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