MODULE1

Sy l
l
abus:
Fundament alconcept s ofhazar ds and disast
ers:Intr
oduct
ion to key concept
s and
terminol
ogyofhazar d,vul
nerabi
l
ity,exposur
e,ri
sk,cr
isi
s,emer
genci
es,Disast
ers,
Resil
i
ence.
BasicconceptofEar thasasy stem andi tscomponentsubsy stems.ClimateChange
vis‐
a‐vi
st hei
nter
relati
onshipsoft hesubsystems‐GreenHouseEffectandGlobalwarming,
basicideasabouttheircausesandef fect
s.

DI
SASTERBACKGROUND
Disast
ersareasoldashumanhi storybutthedramati
cincreaseandt hedamagecausedby
them i
ntherecentpasthav ebecomeacauseofnat ionalandinter
nationalconcer
n.Ov erthe
pastdecade,thenumberofnat uralandman‐ madedisastershascl i
mbedi nexor
ably.From
1994to1998,report
eddi sast
ersav eragewas428pery earbutfrom 1999t o2003,thi
sf i
gure
wentupt oanav er
ageof707di sastereventsperyearshowingani ncreaseofabout60per
centovertheprevi
ousy ears.Thebi ggestri
sewasi ncountri
esofl owhumandev elopment,
whichsuff
eredanincreaseof142percent .

Disast
ersarenotnew t
o mankind.Theyhav
ebeen t
heconstant
,though i
nconv
enient
,
companionsofthehuman bei
ngssinceti
mei mmemori
al.Di
sast
erscan benaturalor
human‐made.

Eart
hquake,
cycl
one,hai
lstorm, cloud‐burst
,landsli
de,soi
ler
osi
on,snowav al
anche,f
loodetc.
aretheexamplesofnat uraldi sasterswhi lefi
re,epidemi
cs,road,air
,rai
laccidentsand
l
eakagesofchemicals/nucl eari nstal
lati
onset c.fal
lunderthecategoryofhuman‐ made
di
saster
s.

WHATI
SADI
SASTER?
 Adisast
ercanbedef i
nedas“Aseri
ousdisrupt
ioninthefunct
ioningofthecommunit
yor
asociet
ycausingwidespreadmater
ial
,economic,soci
alorenv ir
onmentall
osseswhi
ch
exceedtheabi
l
ityoft
heaffect
edsoci
etytocopeusingitsownr esour
ces”.

 TheDi sasterManagementAct ,2005defi

nesdisasteras“acatast
rophe,mi
shap,
calami ty
orgrav eoccurrenceinanyar ea,ari
singf
rom naturalormanmadecauses,orbyaccident
ornegl i
gencewhi chr esul
tsinsubstanti
all
ossofl ifeorhumansuf f
eri
ngordamaget o,
anddest ructi
onof ,
pr oper
tyordamaget o,ordegradati
onof,envi
ronment,
andisofsuch
anat ureormagni tudeast obebey ondthecopingcapacityoft hecommunityoft he
aff
ectedar ea”.

 TheUni
tedNati
onsdefi
nesdisast
eras“t
heoccurr
enceofsuddenormajormi
sfort
une
whi
chdi
srupt
sthebasi
cfabr
icandnormalf
unct
ioni
ngoft
hesociet
yorcommuni
ty”
.

 Foradisastertobeent eredi
ntothedatabaseatl
eastoneoft
hef
oll
owi
ngcr
it
eri
amustbe
ful
fi
ll
ed:
 Ten( 10)ormorepeopl ereport
edkil
led
 Hundr ed(100)ormor epeoplerepor
tedaff
ect
ed
 Decl arati
onofast ateofemergency
 Cal l
f orint
ernat
ionalassi
stance

Adisast
erisaresultf
rom thecombinati
onofhazard,vul
nerabil
i
tyandinsuf
fi
cientcapaci
tyor
measurestoreducethepotenti
alchancesofr
isk.Adisasterhappenswhenahazar dimpacts
onthevulner
ablepopulat
ionandcausesdamage, casual
ti
esanddi sr
upti
on.
1|
Page
Forabet teril
lust
rat
ionofdisasterisanyhazar d–f lood,eart
hquakeorcyclonewhi
chi sa
tr
iggeri
ngev ental
ongwi t
hgreatervulner
abil
i
ty(inadequateaccesstoresour
ces,si
ckandold
people,l
ackofawar enesset
c)woul dleadtodisastercausinggreat
erl
osstoli
feandpropert
y

1|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
Forexampl
e:aneart
hquakeinanuninhabi
teddeser
tcannotbeconsi
der
edadi
sast
er,no
matt
erhowstr
ongtheint
ensi
ti
espr
oduced.

Anear t
hquakeisdisast
rousonl ywhenitaff
ectspeopl
e,theirproper
ti
esandactivi
ti
es.Thus,
di
sasteroccursonlywhenhazar dsandv ul
nerabi
l
itymeet.Butitisal
sot obenotedthatwit
h
great
ercapacityofthei ndi
vidual
/communityandenvir
onmentt ofacethesedisast
ers,t
he
i
mpactofahazar dreduces.Therefor
e,weneedt ounderstandt het
hreemajorcomponents
namely hazard,v ul
nerabil
i
ty and capacity wi
th sui
table exampl es t
o hav e a basi
c
underst
andingofdisast
ermanagement .

Disast
erisanev entorser i
esofev ents,whi chgivesr i
setocasual t
iesanddamageorl ossof
propert
ies,inf
rastructur
es,environment ,essent i
alservi
cesormeansofl i
v el
i
hoodonsucha
scalewhichi sbeyondt henor malcapaci tyoft heaffectedcommuni tytocopewi t
h.Disast
er
i
sal sosomet imesdescr ibedasa“ catastrophicsituati
oni nwhicht henor malpat
ternofli
fe
oreco‐system hasbeendi sr
uptedandex tra‐or
dinaryemer gencyintervent
ionsarerequi
redto
saveandpr eservel i
vesandort heenv i
ronment ” .

DI
SASTERS–GLOBALSCENARI
O
Disasters‐nat uralorhuman‐ madear ecommont hroughoutt hewor l
d.Disasterscont i
nueto
occurwi thoutwar ningandar eperceiv
edt obeonani ncreasei ntheirmagni t
ude, complexit
y,
frequencyand economi ci mpact.Hazar dsposet hreatsto peopl eand assumeser i
ous
propor t
ionsint heunderdev elopedcount ri
eswi thdensepopul ati
on.Dur i
ngt hesecondhal f
oft he20t hcentury ,morethan200wor stnaturaldi sastersoccur redinthedi ff
erentpar t
sof
thewor ldandcl aimedl iv
esofar ound1.4mi l
li
onpeopl e.Lossesduet onat uraldisaster
sare
20t imesgr eater( as%ofGDP)i nthedev elopingcount ri
est hani nindustri
ali
zedone.Asi a
topst helistofcasual t
iesduet onaturaldisasters.Fi gureshowst heRegionaldi str
ibuti
onof
disastersbyt y
pe, aspreparedbyCent reforResear chonEpi demi ologyofDi saster.

2|
Page CE488–Di
sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
Ther e have been sev er
alnat ur
al,as wel las,man‐made di saster
s.Records ofnatural
disasterscanbet racedwaybackt o430B. C.whentheTy phusepi demicwasr eport
edin
Athens.Tendeadl iestnatural
disastersrecor
dedintheworl
dar edat edbackto1556whenan
earthquakei nShaanxipr ovi
nceofChi naoccurredon23r dJanuar y,1556and8, 30,
000
casualtieswerer ecorded.Listoft endeadl i
estdi
sast
erswhi chhav eoccurredacrossthe
wor l
dandi nI ndi
ai nt heknownhi storyandi nthelastcent urymaybeseenf r
om the
respectivel
y.

Wor
ldDi
sast
er

S.
No NameofEv
ent Year Country& Fat
ali
ti
es
Region
1. Ear
thquake 1556 China,
Shaanxi 830000
2. Ear
thquake 1731 Chi
na 100,
000
3. Cy
clone 1737 I
ndi
a,Cal
cut
ta 300000
4. Yel
l
owRi verf
lood 1887 Chi
na 900,
000–2,
000,
000
Messina
5. 1908 I
tal
y 123000
Ear
thquake

6. Ear
thquake 1920 Chi
na,
Gansu 235000

GreatKant
o
7. 1923 Japan 142,
000
Eart
hquake
GreatChi
nese 1958‐
8. Chi
na 15,
000,
000–43,
000,
0
Famine 1961
00
WestBengal,I
ndi
a&
9. Bhol
aCy
clone 1970 500,
000
EastPaki
stan(
now
Bangl
adesh)
I
nLastCent
ury
S.
No NameofEv
ent Year Count
ry&Regi
on Fat
ali
ti
es
1. Chi
naFl
oods, 1931 Chi
na 1,
000,
000–2,
500,
000
2. Fl
oods 1954 China 40,
000
Bangladesh,
3. Cy
clone 1970 300,
000
Chitt
agong,
Khulna
4. Bangl
adeshCy
clone, 1991 Bangladesh 139,
000
5. Ear
thquake 1999 Turkey 17,
000
I
ndonesi
a, Sr
i Lanka,I
ndi
a,
6. Tsunami 2004 Malay si
a, 230,
210
Somalia,
Bangl adesh,
Thai
land
7. Hur
ri
caneKat
ri
na 2005 Uni
tedSt atesof 1,
836
Amer i
ca
87476deat hs
8. Si
chuanEar
thquake 2008 Chi
na
i
ncluding
mi ssi
ng
Mor
et han138000
9. Cy
clonenar
gis 2008 My
anmar
deaths
10. Hai
tiEar
thquake 2010 Hai
ti 31600
CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 3|
Page
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI

Gl
obal
Disast
erScenar
io:
Dist
ri
but
ionofNat
ural
Disast
ers

Di
str
ibut
ionofPeopl
eAf
fect
ed

I
NDI
ADI
SASTERSCENARI
O:
Indi
aduet oi t
sgeo‐cli
maticandsoci o‐economi cconditi
oni spr
onet ov ar
iousdi sasters.
Duringt hel astthi
rtyyears’ti
mespant hecount r
yhasbeenhi tby431maj ordisaster s
result
ingintoenor mouslosstolifeandpr operty.Accordi
ngtothePreventi
onWebst ati
stics,
143039peopl ewer ekil
ledandabout150cr orewer eaff
ectedbyv ar
iousdisastersint he
countryduringt hesethreedecades.Thedi sasterscausedhugelosst opropertyandot her
i
nf r
astruct
urescost i
ngmor ethanUS$4800cr ore.Themostseveredisast
ersint hecount ry
andt heiri
mpacti nterm ofpeopleaff
ected,liveslostandeconomicdamagei sgivenint heIn
Indi
a, t
hecy clonewhichoccurredon25t hNov ember ,1839hadadeathtoll
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
oft
hreelakhpeople.TheBhujear thquakeof2001i nGuj ar
atandt heSuperCycloneofOrissa
on29thOctober,1999arestil
lfreshi nthememor yofmostI ndi
ans.Themostr ecentnat
ur al
di
sasterofacloudburstresult
ingi nflashfloodsandmudf lowinLehandsur roundingareas
i
ntheearlyhoursof6thAugust ,2010, causedsev er
edamagei ntermsofhumanl i
vesaswel l
asproperty
.Therewasar eporteddeat htollof196per sons,65mi ssi
ngper sons,3,
661
damagedhousesand27, 350hect aresofaf fect
edcr oparea.Floods,eart
hquakes,cycl
ones,
hai
lst
orms,etc.ar
ethemostf requent l
yoccur ri
ngdisastersinIndi
a

