Selection of Scale in Vulnerability and Resilience Assessments

Society is vulnerable to natural disasters and impacts from climate change. Vulnerability, as discussed here, is defined as the potential for loss, and is expressed as a function of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Exposure is a function of an object’s proximity to a hazard, sensitivity as differential degrees of potential loss of exposed objects, and adaptive capacity as the ability of an object or system to adjust to hazards and impacts.