Cuol carleton

ERTH 2415 : Natural Disasters

Course Information – Welcome! Video lectures and course content were created by Mareike Adams

Course Instructor:

Samuel Morton (samuel.morton@carleton.ca)

Office hours: Thursdays 10:00 – 11:00, in HP 2125

Teaching Assistants:

Naomi Weinberg (naomi.weinberg@carleton.ca)

Office hours: Mondays 2:00-3:00 PM in HP2125

Nabil Shawwa (nabil.shawwa@carleton.ca)

Office hours: Tuesdays 1:00-2:00 PM in HP2125

Yingzhou Li (yingzhou.li@carleton.ca)

Office hours: Wednesdays 1:00-2:00 PM in HP2125

Please visit or email us if you have any questions/concerns!

mailto:mareikeadams@umail.ucsb.edu

mailto:naomi.weinberg@carleton.ca

mailto:nabil.shawwa@carleton.ca

mailto:naomi.weinberg@carleton.ca

Lectures & CUOL CUOL Web Channel

The CUOL Web Channel will play a recorded video of the lecture on their web

channel:

https://vod.cuol.ca/stream/web-channel

Initial Show Time: Mondays at 1:00 PM – 3:45 PM EST

Repeat Show Time: Tuesdays at 1:30 AM – 4:15 AM EST

Video on Demand (VOD)

For a $50 subscription fee, you can access the recorded videos of the lectures

at any time. You can also rent individual lectures for $6 each.

https://vod.cuol.ca/vod

CUOL Student Centre (Loeb D299)

The CUOL Student Centre has kiosks available to view each lecture for free,

available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Lectures can also be freely viewed on campus using computer terminals, such

as those found at the MacOdrum Library.

https://vod.cuol.ca/stream/web-channel

https://vod.cuol.ca/vod

CUOL Information and Assistance

CUOL website: www.carleton.ca/cuol

Video On Demand login page: https://vod.cuol.ca/vod

CUOL Student Centre: D299 Loeb, 613-520-4055

General Information:

Email: cuol@carleton.ca

Video on Demand support and questions:

Email: vod@carleton.ca

http://www.carleton.ca/cuol

https://vod.cuol.ca/vod

mailto:cuol@carleton.ca

mailto:vod@carleton.ca

Course Information Optional Texts:

Natural Hazards, 4th or 5th Edition, Edward A. Keller & Duane E. Devecchio

OR

Natural Disasters – Canadian Edition, 4th edition, Abbott, P.L. and Samson, C. 2015

Grading:

Quizzes:

• 4 quizzes – 5% each – multiple choice

• Each will take ~30 min to 1 hr. You will have 3 hours.

• Open on CuLearn for 4 days – but you only have 1 chance to complete it

• Once you have started the quiz it will be open for the allotted time – closing the browser will not stop the clock!

Quizzes: 20%

Midterm Exam: 40%

Final Exam: 40%

Course Information

Quiz breakdown:

Quiz 1 : Lectures 1-3

Quiz 2 : Lectures 4-5

Quiz 3 : Lectures 6-7

Quiz 4 : Lectures 8-10

Quizzes:

• After you finish a quiz, you can immediately see how you scored – but not the questions you missed

• Open book – but you cannot do them in groups!

• Should you experience problems during your Quiz: • Note the time

• Take a screenshot of the problem

• No accommodation will be made to waive or redo a Quiz unless supporting or substantiating documentation is provided

Course Information

Grading:

Exams:

• Midterm Exam will occur on February 29th from 2:30 – 4:30 pm

• Lectures 1-5

• Final Exam will occur during final exam period (Date/Time To Be Announced)

• Lectures 6-11

• Local students, living within 100km of Carleton, write their exams on campus.

• Distance students, living over 100km from campus, will write exams at either

a Carleton University Test Centre or may apply to write the exam at distance

with a proctor. Distance students should apply through CUOL immediately.

Quizzes: 20%

Exam 1: 40%

Exam 2: 40%

NO questions/emails

regarding exams will

be answered on the

day of the actual exam

Course Timeline for Winter 2020

Offshore British Columbia–Southeastern Alaska

2017 Mw 7.1 earthquake, central Mexico

Hurricane Harvey – Category 4

Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project Hurricane Irma – Category 4

Hurricane Maria – Category 4 2017 Hurricane Patterns

Hurricane Harvey – Category 4

Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project Hurricane Irma – Category 4

Hurricane Maria – Category 4

Is this normal??

