Hazards Flashcards
What is a hazard
A hazard is a potential threat to human life and property caused by an event
What are the three types of geographical hazard
1)geophysical
2)atmospheric
3)hydrological
What is a geophysical hazard
Hazards caused by land processes, majorly tectonic plates
What is an atmospheric hazard
Hazards caused by atmospheric processes and the conditions created because of these, such as weather systems
What is a hydrological hazard
Hazards caused by water bodies and movement
What is the meaning of incidence
Frequency of a hazard
What is the meaning of intensity
The power of a hazard
What is the meaning of magnitude
The size of a hazard
What is the meaning of distribution
Where hazards occur
What are the six human responses to hazards
1)fatalism
2)prediction
3)adaptation
4)mitigation
5)management
6)risk sharing
What is fatalism
The viewpoint that hazards are uncontrollable natural events, any losses should be accepted as there can be nothing done to stop them
What is prediction
Using scientific research and past events in order to know when a hazard will take place, so warnings may be delivered to reduce the impact of the hazard
What is adaptation
Attempting to live with hazards by adjusting lifestyle choices so that vulnerability to the hazard is lessened
What is mitigation
Strategies carried out to lessen the severity of a hazard
What is management
Coordinated strategies to reduce a hazards effects
What is risk sharing
A form of community preparedness, whereby the community shares the risk posed by a natural hazard and invests collectively to mitigate the impacts of future hazards
What is the park model
Graphical representation of steps carried out in hazard recovery
What are the three stages of the park model (3R’s)
Stage 1-relief
Stage 2-rehabilitation
Stage 3-reconstruction
What does the hazard management cycle do
Outlines the stages of responding to events, showing how the same stages take place after every hazard
What four stages are there in the hazard management cycle
1)preparedness
2)response-immediate action
3)recovery- long-term response
4)mitigation
What makes up the structure of the Earth
1)inner core
2)outer core
3)mantle
4)asthenosphere
5)lithosphere
6) crust
What is the plate tectonic theory
Then lithosphere is broken up into large slabs of rock called tectonic plates, which move due to convection currents in the asthenosphere, which push and pull the plates.
What happens at a destructive plate margin
Plates move towards each other
What happens at a constructive plate margin
Plates move away from each other
What happens at a conservative plate boundary
Plates move parallel of each other
What hazards are caused at destructive plate boundaries where two continental plates meet
1)earthquakes
2)fold mountains
What hazards occur at a destructive plate margin when two oceanic plates meet
1)ocean trenches
2)island arcs
3)earthquakes
4)volcanoes
What hazards occur at a destructive plate margin where an oceanic and continental plates meet
1)fold mountains
2)earthquakes
3)volcanoes
What hazard occurs at a conservative plate margin
1)earthquakes
What hazards occur at a constructive plate margin where two continental plates meet
1)rift valleys
2)earthquakes
3)volcanoes
What hazards occur at constructive plate margins where two oceanic plates meet
1)ocean ridges
2)earthquakes
3)volcanoes
What is ridge push
The slope created when plates move apart has gravity acting upon it as it is at higher elevation. Gravity pushes plates further away, widening the gap.
What is slab pull
When a plate subducts, the plate sinking into the mantle pulls the rest of the plate with it, causing further subduction.
What is a hotspot
Areas of volcanic activity that are not related to plate boundaries
How is a hotspot formed
Hot magma plumes from the mantle rise and burn through weaker parts of the crust. This can create volcanoes and islands
Name the five hazards caused by volcanoes
1)Lahars
2)floods
3)tephra
4)acid rain
5)pyroclastic flows
What is a Lahar
A flow of mud or debris
What is tephra
Any type of rock that is ejected by a volcano
What is acid rain
Gases such as sulfur dioxide are released into the atmosphere
What are pyroclastic flows
Clouds of burning hot ash and gas that collapses down a volcano at high speeds
What is an environmental primary effect of a volcano
1)ecosystems damaged
2)wildlife killed
What is an economic primary effect of a hazard
1)businesses or industries destroyed or disrupted
What is a social primary effect of a volcano
1)people killed
2)homes destroyed from lava/pyroclastic flows
What is a political primary effect of a volcano
1)government buildings and other important areas destroyed or disrupted
What is an enviromental secondary effect of a volcano
1)water acidified by acid rain
2)volcanic gases contribute to greenhouse effect
What is an economic secondary effect of a volcano
1)jobs lost
2)profit lost from tourism industry
What is a social secondary effect of a volcano
1)fires can start
2)mudflows or floods
3)homelessness
What is a political secondary effect of volcanoes
1)conflicts concerning government response, food shortages, insurance
What is an environmental primary effect of an earthquake
1)fault lines which destroy the enviroment
2)liquefaction
What is an economic primary effect of an earthquake
1)Businesses destroyed
