FOLD MOUNTAIN RANGE (ALPS) - st-thomas-more.net

FOLD MOUNTAIN RANGE (ALPS) Location Central Europe, the Alps form the border between Italy and the neighbouring countries of France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The highest peak is Mont Blanc near the French-Italian border at 4810 metres.

Formation

When fold mountains are formed various rocks get folded in a variety of ways. These have specific names which you have to learn for the exam: Geosyncline - a large depression in which sediment has been deposited into it Anticline - the upfolds of folded rock Syncline - the downfolds of folded rock Nappes - when the rock has been severely folded and faulted it forms these

Physical problems for people Relief – mainly high and steep. There is little flat land for farming and building settlements. Climate – with increasing height it gets colder, windier and wetter and more precipitation falls as snow. Often impossible to grow crops at high levels Soils – mountain soils are typically stony, thin and infertile. Accessibility – roads and railways are expensive to build; travel on them is frequently disrupted by rock falls; avalanches and bad weather. High mountains in inland areas such as the Himalayas are the least accessible of all.

Human activities Farming Farms located on sunnier and warmer south-facing slopes. Dairy farming is common, ‘transhumance’ is used, it is the seasonal movement of animals. In summer, cattle are taken up to the high alp to graze, in winter the animals return to the farm on the valley floor, where they are kept in cattle sheds. Changes to traditional farming system have been made – cable cars are used to bring milk to the co-operative dairies down on the valley floor. Farmers buy in additional feedstuffs, so cattle can stay on the valley floor farm all year. Forestry Coniferous trees cover the slopes. Wood, is a plentiful local resource and is the main building material and winter fuel. Tourism Winter tourism (examples of resorts are St Moritz and Chamonix) Snow for skiing and other winter sports; in between heavy snowfall there and many sunny, clear days. Flatter land on high-level benches (high alp) is easy for building of hotels, restaurants, ski lifts and other facilities. Steep slopes above the resorts for ski runs amid great mountain views. Summer tourism (examples of resorts are Interlaken and Garda) Large glacial lakes on valley floors. Beautiful mountain scenery with snow capped peaks. Hydro-electric Power (HEP) and Industry The steep slopes, high precipitation and summer melting of glaciers produce fast flowing rivers that are ideal for generating HEP. The narrow are easy to dam and there are lakes in which to store water. Cheap HEP is used by industries which require high input of electricity, such as sawmills and fertiliser manufacturing. Some of the electricity is also exported to other regions to supply towns and cities.

Location Haiti is an island in the Caribbean Sea, it’s neighbouring country is the Dominican Republic. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, its GDP is only $1,200 per person and 80 % of its 9.7 Million people live below the poverty line. The country is located on a conservative plate boundary between the Caribbean Plate and the North American Plate. Why it happened The North American plate moves west The Caribbean plate moves east The plates move 2cm a year The plates became stuck due to friction along the fault The fault ruptures Energy is released

Facts The earthquake occurred on January 12th 2010, the epicentre was centred just 10 miles southwest of the capital city, Port au Prince and the quake was shallow—only about 10-15 kilometres below the land's surface. The event measured 7.0 on the Richter Magnitude scale.

Long term response The EU gave $330 million & the World Bank waived debt repayments for 5 years. 6 months after the quake, 98% of the rubble remained un cleared, blocking vital access roads. The number of people in relief camps of tents and tarps since the quake was 1.6 million, and almost no transitional housing had been built. Most of the camps had no electricity, running water, or sewage disposal, and the tents were beginning to fall apart. 23 major charities, raised $1.1 billion for Haiti for relief efforts, but only two percent of the money had been released 1 year after the earthquake 1 million people remained displaced The Dominican Republic offered support and accepted some refugees. Medicines San frontiers, a charity, helped casualties whilst the USA coordinated aid distribution.

Short term responses Many countries responded to appeals for aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which slowed rescue and aid efforts. There was much confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were overwhelmed with tens of thousands of bodies having to be buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and looting and sporadic violence were observed.

Haiti - Earthquake

Facts Friday 8th November 2013 Category 5

Formation Global atmospheric circulation At the equator, the sun’s rays are most concentrated. This

means it is hotter. This one fact causes global atmospheric circulation at different latitudes.

High pressure = dry Low pressure = wet As the air heats it rises – causing low pressure. As it cools, it sinks, causing high pressure. Winds move from high pressure to low pressure. They curve because of the Coriolis effect (the turning of the Earth

These are areas of low pressure. They occur in low latitudes between 5 and 30 degrees north and south of equator. Ocean temperature needs to be above 27 degrees C. Ocean depth 70m +. Happen between summer and autumn

Tropical Storms

1. Air is heated above warm tropical oceans 2.Air rises under low pressure conditions 3.Strong winds form as rising air draws in more air and moisture causing torrential rain 4.Air spins due to Coriolis effect around a calm eye of the storm 5.Cold air sinks in the eye so it is clear and dry 6.Heat is given off as it cools powering the storm 7.On meeting land, it loses source of heat and moisture so loses power

Eye : the centre of a tropical storm where sinking air causes relatively calm, clear, conditions. Eye wall: the towering banks of cloud bearing heavy rainfall surrounding the eye. Storm surge – when low pressure storm conditions cause the sea level to rise. Saffir-Simpson scale –a 5 point scale used to classify tropical storm

according to their strength.

Typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda, Philippines (South China Sea)

Primary Effects Secondary Effects

• 550,00 homes destroyed • 6,201 died in Philippines • 28,700 injured • Tacloban airport flooded • 90% of Tacloban

destroyed • Land flooded up to 1 km

inland • 6m high storm surge • 300mm of rainfall in 12

hours • 30,000 fishing boats

destroyed • Rice and sugar producing

areas destroyed

• $2.9 million in economic losses

• 6,000,000 displaced/ homeless

• oil barge ran aground creating an oil spill.

• Looting • 6 million lost their

jobs • Rice prices rose by

12% by 2014.

Key terms

A marginal increase in ocean temperatures has occurred over the last 20 years. Climate change could affect tropical storms:- A wider distribution as the latitude of oceans with water over 27 C spread further north and south of the Equator. Intensity may increase as higher ocean temperatures generate more heat. The number will remain the same but the number of extremely intense storms will increase 20% more rainfall within 100km of the storm. Storm surges may be higher due to more intense storms, higher sea levels and lower pressure., increasing the flood risk

Climate change and tropical storms

Immediate response s Long term responses • The president televised

a warning • 800,000 people were

evacuated • The government

ensured equipment and medical supplies were sent out.

• Emergency aid arrived 3 days later by plane after the main airport reopened.

• A curfew was imposed 2 days afterwards to reduce looting.

• 33 countries and international organisations pledged help

• Build back better involved rebuilding and upgrading the buildings.

• A no build zone along the coast in Eastern Visayas

• A new storm surge warning system

• Mangroves replanted • Plans to build the

Tacloban-Palo-Tanauan Dike

What are Natural Hazards?

Natural hazards are physical events such as earthquakes and volcanoes that have the potential to do damage humans and property. Hazards

include tectonic hazards, tropical storms and forest fires.

What affects hazard risk?

Effects of Tectonic Hazards Primary effects happen immediately. Secondary effects happen as a result

of the primary effects and are therefore often slightly later.

Primary - Earthquakes Secondary - Earthquakes

Comparing Earthquakes – L’Aquila, Italy (HIC) and Kashmir, Pakistan (LIC)

L’Aqulla, April 2009 Kashmir, October 2005

Primary Effects

Population growth

Global climate change Deforestation

Wealth - LICs are particularly at risk as they

• Property and buildings destroyed

• People injured or killed • Ports, roads, railways damaged • Pipes (water and gas) and

electricity cables broken

• Business reduced as money spent repairing property

• Blocked transport hinders emergency services

• Broken gas pipes cause fire • Broken water pipes lead to a

lack of fresh water

300 deaths 1500 injured 60 000 people homeless

80 000 deaths 3 million people homeless Water and electricity cut off

Secondary Effects

do not have the money to protect themselves

Primary - Volcanoes Secondary - Volcanoes

Aftershocks made rescue more difficult Fires caused damage in collapsed

Landslides buried people and buildings Diarrhoea and other diseases spread

Structure of the Earth

The earth has 4 layers

The inner core The outer core

• Property and farm land destroyed

• People and animals killed or injured

• Air travel halted due to volcanic ash

• Economy slows down. Emergency services struggle to arrive

• Possible flooding if ice melts Tourism can increase as people come to watch

buildings Broken waterpipes led to landslides

due to little clean water Freezing conditions led homeless people to freeze to death.

Immediate Responses

The mantle The crust

The crust is split into major

fragments called tectonic plates. There are 2 types: Oceanic (thin

and younger but dense) and

• Water supplies contaminated Unit 1

• Ash breaks down leading to fertile farm land

Camps set up for homeless Ambulances, fire services and army to area to help victims Government money to repair gas, electricity Free mobile phones to people who had lost homes

International aid and equipment sent but this didn’t reach many areas for weeks Tents, blankets and medical supplies sent but took a month to reach most areas

Continental (old and thicker but less dense)

These plates move and where

There are 2 theories of why plates move: convection currents and ridge push, slab pull.

The challenge of Natural Hazards

Responses to Tectonic Hazards

Long term responses

they meet you get tectonic activity (volcanoes and

earthquakes).

Plates either move against each other (destructive margin) away

Immediate (short term) Long-term

New settlements built to house over 20 000 residents Most of city rebuilt

New settlements of 40 000 people Aid to rebuild schools and build new homes

from each other (constructive) or next to each other (conservative)

Earthquakes and Volcanoes

• Issue warnings if possible • Rescue teams search for

survivors • Treat injured • Provide food and shelter, food

• Repair and re-build properties and infrastructure

• Improve building regulations • Restore utilities • Resettle locals elsewhere

Investigation into building standards

3 years later many still living in temporary tents and schools still not rebuilt after 10 years

Volcanoes Earthquakes and drink • Recover bodies

• Develop opportunities for recovery of economy

LICs suffer more than HICs from natural disasters because they are not as prepared and struggle to react effectively

• Constructive margins – Hot magma rises between the plates eg. Iceland. Forms Shield volcanoes

• Constructive margins – usually small earthquakes as plates pull apart.

• Destructive margins –

• Extinguish fires • Install monitoring technology

Monitoring Prediction

• Destructive margins – an oceanic plate subducts under a continental plate. Friction causes oceanic plate

violent earthquakes as pressure builds and is then released

• Conservative margins –

Seismometers measure earth movement. Volcanoes give off gases

By observing monitoring data, this can allow evacuation before event

to melt and pressure forces plates slide past each other. Protection Planning

magma up to form composite volcanoes eg the Pacific Rim

They catch and then as pressure builds it is released eg San Andreas fault. .

Reinforced buildings and making building foundations that absorb movement

Automatic shut offs for gas and electricity

Avoid building in at risk areas Training for emergency services and planned evacuation

routes and drills.

Global atmospheric circulation

At the equator, the sun’s rays are most concentrated. This means it is hotter. This one fact causes global atmospheric circulation at different

latitudes.

Sequence of a Tropical Storm 1. Air is heated above warm tropical oceans 2. Air rises under low pressure conditions 3. Strong winds form as rising air draws in more air and moisture

causing torrential rain 4. Air spins due to Coriolis effect around a calm eye of the storm 5. Cold air sinks in the eye so it is clear and dry 6. Heat is given off as it cools powering the storm 7. On meeting land, it loses source of heat and moisture so loses power.

Extreme weather in the UK Rain – can cause flooding damaging homes and business Snow & Ice – causes injuries and disruption to schools and business. Destroys farm crops Hail – causes damage to property and crops Drought – limited water supply . Can damage crops Wind – damage to property and damage to trees potentially leading to injury Thunderstorms – lightening can cause fires or even death Heat waves – causes breathing difficulties and can disrupt travel. UK weather is getting more extreme due to climate change. Temperatures are more extreme and rain is more frequent and intense leading to more flooding events. Since 1980 average temperature has increased 1 degree and winter rainfall has increased.

