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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Serie: AGU Advanced Textbooks
- Sprache: Englisch
Natural hazards are present in every part of planet Earth. Sometimes a natural event - such as extreme weather, a volcanic eruption, earthquake or disease outbreak - turns into a disaster for humans, the environment, and the economy. Earth's Natural Hazards and Disasters is a textbook for undergraduates that challenges students to think critically about disasters. It explains the science behind natural events and explores how to understand risk and prepare for disasters. About this volume: * Covers hazards in the geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere * Explains the science of hazards in accessible terms * Detailed case studies of specific disasters for each type of natural event * Explores data-based risk mitigation strategies * Discusses the roles of scientists, public officials, and the general public in hazard management The American Geophysical Union promotes discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity. Its publications disseminate scientific knowledge and provide resources for researchers, students, and professionals.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contributors
Preface
Glossary
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction to Natural Disasters
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The Earth System
1.3 Natural Disasters
1.4 Definitions
1.5 Disasters Are Predictable
1.6 The Human Factor
1.7 Increasing Risk
1.8 Calculated Risks
1.9 The Role of Government in Vulnerability and Preparing for Disasters
1.10 Disasters and Social Change
1.11 Community Response
1.12 Chapter in Review
Part I: Geologic Events as Hazards
2 Plate Tectonics
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Continental Drift
2.3 New Data: Magnetism
2.4 Seafloor Spreading
2.5 Plate Tectonics
2.6 Earth Structure
2.7 Plate Boundaries
2.8 Subduction Zones
2.9 Collision Zones
2.10 Transform Boundaries
2.11 Hotspots
2.12 Conclusion
2.13 Chapter in Review
3 Volcanoes
3.1 A Lengthy Eruption With an Unexpected End
3.2 Magma Generation
3.3 Volcano Behavior
3.4 Types of Volcanoes
3.5 The Case of Mount St. Helens
3.6 Hazards of Composite Volcanoes
3.7 Mitigation
3.8 Chapter in Review
4 Earthquakes
4.1 Introduction
4.2 What Is an Earthquake?
4.3 Seismic Waves
4.4 How Do Earthquakes Work?
4.5 Earthquake Hazards
4.6 Prince William Sound Earthquake
4.7 Mitigation Strategies
4.8 Conclusion
4.9 Chapter in Review
5 Tsunamis
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Unimak Island Earthquake and Tsunami, 1946
5.3 Wave Creation
5.4 Wave Characteristics
5.5 Wave Parameters
5.6 Case Studies
5.7 Landslide‐Generated Tsunami
5.8 Mega‐Tsunamis
5.9 Volcano‐Generated Tsunamis
5.10 Mitigation of Tsunami Hazards
5.11 Conclusion
5.12 Chapter in Review
6 Earth Movements
6.1 The Role of Gravity in Shaping the Earth
6.2 Venezuela, 1999
6.3 Types of Earth Movements
6.4 Mass‐Wasting Triggers
6.5 Mitigation of Hazards
6.6 Conclusion
6.7 Chapter in Review
Part II: Weather and Climate as Hazards
7 Atmosphere and Weather
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Earth's Atmosphere
7.3 Solar Radiation
7.4 Weather
7.5 Air Masses and Fronts
7.6 High and Low Pressure Systems
7.7 Conclusion
7.8 Chapter in Review
8 Severe Weather
8.1 Blizzard on the Plains
8.2 Severe Weather Events
8.3 Conclusion
8.4 Chapter in Review
9 Floods
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Central China Flood
9.3 The Nature of Streams
9.4 Types of Floods
9.5 Flood Mitigation
9.6 Chapter in Review
10 Hurricanes
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Hurricane Maria, 2017
10.3 Tropical Cyclones
10.4 Hurricane Hazards
10.5 Mitigation
10.6 Conclusion
10.7 Chapter in Review
11 Climate Change
11.1 Slushballs and Greenhouses: What the Geologic Record Says About Paleoclimate Compared to the Current Stable Climate That Has Supported Human Civilization Over the Past 10,000 Years
11.2 Climate Change Basics
11.3 Natural Hazards Caused Directly and Indirectly by Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change
11.4 Ocean Impacts
11.5 Mitigation of Hazards
11.6 Geoengineering
11.7 Adaptation
11.8 Chapter in Review
12 Wildland Fires
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Fire Basics
12.3 Fire Behavior
12.4 Firefighting in Public Lands
12.5 Mitigation of Fire Hazards
12.6 Conclusion
12.7 Chapter in Review
Part III: Other Hazards
13 Biological Hazards With COVID‐19 Case Study
13.1 Biological Disasters
13.2 Introduction to Microbes
13.3 Types of Microbes
13.4 Microbes and the Earth System
13.5 Factors That Put Populations at Risk
13.6 Diseases in the Food Supply
13.7 Mitigation of Hazards
13.8 Conclusion
13.9 Chapter in Review
14 Hazards From Space
14.1 Space Hazards
14.2 Introduction
14.3 A History of Catastrophe
14.4 Measuring Risk
14.5 What Can We Do?
14.6 Solar Events
14.7 Earth's Future
14.8 Chapter in Review
Bibliography
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 1
Table 1.1 Volcanic Explosivity Index.
Chapter 4
Table 4.1 Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
Table 4.2 Historical occurrences of earthquakes and their magnitudes.
Chapter 5
Table 5.1 Tsunami run‐ups, 2004 Indonesia earthquake.
Chapter 8
Table 8.1 Updraft speed required to form hailstones of various sizes.
Table 8.2 The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale for tornado classification.
Table 8.3 Tornado deaths by location for the years 1985–2003.
Chapter 10
Table 10.1 Names for Atlantic tropical cyclones for the years 2023–2028....
Table 10.2 Names for eastern north Pacific cyclones for the years 2023–2028...
Table 10.3 Saffir‐Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Table 10.4 Average forward speed of tropical cyclones by latitude.
Chapter 11
Table 11.1 The six most important greenhouse gases still emitted today.
Table 11.2 Climate distasters in 2022.
Chapter 12
Table 12.1 Moisture content of various types of wildland fuels.
Chapter 14
Table 14.1 Terms that describe the relevant ratings of an NEO on the Torino...
