Natural Disasters of the Modern World - Article Example

Natural Disasters Natural Disaster is an event of nature that takes human lives and destroys property. Focusing on this definition there are at least six acceptable categories under which natural disasters can be classified. (1) dangerous weather conditions, which would include (a) Hurricanes and Typhoons, (b) Blizzards, (c) Cyclones, and (d) Tornados. (2) Floods which may occur in an assortment of ways. (a) Including any of the above weather conditions which may deposit an excessive amount of rain fall. (b) Earthquake. And (d) a levy or dam breach. (3) Earthquakes and related events. (a)Tsunami, (b) landslides, (c) flooding and (d) fires. (4) Fires which are caused by lightening, and prolonged sun rays on an excessively dry vegetated earth cover. (5) Lack of rain. (a) Drought, and (b) famine. (6) Outbreaks of disease (a) sars, (b)small pox, (c) HIV/AIDS, et. el. While the scope of this paper is broad, due to perimeters previously established, we are compelled to limit its scope. Albeit, natural hazards affect the entire earth, our mention beyond United States borders will be limited. Additionally, whenever possible we will present a dialogue on how such disasters could have been averted. Obviously the phenomena in and of itself was a natural occurrence, but we will deal with what could have been done pre and post occurrence to save lives. 1 2 Natural Disasters Chip Groat, Director of the United States Geological Society feels we can learn how the earth operates and he offers this optimistic heads up approach: Earthquakes, landslides and floods, - these hazards are part of the way the earth operates. Although we can't prevent natural hazards from happening, we can learn from them, and use the knowledge to prevent natural hazards from turning into natural disasters. The next century gives us a new chance to apply the lessons we have learned about natural hazards. As we look ahead to the next millennium, we must continue to improve our understanding of how the earth works and our ability to provide timely, effective warnings, so that we can live safely on our planet. I think it will be one of the superstar years for the century in a lot of ways. What we see that is really different lately is we keep setting records for the warmest-year-ever for the globe, and we have various kinds of catastrophes or extreme events that stand out". (Groat) Hurricanes Albert Einstein saidGod does not play dice meaning there is a predictable pattern in everything. In a CNN interview Climatologist Mark Cane acknowledges some connections in certain atmospheric conditions, in excerpts from that interview he said. One of the things that has been studied a lot is the impact of the El Nino events on the Hurricanes. So, in an El Nino phase, you get fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic. We are not in an El Nino phase-we are in the opposite phase-and so we should expect more hurricanes, that is what is predicted and it seems to be, so far in this hurricane season, what is happening. (Cane) Jack Williams in his piece, A Guide to Storms, which was printed in USA Today, presents the commonality inherent in most storms and offers the practicality for their existence. All storms have two things in common: low atmospheric pressure at the storms center, and winds that are created by the flow of air from higher pressure outside the storm toward the low pressure outside the storm toward the low pressure at the center. Wind, in other words, is air that's being pushed by high pressure toward low pressure. Areas of low air pressure occurs because the sun heats the earth unequally. The sun shines down almost directly on the Earth's tropical regions near the equator, heating this region more than the polar region around the North and South Poles and the middle latitudes between the Poles and the tropics. Storms along with ocean currents, redistribute heat from the tropics to the middle latitudes and the poles. Without storms and ocean currents, the 3 tropics would grow hotter and hotter until the oceans boiled. In other words, the sun's heat powers the weather. (Williams) In 1992 Hurricane Andrew came storming onto the scene as a category "5" hurricane and gained the dubious distinction as the most destructive hurricane in United States history. In spite of the fact that in 1900 a hurricane (The United States weather service did not begin to attach names to hurricanes until the mid-1950's) hit the coast of Galveston, Texas, and killed more than 8,000 people. Even though 2004 was considered to be the most destructive hurricane season in the United States with four hurricanes, whose wake caused billions of dollars in damage; Charley caused $15 Billion. Ivan caused $14.2 Billion, Frances caused $8.9 Billion and Jeanne caused $6.9 Billion. None of them could hold a stick to Andrew where property damage amounted to more than $27 Billion dollars. Other storms of note whose destruction were in the billions of dollars were: Hugo in 1989 caused $7 Billion dollars in damage. Fran in 1996 caused $3.3 Billion in damage, Floyd in 1999 caused $4.5 Billion in damage