Since natural disasters are causing a tremendous amount of economic damages and fatalities these days, prediction of the time at which natural disasters will occur and preparation for such events has become extremely important. Natural disasters have influenced about 217 million people every year since 1990. (Brett, 2013) These natural disasters not only harm people but also damage the earth ecologically. For example, According to the world nuclear organization, there was a 9.0 scale earthquake in Fukushima, Japan that caused huge tsunami that struck Fukushima nuclear power plants. The leakage of radioactive matters from the nuclear power plants had several negative effects on the Earth. Pollution of ocean water has led to danger of marine
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Natural disasters can be classified into two types. One type is geophysical disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and lahar flows. The other type is climate-related disasters such as storms, cyclones, floods and droughts. Surprisingly, there were almost no changes in the number and the magnitude of geophysical disasters. Only the number and the magnitude of climate-related disasters increased significantly. According to the New England Journal of Medicine (2013), climate-related disasters will become more severe and frequent because the climate is changing due to various negative human activities including CO2 emissions and deforestation.
To prevent disastrous consequences of natural disasters, new technologies for prediction of natural disasters have developed for a long time. Since we live in Seattle and we are exposed to the danger from two major volcanoes, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, I have done some research on …show more content…
One of the most dangerous natural hazards in North America is Mt. Rainier which is not very far away from our UW campus. There are few reasons why Mt. Rainier is designated as one of the top natural hazards in North America. First of all, lahar flows are generated abruptly. There are two types of lahar flows that Mt. Rainier generates. One is cold lahars, known as landslide-generated lahars. Landslides are often triggered by earthquakes, torrential rains that loosen volcanic materials for landslides to occur, and hydrothermal alteration. Hydrothermal alteration, which is similar to what torrential rains do to the volcano, is a process that volcanic materials are weakened by heat from movement of magma. Cold lahars are quite hard to anticipate because these are not caused by visible events like eruptions. The other type is hot lahars, also known as meltwater-generated lahars. This type of lahars is caused by volcanic eruption of Mt Rainier which makes it a lot easier to predict than cold lahars. Secondly, surprisingly, approximately 80,000 people unexpectedly live in the potential path of lahar flows. The lives and properties of about 80,000 people are exposed to potential lahar flows. Lastly, Lahar flows of Mt. Rainier have occurred quite frequently. Lahar flows have destroyed everything on its path every 500 years to 1,000 years. (Driedger & Scott,
Natural disasters can be classified into two types. One type is geophysical disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and lahar flows. The other type is climate-related disasters such as storms, cyclones, floods and droughts. Surprisingly, there were almost no changes in the number and the magnitude of geophysical disasters. Only the number and the magnitude of climate-related disasters increased significantly. According to the New England Journal of Medicine (2013), climate-related disasters will become more severe and frequent because the climate is changing due to various negative human activities including CO2 emissions and deforestation.
To prevent disastrous consequences of natural disasters, new technologies for prediction of natural disasters have developed for a long time. Since we live in Seattle and we are exposed to the danger from two major volcanoes, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, I have done some research on …show more content…
One of the most dangerous natural hazards in North America is Mt. Rainier which is not very far away from our UW campus. There are few reasons why Mt. Rainier is designated as one of the top natural hazards in North America. First of all, lahar flows are generated abruptly. There are two types of lahar flows that Mt. Rainier generates. One is cold lahars, known as landslide-generated lahars. Landslides are often triggered by earthquakes, torrential rains that loosen volcanic materials for landslides to occur, and hydrothermal alteration. Hydrothermal alteration, which is similar to what torrential rains do to the volcano, is a process that volcanic materials are weakened by heat from movement of magma. Cold lahars are quite hard to anticipate because these are not caused by visible events like eruptions. The other type is hot lahars, also known as meltwater-generated lahars. This type of lahars is caused by volcanic eruption of Mt Rainier which makes it a lot easier to predict than cold lahars. Secondly, surprisingly, approximately 80,000 people unexpectedly live in the potential path of lahar flows. The lives and properties of about 80,000 people are exposed to potential lahar flows. Lastly, Lahar flows of Mt. Rainier have occurred quite frequently. Lahar flows have destroyed everything on its path every 500 years to 1,000 years. (Driedger & Scott,