Week 1

Question 1

annually, how many people are forced to evacuate their homes due to hazards?

Answer 1

20 million – don’t need to know just know a lot LOL

Question 2

what are the types of hazards experienced in North America? classify them based off geographical location

Answer 2

west coast
— earthquakes
— landslides

east coast
— hurricanes

mid-continent
— tornadoes, blizzards, snowstorms

all areas
— droughts

Question 3

give examples of hazards that pose a risk to both humans and the environment

Answer 3

oil spills

ozone depletion

acid rain

nuclear meltdown

airplane crash

infrastructure failure (collapsed bridges) / infrastructure aging out

Question 4

what are the main processes in which natural hazards can arise?

Answer 4

internal forces within the Earth
— plate tectonic and mantal underneath the core

external forces on Earth’s surface
— sun’s energy - heating up land and water
— atmospheric effects such as tornadoes

gravitational attraction
— force of gravity, e.g. downslope movement

Question 5

what is a hazard?

Answer 5

a process that poses a potential threat to people or the environment

a potential threat, not so much an event

Question 6

what is risk?

Answer 6

the probability of an event occurring multiplied by the impact on people or the environment

all about the probability

Question 7

what is a disaster?

Answer 7

a brief event that causes great property damage or loss of life - a carried out hazard

dis = negative
aster = astronomy
—- thought to be caused by bad alignment

Question 8

what is a catastrophe?

Answer 8

a massive disaster

Question 9

what determines the impact of a hazard?

Answer 9

it is a function of both its magnitude (e.g. energy released) and frequency

it can also be affected by other factors such as geology, land use, and population density among other that also affect the 2 variables

Question 10

what is a function?

Answer 10

function means there is a relationship between 2 variables!

Question 11

what does the magnitude-frequency concept say?

Answer 11

there is an inverse or negative relationship between magnitude and frequency

as magnitude goes up, the frequency goes down

8 is not very frequent, but 2 is very frequent

Question 12

where do we get information or data from to understand or hazards?

Answer 12

historic documents, journals, aerial photos

weather and climate data

craters, faults, or valleys
i.e. valley = a glacier was there or there may have been flooding

Question 13

what are the 3 cycles that make up the overall process called the geologic cycle?

Answer 13

tectonic cycle

rock cycle

hydrologic cycle (the water cycle)

Question 14

describe the tectonic cycle

Answer 14

involves the creation, movement, and destruction of tectonic plates

crust is broken up into 14 plates and they are moving around

7 big plates have the continents on them and there are 7 small plates that wedge in between

new land is formed at mid-ocean ridges and land is destroyed at subduction zones
—- plates separate and new lands come up
—- land is destroyed, sinking into the mantle in some areas to make room for new land

process is driven by Earth’s internal energy

Question 15

what are tectonic plates? how many are plates are there? describe these plates

Answer 15

large blocks of the earth crust that form its outer shell

there are 14

7 big ones have the continents on them and there are 7 that wedge in between

Question 16

describe Earth’s internal structure

Answer 16

lithosphere
— a thin and brittle crust
— rides on top of the asthenosphere

asthenosphere
— upper mantle
— composed of hot magma with some flow
— can become volcanic eruption

the inner core is extremely hot and solid

Question 17

describe the crust of the Earth

Answer 17

the crust forms the upper part of the lithosphere and is broken into fragments (plates)

there are 2 types of crust, oceanic and continental

Question 18

what are the types of crust?

Answer 18

oceanic
— dense, thin
— averages 7km thick
— supports water

continental
— relatively buoyant, thick
— averages 30km
— less dense and supports mountains

Question 19

what causes the plates to move?

Answer 19

convection currents in the mantle

crashing into another -> sink

bc it is more dense, oceanic plates tend to sink more often

the rock would melt as it approaches the core and this is how we get magma

Question 20

what are the types of plate boundaries

Answer 20

divergent, convergent, transform

divergent
— plates are separating
— magma comes up and hardens to form new land
— the spreading seafloor causes ocean ridges to form
——– the Atlantic Ocean is getting wider by a few cm every year

convergent
— plates move closer to each other

transform
— plates slide horizontally past each other
— the zone along which the movement occurs is called a transform fault

Question 21

what was the evidence for the Pangea, super continent?

Answer 21

current mountain ranges (e.g. ours and the Alps) and fossils

Question 22

which country is becoming smaller due to plate movement?

