9. Hazardous environments

9.1 Hazards resulting from tectonic processes

• The global distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes related to plate tectonics.

• Earthquakes and resultant hazards: shaking, landslides, soil liquefaction, and tsunami.

• Volcanoes and resultant hazards: types of eruption and their products (nuées ardentes, lava flows, volcanic mudflows/lahars, volcanic landslides, pyroclastic flows, and ash fallout).

• Primary and secondary impacts on lives and property.

• Prediction, hazard mapping, preparedness and monitoring of earthquake and volcanic hazards and perception of risk.

9.2 Hazards resulting from mass movements

• Mass movements and resultant hazards: nature and causes.

• Impacts on lives and property.

• Prediction, hazard mapping, preparedness and monitoring of the hazard and the perception of risk.

9.3 Hazards resulting from atmospheric disturbances

• Global distribution of areas most at risk from large scale tropical disturbances (cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons) and small scale atmospheric disturbances (tornadoes).

• Processes causing the formation and development of cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons and tornadoes.

• Hazards from large scale atmospheric disturbances: storm surges, coastal flooding, intense rainfall leading to severe river floods and mass movement, and high winds.

• Hazards from small scale atmospheric disturbances: intense precipitation (rain and hail), high winds, and pressure imbalances.

• Primary and secondary impacts on lives and property.

• Prediction, preparedness and monitoring of large and small scale atmospheric disturbances and perception of risk.

9.4 Sustainable management in hazardous environments

Case study: candidates must study some of the problems of sustainable management of a hazardous environment and evaluate attempted or possible solutions.