BA III/IV SEMESTER

COMPULSORY SKILL ENHANCEMENT COURSE

DM319 CS
CONCEPT OF DISASTER
The term disaster owes its origin to the French word “Desastre” which is a combination of two
words ‘des’ meaning bad and ‘aster’ meaning star. Thus the term refers to ‘Bad or Evil star’. “A
serious disruption in the functioning of the community or a society causing wide spread material,
economic, social or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected society to cope
using its own resources”.

A disaster is a result from the combination of hazard, vulnerability and insufficient capacity or
measures to reduce the potential chances of risk. A disaster happens when a hazard impacts on
the vulnerable population and causes damage, casualties and disruption. Any hazard – flood,
earthquake or cyclone which is a triggering event along with greater vulnerability (inadequate
access to resources, sick and old people, lack of awareness etc) would lead to disaster causing
greater loss to life and property. Thus, disaster occurs only when hazards and vulnerability meet.
But it is also to be noted that with greater capacity of the individual/community and environment
to face these disasters, the impact of a hazard reduces. Therefore, we need to understand the
three major components namely hazard, vulnerability and capacity.

Vulnerability: The extent to which a community, structure, services or geographic area is likely
to be damaged or disrupted by the impact of particular hazard, on account of their nature,
construction and proximity to hazardous terrains or a disaster prone area.” Vulnerabilities can be
categorized into: Physical and Socio-economic vulnerability.

DISASTER VULNERABILITY, RISK AND CAPACITY

Vulnerability describes the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset
that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard. There are many aspects of
vulnerability, arising from various physical, social, economic, and environmental factors.
According to UNESCO/UNDRO (1982) Definitions of Hazard & Risk Terminology-
Vulnerability (V) is the degree of loss to a given element or set of elements at risk resulting from
the occurrence of a hazardous phenomenon of a given magnitude. It is expressed on a scale from
0 (no damage) to 1 (total loss).
KEY CONCEPT OF VULNERABILITY?
Vulnerability = Exposure + Resistance + Resilience Exposure: at risk property and population
Resistance: Measures taken to prevent, avoid or reduce loss Resilience: Ability to recover prior
state or achieve desired post-disaster state
EXAMPLE OF VULNERABILITY:
The people of the southern part of Bangladesh are more vulnerable to cyclone because of- -High
Exposure of Cyclone -Low Resistance (lack of proper management) -Low Resilience (Economic
limitation)
TYPES OR SECTORS OF VULNERABILITY?
There are four (4) main types of vulnerability: 1. Physical Vulnerability: Meaning the potential
for physical impact on the physical environment – which can be expressed as elements-at-risk
(EaR). The degree of loss to a given EaR or set of EaR resulting from the occurrence of a natural
phenomenon of a given magnitude and expressed on a scale from 0 (no damage) to 1 (total
damage)”. May be determined by aspects such as population density levels, remoteness of a
settlement, the site, design and materials used for critical infrastructure and for housing
(UNISDR).
TYPES OR SECTORS OF VULNERABILITY?
Economic Vulnerability: the potential impacts of hazards on economic assets and processes (i.e.
business interruption, secondary effects such as increased poverty and job loss) Vulnerability of
different economic sectors. The poor are usually more vulnerable to disasters because they lack
the resources to build sturdy structures and put other engineering measures in place to protect
themselves from being negatively impacted by disasters.
Social Vulnerability: refers to the inability of people, organizations and societies to withstand
adverse impacts to hazards due to characteristics inherent in social interactions, institutions and
systems of cultural values. It includes aspects related to levels of literacy and education, the
existence of peace and security, access to basic human rights, systems of good governance,
social equity, positive traditional values, customs and ideological beliefs and overall collective
organizational systems (UNISDR). Example- When flooding occurs some citizens, such as
children, elderly and differently-able, may be unable to protect themselves or evacuate if
necessary.
TYPES OR SECTORS OF VULNERABILITY?
Environmental Vulnerability: Natural resource depletion and resource degradation are key
aspects of environmental vulnerability. Example: Wetlands, such as the Caroni Swamp, are
sensitive to increasing salinity from sea water, and pollution from storm water runoff containing
agricultural chemicals, eroded soils, etc.
WHAT IS RISK ?
The probability that a community’s structure or geographic area is to be damaged or disrupted by
the impact of a particular hazard, on account of their nature, construction, and proximity to a
hazardous area. Risk is a function of threats exploiting vulnerabilities to obtain, damage or
destroy assets. Thus, threats (actual, conceptual, or inherent) may exist, but if there are no
vulnerabilities then there is little/no risk.
KEY CONCEPT OF RISK?
Risk Disaster Index (R) = (H + V + E) – C
H= Hazard Index V= Vulnerability Index E= Exposure Index C= Capacity & Measure Index
SMAUG MODEL- a basis for prioritizing hazard risks The SMAUG model provides an effective
means of prioritizing hazard risks based upon the aforementioned criteria. SMAUG stands for
Seriousness, Manageability, Acceptability, Urgency and Growth are the criteria used for
prioritization of hazard risks. Seriousness can be defined as "The relative impact in terms of
people and dollars." This includes the potential for lives to be lost and potential for injury as well
as the physical, social and as mentioned, economic losses that may be incurred Manageability
can be defined as "the relative ability to mitigate or reduce the hazard (through managing the
hazard, or the community or both)".
Acceptability - The degree to which the risk of hazard is acceptable in terms of political,
environmental, social and economic impact Urgency - This is related to the probability of risk of
hazard and is defined in terms of how imperative it is to address the hazard Growth - This is the
potential for the hazard or event to expand or increase in either probability or risk to community
or both. Should vulnerability increase, potential for growth may also increase.
WHAT IS Coping Capacity ? “The ability of people, organizations and systems, using available
skills and resources, to face and manage adverse conditions, emergencies or disasters“ The
capacity to cope requires continuing awareness, resources and good management, both in normal
times as well as during crises or adverse conditions. Coping capacities contribute to the reduction
of disaster risks (UN-ISDR, 2009).
How Coping Capacity Relates Vulnerability and Risk Assessment?
Relationship Between Risk & Vulnerability : ‘Risk’ is essentially the level of possibility that an
action or activity will lead to lead to a loss or to an undesired outcome, when ‘vulnerability’ is a
weakness that makes one susceptible to an attack, a loss or an undesired outcome.
Disaster Management Continuum
There are actually four phases in the disaster continuum: preparedness, response, recovery, and
mitigation. We refer to this as a “continuum” or“cycle” because it is continuous, and one phase
may blend into the next without a clear beginning or ending.
The Recovery Phase starts soon after the disaster occurs and lasts an extended period of time,
even up to several years. How soon this phase begins and how long it lasts is directly related to
the severity of the disaster and the affected community’s level of preparedness. The goals of the
recovery phase are to address the disaster-related needs of disaster survivors and to restore
community infrastructure. The centerpiece of the recovery phase is Disaster Case Management.
Disaster management aims to reduce, or avoid the potential losses from hazards, assure prompt
and appropriate assistance to victims of disaster, and achieve rapid and effective recovery. The
Disaster management cycle illustrates the ongoing process by which governments, businesses,
and civil society plan for and reduce the impact of disasters, react during and immediately
following a disaster, and take steps to recover after a disaster has occurred. Appropriate actions
at all points in the cycle lead to greater preparedness, better warnings, reduced vulnerability or
the prevention of disasters during the next iteration of the cycle. The complete disaster
management cycle includes the shaping of public policies and plans that either modify the causes
of disasters or mitigate their effects on people, property, and infrastructure.
The mitigation and preparedness phases occur as disaster management improvements are made
in anticipation of a disaster event. Developmental considerations play a key role in contributing
to the mitigation and preparation of a community to effectively confront a disaster. As a disaster
occurs, disaster management actors, in particular humanitarian organizations, become involved
in the immediate response and long-term recovery phases. The four disaster management phases
illustrated here do not always, or even generally, occur in isolation or in this precise order. Often
phases of the cycle overlap and the length of each phase greatly depends on the severity of the
disaster.
Mitigation - Minimizing the effects of disaster.
Examples: building codes and zoning; vulnerability analyses; public education.
Preparedness - Planning how to respond.
Examples: preparedness plans; emergency exercises/training; warning systems.
Response - Efforts to minimize the hazards created by a disaster.
Examples: search and rescue; emergency relief .
Recovery - Returning the community to normal.
Examples: temporary housing; grants; medical care.

What is disaster risk reduction?

Historically, dealing with disasters focused on emergency response, but towards the end of the
20th century it was increasingly recognized that disasters are not natural (even if the associated
hazard is) and that it is only by reducing and managing conditions of hazard, exposure and
vulnerability that we can prevent losses and alleviate the impacts of disasters.
Reducing these two components of risk requires identifying and reducing the underlying drivers
of risk, which are particularly related to poor economic and urban development choices and
practice, degradation of the environment, poverty and inequality and climate change, which
create and exacerbate conditions of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Addressing these
underlying risk drivers will reduce disaster risk, lessen the impacts of climate change and,
consequently, maintain the sustainability of development (UNISDR, 2015a).
We need to manage risks, not just disasters.
DRR is a part of sustainable development, so it must involve every part of society, government,
non-governmental organizations and the professional and private sector. It therefore requires a
people-centred and multi-sector approach, building resilience to multiple, cascading and
interacting hazards and creating a culture of prevention and resilience.
Consequently DRM includes strategies designed to:
avoid the construction of new risks
address pre-existing risks
share and spread risk to prevent disaster losses being absorbed by other development outcomes
and creating additional poverty
Although DRM includes disaster preparedness and response activities, it is about much more
than managing disasters (UNISDR, 2015a).
Successful DRR results from the combination of top-down, institutional changes and strategies,
with bottom-up, local and community-based approaches. DRM programmes should not be
standalone but instead be integrated within development planning and practice, since disasters
are an indicator of failed or skewed development, of unsustainable economic and social
processes, and of ill-adapted societies (UNISDR, 2009b, 2011, 2013 and 2015a). Approaches
need to address the different layers of risk (from intensive to extensive risk), underlying risk
drivers, as well as be tailored to local contexts. There is no ‘one-size fits all’ approach to DRM,
but there exist a number of approaches and frameworks, which have been effectively
implemented to reduce disaster risk. But, before being able to reduce risk, we need to understand
the hazards, and the exposure and vulnerability of people and assets to those hazards.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT ACT 2005
The Disaster Management Act, 2005, (23 December 2005) No. 53 of 2005, was passed by the
Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India on 28 November, and the Lok Sabha,
the lower house of the Parliament, on 12 December 2005. It received the assent of The President
of India on 9 January 2006. The Disaster Management Act, 2005 has 11 chapters and 79
sections. The Act extends to the whole of India. The Act provides for "the effective management
of disasters and for matters connected there with or incidental thereto.
The implementation of the National Disaster Act, 2005 has been slow, and slack. On 22 July
2013 Indian Supreme Court Justices A K Patnaik and M Y Eqbal in response to a Public Interest
Litigation issued notices to the Governments of Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan Maharashtra and the Central government for alleged failure to
implement the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The petitioner alleged that the non-
implementation of the Disaster Management Act by the Government of Uttarakhand endangered
the lives of citizens. He sought "reasonable ex-gratia assistance on account of loss of life,
damage to houses and for restoration of means of livelihood to victims of flash floods in
Uttarakhand under the Disaster Management Act".
STATE-LEVEL DISASTER-MANAGEMENT PLAN
A State-level Disaster-Management Plan is a comprehensive document that covers the entire
range of disaster management and disaster risk reduction activities at the level of the entire State.
As a result of this mandate, such a document will be a lengthy and complex one, covering the
range of policies and actions that must be undertaken by a number of Government departments.
However the efficacy of a Disaster Management Plan depends entirely on the extent to which
various elements of the Plan can be made operational or brought to the level of active
implementation. In this zeroth chapter in the Disaster Management Plan for the state of Jammu &
Kashmir we emphasize some key elements that need to be taken up urgently in order to speedily
operationalise and implement several parts of the Plan.
The importance of a clear, unambiguous framework for disaster governance at the State and
district level cannot be overemphasized. Currently, in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, some
elements of the recommended framework are in place, whereas other elements are not. Such
ambiguities may hamper emergency response, operational readiness as well as long-term
planning. It is also essential to ensure that all statutory bodies in the disaster governance
framework have an adequate secretariat and offices, ear-marked funds for specific activity and an
adequate site from which they function. The State government also has various functional
arrangements for disaster management, already in place, with a number of senior and other
officers, key government offices and various departments of the government tasked with various
aspects of disaster management. Their role in the new framework with State and District level
disaster management authorities needs to be adequately clarified or revamped.
THEME
The plan document envisages the accurate assessment of risk and vulnerability to disasters in the
State of Jammu and Kashmir. A significant thematic component will be the mainstreaming of
disaster management concerns in development plans/projects/ and programmes. The plan
proposes to achieve its stated goals by enhancing capacities and designing preparedness
measures that are rooted in socio-cultural, economic, ecological and technological determinants
of risks and uncertainties, which affect diverse populations of the State. This plan outlines
strategies for proper coordination and allocation of roles and responsibilities of each government
department and other stakeholders involved. The plan also has provisions of reviewing and
updating plan annually.

NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC DISASTERS

Disasters are undesirable and often sudden events causing human, material, economic and/or
environmental losses, which exceed the coping capability of the affected community or society.
They are caused either by natural forces/processes (known as ‘natural disasters’) or by human
actions, negligence, or errors (known as ‘anthropogenic disasters’’). Natural disasters are
generally classified into three major groups (CRED, 2009): (i) ‘geophysical disasters’ (e.g.,
earthquake, volcanic eruption, rockfall, landslide, avalanche, and subsidence); (ii) ‘hydro-
meteorological disasters’ (e.g., flood, drought, storm, extreme temperature, wildfire, and wet
mass movement); and (iii) ‘biological disasters’ (e.g., epidemic, insect infestation, and animal
stampede). Similarly, anthropogenic disasters are broadly classified into two major groups : (i)
‘technological disasters’ (e.g., disasters due to engineering failures, transport disasters, and
environmental disasters); and (ii) ‘sociological disasters’ (e.g., criminal acts, riots, war,
stampedes, etc.).
FLOODING AND ITS TYPES
Flooding is arguably the weather-related hazard that is most widespread around the globe. It can
occur virtually anywhere. A flood is defined as water overflowing onto land that usually is dry.
Flooding is often thought of as a result of heavy rainfall, but floods can arise in a number of
ways that are not directly related to ongoing weather events. Thus, a complete description of
flooding must include processes that may have little or nothing to do with meteorological events.
Nevertheless, it is clear that in some ultimate sense, the water that is involved in flooding has
fallen as precipitation at some time, perhaps long ago. The origins of flooding, therefore,
ultimately lie in atmospheric processes creating precipitation, no matter what specific event
causes the flooding.
Floods produce damage through the immense power of moving water and through the deposition
of dirt and debris when floodwaters finally recede. People who have not experienced a flood may
have little or no appreciation for the dangers of moving water. The energy of that moving water
goes up as the square of its speed; when the speed doubles, the energy associated with it
increases by a factor of four.
Flooding is typically coupled to water moving faster than normal, in part because of the weight
of an increased amount of water upstream, leading to an increase in the pressure gradient that
drives the flow. In most cases, the damage potential of the flood is magnified by the debris that
the waters carry: trees, vehicles, boulders, buildings, etc. When the waters move fast enough,
they can sweep away all before them, leaving behind scenes of terrible destruction.
CYCLONES
Cyclones can be the most intense storms on Earth. A cyclone is a system of winds rotating
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere around a low pressure center. The swirling air
rises and cools, creating clouds and precipitation. There are two types of cyclones: middle
latitude (mid-latitude) cyclones and tropical cyclones. Mid-latitude cyclones are the main cause
of winter storms in the middle latitudes. Tropical cyclones are also known as hurricanes. An
anticyclone is the opposite of a cyclone. An anticyclone’s winds rotate clockwise in the Northern
Hemisphere around a center of high pressure. Air comes in from above and sinks to the ground.
High pressure centers generally have fair weather.
MID-LATITUDE CYCLONES
Mid-latitude cyclones, sometimes called extratropical cyclones, form at the polar front when the
temperature difference between two air masses is large. These air masses blow past each other in
opposite directions. Coriolis Effect deflects winds to the right in the Northern Hemisphere,
causing the winds to strike the polar front at an angle. Warm and cold fronts form next to each
other. Most winter storms in the middle latitudes, including most of the United States and
Europe, are caused by mid-latitude cyclones. The warm air at the cold front rises and creates a
low pressure cell. Winds rush into the low pressure and create a rising column of air. The air
twists, rotating counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere.
Since the rising air is moist, rain or snow falls.
Mid-latitude cyclones form in winter in the mid-latitudes and move eastward with the westerly
winds. These two- to five-day storms can reach 1,000 to 2,500 km (625 to 1,600 miles) in
diameter and produce winds up to 125 km (75 miles) per hour. Like tropical cyclones, they can
cause extensive beach erosion and flooding. Mid-latitude cyclones are especially fierce in the
mid-Atlantic and New England states where they are called nor’easters, because they come from
the northeast. About 30 nor’easters strike the region each year.
HURRICANES
Tropical cyclones have many names. They are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic and eastern
Pacific oceans, typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean, tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean, and
willi-willi’s in the waters near Australia. By any name, they are the most damaging storms on
Earth. Hurricanes arise in the tropical latitudes (between 10 degrees and 25 degrees N) in
summer and autumn when sea surface temperature are 28 degrees C (82 degrees F) or higher.
The warm seas create a large humid air mass. The warm air rises and forms a low pressure cell,
known as a tropical depression. Thunderstorms materialize around the tropical depression. If the
temperature reaches or exceeds 28 degrees C (82 degrees F) the air begins to rotate around the
low pressure (counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere).
As the air rises, water vapor condenses, releasing energy from latent heat. If wind shear is low,
the storm builds into a hurricane within two to three days. Hurricanes are huge with high winds.
The exception is the relatively calm eye of the storm where air is rising upward. Rainfall can be
as high as 2.5 cm (1″) per hour, resulting in about 20 billion metric tons of water released daily
in a hurricane. The release of latent heat generates enormous amounts of energy, nearly the total
annual electrical power consumption of the United States from one storm. Hurricanes can also
generate tornadoes.
DROUGHT AND ITS TYPES
Drought is characterized by a lack of precipitation—such as rain, snow, or sleet—for a protracted
period of time, resulting in a water shortage. While droughts occur naturally, human activity,
such as water use and management, can exacerbate dry conditions. What is considered a drought
varies from region to region and is based largely on an area’s specific weather patterns. Whereas
the threshold for drought may be achieved after just six rainless days on the tropical island of
Bali, annual rainfall would need to fall below seven inches in the Libyan desert to warrant a
similar declaration.
Types of Drought
Droughts are categorized according to how they develop and what types of impact they have.
Meteorological drought
Imagine a large swath of parched, cracked earth and you’re likely picturing the impact of
meteorological drought, which occurs when a region’s rainfall falls far short of expectations.
Agricultural drought
When available water supplies are unable to meet the needs of crops or livestock at a particular
time, agricultural drought may ensue. It may stem from meteorological drought, reduced access
to water supplies, or simply poor timing—for example, when snowmelt occurs before runoff is
most needed to hydrate crops.
Hydrological drought
A hydrological drought occurs when a lack of rainfall persists long enough to deplete surface
water—rivers, reservoirs, or streams—and groundwater supplies.
Causes of Drought
Natural Causes
Droughts have plagued humankind throughout much of our history, and until recently they were
often natural phenomena triggered by cyclical weather patterns, such as the amount of moisture
and heat in the air, land, and sea.
Fluctuating ocean and land temperatures
Ocean temperatures largely dictate global weather patterns, including dry and wet conditions on
land, and even tiny temperature fluctuations can have huge ripple effects on climate systems.
Research shows that dramatic and prolonged temperature changes in the North Pacific and North
Atlantic Oceans correspond directly to extreme weather patterns on land, including persistent
droughts in North America and the eastern Mediterranean—the latter of which has been
described as the region’s worst drought in 900 years. Fluctuating ocean temperatures are also
behind El Niño and La Niña weather phenomena, with La Niña notorious for drying out the
southern United States. Meanwhile, hotter surface temperatures on land lead to greater
evaporation of moisture from the ground, which can increase the impact of drought.
Altered weather patterns
The distribution of rainfall around the world is also impacted by how air circulates through the
atmosphere. When there is an anomaly in surface temperatures—particularly over the sea—air
circulation patterns are altered, changing how and where precipitation falls around the world.
The new weather patterns can throw water supply and demand out of sync, as is the case when
earlier-than-usual snowmelt reduces the amount of water available for crops in the summer.
Reduced soil moisture
Soil moisture can impact cloud formation, and hence precipitation. When water from wet soil
evaporates, it contributes to the formation of rain clouds, which return the water back to the
earth. When land is drier than usual, moisture still evaporates into the atmosphere, but not at a
volume adequate to form rain clouds. The land effectively bakes, removing additional moisture
and further exacerbating dry conditions.
Manmade Causes
While drought occurs naturally, human activity—from water use to greenhouse gas emissions—
is having a growing impact on their likelihood and intensity.
Climate change
Climate change—and global warming, specifically—impacts drought in two basic ways: Rising
temperatures generally make wet regions wetter and dry regions drier. For wetter regions, warm
air absorbs more water, leading to larger rain events. But in more arid regions, warmer
temperatures mean water evaporates more quickly. In addition, climate change alters large-scale
atmospheric circulation patterns, which can shift storm tracks off their typical paths. This, in
turn, can magnify weather extremes, which is one reason why climate models predict the already
parched U.S. Southwest and the Mediterranean will continue to get drier.
Excess water demand
Drought often reflects an imbalance in water supply and demand. Regional population booms
and intensive agricultural water use can put a strain on water resources, even tipping the scale
enough to make the threat of drought a reality. One study estimates that from 1960 to 2010, the
human consumption of water increased the frequency of drought in North America by 25
percent. What’s more, once rainfall dwindles and drought conditions take hold, persistent water
demand—in the form of increased pumping from groundwater, rivers, and reservoirs—can
deplete valuable water resources that may take years to replenish and permanently impact future
water availability. Meanwhile, demand for water supplied by upstream lakes and rivers,
particularly in the form of irrigation and hydroelectric dams, can lead to the diminishing or
drying out of downstream water sources, which may contribute to drought in other regions.
DEFORESTATION AND SOIL DEGRADATION
When trees and plants release moisture into the atmosphere, clouds form and return the moisture
to the ground as rain. When forests and vegetation disappear, less water is available to feed the
water cycle, making entire regions more vulnerable to drought. Meanwhile, deforestation and
other poor land-use practices, such as intensive farming, can diminish soil quality and reduce the
land’s ability to absorb and retain water. As a result, soil dries out faster (which can induce
agricultural drought), and less groundwater is replenished (which can contribute to hydrological
drought). Indeed, experts believe the 1930s Dust Bowl was caused in large part by poor
agricultural practices combined with the cooling of the Pacific and the warming of the Atlantic
by as little as a few tenths of a degree.
Are Droughts Increasing?
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) did not see a global trend toward
increasing dryness or drought across the world in 2013, when it released its most recent
assessment. But global temperatures have unequivocally become hotter, and hotter conditions
precipitate extreme weather—including severe drought. Hotter conditions also reduce snowpack,
which provides a key source of water supply and natural water storage in many regions.
Regionally, the driest parts of the earth are getting drier, while the wettest parts are getting
wetter. That’s why some areas of the world, such as southern Europe and West Africa, have
endured longer and more intense droughts since the 1950s while other regions, such as central
North America, have seen droughts become less frequent or less intense. Looking forward, as
temperatures continue to rise, the IPCC and other researchers anticipate an intensification of
those regional trends.
Drought Prevention and Preparation
We can’t control the weather. But by limiting our climate change contributions, reducing water
waste, and using water more efficiently, we can prepare for—and maybe even curb—future dry
spells.
Climate change mitigation
The impact of climate change, including more severe drought, can be mitigated only when
countries, cities, businesses, and individuals shift away from the use of climate-warming fossil
fuels to cleaner renewable energy sources. The Paris Agreement, which was adopted by nearly
every nation in 2015 and aims to limit the earth’s warming over the next century to 2 degrees
Celsius, or 1.5 degrees if possible, lays the framework for global climate action. But the current
commitments countries made under the pact so far aren’t considered enough to limit global
warming to 2 degrees Celsius. It will succeed only if countries go beyond their commitments,
and that includes the United States. However, catering to big polluters instead of the will of a
majority of Americans, the Trump administration has committed to withdrawing the country
from the agreement, as well as from key domestic policies—from the Clean Power Plan to
automotive fuel efficiency standards—that would reduce our nation’s carbon emissions.
Fortunately, American states and cities, as well as more than two thousand U.S. businesses,
institutions, and universities, are taking the reins on climate action by reducing emissions and
increasing energy efficiency. It’s crucial that they do, as research indicates even meeting the
agreement’s most ambitious targets will only reduce—not eliminate—the likelihood of extreme
weather events.
There’s plenty of room for individuals—particularly Americans, who produce about four times
more carbon pollution than citizens elsewhere, on average—to fight climate change as well.
Actions include speaking to local and congressional leaders about regional environmental
policies and finding ways to cut carbon pollution from your daily life.
Urban water conservation and efficiency
Aging infrastructure—faulty meters, crumbling pipes, leaky water mains—costs the United
States an estimated 2.1 trillion gallons in lost drinkable water each year. (That’s about enough to
drown Manhattan in 300 feet of water.) Meanwhile, a single leaky faucet—releasing just three
drips a minute—wastes more than 100 gallons of water in a year. States, cities, water utilities,
businesses, and citizens can curb water waste by investing in climate-smart strategies. These
include repairing leaky infrastructure (from utility pipes to the kitchen faucet), boosting water
efficiency with the use of water- and energy-efficient technologies and appliances (such as
clothes washers), and adopting landscape design that makes use of drought-tolerant plants and
water-efficient irrigation techniques. In California, these strategies alone could reduce water use
by as much as 60 percent. For individuals, there are many other ways to conserve water as well.
Water recycling
Recycled water—also called reclaimed water—is highly treated wastewater that can be used for
myriad purposes, from landscape irrigation (such as watering public parks and golf courses) to
industrial processes (such as providing cooling water for power plants and oil refineries) to
replenishing groundwater supplies. Graywater—recycled water derived from sinks, shower
drains, and washing machines—can be used on site (for example, in homes and businesses) for
non-potable uses such as garden or lawn irrigation. Recycled water can serve as a significant
water resource, reducing demand from sources such as rivers, streams, reservoirs, and
underground water supplies. According to California’s Department of Water Resources,
recycling has the potential to increase water supply in the state by as much as 750 billion gallons
a year by 2030.
Storm water capture
Every year in the United States, about 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater washes off
paved surfaces and rooftops, through sewer systems, and into waterways. Not only does this
create pollution problems (as contaminants from land get flushed into rivers, lakes, and oceans),
but it reduces the amount of rainwater that soaks back into the earth to replenish groundwater
supplies. The use of green infrastructure—including green roofs, tree plantings, rain gardens,
rain barrels, cisterns, and permeable pavement—can increase water supplies substantially.
Stormwater capture in urban Southern California and the San Francisco Bay region alone could
potentially increase annual water supplies by as much as 205 billion gallons.
Agricultural water conservation and efficiency
Agriculture is the largest consumer of the earth’s available freshwater, accounting for 70 percent
of withdrawals worldwide. Strategies for better water management in the agricultural sector
focus on increased water efficiency and reduced consumption. These include improved irrigation
techniques—such as switching from flood to drip irrigation, which alone can cut water use by
about 20 percent—as well as more precise irrigation scheduling to adjust the amount of water
used at different stages of crop growth. Meanwhile, crop rotation, no-till farming (a method for
growing crops with minimal soil disturbance), and the use of cover crops help build soil health,
which in turn enables the land to absorb and retain more water. Indeed, the use of cover crops
alone on just half the land used to grow corn and soybeans in 10 of America’s highest-producing
agricultural states would help the soil retain as much as a trillion gallons of water each year.
SNOW AVALANCHES

