ABSTRACT
Categorizing countries by their risk levels due to natural hazards has become a standard approach to assess, prioritize and mitigate the adverse effects of natural disasters. Recent examples of coordinated international efforts include studies like the ‘‘World Disasters Report’’ (IFRC 2007), ‘‘Natural Disaster Hotspots’’ (Dilley et al. 2005), and ‘‘Reducing Disaster Risk’’ (UNDP 2004) as well as studies by the world’s leading reinsurance companies (Berz 2005; Munich Re 2003; Swiss Re 2003). Applications to the impacts of manmade (anthropogenic) activities range from ecological risk assessment of metals and organic pollutants (e.g. Critto et al. 2005; Zhou et al. 2007) to risk assessment of contaminated industrial sites (Carlon et al. 2001), conflicts over international water resources (Yoffe et al. 2003), climate risks (Anemüller et al. 2006), and environmental sustainability assessment (Bastianoni et al. 2008).
