Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards pp 1088–1090Cite as

Vulnerability

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Exposure; Susceptibility

Definition

Vulnerability is potential for harm or loss.

The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system, or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard (ISDR 2009:30).

Introduction

Vulnerability is a key concept in natural hazards and disasters research. It is used to describe the potential for harm or loss in a physical system (e.g., erosion of beaches, glacial melting); the fragility of the built environment and infrastructure; or the susceptibility to harm in social and economic systems. Vulnerability can be studied at the individual level, for example, an individual person, a house, a bridge. It can also be aggregated to the group level to study the vulnerability of low-income populations, commercial establishments, and infrastructure systems such as the transportation networks. Vulnerability can also be examined spatially with a focus on particular places such as communities, regions, or nations. From the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   449.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   649.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Adger, W. N., 2006. Vulnerability. Global Environmental Change, 16, 268–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, D., 1993. Natural Disasters. New York: Chapman and Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birkmann, J., 2006. Measuring Vulnerability to Natural Hazards: Towards Disaster Resilient Societies. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boruff, B. J., and Cutter, S. L., 2007. The environmental vulnerability of Caribbean island nations. Geographical Review, 97(1), 24–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cutter, S. L., 2010. Social science perspectives on hazards and vulnerability science. In Beer, T. (ed.), Geophysical Hazards. New York: Springer, pp. 17–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cutter, S. L., Mitchell, J. T., et al., 2000. Revealing the vulnerability of people and places: a case study of Georgetown County, South Carolina. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 90(4), 713–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eakin, H., and Luers, A. L., 2006. Assessing the vulnerability of social-environmental systems. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 31, 365–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewitt, K., and Burton, I., 1971. The Hazardousness of a Place: A Regional Ecology of Damaging Events. Toronto: University of Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  • ISDR International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 2009. 2009 UNISDR Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction. Geneva: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasperson, J. X., Kasperson, R. E., et al., 2005. Vulnerability to global environmental change. In Kasperson, J. X., and Kasperson, R. E. (eds.), Social Contours of Risk, Vol. II. London: Earthscan, pp. 245–285.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laska, S., and Morrow, B. H., 2007. Social vulnerabilities and Hurricane Katrina: an unnatural disaster in New Orleans. Marine Technology Society Journal, 40(4), 16–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council, 2007. Tools and Methods for Estimating Populations at Risk from Natural Disasters and Complex Humanitarian Crises. Washington DC: National Academies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, K. L., Leichenko, R., et al., 2004. Mapping vulnerability to multiple stressors: climate change and globalization in India. Global Environmental Change, 14, 303–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Polsky, C., 2004. Putting space and time in Ricardian climate change impact studies: the case of agriculture in the U.S. Great Plains. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 94(3), 549–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rashed, T., and Weeks, J., 2003. Assessing vulnerability to earthquake hazards through spatial multicriteria analysis of urban areas. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 17(6), 547–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tierney, K., 2006. Social inequality, hazards, and disasters. In Daniels, R. J., Kettl, D. F., and Kunreuther, H. (eds.), On Risk and Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, B. L., II, Kasperson, R. E., et al., 2003. Framework for vulnerability analysis in sustainability science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100, 8074–8079.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisner, B., Blaikie, P., et al., 2004. At Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s Vulnerability and Disasters. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, N. J., Burton, C. G., et al., 2010. Community variations in social vulnerability to Cascadia-related tsunamis in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Natural Hazards, 52, 369–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yarnal, B., 2007. Vulnerability and all that jazz: addressing vulnerability in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Technology in Society, 29, 249–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zahran, S., Brody, S. D., et al., 2008. Social vulnerability and the natural and built environment: a model of flood casualties in Texas. Disasters, 32(4), 537–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Hazards & Vulnerability Research Institute, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Susan L. Cutter

Authors
  1. Susan L. Cutter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan L. Cutter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

    Peter T. Bobrowsky

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Cutter, S.L. (2013). Vulnerability. In: Bobrowsky, P.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4399-4_40

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation