In conditions of modernity, the dangers we face no longer derive primarily from the world of nature. Of course, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters still occur. But for the most part our relations with the physical world are radically different from those of previous ages—especially in the industrialised sectors of the globe, but in some degree everywhere. At first glance, the ecological dangers that we confront today might seem similar to the hazards of nature encountered in the pre-modern era. The contrast, however, is a very marked one. Ecological threats are the outcome of socially organised knowledge, mediated by the impact of industrialism upon the material environment. They are part of what I shall call a new risk profile introduced by the advent of modernity.

DEFINE: Introduces 'new risk profile'—ecological threats as socially organized, industrialized hazards distinct from pre-modern natural dangers.

Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Moderni…, loc. 262