Causes Of Natural Disasters

How many devastating natural disasters have you read about or seen on the news in the past six months? It is astonishing how many hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters that have been occurring recently. With disasters come news stories, and with news stories come many biases. The media is constantly using bias to convince the audience to be in favor or against a certain idea. Biases are seen in both mass and niche media. It is essential to use critical thinking skills to look into these biases before creating an opinion. There is controversy in the world today about what causes natural disasters. It is vital to first know what a natural disaster is before forming any ideas as to what cause them. A natural disaster is "defined as a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth; examples include floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other geologic processes" ("Natural Disaster", 2017). It is also beneficial to have an idea what climate change is before forming an opinion on it. The article "Climate change causes: A blanket around the Earth" states: "Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the "greenhouse effect"–warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space" ("Climate change causes", 2017). Many scientists think the cause of climate change is from man made resources, while others think it happens

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What is an Earthquake?

An Earthquake is the shaking of the earth's surface caused by rapid movement of the earth's rocky outer layer. The sudden shaking of the ground that occurs when masses of rock change position below the Earth's surface is called an earthquake. The shifting masses send out shock waves that may be powerful enough to alter the surface of the Earth, thrusting up cliffs and opening great cracks in the ground. Earthquakes, called temblors by scientists, occur almost continuously. Fortunately, most of them can be detected only by sensitive instruments called seismographs. Others are felt as small tremors. Some of the rest, however, cause major catastrophes. They...show more content...

Although it is certain that violent Earth tremors in themselves are destructive, there are often other kinds of Earth movements that are triggered by earthquake shock waves. Thus, the violent shaking that accompanies many earthquakes often causes rockslides, snow avalanches, and landslides. In some areas these events are frequently more devastating than the Earth tremor itself.

Floods and fires are also caused by earthquakes. Floods arise from tsunamis along coast lines, from large–scale seiches in enclosed bodies of water such as lakes and canals, and from the failure of dams. Fire produced the greatest property loss following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when 521 blocks in the city center burned uncontrollably for three days. Fire also followed the 1923 Tokyo earthquake, causing much damage and hardship for the citizens.

Causes

Most of the worst earthquakes are associated with changes in the shape of the Earth's outermost shell, particularly the crust. These so called tectonic earthquakes are generated by the rapid release of strain energy that is stored within the rocks of the crust, which on continents is about 22 miles thick. A small proportion of earthquakes are associated with human activity. Dynamite or atomic explosions, for example, can sometimes cause mild quakes. The injection of liquid wastes deep into the Earth and the pressures