A disaster is an event which causes physical damage to property,huge loss of life and drastic change in the environment.The economic,social and cultural life of the people is affected and they need external help for food,shelter, medicine, financial and social support to overcome the disaster.Disaster is classified according to the origin as natural and man made disaster.
Natural disasters: Earthquake,landslides,tsunami,volcano, Avalanches,flood, Extreme temperatures,drought,wild fires,cyclones,storms,surges and waves.
Man made disaster:
Industrial accidents, pollution,acid rain,road accidents,leakage of toxic waste and war.
NATURAL DISASTERS
⭐ Earthquake:An earthquake is a sudden vibration or shake of the Earth’s crust.It is caused by the circulation of the convection cells and the plate movements.An earth quake may cause the landslide, avalanche,fire,soil liquefaction and tsunami.
Changes in the shape of the Earth’s surface,loss of life and property are some of the effects of earth quake.
⭐ Landslides: Landslides occur when ground on slopes becomes unstable. The unstable ground collapses and flows down the side of a hill or mountain, and can consist of earth, rocks, mud and any debris which may be caught in its wake. If a landslide occurs near inhabited areas, it can cause a great deal of damage.
Slides can cause disastrous flooding, particularly when landslide dams across streams are breached, and flooding may trigger slides.
⭐Tsunami:An extremely large wave in the sea caused by the earth quake occuring under the ocean floor.Apart from huge loss of life and property the environmental impact of tsunami is tremendous.It affects the quality of fresh water in the coastal acquirers.The salt is deposited on the table land by sea water and it takes long time to restore the quality of soil.
Tsunami can travel as fast as 500 miles per hour, without being noticed and can cross the entire ocean is lass than a day.
⭐Volcano:Volcanic gases that pose the greatest potential hazards are sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen fluoride. Locally, sulfur dioxide gas can lead to acid rain and air pollution downwind from a volcano. These gases can come from lava flows as well as a volcano that erupts violently.
⭐ Avalanches:An avalanche is a natural disaster that occurs when snow rapidly flows down a mountain. During an avalanche a combination of snow and ice is formed. The avalanche begins when the snowpack is unstable and breaks off along a mountain slope.
Human activity, vibration or movement,steep slopes,warm temperature are some of the causes of Avalanches.
⭐Flood:Sudden overflow of large amount of water caused by heavy rainfall, cyclones, melting of ice,tsunami,etc.,is called as flood.Low lying flood plains, coastal plains and river confluences are prone to flood.
Loss of life and property, displacement of people,spread of contagious diseases such as cholera,malaria,etc,.are some of the effects of flood.
⭐ Extreme temperatures:Illnesses caused by exposure to high temperatures include heat cramps, fainting, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and death. Population at increased risk especially older and younger people, risk of dehydration, low fitness/excessive exertion, etc. Another reason of death during heat wave is because of living alone.
⭐ Drought:Long period of rainless weather condition is termed as drought.The severity of the drought depends upon the degree of moisture deficiency,the duration,and the size and location of the affected area.
Techniques of conversation of water like sprinkle irrigation,fertigation,pot hole irrigation, precise farming,and selection of suitable variety of crop that can with stand draught are some of the remedies that may reduce the impact of drought when it is possible to predict drought.
⭐Wild fires:Forest wild fires are a major disaster all over the world.The environmental impact of forest fire includes emission of large amount of carbon dioxide leading to global warming,loss of bio diversity, affecting hydrological cycle,reducing photo synthetic activity,and health hazards.
⭐ Cyclones:Areas of low pressure sorrounded by high pressure is called as cyclone.It is anticlockwise in northern hemisphere and clockwise in southern hemisphere.The centre of the cyclone called the eye of the storm is calm and clear without clouds.The condensation of vapour releases more latent heat and that gives the energy for the Cyclones to enhance further evaporation and formation of clouds.
Cyclones are associated with strong squall, torrential rain, flood and storm surge.
MAN-MADE DISASTERS
⭐ Industrial accidents:These disasters result from accidents, failures,mishap or misuse of some kind of technology.The storage and transportation of various hazardous materials used in industries may result in industrial hazard accidents.
Chemical industries faces multiple risks involved with its production, transportation,storage,usage and disposal of the effluents containing residual chemicals.
⭐ Pollution: Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. … These harmful materials are called pollutants. Pollutants can be natural, such as volcanic ash. They can also be created by human activity, such as trash or runoff produced by factories. Pollutants damage the quality of air, water, and land.
The Burning of Fossil Fuels, industrial emission, indoor air pollution, transportation,open burning of garbage waste are some of the causes for pollution.
⭐ Acid rain:Acid rain , or acid deposition, is a broad term that includes any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that is acidic.
⭐Road accidents:large number of railroad accidents, including collisions and derailments, happen in India; many get injured, and some people even die in these accidents.
The more severe physical injuries associated with a car accident commonly include brain and head trauma such as a traumatic brain injury , neck injuries such as whiplash, neck strains, or disk damage, and back or spine injuries such as sprains, strains, fractures, or disk injuries.
⭐ Leakage of toxic waste:Toxic wastes often contain carcinogens, and exposure to these by some route, such as leakage or evaporation from the storage, causes cancer to appear at increased frequency in exposed individuals.
⭐War:Disasters are also caused by sociopolitical conflicts that escalate into violence. War is defined as a conflict between to large groups of population, which involves physical force, violence and the use of weapons.
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