Exercise 2. Read the text. Exercise 1. Learn the following words and word-combinations

Exercise 1. Learn the following words and word-combinations.

Text C Natural hazard

Of all I liked this report.

2. Mathematics is … interesting for me than chemistry.

3. This subject is … difficult than strength of materials.

4. She is … beautiful girl here

5. New classification is … precise than the old one.

6. Life is becoming … expensive.

avalanche – лавина

blizzard – буран, пурга, снежная буря

blow – дуть (о ветре)

bound – граничить, ограничивать

bursting of dams – прорыв плотин

cave – пещера, полость

consequently – следовательно

downdraft – тяга вниз

drought – засуха

ember – тлеющий уголёк, горячая зола

epidemic – эпидемия, эпидемичес-кий

excess – чрезмерный, избыточный

famine – голод (стихийное бед-ствие)

gravity – серьёзность, опасность; тяжесть

hailstorm – град, гроза с градом

hazard – риск, опасность

heat wave – период сильной жары

landslide – обвал, оползень

levee – дамба, плотина

maelstrom (= vortex) – водоворот, вихрь

malnutrition – недоедание

manifest – обнаруживать, прояв-лять

mountainside – горный скат, склон

mudslide (mudflow) – грязевой поток, сель

pandemic – пандемия (мед.)

precipitation – низвержение

prolonged – длительный, про-должительный

relate to – относиться, иметь отношение

roughly – приблизительно, примерно

ruin – уничтожать

shallow strait – мелкий пролив

sinkhole – карстовая воронка

solar flare – вспышка солнца (солнечная буря)

squall line – линия (граница) шквалистого ветра

starvation – голод, голодание

stored energy – скопившаяся энергия

surge – большие волны

swell – переполняться

temperature inversions – изменения температуры

threat – опасность, угроза

tides – приливы и отливы

tornado outbreak – внезапное появление торнадо

volcanic eruption – извержение вулкана

waterfall – водопад

waterspout – водяной смерч

whirlpool – водоворот, вихрь

wildfire – пожар разрушительной силы (в сельской местности или в лесу)

A natural hazard or geophysical hazards is a threat of an event that will have a negative effect on people or the environment. Many natural hazards are related, e.g. earthquakes can result in tsunamis, drought can lead directly to famine and disease. A concrete example of the division between hazard and disaster is that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a disaster, whereas earthquakes are a hazard. Hazards are consequently relating to a future occurrence and disasters to past or current occurrences.

An avalanche is a slide of a large snow (or rock) mass down a mountainside, caused when a buildup of snow is released down a slope, it is one of the major dangers faced in the mountains in winter. An avalanche is an example of a gravity current consisting of granular material. In an avalanche, lots of material or mixtures of different types of material fall or slide rapidly under the force of gravity. Avalanches are often classified by what they are made of.

An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from a sudden release of stored energy that radiates seismic waves. At the Earth’s surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes tsunamis. 90% of all earthquakes – and 81% of the largest – occur around the 40,000km long, which roughly bounds the Pacific Plate. Many earthquakes happen each day, few of which are large enough to cause significant damage.

A landslide is a disaster closely related to an avalanche, but instead of occurring with snow, it occurs involving actual elements of the ground, including rocks, trees, parts of houses, and anything else which may happen to be swept up. Landslides can beused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or general instability in the surrounding land. Mudslides, or mud flows, are a special case of landslides, in which heavy rainfall causes loose soil on steep terrain to collapse and slide downwards.

A sinkhole is localized depression in the surface topography, usually caused by the collapse of a subterranean structure, such as a cave. Although rare, large sinkholes that develop suddenly in populated areas can lead to the collapse of buildings and other structures.

A volcanic eruption is the point in which a volcano is active and releases its power, and the eruptions come in many forms. They range from daily small eruptions which occur in places like Kilauea in Hawaii, or extremely infrequent super volcano eruptions (where the volcano expels at least 1,000 cubic kilometers of material) in places like Lake Taupo, 26,500 years ago.

