A comprehensive examination of natural hazards, focusing on geological processes and risk assessment. Students will investigate the science behind natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, tsunamis, and floods, subsidence, learning how these phenomena occur, and their impacts on both the environment and society.
Athena Title
Natural Hazards
Prerequisite
Students should possess critical thinking skills to analyze data and have a basic understanding of Earth systems.
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
Students will understand the geologic principles underlying natural hazards and how human activity can decrease or increase the societal impact of these hazards.
Students will understand how to identify various types of natural hazards.
Students will understand how to apply mitigation and monitoring strategies, examine real-world case studies, and develop the skills to assess the risks and impacts of natural hazards on both the environment and human societies.
Topical Outline
Earthquakes and societal impact, including tsunamis causes, effects and detection
Landslides as a consequence of earthquakes and how to minimize societal impact
The nature of rock/soil substrates and how they can amplify earthquake shaking
Successful building codes and related laws to minimize earthquake impact
Volcanic hazards: lava flows, pyroclastic flows, lahars and mudflows, poisonous gases; killer volcanoes - active volcanoes located near population centers; monitoring volcanoes to predict eruptions
Hurricanes and storm surges: effect on coastlines; how development can increase the net damage associated with hurricanes
Climate change past and present: causes and effects; changes in precipitation, sea level, ocean pH, and ocean temperature and the effects on society
Petroleum exploration and use: the hazards of drilling and oil spills, the politics of oil and the threat to United States security
Mineral exploration and exploitation: hazards and pollution associated with, for example, coal mining, uranium mining, copper, and gold mining
Acid mine drainage, catastrophic slope failures
Landslide hazards, especially in the southeastern Appalachians
Cause of landslides and identification of susceptible terrain before landslides and the nature of development on such terrain
Flooding with emphasis on the historic Atlanta area flood of 2009
Delineation of flood plains and the effect of urbanization on these flood plains
The meaning of the 100-year flood in the context of urbanization
