Subject: MCN 301

MODULE 1
Systems of earth:

Lithosphere - composition, rocks, soils; Atmosphere-layers, ozone layer,

greenhouse effect, weather, cyclones, atmospheric circulations, Indian
Monsoon; hydrosphere- Oceans, inland water bodies; biosphere

Definition and meaning of key terms in Disaster Risk Reduction and

Management- disaster, hazard, exposure, vulnerability, risk, risk
assessment, risk mapping, capacity, resilience, disaster risk reduction,
disaster risk management, early warning systems, disaster
preparedness, disaster prevention, disaster mitigation, disaster response,
damage assessment, crisis counselling, needs assessment.
What is Disaster Management ?
►Disaster management refers to the conservation of lives
and property during natural or human-made disasters.

►Disaster management plans are multi-layered and are

planned to address issues such as floods, hurricanes, fires,
mass failure of utilities, rapid spread of disease and
droughts.

►Disaster management can be of either natural disasters

or man-made disasters.
The Earth’s Four Spheres
 The Earth’s Four Spheres
The Earth is a system consisting of four major interacting components:

Geosphere: comprises the solid Earth and includes both Earth’s surface
and the various layers of the Earth's interior.

Atmosphere: gaseous envelope that surrounds the Earth and

constitutes the transition between its and the vacuum of space.

Hydrosphere: includes all water on Earth (including surface water and

groundwater).

Biosphere: the life zone of the Earth and includes all living organisms,
and all organic matter that has not yet decomposed.
 Structure of Earth & Lithosphere

Earth has four concentric zones.

►Inner core: • Innermost zone with a radius of
about 1,216 km.
• Zone of solid mass of iron.
►Outer core: • Covers the inner core with a thickness of about 2,270 km.
• Layer of molten liquid containing nickel and iron.
►Mantle: • Solid ’Mantle’ covers outer core, which is about 2,900 km thick.
►Crust: • The outermost hardened exterior zone, with thickness of about 5 km.

The crust and the mantle which is hard and brittle is lithosphere.
Lithosphere
►The outer layer (oceanic and continental)
of earth that includes the crust and solid
part of the mantle.
►Lithosphere interacts with atmosphere,
hydrosphere and biosphere and forms Pedosphere.
►Pedosphere has both biotic and abiotic components.
►There are two types of lithosphere:
• Oceanic lithosphere - about 5 km to 8 km thick composed of basalt.
• Continental lithosphere - 30 km to 40 km thick.
Lithosphere
►Earth has seven major plates, which includes Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Eurasia,
North America, South America and Pacifica, and a number of minor ones.
►A few important minor plates include Adria, Arabia, Caribbean, Nazca,
Philippines etc.
►These plates are composed of oceanic and continental lithosphere. They move
independently over the mantle relative to one another, below the outer rigid
lithosphere.
►This area known as asthenosphere is about 100 km to 200 km thick, they move
with at restricted independence from the seven large plates.
►The plates periodically reorganise themselves with new plate
boundaries being formed, while certain others closing up.
►In addition to these movements, the plates also change in shape.
►The plates have three different motions:
v Moving apart, thereby creating divergent boundaries.
v Gliding horizontally along each other, thereby creating trench and
transform boundaries.
v Moving towards one another, and creating convergent boundaries.
 Composition of Lithosphere
► contains minerals, rocks and soil.
► has more than 100 chemical elements and most
of them are rare.
► more than 99 percentage of the volume includes
elements like oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron,
calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium.
►These elements contained in ores are found in
different combinations as minerals.
►Only a few elements are present in pure forms in the earth’s crust called
native elements, they include copper, gold, lead, mercury, nickel, platinum
and silver.
►Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline solids that have
definite chemical compositions.
►Certain minerals are composed of single element - diamond and graphite
composed of only carbon.

• A rock is a heterogeneous blend of various grains (each grain

is a mineral).
• A mineral is a pure, natural and inorganic substance.
Rocks:
►Lithosphere has various types of rocks.
►Rocks are naturally occurring hard and consolidated inorganic materials,
composed of one or a large number of minerals.
►Certain other materials, like coal and limestone are developed from plant
and animal remains.
►There are various types of rocks. They are:
Ø Igneous Rocks
Ø Sedimentary Rocks
Ø Metamorphic Rocks
[Link] Rocks
►These rocks are formed by solidification of
magma in the interior, or lava on the surface
of earth.
►Igneous rocks are composed of primary
minerals, which are predominantly silicates.
►Igneous rocks sometimes overlap with
sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
[Link] Rocks
►S e d i m e n t a r y r o c k s are f o r m e d by t h e
precipitation from solutions, and consolidation
of remants of biotic components like plants
and animals.
►These rocks contain both original primary
minerals (Quartz, Mica) and altered as well as
newly synthesised secondary minerals (Clay,
calcite, gypsum).
 [Link] Rocks
►Also known as Thermal rocks, as they are formed
from pre-existing rocks (igneous or sedimentary) due
to change in the temperature and pressure in solid
state.
►These rocks are formed when magma intrudes
through pre-existing igneous or sedimentary rocks.
►All types of pre-existing rocks could undergo
metamorphism.
►Further, igneous and metamorphic rocks get
weathered and form sediments. These sediments get
deposited and lithified into sedimentary rocks.
Atmosphere

