1.7 Trends And Disasters

Question 1

What are the trends in hazards from 1960 - 2000, and why are they like this?

Answer 1

• the amount of hazards increased between these dates
• this could be because of deforestation as this has lead to an increase in impermeable surfaces which means that when extreme tectonic events, like a tsunami, take place there is no ecosystem buffer to protect areas meaning the impacts are felt stronger. The same can me said for meteorological events like hurricanes and monsoon rains
• economic damage is rising as infrastructure is of a higher quality so more expensive to replace
• death fluctuates because a higher population density means the area is vulnerable but in the other hand more is done to mitigate this risk
• individual events have different significant impacts e.g. japan with economic loss

Question 2

What reduces the accuracy of global hazard trends?

Answer 2

• reporter number of deaths may be inaccurate as governments want to “ save face” e.g. Thailand in the 2004 tsunami projected a minimum death toll in order to maintain their primary industry - tourism
• no single organisation collects data so could be discrepancies
• difficult to collect stats in areas with low human development or poor accessibility e.g. Nepal earthquake
• mega disasters upset trends because they are drastically different

Question 3

What were the global impacts of the Iceland eruption?

Answer 3

• stranded tourists due to ash cloud, airlines lost £200 mil a day
• total economic impact estimated at over $3 billion
• perishable Kenyan agricultural products for the Uk and Europe rotted in warehouses and workers were temporarily unemployed

Question 4

What were the global impacts of the Tohoku tsunami?

Answer 4

• Destroyed docking boats in ports across the Pacific Ocean
• calving of icebergs and the Sulzberger ice shelf
• decline in japans contributions with cars, electronics (semi conductors)
• radioactive sea water and debris was carried to North America from Fukushima reactors
• energy crisis due to closure of all nuclear plants
• long held relations with Germany threatened due to environmental crisis with nuclear energy

Question 5

What is a multiple hazard zone? explain a named example.

Answer 5

A multiple hazard zone is a hazard hotspot which can experience multiple hazards from different sources. These areas are usually where a major tectonic fault line overlaps with major storm belts

Named example: PHILIPPINES
-archipelago situated on a destructive plate boundary in the Indian Ocean, they also lie within the major south East Asian monsoon belt
-8 out of the 10 at risk cities are within the Philippines
-hit directly by 6-9 typhoons per year
-22 active volcanoes with 30% of the population living within 30km of a volcano
Landslides are common due to the steep topography and heavy rainfall