Natural Disasters In China Research Articles

(P1-86) Socioeconomic Impact of Natural Disasters in China

IntroductionChina is one of the countries most affected by disasters caused by natural hazards. Disasters comprise an important restricting factor for economic and social development.MethodsRetrospective analysis was performed based on the epidemiological data of disasters caused by natural hazards in recent two decades.ResultsThe deadliest disaster that was reviewed was the Sichuan, Wenchuan earthquake on 12 May 2008 with a death toll of 88,928. Floods were the the primary natural hazard resulting in disaster in China. The economic loss caused by natural disasters was huge, the Sichuan earthquake alone resulted in an economic loss of 845.1 billion Chinese Yuan. However, psychosocial factors did not receive attention by Chinese Government and academics.ConclusionsThe characteristics and impact of disasters should be analyzed to scientifically provide useful information for natural disaster mitigation in China.

Evolution Knowledge Discovering and Information Modeling in Emergency Decision-making for Significant Natural Disasters

With the features of unobvious auspice, outburst, potential derivative hazard, significant natural disasters have great harm to the nature, society and ecological environment. To construct a comprehensive management system for them, information processing and evolution knowledge discovering is the basic and key issue, and emergency reaction is the core issue for the natural disaster prevention. First of all, theoretic mechanism of significant natural disasters was studied, which explained clearly the generating and evolution laws, the structuring basis and boundary limit, and the spatial & temporal pattern of significant natural disasters in China. Secondly, regional monitoring & warning system was designed and realized, including monitoring sites for earthquake, forest fire, diseases, and ice-snow disasters, and the multi-source of data collected from monitoring system was integrated and fussed into comprehensive data house. Thirdly, discovering method for semi-structural or non-structural evolving knowledge of significant natural disasters was set up and practiced, and variety of mathematic models were built and then be used in situation simulation of the instances, taking earthquake disaster as an example. Fourthly, multi-aim and group decision making modeling in emergency reaction was researched and the balancing strategy was defined, taking ice-snow disaster as an example.

Factor structure of the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale among children and adolescents who survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) and its applicability among Chinese children and adolescents, a study was conducted on two samples, the first, 1 month after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the second, 7 months after the earthquake. High levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms were found among both groups of children. The results also showed a decline of intrusion and arousal symptoms in accordance with the different periods of time elapsed since the earthquake; however, no difference was found in the avoidance symptoms between the two samples. Both the subscales and the CRIES total showed moderate to good reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of CRIES supported the presumed three inter-correlated factors model. However, the results of the second sample (with more than 6 months elapsed subsequent to the earthquake) are more likely to support this model than those of the first sample. This study generally justifies the use of CRIES as a screening instrument for probable PTSD victims among children and adolescents exposed to horrible natural disasters in China. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are also discussed.

Crustal structures in the area of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake from seismologic and gravimetric data

The 12 May 2008 the Sichuan earthquake was one of the worst natural disasters in China. Here, we present a detailed picture of the epicentral area inferred geophysical data. Based on the analysis of teleseismic data acquired by a dense seismic network, we highlight an abrupt 20 km Moho offset between the Sichuan Basin and the Tibetan plateau and a horizontal discontinuity at ∼ 15 km depth, which may connect with the ruptured zone of the 2008 event. We obtain low mean crustal velocity ratios, which suggest the absence of a thick and extensive zone of partial melt within the crust beneath the eastern part of the Songpan–Garze Terrane. All our data support the idea that the Longmen Shan range mark a zone of active strain localization due to the rigid Yangtze craton resisting eastward displacement of the Tibetan Plateau.

The regionalization of urban natural disasters in China

An integrated urbanization level (CL) index and an integrated natural disaster intensity (QC) index were developed on the basis of Disaster System Theory and China Natural Disaster Database for integrated urban disaster risk assessment. Integrated quantitative assessments of the urban socio-economic system and the intensity of hazards in China were carried out by the Model-Tupu (map series) and inter-feedback process using digital map technology. On the basis of this assessment, China can be regionalized into three regions, namely, coastal urban disaster region, eastern urban disaster region and western urban disaster region, 15 sub-regions and 22 units. These results can provide a scientific basis for determining a city’s disaster risk management and natural disaster relief regionalization in China.

Towards a History of Natural Disasters in China: The Case of Lin fen County

Hitherto two discourses have dominated our thinking about natural disasters in China. The first is linked to the ancient theory of the Heavenly Mandate, interpreting natural phenomena in terms of people's behaviour and especially the government's performance. The second discourse describes China as a country especially prone to natural disasters, due to its particular geographical conditions and general backwardness. This view has gained prominence in the course of intensifying interactions with the Western world since the second half of the nineteenth century. This article is an attempt to get beyond the surface of these dominating discourses by looking at the local level experience in the pre-modern period. The history of disasters of Linfen county in the south of Shanxi province is reconstructed on the basis of local sources, such as records of portents, stele inscriptions, literati writings and popular legends. It shows how the experience of disasters is inscribed in local culture in ways very different from what the dominating discourses would suggest.

