Geography

Environmental Risks and Hazards (Elective)

Module code: F8508E
Level 4
15 credits in autumn semester
Teaching method: Lecture
Assessment modes: Distance exam

On this interdisciplinary module, you’ll be introduced to the risks, hazards and disasters associated with the Earth’s natural environments and the growing impacts of human activity on them.

You’ll consider the nature of hazards, disasters, risks, and how their impacts can be reduced through mitigation, protection and adaptation. You’ll discuss the hazards including:

• the ‘big four’ historical hazards: floods, droughts, earthquakes, tropical cyclones
• significant hazards: volcanoes, mass movement, biophysical and technological
• 20th- and 21st-century environmental hazards: sea-level change, climate change causes and consequences, informed by the recent reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

You’ll follow this exploration with a case study focusing on the sensitive cryosphere in which you’ll consider how the Earth’s polar and alpine regions are changing rapidly and generating hazards and risks of global significance.

Module learning outcomes

• To demonstrate knowledge of basic theories and concepts about environmental risks and hazards.
• To demonstrate understanding of the fundamental natural processes and human responses associated with environmental risks and hazards.
• To evaluate theories and concepts in risk and hazard planning and management.
• To demonstrate an appreciation of qualitative and quantitative data relating to risks and hazards.