Economi
c
Year Typeof People Li
fe damage
Disast
ers affect
ed l
ost (
USD×1000)
1980 Fl
ood 30,000,
023
1982 Dr
ought 100,
000,
000
Fl
ood 33,
500,
000
1984 Epi
demi
c 3290
1987 Dr
ought 300,
000,
000
1988 Epi
demi
c 3000
1990 St
orm 2,
200,
000
1993 Fl
ood 128,
000,
000 7,
000,
000
Ear
thquake* 9,
748
1994 Fl
ood 2001
1995 Fl
ood 32,
704,
000
1996 St
orm 1,
500,
300
1998 St
orm 2871
Ext
remeTemp. 2541
Fl
ood 1811
1999 St
orm 9,
843 2,
500,
000
2000 Dr
ought 50,
000,
000
2001 Ear
thquake* 20,
005 2,
623,
000
2002 Dr
ought 300,
000,
000
Fl
ood 42,
000,
000
2004 Fl
ood 33,
000,
000 2,
500,
000
Ear
thquake* 16,
389
2005 Fl
ood 3,
330,
000
Fl
ood 2,
300,
000
Whilest 2y
ud00
i
n6
gaboutFtl
hood
eimpactweneedt obeawar eofpotenti
alhaza3
r,
3
d9
s0
,,
h0
o0
w0
,whenand
wherethey
20a
0r
el
9 ikel
ytoo
Floc
oc
dur
,andt heproblemswhichmayresultofane v
2e
,
1n
5t
0.
,I
nI
0 ndi
00 a,59per
centofthelandmassi ssusceptibl
etosei smichazar
d;5percentoft hetotalgeogr
aphi
cal
areaispronetof l
oods;8percentoft het otall
andmassi
spronet ocyclones;70percentof
thetot
alcult
ivablear
eai svul
nerabletodrought.

6|
Page CE488–Di
sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
Apart f rom this t he hi l
ly r egions ar e v ul
nerabl
e t o av al
anches/
l
andslides/hai
lstor
ms/ cloudbursts.Apartfrom t henaturalhazards,weneedt oknow about
theothermanmadehazar dswhi charef r
equentandcausehugedamaget oli
feandproperty
.
I
tisther ef
oreimpor tantthatwear eawareofhowt ocopewi t
ht hei
ref
fect
s.Wehav eseen
thehugel osst oli
fe,propertyandi nfr
astructureadi sast
ercancausebutl etusunderstand
whatisadi saster,
whatar ethef actor
sthatl eadt oi
tandi t
simpact

WHATI
SAHAZARD?HOW I
SITCLASSI
FIED?
Hazar
dmaybedef inedas“ adanger
ouscondi t
ionoreventthatthreatorhavethepotenti
al
f
orcausingi
njur
yt olifeordamagetopropertyortheenvir
onment .
”Thewor d‘hazar
d’owes
i
tsori
gintot
hewor d‘ hasar
d’i
noldFrenchand‘ az‐
zahr
’inArabicmeani ng‘
chance’or‘
luck’
.
Hazar
dscanbegr oupedi nt
otwobroadcategori
esnamelynaturalandmanmade.

1.Nat uralhazardsar ehazar dswhicharecausedbecauseofnat ur

alphenomena( hazards
withmet eor
ological,geologi
calorevenbiologi
calori
gin)
.Examplesofnat ur
alhazardsar e
cyclones,tsunami s,eart
hquakeandv ol
canicerupti
onwhichareexcl
usivel
yofnaturalorigin.
Landslides,floods,dr ought,fi
resaresocio‐natur
alhazardssi
ncet heircausesar ebot h
naturaland manmade.Forexampl efl
oodi ng maybe caused because ofheav yr ains,
l
andsl i
deorbl ockingofdr ai
nswi t
hhumanwast e.

2.Manmadehazar dsarehazardswhi chareduet ohumannegli

gence.Manmadehazardsar e
associ
atedwi t
hindustri
esorener gygenerationfaci
li
ti
esandincl
udeexplosi
ons,l
eakageof
toxi
cwast e,poll
uti
on,dam fail
ure,war sorci v
ilst
ri
feetc.Theli
stofhazardsisverylong.
Manyoccurf requentl
ywhi l
eotherst akeplaceoccasional
ly
.However,onthebasisoftheir
genesi
s,theycanbecat egori
zedasf oll
ows.

1.Ear t
hquake2.Tsunami 3.Volcanicer uption4.
Geol
ogi
cal
Hazar
ds
Landsl i
de
5.Dam bur st6.Mi neFi re
1.Tropical Cycl one2.Tor nadoandHur r
icane3.Fl oods
4.
Water&Cl imati
cHazar ds Drought5.Hai lst orm 6.Cl oudburst7.Landsl i
de8.Heat&
Coldwav e9.SnowAv alanche10.Seaer osion
1.Env ir
onment al pollutions2.Def orestation3.
Environment alHazards:
Deser t
ifi
cation4.PestI nfecti
on
1.Human/Ani mal Epi demi cs2.Pestat tacks3.Food
BiologicalHazards:
poisoning4.WeaponsofMassDest r
uction
Chemi cal,I
ndustr
ialandNuclear 1.Chemi caldisast ers2.I ndustri
al disasters3.Oi l
Accident s spil
ls/Fir
es4.Nucl ear
1.Boat/Road/Tr ainacci dents/ai rcrashRur al/Urban
A cc
WHATIi
d en tr
elat
ed:
SVULNERABI LITY? fi
res Bo mb/ se rialbo mbb last
s 2. Forest f
ir
e s 3.Bui
ldi
ng
coll
apse4.El ect ricAcci dent s5.Fest ivalrelated
Vulner abil
it
ymaybedef i
nedas“ Thee
di
sa x
st
te
en
rt
stowhi chacommuni t
y ,structure,ser v
icesor
geogr aphicareaislikel
yt obedamagedordi srupt edbyt hei mpactofpar ti
cul arhazard,on
accountoft hei
rnature,const
ruct
ionandpr oximityt ohazar doust errainsoradi sast
erprone
area.”

Vul
ner
abi
l
iti
escanbecat
egor
izedi
ntophy
sical
andsoci
o‐economi
cvul
ner
abi
l
ity
.

PhysicalVulnerabil
ity
:Itincludesnotionsofwhoandwhatmaybedamagedordest r
oyedby
natur
al hazardsuchasear th‐quakesorf l
oods.Iti
sbasedont hephysi
calcondit
ionofpeopl
e
andel ement satrisk,suchasbui ldi
ngs,inf
rastr
uctur
eetc;andtheirpr
oximity
,locat
ionand
natur
eoft hehazar d.Italsor el
atestothet echni
calcapabil
i
tyofbuil
dingandst r
uctur
esto
resi
stt heforcesactingupont hem duri
ngahazar devent.Thesett
lementswhicharelocat
ed
i
nhazar dousslopes.
CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 7|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
Figurebel
owshowst hesettl
ementswhicharelocatedinhazardousslopes.Manylandsli
de
andf l
oodi
ngdisastersareli
nkedtowhaty ouseei nthefigurebel
ow.Uncheckedgr owthof
settl
ementsinunsafeareasexposesthepeopletot hehazard.I
ncaseofanear t
h‐quakeor
l
andslidet
hegr oundmayf ailandthehousesont het opmayt oppl
eorsl i
deandaf fectt
he
settl
ementsatthelowerlev
el ev
enift
heyaredesignedwell f
oreart
hquakeforces.

Si
teaf
terpr
essur
esf
rom popul
ati
ongr
owt
handur
bani
zat
ion

Socio‐
economi cVulner
abil
ity:Thedegreet owhi chapopul ati
onisaffectedbyahazar dwil
l
notmer el
ylieinthephy si
calcomponent sofv ulnerabi
li
tybutalsoont hesocio‐economic
condit
ions.Thesocio‐economi ccondit
ionoft hepeopl ealsodeter
minest hei
ntensi
tyofthe
i
mpact .Forexample,peopl
ewhoar epoorandl ivingintheseacoastdon’thavethemoneyt o
constr
uctstrongconcretehouses.Theyar egener all
yatriskandlosethei
rshel
terswhenever
ther
eisst r
ongwindorcy clone.Becauseoft heirpovertytheytooarenotabletorebui
ldthei
r
houses.

WHATI
SCAPACI
TY?
Capacit
ycanbedef i
nedas“ resources,meansandstrengthswhichexistinhouseholdsand
communi ti
esandwhichenablet hem t
ocopewi t
h,wit
hstand,pr
eparefor,
prevent
, mit
igat
eor
qui
cklyrecoverf
rom adi
saster”.People’
scapaci
tycanalsobetakenintoaccount.Capaci
ti
es
coul
dbe:

Physi
calCapaci
ty:Peoplewhosehouseshavebeendestr
oyedbythecycloneorcropshav e
beendestr
oyedbythefloodcansalv
agethi
ngsfr
om t
heirhomesandfr
om t hei
rfar
ms.Some
famil
ymember shaveski l
ls,whi
chenabl
ethem tof
indemploymentiftheymi gr
ate,ei
ther
temporar
il
yorpermanently
.

8|
Page CE488–Di
sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
Socio‐economicCapacit
y:Inmostofthedi sasters,peopl
esuff
ertheirgreatestl
ossesinthe
physicalandmat eri
alr
ealm.Richpeopl
ehav et hecapacityt
orecoversoonbecauseoft hei
r
wealth.Infact,theyar
esel dom hi
tbydi sastersbecausetheyli
v einsaf eareasandt hei
r
housesar ebuiltwit
hstrongermateri
als.Howev er,evenwhenev ery
thingisdestroyedthey
havet hecapacit
ytocopeupwi thi
t.

Hazar
dsar ealwayspreval
ent,butthehazar
dbecomesadi sasteronlywhenthereisgr eater
vul
nerabi
l
ityandlessofcapacitytocopewit
hit.Inotherwordsthefrequencyorl
ikel
ihoodof
ahazardandthev ul
nerabi
l
ityofthecommunityincr
easestheriskofbeingsever
elyaffected.

WHATI
SRI
SK?
Riski
sa“ measur
eoftheexpectedlossesduet oahazar deventoccurr
inginagivenarea
overaspeci
fi
cti
meperiod.Ri
skisafunctionoftheprobabi
li
tyofpart
icul
arhazar
dousevent
andthel
osseseachwouldcause.
”Thelevelofr
iskdependsupon:

 Natureofthehazar
d
 Vulner
abil
i
tyoftheelement
swhichar
eaf
fect
ed
 Economicv al
ueofthoseel
ements

Acommuni ty
/locali
tyissaidtobeat‘r
isk’wheniti
sexposedtohazardsandislikelytobe
adversel
yaffectedbyi tsi
mpact.Wheneverwediscuss‘di
sast
ermanagement’i
tisbasi call
y
‘
disasterri
skmanagement ’
.Disast
erri
skmanagementi ncl
udesal
lmeasureswhi chr educe
di
sasterrel
atedl ossesofli
fe,
proper
tyorasset
sbyeitherr
educi
ngthehazar
dorv ulnerabil
i
ty
oftheelementsatr isk.