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 Eruption cloud of Hunga Tonga‐Hunga‐Ha'apai volcano in Tonga, as ...
Figure 1.2 (a) Satellite image of Hunga Tonga, one of the islands adjacent t...
Figure 1.3 The Volcano Explosivity Index.
Figure 1.4 The Earth System has four components: The geosphere (lithosphere)...
Figure 1.5 A wildland fire near Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley, Californi...
Figure 1.6 The aftermath of a tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri on May 24...
Figure 1.7 Fault systems within California. Each of the yellow lines is a fa...
Figure 1.8 A radar image of thunderstorms in the midsection of the United St...
Figure 1.9 Satellite image of Hurricane Katrina in the central Gulf of Mexic...
Figure 1.10 A comparison of the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey and the San ...
Figure 1.11 Extreme flooding in a New Orleans neighborhood following landfal...
Figure 1.12 Plaster casts of people who perished in the 79 A.D. eruption of ...
Figure 1.13 A false‐color satellite image of the area around Naples, Italy. ...
Figure 1.14 Utter destruction of homes on a hillside in Port‐au‐Prince, Hait...
Figure 1.15 A tornado makes its way across the landscape in Nebraska in 2003...
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 Fit of the continental shelves of South America and Africa.
Figure 2.2 Wegener’s reconstruction of Pangaea and the drift of continents f...
Figure 2.3 Mountain ranges on several continents line up when Pangaea is ass...
Figure 2.4 (a) Grooves left in rocks in South Africa. These grooves were car...
Figure 2.5 Distribution of plants and animals from the time when Pangaea was...
Figure 2.6 (a) The age of the ocean floor is youngest in the center, and old...
Figure 2.7 Structure of the Earth. The Earth is divided into three layers ba...
Figure 2.8 A map of the Earth indicating locations of tectonic plates and th...
Figure 2.9 Worldwide occurrences of earthquakes for the years 1990 to 2013. ...
Figure 2.10 Divergent boundary as it may evolve from continental rifting, cr...
Figure 2.11 Sully Vent in the northeast Pacific Ocean in 2004, with monitori...
Figure 2.12 Pillow lavas erupted onto the ocean floor at a midocean ridge....
Figure 2.13 Satellite composite of the continent of Africa and the Arabian P...
Figure 2.14 Cross section of a subduction zone in which one plate is oceanic...
Figure 2.15 The Ring of Fire that nearly encircles the Pacific Ocean. In the...
Figure 2.16 A subduction zone in which two oceanic plates converge. One plat...
Figure 2.17 (a) The Indian subcontinent used to be a separate land mass from...
Figure 2.18 Diagram of a transform boundary. The two plates are moving later...
Figure 2.19 Map of the San Andreas Fault, a transform plate boundary. Note a...
Figure 2.20 View of the San Andreas Fault where it broke to the surface on t...
Figure 2.21 Locations of the Earth's plate boundaries and major hotspots....
Figure 2.22 Trace of the Hawaiian Hotspot in the Pacific Ocean.
Figure 2.23 The Mid‐Atlantic Ridge above sea level in Thingvellir National P...
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Map of the volcano Kīlauea (see inset for location of Kīlauea on ...
Figure 3.2 Fissure eruption on the volcano Mauna Loa in Hawai’i on 22 Novemb...
Figure 3.3 Pu`u`ō`ō, one vent that was active during Kīlauea's 1983–2018 eru...
Figure 3.4 A home in Kalapana, Hawai'i, is surrounded by lava from the erupt...
Figure 3.5 Aerial view of the summit of Kīlauea in Hawai'i. The obvious crat...
Figure 3.6 Map of lava flows on Kīilauea's lower East Rift Zone (LERZ). Area...
Figure 3.7 Aerial view of Kīlauea's summit with the abandoned Hawaiian Volca...
Figure 3.8 Preliminary map of lava flow thickness, compiled by the U.S. Geol...
Figure 3.9 Most volcanic activity occurs at one of three plate tectonic sett...
Figure 3.10 Continental‐oceanic subduction zone creates a chain of volcanoes...
Figure 3.11 Oceanic‐oceanic subduction zone creates a chain of volcanoes in ...
Figure 3.12 Examples of volcanic locations around the world. Most volcanic a...
Figure 3.13 Worldwide occurrences of volcanoes. Note that most of the volcan...
Figure 3.14 Basalt lava on the volcano Kīlauea. Basalt is a black extrusive ...
Figure 3.15 Two views of the rock basalt. The rock in the photograph is a sa...
Figure 3.16 The volcanic rock obsidian, which has a glassy texture. Slim Sep...
Figure 3.17 A close‐up view of vesicular basalt. This rock has a vesicular t...
Figure 3.18 A scientist hefts a large piece of pumice above his head. Photo ...
Figure 3.19 Two views of the rock diorite. Diorite is intermediate in compos...
Figure 3.20 Common volcanic and plutonic rocks organized by composition and ...
Figure 3.21 An eruption of Mount St. Helens (Washington, USA) in May of 1980...
Figure 3.22 Mauna Kea, a shield volcano in Hawai'i. Shield volcanoes tend to...
Figure 3.23 A lava flow in Hawai'i in 1983. The lava is organized in a chann...
Figure 3.24 A slow‐moving lava flow on the island of Hawai'i. Because the la...
Figure 3.25 (a) An active pāhoehoe flow. The surface of this lava flow looks...
Figure 3.26 Short time lapse photo of a cinder cone in eruption in Kivu, Zai...
Figure 3.27 Satellite image of SP Crater cinder cone in Arizona, USA. A cind...
Figure 3.28 Small bombs erupted from a volcano. These are spindle bombs, whi...
Figure 3.29 Basalt blocks. Blocks are pieces of solid rock that are hurled f...
Figure 3.30 Several stacked lava flows from the Columbia River Basalts.
Figure 3.31 Formation of a caldera. (a) A volcano forms above a magma chambe...
Figure 3.32 Photo of beautiful Crater Lake, Oregon. Crater Lake is a caldera...
Figure 3.33 Spectacular explosive eruption at the summit of Kīlauea in Hawai...
