Natural Hazards and Forecasting
- Earth & Space
- Ages 11–14 · Grades 6–8
What you’ll find out
- Natural hazards cluster in predictable places: plate boundaries, warm tropical seas, floodplains and coasts.
- Mapping past events identifies high-risk regions; some hazards can be forecast, earthquakes least well.
- Monitoring, engineering, planning and drills reduce the harm hazards cause.
No sign-up and no real names. In the lesson you check your understanding as you read, and practise until it sticks.
Where and why hazards happen
Natural hazards are natural events, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis, that can threaten people and property. They are not spread evenly. Earthquakes and volcanoes cluster along plate boundaries, especially around the Pacific Ocean in a belt called the Ring of Fire. Hurricanes, also called typhoons or cyclones, form only over warm tropical oceans. Floods are most common on river floodplains and low-lying coasts. By mapping where past hazards happened, scientists can identify places at greatest risk.
Forecasting and reducing risk
Some hazards can be forecast. Weather satellites track tropical storms from space, allowing forecasters to warn coastal communities days in advance. Scientists monitor volcanoes for swelling ground, small earthquakes and escaping gases. Earthquakes remain very hard to predict, but some countries have early-warning systems that give a few precious seconds of notice, and ocean buoys detect tsunamis. People also reduce risk by building earthquake-resistant structures, avoiding building on floodplains, planning evacuation routes and practising emergency drills.
Curriculum links: NGSS MS-ESS3-2 · Cambridge Lower Secondary Stages 7–9: Earth and space · NCERT Science, Classes 6–8