Which type of natural hazards cause maximum damage to property and lives ?

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Accepted Answer

Correct answer: B — ConceptNatural hazards are grouped by the earth-system process that generates them. Hydro-meteorological hazards arise from atmospheric, hydrological and oceanographic processes acting together — tropical cyclones, storms, floods, droughts and extreme temperatures. Geological hazards arise from internal earth processes — earthquakes, volcanic activity and dry mass movements. "Hydrological" on its own names only the water-movement subset of the broader hydro-meteorological group, and "geo-chemical" refers to chemical processes in earth materials rather than a top-level hazard class. The aggregate damage a hazard class inflicts is the product of two factors, not of single-event severity alone: How often events of that class occur in a given period (frequency). How large an area and how many people each event exposes (spatial extent and exposure). Applying it hereIdentify the class that scores highest on frequency: weather-, climate- and water-driven events recur every year and in every season, in contrast to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, which are episodic. Identify the class that scores highest on extent: a tropical cyclone or a river flood sweeps across hundreds of kilometres of densely settled coastline and floodplain, whereas seismic destruction concentrates near the fault and the epicentre. Combine the two: high frequency multiplied by wide exposure gives hydro-meteorological hazards the largest cumulative toll on both property and lives. Global disaster statistics bear this out. The National Institute of Disaster Management records that hydro-meteorological events caused over 90 per cent of natural-disaster fatalities during the 1990s, and a World Bank synthesis of losses from 1980 to 2012 attributes about 74 per cent of reported economic losses and 61 per cent of lives lost to them. CRED's review of the same era assigns meteorological events roughly 60 per cent of economic damage, against about 19 per cent for the hydrological subgroup on its own. Cross-check against the other classesClass Why its cumulative toll is smaller Hydrological Only the water-movement subset (floods, wet mass movements, wave action) — a part of the hydro-meteorological group, so it cannot exceed the whole. Geological Individual earthquakes can be catastrophic, but they are episodic and their destruction is spatially concentrated, so the long-run total stays lower. Geo-chemical Concerns chemical enrichment and release in earth materials (arsenic, fluoride, radon); its effects are chronic and localised, not sudden mass destruction. Hence the answer is Hydro-meteorological.

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A. Hydrological

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B. Hydro-meteorological

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C. Geological

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D. Geo-chemical

Class	Why its cumulative toll is smaller
Hydrological	Only the water-movement subset (floods, wet mass movements, wave action) — a part of the hydro-meteorological group, so it cannot exceed the whole.
Geological	Individual earthquakes can be catastrophic, but they are episodic and their destruction is spatially concentrated, so the long-run total stays lower.
Geo-chemical	Concerns chemical enrichment and release in earth materials (arsenic, fluoride, radon); its effects are chronic and localised, not sudden mass destruction.