Hurricane Sandy (2012)

Map by Robert Simmon, using

data from the NOAA Earth System

Research Laboratory

Course Objectives

• Demonstrate a comprehension of Earth’s geologic, hydrologic and atmospheric processes

• Identify the cause and effect relationships between earth processes and natural hazards

• Assess the associated risks of natural disasters on human societies and identify when a hazard becomes a catastrophe

• Discuss if and how geological catastrophes can be predicted, mitigated, and avoided

• Develop and apply skills in scientific observation, data interpretation and critical thinking

Why Studying Natural Hazards is Important

• Have experienced large, costly, and deadly natural hazards

since 1995

• Deadliest tsunami caused by earthquake in Indian Ocean

• Tsunami in Japan caused by largest and costliest earthquake in

recorded history

• Catastrophic flooding in different areas of the world

• Volcanic eruptions that shut down international airports

• Worst tornado outbreak in U.S. history

• Etc.

Forgan,

Oklahoma

Processes: Internal and External

• Processes • Physical, chemical, and biological ways in which events

affect Earth’s surface

• Internal processes come from forces within Earth • Plate tectonics

• Result of internal energy of Earth

• External processes come from forces on Earth’s surface • Atmospheric effects

• Energy from the Sun

Hazard, Disaster, or Catastrophe

• Hazard - Natural process or event that is a potential threat to human

life or property

• Disaster - Hazardous event that occurs over a limited time in a

defined area - Criteria:

1) Ten or more people killed 2) 100 or more people affected 3) State of emergency is declared 4) International assistance is requested

• Catastrophe - Massive disaster that requires significant amount of money

or time to recover

Natural Disaster ?

A large earthquake occurs:

- In Vancouver:

- On an Arctic Island:

YES

NO

Natural Disaster ?

A large earthquake occurs:

- In Vancouver: YES

- On an Arctic Island: NO

Misnomer

- Gives the impression that disasters are only the

fault of nature

- “Natural” disasters often triggered when society

ignores natural hazards

Natural Hazard?

A large earthquake occurs:

- In Vancouver:

- On an Arctic Island:

A source of danger that exists in the environment

and that has the potential to cause harm.

- Potentially damaging

- Ex. unstable snow on a mountain slope, high water

levels, etc.

YES

YES

Some Major Hazards in Canada

Major Hazards in the United States

Hazard, Disaster, or Catastrophe, cont.

• During past half century, there has been a dramatic

increase in natural disasters :

- Examples: Haitian earthquake, Indonesian tsunami,

Hurricane Katrina

• United Nation: 1990’s “International Decade for

Natural Hazards Reduction”

- Mitigation

• Reduce the effects of something

• Natural disaster preparation

Numbers, Effects, and Causes of Worldwide

Natural Disasters

Numbers, Effects, and Causes of Worldwide

Natural Disasters

• Storms attain category 3 wind speeds

~9 hrs faster than in 1980s

• Global wind speeds have increased

by ~5% over last 20 yrs

• In ground-based records, ~76% of

weather stations in the USA have

seen increases in extreme

precipitation since 1948

• Rainfall totals from tropical cyclones

in North Atlantic have risen at a rate

of 24%/decade since 1988

• Twice as many extreme regional

snowstorms between 1961-2010 than

1900-1960 (William Lau, NASA’s

Goddard Space Flight Center)

• In 2005, Atlantic hurricanes are ~60%

more powerful than in the 1970’s

(Kerry Emanuel, MIT)

Numbers, Effects, and Causes of Worldwide

Natural Disasters

Asia is particularly vulnerable,

why?

Death and Damage caused

by Natural Hazards

• Effects of hazards can differ and change

with time because of changes of

patterns of human land use

• Natural hazards that cause the greatest

loss on human life may not cause the

most property damage

• Hazards vary greatly in their ability to

cause catastrophe

Prediction:

Where would you expect the greatest

damage/economic losses from natural disasters?

A. Poorest nations

B. Developing nations

C. Industrial nations

World Disaster Damage ($$)

0

100

200

300

400

500

Poorest nations Developing nations Industrial nations

Source: ICLR, based on data from International Red Cross P. Kovacs, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, 2005

US$ billions (2000 prices),1991-2000

Prediction:

Where would you expect the greatest death toll from

natural disasters?

A. Poorest nations

B. Developing nations

C. Industrial nations

World Disaster Fatalities

0

100

200

300

400

Poorest nations Developing nations Industrial nations

Thousands of people, 1991-2000

Source: ICLR, based on data from International Red Cross

P. Kovacs, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, 2005

Earthquake in Haiti, 2010: A Human-Caused

Catastrophe?

• Earthquake became a catastrophe • Eighty-five percent of people in

Port-au-Prince lived in slum conditions

• Poor conditions lead to 190,000 destroyed or damaged homes • Killed a quarter million people