Everything That You Wanted to Know About Our Environment and Natural Calamities

Take a look around your surroundings. What do you observe? You can see the trees, bushes, different types of animals like cats, dogs, money etc. You can also observe that birds are flying in the sky. These all things make up our natural environment.  Natural calamities refers to a sudden and terrible event in nature like flood, earthquake, storms, landsliding, heavy rain etc. 

What is the Environment?

Environment refers to all organisms, including plants, animals, and humans, as well as their physical surroundings with which they interact. Everything in our immediate surroundings, both living and nonliving, constitutes our environment. The environment includes everything, such as flora, water, microorganisms, soil, rocks, and so on.

Environment’s Components

• All of the objects that exist in the environment have been divided into two categories: living and nonliving. 

• Living objects are referred to as biotic components, whereas nonliving objects are referred to as abiotic components. 

• Plants, animals, and people are examples of biotic components, whereas water, soil, and rocks are examples of abiotic components.

What is a Natural Calamity? 

Natural disasters are a global phenomenon that may have a terrible impact on people's lives and surroundings. Although they occur naturally and there is little that can be done to prevent them, there are many distinct natural factors that contribute to natural disasters, and understanding these causes can help us all be better prepared to deal with such disasters when they occur.

Types of Natural Disasters

• Flooding: It is the spilling of water onto typically dry ground. Floods can occur as a result of strong rainfall, ocean waves, rapid melting of snow, or the failure of dams. Flooding may be devastating with only a few inches of water or it can cover a house up to the roof.

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• Tsunami: Tsunamis are massive waves caused by undersea earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Tsunami waves do not grow dramatically in height as they go further into the ocean. However, when the waves go inland, they build up to greater and greater heights as the ocean's depth drops.

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• Earthquakes: Earthquakes are caused by plate movements in the earth's crust. These plates cannot always move smoothly, and as a result, they become trapped, causing a tremendous amount of pressure to build up. When this pressure is released, the earth's crust begins to vibrate violently, resulting in earthquakes.

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Causes of Natural Disaster

The calamities fluctuate depending on when they occur. For instance, the causes of an earthquake cannot be the same as those of a forest fire. Soil erosion, earthquake activity, geological movements, air pressure, and ocean currents, among other factors, all contribute to natural disasters. The major causes of catastrophic disasters are natural phenomena occurring in the earth's crust as well as on the surface. Areas, where mining, deforestation, and industry have occurred, are particularly vulnerable to flooding and erosion.

Effects of Natural Disasters

In general, natural disasters have three types of effects: primary, secondary and tertiary effects.

• Destruction of buildings and water damage are considered primary effects.

• These primary effects produce secondary effects. For example, shortage of power supply caused due to falling of trees or destruction of buildings. Similarly, fire in the gas pipelines is also caused due to primary effects.

• The long term effects of natural disasters are considered the tertiary effects. These include changes in the shape of the landscape, loss of habitat, infertility of the ground and crop failure etc.

Solved Questions

1. Why should we be concerned about the environment?

Ans: A healthy lifestyle needs a clean environment. If we don't care about our environment, it will become increasingly contaminated with chemicals and toxins that are damaging to our health. For example, air pollution may cause a variety of difficulties and diseases, including respiratory disorders and cancer.

2. What is the link between disaster and the environment?

Ans: The environment and natural disasters are interrelated with each other. Degradation of the environment has an impact on natural processes, modifies humanity's resource base, and increases vulnerability. It increases the effect of natural disasters and reduces the overall capacity to recover quickly from it. 

3. What factors contribute to natural disasters?

Ans: Soil erosion, earthquake activity, geological movements, air pressure, and ocean currents, among other factors, all contribute to a natural disaster. The major causes of natural disasters are natural phenomena occurring in the earth's crust as well as on the surface.

Fun Facts

Water covers around 71% of the planet's surface. The fact that the volume of water remains constant and is recycled throughout. As a result, some of the water you drink today may have gone through some of the ancient creatures or maybe a dinosaur at some point in the past!

Summary

In this post, we have discussed the concepts of environment and natural calamities. We have mentioned the natural calamities meaning and types of natural calamities. We have also talked about examples of natural disasters, their causes and their effects on our environment. We have also discussed why we need to conserve our environment.

Learning By Doing

Observe the things around you and make a list of which things come under biotic components or which come under abiotic components.