Disaster
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2008-06-28T05:15:44Z
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/* Human-made disasters */
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A '''disaster''' is the impact of a [[natural hazard|natural]] or [[man-made hazards|human-made hazard]] that negatively affects society or [[environment (biophysical)|environment]]. The root of the word ''disaster'' comes from ''[[astrology]]'': this implies that when the stars are in a bad position a bad event will happen.<ref>[http://www.word-detective.com/101797.html Word Detective]</ref> The word derives from Middle [[French language|French]] ''désastre'', from Old [[Italian language|Italian]] ''disastro'', from the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[pejorative]] prefix ''δυσ-'', (''dis-'') "bad" + ''αστήρ'' (''aster''), "star".
In contemporary academia, disasters are seen as the consequence of inappropriately managed risk. These risks are the product of hazards and vulnerability. Hazards that strike in areas with low vulnerability are not considered a disaster, as is the case in uninhabited regions.<ref name=quarantelli>Quarantelli E.L. (1998). Where We Have Been and Where We Might Go. In: Quarantelli E.L. (ed). What Is A Disaster? London: Routledge. pp146-159</ref>
Developing countries suffer the greatest costs when a disaster hits – more than 95 percent of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing countries, and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as a percentage of [[GDP]]) in developing countries than in industrialized countries.<ref> [http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTURBANDEVELOPMENT/EXTDISMGMT/0,,menuPK:341021~pagePK:149018~piPK:149093~theSitePK:341015,00.html World Bank] </ref>
A disaster can be defined as any tragic event that involves at least one victim of circumstance, such as an [[accident]], [[fire]], [[terrorist attack]], or [[explosion]].{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
==Classification==
Wisner et al reflect a common opinion when they argue that all disasters can be seen as being human-made, their reasoning being that human actions before the strike of the hazard can prevent it developing into a disaster. All disasters are hence the result of human failure to introduce appropriate [[disaster management]] measures.<ref name=atrisk>B. Wisner, P. Blaikie, T. Cannon, and I. Davis (2004). At Risk - Natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters. Wiltshire: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-25216-4</ref>
Hazards are routinely divided into natural or human-made, although complex disasters, where there is no single root cause, are more common in [[developing country|developing countries]]. A specific disaster may spawn a secondary disaster that increases the impact. A classic example is an [[earthquake]] that causes a [[tsunami]], resulting in coastal [[flooding]].
===Natural disasters===
{{main|Natural disaster}}
A natural disaster is the consequence when a natural [[hazard]] (e.g., [[volcanic eruption]] or [[earthquake]]) affects humans. Human [[vulnerability]], caused by the lack of appropriate [[emergency management]], leads to financial, environmental, or human impact. The resulting loss depends on the capacity of the population to support or resist the disaster: their resilience. This understanding is concentrated in the formulation: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability". A natural hazard will hence never result in a natural disaster in areas without vulnerability, e.g., strong earthquakes in uninhabited areas. The term natural has consequently been disputed because the events simply are not hazards or disasters without human involvement.
===Human-made disasters===
{{main|Man-made hazards}}
Disasters caused by human action, negligence, error, or involving the failure of a system are called human-made disasters. Human-made disasters are in turn categorized as technological or sociological. Technological disasters are the results of failure of technology, such as engineering failures, transport disasters, or [[environmental disaster]]s. Sociological disasters have a strong human motive, such as [[criminal acts]], [[stampede]]s, [[riot]]s, and [[war]].
==Management==
{{main|Emergency management|Business continuity planning}}
==Risks of hypothetical future disasters==
{{unencyclopedic|section|date=March 2008}}
{{main|Risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth}}
{{col-begin}}{{col-3}}
* [[Pandemic]]
* [[Overpopulation]]
* [[Antibiotic resistance]]
* [[Supervolcano]]
* [[Effects of global warming|Global warming]]
* [[Peak oil]]
* [[Nuclear warfare]]
{{col-break}}
* [[Impact event|Meteorite impact]]
* [[Ice Age]]
* [[Megatsunami]]
* [[Famine]]
* [[Megathrust earthquake]]
* [[Desertification]]
* [[Overconsumption]]
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* [[Shutdown of thermohaline circulation|Gulf Stream shutdown]]
* [[Drought]]
* [[Water crisis]]
* [[Overfishing]]
* [[Deforestation]]
* [[Technological singularity]]
* [[Terrorism]]
{{col-end}}
==See also==
{{wikibooks|History|Historical Disasters and Tragedies}}
{{portal|Disasters}}
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* [[Civil protection]]
* [[Crisis]]
* [[Business continuity]]
* [[Emergency]]
* [[Survivalism]]
** [[End of civilization]]
** [[Human extinction]]
* [[Sociology of disaster]]
** [[Disaster film]]
** [[Disaster convergence]]
* [[List of disasters]]
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* Barton A.H. (1969). Communities in Disaster. A Sociological Analysis of Collective Stress Situations. SI: Ward Lock
*Catastrophe and Culture: The Anthropology of Disaster. Susanna M. Hoffman and Anthony Oliver-Smith, Eds.. Santa Fe NM: School of American Research Press, 2002
* G. Bankoff, G. Frerks, D. Hilhorst (eds.) (2003). Mapping Vulnerability: Disasters, Development and People. ISBN 1-85383-964-7.
* D. Alexander (2002). Principles of Emergency planning and Management. Harpended: Terra publishing. ISBN 1-903544-10-6.
==External links==
* [http://www.dels.nas.edu/dr/ The Disaster Roundtable] Information on past and future Disaster Roundtable workshops
* [http://www.em-dat.net/ EM-DAT] database of human-made and natural disasters
* [http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert.php?lang=eng HAVARIA Emergency and Disaster Information Service] An up-to-the-minute world wide map showing current disasters.
* [http://www.gdacs.org Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System] A United Nations and European Commission sponsored website for disaster information.
* [http://www.airdisaster.com/features/top100/top100.shtml Top 100 aviation disasters] on [[Airdisaster.com|AirDisaster.com]]
* [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ Guinness Book of World Records]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1510/is_1987_Fall/ai_5151514/pg_2 The world's worst massacres Whole Earth Review]
* [http://www.arthurhu.com/INDEX/genocide.htm War Disaster and Genocide]
* [http://www.armageddononline.org Armageddon Online - Daily News and articles about ongoing natural and man made disasters]
*[http://geohotspots.worldbank.org/hotspot/hotspots/disaster.jsp Geohotspots]
===United States===
* [http://www.citizencorps.gov/ Citizen Corps] Guide
* [http://www.disasterhelp.gov/ DisasterHelp.gov] United States Egov reference
* [http://www.ready.gov/ Ready.gov] United States Ready Egov reference
* [http://www.disastercenter.com/ The Disaster Center] Internet source for disaster information
[[Category:Disasters|*]]
[[Category:Greek loanwords]]
[[cs:Katastrofa]]
[[da:Katastrofe]]
[[de:Katastrophe]]
[[es:Desastre]]
[[eo:Katastrofo (akcidento)]]
[[fr:Catastrophe]]
[[ko:재해]]
[[hr:Katastrofa]]
[[id:Bencana]]
[[it:Disastro]]
[[la:Calamitates humanae]]
[[lv:Katastrofa]]
[[ms:Bencana]]
[[nl:Ramp]]
[[ja:災害]]
[[no:Katastrofe]]
[[pl:Katastrofa]]
[[pt:Desastre]]
[[ru:Катастрофа]]
[[si:ව්යසන]]
[[simple:Disaster]]
[[fi:Onnettomuus]]
[[sv:Katastrof]]
[[th:ภัยธรรมชาติ]]
[[tr:Afet]]
[[uk:Катастрофа]]
[[zh:灾害]]