November / December 2010 – The Big Freeze

A long period of heavy snow and cold weather as cold air from N Europe and Siberia was over the UK

Social Effects

High pressure = dry

Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana USA August 2005 Primary Effects Secondary Effects

Several people died of hypothermia and accidents on icy roads Water froze in pipes causing them to burst leading to flooding. 40 000 homes without water for over a week 7000 schools closed in December leading to disruption

Economic Effects Low pressure = wet As the air heats it rises – causing low pressure. As it cools, it sinks, causing high pressure. Winds move from high pressure to low pressure. They curve because of the Coriolis effect (the turning of the Earth)

Tropical Storms

1800 killed 300 000 homes destroyed 80% of New Orleans flooded 3 million people without electricity Habitats destroyed

230 000 jobs lost from damaged businesses Water supply polluted Hundreds of thousands homeless Total cost of damage $150 billion

Transport disrupted and some drivers trapped in cars for 15 hours People could not get to work Christmas shopping was affected Estimated cost of damage due to lost business £1.6 billion (reducing GDP by 0.5%)

Occur in low latitudes between 5 and 30 degrees north and south of equator. Ocean temperature needs to be above 27 degrees C. Happen

Immediate Responses Long-term Responses Environmental impacts

between summer and autumn 70-80% of New Orleans evacuated before hurricane reached land State of emergency declared in Louisiana and Mississippi Emergency shelters set up in public buildings 50 000 people rescued Charities provided hot means and aid

Government provided $16 billion to rebuild Some houses rebuilt on stilts Some areas zoned no build areas Repaired flood defence costing $14.5 billion (mainly levees)

Frost damaged crops esp. sugar beet Use of gas and electricity increased increasing CO2 emissions

Management strategies Gritters on roads to reduce accidents but supplies were limited Warning to restrict travel to only

Prediction Planning Protection essential journeys

Monitoring wind patterns allows path to be predicted. Use

of satellites to monitor path to allow

evacuation

Avoid building in high risk areas Emergency

drills Evacuation routes

Reinforced buildings and stilts to make safe

from floodwater Flood defences eg

levees and sea walls

Closing schools Getting individuals to stock up on essential supplies Climate change will affect tropical storms too. Warmer oceans will lead to

more intense storms – but not necessarily more frequent ones

Climate Change – natural or human?

Evidence for climate change shows changes before humans were on the planet. So some of it must be natural. However, the rate of change

Managing Climate Change Mitigation Adaption

since the 1970s is unprecedented. Humans are responsible – despite what Mr Trump says!

Causes

Natural Human

• Alternative energy production – renewable sources will last longer but they can be expensive and are less reliable than fossil fuels

• Planting Trees – helps to remove carbon dioxide. Has the

• Changes in agricultural systems – needed to react to changing rainfall and temperature patterns and changing threat of disease and pests. This is hard for poor farmers who tend to be most affected

• Orbital changes – The sun’s energy on the Earth’s surface changes as the Earth’s orbit is elliptical its axis is tilted on an angle.

• Solar Output – sunspots increase to a maximum every 11 years

• Volcanic activity – volcanic aerosols reflect sunlight away reducing global

• Fossil fuels – release carbon dioxide with accounts for 50% of greenhouse gases

• Agriculture – accounts for around 20% of greenhouse gases due to methane production from cows etc. Larger populations and growing demand for met and rice increase contribution

• Deforestation – logging and

Effects of Climate Change Social Environmental

potential to increase carbon storage by 28%. However land may be limited and biodiversity is still threatened unless a wide range of trees are planted

• Carbon Capture – takes carbon dioxide from the emission sources and stores it underground under a cap rock. It can reduce capture of up to 90% of carbon dioxide.

• Managing water supplies – eg. by installing water efficient devices and increasing supply through things like desalination plants. There is an increasing threat of political stability

• Reducing risk – reducing risk from rising sea levels would involve constructing defences such as the Thames Flood Barrier or restoring mangrove

temperatures temporarily clearing land for agriculture increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and reduces ability to planet to absorb carbon through photosynthesis.

• Increased disease eg. skin cancer and heat stroke

• Winter deaths decrease with milder winters

• Crop yields affected by up to 12% in South America but will

• Increased drought in Mediterranean region

• Lower rainfall causes food shortages for orangutans in Borneo and Indonesia

• Sea level rise leads to flooding

However, it is very expensive and unclear if the captured carbon would escape in the long term. Also it discourages development of renewable energy resources

• International Agreements –

forests, or raising buildings on stilts. These are expensive and possibly only short term measures.

Evidence for Climate Change

The Met Office has reliable climate evidence since 1914 – but we can tell what happened before that using several methods.

Ice and Sediment Cores Tree Rings

increase in Northern Europe but will need more irrigation

• Less ice in Arctic Ocean increases shipping and extraction of oil and gas reserves

• Droughts reduce food and

and coastal erosion • Ice melts threaten habitats of

polar bears • Warmer rivers affect marine

wildlife • Forests in n America may

experience more pests, disease

targets will only be met if they are legally binding (Paris 2015). Financial support is needed for LICs. However, poorer countries argue that they need to industrialise and getting richer

• Ice sheets are made up of layers of snow – one per year. If you drill down you can analyse gases trapped in layers of ice for the past. Ice cores from Antarctica show changes over the last 400 000 years.

• Remains of organisms found in cores from the ocean floor can by traced back 5 million years.

• A tree grows one new rind each year. Rings are thicker in warm, wet conditions

• This gives us reliable evidence for the last 10 000 years

water supply in sub-Saharan Africa. Water scarcity in South and South East UK

• Increased flood risk. 70% of Asia is at risk of increased flooding

• Declining fish in some areas affect diet and jobs

• Increased extreme weather • Skiing industry in Alps

threatened.

and forest fires • Coral bleaching and decline in

biodiversity such as the Great Barrier Reef (Australia)

countries to accept their responsibility is difficult.

Pollen Analysis Temperature Records

• Pollen is preserved in

sediment. Different species need different climatic conditions

• Historical records date back

to the 1850s. Historical records also tell us about harvest and weather reports.

KOBE, JAPAN 1995 – Earthquake in an MEDC • Location Kobe is a port in SE Japan. It is Japan’s 6th largest city. Causes of the earthquake Destructive margin, 2 oceanic plates the Pacific and Philippine plates, are pushed under the Eurasian plate. At 5.46am on January 17th 1995. The Kobe earthquake was powerful (magnitude 6.9); the epicentre was only 20km southwest of the city and the focus was only about 16kms below the surface. 10million people live in this area. This is a recipe for disaster.

Effects • More than 5000 people perished and 300, 000

people were made homeless • People were trapped under rubble and

traumatised. • More than 102,000 buildings were destroyed in

Kobe. The local government‘s estimate of the cost to restore the basic infrastructure of the city was about £100 billion.

• The worst affected area was in the central part of Kobe including the main docks and port area. This area is built on soft and easily moved rocks, especially the port itself which is built on reclaimed ground. Here the ground actually liquefied and acted likes thick soup, allowing buildings to topple sideways.

• Damaged infrastructure:- Emergency aid for the city needed to use damaged roads but many of them were destroyed during the earthquake. Raised motorways collapsed during the shaking. Other roads were affected, limiting rescue attempts.

• Most new buildings and roads have, in the last 20 years, been designed to be earthquake proof, schools and factories have regular earthquake drills, etc. Despite this, many older buildings still collapsed or caught fire. This led to many blocked roads and massive problems of homelessness.

Initial short term responses Telephones and other communication services were

put out of action making communication slow and difficult.

Electricity and water supplies were badly damaged over large areas. This meant no power for heating, lights, cooking, etc. Clean, fresh water was in short supply until April 1995. The government and city authorities were criticised for being slow to rescue people and for refusing offers of Aid from other countries.

Many people had to sleep in cars or tents in cold winter conditions.

Locals dug through the rubble to help others.

Long term responses Water, electricity, gas, telephone services were fully

working by July 1995 The railways were back in service by August 1995 A year after the earthquake, 80% of the port was

working but the Hanshin Expressway was still closed. By January 1999, 134,000 housing units had been

constructed but some people still had to live in temporary accommodation.

New laws were passed to make buildings and transport structures even more earthquake proof.

More instruments were installed in the area to monitor earthquake movements.

MEDC Volcanic Eruption – Mt St Helens 1980

Location Mount St Helens is in Washington State in NW USA. It is in the Cascade mountain range. It is on the plate boundary between the Juan de Fuca plate and North American plate. When it erupted it permanently changed the surrounding landscape.

Effects Other primary effects were • 200 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways and 185 miles of highway were

destroyed. • Large number of wildlife were killed by the blast and the volcanic ash with

nothing surviving in the blast zone • crops were ruined Other secondary effects • livelihoods of loggers were devastated with large areas of trees being

flattened like matchsticks • flooding resulting from blocked rivers washed away road and rail bridges

o Mt St Helens was dormant for a long time but small quakes from 1980 suggested that the magma was moving.

o On March the 18th a quake in the volcano of 4.2 on the Richter scale signalled the volcanoes return to activity.

o A large “bulge” on the side of the volcano signified a build up of magma. o On May 18 at 8:32 a.m., a magnitude 5.1 earthquake centred directly below

the north slope triggered that part of the mountain to slide this was on of the largest landslides in history, it moved at around 110 mph and it covered about 24 square miles

The inner core is in the centre and is the hottest part of the Earth. It is solid and made up of iron and nickel with temperatures of up to 5,500°C. With its immense heat energy, the inner core is

like the engine room of the Earth.

The outer core is the layer surrounding the inner core. It is a liquid layer, also made up of iron and nickel. It is still extremely hot, with temperatures

similar to the inner core.

The mantle is the widest section of the Earth. It has a thickness of approximately 2,900 km. The mantle is made up of semi-molten rock called

magma. In the upper parts of the mantle the rock is hard, but lower down the rock is soft and

beginning to melt.

The crust is the outer layer of the earth. It is a thin layer between 0-60 km thick. The crust is the solid

rock layer upon which we live.

Oceanic crust

1. Newer- most less than 200 million 2. Denser 3. Can sink 4. Can be renewed and destroyed

Continental crust

1. Old- most over 1500 million 2. Less dense 3. Cannot sink 4. Cannot be renewed and destroyed

As it rises it cools and solidifies causing it to sink.

The molten magma is heated and melted so

rises.

The heat from the core rises to the mantle

This process repeats creating convection

currents

Convection currents are the reason that the plates move on top of the mantle.

Subduction zone

Volcanic eruption

Earthquake focus

Melting point

Ocean trench

Fold mountains

Continental crust

Collision zone

Continental crust

The denser oceanic plate is sub ducted beneath the continental plate. This creates an ocean

trench.

The oceanic and continental plate moves towards each other.

As it is sub-ducted the plates cause friction by rubbing together which results in earthquakes.

The friction and heat from the mantle melts the oceanic plate.

The hot liquid magma rises to create a volcano with a violent eruption (composite volcanoes)

1

2

3

4

5

Two plates of continental crust move towards each other.

The plates cannot be sub ducted so crash into one another.

The sediment between the two plates is pushed together due to the force. This creates

earthquakes.

1

2

3

The pressure causes the rocks to bend and fold– up folds and down folds. This creates

mountains. No volcanic activity.

4

Fold mountains (young)

Fault line

Continental crust

Volcano

Volcanic island (shield volcanoes)

Ridge

Crust

Mantle

Epicentre

Two plates try to slide past one another. 1

The plates stick or get jammed together.

Huge amounts of pressure builds up.

The pressure is released causing violent earthquakes. The plates move on millimetres.

There is no volcanic activity.

2

3

4

5

Plates move away from each other.

Hot liquid rock (magma) rises rom beneath the ground.

Magma cools and forms new oceanic crust. The movement causes earthquakes.

Mountain tops break the surface as volcanic islands, and new mountain ranges form under

the sea.

1

2

3

4

Found along plate

margins.

Majority found around

the ring of fire.

The ring of fire is

created by the pacific plate.

In the exam you maybe given a map showing the location or earthquakes and or volcanoes. You will be expected to describe the distribution (spread). You will need to give specific boundary examples to

support your points.

An example for volcanoes is

the pacific plate moving under the North America

plate creating a destructive margin.

An example for

earthquakes is the conservative

boundary created by the Caribbean

and North American Plate.

Earthquakes are caused when tension builds up at plate margins (a, b., c or d).

1

At conservative margins the plates become stuck as they try to slide past each other.

Eventually the pressure builds and the plates jerk past each other sending out shock waves.

The sock waves spread out from the focus- the point in the Earth where the earthquake starts

(the waves are stronger here)

The epicentre is the point on the Earth’s surface straight above the focus.

2

3

4

5

Earthquakes occur when plates get stuck and then become unstuck. Weak earthquakes happen often but

strong earthquakes are rare.

At collision margins the earthquake happens when the two plates collide.

At destructive margins tension builds up when one plate gets such as it’s

moving down into the mantle. At constructive margins tension builds up along cracks within plates as they

move away from each other.

At conservative margins tension builds up when the plates that are grinding

past each other become stuck A

B

C

D

1

2

3

4

5

7

8

9 +

1 Only detected by instruments

2 Only felt by people at rest indoors

3 felt by people indoors

4 Felt by many people, dishes and windows rattle

5 felt by most people, dishes and windows broken

Richter Scale Mercalli Scale

Measures the amount of energy

released (magnitude)

6 Felt by everyone many objects moved

7 Some structural damage

8 Heavy structural damage

9 Massive structural damage, some buildings destroyed

10 All buildings damaged, many destroyed

11 Most buildings destroyed

12 Total destruction

Magnitude is measured by a seismometer.

The scale is logarithmic- an

earthquake with a magnitude of 5 is 10 time more powerful

than on of 4.

Most people don’t feel those of 1-2.

Major earthquakes are above 5.

Measures the effects if an earthquake.

Effects are measured by asking an eye

witness for observations

of what happened.

Observations can be in the form of words or photos.

It’s a scale of 1 to 12.

There may be many pre-shocks before an earthquake that can be measured on a seismograph. Animals often act strangely for examples dogs will howl before an earthquake.

All buildings must comply with strict earthquake planning regulations. Existing buildings, roads and bridges should be strengthened.

