Global natural disasters. Data for Russia and Ukraine. Calbuco volcano eruption. Chile

Today, the attention of the whole world is drawn to Chile, where a large-scale eruption of the Calbuco volcano began. The time has come to remember 7 biggest natural disasters recent years to know what the future might hold. Nature steps on people, as people used to step on nature.

Calbuco volcano eruption. Chile

Mount Calbuco in Chile is a fairly active volcano. However, its last eruption took place more than forty years ago - in 1972, and even then it lasted only one hour. But on April 22, 2015, everything changed for the worse. Calbuco literally exploded, starting the ejection of volcanic ash to a height of several kilometers.

On the Internet you can find a huge number of videos about this amazingly beautiful sight. However, it is pleasant to enjoy the view only through a computer, being thousands of kilometers from the scene. In reality, being near Calbuco is scary and deadly.

The Chilean government decided to resettle all people within a radius of 20 kilometers from the volcano. And this is only the first step. It is not yet known how long the eruption will last and what real damage it will bring. But it will definitely be a sum of several billion dollars.

Earthquake in Haiti

On January 12, 2010, Haiti suffered a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions. There were several tremors, the main of which had a magnitude of 7. As a result, almost the entire country was in ruins. Even the presidential palace, one of the most majestic and capital buildings in Haiti, was destroyed.

According to official figures, more than 222,000 people died during and after the earthquake, and 311,000 were injured to varying degrees. At the same time, millions of Haitians were left homeless.

This is not to say that magnitude 7 is something unprecedented in the history of seismic observations. The scale of destruction turned out to be so huge due to the high deterioration of the infrastructure in Haiti, and also because of the extremely low quality of absolutely all buildings. In addition, the local population itself was in no hurry to provide first aid to the victims, as well as to participate in the removal of rubble and the restoration of the country.

As a result, an international military contingent was sent to Haiti, which took over the government in the first period after the earthquake, when the traditional authorities were paralyzed and extremely corrupt.

Tsunami in the Pacific Ocean

Until December 26, 2004, the vast majority of the inhabitants of the Earth knew about the tsunami exclusively from textbooks and disaster films. However, that day will forever remain in the memory of Mankind because of the huge wave that covered the coast of dozens of states in Indian Ocean.

It all started with major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1-9.3 occurred just north of the island of Sumatra. It caused a giant wave up to 15 meters high, which spread in all directions of the ocean and hundreds of meanings from the face of the Earth. settlements, as well as world-famous seaside resorts.

The tsunami covered coastal areas in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Maldives, Seychelles, Oman and other states on the Indian Ocean. Statisticians counted more than 300 thousand dead in this disaster. At the same time, the bodies of many could not be found - the wave carried them into the open ocean.

The consequences of this disaster are enormous. In many places infrastructure was never fully restored after the 2004 tsunami.

Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption

The hard-to-pronounce Icelandic name Eyjafjallajokull became one of the most popular words in 2010. And all thanks to the volcanic eruption in the mountain range with this name.

Paradoxically, not a single person died during this eruption. But this natural disaster seriously disrupted business life throughout the world, primarily in Europe. After all, a huge amount of volcanic ash thrown into the sky from the Eyjafjallajökull vent completely paralyzed air traffic in the Old World. The natural disaster destabilized the lives of millions of people in Europe itself, as well as in North America.

Thousands of flights, both passenger and cargo, were cancelled. The daily losses of airlines during that period amounted to more than $200 million.

Earthquake in China's Sichuan province

As in the case of the earthquake in Haiti, a huge number of victims after a similar disaster in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which occurred there on May 12, 2008, is due to the low level of capital buildings.

As a result of the main earthquake of magnitude 8, as well as smaller concussions that followed it, more than 69,000 people died in Sichuan, 18,000 were missing, and 288,000 were injured.

At the same time, the Chinese government People's Republic severely limited international assistance in the disaster area, it tried to solve the problem with its own hands. According to experts, the Chinese thus wanted to hide the real extent of what happened.

For publishing real data about the dead and destruction, as well as for articles about corruption, which led to such huge numbers of losses, the PRC authorities even imprisoned the most famous contemporary Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, for several months.

Hurricane Katrina

However, the scale of the consequences of a natural disaster does not always directly depend on the quality of construction in a particular region, as well as on the presence or absence of corruption there. An example of this is Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Southeast coast of the United States in late August 2005 in Gulf of Mexico.

The main impact of Hurricane Katrina fell on the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. The rising water level in several places broke through the dam protecting New Orleans, and about 80 percent of the city was under water. At that moment, entire areas were destroyed, infrastructure facilities, transport interchanges and communications were destroyed.

The population who refused or did not have time to evacuate fled on the roofs of houses. The famous Superdom stadium became the main gathering place for people. But it turned into a trap at the same time, because it was already impossible to get out of it.

During the hurricane, 1,836 people died and more than a million were made homeless. The damage from this natural disaster is estimated at 125 billion dollars. At the same time, New Orleans has not been able to return to a full-fledged normal life in ten years - the city's population is still about a third less than in 2005.

