826

Affected

3,694

48,825

41,630

7,870

610

102,629

Homeless

2,384

1,722

6,275

7,664

24

18,069

Drought, famine and floods continue to affect far more people than any other type of disaster.
High winds (cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons) cause proportionally more deaths than famines
and floods, in relation to the affected population as a whole; and earthquakes, the most suddenonset disaster of all, continue to have the greatest ratio of deaths to affected population.
Technological accidents affected more people than fires.
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Despite the variety of the reviewed industrial disasters, some common lessons have been learned
on how to prevent their occurrence, and also on how to mitigate the impact of major chemical
disasters on the population. In particular:

Different experts should be on the scene working in close coordination; they should usually
cover the fields related to the environmental fate of the agent, its toxic properties to humans
and biota, analytical methods, clinical medicine and pathology, biostatistics and
epidemiology.

Based on pre-existing and/or early available evidence, a comprehensive study plan should be
developed as early as possible to identify goals, problems and resource requirements.

Early phase activities affect the course of any subsequent action. Since long-term effects
should be expected after virtually every type of industrial disaster, great care should be
devoted to insure availability of requisite information for later studies (e.g., proper identifiers
of the exposed for follow-up).

In planning long-term investigations, feasibility should be given high consideration to

facilitate scientific and public health achievements and clarity of communication.

Overall, for reasons of validity and cost effectiveness, it is advisable to rely on hard
information, whenever available, either in identifying and enumerating the study population
(e.g., residence) or in estimating exposure (e.g., environmental and biological measurements)
and choosing the endpoints (e.g., mortality).

Q. No. 03: Differentiate vulnerability and resilience ?

ANS: The terms vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity have different meanings
for different researchers. Although people know intuitively that vulnerability means a potential
for harm and resilience has to do with resisting or coming back from harm, all three terms are
fairly abstract. Different definitions lead to different emphases and different research approaches,
so it is worthwhile to review some of these differences and to establish a set of differences and
associated research approaches.
Vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse
effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function
of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate change and variation to which a system is
exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity. Resilience is the ability of a social or ecological
system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic structure and ways of functioning,
the capacity for self-organization, and the capacity to adapt to stress and change.
Vulnerability assessment and resilience analysis have roots in at least three disparate research
communities: climate change impacts, hazards/disasters, and sustainability. As an extension of
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research on impacts of climate change, vulnerability assessment continued the linear and
quantitative approaches of that communitys studies, identifying, for example, land and people
at risk from sea level rise. Interest in the extreme weather consequences of climate change
attracted researchers who have long been studying the interaction of natural-world hazards
(including storms, droughts, and floods; but also earthquakes, tsunamis, and severe pollution
events like extensive oil spills) and societal preparation and response. As the clear connections
between societal actions re climate change and general societal status and development came
into view, sustainability researchers focused on climate change as one more element affecting the
ability of human societies to continue to flourish.
The resilience or adaptive capacity of a society, no matter how it is defined or described, is not
easy to measure. Early literature on the subject frequently assumed that wealthy, industrialized
countries would be able to adapt while poor, less industrialized countries would not i.e. the
measure of wealth is sufficient to predict adaptive capacity. The IPCC Third Assessment Report
identified five features that seem to determine their adaptive capacity: economic wealth,
technology, information and skills, infrastructure, institutions, and equity, but then went on to
point out that all features are highly contingent on varying social conditions and, moreover,
adaptive capacity is also linked to overall development and sustainability. However, recent
research questions even this assumption. For instance, measures of overall development may be
focused on economic growth to the exclusion of environmental or worker protection.
Another important methodological issue is the level at which research is conducted.
Researchers, faced with the question of the appropriate research levelglobal, regional/country
or local have generally used one of two prevailing approaches. The first of these approaches is
to conduct highly aggregated quantitative studies of emissions and concentration levels. The
second approach is to conduct disaggregated, often purely qualitative, case studies of single
countries or localities. Further, a third approach, theoretical systems analysis, is emerging but
not yet a mainstream methodology. These different approaches have opened two gaps: an
inability to compare countries and regions with regard to their resilience to climate change
impacts, and a lack of studies that account for societal inequalities that will themselves be
affected unequally by climate change. These gaps prevent decision-makers from carefully
weighing options that have short- and long-term implications.
This analysis has already touched on two major and one non-mainstream scientific methods used
in research about vulnerability, resilience, and adaptive capacity: indicators-based research, case
studies, and systems analysis. A fourth approach may be characterized as a scenarios approach.
The discussion lists several sets of indicators that have been used in research studies, and these
are representative of the climate change literature. This section describes some of a much
broader literature on social indicators, a literature that includes more detail on social conditions,
environmental factors, or both.