Prepare disaster plans. Organise and prepare hospitals and evacuation centres. Organise emergency supplies.

The three P’s policy is a way of reducing the effects of earthquakes in countries. It is an expensive policy that mainly only MEDC’s can afford.

• EARTHQUAKES • Seismometers • For earthquakes the equipment above is used plus other equipment and

measures, these include; • Using foreshocks by monitoring seismic waves– we often get small

earthquakes before “the big one” that can give warnings. The Japan Tsunami (mag 9.0) was preceded by a massive magnitude 7.2 earthquake.

• Animal Behaviour • Animal behavior has been suggested as a method, as many observations

have shown that animals react to an earthquake before the event and well before human beings.

• Tilt meters can show ground deformation, leading to an earthquake. These have been replaced in many cases by more modern and wider ranging satellite imagery.

• • Laser beams

Laser beams can be used to detect plate movement by directing the beam across the fault line.

How would the building features below help during an earthquake? Annotate your diagram to show how.

Identification numbers for helicopters to identify which

buildings are damages and which are not

Safe open areas for people to gather

Shutters that come down automatically

Rubber shock absorbers between foundations and

building above ground

Rolling weights on roof

Latticework steel foundations into the

BEDROCK

Lattice work steel cage to stabilise building

Reinforced lift shafts with tensioned cables

Location Haiti is an island in the Caribbean Sea, it’s neighbouring country is the Dominican Republic. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, its GDP is only $1,200 per person and 80 % of its 9.7 Million people live below the poverty line. The country is located on a conservative plate boundary between the Caribbean Plate and the North American Plate. Why it happened The North American plate moves west The Caribbean plate moves east The plates move 2cm a year The plates became stuck due to friction along the fault The fault ruptures Energy is released

Facts The earthquake occurred on January 12th 2010, the epicentre was centred just 10 miles southwest of the capital city, Port au Prince and the quake was shallow—only about 10-15 kilometres below the land's surface. The

d 7 0

Long term response The EU gave $330 million & the World Bank waived debt repayments for 5 years. 6 months after the quake, 98% of the rubble remained un cleared, blocking vital access roads. The number of people in relief camps of tents and tarps since the quake was 1.6 million, and almost no transitional housing had been built. Most of the camps had no electricity, running water, or sewage disposal, and the tents were beginning to fall apart. 23 major charities, raised $1.1 billion for Haiti for relief efforts, but only two percent of the money had been released 1 year after the earthquake 1 million people remained displaced The Dominican Republic offered support and

Short term responses Many countries responded to appeals for aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel. Communication systems, air, land, and sea transport facilities, hospitals, and electrical networks had been damaged by the earthquake, which slowed rescue and aid efforts. There was much confusion over who was in charge, air traffic congestion, and problems with prioritisation of flights further complicated early relief work. Port-au-Prince's morgues were overwhelmed with tens of thousands of bodies having to be buried in mass graves. As rescues tailed off, supplies, medical care and sanitation became priorities. Delays in aid distribution led to angry appeals from aid workers and survivors, and looting and sporadic violence were observed.

Haiti - Earthquake

KOBE, JAPAN 1995 – Earthquake in an MEDC

• Location Kobe is a port in SE Japan. It is Japan’s 6th largest city. Causes of the earthquake Destructive margin, 2 oceanic plates the Pacific and Philippine plates, are pushed under the Eurasian plate. At 5.46am on January 17th 1995. The Kobe earthquake was powerful (magnitude 6.9); the epicentre was only 20km southwest of the city and the focus was only about 16kms below the surface. 10million people live in this area. This is a recipe for disaster.

Effects • More than 5000 people perished

and 300, 000 people were made homeless

• People were trapped under rubble and traumatised.

• More than 102,000 buildings were destroyed in Kobe. The local government‘s estimate of the cost to restore the basic infrastructure of the city was about £100 billion.

• The worst affected area was in the central part of Kobe including the main docks and port area. This area is built on soft and easily moved rocks, especially the port itself which is built on reclaimed ground. Here the ground actually liquefied and acted likes thick soup, allowing buildings to topple sideways.

• Damaged infrastructure:- Emergency aid for the city needed to use damaged roads but many of them were destroyed during the earthquake. Raised motorways collapsed during the shaking. Other roads were affected, limiting rescue attempts.

• Most new buildings and roads have

Initial short term responses Telephones and other communication

services were put out of action making communication slow and difficult.

Electricity and water supplies were badly damaged over large areas. This meant no power for heating, lights, cooking, etc. Clean, fresh water was in short supply until April 1995. The government and city authorities were criticised for being slow to rescue people and for refusing offers of Aid from other countries.

Many people had to sleep in cars or tents in cold winter conditions.

Locals dug through the rubble to help others.

Long term responses Water, electricity, gas, telephone

services were fully working by July 1995

The railways were back in service by August 1995

A year after the earthquake, 80% of the port was working but the Hanshin Expressway was still closed.

By January 1999, 134,000 housing units had been constructed but some people still had to live in temporary accommodation.

New laws were passed to make buildings and transport structures even more earthquake proof.

More instruments were installed in the area to monitor earthquake

1. Instrumental readings It has been shown that over the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about 0.8 °C (1.4 °F) and the rate of temperature increase sped up towards the end of that time frame. Scientists are more than 90% certain most of it is caused by human activities which have increased concentrations of greenhouse gases such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels.

2. Retreating glaciers and shrinking ice sheets The World Glacier monitoring Service collects information every year on the sizes of glaciers around the world. Data shows that glaciers are shrinking significantly all around the world. The Arctic ice sheet has also thinned to half its thickness over the past 30 years, and we have seen the breakup of huge Ice Shelves in

3. Ice cores Scientists have drilled out a huge core of ice in Antarctica. The air trapped in bubbles in the ice can be analysed and this has shown that the Earth is normally cooler than it is now and that Ice ages are common. It also shows a very strong link between CO2 concentrations and temperature.

Seasons shifting – such as spring arriving earlier Spring is arriving earlier in the UK. Birds are nesting earlier and bulbs such as daffodils are flowering earlier. The Telegraph reported that spring now arrives 11 days earlier than in the 19th century.

Causes Volcanic activity Volcanic activity can reduce global temperatures because of the dust and ash that goes into the atmosphere and sulphur dioxide that creates aerosols. These volcanic materials reflect incoming radiation back out to space cooling the Earth. The Mount Pinatubo eruption of 1991 resulted in cooling of 0.4C. Sunspots Sunspots are storms on the sun’s surface that are marked by intense magnetic activity and play host to solar flares and hot gassy ejections from the sun. Increased sunspot activity has been noted at times of increased temperatures, and decreased activity in cooler times. Variations in the way the Earth orbits the sun over time, The Earth’s journey around the sun changes slowly over time, it does three things that sound like a dance – stretch, tilt and wobble!

• Human causes • Fossil Fuels • We use fossil fuels (including coal, oil and gas) in power stations across the world to generate

energy. • Coal is the remains of ancient plants and trees that grew over 200 millions of years ago. Oil and gas

is made up of the remains of microscopic plankton. Over millions of years these remains become the carbon-rich coal, oil and gas we can use as fuel.

• When fossil fuels are burned they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which contributes to global warming. Using fossil fuels to generate energy also releases pollutants into the atmosphere - such as sulphur dioxide

• Agriculture • Producing food globally uses a lot of fossil fuels in the production of fertiliser and pesticides, and in

the transportation of food. Changing forest cover and marshes to farmland also releases greenhouses gases and removes a greenhouse gas store. Some types of agriculture also create a lot of greenhouse gases. Keeping animals in large quantities for meat production or dairy products produces a lot of Methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas. Rice paddies are also known to produce lots of greenhouse gases

• Deforestation • Forests have a vital role to play in the fight against global warming. Forests absorb and store carbon

in their trees and soil. But if forests are cleared or disturbed, this carbon is released as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Up to a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation.

MITIGATION • RENEWABLE forms of energy. – wind, solar, HEP, nuclear • Carbon capture Carbon capture is the trapping of the carbon dioxide released when we burn fossil fuels.

• Planting trees

• International agreements - IPCC established 1988 • Rio Earth Summit 1992

• The Earth summit agreement was then followed by an update, the Kyoto Protocol of 1997.

This was agreed by nearly every country in the world except the USA (plus 4 others), which wanted developing nations to have to cut their emissions as well.

• The most recent UN climate talks were held in Paris in 2015. It was agreed that the EU would put its current emission-cutting pledges inside the legally-binding Kyoto Protocol, a key demand of developing countries. Most major countries have signed up to the Paris Protocol.

• the Climate Change Act 2008 made the UK the first country in the world to have a legally binding long-term framework to cut carbon emissions. The UK is part of a wider program as part of the European Union’s emission trading system which was the first large emissions trading system in the World.

Adaptation

• Agriculture (farming) will need to adjust to

climate change. Timing, location, species • Managing water supply

• Reducing risk from rising sea levels - defence

and insurance

Anticyclones

• Anticyclones are the OPPOSITE of depressions. They are areas of high pressure where air sinks to the earth’s surface. As the air sinks it warms so condensation does not occur and there are very few clouds. This gives clear skies. Anticyclones have low wind speeds, widely spaced isobars and stable conditions. Anticyclones only involve one type of air mass which usually cover large areas and do not have any fronts. Anticyclones can occur in both winter and summer.

• Anticyclones can be very large, at least 3,000 km wide which is much larger than depressions. They can give several days of settled weather.

• In winter • In winter the longer nights combined with clear skies leads to intense cooling of the land. There is an increased

risk of dew, frost and thicker, more extensive fog patches which may be slow to clear or even persist. • Under very calm conditions, both frost and fog may persist for several days. An anticyclone's very stable conditions

and little air movement means that pollution is trapped at low levels, resulting in very poor air quality such as smogs.

• In summer • In Britain in summer an anticyclone will mean heat waves during the day. At night, however, as there are no

clouds, heat will be quickly lost. The ground will cool sufficiently to cause condensation of water vapour in the descending warm air and mist or heavy dew may form. This will clear quickly in the morning sun. After a few days, a layer of hot air builds up at ground level, which eventually will give rise to thunderstorms, ending the anticyclone. Indeed, summer anticyclones can result in “Heat wave” conditions with temperatures significantly above average. One such event occurred in the summer of 2003 affecting continental Europe and the UK, it proved to be particularly hazardous to humans.

The Challenge of Natural Hazard – Paper 1:Living with the physical environment

A Natural Hazard is a threat to people and property • A natural hazard is a natural process which could cause death,

injury or disruption to humans, like destroy property and possessions.

• A natural disaster is a natural hazard that has already happened. • Extreme events which do not pose any threat to human activity

are not counted as a hazard.

Types of Natural Hazards • Geological Hazards caused by land and tectonics (examples include: volcanoes, earthquakes,

tsunami, landslides, avalanches) • Atmospheric Hazards (aka Meteorological Hazards) caused by weather and climate (examples

include: tropical storms, extreme weather like heatwaves, snow, rain, drought and climate change

• Water based Hazards created by rivers, seas and oceans (examples include flooding)

Different factors affecting hazard risk Hazard risk is the probability (chance) that a natural hazard occurs. There are several factors affecting hazard risk. Not all earthquakes have the same impact the world over for example, and not all tropical storms are deadly. It is worth thinking of these questions to help understand. Why is it that earth quakes of the same magnitude have different death tolls or amounts of economic damage? Some places are more VULNERABLE to natural hazards and some places have a lower CAPACITY TO COPE as they have weaker infrastructure, poor government organisations and agencies (such as the army, or police) or low quality equipment. 1. Natural Factors - rock/soil type, height of land hit by a tsunami 2.Education, 3.Time, 4. Magnitude – How strong the event is effects the impact it has 5.Frequency – How often the hazard occurs. If a hazards occurs more frequently, the more prepared people and more used to coping they are by adjusting their buildings and lives to cope to the risk. 6. Population density and distribution – more people in the area the greater the risk. This can be applied to urbanisation 7. Level of development - this determines how much money is available to predict, prepare, and respond to the event. HIC (high income countries) are generally much better at this because of: Governments are stable and democratic, Technology, Planning Laws, Agencies,. 8. Management (3xPs Predict, Prepare and Prevent) . The risk of natural hazards is also made worse by the locations in which people live, whether out of choice or necessity. You may ask why do people make themselves vulnerable to a natural hazard? It is likely they weight up the disadvantages and disadvantages and , because such events don’t happen that often, they may decide to accept the risk. However, some people may have little choice or where to live or knowledge that where they live is dangerous.

Tectonic Hazards

Plate Tectonic Theory Tectonics is a theory that tries to explain how the Earth is structured and what it is made up of. • Structure of the Earth – Inner core, outer core, Mantle, Crust • Mantle is liquid and it moves called Convection Currents • Crust is broken up into plates • Plate tectonic theory : Plates move by Convection Currents in the

mantle. This was once believed, it is now thought that tectonic plate movement is driven by the weight of denser, heavier tectonic plates sinking into the mantle at ocean trenches. This drags the rest of the plate with it and it is called slab pull theory.

