Intro Flashcards
Natural Hazard
a process and event which occurs as part of the natural operation of our planet and which threatens lives, property and infrastructure
- can be minimised by not stopped
- humans turn process into hazard
Natural Disaster
a hazardous event that occurs over a limited time
- 10 or more killed
- 100 or more affected
- state of emergency
- international assistance required
Natural Catastrophe
occurs over a longer time-frame than a disaster
requires significant expenditure and time to recover
Geophysical Hazard
hazard originating from the solid earth
- earthquake
- mass movement
- volcanism
Hydrological Hazard
hazard caused by occurrence, movement and distribution of surface and subsurface fresh/salt water
- flood
- wave action
- landslide
Climatological Hazard
Hazard caused by long-lived, meso to macro scale atmospheric processes ranging from intra-seasonal to multi-decadal climate variability
Why should we study these?
as population grows the impact of these processes increases
- early warning systems
- preparedness
- response planning
- recovery
How do we study them?
- monitoring
- observation and recording
- modelling/forecasting
- historic and palaeorecords
Early warning
- land based
- satellite based
ocean based
also provides means by which to record and characterise the progression of an event
importance of the past
historic and palaeorecords give us better understanding:
- frequency
- magnitude
- past environmental conditions
- interaction fo different components of the climate and earth systems
Natural process
- flooding = soil nutrients
- landslides = dams = lakes/habitats
- volcanoes = .new land nad enriched soil
- tectonic processes = hydrocarbon formation along faults
- erosional processes = enrich soil & mineral resources that sustains life
Hydrosphere
solar energy drives movement of water between the atmosphere, oceans and continents
everything you know on plate tectonics?
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