Name of the Project:
The Natural Disasters
Subject : English
Can be assigned to : 8th 9th and 10th Students.
Project : Natural Disasters
1.Earthquake
1. Earthquakes are sudden rolling or shaking events caused by movement under the Earth's surface.
2. Earthquakes can occur near the surface or deep below the surface.
3. People can cause earthquakes. The cause was injection of fluids into deep wells for waste disposal and secondary recovery of oil, and the filling of large reservoirs for water supplies.
4. Earthquakes don't kill people, buildings and their contents do. The greatest risk in an earthquake is the severity of the shaking it causes to manmade and natural structures and the contents within these that may fail or fall and injure or kill people.
5. Natural events such as volcanic eruptions and meteor impacts can cause earth quakes, but the majority of naturally-occurring earthquakes are triggered by movement of the earth's plates.
6. Natural events such as volcanic eruptions and meteor impacts can cause earth quakes, but the majority of naturally-occurring earthquakes are triggered by movement of the earth's plates.
7. Each year the southern California area has about 10,000 earthquakes.
8. Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state and one of the most seismically active regions in the world. The region experiences a magnitude 7.0 earthquake almost every year and a magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquake approximately once every 14 years.
9. Ponds, canals, lakes and other standing water may give off a nasty whiff and become slightly warmer before an earthquake. This is due to gases being released underground as the plates shift.
10. Animals have been observed changing their behaviour prior to an earthquake.
2.Volcanic Eruptions
1. Volcanoes are openings of the Earth's surface. Volcanoes are openings of the Earth's surface. When a volcano erupts lava, ash and gas is expelled from it.
2. An active volcano is one that has erupted within the last 10,000 years or it has some type of activity going on.
3. A dormant volcano is one that hasn't erupted in the last 10,000 years, however there is a chance it will erupt at some point.
4. Volcanoes hold a very hot liquid called magma. Magma is rock that is so hot, it has turned into a liquid. It glows bright orange and is held in a chamber within the volcano.
5. Once a volcano erupts, the magma will come out of the top of the volcano. After it has left the volcano, it is called lava.
6. Once the lava has cooled down it will turn into solid rock.
7. That's right, lava is very hot! It can get up to 1,250° Celsius.
8. The largest volcano in our solar system isn't on planet Earth. It's on Mars!
9. There are lots of volcanoes, in fact, there are around 1,500 which are active. Most volcanoes are found in countries that have coastlines on the Pacific Ocean.
10. Volcanoes often occur where tectonic plates meet. Tectonic plates are like puzzle pieces that cover the Earth.
3.Tropical cyclone
1. Hurricanes or Tropical cyclones are giant tropical storms that produce heavy rainfall and super-strong winds.
2. Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters near the equator. The warm, moist air above the ocean surface rises, causing air from surrounding areas to be "sucked" in.
3. This "new" air then becomes warm and moist, and rises, too, beginning a continuous cycle that forms clouds. The clouds then rotate with the spin of the Earth. If there is enough warm water to feed the storm, a hurricane forms!
4. Hurricanes rotate around a circular centre called the "eye", where it is generally calm with no clouds.
5. Most hurricanes occur harmlessly out at sea. However, when they move towards
land they can be incredibly dangerous and cause serious damage.
6.. The strong spiraling winds of a hurricane can reach speeds of up to 320 kmph - strong enough to rip up entire trees and destroy buildings!
7. In the southern hemisphere, hurricanes rotate in a clockwise direction, and in the northern hemisphere they rotate in an anti-clockwise direction.
8. This is due to what's called the Coriolis Force, produced by the Earth's rotation.
4.Sinkholes
1. Sinkholes that form due to the dissolving of limestone and dolomite bedrock by groundwater.
2. These sinkholes can be accelerated or aggravated by changes in rainfall, leaky pipes, and poor surface-water management.
3. The three general types of sinkholes are Solution, Cover Collapse, and Cover
4. Solution sinkholes are caused by continual water erosion that degrades the limestone and dolomite bedrock below, otherwise known as karst.
5. Cover Collapse sinkholes are usually large and sudden, caused when the supporting bedrock and soil below erodes away and the surface strata can no longer support its own weight.