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M.Sc. Program in OHS

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Reg.: 1058-116104

Cutter et al. (2003) developed a county-level Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) for the United
States. To construct the index, they reduced 42 demographic and social variables (none relating
to hazards, although vulnerability to hazards was the focus of the study) to 11 independent
factors accounting for 76% of the variance among counties (in deaths from weather-related
hazards). Seven of the factors were (in order, 1-5 and 10-11) personal wealth, age, density of the
built environment, single-sector economic dependence, housing stock and tenancy, occupation,
and infrastructure dependence. Factors 6-9 related to race and ethnicity. African American,
Hispanic, Native American, and Asian. This index provides a good picture of the population in
the United States that is vulnerable to hazardsthat is, for whom hazards become disasters.
Anyone familiar with this analysis, for instance, was not surprised to learn that the poor, the
aged, the hospitalized, the poorly housed, and people of color were hardest hit by the impacts of
Hurricane Katrina.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Environmental Performance Index developed by Yale and
Columbia Universities (CIESIN and YCELP 2008) focuses on the environment as used or
misused by humans. Environmental health and ecosystem vitality are gauged using 25 indicators
tracked in six policy categories: environmental health, air pollution (and its effects on
ecosystems), water (and its effects on ecosystems), productive natural resources, biodiversity and
habitat, and climate change. None of the indicators addressed population, or demographic
factors, despite the aim of being policy relevant. The 2008 index centers on (1) reducing
environmental stresses on human health, and (2) promoting ecosystem vitality and sound natural
resource management.
Prescott-Allen (2001) provides a host of indicators at the country level, integrating them in his
presentation of eggs, in which the yolk represents the human condition, surrounded by the
white, which represents the ecosystem condition. The eggs for a region can then be placed on a
square which is color coded to represent five states: good, fair, medium, poor, and bad. Below is
an example for Northern Africa, with a cluster of countries ranking medium-to-fair on ecosystem
wellbeing but poor on human well-being?
Q. No. 04 :Write a note on risk perception and communication
How people behave in emergency management endeavors depends on their understanding and
appraisal of present risk exposure and of risk mitigation measures. What "risk" means to them,
and what steers their assessment of a risk situation is therefore an essential matter. In most
contexts the notion "risk" stands for a danger of unwanted and unfortunate events, not just
uncertainty about the potential outcomes of an incident. Accordingly, "risk" can be defined as the
possibility of physical and/or social and/or financial harm/detriment/loss due to a hazard within a
particular time frame. "Hazard" refers to a situation, event or substance that can become harmful
for people, nature or human-made facilities. A hazard is a physical entity while risk is not; it is an
inference about the implications of a hazard for people (or nature, or assets) exposed to it. People
at risk might be residents, employees in the workplace, Consumers of potentially hazardous
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products, travelers/commuters and/or the society at large. These conceptualizations are based on
a social-science perspective. By contrast, within natural sciences, "risk" is frequently defined as
the probability of damage, e.g. in "quantitative risk assessment" and especially in Probabilistic
Risk Analysis (PRA). This creates conceptual problems because many hazards have low
probability yet if they occur, the extent of damage may be enormous. It means that equating
riskiness with the likelihood of a hazard is nonsensical if the potential impacts are severe
(example: nuclear or chemical disasters). On the other hand, using just the severity (i.e., negative
utility) as riskiness criterion is not appropriate either, because some hazards of high-frequency
effects would rank low (example: earthquakes). Consequently, integrative riskiness models were
developed. An advanced access, based on psychological decision theory, is the "SEU" =
Subjective expected utility" concept, in which the probability and the negative value of impacts
become combined, and which utilizes estimated or assessed levels of the pertinent hazard facets.
A further impediment in quantifying "risk" is that not all hazard impacts can be measured by
counts (e.g., number of fatalities) or expressed in financial terms (e.g., damage in dollars) instances are disrupted family ties, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression of disaster victims.
From a socio-psychological perspective, it is therefore important to be conscious of differences
between physical and psychological phenomena, and to distinguish between people's judgments,
attitudes and behaviors in respect to risk situations. The conceptualization of "risk" should be a
multi-disciplinary undertaking which connects insights from domains like engineering,
geography, economics and psychology in order to create suitable and valid characterizations.
Finally, the notion "risk" refers mostly but not always to negative issues - in some fields "risk"
functions as a neutral term (equating to uncertainty about the outcomes of choices).
RISK PERCEPTION:
People's judgments and evaluations of hazards they (or their facilities, or environments) are or
might be exposed to is called "risk perception". Risk perceptions are interpretations of the world,
based on experiences and/or beliefs. They are embedded in the norms, value systems and cultural
idiosyncrasies of societies. Every human is occupied with risk perception most of the time,
whether driving a car or thinking about residence safety or worrying about fires in an
environment and so on. It is notable that most people have views about every risk, regardless of
whether they are exposed to it or not. Strictly speaking risks cannot be perceived (like a size or
speed or the weather). Yet "risk perception" has nonetheless become the standard label of the
respective research topic. Risk perceptions steer decisions about the acceptability of risks and are
a core influence on behaviors before, during and after a disaster. However, neither perceptions of
nor attitudes towards risk should be taken as equivalents of actual behavior. People's risk
appraisals are a complex result of hazard features and personal philosophies. How the magnitude
of risks is rated, and to what extent people are prepared to accept a risk, is dependent on the type
of hazard, on personal experiences, beliefs and attitudes, and on diverse societal influences.
Judgments are more negative for technology-induced than for natural hazards, and involuntary
than self-chosen (controllable) risk exposure. Fear associations, unfamiliarity, catastrophic
potential and long term health impacts are stronger influences than assumed probability to die.
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Clearly, 'technical' and statistical risk characteristics cannot explain risk acceptance data. While
individual and particularly societal benefits counterbalance risk concerns for occupational and
private risks, this is less true for large-scale technology risks. Regarding personal characteristics,
attitudes such as environmental concern, scepticism about technology usage and post-material
value orientation are significant determinants (while socio-demographic factors have only
restricted effects). Those attitudes are embedded in a wider cultural and political context;
therefore, societal (sub-) groups differ widely in risk acceptance. Also, acceptance or defiance of
risks is not determined by knowledge (or lack thereof) - value disparities are the key factor. Risk
perceptions can be quantified by socio-psychological scaling and survey techniques (denoted as
the "psychometric approach"). In other words, while risk perception is subjective in nature, the
data describing it are as objective as other scientific findings. Since 1978, risk perception surveys
have been conducted in several dozen countries. The understanding of "risk" in natural and social
sciences tends to clash. For example, quite often the term "real" or "actual" risk is used as
counterpart to "perceived risk". Epistemologically this does not make much sense though. All
statements about risk, whether rough guesses or highly quantitative data-based computations, are
only depictions of the 'reality' in question)
RISK COMMUNICATION:
Any population exposed to hazards - natural ones such as earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires or
floods; or technological ones, such as explosions, chemical spills, train crashes and so on - wants
and needs to be optimally informed about risk characteristics, preventative measures, and
appropriate behaviors during emergencies. Authorities have to compose pertinent planning,
prepare coping strategies and communicate the relevant information effectively to residents,
people in the workplace and communities as a whole. The more disaster management requires
active involvement of residents, the more vital risk information/ communication/education
become. Furthermore, in the case of controversial risk sources (e.g., the positioning of an airport
or a waste incineration facility), public discussion, participation of stakeholders and possibly
joint conflict resolution are required. All these situations involve social processes which are
usually subsumed under the (umbrella) term "risk communication", and the exchange of risk
information between interested parties (individuals, groups, institutions) is at the core of it. The
model presented in Box 4 outlines the components of risk communication pursuits and the
related socio-psychological processes. The focus is on an individual rather than collective
(community) level of activities. The core endeavor is to modify risk perceptions and risk
attitudes towards protective risk behavior. In short, the model expresses that the final outcome
variable, risk-reducing behavior regarding a hazard, is determined not just by the communicated
messages of the information/education program but the result of a complex evaluation process,
including prior attitudes, and influenced by personal characteristics and manifold context factors,
e.g., attributes of the information source and channel features utilized by the respective
authority/agency, as well as family/peers/friends and the community one belongs to. The whole
process is embedded into a culture's health and safety orientation. As the feedback-loops in the
figure indicate, risk-reducing behavior is intended to mitigate the impacts of the hazard.
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Moreover, often people will link their activities to their social network or approach relevant
authorities. Models like this one can be elaborated and/or made specific to the problem type, the
target audience, and the relevant attitudes and behaviors to be dealt with. Such a framework is
essential for designing evaluations and developing pertinent instruments, as well as recognizing
reasons for lack of success with risk communication campaigns. Evidently risk communication is
the indispensable link between risk perception and risk management. Given the high relevance of
effective disaster preparedness, risk communication programs need to be based on a sound
understanding of the underlying sociopsychological processes and preconditions for successful
communication.