and Isabel in 2003 caused $3.4 Billion in damages. None of these storms (except Charley with $15 Billion in damages) came even close to surpassing the destruction of Andrew. He was the king of the mountain, until Katrina came along and surpassed the physical damage total of all hurricanes combined in recent American natural disaster history, with a preliminary total of more than $200 Billion dollars. To be sure this is an unofficial estimate, and this figure could rise by an additional $300 billion dollars, considering the convergence of Hurricane Rita. Albeit the eye of Rita slammed into the state of Texas, it strewn some of its devastation on parts of Louisiana in general and New Orleans in particular. The common sense measures which we must adhere too as it relate to hurricanes, is people who have constructed their homes in low lying areas (either because the property is 4 reasonably priced or because the location is aestically pleasing), If we are going to continue to live and build in these highly vulnerable locations, these people must heed the notifications of authorities to evacuate. Prior to the land fall of Hurricane Rita, Texans instituted the largest United States evacuation since the great Depression. The reward for moving out of the way of nature resulted in only ten deaths. Of course we are not minimizing the fact that persons died, but it is mind boggling to think of what would have been if more than 2 million people had not heeded the worst case scenario advice. City Councils in coastal areas prone to hurricane activity must pass ordinances compelling persons to evacuate when the storm is determined to be life threatening. Blizzards Are characterized by extreme cold, strong winds and a heavy snowfall. These storms are most common to the western United States but sometimes occur in other parts of the country. According to the United States National Weather service, winds of 35 mph (56.3 km/h) or more and visibility of 2.5 mi (0.40 km) or less are conditions that if they endure for three hours, define a blizzard. The great Blizzard of March 11 - 14 1888, which covered the eastern United States, was perhaps the most paralyzing.1 Cyclones An area of low atmospheric pressure surrounded by a wind system blowing, in the northern hemisphere, in a counter clock wise direction. A corresponding high pressure area with 1Encarta Encyclopedia reference Library, Blizzards, 2004. 5 clock wise wind is known as an anticyclone. In the southern hemisphere these wind directions are reversed. Cyclones are commonly called lows and anticyclones highs. The term cyclone has often been more loosely applied to a storm and disturbance attending such pressure systems, particularly the violent tropical hurricane, which centers on areas of low pressure.2 Tornados Violently rotating column of air extending from within a thunder cloud down to the ground level. The strongest tornados may sweep houses from their foundations, destroy brick buildings, toss cars and school buses through the air, and even lift railroad cars from their tracks. Tornados vary in diameter from tens of meters to nearly 2Km (1 mi), with an average diameter of about 50 m (160 ft). Most tornados in the northern hemisphere create winds that blow counterclockwise around a center of extremely low atmospheric pressure. In the southern hemisphere the winds generally blow clockwise. Peak wind speeds can range from near 128 Km/h (75 mph) to almost 500 Km/h (300mph). Many tornados, including the strongest ones, develop from a special type of thunderstorm known as a super cell. A super cell is a long-lived, rotating thunderstorm 10 to 16 Km (6 to 10 mi) in diameter that may last several hours, travel hundreds of miles, and produce several tornados. Super cell tornados are often produced in sequence, so what appears to be a very large damage path from one tornado may actually be the result of a new tornado that forms in the area where the previous tornado died. The complete process of tornado formation is still debated among meteorologists. Scientist generally agree that the first stage in tornado formation is an interaction between the 6 storm updraft and the winds. The rotating updraft, known as mesocyclone, stabilizes the thunderstorm and gives it its long-lived supercell characteristics. The next stage is the development of a strong downdraft (a current of cooler air that moves in a downward direction) on the backside of the storm, known as a rear- flank downdraft. Direct measurements of tornado wind speeds are difficult (and dangerous) to obtain. In 1971 Theodoro Fujita, a meteorology professor at the University of Chicago, devised a classification system based on damage to man made structures (F - Scale) ranks tornados damage as weak ( F0 and F1) strong (F2 and F3), or violent (F4 and F5)3 In the United States, tornados occur in all 50 states. However, the region with the most tornados is "Tornado Alley", a swath of the Midwest extending from the Texas Gulf Coastal plain northward through eastern South Dakota. Another area of high concentration is "Dixie Alley", which extends across the Gulf Coast Plain from south Texan to Florida.4 