El efecto de los cambios en la cubierta vegetal sobre la evolución de los daños por aludes en el Macizo Asturiano

Fernández

González‐Díaz

2018

Geographical Research

Self Cite

The snowstorms that affected the Cantabrian Mountains in the winter of 1888 caused unprecedented damage, and the absence of a “resilient approach” to this episode had several consequences worth further consideration. In this study, we explored interconnections between and among memory, social learning, and resilience by surveying the affected landscapes, conducting interviews with current residents, and reviewing historical sources such as press archives. The mixed method has enabled us to examine the construction and transmission of respondents' memories and to link those narratives to our reading of the presence or absence of risk mitigation actions—especially against snow avalanches. Our analysis has established that the 1888 snowstorms are remembered down the decades in ways that downplay risk, neglect social learning and changes to community practices and capacities to cope with uncertainties, and fail to shape preventive measures against future disasters. These insights have relevance for those interested in how archival research, field observations, and contemporaneous interviews can aid understandings of inherited memory, social learning, and resilience.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Inherited memory, social learning, and resilience: lessons from Spain's Great Blizzard of 1888

Fernández

González‐Díaz

2018

Geographical Research

Self Cite

“…In fact, 35% of the total damage caused by avalanches which we can consider "extreme" (in terms of damage) was caused during this episode. Apart from the intense land use of the south-oriented slopes, one must also consider the possible interaction of other processes, such as the intense deforestation undergone by the Asturian Massif in the final decades of the 19th century which at that stage had an impact on the increase of damages in the settlement, especially in the western sector (García-Hernández et al, 2017a, 2017b. Such dynamics of prior deforestation have been linked to the triggering of exceptionally damaging avalanches in other places in Europe during the same episode.…”

Section: Socio-environmental Factors and Their Influence On The 1888 mentioning

confidence: 99%

An extreme event between The Little Ice Age and the 20th century: the snow avalanche cycle of 1888 in the Asturian Massif (Northern Spain)

Fernández

Sánchez-Posada

et al. 2018

CIG

Self Cite

Between the late Little Ice Age (LIA) cold stage and the early 20th century warmer scenario, a transitional regime characterized by an unstable climatic pattern generated a series of climate extremes affecting mid-latitude mountainous areas, as the Asturian Massif. There, the 1888 snow avalanche cycle appears as the most significant event, standing out among the rest of avalanche cycles recorded in this area during the 1800-2015 period both in terms of the number of damaging avalanches and damages caused by them. Among the factors that explain this event stands out the orographic precipitation phenomenon; the interaction of a cold and wet air mass originating from the North Atlantic with the relief of the Massif, which led to extraordinary snow thicknesses (>2 m) at very low altitudes (500 m a.s.l.), especially in the north-facing, Asturian versant of the Cantabrian Mountains. This allowed the triggering of avalanches in slopes gentler and in lower altitudes than usual, covering longer distances; consequently, avalanches reached more easily the settlements, generally placed at the bottom of the valley or in middle slope positions. The greater impact on the settlements, which suffered 84% of the damages, was the cause of this episode's high socioeconomic impact (29 people dead, 34 injured, 123 heads of cattle dead, 124 buildings destroyed). These events occurred at a time when the mountain villages were highly populated and subjected to intense exploitation, coinciding with the development of new communication infrastructures in the upper parts of the Massif. Therefore, the 1888 episode constitutes a good example of both the impact of hydrometeorological events in mountain environments under high demographic pressure, and of climate extremes involved in a transition period from cold to warmer weather conditions. García-Hernández et al. Un evento extremo entre la Pequeña Edad de Hielo y el siglo XX: el ciclo de avalanchas de 1888 en el Macizo Asturiano (norte de España)RESUMEN. Entre la Pequeña Edad de Hielo (PEH) y las primeras décadas del siglo XX, un régimen de transición climática caracterizado por su inestabilidad generó una serie de eventos extremos que afectaron a las zonas montañosas de latitudes medias, como el Macizo Asturiano. Allí, el ciclo de aludes de 1888 fue el acontecimiento más significativo, destacando entre el resto de ciclos de avalanchas registrados en esta área entre 1800 y 2015 tanto por el número de avalanchas dañinas que se registraron como por los daños que estas causaron. Entre los factores que explican este acontecimiento destaca el fenómeno de las precipitaciones orográficas; la interacción de una masa de aire frío y húmedo (procedente del Atlántico Norte) con el relieve del Macizo, condujo a espesores de nieve extraordinarios (> 2 m) a muy bajas altitudes (500 m s.n.m.), especialmente en la vertiente asturiana (orientada al norte). Esto permitió el desencadenamiento de avalanchas en pendientes más suaves y a altitudes más bajas de lo habitual, cubriendo distancias más largas que en ot...

“…Isolation inside the region and from the rest of Spain lasted more than a month. To date, the impacts of the 1888 snowstorms have been explored in successive studies to determine the causes and repercussions of avalanches (García‐Hernández, Ruiz‐Fernández, & Pereira, 2017; García‐Hernández, Ruiz‐Fernández, Sánchez‐Posada, et al, 2017, 2018) and landslides (García‐Hernández, Ruiz‐Fernández, Oliva, & Gallinar, 2018), the crisis’s socio‐political management (García‐Hernández, 2019), impacts on fauna (García‐Hernández et al, 2016), and the influence of inherited memories on current risk management (García‐Hernández et al, 2019). Nevertheless, the demographic consequences of such a remarkable episode remain unexplored so far.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disaster, demographics, and vulnerability: Interrogating the long‐term effects of an extreme weather event

2022

Geographical Research

Climate risk events act on existing inequalities, causing unequal damage across social groups and showing that established vulnerability should be a key consideration in preventing and mitigating the consequences of weather extremes. The disastrous snowfalls that affected Asturias in Northern Spain in the winter of 1888 provide an intriguing and useful historical example of why such consideration is vital. This article is based on analysis of church records and population censuses of 22 mountain parishes over a 21-year period. It examines the long-term sociodemographic impacts of that weather event and reveals dramatic changes in fertility, mortality, and nuptiality. Marriages and births decreased by 67% in the 2 years following the snowstorms, when the highest levels of mortality were reached. The excess mortality especially affected those adults over 70, infants under 5, and, most notably, women. A livelihood crisis was at the base of these long-term effects. Those demographic impacts point to the event's severity and show that the repercussions of a disaster go far beyond deaths and material losses and are deeply rooted in social factors. These findings reinforce the idea that reconstructing old disastrous episodes is of great social and scientific interest now. That is because, as governments and others are progressively paying more attention to the possibilities of adaptation to global change, there is greater appreciation of the fact that delving into the long-term impacts of past natural disasters can guide our main future strategies.