Hispanic Immigrants' Vulnerabilities to Flood and Hurricane Hazards in Two United States Metropolitan Areas

Research reveals that disasters are disproportionately debilitating for marginalized social groups. Numerous studies have examined racial/ethnic dimensions of disaster vulnerability, but few have focused on Hispanic immigrants. More research on Hispanic immigrants is needed, since they constitute a major component of the Hispanic population—the largest and fastest‐growing minority group in the U.S.—and because they experience distinctive cultural and immigration status disadvantages. We examine the flood/hurricane vulnerabilities of Hispanic immigrants in comparison to U.S.–born Hispanics and non‐Hispanic whites. Using mixed methods to analyze data from 429 surveys and 31 interviews with residents living in flood zones, we examine differences in self‐protective action, risk perception, and hazard knowledge between the three groups in Houston and Miami. Hispanic immigrants exhibited lower levels of self‐protection and hazard knowledge, and higher perceptions of risk, which reflects their heightened vulnerability. Risk‐reduction programs should target the particular vulnerabilities of Hispanic immigrants, and future studies should examine their vulnerabilities in other contexts.     

Evaluation of coseismic landslide hazard on the proposed Haast-Hollyford Highway,South Island,New Zealand

Coseismic landsliding presents a major hazard to infrastructure in mountains during large earthquakes. This is particularly true for road networks, as historically coseismic landsliding has resulted in road losses larger than those due to ground shaking. Assessing the exposure of current and planned highway links to coseismic landsliding for future earthquake scenarios is therefore vital for disaster risk reduction. This study presents a method to evaluate the exposure of critical infrastructure to landsliding from scenario earthquakes from an underlying quantitative landslide hazard assessment. The method is applied to a proposed new highway link in South Island, New Zealand, for a scenario Alpine Fault earthquake and compared to the current network. Exposure (the likelihood of a network being affected by one or more landslides) is evaluated from a regional-scale coseismic landslide hazard model and assessed on a relative basis from 0 to 1. The results show that the proposed Haast-Hollyford Highway (HHH) would be highly exposed to coseismic landsliding with at least 30–40?km likely to be badly affected (the Simonin Pass route being the worse affected of the two routes). In the current South Island State Highway network, the HHH would be the link most exposed to landsliding and would increase the total network exposure by 50–70% despite increasing the total road length by just 3%. The present work is intended to provide an effective method to assess coseismic landslide hazard of infrastructure in mountains with seismic hazard, and potentially identify mitigation options and critical network segments.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment for Montreal

In Canada, Montreal is the second city with the highest seismic risk. This is due to its relatively high seismic hazard, old infrastructures and high population density. The region is characterised by moderate seismic activity with no recent record of a major earthquake. The lack of historical strong ground motion records for the region contributes to large uncertainties in the estimation of hazards. Among the sources of uncertainty, the attenuation function is the main contributor and its effect on estimates of risks is investigated. Epistemic uncertainty was considered by obtaining damage estimates for three attenuation functions that were developed for Eastern North America. The results indicate that loss estimates are highly sensitive to the choice of the attenuation function and suggest that epistemic uncertainty should be considered both for the definition of the hazard function and in loss estimation methodologies. Seismic loss estimates are performed for a 2% in 50 years seismic threat, which corresponds to the design level earthquake in the national building code of Canada, using HAZUS-MH4 for the Montreal region over 522 census tracts. The study estimated that for the average scenario roughly 5% of the building stock would be damaged with direct economic losses evaluated at 1.4 billion dollars for such a scenario. The maximum number of casualties would result in approximately 500 people being injured or dead at a calculated time of occurrence of 2?pm.     

小秦岭太峪水系沉积物重金属污染生态危害评价

以金矿开发影响的黄河二级支流太峪水系沉积物为研究对象,沿河采集16个表层沉积物样品,分层采集垂向剖面10件水库沉积物样品,测定了样品中重金属元素Hg、Pb、Cd、Cr、As、Cu和Zn的含量,采用Hakanson潜在生态指数法和Tomlinson污染负荷指数法评价重金属元素污染程度和潜在生态风险。结果表明,矿业活动是太峪水系沉积物重金属元素污染的主要因素;变异系数、富集系数和最高污染系数均反映Hg、Pb、Cd是太峪水系沉积物的特征污染重金属元素,Cr和As的质量分数接近地区背景值;太峪水系表层沉积物受到重金属元素的极强污染,山区段污染较山外更严重;整个流域的Hg、Pb、Cd具有很强的潜在生态危害,Cr、As、Zn的潜在生态危害轻微;太峪水系沉积物垂向各层沉积物都受到重金属元素的极强污染,生态问题以Hg、Pb、Cd的潜在生态危害为主,其污染和生态危害程度都高于流向上的沉积物。潜在生态危害指数评价突出了不同元素的毒性和危害程度,而污染负荷指数法侧重于样本空间上的污染程度,二者互补使用有利于实际问题的全面评价。     

The Swedish Geotechnical Society’s methodology for risk management: a tool for engineers in their everyday work

The Swedish Geotechnical Society has adopted a general methodology for risk management in geotechnical engineering projects to reduce the costs related to negative outcomes of geotechnical risks. This technical note highlights the main features of the methodology and strives to inspire the international geotechnical community to apply sensible risk management methods. In the authors’ opinion, a successful geotechnical risk management needs to be structured, be tailored to the project, and permeate the engineers’ everyday work. Then, sufficient quality can be achieved in the project with larger probability.     

