旱灾风险评估的初步理论框架

旱灾风险评估是定量认识旱灾风险机理、科学防控旱灾风险的重要基础性研究,在旱灾风险管理理论与实践中具有重要意义。根据旱灾风险的形成机制,在旱灾风险评估基本概念分析的基础上,提出并系统地阐述了由旱灾致灾因子危险性、承灾体的灾损敏感性、暴露和抗旱能力组成的旱灾风险系统。在此系统结构基础上提出了旱灾风险评估方法论和旱灾风险评估理论模式,进而建立了由致灾因子危险性分析、承灾体脆弱性分析、旱灾损失风险分析、旱灾风险评价、旱灾风险决策分析方法组成的旱灾风险评估方法体系,以及由干旱频率与旱灾损失关系曲线图、干旱频率空间分布图、旱灾损失空间分布图、与旱灾风险有关的致灾因子危险性分布图等各种专题图、旱灾风险区划图组成的旱灾风险评估应用模式体系。由上述旱灾风险系统结构、旱灾风险评估方法论和理论模式、旱灾风险评估方法体系和应用模式体系组成旱灾风险评估的初步理论框架,该理论框架在其它自然灾害风险评估中具有参考应用价值。     

干旱灾害风险管理的战略思考

干旱灾害是全球面临最主要的自然灾害之一,在气候变化和人类活动影响加剧的背景下,旱灾及其风险也在不断演变,干旱灾害防灾减灾工作面临着许多难点。该文首先界定了干旱的基本概念,讨论了干旱与水资源短缺的关系,其次从政策制度、干旱规划、采取行动、灾后恢复等角度分别分析了干旱灾害管理实践中面临的问题和挑战,最后提出了战略性干旱灾害风险管理框架,从旱前、旱中、旱后三个时期分析了风险管理的内涵,提出了干旱灾害风险管理的实施路径,为有效提高水资源风险防控能力奠定了基础。     

基于链式传递结构的旱灾实际风险定量评估方法与应用模式

面向防灾减灾能力、孕灾环境孕险性实际条件下区域旱灾风险定量评估与区划等自然灾害风险防灾减灾关键问题,应用计算思维、系统科学多学科交叉的研究途径,从风险传导角度探讨了区域旱灾风险物理成因机制,阐述了面向致灾机理的区域旱灾五要素系统结构、基于链式传导的旱灾风险六要素系统结构,探讨了区域旱灾实际风险的概念、由旱灾脆弱性连接干旱与损失变量间关系的因旱致灾机理、连接干旱危险性关系与损失风险关系的旱灾风险传导机理、定量评估方法及其主要应用模式,在自然灾害风险评估中具有推广应用前景。     

云南省干旱灾害风险评估

基于自然灾害风险理论,利用云南省129个县(市、区)的气象、社会经济和地理信息数据,从干旱灾害致灾因子危险性、成灾环境敏感性、承灾体易损性和防灾减灾能力4个方面选取15个评价指标构建了干旱灾害风险评估模型,对干旱灾害风险进行了评估。研究结果表明:云南省低、次低、中、次高、高等级干旱灾害风险的面积分别占全省总面积的13.4%,29.8%,28.2%,19.6%和9.1%。干旱灾害风险空间分布比较复杂,大致沿哈巴雪山—点苍山—哀牢山一带,西部地区干旱灾害风险总体较低,东部地区干旱灾害风险相对较高。南盘江流域、红河流域、金沙江下游地区为典型的干旱灾害高风险区;三江并流区及澜沧江下游地区为干旱灾害低风险区。利用近10 a的旱灾受灾面积和总经济损失对评估结果进行了验证,表明构建的评估模型总体能反映云南省干旱灾害风险水平,可为干旱灾害风险管理提供依据。     

