Monitoring Our Home Planet - Report Example

Monitoring Our Home Planet Identify a minimum of three different natural phenomena that are typically responsible for natural disasters. People and the environment suffer more and more from the effects of natural disasters. Natural phenomena such as floods, earthquakes and drought have a great impact on human life. Floods are among the most recurrent and costly natural disasters. A flood is defined as an accumulation or an overflow of an expanse of water that inundates or covers land that is typically dry.  Conditions that cause floods include prolonged rainfall, intense or heavy rainfall, Deforestation, Improper waste disposal, Quarrying, Poor land use practices, and Urbanization (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, 2013). An earthquake comes about when the ground rocks or shakes violently. An earthquake can occur at any time, during the day or night, without any sign at all and is capable of causing the same kind of damage like a major hurricane. This makes it the most unpredictable and feared of all natural disasters (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, 2013). A drought is defined as an extended period of time, normally months or years, during which levels of rainfall experienced in a specific region are drastically below the climatic norm (Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, 2013). Analyze the potential impact of these disasters. Flood-related injuries may occur when individuals try to remove themselves, their family, or any valued possessions from danger. People are also likely to get injured when return to their homes and businesses and begin the clean-up operation, for instance, from unstable buildings as well as electrical power cables. There is potential for increased fecal-oral transmission of disease, particularly in areas where the people lack access to sanitation and clean water. There is increase in transmission of Rodent-borne disease and Vector-borne disease (Mike et al, 2005) Drought has an effect on both the environment and society. Plants and animals rely on water, just like people do. Drought can destroy their habitats and reduce their food supplies. At times this destruction to their habitat is just temporary, and other times it cannot be reversed. The public’s health and safety can also be affected by drought. Examples of the impacts of drought on the society include depression or anxiety regarding economic losses, conflicts when people lack an adequate supply of water, fewer recreational activities, reduced incomes, higher incidents of heat stroke, and even death. Drought conditions can also provide a large increase in wildfire risk. When plants and trees dry up and die due to a lack of precipitation, diseases, as well as increased insect infestations—all of which are linked to drought—they become fuel for wildfires. Long periods of drought can equate to more wildfires and more intense wildfires, which affect the environment, economy, as well as society in various ways for instance by destroying crops, neighborhoods, and habitats (National Climatic Data Center, 2014). Earthquakes are harmful to man. It leads to loss of lives and property: Severe earthquakes reduce to ruins human structures ranging from huts to palaces and single storey to multi storey buildings. Earthquakes, at times causes rivers to change their course, as a result, when floods come they bring about destruction in peoples lives. The earthquakes in the sea produce enormous waves called Tsunami. Tsunami causes great damage to life and possessions of people living in coastal areas and also to tourists. Due to earthquakes of high intensity, warm water as well as mud fountains, burst. Earthquake cause cracks inside earths crust anywhere in roads, parks, fields, and even hills. They are thus rendered useless (Varsha, 2014). What parts of the world are potentially affected by these phenomena? Specifically identify the countries. A study conducted by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (2012) revealed that over the last decade, the United States, China, the Philippines, Indonesia and India together make up the top five countries that are most often hit by natural disasters (Reliefweb, 2013). What types of Web resources monitor the phenomena and provide up-to-date information about them? Different web resources have been set up to monitor floods, drought and earthquakes. An example is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s Web site. It contains thousands of pages of hazards or disaster information - text, photos, graphics, maps, tables - about the agency itself and its ongoing programs; the current disaster situations; and disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and alleviation generally. The home page enables people to quickly access news about recent as well as ongoing disasters, universal news concerning policy and program developments, and a lot of background information regarding the agency plus natural disasters. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has also posted a map of the United States that contains a list of federally confirmed disasters for each state in a given year. The sites mitigation planning section provides information on what individuals, families, and businesses can do to reduce the impacts of disaster. It contains current mitigation news, links to mitigation documents available from FEMA, and information about the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. It also provides extensive sections on mitigation for building professionals, homeowners, communities, businesses, and school and childcare facilities (Natural Hazards Center, 2014). What kinds of technology are involved in monitoring the phenomena? A geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based tool for mapping and analyzing feature events on earth. GIS technology combines common database operations, for instance query and statistical analysis, with maps. A geographic information system (GIS) controls location-based information and makes available tools for display and study of various statistics, including economic development opportunities, population characteristics, and vegetation types. The specific GIS application in the field of Risk Assessment is: - Hazard mapping to demonstrate floods, landslides, earthquake, or fire hazards (Indiana University, 2009). Remote sensing is the art and science of making measurements of the earth by making use of sensors on satellites or airplanes. These sensors gather data in the form of images and make available specialized capabilities for manipulating, studying, as well as visualizing those images. Remote sensed imagery is incorporated within a GIS. Remote sensing consists of Aerial Remote Sensing and Satellite Remote Sensing. Aerial Remote Sensing is the process of recording information, such as photographs and images from sensor on aircrafts. Satellite Remote Sensing consists of a number of satellite remote sensing systems which can be utilized to integrate natural hazard assessments into development planning studies. These are: SPOT Satellite, Advanced Very High Resolution Radio Satellite Radar System, and Landsat (Indiana University, 2014). GIS and Remote Sensing can be utilized in drought relief management for instance early