The worst tornado disasters in the United States have claimed hundreds of lives. The Tri-State outbreak of March 18, 1925, had the highest death toll: 740 people died in 7 tornados that struck Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana. The super outbreak of April 3 - 4 1974 spawned 148 tornados (the most in any known outbreak) and killed 335 people from Alabama north to Ohio. A series of tornados, including the most powerful twister ever recorded, battered Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Iowa in May 1999. More than 50 people were killed, 3Encarta Encyclopedia reference Library, Tornados, 2004 4Ibid 7 hundreds were injured, and thousands were left homeless by the storms, which caused more than $1 Billion in property damage.5 Floods When it rains or snows, some of the water is retained by the soil, some is absorbed by vegetation, some evaporates and the remainder, which reaches streams channels, is called runoff, 6 The type of land which is prone to flooding is broad and flat, usually situated on the banks of a river or main waterway. Rivers that are flooded are regarded in three different stages. They are: (1) Water comes off of the mountains, eroding the beds and banks of the river as it flows downward. (2) The type of river that travels through broad valleys which slows the current of the river down. When the current is slow it will transport less material down the river, (3) Flood-Plain stage. Little if any erosion takes place, most of the material that is carried in the current is suspended and deposited to form a flood-plain.( Thinkquest) The greatest flood ever is described in the book of Genesis (7:4, 7), as God conveys to Noah his intent: "seven days from now, I will send rain to the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made". (God) Clearly it is neither prudent nor necessary to wait or expect God to speak to us individually, when natural hazard dangers are imminent. God has made it possible for us to think things through. 5Ibid. Tornados 6USA Today, What Causes Floods 8 . We have been blessed with technological advances which are capable of providing us with advance notice, whenever such an occurrence is about to put us in harms way. People, who reside in flood prone areas, must always listen to the sound technological advice of the authorities, whom God has provided to speak in his stead. .What would have been the outcome for mankind and creatures of the earth, had Noah not heeded the heads up given him by God Drought A condition of abnormally dry weather within a geographic region where some rain might reasonably be expected. A drought is thus quite different from dry climates, which designates a region that is normally, or at least seasonally dry. The term drought is applied to a period in which an unusual scarcity of rain causes a series of hydrological imbalance: Water supply reservoirs empty, wells dry up, and crop damage ensues. If a drought is brief, it is known as a dry spell, or partial drought. A partial drought is usually defined as more than 14 days without appreciable precipitation, whereas a drought may last for years.(Fairbridge) Catastrophic droughts generally occur at latitudes 15 - 20 degrees, in area bordering the permanently arid regions of the world. Permanent aridity is a characteristic of those areas where warm, tropical air masses, in descending to earth, become hotter and dryer. When a poleward shift in the prevailing westerlies occurs, the high pressure, anticyclonic conditions of the permanently arid regions impinge on areas that are normally subject to seasonally wet low-pressure weather and drought ensues. (Fairbridge) Statistics indicate that roughly every 22 years - with a precision of three to four years - a major drought occurs in the United States, most seriously affecting the prairie and 9 Midwestern states. The disastrous drought of the 1930's, during which large areas of the Great Plains became known as the "Dust Bowl", is one example. The affect of the drought was aggravated by overcropping, overpopulation, and a lack of timely relief measures. Although drought can not be readily predicted, certain precautions can be taken in drought - risk areas, these include reservoirs to hold emergency water supplies, education to avoid overcropping and overgrazing, and programs to limit settlement in drought prone areas. (Fairbridge) Famine A phenomenon in which a large percentage of the population of a region or country are Undernourished that death by starvation becomes increasingly common. Famine is associated with naturally occurring crop failure and pestilence and artificially with war and genocide. Amartya Sen., a prominent economist, and Nobel laureate has noted: "That no functioning democracy has ever suffered a famine. Famine is usually a problem of food distribution and poverty, rather than an absolute lack of food."