Earth shock CH.1

What are the population doubling times given these annual growth rates: Africa 2.4%; World, 1.2%?

29 years, and 58 years

Great natural disaster

A disaster so overwhelming that outside assistance is needed to handle the rescue and recovery for the region.

Pandemic

A disease occurring over a wide area and affecting many people.

Typhoon

A large, tropical cyclonic storm with wind speeds exceeding 119 km/hr (74 mph); called a hurricane in the western hemisphere.

Hurricane

A large, tropical cyclonic storm with wind speeds exceeding 119 km/hr (74mph); called a typhoon in the western Pacific Ocean and a cyclone in the Indian ocean.

Cyclone

A region of low atmospheric pressure and convergence air that rotates counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere.

Natural hazard

A source of danger to life, property, and the environment. The probability that dangerous events will occur.

Mitigation

Actions taken by humans to minimize the possible effects of a natural hazard.

Return period

Amount of time between an event of a given size.

Magnitude

An assessment of the size of an event. Magnitude scales exist for earthquakes, volcanic eruptions hurricanes, and tornadoes. For earthquakes different magnitudes are calculated for the same earthquake when different types of seismic waves are used.

Natural Disaster

An event or process that destroys life and/or property.

Volcano

An opening of the earth's surface where magma bass poured or blown forth, typically creating hills or mountains.

Epidemic

An outbreak of disease.

Influenza

Highly contagious virus caused diseases. The word influenza is commonly shortened to flu.

Mortality

Death rate; the proportion of deaths to population.

What types of natural disasters killed the most people in the past 40 years?

Earthquakes and hurricanes

How do economic losses differ from insured losses?

Economic losses are greater than just damaged structures; industries and businesses are knocked out of operation, causing losses in productivity and wages for employees left without places to work.

What is the difference between a natural disaster and a natural hazard?

Natural hazards are inevitable, but natural disasters are not.

Would we call a large earthquake or a major volcanic eruption a natural disaster if no humans were killed or buildings were destroyed?

No, that wouldn't qualify the definition.

Frequency

Number of events in a given time interval. For Earthquakes, it is the number of cycles of seismic waves that pass in a second; frequency = 1/period.

Demographic Transition

The change from a human population with high birth rates and long life expectancies. Mostly poor countries have high birth rates and shorter life expectancies.

What is the relationship between earthquake fatalities and cities?

The denser the cities the more fatalities will occur.

What is the size of the world population today? What will the growth rate be in 100yrs? 200yrs? are these numbers environmentally realistic?

over 7 billion. .07, .14, no eventually the earth will not be able to hold all of us.

For nations what are demographic transitions?

richer nations have higher death rates than birth rates poorer nations have higher birth rates than death rates.

Could global building designs be made disaster-proof, thus reducing the large number of fatalities?

yes but it would cost extensive amounts of money

For nations, what is the relationship between natural-disaster deaths, gross domestic product, and level of democracy?

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How much time does it take for a flu pandemic to infect people all around the world?

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Explain the concept of carrying capacity for a species. What processes might limit the number of species?

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Energy

Capacity for performing work.

CE

Common Era. Equivalent to AD.

Tsunami

Giant, long-period sea waves caused ny oceanic disturbances, such as fault movements, volcanic eruptions, meteorite impacts, and landslides.

Exponential Growth

Growth in a compound fashion that, given time, leads to incredible numbers.

Where in the world are deaths from natural disasters the highest?

In densely populated cities.

Where in the world are insurance losses from natural disasters the highest?

In the united states, and japan.

Tornado

Spinning funnels of wind whose rotating wind speeds can exceed 480 km/hr (300 mph)

Virus

Submicroscopic agents of many infectious diseases. Viruses replicate inside living cells of organisms.

Fertility

The ability to produce offspring; the proportion of births to population.

What is the relationship between magnitude of a given disaster, and its frequency of occurrence?

The greater the magnitude the less frequent that event is.

Carrying capacity

The maximum population size that can be supported under a given set of environmental conditions.

Earthquake

The shaking of the earth by seismic waves radiation away from a disturbance, most commonly a fault movement.

Which single disaster could kill the most people? a flu pandemic, an earthquake or a hurricane?

earthquake

Explain the concept of exponential growth.

it moves continuously in ever increasing increments, leading to large numbers in short periods of time.