This document defines key concepts related to environmental hazards and disasters. It discusses that a hazard is any situation that poses a threat, while a disaster occurs when a hazard exceeds a community's ability to cope. Hazards can be natural or human-made, and disasters result when hazards impact vulnerable populations. Risk is a function of hazard likelihood and potential losses. Vulnerability refers to factors that increase susceptibility to hazards. The document outlines different types of hazards and disasters, and identifies groups that are typically more vulnerable.

1. ESDM-206: Environmental
Hazard and Disaster
Management
Topic: Hazard in the Environment
Lecture- (01-03)
Prepared By- Zannatul Ferdaus

2. Hazard
• A hazard is a situation that poses a level of threat to
life, health, property, or environment.
• Hazards are defined as “Phenomena that pose a
threat to people, structures, or economic assets
and which may cause a disaster. They could be
either manmade or naturally occurring in our
environment.”
• Hazards can be dormant or potential, with only a
theoretical risk of harm; however, once a hazard
becomes "active", it can create an emergency.
• A hazardous situation that has come to pass is
called an incident. Hazard and possibility interact
together to create risk.

3. Modes of a hazard
Hazards are sometimes classified into three modes:
• Dormant—The situation environment is currently
affected. For instance, a hillside may be unstable,
with the potential for a landslide, but there is
nothing below or on the hillside that could be
affected.
• Armed—People, property, or environment are in
potential harm's way.
• Active—A harmful incident involving the hazard
has actually occurred. Often this is referred to not
as an "active hazard" but as an accident,
emergency, incident, or disaster.

4. Types of hazard
Hazards are generally labeled as one of five types-
• Physical hazards -are conditions or situations that can cause the body
physical harm or intense stress. Physical hazards can be both natural
and human made elements.
• Chemical hazards- are substances that can cause harm or damage to
the body, property or the environment. Chemical hazards can be both
natural or human made origin.
• Biological hazards -are biological agents that can cause harm to the
human body. Some biological agents can be viruses, parasites,
bacteria, food, fungi, and foreign toxins.
• Psychological hazards- are created during work related stress or a
stressful environment. A person can be on a hazard when he/she is
affected psychological disturbance through –stress and also can be on
a hazard when a person is under the influence of alcohol, illness and
lack of training.

5. What is Disaster?
• Disaster is a severe, relatively sudden and
unexpected disruption of normal structural
arrangements within a social system over which
the system has no firm control.
• According to Landesman (2001), any event,
typically occurring, that causes damage, ecological
disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of
health and health services and which exceeds the
capacity of the affected community on a scale
sufficient to require outside assistance.
• UNDP defined disaster as a serious disruption of
the functioning of the society causing widespread
human, material or environmental losses which
exceed the ability of affected society to cope using
its own resources.

6.  Disaster is a severe situation usually associated with
severe damage to infrastructure and utilities, death,
injuries and homelessness. It may be wide spread or
contained within a particular sector (i.e. social,
economic or environmental) or sub sector (e.g.
agriculture, tourism)
 A disaster can best be described as a possible
outcome of a hazard
 striking a vulnerable community element (s) and
exceeds the ability of those affected to anticipate,
resist, manage or recover, using their own resources
Process (Natural &
artificial)
Hazard (Natural &
artificial)
Disaster

7. Key Elements of Disasters
• Causes large-scale disruption
• Produces ecological destruction
• Impacts vulnerable communities
• Exceeds community’s coping capacity
• Requires outside assistance

8. TYPES OF DISASTER

9. Types of Disasters cont.
Short – Term Natural
Geological Origin
– Earthquake, landslide,
volcano, Tsunami
Hydro-Meteorological
Origin
– Extreme weather, high
winds, floods, tornadoes,
hurricanes, typhoons
Short-term Human
Made
– Accidents (e.g. technical
disasters), Chemical
accidents, Nuclear
accidents
Long-term Natural
• Epidemic disasters,
Insect infestations,
Drought
Long-term human
made
• Famine
• Food shortage
• Interstate conflict
• Domestic violence
Two types of disaster
Natural and
Human made

10. Main Features of Disaster
A disaster may have the following main
features:
Unpredictability
Unfamiliarity
Speed
Urgency
Uncertainty
Threat

11. Impact Layers in a Disasters
• Direct victims
• Family/Social network
• First respondents, their families and social network
• Vulnerable populations and impacted businesses
• Ordinary people and their communities

12. Difference between disaster and hazard?
Hazard Disaster
A hazard is a situation where there is
a threat to life, health, environment
or property.
A disaster is an event that completely disrupts the
normal ways of a community. It brings on human,
economical, and environmental losses to the
community which the community cannot bear on
its own.
Hazard are occurred at the place
which has less population
Disasters are mainly occurred at over populated
area.
Hazard is caused by negligence Disaster is a results of differential behavior of
nature due to many conditions.
Hazards are natural or manmade
phenomenon that are a feature of
our planet and cannot be prevented.
These hazards are termed as disasters when they
cause widespread destruction of property and
human lives.
In their dormant state, hazards just
pose a threat to life and property.
Once a hazard becomes active and is no longer
just a threat, it becomes a disaster.

13. Risk
• Risk is a measure of the expected losses due to a
hazardous event of a particular magnitude
occurring in a given area over a specific time
period. Risk is a function of the probability of
particular occurrences and the losses each would
cause.
• Risk is the chance or probability that a person will
be harmed or experience an adverse health effect
if exposed to a hazard. It may also apply to
situations with property or equipment loss.
• Risk = Hazard × Vulnerability / Capacity

14. The level of risk depends on:
1. Nature of the Hazard
2. Vulnerability of the elements which are affected
3. Economic value of those elements
Factors that influence the degree of risk include:
1. How much a person is exposed to a hazardous thing
or condition
2. How the person is exposed (e.g., breathing in a
vapour, skin contact)
3. How severe are the effects under the conditions of
exposure

15. Vulnerability
• Vulnerability is defined as “the extent to
which a community, structure, service, and/or
geographic area is likely to be damaged or
disrupted by the impact of particular hazard
in a disaster prone area”
• The conditions determined by physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors or
processes, which increase the susceptibility of
a community to the impact of hazards.

16. Who Are The Vulnerable ?
 Children
 Elderly
 Ethnic minorities
 Physical & Intellectual Disabled
 Poor
 Women
 Livelihood groups who are dependent on natural resources
For example, The Bawali (wood cutter), the Mawali (honey
collectors) and the fishing community who are dependent on
natural resources like timber, Nypa palm, grass for matting,
reed for fencing, honey, bee wax, fish, prawn fry, Oyster, snail,
crab etc.