• Contain various gases contains + water vapour, certain other fine

materials like soot, dust of rock and soil, sores, pollens and salt grains
from sea water
Layers of Atmosphere
I. Chemical Composition
1. Homosphere
• 88 km from earth surface
• Gases – nitrogen, oxygen,
argon, carbon dioxide
• Layer homogeneous
I. Chemical Composition
2. Hetrosphere
• Above homosphere
• Air composition - Not uniform
• Lower most layer – heaviest elements
• Upper most layer – lightest elements
• Based on gas present
II. Temperature
1. Troposhere
• Bottom dense – 70% of mass
• Upto 11 km from ground
• Clouds, storms, fog and haze are found only in troposphere
• decrease of temperature with altitude is called lapse rate
• Lapse rate = -6.4°C/km
• boarder of troposphere is called Tropopause
• like a lid over troposphere
• temperature stops decreasing with height from tropopause.
 II. Temperature
2. Stratosphere
• about 50 km from earth’s surface.
• does not have clouds, storms or dust - Clouds are not formed since
water vapour is absent.
• Ozonosphere is an important layer found within stratosphere.
 II. Temperature
2. Stratosphere

• Ozone (O3) is found

• absorbs and prevents the harmful ultraviolet
radiations from reaching earth, thereby protecting
life.

• The maximum concentration of ozone occurs at

22 km from the ground level.

• Above the stratosphere, there is a small layer

called stratopause where temperature neither
increases nor decreases with height.
 II. Temperature
3. Mesosphere
• above stratosphere,
• between 50 km and 80 km
• starts from the edge of Stratopause
• Though the temperature in mesosphere near stratosphere is
higher by about 10°C, it falls to -75°C at 80 km.
• The density of air = 1/1000 as that of sea level
3. Mesosphere
• crucial role in radio communication as
ionisation occurs here
• The sunlight passing through this layer
converts individual molecules to charged ions
• These ionised particles are concentrated as a
zone in this layer, which is named D-layer
• The D-layer reflects radio waves
transmitted from earth
• Just above the mesosphere is a small layer
called Mesopause, where temperature is
stable.
4. Thermosphere

• 80 km to about 60,000 km from earth.

• temperature increases to about 2000°C.
• property of thermosphere is radically different from the others
• ions are abundant
• most of the approaching meteoroids burn up before reaching earth
 III. Ionization
1. Ionosphere
• a layer of Earth's atmosphere - electrified
and full of ions
• not a distinct layer like other layers
• extends from the upper mesosphere through
thermosphere
• around 50–500 kilometers above the Earth's
surface
IV. Chemical Reaction

1. Chemosphere
• between altitudes of 40 and 80 km
• chemical processes driven by sunlight are significant
• overlaps upper stratosphere and mesosphere
• Chemical processes include
• formation of ozone by the action of sunlight on oxygen, and
• various reactions involving oxides of nitrogen.
• term not in regular use by meteorologists
III. Chemical Reaction
2. Ozonosphere
• also known as ozone layer
• important layer
• region of upper atmosphere that
contains high concentrations of ozone
molecules (O3)
• between 15 and 35 kilometers above
Earth's surface
• part of the stratosphere
Ozone Layer
• Ozone (O3) is found
• Ozone absorbs and prevents the harmful ultraviolet radiations from reaching
earth, thereby protecting life
• Without Ozone layer, life would not have been possible on earth
• The maximum concentration of ozone occurs at 22 km from the ground level
 Depletion of Ozone Layer

• Due to human activities ozone layer is becoming

thin

• The thinning of this layer is called ozone

depletion
Ozone Oxygen Cycle
• between 15 km and 35 km

• Concentration of ozone - maximum at about 25-30

km

• The level of ozone is maintained at this level by

Ozone-Oxygen Cycle

• When ultra-violet radiation that spread out from the

sun strikes the oxygen molecule (O2), it splits the
molecule into two individual oxygen atoms (O+O)

• The oxygen atoms, thus produced, combines with O2

molecule and produce ozone molecule (O3)
• This reaction is aided by either Nitrogen (N2) or Oxygen, which absorbs
the excess energy that is liberated.
• Ozone thus formed will be split by ultra-violet rays into a molecule of
oxygen (O2) and an atom of oxygen (O).
• It is through this repeated circular ozone and oxygen formation that the
concentration of ozone is maintained in the stratosphere.
• The concentration of ozone in the atmosphere is determined by the rate
of its formation and destruction in the above manner.
• Due to severe depletion of ozone in the atmosphere ‘ozone holes’ are
created
• Ozone holes - discovered in 1985
• overhead areas having less than 220 Dobson Units (DU)
• holes created by
1. CFC, BFC and
2. nitric oxide
1. Depletion by CFCs and BFCs

