Vulnerability and Exposure to Geomorphic Hazards: Some Insights from the European Alps

Abstract

Geomorphological processes and society are connected through a diverse set of relationships and feedbacks. One of the main connections concerns the impact of hazardous geomorphic processes on society that lead to economic and life losses. Due to the extent of geomorphological activity in mountain regions, and the considerable proportion of these that are occupied and used by people, mountains are a particular focus in geohazard and interdisciplinary risk research. Taking the European Alps as an example, a short overview indicates the fundamentals of mountain hazard processes and highlights trends in the number of different hazard types in Austria. Climate and environmental change as well as their influence on mountain hazard processes are discussed with a focus on the cryosphere and hydrosphere. Key issues in developing a more thorough understanding of increasing losses and future risk are exposure and vulnerability. Initial insights on exposure are provided by an analysis of the past evolution and current situation in the context of spatial and temporal distribution of values at risk; this is illustrated with reference to Austria. The importance of vulnerability for risk reduction is internationally acknowledged but somewhat less studied and, indeed, seems to be hidden between the different foci of disciplines. Innovative methods for vulnerability analysis (documentation, vulnerability curves) are presented contributing to close this gap. Overall, mountain hazard research highlights the importance of connecting geomorphology and the socio-economy in order to contribute to the most challenging questions of more sustainable societies.

Flood risk perception and adaptation capacity: a contribution to the socio-hydrology debate

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Completeness analyses of the Austrian torrential event catalog

“…In Austria, studies about hazard assessment procedures for torrential processes started at the end of the 19th century (Duile 1826;Müller 1857;Landolt 1886;Stiny 1907Stiny , 1909, and since then there has been a shift from heuristic hazard reduction strategies to a quantified risk culture. Today, risk culture has many facets in dealing with natural hazards, and risk reduction has become socially relevant (Thaler et al 2019;Keiler and Fuchs 2016). This is reasoned by a society's awareness-also on the political level-that a complete protection against natural hazards is not affordable and economically justifiable (Wilhelm 1996;Fuchs and McAlpin 2005;Fuchs et al 2008), and that the global financial and insurance markets, upon which the global economy depends, are essentially risk-driven Smith and Petley 2009.…”

Upgrading of an index-oriented methodology for consequence analysis of natural hazards: application to the Upper Guil catchment (southern French Alps)

“…In Europe, small Alpine communities are particularly exposed to natural hazards due to characteristics inherent to the physical and the socio-economic environment (Zingari and Fiebiger, 2002). Alpine areas are generally characterised by step gradient, tectonic activity and harsh climates resulting in dynamic gravitational and torrential processes causing hazards (Keiler and Fuchs, 2016;Papathoma-Köhle et al, 2011). They are also characterised by a high level of vulnerability caused by scattered populations and resources (Hewitt and Metha, 2012), limited accessibility (Leone et al, 2014) and strong dependencies to seasonal tourism activities (Elsasser and Bürki, 2002;Muhar et al, 2007).…”

“…The alpine environment is, in fact, very sensitive to global changes (IPCC, 2012). The impact of such changes on hazard magnitudes and frequencies will be significant and may increase the probability of occurrence of a catastrophic event (Schoeneich and De Jong, 2008;Keiler et al, 2010;Lafaysse, 2011;IPCC, 2012;.…”