Coastal habitats and risk reduction: World Risk Report
When natural hazards strike communities, the results can be devastating—lives are threatened and years of development progress can be lost. Yet the severity of disaster depends not only on the event itself but on social, economic and institutional conditions. The WorldRiskReport 2012 highlights how increasing environmental degradation is a major driver of rising global disaster risk.
Subject Tags
- Coastal
- Climate risks
Summary
When the full force of nature hits human settlements, this can have disastrous results: The lives of countless people are threatened, and through the destruction of buildings and infrastructure, progress made over years of development is destroyed in many countries. However, it is not alone the strength of a natural event that determines the extent of harm and damages. The risk a country runs of becoming a victim depends crucially on social, economic and institutional factors – in a nutshell, the condition of society within that country. The WorldRiskReport 2012 has devoted its focus to a significant driver of disasters: the worldwide increase in environmental degradation.