Factors affecting the severity of impacts Flashcards
Why are the impacts high in LDCs than in MDCs?
LDCs don’t have enough money for disaster preparation or response, e.g. they have no money to spend on training emergency teams
What are buildings in LDCs like?
They’re of poorer quality, so they’re more easily damaged
How can a bad infrastructure and healthcare make the impacts more severe?
Infrastructure - makes it more difficult for emergency services to reach affected areas
Healthcare - struggle to treat large numbers of causalities
What is the economic impact like in LDCs and MDCs?
Higher in MDCs, as the buildings and infrastructure damaged are worth a lot of money
How does agriculture affect the severity of impacts?
LDCs depend on agriculture a lot more, and its often badly affected by eruptions or tsunamis
How does population affect the severity of impacts?
More people in the area, the more people affected by a disaster
What is the problem with densely populated areas such as cities?
They have a lot of buildings, if they collapse they can pose a big risk to life, particularly during earthquakes
Why can it be difficult to evacuate large numbers of people?
Evacuation routes are often limited, e.g. if everyone in an reas tries to drive away from a volcano the roads will quickly become clogged and people will be trapped
How can timing of a disaster affect the severity of impacts?
It an earthquake occurs in the middle of the night most people will be asleep, so they don’t get out of buildings as quickly and more people are hurt
What can happen if an earthquake occurs during winter?
People can freeze to death before they can be rescued
