Geo

• Disaster


  The Park Model (response to hazards)
• Lithosphere


  The crust and upper mantle
• Asthenosphere


  Below the lithosphere, semi-liquid rock above the mantle
• Fatalist


  Acceptance that hazards are natural and can't be controlled
• Risk Sharing


  Reducing losses through education, preparing supplies and purchasing insurance
• Magma


  Liquid or semi-liquid rock found below the earths surface
• Lava


  Liquid or semi-liquid rock found above the earths surface
• Tephra


  Any material ejected from a volcano
• Intrusive


  Rocks formed as magma cools within the earths surface
• Extrusive


  Rocks formed when lava cools in contact with air or sea
• Hazard


  • Volcano
  • Earthquake
  • Tropical Storm
  • Wildfire
• Forms of hazard (effects)

  • Nuee Ardentes, Lava Flows, Mudflows, Pyroclastic Flows, Ash, Gases
  • Ground shaking, Shockwaves, Tsunamis, Liquefaction, Landslides
  • High winds, Storm surges, Coastal flooding, River flooding, Landslides
  • Burning vegetation, Flood risk from reduced vegetation, Harmful gases
• Causes


  • Constructive plate margins, Destructive plate margins, Magma plumes (hot spots)
  • Deep: Destructive

  Shallow: Conservative, Constructive (minor)

  • 27°C sea surface temp, Atmospheric instability (storms), Uniform wind direction
  • Fuel (vegetation), Warm climatic conditions, Ignition source (Human eg Arson, Physical eg Lightning)
• Clockwise from top left: Destructive, Constructive, Hot Spot, Conservative margins
• Eyjafjallajökull 2010
• Haiti 2010
• Hurricane Katrina 2005
• Typhoon Haiyan 2013
• Alberta Wildfire 2016
• Eyjafjallajökull 2010


  VEI: 4

  Constructive plate boundary where the North American and Eurasian plates diverge (Mid-Atlantic Ridge)

  Vulcanian eruption over 8 days
• Haiti 2010


  Mag: 7.0

  Conservative plate margin with Caribbean plate moving east, N. American plate moving West

  Epicentre 25km SW of the capital Port-au-Prince (Pop: 2 million)
• Hurricane Katrina 2005


  Cat: 5 (Gulf of Mexico) weakened to Cat: 3 (New Orleans)

  175mph (280kph) winds
• Typhoon Haiyan 2013


  Cat: 5 (Tacloban City, Philippines)

  195 mph (315kph) winds
• Alberta Wildfire 2016


  No official cause, but human involvement is suspected

  Lack of winter snow created warmer conditions, and in early May temps reached 30°C

  El Niño linked to warm temps
• Impacts


  • Eyjafjallajökull 2010: Crops damaged and water supplies contaminated with fluoride from ash, 100,000 flights were cancelled across Europe, 10 million air passengers stranded, Losses estimated to be $1.7 billion

  Haiti 2010: 100,000-316,000 dead (Discrepancies due to government self inflated estimates. 230,000 is deemed more likely), 250,000 homes destroyed (1.5 million made homeless), Cholera quickly spread as bodies piled up and the homeless had nowhere to go

  Hurricane Katrina 2005: 1800 killed, Estimated cost: $125 billion, 80% of New Orleans was flooded, 1 million homeless

  Typhoon Haiyan 2013: 6,300 killed, Estimated cost: $4.6 billion, 90% of buildings destroyed in Tacloban City, 1.9 million homeless

  Alberta Wildfire 2016: 0 deaths (however 2 died indirectly in a car accident during evacuation), $10 billion directly and indirectly, 15% of the town of Fort McMurray was destroyed
• Responses


  • Eyjafjallajökull 2010: 800 people evacuated, Sections of embankment along the main highway were deliberately breached to allow floodwaters to pass through to the sea, New guidelines allow planes to fly if there is ash in the sky

  Haiti 2010: 1.5 million were placed into aid camps and 4.3 million received food aid within first few weeks, Too many aid NGOs meant aid distribution was muddled and uncoordinated, 98% of the rubble remained 6 months later, with thousands of bodies still trapped

  Hurricane Katrina 2005: 25,000-30,000 sheltered in the Superdome, 220 miles of the floodwalls were replaced, 40 days for the water to drain out of the city, Looting and violence caused some UN staff to be pulled out

  Typhoon Haiyan 2013: The mangrove forests along the coast are being developed

  Alberta Wildfire 2016: 90,000 forced to evacuate from Fort McMurray, A boil-water advisory was issued as untreated water was introduced to the mains supply to assist firefighters, 867 hectares of vegetation has been marked for removal to provide fire breaks surrounding residential area
• Ash from Eyjafjallajökull covering Northern Europe
• Epicentre of Haiti EQ close to Port-au-Prince
• Track of Hurricane Katrina through Gulf of Mexico
• Smoke from Alberta Wildfires covering USA and Canada
• Tōhoku, Japan


  Population: 9.0 million

  Topography: Dominated by volcanoes running north-south, people mainly live in the lowland areas inland

  Transport: Coasts do not favour seaports, most transport is road and rail

  Location: Destructive Plate Boundary, Pacific plate moving towards Eurasian plate

  Hazards faced: Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tsunami's, Tropical Storms
• Tōhoku Earthquake, Japan 2011 11th March


  Magnitude: 9.1 (4th biggest ever recorded)

  Aftershocks: Over 6.0 magnitude

  Estimated cost: $360 billion

  Tsunami waves reached 40.5m and travelled 10km inland

  122,000 buildings collapsed, 280,000 partially collapsed

  Level 7 nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant
• Japan's Capacity to Cope

  • 30% of all earthquakes occur near Japan, so they are used to them. But not ones of this magnitude

  40% of the coast has sea walls up to 10m high

  The Japanese Meteorological Agency televised warnings in enough time for some people to get out of buildings. They sent a message to mobile phones giving people 20 mins to prepare for the tsunami

  High level of development (third largest economy at the time) means buildings are designed to cope with Earthquakes

  Army and rescue teams were ready quickly due to frequent training for these events

  School's run drills every year on 1st September

  600 year old marker stones show the extent of ancient tsunamis and warn about building below certain heights

  Many people had individual 'grab bags' – emergency kits with water, first aid kits, food, torches etc

  
• Responses


  • Many people got outside quickly due to warnings sent to TV and phones

  The 20 min tsunami warning sent to phones helped, but many did not react quickly enough

  340,000 people needed food, water, shelter and medicine in the immediate aftermath

  $1 billion was raised in donations to the Japanese Red Cross

  Within 10 days 452,000 people were in evacuation facilities, however many were inadequate

  20km exclusion zone set up around Fukushima nuclear plant following meltdown. 200,000+ evacuated

  By May 2012 all of Japan's nuclear plants were forced to shut down (Japan turned to oil and gas to meet shortfall)
• Track of Typhon Jebi 2018, the strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years. It reached a cat. 5 in the Pacific but calmed before hitting Japan. 11 died (none in Tohoku). Damage estimated $3-5.5 Billion.

  
• Earthquakes are estimated to occur every 5 mins in Japan. The population accept they will be hit on average by a powerful event once every 40 years.
• System


  A theoretical representation of the stores and flows and how they link together
• Flow/Transfer


  Movement of energy or mass between components of a system
• Store


  A part of the system where energy/mass is held
• Water Balance


  The interaction between inputs (eg. Precipitation) and outputs (eg. Run off/evapotranspiration) in a drainage basin