The Hazards Theme of the International Year of Planet Earth

Abstract

"Hazards - minimising risk, maximising awareness" is one of ten broad themes that make up the science programme of the International Year. This theme focuses on four key questions: 1. How have humans altered the geosphere, the biosphere and the landscape, thereby creating long-term changes detrimental to life and the environment and triggering certain hazards, while increasing societal vulnerability to geophysical (geological, geomorphological and hydrometeorological) hazards? 2. What technologies and methodologies are required to assess the vulnerability of people and places to hazards and how might these be used at a variety of spatial scales? 3. How do geophysical hazards compare relative to each other regarding current capabilities for monitoring, prediction and mitigation and what can be done in the short term to improve these statistics? 4. What barriers exist to the utilization of risk and vulnerability information by governments (and other entities) for risk and vulnerability reduction policies and planning (including mitigation) from each of the geophysical hazards? To answer these questions the theme aims to closely integrate with parallel programmes at various levels within other international organizations such as UNESCO-IGCP, UN-ISDR, IGBP, IGOS and the Geoscience Unions' Consortium with a primary focus being on how the four key questions of the hazards theme can be linked to the five action items of the UN-ISDR Hyogo Framework for Action.