Geography 2152F/G Lecture 1: Geo of Hazards - 2152F - ALL NOTES UP UNTIL MIDTERM!!!

• School: Western University
• Department: Geography
• Course: Geography 2152F/G
• Professor: Mark Moscicki

Document Summary

Affect millions of people around the world each year. Within na every location is at risk from at least one hazardous process e. g. west coast (earthquakes, landslides), East coast (hurricanes), mid-continent (tornadoes, blizzards), all areas (drought) Natural hazards can arise from three main processes: 1: external forces on earth"s surface (driven by the sun"s energy, e. g. weather, meteorites, gravitational attraction (driven by the force of gravity, e. g. downslope movement) Hazard > a process that poses a potential threat to people or the environment. Risk > the probability of an event occurring multiplied by the impact on people or the environment. Disaster > a brief event that causes great property damage or loss of life. Hazards differ in their potential to cause a catastrophe based on the size of the area affected. More likely too be catastrophic > tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, floods. Less likely to be catastrophic > landslides, avalanches, wildfires, tornadoes.