• These tectonic plates are moving about very slowly, pushed and shoved around from underneath by currents within the mantle called convection currents. The tectonic plates vary in size. The major plates include the Pacific, Eurasian, African, North American and South American, and Indo-Australian.

• The places where plates meet are called plate margins or plate boundaries. Tectonic Activity at plate margins is what causes most of the world’s volcanic and earthquake activity occurs.

• Two types of crust – • Oceanic – newly, more dense, thinner (subducts) • Continental – Older, thicker, less dense (rises)

There are three types of plate margins • Apart from each other – Constructive • Sliding past each other – Conservative • Towards from each other – Destructive (Different combination of crusts give different

formation) Continental +Continental = Fold Mountains Continental + Oceanic = Composite Volcano, Earthquakes, Ocean trench, Mountains

Where do they occur? The patterns…… • Volcanoes are formed at Constructive and Destructive plate margins, especially

around the edge of the Pacific Ocean known as the Ring of Fire. Also through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean called the Mid Atlantic Ridge Inc. islands Azores and Iceland. Sometimes away from plate margins called Hot Spots.

• Earthquakes occur on plate margins, especially along the western coast of North and South America. Also around the Pacific Ocean. Some earthquakes do not occur on plate margins. These are causes by human activity such are mining or oil extraction.


Processes taking place at different types of plate margins

Boundary Process Formation

Destructive Two plates move towards each other e.g along the west coast of South America. Where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, the oceanic plate subducts and is forced down, into the mantle because it is more dense. Friction between the two plates, causes earthquakes. As the oceanic plate moves downwards,/subducts it melts. This creates a pool of magma, which eventually breaks through the surface to form steep sided composite volcanoes. Eventually because of a built up of pressure which pushes magma up cracks in the crust called vents. The magma erupts onto the surface (where it is now called lava) forming a composite volcano. Eruptions are infrequent but often violent. Composite volcanoes have narrow bases, steep slopes and layers of ash and lava.

Composite Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Fold Mountains and Ocean Trenches

Constructive Plates move away from each other, this forms a gap between plates, magma rises to fill the gap. The magma, cools, and forms a new crust. This process continues to happen. This is a Shield Volcano. These eruptions are frequent and non violent. The shape of these volcanoes are low rounded peaks, Wide base and gentle slopes, Layers of runny lava with little ash

Shield Volcanoes

Conservative Two plates moving in same direction past each other at different speeds and angles. Plates get stuck due to friction. Pressure builds up over many years. Plates become unstuck, releases the energy through primary and secondary waves. Felt on surface of earth as shaking. No volcanoes at this plate margin, as there is no magma.

Earthquakes

Characteristics of Earthquakes-

Focus - Point where earthquake starts

Shockwaves – P and S waves (energy released from focus)

Epicentre – Point of the earth surface where greatest destruction. Directly above focus

Earthquakes

There are a few reasons why people choose to live close to volcanoes in areas vulnerable to earthquakes. Today 1million people live in the shadow of a volcano. 1. Earthquakes and Volcanic eruptions don’t happen very often. Not seen as a great

threat. 2. They’ve always lived there – moving away would mean leaving friends and family 3. They are employed in the area. 4. Better building design, can mean people are at less risk. 5. Between monitoring of volcanoes and tsunamis, enable people to receive warnings

and evacuate before events happen. 6. People living in poverty have other things to think about on a daily basis like food,

water and security. 7. Plate Margins often coincide with very favourable areas for settle such as coastal

area where ports and thus jobs have developed. 8. Volcanoes can bring benefits such a very fertile soils, rich mineral deposits and

natural hot water (geothermal) 9. Some people may not be aware of the risks 10. Dramatic landscapes like Iceland create many jobs in tourism 11. Cracks created by earthquakes, create good water supplies.

Lots of people Live in areas at risk from Tectonic Hazards

Depth of focus – deeper less destruction less deaths Location of epicentre - Epicentre in densely populated (lots people cities) = more deaths

Examples of Tectonic Hazards


Name Haiti (LDC) Chile (MDC)

Date 2010 (January) 2010 (February)

Magnitude 7.0 8.8

No.Dead 230,000 521

Depth of Focus 13KM (shallow) Depth of Focus 34KM (deep)

Epicentre Next to capital city Port au Prince In sea 100km city of Conception

Causes Destructive plate: Caribbean &North

American

Destructive plate: South American

(continental) &Nazca Plate (oceanic)

Prepared No earthquakes historically, No money

&weak government, No earthquake proof

buildings, No education on what to do

26 large earthquakes in the last 100

years, Well prepared – law

earthquake proof buildings, anti

disaster drills, , Drop Cover &Hold On

Primary

effects 220,000 dead, 300,000 injured, main port,

airport damaged, airport damaged, along

with many roads which were blocked by

fallen buildings and cars, 8 hospitals in

Port au Prince collapsed, government

building destroyed, 1 million homeless

500 dead, 12,000 injured , 500,000

homes damaged, Santiago airport

slightly damaged, Several bridges

and roads damaged and a hospital in

Talca

Secondary

effects 2milion no food, water contaminated due

to dead bodies, Looting, Because

government building destroyed no/slow

response, Aid was very slow as airport,

port and roads destroyed, Homeless had

to move to tented camps Couldn't dispose

of dead – piles of dead bodies/mass

graves, power cuts

Much of Chile lost power, water

supplies and communication,

tsunami warning. Several countries

in the Pacific were hit by a tsunami,

A fire in a chemical plant near

Santiago meant a huge area had to

be evacuated, Copper mines

suffered damage (Copper crucial to

economy)

Immediate

responses

Aid slow as port/airport damaged, airport couldn’t handle the amount being delivered, American engineers arrived to help with rescue efforts ,clear debris, and repair port.US sent ships, helicopters, troops, $100 million aid, UN sent food, water purification tablets, Field hospitals set up, Haitian government moved 235,000 from Port au Prince to less damaged cities.

Responded quickly, The President

insisted on a paid analysis of the

situation and within hours asked for

specific help i.e. floating bridges, Ten

day 90% houses had power back,

roads quickly fixed,

Raised 60M in the country via

telethon,

Long-term

responses

Haiti dependant on overseas aid New home still needing to be built, Needing more aid for new buildings, roads, and port

One month later houses rebuilding

plan, due to the strong economy, it

recovered and rebuild without aid.

Why was Haiti's earthquake so bad even though it was weaker earthquake- Was not prepared (no earthquake proof building, people didn’t know what to do. It has a shallower focus and an epicentre is near the city (Chile has a deep focus and an epicentre in the sea). Haiti also has a very slow response, because the government didn’t know what to do and because the airport runway was destroyed aid from other countries was really slow. Ten years on houses still not rebuilt

How can the risks from tectonic hazards be reduced

There are four mina management strategies for reducing the risk from tectonic hazard 1. Monitoring – using scientific equipment to detect warning signs of events such as

volcanic eruptions 2. Prediction – using historical evidence and monitoring, scientists can make

prediction about when and where a tectonic hazards may happen 3. Protection - designing building that withstand tectonic hazards 4. Planning – identifying and avoiding places at most risk

Volcanoes Earthquakes

Mo

nit

ori

ng

Warning signs: gases, sides of volcano swell change shape and size by remote sensing, heat melts snow, rocks fracture, earthquakes. Monitored through seismographs,

Generally occur without warning. Some evidence of changes in water pressure, minor tremors however not reliable.

Pre

dic

tio

n Based on scientific monitoring as

above. Impossible to make accurate predictions due to a lack of warning signs, However, through mapping locations of past earthquakes can identify locations at greater risk.

Pro

tect

ion

Little can be done. However, you can create earth embankments or explosives to divert lava. away from property.

Earthquake proof buildings,

Pla

nn

ing Hazard maps produced of active

volcanoes, can be used for planning to restrict certain land uses or evacuation.

Emergency services do drills Emergency supplies ready, Grab bags, Teaching drop cover hold on in schools, Earthquake practice days,

The above expensive and requires organisation. LDC do not have resources to do the above so more people die

The Challenge of Natural Hazard– Paper 1:Living with the physical environment

• Latitude is the most important influence on worldwide variations of climate. Because of the curve surface of the Earth, the Equator receives much higher insolation than the polar latitudes. In polar regions (higher latitude) the suns rays are spread out thinly, whereas low latitude the sunlight is more concentrated.

• Winds are large scale movements or air caused by differences in air pressure • Differences in air pressure are caused by differences in temperature between the equator

and the poles, • Winds move FROM the areas of high presses TO areas of low pressure • Winds are part of global atmospheric circulation loops or cells . These loops have warm

rising air which creates a low pressure belt, and cool falling air which creates a high pressure belt.

• Surface winds are very important in transferring heat and moister from one place to another.

Global Atmospheric Circulation

The general model of global atmospheric circulation 1. At the equator the sun warms the Earth, which transfers heat to

the air above, causing it to rise. This creates low pressure belt with rising air, clouds and rain.

2. As the air rises it cools and moves to 30° north and south of the equator, before returning to the tropics. This is known as the Hadley cell.

3. 30° north and south of the equator the cool air sinks, creating a high pressure belt with cloudless skies and very low rainfall.

4. The cool air reaches the ground surface and moves as surface winds with back to the equator or towards the poles.

5. 60º north and south or the equator the warmer surface meets colder air from the poles. The warmer air is less dense than the cols air so it rises, creating low pressure. Some air moves back towards the equator, and the rest moves towards the poles. At the poles the cool air sinks, creating high pressure. The high pressure air is drawn back towards the equator as surface winds.

6. The Ferrel cell is found between the Hadley and Polar cells and lies between 60º North and 30º North. The Ferrel cell is thermally indirect as it is powered by the other two cells. In reality the effect of depressions and jet streams disrupts the Ferrel cell.

7. The Polar cell is much smaller and is thermally direct. As can be seen in the diagram below, cold air sinks at the North Pole, before flowing south at the surface. Here it is warmed by contact with land/ocean around 60º North, where it rises.

8. The exact position of the convection cells varies seasonally, and seas are due to the earth being tilted on its axis.

30°

60°

90°

30°

60°

How does global circulation influence surface wind patterns? Air should just move from low to high pressure but because of the rotation of the Earth produces the Coriolis effect, which alters the direction of the winds and deflects them to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. This leads to prevailing south westerly winds in the UK. Together pressure differences and the Coriolis effect produce common wind patterns.

• Surface winds blowing towards the equator are called trade winds. They blow from the SE in the southern hemisphere and from NE in the northern hemisphere. At the equator, these trade winds meet and are heated by the sun. This causes them to rise and ccc.

• Surface winds blowing towards the poles are called westerlies. They blow from the NW in the southern hemisphere and from the SW in the northern hemisphere. These bring anticyclones and depressions yay influence the UK climate.

• Polar easterlies flow from the polar high pressure areas to the mid latitudes


• Global atmospheric circulation is what drives the worlds weather. The circulation cells, pressure belts and surface winds (see diagram) affect the weather around the world.

How does global circulation affect the world’s weather

Equator: Hot and Sweaty Much hotter than the UK, as suns rays are more concentrated. Air rises , so there is low pressure, as it rises CCC resulting in hot, humid conditions which often have high amounts of cloud and rain. You find tropical rainforests here.

UK: 55°N UK is close to the boundary of cold polar air moving down from the north and the warm sub tropical air moving from the south. This meeting of two air masses (hot and cold) . The rising warm air and low pressure belts cooler air near the ground. The rising air CCC. This is why the UK has lots of rain and cloud. Surface winds in these mid latitudes come from the south west. These south westerly prevailing winds bring warm moist conditions to the UK. However, cold polar air from the south bring snow and cold weather.

Desert 30°N/S Here air is sinking, making a belt of high pressure (the sub tropical high). Air isn't rising here, so there are few clouds and little rainfall. The lack of clouds make it hot in the day and very cold at night, as heat is lost from the ground.

Tropical Storms

Tropical Storms are low pressure systems. They are referred to using different names depending on the ocean they were formed – Hurricanes (Atlantic ocean), Cyclone (Indian Ocean), Typhoon (Pacific Ocean). But generally they are called tropical storms or tropical revolving storms. Tropical Storms bring huge storms, with strong winds, torrential rain. They often cause the sea level to rise called a storm surge

Why are tropical storms distributed where they are? For tropical storms to form they need very specific conditions. 1. Develop above sea water that is 27C or higher 2. Deep Ocean 70m deep 3. Late summer and autumn (sea temperature is highest) 4. Form in the area between the tropics (tropic of Cancer and Capricorn), along the equator , 5°-30° north

and south of the equator, because of more insolation there is a higher temperature. 5. The above cause a strong upward movement of very moist, warm air, which as it rises cools and

condenses, which releases huge amounts of energy (latent heat) and low pressure, which increases surface winds.