(Sen) Modern famines have occurred in nations that, as a whole, were not suffering a shortage of food. The largest famine ever (proportional to population) was the Irish potato famine which began in 1845, which occurred as food was being shipped from Ireland to England because the English could afford to pay higher prices. (Wikipedia) Earthquake An earthquake is the vibration, sometimes violent, of the Earth's surface that follows a release of energy in the Earth's crust. The energy can be generated by a sudden dislocation of 10 segments of the crust, by a volcanic eruption, or event by man made explosions. Most destructive quakes, however, are caused by dislocations of the crust. The crust may first bend and then, when the stress exceeds the strength of the rocks, break and "snap" to a new position. In the process of breaking, vibrations called "seismic waves" are generated. These waves travel outward from the source of the earthquake along the surface and through the earthy at varying speeds depending on the material through which they move.(Watson) A fault is a fracture in the Earth's crust along which two blocks of the crust has slipped with respect to each other. normal faults occur in response to pulling or tension; the overlying block moves down the dip of the fault plain. Thrust (reverse) faults occur in response to squeezing or compression; the overlying block moves up to the dip of the fault plain. Strike slip (lateral) faults occur in response to one another. Most faults along spreading zones is normal, along subduction zones is thrust, and along transform faults is strike-slip.(Watson) Mt Pinatubo was known to be one of the most successful eruption stories. Although over 300 people died, from pyroclastic flows, lahars, and from roof collapses, the storm of the 1985 eruption is considered one of the triumphant stories. Nt. Pinatubo is a composite volcano located in the Philippines. Alternating layers of lava and rock fragments form them. Composite volcanoes often erupt in explosive ways which are caused by viscous magma. When the magma rises to the surface, it usually clogs the crater pipe and gas gets locked up. Therefore the pressure will increase resulting in an explosive eruption. Before an eruption a composite volcano frequently forms remarkable snow cap peaks, which can exceed 2500 m in height. These volcanoes can be very quiet between eruptions, often showing an appearance that they are 11 extinct. It can be very difficult to predict when an eruption will occur; it takes a great deal of surveillance. (Thinkquest) The Pinatubo eruption was known as a Pliarin eruption, producing abundant pyroclastic flows extending out from its crater (Fisher,1997:53) According to the book Volcanoes: The Crucible of Change, Plirian eruptions produce ash columns that extend as high as 50 kilometers into the atmosphere where high winds can spread ash for hundreds to thousands of kilometers from the volcanic vent. Depending upon the speed of the stratospheric winds and the height of the eruption column, ash maybe carried around the world more than once from a single plirian eruption. (Fisher 51-52) Mt, St, Helens and Mt. Pinatubo had similar eruption styles. They both had unexpected lateral blasts, and both were plirian eruptions. Nevado Del Ruiz and Mt. Pinatubo are located in other countries, but their eruptions had effects in the United States. Mt. Pinatubo was the only eruption that was considered a success. While Mt. St. Helens had the fewer amount of deaths, at 57, came as a surprise and the Volcanologist were unprepared. Like Mt. St. Helens, the Nevado Del Ruiz eruption came as a shock. The volcanologist knew that an eruption was expected, but they were unsuccessful in convincing public officials of its danger. In result thousands of lives were lost. Since the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980, monitoring has become crucial in improving volcanologist ability to forecast eruptions, (Wright Advances) Fires We are all familiar with fires. Additionally, we know that there maybe as many causes for fires as there will be fires. If one were to earnestly make a list of the causes of fires, the resulting list would contain at least thirty (30) or mare causes. However our purpose here is to 12 note those of natural origin. In so keeping we find only two natural causes; (1) lightening and (2) volcanic eruptions. Disease The World Health Organization maintains a listing (A - Z) of all natural diseases; those ailments which are either borne of vegetation, water, animals, the earth, and the human body immune system. While the list (please find a copy (WHO Disease Archives, in attached web pages) is extensive, explanations on these items contained on the aforementioned list would be a voluminous task. Works Cited Advances in Volcanology since 1904,OCLC First Search No.6 (!989): 170 available on-line http://news first search.oclc.org/. Cyclone Tracy info. Available on-line http://www.tracyadvanced/cyc_tracy.html Encarta Encyclkopedia Reference Library, Blizzards, Earthquakes, Floods and tornados, 2004. Fairbridge, Rhodes W. Encarta Encyclopedia reference Library, Drought, 2004 Fisher, Richard V. Helken, Grant, Hulen and Jeffrey B. Volcanos Crucibles of Change, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1997. God, Genesis (7: 4,7,), King James Bible. Available on-line http://librarythinkquest.org/10136/floods/floodq.htm Groat, Chip, Most