How many parts of the project have I completed

World El Nino Map - Not Complete
Australian El Nino Map - Not Complete
World La Nina map- Not Complete
Australian La Nina Map - Complete
El Nino Fact Sheet - Complete
La Nina Fact Sheet - Complete

Study Questions

1. How many hectopascal (hPa) is the high over the Eastern side of Australia?
1032 Correct 
2. What LARGE part of Australia is experiencing rain?
Western Australia Correct
3. Give the approximate location of the centre of the high on the east coast?
37 S 141 E (Use Latitude and Longitude describing locations)
4. How would you compare the speed of the wind for Australia to New Zealand?
The wind speed in New Zealand is much higher than in Australia 1/2 Right (The isobars are closer around New Zealand, so the wind speed is higher)
5. What month has the warmest temperature?
July Wrong (Red line at the top of chart is temperature) Correct Answer = May
6. What hemisphere is this city in?
Southern Hemisphere
7. What month has the highest rainfall?
July Correct
8. What is the average temperature and rainfall for November?
27.5 Degrees (Temperature)  80 mm (Rainfall) Correct
9. What latitude do you think this city is at? Why?

Questions 2.5

1. Tropical cyclones are intense low-pressure systems that form over warm oceans.
2. Tropical cyclones usually form over the northern areas of Australia.
3. Western Australia and the Northern Territory
4. 6
5. Hurricanes and Typhoons
6. Tropical cyclones develop in the tropical regions of the world. Heat from the sun causes warm, moist air to rise into the atmosphere. As the air rises, a low pressure system forms and condensation occurs, which releases latent heat causing the air to rise further into the atmosphere. If the air pressure in the upper atmosphere is high, then the rising column of warm air will spiral outwards in the upper atmosphere and air will rush from the surface to replace it, forming a tropical cyclone.
7. The eye of a cyclone is the centre, and is usually calm with a clear sky.
8. When a tropical cyclone moves away from the tropics and into cooler oceans they start to lose energy as the hot air dissipates, and so they are downgraded to tropical storms. 

Questions 2.4

1. A flood is when water inundates land which is normally dry.
2. Flash flooding is when small river or streams are unable to cope with all the water all at once so they overflow and flood. Urban areas are not normally prepared for flooding or flash flooding, and so can suffer greatly.
3. Inland rivers- These are subject to flooding which often covers thousands of square km's and can be devastating for farmers and their crops. Coastal Rivers- These floods are short and fast flowing, and they generally only last for a couple of hours or days.
4. Houses could be destroyed. People could be killed. Produce could be washed away or destroyed.
5. Water had already filled the rivers and catchments around Katherine, so almost all the water overflowed and flooded Katherine.
6.  Economic- 500 Business's we're evacuated or destroyed. Environmental- Crops would have washed away. Social- 4 people died.
7. A) Inland Catchment- slight gradient  Coastal Catchment- steep gradient. B) Slight Gradient to Steep Gradient. C) The water would run towards the steeper gradient, because when it is flat there isn't anywhere to go.
8. Dams are normally used to control the amount of water in a river or catchment and can also supply water to an area. Dams influence inland river because they keep the water level under control, but if they overflow could also cause the river to overflow, causing a flood.
9. The flood came in faster than I could have imagined. I wasn't ready as it swept down the streets, quickly filling up the first floor with muddy water. I couldn't get to my car for it was underwater. I ran out onto my balcony and saw the town square flooded, with water gushing down the streets. It was sweeping down the street, washing cars and people away.

