Natural Hazards

• Geological Hazards are caused by land and tectonic processes.

  They can include earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, landslides and avalanches
• Meteorological Hazards are caused by the weather and climate

  They can include floods, droughts, tropical storms, and heat waves.
• Hazard risk is the probability of people being affected by a hazard
• Conservative margins are where two plates are moving sideways past each other or are moving in the same direction but at different speeds
• Constructive margins are where two plates are moving away from each other

  Magma rises from the mantle to fill the gap.
• A fault line is a fracture in rock along which movement occurs during an earthquake
• Destructive margins are where two plates collide and the plates are forced underneath each other
• Planning involves developing plans to deal with hazardous situations. These can include evacuation routes, emergency shelters and rescue teams.
• Predicting involves using information gathered during monitoring to predict when an event will occur

  The Cone of Uncertainty is an example of this
• Monitoring is used to detect changes that may lead to an event occurring

  This can include monitoring volcanic activity and weather forecasting.
• Protection is about reducing the impact of natural disasters on people and property.

  This can include building regulations that ensure new buildings are strong enough to survive an earthquake
• Global atmospheric circulation is the transfer of heat from the equator to the poles by the movement of air
• Scientists can work out how the climate has changed over time using a range of methods like..

  • Fossils
  • Ice cores
  • Tree rings
  • Sedimentary layers
• Features of a tropical storm

  Circular shape

  Hundreds of kilometres wide

  Lasts 7 - 14 days

  Spin direction depends on the hemisphere