Dodging alligators,rattlesnakes, and backyard docks: a political ecology of sweetgrass basket-making and conservation in the South Carolina Lowcountry,USA

There is growing recognition among political ecologists of the need to examine shifting natural resource regimes and their effects on livelihoods in “First World” places. This emerging literature has variously examined the “Third World within,” the persistence of “subsistence activities” in the “First World,” and the “reterritorialization” of land tenure and access. However, much of this work has tended to focus on traditional extractive industries in the American West, indigenous claims to lands and resources in the U.S. and Canada, and non-timber resources on public lands. In contrast, we use a case study of African-American sweetgrass basket-makers, associated with the Gullah culture, in South Carolina’s lowcountry to examine the ways in which ongoing amenity-driven residential development is fundamentally reshaping resource access on private lands. Historically, basket-makers harvested the materials (primarily sweetgrass or Mulenbergia filipes) needed for their culturally important art form from accessible, rural, and privately held tracts of land in close proximity to their communities, but development pressures and changes in resident interpretation of property rights has decreased access to basket-making resources. The case is particularly illuminating, as it examines the emergence of ‘conservation subdivisions’ in the region and raises important questions about what “rural uses” and users are being conserved through responses to exurban, suburban, and urban development in formerly rural areas.     

Farmers’ response to agricultural drought in paddy field of southern China: a case study of temporal dimensions of resilience

Seasonal water scarcity in southern China has been an issue of concern for many years. The increased frequency of low precipitation in the growing season of rice created a flurry of discussions in the academic and policy arenas. These events severely disrupted the supply of irrigation water for agriculture in paddy field areas and posed a substantial threat to farmers’ livelihoods. Within a broader context of accessing farmers’ resilience to agricultural drought, this paper focuses on the response mechanisms and adaptive strategies adopted by farming households in three types of areas (Plain, Hill, Mountain) in Dingcheng, Hunan Province. With the increasing drought frequency and the pressure from the demand for livelihood improvement, farmers’ response mechanisms have evolved, expanding from short-term adjustments to long-term adaptations, and switching focus from securing reliable water sources to improving irrigation efficiency and diversifying both on- and off- farm productions. The three types of geographic units have different resilience profiles and have developed diverse patterns of adaptive processes that update the conceptual model of Disaster Resilience of “Loss-Response” of Location. It presents a temporal dimension to the study of resilience, which is largely missing from the current literature and provides insights into how to enhance farmers’ response capacities in the face of agricultural drought in southern China.     

The use of geoprocessing to assess vulnerability on the east coast aquifers of Rio de Janeiro State,Brazil

The east coast of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil, shows a worrying overlap between areas with intrinsic groundwater vulnerability and the most significant urban expansion zones. It experienced a rapid population growth in recent years, mainly due to the tourism industry, resulting in a significant pressure on drinking groundwater resources. In this regard, development and use of techniques to control and protect areas susceptible to contamination is crucial. The elaboration of aquifer vulnerability maps is thus extremely helpful to support water resources management. The aim of the work is to present the methodological approach in the use of Geoprocessing techniques to obtain a suitable groundwater vulnerability model in Rio de Janeiro east coast. Considering the existing problems and the current land use and characteristics of the study region, it is clear that the most vulnerable areas (that is, “extreme” and “very high” vulnerability areas), coincide with the most significant zones of urban occupation, corresponding to 11% of the total study area, demanding adoption of urgent measures in the near future. Geoprocessing tools and remote sensing for characterization of Rio de Janeiro’s east coast aquifer vulnerability gave good results, representing a satisfactory method for management actions at low cost.     

People and community as constituent parts of hazards: the significance of societal dimensions in hazards analysis

Nature-triggered hazards and disasters have traditionally been treated only from the lens of geophysical and biophysical processes, implying that the root cause of large-scale death and destruction lies in the natural domain rather than in a coupled human–environment system. Conceptually, the physical domain has been seen as discrete and separate from human entities, and solutions were sought in the technological intervention and control of the physical environment—solutions that often ended up being less effective than hoped for and sometimes even counter productive. At all levels, institutions have directed and redirected most of their financial and logistical resources into the search for scientific and engineering solutions without allocating due attention and resources towards the assessment of effects and effectiveness of the applications of such technological outcomes. However, over the last two decades, forceful criticisms of the ‘dominant’ technocratic approach to hazards analysis have appeared in the literature and consequently there has not only been a shift in thinking of causation of disaster loss in terms of human vulnerability, but also newer questions have arisen regarding distinguishing between the ‘physical exposure’ of people to threats and societal vulnerability, and linking them with propensity to hazards loss. Though the vulnerability/resilience paradigm has largely replaced the hazards paradigm within the social sciences and much of the professional emergency and disaster management communities, this shift of thinking has not progressed to much of the physical science community, decision-makers and the public, who have not yet accepted the idea that understanding and using human and societal dimensions is equally or more important than trying to deal and control nature through the use of technology. This special issue is intended to further the idea that the aspects of community and peoples’ power to mitigate, to improve coping mechanisms, to respond effectively, and recover with vigor against the environmental extremes are of paramount conceptual and policy importance.     

