Climate

Climate disorders

(Fathima, Chiara & Julie)

The Earth is made up of seven huge tectonic plates and other small ones. These are located on a flow of magma which makes them move for a few centimeters per year. However when two tectonic plates get touched, there is creation of energy which might be released when there is too much pressure. It creates the earthquake. Earthquake magnitude is measured on the Richter scale which was created by the American seismologist Charles Richter. Earthquake causes many damage to buildings, bridges, roads since they crash consequently it causes also death and injury. Unfortunately, it's really hard to predict an earthquake as we don't have any warning signs. But we can still use some methods such as examining animal behaviours such as snakes or rodents or we can use a seismometer which is an engine that can detect very small ground mouvements. However no one had been able to forecast the Kobe earthquake in 1995. This extremely violent earthquake destroyed more than 2000 buildings at the first shock which will be followed by 16 aftershocks. These shocks are really deadly since it caused 6000 death. Nevertheless, earthquake can also generate tsunamis such as the 2004 earthquake in Sumatra which caused  tremendous tsumanis . They devasted about ten countries with enormous waves. The tsunami nearly made 300.000 victims in several countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand but also in Somalia or Kenya. Tsunamis are series of waves in water which are caused by a huge volume of water which is moving owing to a landslide underwater or a strong earthquake. Even though the waves are really large, they are also really fast. Indeed, they can reach about 500 and 700 km/h. A tsunami destroys all the coast it touched and causes a huge amount of death. Unfortunately for the victims of the tsunami which struck Indonesia, there was no warning system in the Indian Ocean such as there is one in the Pacific Ocean. It receives all strong earthquakes so they can prevent all countries at risk thanks to a jarring hooter and message on television. 

And with tsunamis, other climate disorders occur on the coast such as storms and cyclone. Storms are violent atmospheric disturbances. They are followed by strong winds, blowing in gusts, and strong rains. Their power is such that they can sometimes knock down one adult and even uproot trees or damage electricity networks and telephone. Storms are turbulent results of atmospheric depressions. These are usually born above the ocean in contact with a cold air mass and with another hot and wet one from the tropics. 

Tornadoes are very violent cloudy whirlwinds associated with some thunderstorms. The whirlwind sucks up everything in its way. Fortunately, tornadoes life expectancy is very short, between a few minutes and a decade of minutes. However, their destructive power is huge. On sea, a tornado is called a waterspout. So that there is storm, winds have to exceed 89 km / h, which corresponds to the force 10 on the Beaufort scale. Cyclones are frequent tropical storms which are part of the most dangerous meteorological phenomenon of the planet. Cyclones appear on warm seas of tropical areas. They are called hurricanes in the Caribbean and typhoons in China.  It occurs between 50 and 100 a year. The Saphir-Simpson scale is used to classify hurricanes according to their power. Most of them are born and die on the oceans. However, they can touch the continents, causing this way death of about 6000 people. In addition, the pouring rains which follow cyclones could cause floods, landslides or mudslides. Quality of human constuctions are also very essential to face to violence of the phenomenon. Actually, there are more victims in Bengladesh than in Japan. Hunters of cyclones are strong planes able to fly at the heart of cyclones. They are used to calculate the trajectory and the power of cyclones in order to alert populations. For decades, meteorologists noticed that hurricanes are becoming more and more frequent, more and more powerful, vaster and vaster, and finally longer and longer. A lot of scientific studies show that these modifications were caused by climate changes caused by Humans. Even if we can't stop a storm or a cyclone  , we can take precautions to limit damage and accident risks. If the department is placed in orange alert, moves have to be limited. Everybody have to pay attention on the falls of objects like branches or flowerpots. If the department is placed in red alert, we have to say at home and listen to the local radio. Electric appliances must be disconnected.

These disorders can also be the origin of flood. Flood is a weather phenomenon which is describe as a rise of the water level which caused a great number of damage on houses with all the stuff inside, cars are taken away and people may die from drowning. There is several categories of flood :

* the river flood, in this case, it's a river which is overflowing of water due to torrential rain.

* the coastal flood, due to a thunderstorm, the sea level rises and breaks sea walls, destroying houses of the sea front.

* the quick flood, in a little amount of time, a great volume of water flows into the ground, but the soil is so saturated in water that it can't absorb water anymore causing floods

Some floods in the world are quite notable, in Australia for example, just 3 months ago, a huge flood occurred in Queensland, with 2000 houses flooded and 1000 homeless people.

To prevent flood, the population has to plant more vegetation embankment in order to avoid soil erosion.

Landslide is when earth, rocks, mud slide down a slope. It is triggered by earthquake, flood or human-made causes like urbanization in South America. What has been dissociated from the slope can move really fast and destroys many houses in a few minutes. To prevent landslides, some measures are possible to set up : installing wells and drainage ditches or add soil on the bottom of the slope.

Even though climate disorders have been happening since the beginning of the earth, the human global consumption makes them happen more often, killing more people, making more damages, so let's react to save lives !

Glossary:

Earthquake: shaking or trembling of a portion of the earth

Tsunami: a tidal wave caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption

Tornado: a violent destructive whirling wind accompanied by a funnel-shaped cloud that moves over a narrow path

Storm: heavy fall of rain, snow, or hail with high wind

Cyclone: a storm or a system of winds that rotates about a center of low athmospheric pressure and advances at 20 to 30 miles an hour

Flood: a great flow of water over the land

Landslide: the slipping down of a mass of rocks or earth on a steep slope 

Bibliography :

• Book=> KOHLER, Pierre. Les catastrophes naturelles. Edition Fleurus, 2005 DUPIN, Nicolas. Les grandes catastrophes. Edition Epigones, 1996

• Internet=>DONATIONS FOR DISASTERS. Earthquakes explained [online]. Page consulted the 14/04/2013 URL address: http://donationsfordisasters.org/earthquakes-explained

• DONATIONS FOR DISASTERS. Tsunamis Formation [online]. Page consulted the 14/04/2013URL address: http://donationsfordisasters.org/tsunami-formation

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• DR MIKE C. The nature of thunderstorms [online]. Page updated the 23/7/12 consulted the 13/04/2013 URL address : http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/78824.aspx

• THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. Flooding explained [online]. Page consulted the 13/04/2013 URL address : http://www.architecture.com/FindOutAbout/Sustainabilityandclimatechange/Flooding/FloodingExplained.aspx

• DONATIONS FOR DISASTERS. Hurricanes explained [online]. Page consulted the 14/04/2013 URL adress : http://donationsfordisasters.org/hurricanes-explained

• ESS WASHINGTON. How do earthquakes generate tsunamis ? [online]. Page consulted the 15/04/2013 URL address : http://www.ess.washington.edu/tsunami/general/physics/earthquake.html

• THOMAS, RON & SYDENHAM, Shirley. Floods. [Online]. Page updated on June 2009. consulted the 14/04/2013.

• EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY. Floods [online]. Page consulted the 14/04/2013 URL address : http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMD0LXJD1E_Earth_0.html

• UNITED STATES SEARCH AND RESCUE TASK FORCE. Landslide [online]. Page consulted the 13/04/2013 URL address : http://www.ussartf.org/landslides.html