6. Predominant winds generally blowing in the same directions

Why do they form in these bands of atmospheric circulation? • More insolation than anywhere else, so more heat – air rises which creates low pressure – as the air rises it cools and condenses creating huge amounts of energy • Strong Coriolis effect, which causes it to start spinning (not a strong enough Coriolis at the equator) • Prevailing winds cause the tropical storm to move west

Name Hurricane Katrina

Place New Orleans, Louisiana, South East USA (MDC)

Date 29/8/2005

Primary

Effects

1800 dead, 300,000 houses destroyed, 1million homeless, 3million without

electricity, business destroyed (Inc. oil) , Coastal habitats destroyed Inc. turtle

breeding sites, levees broke which were protecting New Orleans

Secondary

Effects

Thousands left homeless, 230,000 jobs lost, water supplies polluted with sewage

and chemicals, Looting, $150 billion damage,

Immediat

e

responses

70-80% evacuated before the hurricane hit land, however mainly rich, left behind poor who did not have transport (could not afford). States of Mississippi and Louisiana declared a state of emergency and set up emergency shelters and supplies, Coastguard, police, fire service and army rescued 50,000 people, Charities collected donation and provide aid like millions of hot meals. 25,000 people had to temporary live in the sports stadium (Mercedes Benz Super Dome)

Long-term

responses

USA spent $14.5 million rebuilding the levees (flood defences), Rebuilding of schools and hospitals however the army recommended that in very low lying areas houses were rebuild on stilts or not rebuilt at all, Planting new marshland, so there is a natural barrier to take some of the impact. Hurricane preparedness days and swimming lessons for the poorer population.

Prepared? Monitored and predicted the hurricane was approaching. Evacuation

Tropical Storms structure and characteristic: Seen from above, hurricanes are huge circular bodies of thick cloud around 450 km (300 miles) wide. The cloud brings heavy rain, thunder and lightning. In the centre is the eye of the hurricane, there are no clouds here and conditions are calm. The eye is formed because this is the only part of the hurricane where cold air is descending. Outsides is the eye wall, where there is think cloud and where you get rain, thunderstorms etc.

1.Tropical Storms Sequence of their formation In the tropics, the ocean is hot (over 26degrees) and two eastern trade winds meet (which are hot due to it being close to the equator). As the two trade winds meet, the warm moist air rises, this forms low pressure. 2.As the air rises it cools, condenses and forms thunderstorm clouds quickly. These high thunderstorm clouds (cumulonimbus clouds), generate torrential rain. 3. As the air condenses it releases heat (latent) which powers the storm and draws up more air from surrounding areas and large volumes of moisture from the ocean, causing strong winds. 4. The Coriolis effect causes the air to spin . Once the winds reach 120km per hour, the storm is officially a tropical storm. 5. The storm now develops an eye at the centre. Due to low pressure air is sucked in from the upper atmosphere, descending rapidly. Which is why the eye has no cloud. 6. The outer edge of the eye is called the eye wall, here this is the most intense weather conditions such as strong winds and heave rain. 7. The storm is carried west As it travels west across sea, it builds in strength through evaporating water. 8. On reaching land, the storms energy supply is cut off (no water to evaporate) and the friction from the land slows it down. Lifespan of1/2 weeks

Tropical Storms


Tropical Storms and Climate Change Global temperatures are expected to rise as a result of climate change. This means more of the worlds oceans could be above 27C, so more places in the world may experience tropical storms. Also Oceans will stay at 27C or higher for more of the year, so the number of tropical storms could increase. Higher temperatures also mean tropical storm will be stronger (more latent heat) and so could cause more damage.

Tropical Storms Effects: Primary Effects: Result from strong winds, high rainfall and storm surges i.e. buildings, bridges , roads, airports, ports destroyed/damaged, coastal and river flooding, people drowning or injured/killed by debris blown around. Electricity cable damaged, cutting off supplied, sewage overflows due to flooding. The higher the population or industry/ business in an area hit, the more damage. Secondary Effects: People left homeless (stress, poverty, ill heath because of no shelter), shortage of clean water and adequate sanitation, this causes diseases to spread, roads blocked or destroyed, slowing down relief and aid, business damages and destroyed causing unemployment and a decrease in the economy. Shortages of food if crops are damages, livestock killed. Immediate Responses: Evacuate people before the storm hits, rescue people, set up temporary shelters for people who have has their homes damages/destroyed, provide supplies (water, food, communication), recover dead bodies to stop the spread of disease, Request foreign governments or NGO to send aid works, equipment or give aid (£), tech companies disaster response tools like Facebook. Long Term Responses: Repair homes, infrastructure, flood defences e.g levees and flood gates, improve monitoring techniques to improve warning in the future, provide aid for people to strengthen their homes, improve building regulations.

Example of a Tropical Storm (Hurricane Katrina)

There are ways of reducing the effects of Tropical Storms and thus the number of deaths

Tropical Storms


Prediction Planning Protection

1) Satellites can monitor storms through formation

2) Computer models can be used to calculate the predicted path, which means time is given to people to evacuate and protect their homes and businesses e.g. boarding up windows.

1. Planning where new houses or developments go i.e. avoiding building them in area at most risk

2. Emergency services trains and prepared for disasters e.g. practicing recusing people with helicopters .

3. Governments planned emergency routes to make sure people can evacuate quickly.

1. Building buildings that can withstand tropical storms i.e using reinforced concrete or on silts away from flooding

2. Flood defences along rivers and coasts (levees and sea walls)

UK Weather Hazards

UK Weather Hazards

Rain Too much rain over a short or prolonged period can cause flooding, which can damage homes, transport and cause deaths. It can also force business to close. This can cost millions of pounds.

Hailstorms Can make driving dangerous and can damaged crops and property.

Wind Strong winds (gales) cam damage properties and close transportation. It can also uproot trees, which can injure or kill people. Winds are strongest at coastal area esp. west coast and upland areas.

Drought and Heatwaves Drought is a lack of precipitation, this can cause water supplies to become too low. This can damage crops, which damaged the economy. Rules to conserve water are usually introduced during droughts Heatwaves sometimes occur in the UK, when we have long periods of hot weather, It can cause deaths from heat exhaustion or breathing difficulties as pollution builds up in the air. It can cause problems with transport also.

Snow and Ice Snow and ice can cause injuries due to slipping and deaths from the cold. Schools and business are sometimes shut and it can disrupt all transport (air, road and rail, which has economic impacts. It can also damage crops.

Thunderstorms Heavy rain, lightening and strong winds occur during thunderstorms. They are common in summer in the UK usually in the south or east (hotter here). Lightening can cause death and fire s than damage the environment and property.

Extreme Weather

The UK is getting more extreme weather. We say it is becoming more frequent. Examples of extreme weather are Heat waves, More Rain, Snow, Flooding, Drought. Extreme weather is often Unexpected – doesn’t follow the trend , It breaks records – hottest/coldest/rainiest, Causes chaos and is out of the norm. A lack of rainfall leading to drought, flash flooding, strong winds and storms, extreme cold spell, extreme heat wave, which is evidence our weather is getting more extreme. For example 2003 recorded the highest ever temperature in the UK 38.5C, 2007,2008, 2009, 2013-2014 AND 2015-2016 there was flooding, 2009 and 2010 heavy snow. The frequency of extreme weather events, is not just increasing the UK but around the world. Many scientists think that it is due to a warming world, to more energy and changing the atmospheric circulation.

Impacts of extreme weather:


Cumbria Flood November 2009 Towns of Cockermouth and Workington., Cumbria, North west of the UK, HIC

Cau

ses Physical factors - A massive downpour of rain. Cumbria recorded 316 mm of rainfall within 24 hours The soil was already saturated and there were high river flows to

prolonged rain throughout the month, which meant increased surface run off, Gradient was steep Human factors – building on flood plains, Cockermouth is already at a confluence. Some deforestation.

Imp

acts

Social - One man dies – PC Braker (trying to divert traffic away from a bridge, but the bridge collapsed), 1300 homes destroyed and contaminated with sewage, Cockermouth town centre under two metres or more of floodwater and several hundred other properties also affected by flooding. Economic-Business flooded, Average cost of repairs per household £28,000 Environmental- 4 bridges collapses and 12 closed – cutting the town of Workington in two

Re

spo

nse

s

People had to be evacuated, 50 by helicopter, 200 people rescued from the town of Cockermouth, Government Provide £1m to clean up and repairs including new bridges, The Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund set up, raised £1m, Network Rail opened a temporary railway station, Website giving a list of all businesses able to help and emergency accommodation, Temporary footbridge built to reunite the town of Workington, Insurance pay out £100 million. Long Term Responses Flood warnings are issued using the following codes Flood Alert, Flood Warning and Severe Flood Warning. These codes tell people how serious the flood and what they should do and are used on all weather reports.

How can management strategies reduce the risk of extreme weather? Extreme weather is difficult to prepare for because it is extreme and often such events have not been experienced before. It is also so varied (heatwaves to storms), that preparing is expensive.


Warning systems give people time to prepare for extreme weather. For example the Environment Agency have a flood warning system.

1. Emergency services and local councils can plan how to deal with extreme weather evens through drills, plans on how to close schools and rescue practices

2. Government can also plan through building flood defences in areas at risk 3. Educating people on how to cope with heat waves, especially the young

and old.

1. Individuals and local authorities can protect people from extreme weather before it happens by having stocks of sand bags, food and gritters, salt supplies (snow/ice)

Climate Change


Climate Change is any significant change in the Earth's climate over a long period. The climate constantly changes. 1. The Quaternary period is the most recent geological time period, spanning from about 2.6 million years ago to the present day. It included the whole of human history. 2. In the period before the Quaternary, the Earth’s climate was warmer and quite stable. Then things changed a lot. 3. During the Quaternary, global temperatures shifted between cold glacial periods (that lasted from 100,000years and warmer interglacial period that lasted for 10,000

years. We have evidence for these historic changes because of • Ice and Sediment cores – ice cores extracted deep from ice sheets, the gases are analysed and scientist can build a picture of history climates through gases • Tree rings – tree grows a new ring each year, and in warmer wetter conditions there is a thicker ring. Scientist take cores from trees and count the rings to find

the age and the thickness of the rings indicate what the climate was like. • Pollen Analysis – Pollen from plants gets preserves in sediment e.g. at the bottom of lakes. Scientist can identify and date preserved pollen to show which

species were living at that time. Scientist know the conditions that plants live in now, so preserved pollen from similar plans show that climate condition were similar.

Evidence in the past 200year • Temperature record (only since 1850) • Glacial retreat – Photographs of glaciers over time • Cover of Artic sea-ice – There is currently around 50% less sea ice over the Artic Ocean than there was 30 years ago. • Sea Level Rising

4. The last glacial period ended around 15,000 years ago, and since then the climate has been warming. Today average temperature is higher than during almost all of the Quaternary periods.

5. Global warming is term used to describe the sharp rise in global temperature over the last century It’s a type of climate change.

Natural Causes of climate change Scientist believe that there are several natural causes for climate change (Remember: Climate Change is any significant change in the Earth's climate over a long period)

Orbital Changes Volcanic Activity Solar Output

1) The way the Earth moves round the Sun (orbits) changes. It can be a perfect circle to a ellipse (oval) and back again every 96,000 years.

2) These changes affect solar radiation the Earth receives. If the Earth receives more energy, it gets warmer.

3) Orbital changes may have caused the glacial and interglacial cycles of the Quaternary period.

1. Major volcanic eruptions eject large quantities material into the atmosphere.

2. Some of these particles reflect the Sun’s rays back out to space, so that the Earth cools.

3. There has been volcanic winters following large volcanic eruptions, which are short periods of time with reducing global temperatures.

1. The Sun’s output of energy isn't constant – it changes in short cycles of about 11years and possible longer cycles of several hundred years.

2. Periods of reduced solar output may cause the Earths climate to be colder in some area.

3. Many scientist don’t think this effects climate as much as previously thought.

1. The earth is heated naturally by the greenhouse effect: this is a layer of greenhouse gasses in the earths atmosphere which trap some radiation (from the sun) in the

atmosphere. This keeps the earth warm enough for us to live here. This is called the greenhouse effect. 2. The sun emits short wave radiation, however when the short wave radiation is absorbed and reemits its off the surface of the Earth, it becomes long wave. 3. Gases are able to absorb long wave radiation and reemit, which causes the atmosphere to heat up. 4. Greenhouse gases include Carbon Dioxide and Methane. 5. The recent increase in global temperatures is because humans are produces more greenhouse gasses through human activities such as burning fossil fuels to create

energy or run cars or make plastics (releases CO2), deforestation, farming rice and cows (releases methane) , an increase in population has increased the amount of fossil fuels burnt, agriculture like cows and rice, more cars, more deforestation, more waste in landfill. All which increases the amount of greenhouse gases.

6. This increase amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, traps more heat energy (from the sun) in the atmosphere, increase the Global Temperatures of the Earth. This is called the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect.

7. This increase in global temperature is called Global Warming.

Human causes of climate change Scientist believe that human activities are to blame for the rapid rise in temperatures, known as Global Warming, since 1970s..


Effects of Global Warming / Global climate change - The increase in global temperatures will effect the world and no one can escape the impacts.

