Natural disasters by Chew Kuan Yang 4Loyalty

Natural disasters

The environmental issue that will be discussed in the following is natural disasters. I chose this issue because natural disasters are killing humans and should be warned to people. I also chose this issue because I feel we should help people who have suffered from natural disasters (and of course they are surviving!).

Natural disasters are caused by of course, nature. But sometimes, humans cause natural disasters. For example, earthquake’s huge damages are partially caused by the structure of the buildings. If the structures of the buildings are strong and durable, earthquakes would not cause the buildings to collapse so fast that nobody would have time to escape.

Figure 1: Two tornados hitting the Midway Trailer park

This photo depicts two tornados hitting the Midway trailer park In Kansas. This is only 2 out of 78 tornados on April 11, 1965. This makes it the second palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) tornado outbreak. 261 people were killed altogether during the 1965 second palm Sunday tornado outbreak. Also known as a twister, tornados are the most violent storm. They are twisting air that are destructive. I think Kansas has the most frequent tornado outbreaks.

Figure 2: A bank building in Beichuan after the earthquake

This photo depicts a bank building in Beichuan after the Sichuan earthquakes. As you can see, earthquakes are destructive. The Sichuan earthquake is ranked 19 according to death poll. The Sichuan earthquake has caused 69,227 lives to be gone. The Sichuan earthquake happened less than 3 months before the 2008 Olympics. An earthquake is a large vibration that can destroy and kill. I wonder how a vibration can do this.

Figure 3: Aftermath of cyclone Nargis from aerial view

The picture depicts the aftermath of cyclone Nargis from aerial view (from an airplane view). Cyclone Nargis was a strong tropical cyclone that is the worst natural disaster in the history of Myanmar. Countries that help people affected by cyclone Nargis are: Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Cambodia, Singapore, etc.

Figure 4: An early 19-century drawing of Krakatoa

This picture depicts an early 19-century drawing of Krakatoa. On August 26–27, 1883, the volcano erupted (said to be the worst on the island). 165 villages and towns were destroyed and 132 seriously damaged and at least 36,417 people died. The eruption destroyed two-thirds of the island of Krakatoa. I heard that volcanoes help the earth by getting the earth’s core magma pressure so that the earth will not explode.

Figure 5: Rubble of buildings after Tangshan earthquake

The photo depicts rubble of buildings from the Tangshan earthquake. The Tangshan earthquake is said to be the worst earthquake of the 20th century by death poll. It is the second largest earthquake worldwide. 242,419 to 779,000 were lives were killed. It happened on 1976 July 27 at 19h:42min:53.8sec.

These pictures are relevant to the issue because it is about natural disasters and they are either the aftermath, the looks, or the action.

We can improve this situation by building strong structured buildings for earthquakes, a reservoir near a volcano and underground basements for tornadoes. I was actually thinking about building a big dam just at the entrance of a tsunami affected beach and there will be a door to allow visitors to come in but when there is a tsunami, everybody just rush out of the door and be safe.