Access over 20 million homework & study documents

EARTH SCIENCE 2GG3: NATURAL DISASTERS

Content type
User Generated
Type
Study Guide
Rating
Showing Page:
1/72
John Mascotto-Carbone
EARTH SCIENCE 2GG3: NATURAL DISASTERS
INTRODUCTION
Instructor – Lisa Leoni
Textbook – Natural Hazards and Disasters
Mark Breakdown
Avenue Quizzes: (4/5 @ 10% each) = 40% of final grade
Midterm = 25%
Exam = 35%
No Assignments
Course Website
www.avenue.mcmaster.ca
o Check this site frequently
Course Outline
o Read it carefully
o Located in avenue to learn
Important Dates
Midterm: Tuesday, May 24
th
, 2011
Final Exam: Thursday, June 16
th
, 2011
NATURAL HAZARDS AND DISASTERS
Hazards and Disasters
Hazard – a phenomenon that causes problems for people
o Something that could happen and we should be aware of
Disaster – an event involving a significant number of people and/or significant economic
disasters
o Something that has occurred – loss of human lives and economic damage
When natural disasters happen, they have huge impacts on the world
o Tsunami in Japan – killed 280,000 people in around a day
o Hurricane Katrina – 5 billion dollars in damages
Rising number of natural disasters over the past 30 years
o More disasters have happened over time
o On average – 78,000 people die a year from natural disasters
Including millions of dollars in damages
What defines a disaster?
o Something that has caused a minimum of 30 deaths
o In Canada a disaster is - $500,000 in damages
o Different countries = different thresholds
What type of disasters are there
o Geophysical Hazards – Natural – things that can’t really be prevented
Earthquakes
Tsunami
Volcanoes
Landslides
1

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
2/72
John Mascotto-Carbone
Asteroids
o Hydrometeorological Hazards – Natural and Human Created
Floods
Droughts
Wildland fires
Weather phenomena
Landslides
o Biologically Related and Medical Hazards – Natural and Human Related
Is our impact of the world having an impact on natural disasters?
Exposure, Sensitivity, and Prediction
Exposure – the degree to which a particular hazard or phenomenon occur
o Living in Hamilton and having snow in the winter
Sensitivity – the potential degree to which an individual or community could be affected by a
natural hazard
o Here in Hamilton we are used to snow and snow storms and we know how to deal
with it
o Elsewhere – such as Las Vegas – they do not know how to handle snow or deal with it
Vulnerability – the degree to which a person, community or system is adversely affected by a
hazard; Vulnerability = Exposure + Sensitivity.
Risk, Probability and Prediction
Risk – the chance or potential for something to happen.
Probability – the likelihood or statistical measure that a particular event will occur.
Prediction
o Recurrence Interval (return period) – the average number of years between an event of
a certain size in a location
Relationships between natural hazards
If there is one thing occurs it could lead to other disasters
o Earthquakes can cause Tsunamis which can cause landslides and so on
Magnitude and Perception
Small magnitude events happen often
o Larger magnitude events happen less often
Important to study small events to see if they will lead to big ones
o How they can lead to larger events
Why do people live where they are vulnerable to natural hazards?
Agriculture: fertile soils
o Floodplains
o Volcanic ash
Scenic Views
o Cliffs and hill slopes
o Coastal and fluvial areas
Memory of last disaster long forgotten
Community established before natural hazard was identified
No options
o An economically less-developed community lacks resources to be relocated
2

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
Showing Page:
3/72

Sign up to view the full document!

lock_open Sign Up
End of Preview - Want to read all 72 pages?
Access Now
Unformatted Attachment Preview
EARTH SCIENCE 2GG3: NATURAL DISASTERS INTRODUCTION Instructor - Lisa Leoni Textbook - Natural Hazards and Disasters Mark Breakdown Avenue Quizzes: (4/5 @ 10% each) = 40% of final grade Midterm = 25% Exam = 35% No Assignments Course Website www.avenue.mcmaster.ca Check this site frequently Course Outline Read it carefully Located in avenue to learn Important Dates Midterm: Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 Final Exam: Thursday, June 16th, 2011 NATURAL HAZARDS AND DISASTERS Hazards and Disasters Hazard - a phenomenon that causes problems for people Something that could happen and we should be aware of Disaster - an event involving a significant number of people and/or significant economic disasters Something that has occurred - loss of human lives and economic damage When natural disasters happen, they have huge impacts on the world Tsunami in Japan - killed 280,000 people in around a day Hurricane Katrina - 5 billion dollars in damages Rising number of natural disasters over the past 30 years More disasters have happened over time On average - 78,000 people die a year from natural disasters Including millions of dollars in damages What defines a disaster? Something that has caused a minimum of 30 deaths In Canada a disaster is - $500,000 in damages Different countries = different thresholds What type of disasters are there Geophysical Hazards - Natural - things that can't really be prevented Earthquakes Tsunami Volcanoes Landslides Asteroids Hydrometeorological Hazards - Natural and ...
Purchase document to see full attachment
User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

Anonymous
Great! 10/10 would recommend using Studypool to help you study.

Studypool
4.7
Trustpilot
4.5
Sitejabber
4.4