Climate hazards

• Climate change is the change in precipitation and temperature patterns over an extended period of time
• Natural causes of climate change

  • Volcanism
  • Solar output theory
  • Asteroid collision
  • Milankovitch cycles - eccentricity, obiquity,procession
• A troptropical cyclone is a large rotating storms that occur over tropical waters between 0 and 30 degrees of the equator also known as hurricanes and typhoons
• Hot air rises and creates low pressure
• Cold air sinks and creates high pressure
• Features of continental crust

  • Made up of land
  • Less dense
  • Thinner than oceanic
  • Grantic crust
• Features of oceanic crust

  • Found in the ocean
  • Dense
  • Thicker
  • Basaltic crust
• A reposnse is how people deal with the impacts of a tropical cyclone or any tectonic hazard
• Responses

  • Flood barriers up
  • Evacuate area
  • Rescue team and efforts
  • Enough supplies
  • Emergency kits
• What can impact the amount damage caused by tectonic hazards ?

  • Poor infrastructure
  • Secondary events
  • Predictions and evacuation
  • Time of day
  • Seasons
  • Communication
• Epicentre : point on eaths surface directly above focus
• Focus : where earthquake begins
• Seismic waves energy released from earthquake
• An earthquake is a sudden short period of intense ground shaking
• Collision

  Collision plate boundaries occur when two continental plates move towards each other

  Fold mountains and earthquake
• Transform / Conservative

  Conservative plate boundaries occur when two plate slide past each other

  Violent earthquake
• Convergent / destructive

  Occur when oceanic plate is forced or subduction a continental plate

  Composite volcanoes formed
• Divergent/ constructive

  Two different plates moving away form each other

  Sheila volcano or New Land created
• What can impact the amount of damage caused by tectonic hazard

  • Poor infrastructure
  • Secondary events
  • Population density
  • Predictions
  • Evacuations
  • Time of day
  • Seasons
  • Communication
• Explain one cause of tectonic plate movement

  Convection currents

  Heat rises from the core this heat continues to rise until it hits the asthenosphere where it will cool and fall. This continuous movement causes the plates which are sat on top to move
• Explain one piece of evidence of natural climate change

  Ice cores

  Scientists drill ice cores and determine the amount of gas locked away. During different time scales there have been different amounts of gas and temperature
• Explain two reasons why tropical cyclones lose energy

  They make landfall, cyclones cannot continue on land . They get all of their energy from the ocean

  Wind speed, cyclones need a wind shear of 74mph

  Ocean temperature, if it falls below 26.5 it cannot continue to form
• What is the green house effect

  1 solar radiation

  2 radiation heats the earths surface

  3 some radiation is reflected off the surface and is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere

  4 some radiation passes back into space

  5 greenhouse gases absorb and re-radiate heat
• How a hurricane forms

  1 warm water evaporates, moisture rises creating thunderstorms

  2 coriolis winds spiral upward and outward , a low pressure system forms over the oceans surface

  3 clouds form in the upper atmosphere as warm air condenses

  4 entire storm system starts to spin clockwise or counterclockwise

  5 when storm passes over land the supply of moisture and heat is cut off and storm gradually dissipates
• Physical vulnerability 


  Low lying coastal areas are more at risk due to storm surges

  Flat land (topography)

  Land slides in steeper lands

  Island nations at greater risk because they are surrounded by water
• Social vulnerability 


  Areas of poverty more likely to be vulnerable

  Children

  Elderly

  Disabled
• Economic vulnerability 


  Poorer the county less likely to have defence, immediate rescue team
• Typhoon Haiyan 2013( Philippines)


  IMPACTS: - storm surges, widespread destruction, 10,000 people died, waves of up to 15m ,looting, landslides, powerlines shredded

  PREPARATION: sent out public storm warning

  RESPONSE: military sent into help , response were slow as roads were blocked, no electricity ( evacuation could only happen during the day) , focused on the tacloban city
• Hurricane Katrina 2005 ( new Orleans usa )


  IMPACTS : increase in looting, lack of food and sanitation, community lost, people trapped, 80% city flooded

  PREPARATION: sent out an alert to florida to inform it was on its way, urge people to leave, levees, state of emergency by state of louisana

  RESPONSE : shelters set up, super dome was used but there was a lack of necessities, buses put on to rescue and evacuate people, 18000 cars an hour trying to leave which caused traffic jams, army came in , lack of response, drained the water
• Pinatubo ( Philippines 1991)


  Composite volcano, destructive plate margin, eurasion and Philipine plate

  IMPACTS : about 22 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide into atmosphere, crops destroyed, 847 people died, 5000 homes destroyed, global cooling, villages buried

  RESPONSE: building dams to protect against flash floods, establishing new farms and employment away from dangered area, creating new towns and villages, warnings issued, evacuation
• Kilauea ( hawaii )

  IMPACTS : acid rain, villages buried, more than 200 homes destroyed, released 2000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide a day, community lost, blocked roads

  RESPONSE: 17 webcam and satellite data used to monitor activity, emissions detectors, evacuation
• Tohoku earthquake ( Japan 2011) 


  IMPACTS : homes destroyed, towns and cities covered in mud , death 18500-20000 , business lost, contaminated food, people moved away

  RESPONSE: emergency command center in Tokyo, ngos set up funds, infrastructure was rehabilitated, temporary housing, built a new sea wall

  FACTS: focus 30km deep in western Pacific ocean, epicentre 130km East of sendai
• Haiti earthquake 2010


  IMPACTS: crippled roads, 60% of government buildings in capital destroyed, 80% of schools destroyed, 230000 deaths, refuge camps, loss of income, landscapes destroyed

  RESPONSE: reconstruction development planning