TEAM 3 NATURAL DISASTERS PART2 DROUGHTS, WILDFIRES, SOLAR RADIATION
DROUGHTS
• A drought is a prolonged period with less-than-average amounts of rain or snow in a particular region. The severity of the drought depends on the amount of time that a region receives below-average precipitation.
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Types of Drought Meteorological Drought. (LESS THAN AVARAGE AMOUNTS OF RAINS) Agricultural Drought.(affect crop production or the ecology of the range) Hydrological Drought.(brought about when the water reserves available in sources such as aquifers, lakes and reservoirs fall below a locally significant threshold.)
Causes of drought Precipitation deficiency
• • Dry season • El Niño is a warm phase • associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific
• Erosion and human activities • Climatic changes
NOW LET’S PLAY A GAME • https://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&pid=140a08aa4a7c
WILDFIRES A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that burns in the wildland vegetation, often in rural areas. Wildfires can burn in forests, grasslands, savannas, and other ecosystems, and have been doing so for hundreds of millions of years. They are not limited to a particular continent or environment.
WILDFIRES • Wildfires can start with a natural occurrence—such as a lightning strike —or a human-made spark. However, it is often the weather conditions that determine how much a wildfire grows. Wind, high temperatures, and little rainfall can all leave trees, shrubs, fallen leaves, and limbs dried out and primed to fuel a fire. Topography plays a big part too: flames burn uphill faster
What to do if you’re outside in a forest fire
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Stay calm. Cover your nose and mouth with wet cloth. Put a body of water between you and the fire. Go to an area without vegetation - find a ditch or low spot in the ground if you can.
• Lie face down and cover your body with things like wet clothing, soil, or mud.
• Call 911 and let them know where you are. • Stay down until the fire passes.
Safe Campfire Tips • Do not build a campfire at a site with dry conditions. Check with the local park ranger to see if there is a burn ban.
• If there is no burn ban, use the designated fire ring or fire pit for your campfire.
• If there is no designated campfire spot, look for a site away from tents, trees or scrub.
• Keep your campfire small and under control. Never leave your campfire unattended.
• Allow the fire to burn completely to ash. Then, to fully extinguish the campfire, pour lots of water and drown all embers. Stir the ashes with a shovel and pour more water atop the ash until all hissing sounds stop. Make sure everything is cold to the touch.
LET’S PLAY THE GAME • https://learningapps.org/display?v=p9gzz5tb a20
SOLAR RADIATION is the power per unit area received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation
• Solar radiation provides heat, light, and energy necessary for all living organisms. Infrared radiation supplies heat to all habitats, on land and in the water. Without solar radiation, Earth's surface would be about 32°C colder. Solar radiation provides the necessary heat and light for life on Earth.
• What is the example of solar radiation? • All that stuff we call 'sunlight' is actually solar radiation. Like waves on the ocean, light also travels in waves, but light waves are vibrations of electromagnetic fields.
• What are the 4 main effects of solar radiation on Earth? • atmospheric effects, including absorption and scattering; local variations in the atmosphere, such as water vapour, clouds, and pollution; latitude of the location; and. the season of the year and the time of day.
Let’s play the game
• https://learningapps.org/display?v=p5d w6r2sk20
• https://www.pixilart.com/draw/tornadobdf79dae7c39b5a
Let’s go to the Chatting room and discuss everything we’ve learnt during two workshops
• https://twinspace.etwinning.net/117088/onlin e-meetings