2.1 Questions

1) Natural Hazards can be separated into two main categories:

- those related to weather and climatic factors - drought, flood, heat waves, brushfires. strong winds, storms, tropical cyclones and tornadoes.

- those related to movements in the Earth's crust - landslides, earth tremors, earthquakes and tsunamis.

2) A natural hazard effects the area and environment were as a natural disaster effects the people living in and around the area.

3) The two broad categories of natural hazard exist in Australia are Social impacts and Economic impacts.

4) Social impacts

-  floods, cyclones, heat waves and brushfires

Economic Impacts

-  Floods, cyclones

5) Natural hazards that occur in densely populated areas are more noticeable then hazards that occur elsewhere in Australia because the hazards which occur in densely populated areas effect more people. If an earthquake occurs in a populated area like a city people will be effected. If it happens out in the middle of no where there will be hardly any people effected or not at all be detected.

6) Two impacts drought has on rural farmers is that there is a shortage of water and loss of livestock due to the loss of crops and vegetation.

7) Three categories geographers use to classify the impacts of natural hazards are Social impacts, Economic impacts and Environmental Impacts. An example of a social impact is loss of life, an economic impact is loss of income and an environmental impact is the death or injury to wildlife.

8) Australian communities need to study the impacts of natural hazards so that they can prepare for future hazards and prepare escape plans.  By doing they are increasing their chances of survival and the survival of their homes and livestock.

9) GIS is used to map the threat of natural hazards in Australia. They are able to do GIS mapping by using the 2573 postcodes across Australia and gather data on how often a natural hazard occurs in your local area. GIS is a valuable asset as it provides information to various organisations and communities as they plan to deal with the impacts of natural hazards

2.2 Questions

1) Landslides involve the movement of a mass of rock or sections of the Earth's crust under the force of gravity.

2) Main causes of landslides are natural hazards - heavy rainfall, vibrations from the earthquake or undercutting of banks and cliffs from waves or rivers.

3) Human actions also causes landslides, the building of roads & railways on hillsides make them more vulnerable during heavy rainfall, stripping of vegetation and building man-made hills.

4) Earthquakes are the way earth releases stress. The force of earthquakes are measured on the Richter scale

5) Cause of earthquakes in Australia is intra-plate tension where movements occur along cracks or faults in the Earth's crust.

7) The Newcastle earthquake killed 13 people, injuring more than 120 and 40000 buildings damaged.

8) A landslide occurs by weather - rain, erosion where as an earthquake is large on scale, and a landslide often only travels for a few miles.

9) A tsunami is when an earthquake which occurs under the sea and creates a powerful wave.

10) Three events that will cause a tsunami are earthquake, landslides or volcanos

11) A tsunami is formed when the earth shakes lifting million's of tonnes of water, move in big flat waves across the ocean however in the deep sea under the surface is a big wall of water that can reach 800 kph. Tsunamis became hazardous as they reach shallow water, the tsunami slows down and the wall of water starts building which can reach a height of 30 feet or more.

12) Three warning  sings of a tsunami is the sudden re-treat of water, feeling of an earthquake and a large roar of water.

13) The Indian Ocean Tsunami was caused by under ground earthquake measuring 9.3

14) Australia has 23 automated earthquake monitoring stations. It took only 20 minutes for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake to be detected.

15) As a tsunami enters shallow water they slow down to about 40 kmph, as there is speed behind the the water it starts building up reaching 30 feet in height.

16) The UN responded to the 2004 tsunami by coordinating the development of a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean

17) Ted Bryant, a Wollongong University geoscience professor studies natural hazards and warns that tsunamis trigged by New Zealand's alpine fault line could strike NSW as often as once every 500 years.

18) i: The approx lat and long of the epi-centre of the 04 tsunami is 15 degrees north & 91 degrees east.

b)i: 2 hours

ii: 9 hours

iii: 5 hours

iv: 10

19) Thredbo Avalanche!

Thredbo was knocked by a devastating earthquake during the peak skiing season however there were luckily no deaths only a few injuries which is a relief for the qualified staff who have never seen an avalanche at Thredbo before.

The landslide has forced the closure of the whole mountain and were not sure how long it will take for the runs to be cleared and open, most luckily they will be closed for a while in case another avalanche occurs.