Q. No. 05: How does protection reduce disaster impact. Explain in detail
ANS: While we cannot do away with natural hazards, we can eliminate those that we cause,
minimize those that we exacerbate, and reduce our vulnerability to most. Doing this requires
healthy and resilient communities and ecosystems. Disaster Risk Reduction is clearly part of a
broader strategy of sustainable development, making communities socially, economically and
ecologically sustainable.
The probability of a disaster occurring can be influenced by a number of factors that either
aggravate the situation or lessen the severity of its occurrence. These factors determine the
vulnerability of an ecosystem or a community. Increasing the capacity of communities to
prevent, withstand and recover from a disaster plays a major role in reducing the severity of its
impact. Disaster Risk Reduction can be described as those activities undertaken by a community
to minimize exposure to hazards through the development and reliance on individual and social
capabilities and institutional capacities that can withstand potential loss or damage.
Environmental protection and planning reduces our vulnerability to disaster and it increases our
capacity to recover from a disaster after it has occurred. If the appropriate measures are
implemented timeously they can reduce or even eliminate the risk of a disaster occurring in the
first place.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION:
The environment is made up of the earth, water, atmosphere and biosphere. We live within this
natural environment and are an integral part of it. Our social and economic activities impact on
the environment and can change the manner in which its components interact with each other.
These changes can result in environmental degradation and contribute to an increase in the
frequency and intensity of natural disasters and the vulnerability of the environment to them.
One of the purposes of environmental protection is to minimize, or at least manage, the negative
impacts we, humans, make on the environment. Environmental protection requires the adaptation
of indigenous skills and the learning of new ways to avoid increasing dependence on outside
support. It illustrates the paradox that learning new methods and adapting old ways can be a key
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to securing the future of indigenous cultures. It is the efforts of communities under the guidance
of their leaders and the input of dedicated and inspired individuals that have been most effective
in using environmental protection measures to reduce the risk and consequences of disasters and
to better coordinate relief activities. Many of the disasters caused by the hazards are unavoidable.
However, the severity of the impact of such events is influenced by the choices that we make
about how we interact with our environment. The primary geological, climate-related, biological
and technological hazards often give rise to secondary hazards. In many cases, these secondary
hazards are a greater threat to a community than are the primary hazards. For example, tropical
cyclones along the east coast of Africa can trigger storm surges, flash coastal and river floods and
landslides. Similarly, landslides, fires, tsunamis and floods generated by an earthquake often
cause worse damage than experienced during the quake tremors. In an urban environment,
pollution, overcrowding and limited or even no sanitary and medical services can lead to
epidemics, chronic illness and an unrelenting cycle of crime and poverty.
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS:
Early warning is a process that provides timely information so that communities are not only
informed, but sufficiently impressed, that they take preparedness actions before and during the
anticipated hazardous event. It depends on practical relationships between science and
technology, and the understanding of social and economic implications of disasters in the context
of sustainable development. The purpose of obtaining early warnings of impending disasters is to
enable communities at risk to act timeously and appropriately so as to reduce the possibility of
injury, loss of life and damage to property and the environment. Early warning is a critical
component of disaster risk reduction. There are three key steps in developing an early warning
system at community level, which are:
FORECAST AND PREDICTION: Evaluating the results of monitoring key indicators to
determine whether the environment is warning us of an impending disaster.
USING AND ANNOUNCING THE WARNING: Community leaders notify their people,
their neighbouring communities and if necessary, regional government of the possible
consequences of the identified risk. In the case of a slow onset event, appropriate changes in
community practices need to be considered and implemented (prevention opportunity).
REACTION: Community leaders and their people, having been forewarned and
understanding the situation they face, can implement the necessary prevention or protective
measures. The 1998 Potsdam Conference recognized that early warning is effective only to the
extent that policy makers at national levels of authority have the will, and make a sustained
commitment of resources that will establish protective measures. The decision, both to issue an
early warning or not, and to act upon it, is political in character.
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT, MITIGATION PREPARATION, RESPONSE AND
RECOVERY:
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Until recently, disaster management has been reactive and focused on crisis management and the
emergency assistance (relief) needed only after a disastrous event has occurred. Disaster risk
reduction now takes a proactive longer-term view. Its purpose is to assist communities to prepare
for and reduce the impacts of disasters that cannot be avoided, such as floods, earthquakes and
volcanoes. For the disasters that cannot be prevented, there are four aspects of disaster
management:
Mitigation
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
Disaster mitigation includes structure and non-structure measures undertaken to limit the impact
of potential disasters - for example, public awareness and flood forecasting are considered as
non-structural measures, while dikes and barrage construction is structural measure for
mitigating flood impact. Disaster preparedness helps communities reduce the likelihood or
severity of impact of certain disasters, particularly slow onset disasters, many of which arise
from environmental degradation. Examples are desertification, famine, flooding, wild fire,
disease and epidemics. It deals proactively with the risks identified and results in increased
community resilience and capacity to overcome the impacts of a disaster. In the immediate
aftermath of a disaster, many of the stricken communities will be in a state of shock and often not
able to think beyond their immediate needs. A community that has discussed and thought through
the problem in advance will know what it needs and how to respond. It will also know when it
should call upon outside assistance and how to effectively manage it. The leaders of such
communities are in a better position to co-ordinate outside assistance with local relief operations
in restoring community wellbeing. Without this preparedness and associated resilience, disaster
relief can entrench dependence on international relief agencies. With proactive disaster
preparedness plans in place and strong leadership, communities can manage the aid that follows
a disaster and initiate important medium and long-term developments in their areas during the
recovery phase. In every crisis there is an opportunity.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, THE ENVIRONMENT AND DISASTER RISK
REDUCTION:
The three pillars of sustainable development are:
Socio-cultural equity and quality (Social capital);
Economic growth (Economic and Financial capital);
Environmental protection (Natural capital).

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Sustainable development means communities must take social, economic and environmental
issues into account in all decisions and planning. A communitys wealth is measured by its total
capital - the sum of its social, economic and natural capital. For development to be sustainable,
the total capital must increase with time. Through training and education, economic capital can
be used to increase social and natural capital.
Disaster preparedness helps communities to reduce the likelihood or severity of impact of certain
disasters. Natural capital can also create economic capital (e.g., tourists visiting national parks
and spending money). Natural capital can also be transformed into economic capital (e.g. mineral
or oil production, or when a hardwood tree is used to make a wood-carved sculpture and the
sculpture is sold).
When the natural environment is degraded, this reduces the value of the natural capital available.
Disasters can also result in a loss of social, economic and natural capital. Repeated exposures to
disasters from which a community does not recover will lead to a downward spiral of poverty.
Disaster risk reduction aims to break this cycle. Every step in the disaster risk reduction
framework can be considered as an opportunity for sustainable development. Risk management
and environmental management initiatives should not be seen to compete with other
developmental objectives. Rather, they are an integral part of sustainable development. Although
the post-disaster reconstruction period often provides an opportune time to introduce disaster
reduction measures through proper environmental protection into the planning for sustainable
development, no opportunity should be lost to reduce or mitigate risks long before disaster
strikes.
A community that understands its symbiotic relationship with the environment understands how
to transform the goods and services that it offers into sustainable economic activity. This makes it
a resilient community that is alert to the early warning signs of slow onset disasters and is
responsive to the need to change in order to avert an escalation of risk. It will have appropriate
plans in place if a disaster strikes and in this event the community and the environment will be
able to recover faster. Promoting the sustainable use of natural resources, maintaining natural
ecosystems in good condition and responding to early warning signs of environmental
degradation is critical to developing communal coping capacities that will reduce the severity or
frequency of natural disasters, limit vulnerability to the impacts and the occurrence of secondary
and tertiary effects.
Q. No. 6: What safety measures are used to minimize the danger of earthquake?
ANS: An earthquake is defined as the phenomena in which large sections of tectonic plates of
the earths crust move such that they either overlap each other or slide against one another,
resulting in a mass seismic shockwave which is powerful enough to create cliffs and large
opening in the earths surface. Marking the edges of the tectonic plates are the fault lines which
are basically the cracks in the earths crust. Most earthquakes occur along the fault lines creating
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broken power and gas lines, landslides, snow avalanches, causing damage to the infrastructure,
tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.
The scale that is used to measure the intensity or magnitude of an earthquake is known as Richter
scale. The magnitude of each earthquake is different from the other, depending upon some
parameters which generally are distance, the ground condition, the areas construction standards,
as well as other related factors. Keeping these parameters in view the seismologists may use
several different methods to estimate the magnitude of an earthquake. Following is the scale
representing the intensity of an earthquake and the destruction it can cause.
Earthquake Destruction Depends On Its Magnitude

3.5 Or less: You may not generally feel the earthquakes of these intensity but they are
recorded on the Richter scale.

3.5 to 5.4: These earthquakes do feel in general, however they rarely cause any
significant amount of damage.

5.4 to 6.0: These earthquakes are dangerous in the urban environment and can cause
some damage to the well-designed infrastructure but can cause serious damage if the
structure is poorly constructed.

6.1 to 6.9: These types of earthquake can be very destructive in areas up to 100 km of its
radius.

7.0 to 7.9: These are earthquake are included in the category of major earthquakes and
are capable of causing serious destruction over very large scale.

8.0 Or greater: These earthquakes are the most destructive earthquakes. They lie in the
major quakes category and are well able to cause some serious destruction and damage
within areas of several hundred km of its radius.

