Introduction to

Different Types of
Disasters
Processes that Shape
and Change Our
Environment
I. Plate tectonics
I. Plate tectonics

Leads to mountain building

Volcanism
Ocean formation
II. Biological accumulation
II. Biological accumulation

Reef Building
Colony formation
Forestation
III. Atmospheric processes
III. Atmospheric processes

Formation of clouds
Precipitation
Winds, etc.
IV. Human activities
IV. Human activities

 Urbanization
Extracting resources
Geoengineering, etc.
Hazard
Hazard
A dangerous phenomenon, substance,
human activity or that may cause loss of
life, injury or other health impacts,
property damage, loss of livelihoods and
services, social and economic disruption,
or environmental damage.
Disaster
 Disaster
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.
 PERFORMANCE TASK
Role Play

 This activity is meant for the learners to

think independently and their analysis on
the impacts of certain hazards according to
specific locations.
Figure 1. Map of locations and suggested scenarios.

A: Family in concrete house near the highway far

from river and mountain
B: Mountain climbers going up the slope
C: Exchange learners in a local family home in the
barrio near the river
D: Friends in an isolated beach resort
E: Fishermen out on the sea
F: Passengers in a jeep along a road with moderate
traffic
 Guidelines:
A. There should be one reporter, who will explain
what the group is representing.
B. The rest of the group, actors, will take on roles,
whether of living or non-living things. But there
should always be at least one human in every
situation. For example, they can be all humans, or
one human and the rest are either animals, plants,
or inanimate objects.
C. The actors must represent what is happening to
the living and/or non-living things caught in the
given situation. The assumption is that they are
unable to avoid the situation.
D. 5-10 minutes to present.
F. The grade will be based on the accuracy of the
depiction of possible impacts, not just on the
acting.
G. Each group should submit the list of roles to
the teacher. This will be used as a guide for
grading.
66
Disaster Risk
 Disaster Risk
expressed as the likelihood of loss of life,
injury or destruction and damage from a
disaster in a given period of time. (adapted
from UNISDR, 2015a).
Risk
Risk
the possibility that something bad or
unpleasant (such as an injury or a loss)
will happen (Merriam-Webster)
Hazard
Hazard
A dangerous event that may cause loss
of life, injury or other health impacts,
as well as damage and loss to property,
infrastructure, livelihoods and services,
social and economic disruption and, or
environmental damage is known as a
hazard (UNISDR, 2009b).
Exposure
Exposure
The presence and number of people,
property, livelihoods, systems or other
elements in hazard areas (and so
thereby subject to potential losses) is
known as exposure (UNISDR, 2009b
and IPCC, 2012).
Vulnerability
Vulnerability
The name given to the set of
characteristics and circumstances of a
community, system or asset that make
it susceptible to the damaging effects
of a hazard is vulnerability.
• Disaster risk is therefore considered as
the combination of the severity and
frequency of a hazard, the numbers of
people and assets exposed to the
hazard, and their vulnerability to
damage (UNISDR, 2015a)
Risk Factors
Disaster Risk factors are variables that either
aggravate or mitigate the effects of hazards,
affecting the degree or scope of a disaster.
Physical factors
pertain to tangible objects or
infrastructure, like the availability of
fire exits, or the sturdiness of the
building, or the presence or absence of
objects that can harm you or help you,
etc.
Psychological factors
include state of mental capacity and
health (e.g. are we dealing with babies?
Kids? Adults? People with special
needs?), perception of self (e.g. self-
assessment of capability to respond to
disasters, fear), etc.
Socio-cultural factors
include religion, social status,
traditions, perception by society, etc.
Economic factors
include assets and liabilities, income,
economic class, etc.
Political factors
include government structure,
diplomatic issues, etc.
Biological factors
include flora and fauna in
environment, health, diseases, etc.
There is no such thing as a
natural disaster, but disasters
often follow natural hazards.
The losses and impacts that characterise
disasters usually have much to do with
the exposure and vulnerability of people
and places as they do with the severity of
the hazard event (UNISDR, 2013).
 Disaster risk has many characteristics. In
order to understand disaster risk, it is essential
to understand that it is:

• Forward looking the likelihood of loss of life,

destruction and damage in a given period of time
• Dynamic: it can increase or decrease according
to our ability to reduce vulnerability
• Invisible: it is comprised of not only the threat
of high-impact events, but also the frequent,
low-impact events that are often hidden
• Unevenly distributed around the
earth: hazards affect different areas, but the
pattern of disaster risk reflects the social
construction of exposure and vulnerability
in different countries
• Emergent and complex: many processes,
including climate change and globalized
economic development, are creating new,
interconnected risks
Disasters threaten development,
just as development creates
disaster risk.
The key to understanding disaster risk is by
recognizing that disasters are an indicator of
development failures, meaning that disaster
risk is a measure of the sustainability of
development. Hazard, vulnerability and
exposure are influenced by a number of risk
drivers, including poverty and inequality,
badly planned and managed urban and
regional development, climate change and
environmental degradation (UNISDR, 2009a,
2011, 2013 and 2015a).
RISK DRIVERS
1. Climate Change
1. Climate Change
Climate change can increase disaster risk
in a variety of ways – by altering the
frequency and intensity of hazard events,
affecting vulnerability to hazards, and
changing exposure patterns.
2. Environmental Degradation
2. Environmental Degradation
Environmental degradation is both a
driver and consequence of disasters,
reducing the capacity of the environment
to meet social and ecological needs.
3. Globalized economic development
3. Globalized economic development
Globalized economic development can
lead to increased exposure of assets in
hazard-prone areas, leading to further
increases in intensive risk if not
managed.
4. Poverty and equality
Socio-economic inequality is likely to
continue to increase and with it disaster
risk for those countries, communities,
households and businesses that have only
limited opportunities to manage their risks
and strengthen their resilience. The
geography of inequality expresses itself at
all scales: between regions and countries,
within countries and inside cities and
localities (UNISDR, 2015a).
•
5. Poorly planned urban development
•
5. Poorly planned urban development
Whether or not disaster risk is factored
into investment decisions in urban
development, it will have a decisive
influence on the future of disaster risk
reduction (UNISDR, 2013)
•
6. Weak Governane
6. Weak Governane
Governance of disaster risk management
must be improved, not only through
specialized and stand-alone sectors, but
also through strengthened governance
arrangements across sectors and
territories in order to address disaster
risk.
Figure 2: World Risk Map (Hermes, 2014)
List 10 Hazards in the
Classroom
Creating a Classroom
Hazard Map
1. One will act as group Facilitator to guide the
discussion.

2. Two will report the group output to the class (the

Reporters).

3. Two-three will take note of the discussions in the

group and the reporting (the Scribes).
4. The groups should come up with a
consensus of the hazards, and how it could
lead to a disaster (the impact), that everyone
has identified.

5. Potential hazards should be colored in red

and labeled properly. Possible impacts of
these hazards should be noted by the scribe
and reporters.

6. Safe areas and paths should be colored

blue.
 4 3 2 1
The map shows The map shows The map shows Map does not
COMPREHEN More than 5-7 5-7 potential 1-4 hazards show hazards.
SIVENESS potential hazards only.
OF THE hazards correctly Does not show
MAP correctly and potential The map shows safe spaces.
and potential disasters were 1-2 safe spaces.
disasters were described.
described.
The map shows
The map shows most safe
all safe spaces spaces.
and the path
going out of the
room.
All the Members of the Some members Learners do not
members group know of the group know their
ROLES AND of the group their know their roles
TEAMWORK accomplished roles but roles. and has no
their roles well discussion was cooperation.
and were active not very active.
during
discussion.