Figure 3.34 Sunset Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona. This young cinder cone er...
Figure 3.35 The San Francisco Volcanic Field in Arizona. More than two dozen...
Figure 3.36 (a) Mount. Fuji, Japan. Fuji has the classic shape of a composit...
Figure 3.37 Photo of Mount St. Helens prior to the 1980 eruption.
Figure 3.38 A U.S. Geological Survey scientist surveys the conspicuous bulge...
Figure 3.39 Sequence of events in the 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. Hele...
Figure 3.40 Trees felled by the lateral blast of Mount St. Helens on 18 May ...
Figure 3.41 Plinian column rising from Mount St. Helens on 18 May 1980. Dark...
Figure 3.42 Diagram of a Plinian‐style eruption of a composite volcano. Ash ...
Figure 3.43 Lahar deposits from Mount St. Helens' eruption on 18 May 1980. T...
Figure 3.44 A lava dome formed in the crater of Mount St. Helens, 1984. A la...
Figure 3.45 Volcanic ash blankets a farm in Oregon following the May 1980 er...
Figure 3.46 The April 14, 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland. Ash ...
Figure 3.47 The town of Armero, Colombia, was buried by a lahar in 1985. App...
Figure 3.48 A pyroclastic flow from Mayon Volcano in the Philippines, 1984. ...
Figure 3.49 Aniakchak Caldera, Alaska. The caldera was formed approximately ...
Figure 3.50 Scientists have a number of tools at their disposal to monitor t...
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 Ruins of City Hall following the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco...
Figure 4.2 Two women having their portrait taken overlooking the city of San...
Figure 4.3 Near total destruction occurred in some parts of San Francisco as...
Figure 4.4 Damage to homes in the famous Marina District of San Francisco fo...
Figure 4.5 (a) A collapsed portion of the Cypress Structure (Cypress Street ...
Figure 4.6 Probability of a major earthquake (magnitude equal to or greater ...
Figure 4.7 A diagram portraying the relationship between a fault, fault scar...
Figure 4.8 Fault scarp from the magnitude 7.5 Hebgen Lake earthquake in 1959...
Figure 4.9 Aerial photo of the Hilina Fault System on the island of Hawai'i....
Figure 4.10 Cross section of a subduction zone off the coast of Honshu, Japa...
Figure 4.11 Simplified design of seismometers. A heavy mass is suspended on ...
Figure 4.12 Seismic waves. (a) P waves and S waves are body waves. They move...
Figure 4.13 Generalized paths of S and P waves through the Earth. (a) S wave...
Figure 4.14 A seismogram of a typical earthquake. P waves arrive first, foll...
Figure 4.15 Triangulation is used to determine the location of an earthquake...
Figure 4.16 A nomogram, used to estimate the magnitude of an earthquake. If ...
Figure 4.17 (a) Seismic records from Columbia University's seismic station P...
Figure 4.18 Number of earthquakes of magnitude 3 and above that have struck ...
Figure 4.19 Three dimensional map of the underground plumbing system of Stea...
Figure 4.20 Cross section of the San Gregorio Fault Zone off the coast of Ca...
Figure 4.21 Worldwide earthquake occurrences since 1990. The individual dots...
Figure 4.22 Elastic rebound as illustrated by events around the 1906 San Fra...
Figure 4.23 Types of faults on which earthquakes occur. (a) A right‐lateral ...
Figure 4.24 A comparison of the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey and the San ...
Figure 4.25 Damage at the Washington National Cathedral following a magnitud...
Figure 4.26 Red and green dots indicate locations in which these two earthqu...
Figure 4.27 Collapse of a fireplace façade and chimney inside a residence as...
Figure 4.28 Building collapse was an all‐too‐frequent cause of death in Port...
Figure 4.29 ShakeMap for the magnitude 7.5 earthquake that occurred in Turke...
Figure 4.30 Fires are a major hazard after earthquakes. Earthquakes can rupt...
Figure 4.31 Rescue workers look for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed b...
Figure 4.32 Two results of liquefaction. (a) Sand blows discovered after the...
Figure 4.33 Path taken by the debris flow that buried the cities of Yungay a...
Figure 4.34 Ruins in the Banda Aceh area of Indonesia, one of the hardest hi...
Figure 4.35 Earthquake mitigation strategies in buildings. Anchor bolts shou...
Figure 4.36 Bracing added to the exterior of a building in Auckland, New Zea...
Figure 4.37 Two methods of isolating the building from ground motion, called...
Figure 4.38 What to do in case of an earthquake. (a) Those who are able shou...
Figure 4.39 Tsunami evacuation route sign.
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Before and after photos of the Scotch Cap Lighthouse on Unimak Is...
Figure 5.2 (a) Image of tsunami hitting the docks in the harbor at Hilo, Haw...
Figure 5.3 A tsunami is generated when there is a disturbance of the ocean f...
Figure 5.4 Anatomy of a wave. Amplitude is the height of the wave, and the w...
Figure 5.5 In the open ocean, a tsunami has a very long wavelength and small...
Figure 5.6 Wind‐drive wave motion in the ocean. Water molecules oscillate in...
Figure 5.7 The 26 December 2004 Indonesian tsunami was unleashed by a magnit...
Figure 5.8 An aerial photo of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, following the tsunami. ...
Figure 5.9 Satellite imagery of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, from before and after...
Figure 5.10 Ground‐level photo of damage in western Sumatra from the 2004 In...
Figure 5.11 Before and after satellite images of the Sri Lankan coast. (a) B...
Figure 5.12 A cross section of the subduction zone off the coast of Honshu i...
Figure 5.13 (a) Tsunami overtopping the seawall following the March 2011 Toh...
Figure 5.14 (a) Aerial view of Lituya Bay, Alaska, following a 1958 tsunami ...
Figure 5.15 Satellite images of Anak Krakatoa taken (a) before and (b) after...
Figure 5.16 The caldera of Santorini in Greece. The caldera was created in t...
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 Aerial view of an alluvial fan in Death Valley, California. The a...
Figure 6.2 Aerial view of damage within the city of Caraballeda.
Figure 6.3 Major types of mass wasting, classified by relative speed and moi...