1.Pr
epar
edness
Thispr ot
ect i
vepr ocessembr acesmeasur eswhi chenabl egov er
nment s,communi ti
esand
i
ndivi
dualst or espond r apidl
yt o di sastersi t
uations to cope wi tht hem ef f
ecti
vely.
Preparedness incl udes the formulation ofv iable emergencypl ans,the developmentof
warningsy stems,t hemai ntenanceofi nventori
esandt hetrai
ningofper sonnel.I
tmayal so
embracesear chandr escuemeasur esaswel lasev acuati
onplansf orareasthatmaybeat
ri
skfrom ar ecurri
ngdi saster.Preparednesst hereforeencompassest hosemeasur estaken
beforeadi sasterev entwhi char eai medatmi nimizi
ngl ossofl i
fe,disrupt
ionofcr i
tical
servi
ces,anddamagewhent hedisasteroccur s.

2.Mi
ti
gat
ion
Miti
gati
on embracesmeasur est aken tor educebotht heeffectoft hehazar d and the
vul
nerabl
econditionst oi tinor dertor educet hescal
eofaf uturedisast
er.Therefore
miti
gati
onactivi
ti
escanbef ocusedont hehazar dit
sel
fort heelement sexposedt ot he
thr
eat.Examples of mi ti
gat i
on measur es which are hazard specifi
ci ncl
ude wat er
managementi ndroughtpr onear eas,rel
ocatingpeopl
eawayf rom t hehazardproneareas
andbystrengt
heningstructurest oreducedamagewhenahazar doccur s.I
nadditi
ont ot
hese
physi
calmeasur es,mi ti
gation shoul d also aim atreduci
ng t he economic and soci al
vul
nerabi
li
ti
esofpot ent
ialdisasters.

WHATI
SEXPOSURE?
Thepresenceandnumberofpeople,property
,li
vel
ihoods,syst
emsorot herelementsin
hazar
dareas(andsother
ebysubj
ecttopotenti
all
osses)isknownasexposure.Exposur
eis
oneofthedef
ini
ngcomponent
sofdisast
errisk
CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 9|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
Ifahazardoccursinanareaofnoex posur
e,thentherei
snor i
sk.Theextenttowhi
ch
exposedpeopleoreconomicassetsar
eactuall
yatr i
skisgener
all
ydeter
mi nedbyhow
vul
nerabl
etheyar
e,asi
tispossi
blet
obeexposedbutnotvul
ner
abl
e.

Howev er
,increasi
ngev i
dencesuggest
sthatthecaseofext remehazar dst hedegreeof
disasterriskisaconsequenceofexposur emor ethanitisar esul
tofv ul
nerabi
l
ity
.For
i
nst ance,inthecaseoft he26December2004I ndi
anOceant sunamiallthoseexposedto
tsunami swereatrisk,
nomat t
ert
heiri
ncome,et
hnici
tyorsoci
alclass.

Peopleandeconomi cassetsbecomeconcentratedinareasexposedtohazardsthrough
processessuchaspopul ati
ongrowth,mi
grati
on,urbani
zati
onandeconomi cdevel
opment.
Previ
ousdi sast
erscandri
veexposurebyfor
cingpeoplefr
om thei
rlandsandtoincr
easingl
y
unsafeareas.Consequent
ly,
exposur
echangesov ert
imeandf r
om pl
acetopl
ace.

Manyhazar dpr oneareas,suchascoast l

ines,v olcani
cslopesandf loodplains,attr
act
economicandur bandev
elopment,of
fersi
gni f
icanteconomicbenef i
tsorar eofcul t
uralor
rel
igi
oussigni
ficancetothepeoplewholi
vet here.Asmor epeopleandasset sar eexposed,
ri
skintheseareasbecomesmor econcentr
ated.Att hesamet i
me,riskalsospreadsasci t
ies
expandandaseconomi candur bandevel
opmentt ransf
orm prev
iouslysparselypopulated
areas.

Lar
gev olumesofcapit
alcont
inuetofl
ow int
ohazard‐pr
onear eas,l
eadi
ngtosigni
fi
cant
i
ncreasesintheval
ueofexposedeconomicasset
s.Ifglobalexposur
econti
nuestotrend
upwards,i
tmayincr
easedi
sast
erri
sktodanger
ousl
evels.

Economicexposureinhi
gh‐hazar
dareasistr
endi
ngupwards.I
fwedonotrever
sethi
str
end,
di
sasterri
skissett oi
ncrease.Weneedt oactnow t
oreduceexposur
eandbuil
dcapaci
ty
andresi
li
enceinthesear
easofgr owi
ngexposur
e.

Wheni tisnotpossi bletoavoi

dexposuretoev ents,l
andusepl anni
ngandl ocati
ondecisions
mustbe accompani ed byotherst r
ucturalornon‐ struct
uralmethods forpr ev
enting or
miti
gatingr isk.Inthecaseoft heBoxingDay2004I ndianOceantsunami ,fori
nstance,the
onlypossi blest rat
egyt osavel i
veswouldhav ebeent oreduceexposur ethr
ought i
mely
evacuation,whi chdependsont heexi
stenceofr eli
ableearlywarni
ngsy st
emsandef fecti
ve
prepar
ednesspl anning,andthent ocompensat ef orlosst hr
oughinsuranceofot herr i
sk
fi
nancingi nstrument s

WHATI
SEMERGENCY?
Emergency is a di
srupti
on oft he f
unct
ioni
ng ofsoci
ety
,causing human,mater
ialor
envi
ronmentaldamagesandl osseswhichdonotexceedt
heabi
l
ityoftheaff
ect
edsoci
etyto
copeusingonlyi
tsownr esources.

Emergencyi
sasituat
ioninwhi
chnor
maloper
ati
onscannotcont
inueandimmedi
ateact
ion
i
srequiredsoast opreventadi
sast
erExampl
e– forestfi
re,oilspi
l
ls,r
oadacci
dents,
out
breakofepi
demicsetc.

Whenanemer gencyoradi sast

eraff
ectaci tyoraregi
on,eff
ortsar
econductedini
ti
all
yto
careforthewounded,t orestor
elif
eli
nesandbasi cservi
ces,andsubsequent
lyt
or estor
e
l
ivel
ihoodsandtoreconstr
uctcommuni t
ies.Suchef
fort
scanbest r
uct
uredinthr
eephases:

 Responsephase,wher eact i
vi
t i
essuchassear ch&r escue,rapi
ddamageandneeds
assessment s,andthepr ov
isi
onoff i
rstaidareconduct ed;f
oll
owedbyt heopening
and managementoft emporar yshel ter
sf orthosel efthomelessaswel last he
provi
sionofhumani tari
anassi stancetot hoseaff
ected;
 Rehabili
tat
ion phase wher e basi c servi
ces and li
fel
ines arerest
ored,even on a
temporarybasi s,i
ncludingther oadnet workandot heressenti
alfaci
li
ti
esincl
uding
 br
idges,
air
por
ts,
por
tsandhel
i
copt
erl
andi
ngsi
tes;
10|
Page CE488–Di
sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
 Recoveryphasewherer econstr
ucti
oneffor
tsarecarr
iedoutont hebasi
sofamor e
preci
seassessmentofdamageanddest r
ucti
onofinfrast
ruct
ure.I
naddi
tion,ef
for
ts
ar
e conducted t oreconstructinfr
ast
ructur
e when needed and tor estorethe
l
iveli
hoodsofthoseaff
ected

Adi saster
,ont heot herhand,ischaract
eri
zedbyi mpactst hatoverwhelmt hecapacit
iesof
l
ocalr esponder sandpl acedemandsonr esourceswhicharenotav ai
labl
el ocal
ly.Hence,an
eventisdecl aredasa“ disast
er”whenthereisaneedf orexternalassist
ancet ocopewi thit
s
i
mpact s.Anat ionalgov ernmentdecl
aresast at
eofdisasterornat i
onalcalamityasawayt o
request internat i
onalhumani t
ari
an assist
ance and t he suppor t of the inter
national
communi t
ytocopewi ththeimpactsofthedisaster

WHATI
SCRI
SIS?
Itisanyeventthatisgoi
ng( orisexpect
ed)toleadtoanunst
ableanddanger
oussituat
ion
affect
inganindi
vidual
,gr
oup,communi ty
,orwholesoci
ety
.Cri
sisisasmall
erver
sionwhich
maydegener ateint oadisasterifnotproper
lymanaged.Cri
sisdevel
opsovertimeand
disast
erissudden

WHATI
SRESI
LIENCE?
“
Resi
l
ire”(
Lat
inwor
d)‐t
obounceback

Engi
neer
ingr
esi
l
ience‐Thet
imet
akenbyasy
stem t
obounce‐
backf
rom shocks

Ecologi
calresi
l
ience‐Theext
entofdi
stur
banceasy
stem cant
akewi
thoutunder
goi
ng
str
uctur
alchange

DisasterResi li
encei st heabili
tyofi ndiv
iduals,communi ti
es,organizat
ionsandst atesto
adaptt oandr ecoverf r
om hazards,shocksorst r
esseswi thoutcompr omisi
ngl ong‐ t
erm
prospect sfordev elopment.Accordingt otheHy ogoFr amewor kf orActi
on( UNISDR,2005) ,
di
sast erresil
ienceisdet erminedbyt hedegr eet owhichi ndi
viduals,communiti
esandpubl i
c
andpr ivateorganizationsarecapableofor ganizi
ngthemsel vest olearnfr
om pastdi saster
s
andr educet heirri
skst ofut
ureones,ati nt
ernational
,regional,
nationalandlocall
evels.

Disasterresi
li
enceispartoft hebr oaderconceptofresi
li
ence–‘ t
heabili
tyofi
ndivi
dual
s,
communi t
iesandstatesandt hei
rinstit
uti
onst oabsor
bandr ecoverf
rom shocks,whil
st
positi
velyadapti
ngandt ransformingt hei
rstruct
uresandmeansf orli
vinginthefaceof
l
ong‐term changesanduncertainty
’

I
npracti
ce,DFI
D’sfr
amewor
k(DFI
D,2011a,
6‐7;
diagr
am bel
ow)depi
ctst
hecor
eel
ement
sof
di
sast
erresi
li
enceasfol
l
ows:

 Cont
ext:Whoseresi
l
iencei
sbeingbui
lt–suchasasoci
algr
oup,soci
o‐economi
cor
pol
it
ical
syst
em,envi
ronmental
cont
extori
nsti
tut
ion

 Distur
bance:Whatshocks( suddenev
entsli
keconf
li
ctordisast
ers)and/
orstr
esses
(l
ong‐ter
m trendslikeresourcedegr
adati
on,ur
bani
zati
on,orclimatechange)the
groupaimstober esil
i
entto.

 Capacityt
orespond:Theabi
li
tyofasy st
em orprocesstodealwithashockorst r
ess
dependsonexposure( t
hemagnitudeoftheshockorst ress)
,sensit
ivi
ty(t
hedegree
towhichasy st
em wil
lbeaff
ectedby,orwillr
espondto,agivenshockorstress)
,and
adapti
vecapacit
y(howwellitcanadjusttoadistur
banceormoder atedamage,take
advantageofoppor
tuni
ti
esandcopewi ththeconsequencesofatransfor
mation)
.

 Reacti
on:Arangeofresponsesarepossibl
e,incl
udi
ng:bouncebackbet
ter,wher
e
capaci
ti
esar
eenhanced,exposur
esarereduced,andt
hesystem i
smoreabletodeal
 wit
hf ut
ureshocksandstr
esses;bounceback,wher
epr
e‐exi
sti
ngcondi
ti
onspr
evai
l
;
orrecov
er,butwor
sethan

CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 11|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
bef
ore,
meaningcapaci
ti
esarereduced.Intheworst
‐casescenar
io,
thesystem
col
l
apses,
leadi
ngtoacatast
rophicreducti
onincapacit
ytocopewiththefutur
e.

