Global Geography 12
Chapter 4 (Natural Disasters) Review Assignment
1. Explain the difference between a Natural Hazard and a Natural Disaster. (2 pts)
2. Define the following terms that describe natural disasters in your own words: (6 pts
a.
d.
Frequency
Speed of Onset
b.
e.
Duration
Spatial Dispersion
c.
f.
Extent
Temporal Spacing
3. What are the three categories of natural disasters? (3 pts)
4. What causes front storms? (1 pt)
5. How were people affected by the 1998 ice storm? (2 pts)
6. What are the two main reasons that tropical storms cause damage? (2 pts)
7. Why do hurricanes cause more deaths, even though tornadoes have higher wind
speeds? (2 points)
8. In your own words, explain what is a tornado? (1 pt)
9. What are the strongest winds that occur in tornadoes? (1 pt)
10. What are two causes of flooding? (2 pts)
11. Where does flooding most commonly occur? (1 pt)
12. Which type of natural disaster causes the most deaths and long term suffering? (1 pt)
13. Name four infectious diseases that affect more than a million people worldwide each
year. (2 pts)
14. Which are the most sudden of the geologic natural disasters? (1 pt)
15. Where do most earthquakes occur? (1 pt)
16. What causes most deaths and injuries in earthquakes? (1 pt)
17. Why do earthquakes result in worse impacts in LDCs? (2 pts)
18. Why do volcanoes cause fewer deaths than other natural disasters? (1 pt)
19. What causes many deaths in sudden eruptions? (1 pt)
20. Name two natural events that can trigger a landslide. (2 pts)
21. Name one human action that can trigger a landslide. (1 pt)
22. What causes tsunamis? (1 pt)
23. Give two reasons why MDCs are better at responding to natural disasters than LDCs?
(2pts)
24. Give an example in which human activities contribute to the occurrence of natural
disasters. (2 pts)
1. Natural hazard: a natural event that might occur and cause problems for humans
Natural disaster: a natural event that does occur and cause problems for humans
2. Frequency: How often does the event occur?
Duration: How long does the event last?
Extent: What is the size of the area affected by the event?
Speed of Onset: How quickly will the event strike? (Is there any warning?)
Spatial Dispersion: Do events occur in a region or spread all over the world?
Temporal spacing: Does the event happen throughout the year, or in particular
seasons or cycles?
3. Three categories of natural disasters are atmospheric, biological and geological.
4. Front storms are caused when different air masses (warm and cold) meet. (The
greater the difference, the stronger the storm usually will be.)
5. The 1998 ice storm affected more than 2 million people in Canada and the US with
power outages. (There were 25 deaths in Canada and the Red Cross assisted more
than 130 000 people in one week.)
6. Tropical storms cause damage because they bring strong winds and heavy rains.
7. Hurricanes cause more deaths than tornadoes because they are larger, they last
longer, they cause deaths by drowning as well as wind damage.
8. A tornado is a small powerful storm that creates a funnel of wind.
9. Tornadoes can have wind speeds up to 500 km/h.
10. Two causes of flooding are heavy rains due to storms and high water levels due to the
storm surge of a hurricane.
11. Flooding usually occurs along the flood plains of rivers with broad meandering
(curving) channels and along coastlines.
12. Prolonged drought causes the most deaths and long-term suffering.
13. Four infectious diseases that affect more than a million people every year include
measles, HIV/AIDS, schistosomiasis (snail fever), river blindness, tuberculosis, and
malaria.
14. Earthquakes are the most sudden of the geologic disasters.
15. Most earthquakes occur along the boundaries of crustal plates.
16. Most deaths and injuries in earthquakes are caused by buildings collapsing.
17. The impacts of earthquakes are worse in LDC’s because there is generally more
crowding in cities, and building s are not always constructed safely.
18. Volcanoes cause fewer deaths because there is usually enough warning time to
evacuate areas around the volcano.
19. In sudden eruptions, volcanoes cause deaths due to pyroclastic flow – a fast moving
cloud of superheated gas and particles (ash) that completed burns everything it
touches.
20. Two natural events that can trigger a landslide are earthquakes and heavy rains.
21. Human activities that can trigger landslides include logging or other removal of
vegetation, road construction and mining activities.
22. Tsunamis are caused by mudflows, landslides, earthquakes or volcanoes that occur
on the ocean floor.
23. MDCs are better at responding to natural disasters because there are
 more services available (firefighters, ambulances, military, etc.) to respond quickly
 more resources to plan and prepare for disaster response
 better prevention efforts (building codes, dams)
 better warning systems (weather forecasting, communication networks)
24. Humans can contribute to the occurrence of disasters by:
 Creating risks of avalanches and slides in hilly areas by logging, roads, construction,
mining and other activities
 Removing wetlands along coastal areas which slow down winds and reduce the
effects of storm surge from hurricanes
 Changing the course of river channels or building dams
 Spreading biological threats such as insect pests and germs through shipping and
travel