Figure 6.4 Creep, a slow form of mass wasting. Soil and regolith are pulled ...
Figure 6.5 The wooden posts in this photograph are tilted downhill due to cr...
Figure 6.6 Solifluction is a form of creep in which the top layer of permafr...
Figure 6.7 In a rock fall, rocks fall directly from the face of an outcrop. ...
Figure 6.8 Ice wedging of these cliffs near the shore of Lake Louise in the ...
Figure 6.9 A slide. Note that the boundary between the top rock layer and th...
Figure 6.10 Photomicrograph of clay particles. Note their thin structure. Cl...
Figure 6.11 Photo of the Vaiont Dam area in Italy. Here, a massive landslide...
Figure 6.12 A debris flow tore through the Las Colinas neighborhood of Santa...
Figure 6.13 Photo of the Madison Slide in Montana, which occurred on 17 Augu...
Figure 6.14 A photograph of the newly formed Earthquake Lake. The cottages i...
Figure 6.15 Slump or rotational slide. (a) A slump is characterized by a cur...
Figure 6.16 (a) Erosion of the shoreline beneath these cliffs has led to slu...
Figure 6.17 La Conchita, California, was the site of debris flows in both 19...
Figure 6.18 Aftermath of the debris flow in 1970 that killed 18,000 people i...
Figure 6.19 A snow avalanche is composed of snow and air.
Figure 6.20 A lahar is a mixture of volcanic ash and water. The lahar that c...
Figure 6.21 A string of sinkholes near Roswell, New Mexico. Sinkholes such a...
Figure 6.22 Karst is a name for the features created both at and beneath the...
Figure 6.23 Map of landslide susceptibility in the contiguous United States....
Figure 6.24 (a) Wire mesh is draped over a slope to protect the roadway belo...
Figure 6.25 Sprayed cement, called Shotcrete, is used to stabilize slopes an...
Figure 6.26 Gabion used to stabilize a cut bank in a stream channel, to prev...
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 Photograph of the Earth from space. The atmosphere is a thin laye...
Figure 7.2 Vertical structure of the atmosphere, including temperatures.
Figure 7.3 The electromagnetic spectrum. Solar radiation bathes the Earth in...
Figure 7.4 Albedo varies across the surface of the Earth. In general, darker...
Figure 7.5 Weather station at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Monumen...
Figure 7.6 Common cloud types and their positions in the atmosphere.
Figure 7.7 Heat index chart. To find the apparent temperature, plot the actu...
Figure 7.8 Wind chill chart. To determine wind chill, or the temperature it ...
Figure 7.9 Global circulation patterns within the troposphere. Circulation c...
Figure 7.10 Large‐scale atmospheric circulation. Warm, moist air near the eq...
Figure 7.11 (a) A jet stream is a fast‐moving stream of air that flows at hi...
Figure 7.12 The Coriolis effect is caused by the rotation of the Earth. It c...
Figure 7.13 Idealized planetary‐scale surface circulation of the atmosphere....
Figure 7.14 Commonly formed air masses over North America. The prefix “m” me...
Figure 7.15 Approaching fronts and expected weather. (a) When a warm front m...
Figure 7.16 Typical global high and low pressure systems in (a) January and ...
Figure 7.17 Rotation of air around high and low pressure cells. Winds blow c...
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Nebraska teacher Minnie Freeman. Ms. Freeman saved many children ...
Figure 8.2 Ms. Freeman and several of her students gather in front of the so...
Figure 8.3 Temperature anomaly map of western Europe from 20 July to 20 Augu...
Figure 8.4 Dune of dust outside a home near Liberal, Kansas, in March of 193...
Figure 8.5 U.S. drought map issued by the United States Drought Monitor on 1...
Figure 8.6 Cars buried to their roofs in Vandalia, Ohio, during the Blizzard...
Figure 8.7 A snowmobile with stretcher in tow near Vandalia, Ohio, in 1978. ...
Figure 8.8 Icicles hanging from a tree. The tree's needles and branches are ...
Figure 8.9 A polar vortex is the result of a southward bend in the polar jet...
Figure 8.10 The three stages of thunderstorm formation. The first stage is b...
Figure 8.11 Squall line, indicated by bright red and yellow colors, that ext...
Figure 8.12 Weather conditions expected around a low pressure center. (a) Th...
Figure 8.13 (a) An idealized severe thunderstorm. The strongest of severe th...
Figure 8.14 Map of lightning flashes per square kilometer per year. The cool...
Figure 8.15 Lightning storm.
Figure 8.16 (a) During a thunderstorm, the bottom of a cloud is negatively c...
Figure 8.17 Microbursts are particularly dangerous for aircraft. A microburs...
Figure 8.18 Hail can be incredibly damaging to crops, livestock, homes, and ...
Figure 8.19 A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that touches the...
Figure 8.20 Map of tornado occurrences in the United States over a 35 year p...
Figure 8.21 A tornado forms within a supercell thunderstorm when conditions ...
Figure 8.22 (a) Doppler radar provides valuable information about tornado fo...
Figure 8.23 Examples of damage caused by tornadoes at each level on the Enha...
Figure 8.24 Damage from an EF‐5 tornado that touched down in Greensburg, Kan...
Figure 8.25 Map showing tornadoes reported in 2023 accompanied by a graph of...
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1 (a) Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh at the city wall of Nanking...
Figure 9.2 A hypothetical watershed that gathers water from precipitation an...
Figure 9.3 Mississippi River watershed is the largest drainage basin in the ...
Figure 9.4 Profile of an ideal stream from headwaters to mouth. The gradient...
Figure 9.5 Satellite image of Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula. The green fan‐s...
Figure 9.6 Hydrograph of the Rappahannock River near Fredericksburg, Virgini...
Figure 9.7 Flood frequency data for the Skykomish River at Goldbar, Washingt...
Figure 9.8 Straight stream segment with an alluvial fan. Sediment that was c...
Figure 9.9 Braided stream. A stream is braided when the river's multiple cha...
Figure 9.10 Meandering stream segment. Note the pronounced bends in the stre...
Figure 9.11 Aerial photo of a single meander in a meandering stream. The out...
