• Question: What ever caused natural disasters? How are there so many? What was the first one to occour? What can science tell us about how they happened? are there more that we dont know about?, because they happen on some deserted island? can any of you list them?

    Asked by to Edward, Ian, Mathew, Naomi, sakshisharda on 18 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Sakshi Sharda

      Sakshi Sharda answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Hi 13ewood

      Wow these are a lot of questions!! Natural disasters happen for many reasons some of those are still unknown.

      A flood may happen if there is a turbulence in the atmosphere that could lead to torrential rainfall or maybe the river has changed course. Scientists are still studying how and when the atmospheric currents change. These also lead to hurricanes and cyclones.

      An earthquake happens when the plates of the earth move against each other. When this shifting of the plates happen on the ocean floor we get tsunamies- which are waves that go as high as a 15 storey building. Infact movement of the plates against each other leads to the formation of mountains!

      Volcanic eruptions occur when molten lava is pushed out of the earths surface in places where there is vent or an opening. Infact some of the vents for volcanoes lie under the ocean bed and when these erupt they lead to the formation of tiny islands called atolls. The Pacific ocean has many volcanoes on the ocean bed, you can also look up the Pacific ring of fire (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/118426/Ring-of-Fire).

      There are many types of disasters and scientists are working on how they can be predicted so that people can be warned and lives can be saved. While they are harmful to life and property, they can literally change the face of the earth with their might!

      You can look up more of these disasters – http://www.ready.gov/natural-disasters and http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/

      Natural disasters have been very important in the formation of the earth and how we see it today. For example, it is believed that dinosaurs became extinct due to volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters that led to changes in temperatures and loss of habitat for them. If that had not happened, then mammals would not have evolved on this planet and we would not be sitting here today!

      I hope this helps!

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