Topic 1 -Hazardous Earth: EQ2 (Extreme Weather Events)

Question 1

What temperature sea do tropical cyclones need to develop?

Answer 1

26.5°C or above

79.7°F for geeks like pascal

Question 2

Where do most tropical cyclones form?

Answer 2

in between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn

23.5° north and south respectively

Question 3

How do tropical cyclones form?

Answer 3

• Warm ocean water (26.5°C+) heats the air above → air rises quickly.
• Rising air cools, condenses into clouds and releases huge amounts of heat, strengthening the storm
• Low pressure forms at the surface → more air rushes in
• The Coriolis effect makes the whole system spin.
• In the centre, some air sinks, creating the eye — calm, clear, very low pressure.
• Around the eye, air rises super fast, creating the eye wall — strongest winds and heaviest rain.
• Towards teh edges of the cyclone the wind spind falls, clouds become smaller and scattered, less rain

Question 4

How do tropical cyclones spin in the northern hemisphere?

Answer 4

anticlockwise

Question 5

How do tropical cyclones spin in the southern hemisphere?

Answer 5

clockwise

Question 6

How can tropical cyclones dissipate (lose strength)

Answer 6

when they move over land or cooler water

Question 7

Tropical cyclones

What are high winds?

Answer 7

tropical winds over 250km

Question 8

Tropical cyclones

What are the impacts of high winds?

give 1 people and 1 environmental

Answer 8

• homelessness, building damage, casualties by flying debris
• trees uprooted and blown over

Question 9

Tropical cyclones

What is intense rainfall?

Answer 9

rain released by tropical cyclones as they move over the ocean

Question 10

Tropical cyclones

What are the impacts of intense rainfall?

give 1 people and 1 environmental

Answer 10

• it can cause injury as well as knocking people over
• can lead to flooding

Question 11

Tropical cyclones

What are storm surges?

Answer 11

When the low pressure area created by a cyclone is combined with high winds to cause large masses of water to move towards land

Question 12

Tropical cyclones

What are the impacts of storm surges?

give 1 people and 1 environmental

Answer 12

• damages coastal defences
• contaminates farmland and freshwater areas, erodes beaches and coastal habitats

Question 13

Tropical cyclones

What is coastal flooding?

Answer 13

Intense rain and storm surges which puts areas at severe risk of flooding

Question 14

Tropical cyclones

What are the impacts of coastal flooding?

give 1 people and 1 environmental

Answer 14

• puts people and property to risk
• flooding salt water can be very damaging to the animal’s habitat

Question 15

Tropical cyclones

What are landslides?

Answer 15

When high levels of rain saturate the soil to make it heavy. On steep areas the soil will slide down

Question 16

Tropical cyclones

What are the impacts of landslides?

give 1 people and 1 environmental

Answer 16

• can cause massive devestation to any settlements at the base of the slope
• can cause river flooding as water can build up at a blockage

Question 17

What are some areas which are vulnerable to the impacts of tropical cyclones?

Answer 17

• low lying areas
• island nations
• high population areas

Question 18

Give the 3 methods of preperation

Answer 18

1. forecast/tracking
2. warning/evacuation plans
3. building design

Question 19

Give an example of forecast/tracking and how it can reduce the impact of a tropical cyclone

Answer 19

• people can track the eye of the storm and siize using GIS
• it can help warn people beforehand so they can move out and evacuated to a safe region

Question 20

What does GIS stand for?

Answer 20

Geographical Information System

Question 21

Give an example of warning/evacuation plans and how it can reduce the impact of a tropical cyclone

Answer 21

• the government can plan evacuation routes to get people to safety efficiently
• sucessful evacuations can help reduce the number of casualties

Question 22

Give an example of building design and how it can reduce the impact of a tropical cyclone

Answer 22

• buildings can be designed with stilts
• this minimises the amount of buildings destroyed (thus reducing homelessness) and debris to clean up

Question 23

Give the two methods of response

Answer 23

1. rescue
2. rebuild

Question 24

Give an example of rescue and how it can reduce the impact of a tropical cyclone

Answer 24

• rescue workers search for people trapped in rubble
• more people are saved, reduces amount of casualties from drowning, collapsing buildings

Question 25

Give an example of rebuild and how it can reduce the impact of a tropical cyclone

Answer 25

* rebuilding houses, roads, hospitals, businesses * the restoration of power, drinking water and clearing roads allows people to travel and have clean water

Question 26

What is preperation?

