Risk Factors Underlying Disaster
There are numerous factors that can increase a person's chances of becoming involved in a disaster. It is the procedure or conditions, frequently development-related, that influence the level of disaster risk by increasing levels of exposure and vulnerability or reducing capacity.
The following are also taken into consideration when risk factors underlying disaster are involved:
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Extent of exposure
The chance of having mental health issues in the future is highest for people who directly experience a disaster, followed by people who come into contact with victims, such as rescuers and medical professionals, and is lowest for people who merely hear about a disaster through the news.
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Gender and Family
The female gender suffers more adverse effects. This worsens when children are present at home. Marital relationships are placed under strain.
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Age
After disasters, stress levels are higher in adults between the ages of 40 and 60, although children typically show signs of stress following calamities that adults do not.
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Country's economic situation
Evidence suggests that developing nations like the Philippines are more likely to experience significant mental health issues as a result of disasters. Furthermore, it has been noted that, compared to man-made disasters in rich countries, natural disasters tend to have more negative impacts in developing nations.
Factors which underlie Disasters
Climate Change
Changing the frequency and severity of hazardous events, affecting vulnerability to hazards, and altering exposure patterns are just a few ways that these factors might raise the risk of a disaster. The majority of the population understands the term "climate change" to refer to the alteration of the planet's climate that humans are responsible for, such as the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other activities that increase the carbon footprint and concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Environmental Degradation
The frequency and severity of dangers, as well as our exposure and sensitivity to these hazards, can all be affected by environmental changes. Deforestation of slopes, for example, frequently increases the risk of landslides, and the loss of mangroves can exacerbate the damage brought on by storm surges (UNISDR, 2009b). Disasters are caused by it, and as a result, the environment's ability to meet societal and ecological needs is diminished.
Globalized Economic Development
It causes a worsening of the global divide between the rich and the poor. Globalized economic development offers an opportunity to reduce the exposure of assets in hazard areas that is now expanding. opportunity, if managed well, to increase resilience. Risk can be decreased by taking part in risk-sensitive development initiatives like investing in safety infrastructure, environmental management, and improving informal settlements. Increased risk exposure is anticipated in areas and places where there is dominance and growth in wealth (Gencer, 2013).
Poverty and Inequality
Poor people are less likely to be able to invest in risk-reduction strategies and are more likely to reside in riskier places. People in poverty are frequently compelled to utilize their already meager resources to avert catastrophic losses, which pushes them deeper into poverty. This is because they lack access to insurance and social protection. Therefore, poverty is both a cause and a result of disaster risk (Wisner et al., 2004), particularly extended risk, with drought being the hazard most closely connected with poverty (Shepard et al., 2013). Disasters' effects on the underprivileged might include, among other things, the complete loss of one's way of life, relocation, ill health, and food scarcity.
Poorly planned & Managed Urban Development
New opportunities for resilient investment are emerging as a result of a new wave of urbanization that is taking place in hazard-prone nations. Cities are becoming more crowded with people, poor people, and disaster risk. In particular, rapid, poorly planned urbanization that takes place in a setting of pervasive poverty can create risk due to the expanding rate of urbanization and the growth in population density (in cities). Areas of high-risk exposure are shown to overlap with growing populations and economic activity in many cities.
Weak Governance
Weak governance zones are investment settings where public sector players are unable or unwilling to fulfill their roles and obligations in upholding rights, offering essential services, and providing public services. Poorly governed, lower-income countries have a disproportionately high concentration of disaster risk (UNISDR, 2015a). Disaster risk governance refers to the specific measures that societies do to manage their disaster risk within a broader framework of risk governance (UNISDR, 2011; UNDP, 2013) (Renn, 2008; UNISDR, 2015). In light of larger social and economic issues, this represents how risk is valued (Holley et al., 2011).