Which set of factors can cause a disaster?

• A. Poverty, Population growth, Urbanization, War and civil strife, and Environmental degradation
• B. Poverty and unemployment only
• C. Weather events alone
• D. Economic recession

Answer: (A)

Disasters happen when a hazardous event encounters vulnerable conditions in a community. The factors listed—poverty, population growth, urbanization, war and civil strife, and environmental degradation—each shape vulnerability or exposure in ways that make impacts more severe when a hazard strikes. Poverty limits people’s ability to prepare, protect, and recover, affecting housing quality, access to resources, and emergency response. Rapid population growth and urbanization can push more people into high-risk areas and strain infrastructure and services, so a single hazard can affect many more individuals. Conflict disrupts governance, safety nets, and infrastructure, reducing people’s capacity to respond and recover and often causing displacement that heightens exposure. Environmental degradation weakens ecosystems that normally buffer hazards, like forests that reduce floods or soils that resist erosion, thereby magnifying the damage. When these conditions are present, a hazard is much more likely to become a disaster. Weather events alone are hazards without the vulnerability context, and an economic recession by itself doesn't create a disaster, though it can deteriorate capacity to cope and recover.