Falling Masses Of snow and ice, avalanches pose a threat to anyone on snowy mountainsides.
Beautiful to witness from afar, they can be deadly because of their intensity and seeming
unpredictability. Humans trigger 90 percent of avalanche disasters, with as many as 40 deaths in
North America each year. Most are climbers, skiers, and snowmobilers. Learning about
avalanches, and the conditions that cause them, can help people recreate more safely in the
backcountry.
Types of avalanches

Avalanches come in many shapes and sizes. Many are small slides of powdery snow that move
as a formless mass downslope. Outdoor recreationists often trigger these small “sluffs,” as well
as more medium-sized avalanches.

Disastrous avalanches occur when massive slabs of snow break loose from a mountainside. The
mass of snow shatters like broken glass as it races downhill. These hazards can travel as fast as
cars on a freeway, up to 100 miles per hour.

Snow slides can start on mountain slopes with at least a 30-degree incline, but they occur most
frequently on slopes of 35-50 degrees. Although avalanches need a slope to start, large
avalanches accelerate downhill with sufficient momentum to cross flat terrain for short distances.
In some cases, a large chunk of ice or small glacier breaks off a mountainside, gathering snow
and momentum and rushing down in a dangerous steamroll. One of the most deadly avalanches
on Mount Everest, which killed 16 Sherpas, occurred when an ice mass the weight of 657 buses
plummeted down on top of hikers.

Features of avalanches

Avalanches contain three main features: the starting zone, the avalanche track, and the runout
zone. Avalanches launch from the starting zone. That’s often the most unstable part of the slope,
and generally higher on the mountain.
Once the avalanche starts to slide, it continues down the avalanche track, the natural path it
follows downhill. After avalanches, large clearings or missing chutes of trees provide clues to an
avalanche’s trajectory. The avalanche finally comes to a stop at the bottom of a slope, in the run
out zone, where the snow and debris pile up.

What conditions cause an avalanche?

Avalanches are most common during the winter, December to April in the Northern Hemisphere,
but they do occur year-round.

To get an avalanche, you need a surface bed of snow, a weaker layer that can collapse, and an
overlaying snow slab. The highest risk period is during and immediately after a snow storm.
Underlying snowpack, overloaded by a quick deluge of snow, can cause a weak layer beneath
the slab to fracture naturally.

Human-triggered avalanches start when somebody walks or rides over a slab with an underlying
weak layer. The weak layer collapses, causing the overlaying mass of snow to fracture and start
to slide. Earthquakes can also trigger strong avalanches. By digging a snow pit or profile,
scientists can look at the composition of different snow layers that formed during a season, sort
of like looking at the layers of a cake. The size and shape of the snowflakes in each layer provide
clues about the weather events that occurred: big dumps of snow, drought, rain, a hard freeze, or
loose, powdery snow. Larger, looser snow crystals are weaker, because there are fewer points
they can touch to interact with the other snow layers. The interaction of the snow layers can help
predict the chances of an avalanche.

Forest Fires

The most common hazard in forests is forests fire. Forests fires are as old as the forests
themselves. They pose a threat not only to the forest wealth but also to the entire regime to fauna
and flora seriously disturbing the bio-diversity and the ecology and environment of a region.
During summer, when there is no rain for months, the forests become littered with dry senescent
leaves and twinges, which could burst into flames ignited by the slightest spark. The Himalayan
forests, particularly, Garhwal Himalayas have been burning regularly during the last few
summers, with colossal loss of vegetation cover of that region.
Causes of Forest Fire
Forest fires are caused by Natural causes as well as Manmade causes
• Natural causes - Many forest fires start from natural causes such as lightning which set trees on
fire. However, rain extinguishes such fires without causing much damage. High atmospheric
temperatures and dryness (low humidity) offer favorable circumstance for a fire to start.
• Man made causes - Fire is caused when a source of fire like naked flame, cigarette or bidi,
electric spark or any source of ignition comes into contact with inflammable material.
Classification of Forest Fire

Forest fire can broadly be classified into three categories;

• Natural or controlled forest fire.

• Forest fires caused by heat generated in the litter and other biomes in summer through
carelessness of people (human neglect) and
• Forest fires purposely caused by local inhabitants.
Types of Forest Fire
The types of forest fire are as follows
• Surface Fire - A forest fire may burn primarily as a surface fire, spreading along the ground as
the surface litter (senescent leaves and twigs and dry grasses etc) on the forest floor and is
engulfed by the spreading flames.
• Underground Fire - The fires of low intensity, consuming the organic matter beneath and the
surface litter of forest floor are sub-grouped as underground fire. In most of the dense forests a
thick mantle of organic matter is find on top of the mineral soil. This fire spreads in by
consuming such materials. These fires usually spread entirely underground and burn for some
meters below the surface. This fire spreads very slowly and in most of the cases it becomes very
hard to detect and control such type of fires. They may continue to burn for months and destroy
vegetative cover of the soil. The other terminology for this type of fire is Muck fires.
• Ground Fire - These fires are fires in the sub surface organic fuels, such as duff layers under
forest stands, Arctic tundra or taiga, and organic soils of swamps or bogs. There is no clear
distinction between underground and ground fires. The smoldering under ground fires sometime
changes into Ground fire. This fire burns root and other material on or beneath the surface i.e.
burns the herbaceous growth on forest floor together with the layer of organic matter in various
stages of decay. They are more damaging than surface fires, as they can destroy vegetation
completely. Ground fires burn underneath the surface by smoldering combustion and are more
often ignited by surface fires.
• Crown Fire - A crown fire is one in which the crown of trees and shrubs burn, often sustained
by a surface fire. A crown fire is particularly very dangerous in a coniferous forest because
resinous material given off burning logs burn furiously. On hill slopes, if the fire starts downhill,
it spreads up fast as heated air adjacent to a slope tends to flow up the slope spreading flames
along with it. If the fire starts uphill, there is less likelihood of it spreading downwards.
• Firestorms - Among the forest fires, the fire spreading most rapidly is the firestorm, which is an
intense fire over a large area. As the fire burns, heat rises and air rushes in, causing the fire to
grow. More air makes the fire spin violently like a storm. Flames fly out from the base and
burning ember spew out the top of the fiery twister, starting smaller fires around it. Temperatures
inside these storms can reach around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Vulnerability
The youngest mountain ranges of Himalayas are the most vulnerable stretches of the world
susceptible to forest fires. The forests of Western are more frequently vulnerable to forest fires as
compared to those in Eastern Himalayas. This is because forests of Eastern Himalayas grow in
high rain density. With large scale expansion of chirr (Pine) forests in many areas of the
Himalayas the frequency and intensity of forest fires has increased.
Preparedness and Mitigation Measures
Forest fires are usually seasonal. They usually start in the dry season and can be prevented by
adequate precautions. Successive Five Year Plans have provided funds for forests fighting.
During the British period, fire was prevented in the summer through removal of forest litter all
along the forest boundary. This was called "Forest Fire Line" This line used to prevent fire
breaking into the forest from one compartment to another. The collected litter was burnt in
isolation. Generally, the fire spreads only if there is continuous supply of fuel (Dry vegetation)
along its path. The best way to control a forest fire is therefore, to prevent it from spreading,
which can be done by creating firebreaks in the shape of small clearings of ditches in the forests.
Precautions
The followings are the important precautions against fire:
• To keep the source of fire or source of ignition separated from combustible and inflammable
material.
• To keep the source of fire under watch and control.
• Not allow combustible or inflammable material to pile up unnecessarily and to stock the same
as per procedure recommended for safe storage of such combustible or inflammable material.
• To adopt safe practices in areas near forests viz. factories, coalmines, oil stores, chemical plants
and even in household kitchens.
• To incorporate fire reducing and fire fighting techniques and equipment
What is an earthquake?

An earthquake is what happens when two blocks of the earth suddenly slip past one another. The
surface where they slip is called the fault or fault plane. The location below the earth’s surface
where the earthquake starts is called the hypocenter, and the location directly above it on the
surface of the earth is called the epicenter.

Sometimes an earthquake has foreshocks. These are smaller earthquakes that happen in the same
place as the larger earthquake that follows. Scientists can’t tell that an earthquake is a foreshock
until the larger earthquake happens. The largest, main earthquake is called the mainshock.
Mainshocks always have aftershocks that follow. These are smaller earthquakes that occur
afterwards in the same place as the mainshock. Depending on the size of the mainshock,
aftershocks can continue for weeks, months, and even years after the mainshock!
What causes earthquakes and where do they happen?

The earth has four major layers: the inner core, outer core, mantle and crust. The crust and the
top of the mantle make up a thin skin on the surface of our planet.
But this skin is not all in one piece – it is made up of many pieces like a puzzle covering the
surface of the earth. Not only that, but these puzzle pieces keep slowly moving around, sliding
past one another and bumping into each other. We call these puzzle pieces tectonic plates, and
the edges of the plates are called the plate boundaries. The plate boundaries are made up of many
faults, and most of the earthquakes around the world occur on these faults. Since the edges of the
plates are rough, they get stuck while the rest of the plate keeps moving. Finally, when the plate
has moved far enough, the edges unstick on one of the faults and there is an earthquake.
Earthquake: Causes and Magnitude measurement

An earthquake is a sudden shaking of the surface of the earth by the passage of the seismic
waves through Earth’s rocks. It is also known as tremblor, tremor or quake. Let us tell you that
just below the earth's surface where earthquakes start is called hypocenter and just directly above
the surface of the earth is called epicentre?

Size of an earthquake may differ and sometimes it is said that weak earthquakes are not felt also
but the violent one may cause destruction and may destroy whole cities. It all depends upon the
frequency, type and size of the earthquake experienced over a period of time. It is measured on
Richter’s scale.

1. How earthquakes are measured?

The vibrations caused by an earthquake are detected by a seismometer and on seismograph, it

plots these vibrations. Richter scale also measured the strength or magnitude of an earthquake.
When an earthquake measured around 7 or 8 on the Richter scale, it can be devastating.
2. What causes an Earthquake?

