Human-made disasters

Geography glossary

Also called: Anthropogenic disasters · Topic: Natural Hazards and Disaster Management in India · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Natural Hazards and Disasters: Causes, Consequences and Management"

Meaning

Human-made disasters, also called anthropogenic disasters, are disasters that people cause. NCERT describes two kinds:

  • Direct: human action causes the disaster on its own. Examples are the Bhopal gas leak, Chernobyl, wars, CFCs (chemicals that damage the ozone layer), greenhouse gases and pollution.
  • Indirect: human action makes a natural process worse. Examples are landslides and floods caused by cutting forests and building in fragile areas.

Indirect disasters show that people can turn an ordinary hazard into a disaster.

Example

The Bhopal gas tragedy (2-3 December 1984, Madhya Pradesh) was a direct human-made disaster. Joshimath in Uttarakhand (2023) shows the indirect kind. Homes built on old landslide debris cracked, and the causes cited were poor drainage, unplanned building and tunnelling.

Don't confuse with

  • Natural hazard: this is a part of nature itself, such as a steep slope, that could cause harm. A human-made disaster starts with human action, or with human action making a hazard worse.

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