BharatNotes Hazard
noun; verb (transitive)Usage in a UPSC answer
A disaster-resilient governance framework must distinguish between a natural hazard, which is an inevitable geophysical event, and a disaster, which results only when that hazard meets an unprepared and vulnerable population.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
hazard (v), hazardous (adj), hazardously (adv), hazardousness (n), hazarded (v past)
Root
Old French hasart = game of dice; Arabic az-zahr = the dice (via French borrowing)
Etymology
From Old French hasart ("a game of dice"), from Arabic az-zahr ("the dice"), reflecting the element of chance and risk inherent in the concept.
Memory Hook
From Arabic "az-zahr" — the dice. Every time you HAZARD a guess, you are rolling the dice and courting danger.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
A process, phenomenon or human activity with the potential to cause loss of life, injury, damage or disruption. The single most important sentence in disaster studies rests on it: a hazard becomes a disaster only when it meets exposure and vulnerability. That is why an earthquake of the same magnitude produces very different consequences in different places, and why disaster risk reduction works on exposure and vulnerability, which are alterable, rather than on the hazard, which usually is not.
Don’t Confuse It With
A hazard is the potentially damaging phenomenon. Exposure is the people and assets located where it may occur. Vulnerability is their susceptibility to harm. Risk is the combination of all three, and a disaster is the realised outcome when a hazard meets exposed and vulnerable populations.
Hindi Meaning
संकट (sankat) or परिसंकट (parisankat); आपदा (āpadā) is the disaster itself.
Common Questions
- What is a hazard?
- A process, phenomenon or human activity that may cause loss of life, injury, damage or disruption.
- What is the difference between a hazard and a disaster?
- A hazard is the potentially damaging event. It becomes a disaster only when it affects an exposed and vulnerable population.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Prelims 2024 — Disaster Management
- Prelims 2022 — Disaster Management
- Prelims 2021 — Disaster Management
- Prelims 2016 — Disaster Management
- Prelims 2012 — Public Health
- Mains 2023 · GS1 · 15 marks — Geography
- Mains 2022 · GS3 · 15 marks — Environment and Ecology
- Mains 2019 · GS3 · 15 marks — Disaster Management
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Hazard” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
Tip: press Alt+S to hear pronunciation
