我国沙漠化灾害的发展及其危害

沙漠化灾害是在特定自然环境背景下产生的,严重危及人类生产和生存。文章着重阐述沙漠化发展对农、牧业、工矿交通及环境等方面造成的经济损失。据初步统计,全国每年因沙漠化遭受的直接经济损失达36～45亿元,间接经济损失高达292亿元以上。同时,指出沙漠化的实质是从根本上毁损土壤肥力,丧失人类赖以生存的土地。因此,从沙漠化发生时间的频繁性、经常性,空间分布的广泛性,致害的多样性及造成的经济损失严重性看,沙漠化灾害是我国严重自然灾害之一。     

Disaster policy and nuclear liability: Insights from post-Chernobyl agriculture in the United Kingdom

The recent events at Chernobyl have again brought the issues of nuclear safety to the forefront of the nuclear power debate. Fortunately, our experience with such incidents has been very limited, but it is important to learn as much as possible from such events so as to minimize the cost and effect of any other nuclear incidents, be they small or large. Much of the discussion about the possible effects of nuclear incidents has centered around the human cost in terms of health. While this is undoubtedly of paramount concern, the effect of the release of radiation from Chernobyl on the agricultural resource base in Europe can provide valuable insights on how to reduce the costs associated with the contamination of agricultural areas. This article outlines some of the lessons that can be learned using the livestock-raising industry in northern Wales as an example.     

The Setting-up of the Synthetical Database for Disaster Reduction

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Resilience in practice: Five principles to enable societies to cope with extreme weather events

The concept of resilience is used by many in different ways: as a scientific concept, as a guiding principle, as inspirational ‘buzzword’, or as a means to become more sustainable. Next to the academic debate on meaning and notions of resilience, the concept has been widely adopted and interpreted in policy contexts, particularly related to climate change and extreme weather events. In addition to having a positive connotation, resilience may cover aspects that are missed in common disaster risk management approaches. Although the precise definition of resilience may remain subject of discussion, the views on what is important to consider in the management of extreme weather events do not differ significantly. Therefore, this paper identifies the key implications of resilience thinking for the management of extreme weather events and translates these into five practical principles for policy making.     

Disaster journalism: fostering citizen and community disaster mitigation,preparedness, response,recovery, and resilience across the disaster cycle

Natural and human‐caused disasters pose a significant risk to the health and well‐being of people. Journalists and news organisations can fulfil multiple roles related to disasters, ranging from providing warnings, assessing disaster mitigation and preparedness, and reporting on what occurs, to aiding long‐term recovery and fostering disaster resilience. This paper considers these possible functions of disaster journalism and draws on semi‐structured interviews with 24 journalists in the United States to understand better their approach to the discipline. A thematic analysis was employed, which resulted in the identification of five main themes and accompanying subthemes: (i) examining disaster mitigation and preparedness; (ii) facilitating recovery; (iii) self‐care and care of journalists; (iv) continued spread of social media; and (v) disaster journalism ethics. The paper concludes that disaster journalism done poorly can result in harm, but done well, it can be an essential instrument with respect to public disaster planning, management, response, and recovery.     

Temporary disaster debris management site identification using binomial cluster analysis and GIS

An essential component of disaster planning and preparation is the identification and selection of temporary disaster debris management sites (DMS). However, since DMS identification is a complex process involving numerous variable constraints, many regional, county and municipal jurisdictions initiate this process during the post‐disaster response and recovery phases, typically a period of severely stressed resources. Hence, a pre‐disaster approach in identifying the most likely sites based on the number of locational constraints would significantly contribute to disaster debris management planning. As disasters vary in their nature, location and extent, an effective approach must facilitate scalability, flexibility and adaptability to variable local requirements, while also being generalisable to other regions and geographical extents. This study demonstrates the use of binomial cluster analysis in potential DMS identification in a case study conducted in Hamilton County, Indiana.     

Landscape fires as social disasters: An overview of ‘the bushfire problem’

The ‘landscape’, ‘bushfire’ or ‘forest-fire’ problem is exemplified by the destruction of homes and human lives by landscape fires raging out of control. The ‘problem’ involves a series of landscapes (e.g. wildland and suburb), a series of systems (e.g. biophysical system and environmental-effects system), and a series of time phases (e.g. planning phase). It is a multi-stakeholder, multi-variable, multi-scale problem. Land uses, like ‘farmland’, imply a set of specific assets and, therefore, particular perceptions of losses. In all land-use designations, at any one point, fire-proneness may be seen as a function of exposure to ignition sources (embers, burning brands or flame radiation and flame contact) and the ease of ignition. The landscape-fire problem has multiple partial ‘solutions’, not just one overall solution, and these involve social governance, land management (public and private), suppression capacity and personal preparedness. The problem needs to be addressed at multiple temporal and spatial scales in an integrated fashion for the outcome to be of maximal benefit. There will always be a residual risk of severe fire occurrence. Minimisation of residual risk requires effective land management, recurrent funding and the perpetual vigilance of all parties.     

Not just a matter of knowledge. The Katrina debacle

The paper deals with hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf coast of the US at the end of August 2005, with disastrous consequences. The paper sketches the chronicle of the main events and deals with preparation and response in New Orleans, exploring the connection between knowledge and disaster management policies, in particular communication policy. The main failures in applying and sharing available information for preventing and limiting damage are attributed to lack of coordination between elected officials, authorities and agencies at all levels. The critical role of the media in shaping the perception of the event and the immediate response to it is also highlighted.     

Free or low-cost geoinformatics for disaster management: Uses and availability issues

The disaster management applications of geographical information systems and remote sensing are examined relative to the disaster cycle, in pre-disaster, crisis and post-disaster contexts. We focus on the uses and limitations of free or low-cost data and software. A wide range of geospatial datasets are currently freely available, from digital elevation models (DEMs) and thematic digital maps, to multispectral satellite imagery and virtual globes, such as Bing Maps. Maps of hazardous terrain and vulnerable features can be derived from sets of satellite data such as shuttle radar topography mission DEMs and Landsat imagery. The derived maps are particularly useful for district scale (1:25 to 1:100 K) disaster management in low-income countries. Detailed maps (i.e. better than 1:25 K scale) of hazardous terrain and vulnerable features generally require expensive high-resolution satellite imagery or aerial photography.

Although the Internet allows the distribution of free or low-cost geospatial data, software and training materials, there are still some countries with limited Internet access. Data integration, spatial/temporal analysis and map production are also limited by the frequently high price of geoinformatic software, making it a priority to develop suitable Free and Open-Source Software.