6.

1 - What is a natural hazard

★ Natural hazard is a naturally occurring event that will have a negative impact on
people
★ Natural disaster is when a natural hazard causes damage and people affected are
unable to cope
★ Geological hazards include earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
★ Climatic hazards include droughts, tropical cyclones, floods

Classification of natural hazards

- Magnitude or intensity of event
- Speed at which the event takes place
- Duration of the event
- Frequency of the event

When is something a natural disaster?

- 10 or more people killed
- 100 or more people affected
- State of emergency declared by the government of the affected country
- A request by relevant government for international assistance

Impact of natural disaster depends on

- Length of time people are exposed to the natural hazard
- Vulnerability of people affected
➢ Vulnerability is the characteristics and circumstances of people in a
community that make them susceptible to the impacts of natural hazards
- People's ability to cope with the effects

6.2 - What causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

★ Plate tectonics is a theory developed in the 1960s that helps explain the formation of
some of the important features on the earth’s surface and how continents move

Structure of the earth

1) Inner core
- Temperature 5000-6000 celsius
- Solid because of intense pressure from
overlying rocks
- Made of iron and nickel
2) Outer Core
- Temperature 4000-5000 celsius
- Liquid
- Made of iron and nickel
 3) Lower mantle
- Sometime called the asthenosphere (The layer of the earth below lithosphere, it is
hotter and weaker than the lithosphere above and is capable of plastic flow
- Behaves like plastic
- Flows slowly due to convection currents
4) Upper mantle
- Sometimes called lithosphere (the outer and rigid layer of the Earth, compromising
the crust and upper part of the mantle)
- Brittle
- Joins with the top layer of the earth (the crust)
➢ Mantle is made up of silicate minerals and accounts for more than 80% of the
volume of the Earth

Oceanic crust (sima) Continental crust (sial)

Mainly made of a rock basalt Made of a rock called granite

Thinner, average depth is 6 km Thicker, average depth is 35 km but can be

over 100 km under mountain ranges

Denser (heavier) Lighter

Younger Older

It can sink and continually being renewed It can not sink and is neither destroyed or
and destroyed renewed

★ Basalt is a fine grained extrusive igneous rock formed by cooling of lava at

constructive plate margins
★ Granite is a coarse grained intrusive igneous rock compriming the mineral quartz,
feldspar and mica, it is formed at destructive plate margins

Plate boundaries
- The largest plates are Antarctic, Eurasian and North American
- Plates can be continental or oceanic
➢ Plate boundary is where two or more plates meet, the three main types of plate
boundary are constructive, destructive and conservative
➢ Convection currents are the transfer of heat from place to place, denser colder
fluid sinks into warmer areas, heat from the Earth's core causes convection
currents in the mantle
Constructive (divergent)
- Two plates move away from each other
- When two oceanic plates move away, magma rises to
the surface (convection current) and solidifies when it
comes in contact with cold ocean water
- The magma turns to lava and forms a new basaltic
ocean crust
- They can also form shields or basic volcanoes
(submarines) and have non-explosive eruptions
- This is known as sea-floor spreading or ridge push
- Small Earthquakes are triggered
- If two continental plates move away from each other, a rift valley may form

Destructive (converging)
- Two plates move towards each other
- When an oceanic plate and continental plate move
towards each other, the denser (oceanic) plate is
forced down (subducted) under the lighter
(continental) plate
- This happens in the subduction zone and an ocean
trench is formed
- The friction between the plates triggers Earthquakes
- The heat produced due to friction turns the descending plate into magma
- The magma starts to rise and erupt (due to pressure) through a weakness in the crust
as an explosive composite volcano
- Fold mountains are also formed
- The magma that erupts at the surface forms a chain of volcanic islands called an
island arc
- If two continental plates move towards
each other, the sediments between the
two plates are compressed (collision
zone) and pushed upwards to form fold
mountains
- Earthquakes occur, but no volcanic
activity as there’s no subduction of
oceanic plate
Conservative
- Two plates slide past each other
- They move in different speeds
- The plates get locked together and pressure
builds up until it is released as an earthquake

Earthquake characteristics and factors affecting impact

- Earthquake is when the ground shakes or moves in sudden jerks
- The result of buildup and sudden release of tension, usually along a fault line is and
earthquake
- The magnitude of an earthquake is measured on a Richters scale by an instrument
called a seismometer

➔ Factors that affect the impact of an earthquake

- Location of the epicentre
- Time of the earthquake
- Geology of the area
- Relief of the area
- Severity of aftershocks
- Level of development of human settlement
- Population density
- Building density

Volcano characteristics and types of activity

- Volcano is a hole or crack through which magma erupts onto the surface. Gases and
pyroclastic material (very hot gas, ash and volcanic bombs) can also be erupted
- Most volcanoes are a mixture of solidified magma and ash, which build up over time
to form a volcanic mountain or cone
- Lahars (mudflows of volcanic material caused when ash mixes with heavy rain or
water from melting snow) are associated hazards with volcanoes
Types of volcanic activity
- Intrusive is when magma cools underground to form igneous rock
- Extrusive is when magma flows out onto the Earth’s surface as lava

Shield volcanoes Composite volcanoes

Found in constructive plate margins Found in destructive plate margins

Wide area, gentle slopes Conical, steep slopes

By lava flows By layers of ash then lava

Magma has low viscosity Magma is viscous

Not explosive, basalt lava flow Explosive, flows are limited

6.3 - What causes tropical cyclones?