6. Cover Subsidence is slow-growing, occurring when clay, sand, and other par ticulate bedrock coverings settle into the cracks and holes in the rock itself and, therefore, causing a visually noticeable surface depression where water may pond after a rain event.
7. Sinkholes are common in certain states. Florida, by far and away, has the most naturally-occurring and man made sinkholes of any state.
8. Sinkholes Can Be Stopped. If a sinkhole is caught early, cities can inject grout into the hole to rebuild a foundation over the degrading bedrock.
5.Thunderstorms
1. An estimated 16 million thunderstorms occur on Earth every year.
2. At any given time, there are about 2,000 thunderstorms in progress.
3. There are four main types of thunderstorms: single-cell, multi-cell cluster, multi-cell line (squall line) and supercell.
4. The average thunderstorm is 15 miles wide and lasts around 30 minutes.
5. Lightning forms due to the collision of ice crystals and water droplets within clouds creating positive and negative electric charges, which become separated by convective forces. A lightning bolt dispenses from the cloud when the charges become separated enough.
6. Thunderstorms block out the sun.
7. Humans can't control the weather, but our actions can indirectly influence
where thunderstorms form.
8.Studies have shown that increased temperatures in and around cities, due to the urban heat island effect, can trigger thunderstorms that wouldn't have otherwise formed in these areas if the city and its streets weren't there.
9.Thunderstorms don't just occur on Earth's, they've been observed on Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn and Venus.
6.Tsunamis
1. A tsunami is a series of ocean waves - called wave trains - created by an under water earthquake or explosions, volcanic eruption, landslide, or drastic changes in atmospheric pressure.
2. Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning "harbor wave";
3. A tsunami is also named killer wave;
4. The first wave of a tsunami is usually not the strongest; successive waves get
bigger and stronger.
5. Tsunamis are the most common in Japan, and off-late they have been spreading across many other countries.
6. Tsunamis can travel up to the speed of 500-800 kilometers per hour almost as fast as a jet plane.
7. One should not swim in the tsunami water as the current is always pulling the person in the opposite direction.
8. Tsunamis are always high on energy and can travel miles across any ocean.
9. Many scientists believe that a tsunami created by a meteorite had occurred on earth 3.5 billion years back.
10. A mega tsunami has very huge waves and occurred in Alaska in 1958. Sur prisingly only two people died.
7.Landslide
1. Every year, in the USA, landslides cause approximately $3.5 billion in damage, and kill between 25 and 50 people.
2. Landslides can vary in size, from as small as a single boulder to as large as thousands of tonnes of earth and debris.
3. Volcanic eruptions can cause horrible landslides.
4. There are many signs that a landslide is happening; Cracks in the plaster, windows jam for the first time etc.
5. One of the largest landslides ever went over 9 miles in a few minutes!
6. A number of factors can cause landslides, including earthquakes, too much rainfall, and human activity.
7. Gravity is a HUGE factor of landslides.
place on Mars was 60 miles (96.5 km) long, the one on Venus was 30 miles (48 km) long.
8.Icestorm
1. Ice storms are caused by freezing rain.
2. The raindrops move into a thin layer of below-freezing air right near the sur face of the earth, allowing them to freeze on contact to the ground, trees, cars and other objects.
3. Throughout the US, ice storms occur most often during the months of December and January.
4. Driving during an ice storm is extremely hazardous, because ice can cause vehicles to skid out of control, leading to devastating car crashes.
5. In 1998, an ice storm in northern New York and northern New England damaged millions of trees and caused $1.4 billion in damage.
6. The ice storm that struck the northeastern US in December 2008 left 1.25 million homes and businesses without power.
7. Described as the worst storm of the decade, a state of emergency was declared in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and parts of Maine.
8. Snow is not white. The 'white stuff' isn't actually white, but rather translucent. It's the light reflecting off it that makes it appear white with the many sides of the snowflake scattering light in many directions, diffusing the entire colour spectrum.
9. Don't think for a second we are the only mammals to enjoy a good snowball fight. Japanese macaques, also known as 'snow monkeys' have been observed making and playing with balls of snow.
10. Snow warms you up. Because snow is comprised of 90 to 95 percent trapped air, it means it's a great insulator. This is the reason many animals burrow deep into the snow during winter in order to hibernate.
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