ATS1310 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Food Security, Geoscience Australia, Natural Disaster
9 Aug 2018
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Why study natural disasters: they are bio-physical (natural, geological, climatological, material) Hazards are key component of earth"s bio-geo-physical processes and need increased understanding/improvement through scientific research: they are social (historical, expensive, expose societal fractures, are rescues efforts, institutions and policies) Vulnerabilities exacerbate disasters and disasters create vulnerabilities. Cost more now than before (2000 onwards) because greater value of assets at risk : they are personal (human, stories, experiences, emotions) Changes thinking about disasters recovery can be long term, community input is critical. Essential service providers (energy, water & sanitation services) Aid organisations/ngos (oxfam, world vision, red cross) Military (international recovery/aid provisions, large scale responses) Academic institutions (science, engineering, social sciences, medicine, psychology) Inconsistent definitions of what is a disaster (e. g. epicentre or aftershocks main cause?) Fuzzy boundaries in space (epicentre vs. impacted zone, and time e. g. drought builds slowly ) Historical data patchy (formal & systematic data collection only began 1960s, technological advancements have changed (improved) how we do this)