March 11, 2011 in the Pacific Ocean east of the island of Honshu, shocks with a magnitude of 9-9.1 occurred, which led to the appearance of a huge tsunami wave up to 7 meters high. She hit Japan, washing away many coastal objects and going deep into the tens of kilometers.

In different parts of Japan, after the earthquake and tsunami, fires broke out, infrastructure, including industrial ones, was destroyed. In total, almost 16 thousand people died as a result of this disaster, and economic losses amounted to about 309 billion dollars.

But this turned out to be not the worst. The world knows about the 2011 disaster in Japan, primarily because of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which occurred as a result of the collapse of a tsunami wave on it.

More than four years have passed since this accident, but the operation at the nuclear power plant is still ongoing. And the settlements closest to it were permanently settled. So Japan got its own.

A large-scale natural disaster is one of the options for the death of our Civilization. We have collected .

In this paper, we will determine how natural disasters affect the climate of planet Earth, therefore, we consider it necessary to define this phenomenon and its main manifestations (types):

The term natural disasters is used for two different concepts, which are in some sense interlocking. Catastrophe in literal translation means a turn, a restructuring. This value corresponds to the most general idea about catastrophes in natural science, where the evolution of the Earth is seen as a series of different catastrophes that cause a change geological processes and types of living organisms.

Interest in the catastrophic events of the past is fueled by the fact that an inevitable part of any forecast is the analysis of the past. The older the catastrophe, the more difficult it is to recognize its traces.

Lack of information always breeds fantasies. Some researchers explain the same steep milestones and turns in the history of the Earth by cosmic causes - meteorite falls, changes in solar activity, seasons of the galactic year, others - by the cyclical processes taking place in the bowels of the planet

The second concept - natural disasters refers only to extreme natural phenomena and processes, as a result of which people die. In this understanding, natural disasters are opposed to man-made disasters, i.e. those caused directly by human activity

The main types of natural disasters

Earthquakes are underground shocks and vibrations of the Earth's surface caused by natural causes (mainly tectonic processes). In some places on the Earth, earthquakes occur frequently and sometimes reach great strength, breaking the integrity of the soil, destroying buildings and causing loss of life.

The number of earthquakes recorded annually on the globe is in the hundreds of thousands. However, the vast majority of them are weak, and only a small proportion reaches the degree of catastrophe. Until the 20th century known, for example, are such catastrophic earthquakes as the Lisbon earthquake in 1755, the Vernensky earthquake in 1887, which destroyed the city of Verny (now Alma-Ata), the earthquake in Greece in 1870-73, etc.

By its intensity, i.e. according to the manifestation on the surface of the Earth, earthquakes are divided, according to the international seismic scale MSK-64, into 12 gradations - points.

The area of ​​occurrence of an underground impact - the focus of an earthquake - is a certain volume in the thickness of the Earth, within which the process of releasing energy accumulated for a long time takes place. In a geological sense, a focus is a gap or a group of gaps along which an almost instantaneous movement of masses occurs. In the center of the focus, a point is conventionally distinguished, called the hypocenter. The projection of the hypocenter onto the Earth's surface is called the epicenter. Around it is the region of the greatest destruction - the pleistoseist region. Lines connecting points with the same vibration intensity (in points) are called isoseists.

Flooding - significant flooding of the area with water as a result of a rise in the water level in a river, lake or sea, caused by various reasons. Flooding on the river occurs from a sharp increase in the amount of water due to the melting of snow or glaciers located in its basin, as well as as a result of heavy precipitation. Flooding is often caused by an increase in the water level in the river due to blockage of the channel by ice during ice drift (jam) or due to clogging of the channel under the immovable ice cover by accumulations of intra-water ice and the formation of an ice plug (jam). Floods often occur under the influence of winds that bring water from the sea and cause an increase in the level due to the delay at the mouth of the water brought by the river. Floods of this type were observed in Leningrad (1824, 1924), the Netherlands (1952).

On sea coasts and islands, floods can occur as a result of flooding of the coastal strip by a wave formed during earthquakes or volcanic eruptions in the ocean (tsunami). Similar floods are not uncommon on the coasts of Japan and other islands. Pacific Ocean. Floods can be caused by breaks of dams, protective dams. Floods happen on many rivers Western Europe- Danube, Seine, Rhone, Po, etc., as well as on the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers in China, Mississippi and Ohio in the USA. In the USSR, large N. were observed on the river. Dnieper and Volga.

Hurricane (French ouragan, from Spanish huracan; the word is borrowed from the language of the Caribbean Indians) is a wind of destructive force and considerable duration, the speed of which is over 30 m / s (according to the Beaufort scale 12 points). Also called hurricanes tropical cyclones, especially those occurring in the Caribbean.