What is a social primary effect of earthquakes
1)buildings collapse, killing/injuring and trapping people
What is a political primary effect of an earthquake
1)Government buildings destroyed
What is an enviromental secondary effect of an earthquake
1)Radioactive materials and other dangerous substances leaked from power plants
2)saltwater from tsunamis flood freshwater ecosystems
3)soil sanitation
What is an economic secondary effect of an earthquake
1)economic decline as businesses are destroyed
2)high costs of rebuilding and insurance payouts
3)sources of income lost
What is a social secondary effect of an earthquake
1)Gas pipes rupture, starting fires which can kill
2)water supplies are contaminated as pipes burst, spreading disease
3)tsunamis which lead to damaging flooding
What is a political secondary effect of an earthquake
1)political unrest from food and water shortages
2)borrowing money for international aid
How is a seismic hazard caused
Sudden movement along the Earth’s fault lines
What is a tropical storm
A low pressure, spinning storm with high winds and torrential rain
What are the ideal ocean temperatures for a tropical storm to form
26-27 degrees Celsius
How far from the equator do tropical storms form
No less than 5 degrees north or south of the equator
What are the four hazards caused by seismic events
1)Shockwaves
2)Tsunamis
3)Liquefaction
4)landslides and avalanches
What is a shockwave
Energy released from the sudden jolt that vibrates through the ground
How is a tsunami caused
When water is displaced from plates moving underwater, creating a large wave
What is liquefaction
When soil is saturated, the vibrations of an earthquake cause it to act like a liquid.
Where are hurricanes found
The Atlantic Ocean
Where are Typhoons found
The Pacific Ocean
Where are cyclones found
The Indian Ocean
What is an enviromental primary effect of a tropical storm
1)beaches eroded
2)sand displaced
3)coral reefs are destroyed
What is an economic primary effect of tropical storms
1) businesses destroyed
2) agricultural land damaged
What is a social primary effect of tropical storms
1) drowning
2) debris carried by high winds com insure and even kill
What is a political primary effect of a tropical storm
1) government buildings destroyed
What is an enviromental secondary effect of tropical storms
1) river flooding/saltwater contamination
2) animals displaced from flooding
What is an economic secondary effect of a tropical storm
1) high cost of rebuilding and insurance payout
2) economic recline from sources of income destroyed
What is a social secondary effect of tropical storms
1) homelessness
2) polluted water supplies spread disease.
3) food shortages from damaged land
What is a political secondary effect of tropical storms
1)Issue paying back international aid
what is a wildfire
A large, uncontrolled fire that quickly spreads through vegetation
What are the human causes of wildfires
1)arson
2)lit cigarette
3)BBQ’s
What are the natural causes of wildfires
1)volcanoes
2)lightning
What is an Environmental primary effect of wildfires
1)air pollution from ash
2) water pollution
3)habitats destroyed in fire
4)toxic gases released in burning
What is an economic primary effect of wildfires
1)Businesses destroyed
2)agricultural land damaged
3)cost of fighting the fires
What is a social primary effect of wildfires
1)People injured or killed in fires
2)homes destroyed
3)people go missing during evacuations
What is a political primary effect of wildfires
1)government buildings destroyed
What is an enviromental secondary effect of wildfires
1)increased CO2 from fires could heighten the greenhouse effect
What is an economic secondary effect of wildfires
1)high cost of rebuilding and insurance payout
2)sources of income lost
3)discouraging tourists
4)planes cancelled
What is a social secondary effect of a wildfire
1)homelessness
2)food shortages from destroyed agricultural land
What is a political secondary effect of wildfires
1)borrowing money for international aid
2)pressure for government to do more about global warming
What are aseismic buildings
Buildings designed to withstand or minimise destruction during an earthquake
What is the asthenosphere
The upper mantle layer of the earth
What is continental drift
The movement of tectonic plates, due to varying weights of crust
What are convection currents
The circulation within the mantle (asthenosphere)
What is the coriolis effect
The Earth’s spin affects the movement of air masses and winds, depending on a locations latitude
What is the epicentre
The point on the surface, directly above the earthquakes origin
What is a jokulhaup
A sudden glacial flood caused by a glacier on top of or near a volcano melting due to the heat from the eruption
What is the lithosphere
The upper crust of the Earth
What are primary waves of an earthquake
An earthquake causing causing compressions within the body of rock
What is the Richter scale
A logarithmic measure of earthquake’s intensity
What are secondary waves
An earthquake causing vertical displacement within the body of rock
What are love waves
A surface earthquake wave with horizontal displacement
What are Rayleigh waves
A surface earthquake wave causing both horizontal and vertical displacement within
What are seismic waves
The energy released during an earthquake, in the form of primary, secondary, love and Rayleigh waves