Hydrological hazards:

The Limpopo River, in southern Mozambique, during the 2000 Mozambique flood Floods are the result of prolonged rainfall from a storm, including thunderstorms, rapid melting of large amounts of snow, or rivers which swell from excess precipitation upstream and cause widespread damage to areas downstream, or less frequently the bursting of man-made dams or levees. Tropical cyclones can result in extensive flooding and storm surge.

Flood

A whirlpool is a swirling body of water usually produced by ocean tides. The vast majority of whirlpools are not very powerful. More powerful ones are more properly termed maelstroms. Vortex is the proper term for any whirlpool that has a downdraft. Very small whirlpools can easily be seen when a bath or a sink is draining, but these are produced in a very different manner from those in nature. Smaller whirlpools also appear at the base of many waterfalls. In the case of powerful waterfalls, like Niagara Falls, these whirlpools can be quite strong. The most powerful whirlpools are created in narrow shallow straits with fast flowing water.

Maelstroms are a large tidal whirlpool. The largest known maelstrom is Moskstraumen off the Lofoten islands in Norway. Powerful whirlpools have killed unlucky seafarers, but their power tends to be exaggerated in fiction. Maelstroms can reach speeds of 20-40km/h.

The tsunami caused by the December 26, 2004 earthquake strikes Ao Nang, Thailand.

A tsunami is a wave of water caused by the displacement of a body of water.

The word comes from Japanese words “tsu” meaning harbor and “nami” meaning wave (tsu+nami=harbor wave). Tsunami can be caused by undersea earthquakes as in the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake, or by landslides such as the one which occurred at Lituya Bay, Alaska.

Climatic and Atmospheric hazards:

A blizzard is a severe winter storm condition characterized by low temperatures, strong winds, and heavy blowing snow. A drought is an abnormally dry period when there is not enough water to support agricultural, urban or environmental water needs. Extended

Young steer after a blizzard, March 1966

droughts can result in deaths by starvation or disease, and can result in wildfires. Scientists warn that global warming may result in more extensive droughts in coming years.

A hailstorm is a natural hazard where a thunderstorm produces numerous hailstones which damage the location in which they fall. Hailstorms can be especially devastating to farm fields, ruining crops and damaging equipment.

A heat wave is a hazard characterized by heat which is considered extreme and unusual in the area in which it occurs. Heat waves are rare and require specific combinations of weather events to take place, and may include temperature inversions, winds, or other phenomena.

Cyclonic storms, such as hurricane, tropical cyclone, and typhoon are different names for the same phenomenon: a cyclonic storm system that forms over the oceans. It is caused by evaporated water that comes off of the ocean and becomes a storm. Cyclone in the Indian, typhoon in the western Pacific. A tornado is a natural disaster resulting from a thunderstorm. Tornadoes are violent, rotating columns of air which can blow at speeds between 50 and 300 mph (480 km/h), and possibly higher.

Hurricane Katrina

Tornadoes can occur one at a time, or can occur in large tornado outbreaks along squall lines or in other large areas of thunderstorm development. Waterspouts are tornadoes occurring over tropical waters in light rain conditions.

A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire burning in wildland areas. Common causes include lightning and drought but wildfires may also be started by human negligence or arson. They can be a threat to those in rural areas and also wildlife. Wildfires can also produce ember attacks, where floating embers set fire to buildings at a distance from the fire itself.

Biospherical hazards:

An epidemic is an outbreak of a contractible disease that spreads at a rapid rate through a human population. A pandemic is an epidemic whose spread is global. There have been many epidemics throughout history, such as Black Death.

Famine is a social and economic crisis that is commonly accompanied by widespread malnutrition, starvation, epidemic disease and increased mortality. Although some famines occur – or are aggravated – by natural factors, it can and often is a result of economic or military policy that deprives people of the food that they require to survive.

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