There is no effective warning system for earthquakes, which makes preliminary precautions even
more critical. At the same time, knowing how to behave when a quake strikes and what to do
after the event is just as important to staying safe.
An earthquake can be a terrifying event. By taking proper safety precautions, you can help limit
that terror through careful planning and organization. Hold occasional earthquake drills so your
family knows exactly what they should do in the event a quake strikes. This will increase the
odds that everyone survives unharmed.
Dangers Associated with Earthquakes:
The actual movement of the ground in an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of injury or
death. Most casualties result from falling objects and debris or collapsing structures. Injuries are
commonly caused by:
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Partial building collapse, such as falling masonry, collapsing walls, falling ceiling plaster, etc.
Flying glass from broken windows.
Overturned bookcases, filing cabinets, fixtures, furniture, office machines and appliances.
Fires, broken gas lines, etc. These dangers may be aggravated by lack of water due to broken
mains.
Fallen power lines.
Inappropriate actions resulting from panic.
EARTHQUAKE SAFETY GUIDELINES
Remain Calm. Sound usually precedes earthquake motion by a split second. If you have
developed the correct earthquake responses in your mind before a quake, this split second is
enough time to activate your automatic reactions. If you stay calm, you will be better able to
assess your situation. The rolling and roaring may terrify you, but unless something falls on you,
the sensations probably won't hurt you. Try talking yourself through the violent motion phase.
This will release stress and others may take courage and follow your reasoned restraint. Think
through the consequences of any action you plan to take.
If you are indoors, stay there. If you are in danger: Get under a sturdy table, desk or bed. Brace
yourself in an inside corner away from windows. Move to an inner wall or corridor. (A door
frame or the structural frame or inner core of the building are its strongest points and least
likely to collapse. They will also break the impact of any falling objects).
In an apartment building the safest place is by the central reinforced core of the building, which
is usually located by the elevator well.
Choose shelter which will provide an airspace if it collapses. If your furniture shelter moves, stay
under it and follow it around the apartment.
Watch for falling objects - plaster, bricks, light fixtures, pots and pans, etc.
Stay away from tall shelves, china cabinets and other furniture, which might slide or topple over.
Stay away from windows, sliding glass doors, mirrors. o Grab anything handy (blanket, pillow,
tablecloth, newspapers, box, etc.) to shield your head and face from failing debris and splinting
glass. Don't be alarmed if the fire alarm or sprinklers go off.
Do Not Rush Outside. Stay on the same floor that you are on. Stairways may be broken and
exits jammed with people. Do not use elevators as the power for elevators may go out and leave
you trapped. The greatest danger from falling debris is just outside doorways and close to outer
walls. If for safety reasons you must leave the building, choose your exits as carefully as
possible.
If you are outside, stay there. Move away from the building, garage, walls, power poles and
lampposts. Electric power lines are a serious hazard - stay away from fallen lines. If possible,
proceed cautiously to an open area.
If you are in a moving car, stop. Stop as quickly as safety permits in the best available space.
Stay in your car: Don't stop where buildings can topple down on top of you. A car is an excellent
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shock absorber and will shake a lot on its springs during an earthquake, but it's a fairly safe
shelter from which to assess your situation.
Avoid Fallen Power Lines. The possibility of encountering fallen live wires is great during and
after an earthquake. If you are on foot, make a wide path around the wires. If you are in the car
and live wires have fallen across the car, remain where you are. Your car is usually well insulated
and will protect you from electric shock. Never assume that downed power lines are dead.
After An Earthquake: Within the First Several Minutes:
Remain Calm. Don't Panic. Try to calm and reassure others. Stop and take time to think. Wait
until all motion has stopped. Do not run down stairs or outdoors. Be prepared for additional
shockwaves.
Do not light matches, cigarettes or turn on electrical switches. Flashlights are one of the best
light sources after a damaging earthquake. Proceed with extreme caution.
Protect hands and feet from broken glass or debris. Keep head and face protected (hardhat,
blanket, tablecloth, etc.)
Make a quick check for injuries or trapped people. Provide emergency first aid if needed. Do
not try to move seriously injured persons unless they are in immediate danger from further
injury.
Turn off all appliances and office machines. Extinguish all open flames. Check power lines and
cords. If problems exist in electrical lines or gas lines the mains should be shut off.
It may be necessary to draw a moderate amount of cold water in bathtubs and sinks and other
containers, in case service should be disrupted.
During the Next Several Hours:
Do not operate electrical switches, appliances or open-flame equipment if gas leaks are
suspected. Sparks or flames can ignite gas from broken lines causing an explosion.
Tend further to injured or trapped persons. Try to get help if necessary. If a person is trapped
and you can free him without injury to yourself, remove debris piece-by-piece starting with the
top of the pile.
Be prepared for aftershocks - they are weaker than the main shock but can cause additional
damage and psychological trauma. Watch out for other possible dangers, which may follow an
earthquake, such as fire, flood, landslide or TSUNAMI (tidal wave).
Turn on a battery radio to receive disaster instructions. Use telephones only to report extreme
emergency situations.
Inspect your work area carefully for structural damage. Carefully open exit doors - they
sometimes jam. The initial quake may damage the structure and an aftershock could knock down
weakened walls. Use extreme caution when moving around in damaged areas - they may
collapse without warning. Check to see that sewage lines are intact before flushing toilets.
You should not try to get home until government authorities say it is safe, which will be when
the worst fires are under control and the streets have been cleared. This may happen quickly or it
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may take longer (perhaps 72 hours or more). You should advise your family that in the event of a
major earthquake you maybe retained at work. When possible notify your family about your well
being.
Don't go outside sightseeing. Keep streets clear for passage of emergency vehicles. Your
presence might hamper rescue and other emergency operation
Q. No. 07: Explain the nature of disease epidemics that triggers with extreme weathers.
For centuries humans have known that climatic conditions affect epidemic infectionssince well
before the basic notion of infectious agents was understood late in the nineteenth century. The
Roman aristocracy took refuge in their hill resorts each summer to avoid malaria. South Asians
learnt early that in high summer, strongly curried foods were less prone to induce diarrhoeal
diseases. In the southern United States one of the most severe summertime outbreaks of yellow
fever (viral disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito) occurred in 1878, during one of
the strongest El Nio episodes on record. The economic and human cost was enormous, with an
estimated death toll of around 20000 people. In developed countries today it is well known that
recurrent inuenza epidemics occur in mid-winter. Infectious disease transmission should be
viewed within an ecological framework. Infectious agents obtain the necessary nutrients and
