All hazards are multihazards, few of them are natural

Abstract

Natural hazards cause widespread damage and mortality. While fatalities from natural hazard-related disasters have decreased substantially over the past century, effective risk reduction still faces many challenges. In today’s world, many hazards reflect complex interactions between one or more natural processes and human activities, calling the relevance of the term “natural hazards" into question. Here, I propose a redefinition to remove the divide between natural and human processes and emphasise the importance of a multihazard perspective for effective disaster risk management.

Topics & Concepts