Natural Hazards - Paper 1

Question 1

Define natural hazard:

Answer 1

A natural hazard is a natural event, such as an earthquake, caused by natural processes but has the potential to cause damage, destruction and death when it interacts with humans.

Question 2

What are the 4 types of natural hazards (and give an example for each)?

Answer 2

-Tectonic hazards - earthquakes
-Geomorphological hazard - flooding
-Atmospheric hazards - tropical storms
-Biological hazards - forest fires

Question 3

What 3 factors affect hazard risk?

Answer 3

1) The number of people vulnerable to the natural hazards (eg world population has increased, and more people are living near hazard prone areas because they can’t or don’t want to move
2) The frequency or magnitude of the hazard
3) People are unable to cope with the natural hazard (eg some are harder to predict, some don’t have the money, knowledge or ability to to cope)