energy by parasitization of higher organisms. Most such infections are benign, and some are
even benecial to both host and microbe. Only a minority of infections that adversely affect the
hosts biology are termed infectious disease.
Following are some of the diseases triggered by extreme weather.
1. Influenza:
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus.
Symptoms can be mild to severe. The most common symptoms include: a high fever, runny
nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, and feeling tired. These symptoms typically
begin two days after exposure to the virus and most last less than a week. The cough, however,
may last for more than two weeks. In children, there may be nausea and vomiting, but these are
not common in adults. Nausea and vomiting occur more commonly in the unrelated infection
gastroenteritis, which is sometimes inaccurately referred to as "stomach flu" or "24-hour flu".
Complications of influenza may include viral pneumonia, secondary bacterial pneumonia, sinus
infections, and worsening of previous health problems such as asthma or heart failure.
Frequent hand washing reduces the risk of infection because the virus is inactivated by soap.
Wearing a surgical mask is also useful. Yearly vaccinations against influenza are recommended
by the World Health Organization for those at high risk. The vaccine is usually effective against
three or four types of influenza. It is usually well tolerated. A vaccine made for one year may not
be useful in the following year, since the virus evolves rapidly. Antiviral drugs such as the
neuraminidase inhibitors oseltamivir among others have been used to treat influenza. Their
benefits in those who are otherwise healthy do not appear to be greater than their risks. No
benefit has been found in those with other health problems.
Influenza spreads around the world in a yearly outbreak, resulting in about three to five million
cases of severe illness and about 250,000 to 500,000 deaths. In the Northern and Southern parts
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of the world outbreaks occur mainly in winter while in areas around the equator outbreaks may
occur at any time of the year. Death occurs mostly in the young, the old and those with other
health problems. Larger outbreaks known as pandemics are less frequent. In the 20th century
three influenza pandemics occurred: Spanish influenza in 1918, Asian influenza in 1958, and
Hong Kong influenza in 1968, each resulting in more than a million deaths. The World Health
Organization declared an outbreak of a new type of influenza A/H1N1 to be a pandemic in June
2009. Influenza may also affect other animals, including pigs, horses and birds.
Malaria:
Scientic evidence suggests that malaria varies seasonally in highly endemic areas. Malaria is
probably the vector-borne disease most sensitive to long-term climate change. Malaria thus
provides several illustrative examples (based on historical studies) of the link between infectious
disease and climate change. Githeko et al. compared monthly climate and malaria data in
highland Kakamega and found a close association between malaria transmission and monthly
maximum temperature anomalies over three years (19972000). Patz and colleagues studied the
effect of soil moisture to determine the effects of weather on malaria transmission. Compared to
raw weather data, hydrological modelling has several potential advantages for determining
mosquitobreeding sites. High soil moisture conditions and vector breeding habitats can remain
long after precipitation events, depending on factors such as watershed, run-off and
evapotranspiration. For An. gambiae, the soil moisture model predicted up to 45% and 56% of
the variability of human biting rate and entomological inoculation rate, respectively. The link
between malaria and extreme climatic events has long been the subject of study in the Indian
subcontinent. Early in the twentieth century, the Punjab region experienced periodic epidemics of
malaria. Irrigated by ve rivers, this geographical plains region borders the Thar Desert.
Excessive monsoon rainfall and resultant high humidity were clearly identied as major factors
in the occurrence of epidemics through enhancement of both the breeding and life span of
mosquitoes. More recently, historical analyses have shown that the risk of a malaria epidemic
increased approximately ve-fold during the year following an El Nio in this region. Further,
the risk of an epidemic is greater in a year in which excess rain occurs in critical months. A
strong correlation is found between both annual rainfall and the number of rainy days and the
incidence of malaria in most districts of Rajasthan and in some districts in Gujarat. The
relationship between interannual climatic variation associated with the ENSO cycle and malaria
has been examined in various other countries. For example, Venezuela experiences reduced
rainfall during an El Nio year. Statistic shows that, consistently throughout the twentieth
century, malaria rates increased on average by over one-third in the year immediately following
an El Nio year. The likely reasons for this include the combination of mosquito favouring, high
rainfall in the post-Nio year with temporarily reduced immunity levels in the local population
following the previous low-incidence year.
Cholera:
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of
watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and muscle cramps may also occur. Diarrhea can
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be so severe that it leads within hours to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. This may
result in sunken eyes, cold skin, decreased skin elasticity, and wrinkling of the hands and feet.
The dehydration may result in the skin turning bluish. Symptoms start two hours to five days
after exposure.
Cholera is caused by a number of types of Vibrio cholerae, with some types producing more
severe disease than others. It is spread mostly by water and food that has been contaminated with
human feces containing the bacteria. Insufficiently cooked seafood is a common source. Humans
are the only animal affected. Risk factors for the disease include poor sanitation, not enough
clean drinking water, and poverty. There are concerns that rising sea levels will increase rates of
disease. Cholera can be diagnosed by a stool test. A rapid dipstick test is available but is not as
accurate.
Prevention involves improved sanitation and access to clean water. Cholera vaccines that are
given by mouth provide reasonable protection for about six months. They have the added benefit
of protecting against another type of diarrhea caused by E. coli. The primary treatment is oral
rehydration therapy; the replacement of fluids with slightly sweet and salty solutions. Rice-based
solutions are preferred. Zinc supplementation is useful in children. In severe cases, intravenous
fluids, such as Ringer's lactate, may be required, and antibiotics may be beneficial. Testing to see
what antibiotic the cholera is susceptible to can help guide the choice.
Cholera affects an estimated 35 million people worldwide and causes 58,000130,000 deaths a
year as of 2010. While it is currently classified as a pandemic, it is rare in the developed world.
Children are mostly affected. Cholera occurs as both outbreaks and chronically in certain areas.
Areas with an ongoing risk of disease include Africa and south-east Asia. While the risk of death
among those affected is usually less than 5%, it may be as high as 50% among some groups who
do not have access to treatment. Historical descriptions of cholera are found as early as the 5th
century BC in Sanskrit. The study of cholera by John Snow between 1849 and 1854 led to
significant advances in the field of epidemiology.
Q. No. 8: How we mitigate and adapt ourselves to flood?
In general, there are two different strategies when it comes to dealing with climate change. We
can try to stop future warming (mitigation of climate change) or we can find ways to live in our
warming world (adaptation to climate change).

