Environmental risks are an inevitable aspect of contemporary life. Whether they disrupt a region, a nation or a continent, their effects are nevertheless devastating for those affected. Environmental risks lie at “the interface between the system of natural events and the system of human use.” (Burton et al, 1978: 25), in interaction with global change and sustainable development. Upsetting social, economic and political organizations, these hazards are phenomena that damage and put severe strain on human infrastructure. By differentiating between “natural” (geological, atmospheric, hydrological, epidemic and biological) and “technological” (industrial, infrastructural and technical) hazards, Smith (2013) provides a framework through which hazards can be categorized, highlighting their nature. multiple. This essay will argue that humanity must learn to live with environmental risks, developing prediction and mitigation methods to reduce their effects. Focusing on three key case studies, this essay will analyze Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, the Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan, and the Gujarat hepatitis outbreak in India in 2009. These various examples demonstrate how hazard impacts vary across different spatial scales and manifest themselves. themselves at different levels of economic and political development. Situated in the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar is an area prone to severe damage from powerful tropical cyclones (Saito et al, 2010, Bellamy, 2010 & Kishtawal et al, 2013). In 2008, Cyclone Nargis caused severe damage, with a 5-meter storm surge flooding 50 kilometers of Burmese territory. In some coastal villages, mortality rates peaked at 80% (Knapp, 2009). The high water mark of Cyclone Nargis is comparable to that of the 2005 Hur...... middle of paper ......clone Nargis and associated storm surge, part II: ensemble forecast. Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, Vol. 88, no. 3, pp. 547-570 Selth, A (2008). Even the paranoid have enemies: Cyclone Nargis and fears of invasion of Myanmar. Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs 30.3. pp. 379-402 Smith, K (2013). Environmental risks: assessing risks and reducing disasters. London: Routledge. pp. 4-12Ujikane, K (2011). Japan sees the earthquake bill rise to $309 billion, or nearly four Katrinas. Bloomberg, March 23, 2011. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/japan-sees-quake-damage-bill-of-up-to-309-billion-almost-four-katrinas. html (last accessed March 5, 2014)World Health Organization (2002). Hepatitis B. WHO/CDS/CSR/LYO/2002. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/hepatitis/whocdscsrlyo/20022/en/print.html (last accessed March 2 2014).