Qo00 5. NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTER 1, Fill in the blanks : (i) A disaster is a sudden that may cause displacement of great number of people. Ans. Calamity 22 (ii) Traffic accidents, chemical and industrial accidents and epidemics are disasters. Ans. Man-made iii Ans, Landslides (iv) Natural disasters occur Ans. Naturally (v) Kedarnath is in Ans, Uttarakhand occur in hilly areas. 2. Explain the following : (i) Natural disaster Ans. Natural disaster : + Natural disaster occurs due to natural factors which result in a large scale destruction, distress and spread of diseases. + Earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and drought are some of the natural disasters. + The changing climatic patterns are responsible for the increase in natural disasters. (ii) Man-made disaster Ans. Man-made disaster : + Man-made disaster occurs due to human activities which inflict widespread destruction, distress and spread of diseases. * Rail-road and plane accidents, bomb blasts, leakage of chemicals, fires, communal riots and terrorist attacks, etc. are some of man-made disasters. * They originate from human planning errors or negligence. (iii) Hybrid disaster Ans. Hybrid disaster: * Disasters linked with man-made disasters and natural calamities are the Hybrid disasters. + Human beings have interfered with the natural environment to such an extent that their activities have had disastrous consequences for human beings themselves. + Indiscriminate cutting down of the forests, rapid industrialisation 23 and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources caused greenhouse effect that has brought about intense floods due to global warming specially in North India.3. Answer the following questions in brief ; (i) Define a disaster. State any three effects of a disaster. Ans. Disaster is a natural or man-made event that negatively affects life property, livelihood or industry, often resulting in permanent change in surrounding and environment. Disaster has many negative effects : (a) One of the most disastrous effects of Earthquake is Tsunami. It lead to the death of many people and nuclear accidents like Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Devastating flash floods and landslides lead to the death of 5748 people in Uttarakhand. It leads to destruction of property, damage to bridges and roads. tS (c) The world’s worst nuclear disasters like Chernobyl Disaster resulted in the release of radioactive particles into the atmosphere. It resulted in the death of many people and its impact was felt even after many years in the form of deadly diseases like cancer and other skin diseases. (ii) How many types of disasters are there? Ans, There are three types of disasters: (a) Natural disaster (b) Hybrid disaster (c) Man-made disaster (iii) State any three causes of disaster. Ans. Three causes of disasters are : (a) Rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation. (b) Widespread urban and rural poverty and unawareness, (c) Rail road accidents due to human errors. (iv) State any three effects of earthquakes. Ans. Three effects of earthquakes are : (a) One of the most disastrous effects of earthquake is Tsunami. (b) The 2011 earthquake, off the Pacific coast of Tohoku in Japan, triggered a powerful Tsunami leading to the death of 15,883 people in Japan. 24 (c) It in turn caused nuclear accident, having a disastrous impact on life, property, pollution and spreading of diseases. (v) How is a tsunami generated? When did the last tsunami affect India and neighbouring areas? Ans. Tsunamis are generated by a large impulsive displacement of the sea bed. They are generated by earthquakes of the seafloor, landslides under water and volcanic activity, ‘The last Tsunami that occurred in India was that of 26th December 2004 on Boxing Day. India was worst hit with 10,000 people dead. (vi) State any three preventive measures to be taken during floods. Ans. The three preventive measures to be taken during floods are : (a) Area must be evacuated at the first sign of warning. (b) Important and essential items like drinking water, food and flash light must be taken while going to a shelter. (c) Electrical appliances must be disconnected to avoid short circuit resulting in fire. (vii) When did the Bhopal gas tragedy occur? Ans. The Bhopal gas tragedy is one of the worst industrial chemical disaster. It occurred on the night of 2nd and 3rd December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.