Abstract
Environmental hazards, originating from both natural and technological
sources, occur in all parts of the world. Global environmental change has
the potential to exacerbate the effects of hazards on people and the environment.
Driving forces such as population pressures and technological change are
making certain groups of the people more vulnerable to hazard events. The
links among natural, social, and technological systems are highly complex
and present several key concerns for geographers:
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Are societies becoming more vulnerable to environmental hazards and disasters?
If so, which hazards may intensify in the future as a consequence of global
environmental changes?
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What social and physical factors influence changes in human occupance of
hazard zones?
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How do people respond to environ-mental hazards and what accounts for differential
adjustments (in the short term) and adaptation (in the longer term)?
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How do societies mitigate the risk of environmental hazards and prepare
for future disasters?
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How do local risks and hazards become the driving forces behind global
environmental changes?
This module introduces students to complexities in the relationships among
environmental hazards and global change and illustrates why the questions
above do not have simple answers.
Module Objectives
By completing this module, students will
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gain a basic conceptual understanding of hazards, vulnerability, impacts,
and mitigation strategies;
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learn about the spatial distribution and historical trends of hazard events;
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learn to assess how a number of social, (geo)physical, and technological
factors are related and interact to determine the future prospects of hazards
in a changing world;
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actively engage with the material through analytical, predictive,
decision-making, and role identification tasks; and
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learn to approach critically the subject matter of global change and hazards
by appreciating the diversity in human perceptions, experiences, and representations
of human-environment relations.
Skills
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decision making
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writing in different genres
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mapping
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websearch
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critical thinking/text analysis
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basic numeracy
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data plotting/graphing/scatterplot interpretation
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visual time series analysis
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role identification
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Activities
Types of activities designed for individuals, pairs, small groups,
and/or the entire class include:
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role plays/simulations
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mapping
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text/media/movie analysis (including newspaper and scientific articles,
vignettes, personal accounts, fictional texts, cartoons)
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group discussion
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numerical exercises
graph production/interpretation
Material Requirements
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Student Worksheets (provided)
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Suggested readings (some provided)
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Access to the Internet/World Wide Web
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Access to a variety of news media (papers, magazines, etc.)
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Film (optional)
Human Dimensions of Global Change
Concepts
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vulnerability
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environmental and human impacts
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adjustment/adaptation
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responses/mitigation
Geography Concepts
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scale
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human-environment relations
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perception
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hazardousness of a place
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hazardscape
Time Requirements
2 weeks (some activities can be adapted to last longer)
Difficulty
Moderate. The module builds analytical, decision-making, and critical
thinking skills. Students are asked to complete several numerical and computer-based
activities with clear, step-by-step instructions.
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