• CFCs and BFCs

• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and bromofluorocarbons (BFCs)
• green house gases
• stable compounds in atmosphere
• property of living longer (50 to 100 years)
• Due to their long life - rise up to the stratosphere
1. Depletion by CFCs and BFCs

• Through the action of UV radiation from the Sun on these compounds, Chlorine
(Cl) and Bromine (Br) radicals are released.
• These radicals act as catalysts - initiate breaking down of ozone molecules
• single radical of Cl or Br - breaking down over a lakh of ozone molecules
• ozone concentration decreasing - 4% per decade
• inherent long life of CFCs and BFCs - continue to deplete ozone layer
2. Depletion by Nitric oxide

• NO + O3 → NO2 + O2
NO2 + O3 → NO3 + O2
NO2 + O → NO3
NO2 + NO5 → N2O5
series of actions and reactions, ozone is
completely utilised, and thereby depleted.
 Green house effect

• Certain physical processes like green house effect - that take place in
the troposphere - responsible for the weather and climate of that
particular place.
• To understand clearly about the process of greenhouse effect, it is
needed to know about
• Incoming solar radiation and
• Outgoing radiation
i. Incoming Solar Radiation
• Atmosphere behaves like a complex mega heat engine.
• A large number of processes like
• air movements (storms and cyclones),
• evaporation and
• formation of clouds,
• precipitation, etc. take place in the atmosphere.

• Only two in a billionth of the solar energy reaches Earth

i. Incoming Solar Radiation
• Only two in a billionth of the
solar energy reaches Earth
• Solar radiation contains
• X-rays, gamma rays,ultraviolet (UV)
rays, visible light, infrared rays, microwaves, radio waves etc.

• Of all the energy received by earth: UV, visible and infrared

portions constitute over 95 per cent.
 i. Incoming Solar Radiation
• The harmful UV radiation is prevented from reaching earth by the
ozone layer.
• The solar radiation which ultimately reaches the earth comprises
mainly of visible light, which is composed of seven colours.
• While travelling through the atmosphere, a portion of the radiation
energy is reflected by clouds, and some are scattered and absorbed by
gases and particles.
• The scattered radiation that reaches earth is called diffuse radiation.
• Only a small quantity of the scattered radiation (22 %) reaches earth’s
surface.
 ii Outgoing Solar radiation
• If the entire energy that is received from sun retained in its
earth’s surface, the planet would be very hot and would become an
inhabitable place.
• The earth, after heating up of its surface, reflects a certain
amount of energy
• Some of this heat energy is transmitted to the upper layers of air through conduction.
• The heat energy so emitted from the earth’s surface is in the form of long wave radiation, and is called
outgoing radiation.
• While a portion of the outgoing radiation is absorbed by certain gases in the atmosphere and retained as heat
energy and the remaining energy escapes into the outer space.
ii Outgoing Solar radiation
• Gases capable of absorbing outgoing radiation are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water vapour, etc.
• They are called Green House Gases (GHG)
• Due to the effect of Greenhouse gases, Earth is prevented from cooling down drastically.
• GHGs thus act like a blanket and provide earth with an ideal climate for life to flourish.
• This known as Greenhouse effect.
• The intensity of Greenhouse effect varies from place to place depending upon the concentration of GHGS.
• For instance, the quantity of vapour-and carbon dioxide is less in dry places like deserts.
• The usage of carbon dioxide and the release of oxygen is high in places were like forests where trees are in
abundance.
 WEATHER

• When radiation from insolation strikes earth, its top layer gets heated.
• The heat energy so created through the interplay of insolation and outgoing radiation is
transferred to the overlying atmosphere through activities like conduction and convection.
• Due to this, as well as the movement of earth, air moves in all directions-both horizontally and
vertically.
• This movement of air is the basis of weather.
WEATHER
• Weather is the atmospheric conditions that
exist for a short duration which can span
over few hours to a number of days.
• Weather conditions can fluctuate very often.
• The average weather or atmospheric
conditions over a fairly long period of time
like months, years or even decades; in a
particular area is called climate.
 TEMPERATURE
• index of heat that is sensible
• measured using thermometer
• reported as Celsius, Kelvin or Fahrenheit scales
• It indicates the kinetic energy of molecules, or the speed at which the
molecules move.
• While in air and water, molecules keep on moving and change their
location very often and in solids the molecules involve in a vibration
movement and not moving.
• The speed at which this vibration takes place is - temperature
• The earth’s temperature varies in an
1. altitudinal and
2. horizontal manner in the troposphere
1. Altitudinal Variation