Tsunami (Japanese) - marine gravity waves of very large length, resulting from the upward or downward displacement of extended sections of the bottom during strong underwater and coastal earthquakes and, occasionally, due to volcanic eruptions and other tectonic processes. Due to the low compressibility of water and the speed of the process of deformation of the bottom sections, the water column resting on them also shifts without having time to spread, as a result of which a certain elevation or depression forms on the ocean surface. The resulting perturbation turns into oscillatory movements of the water column - tsunami waves propagating at high speed (from 50 to 1000 km / h). The distance between neighboring wave crests varies from 5 to 1500 km. The height of the waves in the area of ​​their occurrence varies between 0.01-5 m. Near the coast, it can reach 10 m, and in areas unfavorable in terms of relief (wedge-shaped bays, river valleys, etc.) - over 50 m.

About 1000 cases of tsunamis are known, of which more than 100 had catastrophic consequences, which caused complete destruction, washing away of structures and soil and vegetation cover. 80% of tsunamis occur on the periphery of the Pacific Ocean, including the western slope of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. Based on the patterns of occurrence and spread of tsunamis, the zoning of the coast is carried out according to the degree of threat. Measures for partial protection against tsunamis: creation of artificial coastal structures (breakwaters, breakwaters and embankments), planting forest strips along the ocean coast.

Drought is a prolonged and significant lack of precipitation, more often at elevated temperatures and low air humidity, as a result of which moisture reserves in the soil dry out, which leads to a decrease or death of the crop. The beginning of a drought is usually associated with the establishment of an anticyclone. The abundance of solar heat and dry air create increased evaporation (atmospheric drought), and soil moisture reserves are depleted without replenishment by rains (soil drought). During drought, the flow of water into plants through the root systems becomes more difficult, the consumption of moisture for transpiration begins to exceed its inflow from the soil, the water saturation of tissues decreases, normal conditions photosynthesis and carbon nutrition are disturbed. Depending on the season, there are spring, summer and autumn droughts. Spring droughts are especially dangerous for early crops; summer causes severe damage to both early and late grain and other annual crops, as well as fruit plants; autumn are dangerous for winter seedlings. The most destructive are spring-summer and summer-autumn droughts. Most often, droughts are observed in the steppe zone, less often in the forest-steppe zone: 2-3 times a century, droughts occur even in the forest zone. The concept of drought is inapplicable to areas with a rainless summer and extremely low rainfall, where agriculture is possible only with artificial irrigation (for example, the Sahara, Gobi, etc.).

To combat droughts, a complex of agrotechnical and reclamation measures is used to enhance the water-absorbing and water-retaining properties of the soil, to retain snow in the fields. Of the agrotechnical control measures, the most effective is the main deep plowing, especially soils with a highly compacted subsurface horizon (chestnut, solonets, etc.)

Landslides - sliding displacement of masses rocks downhill under the influence of gravity. Landslides occur in any part of a slope or slope due to an imbalance in rocks caused by: an increase in the steepness of the slope as a result of water washing; weakening of the strength of rocks during weathering or waterlogging by precipitation and groundwater; the impact of seismic shocks; construction and economic activity carried out without taking into account the geological conditions of the area (destruction of slopes by road cuts, excessive watering of gardens and vegetable gardens located on slopes, etc.). Most often, landslides occur on slopes composed of alternating water-resistant (clay) and water-bearing rocks (for example, sand and gravel, fractured limestone). The development of a landslide is facilitated by such an occurrence when the layers are located with an inclination towards the slope or are crossed by cracks in the same direction. In highly moistened clay rocks, landslides take the form of a stream. In plan, landslides often have the shape of a semicircle, forming a depression in the slope, called a landslide cirque. Landslides cause great damage to agricultural land, industrial enterprises, settlements, etc. To combat landslides, bank protection and drainage structures are used, slopes are fixed with piles driven in, vegetation is planted, etc.

Volcanic eruptions. Volcanoes are geological formations that arise above channels and cracks in the earth's crust, through which lava, hot gases and rock fragments erupt to the earth's surface from deep magmatic sources. Volcanoes usually represent individual mountains composed of eruptions. Volcanoes are divided into active, dormant and extinct. The former include: those that are currently erupting constantly or periodically; about the eruptions of which there are historical data; about the eruptions of which there is no information, but which emit hot gases and water (solfatar stage). Dormant volcanoes are those whose eruptions are not known, but they have retained their shape and local earthquakes occur under them. Extinct volcanoes are called heavily destroyed and eroded volcanoes without any manifestations of volcanic activity.

Eruptions are long-term (for several years, decades and centuries) and short-term (measured by hours). Eruption precursors include volcanic earthquakes, acoustic phenomena, changes magnetic properties and composition of fumarole gases and other phenomena. An eruption usually begins with an increase in gas emissions, first along with dark, cold lava fragments, and then with red-hot ones. These emissions are in some cases accompanied by an outpouring of lava. The height of the rise of gases, water vapor, saturated with ash and lava fragments, depending on the strength of the explosions, ranges from 1 to 5 km (during the Bezymyanny eruption in Kamchatka in 1956, it reached 45 km). The ejected material is transported over distances from several to tens of thousands of kilometers. The volume of ejected clastic material sometimes reaches several km3. The eruption is an alternation of weak and strong explosions and lava outpourings. Explosions of maximum force are called climactic paroxysms. After them, there is a decrease in the strength of explosions and a gradual cessation of eruptions. The volumes of the erupted lava are up to tens of km3.

climate natural disaster atmosphere

Legends of different peoples of the world tell of a certain ancient catastrophe that has befallen our planet. It was accompanied by terrible floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions; the lands were depopulated, and part of the land sank to the bottom of the sea ...

