Natural Hazards and the press in the western Mediterranean region

Llasat-Botija, Montserrat; Llasat, María Carmen; López, Laura

doi:10.5194/adgeo-12-81-2007

Cited by 30 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The results of the analysis reveal that the press focuses more on the vulnerability to risks (economic and social damage) and less on the actual danger (description and/or explanation of the meteorological phenomenon). It is also necessary to assess in each case all the situational factors involved in the publication of a news item, since the spatial and temporal location of the event need to be taken into account too (Llasat-Botija et al, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…some pictures or descriptions). There have been some previous studies that argue the case for use of the press to estimate the social perception of natural risks or climate change (Allan et al, 2000;Delitala, 2005;Lacey and Longman, 1997;Fischer, 1998;Llasat-Botija et al, 2007). The majority approach the use of the press like a proxy-data source to obtain indirect information about frequency and risk magnitude, or a socio-cultural approach.…”

Section: Risk Analysis Through the Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

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A press database on natural risks and its application in the study of floods in Northeastern Spain

Llasat

Llasat-Botija

López³

2009

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The aim of this work is to introduce a systematic press database on natural hazards and climate change in Catalonia (NE of Spain) and to analyze its potential application to social-impact studies. For this reason, a review of the concepts of risk, hazard, vulnerability and social perception is also included. This database has been built for the period 1982-2007 and contains all the news related with those issues published by the oldest still-active newspaper in Catalonia. Some parameters are registered for each article and for each event, including criteria that enable us to determine the importance accorded to it by the newspaper, and a compilation of information about it. This ACCESS data base allows each article to be classified on the basis of the seven defined topics and key words, as well as summary information about the format and structuring of the new itself, the social impact of the event and data about the magnitude or intensity of the event. The coverage given to this type of news has been assessed because of its influence on construction of the social perception of natural risk and climate change, and as a potential source of information about them. The treatment accorded by the press to different risks is also considered. More than 14 000 press articles have been classified. Results show that the largest number of news items for the period 1982-2007 relates to forest fires and droughts, followed by floods and heavy rainfalls, although floods are the major risk in the region of study. Two flood events recorded in 2002 have been analyzed in order to show an example of the role of the press information as indicator of risk perception.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Risk Analysis Through the Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

A press database on natural risks and its application in the study of floods in Northeastern Spain

Llasat

Llasat-Botija

López³

2009

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…This increase could be due only to an increase of perception, but not to the actual risk. There are already some previous studies that argue the case for use of the press to estimate the social perception of natural risks or climate change (Delitala, 2005;Lacey and Longman, 1997;Rowe et al, 2000;Fischer, 1998;Llasat-Botija et al, 2007;Tàbara, 2008). On the basis of this relationship, this increase in hail risk perception could be caused by an increase of the press coverage of each event.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the basis of this relationship, this increase in hail risk perception could be caused by an increase of the press coverage of each event. In its turn, press coverage could be influenced by external events such as political declarations, elections, the economic situation or other events (Llasat-Botija et al, 2007). But it could also be related to changes in the sensitivity of the population to certain natural hazards, for instance, as a consequence of a strong campaign related to weather modification by cloud seeding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An analysis of the evolution of hydrometeorological extremes in newspapers: the case of Catalonia, 1982–2006

Llasat

Llasat-Botija

Barnolas

et al. 2009

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. This contribution analyzes the evolution of perception of certain natural hazards over the past 25 years in a Mediterranean region. Articles from newspapers have been used as indicator. To this end a specific Spanish journal has been considered and an ACCESS database has been created with the summarized information from each news item. The database includes data such as the location of each specific article in the newspaper, its length, the number of pictures and figures, the headlines and a summary of the published information, including all the instrumental data. The study focused on hydrometeorological extremes, mainly floods and droughts, in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The number of headlines per event, trends and other data have been analyzed and compared with "measured" information, in order to identify any bias that could lead to an erroneous perception of the phenomenon. The SPI index (a drought index based on standardized accumulated precipitation) has been calculated for the entire region, and has been used for the drought analysis, while a geodatabase implemented on a GIS built for all the floods recorded in Catalonia since 1900 (IN-UNGAMA) has been used to analyze flood evolution. Results from a questionnaire about the impact of natural hazards in two specific places have been also used to discuss the various perceptions between rural and urban settings. Results show a better correlation between the news about drought or water scarcity and SPI than between news on floods in Catalonia and the INUNGAMA database. A positive trend has been found for non-catastrophic floods, which is explained by decrease of the perception thresholds, the increase of population density in the most flood-prone areas and changes in land use.

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“…Several studies have indicated that floods and droughts are dangerous hazards in the Mediterranean region due both to the number of people affected and the relatively high frequency by which human activities and goods suffer damages and losses (Llasat-Botija et al 2007 [1]). This is especially true for semi-arid regions such as the Middle East.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing One-Way and Two-Way Coupled Hydrometeorological Forecasting Systems for Flood Forecasting in the Mediterranean Region

et al. 2016

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Abstract:A pair of hydro-meteorological modeling systems were calibrated and evaluated for the Ayalon basin in central Israel to assess the advantages and limitations of one-way versus two-way coupled modeling systems for flood prediction. The models used included the Hydrological Engineering Center-Hydrological Modeling System (HEC-HMS) model and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Hydro modeling system. The models were forced by observed, interpolated precipitation from rain-gauges within the basin, and with modeled precipitation from the WRF atmospheric model. Detailed calibration and evaluation was carried out for two major winter storms in January and December 2013. Then, both modeling systems were executed and evaluated in an operational mode for the full 2014/2015 rainy season. Outputs from these simulations were compared to observed measurements from the hydrometric station at the Ayalon basin outlet. Various statistical metrics were employed to quantify and analyze the results: correlation, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and the Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) efficiency coefficient. Foremost, the results presented in this study highlight the sensitivity of hydrological responses to different sources of simulated and observed precipitation data, and demonstrate improvement, although not significant, at the Hydrological response, like simulated hydrographs. With observed precipitation data both calibrated models closely simulated the observed hydrographs. The two-way coupled WRF/WRF-Hydro modeling system produced improved both the precipitation and hydrological simulations as compared to the one-way WRF simulations. Findings from this study, as well as previous studies, suggest that the use of two-way atmospheric-hydrological coupling has the potential to improve precipitation and, therefore, hydrological forecasts for early flood warning applications. However, more research needed in order to better understand the land-atmosphere coupling mechanisms driving hydrometeorological processes on a wider variety precipitation and terrestrial hydrologic systems.

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Natural Hazards and the press in the western Mediterranean region

Cited by 30 publications

References 5 publications

A press database on natural risks and its application in the study of floods in Northeastern Spain

A press database on natural risks and its application in the study of floods in Northeastern Spain

An analysis of the evolution of hydrometeorological extremes in newspapers: the case of Catalonia, 1982–2006

Comparing One-Way and Two-Way Coupled Hydrometeorological Forecasting Systems for Flood Forecasting in the Mediterranean Region

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