Adaptation involves developing ways to protect people and places by reducing their
vulnerability to climate impacts. For example, to protect against sea level rise and increased
flooding, communities might build seawalls or relocate buildings to higher ground.

Mitigation involves attempts to slow the process of global climate change, usually by
lowering the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Planting trees that absorb CO2
from the air and store it is an example of one such strategy.

Natural hazards and flood events are part of nature. They have always existed and will continue
to exist. With the exception of some floods generated by dam failure or landslides, floods are
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climatological phenomena influenced by the geology, geo-morphology and relief, soil, and
vegetation conditions. Meteorological and hydrological processes can be fast or slow and can
produce flash floods or more predictable slow-developing floods, also called riverine floods.
Although floods are natural phenomena, human activities and human interventions into the
processes of nature, such as alterations in the drainage patterns from urbanization, agricultural
practices and deforestation, have considerably changed the situation in whole river basins. In the
same time, exposition to risk and vulnerability in flood-prone area have been growing constantly.
We will have to keep the unpredictability of nature in mind. Flood protection is never absolute
and things can go wrong. The question regularly arises as to what safety is available at what
price, and how much of the remaining risk has to be accepted by society. Risk management will
be the appropriate method to deal with this challenge. Emergency and disaster planning in case
of extraordinary situations are important, also in respect of environmental effects which can
occur in case of flooding of industrial sites.
As far as possible, human interference into the processes of nature should be reversed,
compensated and, in the future prevented. It is necessary to promote and harmonize changes in
water policies and land-use practices, as well as environmental protection and nature
conservation, in order to improve load management in the frame of Integrated River Basin
Management.
When considering structural solutions, its important to understand the effectiveness of
individual measures in terms of flood mitigation impact. For example, some works may reduce
flooding to a large area by centimetres which providing a minimal benefit to a large number of
homeowners that are least affected by flooding and almost no benefit to those homeowners that
are worst affected. From Darwin to Alice Springs, many areas in the Northern Territory are prone
to flooding, from storm surge in coastal areas to flash flooding in creeks. Flooding can happen in
buildup urban areas due to an increase in the rate of storm water runoff or towns and suburbs
built within floodplains. Poor storm water management can also cause localized flooding.
Depending on locality and the nature of the flooding, a number of structural (infrastructure) and
non-structural (flood resilience) mitigation measures may be available. However, flood
mitigation measures may only lessen the impact of flooding. No amount of intervention can stop
heavy rain or high tides.
The community, local businesses, emergency services, local council and Government need to
work together to reduce the impact of flood waters. The Northern Territory Government is
committed to assisting residents in flood-prone areas through a range of flood mitigation options.
Structural Flood Mitigation
Structural flood mitigation is where physical structures are constructed or modified to reduce the
impact of flooding on individual properties or whole catchments and include:
Infrastructure, including dams, levees, bridges and culverts
When considering structural solutions, its important to understand the effectiveness of
individual measures in terms of flood mitigation impact. For example, some works may reduce
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flooding to a large area by centimetres which provides minimal benefit to a large number of
homeowners that are least affected by flooding and almost no benefit to those homeowners that
are worst affected.
Maintenance of existing infrastructure
Ongoing maintenance to existing creeks and stormwater drainage systems is vital to maintain the
hydraulic performance of the drain. Developing and reviewing a regular maintenance schedule
for flood prone areas can provide significant benefit during seasonal rains. While clearing creek
systems does not help always reduce the impact of large flood events, it does help reduce the
impact of smaller, more frequent floods.
Individual flood proofing measures
Where the inundation of flood water is relatively low (nominally less than 700mm), it may be
possible to keep flood waters out of homes by installing solid fences, raising windows, sealing
doors with stop boards and limiting sewage contamination through reflux valves.
Improved Traffic Access
Improving the flood resilience of roads provides a benefit to flood-affected residents by allowing
residents to escape floods and emergency services to get in to assist. Key routes to essential
services such as hospitals and emergency shelters should have at least a Q100 flood immunity.
Non Structural Flood Mitigation
Property SurveysDetailed survey of flood affected residences can increase the accuracy of flood modelling so that
homeowners, insurers and buyers can understand the actual impact of flooding on each property.
Land use planning controls
Strategic land use planning will identify the extent of flood impacted land to limit the
construction of urban and rural residential, commercial and industrial land. The NT Planning
Scheme requires all new developments to undertake Land Suitability investigations to determine
the extent of constrained land.
Building and development controls
Existing building controls require new homes or substantial renovations to construct habitable
floor levels 300mm above Q100 year flood levels, in order to provide some level of protection
from flooding.
Catchment flood modelling
Maintaining up to date flood models of developing catchments assists the DCA to understand the
impact of new development on existing residents in the catchment. New land developments are
required to manage the rate at which stormwater leaves the development to maintain the predevelopment rate of flow.

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Early Warning Systems

As many floods occur at night, early warning systems are extremely important in flash flooding
events to provide residents with the ability to respond to impending flood waters. This may
include moving vehicles, collecting pets and valuables and implementing personal emergency
plans.
Develop a Household Emergency Plan
In conjunction with a Household Emergency Kit, a Household Emergency Plan is essential for
all Territorians. Regardless of any mitigation measures, every household must be prepared for
extreme weather, including flooding. .
Understanding and Awareness
Knowing your local flood history and developing an understanding of how floods behave in your
area provides you with the ability to respond in time to the impending flood. Watching tide and
rainfall forecasts can alert residents when the conditions that may result in flooding could occur.
Q. No. 9: What are technological hazards. Explain in detail
A hazard originating from technological or industrial conditions, including accidents, dangerous
procedures, infrastructure failures or specific human activities, that may cause loss of life, injury,
illness or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and
economic disruption, or environmental damage.
This includes accidents, dangerous procedures, infrastructure deficiencies, and specific human
activities that can cause death, injury, disease, or other health impacts, as well as jeopardize
property, livelihood, and services, provoke social or economic disorder, and cause environmental
damage.
Examples of technological hazards include industrial pollution, nuclear radiation, toxic wastes,
dam failures, transport accidents, factory explosions, fires, and chemical spills.
Technological hazards can also result directly from the consequences of an event related to
natural hazards, as in the case of the explosions of two nuclear reactors with the associated
hazards of radioactivity in Fukushima, Japan, following a tsunami that accompanied an
earthquake.
This category of hazards encompasses a very wide range of events and associated potential
impacts on health. We shall concentrate here on chemical accidents and ionizing radiation
associated with different types of events.
Chemical accident:
The production of chemical products goes hand in hand with industrial growth and development.
In addition, the transportation of chemical substances has increased, both within countries and
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internationally. Natural hazards such as earthquakes can lead to emergencies if they cause leaks
or spills at plants that produce chemical products.
Human settlements located close to industrial plants are very common in developing countries,
which makes the populations involved more acutely vulnerable to the hazards of chemical
accidents. Chemical products pose potential health risks if they leak or spill, either due to
accidents in processing plants or because of human error in managing the safety mechanisms
involved in complex industrial processes.
An example of note is what occurred in Bhopal, India, where a leak of gas and other chemicals
from a pesticide plant killed thousands of people, in addition to exposing and affecting hundreds
of thousands. Depending on their particular characteristics and properties, chemical substances
can cause explosions and fires, disperse toxic smoke in the atmosphere, or pollute the
environment, water, and soil.
For the purposes of emergency information and action, in the field of transportation in particular,
the United Nations classifies substances into the following groups according to their properties:
Explosives:

gases
flammable liquids
solids that represent a fire hazard
Oxidants and organic peroxides:
toxic and infectious substances
radioactive substances
corrosives

From a public health perspective, the effects of chemical substances can be acute or chronic. This
depends on the type of substance, its physico-chemical properties, toxicological properties, the
quantity released, exposure time, and the channel of exposure. Toxic chemicals can jeopardize
health through inhalation, contact, ingestion, or ocular exposure, and can be harmful to the
respiratory system (lungs in particular), create neurological or immunological damage, and cause
cancer or teratogenic effects. The environment, and soil and water tables in particular, can be
contaminated by the degradation of chemical substances and compromise the health of the
population through the ingestion of contaminated food or water.
In terms of preparedness and response plans, dealing with toxic chemical accidents requires
broad multidisciplinary and interinstitutional involvement that addresses:

safety measures in production plants;

safety in transportation and storage;
appropriate equipment for decontamination activity;
practical information for populations living in the vicinity of chemical plants;

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specialized response mechanisms, both for toxicological clinical management and for
appropriate management of the substances causing an emergency; and (g) training of
specialized personnel.

Ionizing radiation:
Human beings are exposed on a daily basis to natural radiation in the form of cosmic radiation;
solar radiation; terrestrial radiation from radioactive material that may be in the soil, rocks, or
minerals of the earths crust; and radiation from food and beverages that contain natural
radioactive materials. More than 70% of the general populations exposure to ionizing radiation
is estimated to be from natural sources. Consult information from Princeton University on the
biological effects of ionizing radiation.
Radioactive substances are subject to spontaneous disintegration, which produces the
phenomenon known as ionizing radiation. Exposure of human beings and other species to this
radiation can have various effects on cells and live tissue, depending on the characteristics of the
radiation, the nature of the exposure, and its duration. The worlds major accidents involving
radioactivity include the explosion of the nuclear plant at Chernobyl, in the Ukraine, on 26 April
1986. Materials on the event include:
More recently, the direct impact of the major earthquake in Japan caused more than 15,000
deaths and 6,000 injuries. However, hundreds of thousands of people suffered and continue to
suffer the consequences of the radioactive contamination produced. If not for the work of
response personnel, this event could have been much more devastating than the nuclear accident
at Chernobyl.
An accident at a nuclear plant can produce extensive environmental pollution by releasing
radioactive materials into the atmosphere that spread over large regions, as particles are spread
by the wind and permeate to the soil. Accidents involving a source of ionizing radiation used in
industry or medicine can also contaminate, though in a more limited way. People can be exposed
in different waysby inhalation, or by ingesting water or food (milk, vegetables, fish) from
contaminated sources. Accidents can involve exposure or irradiation, or they can involve
contamination. In exposure or irradiation, the risk is only to the exposed person, and is not
transferable as long as the exposed person contains no radioactive elements. In contamination
with a radioactive substance (for example, powder, liquid or waste), the person and even the
persons clothes can be impregnated and transfer the radiation to other people, objects, or the
environment.
The greatest risk of radiological emergencies is associated with medical equipment and materials
principally equipment and materials that are not regulated or registered. This type of risk can
occur due to:

misuse of equipment;
loss of radioactive sources; and
leakage of radioactive materials.
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Factors that aggravate the impact of the radiation include:

proximity to the source;

absence of a barrier;
exposure time;
quantity or dose of radiation;

Part of the body exposed and characteristics of the person (age in particular, since the younger
the person the graver the consequences of radiation, for radiation principally affects growth cells
and causes genetic alterations, with the development cancer being a threat).
In preparedness and response planning for radioactivity emergencies, various possibilities must
be taken into account. These include accidents that could occur in nuclear or industrial plants,
those that could occur in medical diagnosis and treatment facilities, and those that could occur in
transportation. Measures must be taken for prevention, medical care, and decontamination. For
more information on the range of emergencies that can occur, potential health consequences,
corrective actions, and guidelines for planning, consult the IAEA publication Arrangements for
Preparedness for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency.
Q. No. 10: Give a detailed note on environmental hazards in a changing world.
Given the enormous complexity of nature-society-technology interactions and the rather bleak
trends in both disaster occurrence and societal vulnerability to hazards; shouldnt we simply
"throw in the towel" and let nature and societal developments take their course? To us as
individuals, things often seem to be getting worse and worse, and we dont seem to be able to put
the brakes on these global physical and social processes anyway.
It would be a sad outcome, indeed, if we ended this module on such a pessimistic, even fatalistic
note. Such an attitude would dismiss entirely the fact that throughout human history, societies the
world over have shown great ingenuity in adapting to their environments. It would also overlook
the reality that humans are active creators of, and collaborators in, their living circumstances. We
have contributed to the hazardousness of our environments as well as to the many efforts at
maintaining and increasing our safety: we have workplace safety standards; we have structural
and non-structural tools to protect ourselves from floods; we continue to improve our ability to
forecast and warn of approaching hazards like tropical storms, earthquakes, and volcanic
eruptions; we have emergency response institutions; we have public and private insurance; and
the idea of preventing environmental harm (the precautionary principle) is becoming
increasingly widespread as the yet-unknown impacts of global climate change loom on futures
horizon.
Clearly, we have a long way to go if we want to reverse current disaster and vulnerability trends.
In particular, we will have to spread our successes in mitigation much more evenly within and
among nations. Some people hope that the IDNDR, along with the threat of global change, may
actually translate into a strong momentum to improve disaster mitigation. Using that stimulation
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ourselves, we focus in this last unit on the basic question of what can be done to respond to and
mitigate hazards, global environmental and societal changes notwithstanding. We begin in the
first section with a look at the different phases of responding and adjusting to hazard events. The
next three sections then discuss in greater detail the three fundamental ways of reducing the
impacts from disasters -- modifying the hazard, reducing human vulnerability to them, and
sharing the losses. Just as people perceive and experience hazards differently, we must also
discriminate among people in their ability to adjust to hazards. In the final section, we will see
again that in this complex interplay of humans and their natural environment there are no simple
answers to the question of how best to respond to hazards and lessen their impacts.
Societal Response and Adjustments:
The study of societal responses to hazards ranges from what people do in the immediate
aftermath of an event and in the long term, to how, when, and why they respond. Response can
also be more narrowly defined to mean just the immediate action after a disaster (as is done
below). The following discussions are primarily about the "what and when," focussing on
emergency response and long-term mitigation. Interesting work at the hazards/global change
interface on societal learning, delayed and foregone responses, and responses to creeping/chronic
hazards is not discussed here but ultimately contributes to a fuller understanding of effective
societal adjustments to hazards.
When a disaster strikes, the immediate societal adjustments are to rescue the survivors and reestablish the lifelines (water, electricity, sewage, communication) to the ravaged community.
These relief operations include medical supplies, food, shelter, water, and power. Often, such
emergency response and relief operations are within the capabilities of the affected country. In
some instances, however, the disaster is too large for the individual country and international
relief efforts are mobilized by relief organizations such as the Red Cross/Red Crescent and
through cooperative arrangements within the United Nations.
Once the lifelines are re-established and the crisis period is over, the recovery phase begins.
Recovery adjustments (like sheltering, clean-up, repairs, treating injuries, assuring order and
safety from criminal behavior during emergency situations) are temporary in nature and provide
for a return to normalcy after an event. The use of temporary shelters during the recovery period
gives way to building permanent structures during the reconstruction phase. Throughout the
recovery and reconstruction phases, hazard mitigation continues.
Mitigation is a general term used to describe a wide range of methods for disaster loss reduction
that goes on before, during, and after a disaster. Some mitigation options are structural, meaning
they affect the material construction or organization of something (e.g., the use of steelreinforced construction materials in seismic areas or the use of elevated pilings in flood-prone
areas). Other mitigation strategies are non-structural and involve land use planning and
management, insurance, and pre-event preparedness (the establishment or reinstallation of
warning systems).

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There are three main avenues for reducing losses from environmental hazards. These are broadly
defined as modifying the hazard event, reducing human vulnerability, and sharing the losses.
Depending on the hazard, any or all of these loss reduction strategies may be employed. In the
following three sections we will look at each of these.

Modifying the Hazard:

