Natural Hazards Key Terms Flashcards
What does LIC stand for?
Low income country
What does HIC stand for?
High Income Country
Hazard Risk
The Probability or chance that a natural hazard takes place.
Natural hazard
a natural event ( for example an earthquake, volcanic eruption, tropical storm, flood. ) that threatens people or has potential to cause damage, destruction and death.
Conservative plate margins
Tectonic plate margin where two tectonic plates slide past each over
Constructive plate margins
tectonic plate margin where rising magma adds new material to plates that are diverging or moving apart
Destructive plate margins
Tectonic plate margin where two plates are converging or coming together and oceanic plate subducted. It can be associated with violent earthquake and explosive volcanoes.
Earthquake
A sudden or violent movement within the Earth’s crust followed by a series of shocks
Economic impact
the effect of an event on the wealth of an area or community
Environmental impact
the effect of an event on the landscape and ecology of the surrounding area.
Extreme weather
this is when a weather event is significantly different from average or usual weather pattern, and is especially severe or unseasonable. This may take place over one day or a period of time. A severe snow blizzard or heat wave are two examples of extreme weather in the UK.
Global atmospheric circulation
the worldwide system of the winds, which transports, heat from tropical to polar latitudes. In each hemisphere, air also circulates through the entire depth of the troposphere which extends up to 15 km
Immediate responses
the reaction of people as the disaster happens and in the immediate aftermath.
Long Term response
later reactions that occur in weeks, months and years after an event
Management strategies
Techniques of controlling, responding to, or dealing with an event
monitoring
Recording physical changes, such as tracking a tropical storm by satellite, to help forecast when and were a natural hazard might strike
planning
Actions taken to enable communities to respond to, and recover from, natural disasters, through measures such as emergency evacuation plans, information management, communications and warning systems
Prediction
Attempts to forecast when and where a natural hazard will strike, based on current knowledge. This can be done to some extent for tropical storms ( and volcanic eruptions, but less reliably for earthquakes )
Primary Effects
Initial impact of natural event on people and property, caused directly by it, for instance buildings being partially or wholly destroyed by a tropical storm
Protection
Actions taken before a hazard strikes to reduce its impact, such as educating people or improving buildings design
Secondary effects
The after-effects that occur as indirect impacts of a natural event, sometimes on a longer timescale, for instance impact on access to potable water can lead to the spread of disease
Social impact
The effect of an event on the lives of people or community
Tropical storm
An area of low pressure with winds moving in a spiral around the calm central point called the eye of the storm. Winds are powerful and rainfall is heavy
Adaptation
Actions taken to adjust to natural events such as climate change, to reduce potential damage, limit the impact, take advantage of opportunities, or cope with the consequences
Climate Change
A long term change in the Earth’s climate, especially a change due to an increase in the average atmospheric
Mitigation
Action taken reduce or eliminate the long-term risk to human life and property from natural hazard, such as building earthquake -proof buildings or making international agreements about carbon reduction targets
Orbital changes
Changes in the pathway of the Earth around the sun
Quaternary Period
The period of geological time from about 2.6 million years ago to the present. It is characterized by the appearance and development of humans and includes the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs.