• In the troposphere, temperature decreases

with height.
• It decreases at a rate of -6.4°C/km.
• This rate at which temperature decreases
with height is called lapse rate.
• The lapse rate is not uniform and it varies due to different conditions
like pollution in the atmosphere.
2. Horizontal Temperature Variation
• Temperature varies at different times of the day at different locations due to various
reasons and factors.
• It also varies at different months and seasons of the year.
• A few reasons for this variation are :
(a) The hour of the day
(b) Insolation
(c) Distance from the Equator
(d) The tilt of the axis
(e) The surface
2. Horizontal Temperature Variation
(a) The hour of the day:
• More solar energy is received during the noon, when sun’s rays
strike vertically overhead; than hours in the morning hours, when
the rays strike at angles.
 2. Horizontal Temperature Variation
(b) Insolation:
• The phenomenon of day and night occurs as a result of the revolution and rotation of earth.
• Due to revolution one half of the globe is exposed to sunlight and the other half is in darkness
• The temperature of any given area is based on t he insolation of that area.
• The length of daylight and the angle at which the rays fall on earth also determine the amount
of insolation and the temperature of that particular area.
Horizontal Temperature Variation

(c) Distance from the Equator:

• The sun rays strike in perpendicular manner on the equator.
• Near to the poles it strikes at an angle.
• Due to this, areas farther away from equator will experience lesser
temperature as compared to the areas near the equator.
Horizontal Temperature
Variation
• (d) The tilt of the axis:
• The earth’s axis is tilted at angle of 66½ degrees
to the plane of the ecliptic.
• This tilt is maintained throughout its orbit.
• This tilting of the axis leads to seasonal variations.
• Due to this, the months closer to June are summer months in this hemisphere.
• During this period, the northern hemisphere receives greater amount of solar energy, and hence,
higher temperature.
• Places near to the equator receive more solar energy resulting in higher temperature.
 Horizontal Temperature Variation
• (e) The surface:
• The heating of earth’s surface differs according to the type of the surface in an area.
• For instance, rocky surfaces get heated rapidly, while water takes considerably long time to
get heated up.
• In the same way, rocky surfaces loose heat rapidly as against water which loose heat slowly.
• In any given place, different types of surfaces exist.
• Hence, there will be a mixture of heating and cooling properties.
 CYCLONES

• The atmospheric pressure in a given area has an important role to play

with respect to the formation of a cyclone.
• When a flow of air moves along curved isobars which is a net
centripetal acceleration pulls it toward the centre of a curvature,
making the air to rotate.
• Such wind (called gradient wind) is called cyclone.
CYCLONES
• the movement of the gradient wind is in the anticlockwise direction in
the northern hemisphere - cyclone
• anticyclone in southern hemisphere.
CYCLONES

• During a cyclone, the surface air moves towards the centre having
low pressure and hence converges.
• The converged air has the property of ascending in the centre within
the low-pressure area.
• The reverse happens in a high-pressure area.
• Air tends to sink in the centre of a high-pressure area during
anticyclones.
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATIONS
• When Earth rotates on its axis, the rotation causes the
deflection in the wind flow due to Coriolis force.
• Coriolis force is a force which is produced due to the
rotation of the earth.
• In addition to this, a low-pressure belt is formed over the
tropical regions, since the equatorial region is heated
throughout the year.
• This zone is called the Inter-Tropical Convergent Zone
(ITCZ) or doldrums.
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATIONS
• This is not a conspicuous belt, but a
discontinuous one that fluctuates in its
position and intensity.
• Even with disruptions like weather fronts
and storms, there is a consistent pattern to
h o w a i r m o v e s a r o u n d o u r p l a n e t ’s
atmosphere.
• This pattern, called atmospheric circulation.
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATIONS
• This is caused because the Sun heats the Earth more at the equator
than at the poles.
• It’s also affected by the spin of the Earth.
• In the tropics, near the equator, warm air rises.
• When it gets about 10-15 km (6-9 miles) above the Earth surface it
starts to flow away from the equator
and towards the poles.
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATIONS

• Air that rose just north of the equator flows north.

• Air that rose just south of the equator flows south.
• When the air cools, it drops back to the ground, flows back towards the
Equator, and warm again.
• Now the warmed air rises again, and the pattern repeats.
• This pattern, known as convection, happens on a global scale.
• It also happens on a small scale within individual storms.
 The Indian Monsoon
• Monsoon is a regional wind that blows
towards land at a certain season and blow
from the landmasses during other season.
• These wind blows in the opposite
direction in summer and winter.
• Though monsoon winds blow over all
parts of the world, it is well-developed
over India and the South-east Asian
regions.
The Indian Monsoon

• The Indian subcontinent has two types of winds.

• 1. South-West Monsoon
• 2. North-East Monsoon
South-West Monsoon

• The south-east trade winds originate from the southern hemisphere in

the Indian Ocean.
• When these winds cross the equator, they get deflected towards the
right by the Coriolis force, becoming the south-west trade winds.
• These winds gather large quantities of moisture as they pass over the
Indian Ocean.
South-West Monsoon
• As the SW monsoon winds approaches the Indian Peninsula, they are diverted into two-the Arabian Sea Branch and
the Bay of Bengal Branch.
• When the moisture laden Arabian Sea branch reaches the south-western side of India, they are blocked by the
Western Ghats.
• When the mountain range blocks the horizontal flow, the wind ascends along the slope of the mountain range, gets
cooled down and form clouds.
• These clouds then r esult in precipitation.
• Kerala gets the south-west monsoon mostly during early June every year.
• These winds then take a west turn and continue their journey, and spread over the northern parts of India bringing in
rains to these areas.
• Monsoon winds normally reach Delhi in the first week of July and could last till end September/early October.
North-East Monsoon