Enhancing the capacities of natural hazard mitigation: a study on a typhoon curriculum module in high school earth science

This study is part of the hazards mitigation education program “research on teaching resources development and curriculum promotion on natural hazards mitigation at high school level.” This study demonstrated the implementation of a newly developed earth science curriculum module of typhoon hazards mitigation in a 10th grade high school classroom in Taiwan. The curriculum module design is a response to the calls for better natural hazards mitigation education in the school systems in Taiwan. Findings show that the curriculum module has resulted in the positive learning outcomes in both students’ learning achievement and attitude toward typhoon hazards mitigation. Findings also suggest that group discussion activities could enhance students’ thinking and experience sharing on the perceptions about typhoon hazards preparedness and mitigation. This study suggests that the hazards mitigation curriculum module to be added as a topic in the national high school curriculum guidelines.     

Thunderstorm Hazard vulnerability for the Atlanta,Georgia metropolitan region

Most U.S. metropolitan regions have experienced urban “sprawl,” or the outward spreading of urban development from city centers. For cities lying in areas prone to severe weather, the sprawl phenomenon exposes greater numbers of developed areas and inhabitants to a variety of thunderstorm hazards. This study’s principal goal is to determine how urbanization growth patterns affect a region’s vulnerability to severe weather events. To assess how sprawl may impact vulnerability to tornadoes, hail, and convective wind events, an analysis examining potential loss may be utilized. This study employs two distinct approaches to examine how the Atlanta area’s rapid and extensive development during the latter half of the twentieth Century has affected its overall potential exposure to thunderstorm hazards. First, archived census data are used to estimate overall impacts from hypothetical significant tornado, nontornadic convective wind, and hail events occurring at different time periods throughout several locations in the Atlanta metropolitan region. Second, economic factors are integrated into the analysis, which assists in determining how these hypothetical severe event scenarios may have changed from a cost standpoint if they were to occur in 2006 as opposed to 1960.     

Understanding uncertainty and reducing vulnerability: lessons from resilience thinking

Vulnerability is registered not by exposure to hazards alone; it also resides in the resilience of the system experiencing the hazard. Resilience (the capacity of a system to absorb recurrent disturbances, such as natural disasters, so as to retain essential structures, processes and feedbacks) is important for the discussion of vulnerability for three reasons: (1) it helps evaluate hazards holistically in coupled human–environment systems, (2) it puts the emphasis on the ability of a system to deal with a hazard, absorbing the disturbance or adapting to it, and (3) it is forward-looking and helps explore policy options for dealing with uncertainty and future change. Building resilience into human–environment systems is an effective way to cope with change characterized by surprises and unknowable risks. There seem to be four clusters of factors relevant to building resilience: (1) learning to live with change and uncertainty, (2) nurturing various types of ecological, social and political diversity for increasing options and reducing risks, (3) increasing the range of knowledge for learning and problem-solving, and (4) creating opportunities for␣self-organization, including strengthening of local institutions and building cross-scale linkages and problem-solving networks.     

Assessment of aquifer vulnerability to contamination in Khanyounis Governorate, Gaza Strip—Palestine, using the DRASTIC model within GIS environment

