Spatial and temporal evolution of community resilience to natural hazards in the coastal areas of China

With the accelerating progress of industrialization, urbanization and population growth in recent decades, community resilience, the ability of communities to function effectively and recover successfully in the aftermath of disasters and shocks, has received great attentions. A number of studies had been conducted focusing on community resilience. This article applied community resilience framework to the coastal areas of China, which are the most densely populated and economically developed areas in China with the most frequent marine disasters. City-level social and economic data were used to construct a community resilience index (CRI). Using factor analysis and the global principal component analysis method, 55 city-level indexes were reduced into 15 factors that explain 73.99% of the variance. Getis–Ord G* Statistics were used to depict the high-value clusters and low-value clusters of the CRI. Clearly identified spatial and temporal variations of the CRI showed that both the overall level and regional differences of the CRI increased from 2003 to 2013; the overall spatial agglomeration characteristic of community resilience was not significant. Our findings also highlighted the key elements to improving community resilience: a robust and developed economic system; excellent education programs and training to improve consciousness on disaster prevention and mitigation; adequate investment on critical infrastructure, especially transportation and communication; proper environmental policies to protect ecosystems and water rouses; and extra attention and disaster risk budgets for vulnerable populations.     

海岸带地质灾害评估理论与方法研究进展

文章在总结前人关于地质灾害分类的基础上,重新探讨了海岸带地质灾害的涵义;论述与地质灾害评估相关的几个概念,并从性质分类上总结了海岸带地质灾害脆弱性、危险性、易损性、风险性评估的理论和方法;针对目前海岸带地质灾害评估存在的问题,认为未来海岸带地质灾害评估研究需要从研究海岸带地质灾害特殊性入手,采用多学科交叉的方法综合研究,以实现海岸带地质灾害评估定量化和管理空间化。     

Time-clustering of natural hazards

Natural hazards can be represented as point processes that are characterized by the occurrence times of the events and their intensities. It is crucial to investigate the correlation properties of these processes in order to gain a deep knowledge of the dynamical mechanisms which underlie hazardous phenomena. To this end, suitable methodologies must be developed to perform these correlation analyses on processes, which are described as point-like processes. The concept of time-clustering implies a time-structured organization of these processes, and is in direct opposition to the pure randomness typical of Poissonian processes in which the events are uncorrelated. This article reports several examples of natural hazards within the framework of time-clustering.     

The countermeasures against coastal hazards in Japan

The total length of Japanese coastline is about 34,500 km. Most of the coastal lowlands are now so intensively used that a large proportion of the Japanese coast has been artificially modified. Therefore, coastal countermeasures against several kinds of natural and man-induced hazards are the serious problems for Japanese. When we go down to the beaches, there are many kinds of armor blocks, breakwaters and dykes for the shore protection. Among the Japanese coastline, 15,900 km needs some protection of which 9,400 km was protected with some kinds of artificial structures in 1992. It is probable that no nation has used armor blocks so extensively as Japan.     

Large-scale vulnerability assessments for natural hazards

This article examines the process by which vulnerability analysis takes place at the state level for State Hazard Mitigation Plans, as required by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The methods developed by the Center for Hazards Research and Policy Development at the University of Louisville are described, followed by a brief discussion on issues and challenges. A key finding in this article is the need to understand the impact and role of vulnerability analysis on planning and policy-making at the state and local level, as it applies to the investment of funding and resources in hazard mitigation. Recommendations for policy as well as directions in future research are offered in conclusion.     

Fifth International Polychaete Conference

Fifth International Polychaete Conference     

Impact assessment using DEA of coastal hazards on social-economy in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asian countries suffer from severe coastal hazards each year. A large number of these countries are incurring consequential costs that impact their national economies. It is crucial, therefore, to analyze the impact of such hazards on their economic development and provide a solid basis for future development strategies. The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship between the economic development and the losses from coastal disasters, and to identify both the impact of hazards on the development, as well as the function of such development on the resilience to hazards. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) method is employed to build the assessment models. Data from 1995 to 2005 from eight Southeast countries are analyzed using the DEA models. A set of “resilience index” of these countries are concluded from the results. It is found that the economic development does not contribute to the strengthening of national resilience to coastal hazards. Inappropriate development could even impair the resilience. Additionally, the resilience to coastal hazards is impacted by various factors such as the allocation of resources and external assistance. From the analysis, a clear image is gained of the interaction between economic development and coastal hazards, which provides a basis for future development strategies.

International geographical union commission on the coastal environment

The International Geographical Union Reports

International geographical union commission on the coastal environmentNewsletter No. 26 — Editor: Norbert P. Rusty — (abridged by GeoJournal)