Figure 9.12 Flash flood damage to a road. The dry intermittent stream channe...
Figure 9.13 Residents carrying a deceased person to the makeshift morgue in ...
Figure 9.14 Satellite images of the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri,...
Figure 9.15 Aerial photograph of flooding along the Mississippi River in 199...
Figure 9.16 Extreme flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, along the Cedar River, 2...
Figure 9.17 Storm surge rushes onshore when a hurricane makes landfall. Stor...
Figure 9.18 Storm surge damage in a neighborhood on the Bolivar Peninsula of...
Figure 9.19 A sinking coastline has left Venice vulnerable to coastal floodi...
Figure 9.20 Members of the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Special Tacti...
Figure 9.21 Flooding in New Orleans, Louisiana, was largely the result of fa...
Figure 9.22 Channelized bayou in Houston, Texas.
Figure 9.23 Elevated home in Keansburg, New Jersey. The home was elevated to...
Chapter 10
Figure 10.1 Enhanced satellite image of Hurricane Maria as it made landfall ...
Figure 10.2 Damage on Dominica the morning after Hurricane Maria made landfa...
Figure 10.3 Image taken in Dominica the morning after Hurricane Maria, a Cat...
Figure 10.4 GOES satellite image of Hurricane Maria, taken on the morning of...
Figure 10.5 Enhanced satellite image of Hurricane Maria making landfall in P...
Figure 10.6 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers working to help restore power in Sa...
Figure 10.7 Diagram of an easterly wave in the tropics near Puerto Rico.
Figure 10.8 Areas of the world in which tropical cyclones form.
Figure 10.9 Storm surge is caused by the combined effects of high wind, whic...
Figure 10.10 Development of a tropical cyclone. From Strahler, 2013. (a) A l...
Figure 10.11 Typical damage inflicted by hurricanes, indicated by their Saff...
Figure 10.12 Hurricane Katrina at its peak intensity on 28 August 2005.
Figure 10.13 Path of Hurricane Sandy, 2012. It followed a wandering path fro...
Figure 10.14 Typical tropical storm tracks in the world's oceans.
Figure 10.15 An aerial view shows a home damaged by Hurricane Harvey in Rock...
Figure 10.16 Relief workers removing a body from the wreckage of a building ...
Figure 10.17 Aerial view of damage on Galveston Island from Hurricane Ike, 2...
Figure 10.18 (a) Hurricane Sandy made landfall near New York City and did a ...
Figure 10.19 Aerial view of flooding in New Orleans following Hurricane Katr...
Figure 10.20 Aerial photograph of flooded downtown New Orleans, with the Sup...
Figure 10.21 Maximum floodwater levels in the New Orleans area after Hurrica...
Chapter 11
Figure 11.1 (a) An artistic depiction of Snowball Earth where ice is thought...
Figure 11.2 The average global temperature and CO
2
concentrations over the p...
Figure 11.3 Global temperature anomalies from 1880 to 2022 compared with the...
Figure 11.4 Spatial comparisons show greater warming over land than in the o...
Figure 11.5 Warmer temperatures have caused an increase in Arctic sea ice me...
Figure 11.6 The rise in the five primary greenhouse gases over time, as trac...
Figure 11.7 The greenhouse effect works by absorbing and reradiating heat cl...
Figure 11.8 Depiction of the greenhouse effect in action as it warms up a ca...
Figure 11.9 Identical photographs taken by infrared versus standard camera. ...
Figure 11.10 Depiction of the significant fluxes of energy in the Earth's en...
Figure 11.11 Transformation of incoming solar radiation (light energy) to ou...
Figure 11.12 (a) The color of any object determines whether solar radiation ...
Figure 11.13 Variation of albedo depending on the brightness of ground cover...
Figure 11.14 More complex systems of bonds within a molecule exhibit a large...
Figure 11.15 Comparison of the relative impacts of human versus natural radi...
Figure 11.16 The Milankovitch cycles of eccentricity, obliquity, and precess...
Figure 11.17 Final planetary temperature model used in the Paris Agreement s...
Figure 11.18 Temperature and CO
2
were tightly coupled during the comings and...
Figure 11.19 (a) Average planetary temperature and (b) CO
2
concentrations of...
Figure 11.20 Gigatons of CO
2
in the atmosphere (green and blue lines) and cu...
Figure 11.21 The relative abundance of
14
C in atmospheric CO
2
from 1825 to 1...
Figure 11.22 (a) Photo of Mt. Pinatubo erupting. (b) The rise in global mean...
Figure 11.23 The decline in O
2
(shown as the O
2
/N
2
ratio) in concert with th...
Figure 11.24 Global, annual average surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly ch...
Figure 11.25 Block diagram indicating primary causes and wide‐ranging effect...
Figure 11.26 (a) Black Sunday storm approaching a Texas town during the Dust...
Figure 11.27 Lake Mead before and during the ongoing millennial drought.
Figure 11.28 (a) Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana, circa 1...
Figure 11.29 Ice calving from the Antarctic Peninsula, creating massive iceb...
Figure 11.30 Global mean sea level rise (GMSL) from 1993 to 2020 as measured...
Figure 11.31 Sea level rise projections through 2300.
Figure 11.32 U.S. map showing counties impacted and those migrated to as a r...
Figure 11.33 Images showing land loss surrounding Isle de Jean Charles over ...
Figure 11.34 (a) Permafrost is permanently frozen soil with a seasonally act...
Figure 11.35 When water gets too warm, corals expel the symbiotic algae that...
Figure 11.36 A pterapod (sea snail) shell dissolved over the course of 45 da...
Figure 11.37 Thermohaline circulation of warmer surface waters (red) and col...
Figure 11.38 A map of the equatorial Pacific Ocean with South America visibl...
Figure 11.39 Flooding along the Russian River in Northern California during ...
Figure 11.40 How climate change has already impacted world regions.
Figure 11.41 Temperatures at which we expect even greater impacts on climate...
Figure 11.42 Geothermal power station near Taupo, New Zealand.
Figure 11.43 Earth's carbon cycle describes how carbon atoms flow between va...
Figure 11.44 The world's largest moving human‐made structure, the supercompu...