Groundwater is a very important natural resource in Khanyounis Governorate (the study area) for water supply and development. Historically, the exploitation of aquifers in Khanyounis Governorate has been undertaken without proper concern for environmental impact. In view of the importance of quality groundwater, it might be expected that aquifer protection to prevent groundwater quality deterioration would have received due attention. In the long term, however, protection of groundwater resources is of direct practical importance because, once pollution of groundwater has been allowed to occur, the scale and persistence of such pollution makes restoration technically difficult and costly. In order to maintain basin aquifer as a source of water for the area, it is necessary to find out, whether certain locations in this groundwater basin are susceptible to receive and transmit contamination. This study aims to: (1) assess the vulnerability of the aquifer to contamination in Khanyounis governorate, (2) find out the groundwater vulnerable zones to contamination in the aquifer of the study area, and (3) provide a spatial analysis of the parameters and conditions under which groundwater may become contaminate. To achieve that, DRASTIC model within geographic information system (GIS) environment was applied. The model uses seven environmental parameters: depth of water table, net recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact of vadose zone, and hydraulic conductivity to evaluate aquifer vulnerability. Based on this model and by using ArcGIS 9.3 software, an attempt was made to create vulnerability maps for the study area. According to the DRASTIC model index, the study has shown that in the western part of the study area the vulnerability to contamination ranges between high and very high due to the relatively shallow water table with moderate to high recharge potential, and permeable soils. To the east of the previous part and in the south-eastern part, vulnerability to contamination is moderate. In the central and the eastern part, vulnerability to contamination is low due to depth of water table. Vulnerability analysis of the DRASTIC Model indicates that the highest risk of contamination of groundwater in the study area originates from the soil media. The impact of vadose zone, depth to water level, and hydraulic conductivity imply moderate risks of contamination, while net recharge, aquifer media, and topography impose a low risk of aquifer contamination. The coefficient of variation indicates that a high contribution to the variation of vulnerability index is made by the topography. Moderate contribution is made by the depth to water level, and net recharge, while impact of vadose zone, hydraulic conductivity, soil media, and Aquifer media are the least variable parameters. The low variability of the parameters implies a smaller contribution to the variation of the vulnerability index across the study area. Moreover, the “effective” weights of the DRASTIC parameters obtained in this study exhibited some deviation from that of the “theoretical” weights. Soil media and the impact of vadose zone were the most effective parameters in the vulnerability assessment because their mean “effective” weights were higher than their respective “theoretical” weights. The depth of water table showed that both “effective” and “theoretical” weights were equal. The rest of the parameters exhibit lower “effective” weights compared with the “theoretical” weights. This explains the importance of soil media and vadose layers in the DRASTIC model. Therefore, it is important to get the accurate and detailed information of these two specific parameters. The GIS technique has provided an efficient environment for analysis and high capabilities of handling large spatial data. Considering these results, DRASTIC model highlights as a useful tool that can be used by national authorities and decision makers especially in the agricultural areas applying chemicals and pesticides which are most likely to contaminate groundwater resources.     

Increasing public awareness of natural hazards via the Internet

NOAA’s National Geophysical Data Center is using state-of-the-art Internet tools for natural hazards education, public outreach, and access to natural hazards data. For example, NGDC acquires, processes, and provides access to geologic hazards event data that are useful in natural hazards risk assessment and hazards-related research. In addition, a collection of natural hazards slides and a teacher’s guide on volcanoes are available online. NGDC also created an online “Kids Hazards Quiz” to test the user’s knowledge of disaster safety information. An online Natural Hazards Data Resources Directory provides access to information and links to organizations that provide natural hazards data and information. Expanded access to these data and information by the public and researchers can increase public awareness of natural hazards, improve hazards research, and ultimately reduce the devastating impacts of natural disasters.     

Groundwater pollution risk mapping for the Eocene aquifer of the Oum Er-Rabia basin, Morocco

Sustainable development requires the management and preservation of water resources indispensable for all human activities. When groundwater constitutes the main water resource, vulnerability maps therefore are an important tool for identifying zones of high pollution risk and taking preventive measures in potential pollution sites. The vulnerability assessment for the Eocene aquifer in the Moroccan basin of Oum Er-Rabia is based on the DRASTIC method that uses seven parameters summarizing climatic, geological, and hydrogeological conditions controlling the seepage of pollutant substances to groundwater. Vulnerability maps were produced by using GIS techniques and applying the “generic” and “agricultural” models according to the DRASTIC charter. Resulting maps revealed that the aquifer is highly vulnerable in the western part of the basin and areas being under high contamination risk are more extensive when the “agricultural” model was applied.     

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.

Refinement of a lunar FeO mapping method

Clementine UVVIS and NIR data from the lunar sampling sites (totaling 46 sampling sites) were processed and used to refine the iron determination method of Le Mouéic et al. (2000, 2002). We found that about 21 sampling sites are unsuitable to Le Mouéic et al's spectral parameters ("slope" and "depth l") because their 1500 nm filter could not be used as spectral parameters' right shoulders and to evaluate the depth of the 1-μm absorption feature accurately. We used the rest 25 sampling sites to refine the method developed by Le Mouéic et al. (2000, 2002 ) and obtained our own equation of FeO content determination. We tested our own equation, and the results are satifactory. In our work we also acquired some useful experiences in scientific applications of our own dataset of the Chang'E-1 mission.     

