Natural%20Hazards%20Notes

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Natural Hazards Notes

• What are they?
• Where do they happen?
• What kind of damage happens?
• How have people adapted?

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Earthquakes

• An earthquake is the result of a sudden release
  of stored energy in the Earth's crust along a
  fault line.

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Earthquakes originate directly above the focus
point which is called the epicenter.
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Damage

• Damage can be minor to major.

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Adaptation/Modification

• Humans can build structures that sway, expand, or
  contract to absorb the shaking of the earth.

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Volcanoes

• What is a volcano?When pressure from the molten
  rock beneath the earth's surface becomes too
  great, the rock, usually accompanied by lava or
  gases, escapes through a fissure or vent in the
  crust of the earth.
• "Volcano" is the term given to both the vent and
  the conical mountain left by the overflow of the
  erupted lava, rock and ash.

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Volcanoes happen along seduction plate boundaries
or where the Earths crust is thin.
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Damage

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Adaptation/Modification

• People may live in volcanic areas, but no
  modifications to the environment can be made to
  protect them from their destructive force.

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Hurricanes

• When the winds in a tropical storm reach 75mph,
  the storm is called a hurricane.

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Where do they Occur?

• They happen over warm ocean waters in the low
  latitude regions around the world.
• They are called hurricane in the Atlantic
  Ocean, typhoon in the Pacific Ocean, and
  cyclone in the Indian Ocean

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DamageWinds determine the intensity of a
hurricane

• Strong winds are the most common means of
  destruction associated with hurricanes. They
  uproot trees, knock over buildings and homes,
  fling potentially deadly debris around, sink or
  ground boats, and flip cars.
• Still, flooding kills more people than the strong
  winds do.

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Damage, Storm Surge

• One major cause of hurricane damage is storm
  surge. Storm surge is the rising of the sea level
  due to the low pressure, high winds, and high
  waves associated with a hurricane as it makes
  landfall. The storm surge can cause significant
  flooding and cost people their lives if they're
  caught unexpected.

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Adapting for Hurricanes

• Homes and building are constructed with extra
  supports systems to handle high winds, but even
  these methods will not prevent damage from storm
  surge or winds that are extreme.

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Tsunamis

• What causes a tsunami?... A tsunami is a large
  ocean wave that is caused by sudden motion on the
  ocean floor. This sudden motion could be an
  earthquake, a powerful volcanic eruption, or an
  underwater landslide.
• Tsunamis travel across the open ocean at great
  speeds and build into large deadly waves in the
  shallow water of a shoreline.

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Tsunamis can happen in any ocean, but tend to
originate at plate boundaries
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Earthquakes and Tsunamis
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Tsunami Damage




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• Adapting to Tsunamis
• One way people adapt to Tsunamis is to have
  early warning devices that will alert others that
  a tsunami is on its way.
• Plans call for the U.S. Tsunami warning network
  to total 39 DART II buoy stations by mid-summer
  2008 (32 in the Pacific and seven in the Atlantic
  Basin).

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Flooding

• When an area receives more rainfall then it can
  handle flooding occurs. This can happen almost
  anywhere in the world.

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Damage From Flooding

• Physical damage- Structures such as buildings get
  damaged due to flood water. Landslides can also
  take place.
• Casualties- People and livestock die due to
  drowning. It can also lead to epidemics and
  diseases.
• Water supplies- Contamination of water. Clean
  drinking water becomes scarce.
• Crops and food supplies- Shortage of food crops
  can be caused due to loss of entire harvest
• Floods account for more than 1 billion in
  property losses in the United States each year.

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• Adapting
• Flood planning and mitigation is based on
  gathering high-quality information related to a
  variety of physical, environmental, and human
  conditions.
• Flooding causes more damage in the United States
  than any other severe weather related event, an
  average of 4.6 billion a year in the past 20
  years (1984-2003). Flooding can occur in any of
  the 50 states or U.S. territories at anytime of
  the year.

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Droughts

• Drought is a natural phenomenon, like hurricanes,
  tornadoes, or earthquakes. Unlike these examples,
  however, drought develops slowly, lasts longer,
  and often is very subtle it can creep up on a
  region and cause damage before being identified.

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• Where can Droughts happen
• Anywhere that climate change effects the normal
  amount of precipitation over a period of time.
• Damage from Droughts
• Droughts causes between 6 billion and 8 billion
  a year in direct estimated losses to the U.S.
  economy.
• Adapting to Droughts
• Drought planning and mitigation is based on
  gathering high-quality information related to a
  variety of physical, environmental, and human
  conditions.

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• Notice that Texas one of the top five States that
  has had major weather related damage

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• Having a family emergency plan can save lives