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1 Images of the Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara in May 2009. (a) Sa...
Figure 12.2 The fire triangle. A fire requires heat, fuel, and oxygen in ord...
Figure 12.3 The fire behavior triangle. A fire’s behavior is influenced by t...
Figure 12.4 Slash is the material left over after logging a patch of forest....
Figure 12.5 Land and sea breezes are caused by changes in temperature and at...
Figure 12.6 Images of the fires near the Franklin Ranch (March, 2017) near A...
Figure 12.7 Much of the wildland areas of southern California and northern M...
Figure 12.8 Fire is part of the life cycle of many trees.
Figure 12.9 Photos of burned areas in Yellowstone National Park. Forty‐five ...
Figure 12.10 Aerial image of the Cerro Grande fire near Los Alamos, New Mexi...
Chapter 13
Figure 13.1 Colorized image of a coronavirus, as might be seen under a scann...
Figure 13.2 Cyanobacteria have been present on the Earth for billions of yea...
Figure 13.3 A photomicrograph of
Plasmodium
, the microbe responsible for mal...
Figure 13.4 Colorized scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the head o...
Figure 13.5 Crescent‐shaped protozoans,
Toxoplasma gondii
, leaving an infect...
Figure 13.6 Red tide is caused by an algal bloom of dinoflagellates. They pr...
Figure 13.7 (a)
Leishmania donovani
; (b) a child infected with leishmaniasis...
Figure 13.8 (a) Photomicrograph of mycorrhizal fungi growing in association ...
Figure 13.9 Many organisms of the kingdom Archaea have properties that allow...
Figure 13.10 In this drawing from a fourteenth century Flemish manuscript, a...
Figure 13.11 Photomicrograph of the Ebola virus.
Figure 13.12 (a) During the height of the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, this...
Figure 13.13 The tomato plant on the left is healthy. The plant on the right...
Figure 13.14 Prion‐caused spongiform encephalopathy diseases occur in many s...
Figure 13.15 (a) Electron microscope image of
Clostridium tetani
with a larg...
Figure 13.16 A photo of a man with cutaneous anthrax (anthrax in the skin). ...
Figure 13.17 (a) Photomicrograph of
Borelia burgdorferi
, the bacterium that ...
Figure 13.18 London physician John Snow, who produced a study that proved ch...
Figure 13.19 During polio epidemics, which occurred before the vaccine becam...
Figure 13.20 An electron microscope image of SARS virus particles (in orange...
Figure 13.21 Photo depicting the typical appearance of a skin rash and white...
Figure 13.22 A child receiving the Flu Mist vaccine to guard against new str...
Figure 13.23 Amber‐colored drops on the surfaces of these cultures of
Penici
...
Figure 13.24 One of the last cases of smallpox in the world. This boy shows ...
Chapter 14
Figure 14.1 Artist's conception of the dust and gas surrounding a newly form...
Figure 14.2 (a) The asteroid Vesta is the second largest object within the A...
Figure 14.3 The asteroid Itokawa is an example of a “rubble pile” asteroid. ...
Figure 14.4 The tails of comet Hale‐Bopp on 23 July 1995. The long blue tail...
Figure 14.5 A meteor, or shooting star, races across the sky during the Pers...
Figure 14.6 (a) Meteorite NWA 869, an ordinary chondrite meteorite. Numerous...
Figure 14.7 The Curiosity rover found this collection of iron meteorites on ...
Figure 14.8 A map of the location of small bolide events from 1994 to 2013. ...
Figure 14.9 The surfaces of the other rocky bodies in the solar system have ...
Figure 14.10 Cassini crater (the largest crater in the image) in the souther...
Figure 14.11 There are only ∼200 verified impact craters on Earth, most iden...
Figure 14.12 The Torino Scale is used to classify possible collisions. The h...
Figure 14.13 Image from the Hubble Space Telescope of 22 pieces of comet Sho...
Figure 14.14 The meteorite shown imbedded itself in the cushion of the seat ...
Figure 14.15 Trees knocked down during the Tunguska Event as they appeared i...
Figure 14.16 Microscopic view of a sand‐sized shocked quartz grain from near...
Figure 14.17 Simple craters are bowl‐shaped. Complex craters from as the wal...
Figure 14.18 Clearwater Lakes in Quebec, Canada, are complex craters. North ...
Figure 14.19 Vredefort Dome, which represents the central peak of the crater...
Figure 14.20 Barringer Crater, or Meteor Crater, is located in northern Ariz...
Figure 14.21 A layer of sedimentary rock, known as the Moenkopi Formation, w...
Figure 14.22 (a) The location of the impact site by the Chesapeake. The impa...
Figure 14.23 An artist’s depiction of the Chicxulub impact on the Yucatan Pe...
Figure 14.24 A gravity anomaly marks the Chicxulub impact crater buried bene...
Figure 14.25 Coronal loops on the Sun seen in ultraviolet light by the TRACE...
Figure 14.26 The layers of the Sun and its atmosphere.
Figure 14.27 An aurora formed by the interaction of the solar wind and Earth...
Figure 14.28 Close view of sunspots observed by the Hinode spacecraft in Feb...
Figure 14.29 A solar flare (bright area) on 4 November 2003 seen in the extr...
Figure 14.30 Image of the Sun from 18 March 2003. Plasma structures are shap...