DI
SASTERMANAGEMENTCYCLE
Disast
erRiskManagementi ncl
udessum t otalofallact
ivi
ti
es,pr
ogrammesandmeasur es
whichcanbet akenupbefore,dur
ingandaf t
eradisasterwit
hthepurposetoavoidadisaster
,
reduceitsi
mpactorr ecov
erf r
om it
slosses.Thethreekeystagesofacti
vi
tiesthatar
et aken
upwi t
hindi
sasterri
skmanagementar e:

12|
Page CE488–Di
sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI

1.
Bef
oreadi
sast
er(
pre‐
disast
er)
.
Activ
iti
est akent oreducehumanandpr opert
ylossescausedbyapot ent
ialhazard.For
exampl ecar r
yingoutawar enesscampaigns,str
engtheni
ngtheexist
ingweakst r
uctures,
preparati
onoft hedi
sastermanagementpl ansathouseholdandcommunit
yleveletc.Such
ri
skr educti
onmeasur est akenunderthi
sst agearetermedasmiti
gati
onandpreparedness
acti
viti
es.

2.
Dur
ingadi
sast
er(
disast
eroccur
rence)
.
I
nit
iati
vestakentoensurethatt
heneedsandprovi
sionsofv
ict
imsaremetandsuffer
ingi
s
minimized.Act
ivi
ti
estakenundert
hisst
agearecal
ledemergencyr
esponseact
ivi
ti
es.

3.
Aft
eradi
sast
er(
post
‐di
sast
er)
Ini
ti
ativest akeni
nr esponset oadisasterwithapur posetoachi eveearlyrecoveryand
rehabil
itat
ionofaffect
edcommuni ti
es,i
mmedi at
elyaft
eradisasterstr
ikes.Thesearecall
ed
asr esponseandr ecoveryacti
vi
ti
es.Inthesubsequentchapt
erswewoul ddiscussi ndet
ail
someoft hemaj orhazardspreval
entinourcount r
yitscauses,impact,preparednessand
miti
gat i
onmeasur esthatneedtobetakenup.

CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 13|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
EARTHSYSTEM
ORI
GINOFUNI
VERSE
Al arge numberofhy potheseswer eputf or th bydi ff
erentphi l
osopher sand sci enti
sts
regardingtheor i
gi noft heear th.Themostpopul arar gumentr egardi
ngt heor i
ginoft he
universeist heBi gBangTheor y
.Iti sal socal l
edexpandi nguni versehy pot hesis.Edwi n
Hubbl e,i
n1920,pr ovidedev i
dencet hatt heuni versei sexpandi ng.Ast i
mepasses,gal axies
mov ef ur
therandf urtherapar t.
TheBi gBangTheor yconsi derst hefoll
owi ngst agesi nt hedev elopmentoft heuni verse.
(
i) I nthebegi nni ng,al lmat terformi ngt heuni ver seexi stedi nonepl acei nt hef orm ofa
“ti
nyball”(singul arat om)wi thanuni magi nabl ysmal lvolume, infi
nitetemper atureand
inf
ini
tedensi ty.
(i
i) Att heBi gBangt he“ ti
nybal l”explodedv i
olent ly.Thi sledt oahugeexpansi on.Itisnow
generall
yaccept edt hatt heev entofbi gbangt ookpl ace13. 7bi l
li
ony ear sbef or
et he
present.Theexpansi oncont i
nuesev ent ot hepr esentday .Asi tgr ew,someener gy
wasconv ertedi ntomat ter.Therewaspar ticular l
yr apidexpansi onwi thinf ractionsofa
secondaf t
ert hebang.Ther eafter,theexpansi onhassl oweddown.Wi thinfirstthree
minutesf rom t heBi gBangev ent,thef i
rstat om begant of orm.
(i
i
i) Wi thin300, 000y earsf r
om t heBi gBang, temper aturedr oppedt o4,500Kandgav erise
toatomi cmat ter.Theuni versebecamet ranspar ent.

EARTHI
NTHESOLARSYSTEM
Thesol arsy stem wascr eat edabout4.6bi ll
iony earsago( about9bi l
li
ony ear
saf t
ert hebig
bang),supposedl yaft
ergr avit
ati
onalwav esf rom asupernov aproduceddensi t
yanomal i
esin
ani nt
erstell
arcl oud,whichact edascondensat i
oncent er
sf orthesunandt heplanets.In
additi
ont ohy drogenandhel ium generateddur ingt hebigbanghi gherelementsf rom the
ashesofbur nt‐
outstarswer epresentint hecl oud.Afterthesunhadf or
med,i t
sr adiat
ion
pressure( solarwi nd)forcedt helightgasest ot heedgeoft hecloudwher et helargegas
planets(Jupi ter
,Saturn,Ur anus,Neptune)f ormed,wher east heearth‐t
ypeplanets(Mer cury
,

Venus,
Ear
th,
Mar
s)dev
elopedi
nthev
ici
nit
yoft
hesun.

Figur
e:TheplanetsoftheSolarSystem.Theupperpaneldisplay
stheell
ipt
icalor
bitsof
thepl
anet
saroundt hesun,t
helowerpanelshowsthesi
zesoftheplanet
s.
Earthi
st helar
gestofthefourplanetscl
osesttothesun:itdif
fersi
nmanyway sfrom al
l
otherplanet
s.OnlyEart
hpossessesanat mospher
ewhi chsupportsoxy
gen‐breat
hingli
fe
forms.Nootherplanethasahydr
ospher
eandl
i
vingsy
stemswhi
char
ecompar
abl
etoour
biospher
e.Thesizeoft heEar
thi
s

14|
Page CE488–Di
sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
i
mpor tantbecauseitsupport
senoughgrav
itat
ionalatt
ract
iontokeepatmospher
icgaseson
theplanet.Forexample,
Mercuryi
stoosmalltopreventtheli
ghtgasesasoxy
genandcarbon
dioxi
def r
om escapingwhil
eVenusisl
argeenought okeepanat mospher
e.

EVOLUTI
ONOFTHEEARTH
Thepl anetearthiniti
allywasabar ren,r ockyandhotobj ectwi that hinatmospher eof
hydrogenandhel i
um.Thi sisf arfr
om t hepr esentdaypi ct
ur eoft heear t
h.Hence, t
heremust
havebeensomeev ents–pr ocesses,whi chmayhav ecausedt hischangef rom r
ocky,barr
en
andhotear thtoabeaut ifulplanetwi thampl eamountofwat erandconduci veatmosphere
favori
ngt heexist
enceofl ife.Int hef ollowingsect i
on,y ouwi llfi
ndouthow t heperiod,
betweent he4,
600mi l
liony earsandt hepr esent ,l
edt otheev oluti
onoflifeonthesurfaceof
theplanet.Theearthhasal ayeredst ructure.Fr om theout ermostendoft heatmosphereto
thecentreoftheear th,themat erialthatexi stsi snotuniform.Theat mosphericmatterhas
theleastdensit
y.From t hesur f
acet odeeperdept hs,theear th’sinter
iorhasdiffer
entzones
andeachoft hesecont ainsmat eri
alswi t
hdi fferentcharacteristics.

ORI
GINOFLI
FE
Thel astphasei ntheev oluti
onoft heear thr elatest ot heor i
ginandev olut
ionofl ife.Itis
undoubt edlyclearthatthei ni
tialoreventheat mospher eoft heearthwasnotconduci v
ef or
thedev elopmentofl i
fe.Moder nscienti
stsref ert ot heoriginofl i
feasaki ndofchemi cal
reacti
on,whi ch fi
rstgener ated compl ex organi c mol ecules and assembl ed t
hem.Thi s
assembl agewassucht hattheycoul ddupli
catet hemsel vesconv ert
inginanimat emat terinto
l
ivingsubst ance.Ther ecordofl if
ethatex i
stedont hisplanetindi f
ferentperiodsisf oundi n
rocksint heform offossils.Themi croscopicstr ucturescloselyrelatedtot hepresentf orm of
bluealgaehav ebeenf oundingeol ogicalformat i
onst hatar emuchol derthant hesewer e
some3, 000mi ll
ionyear sago.I tcanbeassumedt hatlif
ebegant oev olvesomet ime3, 800

BASI
CBUI
LDI
NGBLOCKSOFTHEEARTH

mill
ionyearsago.
TheEarthi ssubjectt oconstantchange.Eventhesolidbodyoft heEarthort hegreatpol
ar
i
cecapsar enotst eadybutchangeov erperiodsoftenstomill
ionsofy ears.Thesechanges
areessential
lyfueledbyt hesun'senergy,theheatstoredintheEar t
h'sinteri
orandenergy
gi
venof ft hr
oughr adi
oacti
vedecayofmi neral
si nthecrustandupper ‐
mant l
e.Thelivi
ng
worldisal so affected bythesel ar
ge‐scal
epr ocessesand isi nv
olved int heexchange
betweenv ari
ouscomponent softheEarthsystem.
CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 15|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
TheEar t hismadeupoft hefoll
owi ngsubsy st
ems:geosphere,atmospher e,
hy dr
ospher e,the
greaticecaps, t
heseai cei
nt hePol arRegi onsandt hemanymount ainglaciers(cryosphere)
andt hel ivi
ngwor l
d(biospher
e) .Onshor tti
mescal es(year
sort ensofy ears)eachoft hese
subsy stemsi sinastateofdy nami cequilibri
um.Consequently,t
hemanydi f
ferentprocesses
ofinteractionbetweent hevar
ioussubsy stemst endtovaryli
tt
le.I
flongerper i
odsoft imear e
consider ed,fl
uctuat
ionsandt r
ansitionsf rom onest at
eofequi li
brium t oanot herbecome
vi
sible.Thesedel i
catestatesofequi li
brium maybeper manentlydi st
urbedbychangesi n
exter
nalcondi ti
ons.Mostoft he subsy stems obeycer t
ain naturallaws whi ch willbe
i
ntroducedi nthecourseofthef oll
owi ngchapt er
s.