Modifying the hazard itself is the most problematic strategy for hazards loss reduction because
we ultimately cannot control the physical forces of nature, although many societies have tried
(and continue to try). Building dikes and seawalls to hold back the sea as the Dutch have done
works for a limited time but in many cases has caused detrimental effects down-drift from the
dike or seawall, actually aggravating the processes that such measures were meant to stop (i.e.,
beach erosion, flooding, and storm surges). If sea levels rise as a consequence of global warming,
these dikes may also not be high enough to hold back the sea in future years. Beach nourishment
(i.e., sand replenishment) is often used to maintain beaches along the US east coast, but beach
erosion is commonplace and no matter how much sand is placed on the beach, it will eventually
be lost. Under current projections of climate change, rising sea levels will accelerate coastal
erosion.
Other hazard modification schemes have been attempted with more or (all too often) less
success. These include cloud seeding experiments in the 1950s and 1960s to prevent the
development of extreme low-pressure systems that cause high winds, severe downpours, and
hail; flood abatement and diversion strategies; manipulation of surface and groundwater to
induce small-scale seismic events to prevent the build-up of large physical strain, or to reduce
frictional resistance within rocks in seismic zones; cooling, barring, or diverting of lava flows;
and excavations, mass fillings, and drainage of soils and rocky substrates to prevent mass
movements. Large-scale geo-engineering projects -- viewed by some as rather fantastic ideas -have been proposed recently in the context of mitigation strategies for global climate change.
These include replenishment of stratospheric ozone by shooting ozone into the stratosphere and
the construction of huge space mirrors to reflect solar radiation back into space, thereby reducing
solar input to the atmosphere and thus the warming of global temperatures.
For hazards originating in social and technological systems, the obvious strategies to reduce such
threats in the first place are conflict resolution, ensuring social equity, improving on the safety of
technologies or their usage, or doing without a product that has potentially hazardous effects. Not
exclusively, but often with reference to technological hazards management systems, this type of
modification is known as prevention. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, such as
modifying the technology, preventing initiating events, or preventing outcomes. Modifying the
technology could include a ban on the use a particular product (e.g., chlorofluorocarbons, or
CFCs, which are suspected carcinogens and destroy stratospheric ozone). Preventing initiating
events normally involves the use of redundant safety systems such as the secondary cooling
systems found in most nuclear power plants. Even the best designed systems fail, however, as
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happened with the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, in 1979. Preventing
outcomes includes a range of technological and design decisions that reduce contaminants at
their point of origin such as scrubbers (which reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide, a key
contributing agent in causing acid rain) and other pollution prevention technologies.
As past experience with modifying environmental hazards has shown, the actions taken to
prevent or lessen one hazard can actually create new hazards further down the line, in other
geographic areas, in different ecological subsystems, or at a later point in time. Replacing certain
CFCs with other CFCs and halons is an example. We do not know the environmental impacts of
these replacement chemicals, but some have already proven to be even more destructive to the
ozone layer than their predecessors. Along these same lines we need to ask what the
environmental consequences of large-scale interventions like space mirrors would be. While a
number of hazards probably can be modified and lessened without major rethinking of our
interactions with nature and technology, other hazards (regardless of their origin or magnitude)
may require a new ethic about living with nature and the use of technology. The past holds many
lessons to remind us to be more cautious and to consider a long-term systems perspective in
attempting to "manage" the environment and ourselves. For hazards originating in the social
arena where preventive measures need to address conflicts, equity issues, and the allocation of
rights and responsibilities, it seems we may need an even more deeply self-reflexive and
cooperative spirit, something -- as we all know -- that is very hard to realize. Focus Issue 7
illustrates for one category of hazards how we have to rethink mitigation strategies and the ways
in which we interact with the natural environment.
Reducing Human Vulnerability:
Reducing human susceptibility to the adverse consequences of hazards/disasters is another way
to decrease losses. This is the area where mitigation efforts are best applied. Strategies aimed at
reducing vulnerability can be preventative or response-oriented, structural or nonstructural. As a
preventative measure, for example, buildings can be made safer (e.g., improving engineering
standards to make them more earthquake-resistant; enforcing building codes to heighten wind
resistance, and elevating buildings or parts of buildings above flood stages). We can also reduce
our vulnerability with non-structural pre-impact options such as emergency planning and
preparedness. The development of better forecasting and warning systems drastically reduces the
impact of some natural disasters on society (e.g., the losses of lives from hurricanes in the US).
Combined forecasting and warning (and if necessary evacuation) systems are successful in
lessening the impact of sudden onset, major life-threatening hazards such as floods, hurricanes,
and tornados. We now have sophisticated radar-based forecasting systems for hurricanes and
tornados that enable emergency managers to advise the public in a timely manner to get out of
harm's way and/or take precautions.
Other pre-impact mitigation strategies for vulnerability reduction include land use regulations,
planning, risk and hazards laws, and international treaties for hazards reduction and control. In
the US, pre-impact mitigation strategies include measures such as zoning ordinances and
setbacks in coastal areas or floodplains to prevent people from building in highly vulnerable
areas near the water's edge. In the United States, risk and hazards laws are intentionally designed
to prevent human exposures and harm. Provisions included in the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking
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Water Act, and the Clean Water Act, among others are all considered mitigation strategies for
reducing pollution impacts. Also a large number of rules overseen by the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are designed
to ensure the safety of the workplace and the safety of food, food additives, and drugs
respectively. Finally, there are quite a few international treaties for hazards reduction and control,
ranging from the 1972 London Convention on Biological and Toxic Weapons to the 1989 Basel
Convention on the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes to the 1992 Climate Change
treaty. As many unfortunate examples of evasion of these laws by individual firms or nations
indicate, legislation must be followed by compliance monitoring to ensure their effectiveness.
Response-oriented mitigation strategies to decrease human vulnerability are those that allow
people to react more quickly to a disaster such that its impacts can be contained in space, time,
and to a minimal number of affected sectors and populations. Regular training for emergency
response personnel like fire fighters, state or federal emergency agents, Red Cross volunteers, or
the US National Guard fall into this category of measures. Finally, streamlining and simplifying
the bureaucratic procedures to apply for disaster assistance and low-interest loans to rebuild after
a disaster have proven to be effective in helping disaster victims get on the track to recovery.
Sharing the Losses:
Insurance is the most widespread method of sharing the losses, especially in the United States
and other developed nations. The basic idea is that many people pay a premium into a fund that
will be paid out to those (presumably a smaller number of insurance holders) who have suffered
losses from a disaster. Thus, many pay a comparatively small sum of money (in effect a "loss" of
income) so that in the relatively unlikely case of a major loss from a hazard event, they dont
have to foot a financially devastating bill alone. Yet, homeowners who could obtain hazard
insurance (for example, against earthquakes) frequently refuse to purchase it because they figure
the yearly cost for the insurance is significantly higher than the risk of loss. Unfortunately,
increasing numbers of people are proven wrong in devastating ways. In certain instances,
homeowners and businesses are required by law to obtain insurance or else they are not able to
develop a piece of land or to obtain a mortgage or bank loan on their property. For example, the
National Flood Insurance Program requires developers to comply with certain basic building
standards that are designed to reduce the risk of damage from floods and storms.
After a series of enormously expensive disasters over the past ten years in which the national and
international insurance industry suffered several billion-dollar losses, the industry is now
grappling with how to continue coverage in particularly vulnerable areas and how to recover past
and limit future losses from disasters. Insurers see the writing on the wall; the potential effects of
global warming (more frequent, more intense, or more widespread storms; sea level rise; heat
waves and droughts; and widespread disease) have major insurance companies convinced that
global change is here. Sea level rise, for example, would alter current floodplain delineations as
the inland extent and frequency of flooding are expected to change, which would in turn affect
insurance coverage and rates.
Lastly, the use of the judicial system to seek monetary compensation for damages incurred from
risks/hazards imposed on a person or community by others is yet another strategy for loss
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sharing in which "victims" are remunerated for the sins of industry or government. This, of
course, assumes that all people have equal access to the judicial system and that they are treated
with equal justice by arbitrating institutions, an assumption that is frequently challenged by
political reality in both non-democratic and democratic societies.

Differential Adjustments
While the range of potential adjustments to hazards has increased over time, individual access to
adjustments is more restricted now than in the past as a function of social class, income, gender,
and life circumstances. Increasingly, nations and societies are more polarized between rich and
poor, powerful and powerless, and divided by ethnic divisions or subcultures. The split between
the "haves" and the "have nots" is widening within and among nations. Ultimately, the ability to
respond to environmental hazards is constrained by these divisions.
Poverty and environmental degradation are often linked in creating an impoverishmentdegradation spiral. The driving forces behind environmental degradation are
development/commercialization along with population growth and poverty. Natural hazards
accelerate this process by destroying development efforts, disrupting social communities,
consuming enormous amounts of money otherwise available for sustainable resource use and
development, and restricting the use of remaining natural resources. Socioeconomic status plays
a major role in individual and group opportunities for adjustments to these deteriorating
conditions and in the recovery from hazards. Poverty restricts one's ability to maintain the
simplest of adjustments (e.g. protective works) because of a lack of skill and sometimes labor to
undertake the improvement, a lack of needed inputs for rebuilding, or a lack of access to
education and thus knowledge of public programs for recovery. Without capital or power, poor
people who often live on marginal lands to begin with, eventually get displaced from them, and
begin a migratory odyssey as environmental refugees. In many countries, these refugees are
mostly women and children, two subgroups who are often the least able to adjust to
environmental hazards.
Urbanization is one of the key processes that influence vulnerability to environmental hazards.
Not only are the world's megacities becoming more populated, are they also situated in some of
the most hazard-prone areas of the world -- along coastlines and in seismically active areas. Air
pollution, toxic chemical contamination, and poor water quality add to these areas already
difficult problems. The elderly and children are most susceptible to air pollution episodes, be
they in cities in the developing or developed world.

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