Introduction
Natural disasters are as happenings that are generated by natural phenomena like earthquakes, tsunamis and global climate. Interest on the three natural phenomenon (earthquakes, tsunamis and global climate) was rekindled in the past years due to their impact and how they occur. Earthquakes and tsunami are sudden and one‐time event and their impact is quite lethal and hazardous while global climate develops over time and its impact is not heavy compared to the instant ones.
Effects of the disasters
Natural disasters have very huge negative impacts on the environment. Many people have lost their lives and property due to these disasters.
Earthquake
This is one of the most caustic and dangerous natural phenomena. It is initiated by the rapid vibrations of rocks close to the earth’s surface .It is considered to be the most frightening of all the natural phenomena and has bred fear ever since due to its abrupt and unpredictable occurrence and massive capability of destruction. Earthquakes usually last for a very few couple of minutes or even seconds, its tremors normally shakes the earth .Earthquakes are initiated mostly by the rupture of geological faults, volcanic activities, nuclear experiments ,landslides, and mine blasts.
Earthquakes can generate lots of damage to both human and animal life and even destruction of properties. When and where earthquakes take place, many people usually lose their properties lives and that of their loved ones. The rumbling effect produced by earthquakes causes destruction of structures like bridges, buildings and dams. The effect also generate landslides. Earthquakes are random and causes much devastating acts of nature.
Tsunami
Tsunami is a Japanese word meaning harbor wave. Tsunami is caused by ocean waves generated by earthquakes or landslides in the underwater. It is more devastating phenomena just like earthquake and it is also unpredictable the only difference being it takes place in water. The impact tsunami brings to the affected people is also outrageous. Tsunami has led to the great loss of lives in the affected area. It causes deaths by drowning people. Other related risks are contamination of drinking water, flooding, and massive destruction of infrastructure such as buildings, bridges and roads. It also have negative economic effects such as washing away of crops from the farms that are engulfed by flood leaving behind a barren land that cannot support crop growth due to saline conditions left in the soil, fishermen also suffer a blow from such flooding
Global climate
Climate change is an unavoidable phenomenon that globally is being experienced in many forms like temperature rise, Sea level rise, drought etc.
Global climate has a weighty effect on both human and animal health and well-being. Extreme climatic conditions can sometimes have negative impacts such as diseases and in most cases can even cause death .This has mostly been witnessed in too hot and too cold environments. Medical illnesses like peptic, bronchitis, glaucoma, ulcer, are associated to periodic variations in temperature. Diseases like pneumonia are mostly associated with extreme cold climate. Humidity also has a huge effect on health because it aids the body to cool itself by evaporation of perspiration. This sometime may be dangerous since extreme dehydration may lead to death
The effect of Global warming cannot be ignored due to its impact on environment.it is responsible for rising of sea level which has a negative impact to the economy and displacement of people who live in the affected seashores
How the phenomenon are monitored.
The natural disasters has stretched its magnitude of the damage to the affected areas. This is mostly due to the unpredictability of most of them. The effects are so severe just because of its instantaneous occurrence and the inability of people living in disaster-prone areas to prepare in advance for it and resist it. In the past years, efforts to monitor these disasters risk have been focused to give early warning systems so as to provide timely and real information that enables the people living in the prone areas to respond and take necessary action when it hits.
There are many websites that has been displaying up-to-date information related earthquake monitoring. Websites like http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/quake.php are known for monitoring and giving latest information about earthquakes. According to the website, the latest earthquake info dated October 2013 exhibits the rate of earthquakes in Oklahoma that amplified remarkably since the mentioned date by about 50 percent – considerably increasing the accidental damaging capacity to 5.5 or greater quake in central Oklahoma. The use of Seismometers which can predict the magnitude of the earthquake, and then submits the number to the Richter scale to define its magnitude.
The Technology Resources for Earth quake Monitoring and Response
(TREMOR) is designed to tackle this problem. It involves two prototype systems integrating space-based and ground technology. The pilot implementation is focused in three countries that are vulnerable and frequently affected by earthquakes – Japan, China, and Peru – it involves the development and launch of two tiny satellites to monitor ionospheric and electromagnetic precursors. It is then blended with ground precursor finding, the gathered information is used to improve the available information of Earthquake-related phenomena.