The
TheEarth'
sinter
nalst
ructur
eissubdiv
idedi
ntocrust,
mant l
eandcor eandwasf ormedver
yearl
y
dur
ingitsdevelopment.ComparedtotheEarthradi
us,thecr usti
sextremelythi
n,onl
y4to7
km undertheoceansandabout100km undert heconti
nents.Atthemid‐oceanri
dges,
which
canbedescribedasaser i
esofacti
vemagmachamber s

I
nter
nalSt
ruct
ureofEar
th
Fi
nalpi
ctur
ebasedont
hest
udyofsei
smi
cwav
esdi
vi
desear
thi
nto3wel
ldef
ined
shel
l
sorzones
1.TheCrust
2.TheMantl
e
3.TheCore
16|
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Dept
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vi
lEngi
neer
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MEAEC Modul
eI
TheCr
ust
– Uppermostshellofearth
– St
udyofsei smicwavesr evealsf
ollowingdet ail
saboutthi
cknessofthecrust
(
a)Mountai
nar eas
 Undert heHimalayas,thecrustisbeliev
edt obe70–75km t hi
ck
 UnderHi ndukushMount ai
nsitis60km t hick
 Undert heAndesitis75km t hick
(
b)Conti
nentalAreas
 Thet hi
cknessv ar
iesfrom 30–40km
 Alongt heconti
nentalslopesthicknessifthecrustshowsconsiderabl
ev ar
iat
ion
(
c)Oceani
cAr eas
 Thet hi
cknessv ar
iesfrom amaxi mum of19–5km i ndeepoceans

TheCont
inent
alCr
ust
I
tisf
urt
herdi
sti
ngui
shedi
nto3l
ayer
s:A,
BandC
i. TheAortheupperLay er
 Thickness: 2–10km
 Lowdensi ty: 2.2g/ cc
 Most lymadeupofsedi mentaryrocks
i
i. TheBorMi ddl
elayer
 Thickness: 20km ormor e
 Relati
vel
ydense: 2.4to2.6g/cc
 Somet i
mesal socal l
edgrani
telayer
 Madeupmost l
yofgr ani
tesandot herigneousandmetamorphi
crocks
i
i
i. TheCorl
ower mostl ay er
 Thickness: 25–40km
 Density:2.8t o3.3g/ cc
 Madepr edomi nantlyofbasi
cmi nerals(r
ichinmagnesi
um si
li
cat
es)
 Somet i
mesnamedasSI MA( Si–Si li
ca,Ma–Magnesi um)
TheOceani
cCr
ust
– I
tisgener all
yextensionofClayer
– A&Bl ayersofcontinental
crustar
eabsentf
rom her
e
9
– Esti
mat edtohav eav olumeof2.54x10 cc
– Averagedensi t
yof3. 00g/cc

CE488–Di
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erManagement 17|
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Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
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ing,
MEAEC
TheMant
le
– Secondconcent ri
cshel loftheEar t
h
– Liesbeneat hthecr ust,makesupt o84%ofear th’
sv ol
ume
– Ext endsupt oadept h2900km
– Nat ureofmant leisincompl etel
yunder stood
– Sub‐ dividedinto: Upper(Dept h100–900km)&Lowermant le(
Dept h900–2900km)
– Theuppermant l
eusf urtherdividedi nt
o2l ay ersof400&600km t hicknessrespecti
vel
y
– Densi tyr angesfrom :3.3g/ cc–j ustbel
owt hecr ust
5.7g/cc–att hebaseofmant le
– Apar tofuppermant l
e( 100–500km dept h)i sinplasti
cstat
er atherthansoli
d
stat e – Ast henospher e( Sour ce ofv olcani c activi
ty)
.The ast henospherei s
believ edt obel ocatedent i
relyi nuppermant leandsuppor tthesl owlymov i
ng
tect onicplates
– Lithospher e–ther i
gidout erpar toftheearth, consist
ingofthecrustanduppermant l
e.
TheCor
e
– Innermostconcentr
icshelloft
heEarth
– Thecor eboundarybeginsatdepthof2,
900km f
rom t
hesur
faceandext
endst
o
centerofearthat6,
371km
– Sub‐div
idedinto:OuterCore&InnerCore
Out
er I
nnerCor
e
Core
• Depth:2,
900km –4,
580km • Thi
ckness:1,
790km
• Behavesmorel
i
keali
quid • Soli
dmet al
l
icbody
– Densi
ty: 5.
7g/cc –atthebaseofmant le
9.
9g/cc –attopofthemant l
e
12.
7g/cc–atboundaryofinnercor
e
13.
0g/cc–atthecenterofeart
h
18|
Page CE488–Di
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erManagement
Dept
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vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
TheHy
drospher
e
TheEar thi sa’ wat erplanet’
.Agoodt wo‐ t
hirdsofi tssur face,mor especifi
cal
l 000km2
y362,
ofar ea, i
scov er edwi t
hwat er.Thel ar geoceansar eanessent ialprerequi
sit
efor
theexi stenceoft hebiospher e.Theywer et hecr adleoft hef i
rst
l
ifeonEar thandpr ovi
deani ndi spensabl ehabitatf ornumer ous
organi sms.Themeandept hoft heWor l
dOceansi s3, 700m and
thusmuchl argert hant hemeanel ev ati
onoft hecont inents, given
by875m.Thet otalvolumeofwat erint heoceani sabout1. 35x
9 3
10km whi let hewat erinf r
ozenst ateonEar t
hamount st oonl y
6 3 3
24.4x10km ( waterinlakesisabout190, 000km ) .Oceanwat er
,
howev er,issal inewher easwat eronl andandspeci ficall
yi nt he
frozenst at eingl acier
sandi cecapsi sfresh
wat er.Thehy drospherehasadi r
ecti nfluenceonweat herandcl i
mat econdit
ionsonEar
th,
wi t
ht hewor l
dwi deoceaniccirculationpl ayingapar ti
cularlyimpor tantrol
e.

TheAt
mospher
e
Thecomposi ti
onoft heatmospherehaschangedf undament al
l
yint hecourseoft heEart
h’s
hist
oryduet oanumberofdi ff
erentbiol
ogical,chemi calandphy sicalprocesses.Theear l
y
atmosphereoftheEar t
hconsistedmainlyofnitrogenandcar bondioxide.Thus,i
twassimi l
ar
tothepresentatmospheresoft heplanetsVenusandMar s.Onlywi t
ht heemergenceofl i
fe
andbiochemicalprocesseslast
ingsev er
albil
liony earsdidt hecurrentatmosphereofabout
78% nitr
ogen,21% oxygenand1% ot hergasesev olve.Thisdev elopmentoft heEarthhas
beenpossibl
eduet oanumberoff ort
unatecircumst ances, t
hemosti mport
antonebeingt he
dist
anceoftheEar t
hf r
om thesun, whichenabl edthef or
mat ionofapr oto‐
oceanatanear l
y
stat
eini t
sevolut
ion.Anychangei nor bi
tparamet ersmi ghthav eledt ocompletel
ydiff
erent
condit
ions.

TheEar th’
sat mosphereprovi
desonlyathinprotect
ivecoverf
rom out
erspace.Thethi
ckness
oft heent i
reat mospher
ei saboutonet wenti
ethoft heEarth’
sradi
us.Theat mosphereis
subdi vi
dedi ntofourlayersofv ar
yingheights,basedont hemeanv erti
caltemperat
ure
distri
buti
on:t hetr
opospherebetweenthesurfaceoft heEart
handanal t
itudeof11km,t he
stratospherebetween11km and50km, themesospher ebetween50km and85km, andthe
thermospher efrom 85km toabout300km.
 Fi
gur
e:Ver
ti
cal
temper
atur
epr
ofi
l
eoft
heSt
andar
dAt
mospher
e.
CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 19|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
Eachl ay erischaracteri
zedbyauni for
m changei nt emperatur
ewithincreasingalti
tude.In
somel ay er
sthereisani ncr
easei ntemperatur
ewi t
halti
tude,whi
lstinothersi tdecreases
withincr easi
ngalti
tude.Thet oporboundar yofeachl ayerisdenot
edbya’ pause’,
wher ethe
temper atureprofi
leabruptlychanges.
The st ratospher
e could be called the Eart
h’s’sun‐gl
asses’.Thi
si swher e mostoft he
ult
ravioletsolarradiati
on,whichi sharmfulformanandal ll
ivi
ngorgani
sms,i sf i
lt
eredout.
Thisismai nl
yachievedbyozone, amoleculeconsisti
ngoft hr
eeoxygenatoms.About90%of
thetotal quanti
tyofozonei stobef oundinthestratosphere.

TheBi
ospher
e
Withtheexcepti
onoft heicesheet
sofAnt arct
icaandGr eenland,thelandonEart
hi s
popul
atedbyalargevari
etyofli
vi
ngorgani
sms.Accordingtoconservat
iveest
imat
esatl
east
ei
ghtmill
iondi
ff
erentspeci
esofanimalsandpl
antsexistonEart
h.

Figur
e:Thecircul
ati
onoft heatmosphere.Thelef
tpaneli
sforideal
ized,non‐
rotat
ingpl
anet
whereonlytheHadleycellexist
s.Theri
ghtpanelisfort
herealEart
hwi thHadleyandFerr
el
cell
s.Thecorr
espondingsurfacewindsareshownschemati
cal
ly.

Li
feonEar thor iginatedf r
om theocean.Thi siswher ethef i
rstmi cr
oorganismsemer ged,
whoser emainshav ebeendi scov
er edinrocksupt ofourbi l
li
ony ear sold.Theol destknown
organismsar epr i
mi ti
vecellswithoutanucl eus(prokaryotes).Af i
rstbiospheredev eloped
afterunicel
lularal gaebegant oreleaseoxygenintot heat mospher eduet ophot osyntheti
c
conv er
sionofcar bondi oxi
de.Cellswi t
hnucleus(eukaryotes)dev elopedmuchl aterinEar t
h
hi
st ory
,aboutt wobi ll
ionyearsago.Dur i
ngthenext400mi l
li
ony earsev ol
uti
oncr eatedan
enor mousmul t
ipli
cityofspecies.

Thebiospher
ei saconsumerandpr oducerofgr eenhousegases.Car bondioxi
dei nthe
atmospher
eisr educedbypl ant
si nphotosynthesi
s.Methaneisstoredinpermafrostsoil
s
andgashydrat
esont heoceanbot t
om.Bot hgasesarecurrent
lyr
eleasedtotheatmosphere
byhumanactivi
tiesandrei
nforcethegreenhouseeffect
.

Thet erm ecosystem descr

ibesahol ist
icconceptcompri
singt het otalofor gani
smsi na
specifi
edspatialunit
,thei
rphysicalconditi
onsandthenumer ousi nteract
ionsbetweent he
l
ivi
ngandnon‐ liv
ingcomponent softhesystem.Anecosystem canei t
herbeani sol
atedpool
withi
nanar idregionorawhol eocean.Itisassumedthateachel ementi ntheecosy st
em is
l
inkeddirect
lyorindir
ectl
ywiththeotherelementsandi
nfl
uencest hem.

Theli
nkbetweenli
vi
ngandnon‐
li
vi
ngcomponent
soft heecosyst
em i
smaintainedbytwo
coupl ocesses:t
edpr hef
lowofener
gyandt
heexchangeofnutr
ient
s.Asthemajorsour
ceof
ener
gy,t
hesun
20|Page CE488–Di
sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
i
st hepre‐r
equisi
tef
orplantphot
osy nthesi
s.I
nt hisprocesscarbondioxide,waterandother
biogenouselementssuchasni t
rogen,phosphor usandsul phurareconv ert
edi nt
opr ot
ein,
fatsandstarchesvi
aanumberofi ntermedi
atest ages.Thesesubstancescanbecal ledthe
buil
dingblocksofli
fe.Theorganismspar ti
cipati
ngi nphotosynt
hesisar eproducersinthe
ecosystem.

Ont heotherhandt hereareconsumer s— e. g.bacter

ia,fungiandani mals— whi chmai nl
y
feed on the producers’organi
c mat erial
.Thi st r
ansferofor gani
c subst ance from t he
producertonumer ousconsumers,takingplaceinsev eralsteps,iscal
ledaf oodchai n.Asa
fi
nallinkoft hischai n,organi
smsbr eakdown ani maland pl antsubstancesi ntot heir
i
norganicconsti
t uents.Theseserveasf oodf ortheproducer s.Duetot hetransformat ionof
organi
call
yboundener gyfr
om onecomponentofaf oodchai nt oanother,mor eandmor e
energyisgraduallylost.I
ncontr
asttot hisloss,t
henut ri
entbudgetoft heecosy st
em l argel
y
remains unchanged.The nut r
ients are onlyt ransf
erred between l i
vi
ng and non‐ li
vi
ng
component s.