辽西北玉米不同生长阶段干旱灾害风险阈值的确定

以辽宁省西北6个市为研究区,选取玉米为研究对象,将其划分为播种期、苗期、拔节期、抽穗期和灌浆成熟期几个重要的生长阶段,综合气象与气候学、自然地理学、灾害科学、作物生态学和自然灾害风险科学等多学科的理论和方法,在充分考虑影响玉米干旱灾害动态风险的自然因素和人为因素的基础上,利用AHP、加权综合评价法、自然灾害指数法建立了玉米干旱灾害动态风险评价指标体系及模型;通过选取典型干旱案例年,运用最优分割理论在综合考虑玉米产量损失的基础上确定了玉米不同生长阶段的干旱灾害风险阈值,并用于玉米不同生长阶段干旱灾害风险值与玉米因旱减产损失的相关分析中。结果表明:辽西北地区玉米因旱减产损失与苗期干旱灾害风险值相关系数最大,玉米受苗期干旱灾害影响最严重;在灌浆成熟期相关性也较显著,受其影响也较大,这与辽西北地区春旱发生频率最高,伏旱时常发生的事实相符合。     

公众灾害风险可接受性与避灾意愿的初探——以川渝地区旱灾风险为例

在综述前人研究的基础上,以川渝地区旱灾为例,通过实地调查与访谈,从公众可接受的旱灾损失与频率、假定旱灾风险情景下的避险意愿等角度,对公众旱灾风险可接受性进行了初步探讨。结果表明,公众合理可接受的旱灾损失与频率分别在26.5%~52.8%与32.0%~64.3%区间范围内;并以一般旱灾、严重旱灾风险情景为限制线,确定了公众合理可接受风险区域;随着灾害损失风险增加,公众规避风险投资意愿呈现出中间高两头低的趋势,当灾害损失达到约50%~70%时,公众避险投资意愿达到最高,意愿避险投资占可能损失的比重约为62%。鉴于川渝地区的旱灾形势,今后旱灾风险管理的关键,一是加强对旱灾的监测与预警预报;二是完善旱灾风险的常规化管理,发展高效灌溉农业,充分利用客水资源,完善提高现有农田水网建设;三是积极探索公众-企业-政府多方共同参与的高效风险管理模式。     

年度洪涝灾害风险评估模型及其应用——以湖南为例

依据灾害概率风险评估理论,考虑汛期降水的可预报性,基于历史洪涝灾害事件,尝试性地构建了年度洪涝灾害风险评估模型,以湖南为例,对评估模型进行了检验与应用。结果表明:模型建立了前期海温和环流指数等因子与汛期区域降水时空分布的回归预报方程,应用概率风险分析得到年度不同降水下直接经济损失分布,结合蒙特卡洛仿真模拟求解损失的超越概率曲线,评估年度洪涝灾害单次最大可能损失、年度总损失以及年期望损失;模型集"未来年度汛期降水预测"、"降水与损失分布关系拟合"、"损失超越概率评估"于一体,是对全过程年度洪涝灾害风险评估方法的新探索;湖南年度洪涝灾害评估案例表明该模型可操作,结果与实际情况相符。研究可为完善灾害风险评估内容与技术方法提供新视角,亦可为开展业务实践提供方法借鉴。     

福建农业气象灾害的产量灾损风险评估

针对传统的灾损评价中趋势产量和气象产量难以区分的缺点,利用福建省1981-2005年主要气象灾害面积资料,通过计算灾害造成的粮食减产量,得到各灾害相对灾损量序列,并引入信息扩散理论的模糊数学方法,构建了福建农业气象灾害产量灾损风险评估模型,进行了相应的风险评价实例分析.结果表明,福建省农业气象灾害的产量灾损风险随概率的增大而减少,气象灾害发生灾损的概率风险估计值,洪涝灾害风险大于旱灾,风雹灾害的风险大于低温冻害.干旱风险高值区出现在灾损率5%～45%,洪涝灾害出现在5%～70%,风雹灾害在5%～30%,低温冻害的风险主要集中在灾损率5%～20%.     

基于风险矩阵的区域农业旱灾风险链式传递评估方法

为综合评估农业旱灾风险,依据危险性、灾损敏感性、暴露性、抗旱能力4个子系统相互作用关系选取指标,用遗传模糊层次分析法确定权重,用集对分析与灰色关联对农业旱灾风险各子系统进行评价,用风险矩阵合成各子系统的评价结果,构建了基于风险矩阵的区域农业旱灾风险链式传递评估方法。该评估方法用于安徽省淮河流域的结果表明:亳州农业旱灾风险为重险,淮北、宿州、阜阳、蚌埠、滁州淮河流域为中险,合肥淮河流域为轻险,淮南、六安淮河流域为微险,结果与实际情况相符。上述改进的集对分析与风险矩阵耦合的旱灾风险链式传递评估方法科学合理,为区域农业旱灾风险评估提供了新途径,在实际自然灾害风险评估中具有推广应用价值。     

