Landmark studies of disasters, risk and climate change highlight
three broad characterizations about the dynamic and integrated
nature of social and environmental vulnerability (Watts and Bohle,
1993; Blaikie et al., 1994; Kelly and Adger, 2000). One concerns the
impact of exposure to hazardous events on human populations and
social structures. A second explores the social and historical conditions
under which people are put at risk to a diverse range of climate-related,
political, or economic stresses. A third integrates
physical event and the underlying causal characteristics of populations
that lead to risk exposure and limited capacity of communities
to respond