Conditioning DRASTIC model to simulate nitrate pollution case study: Hamadan–Bahar plain

One of the major causes of groundwater pollution in Hamadan–Bahar aquifer in western Iran is a non-point source pollution resulting from agricultural activities. Withdrawal of over 88% of drinking water from groundwater resources, adds urgency to the studies leading to a better management of water supplies in this region. In this study, the DRASTIC model was used to construct groundwater vulnerability maps based on the “intrinsic” (natural conditions) and “specific” (including management) concepts. As DRASTIC has drawbacks to simulate specific contaminants, we conditioned the rates on measured nitrate data and optimized the weights of the specific model to obtain a nitrate vulnerability map for the region. The performance of the conditioned DRASTIC model improved significantly (R ² = 0.52) over the intrinsic (R ² = 0.12) and specific (R ² = 0.19) models in predicting the groundwater nitrate concentration. Our study suggests that a locally conditioned DRASTIC model is an effective tool for predicting the region’s vulnerability to nitrate pollution. In addition, comparison of groundwater tables between two periods 30 years apart indicated a drawdown of around 50 m in the central plain of the Hamadan–Bahar region. Our interpretation of the vulnerability maps for the two periods showed a polluted zone developing in the central valley requiring careful evaluation and monitoring.     

Social vulnerability assessment of natural hazards on county-scale using high spatial resolution satellite imagery: a case study in the Luogang district of Guangzhou,South China

Social vulnerability assessment of natural hazards aims to identify vulnerable populations and provide decision makers with scientific basis for their disaster prevention and mitigation decisions. A new method based on remote sensing is presented here to establish a model of social vulnerability for county-scale regions that lack of relative data. To calculate population density, which is the most important indicator in social vulnerability assessment, first, a statistical model is established to estimate the population on village level. Then a new concept defined as “population density based on land use” is created to replace the arithmetic population density. The former has taken the dynamic human distribution related to land use into account; thus, it can map the population distribution more realistically. The other two indicators are age structure and distance to hospital. The application of this method to the Luogang District of Guangzhou, South China demonstrated its capability of providing high spatial resolution and reasonable social vulnerability for social vulnerability assessment of natural hazards.     

A comparative analysis of several vulnerability concepts

A comparative analysis of six vulnerability models aims to identify differences and similarities between several approaches towards understanding vulnerability. The analysis yields a set of characteristics for explaining the condition of vulnerability (multiple contexts, multiple dimensions, temporal variability, multiple scales and scale-interdependency). In addition, ‘adaptation’ and ‘adaptive capacity’ are identified as key elements of vulnerability. The results of the analysis are put into a wider context not only of vulnerability but also of resilience and risk research. It is demonstrated that ‘adaptation’ and ‘adaptive capacity’ serve as hinges not only for conceptualising vulnerability but between ‘vulnerability’ and ‘resilience’ alike. Based on the results of the comparative analysis, a model of vulnerability focussing on the household and community scale is developed, which displays the key findings of this work.     

A comparative study of four vulnerability mapping methods in a detritic aquifer under mediterranean climatic conditions

This paper presents the results of a comparative study relating to the application of four vulnerability mapping methods, GOD, AVI, DRASTIC and SINTACS, in a pilot detritic aquifer situated in NW Morocco, known as the Martil–Alila aquifer. The principal objective of this work is to determine the most suitable such methods for this aquifer type within a Mediterranean context, and to show the effect of the rainfall variations that are characteristic of the Mediterranean climate on the degree of vulnerability. The methods applied distinguish five classes of vulnerability, these being irregularly divided up in space, with the division varying according to the method in question. The vulnerability maps obtained by the different methods strongly suggest that the eastern half of the aquifer is more vulnerable to contamination than the western half, for all hydrological situations. The effect of climatic conditions on the degree of vulnerability is well represented by the DRASTIC, according to which the aquifer is moderately to strongly vulnerable during humid hydrological years and weakly to moderately vulnerable during dry ones. For the other methods, this climatic effect is limited to the area occupied by the two predominant classes (“High” and “Low” for GOD and “High” and “Moderate” for SINTACS) while it is null for AVI. In conclusion, DRASTIC appears the most suitable for mapping the vulnerability to contamination of Mediterranean coastal detritic aquifers such as the Martil–Alila aquifer.     

