2.1 Natural Hazards in Australia

1. A Natural Hazards is when the forces of nature combine to become destructive

2. A Natural Disaster affects a community and a Natural Hazard does not.

3. The two broad categories of natural hazards in Australia relate to weather and climate and the movement of the earth’s crust.

4. Weather/Climate: Drought, flood, heatwaves, bushfires, strong winds, storms, tropical cyclones and tornadoes

Movement’s in the Earth: Landslides, earth tremors, earthquakes and tsunamis

5. Natural Hazards that occur in densely populated areas are more noticeable than hazards that occur elsewhere because the impacts on communities are far more severe and costly.

6.Two specific impacts droughts have on rural communities are that farmers loose crops and animals and the fact that droughts occur over many years and affect large areas of the continent.

7. The three categories geographers use to classify the impacts of natural hazards are:

Social Impacts: When they effect the community. E.g. When a flood takes away a town.

Economic Impacts: When they effect the economy. E.g. When a tornado takes down a factory.

Environmental Impacts: When they impact they environment. E.g. When a cyclone takes down a grassland.

8. It is essential that Australian communities study natural hazards so we can find better ways for communities to survive the threat of living with them.

9. GIS is used to map the threat of natural hazards in Australia by recording all the natural hazards that have occurred in a certain postcode.

10. a.)The three most costly natural hazards in terms of building damage in Australia are:

·         Tropical Cyclones

·         Floods

·         Bushfires

b.) The natural hazard which caused the greatest loss of human life in the 20^th century were heatwaves.

11. a.) Local Councils:

·         It helps the Local Councils to prepare evacuation plans

·         It helps them to provide supplies and information to residents

·         It helps them to establish help centres

b.) State Governments:

·         They can prepare State evacuation plans

·         They can supply up to date information to Local Councils

·         They can make plans for emergency power and water supply

c.) Emergency Services:

·         They can focus their services in high risk areas

·         They can work with both state and local government to establish coordinated  evacuation centres/plans

d.) Insurance Companies:

·         They will use the map to structure appropriate insurance policies for people living in a range of high to low risk areas. E.g. Areas of high risk flooding will have a higher charge for their home and contents insurance.