Can you name natural disasters

But, the moral of the story here is that we can classify any negative event caused by natural processes such as the weather or geologic activity as a natural disaster. Indeed, since the severity of a disaster often depends on the infrastructure in a given location, classifying disasters solely based on their negative impacts is difficult.

We should mention, however, that while natural disasters are usually naturally caused, we would only consider them a disaster if they result in negative impacts on human life. But an earthquake that destroys a town certainly is. So, a natural disaster can be defined as any event with an environmental cause or process that negatively impacts humans.

Besides that, the definition is pretty open-ended. Regardless of whether you live on a small island in the Pacific Ocean or in an urban area in central Europe, a natural disaster can strike at any moment. Of course, we humans take steps, both at an individual and societal level, to prepare ourselves for the inevitability of natural disasters. But preparing for these events requires understanding the types of natural disasters, what causes them, and the dangers they pose.

First up on our list is an avalanche , which is defined as any large mass of tumbling, sliding, or flowing snow. Avalanches can be thought of as a type of landslide, particularly since they can also include boulders and other debris. However, avalanches primarily consist of snow, and they have different innate characteristics from other types of landslides. Since avalanches require snow in order to occur, they are really only a threat to locations that receive a decent amount of snowfall each year.

Nevertheless, anywhere where there is snow and at least a modest slope is at risk for an avalanche. People who recreate in snowy, mountainous terrain are most at risk of injury or death from avalanches, but communities in alpine environments also face very real threats from these disasters.

Burial under snow is generally the primary hazard of an avalanche as large slabs of snow can take out lodges or even entire towns. Avalanche forecasting and mitigation is, in itself, an interdisciplinary field. Anyone going backcountry skiing or winter camping should check local avalanche forecasts before heading outside. Taking an avalanche safety and rescue course is also highly recommended for all winter sports enthusiasts.

Another winter-related hazard, blizzards are defined by the US-based National Weather Service as storms that last more than three hours and that feature:.

As you can probably imagine, blizzards are only really a threat in locations that have cold enough temperatures to experience large amounts of snowfall. Blizzards that are associated with major storm systems are fairly easy to predict by experienced forecasters, particularly if they are associated with an incoming low pressure system. However, in more remote locations, accurate forecasts can be hard to come by, putting people at risk. In the mountains, blizzards can pose a hazard for hikers, especially if they lead to white-out conditions that can make navigation next to impossible.

Blizzards are also a hazard for drivers as they can also lead to slick roads and near-zero visibility. We should also mention that blowing snow associated with blizzards can also increase avalanche risk in the days following the storm.

So, eveclon when the sun finally pops out through the clouds after a major blizzard, you should be wary of an increased avalanche risk in mountainous locales. A technical term for a period of very cold weather, a cold wave is a type of natural disaster where the temperature drops rapidly over the course of 24 hours. Rather, cold waves are classified by how fast the temperature falls. There are many reasons why a cold wave might occur.

One of the most common causes of a cold wave is the arrival of a very strong high pressure system from the polar regions. Alternatively, movement in the jet streams can also drive very cold weather southward in just a matter of hours. The primary danger of a cold wave is, indeed, the cold weather itself. This can lead to a higher risk of hypothermia and other cold-related injuries.

Additionally, cold weather can cause ice and frost to build up quickly, damaging infrastructure. Cold waves are also particularly dangerous for aircraft and other machinery. Extreme cold can drain vehicle batteries or cause diesel to gel.

So, caution is needed whenever extreme cold is in the forecast. As with cold waves, droughts are somewhat difficult to define because they are subjective by nature.

A drought is technically defined as an extended period of time where drier-than-normal conditions lead to a lack of water or other water-related issues. Most of the time, climate scientists will identify a drought based on changes in rainfall patterns or on low water levels in local lakes and reservoirs.

But droughts can last anywhere from a few weeks to multiple years or even decades. In fact, as of , there is an ongoing drought in Ethiopia that started around So, while droughts can be difficult to predict and identify, their human impacts are very real.