Many trees were battered down by the fierce force of the avalanche. Ski lifts are also broken, huts destroyed and hospitality areas will need a clean out.

The avalanche will have a big impact on the local community on Thredbo. As it is the peak skiing season the locals are actually going to making and losing money. If people decide to stay a shop owner or a restaurant owner will be bringing in quite a sum however for shop owners who depend on the strong skiing season they will be hurt the most.

The Thredbo avalanche will go down in the books for being the biggest landslide in Australia.

Tim Wells reporting for the NY Times

2.5, 2.6, 2.7 Questions

2.5 Questions

1)      Tropical cyclones are violent storms that cause widespread destruction

2)      Tropical cyclones occur in Australia but are also known as typhoons in Asian countries

3)      North of Pert, coast of Northern Territory and Queensland coastline

4)      Six are likely to cross the Australian coastline

5)      Other names for cyclones include typhoons and hurricanes

6)      Tropical cyclones develop in the tropical regions of the world. Heat from the sun causes warm, moist air to rise into the atmosphere. As the air rises, a low pressure system forms and condensation occurs, which releases latent heat causing the air to rise further into the atmosphere. If the air pressure in the upper atmosphere is high, then the rising column of warm air will spiral outwards in the upper atmosphere and air will rush from the surface to replace it, forming a tropical cyclone.

7)      The eye of the storm is calm, clear sky

8)      A tropical cyclone is downgraded when it reaches or travels over land

2.6 Questions

1) Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin Christmas morning 1974

2) Set up medical and evacuation centres

3) National Disaster Organisation is a federal body which coordinate the emergency response.

4) It was a large and powerful cyclone heading straight for Darwin, if no evacuation was ordered many more lives would have been lost

5) 80% of population was evacuated

6) Cyclone Tracy has better enabled communities to prepare for hazards as now all buildings have to follow a strict building code in hazard areas and plans are set in case an emergency evacuation is needed.

7) Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico on 29^th August 2005. Katrina had two major impacts was that 80% of New Orleans was flooded and leaving 100,000 people without food and water

8) The low lying geographical feature of New Orleans compounded the effects of Hurrican Katrina

9) The criticisms of the response to Hurricane Katrina were very slow, it took days for the FEMA to set up evacuation plans and sent in food and water

10) The NDO responded quite well to cyclone tracy, there was an immediate evacuation of the area and they restored basic services to Darwin, on the other hand the FEMA responded quite poorly to Hurricane Katrina

2.7 Questions

1)      20^th March 2006 eye of cyclone crossed the coast near Innisfail.

2)      The communities closest to the eye experienced fierce flooding as well as destructive power

3)      Public infrastructure are trains, road and air transport, due to the destruction of the

Infrastructure it was hard to transport good into the affected areas

4)      350 million dollars

5)      There was an estimated 300 million dollars’ worth of crop lost in it the affected areas, 4000 jobs were gone.

6)      Emergency Management Australia and the SES prepare brochures to help people prepare for natural disasters.

7)      ADF, government departments and charity and local community groups

8)      The above groups assisted with personnel and financial assistance to local residents, business owners and farmers

9)      Major General Peter Cosgrove to lead the overall response to Cyclone Larry

10)   Flooding was also caused when Cyclone Larry went in land

11)   The supply of bananas to capital cities would of fallen and the price of bananas would of wet up dramatically

2.8 Questions

1a)
 i 1014
ii 1010
iii 1018
iv 1022

b) Adelaide

c) Clear skies and slight chance of rain over the 24 hr period

d) i High pressure system interacting with a lower pressure system causes cloud cover

ii A ridge extends between to high pressure systems

iii A low pressure system bringing a cold front

e ) Hobart would as it it has gone from a low pressure system to a high pressure system

Deadly Storms US

There have been deadly tornadoes ripping through the southern parts of America causing mass destruction and many people being caught up in it and some who have tragically died:

• More then 280 people are dead
• Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Virginia. Tornadoes appeared all across these states
• North Carolina was hit with 62 tornadoes! 
• Hailstones sizes of grapefruit were reported
• Roughly 200,000 + homes without power
• Flash Floods hit the region as well
• Storm scientists say that tornado had a maximum width of 1.5 miles (2.4km) and a track 80 miles long
• Damage bill estimated at 100 million +

Review and Analyzing Natural Hazards

Floods:

Environmental Effects:

Although many people think of floods as all negative but there are a few positive impacts floods have on the environment.

