Natural Hazards, disasters,and Catastrophes

A study was conducted in the North East state of Para in Brazil. The study concluded in the last 25 years there was numerous   evidence of natural impacts in the flood and erosion process. Strategies and measures of population adaptation have been implemented, but had limited success. In order to subsidize the Coastal Zone Management Program of Para, natural and socio-economic vulnerability of costal zone buy means of a Geographical Information System based composite coastal vulnerability index. In spite of the data problems and shortcomings, using ESRI's 3.2 program, the CVI score, to classify, weight and combine a number of 16 separate natural and socio-economic variables to create a single indicator provides a reliable measure of differences among regions and communities that are exposed to similar ranges of hazards. The results are presented in 3 maps referred to as Natural, Socioeconomic and Total Vulnerability.  Resource:  http://www.jstor.org/stable/40928754?s...

In 2017, India faced a record hot summer. In 2016, hundreds of people died due to the heat. Temperatures reached 124 degrees Fahrenheit. The year before that, a heat wave was the cause for 2,300 people dead. India saw its most intense heat in Rajasthan when temperatures reached 126 degrees. Researchers are saying that global warming is causing this. They are also saying that it is scientifically proven that humans are the cause of it. Many have even more to be worried about because the US withdrew from the Paris agreement. This image was taken in the 2015 heat. It was so hot that the paint of the street markings melted Resources : http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/asia/india-heat-wave-deaths/index.html http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/photos/extreme-weather-noaa-climate-change-1.3307775

Brazil Suffers from multiple landslides. In fact, of all the natural hazards that we have researched this semester, Landslides are what brazil suffers from the most. In January of 2011, the Serra do Mar Mountains received a months worth of rain in less than 24 hours. Four cities were affected by floods and landslides including Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. This was the worst natural disaster in Brazils history. The death toll reached over 800 people. Following the many deadly landslides, Brazil invested $6.7 billion in improving and creating more drainage and hillside recovery projects. $5.9 billion will go towards drainage projects and the rest will go towards the hillside stabilization project. They also put in a new alert system which includes 15 radars and a supercomputer to help forecast and monitor extreme weather conditions. RESOURCES. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=48854 https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2011/01/20/brazil_to_create_disaste...

Brazil is located in the middle of the South American plate, this is, far away from the edges of tectonic plate. This is why there hasn't been any active volcanos on Brazils main land, although there signs that there has been volcanic activity in the past. Brazil has 1 dominate volcano, Trinidad which lies about 1100km from the South East coast of Brazil. There are 2 documented extinct volcanoes, but only 1 has preserved it,s original form. Recently, Brazil has been testing a new warning system that would send a text message to people to alert them of a natural disaster. This test is taking place in Rio De Janeiro. https://www.telecompaper.com/news/brazil-extends-natural-disaster-alert-system-via-mobile-texts--1212179 https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/trindade.html

Brazil is located on the South American Plate. This mid-plate region is known to be the least active stable continental regions in the world. The biggest earthquake they had was recorded at a magnitude of 6.2 mb. In Brazil, you can identify several seismic zones. this also includes carton edges. Brazil has a seismic-building standard that has been enforced since 2006. However, that was based  on the outdated seismic hazard map. Therefore, researchers are suggesting that Brazil update their building codes in order to prevent low-intensity tremors from causing damage RESOURCES: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20170823-a-new-map-of-seismic-hazards-in-brazil-shows-that-new-building-code-is-required https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266393548_Intraplate_seismicity_in_Brazil

Brazil is located on the South American Plate. The South American Plate covers all of South America. To the west of the South American Plate is the Nazaca Plate. In addition, the African Plate can be found to the east of the South American Plate. As you can see in the image below, the South American Plate and the Nazaca plate both shift towards each other. In 2015, The South American Plate was responsible for a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the Peru-Brazil boarder.  The eastern side that goes along the African Plate is a divergent boundary. The west side of the plate is a convergent boundary. The northern side is a boundary with the Caribbean Plate is an oceanic crust the North American Plate. References: http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/teachers/t_tectonics/p_map_plate_layers_bath.html https://watchers.news/2015/11/24/very-strong-and-deep-m7-5-earthquake-hits-peru-brazil-border-region/ http://exampariksha.com/continental-drift-theory-geography-study-material-notes/...