Concepts and Models of Environmental Hazards Assignment

Concepts and Models of Environmental Hazards - Assignment Example GIS permit the combination of various types of spatial data, with non-spatial data, attribute them and use them as useful information in the various phases of disaster management (Goodchild, et al, 1996). GIS has played a fundamental role in the study of majority of the 20th and 21st century environmental concerns and especially global warming. From the quantification of glacier retreat all the way to the measurement of carbon environmental appropriation, GIS has played a major role in the collection of data, analysis of the same, modeling and also reporting or dissemination of knowledge (Goodchild, et al, 1996). Hazard A hazard is generally any source of potential harm, damage, or health effect on something or someone under particular condition. Hazards can range from biological agents like bacteria to safety hazards like slipping and machine malfunctioning (Toyos, et al, 2007). However, the common way of classifying hazards is by category where you get categories like environmental hazards, biological hazards, and physical hazards among others. Environmental hazards range in nature from geophysical hazards such as flooding, tsunami, volcanic eruption, and earthquakes to biophysical hazards like droughts and diseases. There are also technological hazards like chemical incidents various types of pollutions, and nuclear incidents, all of which threatens the long-term sustainability of the environment. Natural events such as hurricanes and earthquakes are obviously hazardous to man, which is the same case with environmental events like volcanic eruptions and tsunamis (Carrara, & Guzzetti, 1999). The disasters that can be caused by natural hazards are mainly resulting from man’s omission or commission. In this regard, I am referring to man’s actions that either increase susceptibility, or lack of appropriate actions to not only anticipate but also mitigate the possible damage of these events. A common denominator with all hazards is the risk. For an event to be categorized as a hazard it must have certain degree of risk. In fact, the best way to look at a risk is the chance or probability of harming a person if such a person is exposed to a certain event (hazard) that predisposes him/her to such a probability (Carrara, & Guzzetti, 1999). This therefore means that for an event to be classified as a hazard it much be exposing a person to risk of whatever nature. Advantages of GIS In a landslide study, data on hydrology, slope steepness, rock composition, and other factors can be combined with data on previous landslide to determine the conditions under which landslide are likely to occur (Saha, et al, 2005). To analyze all possible factors with manual techniques is almost next to impossible, therefore, only two factors can be analyzed in normal circumstance, after which the composite map are combined with the landslide inventory map. However with GIS, it is possible to analyze various factors that are associated with present cond itions and historical events, including presence of infrastructure, present land use, among others (Tassetti, et al, 2008). A good example of the application of this technique can be found in OAS/DRDE, which has been using this technique to overlay maps of slope steepness, geology, slope orientation, vegetation, and hydrology, after which it overlays the results with a landslide invento