Natural Hazard Assessment & Biodiversity Conservation
1.2 Risk Assessment Fundamentals
For effective risk assessment, consider these key factors:
- The characteristics of the natural process, broadly speaking.
- The area affected by the natural process.
- The potential impact on the activities of the population.
Risk Scales and Levels
In accordance with the results of assessing risks, scales are established as follows:
- Free Zone: No Risk
- Low Risk: Acceptable
- Medium Risk: Moderate
- High Risk: Significant
- Very High Risk: Critical
1.3 Natural Hazard Classification
Natural hazards are distinguished from social or technological risks. They are classified by the type of agent that produces them:
- Biological: Involving living beings.
- Physical and Geological: Both of abiotic origin.
These are further classified, based on the principal activity or action, into categories such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and weather phenomena.
2.1 Prediction and Forecasting of Hazards
When considering natural hazards, the aim is to understand and control the processes that define them. This allows for establishing forecasts and preventing potential catastrophes. Additionally, assessing the potential for interference between natural processes and human activities helps determine what are known as risk factors.
Prediction, forecasting, and prevention of natural disasters aim to identify risk factors and processes that may pose a danger to a population in a given area.
- Prediction: Prediction involves knowing and announcing, before a phenomenon occurs, where and when it will happen, its development, and the intensity with which it will act.
- Forecasting: Forecasting deepens the study of risk by statistically defining the occurrence of a phenomenon, its different intensity levels, and the frequency with which potentially catastrophic events can occur.
2.2 Prevention and Mitigation Strategies
- Prevention: This encompasses all measures and activities, based on prediction and forecasting, implemented to avoid the detrimental impact of dangerous phenomena. When avoiding the impact is impossible, a series of solutions must be adopted to minimize adverse effects.
- Mitigation: Mitigation involves implementing protective measures before a disaster occurs due to specific risks (natural or human). It also includes long-term risk reduction strategies. These measures can range from constructing resilient buildings to developing and applying risk assessment techniques. Industrialized countries, for instance, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters due to their economic systems.
Understanding Biodiversity
Biodiversity can be described as the entire variety of life forms on the planet in all its manifestations. The ‘Foreign Office’ reports that the number of described species is around 1.4 million. However, no one knows the actual number that exists on the planet; more modest estimates suggest around four million. Terrestrial ecosystems, particularly tropical forests and coral reefs, are the most diverse. It is estimated that more than half of all Earth’s species live in tropical forests.
Components of Biodiversity
The three key components of biodiversity are:
- Genetic Diversity within Species: Without significant genetic variability in populations, species would be unable to adapt to environmental changes and maintain the flow of matter and energy in ecosystems and the biosphere.
- Species Diversity: A lack of species diversity would impoverish biocenoses, making them more vulnerable to environmental changes and disrupting the flows of matter and energy in ecosystems and the biosphere.
- Ecosystem Diversity: A reduction in ecosystem diversity would negatively impact both ecosystems and species, as many biocenoses are linked to specific habitats.
Causes of Biodiversity Loss
Key causes include:
- Destruction, degradation, and fragmentation of habitats
- Introduction of alien (invasive) species
- Overexploitation of species and natural resources
- Pollution of the atmosphere, soil, and water
- Industrialization of agriculture and forestry
From a strictly economic perspective, preventing biodiversity loss is crucial, as biodiversity is an indispensable resource for human food, pharmaceuticals, and the provision of raw materials.