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Natural Disasters and their

Energy Sources

Patrick L. AbbottNATURAL DISASTERS

McGraw Hill Higher Education


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Human Fatalities in Natural Disasters In 2001 ca. 35 000 people lost their lives to natural disasters

Official statistics usually understate the number of deaths

Densely populated regions more victims! Asia 86 % of thefatalities!

The worse disasters occurred in belt running from China to

Bangladesh and Iran to Turkey.

Increase in suicides!


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Fig. 1.4

Deaths due to natural disasters, 1980-2001

bl


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Table 1.2

the biggest killers: hurricanes and earthquakes floods and severe weather killed more people than volcanoes and

landslides

T bl 1 3


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Table 1.3

Only 3 disasters were not

caused by natural events

(Chernobyl, dam failure inIndia and boat collision in

Philippines)


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Economic Losses from Natural Disasters

Destruction of peoples properties, buildings, bridges, road, power

plants etc.

Influence the global economy

Losses in productivity, lost wages

Insured Portion of Economic Losses: the most expensive

disasters are storms

Different locations of the worst dollar-loss disasters (USA,

Europe, Japan) and the most fatal events!

Wealthy countries are better insured!


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Natural Hazards: potential danger of natural disaster (river banks,

coasts, slopes of volcanoes) risk evaluation!

design of prevention to reduce the threat of future deaths

migration important factor

why people return to a devastated site and rebuild it?

Example:

Popocatepetl Volcano (5 452 m) located between Mexico Cityand Puebla in Mexico: very active volcano (822, 1519)

Fig 1 6


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Fig. 1.6

100 000 people live at the base

of the volcano, millions of

people live in the danger zone

(40 km).

Reasons: rich volcanic soils, lots

of sunshine and rains


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Magnitude, Frequency, and Return Period

9 Earth is not a stable body

9 events not spaced evenly

9 inverse relation between frequency and magnitude of

a process9 return period recurrence interval: the number of

years between same-sized events

9statistical analysis of natural disaster fatalities


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Energy sources of disasters

the Earth is an active planet fueled by varied energy sources

disaster occur when the Earths natural processes concentrate

energy and then release it

natural disasters occur where humans get in the way of Earths

energy driven processes

as population grows more people live in dangerous places


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Primary Energy Sources of Disasters

The impact of extraterrestrial bodies (Asteroids and

Comets)

Origin of the Sun and planets

Impact Origin of the Moon made from the Earths rocky

mantle


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Gravity (Newton, 1642-1727)

attraction between objects

cannot be modified by humans

proportional to the masses and inverse to the square of thedistance between bodies

important factors: friction, heat

tidal energy caused by gravitational attraction between the Sunand the Moon

erosion, glaciers, rain, snow


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Internal Sources of Energy (flows toward the surface)

Release of energy in volcanic eruptions andearthquakes short time (conduction and convection)

The formation of continents, oceans and atmosphere

long time (drift and collision)The Earth differentiation and the core formation

Impact Energy and Gravitational Energy produceheat

Radioactive Elements


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Higher heat production in early Earth


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External Sources of Energy:

The Sun as a source of energy: radio to gamma radiation,

important for the Earth visible range (43% of the radiation), IR(49%) and UV (7%).

Ca. 30 % of the Sun energy is directly reflected back to the space

albedo

47 % of energy is absorbed as heat by the air, sea and land

of the Sun energy is responsible for the evaporation of water

into the atmosphere

Water as a exceptional substance which stores energy: high heat

capacity, high heat conduction, expands when it freezes!


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The flow of energy on Earth from the Sun,

tides, Earths interior


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Forces of Construction Versus Destruction

the rock cycle - driven by the internal and external energy:

melting, crystallization construction

erosion, weathering destruction


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W. W. NortonMass-transfercycle

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