An avalanche of environmental, social and man-made disasters hit us at the start of the 21st century. Daily messages from all over the world announce new cataclysms of nature: eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and forest fires. But not harbingers whether it global catastrophe of the earth, because it seems that the next event will become even more destructive, take even more lives.

Nature of our planet, united in the four elements, as if warning a person: stop! Change your mind! Otherwise, you will organize a terrible judgment for yourself with your own hands ...

Fire

Volcanic eruptions. Earth engulfed by fiery belts of volcanoes. There are four belts in total. The largest is the Pacific Ring of Fire, which has 526 volcanoes. Of these, 328 erupted in a historically foreseeable time.

Fires. So disastrous in its consequences cataclysm of nature, like a fire (forest, peat, grass and household), causes enormous damage to the economy Earth taking hundreds human lives. According to the World Health Organization, hundreds of deaths each year are caused by the health effects of smoke from forest and peat fires. Smoke also provokes traffic accidents.

Earth

Earthquakes. Tremors and vibrations of the planet's surface, caused by tectonic processes, occur annually throughout Earth, their number reaches a million, but most are so insignificant that they go unnoticed. happen on the planet about once every two weeks.

Sliding solid. It just so happened that a man called himself the owner nature. But sometimes it seems that she only tolerates such self-appointment, at a certain moment making it clear who is the boss in the house. Her anger is sometimes terrible. Landslides, mudflows and avalanches - slipping of the soil, the descent of snow masses or streams of water carrying fragments of rocks and clay - these sweep away everything in their path.

Water

Tsunami. The nightmare of all the inhabitants of the ocean coast - a giant tsunami wave - arises from an underwater earthquake. The shock causes a fault on the bottom of the sea, along which significant sections of the bottom rise or fall, which leads to the growth of a multi-kilometer column of water. A tsunami appears, carrying billions of tons of water. Colossal energy drives it to a distance of 10-15 thousand km. The waves follow each other with an interval of about 10 minutes, propagating at the speed of a jet aircraft. In the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean, their speed reaches 1000 km / h.

Floods. A furious torrent of water can demolish entire cities, leaving no one a chance to survive. The reason most often becomes a sharp rise in water to a critical level after prolonged downpours.

Droughts. Who doesn't love the sun? Its gentle rays cheer up and bring the world back to life after hibernation ... But it happens that the abundant sun causes the death of crops, animals and people, provokes fires. Drought is one of the most dangerous natural disasters.

Air

Typhoon or hurricane. Atmosphere Earth is never calm, air masses are situated in in constant motion. Under the influence of solar radiation, relief and daily rotation planets in the ocean of air appear heterogeneities. Areas of low pressure are called cyclones, and areas of high pressure are called anticyclones. It is in cyclones that strong winds. The largest of them reach thousands of kilometers in diameter and are clearly visible from space thanks to the clouds that fill them. In fact, these are vortices where the air moves in a spiral from the edges to the center. Such whirlwinds, constantly existing in the atmosphere, but born in the tropics - the Atlantic and the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean and reaching wind speeds of more than 30 m / s, are called hurricanes. Most often, hurricanes originate over heated areas of the tropical zones of the oceans, but they can also occur at high latitudes near the poles. Earth. Similar phenomena in the western Pacific Ocean north of the equator are called typhoons (from the Chinese "tifeng", which means "big wind"). The most high-speed whirlwinds that arise in thunderclouds are tornadoes.

Tornado, or tornado. An air funnel that stretches from a thundercloud to the ground is one of the most powerful and destructive phenomena- natural disasters. Tornadoes (they are also tornadoes) occur in the warm sector of a cyclone, when warm air currents collide under the influence of a strong side wind. Quite unexpectedly, the beginning of this natural disaster can be ordinary rain. The temperature drops sharply, a whirlwind appears due to rain clouds and rushes at great speed. It rolls with a deafening roar, drawing in everything that comes in its way: people, cars, houses, trees. The power of a tornado is devastating, and the consequences are terrible.

Climate change. Global climate change does not give a rest to meteorologists or mere mortals. Forecasters continue to celebrate temperature records, while constantly making mistakes in forecasts even for the coming days. The current warming is a natural way out of small ice age XIV-XIX centuries.

Who is to blame for cataclysms of nature?

To a large extent, the warming observed over the past 50-70 years is caused by human activities, primarily the emission of gases that cause the greenhouse effect. Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising. This is what leads to natural disasters: hotter summer, more Cold winter, floods, hurricanes, droughts, extinction of entire species of flora and fauna. But isn't it getting ready? nature take revenge on a person global catastrophe of the earth?

According to the materials of the magazine "World of Secrets and Mysteries", No. 4, 2012

In this article, we will consider some changes in the physical and geographical state of nature that occur on earth under the influence of cataclysms. Any area has its own individual position, and unique. And any physical-geographical change in it usually leads to corresponding consequences in the areas adjacent to it.