Mountain hazards and the resilience of social–ecological systems: lessons learned in India and Canada

Mountain regions are subject to a variety of hazardous processes. Earthquakes, landslides, snow avalanches, floods, debris flows, epidemics and fires, among other processes, have caused injury, death, damage and destruction. They also face challenges from increased populations, and expansion and intensification of␣activities, land uses and infrastructure. The combination of a dynamic bio- geophysical environment and intensified human use has increased the vulnerability of mountain social–ecological systems to risk from hazards. The ability of social–ecological systems to build resilience in the context of hazards is an important factor in their long-term sustainability. The role of resilience building in understanding the impact of hazards in mountain areas is examined and illustrated, in part, through examples from Canada and India. Resilient social–ecological systems have the ability to learn and adjust, use all forms of knowledge, to self-organize and to develop positive institutional linkages with other social–ecological systems in the face of hazards. The analysis suggests that traditional social–ecological systems built resilience through avoidance, which was effective for localized hazards. The more recent development and implementation of cross-scale institutional linkages is shown to be a particularly effective means of resilience building in mountain social–ecological systems in the face of all hazards.     

Resilient capacity assessment for geological failure areas: examples from communities affected by debris flow disaster

This study establishes a novel method for assessing the community resilient capacity of debris flow disasters with appropriate parameters, such as responding, monitoring and communication capabilities. This study adopts eight communities in Taiwan, namely Nangang, Tongfu, Jhongyang, Laiyuan, Chingfu, Sinsheng, Shangan and Jyunkeng, as examples. First, the Analytic Hierarchy Process was applied to establish the framework of the community resiliency capacity, including the community’s resources for disaster resilience and resident capabilities. The community’s resources for disaster resilience are identified by surveying the community leaders via checklists. Resident capabilities are determined using questionnaires. The community resilient capacity refers to the sum of the results from these two investigations. The two investigations have similar weights, indicating that they are equally significant when evaluating community resilient capacity. Second, FLO-2D software is utilized for hazard analysis by simulation results of deposited areas for debris flows, and then these areas were categorized according to hazard degrees. Finally, the vulnerability of communities is classified based on the land use type. In summary, the values of capacity, hazard and vulnerability are integrated to determine the risk of debris flow for each community. A risk map is then generated.     

Predicting Lahar-Inundation Zones: Case Study in West Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

This paper demonstrates techniques for pre-eruption prediction of lahar-inundation zones in areas where a volcano has not erupted within living memory and/or where baseline geological information about past lahars could be scarce or investigations to delimit past lahars might be incomplete. A lahar source (or proximal lahar-inundation) zone is predicted based on ratio of vertical descent to horizontal run-out of eruptive deposits that spawn lahars. Immediate post-eruption distal lahar-inundation zones are predicted based on “pre-eruption” distal lahar-inundation zones and on spatial factors derived from a digital elevation model. Susceptibility to distal lahar-inundation is estimated by weights-of-evidence, by logistic regression and by evidential belief functions. Predictive techniques are applied using a geographic information system and are tested in western part of Pinatubo volcano (Philippines). Predictive maps are compared with a forecast volcanic-hazard map through validation against a field-based volcanic-hazard map. The predictive model of proximal lahar-inundation zone has “true positive” prediction accuracy, “true negative” prediction accuracy, “false positive” prediction error and “false negative” prediction error that are similar to those of the forecast volcanic-hazard map. The predictive models of distal lahar inundation zones have higher “true positive” prediction accuracy and lower “false negative” prediction error than the forecast volcanic-hazard map, although the latter has higher “true negative” prediction accuracy and lower “false positive” prediction error than the former. The results illustrate utility of proposed predictive techniques in providing geo-information could be used, howbeit with caution, for planning to mitigate potential lahar hazards well ahead of an eruption that could generate substantial source materials for lahar formation.     

(Mis)adventures in Rumsfeld space

Ewald’s recent genealogy of constructions of risk in Western societies argues that the 1980s saw an important paradigm shift to the “precautionary principle”. Critical scholars have taken up this idea as a lens through which to interpret the Bush administration’s ‘war on terror’. I argue that 11 September 2001 actually brought about qualitative changes to this paradigm. Bush’s pre-emptive doctrine is driven, and perhaps even more importantly, continually justified to the US population, by what might be called the “trans-precautionary principle”, a move from “decisionism” to “actionism”, and a new radicalization of the way fear is produced and managed. Donald Rumsfeld’s famous typology of different articulations of knowledge and ignorance offers an excellent analytical window onto the connections between ignorance, fear and geopolitical action in this new regime. In the latter part of the essay, his four modes of knowledge/ignorance are arrayed, for heuristic purposes, in an abstract spatial grid organized along dimensions of the specificity and possession of knowledge. This allows a ‘mapping’ of some of the Bush administration’s more controversial strategies in the ‘war on terror’, as a set of different pathways through Rumsfeld Space.