Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Processes
- Part II Processes and applications of geomorphology to risk assessment and management
- 17 GIS for the assessment of risk from geomorphological hazards
- 18 Hazard assessment for risk analysis and risk management
- 19 Vulnerability analysis in geomorphic risk assessment
- 20 Geomorphological hazards and global climate change
- 21 Geomorphic hazards and sustainable development
- 22 Geomorphology and disaster prevention
- 23 Geomorphology and the international agenda: concluding remarks
- Index
- References
21 - Geomorphic hazards and sustainable development
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Processes
- Part II Processes and applications of geomorphology to risk assessment and management
- 17 GIS for the assessment of risk from geomorphological hazards
- 18 Hazard assessment for risk analysis and risk management
- 19 Vulnerability analysis in geomorphic risk assessment
- 20 Geomorphological hazards and global climate change
- 21 Geomorphic hazards and sustainable development
- 22 Geomorphology and disaster prevention
- 23 Geomorphology and the international agenda: concluding remarks
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Intuitively, there should be a close link between the topics of environmental hazards and sustainability. Both issues feature prominently in the contemporary language of policy makers, journalists and academics. Planning for an environmentally sustainable future clearly requires identification, assessment and management of risks and vulnerability. The vulnerability of humans to a range of environmental hazards affects the sustainability of societies. Vulnerability has both economic and social dimensions dictating that a complete study of geophysical risks requires the work of scientists and social scientists to be integrated (Beer, 2004). The aim of this chapter is to consider some aspects of the interdisciplinary debate on the interactions between hazard, risk and sustainability, from which the potential for geomorphology to perform at this intersection can be gauged. Some examples from Asian seismic and flooding hazards are included to illustrate these points.
It could be argued that the sustainability agenda is a relatively recent arrival in the domain of hazards research. The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987) catapulted the concept of sustainable development into the limelight with its definition as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. While the hallmarks of sustainability thinking are implicit in much of the earlier hazards research, a shift towards a sustainability agenda demands adjustment to the paradigms of hazards research.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Geomorphological Hazards and Disaster Prevention , pp. 257 - 268Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
References
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