Some catastrophes and cataclysms will be briefly described here.

Definition of a cataclysm

According to Ushakov's explanatory dictionary, cataclysm (Greek kataklysmos - flood) is a sharp change in the nature and conditions of organic life on a large expanse of the earth's surface under the influence of destructive processes (atmospheric, volcanic). And cataclysm is also a drastic upheaval, and destructive one, in social life.

A sudden change in the physical and geographical state of the surface of the territory can only be provoked by natural phenomena or by the activity of the person himself. And this is a cataclysm.

Natural hazards are those that change the state natural environment from the optimal range for human life. And cataclysmic cataclysms even change the face of the Earth. This is also of endogenous origin.

Below we consider some significant changes in nature that occur under the influence of cataclysms.

Types of natural disasters

All cataclysms in the world have their own peculiarity. And in recent times they began to occur (and of the most diverse origin) more and more often. These are earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, floods, meteorite falls, mudflows, avalanches and landslides, sudden onset of water from the sea, subsidence of soils, strong and many others. others

Let's give a brief description of the three most terrible natural phenomena.

earthquakes

The most important source of physical and geographical processes is an earthquake.

What is such a cataclysm? These are the shaking of the earth's crust, underground impacts and small fluctuations in the surface of the earth, which are mainly caused by various tectonic processes. Often they are accompanied by a terrifying underground rumble, the formation of cracks, undulating vibrations of the earth's surface, the destruction of buildings and other structures, and, unfortunately, human casualties.

More than 1 million shocks are recorded on planet Earth every year. And this is about 120 shocks per hour or 2 shocks per minute. It turns out that the Earth is constantly in a state of trembling.

According to statistics, on average, 1 catastrophic earthquake and about 100 destructive ones occur per year. Such processes are the consequences of the development of the lithosphere, namely, its compression in some regions and expansion in others. Earthquakes are the most terrible cataclysm. This phenomenon leads to tectonic breaks, uplifts and displacements.

Today, zones of different earthquake activity have been identified on the earth. The zones of the Pacific and Mediterranean belts are among the most active in this regard. In total, 20% of the territory of Russia is prone to earthquakes of varying degrees.

The most terrifying cataclysms of this kind (9 points or more) occur in the regions of Kamchatka, the Pamirs, the Kuril Islands, Transcaucasia, Transbaikalia, etc.

Earthquakes of 7-9 magnitude are observed in vast areas, from Kamchatka to the Carpathians. This includes Sakhalin, Sayans, Baikal, Crimea, Moldova, etc.

Tsunami

When located on the islands and under water, there is sometimes no less cataclysmic cataclysm. This is a tsunami.

Translated from Japanese, this word refers to an unusually huge wave of destructive force that occurs in zones of volcanic activity and earthquakes on the ocean floor. The advancement of such a mass of water occurs at a speed of 50-1000 km per hour.

When approaching the coast, a tsunami reaches a height of 10-50 meters or more. As a result, terrible destruction occurs on the coast. The causes of such a disaster can be underwater landslides, and powerful avalanches that break into the sea.

Most dangerous places in terms of such disasters - the coasts of Japan, the Aleutian and Hawaiian Islands, Alaska, Kamchatka, the Philippines, Canada, Indonesia, Peru, New Zealand, Chile, the Aegean, Ionian and Adriatic Seas.

Volcanoes

About the cataclysm, which is known to be a complex of processes associated with the movement of magma.

There are especially many of them in the Pacific belt. And again, Indonesia, Central America and Japan have a huge number of volcanoes. In total, there are up to 600 of them on land and about 1000 dormant.

Approximately 7% of the earth's population lives in the vicinity of active volcanoes. There are also underwater volcanoes. They are known on the mid-ocean ridges.

Russian dangerous areas - the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, Sakhalin. And in the Caucasus there are extinct volcanoes.

It is known that today active volcanoes for 10-15 years they erupt about 1 time.

Such a cataclysm is also a dangerous and terrifying catastrophe.

Conclusion

Recently, anomalous natural phenomena and drastic changes temperatures are constant companions of life on Earth. And all these phenomena greatly destabilize the planet. Therefore, future geophysical and natural-climatic changes, which pose a serious danger to the existence of all mankind, require all peoples to constant readiness to act in such a crisis. According to certain estimates of scientists, people are still able to cope with the future consequences of such events.