(viii) What were the long term effects of Bhopal gas tragedy? Ans. The long-term effects of Bhopal Gas tragedy are : (ix) Ans. (x Ans. (xi) Ans. (xii) Ans, * Findings during autopsies revealed changes. not only in lungs but also cerebral oedema and tubular necrosis of the kidneys. * The still birth rate increased up to 300% and neonatal mortality rate by 200%. * UCCS laboratory tests in 1989 revealed that the soil and water samples collected near the factory were toxic to fish. Hence, fish was not considered edible. State any three causes of hybrid disasters. The three causes of hybrid disasters are: Human beings have interfered with the natural environment 25 to such an extent that their activities have had disastrous consequences for human beings themselves. For example, + Drought is caused due to the overconsumption, wastage and pollution of water. + Landslides are caused due to extensive deforestation. + Earthquakes are due to construction of dams, mining and creation of large water bodies. What is disaster management? Disaster Management involves all the different methods that encompass both pre-disaster risk, i.e. reduction and post-disaster, ie. recovery. So far countries have been focussing on emergency responses, ie. dealing with disaster, when it happens. But the need today is prevention and mitigation of natural disasters. What is NDM? What are its objectives? NDM is the National Disaster Management. It guides the initiatives of the Ministry. Its main objective is to prepare the communities to face various hazards by generating awareness. It took the initiative of training the engineers, architects and masons in safe construction practices. Disaster Management has been included as a core subject in the school curriculum of all educational boards. What was the cause of flash floods in Uttarakhand in June 2013? State any three effects of the same. In June 2013, the North Indian states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some regions of western Nepal and their adjoining areas experienced heavy rainfall that triggered cloudburst causing devastating floods and landslides. The effects of this falshfloods are : * Resulted in the melting of Chorabari glacier at the height of 3800 metres. + Erupting of Mandakini river, which led to heavy floods near Gobind Ghat, Kedar Dham, Rudraprayag and Uttarakhand. + The melting snow aggravated the floods resulting in heavy loss of the life of pilgrims and destructed huge property. 26(xiii) Write a short note on fire safety. Ans. A short note on Fire safety : Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. * It includes those that are intended to prevent ignition of an uncontrolled fire, and those that are used to limit the development and effects of a fire after it starts, In order to prevent heavy loss from fire disasters one must check for: + Install Smoke detectors in the home such as kitchen, near bedrooms, etc. + Follow some fire preventive strategies like keeping a fire extinguisher near the kitchen and have it checked regularly. * Conduct family fire drills to educate the family members to take the necessary precautions during such accidents. (xiv) How are remote sensing satellites helpful in detecting a natural disaster like Tsunami and earthquake? Ans. * Remote sensing is the science of acquiring and analysing information about objects or phenomena from a distance, for example, through aerial photography and satellite remote sensing. + Remote sensing satellites orbit the earth at different altitudes. They gather electromagnetic energy reflected of scattered back from a part of the earth’s atmosphere below the satellite. + It is a powerful tool and can clearly reveal the factors causing environmental degradation of disasters occurring in any part of the world. 4. Give reasons for the following : (i) Disaster is a natural or a man-made event. Ans. A disaster is a natural event of great magnitude that causes considerable damage to life and property. Though often caused by nature, disasters can caused by nature, disasters can have human origins also, resulting from human intent, negligence or error. (ii) Fire hazards pose threat to life and property. Ans. _ Fire hazards include all types of life flames, hot objects chemicals that are potential for ignition or that can aggravate a fire to become large and uncontrolled. Hence, fire hazards pose threat to life and property. 27 (iii) Human activities has disastrous consequences for human beings themselves. Ans. A man made disaster is a disaster resulting from human intent, negligence or error. Hence, it results is huge lose of life and propsperty of human themselves. (iv) Mismanagement of natural resources is the main cause of natural disasters. Ans, The principal cause of natural disaster is mismangement of natural resources, lack of preventive measures and human carelessness and negligence at public places like hospitals, malls and cinema halls etc, (v) All over the world the frequency of disasters is increasing. Ans. Same as questions IV. goog