Tsunami's

A tsunami is created when large amount of waves are displaced, which happens when earthquakes, mass movement, or volcano eruptions occur under water.

The 2004 tsunami was the deadliest one in recorded history. Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand were hit the hardest.

It had a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3 and was the second largest earthquake ever recorded.
283 100 people were killed, 14 100 missing and 1 126 900 people displaced. The damage cost more that $7 billion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NfKZAiWRoE

This link takes you to a one of many videos that show the horror that the tsunami caused.

Cluster map

Climate Change Meetings

I was trilled to hear that Ireland recently hosted a climate change conference at the Mansion House, Dublin. It was held by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).

The speaker was Dr Wilfried Haeberli, Director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service. He spoke about the recent changes in global glaciers. It was confirmed that the rate of melting ice caps has doubled in recent years. This will have a major impact on the environment, human health, natural hazards, water and energy supply.

I was glad to see that Ireland was helping to raise awareness of climate change. I hope that we host many more of these meeting's in the coming years.

Volcanoes

A volcano is a an opening in the planet's surface or crust which allows hot molten rock and ashes to espace the earth's surface. Over time these openings slowly turn into mountains.

Volcanoes are usually caused when tectonic plates are pulled apart or come together. An example of plates pulling apart is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This is found on the ocean floor of the Atlantic.

There are 3 types of volcanoes. Extinct, dormant and active.

An example of active volcanoes would be Mount Vesuvius in Italy. It erupted first in 79 A.D, destroying the town of Pompeii. Its last known eruption was in 1944, and there has been no further activity to date.

The eruption of Mount St. Helens, thought to be a dormant volcano, in 1980 was one of the worst volcanic disasters in the history of the U.S.A. However, it offered scientists an opportunity to examine and study a large volcanic eruption, which has therefore made them more aware of these kind of natural disasters.

The thing about volcanoes is that they can happen anytime without warning. We can only hope in time that scientists will be able to tell when they will erupt, preventing the loss of many lifes.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes. Huge storm that can be over 6 miles long! It has spiraling winds at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. A hurricane can last up to 4 weeks, moving at 10 - 20 mph across the ocean. A hurricane gets its energy and heat from contact with warm ocean waters.Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around an "eye". The "eye" is the calmest part of the storm. When a hurricane reaches land, it can cause great damage to buildings, people and nature.....

One hurricane that you are probably all aware of is Hurricane Katrina. It is one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It formed on the 23rd of August during the 2005 hurricane season. Starting on the 29th oh August, the most severe loss of life happened in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The devastation caused by this event left many stranded without food, clothing or a place to stay. Hundreds died within days.

Scientists have recently proven that the recent amount of hurricanes that have occured in the past few years are the product of climate change. So please take that into consideration when you next think that climate change isn't such a big deal. It is. Let's work together to help prevent another disaster like Katrina....

Welcome

Hello and welcome to NextSpace!

Hurricanes, volcanic erruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis - even bogbursts here in Ireland - seem to be happening at an increasing rate. The theme of this blog is the effect that global warming is having on natural disasters in the world today.

I hope that this blog will emphasise the fact that climate change is a serious issue. Not just for us, but what type of world are future generations going to inherit?

Let's stop focusing on "MySpace", but rather the "NextSpace".....

Here is a video about some major natural disasters...



Those are only a few of the horrific disasters that are occurring today! Its frightening to think that these events appear to be taking place more and more frequently around the world...


In my next posts I will be looking at these different disasters in more detail. How much of a threat they pose and what can Ireland expect.

I look forward to hearing your views!

All pictures i obtained from Google Images. All of my information came from Wikipedia. The videos i found on Youtube.