A catastrophe is a sudden natural phenomenon or a human action that caused numerous casualties or caused damage to the health of a group of people who simultaneously need emergency medical care or protection, which caused a disproportion between the forces and means or forms and methods of daily work of health authorities and institutions, with on the one hand, and the emerging need for emergency medical care on the other hand.
Between 2000 and 2012, more than 700 thousand people died as a result of disasters, 1.4 million were injured, and about 23 million were left homeless. In total, 1.5 billion people have been affected by disasters in one way or another. The total economic damage amounted to 1.3 trillion dollars (for comparison: Russia's GDP for 2013 was 2.097 trillion dollars).
Natural and man-made disasters cause damage that affects all areas of society. The devastating effects of disasters are often long-term.
Disasters testify to the physical, social, economic and environmental vulnerability and insecurity of the human population.
An important task of our time is to improve the prediction of disasters and the development of methods for the rapid and effective elimination of their consequences.
Most destructive disasters are natural origin(earthquakes, extreme weather events). However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has demonstrated that a number of measures can be applied to reduce the severity and frequency of extreme weather events caused by anthropogenic climate change. They consist in the introduction of sustainable development practices, which will be aimed at protecting the environment and at the same time improving the health and well-being of people.
In order to avoid man-made disasters, regular inspections of the equipment of enterprises and infrastructure facilities that pose a potential danger (railways, factories, stations) for wear and tear and other necessary measures to prevent man-made disasters and eliminate their consequences should be carried out.
This paper will consider the main types of natural and man-made disasters, their causes, consequences, as well as examples of the world's largest natural and man-made disasters.

2. Classification

There are several criteria for classifying disasters. These include: damage caused, flow time, coverage area, number of victims, and others. One of the most common criteria is the nature of origin. On this basis, they usually distinguish:

• Anthropogenic disasters - arise due to human activities (shipwrecks, accidents at nuclear power plants);
• Natural disasters - occur under the influence of the forces of nature (tsunamis, earthquakes, floods).

It should be noted that man-made disasters in the broad sense can have natural character(landslides in settlements caused by malfunctioning water supply systems; floods resulting from dam breaks). Here, man-made disasters will be considered as opposed to natural ones. In other classifications, man-made disasters are distinguished.

3. Natural disasters

Classification of natural disasters

Natural disasters are divided according to their origin into two types:

1. endogenous - associated with the internal energy and forces of the Earth (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis);
2. exogenous - due to solar energy and activity, atmospheric, hydrodynamic and gravitational processes (hurricanes, cyclones, floods, storms).

Causes of natural disasters

One of the causes of natural disasters is a natural disaster, a natural phenomenon that leads to the destruction of material values, death of people and other consequences.
Main types of natural disasters:

1. Geological

• Earthquake
  Earthquake - tremors and vibrations of the earth's surface resulting from sudden displacements and ruptures in the earth's crust and upper mantle and transmitted over long distances.
• Eruption
  Volcanic eruption - volcanic activity in which volcanic lava and hot gases escape to the surface. In addition to the direct volcanic eruption, volcanic ash and pyroclastic flows (a mixture of volcanic gases, stones, ash) cause great damage.
• Avalanche
  An avalanche is a mass of snow or ice that falls or slides down steep mountain slopes. Particularly destructive avalanches can completely destroy settlements.
• collapse
  Collapse - separation of rock masses from the slope and rapid downward movement. They occur on the banks of rivers, seas, in the mountains under the influence of precipitation, seismic shocks, human activity
• Landslide
  Landslide - the separation of earthen masses from the slope and their movement along the slope under the influence of gravity.
• sel
  A mudflow is a powerful mud, mud-stone or water-stone stream, which is formed in the beds of mountain rivers due to a sharp flood caused by heavy rains, snowmelt and other reasons.

2. Meteorological

• hail
  Hail - a type of precipitation in the form of dense ice particles (hailstones) irregular shape different size.
• Drought
  Drought - prolonged dry weather, often at elevated air temperatures, with no or very little precipitation, leading to the depletion of moisture reserves in the soil and a sharp decrease in relative humidity air.
• Blizzard
  A blizzard is the transport of snow by the wind over the surface of the earth.
• Tornado
  Tornado - extremely strong atmospheric vortex with air circulation closed around a more or less vertical axis.
• Cyclone
  Cyclone - an atmospheric vortex with reduced pressure in the middle and air circulation in a spiral.

3. Hydrological

• Flood
  Flooding is the flooding of an area with water.
• Tsunami
  Tsunami - sea ​​waves very long, occurring during strong underwater and coastal earthquakes, as well as during volcanic eruptions or large rockfalls from a coastal cliff.
• Limnological catastrophe
  A limnological catastrophe is a rare natural phenomenon in which carbon dioxide dissolved in deep lakes is released to the surface, causing asphyxiation of wild and domestic animals and people.

4. Fires

• Forest fires
  Forest fires are spontaneous or human-induced fires in forest ecosystems.
• Peat fires
  Peat fires - burning of a layer of peat and tree roots.

In a separate group of causes of natural disasters, the impact of space objects on the Earth is distinguished: a collision with asteroids, the fall of meteorites. They pose a great threat to the planet, since even a small celestial body in a collision with the Earth can cause devastating harm.