Social: • Increase in temperatures –droughts -> lack of food -> famine • Sea Levels Rise -> Island countries i.e Maldives under water,

Bangladesh -> displaced – migration to other countries • Increase in temperatures (oceans) -> more hurricanes • Increase in temperatures means tropical diseases such as

malaria spreads to less tropical countries i.e. Spain • Increase in temperatures -> INCREASE DEMAND FOR WATER ->

more conflict about water i.e. Sub Saharan Africa

Environmental • Increase temperatures cause Ice Caps melt – sea

levels rise + Polar Bear lose habitat • Rising temperatures decrease rainfall • Ecosystems and species are being threatened i.e.

coral reefs

Economic • Governments will have to spend more preparing for more extreme weather (tropical storms) • Insurance companies will have to pay out more • Sustainable industries may make more money (+)

Political • Conflict between countries as water becomes more scarce • Mass migration of countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives will

mean some countries will have to cope with an increased amount of immigration and emigration

• Governments will be under pressure to cope with the impacts of climate change

Social: • Increase in temperatures means tropical diseases such as malaria

spreads to the UK (-) • Less injuries/car accidents due to cold weather (+) • More heat related deaths – skin cancer, dehydration (-)

Environmental • Some plants in Scotland will become extinct (-) • Seal levels will rise causing more coastal erosion and flooding (-)

Economic • Farmers will be able to grow some new crops such as olives and oranges

which could increase our economy (+) • The government will have to spend a lot more money on protecting us

from extreme weather e.g more flood defences (-) • Sea Level Rise – Coastal Erosion – East of the UK – House insurance

increase and difficult to sell houses (-) • More tourism staying in countries like the UK (+)

Political - Government is under pressure to cope and reduce the impacts of climate change (-)

UK Impacts

Managing Climate Change Temperatures are expected to rise by 0.3-4.8C between 2005 and 2100. In order to cope with some of these effects, people are trying to reduce the causes of climate change, by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.


Mitigation Strategies to reduce the causes of Climate Change

Carbon Capture 1. Carbon Capture and Storage (ccs) is a new

technology designed to reduce climate change by reducing emissions from fossil fuel burning power stations.

2. CCS involved capturing CO2 and transporting it to places where it can be stored safely usually deep underground.

Planting Trees Planting trees increases the amount of carbon dioxide than is absorbed from the atmosphere through photosynthesis

International Agreements From 1997, most HIC countries agreed to monitor and cut greenhouse gases (not the US) in an agreement called the Kyoto Protocol. The aim was to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5% by 2012. Each country was set a target (UK 12.5% - met it 22%) In 2015 an agreement the Paris Climate Change agreement was signed by 196 countries. They agreed to keep global temperatures well below 2.0C, limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that it can be absorbs naturally (trees), Review each countries progress in 5 years and scale up the challenge, HICs to donate $800 billion to LICs to help them adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.

Alternative Energy Production 1. Replacing fossil fuels with nuclear power and

renewable energy can help reduce climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power station burning fossil fuels.

2. In the UK, more offshore wind farms are being built, several wave and tidal power projects are planned and a new nuclear power plant.

3. The UK is also encouraging people through grants to install solar power in their homes.

Adaptation Means responding to changes caused by climate change

Changing Agricultural Systems Because Global Warming is likely to change rainfall patterns and cause higher temperature. This will affect the productivity of crops. 1. Middle Latitude Countries: May need to

plant new crop types that are suitable to this climate e.g. soya, peaches, and grapes may be grown in the south of the UK

2. Lower Latitude Countries: Use of biotechnology to create new crops varieties which are more resistant to extreme weather events e.g. drought resistant millet being grown in Kenya.

Managing Water Supply Dry areas are predicted to get drier, leading to water shortages, so water supplies will need to be used more efficiently. Climate Change is cause an increase in frequency in droughts, which means unreliable rainfall and periods of water shortage. Poorer countries are more likely to be affected the most. 1. Water meters can be installed in peoples homes to

discourage them from using a lot of water 2. Rainwater can be collected and waste water can be

recycles to make more water available.

Reducing risk from rising Sea Levels Sea Levels are predicted to rise by up to 82cm by 2100, which would flood many island and coastal areas.. 1. Physical defences such as flood barriers are being built and better flood warning systems are being put in place. E.g. Thames Barrier in London can be closed to prevent sea water flooding the city. 2. In areas that cant afford expensive flood defences, e.eg Bangladesh, people are building their houses on top of earth embankments and building raised food shelters to use in emergencies. And houses built on stilts.


A Natural Hazard is a threat to people and property • A natural hazard is a natural process which could cause death,

injury or disruption to humans, like destroy property and possessions.

• A natural disaster is a natural hazard that has already happened. • Extreme events which do not pose any threat to human activity

are not counted as a hazard.

Types of Natural Hazards • Geological Hazards caused by land and tectonics (examples include: volcanoes, earthquakes,

tsunami, landslides, avalanches) • Atmospheric Hazards (aka Meteorological Hazards) caused by weather and climate (examples

include: tropical storms, extreme weather like heatwaves, snow, rain, drought and climate change

• Water based Hazards created by rivers, seas and oceans (examples include flooding)

Different factors affecting hazard risk Hazard risk is the probability (chance) that a natural hazard occurs. There are several factors affecting hazard risk. Not all earthquakes have the same impact the world over for example, and not all tropical storms are deadly. It is worth thinking of these questions to help understand. Why is it that earth quakes of the same magnitude have different death tolls or amounts of economic damage? Some places are more VULNERABLE to natural hazards and some places have a lower CAPACITY TO COPE as they have weaker infrastructure, poor government organisations and agencies (such as the army, or police) or low quality equipment. 1. Natural Factors - rock/soil type, height of land hit by a tsunami 2.Education, 3.Time, 4. Magnitude – How strong the event is effects the impact it has 5.Frequency – How often the hazard occurs. If a hazards occurs more frequently, the more prepared people and more used to coping they are by adjusting their buildings and lives to cope to the risk. 6. Population density and distribution – more people in the area the greater the risk. This can be applied to urbanisation 7. Level of development - this determines how much money is available to predict, prepare, and respond to the event. HIC (high income countries) are generally much better at this because of: Governments are stable and democratic, Technology, Planning Laws, Agencies,. 8. Management (3xPs Predict, Prepare and Prevent) . The risk of natural hazards is also made worse by the locations in which people live, whether out of choice or necessity. You may ask why do people make themselves vulnerable to a natural hazard? It is likely they weight up the disadvantages and disadvantages and , because such events don’t happen that often, they may decide to accept the risk. However, some people may have little choice or where to live or knowledge that where they live is dangerous.

Tectonic Hazards

Plate Tectonic Theory Tectonics is a theory that tries to explain how the Earth is structured and what it is made up of. • Structure of the Earth – Inner core, outer core, Mantle, Crust • Mantle is liquid and it moves called Convection Currents • Crust is broken up into plates • Plate tectonic theory : Plates move by Convection Currents in the

mantle. This was once believed, it is now thought that tectonic plate movement is driven by the weight of denser, heavier tectonic plates sinking into the mantle at ocean trenches. This drags the rest of the plate with it and it is called slab pull theory.

• These tectonic plates are moving about very slowly, pushed and shoved around from underneath by currents within the mantle called convection currents. The tectonic plates vary in size. The major plates include the Pacific, Eurasian, African, North American and South American, and Indo-Australian.

• The places where plates meet are called plate margins or plate boundaries. Tectonic Activity at plate margins is what causes most of the world’s volcanic and earthquake activity occurs.

• Two types of crust – • Oceanic – newly, more dense, thinner (subducts) • Continental – Older, thicker, less dense (rises)

There are three types of plate margins • Apart from each other – Constructive • Sliding past each other – Conservative • Towards from each other – Destructive (Different combination of crusts give different

formation) Continental +Continental = Fold Mountains Continental + Oceanic = Composite Volcano, Earthquakes, Ocean trench, Mountains

Where do they occur? The patterns…… • Volcanoes are formed at Constructive and Destructive plate margins, especially

around the edge of the Pacific Ocean known as the Ring of Fire. Also through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean called the Mid Atlantic Ridge Inc. islands Azores and Iceland. Sometimes away from plate margins called Hot Spots.

• Earthquakes occur on plate margins, especially along the western coast of North and South America. Also around the Pacific Ocean. Some earthquakes do not occur on plate margins. These are causes by human activity such are mining or oil extraction.


Processes taking place at different types of plate margins

Boundary Process Formation

Destructive Two plates move towards each other e.g along the west coast of South America. Where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate, the oceanic plate subducts and is forced down, into the mantle because it is more dense. Friction between the two plates, causes earthquakes. As the oceanic plate moves downwards,/subducts it melts. This creates a pool of magma, which eventually breaks through the surface to form steep sided composite volcanoes. Eventually because of a built up of pressure which pushes magma up cracks in the crust called vents. The magma erupts onto the surface (where it is now called lava) forming a composite volcano. Eruptions are infrequent but often violent. Composite volcanoes have narrow bases, steep slopes and layers of ash and lava.

Composite Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Fold Mountains and Ocean Trenches

Constructive Plates move away from each other, this forms a gap between plates, magma rises to fill the gap. The magma, cools, and forms a new crust. This process continues to happen. This is a Shield Volcano. These eruptions are frequent and non violent. The shape of these volcanoes are low rounded peaks, Wide base and gentle slopes, Layers of runny lava with little ash

Shield Volcanoes

Conservative Two plates moving in same direction past each other at different speeds and angles. Plates get stuck due to friction. Pressure builds up over many years. Plates become unstuck, releases the energy through primary and secondary waves. Felt on surface of earth as shaking. No volcanoes at this plate margin, as there is no magma.

Earthquakes

Characteristics of Earthquakes-

Focus - Point where earthquake starts

Shockwaves – P and S waves (energy released from focus)

Epicentre – Point of the earth surface where greatest destruction. Directly above focus

Earthquakes

There are a few reasons why people choose to live close to volcanoes in areas vulnerable to earthquakes. Today 1million people live in the shadow of a volcano. 1. Earthquakes and Volcanic eruptions don’t happen very often. Not seen as a great

threat. 2. They’ve always lived there – moving away would mean leaving friends and family 3. They are employed in the area. 4. Better building design, can mean people are at less risk. 5. Between monitoring of volcanoes and tsunamis, enable people to receive warnings

and evacuate before events happen. 6. People living in poverty have other things to think about on a daily basis like food,

water and security. 7. Plate Margins often coincide with very favourable areas for settle such as coastal

area where ports and thus jobs have developed. 8. Volcanoes can bring benefits such a very fertile soils, rich mineral deposits and

natural hot water (geothermal) 9. Some people may not be aware of the risks 10. Dramatic landscapes like Iceland create many jobs in tourism 11. Cracks created by earthquakes, create good water supplies.

Lots of people Live in areas at risk from Tectonic Hazards

Depth of focus – deeper less destruction less deaths Location of epicentre - Epicentre in densely populated (lots people cities) = more deaths

Examples of Tectonic Hazards


Name Haiti (LDC) Chile (MDC)

Date 2010 (January) 2010 (February)

Magnitude 7.0 8.8

No.Dead 230,000 521

Depth of Focus 13KM (shallow) Depth of Focus 34KM (deep)

Epicentre Next to capital city Port au Prince In sea 100km city of Conception

Causes Destructive plate: Caribbean &North

American

Destructive plate: South American

(continental) &Nazca Plate (oceanic)

Prepared No earthquakes historically, No money

&weak government, No earthquake proof

buildings, No education on what to do

26 large earthquakes in the last 100

years, Well prepared – law

earthquake proof buildings, anti

disaster drills, , Drop Cover &Hold On

Primary

effects 220,000 dead, 300,000 injured, main port,

airport damaged, airport damaged, along

with many roads which were blocked by

fallen buildings and cars, 8 hospitals in

Port au Prince collapsed, government

building destroyed, 1 million homeless

500 dead, 12,000 injured , 500,000

homes damaged, Santiago airport

slightly damaged, Several bridges

and roads damaged and a hospital in

Talca

Secondary

effects 2milion no food, water contaminated due

to dead bodies, Looting, Because

government building destroyed no/slow

response, Aid was very slow as airport,

port and roads destroyed, Homeless had

to move to tented camps Couldn't dispose

of dead – piles of dead bodies/mass

graves, power cuts

Much of Chile lost power, water

supplies and communication,

tsunami warning. Several countries

in the Pacific were hit by a tsunami,

A fire in a chemical plant near

Santiago meant a huge area had to

be evacuated, Copper mines

suffered damage (Copper crucial to

economy)

Immediate

responses

Aid slow as port/airport damaged, airport couldn’t handle the amount being delivered, American engineers arrived to help with rescue efforts ,clear debris, and repair port.US sent ships, helicopters, troops, $100 million aid, UN sent food, water purification tablets, Field hospitals set up, Haitian government moved 235,000 from Port au Prince to less damaged cities.

Responded quickly, The President

insisted on a paid analysis of the

situation and within hours asked for

specific help i.e. floating bridges, Ten

day 90% houses had power back,

roads quickly fixed,

Raised 60M in the country via

telethon,

Long-term

responses

Haiti dependant on overseas aid New home still needing to be built, Needing more aid for new buildings, roads, and port

One month later houses rebuilding

plan, due to the strong economy, it

recovered and rebuild without aid.

