Part 1
1.7
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Is it rational to
choose to live in
hazard-prone areas?
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Tsunami
2004 Indonesia
over 150,000 deaths
Before the tsunami
After the tsunami
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
(Credit: UNESCO)
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Volcanic eruption
1997 Montserrat
23 deaths
Buried much of the
southern part of the
island
Montserrat in the Caribbean
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Pamirs
Earthquake
1998 Afghanistan
over 4,000 deaths
Direction of plate
movement
The Himalayan area
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
What is a rational decision?
A rational person will consider whether
Why do possible
people gains are
greater than possible losses, for both staying and leaving.
live in hazardIt is dangerous to
prone areas? Are
live in hazardtheir decisions
prone areas.
Since people weigh
rational?
gains and losses
Possible
Possible
differently, the final
gains and
gains and
decision to move or
losses of
losses of
staying
stay is a subjective
leaving
behind
one.
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
What is a rational decision?
Leave?
Secure
new job
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Re-establish
social links
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
What is a rational decision?
Stay?
Reduce future loss
Take out
insurance
Reduce
vulnerability
Move to hazardproof structure in
the same area
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Restore productivity
Rebuild
home or
business
Exploit
new
resources
Change the way
of living
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
What do people consider when deciding to
stay or leave hazard-prone areas?
1
2
Risks
Leave?
Stay?
3
Social links
Opportunities
4 Limitations
on migrations
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Are people’s decisions rational?
This depends on their subjective but careful evaluation
of ...
the possible gains from
the opportunities offered
by tectonic processes
the perceived risk of
hazards happening
in the area
Leave?
Stay?
the possible gains if
one leaves the
hazard-prone area
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the possible losses if
one leaves the
hazard-prone area
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Risks
The perception of the risk of hazards varies greatly
among people.
What make the
perceptions of
people different?
Education
level
Past
experience
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One’s
character
Religious
background
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Risks
Overlook the risk
when the hazard has
not occurred for a
long time
It is improbable for a
hazard to strike the
same place twice
It is useless to avoid
hazard as it is an
‘act of God’
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Believing the
government can
provide protection,
warning, evacuation
and relief work
Unaware
of hazards
and their
history
Leave, as it is too
dangerous to stay
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
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Opportunities
A
Geothermal power
There is intense
The
hot water
heat
below
the and
People choose to live
in found in
steam
earth’s surface.
tectonic hazard-pronevolcanic
areas areas can be
What kind of
since internal processes
bring
used
to generate
power
can
it
geothermal
job opportunities and ___________
wealth
power.
generate?
to them.
It is renewable and
clean. Therefore it is a
more preferred energy
resource.
Electricity generated by geothermal power
in Iceland
(Credit: Gerth/Blickwinkel)
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
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Opportunities
A
Geothermal power
Geothermal power
becomes the primary
energy resource in Iceland
Primary energy consumption in Iceland, 1940-2006
Source: <http://www.geoberg.de/text/geology/07020201.php> and Statistics Iceland
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
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Opportunities
B
Metals and minerals
When magma cools and
solidifies below the earth’s
surface, it forms rocks
containing _______
metals and
_________.
minerals
Many metals and minerals
have economic value to
people, for example, iron
ore and diamonds.
Manganese mineral (Credit: McPHOTO/Blickwinkel)
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Opportunities
B
Metals and minerals
Which mineral
is more
commonly
found at plate
boundaries?
World distribution of major metals and precious stones
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
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Opportunities
C
Fertile soil
Volcanic ash is rich in
minerals.
Weathering of solidified
____
lava produce fertile soil.
They provide ________
nutrients
for crop growth and
attract farmers.
Farmland at the foothill of Mount Mayon
in the Philippines
(Credit: Paul A. Souders/Corbis)
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Opportunities
D
Tourist attractions
Many volcanic areas and areas with folds and faults are
scenic spots.
Mount
TheFuji
Alps
in are
Japan
is a famous
well-known
fold
volcanic
mountains
area with
in
beautiful
the world
scenery
Mount
Fuji, Japan
The Alps
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
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Opportunities
D
Tourist attractions
Hot springs and ________
geysers are both flows of hot water
___________
coming from underground to the surface in volcanic
areas.
Geysers are spectacular
The
water from
hot
natural
fountains.
They
springs usually
contains
flow intermittently
in jets
are said to
of hotminerals
water or and
steam
be good to our health
A geyser at
Yellowstone
National Park,
the USA
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Developing these scenic
spots provide job
opportunities, higher
incomes and a better
living standard to local
people.
A hot spring in Japan
Reuters/OTHK)
(Credit: Jeff(Credit:
Henry/Corbis)
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Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Social links
Strong ties to one’s motherland and ancestors
prevent people from moving away.
People have strong
feelings for their friends
and relatives, and their
own culture.
The weakening of the
social bond is
considered a great
loss.
People have strong social bond in
their hometown
(Credit: Ng Kim Hung)
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Limitations on migrations
A
Political barriers
There are strict population
and immigration policies
for every country.
Migration is not free among
countries, or sometimes
even within a country.
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B
Opportunities and risks─Is it rational to live in hazard-prone areas?
Physical constraints
Desert landscape:
dry
too _____
Polar landscape:
cold
too ______
Mountain landscape:
rugged
too ________
Tropical rainforest
wet
landscape: too _____
Many places are free from
tectonic hazards, but why
are they sparsely
populated?
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