warnings of drought conditions assists to plan out the strategies to organize relief work. Remote sensing improves forecasts of earthquakes using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). This technique merges two or more sequential radar images to measure ground motion between them very accurately. InSAR instruments, such as PALSAR, are already regularly utilized after earthquakes to calculate damage and the extent of ground movement as well as deformation. High-resolution visible imagery from any number of satellites can help search and rescue teams navigate round cities, as well as improve estimates of economic losses. The World Agency of Planetary Monitoring and Earthquake Risk Reduction (WAPMERR) utilize remote sensing to improve knowledge of building stocks, for instance the number as well as height of buildings (Lewis, 2014). In monitoring earthquakes, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing can be utilized for preparing seismic hazards maps so as to evaluate the exact nature of risks. In monitoring floods, Satellite data can be successfully utilized for mapping as well as monitoring the flood inundated regions, flood hazard zoning, flood damage assessment and post-flood survey of rivers configuration as well as protection works. What kinds of issues could this technology cause between less-developed countries? Less developed countries still face financial difficulties. Remote sensing offers developed and developing countries the same quality and frequency of data. However, cost is still a barrier (Lewis, 2014). Remote sensing system can be costly to build as well as operate. Furthermore, the data obtained can be difficult to interpret and may need expert skills which some less developed countries lack. How would this technology directly impact the economies of those countries that have the technology versus those countries that do not? Those countries that have this technology benefit a lot. They are able to monitor and forecast floods, drought or earthquakes, thus prepare adequately on how to deal with such disaster GIS and Remote Sensing technologies are utilized in combination for precision farming as well as site-specific crop management. Precision farming techniques are used to increase yield, lessen production costs, and reduce negative impacts to the environment. Variable parameters that can affect agricultural production can be assessed with GIS analytical capabilities. These parameters include physical parameters of the field, yield variability, soil chemical and physical properties, crop variability, anomalous factors, as well as variations in management practices, for instance, crop seeding rate, tillage practices, irrigation patterns and frequency, fertilizer and pesticide application (Zhang, Wang, & Wang, 2002). What types of systems are in place in terms of disaster preparedness related to these monitored phenomena? Early warning systems have been developed to provide timely and effective information that allows people and communities to take action when a disaster hits. Early warning systems are mixtures of tools as well as processes implanted within institutional structures, managed by international and at times, national agencies. Whether this systems focus on one specific hazard or many, they consist of four elements: understanding of the risk, a technical monitoring and warning service, distribution of meaningful warnings to people at-risk as well as public awareness and preparedness to take action. Warning services lie at the center of these systems, and how well they function rely on having a sound scientific basis for predicting, and the ability to function reliably twenty- four hours a day. These systems include: Forecasting and modeling technology, Satellite communication technology, Mobile phone technology, ICTs for crowd sourcing, and Crisis mapping (SciDev, 2014). Evaluate how this technology will impact the future of humanity, both positively and negatively. These technologies will positively impact the future of humanity. Several countries have considerably reduced deaths by developing effective early warning systems. An example is Cuba’s Tropical Cyclone Early Warning System which has been credited with reducing deaths significantly for weather related hazards such as tropical cyclones, storm surges and related flooding: five successive flooding events left only seven dead. Another example is Bangladesh also has a 48-hour early warning system in position that permits people to vacate to safe shelters hours before disasters occur, reducing number of deaths. Early warning can help in many types of hazard, for example, the benefit of a globally coordinated system was displayed in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, Japan, which endangered several Pacific islands: warnings were more coordinated providing many people time to vacate to high ground (SciDev, 2014). However, despite the positive impacts, these Early warning systems have limitations. They cannot prevent all damage. Though a certain amount can be done at the local level to lives once a warning has been conveyed, there is little that can be done regarding protection of infrastructure in an unexpected disaster. People still experience financial losses from destruction of buildings as well as interruption of services. Early warning systems are limited when it comes to geological hazards. Picking up earthquake precursors has proven to be hard, and routine predictions remain vague: the location, time and magnitude of occurrence of earthquakes cannot be predicted. (SciDev, 2014). References Indiana University. (2009). What are GIS and remote sensing? Retrieved from https://kb.iu.edu/data/anhs.html Lewis, S. (2014). Remote sensing for natural disasters: Facts and figures. Retrieved from http://www.scidev.net/global/earth-science/feature/remote-sensing-for-natural-disasters-facts-and-figures.html Mike A, Sari K, Paul W, Roger F, & Franziska M. (2005). Global Health Impacts of Floods: Epidemiologic Evidence. Retrieved from http://epirev.oxfordjournals.org/content/27/1/36.full National Climatic Data Center. (2014). Drought: Monitoring Economic, Environmental, and Social Impacts. Retrieved from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/drought-monitoring-economic-environmental-and-social-impacts Natural Hazards Center. (2014). All Hazards. Retrieved from http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/resources/web/all.html National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2014). Flooding. Retrieved from http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/flooding.php Reliefweb. (2013). Annual Disaster Statistical Review 2012: The numbers and trends. Retrieved from http://reliefweb.int/report/world/annual-disaster-statistical-review-2012-numbers-and-trends SciDev. (2014). Early warning of disasters: Facts and figures. Retrieved from http://www.scidev.net/global/communication/feature/early-warning-of-disasters-facts-and-figures-1.html Varsha, B. (2014). Causes, Effects and Geographical Distribution of Earthquakes. Retrieved From http://varshabang.hubpages.com/hub/Causes-and-Effects-of-Earthquake Zhang, N., Wang, M., & Wang, N. (2002). Precision agriculture--A worldwide overview. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 36, 113-132. Read More