When there is sudden movement on the Earth's crust, earthquakes occur. Earthquakes are caused
due to sudden lateral or vertical movements in the crust of the Earth. Or we can say that when
tectonic plates ride over the other and cause the collision of orogeny or mountain building. The
largest faults are formed on the surface of the Earth due to boundaries between moving plates.
When there is relative motion between the plates, it is more severe. Circum-Pacific Belt is the
most important earthquakes belt which affects several populated coastal regions around the
Pacific Ocean like New Zealand, New Guinea, and Japan, etc. It is estimated that the energy
about 80% is released in the earthquakes that comes from those whose epicentres are in this belt.
Let us tell you that when the friction overcomes by mechanical stresses, the rocks slip and
releases vast amounts of energy and is known as an earthquake. When there is motion between
the plates, the stress increases and if it continues allows sliding over the locked portion of the
fault and releases the stored energy as shock waves. In Rift valley, Africa such types of faults are
seen known as Andreas fault in San Francisco.

3. Types of Earthquakes
Mainly, there are four types of earthquakes namely tectonic, volcanic, collapse and explosion.
a. Tectonic earthquake: This occurs when due to geological forces on rocks and the adjoining
plate’s cause’s physical and chemical change and results in the breaking of the Earth's crust.
b. Volcanic earthquake: Results from tectonic forces and occurs in conjunction with volcanic
activity.
c. Collapse earthquake: are generally small earthquakes that occur in underground caverns and
mines caused by the seismic waves which are produced from the explosion of rock on the
surface.
d. Explosion earthquake: Occur due to the detonation of a nuclear or chemical device.
4. Earthquake Effects

We all know that the effects of an earthquake are terrible and devastating. Several buildings
collapsed, schools, hospitals, whole city destroyed due to it. A lot of people get killed and
injured. Various people lose their property and money. It not only affects the health of the people
but emotionally also make weak.

Some environmental effects occur due to earthquake are surface faulting, tectonic uplift and
subsidence, tsunamis, soil liquefaction, ground resonance, landslides, etc. are linked to the
tremblors or due to the shaking of the ground.

THE IMPACTS OF EARTHQUAKES

Some of the common impacts of earthquakes include structural damage to buildings, fires,
damage to bridges and highways, initiation of slope failures, liquefaction, and tsunami. The types
of impacts depend to a large degree on where the earthquake is located: whether it is
predominantly urban or rural, densely or sparsely populated, highly developed or
underdeveloped, and of course on the ability of the infrastructure to withstand shaking.
As we’ve seen from the example of the 1985 Mexico earthquake, the geological foundations on
which structures are built can have a significant impact on earthquake shaking. When an
earthquake happens, the seismic waves produced have a wide range of frequencies. The energy
of the higher frequency waves tends to be absorbed by solid rock, while the lower frequency
waves (with periods slower than one second) pass through the solid rock without being absorbed,
but are eventually absorbed and amplified by soft sediments. It is therefore very common to see
much worse earthquake damage in areas underlain by soft sediments than in areas of solid rock.
A good example of this is in the Oakland area near San Francisco, where parts of a two-layer
highway built on soft sediments collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
Building damage is also greatest in areas of soft sediments, and multi-storey buildings tend to be
more seriously damaged than smaller ones. Buildings can be designed to withstand most
earthquakes, and this practice is increasingly applied in earthquake-prone regions. Turkey is one
such region, and even though Turkey had a relatively strong building code in the 1990s,
adherence to the code was poor, as builders did whatever they could to save costs, including
using inappropriate materials in concrete and reducing the amount of steel reinforcing. The result
was that there were over 17,000 deaths in the 1999 M7.6 Izmit earthquake. After two devastating
earthquakes that year, Turkish authorities strengthened the building code further, but the new
code has been applied only in a few regions, and enforcement of the code is still weak, as
revealed by the amount of damage from a M7.1 earthquake in eastern Turkey in 2011.
Fires are commonly associated with earthquakes because fuel pipelines rupture and electrical
lines are damaged when the ground shakes . Most of the damage in the great 1906 San Francisco
earthquake was caused by massive fires in the downtown area of the city. Some 25,000 buildings
were destroyed by those fires, which were fuelled by broken gas pipes. Fighting the fires was
difficult because water mains had also ruptured. The risk of fires can be reduced through P-wave
early warning systems if utility operators can reduce pipeline pressure and close electrical
circuits.
Ground shaking during an earthquake can be enough to weaken rock and unconsolidated
materials to the point of failure, but in many cases the shaking also contributes to a process
known as liquefaction, in which an otherwise solid body of sediment is transformed into a liquid
mass that can flow. When water-saturated sediments are shaken, the grains become rearranged to
the point where they are no longer supporting one another. Instead, the water between the grains
is holding them apart and the material can flow. Liquefaction can lead to the collapse of
buildings and other structures that might be otherwise undamaged. A good example is the
collapse of apartment buildings during the 1964 Niigata earthquake (M7.6) in Japan Liquefaction
can also contribute to slope failures and to fountains of sandy mud (sand volcanoes) in areas
where there is loose saturated sand beneath a layer of more cohesive clay.
Parts of the Fraser River delta are prone to liquefaction-related damage because the region is
characterized by a 2 m to 3 m thick layer of fluvial silt and clay over top of at least 10 m of
water-saturated fluvial sand. Under these conditions, it can be expected that seismic shaking will
be amplified and, the sandy sediments will liquefy. This could lead to subsidence and tilting of
buildings, and to failure and sliding of the silt and clay layer. Current building-code regulations
in the Fraser delta area require that measures be taken to strengthen the ground underneath multi-
storey buildings prior to construction. When an earthquake happens, the plate rebounds and there
is both uplift and subsidence on the sea floor, in some cases by as much as several metres
vertically over an area of thousands of square kilometres. This vertical motion is transmitted
through the water column where it generates a wave that then spreads across the ocean.
Predicting Earthquakes: Do and DON'Ts

Today's scientists understand earthquakes a lot better than we did even 50 years ago, but they
still can't match the quake-predicting prowess of the common toad (Bufo bufo), which can detect
seismic activity days in advance of a quake. A 2010 study published in Journal of Zoology found
that 96 percent of male toads in a population abandoned their breeding site five days before the
earthquake that struck L'Aquila, Italy, in 2009, about 46 miles (74 kilometers) away. Researchers
aren't quite sure how the toads do this, but it's believed that they can detect subtle signs, such as
the release of gases and charged particles, that may occur before a quake.
Scientists can predict where major earthquakes are likely to occur, however, based on the
movement of the plates in the Earth and the location of fault zones. They also can make general
guesses about when earthquakes might occur in a certain area, by looking at the history of
earthquakes in the region and detecting where pressure is building along fault lines. For example,
if a region has experienced four magnitude 7 or larger quakes during the past 200 years,
scientists would calculate the probability of another magnitude 7 quake occurring in the next 50
years at 50 percent. But these predictions may not turn out to be reliable because, when strain is
released along one part of a fault system, it may actually increase strain on another part. As a
result, most earthquake predictions are vague at best. Scientists have had more success predicting
aftershocks, additional quakes following an initial earthquake. These predictions are based on
extensive research of aftershock patterns. Seismologists can make a good guess of how an
earthquake originating along one fault will cause additional earthquakes in connected faults.
Another area of study is the relationship between magnetic and electrical charges in rock
material and earthquakes. Some scientists have hypothesized that these electromagnetic fields
change in a certain way just before an earthquake. Seismologists are also studying gas seepage
and the tilting of the ground as warning signs of earthquakes. In 2009, for example, a technician
at Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics claimed that he was able to predict the L'Aquila
earthquake by measuring the radon gas seeping from the Earth's crust. His findings remain
controversial.
DO's
1. If you are inside the house during an earthquake, immediately sit on the floor.
2. Try to sit under a strong table or furniture. Cover your head and face to avoid fatal injury.
3. Stay indoors till tremors are felt. Exit immediately after the shock stops.
4. At night while you are lying on the bed, lie down, shrink and make a small bundle of your
body and cover the head with a pillow.

5. If you get buried under debris during an earthquake, cover the mouth with a handkerchief or
cloth.
6. In the above case, keep patting the pipe or wall to make your presence known, so that the
rescue team can find you and save you.
7. If you don't have anything to defend, then keep shouting and don't give up.

DON'Ts
1. When outdoors, keep away from electric poles and tall buildings.
2. While driving, stop immediately but do not get out of the car. Ensure your car is not a bridge
or flyover.

3. Keep yourself at home, do not leave.

4. If you get buried in debris during an earthquake, do not light a matchbox for illumination. If
gas is leakingsomewhere, it can cause a fire and may threaten your life.
5. When at home, do not walk or run, find the right place and sit down.
6. If you are in the house, go to a corner. This time stay away from glass, windows, doors and
walls as much as possible.

7. Avoid using elevators and stairs during and in the immediate aftermath of an earthquake.
8. In an earthquake, if you get buried in the debris, do not move too much and do not blow dust.
VOLCANOES AND TYPES

• A volcano is a vent or fissure in Earth’s crust through which lava, ash, rocks, and gases erupt.
• An active volcano is a volcano that has erupted in the recent past.
• The mantle contains a weaker zone known as the asthenosphere.
• Magma is the material present in the asthenosphere.
• Material that flows to or reaches the ground comprises lava flows, volcanic bombs, pyroclastic
debris, dust, ash and gases. The gases may be sulphur compounds, nitrogen compounds, and
trace amounts of argon, hydrogen and chlorine.
Major types of volcanoes
• Volcanoes are classified on the basis of nature of eruption and the form developed at the
surface.
Shield Volcanoes
• The Shield volcanoes are the largest of all the volcanoes on the earth, which are not steep.
• These volcanoes are mostly made up of basalt.
• They become explosive if in some way water gets into the vent, otherwise, they are
characterized by low-explosivity.
• The lava that is moving upwards does so in a fountain-form and emanates the cone at the vent’s
top and then develops into cinder cone.
• Eg: Hawaiian shield volcanoes
Composite Volcanoes
• Composite Volcanoes are characterized by outbreaks of cooler and more viscous lavas than
basalt.
• They are constructed from numerous explosive eruptions.
• Large quantities of pyroclastic material and ashes find their way to the ground along with lava.
• This material gathers near the vent openings resulting in the creation of layers.
• Mayon Volcano in the Philippines, Mount Fuji in Japan, and Mount Rainier in Washington are
the major composite volcanoes in the world.
• The major composite volcano chains are Pacific Rim which known as the “Rim of Fire”.
Caldera
• Calderas are known as the most explosive volcanoes of Earth.
• They are generally explosive in nature.
• When they erupt, they incline to collapse on themselves rather than constructing any structure.
• The collapsed depressions are known as calderas.
Flood Basalt Provinces
• Flood Basalt Province volcanoes discharge highly fluid lava that flows for long distances.
• Many parts of the world are covered by thick basalt lava flows.
Mid-Ocean Ridge Volcanoes
• These volcanoes are found in the oceanic areas.
• There exists a system of mid-ocean ridges stretching for over 70000 km all through the ocean
basins.
• The central region of this ridge gets frequent eruptions.

VOLCANOES AND KEY QUESTIONS

1. HOW MANY VOLCANOES ARE THERE?

There are more than 1500 active volcanoes on the Earth. We currently know of 80 or more which
are under the oceans. Active volcanoes in the U.S. are found mainly in Hawaii, Alaska,
California, Oregon and Washington.

2. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAVA AND MAGMA?

Magma is liquid rock inside a volcano. Lava is liquid rock (magma) that flows out of a volcano.
Fresh lava glows red hot to white hot as it flows.
3. WHY DOES LAVA TAKE A LONG TIME TO COOL DOWN?

Lava cools slowly because lava is a poor conductor of heat. Lava flows slow down and thicken
as they harden.

4. WHAT IS PYROCLASTIC FLOW?

A pyroclastic flow is a fluidized mixture of solid to semi- solid fragments and hot, expanding
gases that flows down the sides of a volcano. These awesome features are heavier-than-air
emulsions that move much like a snow avalanche, except that they are fiercely hot, contain toxic
gases, and move at phenomenal, hurricane-force speeds. They are the most deadly of all volcanic
phenomena.
5. WHAT IS LAHAR?

A lahar is a type of mudflow or debris flow composed of pyroclastic material, rocky debris, and
water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. It is very
dangerous because it's consistency and the way it acts is very much like cement. It is liquid when
it's moving, but when it stops, it solidifies. This can cause just as much devastation as lava itself.
6. WHAT IS PUMICE? Pumice is a light, porous volcanic rock that forms during explosive
eruptions. It resembles a sponge because it consists of a network of gas bubbles frozen amidst
fragile volcanic glass and minerals. All types of magma (basalt, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite)
will form pumice.

7. WHAT IS THE LARGEST ACTIVE VOLCANO? The world's largest, active volcano is
Mauna Loa in Hawaii, where famous coffee is grown in the rich volcanic soils. Mauna Loa is
13,677 feet above sea level. From its base below sea level to its summit, Mauna Loa is taller than
Mount Everest.

8. WHAT IS THE RING OF FIRE? The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of frequent
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire
has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 50% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. Ninety
percent of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the
Ring of Fire.

9. WHEN DID MOUNT ST. HELENS ERUPT? On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.
It's located in southwestern Washington State in the Cascade Range. The blast was heard as far
away as Montana, Idaho, Canada and California. Fifty-seven people died and the eruption caused
$1.2 billion in damage.

