3. Hazard risk and vulnerability
The varying power of geophysical hazards to affect people in different local contexts
IB learning outcomes
- Two contemporary contrasting case studies each for volcanic hazards, earthquake hazards and mass movement hazards (see guidance above)
- two earthquake hazard events of similar magnitudes but with contrasting human impacts
- two volcanic hazard events in contrasting plate boundary locations
- two mass movement hazard events with contrasting physical characteristics (fast/slow; solid/loose).
- For each geophysical hazard type, the case studies should develop knowledge and understanding of:
- geophysical hazard event profiles, including any secondary hazards
- varied impacts of these hazards on different aspects of human well-being
- why levels of vulnerability varied both between and within communities, including spatial variations in hazard perception, personal knowledge and preparedness
Summative assessment.
Each of you will complete a case study of one of the following.
- Earthquake hazard
- 11 March, 2011, Tohoku, Japan
- 12 January, 2010, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- Volcanic Hazard
- March 2010, Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland (Divergent)
- September 2014, Mount Ontake, Japan (Subduction)
- June 2011, Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Chile (Subduction)
- Mass movement
- 14 August, 2017, Freetown, Sierra Leone (mudflow)
- September 2018, Hokkaido, Japan (landlside)
- May 2017, Big Sur Highway, USA (landslide)
You will create a factsheet of your case study, including:
Place
- A hyperlink source page
- Visual footage of the event
- A map or maps
- Hazard magnitude and frequency/recurrence at the location
- Geographic factors affecting the geophysical hazard event impacts such as:
- rural/urban location
- time of day
- degree of isolation
- A description of the hazard risk as a product of economic factors
- levels of development and technology
- social factors (education, gender)
- demographic factors (population density and structure)
- political factors (governance, prevention, emergency systems)
Process
- An annotated diagram of the hazard event, including
- subject specific vocabulary
- secondary hazards
- type of event (type of plate, volcano or movement)
Power
- Statistics (casualties, magnitude, international aid, insurance cost, etc)
- Developed knowledge and understanding of:
- geophysical hazard event profile:
- Description of event
- Secondary hazards
- A table showing the impacts of the hazard on different aspects of human well-being (SPEED) such as:
- Loss of life
- Material destruction
- Economic loss
- Health
- Political unrest
- Environmental degradation
- An explanation of the varying levels of vulnerability between and within communities
- including spatial variations in hazard perception
- personal knowledge and preparedness
- geophysical hazard event profile:
Possibilities
Pre-event management strategies
- building codes, emergency drills, early warning systems, hazard monitoring etc
Post-event management strategies
- Explain what has been done since the event in order to reduce the community's vulnerability to a future event.
You will hyperlink your factsheets here and we will have a gallery walk presentation on Tuesday, January 8th
Gallery Walk
Review Exercise
- a) Explain how two named earthquake hazard events were of similar magnitudes [3]
- b) Explain how those two named earthquake hazard events had contrasting human impacts [3+3]
- Explain how two named volcanic hazard events occurred in contrasting plate boundary locations [3]
- Explain how two named mass movement hazard events had contrasting physical characteristics (fast/slow; solid/loose) [3]
Write a thesis statement for each of the following IB style questions:
4. Referring to examples, examine why the geographic impacts of disasters vary in space and time [10] [Spec]
5. Using examples, examine the demographic and socio-economic factors that affect the vulnerability of a community to hazard events. [10] [M14]
6. Examine the different types of responses that occurred during and after a named disaster. [10] [N12]
Markscheme (YIS only)