recent Natural Disasters were not centuries worst, United States Geological Survey 1999. USA Today, What Causes Floods Available on-line http://www.usatoday.comweather/wfldfac.htm Watson, John, Watson, Kathie,Earthquakes how they happen, 1997. Available on-line http://www.pubs.usgs.gov/gip/earthq1/how.html Williams, John, A Guide to Storms, USA Today. Web pages used Most Recent Natural Disasters Were Not the Century's Worst, USGS Says - Geography You are here:About>Homework Help>Geography Homework Help Geography Essentials World Atlas & Maps and Blank Maps Free Geography Basics Email Course Latest Geography Quiz Geography FAQ Free Weekly Geography Email Newsletter Articles & Resources Careers in Geography Country Information Cultural Geography Find Maps Geographic Technology Global Problems and Issues History of Geography Learn About the Earth Locate Places Worldwide Obtain Population Data Photos of Places Physical Geography Study Geography Teach Geography Test Your Knowledge Buyer's Guide Before You Buy Top Picks Geography Basics Atlases The Best GPS Units Product Reviews Articles Forums Help FREE Newsletter Sign Up Now for the Geography newsletter! See Online Courses Search Geography Most Recent Natural Disasters Were Not the Century's Worst, USGS Says Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey Dateline: 12/30/99 Killer landslides in Venezuela and Mexico. Devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Taiwan. Massive floods along the East Coast of the United States. Nature has dealt staggering blows to the Earth and its people in 1999. But these were not the worst disasters of the century, either in the power of the events or in the loss of life and property that they caused. "The costs of natural disasters -- lives lost, homes destroyed, economies disrupted -- have skyrocketed in this century, as the world's population has grown and has moved onto areas that are vulnerable to earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, and other natural hazards," said USGS Director Chip Groat. "But there is reason for hope. By understanding how and where these natural events occur, so that we can build and live safely on the Earth, and by providing real-time information about floods, earthquakes, and other hazards, so that we can respond effectively when disaster strikes, the USGS is helping build stronger, safer communities that are resilient to natural disaster." Landslides Landslides, lethal mixtures of water, rocks, and mud, generally are triggered by earthquakes, volcanoes, or weather events. The two largest landslides in the world this century occurred at Mount St. Helens, Washington, in 1980 and at Usoy, Tajikistan, in 1911. At Mount St. Helens, a moderate earthquake caused roughly 1.7 cubic miles of rocks and mud to break free and slide down the side of the volcano, releasing pent-up pressure to produce the major eruption of May 18. Although this was the largest landslide recorded in historic time, fewer than 60 people were killed because most residents and visitors had been evacuated. The Usoy landslide, also triggered by an earthquake, moved 1.5 cubic miles of material and built a dam 1880 feet high (half again as high as the Empire State Building) on the Murgob River; the dam still impounds a lake nearly 40 miles long. This landslide took place in a sparsely populated area and thus caused few deaths. An earthquake was responsible for the deadliest landslide this century, which caused 40,000-50,000 deaths in western Iran on June 20, 1990. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake at Mount Huascaran, Peru, on May 21, 1970, triggered a rock and snow avalanche that buried the towns of Yungay and Ranrahirca, killing perhaps as many as 20,000 people. Weather-related landslides also proved deadly in recent years. The death toll is still unclear from the rain-caused landslides that hit Venezuela in mid-December of this year; official estimates are as high as 30,000 deaths. On October 30, 1998, the day of peak rainfall as Hurricane Mitch moved across Central America, the side of Casita Volcano collapsed, creating a landslide/mudflow that wiped out two towns in Nicaragua and killed more than 2,000 people. The most costly landslide in U.S. history was a relatively slow-moving event in Thistle, Utah, in the spring of 1983. The landslide, caused by the wet El Nino winter of 1982-83, dammed the Spanish Fork River and buried U.S. Highway 6 and the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The town of Thistle was inundated under the floodwaters rising behind the landslide dam. Total losses were estimated at more than $400 million in 1983 dollars. Earthquakes The largest earthquake this century was a magnitude 9.5 event that struck Chile on May 22, 1960. More than 2,000 people were killed in Chile, Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines from this earthquake and the deadly tsunami that the earthquake created. The most powerful earthquake in the United States, and the second largest in the world this century, was a magnitude 9.2 temblor in Alaska, the Good Friday earthquake of 1964. This great earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 