Wildfire preparedness,community cohesion and social–ecological systems

The consequences of wildfires are felt in susceptible communities around the globe on an annual basis. Climate change predictions in places like the south-east of Australia and western United States suggest that wildfires may become more frequent and more intense with global climate change. Compounding this issue is progressive urban development at the peri-urban fringe (wildland–urban interface), where continued infrastructure development and demographic changes are likely to expose more people and property to this potentially disastrous natural hazard. Preparing well in advance of the wildfire season is seen as a fundamental behaviour that can both reduce community wildfire vulnerability and increase hazard resilience – it is an important element of adaptive capacity that allows people to coexist with the hazardous environment in which they live. We use household interviews and surveys to build and test a substantive model that illustrates how social cohesion influences the decision to prepare for wildfire. We demonstrate that social cohesion, particularly community characteristics like ‘sense of community’ and ‘collective problem solving’, are community-based resources that support both the adoption of mechanical preparations, and the development of cognitive abilities and capacities that reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience to wildfire. We use the results of this work to highlight opportunities to transfer techniques and approaches from natural hazards research to climate change adaptation research to explore how the impacts attributed to the social components of social–ecological systems can be mitigated more effectively.     

城市化防震减灾经济性研究

本文通过对东南沿海地震背景和地震破坏性经济损失,结合国内外城市化进程中防震减灾经济性对比研究,认为地震破坏的负面效应所带来的经济损失十分巨大。因而必须加强防震减灾工作为保障城市化顺利发展服务。     

Spinning in circles? A systematic review on the role of theory in social vulnerability,resilience and adaptation research

An increasing number of publications focus on social vulnerability, resilience, and adaptation (SVRA) towards natural hazards and climate change. Despite this proliferation of research, a systematic understanding of how these studies are theoretically grounded is lacking. Here, we systematically reviewed 4432 articles that address SVRA in various disciplinary fields (e.g. psychology, sociology, geography, mathematics) for various hazards, including floods, droughts, landslides, storm surges, wildfires, tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions. We focus on the extent to which these studies explicate the frameworks, theoretical constructs or theories they rely on. Surprisingly, we found that about 90% of the reviewed studies do not explicitly refer to a theoretical underpinning. Overall, theories focusing on individuals’ SVRA were more frequently used than those focusing on systems, society, groups, and networks. Moreover, the uptake of theories varied according to the hazard investigated and field of knowledge, being more frequent in wildfire and flood studies and articles published in social science journals. Based on our analysis, we propose a reflexive handling of theories to foster more transparent, comparable, and robust empirical research on SVRA.     

Earthquake Science and Technology as Well as Preparedness and Reduction of Earthquake Disaster in China

This paper systematically presents the state-of-the-art of preparedness and reduction of earthquake disasters in China. It contains abundant information on the goal, policy, working links, administrative organizations, and main scientific and technological approaches for earthquake disaster reduction in this country. The focus is placed on "taking science and technology as the foundation" and "management based on legal system."     

The relationship between political ideology and current earthquake and tsunami preparedness

Previous studies have revealed that political ideology can influence motivations for individual preparedness to mitigate the effects of climate change. Few studies have examined its role in individual preparedness behaviors to reduce the impacts of other natural hazards, such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of political ideology on current individual earthquake and tsunami preparedness behaviors among inhabitants of Chile's coastal areas. A statistically representative sample of the Valparaíso Region (N = 500) participated in this study. They were part of a more extensive study conducted between 2018 and 2019 in cities along the Chilean coastline, intending to study preparedness for multiple natural hazards. The survey evaluated trust in government authorities regarding emergency management, current earthquake/tsunami preparedness behaviors, and political ideology. The results reveal that political ideology is a relevant factor in predicting emergency preparedness behaviors and is significantly related to trust in government authorities. The individuals located on the right extreme of both dimensions of political ideology (those self-identified as right-wing and/or pro-market) report a higher level of current earthquake/tsunami preparedness, compared to their respective groups. Thus, for future design and implementation of natural disaster preparedness strategies and programs, the agencies in charge should recognize the role of political ideology.     

