Causes of Natural Hazards

Hazards are possible sources of danger. Types of hazards are those

such as hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A cause is

what makes something happen and is a reason for it happening. The two

types of hazards I will be outlining the causes for are hurricanes and

earthquakes.

A hurricane and tropical storms are cyclones. When the winds reach a

constant speed of 74 miles per hour or more, it is called a hurricane.

A hurricane is caused when a large mass of air is warmed up and the

warm humid air begins to rise. As the air rises, it cools and

condenses to cloud and rain. They are tropical storms. The hurricanes

winds blow in a large spiral around a calm centre called the ‘eye’.

The eye is usually 20-30 miles wide and the storm itself may have a

diameter of 400 miles. As a hurricane approaches, the skies begin to

darken and the winds grow stronger. The hurricane can bring torrential

rains, high winds, and storm surge as it comes close to land. A single

hurricane can last more than two weeks.

An earthquake is a shaking movement of the earth’s surface. It results

from faults. The earth’s surface is in continuous slow motion. This is

plate tectonics – the movement of rigid plates at the surface of the

earth in response to flow of rock within the earth. These plates cover

the whole surface of the earth. Since they are all constantly moving,

they rub against each other at the boundaries (for example, the San

Andreas Fault in California). They sink beneath each other, or spread

apart from each other (like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). At such places

the motion becomes less smooth - the plates are stuck together at the

edges ...

... middle of paper ...

... into the areas were blocked or bridges were

destroyed. If the bridges had been built to survive a hurricane, aid

would be able to get to the areas sooner and save lives as they would

be able to reach people in time.

MEDC’s and LEDC’s are both affected by hurricanes, although MEDC’s are

able to respond to them quicker and more effectively then LEDC’s. Both

of them need funding so that they can research and monitor hurricanes

so that they can respond to them, but the difference between them is

that MEDC’s are able to provide themselves with funding as apposed to

LEDC’s who are unable to provide themselves with the funding required.

The research helps people to learn more about hurricanes and the more

people know about hurricanes, makes it easier for them to respond to

them in the right way so that they can save lives.