NATURAL DISASTERS

1. What is a natural disaster? Disaster not manmade that effects

environment, people and/or economics.
2. What is considered the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history?
What was the estimated death toll and what was considered the leading
cause of the deaths? Yellow river flood in 1931, China, 4,000,000 deaths
caused by famine and disease

Wildfires
Q1. Name three things that can trigger wildfires.
High temperatures, high winds, dry conditions, arsonists, lightning
Q2. What is the most common fire igniter in grasslands like west Texas?
Lightning
Q3. What is an arsonist?
Someone who deliberately starts fires
Q4. What were the weather conditions like before the forest fires in
Yellowstone National Park in 1988?
Dry, drought
Q5. Are forest fires considered a natural cycle or something that needs to be
suppressed?
Natural cycle

Hurricanes and Cyclones

Q1. What is the difference between a cyclone and a hurricane?
Location (example: Australia they name storms Cyclone Tracey etc.)
Q2. Where do hurricanes develop?
Over warm tropical waters
Q3. What determines the category number of a hurricane?
Wind Speed
Q4. What hurricane was the deadliest in US history? What was the death toll?
Galveston hurricane in 1900. 8000 deaths

Drought
Q1. How long can droughts last for in extreme cases?
Years (longest, 400 years)
Q2. What is the most famous US drought? Is it possible to have another
drought like it?
Dust bowl
Q3. What are considered the two most intense droughts in Texas history?
1950’s and 2008-2009
Earthquakes
Q1. What causes earthquakes?
Tectonic plates moving against each other
Q2. What are the four main layers of the earth?
Crust, Mantle, outer core, inner core
Q3. Will the California coast sink into the ocean? Explain what will
eventually happen to California.
No, Most of the coastline is moving to the northwest at about 2 inches per
year.
Q4. What does the Richter Scale measure?
Shock Waves

Famine
Q1. Name at least 3 causes of Famine.
Politics, natural disasters, poor farming techniques etc.
Q2. Name 2 first world countries and 2 third world countries.
USA, Germany, Canada, ect. Somalia, Columbia, Ethiopia etc,
Q3. In 1991 what was the cause of all the deaths in Southern Sudan (Africa)?
Civil war, food withheld from people causing starvation
Q4. What are the symptoms of starvation?
Bloated stomachs, fatigue, stomach cramps, anemia, death, etc.

Floods
Q1. What do rising waters do to surrounding land?
Drown plants
Q2. How many stages are floods regarded as?
3-4
Q3. What river has flooded and killed more people than any other river in the
world? Where is it located?
Yellow river, China

Tornadoes
Q1. Where in the world do tornadoes occur?
Most in Midwestern United States
Q2. How do Tornadoes form?
Body of hot air meets a body of cold air
Q3. In what season do tornadoes occur?
Spring
Q4. What was the most deadly tornado in Texas history?
Waco, killed 114
Tsunamis
Q1. Why is the name tidal wave inappropriate for a tsunami?
Tides caused by moon, tsunamis caused by natural disasters
Q2. What are the three major causes of tsunamis?
Earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides
Q3. Where do most tsunamis occur?
Pacific ocean
Q4. Where does a tsunami warning system now operate?
Along west coast of united states
THE JAPANESE TSUNAMI
Q5. About how high did the Japanese tsunami get?
23-80ft
Q6. How far away is Tokyo from the source of the earthquake?
230 miles
Q7. How does the Japanese tsunami compare to the Indonesian tsunami in
2004?
Indonesian tsunami killed 230,000 people, Japan 15,000. Japan had
nuclear power plant problems.

Volcanoes
Q1. What is the name given to plates diving beneath one another?
Subduction
Q2. Where do volcanoes occur?
Along tectonic plates (Fault lines)
Q3. What formed the Hawaiian Island chain?
Hot spot
Q4. Why might the volcanoes in Japan start to become active again?
When plates move, volcanoes can act up