Key Terms: The Challenge of Natural Hazards Flashcards

A natural event or process that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury or damage to property.

The probability or chance that a natural hazard will cause harm to people or property.

How likely people are to be harmed by a natural hazard — the more exposed they are and the less able to cope, the greater their vulnerability.

A natural hazard that has actually happened and caused significant damage, injury or loss of life.

Geological (tectonic) hazards, e.g. earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and meteorological (weather) hazards, e.g. tropical storms and drought.

False. A natural disaster is a hazard that has actually occurred and caused significant damage or loss of life.

An impact caused directly by the hazard itself.
e.g. buildings collapsing during the earthquake shaking.

An impact that happens later, as a result of a primary effect.
e.g. disease spreading because water pipes were broken.

Action taken in the hours and days straight after the event, such as search and rescue and emergency aid.

Action taken in the weeks, months and years afterwards, such as rebuilding homes and improving building regulations.

True. They result from a primary effect (broken pipes) rather than directly from the shaking.

The boundary where two tectonic plates meet.

Two plates move apart and magma rises into the gap to form new crust, giving gentle volcanoes and weak earthquakes.

Two plates move towards each other and the denser oceanic plate is subducted beneath the continental plate, giving strong earthquakes and explosive volcanoes.

Two plates slide past each other; no crust is created or destroyed, and earthquakes are caused as the plates jerk past.

Where a denser oceanic plate sinks beneath a less dense continental plate at a destructive margin and melts.

A circular movement of heat in the mantle that helps to move the tectonic plates above it.

The point inside the Earth where the earthquake originates.

The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus.

The size or strength of the earthquake, measured on the moment magnitude (or Richter) scale.

A series of large waves caused by water being displaced, usually by an underwater earthquake.

False. Plates only slide past each other there, so no magma reaches the surface — conservative margins cause earthquakes.

The day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere, such as temperature, rainfall, wind and cloud.

The average weather conditions of a place measured over a long period, usually 30 years or more.

A zone of high or low air pressure that circles the Earth at a particular latitude, e.g. low pressure at the equator.

The largest cell of atmospheric circulation, in which air rises at the equator and sinks at about 30°N and 30°S.

The most frequent wind direction that a place experiences.

An intense low pressure weather system, with very strong winds and torrential rain, that forms over warm tropical oceans.

The calm centre of the storm, with very low pressure, light winds, clear skies and no rain.

The band of spiralling rising air around the eye, where the strongest winds and heaviest rain occur.

A rise in sea level caused by low pressure and strong winds pushing water towards the coast during a storm.

Weather that is significantly different from the average or usual conditions for a place, e.g. a heatwave or unusually heavy rainfall.

True. Air rises at the equator (low pressure) and sinks at around 30° (high pressure).

The most recent geological time period, covering roughly the last 2.6 million years, during which climate has swung between glacials and interglacials.

A cylinder of ice drilled from an ice sheet or glacier; air trapped in it gives evidence of past temperatures and greenhouse gas levels.

The natural process in which greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap outgoing heat, keeping the Earth warm enough for life.

The rise in average global temperatures, mainly caused by the enhanced greenhouse effect.

A measure of the greenhouse gases released by a person, organisation or product, usually given in tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Action taken to reduce or prevent the causes of climate change.
e.g. cutting greenhouse gas emissions by using renewable energy.

Changing our behaviour or surroundings to cope with the effects of climate change.
e.g. building flood defences against rising sea levels.

Technology that traps carbon dioxide released by power stations and industry and stores it underground.

False. It reduces a cause of climate change, so it is mitigation.

False. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that keeps the Earth warm; human activity increases it (the enhanced greenhouse effect), causing global warming.

False. The eye is calm with clear skies and sinking air; the strongest winds are in the eyewall around it.

The Challenge of Natural Hazards

The Living World

Physical Landscapes in the UK

Urban Issues & Challenges

The Changing Economic World

The Challenge of Resource Management

Issues Evaluation

Fieldwork

Geographical Skills