Differences between social problem and natural Problem

A Great “Natural Disaster?”

• There are two words to consider here: Natural and Disaster

• Something Natural implies that the cause is Nature (An Act of God), and in the West, we have never considered ourselves part of Nature (that’s why God gets the blame).

• A Disaster is something that has a serious impact on the lives and livelihood of a lot of people. (Flood, Drought, Earthquake)

• TYPES OF DISASTERS• Natural Disasters.• Earthquakes.• Tsunamis.• Cyclones.• Floods.• - Cloud bursts.• - Dam failures/dam bursts• Avalanches.• Landslides & mud flow.• Volcanoes.

What disasters would and could effect our community?

MANMADENATURAL

• Natural disaster• Tornados• Hurricanes• Earthquakes• Tsunami• Blizzards

• Manmade social problem • Flood Fire• Terrorist attacks• School violence

Type of disaster

Air, road & rail accidents.Nuclear, chemical & biological disasters.Wars.Industrial accidents.

Hazardous Materials

Disaster”

What’s the Situation?

A disaster is any natural event that overwhelms a community, district or country’s ability to respond. There are natural catastrophes; events caused by natural forces and man-made disasters events arising in conjunction with human activities: - Natural: hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes, tornados, floods, tsunamis, droughts, volcano eruptions etc. - Man-made: nuclear accident, chemical spill, conflicts, major fires etc.

Disasters continue to target the world's poorest and least developed. Of those killed in 2002, just 6 per cent lived in countries of high human development. While countries of low human development reported the fewest natural disasters during the decade, their death toll is by far the highest.

This is the economic impact of disasters, which, strangely, does not seem to match the statement on fatalities. Why is that?

Is there a trend?• Key statistics from the World Disasters Report• From 1999 to 2003, reported disasters averaged 707 disasters each year, up

two-thirds from the previous five years. In countries of low human development, the increase was 142 percent.

• For the last five years, an average of 303 million people were affected by disasters, constituting a rise of more than 40 percent from a decade ago.

• Weather-related and geophysical disasters are more frequent, by about 60 percent, now than ten years ago.

• The death toll from disasters has actually been on the decline, with 2003 being a marked exception.

• Over half of all deaths in natural disasters are due to drought and famine. Since 1994, they have claimed 275,000 lives.

• Drought and food shortage claim in excess of 1,000 lives per reported event, compared to 370 per earthquake and 300 per extreme temperature event.

• Heat waves kill more people in the United States than hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods combined.

How Natural?• Our first response is to say that the Tsunami was totally

beyond human influence and control—but was it?• If global warming, which may be caused by human activity

(CO2), exists, then it could cause the sea to expand, and that change of weight could have caused the landslide???

• However, tsunamis and volcanoes are almost totally natural in cause. Their “disastrous” effect, however, has more to do with man than Nature.

The Tsunami

• There was a shift in the great continental plates under the ocean off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia.

• As a result, there was a huge landslide under the sea displacing billions of tons of water very suddenly.

• This water moved at >500 k.p.h. as a underwater force wave.

The Tsunami, 2

• This did not produce a “huge wave” like a tidal wave, instead, when it reached land it pushed billions of tons of water ahead of it up onto the land and many kms inland.

• Nothing could resist this force; there was almost no warning, and people even stood and watched it approach, having no idea what was coming.

• Hurricane Mitch knocked out 80% of the communications of Honduras. Why? Because it was poor, built to modest standards and unable to withstand the storm.

• Mudslides kill thousands in Colombia and, in this case, Nicaragua. It is not that the rainfall is greater, but that the plants that protected the soil has been cut down. The “resilience” of the environment has been weakened by humans. Cause is Natural, Disaster is Man-Made

• First global climate change will produce more extreme events, because that is how Nature gets rid of the extra energy trapped by Global Warming.

• People in the tropics lack capital to protect themselves, are isolated from warnings, are very defenseless when the disaster strikes.

• So, the same Natural Calamity can have very different effects.

Less strict building standards produce higher losses.

Different people and cultures will attribute the disaster to different causes, e.g. religious retribution

Poorer communications limit the effect of timely relief.

How does this play out?

• If you attribute the disaster to some “purely natural cause,” or the Hand of God, then you easily separate yourself from any responsibility.

• Second problem is to prove causality—think of the discussions about Global Warming.

• The question for the Tropics is “To what extent does poverty create helplessness to Natural events?” For others, the Q might be “To what extent do the consequences of wealth enhance the risk of Natural risk?”

What part of the population suffered most from the impact of Katrina? Why?

You might want to ask the same question about Katrina in Louisiana. Was the force of the Hurricane “natural?” Was the impact a disaster because of natural circumstances, or because of human intervention in Nature?

