Environmental Science · Aziz · C Public Feed
Hurricane Irma
Natural Disasters & Earth Systems: Flood in Sierra Leone
Natural Disaster and Earth System Research
The Earth System is broken down into four different processes; those processes include the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and geosphere. Each process plays a huge role in the way the Earth operates but all essentially play a different role. When a natural disaster occurs its very likely that it will bounce between all four of these processes causing each system to be affected. When researching for this project I not only enjoyed learning about the earth system but learning about all the different natural disasters. After this project and now knowing what I know I feel as though its essential for everyone to know information about these topics to prepare and have knowledge for a natural disaster incase it ever occurs around them.
Natural Disasters and Earth System Research
Climate Change and Hurricane Irma
“Hurricane Irma was not caused by climate change at all…” Climate change works to heat the ocean and increase the sea levels. In turn, that helps to make the hurricane more devastating: more heat helps propel the power of the hurricane, leading to the kind of destruction that has made its way across the Americas twice over the last week. "For climate change, it’s important to note that climate change has already caused higher sea levels, so any storm surge is happening on top of a higher initial level, leading to more coastal flooding," said Chris Holloway, a tropical storm expert at the University of Reading. "Also, climate change leads to increased rainfall for a storm of a given strength, leading to increased freshwater flooding. Climate change also likely increases the probability of storms reaching an extremely high intensity." Is Earth's Climate Changing? Earth's climate is always changing. In the past, Earth's climate has gone through warmer and cooler periods, each lasting thousands of years. The climate of a region or city is its typical or average weather. For example, the climate of Hawaii is sunny and warm. But the climate of Antarctica is freezing cold. Earth's climate is the average of all the world's regional climates. Sources Griffin, Andrew. “What Caused Hurricane Irma? Did Climate Change Cause This Category 5 Tropical Storm?” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 7 Sept. 2017, www.independent.co.uk/environment/irma-climate-change-what-cause-hurricane-global-warming-caribbean-florida-a7933721.html. Friedl, Sarah. “The Four Spheres of Earth: Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, and Atmosphere.” Study.com, Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/the-four-spheres-of-earth-geosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere-and-atmosphere.html. “Hurricane Irma: All You Need to Know - CBBC Newsround.” BBC News, BBC, 12 Sept. 2017, www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/41165108. Dunbar, Brian. “What Are Climate and Climate Change?” NASA, NASA, 9 June 2015, www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-climate-change-58.html. Reflection Atmosphere: The air that surround earth. This sphere is made up of mostly the nitrogen, some oxygen, and some amount of many other molecules. The atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% water vapor, and a minute amount of other trace gases like argon, and carbon monoxide. All of these gases combine to absorb ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and warm the planet’s surface through heat retention. Geosphere: The Geosphere is the rocks and minerals of the earth. From hot magma, to the sandy beaches, this is all part of the Geosphere. Hydrosphere and cryosphere: since Hydro means water so hydrosphere is made up of all the waters on earth including the rivers, lakes, streams, oceans, groundwater,polar ice caps, glaciers and moisture in the air like rain and snow. The hydrosphere covers about 70% of the surface of the Earth and is the home for many plants and animals. Cryosphere: is the frozen water part of the Earth system. ... One part of the cryosphere is ice that is found in water. Biosphere: it is composed of all of the living organisms on the planet. “ This includes all of the plants, animals, bacteria, fungi and single-celled organisms found on Earth. The biosphere is unique. So far there has been no existence of life elsewhere in the universe. In order to put oxygen into the air, there had to be plants, which take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. For example, plants (biosphere) grow in the ground (geosphere), but to survive they absorb water (hydrosphere) and carbon dioxide (atmosphere). When wind brushes up against water, the wind will get cooler. So cities with large bodies of water near them, such as Chicago, will get much cooler during the winter. This is known as the sea breeze effect, and is also an example of how the earths systems affect each other. Knowledge of global warming for example can help us prevent it for our future generations. Cutting down on fossil fuels is probably the best solution for putting a stop to global warming. Although it would be far in the future, it is worth the change.
Natural Disasters and Earth System Research - Cristian Fernandez
Earth systems can affect each other in many different ways, these interactions often happen during large natural events or disasters but also happen in our everyday lives. The hydrosphere interacts with the geosphere by moving large amounts of land between and away from places creating new formations and diminishing others. In natural disasters the importance of the different environmental systems is exaggerated because the changes are on such a large scale they force their way into other systems. To explain my last point, when a hurricane happens mainly the atmosphere and the hydrosphere interact with each other, but when the conditions of this event become extreme the geosphere can be affected because the combination of water and wind can move large amounts of land to the sea or other parts of the land. The understanding of natural science is key to aiding in handling natural disasters. This is because without the understanding of how hurricanes work or why earthquakes happen it is impossible to correctly prepare for them. This lack of knowledge can be the cost of billions of dollars in recovery from a natural disaster. For creating a sustainable future the thing we have to think about is preparation for these events, it seems like a waste of time to create things to try to prevent natural disasters. Except for sea walls and few other things that can completely solve an issue it should be our primary focus on designing houses that can withstand more extreme weather and buildings that can hold up to larger earthquakes.
Earthquakes- Natural Disasters and Earth System Research
Earth systems & Earthquake in Mexico City
Natural Disasters Research:
Earth's Systems: Biosphere- the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth (or analogous parts of other planets) occupied by living organisms. Cryosphere: Is the frozen water part of the Earth system. Beaufort sea and North Alaska. The one part of cryosphere is the ice that is found in the water which includes frozen parts of the ocean that surrounds Antarctica and the Arctic. Hydrosphere ~ Hydrosphere is all of the waters on the Earth’s surface (Oceans, Lakes, etc.); including water above the surface, like in clouds. There are reasons why natural disasters happen. Since there are different ways a natural disaster can occur, having knowledge on the different earth systems they happen in is essential. These Earth systems include: Atmosphere: The blanket of gas on the surface of a planet or satellite. The atmosphere of the Earth is about 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen Geosphere: Any of the almost spherical concentric regions of matter that make up the earth and its atmosphere, as the lithosphere and hydrosphere.
ENVSCI-003
- Term
- 2017-18: 1st Semester