Discuss The Responses To One Storm Event In The British Isles You Have Studied
Discuss the responses to one storm event in the British Isles you have studied. (10 marks)
The Great Storm in Britain in 1987 had a number of devastating effects, including the death of 19 people in the UK and over £1.5 billion in insurance claims. However it is argued that some of these effects could have been avoided if the emergency services had been able to respond effectively. Fire services dealt with four months worth of calls in one night, but as in the worst affected areas phone lines were, depite the best efforts of the phone companies, down these calls were usually for more minor incidents, which effectively blocked up the phone lines for the serious incidents.
Highway agencies were praised for how quickly they responded, sending out hundreds of workers to clear roads almost immediately.
However the MET office were criticised for inadequate prediction of the event, they only issued warnings to the public three hours before the storm hit, meaning that both individuals and service providers such as the fire service and the Ministry of Defence were unable to respond to the best of their abilities.
Explain how each of altitude and oceanic circulation influence climate (10 marks)
Both altitude and oceanic circulation have a significant influence on the climate of an area. The effect of altitude is most noticeable in areas such as the Himalayas, Alps, Rockies and Andes, which are much cooler than areas of similar latitude at different altitudes as temperatures decrease steadily with height above sea level. Air which is moving through the atmosphere cools upon rising, or warms up when descending, according to adiabatic laws. In the atmosphere the change of temperature with height is called the Environmental Lapse Rho (ELR). The general value for ELR is 6.5ºC for every 1000 metres.
Oceanic circulation is the large scale movement of water within oceans; it is part of the horizontal transfer of heat from the tropics to the Polar Regions and is responsible for
The Great Storm in Britain in 1987 had a number of devastating effects, including the death of 19 people in the UK and over £1.5 billion in insurance claims. However it is argued that some of these effects could have been avoided if the emergency services had been able to respond effectively. Fire services dealt with four months worth of calls in one night, but as in the worst affected areas phone lines were, depite the best efforts of the phone companies, down these calls were usually for more minor incidents, which effectively blocked up the phone lines for the serious incidents.
Highway agencies were praised for how quickly they responded, sending out hundreds of workers to clear roads almost immediately.
However the MET office were criticised for inadequate prediction of the event, they only issued warnings to the public three hours before the storm hit, meaning that both individuals and service providers such as the fire service and the Ministry of Defence were unable to respond to the best of their abilities.
Explain how each of altitude and oceanic circulation influence climate (10 marks)
Both altitude and oceanic circulation have a significant influence on the climate of an area. The effect of altitude is most noticeable in areas such as the Himalayas, Alps, Rockies and Andes, which are much cooler than areas of similar latitude at different altitudes as temperatures decrease steadily with height above sea level. Air which is moving through the atmosphere cools upon rising, or warms up when descending, according to adiabatic laws. In the atmosphere the change of temperature with height is called the Environmental Lapse Rho (ELR). The general value for ELR is 6.5ºC for every 1000 metres.
Oceanic circulation is the large scale movement of water within oceans; it is part of the horizontal transfer of heat from the tropics to the Polar Regions and is responsible for