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GCSE > Hazardous Environments > Flashcards

Hazardous Environments Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a tectonic plate?

A

Blocks of earth that move in the surface of the earth

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2
Q

What happens at a divergent plate margin?

A

Two plates moving apart
Magma rises to fill gap and create new crust
Mid Atlantic ridge

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3
Q

What is a convergent plate margin?

A

Move together
Edge of one plate subducts under and molton rises to form volcanoes
Friction causes earthquakes

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4
Q

What happens when two plates meet head on and are equal density and strength?

A

Collision zone

Forms fold mountains

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5
Q

What happens at a conservative plate margin?

A

Plates slide past each other

Earthquakes

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6
Q

What is the focus of an earthquake?

A

Centre underground

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7
Q

What is an epicentre?

A

Point directly about the focus on the surface

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8
Q

What does the Richter scale measure?

A

Earthquakes strength - amount of energy released

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9
Q

What is the mercalli scale based on?

A

What people experience

Amount of damage

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10
Q

What is an after effect of an earthquake?

A

Tidal wave

Tsunami

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11
Q

What do lava flows destroy?

A

Farmland
Buildings
Transport

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12
Q

What do volcanoes emit?

A

Ash
Lava
Gas

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13
Q

What are hurricanes call cyclones and typhoons?

A

Cyclones - South Asia

Typhoons - East Asia

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14
Q

What causes a tropical storm?

A

Warm water over 27 degrees
Creates a area of low pressure and heavy rainfall
Moves towards land picking up water

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15
Q

What way does the storm spin the northern hemisphere?

A

Anti-clockwise

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16
Q

What part of the storm is calm?

A

The eye

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17
Q

What speed does wind have to reach to be a hurricane?

A

119km/h

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18
Q

What are the 3 main types of tropical storm damage?

A

Wind
Storm surges
Floods

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19
Q

How can homes be prepared for extreme weather?

A

Board windows

Move furniture upstairs

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20
Q

What can be used to track tropical storms?

A

Weather stations
Weather satellites
Radar

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21
Q

What are the reasons for living in a high risk areas?

A 
Lack of education 
Unable to move due to financial situation
Optimists 
History 
Tourism = £
Fertile soil = £ from crops
Geothermal Energy = £
22
Q 
Give an example of a 
Geological
Climatic
Biological 
Technological
Hazards
A

Geo - earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides
Climatic - storms, floods, drought
Biological - fires,pests, diseases
Technological - nuclear explosions, accidents, pollution

23
Q

How can volcanic eruptions be predicted?

A

Swelling sides
Small earthquakes
Gases

24
Q

How can earthquakes be predicted?

A

Land rise or tilt

Water level falls

25
Q

How can you prepare for earthquakes?

A

Concrete frames with reinforcing bars

Don’t have wood house or bricks

26
Q

What teams respond to hazards?

A 
Releasing people and bodies trapped 
Diggers to clear rubber 
Restoring basic services 
Providing medical help
Organising emergency rations 
Providing transport for emergency supplies
27
Q

What is emergency aid?

A

Help in the form of food, medical care and temporary housing provided immediately after a natural disaster

28
Q

What is Lahar?

A

A flow of wet material down the side of a volcanos ash cone

29
Q

What is pyroclastic flow?

A

A devastating eruption of extreme hot gas, ash and rocks during a period of explosive volcano activity
Capable of reaching speeds of 200kmh

30
Q

What is a hazard?

A

A naturally occurring event which negatively affects people, their homes and their livelihoods.

31
Q

What are the three main types of hazards?

A

Earthquakes
Volcanoes
Tropical Storms.

32
Q

Describe the global distribution or tropical storms.

A
  • bring torrential rain and strong winds to tropical regions.
  • can be between 6 and 20 storms per year depending on location.
  • severe tropical storms in north and Central America and North Atlantic.
  • occur between summer and autumn when sea is warmest.
33
Q

Describe the causes of tropical storms.

A
  • need water over 27 degrees C.
  • water heats air above it.
  • storm winds rotate anti-clockwise in northern hemisphere and clockwise in Southern Hemisphere.
  • rising air cools, forms dense clouds making heavy rain fall.
  • vortex (area around eye) can be up to 100km wide and 50kmph in speed.
  • inside wind speeds can reach 250kmph.
  • eye is calm.
  • storms lose power when reach land (land is cooler).
34
Q

Describe the characteristics of tropical storms.

A
  • last between 10 days - 4 weeks.
  • cause wind, storms and flooding.
  • destroy trees, crops, buildings, transport, power and communication.
  • torrential rain, lasts long, flooding.
  • damage cannot be prevented.
  • HIC’s can evacuate and board up due to satellites.
  • can cope with post damage better too.
  • LIC’s left devastated.
  • little money to rebuild = years to recover.
  • maybe dependant on international help.
35
Q

Describe the global distribution of volcanic activity.

A
  • occur along tectonic plate boundaries.
  • many form along shores of the Pacific Ocean.
  • also found in numbers along African Rift Valley as formed here by constructive plate margin.
36
Q

Describe the causes of volcanic activity.

A
  • divergent plate boundaries: two plates moving apart, magma rises to crust to fill the gap and creates new crust through submarine volcanoes.
  • convergent plate boundaries: two plates moving towards each other, edge of one plate is denser and sub ducts beneath other plate, magma rises to surface through a crack in one of the plate boundaries and bursts through to form volcanoe.
  • friction between two plates causes the subduction, causing the earthquake.
37
Q

Describe the characteristics of volcanic activity.

