Increasing development of an area combined with population growth leads directly to use, and often overuse, of surrounding resources, according to Schramm, who offers several courses in Disaster Management. As more land is needed to support the population, forests are burned off for agriculture, or cut down for wood. Farmland is used continuously and not allowed to replenish itself. Animals are allowed to eat plants that would normally keep precious topsoil in place. Cities move up hillsides and remove the plants that would otherwise hold down the soil.
People build wherever they can find space, including along flood-prone rivers and in flood plains.
Many times, homes are poorly built of readily available materials. Even a moderate earthquake can collapse such structures. In typhoons and tsunamis, reefs and windbreaks may have been destroyed, and their natural protection is no longer available. Even man-made disasters increase as development increases. More people mean more opportunities for things to go wrong.