Urban Risk Assessment Research of Major Natural Disasters in China

According to disaster system theory and the natural disaster database of China,this paperbuilds the urban vulnerability indexon the basis of the integrated urbanization level index(CL) of hazard-affected bodies;and considering the structural damage and the influence on traffic of different naturaldisasters,this paper chooses five major disaster types(including flood,earthquake,debris flow-rockslide,typhoon and dust storm) to build and compute the integrated intensity index of major natural haz-ards(QC).Then through qualitative analysis and semi-quantitative calculation,the integrated urban riskof major natural disasters in china is divided into five grades,namely very high,high,medium,lowandvery lowgrades,and the corresponding assessment map is worked out.At last,some further discussion isdone about the integrated risk assessment of natural disaster chains.

Flood control management system for reservoirs

Flood disaster is one of the most damaging natural disasters in China, with annual average losses more than 200 billion yuan in recent years. After 1995 floods in the Liaohe River and 1998 floods in the Yangtze River, the governments from national to local have realized that the flood control operation of reservoirs can play a major role in alleviating flood losses but there are some problems in flood control management for reservoirs. Most of the existing flood control management systems for reservoir were established for special purposes and are lack of data share and communication with governments, it is very difficult for decision-making departments to get real-time information in short time. Thus, a national programming about flood control management system for reservoirs is presented. The paper is a summary of the outcome of national programming about the flood control management system for reservoirs in China. The background, objectives, main challenges and main contents of the programming are introduced. The main focus is on the issues of the software integration flood control management system for reservoirs. Emphasis is concentrated on the flowchart design of the system and its core components. The current system can be applied to a river control center or a single reservoir because of using the national standard databases and easily integrated into the national flood control system in the future. An application system is briefly introduced in order to understand the system.

The assessment of vulnerability to natural disasters in China by using the DEA method

China has been greatly affected by natural disasters, so that it is of great importance to analyze the impact of natural disasters on national economy. Usually, the frequency of disasters or absolute loss inflicted by disasters is the first priority to be considered, while the capability of regions to overcome disasters is ignored. The concept of vulnerability is used to measure the capability to overcome disasters in different regions with distinctive economies. Traditional methods for vulnerability analysis calculate sub-indices based on disaster frequency, loss, the economic impact and the population of each region, and then add the sub-indices to get a composite index for regional vulnerability. But those methods are sensitive to the weights selected for sub-indices when multi-indexes are added up to get an index of total vulnerability. The analytic results are less convincing because of the subjectivity of different weighting methods. A data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based model for analysis of regional vulnerability to natural disasters is presented here to improve upon the traditional method. This paper systematically describes the DEA method to evaluate the relative severity of disasters in each region. A model for regional vulnerability analysis is developed, based on the annual governmental statistics from 1989 to 2000. The regional vulnerabilities in China's mainland are illustrated as a case study, and a new method for the classification of regional vulnerability to natural disasters in China is proposed.

A relationship between solar activity and frequency of natural disasters in China

The relationship between the length of the solar cycle, a good indicator of long-term change in solar activity, and natural disasters (drought, flood, and strong earthquakes) in China during the last 108 years is analyzed. The results suggest that the length of solar cycle may be a useful indicator for drought/flood and strong earthquakes. When the solar activity strengthens, we see the length of the solar cycle shorten and more floods occur in South China and frequent strong earthquakes happen in the Tibetan Plateau, but the droughts in East China as well as the strong earthquakes in Taiwan and at the western boundary of China are very few. The opposite frequencies occur when the solar activity weakens. The current study indicates that the solar activity may play an important role in the climate extremes and behavior in the lithosphere.

Understanding of Natural Disaster Database Design and Compilation of Digital Atlas of Natural Disasters in China

Many disaster databases were built in Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disaster, The Ministry of Education of China, in the last decade. These disaster databases can be grouped into 3 categories: statistics-orientated, system-orientated and process-orientated. In order to distribute the data and scientific results of natural disaster research of the laboratory, an interactive multimedia atlas system, Digital Atlas of Natural Disasters in China, was developed from 1999 to 2000. The atlas system takes advantage of different media to help human cognition and communication. The basic disaster information, information about flood disasters, and information about earthquake disasters are included in the atlas system.

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Atlas of Natural Disasters in China, compiled by the People's Insurance Company of China and Beijing Normal University. The New Politics of Pollution by Albert Weak. The Politics of Radioactive Waste Disposal, by Ray Kemp. Crop Production Strategies for Subsistence Farmers, edited by M.A. Altieri. Disasters, Development and Environment, edited by Ann Varley.The State of the World's Refugees: The Challenge of Protection, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. New Approaches to Famine, edited by J. Swift. IDS Bulletin Conflict and the Decline of Pastoralism in the Horn of Africa, edited by John Markakis.