Hazard & Disaster Trends | SL IB Geography Revision Notes 2019

Hazard & Disaster Trends & Future Projections

The number of recorded disasters has increased significantly since 1960
There are a number of reasons for this, including:
- Increased population – the world's population has grown from 3 billion to over 8 billion since 1960:
  - This means more people are likely to be impacted by any hazard event
  - Increased population density in urban and coastal areas increases the vulnerable population
- Increased monitoring and reporting means more hazard events are recorded
Most of the increase has been the result of floods and extreme weather

Recorded global disasters 1900–2022

The number of tectonic disasters has fluctuated since 1960 but has generally remained steady
The slight increase in the number of earthquake disasters does not mean there have been more earthquakes or higher magnitude earthquakes. It results from:
- Greater urbanisation in seismic zones, which has led to higher population densities and increased building density
- Population growth, which means more people are living in earthquake-prone regions
- Population growth being focussed in some of the least developed countries, which are also the most vulnerable due to:
  - Poor building design and construction
  - Poverty
  - Lower levels of education
  - Poor governance

global-tectonic-disasters

Global tectonic disasters 1900–2022

The number of deaths from tectonic hazards fluctuates depending on a range of factors, including:
- Magnitude
- Level of development
- Location

deaths-from-tectonic-activities

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Deaths resulting from tectonic activity

The impact of a mega-disaster such as the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami may skew the overall trend because it leads to so many deaths
Volcanic eruptions are less frequent than earthquakes and deaths from eruptions are now rare due to improved monitoring, exclusion zones and evacuation plans