GEOS2111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Shark Attack, Natural Disaster, Natural Hazard
2 Jul 2019
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Document Summary
Week 11 lecture 1 natural v unnatural hazards & critical statistics. Establish contrasts between natural and unnatural (technological, self-inflicted) hazards. Living in the united states in 2001: total deaths = 1,100, apparent that deaths due to unnatural disasters are substantially higher than those from natural disasters, contrary to our assumption: natural disasters > unnatural disasters. There is often a blurred boundary between natural and unnatural hazards: they intersect sometimes and cascade. Black saturday bushfire = majority of fires are triggered by powerlines: long-term exposure to environmental contaminants (ex. release of lead compounds or low-level hazardous waste [accidental/deliberate] through mining and human activities) Onset may be rapid or slow: slow: ex. lead compounds in the environment slowly reach a toxic level dangerous to human/animal. Technological accidents/disasters often consist of complex, multiple hazards. Chemical disasters typically involve toxicity on immediate and long-term scales. Technological disasters that involve a natural hazard are on the increase (ex. earthquakes/fires, storms/tanker oil spills)
