Natural Hazards and Effects on San Diego California Introduction The Geographical region that has the most interest to me is that of Southern California in the United States of America. Southern California, in particular San Diego has always been one of the most desirable areas in California to live creating a very densely populated city. The direct access to both the Pacific Ocean and multiple mountain ranges makes it susceptible to massive wildfires during the long and extremely dry summer months and floods during the winter months. Also contributing to other possible natural disasters, San Diego is located near the San Andres Fault, which runs through California making this city another prime location for earthquakes and its catastrophic
Another cause of drought is increased wind blowing westward from the desert areas that are east of California, e.g. Arizona. The dry air has no moisture to cause precipitation. 4. The most devastating effect of drought in California is wildfires – dry vegetation is extremely flammable, so fires spread quickly over wide areas.
The associated air masses of storms within the British Isles are Polar maritime and Tropical maritime. As these two bodies of air move towards each other the warmer, less dense air from the south rises above the colder, dense air from the north. Circulations of low pressure then develop at points where the air is rising vigorously, this then coincides with waves in the polar front and jet stream. As a consequence there is much unsettled weather including heavy rain, strong winds and a variety of stormy cumulus clouds form; all of which can have devastating impacts socio-economically for an area as well as on the environment. The storm of 1987 occurred on the 15th and 16th of October due to a depression forming within the Bay of Biscay and had disastrous effects on the south and south-east of the UK.
This happens when the normal winds weaken which allows the warm water that is usually found in the western Pacific change direction and instead move towards the east. This warm water replaces the cold water which is normally found near the surface of the eastern Pacific. All these occurrences are what affects a lot of weather patterns in many parts of the
Due to this convergence (where winds move to a center point), air is forced to rise over that area. If enough moisture is available, the rising air cools and condenses (as cold air cannot hold water vapor below a certain temperature) into tiny water droplets which constitute the cloud. So, low pressure areas are usually the birth-place of clouds. Sometimes, particularly in the winter, fog forms over a high pressure area due to radiation cooling(due to clear sky conditions over a high pressure area).This fog sometimes lift and forms thick low cloud called "anticyclone gloom". (5 points) |Score | | | 4.
Hurricanes need the ocean’s water temperature to be about 80 degrees to a depth of about 150 feet. Another factor of the forming of hurricanes is the rapid cooling of the warm water vapors that were evaporated, which causes condensation (the second step of the water cycle). The third step of the water cycle is precipitation and that happens when too many water vapors are condensed and rain starts to fall. Humidity is also needed in the
The Great Storm of 1987, UK – Case Study Josephine Jenkins 1) This storm developed over the Bay of Biscay to the south. It started as particularly warm tropical air and very cold polar air collided, forcing the warm air to rise and creating an area of low pressure. It’s clear that several factors came together to make this storm particularly ferocious, but it was the track of the storm which was perhaps most significant. Arriving on the south coast of the UK, it tracked north and east over the course of several hours before reaching the Humber estuary at about 5.30am. This path took in a large, built-up and very populated part of the UK which exacerbated the damage caused.
The Sierra Nevada create uplift of moist oceanic air masses and it rains. Much of the water reaches the San Joaquin valley but by the time the storms reach the eastern Sierra and Owens Valley, most of the water has been wrung from the clouds. The White and Inyo mountains, only twenty five miles east of the Sierra crest, are semi-arid. They suck the remaining water from the skies and by the time the air reaches the Saline and Death Valleys, it is bone dry. Such weather patterns have a great influence on the surface geology as well: erosion, deposition and chemical alternation take place rapidly in many parts of
While one might ask how water erosion can be so prevalent in the desert, it is important to note that like many Australian deserts, the area receives a surprisingly high amount of rain, about 200-250 millimeters a year. ("Ayers Rock Facts," 2009) It is believed that the mountain chains that once included Ayers Rock were as large as the surrounding peaks. Now, there is just one remaining piece of this long lost chain. Wind and water took an enormous toll on the surface of the area. When one considers other major mountain chains, and is informed that they were once much larger, it is hard to grasp the concept due to the fact that the mountains still exist, and are fairly large in their current state.
2013).Pharmaceutical companies sometimes place active chemicals and waste into groundwater sources, in which almost all of the groundwater may be untreated which most likely cause contamination. (Herber, 2002). Abstract: Increase in the emissions of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels is the largest cause of environmental down grading resulting not only in global warming but also causing acid rain which alters the pH balance of ground water. Water is a universal solvent; however, its dissolving properties are very sensitive to changes in temperature and pH. Global economic growth has, unfortunately,