Kenneth W. Lingenfelter
Instructor Wael Hassian
Park University Internet Campus
A course paper presented to the School for Arts and Sciences and Distance Learning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Baccalaureate
Natural Disasters
Park University
April 24, 2013
Earthquakes, typhoons, and tornadoes continue to devastate the United States and the entire plant through the activities of planet Earths natural movement and global warming elements. Earthquakes can happen at any time using the plate tectonics theory as individual faults where Earth ruptures and the two sides move past each other. (Abbott, 2012) They are defined as: the divergent or pull-apart motion at spreading centers cause rock to fail in tension; the slide-past motion occurs as the rigid plates fracture and move around the curved Earth; and the convergent motion that occur at subduction zones and in continent-continent collisions store immense amounts of energy that are released in Earth’s largest tectonic earthquakes. (Abbott, 2012) Typhoons (Hurricane) are huge tropical cyclones in which heat is built up over long periods of summer heat over seawater at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit, 200ft of ocean; the air is warm, humid, and unstable enough to sustain convection. (Abbott, 2012) The tropical disturbance is the development of low-pressure with the organization of thunderstorms with very weak surface winds. Tornadoes are normally descending from large thunderstorms and create the strongest winds of any weather phenomena. Tornadoes are extremely dangerous with most violent US tornadoes moving from southwest to northeast with winds speeds to register at 310 mph. (Abbott, 2012) In 2012; natural disasters cost the United States over $160 billion with 9500 people losing life. Hurricane Sandy is responsible for the majority of economic loss in 2012. (Munich Re, 2013) This essay will discuss
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