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For other uses, see Disaster (disambiguation).

A disaster is the impact of a natural or human-made hazard that negatively affects society or environment. A natural hazard or geophysical hazards is a threat of an event that will have a negative effect on people or the environment See also Natural environment The '''biophysical''' environment is the symbiosis between the physical environment and the Biological The root of the word disaster comes from astrology: this implies that when the stars are in a bad position a bad event will happen. Astrology (from Greek grc ἄστρον astron, "constellation star" and grc -λογία -logia) is a group of Systems [1] The word derives from Middle French désastre, from Old Italian disastro, from the Greek pejorative prefix δυσ-, (dis-) "bad" + αστήρ (aster), "star". French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt

In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriately managed risk. These risks are the product of hazards and vulnerability. Hazards that strike in areas with low vulnerability are not considered a disaster, as is the case in uninhabited regions. [2]

Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95 percent of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in industrialized countries. [3]

Contents

Classification

Wisner et al reflect a common opinion when they argue that all disasters can be seen as being human-made, their reasoning being that human actions before the strike of the hazard can prevent it developing into a disaster. All disasters are hence the result of human failure to introduce appropriate disaster management measures. Emergency management (or disaster management) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks [4] Hazards are routinely divided into natural or human-made, although complex disasters, where there is no single root cause, are more common in developing countries. Developing countries are countries that haven't reached Western-style standards of democratic government free market economy industrialization social programs and human rights guaranties A specific disaster may spawn a secondary disaster that increases the impact. A classic example is an earthquake that causes a tsunami, resulting in coastal flooding. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer A tsunami ((tsuːˈnɑːmi is a series of waves created when A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge

Natural disasters

Main article: Natural disaster

A natural disaster is the consequence when a natural hazard (e. A natural disaster is the consequence of a Natural hazard (eg A hazard is a situation which poses a level of threat to Life, Health, Property or environment. g. , volcanic eruption or earthquake) affects humans. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer Human vulnerability, caused by the lack of appropriate emergency management, leads to financial, environmental, or human impact. For other uses of the word "Vulnerability" please refer to Vulnerability (computing You may also want to refer to Natural disaster. Emergency management (or disaster management) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster: their resilience. This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability". A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e. g. , strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement.

Human-made disasters

Main article: Man-made hazards

Disasters caused by human action, negligence, error, or involving the failure of a system are called human-made disasters. Human-made disasters are in turn categorized as technological or sociological. Technological disasters are the results of failure of technology, such as engineering failures, transport disasters, or environmental disasters. An environmental disaster is a Disaster that is due to human activity and should not be confused with Natural disasters In this case the impact of humans' alteration Sociological disaster have a strong human motive, such as criminal acts, stampedes, riots, and war. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment A stampede is an act of mass impulse among Herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd (or crowd collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose Riots are a form of Civil disorders characterized by disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of Violence, Vandalism or other War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units

Management

Main articles: Emergency management and Business continuity planning

The probability of avoiding a disaster is greatly improved when those potentially affected by them implement mitagative action and develop emergency preparedness plans. Emergency management (or disaster management) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks Business Continuity Planning ( BCP) is an Interdisciplinary Concept used to create and validate a practiced Logistical Plan for how The science of disaster management deals with this issue. Emergency management (or disaster management) is the discipline of dealing with and avoiding risks Although the term disaster is subjective, it is often used in the developed world to refer to situations where local emergency management resources are inadequate to counteract the negative effects of the event[2]. Business continuity planning focus on the particular application of disaster management in the commercial domain. Business Continuity Planning ( BCP) is an Interdisciplinary Concept used to create and validate a practiced Logistical Plan for how

Risks of hypothetical future disasters

Main article: Risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Word Detective
  2. ^ a b Quarantelli E. This is about the future of civilization humans and the earth A pandemic (from Greek παν pan all + δήμος demos people is an Epidemic of Infectious disease that spreads through Overpopulation refers to a condition where an Organism 's numbers exceed the Carrying capacity of its Habitat. Antibiotic resistance is the ability of a Microorganism to withstand the effects of Antibiotics. A supervolcano or super volcanic eruption is a Volcanic eruption which is Orders of magnitude greater than any volcano in historic times (generally accepted to be effects of Global warming on the environment and human life are numerous varied accelerating and taking scientists studying global warming by surprise See also Impact crater An impact event is the Collision of a large Meteoroid, Asteroid or Comet (generically An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the Temperature of the Earth 's surface and atmosphere resulting in an expansion of continental Ice sheets Mega-tsunami (also known as iminami or "wave of purification" is an informal term to indicate a Tsunami that has initial Wave heights that are A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation A megathrust earthquake occurs at Subduction zones (destructive plate boundaries where one Tectonic plate is forced under (subducts another Desertification is the degradation of land in arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting primarily from human activities and influenced by climatic variations Over-consumption is a concept related to Overpopulation, referring to situations where Per capita Shutdown or slowdown of the Thermohaline circulation is a postulated effect of global warming. A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply Water Crisis is a term that refers to the status of the world’s Water resources relative to human demand Overfishing occurs when Fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland The technological singularity is a theoretical future point of unprecedented technological progress caused in part by the ability of machines to improve themselves using Artificial Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion Civil defense or civil defence (see spelling differences) is an effort to prepare Civilians for Military attack A crisis (plural crises may occur on a personal or societal level Business Continuity is the activity performed by an organization to ensure that critical business functions will be available to customers suppliers regulators and other entities An emergency is a situation which poses an immediate risk to Health, Life, Property or environment. Survivalism is a commonly used term for the Preparedness strategy and subculture of individuals or groups anticipating and making preparations for future possible disruptions This is about the future of civilization humans and the earth Human Extinction is the assured end of the Human Species. Various scenarios have been discussed in Science, Popular culture, and Religion Sociology of disaster is a special branch of Sociology. The research is predominantly done in the United States, but also in Germany and Italy A disaster film is a movie genre that has an impending or ongoing Disaster (such as a damaged Airliner, Fire Disaster convergence is the phenomenon of individuals or groups moving towards a Disaster stricken area L. (1998). Where We Have Been and Where We Might Go. In: Quarantelli E. L. (ed). What Is A Disaster? London: Routledge. pp146-159
  3. ^ World Bank
  4. ^ B. Wisner, P. Blaikie, T. Cannon, and I. Davis (2004). At Risk - Natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters. Wiltshire: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-25216-4

References

External links

United States

AirDisastercom (colloquially referred to as ADcom is a website devoted to accidents and incidents on commercial airliners.

Dictionary

disaster

-noun

  1. An unexpected natural or man-made catastrophe of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life or sometimes permanent change to the natural environment.
  2. An unforeseen event causing great loss, upset or unpleasantness of whatever kind.
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