![]() It can also be defined as “the degree to which a system or system component is likely to experience harm due to exposure to a hazard, perturbation or stress” ( Turner II et al., 2003). Vulnerability is defined as the characteristics of an individual or a group that influence their capacity to anticipate, respond to, cope with, resist, and recover from an external disturbance (e.g., natural hazard) and the subsequent impact on their livelihood and well-being ( Kelly and Adger, 2000 Wisner, 2004). Hazard research has grown significantly in the past decades across various fields of study, with research questions primarily associated with vulnerability, recovery and resilience ( Opdyke et al., 2017). ![]() It is well-documented that Hurricane Katrina's devastation was widespread, however, there has been less discussion and exploration on the equity of the impacts and recovery using a social-ecological resilience lens. The scale and degree of devastation and population relocation from this natural hazard exceeded the impacts from previous events such as the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1927 Mississippi Flood ( Elliott and Pais, 2006). In 2005, Hurricane Katrina impacted an estimated 2,331 square kilometers, flooded over 80% of the city of New Orleans, and displaced 400,000 people causing significant outmigration ( Lewis et al., 2017). Over the past several decades, the increase in intensity and frequency of natural hazards, such as hurricanes ( Goldenberg et al., 2001 Webster et al., 2005), prolonged drought and heat waves ( Meehl and Tebaldi, 2004) has brought significant impacts on social-ecological systems. This effort presents an enhanced approach to assessing social-ecological change pre and post disturbance and provides a way forward for characterizing pertinent aspects of disaster resilience. Further, the spatial distribution of social-ecological condition over time reveals certain levels of change and reorganization after Katrina, but the reorganization did not translate into greater equity. Our results suggest that although the ongoing population recovery may be a sign of revitalization, the city and metropolitan area continue to face socioeconomic inequalities and environmental vulnerability to natural disasters. By analyzing changes in system condition using social, economic and environmental factors, we identified some of the characteristics of the system's reorganization trajectories. ![]() Furthermore, we assessed social and environmental change in New Orleans and southern Louisiana through both a spatial and temporal lens (i.e., pre- and post-Katrina). This paper discusses community resilience to natural hazards and addresses the limitations for assessing disaster resilience. Within this context, we asked how human and natural systems in Louisiana responded to Hurricane Katrina, and how the natural disaster altered the status of these systems. In the face of external perturbations, a resilient system would have capacity to absorb impacts, adapt to change, learn, and if needed, reorganize within the same regime. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes and forest fires, could trigger collapse and reorganization of social-ecological systems. 5Department of Agronomy & Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, United States.4Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University School of Law, Utrecht, Netherlands.3United States Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, United States.2United States Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH, United States. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |