Chapter 2

Basic Concepts of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Differentiate the meaning of disaster and disaster risk
2. Explain how and when an event becomes a disaster
3. Analyze disaster from the different perspective(physical,psychological,socio-cultural,economic,politics and
biological)

Disaster is a sudden calamitous event that seriously disrupts the functioning of a community or society and causes
human,material and economic or environmental losses that exceed the community’s or society’s ability to cope up
using its own resources. Though often caused by nature, disasters can have human origins.
Some studies have suggested that commodities provide an effective hedge against natural disasters because
disasters such as floods, drought and hurricanes can affect commodity and supply and increase the price. However the
effect can differ across commodities.
The term disaster originated from the french word “desastre” which is a combination of the words “des” meaning
bad and “aster” meaning star. From this, it can be inferred that disaster literally means bad star.
Disaster is a serious and tragic event that causes loss of lives,human suffering and great damages to properties
and environment. It disrupts the current state of communities, affecting wide-ranging aspects of community life.
Disaster happens when communities lack the capacity to adapt to disruptions that further affect he socio-economic,
political, psychological and cultural state of individuals and families in communities. However, the impact of disasters
varies depending on geographical location and vulnerability of population among others.
Although caused by nature, the role of humans greatly affect the impact of disasters. Disaster occurs when a
hazard targets vulnerable people. That is, when hazard,vulnerability and lack of capacity interplay which lead to risks.

Figure 1 : An interplay of Vulnerability,Hazard and Exposure which results to risk.

In addition to,disasters are categorize into two main types which are natural and man-made disasters. Natural
disasters. On the other hand, according to United Nations International Strategy on Disaster Reduction(ISDR),disaster
risk is the potential loss in lives, health status,livelihoods and various assets which are often challenging to quantify.
However, by having knowledge on the scientific and local context behind hazards, disaster risks can be assessed and
mapped.

Underlying Risk factors

There are some underlying factors which increase disaster, and which need to be addressed in order to reduce
overall risk. These include environmental problems, such as declining ecosystems,social and economic vulnerabilities,
and climate change. Climate change is a key element in the shifting nature of disaster risk for many communities, not
only does it bring the increased risk of extreme weather events but it also increases the stress on many societies,for
example through problems linked to water availability,food production and and ecosystem change.
Pillar 4 of the Hyogo Framework for Action which states that disaster risks related to changing social,
economic,environmental conditions and land use, and the impact of hazards associated with geological
events,weather,water,climate variability and climate change,are addressed in sector development planning and
programmes as well as in post-disaster situations. This focuses on the need to reduce underlying risk factors, in
addition to addressing disaster risk via early warning, capacity building, knowledge sharing etc. However this is the
area of the framework which is the most challenging to implement:more concerted work on this will be required in the
years ahead.

Figure 2 : The Hyogo Framework Showing its Different Pillars

Impacts of Disasters
The impact of disasters can be identified as direct,indirect and intangible loses on environment and society as a
whole. The direct losses include physical effects such as destruction and changes that reduce the functionality of an
individual or structure. This involves damages to people,buildings,vehicles and disposal costs. Meanwhile, indirect
losses affect society by disrupting or damaging utility services and local businesses. These include loss of
revenue,increase in cost, expenses connected to the provision of assistance,lodging and drinking water and cost
associated with the need to drive longer distances because of blocked roads. Lastly, the intangible loses include
psychological challenges caused by both direct and intangible losses that individuals suffer from a disaster.