Consequences of natural disasters

Killed and wounded

Between 1965 and 1999, 4 million people fell victim to major types of natural disasters.
Geographically, the number of deaths from natural disasters is divided as follows: more than half (53%) are in Africa, 37% in Asia. The most destructive in Africa were droughts, and in Asia - cyclones, storms, tsunamis.
In terms of the number of people affected by natural disasters, Asia dominates over all continents (89%). In second place is Africa (6.7%), followed by the Americas, Europe and Oceania, totaling 5%.
The number of victims of various natural disasters in Asia:

• 55% from floods
• 34% of droughts
• 9% from tsunamis and storms

Economic damage

The vulnerability of countries to natural disasters is related to their social and economic development. Cities with high population density and developed infrastructure bear the greatest economic, social and material damage.
In absolute terms, the economic damage is greater for developed countries due to the wide infrastructure and high concentration of capital. However, the ratio of direct damage to GDP shows that low-income countries suffer more damage.
The economic damage from natural disasters is growing rapidly every year. In the 1960s, it amounted to about 1 billion dollars, in the 1970s - 4.7, in the 1980s - 16.6, in the 1990s - 76. There were cases when the damage caused to the economy from the catastrophe exceeded GDP.
The most destructive economic terms natural disasters are typhoons, storms, floods and earthquakes. This can be seen by examining the diagram of the economic damage to Europe from natural disasters (Figure 1)

Figure 1. Economic damage to European countries from natural disasters (1989-2008)

Impact of natural disasters on the environment

Under the influence of natural disasters, large-scale changes in the geographical situation or landscape type occur, which lead to certain sequential changes in the state of biogeocenoses of the area (successions).

4. Man-made disasters

Classification

Typically, man-made disasters are divided into two main groups:

1. industrial (radiation, chemical emissions)
2. transport (air accidents, railway accidents)

This is not an exhaustive classification. Fires, social catastrophes (wars, Act of terrorism).
Another classification criterion is origin. Man-made disasters can be caused by negligence and ill-conceived actions on the part of personnel, external causes (in the case of shipwrecks), equipment malfunction and many other reasons.
According to the scene: accidents at nuclear power plants, chemical plants, bacteriological laboratories, emergencies on the water, railways, air crashes and others.

Causes

The main reasons man-made disasters are:

• Equipment malfunction, failure of engineering systems, violation of the operation mode of equipment
• Erroneous actions of personnel, non-compliance with safety regulations
  External influences

The most frequent man-made disasters:

• explosions and fires at enterprises storing, processing or producing explosives
• in coal mines, underground
• traffic accidents

The main cause of fires is a violation of safety rules, technical defects leading to fire, human negligence, as well as malicious intent.
Explosions occur due to human error, the presence of a high concentration of flammable gases and dust in the air, violation of the rules of storage, transportation and processing hazardous substances.
Most experts believe that major aviation accidents are usually caused by engine and other aircraft system failure, pilot error, weather conditions, collisions with objects in the air.
Accidents on railways occur due to defects in the railway track, rolling stock, overloading of the railway line, errors of the track operator and driver.
There are hundreds of chemical enterprises in the world and nuclear power plants, and the accumulated radioactive and chemical waste is enough to destroy all life on the planet several times.
Chemical accidents are a violation production process accompanied by damage or destruction of pipelines, tanks, storage facilities, vehicles and leading to the release of chemical pollutants into the biosphere.
Radioactive disasters occur as a result of loss of control over radioactive material.

Consequences of man-made disasters

According to the material and energy characteristics, the consequences of anthropogenic disasters can be divided into:

• mechanical
• physical (thermal, electromagnetic, radiation, acoustic)
• chemical
• biological

The consequences of man-made disasters are divided into short-term (destroyed infrastructure) and long-term (radioactive contamination of the environment) according to the period of influence and the time spent on their elimination.
When assessing the scale of man-made disasters, various indicators can be taken as a basis: the number of deaths; the total number of victims; the nature of the damage to the environment; financial losses and others.
Like natural disasters, man-made disasters inflict heavy economic damage, although they are inferior to the first in terms of the number of victims.
A distinctive feature of man-made disasters is the serious environmental damage they cause.
Accidents in the fuel and energy complex, air and shipwrecks, accompanied by a leak in environment substances dangerous for ecosystems, entail the death of organisms, mutations in biological species, and the destruction of habitats.
The release of radioactive substances in catastrophes caused by accidents at nuclear power plants has long-term consequences: death of people from cancer, radiation sickness, hereditary diseases in subsequent generations, and radioactive contamination of the environment.
In general, industrial accidents and catastrophes are a very significant negative factor for the state of the environment and public health. Disruptions to natural ecosystems resulting from catastrophes and the death of many biota components can be irreversible.

5. Catastrophe prediction

To predict a catastrophe means to determine its place, time and force. A feature of modern natural disasters is that when they occur, there is a combination or simultaneous action of several initiating factors. Seismologists monitor changes various characteristics Earth, to establish the relationship between them and the occurrence of natural disasters.
However, there are a number of obstacles in determining the causes and the possibility of predicting dangerous natural phenomena and emergency situations, which are related to the peculiarities of the functioning of the existing monitoring and forecasting system.
The difference between man-made disasters and natural disasters is that they are sudden and it is impossible to predict them. But there are prerequisites for man-made disasters and ways to predict them.
The preconditions for man-made disasters are physical phenomena, which provide objective evidence of a potential man-made disaster. Timely detection of the prerequisites allows taking measures to eliminate the catastrophe or, in case of its inevitability, to minimize the damage.
Such prerequisites include a defect or equipment failure due to technical reasons or as a result of meteorological, seismic activity; geophysical factors associated with the concentration of hazardous substances at enterprises and others.
The experience of creating and operating complex engineering systems has allowed humanity to develop and implement methods for monitoring their safety and performance.
Catastrophe prediction is complex and important task modernity. The security and development of mankind depends on this.