125 lives and caused about $310 million in property loss. The planet's deadliest earthquake of the century, by far, was a magnitude 8.0 that struck Tianjin , China, on July 27, 1976. The official casualty figure issued by the Chinese government was 255,000, but unofficial estimates of the death toll were as high as 655,000. The most destructive U.S. earthquake was the Great San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906. Though its magnitude was 7.7, and the energy less than 1/30th the energy released by the 1964 Alaska event, the San Francisco earthquake and resulting fires caused an estimated 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss. Volcanoes The largest eruption in the world this century occurred June 6-9, 1912, at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula. An estimated 9 cubic miles of magma was explosively erupted during 60 hours beginning on June 6 - more than twice the volume of the Pinatubo eruption in 1991, the second largest this century, and about 30 times the volume erupted by Mount St. Helens in 1980. More than a foot of volcanic ash from this enormous eruption collapsed roofs in the village of Kodiak, 100 miles away, and choked rivers and streams, devastating Alaska's fishing industry. Several villages along Alaska's southeast coast were abandoned forever. Because most of the native populations heeded the volcano's warning signals and evacuated before the climactic eruption, few or no people were killed, although animal and plant life suffered greatly--bears, other large mammals, and birds were blinded by ash and starved when the plants and small mammals they depended on were destroyed. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, on June 15, 1991, blasted about 1 cubic mile of ash and rock into the atmosphere. Avalanches of hot ash, gas, and fragments of pumice roared down the mountainside, filling valleys with as much as 600 feet of volcanic debris. The deposits will retain much of their heat for decades; even 5 years later they were measured at 900 degrees F. Close cooperation between the USGS and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology enabled the eruption to be forecast accurately, saving at least 5,000 lives. The deadliest eruption of the century was at Mont Pele in Martinique, Lesser Antilles, in 1902. The coastal town of St. Pierre, about 4 miles downslope to the south, was demolished, and nearly 30,000 inhabitants were killed by an incandescent, high-velocity ash flow and associated hot gases and volcanic dust. And a small eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia on November 13, 1985, melted about 10 percent of the volcano's ice cover, leading to a massive mudflow that inundated the city of Armero and killed more than 23,000 people. Floods On average, floods cause more deaths each year than any other natural disaster, and the Galveston hurricane-induced flood of September 1900 was by far the deadliest flood in the United States this century, taking at least 6,000 lives. In 1927, the lower Mississippi flooded, inundating around 27,000 square miles and killing hundreds of people - more than 1,000 by some estimates. The great Midwest flood of 1993 was the costliest flood in U.S. history, with estimated damages of $20 billion; however, only around 50 lives were lost. U.S. losses of life are dwarfed by flood losses in other parts of the world. China and Bangladesh have been devastated repeatedly by floods - Bangladesh lost 300,000 people in November 1970 and more than 130,000 in April 1991, from cyclone-induced flooding, and the massive flooding of the Yangtze River in China in 1931 caused more than 3 million deaths from flooding and starvation. "Earthquakes, landslides, floods - these hazards are part of the way the Earth operates," said USGS Director Chip Groat. "Although we can't prevent natural hazards from happening, we can learn from them, and use this knowledge to prevent natural hazards from turning into natural disasters." "The next century gives us a new chance to apply the lessons we have learned about natural hazards," said Groat. "As we look ahead to the next millennium, we must continue to improve both our understanding of how the earth works and our ability to provide timely, effective, warnings, so that we can live safely on our planet." As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2,000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the conservation and the sound economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources. Subscribe to the Newsletter Name Email From Matt Rosenberg, Your Guide to Geography. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! Most Popular Video Movie Review: 'Broken Flowers' Movie Review: 'Four Brothers' Movie Review: 'The Dukes of Hazzard' Movie Review: 'The Aristocrats' Movie Review: 'Hustle and Flow' See other videos at About.com About.com Opinion Polls and Quizzes What is the first thing you would do with $10 million 1) Spend it 2) Donate to charities 3) Invest 4) Pay bills 5) Save it 6) Not sure Related: Tips on How to Save Money Investing 101 Which is your favorite place to shop online 1) eBay 2) Yahoo! 