Global early warning systems for natural hazards: systematic and people-centred

Abstract

To be effective, early warning systems for natural hazards need to have not only a sound scientific and technical basis, but also a strong focus on the people exposed to risk, and with a systems approach that incorporates all of the relevant factors in that risk, whether arising from the natural hazards or social vulnerabilities, and from short-term or long-term processes. Disasters are increasing in number and severity and international institutional frameworks to reduce disasters are being strengthened under United Nations oversight. Since the Indian Ocean tsunami of 26 December 2004, there has been a surge of interest in developing early warning systems to cater to the needs of all countries and all hazards.

Waltz with development: insights on the developmentalization of climate-induced migration

“…Many have 2 As put by Basher, "the term 'natural disaster' is an oxymoron, as the vulnerability and coping factors in the equation are within human control to some degree and therefore are not 'natural'" (Basher 2006(Basher : 2167 criticized the narrow focus on the entrepreneurial abilities of the migrant, who is expected to shoulder the burden of development alone. The emphasis on the agency of migrant can also be linked to neoliberal agendas where 'the idea of social responsibility…”

Decision support for long-range, community-based planning to mitigate against and recover from potential multiple disasters

“…It is important to recognize, however, that there are broader issues of safety that encompass the entire range of hazards that may pose a risk to a city (Pollett & Cummins, 2009;Basher, 2006). For example, an urban city center such as San…”

An integrated approach of flood risk assessment in the eastern part of Dhaka City

“…However, in the alternative scenario, an improvement of current EWS is considered keeping all other indicator values constant. This is mainly due to the global emphasis on EWS as one of the major non-structural risk reduction measures (Basher 2006). Description of current and improved EWS is described below.…”

“…Third, the policy alternative for baseline and improved scenario of vulnerability are evaluated. For evaluating policy alternatives, one of the main non-structural measures i.e., an early warning system (EWS) is considered in this study (Basher 2006). Non-structural measures are considered as the sustainable long-term flood mitigation strategies for Dhaka City, while structural measures create mixed benefits (Faisal et al 1999).…”