EXTREME WEATHER - PAPER 1 Flashcards
What are the different names for tropical storms and where?
Hurricanes - Around the Americas
Cyclones - Around Africa and South Asia
Typhoons - Around East Asoa
What conditions are needed for hurricane formation?
Low latitudes - between 5-30 degrees each side of the equator: lower pressure air, that rises; air heated quicker
Temperatures above 27 degrees: providing heat so warm air rises rapidly
Ocean depth from 60-70m: providing moisture for the hurricane to form
Low wind shear: constant wind means clouds can rise without being torn apart
What are the features in a hurricane?
They have a circular shape
Bands of swirling clouds
Rotate anticlockwise
Circular ‘eye’ in the centre of the storm
Eye wall
Move from 16-24km/h
Rise over 13km high
Eye can be from 16-48km long
How will climate change affect storms?
As sea surface temperature increases, there may be more storms in the Southern Atlantic, as there will be more areas with temperatures above 27 degrees
The frequency of category 5 and 4 storms are going to increase as frequence of category 1-3 storms decrease
For every degree increase, there is a 3-5% increase in wind speed
How do different planning methods reduce impact of tropical storms?
Coastal defences (levees/flood walls) reduce impact of storm surges
Securing loose objects prevents damage/injury from flying objects
Evacuation centres so people know where to go and minimising injury/death
Disaster supply kits so people have their necessities in the event of a storm
What is an example of a tropical storm?
Typhoon Haiyan - stuck the Phillippines on 8 Nov 2013
Category 5 earthquake
What were the primary effects? (Haiyan)
Social - 50% of homes destroyed
4.1 million homeless
6190 people dead
Economic - $12bn damage
$53m worth of damage to rice
75% of farmers + fishermen lost their income
Environmental - 800,000l oil leak
400mm of rainfall, mass flooding
1.1m tonnes of crops destryoed
What were the secondary effects? (Haiyan)
Social - Infection/disease spread; contaminated surface and groundwater
8 died in a stampede over rice supplies
Power supplies cut off for a month in some areas
Many schools destroyed
Economic - fishing industry disrupted, contaminated fishing waters
Airport badly damaged
Roads blocked by trees/debris
Mass looting for supplies
Rice prices increased by 12% in 2014
Environmental - 10 hectares of mangroves contaminated
Flooding-caused landslides
What were the short-term responses? (Haiyan)
Evacuation warning issued
800,000 people evacuated
Tacloban stadium used as evacuation centre, but flooded
1200 evac. centres created
Government sent out equipment and supplies, but were washed away in a certain area
1m food packs, 250k liters of water distributed over 2 weeks
Curfew installed, preventing looting
Celebrities and corporations enncouraging donations
What were the long-term responses (Haiyan)
33 countries and organisations pledged help
$1.5bn pledged in foreign aid
Oxfam replaced fishing boats
More cyclone shelters bbuilt
Storm surge warning system installed
Mangroves were replanted
What are examples of extreme weather in the UK?
Cumbria flooding: 17-20 November 2009
At the time, heaviest rainfall recorded
What were the causes of the flood? (Cumbria)
Large amount of rainfall month prior
This caused soil and roads to be saturated
Any further rainfall would remain as run-off
Lake District’s steep slopes
What were the different impacts of the flood?
Social - police officer died after bridge collapse
1500 homes flooded
Many injured
Water contaminated with sewage
Economic - closed businesses
Many important bridges destroyed
£100m in damages
Environmental - Landslides triggered
River water contaminated
Many trees carried away - ecosystem damagge
What were the responses to the flood? (Cumbria)
£4.5m spent on new flood defences
Mobile wall built - rises and falls as needed
EA providing flood warning information
Flood warning messages sent directly to residents in Cumbria
Adverts placed in newspapers, announcing business re-opening