GLOBALCYCLES
Mostoftheexchangepr ocessesintheEart
hsy st
em occuri
nt heform ofcl
osedloops.Whil
e
t
heyconstantl
yinfl
uenceeachot hertheyobeycertai
nnatur
allaws.Themaj orener
gysource
f
ortheseprocessesisthesun, whi
chenablesthefl
owofmat terthroughthesyst
em.

Intheenv i
ronment,energycanbeint hef orm ofradiation(solarorshort
‐wav eradi
ationand
i
nfraredorl ong‐waveradi
ati
on),sensibleheat( t
her malener gy),l
atentheat( heatreleased
whenwat ergoesf rom thegastot heliquidorsolidst ate)
,kineti
cenergy( energyofmot ion
i
ncludingwi nds,ti
des,andoceancur rents),pot
entialener gy(stor
edener gy),andchemi cal
energy(energyabsorbedorrel
easeddur ingchemical reacti
ons) .

Fi
gur
e:Schemat
icDi
agr
am oft
heEar
th’
sEner
gyBudget

Theener gycycl
ei si
ntertwinedwiththehy drol
ogiccycle.Someoft heener gyinthesunlight
reachingEar t
h’ssurfacecausesev apor ati
onfrom surf
acewat erandsoi l
s.Theat mospher e
transpor t
stheresult
ingwat ervaporunt ili
tcondensesi nclouds,rel
easingt helat
entener gy
thatev aporat
edt hewat er.Waterdropletsandi cepart
iclesincloudsgrowi nsizeuntilthey
form pr eci
pit
ati
on,fall
ingt othesurfaceasr ain,snow,sl eet
,orhail.Oncet hepr eci
pit
ation
f
all
s,t
hewat
ercanr
emai
nfr
ozenon

CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 21|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
thesur f
acetomel tatalaterti
me,evaporateagainint
otheat mospher
e,fi
llspacesint
hesoil
,
bet akenupbypl ants,
beconsumedbyani mals,
leachthroughthesoili
ntogroundwater
,run
offthelandsurfaceintor i
ver
s,st
reams, l
akesandul t
imatelyi
ntotheoceansorbecomepar t
ofasur facewaterbody .Snowandi cerefl
ectmor esunl
ightbacktospacet hanoceanwater
ormostot hert
y pesofl andcover,sotheamountofsnow ori cecoveri
ngEar t
h’ssur
face
affectstheener
gycy cl
e.

Themaj orcyclesthatconnectt hedi ff

erentpar tsoft heEartharet heenergycy cle,thewat er
cycle( hydrologi
c cy cl
e,and t he cy cl
es ofi mpor tantindivi
dualel ements( e.g.
,car bon,
ni
trogen) .Eachcy cleismadeupofr eservoi
rs, pl
aceswher eenergy ,
water,andel ement sar e
storedforaper i
odoft ime( e.
g.,
chemi calener gy,seai ce,
oceans, carbondioxide), f
luxes,t
he
mov ementofener gyandmat t
erfrom oner eservoirt oanother(e.g.
,radi
ation,pr ecipi
tati
on,
tr
anspiration,oceancur rents,
wind,riverfl
ow)andpr ocessesthatchanget hef orm ofener gy,
water,andel ement s(e.g.,
photosynthesis,condensat ion,f
ir
e).

Energyf r
om thesunf lowst hr
ought heenv ironment ,heati
ngt heatmospher e,
theoceans,and
thelandsur f
ace,andf uel i
ngmostoft hebi osphere.Dif f
erencesi ntheamountofener gy
absorbedi ndifferentpl acessett heat mospher eandoceansi nmot i
onandhel pdet er
mi ne
thei
rov eral
ltemper atureandchemi calst r
uctur e.Thesemot i
ons,suchaswi ndpatternsand
oceancur r
entsr edistr
ibut eenergyt hroughoutt heenv ir
onment .Ev entual
lytheenergyt hat
beganassunshi ne( shor t
‐wav eradiation)leav estheplanetasEar thshine( l
i
ghtrefl
ectedby
theatmospher eandsur f
acebacki ntospace)andi nfraredr adi
ation(heat,alsocall
edlong
waver adiati
on)emi tt
edbyal lpartsoft hepl anetwhi chr eachest hetopoft heatmospher e.
Thisflow ofener gyf rom t hesun,t hrought heenv i
ronment ,andbacki ntospaceisamaj or
connectionintheEar t
hsy stem;i
tdef i
nesEar t
h’ scli
mate.

TheWat
erCy
cle
Incontrastt oallotherplanetsoft hesolarsystem Earthhaswat eri
ngr eatabundanceandi n
allt
hreest ates:gaseous, li
quidandsol i
d.Byf arthegreatestshar e(97%)oft heEar t
h’swat er
i
sf oundint heoceans, 2%isboundasi ceandt herest( 1%)isaccount edforbygr oundwat er,
soilwater,sur f
acewat er,theat mosphereandt hebiosphere.Thi s3% oft het otalquant it
y
consistsmai nlyoff r
eshwat er.Thef r
acti
onofwat erboundi nicecapsdependsst ronglyon
thetemper atureofEar t
h;dur i
ngt hecoldeststageofl asticeage,theav erageseal ev elwas
about120m deepert hantoday ,thewaterbeingboundi nlargeiceshi el
ds.Riversandl akes
containlesst hanat housandthoft hetotalwateronEar t
h,andt heat mosphereonl yav ery
small f
ractionoft hat.

Althought heatmospher econt ai

nsonlyatraceamountoft hetot
alwateronEarth, i
tactsas
ani mpor t
antpathwayf ortr
ansferr
ingwaterfrom onereserv
oirtoanother
.Thisi sbecause
ther esi
dencetimeofwat erintheatmospherei squi
tesmall;onaver
ageawat ermol ecule
thatisev apor
atedst aysonl yabout10day sint heat
mospher ebef
oreitpreci
pitatesagain.
Mostoft hewat ert hatev aporat
esprecipi
tatesovertheocean;onl ylesst han a thir
d
precipit
atesoverland.

Wat erplaysacr uci

alroleinmanygl obalexchangepr ocesses.Carbon,nitr
ogen,phosphor us
andoxy genar etransportedintheEarthsy stem thr
ought hemedi um ofwat erinl i
quidstate.
Knowl edgeoft hemagni tudeandv ari
abil
it
yoft hehy drol
ogicalcycleisparti
cularl
yi mpor
tant
forunder st
andingtheEar thsystem.Evensl i
ghtchangesi nthepropor t
ionsofcomponent sin
thewat ercy cl
ecanhav econsiderabl
eecol ogicalconsequences( e.g.fl
ooding,droughtand
thepr ocessesofdeser tifi
cati
on).Thehy drologiccycleisinti
mat elycoupledt ot heenergy
balanceandt heredist
ri
but i
onofheat ,becauseev aporati
onandpr ecipi
tat
ionr esulti
nlarge
amount
sofheatbei
ngt
ransf
err
ed.

22|
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sast
erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI

Fi
gur
e:Thewat
ercy
cleoft
heEar
th.

Waterpart
ici
patesinaglobalcy
cleasvapor,
li
quidorice.I
tevaporat
esintotheat
mosphere,
whereiti
st r
ansport
edinthegaseousst
atefoll
owingatmospheri
ccircul
ati
onpatt
erns.Lat
er
i
tcondensesandf al
lsasrai
norsnowont heEart
h.

TheBi
o‐geochemi
cal
Cycl
e
Eachofthechemi calel
ementsundergoeschemicalreact
ions,butthetot
alamountofeach
onEarthremai nsessent
ial
l
yf i
xed.I
nthisway,t
heenvironmentconsist
sofasetofcy cl
esf
or
water
,car bon,nitr
ogen,phosphorous,et
c.Sincethecy clesoft heelementsinv
olveli
fe,
chemical
s, andthesoli
dEarth,t
heyarecol
lect
ivel
yknownasbi ogeochemical
cycl
es.

Ani mpor t
anti ssueoflong‐term cl
imatev ariabi
li
tyandglobalchangesar ebi
ologicalnutr
ient
i
nv entori
esandcy cl
es:car bon,nitr
ogen,sul phurandphosphor us.Thesebi o‐geochemical
cyclesli
nkt hemosti mpor tantreservoi
rsoft heseelements:t
hehy drospher
e,component sof
thesol i
dEar th,thebiospher eandt heatmospher e.Theprocesseswhi chmai nlydri
vethese
cyclesincludet heconstantoxi dat
ionoflivinganddeadbi omassbyat mosphericoxygen.An
i
mpor tanti ssueofl ong‐t
erm cl i
mat evariabil
it
yandgl obalchangesar ebiologicalnutr
ient
i
nv entori
esandcy cl
es:car bon,nitr
ogen,sul phurandphosphor us.Thesebi o‐geochemical
cyclesli
nkt hemosti mpor tantreservoi
rsoft heseelements:t
hehy drospher
e,component sof
thesol i
dEar th,thebiospher eandt heatmospher e.Theprocesseswhi chmai nlydri
vethese
cyclesincludet heconstantoxidati
onofl i
vinganddeadbi omassbyat mosphericoxygen.

Eachofthechemi calelementsundergoeschemi calreact

ions,butthet ot
alamountofeach
onEarthremainsessential
l
yfixed.I
nthisway,t
heenv ironmentconsi st
sofasetofcy cl
esfor
water
,car bon,nit
rogen,phosphorous,et
c.Sincet hecy clesoft heel ementsinvol
velif
e,
chemical
s,andt hesoli
dEar t
h,theyarecol
lect
ivelyknownasbi ogeochemicalcy
cles.Fi
gure
bel
owshowst hecarboncycle
CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 23|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC

CLI
MATESYSTEM
Thet er
m‘ climate’isusedf orlong‐term av erageweat hercondi t
ions,convent ional
lytaken
over30y ear s.Att hesamet ime,‘ climat e’denotesaspeci fi
cst ateofequi li
brium inthe
ener gybal anceandgl obalener gyt ranspor t
s.Thecl imat esy st
em i susual lydef i
nedas
consi st
ingoft heatmospher e,t heocean,andseai ceandi cesheet s.Conditionsoft heland
sur f
acear epr escri
bed,aswel lasal lexternalf or
cingf actor
s,ase. g.t
hegr eenhousegas
concent rati
ons.I tisady nami csy stem whi chatmostt i
mesi si nat r
ansientequi l
ibri
um.
Changesi nt hecli
mat esy stem ar ef orcedt hroughext ernalimpact s,e.
g.changi ngcarbon
dioxide,v ol cano output,ort he or bit
alpar ameters oft he Earth,and t hrough internal
i
nt eract
ions.Thesol arpowerhasi ncr easedbyabout30%si nceitsbirth;
thecont i
nentshave
changedov ermi l
l
ionsofy ears;Ear thal tersi t
sor bi
twi thpromi nentper i
odsof100, 000,
41,000, 23,000and19, 000y ears;thecont entsofgr eenhousegaseshasv ar
iedf rom yearsto
bil
lionsofy ears.