Preventive disaster management of extreme natural events

Several recent extreme natural events resulted in great humanitarian tragedies because of weak preventive disaster management. Here we analyze several factors (natural, economical, political, awareness, and preparedness) that brought about the humanitarian tragedies of the early 21st century. We discuss then the role of science in the preventive disaster management of extreme natural events.     

地震现场工作刍议

简要回顾了随着我国社会经济的发展, 地震现场工作经历的5个发展历程。 随后从人员、 技术、 制度、 装备、 体能和心理等方面概述了震前应急准备工作, 详细介绍了地震现场的震情分析预报、 地震监测、 地震紧急救援、 地震灾害损失评估、 科学考察、 建筑物安全鉴定、 现场通信保障、 地震宣传和后勤保障等各项工作的主要内容、 遵循的工作依据和技术规范及须注意的问题。     

极端地质灾害与风险

极端地质灾害与风险是本文提出的一个概念。在地球演进过程中,极端地质灾害被认为是小概率事件。但这并不意味这种小概率的自然灾害只发生在遥远的未来,也不能排除这种事件发生在我们现在或者未来不久几代人中间。2008年汶川8.0级强震,吞噬了数万人的生命,大量的建筑被损毁,就是这种极端自然灾害的典型实例。它再一次向人类发出警告,一旦产生,后果将非常可怕。因此作者呼吁工程地质学家们要注意并研究这种极端灾害与风险。科学地判识可引发极端地质灾害的自然营力级别,为灾害预测提供基础,是工程地质工作的基本目标之一。地圈动力过程的区域研究将对实现这一目标有所帮助。评价一个地方的潜在风险,灾害影响区域的估计方法非常重要,同时对破坏结果和破坏对象易损性相关关系的进一步分析,可以得到一个灾害风险性级别。风险管理的策略中,预警措施和警告要受到足够重视,而不仅仅是工程防护。在极端风险减灾中,公众意识和对灾害的预备程度也同样重要。一系列的减灾的战略措施可以相应地制定出来,这不同于普通的安全设计标准和非工程措施。随着社会和技术的进步,在不久的将来,人类减少和管理极端自然灾害的能力必将大大提高。     

Cyclones and storm surges in Bangladesh: Some mitigative measures

Bangladesh, with its repeated cycle of floods, cyclones, and storm surges, has proved to be one of the most disaster-prone areas of the world. During the years from 1797 to 1991, Bangladesh has been hit by 60 severe cyclones (mostly accompanied by storm surges). This paper gives a brief account of these disasters with particular reference to the wind speed, surge height, loss of life, and damage to crops and properties, etc.In order to protect the coastal areas of Bangladesh from cyclonic storm surges and floods, a major system of embankments was constructed during the 1960s and 1970s, but this is now in need of rehabilitation. The Cyclone Protection Project, which was approved by the World Bank in 1989, would rehabilitate some of the existing embankments, build new embankments, and construct roads. Locally available materials, indigenous technology, and cheap surplus manpower should be used in this project. A variety of fruit trees should be planted along the dikes and roads.To the south-western part of Bangladesh bordering the Bay of Bengal, lies the world's largest single mangrove tract, known as the Sunderban, which covers a total area of 571 500 ha. This mangrove forest is of extreme importance since it provides efficient protection to life and property against cyclones and storm surges. But due to deforestation, the width of the mangrove belt is being rapidly diminished. The author therefore lays emphasis on coastal afforestation.Absolute security against cyclone hazard is probably out of the question, but an effective cyclone warning response can definitely reduce loss of life and damage to property. The author discusses the current conditions for cyclone forecasting and warning in Bangladesh, and then puts forward some proposals for improving the Cyclone Preparedness Programme.