Hurricanes
What effect influences the direction of winds?
The coriolis effect
Which places tend to get hotter than others?
Urban areas are always hotter than suburban or rural places due to a lack of vegetation; however, this is not the case with the GTA
What is the most viable effort to decrease greenhouse emissions?
energy conservation from fossil fuel burning
What is the fire triangle (the three things necessary to keep a fire burning)?
Oxygen, heat, and fuel
Earth's internal heat is comparable to
the heat of the sun's surface
What should you do if you're trapped in a Hurricane?
1. stay away from windowed areas
2. abandon mobile homes/cars
3. unplug major appliances
4. if outdoors, avoid overpasses and bridges
Into which body of water do all streams in southern Ontario empty?
Atlantic Ocean (through the St Lawrence river)
How much has the average temperature on Earth increased due to just human activities?
1.09 degrees Celsius
how does the jack pine adapt to fire?
the heat of the fire opens their cones, which liberates the seeds
What is the difference between a natural hazard and a natural disaster?
hazard = the phenomenon itself that causes problems to people
disaster = an event that involves a significant number of people and/or economic damage
At what wind speeds is wind not able to flow to the centre in a storm? and what is this used to classify?
119km/h; when a tropical storm goes past this threshold, it is considered to be a hurricane
Why do cities get flooded faster than rural areas?
in non urban areas with a lot of vegetation, water can easily go into the ground but not in cities
What is the difference between a comet and an asteroid?
Comets are made of ice, dust, and rock, while asteroids are primarily rock and metal.
Why are prescribed burns good for battling wildfires? (the "Let It Burn" strategy)
because constantly putting out fires in the wild leaves a lot of forest litter, which makes wildfires even larger because of extra amount of fuel
Which type of natural disaster is the deadliest and displaces the most people?
Droughts
Why did New Orleans experience Hurricane Katrina as a category 3 Hurricane when it was classified as a category 5 Hurricane?
Because New Orleans was on the left of the eye, and the winds were going the opposite way of the hurricane motion
Does 4 days at 40-degree weather constitute a heat wave?
not necessarily, it depends on the location (in Arizona it wouldn't, but in Seattle they would)
How many meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere every day?
what is an example of a tree that does not burn?
cork oak, due to its spongy bark
What is the deadliest natural disaster event of all time?
Yangtze river flooding in 1931
What are 4 conditions that are required for the formation of hurricanes?
1. surface water > 27
2. warm moist air
3. weak upper level winds
4. Corolis effect (500 km away from equator)
What stream phenomenon explains why New Orleans has a tail to the bottom right of it?
delta; stream flow pushes sediments to the side, creating a river that does not flood nearby areas
Where do the most unpredictable meteors come from?
The Oort Cloud, hugs the solar system and doesn't revolve around anything
what are the four ways to classify wildfires?
1. ground fires
2. surface fires
3. ladder fires
4. crown fires
What is the difference between exposure and vulnerability to a natural disaster?
exposure = proximity to a natural disaster and the effects of that
vulnerability = economic resources to sustain/recover from a natural disaster