10. WHAT ARE SOME OTHER NOTABLE VOLCANO ERUPTIONS? Krakatoa was a
dormant volcano in Indonesia, which awakened and produced one of the biggest volcanic
eruptions in 1883. So massive was the eruption that the sound of it was heard as far away as
Australia. It’s widely reported as the loudest sound heard in recorded history. The Krakatoa
eruption created a huge amount of ash cloud which covered the Earth and reduced global
temperatures for 5 years! A total of 40,000 people died in that explosion and an entire chain of
the volcanic island was destroyed.

11. WHAT ARE SOME OTHER NOTABLE VOLCANO ERUPTIONS? Mount Pelee was a
dormant volcano situated in the Caribbean island of Martinique. In 1902, it erupted in a massive
horizontal explosion sending huge clouds of ash released towards the nearby town of Saint-
Pierre. The side of the volcano exploded and lava flowed straight into the town, killing 30,000
people in a matter of minutes. It is regarded as one of the biggest and most devastating volcanic
eruptions of the 20th century, a benchmark for future eruptions.

Predicting Volcanic Eruptions

Volcanologists attempt to forecast volcanic eruptions, but this has proven to be nearly as difficult
as predicting an earthquake. Many pieces of evidence can mean that a volcano is about to erupt,
but the time and magnitude of the eruption are difficult to pin down. This evidence includes the
history of previous volcanic activity, earthquakes, slope deformation, and gas emissions.
volcano’s history, how long since its last eruption and the time span between its previous
eruptions, is a good first step to predicting eruptions. If the volcano is considered active, it is
currently erupting or shows signs of erupting soon. A dormant volcano means there is no current
activity, but it has erupted recently. Finally, an extinct volcano means their is no activity and will
probably not erupt again. Active and dormant volcanoes are heavily monitored, especially in
populated areas.

Earthquakes
Moving magma shakes the ground, so the number and size of earthquakes increases before an
eruption. A volcano that is about to erupt may produce a sequence of earthquakes. Scientists use
seismographs that record the length and strength of each earthquake to try to determine if an
eruption is imminent. Magma and gas can push the volcano’s slope upward. Most ground
deformation is subtle and can only be detected by tiltmeters, which are instruments that measure
the angle of the slope of a volcano. But ground swelling may sometimes create huge changes in
the shape of a volcano. Mount St. Helens grew a bulge on its north side before its 1980 eruption.
Ground swelling may also increase rockfalls and landslides.

Gas Emissions
Gases may be able to escape a volcano before magma reaches the surface. Scientists measure gas
emissions in vents on or around the volcano. Gases, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide
(CO2), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and even water vapor (H2O) can be measured at the site or, in
some cases, from a distance using satellites. The amounts of gases and their ratios are calculated
to help predict eruptions.

Remote Monitoring

Some gases can be monitored using satellite technology. Satellites also monitor temperature
readings and deformation. As technology improves, scientists are better able to detect changes in
a volcano accurately and safely. Since volcanologists are usually uncertain about an eruption,
officials may not know whether to require an evacuation. If people are evacuated and the
eruption doesn’t happen, the people will be displeased and less likely to evacuate the next time
there is a threat of an eruption. The costs of disrupting business are great. However, scientists
continue to work to improve the accuracy of their predictions.

Floods of September 2014

The valley of Kashmir is lying at an altitude of 5,753 meters between Himalayan peaks. The
valley is vulnerable to physical and hydrological disasters. Though the valley is known for fresh
water streams and waterfalls, they heavily impact on the life of the people and their property they
are in fury. The valley is vulnerable to the impact of disasters due to a range of physical socio-
economic institutional and environmental factors. The recent floods have exposed the valley’s
lack of disaster risk reduction mechanism. Though the departments like flood control, disaster
management, SDRF do exist to control the risks but during the floods they have displayed an
inability and absence of professionalism. The rains, due to the combined effect of Western
Disturbances and Monsoons, caused huge cloudbursts and very heavy rains in Kashmir in the
first week of September. Extremely urbanized and mismanaged flood plains gave an impetus to
the situation which attained disastrous dimensions due to prolonged and extremely heavy
rainfall. The situation engulfed the whole of Kashmir (and Jammu), exacerbated by the higher
snowmelt runoff from the extensive snow-packs observed in the mountainous region. The
continuous and extreme precipitation during 1-7 September 2014 triggered the unprecedented
flooding in Jhelum basin. Reports from the people about the cloud bursts in the upper reaches of
the valley, like in Sonamarg (cloud burst in Sonamarg had increased the water level in Sindh
nallah by 75cm in just two hours) and Kousarnag are ascribed to the sudden and drastic rise of
water in the Jhelum basin. The archived meteorological data revealed that in the past 125 years
September exhibited the least rainfall-month for Kashmir with mean rainfall at 26.6 mm. South
Kashmir recorded rainfall almost twice that of central and north Kashmir, according to
precipitation analysis. This caused the enormous surface runoff and base flow leading to deluge
in the basin. Another factor responsible for the higher snowmelt runoff in tributaries of the
Jhelum was the substantial amount of snowfall for the last four years. Waters in the Jhelum River
overflowed its banks for a major part of its stretch in south Kashmir to Srinagar City. The gauge
readings at Sangam crossed 36 feet on 5 September 2014 with flood water measuring about
120,000 cusecs and overflowing more than 1m above the banks. Another gauge reading at
Srinagar showed the flood water flowing above danger mark of about 22 feet discharging 70,000
cusecs against the drainage capacity of 35,000 cusecs. The flood water breached into Srinagar
City through the weaker sections of the embankment and overflowing of water in Jhelum was
about 3-5 feet. The flood inundation levels recorded in the flood plains of Jhelum were the
highest in the archived hydrological history of Kashmir with vast areas in Kashmir valley
inundated, and many of these areas remained under flood waters for more than four weeks. In
south Kashmir, several villages and cultivated lands were washed away by the flood water of the
turbulent mountainous tributaries of the Jhelum like Rambiara, Veshnu and Romshi. For a
distance of about 25 kilometres from Sangam to Kakapora, the Jhelum was flowing one meter
above its embankments. Almost 912 sqkm of flood plains out of 1760 sqkm were heavily
flooded in the September 2014 floods. Out of three floods in Kashmir hydrological disaster
history, the ones in 1928, 1959 and 2014 qualify to be designated as those that brought extreme
socio-economic destruction.

EARTHQUAKES, FAMINES, FREEZING WEATHER: SUN INTO A 'LOCKDOWN'

Activities on the surface of the sun keep fluctuating with time. While several phenomena are
associated with the period when there is an increase in their frequency, there is also a period of
solar minimum that marks the opposite. Experts now believe that a deep solar minimum is
underway. Our sun is currently believed to in a period of solar minimum wherein the activity on
its surface has fallen dramatically. As per some experts, this might be the onset of the deepest
period of solar minimum or sunshine recession ever recorded. Experts are pointing out that the
sunspots on the sun have virtually disappeared. For those unaware, sunspot number is used to
quantify the number of sunspots present on the surface of the sun at any given time. It is the only
index for which humans have a long and detailed historical record. Though it has now been
replaced with modern indices indices such as the 10.7 centimetre solar flux.
Astronomer Dr. Tony Phillips explains that the “Sunspot counts suggest it is one of the deepest
of the past century. The sun’s magnetic field has become weak, allowing extra cosmic rays into
the solar system,” in a report by The Sun.
In 2020, the sun has been “blank,” with no sunspots 76 percent of the time. A rate higher than
this was recorded only once before, i.e. last year, when it was 77 percent blank.

Catastrophic effects

“Excess cosmic rays pose a health hazard to astronauts and polar air travelers, affect the electro-
chemistry of Earth’s upper atmosphere and may help trigger lightning,” Dr. Phillips explains in
The Sun report.

The sun’s lockdown has historically led to a catastrophic period between 1790 and 1830. Called
Dalton Minimum, the period experienced “brutal cold, crop loss, famine and powerful volcanic
eruptions,” the report mentions. NASA scientists now fear that the recent sunspot recordings can
be an indication of such things about to repeat.

A temperature drop of up to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) was observed over the 20
years, destroying the world’s food production and causing famine. The period also observed the
historic ‘Year Without a Summer’ - 1816. The year is nicknamed “eighteen hundred and froze to
death” and experienced a snow in July in many regions. What is a tsunami?
A tsunami is a series of waves caused by earthquakes or undersea volcanic eruptions. Tsunamis
are giant waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. Out in the depths of
the ocean, tsunami waves do not dramatically increase in height. But as the waves travel inland,
they build up to higher and higher heights as the depth of the ocean decreases. The speed of
tsunami waves depends on ocean depth rather than the distance from the source of the wave.
Tsunami waves may travel as fast as jet planes over deep waters, only slowing down when
reaching shallow waters. While tsunamis are often referred to as tidal waves, this name is
discouraged by oceanographers because tides have little to do with these giant waves.
What Causes a Tsunami?

These awe-inspiring waves are typically caused by large, undersea earthquakes at tectonic plate
boundaries. When the ocean floor at a plate boundary rises or falls suddenly, it displaces the
water above it and launches the rolling waves that will become a tsunami.
Most tsunamis–about 80 percent–happen within the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire,” a
geologically active area where tectonic shifts make volcanoes and earthquakes common.
Tsunamis may also be caused by underwater landslides or volcanic eruptions. They may even be
launched, as they frequently were in Earth’s ancient past, by the impact of a large meteorite
plunging into an ocean.

Tsunamis race across the sea at up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) an hour—about as fast as a jet
airplane. At that pace, they can cross the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean in less than a day.
And their long wavelengths mean they lose very little energy along the way.
In deep ocean, tsunami waves may appear only a foot or so high. But as they approach shoreline
and enter shallower water they slow down and begin to grow in energy and height. The tops of
the waves move faster than their bottoms do, which causes them to rise precipitously.
What Happens When It Hits Land

A tsunami’s trough, the low point beneath the wave’s crest, often reaches shore first. When it
does, it produces a vacuum effect that sucks coastal water seaward and exposes harbor and sea
floors. This retreating of sea water is an important warning sign of a tsunami, because the wave’s
crest and its enormous volume of water typically hit shore five minutes or so later. Recognizing
this phenomenon can save lives.

A tsunami is usually composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive force
may be compounded as successive waves reach shore. People experiencing a tsunami should
remember that the danger may not have passed with the first wave and should await official word
that it is safe to return to vulnerable locations.

Some tsunamis do not appear on shore as massive breaking waves but instead resemble a quickly
surging tide that inundates coastal areas. The best defense against any tsunami is early warning
that allows people to seek higher ground. The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, a coalition of
26 nations headquartered in Hawaii, maintains a web of seismic equipment and water level
gauges to identify tsunamis at sea. Similar systems are proposed to protect coastal areas
worldwide.
Tsunamis: the effects

The effects of a tsunami on a coastline can range from unnoticeable to devastating. The effects of
a tsunami depend on the characteristics of the seismic eventthat generated the tsunami, the
distance from its point of origin, its size (magnitude) and, at last, the configuration of the
bathymetry (that is the depth of water in oceans) along the coast that the tsunami is approaching.
Small tsunamis, non-destructive and undetectable without specialized equipment, happen almost
every day as a result of minor earthquakes and other events. They are very often too far away
from land or they are too small to have any effect when they hit the shore. When a small tsunami
comes to the shoreline it is often seen as a strong and fast-moving tide.
Tsunamis have long periods and can overcome obstacles such as gulfs, bays and islands. These
tsunamis make landfall usually in the form of suddenly decreasing and then rapidly increasing
water levels (not unlike a tidal bore) a combination of several large waves or bore-type waves.
Generally tsunamis arrive, not as giant breaking waves, but as a forceful rapid increase in water
levels those results in violent flooding.

However, when tsunami waves become extremely large in height, they savagely attack
coastlines, causing devastating property damage and loss of life. A small wave only 30
centimetres high in the deep ocean may grow into a monster wave 30m high as it sweeps over
the shore. The effects can be further amplified where a bay, harbour, or lagoon funnels the waves
as they move inland. Large tsunamis have been known to rise to over 100 feet!
Destruction
The amount of energy and water contained in a huge tsunami can cause extreme destruction
when it strikes land. The initial wave of a huge tsunami is extremely tall; however, most damage
is not sustained by this wave. Most of the damage is caused by the huge mass of water behind the
initial wave front, as the height of the sea keeps rising fast and floods powerfully into the coastal
area. It is the power behind the waves, the endless rushing water that causes devastation and loss
of life. When the giant breaking waves of a tsunami batter the shoreline, they can destroy
everything in their path.
Destruction is caused by two mechanisms: the smashing force of a wall of water traveling at high
speed, and the destructive power of a large volume of water draining off the land and carrying all
with it, even if the wave did not look large. Objects and buildings are destroyed by the sheer
weight of the water, often reduced to skeletal foundations and exposed bedrock. Large objects
such as ships and boulders can be carried several miles inland before the tsunami
subsides.Tsunami waves destroy boats, buildings, bridges, cars, trees, telephone lines, power
lines - and just about anything else in their way. Once the tsunami waves have knocked down
infrastructure on the shore they may continue to travel for several miles inland, sweeping away
more trees, buildings, cars and other man made equipment. Small islands hit by a tsunami are left
unrecognizable.
Death
One of the biggest and worst effects of a tsunami is the cost to human life because unfortunately
escaping a tsunami is nearly impossible. Hundreds and thousands of people are killed by
tsunamis. Since 1850 alone, tsunamis have been responsible for the loss of more than 430,000
lives. There is very little warning before a tsunamis hits land. As the water rushes toward land, it
leaves very little time to map an escape plan.