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CNN - Is there a link between recent natural disasters - September 22, 1999 [an error occurred while processing this directive] MAIN PAGE WORLD U.S. LOCAL POLITICS WEATHER BUSINESS SPORTS TECHNOLOGY SPACE HEALTH ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS TRAVEL FOOD ARTS & STYLE NATURE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS myCNN Headline News brief news quiz daily almanac MULTIMEDIA: video video archive audio multimedia showcase more services E-MAIL: Subscribe to one of our news e-mail lists. Enter your address: Or: Get a free e-mail account E-MAIL DISCUSSION: message boards chat feedback CNN WEB SITES: AsiaNow En Espaol Em Portugus Svenska Norge Danmark Italian FASTER ACCESS: europe japan TIME INC. SITES: Go To ...Time.comPeopleMoneyFortuneEW CNN NETWORKS: more networks transcripts SITE INFO: help contents search ad info jobs WEB SERVICES: Is there a link between recent natural disasters MESSAGE BOARD: Nature's wrath September 22, 1999 Web posted at: 11:06 p.m. EDT (0306 GMT) In this story: No El Nino = more hurricanes Searching for patterns RELATED STORIES, SITES From Correspondent Garrick Utley WASHINGTON (CNN) -- When a wave of natural disasters strikes around the world, it's only natural for people to wonder if there is some sort of link between the huge forces of nature. Was Hurricane Floyd, which roared out of the Atlantic last week, in any way related to the typhoon which battered Hong Kong the same week -- the worst typhoon to hit that city in 16 years And could the deadly earthquake in Turkey have pulled the seismic trigger which led to the quake in Taiwan Some answers to those questions and others can be found at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, operated by Columbia University, where specialists track what happens beneath the earth's surface and above it. "We know of connections between earthquakes when they are close to each other, namely within tens of miles, said Kurt Jacob, a seismologist at the observatory. "But when they are essentially a whole world apart, then that connection cannot be established on any scientific basis." Jacob pointed out there was an unusual cluster of earthquakes at the turn of the last century and again in the early 1960s. The 60s quakes rattled Alaska and Chile, which suffered the largest quake ever recorded at magnitude 9.5. That temblor sent a tidal wave across the Pacific to Japan. No El Nino = more hurricanes And what of 1999 "From a purely seismological earthquake standpoint (it was) a normal year. Magnitude 7 earthquakes, we can expect easily about a dozen of them a year," said Jacob. "So why are we then concerned Well, what happened in this case is that some of those magnitude 7 earthquakes occurred in high population centers and that's the real difference. The number of earthquakes is pretty much as expected, nothing unusual so far." What about what's happening above the earth's surface One theory is that the fluttering of a butterfly's wings in China can alter air patterns which in turn could determine whether it rains in New York State. At the observatory, climatologist Mark Cane sees some connections. "One of things that has been studied a lot is the impact of the El Nino events on hurricanes. So, in an El Nino phase, you get fewer hurricanes in the Atlantic," said Cane. "We are not in an El Nino phase -- we are in the opposite phase -- and so we should get more hurricanes, that is what is predicted and it seems to be, so far in this hurricane season, what is happening." For an American century that began with a hurricane which killed more than 8,000 people in Galveston, Texas in 1900 -- to the dust bowl of the 1930s, when the soil was swept off the land, and people, desperate for work, were driven from their homes -- to the "storm of the century," the Blizzard of '93 which killed 270 people on the East Coast in 1993 -- and the great floods of that same year in the Midwest, which killed 48 people and caused $20 billion in damage -- there has always been a difference between bad-weather years and disastrous years. Searching for patterns "I think it will be one of the superstar years for the century in a lot of ways," said Cane. "What we see that's really different lately is we keep setting records for the warmest-year-ever for the globe, and we have various kinds of catastrophes or extreme events that certainly stand out." It is human nature to want to discover connections, some sense behind the apparent random blows from disasters. Albert Einstein said, "God does not play dice"... meaning there is a predictable pattern in everything. Scientists are still searching for those patterns and connections behind the destruction. When they cannot find them, all they can say is -- "things happen." RELATED STORIES: Floyd's legacy: Record losses in North Carolina September 22, 1999 Aftershocks slow Taiwan quake rescue efforts September 22, 1999 RELATED SITES: Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory Note: Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. 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