★ Tropical cyclones are large areas of very low pressure with wind speeds of of over
119 km h^-1
- They are categorised using a Saffir Simpson scale hurricane wind scale

Conditions needed for tropical cyclones

- The ocean surfaces temperature must be at least 27 degrees celsius since warm water
provides the energy to evaporate water, which rises, condenses and releases a huge
amount of energy
- Ocean depth of at least 60 m deep
- These conditions occur between latitudes 5 and 20 north and south to have sufficient
Coriolis effect, making air spin
- Very little wind shear since it allows vertical development of storm
Characteristics of tropical cyclone
- Sky become cloudy, wind speed increase, rain with sunny intervals
- Air pressure falls, wind speeds continues to increase and large cumulonimbus clouds
form and heavy rainfall (eyewall or vortex)
- In the eye of the storm sky is clear, wind and rain it light
- After eye has passed cumulonimbus clouds form again, heavy rain and winds
- Wind and rainfall decrease, sunny intervals

Tropical cyclones create theses hazards

- Strong winds, cause structural damage to buildings
- Heavy rainfall, causes river flooding and landslides
- Storm surges, cause flooding in low lying coastal areas
- Low pressure, cause rise in sea level

6.4 - What causes flooding?

★ Flooding is when the discharge of a river exceeds the capacity of the rivers channel
- When this occurs, the river overflows the banks and covers the adjacent floodplain

Physical cause Impact

Heavy rainfall Reduces the infiltration capacity of soil

Increases in overland flow

Prolonged rainfall Saturated soil

Causes the water table to rise, reducing
infiltration capacity

Snowmelt Overland flow occurs due to rapid snowmelt

Land relief Steeper gradients lead to faster overland

flow and water has little time to infiltrate

Saturated soil The more saturated the soil is, lesser

infiltration and more overland flow

Storm surges, Tsunamis Flooding low lying coastal areas

 Human cause Impact

Deforestation Reduces interception and infiltration

Cultivation Ploughing down rather than across slopes

increases the water flow

Urbanisation Concrete and tarmac are impermeable

surfaces that leads to more overland flow

Climate change Global warming may lead to rise in sea

levels and more rainfall in some areas

6.5 - What causes droughts?

Lack of rain caused by prolonged high pressure

- Air in high-pressure system sinks and doesn’t form rain clouds

Effect of El Niño Southern Oscillation

- El Niño causes the surface water in the Pacific ocean along the South America to be
warmer
- The warmer waters alter storm patterns and can cause drought in Australia

Effects of La Niña
- La Niña causes the temperature of the water along South America to decrease
- The cooler conditions cause droughts in parts of North and South America

Climate change
- Warmer worldwide temperature cause the rainfall to decrease in some parts of the
world, leading to a drought

Agricultural practice
- It can make land more vulnerable to a drought
- Irrigation techniques have increased farmers reliance on water
- Over Cultivation and overgrazing can lead to soil compaction, and the soil is less able
to hold water

Deforestation
- Lack of trees can decrease soil infiltration and increase soil erosion

Building a dam
- Building one on a large river can cause a drought, downstream of the dam by reducing
the flow of water
6.6 - Impacts of natural hazards

Impact of Drought
- Water sources dry up, forcing people to travel long distances to fetch water
- Decline in crop yields
- Loss of crops, livestock, plants and wildlife
- Decrease in land prices as production declines and farmers lose money
- Migration from rural to urban areas
- Unemployment
- Increase in food prices
- Health problems due to malnutrition
- Soil erosion, leading to desertification
- Increased risk of wildfires and poor air quality
- Conflicts over water usage and food

Impacts of tropical storms

- Flooding from storm surges and heavy rainfall
- Loss of life
- Damage to buildings and infrastructure
- Disruption of electricity, transport and water supply; o Water-borne diseases
- Economic loss as production is halted
- Damage to crops, food shortages and loss of export earnings
- Loss of wildlife habitats

Impacts of Tectonic hazards

- Damage to buildings and infrastructure
- Fires from ruptures of gas pipes
- Tsunamis hit coastlines
- Landslides cover buildings and roads
- Destruction of farmland, leading to starvation
- Loss of wildlife habitats
- Water-related diseases, victims are in place with no sanitation, clean water
- Loss of life
- Financial losses

Impact of flooding
- Loss of life
- Contamination of water supplies leading to disease
- Loss of crops and livestock leading to food shortages
- Financial losses when repairing the damage
- Deposition of silt from flood waters
6.7 - Strategies to manage impact of natural hazards

Earthquakes

➔ Earthquake proof building

- Rubber shock absorbers at the base to absorb tremors
- Foundations sunk deep into bedrock
- Cross-bracing steel beams allowing the building to move as a rigid structure
computer-Controlled weights on the roof to reduce shaking
- Construction using fire-resistant materials, flexible piping for electricity, water and
gas
- No Bricks or concrete blocks.

Volcanoes

Tropical cyclones
Flooding

Drought

6.8 Opportunities presented by natural hazards

- Individuals may want to be near family and friends

- Confidence in prediction, preparation and protection
- Employment opportunities e.g. tourism
- No choice in moving if there is pressure on land or if it is too expensive to move
- After a volcanic eruption :
➢ Fertile soils are created that produce high crop yields
➢ The scenery can be spectacular
➢ Geothermal energy can be obtained easily
➢ Possibility of mining minerals such as sulphur, diamonds and gold
- Living near rivers may provide : A source of food, Water for drinking and irrigation
Communications may be easier, Flat land on either side is available for building on