1.1 Natural hazards Flashcards
What are natural hazards
Extreme natural events, that cause loss of life, damage and property
How are different types of natural hazards classified?
Physical processes
Different types of natural hazards
Tectonic hazards
Atmospheric hazards
Geomorphological hazards
Biological hazards
What are tectonic hazards
Natural events that occur due to movement of tectonic plates in the Earths crust such as earthquakes or tsunamis
What are atmospheric hazards
Hazards created in the atmosphere such as tropical storms
What are Geomorphological hazards
Natural events that occur on the Earth’s surface, flooding, landslides
What are Biological hazards
Involve living organisms
such as forest fires
Give an example of a human influence natural hazard
Arson causing a forest fire
Why is the frequency and magnitude of natural hazards increasing
Enhanced greenhouse effect, which means there is an increased chance of extreme weather, drought, flooding and deforestation
What are the main factors that affect hazard risk?
Wealth -Risk tends to decrease with increased wealth as people can afford to prepare and respond to natural hazards
Population growth - More people to interact with natural events
Why do people live near hazardous areas?
Can’t accurately predict hazard because of location, timing or magnitude of earthquake
Can’t move from country because of poverty or lack of knowledge
It’s worth staying, it has jobs and resources
Don’t want it to happen - overconfident in defences, optimistic it won’t happen
What is a choropleth map
colour to identify risks
Outline two human developments that could increase the risk of people being affected by natural hazards (4 marks)
Urbanisation, 50% people now live in cities and tectonically active cities such as LA and Tokyo attract people for socio-economic reasons. Urbanisation leads to increased damage to property and potential loss of life
Poverty- Poverty forces people to live in areas at risk or on marginalised land such as hillsides at risk of landslides such as Sao Paulo Brazil. LIC’s are less prepared for natural hazards therefore increasing risk to people and property
When is a natural event defined as a natural hazard
When it poses a potential risk of damage to property or loss of life
Outline to factors which affect hazard risk (4 marks)
Firstly wealth, people and governments are better able to prepare and respond to natural disasters with increased wealth. This decreases hazard risk.
Population growth, increases hazard risk as there are more people to interact with natural events casing damage to property and loss of life.
