Natural hazards in the Papua New Guinea highlands

The Papua New Guinea Highlands experience a variety of natural hazards. This paper considers landslide, frost, volcanic, and epidemic hazards. It presents a number of case studies, including some dating from the pre-European contact period. An attempt is made to assess the relative significance of hazards in the area in terms of deaths per decade. Some of the evidence suggests that government intervention has reduced reliance on traditional coping strategies. Western definitions of hazards and hazard events are not well suited to the PNG Highlands situation. -Author