Geography Paper 1

• A natural hazard can be defined as a natural event that has a social impact
• Types of natural hazards

  • Tectonic hazards (volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes)
  • Biological hazards (forest fires)
  • Geomorphological hazards (flooding, mudslides, rockslides)
  • Atmospheric hazards (hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, rain)
• Why do people live in hazardous areas

  • They don't want to leave
  • They believe defenses will protect them
  • They don't believe the hazard will occur
  • Economic reasons (jobs, facilities)
  • Social reasons (don't know where to go, language barriers)
• Human activity has a big impact on climate change, leading to more flooding and extreme weather events
• Tectonic plates


  Parts of the Earth's crust that are constantly moving
• Volcanoes and earthquakes are commonly found at fault lines where tectonic plates meet
• Types of tectonic plate margins

  • Destructive (continental-continental, continental-oceanic)
  • Conservative
  • Constructive
• Primary effects


  The first effect of a natural hazard on the population
• Secondary effects


  The after effects of a natural hazard, happening over a longer timescale
• Immediate response


  How people react as the event is happening and the immediate aftermath
• Long-term response


  How people react in the weeks or months after the event
• High Income Country (HIC)


  Country with Gross National Income over $12,000 per person
• Low Income Country


  Country with Gross National Income less than $12,000 per person
• Earthquakes in high income countries

  • Chile (8.8 Richter scale, $30 billion cost)
  • Italy (6.3 Richter scale, $11 billion cost)
• Earthquake in low income country

  • Nepal (7.9 Richter scale, $5 billion cost)
• Mitigation strategies for volcanic hazards include planning, evacuation plans, restricting land usage, emergency shelters, and educating the population
• Predicting volcanic eruptions is easier than predicting earthquakes, using monitoring of temperature, gases, and gravity
• Mitigation strategies for earthquakes include mapping affected areas, locating critical buildings safely, securing furniture, educating the population, and stockpiling supplies
• New technology has improved our understanding of how to protect against earthquakes
• Mapping areas affected by earthquakes

  1. Identify areas that might be affected

  2. Ensure hospitals and important buildings are situated away from affected areas

  3. Ensure buildings have furniture fastened down

  4. Educate local population on what to do

  5. Stockpile food and medical supplies
• Earthquake drills


  Practice what to do during an earthquake
• Protecting against earthquakes


  • Reduce risk
  • New technology for earthquake-resistant buildings
  • Predicting earthquakes is much harder than other tectonic hazards
• Animals may be able to sense when earthquakes are about to occur
• Smartphones


  Have accelerometers and GPS to sense and detect earthquakes
• Pressure belts and climate cells

  Important factors affecting the world's weather
• Differences in the sun's energy at the equator and poles cause variations in temperature and climate
• Features of global atmospheric circulation


  • Descending cool dry air and high pressure
  • Descending cool dry air and high pressure by the poles
  • Rising warm moist air and low pressure
• The tilt of the Earth and its rotation are responsible for seasonal changes in the positions of climate cells
• Locations and timings of tropical storms

  • Hurricanes in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific from August to October
  • Cyclones in the Indian and southern Pacific Oceans
  • Typhoons in the west North Pacific from May to December
• Tropical storms


  • Need low altitude, high temperature, high sea temperature, and sea depth of 60-70 meters to form
• Wind speed categories for tropical storms

  Category 1, 2, etc. based on wind speed in km/h
• Formation of tropical storms

  1. Air over warm tropical oceans is heated and rises under low pressure

  2. Air brings more air and moisture from oceans resulting in strong winds

  3. Coriolis effect causes air to spin around a calm center

  4. Evaporated moisture condenses and cools, drawing more moisture upwards

  5. Large clouds and heavy rainfall form
• Eye of the storm

  Calm, dry area at the center where cold air sinks
• Climate change


  Increasing temperatures, water levels, and wind affecting tropical storms
• Climate change is causing more frequent and destructive tropical storms
• Reducing effects of tropical storms

  1. Plan storm shelters

  2. Prepare disaster supply kits

  3. Educate people on what to do

  4. Install storm shutters, drains, and sea walls

  5. Reinforce buildings

  6. Remove trees that could cause damage
• Weather monitoring agencies can predict and track tropical storms
• Extreme weather hazards in the UK

  • Snow and extreme cold
  • Strong winds
  • Droughts
  • Extreme rainfall and flooding
  • Thunderstorms
• Extreme weather in the UK is becoming more frequent and varied due to climate change
• Evidence of climate change

  • Increasing global temperatures
  • Decreasing global sea ice
  • Decreasing land ice in Greenland and Antarctica