• Since North-East winds originate mainly from the land masses of the north-east region
of India, they are relatively dry.
• When these winds pass over the Bay Bengal towards south, they gather moisture and
cause rainfalls over parts of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
• Cyclone formation is common over Bay of Bengal during the north-east monsoon
season.
• The cyclones also bring in abundant rainfall over Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
and Tamil Nadu.
 HYDROSPHERE
• 70 % earth’s surface
• 3,62,000 km2
• Water is found in oceans as well as on land.
• Life is made possible on earth due to the availability of water.
• The hydrosphere has a direct influence on weather and climate conditions on Earth.
• This occurs due to the important role played by the worldwide oceanic circulations.
• The average depth of oceans is around 3.7 km.
• The floor of the oceans has mountain ranges and valleys, isolated volcanic peaks, and vast plains.
• Many of these mountain ranges and valleys exceed in size of their counterparts on land.
• As on date less than 10 per cent of the ocean floor has been surveyed.
OCEANS

• Water in oceans - saline in nature

• salinity due to mixture of dissolved materials (mainly salts)
• NaCl most important one

• salinity of sea water - lowest - 33, mean 34.7 g/kg, highest 36 g/kg.
• Additional salts are always added to the oceans through various processes.
• However, seawater salinity is stable due to various mechanisms that remove salt from the oceans.
• Salt is spread to the atmosphere when wind blows sprays of sea water.
• The salt particles in the atmosphere enable water molecules to stick to it, and this falls on the land
with rain and snow.
a) Oceans as moderator of climate
• Water in oceans is constantly in movement in regular
patterns due to the activity of winds.
• These movements of water in oceans are called ocean circulations or ocean
currents.
• These currents arise due to the interplay of wind and water.
• Oceans as Moderator of Climate Oceanic circulations have a profound and
significant influence in heating up the globe, and hence, its climate.
b) Oceans as Heat Reservoir
• Oceans play a role of a heat reservoir, moderating extreme
temperatures.
• The water in the upper portion of oceans store higher heat than in the
entire atmosphere.
• During spring and summer seasons, the oceans are cooler than the
nearby lands.
• During winters oceans are warmer than the land masses.
• Due to this temperature difference in sea and land, there is heat energy
transfer from land to water and vice-versa.
c) Oceans as Carbon Reservoir
• The oceans are the largest carbon reservoirs of earth.
• Periodically it gives off large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.
• Through certain biological and chemical exchange processes it plays
an important role in carbon cycle.
d) Oceans and Sea Ice
• The sea ice plays an important element in the Earth’s climate
system
• The polar ice extends between 17 and 27 million km2, depending
on the seasons.
• It covers around one-tenth of the land area and 6.5 per cent of the
oceans.
• Of the total ice, about 90 per cent is located in the Antarctic as ice
shelf.
• nine per cent in the Greenland ice sheet and the balance in the
various glaciers around the world.
• It is estimated that if all the ice in Greenland and Antarctica is to
suddenly melt, the sea would rise to an approximate height of 70 m.
WATER ON LAND

• Fresh water - basis for life on land

• On land, water - in all three states
1. liquid form - lakes, rivers and streams and
also as ground water and soil moisture.
• The water found in these sources is fresh in nature.
2. solid form - glacial ice, ice caps and ground ice.
3. Gaseous form - water vapour, steam
 WATER ON LAND
water cycle or hydrological cycle
• The fresh water in earth is perpetually being
interchanged between the surface of the earth and
atmosphere by a process of evaporation and precipitation.
• The evaporated water rises to the upper layers of the
atmosphere, where it is cooled and condensed.
• The condensed water falls back to the earth as precipitated form.
• solar energy causes water from the oceans to evaporate and
change to atmosphere vapour.
• Rain, snow and dew are different forms of precipitation.
• The water that falls on the earth runs along the ground and flows into rivers and in turn returns to the sea.
• A part of the rainwater that falls on the land drip into the ground is known as ground water.
• The ground water is used by human beings and plants.
BIOSPHERE

• important realm of Earth

• consists of complex interdependency between biotic and abiotic
environmental components.
• biosphere - thin envelope that encircles most of the earth, and supports life.
• It is totally dependent on, and involves complex interactions between the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere.
 BIOSPHERE

• It is the global sphere in which the biota interacts

with lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere.
• Biosphere is the spherical terrestrial layer that comprises of the
• lower part of the atmosphere.
• the seas and
• the upper layers of the soil wherein living organisms exist naturally.

• All forms or life including human beings’ dwell in biosphere.