Guide
Cover Page
Table of Contents
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contributors
Preface
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Begin Reading
Bibliography
Index
WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
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Advanced Textbook Series
Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources: Techniques for Reservoir Engineering Analysis
Reza Barati and Mustafa M. Alhubail
Geomorphology and Natural Hazards: Understanding Landscape Change for Disaster Mitigation
Tim R. Davies, Oliver Korup, and John J. Clague
Remote Sensing Physics: An Introduction to Observing Earth from Space
Rick Chapman and Richard Gasparovic
Geology and Mineralogy of Gemstones
David P. Turner and Lee A. Groat
Data Analysis for the Geosciences: Essentials of Uncertainty, Comparison, and Visualization
Michael W. Liemohn
Earth System Geophysics
Steven R. Dickman
Earth’s Natural Hazards and Disasters
Bethany D. Hinga
Advanced Textbook 7
Earth’s Natural Hazards and Disasters
Bethany D. Hinga
University of Nebraska Kearney, USA
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication DataNames: Rinard Hinga, Bethany D., author.Title: Earth's natural hazards and disasters / Bethany D. Hinga.Description: Hoboken, NJ : Wiley-American Geophysical Union, 2024. | Series: Advanced textbooks series | Includes bibliographical references and index.Identifiers: LCCN 2024003429 (print) | LCCN 2024003430 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119217718 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119217787 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119217725 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Natural disasters. | Hazard mitigation.Classification: LCC GB5014 .R56 2024 (print) | LCC GB5014 (ebook) | DDC 363.34--dc23/eng/20240214LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024003429LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024003430
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Contributors
Joel BerrierUniversity of Nebraska at KearneyKearney, Nebraska, USA
Jillian GreggOregon State UniversityCorvalis, Oregon, USA
John HelmsSterling CollegeCraftsbury Common, Vermont, USA
Bethany D. HingaAcademic AffairsUniversity of Nebraska at KearneyKearney, Nebraska, USA
Anni MooreNatural and Mathematical SciencesMorningside UniversitySioux City, Iowa, USA
Austin NuxollUniversity of Nebraska at KearneyKearney, Nebraska, USA
Kelli WakefieldMesa Community CollegeMesa, Arizona, USA
Preface
There is no place on the planet that is free from natural hazards. They are found on every continent and in every country. Rapid population growth means that more people are moving into areas that were previously unoccupied. Many of those places, such as steep slopes, floodplains, and coastal plains, which are vulnerable to storm surges in hurricanes or typhoons, thus have inherent hazards associated with them. Economic losses due to natural disasters are growing higher, routinely in the tens to hundreds of billions of dollars even in relatively quiescent years. There have been numerous very large natural disasters within our lifetime. These include the 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami, which killed roughly 230,000 people, a 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which killed a quarter of a million people, and the COVID‐19 pandemic that began in 2019, spreading worldwide in 2020. The COVID‐19 pandemic alone has killed millions of people, and the general public has struggled to understand the science behind the disease and how best to protect themselves. A devastating earthquake in Turkey in 2023 killed more than 54,000 people, and left more than 1.5 million people homeless. Building collapse was the main reason for the high death toll. This begs the question: What can we do to prevent such loss of life in earthquakes? These are all good reasons to study natural hazards and disasters.
Why does a specific place or population experience a particular hazard? What caused a natural event to turn into a disaster and what were the contributing factors? Why didn't a similar natural event in another location turn into a disaster? What were the effects of this disaster on the population and on the environment? What were the economic losses? What is involved in the recovery process? What have we learned from this event as scientists, as a general public, as public officials? How can scientists use data to determine better mitigation strategies for the future? How can we be better prepared the next time an event like this occurs so there is less loss of life, property, and infrastructure?
In this book, I seek to answer these questions and to challenge readers to think critically about disasters. Using the benefit of hindsight, readers are guided through a discussion of what went wrong so they can pinpoint contributing factors to each type of disaster. Of course, we cannot prevent natural events from occurring. There will always be extreme weather, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and disease outbreaks. Rather, people need to know the risks in their location, how they should prepare to deal with these risks, and how they can keep their families safe. This book provides some insight and food for thought about what increases the risk of natural disaster and how the reader can prepare for the next natural event in their area that has the potential to turn deadly.
The Earth is ruled by awesome forces in all of the interrelated components of the Earth System. For that reason, I have taken an Earth System approach in writing this book, beginning with a discussion of this concept in Chapter 1. How does each natural event manifest itself in the four realms of the Earth System and how does each part of the system contribute to a population’s risk? The book is divided into three parts, each tied to an aspect of the Earth System. Hazards that have their roots in the solid Earth (geosphere) are covered in Part I. Hazards primarily related to the hydrosphere and atmosphere are explored in Part II. Biological hazards (which affect the biosphere) are addressed in Part III.
The format of each chapter follows a similar formula. Learning outcomes are identified for the chapter so the reader can keep those objectives in mind. The text of each chapter begins with a case study of a disaster. The reader is drawn into a narrative that includes an introduction to the location, site characteristics, and overriding hazards. As the case study unfolds, the reader follows a cascade of events that turned this natural event into a disaster. In these case studies, the reader is introduced to the science behind the disaster that concludes with a summary of the event, lessons learned, and future directions. The remainder of the chapter presents a much broader view of each natural event. It includes a discussion of the science of hazards in accessible terms, acknowledgement of other factors that contribute to hazards, further case studies and examples of natural events, and mitigation strategies. Jargon with which the reader may be unfamiliar is given in italics in each chapter and defined in the glossary.
This book is suitable for undergraduates in a general education class in natural hazards, but may also be appropriate for higher level students or disaster responders who are seeking a general foundation in natural hazards and a more applied approach to the natural sciences in which geology, geography, weather, and microbes create hazardous conditions for us as well as for animals, plants, and the environment.
Glossary
‘A’a
A lava surface that is jagged and sharp.
Accidental host
A host that gets sick with a disease from a pathogen, but cannot transmit that disease.
Accretion
The process of creating larger bodies from several smaller ones.
Achondrite
A stony meteorite that does not contain spherical chondrules, or collections of minerals.
Aerial fuels
Fuel for fires found higher than 6 ft (1.8 m) above the surface of the ground.
Aerobiology
A branch of biology in which scientists study the microbes in the air.
Aerosol
A small droplet or gas molecule in the atmosphere.
Aftershock
A smaller earthquake that occurs in the same area, but after a major earthquake. Aftershocks may be nearly as large as the main shock.
Air mass
A body of air with a set of characteristics that is distinct from the air around it.
Albedo
Reflectiveness of a surface. Surfaces with high albedo are strongly reflective.
Algal bloom
Rapid reproduction of algae in a body of water.
Alluvial fan
A fan‐shaped deposit of debris left behind when a steep stream changes slope and starts flowing on flat land. Debris carried in the fast‐moving steep stream can no longer be carried by the slower‐moving stream on flat land, and thus deposits most of its sediment as an alluvial fan.
Alpine glacier
A glacier found in a mountainous region.
