ABSTRACT
A consequence of adopting an approach which looks at the aggregate impact of hazards over the British Isles is that questions inevitably arise as to how vulnerable are different areas and sections of the population. Experimental integrations of the component distributions have been used to examine dimensions of individual hazards. Environmental hazards pose a risk of potential disaster. A disaster may occur as a result of the effect on human beings of the realisation of that risk. The assessment of the threat potential of hazards is essential if we are to try to achieve a sense of proportion about the environmental hazards we face. A complete comparison of the significance of particular hazards would involve comparisons of financial loss, injury and death and would be extremely difficult. Hazards arising explicitly or implicitly out of technological practices in industrialised areas like the British Isles, have significantly surpassed natural hazards in impact, cost and general importance.
