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A natural disaster is the harmful impact of a natural hazard event on a vulnerable community. Learn about different types of natural hazards, how they affect people and the environment, and why the term natural disaster is controversial.
- Avalanches
- Blizzards
- Cold Waves
- Droughts
- Earthquakes
- Floods
- Flash Floods
- Hailstorms
- Heat Waves
- Ice Storms
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First up on our list is an avalanche, which is defined as any large mass of tumbling, sliding, or flowing snow. Avalanches can be thought of as a type of landslide, particularly since they can also include boulders and other debris. However, avalanches primarily consist of snow, and they have different innate characteristics from other types of lan...
Another winter-related hazard, blizzardsare defined by the US-based National Weather Service as storms that last more than three hours and that feature: 1. Winds greater than 35 mph (15.7 m/s) 2. Visibility of less than 0.25 miles (400 m) 3. Large amounts of snowfall or blowing snow As you can probably imagine, blizzards are only really a threat in...
A technical term for a period of very cold weather, a cold waveis a type of natural disaster where the temperature drops rapidly over the course of 24 hours. While cold weather in itself isn’t necessarily enough to cause a natural disaster, a rapid dropping of the temperature could lead to widespread problems for communities in a region. Interestin...
As with cold waves, droughts are somewhat difficult to define because they are subjective by nature. A droughtis technically defined as an extended period of time where drier-than-normal conditions lead to a lack of water or other water-related issues. However, “drier-than-normal” is a highly subjective phrase and what might classify as dry in one ...
One of the most unpredictable natural disasters, earthquakesoccur whenever there’s a sudden and violent slippage of the Earth’s tectonic plates. To understand how Earthquakes work, however, we first need to recognize that the Earth’s surface is not one continuous layer. Rather, the Earth’s crust consists of many plates that slip, slide, collide, an...
Floodsare any instances where water temporarily overflows onto land that is usually dry. This might seem like a very vague definition and, well, that’s because it is! As with many types of natural disasters, what constitutes a flood in one place might not actually be a flood in another. That being said, many of us could identify a flood fairly easi...
In a weather forecasting context, flash floods are defined as any type of flooding that begins within 6 hours of a period of heavy rain or other water-related cause. Like regular floods, flash floods are normally associated with major storms. Indeed, hurricanes and other meteorological events can cause rapid flooding of an area in a short period of...
Despite their name, many meteorologists wouldn’t necessarily classify hailstormsas their own distinct type of storm. Rather hail storms, or “significant hail events,” usually occur alongside major thunderstorms. In some thunderstorms, particularly supercells, very strong updrafts (upward flows of air) can lead to the formation of hail. How hail for...
Effectively the opposite of a cold wave, a heat waveis a prolonged period of exceptionally high temperatures. As with cold waves, there is no technical definition for what constitutes a heat wave as normal temperatures vary from location to location. But, any period of two or more days where the temperature is higher than the historical average for...
A particularly dangerous type of winter storm, ice stormsoccur whenever there are substantial collections of freezing rain. The US-based National Weather Service generally classifies ice storms as any weather event that leads to the accumulation of 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) or more of ice on surfaces like trees, roads, and buildings, but ice accumulatio...
Learn about 24 types of natural disasters that affect humans and the environment, from avalanches and blizzards to wildfires and volcanoes. Find out what causes them, how they impact us, and how to prepare for them.
Sep 19, 2024 · Natural disaster, any calamitous occurrence generated by the effects of natural, rather than human-driven, phenomena that produces great loss of human life or destruction of the natural environment, private property, or public infrastructure. A natural disaster may be caused by weather and climate.
Learn more about the causes and effects of natural disasters.
- Hurricanes. A hurricane is a type of tropical storm, but much more powerful. It’s like a gigantic, spinning storm that forms over warm ocean waters. Hurricanes have powerful winds that blow things around, heavy rain causes flooding, and storm surges flood coastal areas.
- Tornadoes. Tornadoes form when warm and cold air collide during big thunderstorms. This collision can force the wind to start spinning in a circle. When a tornado comes, it can be extremely destructive, like a powerful giant vacuum cleaner that sucks up everything in its path.
- Volcanoes. Volcanoes form hot molten rock, ash, and gases from deep within the Earth. They can burst out through an opening, often creating an eruption.
- Earthquakes. An earthquake happens when there’s a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust. This creates seismic waves that cause the ground to shake.
Explore data and charts on deaths, damages, and impacts of natural disasters around the world. Learn how disasters are changing over time, who is most vulnerable, and what can be done to prevent them.
Sep 1, 2021 · Climate change and increasingly extreme weather events, have caused a surge in natural disasters over the past 50 years disproportionately impacting poorer countries, the World Meteorological...
