Natural Hazards

What is a natural hazard? A natural hazard is a naturally occurring event that could harm us directly or indirectly. Examples could be earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, landslides, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, dust storms, floods, droughts, wildfires, and sink holes!Natural hazards can be caused by natural processes such as: 1. the movement and melting of tectonic plates 2. the movement of water through atmosphere, land, and oceans 3. the movement of rocks and soil through weathering and erosion. Place the Natural Hazards in the category they belong based on the natural process that can cause them Movement and melting of tectonic plates Earthquakes Volcanoes Tsunamis Movement of water through atmosphere, land and oceans Flooding Droughts Hurricane Movement of rocks and soil through weathering and erosion Sinkholes Landslides When do Natural Hazards become Natural Disasters? When a naturally occurring event significantly harms us directly or indirectly it becomes a natural disaster. A massive avalanche in the Alaskan interior causes 0 deaths and $0 in property damage.Is this a natural disaster? Yes No Khait or Hoit landslide occurred on July 10, 1949 in Tajikistan (formerly part of the Soviet Union).The landslide was triggered by an earthquake and 33 villages were buried killing 28,000 people. Was this a natural disaster? Yes No Can we affect natural hazards? How are we connected to the frequency and occurrence of hazards? How are we connected to the magnitude of natural disasters? How do we positively and negatively affect our environment? We will discuss this in class so be ready to reflect on it :) Reflect on our discussion for how we affect natural hazards. What can we do about natural hazards? Natural hazard mitigation is action take to reduce or eliminate negatie impacts of a natural hazard. These can be pre-event (anticipatory) or post-event (reactive) What are some examples of pre-event and post-event mitigation? Sort the following into pre and post boxes. Pre-event land use planning insurance evacuation disaster preparedness artificial control of natural processes Post-event Homeless shelters Emergency food, water, and medical services search and rescue efforts firefighting clean up Let's see some of these Hazards in action. Watch the videos of the hazards. Afterwards complete a brief reflection of observations for that phenomenon (what do you see if this is happening). Then write a quick interpretation for WHY it happened and whether or not you think we (as a growing human population) cause or affect it.IF the video link doesn't work simply youtube search another video on the same type of disaster. Natural Hazard: Earthquake Flood Tornado Ice Storm Volcanic Eruption Hurricane Video Links Brief reflection WHY it happens Does the Human Population affect this?