While small earthquakes happen dozens, if not hundreds of times a day, without issue, major earthquakes can cause catastrophic damage and loss of life. Perhaps the most famous of the recent earthquakes were those in Nepal in and in Haiti in , both of which destroyed countless homes and took thousands of lives. Some earthquakes can also cause secondary, and sometimes even more catastrophic, natural disasters.

Floods are any instances where water temporarily overflows onto land that is usually dry. As with many types of natural disasters, what constitutes a flood in one place might not actually be a flood in another. That being said, many of us could identify a flood fairly easily in a photograph, particularly if we see large amounts of water in streets or other urbanized areas.

There are many reasons why floods might form, though heavy rainfall is usually a culprit. Even a relatively small flood with about 6 inches 15 cm of water depth could knock you off your feet and lead to injury. The general rule with floods is that you should never try to travel through a flooded area, regardless of how minor the situation might appear. Trying to walk, drive, or swim through a flood is almost always a bad idea as rapidly changing currents can drag you into a dangerous situation.

In a weather forecasting context, flash floods are defined as any type of flooding that begins within 6 hours of a period of heavy rain or other water-related cause. Like regular floods, flash floods are normally associated with major storms. Indeed, hurricanes and other meteorological events can cause rapid flooding of an area in a short period of time. For example, many places in the desert southwest of the United States—particularly narrow canyons—can experience rapid surges of water and dangerous flooding when bluebird skies are overhead.

This type of flash flooding is normally associated with a thunderstorm upstream, but it may also be caused by a dam break or malfunction. Since there are few if any visual clues about these oncoming floods before they happen, they can be especially dangerous for hikers and canyoneers. In some thunderstorms, particularly supercells, very strong updrafts upward flows of air can lead to the formation of hail. Regardless of how hail forms, however, the reality is that hail can be particularly dangerous for humans and it can lead to widespread damage.

Although most hailstones are somewhat small, large hailstones can injure unsuspecting passers-by on the ground. Who knew? Effectively the opposite of a cold wave, a heat wave is a prolonged period of exceptionally high temperatures. As with cold waves, there is no technical definition for what constitutes a heat wave as normal temperatures vary from location to location.

But, any period of two or more days where the temperature is higher than the historical average for an area is a heat wave. But, those same temperatures in the scorching hot Lut Desert of Iran would be positively balmy. In , the institute started the Adopt-a-Vortex project , where anyone can adopt a high or low pressure area by giving it a name. The project allows the public to participate in the naming process, resulting in increased awareness of weather systems.

One of the strongest storms to hit the Philippines was known internationally as Typhoon Haiyan, which was renamed Yolanda when it entered the country. They also noted that Filipinos living in rural areas can better remember local names as opposed to international names, and having names assigned by PAGASA emphasizes the fact that a cyclone is within Philippine territory and potentially a threat to the nation.

The project enabled the public to suggest names for storms likely to affect the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is important to raise awareness of severe weather before it hits, so everyone can keep safe and protected. According to Claydon, there was a strong response to the concept, with thousands of names suggested by the public.

The project proved to be a success, with storm names widely used by the public, media and other organizations. The naming helped us clearly distinguish between them, and delineate their likely impacts. Claydon says the project will continue for a second run from to and will be adapted to include more than one weather type. But their methodology of assigning a name to a storm and overall intent was met with criticism. In contrast to Berlin, the Philippines, and the UK, where the naming of was initiated and coordinated by established universities and official weather bureaus, The Weather Channel—a privately owned broadcast enterprise—did so with little consultation.

Names in the past have included Jonas, Mars, and—really—Yolo. A replacement, starting with the same initial and of the same sex is then substituted. Sign in Register. News Guardian. Recent queries. Send a query. Lucky dip. Any answers? Nooks and crannies. Semantic enigmas. The body beautiful. Red tape, white lies.