River runoff from the land: Cane farmers in northern Queensland have had to reverse the cycle of the wetlands so that the water leaves the land quickly, in order for their cane crops to survive. The problem with the water leaving quickly, though, is that it drags the topsoil and various other harmful agricultural chemicals with it. That dirty water then filters into the river catchments that feed the Great Barrier Reef. This water turns into mud, algae and bacteria that settle on the living coral organisms. It then smothers the animal and eventually kills it.…
Tropical Storm Brenda (tracking map pictured) was the second named storm of the 1960 Atlantic hurricane season. It developed in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico on July 28, and became a tropical storm after moving ashore over the Florida Peninsula. Accelerating northeast along the U.S. East Coast, it peaked north of Wilmington, North Carolina, as a moderate storm with winds of 60 mph (97 km/h). After crossing the Mid-Atlantic States and New England, it dissipated on July 31 over southern Canada. The storm inflicted moderate damage in Florida, the worst since Hurricane Easy of 1950, and dropped heavy rainfall as far north as New York City. Total damage was estimated at $5 million, and at least one traffic-related death was blamed on the cyclone.…
Hurricane Elena was an unpredictable and damaging tropical cyclone that affected the United States Gulf Coast in late August and early September 1985. Threatening popular tourist destinations during Labor Day weekend, Elena repeatedly defied forecasts, triggering an unprecedented series of evacuations; many residents and tourists were forced to leave twice in a matter of days. Elena's slow movement off western Florida resulted in severe beach erosion and damage to coastal buildings, roads, and seawalls. The hurricane devastated the Apalachicola Bay shellfish industry, killing off vast oyster beds and leaving thousands of workers unemployed. Farther west, Dauphin Island in Alabama endured wind gusts as high as 130 mph (210 km/h) and a significant…
Ahead of the hurricane's landfall, a station south of Apalachicola reported wind gusts of 79 mph (127 km/h) at an elevation of 115 ft (35 m).[54] At sea level, sustained winds reached 52 mph (84 km/h) at Keaton Beach, with gusts 67 mph (108 km/h).[55] While moving ashore, Hermine produced a 5.8 ft (1.8 m) storm surge at Cedar Key.[56] Heavy rainfall occurred across western Florida, reaching 22.36 in (568 mm) over 72 hours at the Lake Tarpon Canal in Pinellas County.[57] The outer rainbands of Hermine spawned an EF0 tornado just southwest of Windermere with a width of 450 ft (140 m) and 80 to 85 mph (129 to 137 km/h) winds. On the ground for 1.2 mi (1.9 km), the twister damaged about 100 trees, along with several fences and windows.[58] The…
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT- What made Debbie’s violence so much worse was the fact she was moving extremely slow, whirling her way through the world famous north Queensland islands and the great barrier reef for more than 48 hours also adding to her destruction, her timing could not have been worse, coming just as it emerges that two-thirds of the reef has been bleached due to the climate change up in North Queensland. The assault on the pristine Whitsunday Islands has not stopped with a continuous battering to the coral, however. Heavy rain that fell during and after the cyclone is pushing massive amounts of nitrogen, sediment and debris pollution into reef waters. Flood plumes from the Gregory and Fitzroy rivers are heading out to sea while a deluge…
The combination of the world’s growing population and increased incidence of natural disasters proves that emergency response plans are needed to maintain civil order within both urban and rural areas. The Hurricane Ike Rapid Needs Assessment for the Houston area provides a quick estimation of the needs of the people at days 5 and 6 after the incident. The information gleaned from this assessment is to be used in establishment of personal needs cells, which provide food, water, electricity generators prioritized by medical needs, medicines, and other health maintenance items (toiletries). Many needs and issues…
Many reefs are located in the cyclone zone due to the necessary conditions they require to grow. For as long as reefs have existed they have been shaped by cyclones and intense storms. The severity of the storms and cyclones is determined by the length and intensity of the storms, which determines how much damage will be inflicted onto the reefs. The cyclones and storms generate large waves and strong winds, which do most of the damage to the reefs. The waves have the power to rip apart soft coral and chip and damage the harder coral. Sometimes cyclones may result in large amounts of the reefs systems being buried by sediment. Reefs are very delicate and need very precise conditions to live and grow, the amount of rain that is associated with intense low systems can flood the reef with fresh water and reduce the salinity levels. During the storms the turbidly of the water also increases so the sunlight cannot reach the coral reducing its ability to produce food. Tropical cyclone Larry (2006) showed that reefs could benefit from storms. The waves that were produced by Larry removed sediment that had accumulated and reduce the water temperature to the ideal level.…
The great depression in Australia affected many people in both bad ways and good ways; just some of the things that happened in the great depression was extreme unemployment, Phar-lap, and children wandering the…
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is an ecosystem at risk that is both vulnerable and resilient to change. Natural stress and human induced modifications affect the functioning of the ecosystem, with short and long term impacts. Extreme weather, erosion and storm waves are natural stresses that put pressure on the ecosystem while human-induced changes such as tourism, overpopulation and the result of industries are also prevalent.…
As the 2 year anniversary of the devastation resulting from hurricane Katrina approaches and a new hurricane season gets underway. What can Americans living in coastal areas do to prepare? Careful consideration should be given not only to preparation for physical survival in the hurricane but also to how to survive in the aftermath of the storm. Hurricane Katrina caused 81.2 billion dollars in damages and an estimated 1,836 people lost their lives.…
The Hurricane of 1938 was a very powerful storm. There were many deaths and a lot of destruction.There were some conditions that made the storm bad like conditions, human error and large waves. The way the Hurricane hit the Eastern U.S was a surprise to all.…
Hurricanes can cause a lot of damage. My hurricane is Hurricane Andrew of 1992. Hurricanes can pop up at any time. They can cause massive amounts of damage.…
Setting aside the philosophical and legal issues this case raises, what are the management or efficiency arguments for and against a more centralized response to large national disasters like Hurricane Katrina?…
Firstly: The most effected people were the working class. They were effected because they had unstable and low paying jobs so they did not get much money so if problem came along they could not do much. Also many working class people lost their homes and were forced to live on the streets or under bridges and they had no use to get up in the morning because they knew there was no chance of getting a job. Living standards were dropped dramatically because the people had no money to buy new clothes or sheets to sleep on and everything became flea ridden. Also many people had no food, so they had to line up outside the Salvation Army's kitchen to get some warm soup. There were around 30, 000 unemployed people at that time in all of Australia. There were lots of family hardships and people arguing with each other. There was also a big risk of an epidemic breaking out as all of the people were living together in one place. So the working class was effected the most and all of them were struggling a lot.…
The main impact on Australia was the mass amount of people who immigrated to Australia illegally known as refugees. Thousands of people crammed themselves into small boats which were in very bad conditions and risked their lives in an attempt to make their way to a much safer, better place, like Australia.…