People living in coastal regions, towns and villages have no time to escape. The violent force of
the tsunami results in instant death, most commonly by drowning. Buildings collapsing,
electrocution, and explosions from gas, damaged tanks and floating debris are another cause of
death. The tsunami of December 2004 that struck South East Asia and East Africa killed over
31,000 people in Sri Lanka only, leaving 23,000 injured.

Disease
Tsunami waves and the receding water are very destructive to structures in the run-up zone. The
areas close to the coast are flooded with sea water, damaging the infrastructure such as sewage
and fresh water supplies for drinking.

Flooding and contamination of drinking water can cause disease to spread in the tsunami hit
areas. Illnesses such as malaria arise when water is stagnant and contaminated. Under these
conditions it is difficult for people to stay healthy and for diseases to be treated, so infections and
illnesses can spread very quickly, causing more death.
Environmental impacts

Tsunamis not only destroy human life, but have a devastating effect on insects, animals, plants,
and natural resources. A tsunami changes the landscape. It uproots trees and plants and destroys
animal habitats such as nesting sites for birds. Land animals are killed by drowning and sea
animals are killed by pollution if dangerous chemicals are washed away into the sea, thus
poisoning the marine life.

The impact of a tsunami on the environment relates not only to the landscape and animal life, but
also to the man-made aspects of the environment. Solid waste and disaster debris are the most
critical environmental problem faced by a tsunami-hit country.
Recycling and disposal of this waste in an environmentally sensitive manner where possible
(crushing concrete, bricks, etc. to produce aggregate for rebuilding and road reconstruction) are
critical.
Cost
Massive costs hit communities and nations when a tsunami happens. Victims and survivors of
the tsunami need immediate help from rescue teams.
Psychological effects:

Victims of tsunami events often suffer psychological problems which can last for days, years or
an entire lifetime.

SUPER CYCLONIC STORM AMPHAN

Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan is currently a weakening tropical cyclone over Bangladesh that
also impacted East India.It is the first tropical cyclone of the 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone
season. Amphan is the first super cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengalsince the 1999 Odisha
cyclone and the second-most intense tropical cycloneworldwide in 2020.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A TROPICAL CYCLONE
Development and energy source: Tropical cyclones form over warm water, and the water
temperatures need to be at least 27°C (although they may survive over colder waters once they
have been formed). They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the sea
surface, which will create convection.
Weather: Heavy rain. Thunderstorms and risk of tornadoes:
No fronts are attached to the cyclone, and the weather is therefore associated to the low itself.
Strongest winds/highest waves: In the eye wall and in the right front quadrant (relative to its
motion). Normally much stronger winds than in mid-latitude cyclones and the wind field are
much narrower.
Movement: In general, mainly westwards and from around 20 degrees latitude veering to north
and later east (in the southern hemisphere mainly turning southwards and later east). In the
Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal mainly a northerly track.
Size: Typically, 100-500km in diameter but sometimes up to 2000km.
Where: Mainly in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, Eastern and Western Pacific, North
Indian Ocean, Southwest Indian Ocean, Southern Pacific, and the Australian region.
Cyclones: Effects on human environment
Cyclones cause a lot of damage on the human environment. Before a cyclone strikes all the
people in the area are preparing for it. Cyclones can cost a lot of money for people to prepare for
and to make their houses safe. They have to prepare their house by covering all the windows
with wood and by tying down loose objects in outside their house. People have to make sure all
the trees around the houses aren't too big so that when they fall they won’t damage the owners
house or their neighbour’s house. Before a cyclone strikes, most of the population evacuate
leaving them homeless with nowhere to go but an emergency shelter erected by the government.
Once a cyclone has hit it can cause mass damage to the human environment. The cyclone's
strong winds can rip the roof of a house or destroy it entirely. It can send flying debris into
houses. Any objects that have not been tied down will get sent flying most likely never to be
found again.
Flooding caused by the cyclone can cause still water in places where it shouldn't be which causes
disease. Cyclone's can make the sewage pipes block up and stop working and sewage can get
spilt everywhere which also causes disease. The diseases then spread making many people sick.
These sick people have limited access to medical help as the hospitals have been destroyed.
Cyclones out at sea can also destroy ships and cause shipwrecks which can cause many deaths.
Money can also be lost if the ship is carrying expensive cargo.
After a cyclone has struck and the strong winds and flooding have subsided, people start to
return to their houses to inspect the damage. Often the damage they find is devastating as almost
everything is destroyed and thousands of people are left homeless.
It costs billions of dollars to repair a city after a cyclone has hit. Houses, roads, sewage pipes and
power lines all need to be rebuilt.

9 MAN-MADE DISASTERS THAT HAD A BIG IMPACT

Dust Bowl
Before World War I, the land on the American Great Plains had mostly been used to raise
cattle and other stock animals. Then, millions of acres were put under plow so that farmers could
grow wheat.
After a decade of healthy rainfall and intense plowing of virgin soil by people with little to no
knowledge of the land or the environmental conditions, a severe drought hit the American plains.
Dry eroded topsoil turned to dust, and when high winds went sweeping through it, created
devastating storms. The worst of it occurred on April 14, 1935, a day nicknamed Black
Sunday because of a "black blizzard" — or dust storm — hundreds of miles wide and thousands
of feet high that seemed to turn day into night and lasted for several hours.
Caused by a combination of nature and human error, the Dust Bowl is thought to have left an
estimated 500,000 people homeless and caused an estimated 2.5 million to pack up and move
elsewhere. Dust pneumonia, also called "brown plague," is also thought to have killed hundreds
of people, many of whom were infants or elderly.
Chernobyl was considered the world's worst nuclear power accident.

On April 26, 1986, an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant near Kiev, Ukraine, caused
high levels of radiation in the area. The information around the accident is still fairly hazy
because, at the time, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union and the government initially tried to
keep the explosion under wraps.
Likely because of their downplay and the lack of knowledge, many plant workers and
firefighters were exposed to radiation. Within three months, 30 people died of acute
radiation sickness but thousands were affected, including the hundreds of thousands who were
evacuated from nearby cities Kiev and Pripyat.
Early nuclear testing in the United States had environmental and health impacts for those
who lived near the sites.

The United States government conducted 200 nuclear tests at sites in several states in the
American south and west including Nevada, Arizona, Washington, and New Mexico from 1945
to 1962.
It was later discovered that fallout from the tests severely compromised the health of those who
worked directly with the hazardous materials, others who worked on-site, and even those who
just lived in areas "downwind," later referred to as "downwinders."
Exposure from radiation from the tests was linked to thyroid cancer and leukemia and it's hard to
know exactly how many people died as a result of the fallout from the tests.
Some early estimates had the death toll in the thousands, but one recent estimate by University of
Arizona economist Keith Meyers put the number at 340,000 to 690,000. Eltona Henderson, with
Idaho Downwinders, told the Salt Lake City Tribune that she saw entire families "wiped out by
cancer" believed to be linked to these tests.
In 1990, Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to pay tens of thousands of
sick Americans and their families between $50,000 and $100,000 each.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill had no human casualties but had an immense environmental
impact.

No people were harmed when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by the company Exxon
Shipping Company, struck Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and spilled 11 million
gallons of oil, but the loss of wildlife was huge.
The oil spill was spread across 1,300 miles of the coast, according to the AP, and effectively
ruined the habitats of herring and pink salmon, two major profit drivers for the fishermen in that
area.
Experts calculated that some 302 seals, 2,800 otters, and "an unprecedented" number of birds had
been killed. After 30 years, some animal populations, including birds and whales, have still not
recovered.
Though no one died directly from the oil spill, it also had huge impacts on the fishermen in the
area, many of whom lost their livelihoods and reportedly saw a big impact on their families.
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The Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused thousands of animal casualties.

While drilling a deep exploratory well in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, the rig known as
Deepwater Horizon exploded.

Eleven of the 126 crew members died, while 17 others were treated for injuries. It sank on April
22 and began to spill oil. Over the course of 87 days, the rig's damaged wellhead spewed
between 134 million and 206 million gallons of oil into the gulf.
Reports from five years after the disaster estimate that over 800,000 birds, 65,000 turtles, 12% of
the area's brown pelican population, and four times as many dolphins than the previous historic
rates had died. A reported 10% of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill sank to the seafloor,
affecting the seafloor for years to come, according to experts.

The Flint Water Crisis was caused by a change in water source.

In 2013, officials in Michigan decided to switch the source of Flint's drinking water to the Flint
River rather than Detroit City water. The move was apparently intended to be a temporary fix
while they waited on the Karegnondi Water Authority's system, which would provide water from
Lake Huron.
Residents raised concerns about the new water source almost immediately and a boil order went
into effect just a few months later after the water tested positive for coliform bacteria which
typically indicated that pathogens are present in the water.
Though officials in the city insisted the water was safe after a few months, doctors from the
Hurley Medical Center found high levels of lead in the blood of children in Flint using
comparative blood tests from before and after the water source switch. The percentage of
children with high lead levels in their blood doubled, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who conducted
the tests, told NPR.
Researchers from Virginia Tech found that the water from the Flint River likely corroded the
lead in the pipes, which experts believe poisoned the residents for 18 months between 2014 and
2015.
The contaminated water has also been blamed for an increase in a severe type of pneumonia
known as Legionnaires' disease thanks to the low levels of chlorine.
According to PBS in 2018, while the official record says that 90 people were made sick and 12
were killed, an investigation shows that as many as 119 deaths that year from pneumonia may
have been caused by legionella bacteria in the water.
In addition, a study found that fetal death rates rose and fertility rates dropped following the
water-source switch.
Today, the water has been reported to be at acceptable levels of water quality, but many have
expressed doubt over its safety.
The Great Smog of London was a mystery for years.

On December 5, 1952, London was covered in a deep smog that stuck around for five days. It
was so dense that it grounded air travel and all transportation except for the underground was
halted. Experts estimate that 12,000 people died as a result and 150,000 were hospitalized, and
thousands of animals died.
Though it was a mass-casualty incident, many were stumped as to the exact reason for the smog.
Officials knew though that one of the causes was the pollution in the area and passed the Clean
Air Act of 1956, which limited coal burning in cities in the UK.
Years, later, a study by a group of scientists published in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences, found by comparing the incident with that of China, that sulfur likely
mixed with the fumes of burning coal, creating the thick yellow smog that is thought to have
poisoned thousands.
The Union Carbide Cyanide gas leak caused a death toll in the thousands.

On December 2, 1984, an explosion at the Union Carbide insecticide plant in Bhopal, India,
caused 45 tons of methyl isocyanate gas to leak out and reach the nearby towns, which
killed more than 3,000 instantly. Later, the death toll was estimated to be between 15,000 and
20,000, according to Brittanica, with about 500,000 affected by the gas exposure.
After the incident, the gas leak was reportedly not dealt with properly and more than 300 metric
tons of waste remained at the site decades later in 2016. Because of this, chemical runoff is
believed to have contaminated the drinking water in the area and some experts say it has caused
chronic health problems and birth defects.
In 2004, the government of India was required to provide clean water to residents because of
contamination in the groundwater and in 2010, seven former employees of Union Carbide were
convicted of negligence in relation to the incident.
Mercury poisoning affected thousands in Japan.

From 1932 to 1968, The Chisso Corporation, a Japanese fertilizer company, released wastewater
into the bay off of Minamata City that contained an estimated 30 tons of methylmercury.
That toxic chemical affected fish in the bay that were then eaten by humans who contracted
mercury poisoning, also known as Minamata disease. The disease causes among other things,
seizures and muscle spasms. About 3,000 people are certified victims of the disease, while 2,000
more have sought to be classified as such.
Various legal actions have awarded money to certified victims of the disease and in 2017, the
UN agreement the Minamata Convention on Mercury sought to limit the risk of mercury
poisonings and pollution.
Landslides
Landslides are part of a more general erosion or surficial process known as mass wasting, which
is simply the downslope movement of earth or surface materials due to gravity. They are
classified into four main types: fall and toppling, slides (rotational and translational), flows and
creep
FALLS AND TOPPLING

A rock-fall is the abrupt free fall or downslope movement, (rolling or sliding) of loosened blocks
or boulders of solid rock. It differs from a slide in that free fall is the main type of movement and
no marked slide surface develops. This type of slope failure occur in caverns and along steep
gorges, sea cliffs and steep road cuts through unstable bedrock.
SLIDES
A slide, in the strictest sense, is characterized by failure of material at depth and then movement
by sliding along a rupture or slip surface. If sliding is on a predominantly planar slip surface then
the slide is called a block slide.