Fi
gur
e:Schemat
icv
iewoft
hecomponent
soft
hecl
i
mat
esy
stem,
thei
rpr
ocessesandi
nter
act
ions.
Overthelongt erm,t heamountofi ncomingsol arr adiat
ionabsor bedbyt heEarthand
atmosphereisbal ancedbyt heEar
thandat mospherer eleasi
ngt hesameamountofout goi
ng
l
ongwav er adiati
on.Abouthal fofthei ncomingsol arr adi
ationi sabsorbedbyt heEart
h’s
surf
ace.Thisener gyistransfer
redtotheat mospherebywar mi ngtheairi
ncontactwiththe
surf
ace(thermal s),byev apotr
anspi
rati
onandbyl ongwav er adiat
ionthatisabsorbedby
cl
oudsandgr eenhousegases.Theat mospher eint urnr adiatesl ongwaveenergybackt o
Eart
haswel lasoutt ospace.
24|
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erManagement
Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI
CLI
MATECHANGE
Cli
matechangeisaphraset
hatisessenti
all
yself
‐expl
anat
ory
,iti
sthechangeinthecl
i
mat e
ofacountr
y,regi
on,ort
heworl
dover,andisbel
ievedtobecausedeit
herdi
rect
lyori
ndi
rect
ly
bytheact
ivi
tyofthehumanr
ace.

Thet ypeofclimateweexper i
encenow mi ghtbepr evail
ingov erthelast10,000y earswi th
mi norandoccasionall
ywi def l
uctuations.Thepl anetear t
hhaswi t
nessedmanyv ariat
ionsi n
climatesincethebegi nning.Geol ogicalrecor dsshow al terationofgl aci
alandi nter‐glacial
per i
ods.Thegeomor phologicalfeatures,especi al
lyinhighal t
itudesandhi ghlati
tudes, exhibit
tracesofadv ancesandr et
reatsofgl aciers.Thesedi mentdeposi t
singlaciallakesal so
revealtheoccurrenceofwar m andcol dper iods.Ther ingsi nt het r
eesprovidecluesabout
wetanddr yperi
ods.Hi st
or i
calrecordsdescr ibethev agariesincl i
mat e.Al
ltheseev i
dences
i
ndi cat
ethatchangei ncli
mat eisanat uralandcont inuouspr ocess.

I
ndi
aalsowitnessedalter
natewetanddr yperi
ods.Archaeologi
calfi
ndi
ngsshow thatthe
Raj
ast
handesertexperi
encedwetandcoolcli
matearound8,000B.C.Theper
iod3,
000‐1,700
B.
C.hadhigherr ai
nfal
l.From about2,
000‐1,
700B.C.,thi
sr egi
onwast hecentr
eoft he
Har
appanci
vil
isat
ion.Drycondi
ti
onsaccent
uatedsi
ncethen.

Cl
i
mat
eint
her
ecentpast

Vari
abil
it
yi ncli
mat eoccursallthetime.Theni neti
esdecadeoft hel astcenturywi t
nessed
extr
emeweat herevents.The1990sr ecordedt hewar mesttemper atureoft hecent uryand
someoft hewor stfloodsaroundt hewor l
d.Thewor stdev astati
ngdr oughti nt heSahel
regi
on,southoft heSaharadeser t
,fr
om 1967‐ 1977i sonesuchv ari
abili
ty.Duringt he1930s,
severedroughtoccurredinsouthwester nGreatPl ai
nsoftheUni tedSt ates,describedast he
dustbowl.Histori
calrecor
dsofcr opy ieldorcropf ai
lur
es,offloodsandmi gr
ationofpeopl e
tel
labouttheeffectsofchangi
ngcl i
mat e.

CausesofCl
i
mat
eChange

Cl
imaterefer
st othelong‐
term av
erageoftheaggregati
onofallcomponentsofweat
her—
pr
eci
pitat
ion,temperatur
e and cloudi
ness,forexample.The climate sy
stem i
ncl
udes
pr
ocessesinvol
vingocean,l
andandseaiceinaddi
ti
ont otheat
mosphere.

The Earth system encompasses t he cli

mate syst
em.Many changes i n Ear
th system
funct
ioningdirectl
yi nvolv
echangesi ncli
mate.Howev er
,theEarthsy st
em incl
udesot her
component sandpr ocesses,bi
ophysicalandhumant hoseareimportantforit
sfuncti
oning.
Some Ear th sy stem changes,nat uralor driv
en by humans,can hav e signi
ficant
consequenceswi thouti nvol
vi
ngchangesi ncli
mate.Globalchangeshouldnotbeconf used
withcli
matechange; i
tissigni
fi
cant
lymor e,i
ndeed,cl
i
mat echangeispartofthi
smuchl arger
chall
enge.

Thecausesf orcl i
mat echangear emany .Theycanbegr oupedi nto astr
onomi caland
terr
estr
ialcauses.Theast r
onomicalcausesarethechangesinsol arout putassociatedwith
sunspotact i
vit
ies.Sunspotsaredarkandcool erpatchesont hesunwhi chi ncreaseand
decreaseinacy cl
icalmanner.Accordi
ngt osomemet eorologi
sts,whent henumberof
sunspotsincrease,coolerandwetterweatherandgreaterstorminessoccur .Adecr easein
sunspotnumber sisassociat
edwithwar m anddri
erconditi
ons.Yet ,thesefindingsar enot
stati
sti
call
ysignifi
cant.

An anotherastr
onomicalt
heoryis Mil
l
ankovi
tch osci
ll
ati
ons,which i
nfercycl
es i
nthe
var
iat
ionsintheear
th’
sorbi
talchar
act
eri
sti
csar
oundt hesun,thewobbli
ngoftheeart
hand
t
hechangesi
ntheear
th’
s

CE488–Di
sast
erManagement 25|
Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
axi
alt
il
t.Al
lthesealt
ert
heamountofi
nsol
ati
onr
ecei
vedf
rom t
hesun,
whi
chi
ntur
n,mi
ght
haveabeari
ngont hecl
i
mate.

Cl
i
mat
eChange–I
nterr
elat
ionshi
pswi
thear
thsubsy
stems

Geospher
e

Thegl obaldistri
but ionofwat erandl andatt heEarth’
ssur f
acesi gnifi
cantl
yaf f
ect sthe
cir
cul at i
ons int he ocean and t he atmospher e.Thus,pl atet ectonics contri
butet ot he
dev elopmentofcl imat eandt ochangesi ngl obalenvi
ronment .Vol cani
cer upti
ons,ev en
thoughl ocalinor i
gi n,canaf fectt heEar t
hsy stem asawhol e.Theydev astat
ewi dear easof
l
andanddr ast
icallychanget hehabi tatofflora,faunaandman, and—f orclimatepur poses—
thev olcanicout putr efl
ectsi nt hesubst ancecomposi t
ionoft heat mospher e.Submar i
ne
volcanoescr eateanddest roygr oupsofi slands.Somel argev ol
cani cev ent
scauseer upti
ons
ofv olcanicashr eachi ngt hest ratosphere,wher eitremainsf ormanyy ears,substanti
ally
i
nfluenci ngther adi ationbal anceoft heEar th.Identi
fi
cati
onofv olcanicashofpar ti
cular
volcani cev ent
si ni cecor esobt ainedi ntheAr cticandtheAnt arcticprov i
deev i
dencef orthe
wor ldwi dedist
ributionofv olcanicashi ntheat mosphere.

Volcanism i
sconsi deredasanot hercausef orclimat echange.Vol canicerupti
onthrowsup
l
otsofaer osolsi nt
ot heat mospher e.Theseaer osol
sr emaini nt heat mospherefora
considerabl
eper iodoftimer educingt hesun’
sr adiati
onr eachingtheEar th’
ssurface.Aft
er
therecentPinatobaandElCi onvolcanicerupt
ions,t heaver agetemper at
ureoftheearthfel
l
tosomeext entforsomey ears.Themosti mpor tantanthropogenicef fectontheclimateis
theincreasi
ngt rendint heconcent r
ationofgreenhousegasesi nt heatmospherewhi chis
l
ikelytocauseglobal warming.

Hy
drospher
e

Itisgenerallyaccept
edt hattheoceani
ccir
culat
ionhasaprofoundinfl
uenceont hemean
stateoft heEar t
h’scli
mat eandoncl i
matechangesondecadalandl ongertimescales.
Large‐scal
et r
ansport
sofheatandf r
eshwaterbyoceancur
rent
sar ekeycli
mat epar
ameters.
Thest rat
if
icati
onandcirculat
ioni
ntheupperoceaniscr
uci
alforthepenetrat
ionofheatand
substancesintotheocean.

Thecirculat
ioni
sdetermi nedbythestruct
ureandstrengt
hofthewindsystems,ther
egional
dist
ri
butionofpreci
pit
ationpatt
erns,andtheheatexchangewit
htheatmosphere.Theshape
oftheseaf l
oor,
parti
cularlyt
hegreatdeep‐seabasi
ns,al
sohasadecisi
veinfl
uenceonocean
curr
entsy st
ems.

TheWor ldOceanplaysat wofol

dr ol
eintheEar t
h’sclimat esy stem.Ont heonehandclimate
fl
uctuat
ionsarecausedbyl ong‐term changesint heheatdi stri
butionoftheocean.Ont he
otherhandthether
mal‘ i
nert
ia’ofthegreatwatermassessl owsdowncl imat
icchanges.The
closeli
nkbetweenoceanandat mosphereisalsoef f
ect i
veonshor t
erti
mescales.Thisis
seenbyt hecl
osecorrespondencebet weenthesur facet emper atureoftheoceanandtheair
temperatur
eclosetot heground.Thesur facewindsal sost r
ongl ycontri
but
et ochangesin
theoceanicci
rcul
ati
onandt husregionalweatherconditions.

Bi
ospher
e

Themostimportantanthr
opogeniceff
ectonthecl
i
mateisthei
ncreasi
ngtrendi
nthe
concent
rat
ionofgreenhousegasesintheat
mospherewhichi
sli
kelytocausegl
obal
warming.
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Dept
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vi
lEngi
neer
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MEAEC Modul
eI
GLOBALWARMI
NG
Thecont inuousri
sei ntemper atur
eoft heplanetisr eall
yupset ti
ng.Ther ootcauseforthi
sis
globalwar ming.Gl obalwar ming begins when sunl ightr eaches the Earth.The clouds,
atmospher icparti
cles,ref
lectiv
egr oundsur f
acesandsur f
aceofoceanst hensendsback
about30%ofsunl i
ghtbacki ntothespace,whi l
stt her emai ni
ngisabsor bedbyoceans,ai r
andl and.Thisconsequent l
yheat supt hesurfaceoft heplanetandat mosphere,makinglif
e
feasibl
e.Ast heEar thwar msup,t hi
ssol arener gyi sr adiat
edbyt her
malr adi
ati
onand
i
nf r
aredray s,
propagatingdirectl
youttospacet herebycool ingtheEart h.

Howev er
,someoft heoutgoingr
adiationisr e‐
absorbedbycarbondi oxi
de,watervapours,
ozone,methaneandothergasesint heat mosphereandi sradi
atedbackt othesurfaceof
Eart
h.Thesegasesar ecommonlyknownasgr eenhousegasesduet othei
rheat‐
tr
apping
capacit
y.Itmustbenotedt hatt
hisr e‐absor
ptionprocessisactual
l
ygoodast heEarth’
s
averagesurf
acetemperat
urewouldbev erycoldiftherewasnoexi stenceofgreenhouse
gases.

