Editing Natural disaster (section)

== Terminology ==

A ''natural disaster'' is the highly harmful impact on a society or community following a natural [[hazard]] event. The term "[[disaster]]" itself is defined as follows: "Disasters are serious disruptions to the functioning of a community that exceed its capacity to cope using its own resources. Disasters can be caused by natural, man-made and technological [[hazard]]s, as well as various factors that influence the exposure and [[vulnerability]] of a community."<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is a disaster? |url=https://www.ifrc.org/our-work/disasters-climate-and-crises/what-disaster |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=ifrc.org – IFRC|language=en}}</ref>

The US [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) explains the relationship between natural disasters and natural hazards as follows: "Natural hazards and natural disasters are related but are not the same. A natural hazard is the threat of an event that will likely have a negative impact. A natural disaster is the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community.<ref name=":3" /> An example of the distinction between a natural hazard and a [[disaster]] is that an [[earthquake]] is the [[hazard]] which caused the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]] disaster.

A ''natural hazard''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Organization of American States, Department of Regional Development|last2=Organization of American States, Natural Hazards Project|last3=United States Agency for International Development, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance|title=Disaster, planning and development: managing natural hazards to reduce loss|date=1990|publisher=Organization of American States|location=Washington, D.C.|url=http://www.oas.org/dsd/publications/Unit/oea54e/oea54e.pdf|access-date=21 July 2014}}</ref> is a [[list of natural phenomena|natural phenomenon]] that might have a negative effect on [[human]]s and other [[animal]]s, or the [[Environment (biophysical)|environment]]. Natural hazard events can be classified into two broad categories: [[geophysics|geophysical]] and [[biology|biological]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Burton|first1=I.|title=The environment as hazard|last2=Kates|first2=R.W.|last3=White|first3=G.F.|date=1993|publisher=[[Guilford Press]]|isbn=978-0898621594}}</ref> Natural hazards can be provoked or affected by [[human impact on the environment|anthropogenic processes]], e.g. [[land-use change]], drainage and construction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gill |first1=Joel C. |last2=Malamud |first2=Bruce D. |date=2017-03-01 |title=Anthropogenic processes, natural hazards, and interactions in a multi-hazard framework |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=166 |pages=246–269 |bibcode=2017ESRv..166..246G |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.01.002 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

There are 18 natural hazards included in the National Risk Index of FEMA: [[avalanche]], [[coastal flooding]], [[cold wave]], [[drought]], [[earthquake]], [[hail]], [[heat wave]], [[tropical cyclone]], [[ice storm]], [[landslide]], [[lightning]], riverine flooding, strong wind, [[tornado]], [[tsunami]], [[Volcanism|volcanic activity]], [[wildfire]], winter weather.<ref name=":3" /> In addition, there are also [[dust storm]]s.

=== Critique ===
The term ''natural disaster'' has been called a misnomer already in 1976.<ref name=":2" /> A disaster is a result of a natural [[hazard]] impacting a [[Social vulnerability|vulnerable community]]. But disasters can be avoided. Earthquakes, droughts, floods, storms, and other events lead to disasters because of human action and inaction. Poor land and policy planning and deregulation can create worse conditions. They often involve development activities that ignore or fail to reduce the [[Disaster risk reduction|disaster risks]]. Nature alone is blamed for disasters even when disasters result from failures in development. Disasters also result from failure of societies to prepare. Examples for such failures include inadequate building norms, marginalization of people, inequities, overexploitation of resources, extreme [[urban sprawl]] and [[climate change]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |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=preventionweb.net |date=14 September 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

Defining disasters as solely natural events has serious implications when it comes to understanding the causes of a disaster and the distribution of political and financial responsibility in [[disaster risk reduction]], [[Emergency management|disaster management]], compensation, insurance and disaster prevention.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Time to say goodbye to "natural" disasters |url=https://www.preventionweb.net/blog/time-say-goodbye-natural-disasters |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=preventionweb.net |date=16 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Using ''natural'' to describe disasters misleads people to think the devastating results are inevitable, out of our control, and are simply part of a natural process. Hazards (earthquakes, hurricanes, pandemics, drought etc.) are inevitable, but the impact they have on society is not.

Thus, the term ''natural disaster'' is unsuitable and should be abandoned in favor of the simpler term ''disaster'', while also specifying the category (or type) of hazard.<ref name=":4">Kevin Blanchard [https://www.preventionweb.net/blog/nonaturaldisasters-changing-discourse-disaster-reporting #NoNaturalDisasters – Changing the discourse of natural disaster reporting] (16 November 2018)</ref>