Questions 2.3

1.  Hail with diameter 2cm or more, wind gust of 90km per hour, flash flooding
2. Severe storms usually affect small suburbs rather than big cities
3. Warm humid air is pushed upward into the atmosphere by wind.
4. 'Latent heat' is when warm, humid air is pushed upwards by wind. The moisture releases latent heat which makes the air more buoyant, which allows the water to rise higher and freeze, often forming ice crystals and hail.
5. The Anvil Head
6. The Outflow
7. The Bureau of Meteorology issues the warnings and these warnings are developed by the bureau of Meteorology's weather radars.
8. Severe storms remain a highly unpredictable natural hazard because we cannot really predict them or see them coming until they are happening or just about to happen.
9. A) 13 November 2006 1:14 PM  B) Kurri Kurri, Lochinvar, Nelson Bay and Anna Bay  C) 2:10 PM  D) I would make sure to evacuate everyone from the school and if that cannot be done move into a classroom or building with no windows and hold up until the storm finishes.

Questions 2.8

1. A) estimate the air pressure of:
           i) 1016
           ii) 1012
           iii) 1020
           iv) 1018

    B) Adelaide
    C) Melbourne can expect sunny skies with minimal cloud cover and no chance of rain
    D) i) A low pressure tough
         ii) Wind and precipitation moving from Southern Australia (Adelaide) up to central Australia and Port Headland  
         iii) low pressure trough
    E) Hobart would have the strongest winds because the isobars on the synoptic chart are closer near Hobart than they are at Sydney.  

Weather conditions 4/5/11

It was a cool,dry, sunny day. Partly cloudy, (Altostratus clouds). South Easterly breeze.

Weather report for Wahroonga 4/5/11
min temperature: 13 degrees max temperature: 18
Mostly cloudy
68% humidity
Sunrise: 6:31
Sunset: 5:14
16 Mph South Easterly winds

Questions 2.2

2.2 QUESTIONS

1.   The movement of a mass of rock or sections of the Earth’s crust under the force of gravity.
2.    Heavy rainfall, vibrations from earthquakes and the undercutting of banks from waves or rivers.
3. Buildings and the construction of roads and rail ways can weaken hillsides, making them more vulnerable, and mining also contributes to the hazard.
4.   Earthquakes are movements of the Earth’s crust, and they are measured by the Richter Scale.
5.  Intra-plate tension where movements occur along cracks in the Earth’s crust.
6.  Australia receives one earthquake measuring over 5.5 on the Richter scale every 15 months. These cause minimal damage because of Australia rests on a tectonic plate, not next to one.
7.   The 1989 Newcastle earthquake killed 13 people and injured over 120. 30000 homes and 3000 building were affected and sustained serious damage and over 70000 buildings in the region sustained minor damage.
8. An earthquake is an underground movement while a landslide is above ground.
9.    A Tsunami is a massive wave usually caused by underwater earthquakes.
10.   An earthquake, landslide or volcano erupting.
11.   A Tsunami is caused by an earthquake occurring underwater and pushing a mass of water towards land, often with disastrous consequences

12.Shake, Drop, Roar

13.   A 9.3 Richter scale Earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra

14.   There are 23 automated earthquake monitoring stations. It took these stations 20 minutes to pick up the earthquake.

15.   The Tsunami grows taller and wider but slows down dramatically.

16.   The United Nations developed a Tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean.

17.   Ted Bryant is a Wollongong University geoscience professor that has warned that Tsunami’s caused by New Zealand’s Alpine Fault could strike New South Wales as often as every 500 years.

18.  18. A)  15 degrees North and 90 degrees East

B) i) 2 hours ii) 10 hours iii) 4.5 hours iv)9 hours

19.We are at Thredbo after just 4 hours ago, a devastating landslide hit and destroyed everything in its path. Approximately 3500 tonnes of dirt and debris came hurtling down the slope destroying the Bimbadenn and Carinya Lodges, and killing 18 people. This has majorly affected the ski slopes and mountains that Thredbo exploits as its main source of income, as they have been closed due to the landslide and the damages that have been caused.

 20.

Storms in Southeast USA

• These storms have affected from Alabama to Arkansaw
• Some states saw 80 mile per hour winds, torrential rain and hail
• The storms have killed around 300 people
• 400,000 people are without power
• 2.4 kilometres tall tornado's
• 360 different tornado's and around 122 per day
• This especially devastating as these states are still recovering from the BP oil spill