NATURAL DISASTERS02 September 2012 Local & National News

Damaged buildings in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, January 2010.

How to help prevent Global Warming

Earthquakes

Reducing Greenhouse gas emission is a central to prevent global warming, part of the environmental concern of clime change. Here is some ways to help that may surprise you.You will need:A City residenceFood from industrial farmsA mainly Vegetarian dietAnd adherence to the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle.Optional:A white roof

Step 1 Live in a cityUrbanites own fewer cars, tend to live in energy efficient apartment buildings, and don’t have much need for powered lawn mowers, a major contributor to greenhouse gases.Painting a roof white reduces the energy needed to both heat and cool a building.

Step 2 Don’t assume that buying local is always better. Food miles, the distance food travels from farm to table, isn’t the only factor to consider. 80% of the carbon emissions from food production occur before shipping, and industrial farms tend to be more energy-efficient than smaller ones.

Step 3 Eat less meat. The average American carnivore contributes 1.5 more tons of greenhouse gases per year than the average vegetarian. If you can’t keep away from beef, organic may be better for your body but not necessarily help prevent global warming. An organic raised cow emits 16 percent more greenhouse gases than a standard one.Producing red meat generates four times the greenhouse gas emissions as an equal amount of chicken or fish.

Step 4 Practice the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle and don’t give recyclables more than a quick rinse.For each ton of recycled plastic, consumers waste about 10 tons of water cleaning it.

Did you know?According to a study, companies who report increased carbon emissions see their stock value fall.

By Jennie María Angélica Parra VelásquezReporter, BBC Nature

Earthquakes are also known as a quakes, temblors or tremors. It is know that an earthquake is the result of an abrupt release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. Seismic activity is referring to the frequency, type and size of earthquake over a period of time. Seismometers are used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes. Richter scale is used to refer the magnitude of earthquakes, according to this, an earthquake is imperceptible if it is lower magnitude 3. It is known that if the earthquake is in magnitude equal or over 7, it would cause serious damage.The largest earthquakes in historic times have been of magnitu-de slightly over 9. An earthquake has been reported in Japan in 2011 as the largest Japanese earthquake and it was the largest one in all history. It was a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.Earthquakes manifest themselves at the Earth’s surface shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground. It is known that when the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, it would cause a tsunami. Sometimes Earthquakes are expected to trigger landslides and volcanic activity.The word earthquake is used to define any seismic event that generates seismic waves, it could be natural or caused by humans.

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo-sions have the power to generate a tsunami. This kind of Ear-thquakes happens when the plates that make up the Earth’s surface suddenly move and hit each other. It is known that a tsunami forms when energy from an earthquake moves the water of the sea vertically by several meters then large waves of water begin to move through the ocean.In deep water, the tsunami moves very fast, but when it reaches the coast areas it slows, but increases in height.The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natu-ral disasters in human history.Around 230.000 people were killed by the tsunami in 14 coun-tries bordering the Indian Ocean.

Tornadoes are also known as twisters.They are expected to happen when certain conditions of the clime are the indicated to form the tornadoes, in the certain places. This certain conditions of the clime are:Intense or unseasonable heat: As the ground temperature increases, moist air heats and starts to rise.Then moist air meets cold and dry making a thunder cloud grow up. A storm quickly develops then the air become very quickly and winds from different directions cause it to rotate. Then the torna-do appears.It is known that tornadoes tend to occur in parts of the world such as the midwest of the United States. This zone is known as “Tornado Alley”.Tornadoes can produce several damages, they can pull up strong buildings and throw cars away, more than 100 meters from where they were parked.

Tsunamis

Tornadoes

Aerial view of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia.January 10, 2004 December 29, 2004 (3 days after the tsunami)