Natural Disasters: Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Forest Fires, Floods, Blizzards And Volcanoes

http://www.partnerregions.org/environmental-issues-natural-disasters-hurricanes-tornadoes-forest-fires-floods-blizzards-and-volcanoes.html

The collective fear of humankind is that civilization's annihilation will come at the fingertips of a human caused cataclysmic event. The efficiency with which humans knowingly and willingly dole out catastrophe, and the potential for en mass destruction has loomed on the horizon since the start of the Cold War. Almost exclusively, human-inspired means that could being the end of humankind such as conventional warfare, nuclear holocaust and biochemical attacks, have been preventable. The only threat to humankind, aside from humankind, that can match and trump that efficiency is nature.

Natural disasters can be defined generally as phenomenon that occurs from natural environmental processes that result in devastating impacts on people. Natural disasters include a long list of events categorized as geological events such as earthquakes, landslides and sink holes, water events like tidal waves and tsunamis, climatic events such as tropical storms, blizzards and tornadoes, fire events like forest fires or wildfires, health and disease events like epidemics and famines, and space threats including solar flares and impact events.

The tolls of natural disasters are in large part due to the difficulty to predict with accuracy, in ample time, when they will occur. Although great progress has been made in designing and developing forecasting models for some natural disasters, complete accuracy is near impossible. Even more so, preventing natural disasters is impossible. Since a natural disaster cannot be prevented, preparation before a natural disaster, and the resources and infrastructure necessary for crisis management in the wake of natural disasters are the two most important aspects in preventing casualties from natural disasters, and minimizing collateral casualties in the wake of natural disasters.

Preparation in the face of and for recovery efforts after natural disasters has been at the forefront of national governments and international agencies. In the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is responsible for the "mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery planning" in the wake of man-made and natural disasters. In 1991, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution "designed to strengthen the United Nation's response to both complex emergencies and natural disasters.” In the wake of the the earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods originating in the Indian Ocean in 2004, the United Nations sponsored the World Conference on Disaster Reduction. The mission is to increase preventative preparation and redevelop crisis management strategies. The results were codified in the Hyogo Framework for Action and would lead to the Central Emergency Response Fund to "ensure swifter response to emergencies" brought on by man-made and natural disasters.

It is also important to note that natural disasters such as wildfires may be a force of destruction to humankind in its path, but the naturally occurring phenomenon play a vital role in many of the earth's ecosystems. In the swath of destruction, wild fires "create more sunlight and space for [new] growth in crowded forests.” Plant species such as sequoia trees and chapparel produce fire dependent seeds that need fire to "burst and germinate,” and wildfires help produce "an environment that favors native species and diversity of wildlife.” Other natural disasters such as volcanoes also have a positive impact on the environment despite their effect on humankind. For example, lava flows increase and create landmass (such as the Hawaiian Islands) and through the erosion of volcanic rock, nutrients and minerals are released into soil providing an especially enriched soil for new plant growth.

Most natural disasters cannot be prevented, and emergency preparation and adequate disaster management are the best ways to deal with natural disasters. Although natural events may appear to serve no purpose but to punish and destroy, Christian right wing groups like Repent America blame the cities affected by hurricanes, specifically Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans in 2005, as the actions of a God "[destroying] a wicked city.” In fact, natural disasters are demonstrations of the intrinsic nature of a planet constantly revolving and evolving, constantly in a state of change.

10.9 8 Work with the following on-line quizzes:

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00758/en/quiz.html

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/quiz-natural-disasters.html

http://www.kidzworld.com/quizzes/show/439

http://www.gamequarium.com/naturaldisasters.html

http://www.factmonster.com/quizzes/disaster1/1.html

http://www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/History/Natural-Disasters-in-World-History-171.html

CONTENTS

ОТ АВТОРА.. 3

UNIT 1 CONTINENTS. 5

UNIT 2 RELIEF. 15

UNIT 3 OCEANS AND SEAS. 28

UNIT 4 COASTS. 35

UNIT 5 RIVERS AND LAKES. 45

UNIT 6 COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES. 52

UNIT 7 GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES. 66

UNIT 8 WORLD WONDERS. 81

UNIT 9 WORLD MYSTERIES. 103

UNIT 10 NATURAL DISASTERS. 115

[1]Сдвиг, разлом породы

[2] a Mesozoic era ocean that existed between the continents of Gondwana and Laurasia before the opening of the Indian Ocean.

[3] Район, находящийся вдали от прибрежной полосы

[4] Грабен - вытянутый участок земной коры, ограниченный круто наклоненными разрывами и опущенный относительно прилегающих участков.

[5] processes that pertain to the activity of the winds and more specifically, to the winds' ability to shape the surface of the Earth and other planets.

[6] from the Greek word katabatikos meaning "going downhill", is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such winds are sometimes also called fall winds.

[7] halfway between the temperate and subarctic (or boreal) zones.