Alternative fuels
Fuels other than fossil fuels. This includes nuclear, wind, tidal, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy.
Amplitude
The height of a wave, measured from the midpoint to the top (crest) or bottom (trough) of the wave.
Andesite
An extrusive or volcanic igneous rock. It is typically gray or brown in color and crystals may be visible within the rock. Andesite has between 55% and 69% silica.
Anthropogenic
Created by humans.
Antibiotic resistance
The ability of bacteria to resist antibiotic treatment. Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem because many strains of bacteria are now resistant to most antibiotics, so people infected with these bacteria are very difficult or impossible to treat.
Anticyclone
Rotation around a high pressure system. The rotation is clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as a result of the Coriolis effect.
Aphanitic
An igneous rock texture that describes a rock composed primarily of microscopic crystals.
Aphelion
The Earth's farthest distance from the Sun in its elliptical orbit.
Archaea
A group of single‐celled organisms whose cells lack a defined nucleus that have distinct molecular characteristics separating them from bacteria. They are among the most ancient life forms on the planet, and can inhabit a number of environments that are inhospitable to other life forms.
Aspect
The direction a slope faces.
Asteroid
A rocky or stony body in space that is smaller than a dwarf planet.
Asthenosphere
The mechanical layer of the Earth found directly beneath the lithosphere. The asthenosphere is part of the upper mantle compositional layer. It is a plastic solid, which means it is flexible and able to circulate. Circulation in this layer keeps the tectonic plates in motion.
Astronomical high tide
High tide during new Moon and full Moon phases, when the Sun and the Moon have the greatest effect on tidal levels.
Astronomical unit (AU)
The distance from the Earth to the Sun, approximately 93 million mi (149.6 million km).
Atmosphere
A relatively thin layer of air that surrounds a planet. The Earth's atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.04% carbon dioxide.
Atmospheric pressure
The weight of a column of air from the Earth's surface to the edge of the atmosphere. It is measured in millibars or inches of mercury.
Background noise
Small movements of the Earth caused by things such as the wind, thunder, waves crashing on the shoreline, people walking, traffic, animals, or other everyday activity.
Bacteria
The smallest life forms on the planet, they are composed of cells without a defined nucleus.
Basal cavity
A place where an ice shelf is undercut by seawater.
Basalt
An igneous rock composed of microscopic crystals, which has between 45% and 54% silica (SiO
2
).
Basaltic
An igneous rock composition that has between 45% and 54% silica.
Base flow
The level of sustained flow in a river during dry or fair weather conditions. It usually represents the amount of water supplied to a stream by groundwater, or water that is stored and migrates below the surface of the Earth.
Base isolation
A construction practice in which the weight of a building is carried on flexible pilings or large casters with roller bearings. This allows the building to remain more or less stationary as the ground beneath it moves during an earthquake. Base isolation is a method used to reduce or eliminate damage to a building in an earthquake.
Biogeochemical cycle
A description of a cycle that describes the interaction of organisms, the Earth, and chemical compounds and how they move through the Earth system.
Biosphere
The component of the Earth system that includes all life on Earth.
Black smoker
A hydrothermal vent on the ocean floor that emits hot, mineral laden water. Black smokers are found at midocean ridges in oceans around the world. They were discovered in the 1970s.
Blast deflection
A strategy to change the trajectory of an asteroid so it does not impact the Earth. Blast deflection uses a nuclear explosion, detonated very near the asteroid, causing the asteroid to remain intact but change its trajectory.
Block
Solid piece of rock that is hurled out of a volcano's crater.
Body wave
Seismic waves that travel through the body of the interior of the Earth.
Bolide
An extraterrestrial body that strikes a larger body, such as a meteor striking the Earth.
Bomb
A blob of molten lava or a chunk of rock hurled through the air by an erupting volcano.
Braided stream
A stream that consists of multiple interwoven channels separated by sand or gravel bars. It is common at the base of a mountain range or in any other setting with high sediment supply and nearly flat terrain.
Bread crust bomb
A bomb in which the surface of the rock is cracked like a crusty loaf of bread.
Building codes
A set of laws that govern how a building must be constructed. Some areas of the world require enhanced building codes to ensure that buildings can survive severe shaking from an earthquake or high winds from hurricanes.
Calculated risk
The decision to live with the hazards in a region, even though you know that a natural disaster could happen in that area.
Caldera
A depression on a volcano, caused by the collapse of the ground surface over an area that magma has evacuated.
Calving
A piece of the front of a glacier or ice sheet breaks off of the main body of ice. If the ice falls into the water it becomes an iceberg, or floating block of ice.
Carbon capture
A collection of techniques that allow the removal of carbon dioxide from flue gas and other industrial sources.
Carbon footprint
An individual or country's contribution to excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Carbon sequestration
A natural or artificial process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and held in solid or liquid form.
Carbon sink
A reservoir that takes up and stores carbon dioxide. One such reservoir is forest biomass, which is the plant material within a forest.
Cellulose
An insoluble substance, which is the main constituent of plant cell walls and of vegetable fibers such as cotton.
Char
Solid material left after vegetation burns.
Chemolithotrophs
Archaea that derive their nutrients directly from rocks. The rock provides them with electrons for energy production.
Chemosynthesis
The process in which bacteria or other organisms produce food from energy derived from oxidation of inorganic chemicals. Carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and oxygen combine to create sugar, sulfur, and water.
Chondrite
A type of stony meteorite that contains spherical structures called chondrules.
Chondrule
A spherical structure within a stony meteorite, usually composed of mineral crystals.
Cinder
A small block of hardened lava filled with circular air pockets. Cinder is usually black or red in color. It is the main component of a volcanic feature called a cinder cone.
Climate
The prevailing or typical weather patterns for a given region based on long‐term (30 year) averages of weather.
Climate feedback
Phenomena of slightly warming or cooling of the planet, leading to more significant warming or cooling by another mechanism.
Coastal desert
A desert generally found on the western edges of continents near about 23° north and south of the equator. They are affected by cold ocean currents that parallel the coast. These cold water zones offshore do not produce a great deal of evaporation, so precipitation on the adjacent coast is low.
Coastal flood
