A natural disaster is the very harmful impact on a society or community after a natural hazard event. Examples of natural hazard events are floods, droughts, earthquakes, tropical cyclones, volcanic activity and wildfires.[1] A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property. It typically causes economic damage. How bad the damage is depends on how well people are prepared for disasters and how strong the buildings, roads, and other structures are.[2] Scholars have been saying that the term natural disaster is unsuitable and should be abandoned.[3] Instead, the simpler term disaster could be used. At the same time the type of hazard would be specificed.[4][5][6] A disaster happens when a natural or human-made hazard impacts a vulnerable community. It results from the combination of the hazard and the exposure of a vulnerable society.
Nowadays it is hard to distinguish between natural and human-made disasters.[3][7][8] The term natural disaster was already challenged in 1976.[6] Human choices in architecture,[9] fire risk,[10][11] and resource management[12] can cause or worsen natural disasters. Climate change also affects how often disasters due to extreme weather hazards happen. These "climate hazards" are floods, heatwaves, wildfires, tropical cyclones, and the like.[13]
^Zorn, Matija (2018), Pelc, Stanko; Koderman, Miha (eds.), "Natural Disasters and Less Developed Countries", Nature, Tourism and Ethnicity as Drivers of (De)Marginalization: Insights to Marginality from Perspective of Sustainability and Development, Perspectives on Geographical Marginality, vol. 3, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 59–78, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-59002-8_4, ISBN978-3-319-59002-8, retrieved 2022-06-08
^D. Alexander (2002). Principles of Emergency planning and Management. Harpended: Terra publishing. ISBN1-903544-10-6.
^B. Wisner; P. Blaikie; T. Cannon & I. Davis (2004). At Risk – Natural hazards, people's vulnerability and disasters. Wiltshire: Routledge. ISBN0-415-25216-4.[page needed]