北方集中供热系统气象风险评估初探

供热管网爆裂、跑冒滴漏是北方集中供热城市面临的常见问题,供热管网出现大型故障往往是在室外寒冷的隆冬时节,如果间断或限额供热时间过长,将会造成严重的社会和经济影响。同时在极端低温情况下,可能会造成热源供应不足,出现限额供热现象,不能保证室内舒适度,影响人们的正常生活。本文提出了能源供应气象风险评估和热网维修寒冷风险评估方法,并进行了案例评估,以期为未来进行相关风险评估提供参考。     

不同方法评价喀斯特煤矿区农田土壤重金属生态风险比较

采用TCLP法、内梅罗综合污染指数、嵌入Igeo综合污染指数法等方法对贵州织金县某煤矿区周边农田土壤重金属进行评价。土壤中Cd、Cr、Cu、Ni、Hg和Zn的含量范围分别为0.79～2.08 mg·kg-1、144.20～464.40 mg·kg-1、91.63～187.50 mg·kg-1、48.13～104.47 mg·kg-1、0.14～2.33 mg·kg-1、144.35～265.89 mg·kg-1,所有土壤样点的Cd、Cr、Cu和Ni含量均已超过国家土壤环境质量二级标准,部分土壤样点的Hg和Zn含量超过二级标准。TCLP法评价结果所有土壤样点均未受到重金属污染;内梅罗综合污染指数法评价结果为农田土壤重金属生态风险处于安全水平;嵌入Igeo综合污染指数法评价结果表明,90%的土壤达到中度污染以上,其中65%的土壤处于中度污染,25%的土壤受到中度至重度污染;潜在生态危害指数法评价表明,所有土壤样点重金属均处于轻微生态风险水平。针对不同评价方法得出的结果存在差异的情况,在评价土壤重金属污染状况时,应根据评价目标的差异选择合适的评价方法。      

Modelling tropical cyclone risks for present and future climate change scenarios using geospatial techniques

Tropical cyclones and their devastating impacts are of great concern to coastal communities globally. An appropriate approach integrating climate change scenarios at local scales is essential for producing detailed risk models to support cyclone mitigation measures. This study developed a simple cyclone risk-modelling approach under present and future climate change scenarios using geospatial techniques at local scales, and tested using a case study in Sarankhola Upazila from coastal Bangladesh. Linear storm-surge models were developed up to 100-year return periods. A local sea level rise scenario of 0.34?m for the year 2050 was integrated with surge models to assess the climate change impact. The resultant storm-surge models were used in the risk-modelling procedures. The developed risk models successfully identified the spatial extent and levels of risk that match with actual extent and levels within an acceptable limit of deviation. The result showed that cyclone risk areas increased with the increase of return period. The study also revealed that climate change scenario intensified the cyclone risk area by 5–10% in every return period. The findings indicate this approach has the potential to model cyclone risk in other similar coastal environments for developing mitigation plans and strategies.     

甘肃地质灾害风险管理思考

本文从5个方面分析了甘肃省地质灾害风险管控面临的形势,在此基础上提出了重构包括生命至上、天人合一、主动而为、依法防灾等地质灾害风险管理科学理念,提出了地质灾害风险管理应遵循资源整合与系统设计、预防优先与抗救结合、分级防治与风险共担、工程治理与避险并重、政府主导与社会参与、应急处置与长效防范6项原则,提出了今后甘肃地质灾害风险管控应从发挥制度在地质灾害风险管控引领作用、打造积极的防灾减灾文化、推进地质灾害防治全民能力提高、强化地质灾害风险管控科技支撑、构建地质灾害隐患动态风险评估体系、加强空天地一体化专群结合监测预警网络建设、加大地质灾害综合治理力度、扩大避险搬迁覆盖面和实施力度、地质灾害防治纳入国土风险管控体系等8个方面的着力点。     

泰青威天然气管道临朐段水毁灾害分布特征与风险评价

对泰青威天然气管道临朐段地质灾害发育特征进行调查研究发现,临朐段地质灾害类型主要为水毁灾害,具体可分为坡面水毁、河沟道水毁和台田地水毁。野外地质灾害实地调查临朐段管道沿线共发现地质灾害15处,其中坡面水毁点6处,河沟道水毁点4处,台田地水毁点5处。采用定性与半定量相结合的评价方法对其进行地质灾害风险评价,结果表明: 地质灾害风险等级较高的有1处,占6.66%; 风险等级中等的有4处,占26.67%; 风险等级较低的有10处,占66.67%。根据管道沿线地形地貌、地质灾害发育密度、风险等级等因素,划分地质灾害中易发区61 km,低易发区10 km,管道沿线以地质灾害中易发区为主。最后,针对不同类型、不同风险等级地质灾害提出了相应的防治消减措施,为后期管道安全运营和风险整治决策提供了有效的技术依据。