Figure 3 : The Impact of Disasters

Social Impacts
The primary damage of disasters could be the destruction of buildings and infrastructures. It is in fact the most
obvious form of onslaught brought about by disasters. However,it cannot be denied that the impacts of disasters are
intertwined with the social aspects of communities,including housing,health,education, transportation and political
instability.
 Housing - disasters often displace a considerable number of people. The destruction of houses which may be
brought by floods and earthquakes can lead to homelessness. This can further have a long-term impact in the
society. For instance, it is prevalent in developing countries that houses are also the site of small businesses and
livelihoods.
 Health - Health care infrastructures in most parts of the developing worlds are vulnerable to hazards because of
poor facilities. When hospital equipment are damaged,hospitals cannot accommodate people affected by
 calamities. This is why investments on a more long term solution should be prioritize. For example, strengthening
the structure of hospitals and security of equipment.
 Education - In the Philippine, school facilities often serve as evacuation and relief centers when disaster strikes.
One of the greatest impacts of disasters to education is the disruption of educational services that can have a long
term effects of both students and teachers.

Economic Impacts
Natural disasters tend to have a stronger impact on countries with major debt and poverty problems. Based on
history, it can be seen that disasters cause short-term gross domestic products decline and vital changes in public
expenditures. Significant portion of funds are used for reconstruction,repair,rehabilitation and medical aid. Moreover,
location is an important factor on the effect of natural disasters to the economy. Essentially, an area that operates in
industrial and high income economy tends to have a greater economic impact than those that have fewer assets.
In the case of earthquakes, the phenomena can temporarily shut down the production of industries and can
also destroy factories,roads,electricity lines and offices. This can have a negative impact in economic growth wherein
the damages may lead to a decline in capacity to import and export goods.

Environmental Impacts
Disasters create substantial environmental degradation and ecological imbalance which lessens the quality of
people’s lives. Natural disasters are by definition degrading to society. However, disasters can also be beneficial in an
ecological sense. Let us take the example of floods which carry economic and environmental effects. Flooding can
negatively impact trees and root crops if they are submerged for a long time. But it cannot also be denied that floods
can nourish the soil and provide fresh supplies of water, nutrients and sediments. According to study conducted by
World Bank in 2009, a typical flood has the potential to alleviate agricultural yield within a year after it hits, when
accompanied by an increase in soil fertility. This can lead to faster growth in the manufacturing and service sectors in
the following years. It can improve the farm sector and boost the economy.
However, droughts not only produce economic damage, but virtually all of their environmental impacts are
undesirable. Drought generally damages ecosystems because it reduces water supply, essential for living organisms to
survive.

Perspective on Disasters
1. Physical Science Perspectives on Disaster
From a physical science perspective, three factors contribute to disaster:
a. The intensity of the event: the damage to structures or to the natural environment, or the levels of morbidity and
mortality
b. The event’s duration and timing
c. Its geographical scale
The given factors interact with a physical event to determine a state of vulnerability, the degree of
susceptibility of the systems that are affected by the physical event. For instance, if a settlement exists in a low lying
land area unprotected by a barrier beach and having not much wetland to absorb shock, a hurricane can cause
substantial damage. Another example is, an island unprotected by coral reefs or other natural structures would be
vulnerable to a disastrous strike by a tsunami. These are essentially natural states of high vulnerability. Thus, the
physical elements and the element of perception cannot, however be separated so easily.
2. Psychological perspective on disaster
Norris,et al.(2002) as cited by Stanley,et.al(2012), identified psychological outcomes that could be classified
into six general categories - specific psychological problems, nonspecific distress,health problems and concern,
chronic problems in living, psychosocial resource loss and problems specific to youth.
An area in which there is sparse information about mental health consequences is biological events either
naturally occurring such as SARS or an intentional terrorist attack. Its should also be taken into consideration that
each and everyone has a different level of anxiety and coping up.
3. Socio-cultural Perspective on Disaster
Anthropologists have long explored the construction of cultural meanings and world views and the means and
the contexts in which such constructions are enacted and concretized. It is frequently in extreme conditions,
particularly those characterized by loss and change,which human beings find them confronted with difficult existential
questions. The responses of disaster-stricken peoples invariability involve the moral and ethical core of the belief
system.
Relocation or resettlement of disaster-stricken populations is a common strategy pursued by planners in
reconstruction efforts. Recent research emphasizes importance of place in the construction of individual and
community identities, in the encoding and contextualization of time and history and in the politics of interpersonal,
community and intercultural relations. Such place attachments mean the loss or removal of a community from its
ground by the disaster may be profoundly traumatic.
4. Economic Perspective on Disaster
A key goal in disaster management is the protection of people and the enhancement of their quality of life
while remaining prepared for the ongoing possibility and aftermath of disasters. In this regard, social marketing has a
great potential for improving preparedness and response by focusing attention on the needs of disaster victims. A
social marketing perspectives is unique because it (1)holds behavior change as it bottom line, (2) is fanatically
custom-driven and (3) emphasizes creating attractive exchanges that encourage behavior
Market segmentation is an important concept in social marketing. It is important to recognize that not all
members of a target population will be in same stage of adoption of a recommended behavior or will perceive the
costs and benefits of the recommended behavior in the same way. It implies that different approaches to behavior
change may be necessary for different segments of the population.
5. Political Perspective on Disaster
Disaster governance is an emerging concept in the disaster research literature that is closely related to risk
governance and environmental governance. Disaster governance arrangements and challenges are shaped by forces
such as globalization, world-system dynamics,social inequality and socio-demographic trends. Governance regimes
are polycentric and multi-scale,show variation across the hazard cycle and tend to lack integration and to be
formulated in response to particular large-scale events.
6. Biological Perspective
Many assumptions regarding the nation’s need for disaster preparedness were reassessed. Among them was a
fuller appreciation of the fact that the preparedness had to include public health and hospital personnel in its first
responder definition. A basic priority for our country is a unified emergency response to disaster. Whether of natural
or human origin,disasters often involve casualties suffering from extensive trauma, or those injuries caused by
physical force.