Why was Haiti's earthquake so bad even though it was weaker earthquake- Was not prepared (no earthquake proof building, people didn’t know what to do. It has a shallower focus and an epicentre is near the city (Chile has a deep focus and an epicentre in the sea). Haiti also has a very slow response, because the government didn’t know what to do and because the airport runway was destroyed aid from other countries was really slow. Ten years on houses still not rebuilt

How can the risks from tectonic hazards be reduced

There are four mina management strategies for reducing the risk from tectonic hazard 1. Monitoring – using scientific equipment to detect warning signs of events such as

volcanic eruptions 2. Prediction – using historical evidence and monitoring, scientists can make

prediction about when and where a tectonic hazards may happen 3. Protection - designing building that withstand tectonic hazards 4. Planning – identifying and avoiding places at most risk

Volcanoes Earthquakes

Mo

nit

ori

ng

Warning signs: gases, sides of volcano swell change shape and size by remote sensing, heat melts snow, rocks fracture, earthquakes. Monitored through seismographs,

Generally occur without warning. Some evidence of changes in water pressure, minor tremors however not reliable.

Pre

dic

tio

n Based on scientific monitoring as

above. Impossible to make accurate predictions due to a lack of warning signs, However, through mapping locations of past earthquakes can identify locations at greater risk.

Pro

tect

ion

Little can be done. However, you can create earth embankments or explosives to divert lava. away from property.

Earthquake proof buildings,

Pla

nn

ing Hazard maps produced of active

volcanoes, can be used for planning to restrict certain land uses or evacuation.

Emergency services do drills Emergency supplies ready, Grab bags, Teaching drop cover hold on in schools, Earthquake practice days,

The above expensive and requires organisation. LDC do not have resources to do the above so more people die

The Challenge of Natural Hazard– Paper 1:Living with the physical environment

• Latitude is the most important influence on worldwide variations of climate. Because of the curve surface of the Earth, the Equator receives much higher insolation than the polar latitudes. In polar regions (higher latitude) the suns rays are spread out thinly, whereas low latitude the sunlight is more concentrated.

• Winds are large scale movements or air caused by differences in air pressure • Differences in air pressure are caused by differences in temperature between the equator

and the poles, • Winds move FROM the areas of high presses TO areas of low pressure • Winds are part of global atmospheric circulation loops or cells . These loops have warm

rising air which creates a low pressure belt, and cool falling air which creates a high pressure belt.

• Surface winds are very important in transferring heat and moister from one place to another.

Global Atmospheric Circulation

The general model of global atmospheric circulation 1. At the equator the sun warms the Earth, which transfers heat to

the air above, causing it to rise. This creates low pressure belt with rising air, clouds and rain.

2. As the air rises it cools and moves to 30° north and south of the equator, before returning to the tropics. This is known as the Hadley cell.

3. 30° north and south of the equator the cool air sinks, creating a high pressure belt with cloudless skies and very low rainfall.

4. The cool air reaches the ground surface and moves as surface winds with back to the equator or towards the poles.

5. 60º north and south or the equator the warmer surface meets colder air from the poles. The warmer air is less dense than the cols air so it rises, creating low pressure. Some air moves back towards the equator, and the rest moves towards the poles. At the poles the cool air sinks, creating high pressure. The high pressure air is drawn back towards the equator as surface winds.

6. The Ferrel cell is found between the Hadley and Polar cells and lies between 60º North and 30º North. The Ferrel cell is thermally indirect as it is powered by the other two cells. In reality the effect of depressions and jet streams disrupts the Ferrel cell.

7. The Polar cell is much smaller and is thermally direct. As can be seen in the diagram below, cold air sinks at the North Pole, before flowing south at the surface. Here it is warmed by contact with land/ocean around 60º North, where it rises.

8. The exact position of the convection cells varies seasonally, and seas are due to the earth being tilted on its axis.

30°

60°

90°

30°

60°

How does global circulation influence surface wind patterns? Air should just move from low to high pressure but because of the rotation of the Earth produces the Coriolis effect, which alters the direction of the winds and deflects them to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. This leads to prevailing south westerly winds in the UK. Together pressure differences and the Coriolis effect produce common wind patterns.

• Surface winds blowing towards the equator are called trade winds. They blow from the SE in the southern hemisphere and from NE in the northern hemisphere. At the equator, these trade winds meet and are heated by the sun. This causes them to rise and ccc.

• Surface winds blowing towards the poles are called westerlies. They blow from the NW in the southern hemisphere and from the SW in the northern hemisphere. These bring anticyclones and depressions yay influence the UK climate.

• Polar easterlies flow from the polar high pressure areas to the mid latitudes


• Global atmospheric circulation is what drives the worlds weather. The circulation cells, pressure belts and surface winds (see diagram) affect the weather around the world.

How does global circulation affect the world’s weather

Equator: Hot and Sweaty Much hotter than the UK, as suns rays are more concentrated. Air rises , so there is low pressure, as it rises CCC resulting in hot, humid conditions which often have high amounts of cloud and rain. You find tropical rainforests here.

UK: 55°N UK is close to the boundary of cold polar air moving down from the north and the warm sub tropical air moving from the south. This meeting of two air masses (hot and cold) . The rising warm air and low pressure belts cooler air near the ground. The rising air CCC. This is why the UK has lots of rain and cloud. Surface winds in these mid latitudes come from the south west. These south westerly prevailing winds bring warm moist conditions to the UK. However, cold polar air from the south bring snow and cold weather.

Desert 30°N/S Here air is sinking, making a belt of high pressure (the sub tropical high). Air isn't rising here, so there are few clouds and little rainfall. The lack of clouds make it hot in the day and very cold at night, as heat is lost from the ground.

Tropical Storms

Tropical Storms are low pressure systems. They are referred to using different names depending on the ocean they were formed – Hurricanes (Atlantic ocean), Cyclone (Indian Ocean), Typhoon (Pacific Ocean). But generally they are called tropical storms or tropical revolving storms. Tropical Storms bring huge storms, with strong winds, torrential rain. They often cause the sea level to rise called a storm surge

Why are tropical storms distributed where they are? For tropical storms to form they need very specific conditions. 1. Develop above sea water that is 27C or higher 2. Deep Ocean 70m deep 3. Late summer and autumn (sea temperature is highest) 4. Form in the area between the tropics (tropic of Cancer and Capricorn), along the equator , 5°-30° north

and south of the equator, because of more insolation there is a higher temperature. 5. The above cause a strong upward movement of very moist, warm air, which as it rises cools and

condenses, which releases huge amounts of energy (latent heat) and low pressure, which increases surface winds.

6. Predominant winds generally blowing in the same directions

Why do they form in these bands of atmospheric circulation? • More insolation than anywhere else, so more heat – air rises which creates low pressure – as the air rises it cools and condenses creating huge amounts of energy • Strong Coriolis effect, which causes it to start spinning (not a strong enough Coriolis at the equator) • Prevailing winds cause the tropical storm to move west

Name Hurricane Katrina

Place New Orleans, Louisiana, South East USA (MDC)

Date 29/8/2005

Primary

Effects

1800 dead, 300,000 houses destroyed, 1million homeless, 3million without

electricity, business destroyed (Inc. oil) , Coastal habitats destroyed Inc. turtle

breeding sites, levees broke which were protecting New Orleans

Secondary

Effects

Thousands left homeless, 230,000 jobs lost, water supplies polluted with sewage

and chemicals, Looting, $150 billion damage,

Immediat

e

responses

70-80% evacuated before the hurricane hit land, however mainly rich, left behind poor who did not have transport (could not afford). States of Mississippi and Louisiana declared a state of emergency and set up emergency shelters and supplies, Coastguard, police, fire service and army rescued 50,000 people, Charities collected donation and provide aid like millions of hot meals. 25,000 people had to temporary live in the sports stadium (Mercedes Benz Super Dome)

Long-term

responses

USA spent $14.5 million rebuilding the levees (flood defences), Rebuilding of schools and hospitals however the army recommended that in very low lying areas houses were rebuild on stilts or not rebuilt at all, Planting new marshland, so there is a natural barrier to take some of the impact. Hurricane preparedness days and swimming lessons for the poorer population.

Prepared? Monitored and predicted the hurricane was approaching. Evacuation

Tropical Storms structure and characteristic: Seen from above, hurricanes are huge circular bodies of thick cloud around 450 km (300 miles) wide. The cloud brings heavy rain, thunder and lightning. In the centre is the eye of the hurricane, there are no clouds here and conditions are calm. The eye is formed because this is the only part of the hurricane where cold air is descending. Outsides is the eye wall, where there is think cloud and where you get rain, thunderstorms etc.

1.Tropical Storms Sequence of their formation In the tropics, the ocean is hot (over 26degrees) and two eastern trade winds meet (which are hot due to it being close to the equator). As the two trade winds meet, the warm moist air rises, this forms low pressure. 2.As the air rises it cools, condenses and forms thunderstorm clouds quickly. These high thunderstorm clouds (cumulonimbus clouds), generate torrential rain. 3. As the air condenses it releases heat (latent) which powers the storm and draws up more air from surrounding areas and large volumes of moisture from the ocean, causing strong winds. 4. The Coriolis effect causes the air to spin . Once the winds reach 120km per hour, the storm is officially a tropical storm. 5. The storm now develops an eye at the centre. Due to low pressure air is sucked in from the upper atmosphere, descending rapidly. Which is why the eye has no cloud. 6. The outer edge of the eye is called the eye wall, here this is the most intense weather conditions such as strong winds and heave rain. 7. The storm is carried west As it travels west across sea, it builds in strength through evaporating water. 8. On reaching land, the storms energy supply is cut off (no water to evaporate) and the friction from the land slows it down. Lifespan of1/2 weeks

Tropical Storms


Tropical Storms and Climate Change Global temperatures are expected to rise as a result of climate change. This means more of the worlds oceans could be above 27C, so more places in the world may experience tropical storms. Also Oceans will stay at 27C or higher for more of the year, so the number of tropical storms could increase. Higher temperatures also mean tropical storm will be stronger (more latent heat) and so could cause more damage.

Tropical Storms Effects: Primary Effects: Result from strong winds, high rainfall and storm surges i.e. buildings, bridges , roads, airports, ports destroyed/damaged, coastal and river flooding, people drowning or injured/killed by debris blown around. Electricity cable damaged, cutting off supplied, sewage overflows due to flooding. The higher the population or industry/ business in an area hit, the more damage. Secondary Effects: People left homeless (stress, poverty, ill heath because of no shelter), shortage of clean water and adequate sanitation, this causes diseases to spread, roads blocked or destroyed, slowing down relief and aid, business damages and destroyed causing unemployment and a decrease in the economy. Shortages of food if crops are damages, livestock killed. Immediate Responses: Evacuate people before the storm hits, rescue people, set up temporary shelters for people who have has their homes damages/destroyed, provide supplies (water, food, communication), recover dead bodies to stop the spread of disease, Request foreign governments or NGO to send aid works, equipment or give aid (£), tech companies disaster response tools like Facebook. Long Term Responses: Repair homes, infrastructure, flood defences e.g levees and flood gates, improve monitoring techniques to improve warning in the future, provide aid for people to strengthen their homes, improve building regulations.

Example of a Tropical Storm (Hurricane Katrina)

There are ways of reducing the effects of Tropical Storms and thus the number of deaths

Tropical Storms



1) Satellites can monitor storms through formation

2) Computer models can be used to calculate the predicted path, which means time is given to people to evacuate and protect their homes and businesses e.g. boarding up windows.

1. Planning where new houses or developments go i.e. avoiding building them in area at most risk

2. Emergency services trains and prepared for disasters e.g. practicing recusing people with helicopters .

3. Governments planned emergency routes to make sure people can evacuate quickly.

1. Building buildings that can withstand tropical storms i.e using reinforced concrete or on silts away from flooding

2. Flood defences along rivers and coasts (levees and sea walls)

UK Weather Hazards

UK Weather Hazards

Rain Too much rain over a short or prolonged period can cause flooding, which can damage homes, transport and cause deaths. It can also force business to close. This can cost millions of pounds.

Hailstorms Can make driving dangerous and can damaged crops and property.

Wind Strong winds (gales) cam damage properties and close transportation. It can also uproot trees, which can injure or kill people. Winds are strongest at coastal area esp. west coast and upland areas.

Drought and Heatwaves Drought is a lack of precipitation, this can cause water supplies to become too low. This can damage crops, which damaged the economy. Rules to conserve water are usually introduced during droughts Heatwaves sometimes occur in the UK, when we have long periods of hot weather, It can cause deaths from heat exhaustion or breathing difficulties as pollution builds up in the air. It can cause problems with transport also.

Snow and Ice Snow and ice can cause injuries due to slipping and deaths from the cold. Schools and business are sometimes shut and it can disrupt all transport (air, road and rail, which has economic impacts. It can also damage crops.

Thunderstorms Heavy rain, lightening and strong winds occur during thunderstorms. They are common in summer in the UK usually in the south or east (hotter here). Lightening can cause death and fire s than damage the environment and property.

