Write a geohazard preparedness proposal designed to mitigate losses from natural disasters. The proposal, geared toward management executives in a disaster
preparedness agency, should target a natural hazard (or hazards) specific to your geographic location. (You may select an alternative geographic location of
interest with instructor approval.) Your proposal must include an explanation of the origin of the hazard(s) and how geographic factors and interactions among
environmental processes affect the risk and impact of the hazard. You should also examine past occurrences of similar geohazards and the mitigation policies
associated with those events, in order to form a basis of established best practice. Your proposal should then detail specific recommendations designed to
improve warning, land use, or other policies that have the potential to reduce the loss of life and property associated with the natural hazard events you
identify.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Common Geohazards. This section should set the stage for your eventual recommendations by detailing common hazards in your location. Remember
these can include hazards related to the earths interior (volcanos, earthquakes, tsunami, etc.) or exterior (soil erosion, flooding, landslides, wetland and
coastal issues, oceanic or atmospheric changes, severe weather, etc.).
A. What geohazard event or events are the greatest risk for your location, and why? Support your response with relevant geoscience information,
such as charts, maps, and/or incidence data. You may also want to discuss levels of human and economic exposure and the range of
environmental impacts posed by the hazard in your response.
B. Where within your region or country do the geohazards you identified typically pose the greatest risk, and why? Justify your answer using
geoscience principles and data. For example, are events most likely to occur in the mountains, near the coast, or within a certain radius of
established fault lines?
C. Are some locations susceptible to multiple hazards? Explain why or why not using geoscience principles and data, including maps and charts.
D. How aware are individuals and local communities of geohazard risks in their location? Do they know what to do if one occurs? What do they not
know that they should? Provide examples to support your response.
II. Earth Processes. In this section, you should assess how the relationships among the earths spheres contribute to natural hazard events.
A. How do earth processes interact to affect geohazard risks in your location? Use maps and concrete examples to illustrate your points.
B. Have these processes and interrelationships been consistent over time? Explain why or why not using geoscience data and principles.
C. Are there new processes and interrelationships, or the potential for new processes and interrelationships, that may change the risk of
geohazards? For example, is the risk of flooding or an earthquake greater now than it was in the past? Explain why or why not, providing
evidence to support your answer.
III. Past Events. This section should assess how past natural hazard events have influenced current mitigation policies for the principal types of geohazards in
your location.
A. What are the strengths and limitations of current warning systems for natural hazard events in your location? Support your response with
research. If there are no warning systems, assess the strengths and limitations of potential warning systems, based on what has been done
elsewhere, supporting your response with research.
B. What geohazard preparedness and/or mitigation policies have been or are currently in effect for your location? How successful have they been,
and how have they changed over time? Support your response with evidence. If there are no preparedness or mitigation policies, assess the
effectiveness of potential policies, based on what has been done elsewhere and how those policies have changed over time, supporting your
response with research.
C. What lessons can be learned from policies that deal with similar hazards in other locations? Are there emerging best practices? Justify your
response, providing specific examples based on research.
IV. Proposals. Use this section to propose ways to mitigate geohazard impacts on humans, property, and the environment.
A. How might improved geoscience information contribute to better geohazard preparedness, and to mitigating impacts when disasters do occur?
Make specific suggestions based on your analysis in the preceding sections.
B. What implications might your proposals have for geohazard preparedness in other locations, or for other types of geohazards? Justify your
response.
C. Immediate human needs often have negative consequences for the environment and can hinder efforts to mitigate geohazard effects. For
example, it might be best for the environment and for people not to build or intensely farm areas prone to mudslides. However, you cannot
force people from their homes and livelihood if they are already living in those areas. How you will balance conflicting needs to ensure that your
proposals are socially and environmentally responsible? Justify your response.
IN additional materials I gave you milestone 1 documents to point you in the right direction.
