A place-based model for understanding community resilience to natural disasters

There is considerable research interest on the meaning and measurement of resilience from a variety of research perspectives including those from the hazards/disasters and global change communities. The identification of standards and metrics for measuring disaster resilience is one of the challenges faced by local, state, and federal agencies, especially in the United States. This paper provides a new framework, the disaster resilience of place (DROP) model, designed to improve comparative assessments of disaster resilience at the local or community level. A candidate set of variables for implementing the model are also presented as a first step towards its implementation.     

Hurricane Katrina storm surge delineation: implications for future storm surge forecasts and warnings

The storm surge in coastal Mississippi caused by Hurricane Katrina was unprecedented in the region. The height and geographic extent of the storm surge came as a surprise to many and exceeded pre-impact surge scenarios based on SLOSH models that were the basis for emergency preparedness and local land use decision-making. This paper explores the spatial accuracy of three interpolated storm surge surfaces derived from post-event reconnaissance data by comparing the interpolation results to a specific SLOSH run. The findings are used to suggest improvements in the calibration of existing pre-event storm surge models such as SLOSH. Finally, the paper provides some suggestions on an optimal surge forecast map that could enhance the communication of storm surge risks to the public.     

Selenium in San Francisco Bay zooplankton: Potential effects of hydrodynamics and food web interactions

The potential toxicity of elevated selenium (Se) concentrations in aquatic ecosystems has stimulated efforts to measure Se concentrations in benthos, nekton, and waterfowl in San Francisco Bay (SF Bay). In September 1998, we initiated a 14 mo field study to determine the concentration of Se in SF Bay zooplankton, which play a major role in the Bay food web, but which have not previously been studied with respect to Se. Monthly vertical plankton tows were collected at several stations throughout SF Bay, and zooplankton were separated into two operationally defined size classes for Se analyses: 73–2,000 μm, and ≥2,000 μm. Selenium values ranged 1.02–6.07 μg Se g^?1 dry weight. No spatial differences in zooplankton Se concentrations were found. However, there were inter- and intra-annual differences. Zooplankton Se concentrations were enriched in the North Bay in Fall 1999 when compared to other seasons and locations within and outside SF Bay. The abundance and biovolume of the zooplankton community varied spatially between stations, but not seasonally within each station. Smaller herbivorous-omnivorous zooplankton had higher Se concentrations than larger omnivorous-carnivorous zooplankton. Selenium concentrations in zooplankton were negatively correlated with the proportion of total copepod biovolume comprising the large carnivorous copepodTortanus dextrilobatus, but positively correlatid with the proportion of copepod biovolume comprising smaller copepods of the family Oithonidae, suggesting an important role of trophic level and size in regulating zooplankton Se concentrations.     

The Big Questions in Geography

In noting his fondness for geography, John Noble Wilford, science correspondent for The New York Times, nevertheless challenged the discipline to articulate those big questions in our field, ones that would generate public interest, media attention, and the respect of policymakers. This article presents our collective judgments on those significant issues that warrant disciplinary research. We phrase these as a series of ten questions in the hopes of stimulating a dialogue and collective research agenda for the future and the next generation of geographic professionals.     

THE ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY OF CARIBBEAN ISLAND NATIONS*

ABSTRACT. Within the hazards‐ and disaster‐research community consensus exists as to factors that magnify or attenuate the effects of extreme natural events on local places. But less agreement and understanding exist concerning the methods or techniques for comparing hazard vulnerability within or between places, especially small‐island developing states. Using two Caribbean nations, Saint Vincent and Barbados, as study sites, we asked which island has the greater level of hazard vulnerability, and why. Results indicate that, although neither island has a large portion of its population living in extremely hazardous locations, Barbados has many more residents in risk‐prone areas. The methods used in this research provide valuable tools for local emergency managers in assessing vulnerability, especially through the delineation of highly vulnerable hot spots. They can also help donor organizations interested in vulnerability reduction on islands use their resources more efficiently.     

Selenium Behavior in San Francisco Bay Sediments

Sediment and porewater samples (1997–1999) were collected in the Northern Reach of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta for determinations of sedimentary selenium and its chemical speciation. Total sedimentary selenium increased with depth, with approximately 50% of the sedimentary selenium as elemental selenium and 35% as organic selenide. Porewater total dissolved selenium increased with depth in the estuary and Delta, and fluxes out of the sediments were calculated at 0.01 and 0.06 nmol cm⁻² year⁻¹ for the estuary and Delta, respectively. Present-day sediment–water exchange of dissolved selenium and internal transformations cannot explain the observed increase in total sedimentary selenium with depth. However, mass balance calculations demonstrate that the increase in total selenium with depth may be linked to higher dissolved selenium concentrations in the water column in the 1980s, suggesting that the sediments could be used as historical recorders of selenium in the estuary.     

Community variations in social vulnerability to Cascadia-related tsunamis in the U.S. Pacific Northwest

Tsunamis generated by Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes pose significant threats to coastal communities in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Impacts of future tsunamis to individuals and communities will likely vary due to pre-event socioeconomic and demographic differences. In order to assess social vulnerability to Cascadia tsunamis, we adjust a social vulnerability index based on principal component analysis first developed by Cutter et al. (2003) to operate at the census-block level of geography and focus on community-level comparisons along the Oregon coast. The number of residents from blocks in tsunami-prone areas considered to have higher social vulnerability varies considerably among 26 Oregon cities and most are concentrated in four cities and two unincorporated areas. Variations in the number of residents from census blocks considered to have higher social vulnerability in each city do not strongly correlate with the number of residents or city assets in tsunami-prone areas. Methods presented here will help emergency managers to identify community sub-groups that are more susceptible to loss and to develop risk-reduction strategies that are tailored to local conditions.