ABSTRACT
Catastrophes are usually associated with phenomena like tsunamis, earthquakes or asteroid impacts – disasters that happen rapidly with immediately visible impacts. A different logic is involved when problems and challenges evolve incrementally, in slow-motion, and when they only become visible over long periods (Pierson 2004). Jared Diamond referred to such changes as “creeping normalcy” (Diamond 2005). Changes are perceived as normality if they happen in unnoticed increments. This concept was used to explain the varying adaptation capacities of human societies to long-term environmental changes.
