Disaster Prevention and Management: a Geographical

Disaster Advances Vol. 4 (1) January 2011

From the Editor’s Desk

Disaster Prevention and Management: A Geographical Perspective Long Hualou Our editor from Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, CHINA [email protected]

Geography and Disaster Prevention and management, more attentions should be paid to the spatial Management features of disasters. Actually, disasters are inherently spatial-both in terms of the physical processes as well as Today, 75 percent of the world’s population lives in 5 areas affected at least once by earthquake, tropical cyclone, the human implications . Hurricane tracks, the location of flood or drought between 1980 and 2000. 85 percent of the fault lines, how tornadoes are generated-these are patterns people exposed to natural disasters live in countries having or processes that have or leave spatial footprints; where either medium or low human development. The annual people live in relation to potential hazards or the societal impact left after a disaster can again be described in terms economic losses associated with such disasters averaged 5 US$ 213.9 billion in the 1980s and US$ 659.9 billion in the of spatial patterns . Within these patterns are human places, 1990s22. To some extent, rush for ‘development’ of cultures and interactions. A disaster-devastated place is not countries having either medium or low human development just a landscape of damage, morbidity and mortality, but it is generating new disaster risks since most development also comprises lost (and recovering) neighborhoods, disrupted social networks, variations in resiliency and policy and programming are not explicitly configured for 5 risk reduction2. Recently, multifarious and frequently social and environmental (in) justice . To map, predict and occurred natural disasters have brought about massive ultimately understand these landscapes, geography economic and life losses to the affected regions and characterized by its regional and integrative research hindered the regional socio-economic development. methods can play an important role. Geographic methods Preventing and managing disaster situations effectively and have strong capacity to draw theories and empirical ensuring sustainable regional development have attracted findings from other disciplines and mould them with a growing concerns of academic institutions as well as spatial perspective to explain, or to predict, the distributions different levels of government. Does geography matter? and relationships of phenomena related to disaster What can the geographers do for these? In fact, prevention and management. geographers have had a longstanding role to play in understanding the full range of crises brought on through All of us are living on disaster prone areas, may be interactions of natural and social systems and the discipline of different natures, types and intensities and the interesting is generally recognized as one of the founding disciplines fact is that disasters vary in terms of nature, type and of hazard as a field of study13. intensity as per the geographical locations (http://www.i4do nline. net/aug05/disaster.pdf). Geography is a discipline, in Geography, the science of place and space, has two principle, that should be most able to meet the demands for main branches: human geography and physical geography. disaster prevention and management, an issue concerning Human geography is concerned with the spatial aspects of space, time, environment, society and development. human existence and physical geographers study patterns of climates, land forms, vegetation, soils and water Role of Geography in Disaster Prevention and (http://communicate.aag.org/eseries/scriptcontent/custom/gi Management wis/cguide/explore_whatisgeog.cfm). In addition, geograp- Assessing Human-created Vulnerability: To a great hy is unique in bridging the social sciences (human extent, disasters result from human-created vulnerability geography) with the natural sciences (physical geography) which is a consequence of our interacting with the (http://www.rgs.org/GeographyToday/What+is+geography. environment by some human activities concerning rapid htm) i.e. a discipline serves as an effective bridge between industrialization and urbanization such as designing and the physical and cultural worlds10. Studying the linkages locating our infrastructure, exploiting natural resources, between human activity and natural systems, i.e., human- concentrating our population and so on. This distinction is environment interactions, is one of the most important tasks well understood in the hazards community, increasingly so of geographical research. That is to explain how people are in government and non-government organizations, but shaped by their environment and how people also shape generally poorly recognized by the general public6. The their environment. Sometimes, these interactions could be a methods of human geography research and geographic singular event or a series of smaller events, but which may information system (GIS) are widely applied to cause a more dramatic change over time. vulnerability assessments aiming at disaster prevention and management. For example, the research focusing on social In the aspect of disaster prevention and geography and disaster vulnerability in Tokyo demonstrates (3)