Answer 26

What can be done before an even to minimise the disruption to people/environment

Question 27

What is response?

Answer 27

The events afterwards an event to help the recovery and to try to get life back to normal

Question 28

When and where did Hurricane Katrina occur?

Answer 28

2005 in Southeast USA | Category 3 at landfall

Question 29

When and where did Cyclone Nargis occur?

Answer 29

2008 in the Irrawaddy Delta, Myanmar | Category 4 at landfall

Question 30

What type of country did Hurricane Katrina occur in

Answer 30

developed (USA)

Question 31

What type of country did Cyclone Nargis occur in

Answer 31

developing (Myanmar)

Question 32

What did the USA do in preperation for Hurricane Katrina in terms of forecast/tracking?

Answer 32

* they had a sophisticated monitoring system - the NHC in florida tracks and predicts hurricanes and they issued a hurricane warning

Question 33

What did the USA do in preperation for Hurricane Katrina in terms of warning and evacuation?

Answer 33

the NHC (national hurricane centre) issued a : * hurricane watch on August 26, 2005 * hurricane warning on August 28, 2005 * Mississippi and Louisinana were declared states of emergency before it reached land and 80% of residents in New Orleans were able to evacuate

Question 34

What did the USA do in preperation for Hurricane Katrina in terms of defences?

Answer 34

* New Orleans had flood defences but they where badly damaged due to poor construction * this caused widespread flooding- over 80% of they city was underwater

Question 35

What did the USA do in response to Hurricane Katrina?

Answer 35

* they mobilized the National Guard to rescue people * they provided financial aid through FEMA * they repaired infastructure, including power and leeves * emergency shelters were set up such as in the Superdome

Question 36

What where the environmental impacts on the USA due to Hurricane Katrina?

Answer 36

* coastal habitats such as sea turtle breeding beaches were damaged * costal conservation areas were destroyed, eg Breton National Wildlife reserve

Question 37

What are some social impacts on the USA due to Hurricane Katrina?

Answer 37

* more than 1800 people were killed * 300,000 homes were destroyed * hundreds of thousands were made homeless * 230,000 jobs were lost * 3,000,000 people were left without electricity * roads were damaged, bridges collapsed

Question 38

What did Myanmar do in preperation for Cyclone Nargis in terms of forecast/tracking?

Answer 38

* they didnt have a dedicated monitoring centre for tropical networks * they didnt have a radar network like NHC to predict the size of waves and storm surges caused by cyclones

Question 39

What did Myanmar do in preperation for Cyclone Nargis in terms of warning and evacuation?

Answer 39

* 2 days before, Indian weather agencies warned their government that Nargis was likely to hit the country * warnings were issued on the TV and radio but they didnt reach people in poor rural communities so many people died as they didn't know what to do * there were no emergency plans

Question 40

What did Myanmar do in preperation for Cyclone Nargis in terms of defences?

Answer 40

* they had mangrove forests which would protect the coast from flooding but many had been chopped down before Nargis his, reducing the natural protection

Question 41

What did Myanmar do in response to Cyclone Nargis?

Answer 41

* delayed international aid and restricted foreign workers * provided limited evacuation and emergency shelter * eventually accepted some aid, but it was slow and poorly organised

Question 42

What where the environmental impacts on Myanmar due to Cyclone Nargis?

Answer 42

* the irrawaddy delta had a large portion of it flooded * 40,000 hectares of mangrove forests were destroyed * the flooding caused erosion and salination

Question 43

What where the social impacts on Myanmar due to Cyclone Nargis?

Answer 43

* more than 140,000 people killed * 700,000 houses destroyed or damaged, millions were made homeless * around 65% of rice paddied in the delta were damaged, less food * many people died from waterbourne diseased such as chlorea