12th GEOSEA 2012, Bangkok, Thailand
Mega Geohazards and the Changing Earth Hamish Campbell GNS Science, PO Box 30-368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand E-mail: h.campbell@gns.cri.nz
Mankind may have mastered nature in many ways but as has been demonstrated repeatedly within the past year (2011), we are powerless and extremely vulnerable when confronted with the awesome forces that nature can unleash, referred to here as ‘mega geohazards’. These are the natural hazards that earth scientists are very familiar with but which occur and/or impact on a very large scale. Despite our specific interest in the scale or size of such phenomena, these natural hazards all have something in common: they all involve the rapid displacement of solids, liquids and gases at the Earth’s surface. There are other hazards that threaten us such as biological, chemical, social, economic and political hazards; but these are not considered here as they are not regarded as geohazards. The earth sciences offer perspectives on natural phenomena such as volcanism, earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, extreme weather events, climate change, fire, meteorite impacts and electromagnetic perturbations that have afflicted the surface of the Earth in the past. In so much as the so-called rock record constitutes the ‘memory banks’ of the Earth, the role that we earth scientists have is to transcribe that record, make sense of it, and make use of it for the benefit of humanity and the natural environment. Common questions that we as an expert community is asked are: how long will the event last for? how long will it take to restore ‘normality’? when will such an event happen next? How often do these events occur? From the point of view of society and the economy, the natural hazards that threaten us are worthy of significant research so that potential damage from future events can be better anticipated, better prepared for and better minimised. At the same time, we must also undertake primary or fundamental research on these natural hazards so that we can better understand them and the natural processes involved. Such research involves applied physics, applied chemistry, applied maths, applied biology, applied technology, applied engineering and applied psychology. After the damaging and disastrous 10210-2012 Christchurch earthquake sequence, the New Zealand experience can offer some insights into what happens when a major city or country is struck by a mega geohazard. This event has prompted the largest mass-movement of people in New Zealand’s history and has made a huge impact on New Zealand’s economy (>10% GDP).
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