6. Examples of major disasters

Hurricane Katrina

Flooded New Orleans August 23-30, 2005, USA.
Hurricane Katrina is the most destructive hurricane in US history.
The hurricane made landfall along the northern Gulf of Mexico, which is highly vulnerable to storm surge. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida became the disaster zone. The total number of victims of the hurricane is approaching 2000. Thousands of people were left without homes and jobs, infrastructure facilities in dozens of cities were partially or completely destroyed. The hurricane caused coastal erosion and oil spills. About $100 billion was spent on the restoration of the affected regions.

The Chernobyl accident

Destroyed fourth unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant April 26, 1986, USSR.
Accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant - explosive destruction of the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with release to the environment a large number radioactive substances. The largest accident of its kind in the history of nuclear power
the number of victims and economic damage.
On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, completely destroying the reactor. The main cause of the accident is believed to be human error. The consequences of the accident are long-term. The number of victims can only be estimated. It is estimated at tens of thousands (the victims include people suffering or dying from radiation sickness, cancer, children with developmental disabilities, born after the accident, and others). The accident caused a tragic environmental disaster. The cloud formed from the burning reactor carried various radioactive materials across Europe and the USSR. Vast territories were exposed to radiation contamination.

Indian Ocean earthquake (2004)

December 26, 2004, Asia.
An underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered a tsunami, considered the deadliest natural disaster in history. 18 countries were in the disaster zone, 300 thousand people suffered - local residents and tourists. In Sri Lanka, the tsunami caused the largest railway disaster in history.

Bhopal disaster

December 3, 1984, India.
The Bhopal disaster is the largest man-made disaster in terms of the number of victims, caused by an accident at a chemical plant producing pesticides in the Indian city of Bhopal. As a result of the release of vapors of methyl isocyanate, 18 thousand people died. The number of victims varies from 150 to 600 thousand. The official reason has not been established. It is believed that the crash was caused by a safety violation.

The crash of the Doña Paz

December 20, 1987, Philippines
The collision of the Philippine ferry "Dona Paz" with the tanker "Vector" is considered the largest maritime disaster in peacetime.
The collision resulted in a spill and fire of oil products from the tanker. Both ships sank. About 1500 people died. It was revealed that the ferry was overloaded, and the tanker was without a license.

Flood in China (1931)

1931, China.
In 1931, south-central China was subjected to devastating floods that claimed the lives of between 145,000 and 4 million people. Came out of the shores major rivers countries: Yangtze, Huaihe, Huanghe. This natural disaster is considered the largest natural disaster in history.

Winter of terror

1950-1951, Europe.
The Winter of Terror is the 1950-1951 season, during which 649 avalanches descended in the Alps. Avalanches destroyed several settlements in Austria, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Italy. About 300 people died.

Fires in Russia (2010)

Smoke over the European part of Russia 2010, Russia
Due to the lack of precipitation and abnormal heat from July to September, the European part of Russia was engulfed in forest fires. As a result of the disaster, 55,800 people died.
Dozens of cities were subjected to heavy smoke.

Limnological catastrophe on Lake Nyos

Lake Nyos after a limnological catastrophe on August 21, 1986, Cameroon.
A limnological catastrophe occurred on Lake Nyos, which released a huge amount of carbon dioxide gas. Gas rushed in two streams
along the mountain slope, destroying all living things at a distance of up to 27 km from the lake. The disaster claimed the lives of 1700 people.

Deepwater Horizon oil platform explosion

Fighting a fire on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform April 20, 2010, USA.
The accident in the Gulf of Mexico (80 kilometers from the coast of Louisiana) on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. One of the largest man-made disasters. The accident was the largest oil spill in US history.
The accident claimed the lives of 11 people and caused a major environmental disaster.

7. Conclusion

A catastrophe is an unexpected, powerful and uncontrollable phenomenon of a natural or anthropogenic nature, entailing human casualties, economic, environmental and social damage.
From ancient times to the present, humanity has been facing catastrophes and is trying to counteract and control them. With the development of science and technology, it was possible to significantly improve the methods for predicting disasters and eliminating the consequences of disasters, but at the same time, such problems as global warming, ecological disasters, mutated life forms.
Disasters include not only natural disasters (hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes), but also "man-made" or man-made disasters (accidents at work, wars, terrorist attacks), which also cause significant environmental damage.
Governments and public organizations join forces to develop an international strategy to reduce the impact of disasters. This is a difficult task requiring decisive economic and political action.
The subject of natural and man-made disasters is very broad and the world is becoming more and more interested in analysis, review and search for new solutions. The study of disasters is essential to the safety and prosperity of mankind.

8. References

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