If movement is on a curved slip surface then the slide is called a rotational slide. A lot of
rotational slide end up as a mudflow leaving a gaping hole in the ground where the slide began.
Debris from the slide is strewn down a torrent track along which the mudflow traveled to the
base of the slope or where the flow path widens and dissipates.

FLOWS
Flows involve the deformation of an entire soil mass that then flows downslope as a viscous or
sticky fluid. Deformation may be due to a high soil water content or seismic shaking that leads to
liquefaction and thus generates such a fluid flow. The slopes need not be very steep. Two types
of flow can be recognized; if the downslope movement is very slow then is an earthflow, if it is
very rapid it is a debris flow or as it is sometimes known, a mudflow.
EARTHFLOW
Earthflows occur in moderate to steep slopes where the topsoil or overburden seasonally
becomes saturated by heavy rains. The material slumps away from the upper part of the slope
leaving a scarp, and flows down to form a bulge at the toe.

Landslide Control

Undesirable movements of soil or rock materials are by and large a reaction of these materials to
gravity, sometimes supplemented by seismic activity. The study of the form of actual slides is
the first step in their control and prevention. Slide geometries and mechanisms are controlled by
many factors, of which geology, hydrology, and topography are the more important. Given a
sufficiently low failure strength, a slide may occur on almost any slope, however shallow. The
only requirement is that the failure strength be reduced to a value that can be overcome by
gravitational force. The form of the slide can given an indication of how weakening takes place.
Most slides, either in rock or soil, can be identified as one or a combination of three basic types.
These are falls, rigid body movements, and flows. Each has a characteristic mechanism of
movement and final shape.

Personal measures

Reinforcement of floor slabs and external walls in existing buildings.

Installation of drainage pipes for rainwater, slope drainage.
Planting of slopes that are vulnerable to landslides with deep-rooted trees and shrubs.

Technical/biological measures

Drainage and/or grading of slope profiles increase the shear resistance

Supporting structures such as anchors and piles (pinning of the slip plane) can restrain landslides
Removal of material in the 'driving' section, or material deposition in the 'braking' section, can
prevent further descent of the sliding body
Protective forest
Planning measures and local protection
The use of slopes prone to landslides must be avoided, or uses suitably modified
Hydraulic and electrical connections must be flexible.
Organisational measures
The relatively long advance warning period permits timely evacuation.

Anthropogenic hazards:

Anthropogenic hazards are hazards caused by human action or inaction. They are contrasted with
natural hazards. Anthropogenic hazards may adversely affect humans, other organisms, biomes,
and ecosystems. The frequency and severity of hazards are key elements in some risk analysis
methodologies. Hazards may also be described in relation to the impact that they have. A hazard
only exists if there is a pathway to exposure. As an example, the center of the earth consists of
molten material at very high temperatures which would be a severe hazard if contact was made
with the core. However, there is no feasible way of making contact with the core, therefore the
center of the earth currently poses no hazard. These disasters may be of following type

1. Arson
2. Building collapses
3. Engineering failures
4. Environmental disasters
5. Explosions F
6. Fire disasters involving barricaded escape routes
7. Garment industry disasters
8. Human stampedes
9. Industrial accidents and incidents M
10. Migrant disasters
11. Non-combat military accidents
12. Deaths caused by petroleum looting
13. Riots and civil disorder
14. Stadium disasters
15. Terrorism
16. Transport disasters
17. Urban fires
18. Wars
19. Weapons of mass destruction

Nuclear weapons

Nuclear weapon, device designed to release energy in an explosive manner as a result of nuclear
fission, nuclear fusion, or a combination of the two processes. Fission weapons are commonly
referred to as atomic bombs. Fusion weapons are also referred to as thermonuclear bombs or,
more commonly, hydrogen bombs; they are usually defined as nuclear weapons in which at least
a portion of the energy is released by nuclear fusion.
The Effects Of Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear weapons are fundamentally different from conventional weapons because of the vast
amounts of explosive energy they can release and the kinds of effects they produce, such as high
temperatures and radiation. The prompt effects of a nuclear explosion and fallout are well known
through data gathered from the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan; from more than 500
atmospheric and more than 1,500 underground nuclear tests conducted worldwide; and from
extensive calculations and computer modeling. Longer-term effects on human health and the
environment are less certain but have been extensively studied. The impacts of a nuclear
explosion depend on many factors, including the design of the weapon (fission or fusion) and its
yield; whether the detonation takes place in the air (and at what altitude), on the surface,
underground, or underwater; the meteorological and environmental conditions; and whether the
target is urban, rural, or military.

When a nuclear weapon detonates, a fireball occurs with temperatures similar to those at the
centre of the Sun. The energy emitted takes several forms. Approximately 85 percent of the
explosive energy produces air blast (and shock) and thermal radiation (heat). The remaining 15
percent is released as initial radiation, produced within the first minute or so, and residual (or
delayed) radiation, emitted over a period of time, some of which can be in the form of local
fallout.
Blast
The expansion of intensely hot gases at extremely high pressures in a nuclear fireball generates a
shock wave that expands outward at high velocity. The “overpressure,” or crushing pressure, at
the front of the shock wave can be measured in pascals (or kilopascals; kPa) or in pounds per
square inch (psi). The greater the overpressure, the more likely that a given structure will be
damaged by the sudden impact of the wave front. A related destructive effect comes from the
“dynamic pressure,” or high-velocity wind, that accompanies the shock wave. An ordinary two-
story, wood-frame house will collapse at an overpressure of 34.5 kPa (5 psi). A one-megaton
weapon exploded at an altitude of 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) will generate overpressure of this
magnitude out to 7 km (about 4 miles) from the point of detonation. The winds that follow will
hurl a standing person against a wall with several times the force of gravity. Within 8 km (5
miles) few people in the open or in ordinary buildings will likely be able to survive such a blast.
Enormous amounts of masonry, glass, wood, metal, and other debris created by the initial shock
wave will fly at velocities above 160 km (100 miles) per hour, causing further destruction.

Thermal radiation

As a rule of thumb, approximately 35 percent of the total energy yield of an airburst is emitted as
thermal radiation—light and heat capable of causing skin burns and eye injuries and starting fires
of combustible material at considerable distances. The shock wave, arriving later, may spread
fires further. If the individual fires are extensive enough, they can coalesce into a mass fire
known as a firestorm, generating a single convective column of rising hot gases that sucks in
fresh air from the periphery. The inward-rushing winds and the extremely high temperatures
generated in a firestorm consume virtually everything combustible. At Hiroshima the incendiary
effects were quite different from those at Nagasaki, in part because of differences in terrain. The
firestorm that raged over the level terrain of Hiroshima left 11.4 square km (4.4 square miles)
severely damaged—roughly four times the area burned in the hilly terrain of Nagasaki.

Initial radiation

A special feature of a nuclear explosion is the emission of nuclear radiation, which may be
separated into initial radiation and residual radiation. Initial radiation, also known as prompt
radiation, consists of gamma rays and neutrons produced within a minute of the detonation. Beta
particles (free electrons) and a small proportion of alpha particles (helium nuclei, i.e., two
protons and two neutrons bound together) are also produced, but these particles have short
ranges and typically will not reach Earth’s surface if the weapon is detonated high enough above
ground. Gamma rays and neutrons can produce harmful effects in living organisms, a hazard that
persists over considerable distances because of their ability to penetrate most structures. Though
their energy is only about 3 percent of the total released in a nuclear explosion, they can cause a
considerable proportion of the casualties.

What are chemical weapons?

A chemical weapon is any toxic chemical that can cause death, injury, incapacitation, and
sensory irritation, deployed via a delivery system, such as an artillery shell, rocket, or ballistic
missile. Chemical weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction and their use in armed
conflict is a violation of international law.

Primary forms of chemical weapons include nerve agents, blister agents, choking agents, and
blood agents. These agents are categorized based on how they affect the human body.
Nerve agents. Generally considered the most deadly of the different categories of chemical
weapons, nerve agents – in liquid or gas form - can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
Nerve agents inhibit the body’s respiratory and cardiovascular capability by causing severe
damage to the central nervous system, and can result in death. The most common nerve agents
include Sarin, Soman, and VX.

Blister agents. Blister agents can come in forms of gas, aerosol, or liquid and cause severe burns
and blistering of the skin. They can also cause complications to the respiratory system if inhaled
and digestive tract if ingested. Common forms of blister agents include Sulfur Mustard, Nitrogen
Mustard, Lewisite and Phosgene Oximine.

Choking agents. Choking agents are chemical toxins that directly attack the body’s respiratory
system when inhaled and cause respiratory failure. Common forms of choking agents include
phosgene, chlorine, and chloropicrin.

Blood agents. Blood agents interfere with the body’s ability to use and transfer oxygen through
the blood stream. Blood agents are generally inhaled and then absorbed into the blood stream.
Common forms of blood agents include Hydrogen Chloride and Cyanogen Chloride.
Riot control agents, such as tear gas, are considered chemical weapons if used as a method of
warfare. States can legitimately possess riot control agents and use them for domestic law
enforcement purposes, but states that are members of the Chemical Weapons Convention must
declare what type of riot agents they possess.

TYPES OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS

Chemical weapons are chemical agents, whether gaseous, liquid, or solid, that is employed
because of their direct toxic effects on humans, animals, and plants. They inflict damage when
inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested in food or drink. Chemical agents become
weapons when they are placed into artillery shells, land mines, aerial bombs, missile warheads,
mortar shells, grenades, spray tanks, or any other means of delivering the agents to designated
targets.
Not all poisonous substances are considered suitable for weaponization, or use as chemical
weapons. Thousands of such chemical compounds exist, but only a few dozen have been used as
chemical warfare agents since 1900. The compounds of most utility must be highly toxic but not
too difficult to handle. Furthermore, the chemical must be able to withstand the heat developed
when delivered in a bursting shell, bomb, mine, or warhead. Finally, it must be resistant to water
and oxygen in the atmosphere in order to be effective when dispersed.

Chemical agents

Since World War I, several types of chemical agents have been developed into weapons. These
include choking agents, blister agents, blood agents, nerve agents, incapacitants, riot-control
agents, and herbicides.

Choking agents

Choking agents were employed first by the German army and later by the Allied forces in World
War I. The first massive use of chemical weapons in that conflict came when the Germans
released chlorine gas from thousands of cylinders along a 6-km (4-mile) front at Ypres, Belgium,
on April 22, 1915, creating a wind-borne chemical cloud that opened a major breach in the lines
of the unprepared French and Algerian units. The Germans were not prepared to exploit the
opening, which gave the French and Algerians time to rush reinforcements into the line.
Eventually both sides mastered the new techniques of using choking agents such as chlorine,
phosgene, diphosgene, chloropicrin, ethyldichlorasine, and perfluoroisoboxylene and launched
numerous attacks—though without any militarily significant breakthroughs once each side had
introduced the first crude gas masks and other protective measures. Phosgene was responsible for
roughly 80 percent of all deaths caused by chemical arms in World War I.
Choking agents are delivered as gas clouds to the target area, where individuals become
casualties through inhalation of the vapour. The toxic agent triggers the immune system, causing
fluids to build up in the lungs, which can cause death through asphyxiation or oxygen deficiency
if the lungs are badly damaged. The effect of the chemical agent, once an individual is exposed
to the vapour, may be immediate or can take up to three hours. A good protective gas mask is the
best defense against choking agents. Blister agents.

Blister agents were also developed and deployed in World War I. The primary form of blister
agent used in that conflict was sulfur mustard, popularly known as mustard gas. Casualties were
inflicted when personnel were attacked and exposed to blister agents like sulfur mustard or
lewisite. Delivered in liquid or vapour form, such weapons burn the skin, eyes, windpipe, and
lungs. The physical results, depending on level of exposure, might be immediate or might appear
after several hours. Although lethal in high concentrations, blister agents seldom kill. Modern
blister agents include sulfur mustard, nitrogen mustard, phosgene oxime, phenyldichlorarsine,
and lewisite. Protection against blister agents requires an effective gas mask and protective
overgarments.

Blood agents

Blood agents, such as hydrogen cyanide or cyanogen chloride, are designed to be delivered to the
targeted area in the form of a vapour. When inhaled, these agents prevent the transfer of oxygen
to the cells, causing the body to asphyxiate. Such chemicals block the enzyme that is necessary
for aerobic metabolism, thereby denying oxygen to the red blood cells, which has an immediate
effect similar to that of carbon monoxide. Cyanogen inhibits the proper utilization of oxygen
within the blood cells, thereby “starving” and damaging the heart. The best defense against blood
agents is an effective gas mask.