Why was the richest country in the world unable to do anything for three days, yet the TV crews were all there to report on this?

One Consequence of defining the problem

• If you define the problem as a “Natural Disaster” then the emphasis will be on “relief.”

• That does nothing to prevent the same disaster happening the next time, or worse.

• Relief addresses consequences, not causes.• Disasters may be alarm signals of a much

deeper process.

http://www.ready.gov/landslides-debris-flow

• Cloud burst:A COL zone is the area between two anticyclones and is characterized by very weak winds. Usually thunderstorms move, distributing the rainfall over a large region, resulting in “normal rainfall”. However, under the influence of weak wind fields in a COL zone, these clouds do not move; resulting in a cloud burst or continuous heavy downpour . It is quite common for north west India to lie under the mid and upper tropospheric COL zone between the west Asian and Tibetan high, making this region prone to heavy rainfall. The COL zone location varies on a day to day basis and Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, J&K, Ladakh, and Haryana all come under its sway.

• A cloud burst

A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation, sometimes with hail and thunder, which normally lasts no longer than a few minutes but is capable of creating flood conditions. Colloquially, the term cloudburst may be used to describe any sudden heavy, brief, and usually unforecastable rainfall.

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•hurricane are the planet’s most violent storms. •They are known as cyclones in Australia and typhoons in southeast Asia. •They bring huge waves and wind speeds that can burst up to 186 mph. •Hurricanes are not the normal storms created when cold and warm fronts crash.

Introduction to hurricanes

Definition of a hurricane:

A hurricane is a tropical storm with winds that have reached a constant speed of 74 miles per hour or more. 

The eye of a storm is usually 20-30 miles wide and may extend over 400 miles. 

The dangers of a storm include torrential rains, high winds and storm surges. 

A hurricane can last for 2 weeks or more over open water and can run a path across the entire length of the Eastern Seaboard. 

Blizzards• Definition:• A blizzard is winter storm condition characterized

by low temperatures, strong winds , and heavy blowing snow,• The term blizzard is sometimes misused by news

media to describe a large winter storm does not actually satisfy official blizzard criteria.

• In North America , Blizzards are particularly common to the extreme portions of the Northernstrom

Difference Between winter storm and Blizzards

Winter storms are characterized by snowfall, rain, sleet, and ice etc where temperatures are below freezing point. A winter storm (or snowstorm) is an event in which the dominant varieties of precipitation are forms that only occur at cold temperatures, such as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are cold enough to allow ice to form (i.e. freezing rain). The difference between a blizzard and winter storms lies in the presence and strength of winds. Blizzards are massive snow storms with strong winds.

AvalanchesBy Rachael Laritz, 2010

modified by T. Webb

Definition of Avalonches

• rapid flow of snow down a slope, from either natural triggers or human activity.

• Typically occurring in mountainous terrain

Where does an avalanche occur ?Avalanches occur on slopes between 25 to 50 degrees. Avalanches start most often on slopes above the timberline that face away from prevailing winds.

• primarily composed of flowing snow, and are distinct from mudslides, rock slides, and serac collapses on an icefall.

• Earthquake• An earthquake (also known as

a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time

Volcanic Eruptions and Hazards

~An opening in the earth's crust through which molten lava, ash, and gases are ejected.

~A similar opening on the surface of another planet. ~A mountain formed by the materials ejected from a volcano.

What is A Volcano?

VolcanoA Volcano is an opening, or rupture, in the surface or crust of the Earth or a planetary mass object, which allows hot lava, volcanic ash and gases to escape from the magma chamber below the surface.

How Disastrous?

• The casualty numbers could be influenced by: people living in dangerous coastal areas; lack of scientific warning; lack of emergency procedures.

• The question is “How vulnerable, or exposed are the people to the forces of Nature.”

• The same size earthquake in Armenia or the US, caused 29,000 deaths in one case and 26 deaths in the other. Why?

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Social Problems

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The act of defining a phenomenon as a social problem impliesthat the situation is undesirable and that something should be done to remedy it.

• Social Problem

• when enough people in a society agree that a condition exists that threatens the quality of their lives and their most cherished values, and they also agree that something should be done to remedy the condition

• A social issue (also called a social problem or a social situation) is an issue that relates to society’s perception of a person’s personal life.

• Different cultures have different perceptions and what may be normal behavior in one society may be a significant social issue in another society, social issues are distinguished from economics issue. Some issues have both social and economics aspects, such as immigration.

FUNCTIONALISMA social system composed of parts that work together to benefit the

whole

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• Society is viewed as very similar to the human body.• Each part meets a need in order to

maintain a normal state of balance.

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Interdependent network of social institutions (family, school, business, religion, etc.) that shape our live.

Dysfunctions Social Problems