Ecosystems are related to cyclones, earthquakes, and tsunamis because they impact and are impacted by natural hazards. Ecosystems like mangroves and wetlands can act as buffers against tsunamis or make evacuation more difficult. Understanding ecosystems and how they change over time can provide insight into the frequency and magnitude of natural hazards. Addressing natural hazard risk requires an interdisciplinary approach across earth sciences, engineering, social sciences, and public policy to develop solutions that consider both human and environmental systems.

1. What do Ecosystems
have to do with
Cyclones, Earthquakes and Tsunami?
Brian G. McAdoo
Department of Earth Science and Geography

2. Yala Village
5 cm in resort
Yala National Park
Sri Lanka
Yala Safari
7 m tsunami
27 dead

3. Shut Up
and
Listen

4. Banda Aceh, January 2009 Batticaloa, January 2005
photo by Alexandra Marvar
Samoa, October 2009 New Orleans, October 2005
photo by Alexandra Marvar

5. Risk
(hazard x vulnerability / capacity) - mitigation
frequency/magnitude coupled human / environment system engineering
policy
risk = (hazard x vulnerability / capacity) - mitigation

6. hazards geoscience, cee
volcanic mass
movements
seismic climate
human systems
RISK engineering
ecosystems policy
resilience solutions
ecology, anthropology, cee, public policy
sociology, economics

7. Frequency Where was the coastline?
Aceh 1907 AD 1350 AD 850 AD
2004 AD
1907 AD
1350 AD
850 AD
K. Monecke et al.
A 1,000-year sediment record of tsunami
recurrence in northern Sumatra
Nature 455, 2008

9. Syiahrial
2009
Banda Aceh
photo by Alexandra Marvar

10. Failed mangrove planting
Udjung Pancu, Banda Aceh
NAD, Indonesia

11. Wetlands as buffers and/or evacuation hindrances
Satitoa Padang
Samoa Indonesia

12. Photograph courtesy NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

13. Erosion
Route de Jacmel
Haiti

14. Gonaives, Haiti
3 September 2008
REUTERS/Marco Dormino/Minustah

15. Enriquillo-
Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault

16. Erosion and earthquake?
kgerosion
Enriquillo-
Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault
deposition
T A

18. 3 m tsunami
7 dead
Petit Paradis
Haiti

19. Riviere Canot

20. Erosion potential
Haiti

21. Bwa
Carrefour
Haiti

22. Flushing
Petionville
Haiti

23. Downstream
Carrefour
Haiti

24. Truitier
Cite Soliel
Haiti

25. The Tsunami Project
Transdisciplinary Approaches to Tsunami Risk Reduction
interdisciplinary findings agenda and needs
academia NGOs/IOs public sector
transdisciplinary
constraining the problem data needs development agenda needs and agenda implementing solutions
natural scientists engineers social scientists planners
earth science civil (infrastructure) geography policy
ecology fluid dynamics anthropology implementation
disciplinary
• past is key to present • predictive models • political structures • infrastructure
• frequency-magnitude • structural effects • economies • regulations
• hazard ID • solutions • culture • design life
http://tsunamiproject.org

26. The Tsunami Project
Transdisciplinary Approaches to Tsunami Risk Reduction
When we try to pick out anything by itself,
we find it hitched to everything else in the world.
- John Muir
www. t s u n a m i p r o j e c t . org