Disaster Advances Vol. 4 (1) January 2011 a well-marked spatial distribution of one of Tokyo’s social State Overall Planning for the Post-Earthquake Restoration groups (elderly people) and often close relationship and Reconstruction of Wenchuan (2008.05.12, M8.0) and between that pattern and a geographical indicator of Yushu (2010.04.14, M7.1). Resources and environment vulnerability to earthquakes (wooden housing) and suggests carrying capacity evaluation issued by Chinese Academy of that some social groups and some areas of Tokyo are more Sciences is a significant part of the State Planning for Post- vulnerable to earthquake disaster than others20. Similarly, a Wenchuan Earthquake Restoration and Reconstruction as model of social vulnerability among one marginalized well as that for Post-Yushu Earthquake7,8. In addition, Atlas group was developed to improve disaster planning and of Regional Eco-environment in Yushu Earthquake management among the homeless and other ‘special needs’ Affected Area issued by Chinese Academy of Sciences also groups in megacities at risk throughout the world21. In exerted important role in the post-Yushu earthquake addition, there are also some researches concerning GIS- restoration and reconstruction11. based integrated assessments of populations’ vulnerabilities for famine1, agricultural drought vulnerability24 and Future 25 economic vulnerability of households . Since geographic work has been readily applicable to policy making needs, short-term decision making suppo- Dealing with Technical Disaster: The development rted by the geographers and the geographic work are also processes of rapid industrialization and urbanization in important besides long-term planning. Equal importance developing countries usually bring about technological (or should be given to both the guidance for the direction anthropogenic) disaster due to lacking adequate or effective policies and specific recommendations concerning disaster countermeasures for risk reduction. In this field, geogra- prevention and management. phical research mainly focuses on how to deal with the distribution and remove of poisonous waste (e.g. heavy In many ways geography is quintessentially metal) and their proximity to other land uses, such as interdisciplinary13. Undoubtedly, more concerns with the residential areas and farmland. Some researches include: intersection of socio-economic, physical and technological assessing the concentration of potentially harmful heavy and political/legal systems and more sharing areas of metals in the soil in order to evaluate the potential risks to interest, knowledge and methods with many other fields of 4 residents and tourists ; studying the distribution of trace study, will make geography more powerful in the aspects of metals in surface soils to assess the soil environmental disaster prevention and management. 3 quality ; assessing soil heavy metal contamination and 15 potential risk for human ; heavy metals in soils and crops References and related public health risk12 and environmental 14 1. Burg J., Measuring populations’ vulnerabilities for remediation related to heavy metal pollution . famine and food security interventions: The case of Ethiopia’s Chronic Vulnerability Index, Disasters, 32 (4), Developing Disaster Monitoring and Simulation 609-630 (2008) Systems: Remote sensing, GIS and related technologies have been utilized to provide real-time value-added data 2. Chauhan S., Configuring disaster risk reduction into and information to authorities in areas of natural resources development processes, Disaster Advances, 1 (2), 20-28 and environmental management and the role of GIS (2008) technologies in detecting, modeling and monitoring natural 16 hazards is special . By using simulation system and 3. Chen T.B. et al, Assessment of trace metal distribution technology, the simulation systems for major natural and contamination in surface soils of Hong Kong, disasters and their emergency plans can be constructed Environmental Pollution, 96 (1), 61-68 (1997) according to the possibility of the occurrence of natural 18 disasters and the principle of history recurrence . Taking 4. Chen T.B. et al, Assessment of heavy metal pollution in advantage of 3S technology and network information surface soils of urban parks in Beijing, China, management system, major natural disasters monitoring Chemosphere, 60, 542–551 (2005) and situations assessment system and regional disasters reduction capacity assessment system can be established to 19,23 5. Curtis A. and Mills J.W., GIS, Human Geography and prevent and manage diversified disasters . Disasters, Cognella, University Readers, Inc. USA (2010)

Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction: It is 6. Etkin D. et al, Towards a better understanding of natural necessary for local post-disaster recovery plans to eliciting hazards and disasters in Canada, Natural Hazards, 28 (2-3), positive recovery outcomes that the plans include a sound 7-8 (2003) participatory process and establish a nexus between local 17 needs and policy objectives . The above-mentioned 7. Fan J., Resources and Environment Carrying Capacity discipline characteristics of geography show that the Evaluation of the State Planning for Post-Wenchuan discipline has special advantages in this kind of plan. For Earthquake Restoration and Reconstruction, Science Press, example, the geographers in China played a vital role in the Beijing (2009) (4)

Disaster Advances Vol. 4 (1) January 2011

8. Fan J., Resources and Environment Carrying Capacity 16. Pradhan B., Role of GIS in natural hazard detection, Evaluation of the State Planning for Post-Yushu modeling and mitigation, Disaster Advances, 3 (1), 3-4 Earthquake Restoration and Reconstruction, Science Press, (2010) Beijing (2010) 17. Schwab J. et al, Planning for Post-Disaster Recovery and Reconstruction, Chicago, American Planning 9. Ge Q.S. et al, Reconstruction of historical climate in Association (1998) China: High-resolution precipitation data from Qing Dynasty Archives, Bulletin of the American Meteorological 18. Shi P.J. et al, The IHDP-IRG project and the paradigm Society, 86 (5), 671-679 (2005) of large scale disaster risk governance in China, Proceedings of International Disaster and Risk Conference 10. Geography Education Standards Project, Geography for Chengdu, 458-464 (2009) Life: National Geography Standards, Washington, DC, Geography Education Standards Project (1995) 19. Shi P.J. et al, China Wenchuan earthquake disaster (2008.5.12) and its loss assessment, IDRC, Proceedings of 11. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources China Wenchuan Earthquake Special Plenary Session at Research of CAS, Atlas of Regional Eco-environment in IDRC Davos, 20-32 (2009) Yushu Earthquake Affected Area, Science Press, Beijing (2010) 20. Takahashi S., Social geography and disaster vulnerability in Tokyo, Applied Geography, 18 (1), 17-24 (1998) 12. Jia L. et al, Heavy metals in soils and crops of an intensively farmed area: A case study in Yucheng city, 21. Uitto J.I., The geography of disaster vulnerability in Shangdong province, China, International Journal of megacities: A theoretical framework, Applied Geography, Environmental Research and Public Health, 7, 395-412 18 (1), 7-16 (1998) (2010) 22. United Nations Development Programme, Reducing 13. Kendra J.M., Geography’s contributions to under- Disaster Risk: A Challenge for Development, A Global standing hazards and disasters, In McEntire D.A. (ed.), Report, New York, UNDP (2004) Disciplines, Disasters and Emergency Management, Springfield, IL, CC Thomas Publishers, 15-30 (2007) 23. Wang J.A. et al, The regionalization of urban natural disasters in China, Natural Hazards, 44 (2), 169 (2008) 14. Liao X.Y. et al, Selecting appropriate forms of nitrogen fertilizer to enhance soil Arsenic removal by Pteris Vittata, 24. Wilhelmi O.V. and Wilhite D.A., Assessing vulne- A new approach in phytoremediation, International rability to agricultural drought: A Nebraska Case Study, Journal of Phytoremediation, 9 (4), 269-280 (2007) Natural Hazards, 25, 37-58 (2002)

15. Liao X.Y. et al, Soil As contamination and its risk 25. Willroth P. et al, Modelling the economic vulnerability assessment in areas near the industrial districts of of households in the Phang-Nga Province (Thailand) to Chenzhou City, Southern China, Environment natural disasters, Natural Hazards, DOI 10.1007/s11069- International, 31, 791-798 (2005) 010-9635-1 (2010). *****

Natural Disaster Mitigation in India

The Indian subcontinent has a highly diversified range of natural features. The Himalayas, which are the young fold mountain and where the phenomena of stress release is very common together with the uncertain monsoon winds make the region highly prone to natural disasters. The region being the most populous in the world further adds to the damage caused by the natural disasters.

Drought, Floods, Cyclones, landslides and Earthquake are the major types of disaster phenomena occurring in the region. Almost all parts of India experience one or more of these disasters. Based on the frequency of occurrence and vulnerability to natural disasters, the entire country may be classified into three broad categories. The first is the Himalayan region spreading over 500000 square km. This region is prone mainly to Earthquakes, Landslides, Avalanche and Bush fire. The second category is the north and central Indian Plains. The region is having some great river systems and a rich source of water for drinking and irrigation. However, these rivers, during the monsoon period usually carry water in excess to their capacity causing flood phenomena. The same region also experiences droughts when the rainfall is less. The third category is the great coastline of India which is prone to devastating cyclonic winds emerging in the oceans. (Sources: http://nrdms.gov.in/natural_disaster.asp)

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