Geographers, like historians, seek to understand how the past has shaped the present. But geographers are also asked to project or predict what might happen in the future. Societies attach great value to predictions and projections of how environmental, socioeconomic or technical changes could alter people’s exposure to different risks. History is littered with cautionary tales of civilisations that failed to anticipate and adapt to a changing world.
The concept of risk features throughout the A-level geography course (Figure 1). From a human perspective, a risk is a real or perceived threat against any aspect of life. In risk studies, probability refers to the likelihood of a potential hazard materialising during a specified time period (such as 1 year).
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