Focus Area Groups

Focus Areas Detail

Hazards and Humans

(Leader: Suzanne Leroy; suzanne.leroy (at) brunel.ac.uk)

Objectives

The Quaternary community is becoming more concerned by geo- and meteo-hazards that have affected past civilisations, as we recognize that our present society would greatly benefit from it. It is only if we get a good grip of the full potential of past hazards (affected area, duration, recurrence, intensity) that we can plan better any mitigation measures and preparedness plans. With more population living now in more fragile and more marginal ecosystems, new hazards will in many cases lead to a dramatic increased loss of life and more devastating disasters.

International programmes have also appreciated the importance of this topic by setting up the IGCP 490 project (The role of Holocene environmental catastrophes in human history, 2003-2007) and the ICSU conference programme on Dark Nature (2004-2005).

Progress in the last decades has taken place owing to the increasing potential to obtain high resolution records in physical and palaeobiological sciences and by adopting a multidisciplinary approach. This is facilitated by technological improvements such as automatic core logging and higher precision dating of small volumes of sediment. We have therefore acquired an improved ability to reconstruct and quantify past environmental changes in a holistic way.

In 2008, we have seen cyclone Nargis causing havoc in the low lands of the Irrawaddy delta and the Eastern Sichuan earthquake in a mountainous area. INQUA earth scientists have a contribution to make now. We want to hear from you on the following:

• How do you bridge your research with the impact by geo- and meteo-hazards on humans?
• How do you integrate proxy data and environmental monitoring of risk?
• What were past human responses to hazards?
• How do you communicate your results and make them useful to end-users?

Funding

Every year around December, INQUA launches a call for proposals with a deadline in January. Proposals in the topic of ‘hazards and humans’ are encouraged. Do not hesitate to contact me. See the INQUA web site for application details at http://www.inqua.tcd.ie.

Publications

If you organise a meeting related to this focus group and wish to publish the results presented on this occasion, please make some suggestion for a special issue to Quaternary International.

View a list of recent publications from this group by clicking here.

Additional Reading

Leroy S. A. G., 2006. From natural hazard to environmental catastrophe, past and present. Quaternary International. 158-1: 4-12. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2006.05. 012.

Contact

Prof. Suzanne Leroy (Institute for the Environment, Brunel University, UK) Vice-president of TERPRO
Member of the editorial board of the journal Quaternary International.
suzanne.leroy (at) brunel.ac.uk

Illustrations

Dead Sea, dessication tracks (Photo by S. Leroy)

Turkey, heavy rain and flooding in Adapazari (Photo by S. Leroy)

Evacuation route in NW Java (Photo by S. Leroy)

Large coral block transported by the Krakatoa explosion (Photo by S. Leroy)