Welcome to my Geol9
online blog!
This Spring
semester, our course will cover the application of basic principles of Earth
processes, including tectonics, erosion, climate, as well as issues of
catastrophic and disastrous events from a global perspective. We’ll explore and
learn about earthquakes, landslides, floods, severe weather, tsunamis, volcanoes,
etc. The course also emphasizes using the scientific method to interpret the
causes and future probabilities of Earth catastrophes and disasters.
Our two SLOs are
· Explain the cause of Earth catastrophes and disasters.
· Estimate the geologic hazards of various locations on the
Earth.
According to Munich Re, overall losses from world-wide
natural catastrophes in 2017 totaled $330 billion dollars, up from $184 billion
in 2016. That says a lot. I hope you find this course useful. Ranked by
insured losses, the costliest natural catastrophe in 2017 was Hurricane Irma
that caused $32 billion in insured losses in the United States and the
Caribbean. Hurricane Harvey in the United States resulted in $30 billion in
insured losses. Rounding out the top 5 catastrophes by insured losses were
Hurricane Maria in the Caribbean with $30 billion in losses; wildfires in the
United States in October that resulted in losses of $8.0 billion; and
hailstorms in May that caused $2.5 billion in losses [see world map
below].