Extreme Weather

The UK is getting more extreme weather. We say it is becoming more frequent. Examples of extreme weather are Heat waves, More Rain, Snow, Flooding, Drought. Extreme weather is often Unexpected – doesn’t follow the trend , It breaks records – hottest/coldest/rainiest, Causes chaos and is out of the norm. A lack of rainfall leading to drought, flash flooding, strong winds and storms, extreme cold spell, extreme heat wave, which is evidence our weather is getting more extreme. For example 2003 recorded the highest ever temperature in the UK 38.5C, 2007,2008, 2009, 2013-2014 AND 2015-2016 there was flooding, 2009 and 2010 heavy snow. The frequency of extreme weather events, is not just increasing the UK but around the world. Many scientists think that it is due to a warming world, to more energy and changing the atmospheric circulation.

Impacts of extreme weather:


Cumbria Flood November 2009 Towns of Cockermouth and Workington., Cumbria, North west of the UK, HIC

Cau

ses Physical factors - A massive downpour of rain. Cumbria recorded 316 mm of rainfall within 24 hours The soil was already saturated and there were high river flows to

prolonged rain throughout the month, which meant increased surface run off, Gradient was steep Human factors – building on flood plains, Cockermouth is already at a confluence. Some deforestation.

Imp

acts

Social - One man dies – PC Braker (trying to divert traffic away from a bridge, but the bridge collapsed), 1300 homes destroyed and contaminated with sewage, Cockermouth town centre under two metres or more of floodwater and several hundred other properties also affected by flooding. Economic-Business flooded, Average cost of repairs per household £28,000 Environmental- 4 bridges collapses and 12 closed – cutting the town of Workington in two

Re

spo

nse

s

People had to be evacuated, 50 by helicopter, 200 people rescued from the town of Cockermouth, Government Provide £1m to clean up and repairs including new bridges, The Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund set up, raised £1m, Network Rail opened a temporary railway station, Website giving a list of all businesses able to help and emergency accommodation, Temporary footbridge built to reunite the town of Workington, Insurance pay out £100 million. Long Term Responses Flood warnings are issued using the following codes Flood Alert, Flood Warning and Severe Flood Warning. These codes tell people how serious the flood and what they should do and are used on all weather reports.

How can management strategies reduce the risk of extreme weather? Extreme weather is difficult to prepare for because it is extreme and often such events have not been experienced before. It is also so varied (heatwaves to storms), that preparing is expensive.


Warning systems give people time to prepare for extreme weather. For example the Environment Agency have a flood warning system.

1. Emergency services and local councils can plan how to deal with extreme weather evens through drills, plans on how to close schools and rescue practices

2. Government can also plan through building flood defences in areas at risk 3. Educating people on how to cope with heat waves, especially the young

and old.

1. Individuals and local authorities can protect people from extreme weather before it happens by having stocks of sand bags, food and gritters, salt supplies (snow/ice)

Climate Change


Climate Change is any significant change in the Earth's climate over a long period. The climate constantly changes. 1. The Quaternary period is the most recent geological time period, spanning from about 2.6 million years ago to the present day. It included the whole of human history. 2. In the period before the Quaternary, the Earth’s climate was warmer and quite stable. Then things changed a lot. 3. During the Quaternary, global temperatures shifted between cold glacial periods (that lasted from 100,000years and warmer interglacial period that lasted for 10,000

years. We have evidence for these historic changes because of • Ice and Sediment cores – ice cores extracted deep from ice sheets, the gases are analysed and scientist can build a picture of history climates through gases • Tree rings – tree grows a new ring each year, and in warmer wetter conditions there is a thicker ring. Scientist take cores from trees and count the rings to find

the age and the thickness of the rings indicate what the climate was like. • Pollen Analysis – Pollen from plants gets preserves in sediment e.g. at the bottom of lakes. Scientist can identify and date preserved pollen to show which

species were living at that time. Scientist know the conditions that plants live in now, so preserved pollen from similar plans show that climate condition were similar.

Evidence in the past 200year • Temperature record (only since 1850) • Glacial retreat – Photographs of glaciers over time • Cover of Artic sea-ice – There is currently around 50% less sea ice over the Artic Ocean than there was 30 years ago. • Sea Level Rising

4. The last glacial period ended around 15,000 years ago, and since then the climate has been warming. Today average temperature is higher than during almost all of the Quaternary periods.

5. Global warming is term used to describe the sharp rise in global temperature over the last century It’s a type of climate change.

Natural Causes of climate change Scientist believe that there are several natural causes for climate change (Remember: Climate Change is any significant change in the Earth's climate over a long period)

Orbital Changes Volcanic Activity Solar Output

1) The way the Earth moves round the Sun (orbits) changes. It can be a perfect circle to a ellipse (oval) and back again every 96,000 years.

2) These changes affect solar radiation the Earth receives. If the Earth receives more energy, it gets warmer.

3) Orbital changes may have caused the glacial and interglacial cycles of the Quaternary period.

1. Major volcanic eruptions eject large quantities material into the atmosphere.

2. Some of these particles reflect the Sun’s rays back out to space, so that the Earth cools.

3. There has been volcanic winters following large volcanic eruptions, which are short periods of time with reducing global temperatures.

1. The Sun’s output of energy isn't constant – it changes in short cycles of about 11years and possible longer cycles of several hundred years.

2. Periods of reduced solar output may cause the Earths climate to be colder in some area.

3. Many scientist don’t think this effects climate as much as previously thought.

1. The earth is heated naturally by the greenhouse effect: this is a layer of greenhouse gasses in the earths atmosphere which trap some radiation (from the sun) in the

atmosphere. This keeps the earth warm enough for us to live here. This is called the greenhouse effect. 2. The sun emits short wave radiation, however when the short wave radiation is absorbed and reemits its off the surface of the Earth, it becomes long wave. 3. Gases are able to absorb long wave radiation and reemit, which causes the atmosphere to heat up. 4. Greenhouse gases include Carbon Dioxide and Methane. 5. The recent increase in global temperatures is because humans are produces more greenhouse gasses through human activities such as burning fossil fuels to create

energy or run cars or make plastics (releases CO2), deforestation, farming rice and cows (releases methane) , an increase in population has increased the amount of fossil fuels burnt, agriculture like cows and rice, more cars, more deforestation, more waste in landfill. All which increases the amount of greenhouse gases.

6. This increase amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, traps more heat energy (from the sun) in the atmosphere, increase the Global Temperatures of the Earth. This is called the Enhanced Greenhouse Effect.

7. This increase in global temperature is called Global Warming.

Human causes of climate change Scientist believe that human activities are to blame for the rapid rise in temperatures, known as Global Warming, since 1970s..


Effects of Global Warming / Global climate change - The increase in global temperatures will effect the world and no one can escape the impacts.

Social: • Increase in temperatures –droughts -> lack of food -> famine • Sea Levels Rise -> Island countries i.e Maldives under water,

Bangladesh -> displaced – migration to other countries • Increase in temperatures (oceans) -> more hurricanes • Increase in temperatures means tropical diseases such as

malaria spreads to less tropical countries i.e. Spain • Increase in temperatures -> INCREASE DEMAND FOR WATER ->

more conflict about water i.e. Sub Saharan Africa

Environmental • Increase temperatures cause Ice Caps melt – sea

levels rise + Polar Bear lose habitat • Rising temperatures decrease rainfall • Ecosystems and species are being threatened i.e.

coral reefs

Economic • Governments will have to spend more preparing for more extreme weather (tropical storms) • Insurance companies will have to pay out more • Sustainable industries may make more money (+)

Political • Conflict between countries as water becomes more scarce • Mass migration of countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives will

mean some countries will have to cope with an increased amount of immigration and emigration

• Governments will be under pressure to cope with the impacts of climate change

Social: • Increase in temperatures means tropical diseases such as malaria

spreads to the UK (-) • Less injuries/car accidents due to cold weather (+) • More heat related deaths – skin cancer, dehydration (-)

Environmental • Some plants in Scotland will become extinct (-) • Seal levels will rise causing more coastal erosion and flooding (-)

Economic • Farmers will be able to grow some new crops such as olives and oranges

which could increase our economy (+) • The government will have to spend a lot more money on protecting us

from extreme weather e.g more flood defences (-) • Sea Level Rise – Coastal Erosion – East of the UK – House insurance

increase and difficult to sell houses (-) • More tourism staying in countries like the UK (+)

Political - Government is under pressure to cope and reduce the impacts of climate change (-)

UK Impacts

Managing Climate Change Temperatures are expected to rise by 0.3-4.8C between 2005 and 2100. In order to cope with some of these effects, people are trying to reduce the causes of climate change, by reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.


Mitigation Strategies to reduce the causes of Climate Change

Carbon Capture 1. Carbon Capture and Storage (ccs) is a new

technology designed to reduce climate change by reducing emissions from fossil fuel burning power stations.

2. CCS involved capturing CO2 and transporting it to places where it can be stored safely usually deep underground.

Planting Trees Planting trees increases the amount of carbon dioxide than is absorbed from the atmosphere through photosynthesis

International Agreements From 1997, most HIC countries agreed to monitor and cut greenhouse gases (not the US) in an agreement called the Kyoto Protocol. The aim was to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5% by 2012. Each country was set a target (UK 12.5% - met it 22%) In 2015 an agreement the Paris Climate Change agreement was signed by 196 countries. They agreed to keep global temperatures well below 2.0C, limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that it can be absorbs naturally (trees), Review each countries progress in 5 years and scale up the challenge, HICs to donate $800 billion to LICs to help them adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.

Alternative Energy Production 1. Replacing fossil fuels with nuclear power and

renewable energy can help reduce climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from power station burning fossil fuels.

2. In the UK, more offshore wind farms are being built, several wave and tidal power projects are planned and a new nuclear power plant.

3. The UK is also encouraging people through grants to install solar power in their homes.

Adaptation Means responding to changes caused by climate change

Changing Agricultural Systems Because Global Warming is likely to change rainfall patterns and cause higher temperature. This will affect the productivity of crops. 1. Middle Latitude Countries: May need to

plant new crop types that are suitable to this climate e.g. soya, peaches, and grapes may be grown in the south of the UK

2. Lower Latitude Countries: Use of biotechnology to create new crops varieties which are more resistant to extreme weather events e.g. drought resistant millet being grown in Kenya.

Managing Water Supply Dry areas are predicted to get drier, leading to water shortages, so water supplies will need to be used more efficiently. Climate Change is cause an increase in frequency in droughts, which means unreliable rainfall and periods of water shortage. Poorer countries are more likely to be affected the most. 1. Water meters can be installed in peoples homes to

discourage them from using a lot of water 2. Rainwater can be collected and waste water can be

recycles to make more water available.

Reducing risk from rising Sea Levels Sea Levels are predicted to rise by up to 82cm by 2100, which would flood many island and coastal areas.. 1. Physical defences such as flood barriers are being built and better flood warning systems are being put in place. E.g. Thames Barrier in London can be closed to prevent sea water flooding the city. 2. In areas that cant afford expensive flood defences, e.eg Bangladesh, people are building their houses on top of earth embankments and building raised food shelters to use in emergencies. And houses built on stilts.

Tsunami - Fukishima, Japan 2011 Facts The earthquake occurred on 11th March 2011 at 2.46 pm. It measured 9.0 on Richter scale It caused 15,400 deaths Causes Destructive margin- the Pacific plate subducts under the Eurasian plate. 30 m waves travelled at 800 km per hour. Sendai was the nearest city to the epicentre, it was 130 km away.

Primary Effects • 15,400 people were killed • 2 million people were left homeless as a

result of the Tsunami • 4 trains were swept away from their

tracks • A cruise ship carrying 100 people was

washed away by the force of the waves. Power lines and gas and water services were disrupted by the earthquake.

Secondary Effects • 500,000 people were forced to live in

shelters. • Road and rail links were dmaged making it

difficult for rescue teams to reach places needed.

• Fires spread quickly due to damaged gas pipes.

• Water borne diseases – cholera and typhoid spread.

• Power cut at Fukishima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing a failure in its cooling system. This caused radiation to leak locally affecting the health of local people.

• The cost of the rebuild was estimated to be £185 billion

Short term responses A tsunami warning was issued 3 minutes after the quake. The Meteorological Agency warned people not to return home because of possible tsunamis. Estimated 100,000 people began the disaster relief mission. The Japanese Red Cross mobilised 230 emergency teams to provide medical and moral support to victims. The USA helped search for bodies along the eastern coast on 2nd April. Shelters were set up in schools for those who lived close to the Fukishima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Many charities (NGO’s) responded sending tents, sleeping bags and bottled water within the first month of the disaster.

Long term responses • In March Japan’s Meteorological agency issued an

earthquake warning followed by a tsunami warning. This meant people could escape to higher ground. However the 20 minutes warning meant thousands could not escape this shows the limitations of even the most advanced protection tools.

• The Japanese questioned their tsunami walls as they did not proof to be effect – mainly due to subsidence.

• They improved sirens and communication systems to improve response time.

• Aid has helped people financially to receive basic necessities.

Friction causes the Pacific plate to stick, pressure builds up and is released as an earthquake. This caused the plate to flick upwards causing a tsunami.

FOLD MOUNTAIN RANGE (ALPS) - st-thomas-more.net

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