Group Blog #2

Distinguish between two chosen hazards in terms of their spatial extent, predictability, frequency, magnitude, duration, speed of onset and effects. [10 marks]

The two hazards we have chosen to 

	DROUGHTS	TYPHOON/HURRICANES
Duration	Lasts by season	Can last for days and even until years
Predictability	Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) can predict the areas with commonly prolonged droughts. PDSI measures the supply and demand of water of the area. The government and NGOs refer to PDSI in order to be prepared.	Typhoons and hurricanes can be predicted through the new technologies. Through satellites we are able to see the formation of typhoons.
Spatial Distribution	Droughts can technically happen anywhere in the world, however the most severe cases of droughts are found in Australia, Brazil, the Sahel, China and India.	The Caribbean, Central America and Southern US SE and E Asia e.g. Japan, China, Indonesia and the Philippines Northern Australia Bay of Bengal e.g. India and Sri Lanka East Africa and the Southern Arabian Peninsula e.g. Oman and Kenya.
Magnitude	The magnitude of the drought is the highest among the other disasters. The consequences of droughts are very severe that people must be aware and alarmed when drought occurs.	The intensity of a hurricane/typhoon can be measured on a saffir-simpson scale. This measures the speed of the wind and air pressure on a scale of 1-5.
Speed of onset	The speed of onset for droughts are gradual.	It is dependent on the temperature and the salination of the water.

Effects

Famine, bio-diversity loss, conflict about the distribution of water in the drought area, refugees, desertification, economic loss, dependency, health problems increase, and education of the children suffer.

It is caused severe damage to property and killed many people due to flooding from intense rainfall. When schools are destroyed or damaged it prevents the children from receiving an education. Also, some typhoons/hurricanes that cause intense damage such as typhoon Yolanda, force the country to loan money from other countries in order to rebuild and clean up the damage done.