Geosciences and Remote Sensing

Natural Hazards and Disasters

A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth; examples include floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other geologic processes. A natural disaster can cause loss of life or property damage, and typically leaves some economic damage in its wake, the severity of which depends on the affected population's resilience, or ability to recover and also on the infrastructure available.

A natural hazard is a natural phenomenon that might have a negative effect on people or the environment. Natural hazard events can be grouped into two broad categories. Geophysical hazards encompass geological and meteorological phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanic eruption, wildfire, cyclonic storms, flood, drought, and coastal erosion. Biological hazards can refer to a diverse array of disease and infestation.Many geophysical hazards are related; for example, submarine earthquakes can cause tsunamis, and hurricanes can lead to coastal flooding and erosion. Floods and wildfires can result from a combination of geological, hydrological, and climatic factors. It is possible that some natural hazards are intertemporally correlated as well