Paper 1 - Challenges of natural hazards Flashcards
what is a natural hazard?
natural events such as hurricanes and tsunamis which could potentially risk the lives or damage property
what are the four types of natural hazards?
tectonic hazards, atmospheric hazards, geomorphological hazards and biological hazards
what are tectonic hazards?
they are earthquakes or tsunamis, which involve movement of tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust
what are atmospheric hazards?
hurricanes
what are geomorphological hazards?
flooding, which occur on the Earth’s surface
what are biological hazards?
forest fires which involve living organisms
where do natural hazards occur?
natural hazards can occur anywhere but for example earthquakes will occur in specific countries that lie on plate boundaries
why do people live near hazardous areas?
its worth staying - jobs or resources
don’t want to go - optimistic it wont happen or overconfident in defences
cant move - expense, lack of knowledge or language barrier
cant accurately predict hazard - location, magnitude or timing
what is the earths structure?
centre - core
surrounding core - mantle
outside mantle - asthenosphere
outside layer - crust
how do tectonic plates move?
convection - it gets hot and magma rises then sinks but when it cools it creates pressure and disturbs the plates
ridge push/ slab pull - rising magma creates gap and then the magma cools creating a new plate and then the other plates move in different or the same directions
why are earthquakes/volcanoes found at constructive plate margins?
hot molten magma rises, the tectonic plates move away from each other by slap pull and the molten in between cools this forms a new solid plate causing earthquakes, magma carries on rising but usually never erupts because it forms a shield volcano
why are earthquakes/volcanoes found at destructive plate margins?
an oceanic plate and continental move towards each other, the oceanic plate is denser and is sub ducted beneath the surface into the mantle and the plate sinks deeper the mantle heats and can eventually erupt creating a linear belt of volcanoes
why are earthquakes found at conservative plate margins?
the tectonic plates move in opposite directions and this created friction between the two causing an earthquake
why do people live in hazardous areas?
geothermal energy - created by volcanoes which wont run out
farming - fertile ground
mining - sulphur Is used to make medicines and matches and used as fertiliser
tourism - to visit these volcanoes, income
family - living nearby
how to plan/predict/protect yourselves from earthquakes?
predict - radon detection to measure the release of gases, receivers that can analyse the movements in the ground
protect - designing buildings with stronger abilities to withstand earthquakes its called mitigation, although its extremely expensive so it will ensure people aren’t killed or injured but buildings may still need to be repaired
plan - furniture can be strapped to the floor, residents learn how to turn off the main gas, preparing aid supplies in all buildings.
