Transcript natural disasters power point

Catastrophic
Events
Catastrophic Event
• An event that results from Earth
processes and that can cause damage
and endanger human life
Weather
Geologic
– tornado
– hurricane
– floods
– drought
– wildfire
earthquake
tsunamis
volcanoes
Catastrophic Event
• The result of
– Processes in the atmosphere
– Processes on the Earth’s surface
– Processes in the oceans
– Processes inside the Earth
Catastrophic Events
• Can effect Earth in several ways
• Surface – speed up erosion and
deposition
• Inside Earth – change the ground
Human Activities
• Where people decide to live can
increase the damaging effects of
natural hazards
• How people use land can also alter
Earth’s systems in ways that contribute
to catastrophic events
Impact of How People Use Land
• People can alter the land so that
flooding and fire can be worse
– New Orleans built in a low depression
– Queensland built on fire prone plains
– California builds on steep slopes and
creates mudslides
Tornado
Tornado
a violently rotating column of air formed
when warm and cold air meet
Tornado
• Cause – cold and warm air colliding
when thunderstorms meet
• Impact to Earth – kills plants, damages
topsoil
• Impact to People – high winds destroy
buildings, can have flooding
• Similar to – hurricane
• How are they similar – high winds and
rain
Statistics
Texas ranks 11th
among the 50 states
in density of
tornadoes with an
average of 5.7
tornadoes per
10,000 square miles,
per year.
Hurricane
New Orleans after Katrina
hurricane
a large rotating spiral of air formed when
high and low pressure systems meet
over warm ocean water
Hurricane
• Cause – air pressure differences over
the ocean
• Impact to Earth – kills plants, destroys
beaches
• Impact to People – high winds destroy
buildings, can have flooding
• Similar to – tornado
• How are they similar – high winds and
rain
Statistics
Top 10 Most Intense Hurricanes At Landfall (U.S.A)
Rank
Hurricane Name
Year
Category
Pressure
1
Florida Keys (Labor Day)
1935
5
892 mb
2
Hurricane Camille
1969
5
909 mb
3
Hurricane Katrina
2005
3
920 mb
4
Hurricane Andrew
1992
5
922 mb
5
Texas (Indianola)
1886
4
925 mb
6
Florida Keys
1919
4
927 mb
7
FL (Lake Okeechobee)
1928
4
929 mb
8
Hurricane Donna
1960
4
930 mb
9
Unnamed (New Orleans LA)
1915
4
931 mb
10
Hurricane Carla
1961
4
931 mb
Tsunami
tsunami
a large, fast moving wave caused by an
earthquake deep under the ocean floor
Tsunami
• Cause – earthquake under the ocean
floor
• Impact to Earth – destroys beaches and
coral reefs
• Impact to People – large loss of life,
destroys buildings
• Similar to – earthquake, flood, volcano
• How are they similar – causes tsunami,
water, pressure release
Statistics
Volcano
volcano
a vent in the Earth’s surface which allows
magma and ash to escape
Volcano
• Cause – build up of pressure deep
inside Earth
• Impact to Earth – burns plants, creates
new land
• Impact to People – burns or covers
buildings
• Similar to – earthquake, wildfire
• How are they similar – pressure
release, burns everything
Statistics
Earthquake
Earthquake
earthquake
a vibration of the Earth’s surface caused
by a release of pressure deep within the
Earth
Earthquake
• Cause – moving tectonic plates
• Impact to Earth – changes the look of
the land
• Impact to People – damages buildings,
kills people
• Similar to – volcano, tsunami
• How are they similar – pressure release
Statistics
Drought
drought
extremely dry conditions caused by a
lack of rain over a long period of time
Drought
• Cause – lack of rain, heat
• Impact to Earth – kills plants and
animals
• Impact to People – money loss from
crop and livestock damage
• Similar to – wildfire
• How are they similar – loss of life and
vegetation
Statistics
Wild Fire
Wildfire
wildfire
large are of fire caused by a lightning
strike or man
Wildfire
• Cause – lightning, can be man-made
• Impact to Earth – burns everything,
fertilizes the soil
• Impact to People – destroys everything
in it’s way
• Similar to – drought, volcano
• How are they similar – loss of life, fire
Statistics
Flood
flood
large amounts of water caused by heavy
rains or melting snow
Flood
• Cause – too much rain
• Impact to Earth – changes the land,
fertilizes the soil
• Impact to People – loss of life and
buildings
• Similar to – tsunami
• How are they similar – large amounts of
water
Statistics
• Which of these natural disasters can
happen in our area?
Assignment
• We will be researching catastrophic
events. You will get to pull a topic out of a
coffee can. That will be the catastrophic
event you will research. On the
“Catastrophic Event” handout, find your
event. You will be given an information
sheet on your event. Start your research
with the web sites listed on the sheet.
Once you have used those sites, you can
google your event to get other information.
Poster Instructions:
• Once everyone that has your event is
finished researching, you will form a group
to create a poster about your event. Make
sure all of the facts from your research
card are on the poster. You will only have
part of a class period to construct your
poster so work quickly and efficiently.
Information Sharing
• Once groups begin finishing their poster,
you will trade posters to complete your
“Catastrophic Events” handout. Using
other group’s posters, fill in the information
on your paper for their event. If some of
their information is missing, use the
information sheets to complete your
handout.