• The health of the biosphere is determined by the availability of oxygen, moisture, temperature, air
pressure and soil.
COMPONENTS OF BIOSPHERE
• Biosphere is a giant ecosystem that consists of two major ecosystems:
• (a) Terrestrial ecosystem
• (b) Aquatic ecosystem

• a) Terrestrial ecosystem
• consists of plants, animals, microorganisms
• their dependencies and interdependencies with the non-living
items around it on the land.
• made up of either natural ecosystem or artificial/man-made ecosystem
COMPONENTS OF BIOSPHERE
• b) Aquatic ecosystem
• consists of marine and fresh water ecosystem.
• marine ecosystem - seas and oceans
• fresh water ecosystem - rivers, pond, lakes, and wetlands
1. provide human beings with a wide range of services.
• availability of water for day to day uses,
• foods like fish and crustaceans,
• breaking down of chemical and organic wastes, recreation, etc.

2. provides the human beings with a wealth of natural resources.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
• DISASTER
• also called calamity
• an event or series of events, which
• gives rise to casualties & damage or loss of properties, infrastructures,
environment, essential services or means of livelihood on
• such a scale which is beyond the normal capacity of the affected community
to cope with.
• A sudden occurrence of an accident that causes huge loss of life and
property is called as a disaster.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• Disaster is a result from the combination of hazard, vulnerability & insufficient capacity or
measures to reduce the potential chances of risk.
• A disaster happens when a hazard impacts on the vulnerable population and causes damage,
casualties and disruption.
• For e.g.: earthquake in an uninhabited desert cannot be considered a disaster, no matter how strong
the intensities produced.
• An earthquake is disastrous only when it affects people, their properties & activities.

• Thus, disaster occurs only when hazards and vulnerability meet.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• Types of Disasters
• a) Natural Disaster
• caused by natural factor
• E.g.: Earthquake,
• flood,
• cyclone etc.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT

• b) Man-made disaster
• caused due to the human activities.
• E.g.:
• Wars,
• fire accidents,
• industrial accidents etc.
1. HAZARD
• defined as a potentially damaging physical event,
social and economic disruption or environmental
degradation.
• Typical examples of hazards can be
• absence of rain (leading to drought) or the
• abundance thereof (leading to floods).
• Chemical manufacturing plants near settlements and
• incorrect agricultural techniques
• Hazards can be the creation of man or the environment
1. HAZARD
1. Natural hazards
• caused- natural phenomena
• hazards with
• meteorological,
• geological
• biological origin
• Examples
• cyclones,
• tsunamis,
• earthquake and
• volcanic eruption which are exclusively of natural origin.
• Landslides, floods, drought, fires are socio‐natural hazards since their causes are both natural and manmade.
 1. HAZARD
2. Manmade hazards
• due to human negligence.
• associated with industries or energy generation facilities
• include
• explosions,
• leakage of toxic waste,
• pollution,
• dam failure,
• wars or civil strife etc.
2. EXPOSURE
• Exposure refers to people, property, systems, or other elements
present in hazard zones
that are thereby subject to
potential losses.
 3. VULNERABILITY
• Vulnerability refers to the characteristics and circumstances of a community,
system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.
• There are many aspects of vulnerability, arising from various physical, social,
economic, and environmental factors.
• Examples may include
• poor design and construction of buildings,
• inadequate protection of assets,
• lack of public information and awareness,
• limited official recognition of risks and preparedness measures.
4. CAPACITY
• Capacity refers to all the strengths, attributes and resources available within a
community, organization or society to manage and reduce disaster risks and strengthen
resilience.
• It is important to emphasize people’s capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and
recover from disasters, rather than simply focusing on the vulnerability that limits them.
• The classifications are:
• a) Physical Capacity
• b) Socio‐economic Capacity
4. CAPACITY

• a) Physical Capacity
• People whose houses have been destroyed by the cyclone or crops
have been destroyed by the flood can salvage things from their
homes and from their farms.
• Some family members have skills, which enable them to find
employment if they migrate, either temporarily or permanently.
 4. CAPACITY

• b) Socio‐economic Capacity
• Rich people have the capacity to recover soon because of their wealth.
• In fact, they are seldom hit by disasters because they live in safe areas and their houses
are built with stronger materials.
• However, even when everything is destroyed, they have the capacity to cope up with it.
• Hazards are always prevalent, but the hazard becomes a disaster only when there is
greater vulnerability and less of capacity to cope with it. In other words the frequency
or likelihood of a hazard and the vulnerability of the community increases the risk of
being severely affected.
RISK

• measure of the expected losses

due to a hazard event occurring
in a given area over a specific
time period
• function of the probability of
particular hazardous event and
the losses each would cause
 RISK
• The level of risk depends upon:
1. Nature of the hazard
2. Vulnerability of the elements which are affected
3. Economic value of those elements

• A community/locality is said to be at ‘risk’ when it is exposed to hazards

and is likely to be adversely affected by its impact.
• Risk can be calculated using the following equation.
RISK

• There are different ways of dealing with risk, such as:

• a) Risk Acceptance
• b) Risk Avoidance
• c) Risk Reduction
• d) Risk Transfer
RISK

• a) Risk Acceptance means an

informed decision to accept
the possible consequences
and likelihood of a particular
risk.
RISK
• b) Risk Avoidance is an informed decision to avoid involvement in
activities leading to risk realization.
RISK

• c) Risk Reduction refers to the application of appropriate

techniques to reduce the likelihood of risk occurrence and its
consequences.
RISK
• d) Risk Transfer involves shifting of the burden of risk to
another party.
• One of the most common forms of risk transfer is Insurance.
Residual risk

• Residual risk is the amount of risk or danger that

remains after natural or inherent risks have
been reduced by risk controls.

