Assessing hazards and disaster risk on the coast for Pacific small island developing States: the need for a data-driven approach
Assessing hazards and disaster risk on the coast for Pacific small island developing States: the need for a data-driven approach
Small island developing States, such as those in the Pacific, are often prone to multiple hazards that have potential to result in disaster and / or restrict development. Hazard data can be limited in resolution or omitted in or near SIDS’ coasts, but a growing and improved range of datasets are becoming available. Through an analysis of approximately 100 policy documents on hazards and disaster risk management in Pacific island nations, we found: limited information on hazards and how they manifest to disasters at local levels, thus not fully connecting drivers and subsequent risk; at times a non-specific multi-hazard approach prompting the need to address more specific hazards; and restricted temporal and spatial scales of analysis that potentially limit continuity of actions where mitigation methods evolve. These limitations suggest that appropriate and timely high resolution hazard data is needed from the top-down to underpin the design and development of local disaster risk management plans, simultaneous to local, bottom-up knowledge and interpretation to bring the realities of such hazard data to life. Developing and ensuring openly available hazard data will enable island States to develop more robust, inclusive disaster risk management plans and mitigation policies, plus aid inter-island comparison for communal learning.
Data, Disaster planning, Disasters, Hazard, Risk, Risk management, Small islands
Brown, Sally
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Hanson, Susan
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Sear, David
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Hill, Christopher
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Hutton, Craig
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23 September 2022
Brown, Sally
dd3c5852-78cc-435a-9846-4f3f540f2840
Hanson, Susan
dc079588-5eb2-4177-8df5-01fa493d8c16
Sear, David
ccd892ab-a93d-4073-a11c-b8bca42ecfd3
Hill, Christopher
8b101c57-b1cf-4c65-af58-7adb48e0183b
Hutton, Craig
9102617b-caf7-4538-9414-c29e72f5fe2e
Brown, Sally, Hanson, Susan, Sear, David, Hill, Christopher and Hutton, Craig
(2022)
Assessing hazards and disaster risk on the coast for Pacific small island developing States: the need for a data-driven approach.
Anthropocene Coasts, 5 (1), [5].
(doi:10.1007/s44218-022-00005-3).
Abstract
Small island developing States, such as those in the Pacific, are often prone to multiple hazards that have potential to result in disaster and / or restrict development. Hazard data can be limited in resolution or omitted in or near SIDS’ coasts, but a growing and improved range of datasets are becoming available. Through an analysis of approximately 100 policy documents on hazards and disaster risk management in Pacific island nations, we found: limited information on hazards and how they manifest to disasters at local levels, thus not fully connecting drivers and subsequent risk; at times a non-specific multi-hazard approach prompting the need to address more specific hazards; and restricted temporal and spatial scales of analysis that potentially limit continuity of actions where mitigation methods evolve. These limitations suggest that appropriate and timely high resolution hazard data is needed from the top-down to underpin the design and development of local disaster risk management plans, simultaneous to local, bottom-up knowledge and interpretation to bring the realities of such hazard data to life. Developing and ensuring openly available hazard data will enable island States to develop more robust, inclusive disaster risk management plans and mitigation policies, plus aid inter-island comparison for communal learning.
Text
s44218-022-00005-3
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More information
Accepted/In Press date: 13 August 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 23 September 2022
Published date: 23 September 2022
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
We are grateful for funding via the Global Challenges Research Fund via Bournemouth University and the University of Southampton, and support from Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
Keywords:
Data, Disaster planning, Disasters, Hazard, Risk, Risk management, Small islands
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 470437
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/470437
ISSN: 2561-4150
PURE UUID: 4e9f96d1-b908-4b29-91af-a92249bfebcc
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Date deposited: 11 Oct 2022 16:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:15
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