A
  • lava flows reach beyond 10km from crater and destroy farmland, buildings and transport, but lives rarely lost.
  • ash thrown into air during eruption, carried in wind so affects large area, can bring air travel to a halt, can cause damage by blanketing everything and may cause roofs to collapse due to weight of ash blanket.
  • gas is emitted, sulphur, carbon dioxide and cyanide (which can kill).
  • volcanic dust, particles of rock and powder, travels far, remains in air for long periods of time.
  • volcanic bombs, mass of molten rock, turn solid before reach the ground, ejected by volcano.
  • lahars, mix of mud, rock and water running down volcano.
  • floods, melted ice from top of volcano.
  • forest fires, secondary impact caused by boiling magma.
  • pyroclastic flows, fast moving current of hot gas and rock.
38
Q

Describe the global distribution of earthquakes.

A
  • many earthquakes along convergent plate margin that fringe the Pacific Ocean.
  • many earthquakes occur under Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
39
Q

Describe the causes of earthquakes.

A
  • collision plate margins, two plates meet head on, are of equal density and strength so fold upwards to form fold mountains and earthquakes which are caused by the pressure and friction.
  • conservative plate margins, two plates sliding past each other, friction causes earthquakes.
  • convergent plate margins, usually create volcanoes but sometimes earthquakes can be caused too.
40
Q

Describe the characteristics of earthquakes.

A
  • sudden brief period of intense ground shaking.
  • movement of ground can be verticals or horizontal.
  • Richter scale measures earthquakes strength by amount of energy released, energy is measured by a seismograph, Richter scale runs from 2.4 or less to over 8.
  • mercalli scale measures amount of damage done by what people experience.
  • centre of earthquake is called the focus.
  • shock waves travel away from focus and are strongest close to epicentre, amount of damage depends on depth of focus and type of rock.
  • closer focus is to surface = worse damage.
  • buildings shake vigorously and collapse.
  • fires caused as earthquakes rupture gas pipes and break electricity cables.
  • tidal wave or tsunamis are caused by earthquakes under the sea.
41
Q

How are tropical storms measured?

A

Amount of damage depends on:

  • scale of event
  • degree of warning prior
  • density of human settlement in area affected
  • degree to which people are prepared
  • ability of country to cope with aftermath of hazard

So measured in categories on Saffir-Simpson scale:
Category 1: minor damage
Category 2: roofs, windows, small boats damaged
Category 3: structural damage, flooding over 1 metre
Category 4: major
Category 5: catastrophic.

42
Q

What are the short term impacts of hazards?

A
  • buildings collapse
  • people killed and injured
  • landslides and large cracks in ground
  • flooding
  • storm surges
  • halted air travel
  • Forrest fires
43
Q

What are the long term impacts of hazards?

A
  • buildings destroyed
  • people left homeless
  • contaminated water supplies spread disease
44
Q

How are hazards managed by prediction?

A

Tropical storms:
- know where most likely to occur and what months

Volcanoes:

  • know where most active volcanoes are
  • problem: some are dormant for thousands of years

Earthquakes:

  • issue detecting when they will occur
  • need these changes so we can predict earthquakes: warning signs such as land rising or tilting and water levels falling, improvements such as changes in electrical signals and registering radioactive emissions.
45
Q

How are hazards managed by preparing?

A

Tropical storms:

  • education
  • emergency procedures
  • concrete enforced with steel bars to withstand strong winds
  • putting in place on early warning systems

Volcanoes:

  • emergency procedures
  • education
  • ensure all buildings have sloped roofs to prevent accumulation of ash
  • erecting barriers and cooling lava fronts with water to stop lava flows

Earthquakes:

  • enforce concrete buildings with steel bars
  • high rise buildings with a flexible steel frame (glass and brick may fall).
46
Q

How are hazards managed by responding?

A

Teams:

  • releasing people from rubble
  • clearing rubble using machines
  • restoring basic services
  • providing medical and emotional help
  • organising distribution of rations
  • transport for emergency supplies

Services:

  • UN
  • Oxfam
  • Red Cross

Stages:

  • after recovery, restore disaster area, but if too high risk, it may be abandoned, organisations may give loans to rebuild infrastructure.
  • final stage, appraisal, looking back and assessing the disaster for review of what needs to be done so less damage is created.
47
Q

How are earthquakes measured?

A

Amount of damage depends on:

  • scale of event
  • degree of warning prior
  • density of human settlement in area affected
  • degree to which people are prepared
  • ability of country to cope with aftermath of hazard

So measured by Richter Scale from less than 2.4 to over 8 or by Mercalli scale from 2 to over 10.

48
Q

What are the units that these types of weather are measured in?

a) rain
b) wind speed and direction
c) temperature
d) cloud cover
e) air pressure

A

a) millimetres
b) km per hour
c) degrees Centigrade and degrees Farenheight
d) 1/8 = 1 okta
e) millibars

49
Q

How do you collect each type of weather?

a) rain
b) wind speed and direction
c) temperature
d) cloud cover
e) air pressure

A

a) rain gauge
b) weather vane and anemometer
c) max and min thermometer
d) measured in estimation of an eighth
e) barometer

50
Q

How do you present data for each type of weather?

a) rain
b) wind speed and direction
c) temperature
d) cloud cover
e) air pressure

A

a) bar graph
b) wind rose
c) line graph
d) fractions
e) cylindrical graph

GCSE (6 decks)

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