Answer 22

due to converging – India

India is continuing to push into the Asia

mountains are becoming taller there as well

Question 23

describe the types of collisions

Answer 23

oceanic + continental crust = subduction zones
—- dense oceanic plates sink and melt
—- how we get magma and later on lava
—- melted magma rises to form mountains and volcanos aka Andes on the south American coast

continental + continental crust = collision boundaries
—- neither plates “sink” so they both push up
—- tall mountains tend to form aka Himalayas
—- process is very lengthy

Question 24

the zone along which plates slide horizontally past one another is called what?

Answer 24

transform faults

Question 25

what are hotspots? where are they found?

Answer 25

spots where magma rises from the mantle the current is strong enough to push the magma from the crust, magma erupting at the surface results in the formation of volcanoes ---- hawaiian islands have hotspots underneath them and are at risk of volcanism they're found away from plate boundaries

Question 26

describe the rock cycle

Answer 26

a group of interrelated processes that produce the 3 different rock types: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic

Question 27

what is a rock? importance of rocks?

Answer 27

an aggregate of one or more minerals the type of rock in an area gives clues to geological events of the past

Question 28

what are the 3 different rock types?

Answer 28

igneous --- rock used to be molting and magma which is now hardened sedimentary --- most in Ontario --- from erosion and wind, making sediments metamorphic --- apply pressure. it becomes metamorphic and we begin again

Question 29

describe the hydrologic cycle

Answer 29

movement and exchange of water among the land, atmosphere, and oceans by changes in state aka water cycle solar energy drives the movement of water among the atmosphere, oceans, and continents rain drops can stay in ocean for thousands of years but for a few days in the atmosphere

Question 30

what benefits do we get from understanding hazards?

Answer 30

allows for identification of where hazards may occur knowledge of past events aids in predicting future events -- history repeats itself many hazards are natural processes, they only become hazardous when they disrupt humans or the environment --- these processes are not within our control, we can't prevent them, we can only respond --- the best solution to mitigate lost is prepare

Question 31

how can we mitigate lost in regards to hazards?

Answer 31

accurate predictions and forecasts are necessary in order to reduce loss some hazards can be predicted, many can be forecasted ---- hurricanes can be predicted, but we cannot predict an earthquake

Question 32

what is a prediction?

Answer 32

a specific time, date, location, and magnitude of the event

Question 33

what is forecast?

Answer 33

a range of probability for the event, not the same as prediction

Question 34

how do we evaluate risk? (formula)

Answer 34

risk = probability of event x consequences consequences = damage to people, property, the environment, or the economy

Question 35

what is acceptable risk?

Answer 35

amount of risk that an individual is willing to take the frequency of an event plays a role in determining the acceptable risk a person does not ride a motorcycle, knows someone that was in a crash ---- how personality plays a role in our decisions

Question 36

give examples of how hazards are linked to each other or how does the environment play a factor in hazards?

Answer 36

earthquakes may cause tsunamis and landslides hurricanes may cause tornadoes and flooding ------ some rock types are more prone to landslides

Question 37

describe how population and population growth increase the risk of hazards

Answer 37

concentration of the human population creates greater loss of life in a disaster it also puts greater demand on Earth's resources many people live in areas that are prone to hazards

Question 38

describe the socioeconomic factor of hazards

Answer 38

economic losses from disasters are much higher in developed countries deaths from disasters are much higher in developing countries

Question 39

what are the direct and indirect effects of hazards

Answer 39

direct effects ---- deaths, injuries, displacement of people, property damage (what the media reports) indirect effects ---- crops failures, starvation, emotional distress (PTSD), loss of employment

Question 40

how can we deal with consequences of hazards?

Answer 40

we mainly deal with effects in reactive ways. but a higher-level strategy requires a proactive approach reactive approach --- recovery, search and rescue, emergency food, water, shelter, and rebuilding --- we need the event to happen for this approach proactive approach --- land use planning, building codes, insurance, evacuation planning, drills, structural control

Question 41

what are the benefits of hazardous events?

Answer 41

some natural events provide important benefits aka "natural service functions" e.g. flooding provides nutrients for soil -- why flood plains are good for agriculture landslides form natural dams that create lakes -- how lakes are formed in mountainous areas volcanic eruptions create new land -- how new islands exist

Question 42

which mountain chain is the result of an ocean-continent subduction zone?

Answer 42

Andes on the south American coast