Please feel free to use the following wording when engaging with organisations and individuals on social media.

Please remember, this campaign is about politely educating and spreading the message about the 'natural disaster' misnomer - 

• Hi @[enter username]. Thnx for your [enter the medium in which they’ve used the incorrect term… e.g. tweet, report, article etc] on [enter subject of tweet here]. A shame to see 'natural' describing #disasters though. There's nothing natural about them. More here - bit.ly/NoNatDRRJourno #NoNaturalDisaster #DRR 

• There's no such thing as a natural disaster. See why here - http://bit.ly/NoNatDRRJourno #NoNaturalDisasters 

Myth 1 - Not using 'natural' to describe disasters caused by naturally occuring hazards is confusing to the public?

Answer - There is no evidence currently that this alters how the public understands the message. Our argument is that with the correct reporting of the hazard and impacts, the use of 'natural' isn't needed. All valid information (hazard type, impacts, location, date etc) can be included in the article, tweet or other form of media.

Myth 2 - The use of ‘natural’ to describe disasters is often cultural and should not be challenged.

Answer - Cultural issues do impact on understanding of terminology and langauge but it should not stop our campaign from highlighting the inaccuracies of this term. 

Myth 3 - How will technological and naturally occuring hazards be distinguished without the term?

Answer - see the response to myth 1.

Peer reviewed

• Aragon-Durand, F.J.. 2009. Unpacking the social construction of ́natural ́ disaster through policy discourses and institutional responses in Mexico: The case of Chalco Valley’s floods, state of Mexico. PhD Thesis, Development Planning Unit, The Bartlett, University College London. Available at: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18983/1/18983.pdf
• Ball, N., 1975. The myth of natural disasters. The Ecologist, Vol.5, Issue 10: 368-369.
• Cannon, T. 1994. Vulnerability analysis and explanation of ‘natural’ disasters. Chapter 1. In: Disaster: Development and Environment. Varley, A. (ed.). London, UK. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. 
• Gaillard, J.C., C.C. Liamzon and J.D. Villanueva. 2007. ‘Natural’ disaster? A retrospect into the causes of the late-2004 typhoon disaster in Eastern Luzon, Philippines. Environmental Hazards, Vol. 7, Issue 4: 257-270. 
• Gould, K.A., M.M. Garcia and J.A.C. Remes. 2016. Beyond "natural-disasters-are-not-natural": the work of state and nature after the 2010 earthquake in Chile. Journal of Political Ecology, Vol. 23: 93-114. 

Other reading

• Blanchard K, 2020. #NoNaturalDisasters in the Workplace: Improving how we talk about disasters at work. London, UK: Author. Available here - https://bit.ly/NNDWork
• World Bank and United Nations, 2010. Natural Hazards, Unnatural Disasters. Available here - http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2010/11/15/natural-hazards-unnatural-disasters-the-economics-of-effective-prevention. Washington: The World Bank.
• Bankoff, G., 2010. No such thing as natural disasters. Harvard International Review. 23 August 2010. Available at: http://hir.harvard.edu/article/?a=2694 
• Chmutina, K., J. von Meding, J.C. Gaillard and L. Bosher. 2017. Why natural disasters aren't all that natural. OpenDemocracy. Available online at https://www.opendemocracy.net/ksenia-chmutina-jason-von-meding-jc-gaillard-lee-bosher/why-natural-disasters-arent-all-that-natural