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Part of the book series: Global Change — The IGBP Series ((GLOBALCHANGE))

Abstract

Risk, in layman’s terms, is the “chance of disaster” (Fairman et al. 1998). More formally

Risk is a quantitative measure of a defined hazard, which combines the probability orfrequency of occurrence of the damagingevent (i.e. the hazard) and the magnitude of the consequences (i.e. expected losses) of the occurrence.

Embedded within this definition is the term hazard, and implied in the phrase “consequences of the occurrence” is the concept of vulnerability to the hazard. These two terms are therefore described next, before re-visiting broader issues of risk.

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© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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de Guenni, L.B., Schulze, R.E., Pielke, R.A., Hutchinson, M.F. (2004). The Vulnerability Approach. In: Kabat, P., et al. Vegetation, Water, Humans and the Climate. Global Change — The IGBP Series. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18948-7_43

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18948-7_43

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-62373-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-18948-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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