Editing Disaster (section)

==Definitions==
[[File:Turun palo 1827.jpg|thumb|Painting of the [[Turku Cathedral|Cathedral]] and the [[Academy of Turku|Academy building]] after the [[Great Fire of Turku]], by [[Gustaf Wilhelm Finnberg]], 1827]]
The UN defines a disaster as "a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society at any scale".<ref name="UNGA">UNGA (2016). [https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/report-open-ended-intergovernmental-expert-working-group-indicators-and-terminology Report of the open-ended intergovernmental expert working group on indicators and terminology for disaster risk reduction]. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).</ref>{{rp|13}} It results from hazards in places where people live in exposed or vulnerable conditions. Some human failures make [[Climate change vulnerability|communities vulnerable]] to [[climate hazards]]. These are poor planning or development, or a lack of preparation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 September 2017 |title=Why natural disasters aren't all that natural |url=https://www.preventionweb.net/news/why-natural-disasters-arent-all-natural |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=www.preventionweb.net |language=en}}</ref>

Disasters are events that have an effect on people. A hazard that overwhelms or injures a community is considered a disaster.<ref>Zibulewsky, Joseph (April 14, 2001). "Defining disaster: the emergency department perspective". ''National Library of Medicine''. Retrieved October 21, 2023.</ref> The international disaster database [[EM-DAT]] defines a disaster as “a situation or event that overwhelms local capacity, necessitating a request for external assistance at the national or international level; it is an unforeseen and often sudden event that causes great damage, destruction and human suffering.”<ref name=":6">CRED. 2023 Disasters in Numbers: Climate in Action. (2024). https://files.emdat.be/reports/2023_EMDAT_report.pdf</ref> The effects of a disaster include all human, material, economic and environmental losses and impacts.<ref name="UNGA" />{{rp|13}}

[[Undro|UNDRO]] (1984) defined a disaster in a more qualitative fashion as:<ref name="Smith 1996">Smith 1996 quoted in {{cite book |last=Kraas |first=Frauke |title=Urban Ecology: An International Perspective on the Interaction Between Humans and Nature |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=2008 |isbn=9780387734125 |editor1-last=Marzluff |editor-first=John |edition=illustrated |page=588 |chapter=Megacities as Global Risk Areas |access-date=23 August 2017 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kwyObkXjvk0C&q=an+event%2C+concentrated+in+time+and+space%2C+in+which+a+community+undergoes+severe+danger+and+incurs+such+losses+to+its+members+and+physical+appurtenance&pg=PA588}}</ref> "an event, concentrated in time and space, in which a community undergoes severe danger and incurs such losses to its members and physical appurtenances that the social structure is disrupted and the fulfilment of all or some of the essential functions of the society is prevented." Like other definitions this looks beyond the social aspects of the disaster impacts. It also focuses on losses. This raises the need for emergency response as an aspect of the disaster.<ref name="Smith 1992">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Keith |title=Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster |date=1992 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780415012171 |edition=first |series=Routledge Physical Environment Series}}</ref> It does not set out quantitative thresholds or scales for damage, death, or injury.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

A study in 1969 defined ''major disasters'' as conforming to the following criteria, based on the amount of deaths or damage:<ref name="Smith 1992" /><ref name="Sheehan and Hewitt 1969">{{cite report |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44480318 |title=A Pilot Survey of Global Natural Disasters the Past Twenty Years. |last1=Hewitt |first1=K. |last2=Sheehan |first2=L. |publisher=University of Toronto |location=Toronto |access-date=21 June 2017 |year=1969 |series=Natural Hazards Research Working Paper, No. 11}}</ref> At least 100 people dead, at least 100 people injured, or at least $1 million damage. This definition includes indirect losses of life caused after the initial onset of the disaster. These could be the effects of diseases such as cholera or dysentery arising from the disaster. This definition is still commonly used. However it is limited to the number of deaths, injuries, and damage in money terms.<ref name="Smith 1992" />