ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY

PRECIOUS O. ONGOCO
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN

HAZARD VULNERABILITY

RISK DISASTER

HAZARD

It refers to extreme natural events which may affect different places singly or in combination at different times.

VULNERABILITY

Characteristics of a person or group in terms of their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist, and recover from the impact of a natural hazard

Class, gender, disability, age

RISK

It is a compound function of this complex natural hazard and the number of people characterized by their varying degrees of vulnerability who occupy the space and time of exposure to extreme events

DISASTER

It occurs when a significant number of vulnerable people experience a hazard and suffer severe damage or disruption to livelihood system and recovery is unlikely without external aid.

DISASTER = (RISK, HAZARD, VULNERABILITY)

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

FLOOD

MITIGATION

Flood proofing
Dams and reservoirs Increasing the height of the leves Flood relief channels

Afforestation Floodplain land use zoning

EARTHQUAKE

MITIGATIONS

retrofitting enforcement of regional standards decentralized disaster preparedness and response planning

raising public awareness

OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Pollution (Eutrophication)

Urban Heat Island

Solution (daw)

Acid Rain

Retreating Glaciers

REASONS WHY DISASTERS HAPPEN

Communities are situated along hazardous areas

Unidentified hazardous areas

No early warning system

Poor coordination among institutions

Poor education among the local communities of potential hazards

Peoples behaviour - not willing to leave the area