Hazards
Hazard as per definition is a potentially damaging event that may cause the loss of life, injury,damage to
properties and all other impacts. Generally, hazard can be classified into two: Natural Hazards and Human-induced
hazards.
1. Natural Hazards. Nature operates dynamically,making it very unpredictable. Natural hazards are phenomena that
may cause severe death toll, damages to property,environment and socio-economic condition of communities. There
are different types of natural hazards depending on their precursors,namely:
 Biological Hazards. This is directly linked to an organic caused by exposure of living organisms to toxic
substances and microorganisms that cause sickness. Examples of biological hazards include epidemic diseases
caused by viral and bacterial infection.
 Geological Hazard. In this hazard, events that originated in solid ground count as major percursor. These includes
earthquakes,volcanic eruptions and emission, and other secondary hazards such as landslides and mudflows.
These hazards undoubtedly cause mortality and damages as well as impacts to other faces of society.
 Hydrometeorological hazard. This hazard includes typhoons, thunderstorms,tornadoes,floods and even droughts
among others. Basically,this involves phenomena that are of atmospheric,hydrological or oceanographic in nature
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.
2. Human- induced hazards. Despite the realm of increasing frequency and intensity of natural hazards, it cannot be
denied that anthropogenic influence on hazards causes much loss, both in number of lives and socio-economic
conditions. In fact, there is a widespread risk on exposure of hazardous materials due to industrialization and
globalization.
This kind of hazard sprouts from technological or industrial conditions which include infrastructure failures or
specific human activities. Examples of which are transport accidents and chemical spills. Technological hazards can
also come into play. If the population does not have adequate policies to regulate the use of hazardous materials, this
may pose serious health risks to them. Aside form nuclear accidents, other technological or man-made disasters
include bombings and bioterrorism.
Identification of hazard risks is the first step in performing a risk assessment. The three modes of hazards aare
the following:
1. Dormant. The situation presents a potential hazard,but no people,property or environment is currently affected. For
instance, a hillside may be unstable, with the potential for landslide,but there is nothing below or on the hillside that
could be affected.
2. Armed. It refers to people, property or environment
3. Active. A harmful incident involving the hazard that actually occurred. Often this is referred to not as an “active
hazard” but as an accident,emergency,incident or disaster.