Climate Related Hazard

Climate related hazards are characterized in terms of their severity, intensity, or

frequency based on climatic variables, usually related to climate change and global warming that
cause changes to weather patterns. A climate hazard is a physically defined climate even with the
potential to cause harm, such as heavy rainfall, drought, storm, or long-term change in climatic
variables such as temperature and precipitation. A hazard maybe a transient, recurrent event with
an identifiable onset and termination such as a storm, flood or drought, or a more permanent
change such as a trend or transition from one climatic state to another. Climate change may
cause more severe extreme weather events (Climate Related Hazards, 2011).
The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
concludes that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as evidenced by increases in global
average temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising sea levels as a
consequence of climate change. These physical trends in the climate are projected to intensify
into the future (UNFCC, 2008). The following changes are likely to continue to occur: warming
is projected to increase; sea ice is projected to shrink; sea levels are projected to rise; it is very
likely that hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will continue to become more
frequent; it is likely that tropical cyclones will become more intense; and increases in the amount
of precipitation are very likely in high latitudes, while decreases are likely in most subtropical
land regions (Ibid).
Climate Change
Climate change is a controversial topic that promises to reframe ideas about our world
and how we will live in it. Climate change may affect life on the planet, and particularly its
impact on human populations. Future climatic change is being predicted. On a report from
NASA (Black & Hassenzahl, 2013), which proposes following continental impacts, it was
reported that in Asia, freshwater availability is projected to decrease in Central, South, East and
Southeast Asia by 2050, all the coastal areas will be at risk due to increased flooding and disease
associated with floods and droughts are expected to rise in some regions. Nations that already
have no choice due to rising sea levels or other factors have already begun to respond (Ibid).
Climate change has become a global agenda and two international agreements: United Nation
Framework Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol already took effect in 1994 and
2005 respectively (Ibid). Even after this agreement took effect, global temperature has
remarkably increased steadily and will increase further if no measures and policies will
introduced.
Potential Geographic and Biological response on climate related hazards
In the book of McGuire and Maslin (2012), McGuire summarizes evidences for periods
of exceptional past climate change eliciting a dynamic response from the Earths lithosphere,
involving enhance levels of potentially hazardous geological activity. It provides a valuable new
insight into how climate change is able to influence, modulate and trigger geological and
geomorphological phenomena, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and landslides;
ultimately increasing the risk of natural hazards in a warmer world.
He noted that it is mainly through the triggering, adjustment or modulation of a range of
crustal and surface processes that include gas-hydrate destabilization, submarine and landslide
formation, debris flow occurrence and outburst flooding. The book also discussed that rapid
climate change has in the past increase level of volcanic activity and the destabilization of
volcanic edifices and promoted magma production. The book concluded that there is a strong
evidence for a lithospheric response to the rapid changing climate. The degree to which
comparable responses to projected future climate changes could modify the risk of geological
and geomorphological hazards is likely to be significantly dependent on the rate of future climate
change (McGuire & Maslin, 2012).
The biological responses were addressed in the book of Newman (2011), biological
responses from the individual's physiology to populations and ecosystems, and further to
considering adaptation and evolution were discussed in the book. The impacts of climate change
are first experience at the level of physiology of the individual organism and these impacts
combine, amplify and generally interact as they ripple up food chains across communities and
throughout economic systems. Habitat fragmentation, acid deposition and pollution are
ecological changes cause by climate related hazards that affects the biological responses
(Newman, 2011).
Climate Mitigation
Climate Mitigation is a specific action taken to permanently eliminate or reduce the long
term risk and hazards of climate change to human life or property. Implementation of specific
alterations to living patterns for instance falls into this category (Black & Hassenzahl, 2013).
Climate change is changing the context of spatial planning and shaping its priorities. Many
studied and offered evaluation of the science and policy debates on climate change and offer a
reframing of the challenges they pose, as understood by key international experts and players in
the field. As mentioned earlier, even if there are existing agreements, this does not mean that
collective and efficient response has been introduced. The cooperation and burden-sharing
between developed and developing nations are still issues. Some other countries may benefit
from climate change are less motivated to cooperate. The cost of mitigation and uncertain
relationship with greenhouse gases are other issues that hampers in the solving of climate related
hazards (Yamaguchi, 2012).
In another study from a paper presented on an international conference, the authors
concluded that the limitation of all actors leading up to partial solutions that do not add up,
partial solutions in which limited authority has led to limited action. The paper presented on one
international conference in Barcelona in April 2010 was written by climate scientist to address
the business, decision-makers, decision makers, stakeholders and general public to generate
awareness of opportunities and considerable benefits that the transformation to a green economy
offer beyond immediate goal of avoiding dangerous climate change (Hasselmann, Jaeger,
Leipold, Mangalagiu, & Tbara, 2013).



Referemce
Climate Related Hazards. (2011). Retrieved February 28, 2014, from ASEAN DRR Portal:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2GzcsrNQJBMJ:202.46.9.39:8889/Kn
owledgeBase/DRRTopics/Hazards/ClimateRelatedHazards.aspx+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ph
Black, B. C., & Hassenzahl, D. M. (2013). Climate Change: An Encyclopedia of Science and History.
California, USA: ABC-CLIO.
Hasselmann, K., Jaeger, C., Leipold, G., Mangalagiu, D., & Tbara, J. D. (2013). Reframing the Problem of
Climate Change: From Zero Sum Game to Win-Win Solutions. New York: Routledge.
McGuire, B., & Maslin, M. A. (2012). Climate Forcing of Geological Hazards. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons.
Newman, J. A. (2011). Climate Change Biology. Canada: CABI.
UNFCC. (2008). Physical and socio-economic trends in climate-related risks and extreme events, and their
implications for sustainable development. United Nations Framework on Climate Change.
Yamaguchi, M. (2012). Climate Change Mitigation: A Balanced Approach to Climate Change. Tokyo:
Springer.