基于网格GIS的安徽省旱涝组合风险区划

依据自然灾害风险形成原理,综合考虑安徽省自然和社会经济状况,从致灾因子的危险性、承载体的暴露性和脆弱性、防灾减灾能力四个方面选取指标,利用自然灾害风险指数法、熵组合权重法以及加权综合评价法建立安徽省旱灾风险指数和涝灾风险指数评价模型。并运用GIS空间分析技术与格网GIS技术绘制出安徽省旱涝组合风险区划图。研究发现,安徽省西北部、中部旱涝组合风险较高,西南部和东北部旱涝组合灾害风险较低,这与安徽省旱、涝灾害历史资料基本吻合,该研究结果可以作为安徽省旱涝综合灾害管理的理论依据。     

Cholera in Sudan: An account of an epidemic in a refugee camp in eastern Sudan, May-June 1985

In 1985 cholera has been a serious problem in the horn of Africa, particularly affecting the many famine victims and refugees in that region. In this paper the history of cholera in Africa is briefly summarized, as is the background to the current refugee situation in eastern Sudan. A cholera epidemic involving 1,175 cases in two adjacent refugee camps in eastern Sudan is described. In this epidemic there were thirteen inpatient deaths and thirty-eight known home deaths from cholera. The management of the epidemic is described in detail. Overall an average of 8 1. of intravenous fluid was used per case, a higher figure than was anticipated, probably because of the unexpected degree of vomiting and the shortage of trained nursing staff.
The relationship between cholera and malnutrition is explored and hypochlorhydria is suggested as the main reason for the increased susceptibility to cholera among malnourished populations. It was observed that severely malnourished adults and children appeared to nave less severe diarrhoea with their cholera, presumably because of reduced mucosal surface area and poor enterocyte function. Finally possible means of aborting cholera epidemics are discussed.     

A retrospective statistical review of deaths owing to migration through the southeasternmost land borders of the European Union,Greece 2000–14

The land borders of Evros, Greece, have been a common entry point for undocumented migrants on their way to Europe through Turkey. Adverse conditions, however, have resulted in many human casualties over the years. On the Greek side, 334 cadavers were retrieved between 2000 and 2014. This study provides a detailed forensic account of the humanitarian disaster in Evros to create an official scientific record of the situation. It showcases the gravity of the global issue of migration relating to health and mortality, and encourages communication and continual improvement of the approach and patterns of practices surrounding the subject. A retrospective statistical research review was conducted of border‐related fatalities between 2000 and 2014, assessing the age and gender of victims, the cause of death, the location of bodies, identification rates, and country of origin. Age ranged generally from 24 to 29 years, but infants and children were among the deceased.     

Complexity,continuity and change: livelihood resilience in the Darfur region of Sudan

Darfur farming and pastoralist livelihoods are both adaptations to the environmental variability that characterises the region. This article describes this adaptation and the longer‐term transformation of these specialised livelihoods from the perspective of local communities. Over several decades farmers and herders have experienced a continuous stream of climate, conflict and other shocks, which, combined with wider processes of change, have transformed livelihoods and undermined livelihood institutions. Their well‐rehearsed specialist strategies are now combined with new strategies to cope. These responses help people get by in the short term but risk antagonising not only their specialist strategies but also those of others. A combination of factors has undermined the former integration between farming and pastoralism and their livelihood institutions. Efforts to build resilience in similar contexts must take a long‐term view of livelihood adaptation as a specialisation, and consider the implications of new strategies for the continuity and integration of livelihood specialisations.     

The cultural politics of mining and natural disaster in Indonesia: by fire and sword

Natural disasters are inevitably the outcome of cultural agonisms. The cultural politics of natural disasters are shaped by competing claims and conceptions of ‘nature’. Recent disasters in Indonesia are directly linked to these contending conceptions and the ways in which different social groups imagine risk and reward. The Sidoarjo volcanic mudflow of 2006 represents a volatile and violent exemplar of contending cultural and economic claims. Like other disasters in Indonesia and elsewhere in the developing world, this ‘natural’ disaster is characterised by differing conceptions of ‘nature’ as cultural tradition, divine force, and natural resource. A new extractive project in East Java is exhibiting similar economic and cultural agonisms, particularly around the notion of development, environment, self‐determination, and tradition. This paper examines the ‘disputes over meaning’ associated with natural disasters in contemporary societies, and the ways in which they are related to human culture, social organisation, and hierarchical systems of violence.     

