ABSTRACT
A major feature shared by various creeping environmental problems is that a change in this type of environmental problem is not much worse today than it was yesterday; nor is the rate or degree of change tomorrow likely to be much different than it is today. According to the community governor, Janamejoy, the slow-onset hazard affecting Aponte began to manifest early 2015 after many residences had gradually and mysteriously crumbled due to what initially seemed to be a one-off geological event. Disasters differ markedly in terms of both their manifestation pattern and speed of onset.10 The nature of their onset, in turn, largely determines how agencies and academics interpret and react to them. Reducing the global disaster burden by shifting from a response-focused disaster management strategy to a more vulnerability and disaster risk-centred approach is in many ways a precondition for sustainable development.
