A3: Weather Hazards Flashcards
Section A: Chapter 3 [2nd Edition Text Book]
What are the three different types of cells in the tri-cellular model?
Hadley Cell
Ferrel Cell
Polar Cell
Where do the Hadley cells work?
Hot air rises near the equator, and cool air sinks at at 30º north and south in the subtropics.
Where do the Ferrel cells work?
Hot air rises at 60º north and south in the midlatitudes then cools and sinks at 30º north and south in the subtropics.
Where do the Polar cells work?
Hot air rises at 60º north and south in the midlatitudes then cools and sinks at 90º north and south at the poles.
Where do tropical storms usually form?
between 5º and 30º N and S of the equator - where the sea temperature is around 27ºC and at a depth of around 50m.
How do tropical storms form?
- Air is heated above the warm ocean, and quickly rises, forming low pressure conditions. The rising air draws up more moisture from the sea creating strong winds.
- The Coriolis effect (spinning of the earth) causes the air to spin upwards - around a calm central eye of the storm.
- As the air rises, it cools and condenses forming large cumulonimbus clouds- which will create torrential rainfall. Heat is given off when the air cools - which powers the storm.
- The cool air sinks into the eye - so there is no cloud, making it drier, clearer, and calmer.
How do tropical storms travel?
They travel in the direction of the prevailing wind- and when the storm meets land, it is no longer fueled by the heat and the moisture of the ocean, so it loses its power and weakens.
What are the features of a tropical storm?
Eye of the storm is 16- 48 km wide, it’s calm with no precipitation
The height of the storm can be around 13km or more.
over all width can be around 300km
The eye wall is the most violent part of the storm due to having the highest pressure difference, so there is the highest wind speed and most rain.
When did typhoon Haiyan take place?
8th November 2013
What category of tropical storm of was typhoon Haiyan?
Category 5 storm
Where did Typhoon Haiyan take place?
The east coast of Philippines, Tacloban.
What were the primary effects of typhoon Haiyan?
- power was interrupted
- airport was badly damaged
- Tacloban had a 5 meter storm surge
-400mm of heavy rain flooded 1km inland - 90% of Tacloban was destroyed
- rice and sugar cane stocks were lost in the storm surge (the production of these make up 12.7% of the country’s GDP)
- Damage to to the rice cost $53 million
- 75% of farmers and fishers lost their income
(Recovery costs for agriculture and fishing were $724 Million) - 5000 people killed overall
What were the secondary effects of typhoon Haiyan?
- Oil barge ran aground causing an 800,000 litre oil leak- which washed ashore contaminating 10 hectares of mangroves
- by 2014, rice prices had risen by 11.9%
- A government warehouse containing rice collapsed, killing 8 people
- Sea water, chemicals from industry and agriculture, and sewage systems contaminated surface and groundwater.
What were the immediate responses to Typhoon Haiyan?
- 800,000 people evacuated
- People sought refuge in an indoor stadium near Tacloban
- Gov sent out essential supplies and medical equipment
- Emergency aid received 3 days later by air (UN warns that international aid isn’t arriving fast enough)
- Week later, power was mainly restored
- 1 million food packs, and 250,000 litre of water sent out.
-$1.5 Billion pledged in aid from other countries - RAF delivered 200 tonnes of aid in 10 days (food and water, doctors)
British aircraft carriers bring 100 tonnes of rice from Singapore
What were the long term responses to Typhoon Haiyan?
- Gov not only restored buildings but upgraded them, for future
- created a ‘no build zone’ along the coast - which was later changed to a ‘no dwelling zone’ so commercial buildings could be built
- New storm surge warning system implemented
- replanted mangroves
- plans to rebuild a road levee
- but 100,000 families were still in temporary accommodation in 2015.
What are the three different types of tropical storm?
Typhoons - west and north Pacific
Hurricanes - Atlantic and eastern Pacific
Cyclones - Indian and south Pacific
How does climate change impact the frequency of tropical storms?
Scientists are unsure if climate change will lead to an increase of tropical storms - it is mostly agreed that the overall frequency of storms will remain the same or decrease.
There is not enough evidence to support the idea that it will increase in frequency.
How does climate change impact the intensity of tropical storms?
