Integrated disaster risk management strategy to prevent exposure to hazardous substances due to inundation triggered releases: a concept for Japan
The Nobi plain in Aichi Prefecture is exposed to multiple hazards, like inundation, typhoons and earthquakes. One serious threat is given by typhoon-triggered inundation as happened in the year 2000 during the Tookai-flood. This threat increased in the last decades because of land subsidence triggered by exhaustive ground water withdrawal in the mid of the 20 th century (Yamamoto, 1984). Several facilities handling hazardous substances were inundated during this event. It is unknown if hazardous substances were released. Similar cases suggest that this is highly probable. E.g., during the 2002-Elbe-flood in Germany large amounts of contaminants like heavy metals were flushed into the Elbe river. This resulted in chemical loadings, up to three magnitudes higher than the normal river load. The total delivered load of lead was 2500 times higher than the annual average load. The origin of those chemicals were determined to be inundated chemical facilities located in the Czech-Republic (Schiemeier, 2002). This example shows that not only the loss of property and life is of concern to disaster managers, also consequences by inundation-triggered events, like releases of hazardous substances have to be considered (Christou, 2000;
Participatory Information Management for Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction
Disasters can result if the risk information, for example in the form of early warning, does not reach the people at risk in time (Pelling, 2003). This is true for both natural and anthropogenic disasters. One example to highlight the importance of communicating risk information in time is the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 where a lapse in communicating the tsunami risk warning to India and Sri Lanka allegedly occurred despite the technology and knowhow existed with the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center and the Japan Meteorological Agency to give a 2-hour advance warning (Goliath, 2005; Zubair, 2005). In this case, getting the advanced early warning could have saved half of the lives lost. Another example comes from even more recent Mumbai, India terror attacks where the available intelligence could not stop the terror attacks from happening in November 2008 (Deccan Herald, 2005). While these two examples clearly show the importance of disseminating right information to right people at the larger scale, there also exist examples of such failures at the local level. Such failures were often reported in communicating the cyclone early warning to the remote coastal areas (The Hindu, 2000). The contiguous information continuum from the national level to individual level is essential for an efficient transfer of information and risk reduction. Sometimes the information failure occurs due to the lack of trust on the information source on the part of those who receive the information leading to poor response (Leon et al., 2006). This shows that there is a need for a paradigm shift in the way information is generated and disseminated among various stakeholders such that the credibility of the risk information is high leading to effective response and risk reduction.
Geographic And Environmental Influence On Maya Settlement Patterns Of The Northwest Yucatan: An Explanation For The Sparsely Settled Western Cenote Zone
Most settlement pattern research and GIS analysis of the ancient Maya of the Northern Yucatan have focused on water availability in a dry landscape where cenotes are often the only water source. While water is of paramount importance, permanent settlement secondarily requires farmable soil, a resource often as precious as water in many parts of the Yucatan. The dynamics between these resources reveal areas of ideal settlement and more challenging landscapes for which the Maya developed strategies to overcome environmental conditions. A region of the southwest "Cenote Zone", however, appears to have presented the ancient Maya with insurmountably poor environmental conditions despite abundant water resources. The lack of dense population and stone architecture in this area emphasizes the lack of a simple correlation between cenotes and settlement. This thesis uses GIS analysis to identify and explore such problematic settlement areas to better understand the factors and complexities involved in the more successful settlements of neighboring regions. iv This work is dedicated to my late father, who first introduced me to the Mundo Maya through a visit to the ruins of Tikal at the age of nine, and who instilled in me strength, curiosity, and a love for exploring the world. v ACKLOWLEDGEMENTS I'd like to acknowledge Dr. Arlen Chase and Dr. Diane Chase for providing such outstanding opportunities and instruction, and for leading by example both in the field and in the classroom. Dr. John Walker for his eye-opening perspectives, GIS instruction, inspiring hard-working attitude, and patience in the field. Dr. Clifford Brown and Dr. Walter Witschey for their invaluable correspondence and for their contributions to mapping and GIS data of Maya sites.