• For example, in disaster management, residual

risk is the risk that remains even when effective
disaster risk reduction measures are in place.
Risk Assessment
• A risk assessment is a process to identify potential
hazards and analyze what could happen if a hazard occurs.
• Disaster risk assessments include:
1. identification of hazards
2. review of technical characteristics of hazards such as their location, intensity, frequency and
probability;
3. analysis of exposure and vulnerability, including the physical, social, health, environmental and
economic dimensions
4. record include record of findings and implementation
5. evaluation of the effectiveness of prevailing and alternative coping capacities with respect to likely
risk scenarios.
Risk Mapping
• Risk mapping is a process of analyzing the hazard, vulnerability and capacity
through a scientific methodology.
• The process of risk map preparation includes analysis of several variables and
parameters which are sub-sets of base categories; hazard, vulnerability and capacity.
• Hence, preparation of multi hazard risk map is a combination of all risk elements on
several hazards.
• This process is important in risk map preparation and
obviously in disaster management field for appropriate
implementation of disaster risk reduction activities.
 Risk Mapping
• Elements at risk during/after
disaster are:
• People
• Livestock
• Rural housing stock
• Houses
• Crops, trees, telephone, electric poles
• Boats, looms, working implements
• Personal property
• Electricity, water and food supplies
• Infrastructure support
Disaster Risk Reduction

• Disaster risk reduction involves

1. Structural measures include the use of physical or engineering
solutions (such as ocean wave barriers or earthquake resistant
buildings) to avoid disaster or reduce its impacts.
2. Non-structural measures involve the use of policies, laws,
education and awareness creation, and practices to avoid or reduce
the impacts of disaster.
MITIGATION

• Mitigation embraces measures taken to reduce both the effect of the hazard and
the vulnerable conditions to it in order to reduce the scale of a future disaster.
• focused on the hazard itself or the elements exposed to the threat.
• also aim at reducing the economic and social vulnerabilities of potential disasters.
• Examples of mitigation measures which are hazard specific include
• water management in drought prone areas,
• relocating people away from the hazard prone areas and by
• strengthening structures to reduce damage when a hazard occurs.
 MITIGATION

• a) Structural mitigation:
Dams, windbreaks, terracing,
hazard resistant buildings.
MITIGATION

• b) Non-structural mitigation:
Education programs and
policies, e.g., land-use, zoning,
crop diversification, building
codes, forecasting and
warning.
DISASTER RESILIENCE

• Disaster resilience is the ability of individuals, communities, organisations

and states to adapt to and recover from hazards, shocks or stresses without
compromising long-term prospects for development.
• Disaster resilience is determined by the degree to which individuals,
communities and public and private organisations are capable of organizing
themselves to learn from past disasters and reduce their risks to future ones,
at international, regional, national and local levels.
DISASTER RESILIENCE

• The core elements of disaster resilience are as follows:

• a) Context: It deals with whose resilience is being built such as a
social group, socio-economic or political system, environmental
context or institution.
• b) Disturbance: These disturbances take two forms Stresses and
Shocks.
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• c) Capacity To Respond:
• The ability of a system or process to deal with a shock or stress depends on sensitivity and adaptive
capacity.
• Sensitivity is the degree to which a system will be affected by, or will respond to, a given shock or
stress.
• This can vary considerably for different factors within a system.
• For example,
• women accounted for up to 80% of those who died during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and
death rates among women were almost four times higher than those among men in the 1991
Bangladesh cyclone. Limited mobility, skills set and social status exacerbated sensitivity to the
shock.
• Adaptive capacity means how well the system can adjust to a disturbance or moderate damage, take
advantage of opportunities and cope with the consequences of a transformation.
DISASTER RESILIENCE

• d) Reaction: A range of responses are possible, including: bounce

back better, where capacities are enhanced, exposures are reduced,
and the system is more able to deal with future shocks and stresses;
bounce back, where pre‐existing conditions prevail; or recover, but
worse than before, meaning capacities are reduced.
• In the worst‐case scenario, the system collapses, leading to a
catastrophic reduction in capacity to cope with the future.
Shocks

• Shocks are sudden events that impact on the vulnerability of the system and its
components.
• There are many different types of disaster-related shocks that can strike at different
levels.
• These include disease outbreaks, weather-related and geophysical events including
floods, high winds, landslides, droughts or earthquakes.
• There can also be conflict-related shock such as outbreaks of fighting or violence, or
shocks related to economic volatility.
Stresses
• Stresses are long-term trends that undermine the potential of a
given system or process and increase the vulnerability.
• These can include natural resource degradation, loss of agricultural
production, urbanisation, demographic changes, climate change,
political instability and economic decline.
EARLY WARNING SYSTEM (EWS)
• EWS is a socio-technical system designed to
generate and circulate meaningful warning
information in a timely manner to enable a target
system take a proactive response to a hazardous
threat in order to avoid disaster or reduce its
impacts.
• comprises all the steps from detection of the
threat, through communication to target
community or people, to the ability of the target
to understand and respond appropriately to the
warning.
Disaster Preparedness