Risk communication in emergency response to a simulated extreme flood

Risk communication in flood incident management can be improved through developing hydrometeorological and engineering models used as tools for communicating risk between scientists and emergency management professionals. A range of such models and tools was evaluated by participating flood emergency managers during a 4-day, real-time simulation of an extreme event in the Thamesmead area in the Thames estuary close to London, England. Emergency managers have different communication needs and value new tools differently, but the indications are that a range of new tools could be beneficial in flood incident management. Provided they are communicated large model uncertainties are not necessarily unwelcome among flood emergency managers. Even so they are cautious about sharing the ownership of weather and flood modelling uncertainties.     

Fiji, land of tropical cyclones and hurricanes: A case study of agricultural rehabilitation

Tropical cyclones and hurricanes have a severe impact on the social and economic activities of affected communities. For small island nations in the Pacific region, the effects can be devastating because of their smallness. FQi and several other countries in the region are vulnerable to such disasters as they are situated in the zone where cyclones occur frequently.
During the last decade, the frequency of natural disasters and their adverse impact on die economic and social development of small nations like Fiji, has aroused awareness mat relief efforts must go beyond immediate "mopping up" operations to those which contribute to attaining longer term benefits through reconstruction and rehabilitation.
The paper outlines the 1985 agricultural rehabilitation program and discusses related issues and problems.     

The ethical contours of research in crisis settings: five practical considerations for academic institutional review boards and researchers

The number of research studies in the humanitarian field is rising. It is imperative, therefore, that institutional review boards (IRBs) consider carefully the additional risks present in crisis contexts to ensure that the highest ethical standards are upheld. Ethical guidelines should represent better the specific issues inherent to research among populations grappling with armed conflict, disasters triggered by natural hazards, or health‐related emergencies. This paper seeks to describe five issues particular to humanitarian settings that IRBs should deliberate and on which they should provide recommendations to overcome associated challenges: staged reviews of protocols in acute emergencies; flexible reviews of modification requests; addressing violence and the traumatic experiences of participants; difficulties in attaining meaningful informed consent among populations dependent on aid; and ensuring reviews are knowledgeable of populations' needs. Considering these matters when reviewing protocols will yield more ethically sound research in humanitarian settings and hold researchers accountable to appropriate ethical standards.     

The need to look beyond the production and provision of relief seed: experiences from southern Sudan

Free distribution of seeds in selected areas of southern Sudan has been widespread as a way of increasing food security. Field research in areas targeted for seed relief found that farmer seed systems continue to meet the crop and varietal needs of farmers even following the 1998 famine. Donor investments in seed multiplication of improved sorghum have not been sustained due to a lack of effective demand for the improved seed beyond that created by the relief agencies. The article argues that rather than imposing outside solutions, whether through seed provisioning or seed production enterprises, greater attention needs to be given to building on the strengths of existing farmer systems and designing interventions to alleviate the weaknesses. The case is made to support dynamically the process of farmer experimentation through the informed introduction of new crops and varieties that can potentially reinforce the strength and diversity of local cropping systems.     

Social capital and food security in post-conflict rural Lira District,northern Uganda

While a strong relationship has been established between social capital and food security in the research literature, it is uncertain whether this holds in post-conflict situations. This study examines associations between social capital and food security in post-conflict Lira District, northern Uganda. Since factors affecting food security are complex, we explored the roles of households' characteristics in food security outcomes. Data were collected from March to July 2011 through face-to-face interviews with 221 heads of household in rural Lira. Using multinomial logistic regression, a strong positive association was identified between social capital and household food security. The study also found significant associations of food security with sex, education of household head, amount of cultivated land, and farm and home possessions. The results of this analysis can aid the design of food security programmes that empower poor people while targeting the most vulnerable groups, thereby promoting sustainable development in post-conflict communities.