Thedilemmabeganwhent heconcent rat

ionofgreenhousegasesi ntheat
mospher ewas
art
if
ici
all
yincreasedbyhumanki ndatanal ar
mingratesincethepasttwocentur
ies.Asof
2004,over8bi l
li
ontonsofcar bondioxi
dewaspumpedt hermalr
adiat
ionisf
urt
herhinder
ed
byincreased level
sofgr eenhousegasesr esul
ti
ng i
naphenomenonknownashuman
enhancedglobalwarmingeffect.

GREENHOUSEEFFECT
Whileotherplanet
sinthesol arsyst
em oftheEarthareei
therroasti
nghotorbi
tter
lycold,
Eart
h'ssurfacehasr el
ati
velymi l
d,st
eadytemperatur
es.Eart
henj oy
sthesetemperat
ures
becauseofitsatmosphere,whichist
hethi
nlayerofgasest
hatcoverandprot
ectt
heplanet.

Howev er
,97% ofcl i
matescienti
stsandr esearchersagr
eet hathumanshav echangedt he
Eart
h'satmosphereindr
amat i
cway soverthepastt wocenturi
es,r
esult
inginglobal
warming.
Tounderstandglobalwarming,i
tisfi
rstnecessar ytobecomef amili
arwiththegreenhouse
eff
ect.AsFigur
ebelowdepicts,t
henaturalgreenhouseeffectnormall
ytrapssomepor t
ionof
heatinsuchawayt hatourplanetissafefrom reachingf
reezingtemperatur
eswhilehuman
enhancedgr eenhouseeff
ectl
eadstoglobalwarmi
ng.Thi
sisduetoburni
ngoffossi
lfuels
whichincreaset heamountofgreenhousegases(car
bondi
oxi
de,methaneandoxidesof
ni
trogen)presentintheat
mospher
e.
CE488–Di sasterManagement 27| Page
Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC

Fi
gur
e:Ty
pesofgr
eenhouseef
fect
s

Duet othepr esenceofgr eenhousegases,theat mosphereisbehavi

ngl i
keagr eenhouse.
Theatmospher ealsot
ransmitsthei ncomi
ngsolarradi
ati
onbutabsorbsthevastmaj or
it
yof
l
ongwav eradiati
onemitt
edupwar dsbytheear
th’ssurf
ace.Thegasesthatabsor
bl ongwave
radi
ati
onar ecal l
edgreenhousegases.Thepr ocessesthatwarmt heatmospherear eoft
en
coll
ect
ivelyref
er r
edtoasthegr eenhouseeff
ect.

Gr
eenhouseGases(
GHGs)

TheprimaryGHGsofconcer ntodayarecarbondioxi
de(
CO2),Chlorof
luor
ocarbons(CFCs)
,
methane(CH4),ni
tr
ousoxide(N2O)andozone( O3)
.Someothergasessuchasni t
ri
coxide
(NO)andcarbonmonoxide(CO)easil
yreactwit
hGHGsandaf fectthei
rconcentr
ati
oninthe
atmospher
e.

Theef f
ectivenessofanygi venGHGmol ecul
ewilldependont hemagni tudeoft heincreasein
i
tsconcent rati
on,i t
sl i
fet i
mei ntheat mosphereandt hewav elengthofr adi
ati
ont hatit
absorbs.Thechl orofl
uorocarbons( CFCs)arehighl yeffecti
v e.Ozonewhi chabsor bsultra
viol
etradiat
ioni nthestratosphereisveryeff
ecti
veinabsor bingt er
restri
alradiati
onwheni tis
presentinthel owert r
opospher e.Anotherimport
antpoi nttobenot edist hatthemor eti
me
theGHGmol eculeremai nsintheat mosphere,t
hel ongeritwi llt
akef orearth’satmospheric
system torecov erfr
om anychangebr oughtaboutbyt helatt
er.

Thelargestconcent r
ati
onofGHGsi ntheatmosphereiscarbondi oxide.TheemissionofCO2
comesmai nlyfrom fossi
lfuelcombustion(oi
l,gasandcoal )
.For estsandoceansar et
he
si
nksf ort hecar bondioxide.Forest
suseCO2 i nt heirgrowth.So,def or
estat
ionduet o
changesinl anduse,alsoi
ncreasestheconcentr
ati
onofCO2.Thet i
met akenforatmospheric
CO2toadj usttochangesi nsourcestosinksis20‐50y ear
s.Itisrisingatabout0.5percent
annual
ly.Doubl i
ngofconcent rat
ionofCO2 overpre‐indust
riallevelisusedasani ndexfor
esti
mat i
ngt hechangesinclimateincl
imati
cmodel s.

Chlorofl
uorocarbons (CFCs) are products of human act iv
ity.Ozone occur sint he
strat
ospherewher eult
ra‐v
iol
etraysconvertoxygenintoozone.Thus,ult
ravi
oletraysdonot
reacht heearth’ssurf
ace.TheCFCswhi chdr i
ftintothestratospher
edestroytheozone.
Largedepleti
onofozoneoccur soverAntarcti
ca.Thedepleti
onofozoneconcent r
ati
oninthe
strat
osphereiscal l
edtheozonehol e.Thisall
owst heult
rav i
oletraystopassthroughthe
tropospher
e.

Figurebelowshowspictorial
l
yt hedist
ri
but
ionofgreenhousegases.Thesegasesarepl
ayi
ng
theirnegati
veparti
nincreasingthehavocofglobalwarming.Theyareconti
nuousl
ycausi
ng
anincreaseintheeart
h’stemper at
ure.
28|
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erManagement
Dept
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vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC Modul
eI

Fi
gur
e:Di
str
ibut
ionofgr
eenhousegases

CAUSESOFGLOBALWARMI
NG
Themaj orcauseofgl obalwarmi
ngist
hegreenhousegases.Theyi ncludecarbondioxi
de,
methane,nit
rousoxidesandi nsomecaseschlor
ineandbr omi necontaini
ngcompounds.
Thebuild‐
upoft hesegasesi nt
heatmospherechangest her adi
ati
veequi l
i
bri
um int he
atmosphere.Thei
rov eral
leff
ecti
stowarmt heEart
h’ssurfaceandt hel oweratmosphere
becausegreenhousegasesabsorbsomeoftheoutgoingradiat
ionofEar thandre‐r
adiat
eit
backtowardsthesurface.

Thesecondmaj orcauseofgl obalwar mi ngi st hedepletionofozonel ay er.Thi shappens

mai nlyduet ot hepr esenceofchl orine‐cont ai
ningsour cegases.Whenul travioletlighti s
present ,these gases di ssociat ereleasing chl orine atoms whi ch t hen cat alyses ozone
dest r
uct i
on.Aer osols presenti nthe at mospher e are also causi ng gl obalwar mi ng by
changi ngt heclimat eintwodi f
ferentway s.Fi rst
ly,theyscatt erandabsor bsol arandi nf r
ared
radiati
onandsecondl y,t
heymayal terthemi crophy si
calandchemi calpr oper t i
esofcl ouds
andper hapsaf fecttheirl
ifeti
meandext ent .Thescat teri
ngofsol arradi ationact st ocoolt he
planet,whi l
eabsor pt
ionofsol arradiati
onbyaer osolswar mst heai rdi rectlyi nsteadof
permi t
tingsunl i
ghtt obeabsor bedbyt hesur faceoft heEar th.Thehumancont r i
butiont othe
amountofaer osolsi ntheat mospher eisofv ari
ousf orms.Fori nstance, dusti saby ‐product
ofagr icult
ure.Bi omassbur ninggener at
esami xtureofor gani cdr opletsandsootpar ti
cles.
Manyi ndust r
ialprocessespr oduceawi dedi ver
si t
yofaer osol sdependi ngonwhati sbei ng
burned orgener ated int he manuf acturi
ng pr ocess.Mor eover,exhaustemi ssionsf r
om
vari
oussor t
soft r
ansportpr oducear ichmi xtur
eofpol l
utant sthatar eei theraer osolsf r
om
theout setorar et r
ansformedbychemi calreact i
onsi ntheat mospher et of orm aer osols.

GLOBALWARMI
NG:
THEEFFECTS
Predi
ctingtheconsequencesofgl obalwar mi
ngisoneoft hemostdi ff
icul
ttasksfacedbythe
cl
imat eresearcher
s.Thisisduet othef actt
hatnaturalprocessest hatcauser ai
n,snowfal
l
,
hail
storms,riseinseal ev
elsisreli
antonmanydi ver
sef actors.Mor eover
,itisveryhardto
predi
ctt hesizeofemi ssi
onsofgr eenhousegasesi nthef utureyearsast hi
sisdet er
mined
majorlyt hr
ough t echnol
ogicaladv ancements and politi
caldeci sions.Globalwar ming
pr
oducesmanynegat
iveef
fect
ssomeofwhi
ch

CE488–Di
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erManagement 29|
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Modul
eI Dept
.ofCi
vi
lEngi
neer
ing,
MEAEC
aredescribedher e.Fi r
st l
y ,ext rawat erv apourwhi chi spr esenti nt heat mospher ef al
lsagain
asrainwhi chleadst ofloodsi nv ari
ousr egionsoft hewor ld.Whent heweat herturnswar mer,
evaporati
onpr ocessf rom bot hl andandsear i
ses.Thi sleadst odroughti nther egionswher e
i
ncreasedev apor ationpr ocessi snotcompensat edbyi ncr easedpr ecipi t
ati
on.I nsomear eas
ofthewor l
d,t hiswi llr esul ti ncr op f ailureand f ami nepar ti
cularlyi nar easwher et he
temper at
uresar eal r
eadyhi gh.Theext rawat erv apourcont entint heat mospher ewi l
lfal
l
againasext rar ainhencecausi ngf lood.Townsandv ill
ageswhi char edependentont he
meltingwat erfrom snowymount ai
nsmaysuf f
erdr oughtandscar cityofwat ersuppl y
.Itis
becauset hegl aci ersal lov ert hewor ldar eshr inki ngatav eryr apidr ateandmel ti
ngofi ce
appear stobef ast ert hanpr ev iouslypr ojected.Accor dingt oI ntergov ernment alPanelon
Cli
mat eChange( IPCC) ,aboutone‐ si xthoft het otalpopul ationoft hewor l
dl i
v esint he
regi
onswhi chshal lbe‐af fect edbyadecr easei nmel tingwat er.Thewar mercl imatewi l
l
l
ikel
ycausemor eheatwav es,mor ev iolentrainf allandal soampl ifi
cat i
oni nthesev er
ityof
hail
stormsandt hunder storms.Ri singofseal ev elsist hemostdeadl yef fectofgl obal
warmi ng,t
her isei nt emper at urei scausi ngthei ceandgl acier stomel trapidly.Thiswi l
llead
toriseofwat erl ev el
si noceans,r iversandl akest hatcanpi l
otdev astati
oni nt hef orm of
fl
oods.

Globalwar mingcanseverelyaff
ecttheheal thoflivingbei
ngs.Excessheatcancausest r
ess
whichmayl eadtobloodpressureandhear tdiseases.Cropf ai
lur
esandf ami
nes,whicharea
dir
ectconsequenceofheat i
ngupofear th,cancauseadecl ineinhumanbodyr esist
anceto
vir
usesandi nf
ecti
ons.Globalwarmingmayal sotransfervari
ousdiseasestootherregi
ons
aspeopl ewi l
lshif
tfrom regi
onsofhi ghert emper atur
estor egi
onsofcompar ati
velyl
ower
temper at
ures.War meroceans and ot hersur face waters may lead to sever
e choler
a
outbreaksandhar mfuli
nfecti
onsinsomet y pesofseaf ood.

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