Week 1: Intro to hazards, diasters and catastrophes.

Hazards. Disasters. Catastrophes

In the geological world the natural process, anything produced by nature, can result in any number of natural hazards. A hazard is any natural occurring action that results in harm to human life or property and is often the result of misuse of the land by humans. This includes earthquakes, floods, volcanic activity,and so on. When these hazards happen over a short period of time, in one small area this becomes a disaster rather than just a hazard. Natural disasters are defined by 4 criteria: 10 or more people killed, 100 or more people affected, a state of emergency is announced and international support is requested. An example of a natural disaster would be the 2013 tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma. If the disaster is extensive, one that includes a large output of money and involves a very long recovery time, sometimes years, then that natural disaster becomes a catastrophe. Hurricane Katrina is an example of a catastrophe. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest catastrophe in US History along with one of the deadliest. Recovery in that area was long and is still ongoing today.




For this class I will be discussing Iceland and the affects that different natural hazards have on this country. For those that are not familiar with this country, Iceland is a Nordic island located between the North Atlantic ocean and the Arctic Ocean. Known for it's beautiful landscapes of glaciers and waterfalls, Iceland is also very active geologically. It sits on the boundary of the Eurasian and North American continental plates, which are slowly moving apart a little each year. It's also located on the Mid Atlantic Ridge and the Icelandic plume, a hotspot,  which makes Iceland very active with volcano and geothermal activity.  The greatest hazards, geologically, for Iceland are volcanoes and earthquakes. I am really excited to learn more about Iceland geologically as my husband and I will be visiting there later this year. A number of the geological attributes of Iceland are what attracted us to the country in the first place.

Photo credit

Map of Iceland: Eyjafjallajökull volcano: volcanoes and glaciers of Iceland. Map/Still. Britannica Online for Kids. Web. 4 Feb. 2016.  <http://kids.britannica.com/elementary/art-141901>.

Thanks for reading!

Jennifer