• It consists of the knowledge and capacities of institutions,

communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to,
and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent or active hazard
events or conditions.
Disaster Preparedness

• Disaster Prevention: Disaster Prevention is the elimination or

reduction of the likelihood of occurrence of natural hazard event, or
their adverse impacts.
• Examples of disaster prevention actions include flood protection
embankments.
Disaster Preparedness

• Disaster Mitigation: It refers to a set of measures to reduce or

neutralise the impact of natural hazards by reducing social,
functional, or physical vulnerability.
Disaster Response
• Disaster response (relief) is the provision of assistance or
intervention through the emergency services during or immediately
after a crisis in order to save lives, reduce further impacts on health
and public safety and to meet the basic subsistence needs of affected
populations.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

• Damage Assessment is the process for determining the nature and

extent of the loss, suffering, and/or harm to the community resulting
from a natural, accidental or human-caused disaster.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

• Damages are normally classified as:

• a) Severe:
• The target facility or object cannot be used for its intended purpose.
• Complete reconstruction is required.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT
• b) Moderate:
• The target facility or object cannot be used effectively for its intended
purpose unless major repairs are made.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT

• c) Light:
• The target facility or object can be used for intended purpose but minor
repairs would be necessary.
EMERGENCY

• Emergency is a disruption of the functioning of society, causing human,

material or environmental damages and losses which do not exceed the
ability of the affected society to cope using only its own resources.
• Emergency is a situation in which normal operations cannot continue and
immediate action is required so as to prevent a disaster.
• Example – forest fire, oil spills, road accidents, outbreak of epidemics etc.
 EMERGENCY

• When an emergency or a disaster affect a city or a region, efforts are

conducted initially to care for the wounded, to restore lifelines and basic
services, and subsequently to restore livelihoods and to reconstruct
communities.
• Such efforts can be structured in three phases:
1. Response phase
2. Rehabilitation phase
3. Recovery phase
EMERGENCY

• Response phase:
• where activities such as
• search & rescue,
• rapid damage assessments and needs assessments
• provision of first aid are conducted
• followed by the
• opening and management of temporary shelters for those left homeless
• provision of humanitarian assistance to those affected.
EMERGENCY
• Rehabilitation phase:
• where basic services and lifelines are restored, even on a temporary
basis, including the road network and other essential facilities
including bridges, airports, ports and helicopter landing sites.
EMERGENCY

• Recovery phase: where reconstruction efforts are carried out on the

basis of a more precise assessment of damage and destruction of
infrastructure.
• In addition, efforts are conducted to reconstruct infrastructure when
needed and to restore the livelihoods of those affected.
CRISIS COUNSELLING

• Crisis counselling is the process of alleviating the emotional and psychological

disturbances of persons affected by disaster in order to restore a sense of control and
mastery and to aid the process of recovery and reconstruction.
• Normally, disasters overwhelm the physical and psychological capacity of people to
cope.
• This can lead to emotional and psychological disturbances which can affect a person’s
ability to make right decisions or adopt reasonable responsive actions.
• Crisis counselling addresses these problems and is a crucial part of recovery and
reconstruction.
NEEDS ASSESSMENT

• Needs assessment is a process of estimating the financial, technical,

and human resources needed to implement the agreed-upon
programmes of recovery, reconstruction, and risk management.
• Post-damage needs assessment is normally a rapid, multi-sectoral
assessment that measures the impact of disasters on the society,
economy, and environment of the disaster-affected areas.
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

• includes sum total of all activities, programs and measures which

can be taken up before, during and after a disaster with the purpose
to avoid a disaster, reduce its impact or recover from its losses.
 DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE

• The different approaches involved are:

a) Before A Disaster (Pre-Disaster)
b) During A Disaster (Disaster Occurrence)
c) After A Disaster (Post-Disaster)
DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE
• a) Before A Disaster (Pre-Disaster)
• Activities taken to reduce human and property losses caused by a potential hazard.
• Such risk reduction measures taken under this stage are termed as mitigation and
preparedness activities
• E.g.:
• Carrying out awareness campaigns,
• strengthening the existing weak structures,
• preparation of the disaster management plans
at household and community level etc.
 DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE

• b) During A Disaster (Disaster Occurrence):

• Initiatives taken to ensure that the
needs and provisions of victims are met
and suffering is minimized.
• Activities taken in this stage are called
emergency response activities.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT CYCLE
• c) After A Disaster (Post-Disaster):
• Initiatives taken in response to a disaster with a purpose to achieve
early recovery and rehabilitation of affected communities,
immediately after a disaster strikes.
• These are called as response and recovery activities.
END