Warmer seas means there is more energy to increase the intensity of a tropical storm. Which are said to increase in intensity from 2-11% by 2100
The effects of the storm may also increase, they could be more powerful and effect more people.
- As for every 1 degree increase in water temp, wind speed is
predicted to rise by 3.5%.
Rising sea levels may lead to increased chances of costal flooding and storm surges.
How does climate change effect the distribution of tropical storms?
Changes may occur globally, though different places will see different effects.
Regions that already experience tropical storms won’t change much
But the locations of tropical storms occurring my increase as warmer sea temps could lead to source areas extending further north and south of the equator.
How can tropical storms be monitored?
Satellites can be used to monitor cloud patterns and storms
aircrafts and drones can be flown into storms to collect data by using sensors that are dropped into the storm
How can tropical storms be predicted?
Available data cam be fed to a supercomputer that runs data to predict the path and intensity of the storm.
In 2013 - India - Cyclone Phailin was predicted, and 1.2 Million
people were evacuated, so only 23-40 people died.
Storms can be tracked within a range - called a forecast cone - and the storm could go in any direction in the area.
How can there be protection from tropical storms?
Buildings can have areas of weakness reinforced to reduce damage from strong winds. e.g.
Hurricane straps to roofs, storm shutters on windows, installing an emergency generator, tie down airborne objects, reinforce garage doors, and remove trees close to buildings.
Flood defenses can be made, like levees and flood walls to hold back some seawater.
Give 2 examples of storm events in the UK
The great storm of 1987: Kent, southern Britain.
-19 people died
-£1 billion in destruction
- 15 million trees flattened
- Roads blocked and no power
The ‘Beast From the East’: whole of the UK, March 2018
Winter storm (storm Emma)
- snow and extreme cold weather
- Red weather warning issued
- Locals helped each other with food and water
Give one examples of flood events in the UK
The Cumbria Floods: Storm Desmond 2015
- it was already a place susceptible to flooding, serious flood risk from last 20 years
- Roads washed away and buildings submerged
- Flood defenses ineffective and overtopped.
Why do certain hazards effect the UK?
The UK is an island
Cold weather hazards happen due to winds that come from the North, over the Arctic
Warm weather hazards happen due to winds from the south (over Africa)
When was an example of an extreme hot weather hazard in the UK?
The UK recorded its hottest-ever temperature of 40.3°C in Lincolnshire. July 2022
What caused the heatwave in July 2022?
A high pressure weather system, called the Azores High, which is usually found near Spain, grew more prominent and pushed further North, bringing higher temperatures to the UK. (And France)
Climate Change:
The Met Office estimates climate change made the heatwave
ten times more likely.
Greenhouse gases – which trap the sun’s heat – are causing a rise in global temperatures and climate change.
○Human activity has enhanced the natural greenhouse
effect by releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases.
Climate change is causing weather events to become more extreme, intense, and frequent
What were the primary impacts of the 2022 Heat wave in the UK?
- 5 deaths - 4 teenage boys, and 1 man aged 20
- Scotland’s hottest day ever
- Several fires broke out around London
-London firefighters having their busiest day since the 2nd
World War
○ (2600 calls)
○ 41 properties damaged in London
○ 255 tackled 3 grass fires in London
○ 16 fire fighters were injured - Some hospitals forced to cancel surgeries because operating theatres were too hot.
What were the secondary impacts of the 2022 heatwave in the UK?
Network Rail said train travellers were around 40% lower
○ Many services disrupted by the heat. The northeast
mainline was closed for the day
○ Overhead electric cables came down, causing a line-side
fire on a track between Milton Keynes and London
Caused the whole line to be suspended
Thousands of people were without power after “extreme” temperatures caused equipment to overheat. Almost 8,000 properties in Yorkshire
○ Northern Power grid’s live power cut map showed almost
15,000 homes were without electricity
Flights at Luton airport were stopped after heat caused surface defects on the runway.
○ RAF also cancelled some flightsas the heat affected the
runway
- A popular waterfall attraction in the Yorkshire Dales, ran dry due to the heatwave and low rainfall.
What were some responses to the 2022 heatwave in the UK
Met office issued the first red warning for heat
Extra ambulance services put on
Passengers urged not to travel by train
Hammersmith Bridge covered in foil to prevent bridge melting