A positive is that the water from the floods can spread silt and sediment that contains rich minerals and nutrients which have been washed down. This improves the fertility of the land.

But there are mostly negative impacts like:

• Loss of habitat for both plant and animal life, which causes a reducation of biodiversity in the area, and may cause some species to become endangered.
• Severe erosion and destabilisation of the soil and hillsides.
• As rivers flood, they carry huge amounts of rubbish, debris and other forms of pollution down to the river mouth, where they empty out into the sea. This can be devastating for the marine life there.

Economic Effects:

There are many reasons as to why floods cause economic effects in a nation, however there 5 major ones are these are:

• Can destroy large amounts of crop i.e a banana crop making banana prices soar
• Temporary decline in Tourism - hotels, attractions could be destroyed 
• Rebuilding costs - rebuilding major infrastructure i.e trains, railways, docks, homes and business
• Federal & State budgets - emergency payments for flood victims and money devote to the regrowth of the town or city
• GDP growth falling - if a nation like Australia depends on mining, if for a month or two mining ceased in one of the major areas it would effect our economy greatly. 

Social Effects:

Loss of lives and property: Immediate impacts of flooding include loss of human life, damage to property, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, non-functioning of infrastructure facilities and deterioration of health condition owing to waterborne diseases..

 Loss of livelihoods: People loose communication links and infrastructure. Some of these things are as power plants, roads and bridges are damaged and disrupted. Life changes for the normal person, everything is gone.

Decreased purchasing and production power: Damage to infrastructure. This also causes long-term impacts, such as disruptions to clean water and electricity, transport, communication.

Mass migration: Frequent flooding, resulting in loss of livelihoods, production and other prolonged economic impacts and types of suffering can trigger mass migration or population displacement.

Psychosocial effects: The huge psychological effects on flood victims and their families can traumatize them for long periods of time. The loss of loved ones can generate deep impacts, especially on children.

Ways local councils, state governments, emergency services and insurance companies find GIS mapping useful

Local Councils

Local Councils benefit from GIS mapping of natural hazard areas as it allows them to plan and warn residents of the area what to do when a natural hazard occurs. There are 5 main reasons why Local Councils benefit from GIS mapping these are:

• Allow the council to set aside water supply's devoted to natural hazards- in case of bush fires or lack of water there is an emergency supply
• Councils can order large amounts of trees to be cleared to reduce the risk of a serious bush fire from occurring
• Councils can inform a builder or architect of an area which is at risk from natural hazards

State Governments

 the information in 2.3 would help state governments in making tactical decision about to deal with situation in their state. An example of this would be, the NSW government would be able to pick areas of the state which would be effect. In this case Bush fires are the most prominat near area of Southern NSW. They can also make tactical decision. Where to put fire bans and also danger signs so people in the area could be better prepare if a major disaster broke out. They can also protect local wild life from fires and give people warning when Natural Hazards are coming

Emergency Services

There are many reasons as to why emergency services would benefit from GIS mapping of natural hazard areas. This mapping would enable the emergency services to pre-pare and plan for natural hazaerds so loss of life is minimal. There are 5 main ways which emergency services use GIS mapping to help them, they are:

• Easily calculate emergency response times 
• Be able to assess hot spots where emergency vehicles and teams must be on standby 
• Warn people of danger due to a  natural hazard area
• Map out dangerous areas were unexpected dangers lurk - flash flooding, earthquakes, bush fires etc
• Be able to set up a emergency rescue team ready to move out home owners and people who are in danger from the natural hazards.

Insurance Companies


There are many reasons as to why insurance companies would benefit from GIS mapping of natural hazard areas. This mapping would enable insurnace companies to:

•  prepare and set up plans for people living in most effected areas 
• can help a lot of people for certain hazards. 
• They could also warn consumers about the certain natural hazards that could effect there area.
• Set out areas were insurance isn't available due to the high risk of a flood occurring