Nerve agents

The most lethal and important chemical weapons contain nerve agents, which affect the
transmission of impulses through the nervous system. A single drop on the skin or inhaled into
the lungs can cause the brain centres controlling respiration to shut down and muscles, including
the heart and diaphragm, to become paralyzed. Poisoning by nerve agents causes intense
sweating, filling of the bronchial passages with mucus, dimming of vision, uncontrollable
vomiting and defecation, convulsions, and finally paralysis and respiratory failure. Death results
from asphyxia, generally within a few minutes of respiratory exposure or within hours if
exposure was through a liquid nerve agent on the skin. Defense against nerve agents requires a
skintight gas mask and special protective overgarments.
Chemical Weapons under the CWC

Each component of a chemical weapon (CW) as a chemical weapon—whether assembled or not,

stored together or separately. Anything specifically designed or intended for use in direct
connection with the release of a chemical agent to cause death or harm is itself a chemical
weapon. Specifically, the definition is divided into three parts: toxic chemicals and their
precursors, munitions or devices and equipment ‘directly in connection’ with munitions and
devices.
Several unresolved issues remain regarding the definition of chemical weapons. One has to do
with the status of old chemical weapons. Old chemical weapons fall into two categories: 1)
chemical weapons produced before 1925 and 2) chemical weapons produced between 1925 and
1946 ‘that have deteriorated to such an extent that they can no longer be used as chemical
weapons’. Old chemical weapons of the first category may be ‘destroyed or disposed of’ as toxic
waste in accordance with the relevant State Party’s national laws after the OPCW Secretariat has
confirmed that they were indeed produced before 1925. Those weapons that fall into the second
category of old chemical weapons are to be destroyed in accordance with the same conditions as
other chemical weapons, though the time limits and the order of destruction can be changed,
subject to approval by the Executive Council. Guidelines for determining whether weapons in
this category have deteriorated enough to be unusable, however, have yet to be decided, though
efforts to do so are ongoing. Categorization of such weapons therefore remains problematic.

Biological Warfare agents

The recent bioterrorist attacks using anthrax spores have emphasized the need to detect and
decontaminate critical facilities in the shortest possible time. There has been a remarkable
progress in the detection, protection and decontamination of biological warfare agents as many
instrumentation platforms and detection methodologies are developed and commissioned. Even
then the threat of biological warfare agents and their use in bioterrorist attacks still remain a
leading cause of global concern. Furthermore in the past decade there have been threats due to
the emerging new diseases and also the re-emergence of old diseases and development of
antimicrobial resistance and spread to new geographical regions. The preparedness against these
agents need complete knowledge about the disease, better research and training facilities,
diagnostic facilities and improved public health system. This review on the biological warfare
agents will provide information on the biological warfare agents, their mode of transmission and
spread and also the detection systems available to detect them. In addition the current
information on the availability of commercially available and developing technologies against
biological warfare agents has also been discussed. The risk that arise due to the use of these
agents in warfare or bioterrorism related scenario can be mitigated with the availability of
improved detection technologies.

Biological Warfare agents

Biological Warfare agents are microorganisms like virus, bacteria, fungi, protozoa or toxins
produced by them, that give rise to diseases in man, animals or plants, when deliberately
dispersed in an area . These agents can cause large-scale mortality, morbidity and can
incapacitate a large number of people in the shortest possible time and have adverse effects on
human health. The use of biological warfare (BW) agents can be covert or overt and they differ
from conventional weapons by way of several unique properties. The effects of these agents are
not instantaneous and require few hours to weeks before the symptoms appear in the affected
population. These attacks require a release of small quantity of viable material and are capable of
self-replication and can cause a disease outbreak in an area. Viruses are capable of replication
only inside a living cell and are pathogenic to man, animals and plants. They consist of proteins
and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and multiply and spread much faster. Bacteria are single-
celled prokaryotic organisms and with a definite cell wall. Fungi are unicellular or multicellular,
eukaryotic organisms and have no chlorophyll. Several fungal species are known to cause
diseases in plants and few of them in humans as well. Toxins are secondary metabolites
produced by bacteria, fungi, algae, plants, fishes, crustaceans and molluscs and are known to act
in very low concentrations and can affect the functioning of cells.
The threat of use of biological warfare agents in a terrorism-related issue or in a warfare situation
is real and looming before us. The highly unpredictable nature of any event involving biological
warfare agents has given rise to the need for developing rapid and accurate detection systems.
The bioterrorist events are difficult to predict and prevent; in the case of a release, accurate, easy
deployable detection systems are needed to minimize the damage and to prevent further spread
of these agents. The intentional release of spores of Ba. anthracis in the US postal service proved
the need for these detection platforms. Although many such detection systems are under
development and are at various stages of evaluation, a single system to detect all the known
biowarfare agents is going to be a real challenge. The complex matrices that need to be
processed at the time of detection and genetically modified or uncharacterized agents that may be
available in the sample have to be resolved. In this review, attempts have been made to provide
basic information on biological warfare agents. Also, a comprehensive review of the current
available methods for their detection has been made. The current knowledge on the agents and
their detection methodologies will be highly useful in developing a highly effective response
system through systematic planning.

Traffic collisions in India are a major source of deaths, injuries and property damage every year.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2016 report states there were 496,762 roads,
railways and railway crossing-related traffic collisions in 2015.Of these, road collisions
accounted for 464,674 collisions which caused 148,707 traffic-related deaths in India. The three
highest total number of fatalities were reported in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu,
and together they accounted for about 33% of total Indian traffic fatalities in 2015. Adjusted for
182.45 million vehicles and its 1.31 billion population, India reported a traffic collision rate of
about 0.8 per 1000 vehicles in 2015 compared to 0.9 per 1000 vehicles in 2012, and an 11.35
fatality rate per 100,000 people in 2015. According to Gururaj, the top three highest traffic
fatality rates per 100,000 people in 2005 were reported by Tamil Nadu, Goa and Haryana, with a
male:female fatality ratio of about 5:1.The reported total fatality, rates per 100,000 people and
the regional variation of traffic collisions per 100,000 people varies by source. For example,
Rahul Goel in 2018 reports an India-wide average fatality rate of 11.6 per 100,000 people and
Goa to be the state with the highest fatality rate.
he Planning Commission in its 2001–2003 research estimated that traffic collision resulted in an
annual monetary loss of $10 billion (INR 550 billion) during the years 1999–2000. In 2012, the
International Road Federation (IRF) estimated that traffic collision results in an annual monetary
loss of $20 billion (INR 1 trillion (short scale)) in India. This figure includes expenses associated
with the collision victim, property damage and administration expenses.
Contributing factors:
The "GlobStatus Report on Road Safety" published by the World Health Organization (WHO)
identified the major causes of traffic collisions as driving over the speed limit, driving under the
influence, and not using helmets and seat belts.
Failure to maintain lane or yield to oncoming traffic when turning are prime causes of collisions
on four lane, non-access controlled National Highways. The report noted users of motorcycles
and motor-powered three-wheelers constitute the second largest group of traffic collision deaths
BOMB THREAT
A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or
incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear,whether or not
such a device actually exists. Bomb threats were used to incite fear and violence during the
American Civil Rights Movement, during which leader of the movement Martin Luther King Jr.
received multiple bomb threats during public addresses, and schools forced to integrate faced
strong opposition, resulting in 43 bomb threats against Central High School in Arkansas being
broadcast on TV and the radio.
A bomb threat is generally defined as a threat to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to
cause property damage, death, or injuries, whether or not such a device actually exists. Most
bomb threats are received by phone. Bomb threats are serious until proven otherwise. If you
receive a bomb threat by phone keep calm and obtain as much information as possible. In the
event that you do not have a list present, these are the most important questions to ask:
Where is the bomb located?
What time is the bomb set to go off?
What does the bomb look like?
What kind of bomb is it?
What will cause it to explode?
Did you place the bomb?
Why?
What is your name/address?
Where are you now?
Note the exact wording of the bomb threat.
The key to preventing a bomb threat becoming an explosion is to report any threats as soon as
they are received and report strange packages to the University Police as soon as possible. In the
event of a bomb threat do not use cell phones or activate fire alarms, as this may trigger an
explosive device.
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE
Signs of a Suspicious Package:
Stains
Extra postage
Strange noise
Incorrect title
Strange odor
Unexpected delivery
Please review the guidance from the USF Police Department for more information on identifying
and handling suspicious packages.
EXPLOSION
If you are in a building that experiences an explosion:
Activate the closest fire alarm and leave the building immediately.
Do not stop to retrieve personal possessions or make phone calls.
If objects are falling around you, get under a sturdy desk or table until they stop falling. Then
leave quickly, watching for weakened floors and stairs and falling debris.
If there is a fire, stay low to the floor and exit the building as quickly as possible.
Do not use elevators, always use the stairs.
Cover your nose and mouth with a wet cloth or handkerchief. When approaching a closed door,
use the back of your hand to feel the lower, middle, and upper parts of the door.
Never use the palm of your hand or your fingers to test for heat. If the door is not hot, open it
slowly and ensure that fire and/ or smoke is not blocking your escape route before continuing.
Be prepared to crawl as smoke, poisonous gases and heat rise. If the door is hot, do not open it,
but try to escape through a window. If you are on a high floor, hang a white or light-colored
cloth outside the window to alert fire fighters of your location.
If you are trapped in debris, do not move about or kick up dust. Shout only as a last resort when
you hear sounds and think someone will hear you. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous
amounts of dust.
EVACUATIONS
Information concerning evacuation will be disseminated should it become necessary. Many
different factors determine if a building or residence hall will be evacuated. Public Safety
officials will advise the community of the need to evacuate during an emergency and/or areas
being used to temporarily house those being evacuated
TERMINOLOGY
Acceptable risk: The level of potential losses that a society or community considers acceptable
given existing social, economic, political, cultural, technical and environmental conditions.
Capacity: The combination of all the strengths, attributes and resources available within a
community, society or organization that can be used to achieve agreed goals.
Capacity development: The process by which people, organizations and society systematically
stimulate and develop their capacities over time to achieve social and economic goals, including
through improvement of knowledge, skills, systems, and institutions.
Climate change:
(a) The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as: “a
change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes
in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period,
typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external
forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land
use”.
(b) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate
change as “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that
alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate
variability observed over comparable time periods”. Contingency planning: A management
process that analyses specific potential events or emerging situations that might threaten society
or the environment and establishes arrangements in advance to enable timely, effective and
appropriate responses to such events and situations.
Coping capacity: The ability of people, organizations and systems, using available skills and
resources, to face and manage adverse conditions, emergencies or disasters.
Critical facilities: The primary physical structures, technical facilities and systems which are
socially, economically or operationally essential to the functioning of a society or community,
both in routine circumstances and in the extreme circumstances of an emergency.
Disaster risk: The potential disaster losses, in lives, health status, livelihoods, assets and
services, which could occur to a particular community or a society over some specified future
time period. Disaster risk management: The systematic process of using administrative
directives, organizations, and operational skills and capacities to implement strategies, policies
and improved coping capacities in order to lessen the adverse impacts of hazards and the
possibility of disaster.
Disaster risk reduction: The concept and practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic
efforts, to analyse and manage the causal factors of disasters, including through reduced
exposure to hazards, lessened vulnerability of people and property, wise management of land and
the environment, and improved preparedness for adverse events.
Early warning system: The set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and
meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities and organizations
threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the
possibility of harm or loss. Emergency management: The organization and management of
resources and responsibilities for addressing all aspects of emergencies, in particular
preparedness, response and initial recovery steps.
Emergency services: The set of specialized agencies that have specific responsibilities and
objectives in serving and protecting people and property in emergency situations.
Environmental degradation: The reduction of the capacity of the environment to meet social and
ecological objectives and needs.
Forecast: Definite statement or statistical estimate of the likely occurrence of a future event or
conditions for a specific area.
Hazard: A dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss
of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social
and economic disruption, or environmental damage.
Mitigation: The lessening or limitation of the adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.
Natural hazard: Natural process or phenomenon that may cause loss of life, injury or other
health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic
disruption, or environmental damage.
Preparedness: The knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response
and recovery organizations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to,
and recover from, the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions.
Prevention: The outright avoidance of adverse impacts of hazards and related disasters.
Public awareness: The extent of common knowledge about disaster risks, the factors that lead to
disasters and the actions that can be taken individually and collectively to reduce exposure and
vulnerability to hazards.
Recovery: The restoration, and improvement where appropriate, of facilities, livelihoods and
living conditions of disaster-affected communities, including efforts to reduce disaster risk
factors.
Response: The provision of emergency services and public assistance during or immediately
after a disaster in order to save lives, reduce health impacts, ensure public safety and meet the
basic subsistence needs of the people affected.
Retrofitting: Reinforcement or upgrading of existing structures to become more resistant and
resilient to the damaging effects of hazards.
Risk: The combination of the probability of an event and its negative consequences. Sustainable
development: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own needs.
Vulnerability: The characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make
it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard.