Learn About Natural Disasters Around Us

128Pay your attention to the news paper head lines shown in Figure 15.1 Figure 15.1 News on floods and landslidesEarth slidetakes out six lives and three housesResidents are immediately evacuated from 53 nearby housesKelani river over flowsBad weather37 deaths21 missing3,52,300 displacedHead lines given above are about some natural disasters that affected Sri Lanka.Natural disasters are naturally occuring destructive incidents, without the mediation of man, causing harm to human lives, property, environment and economy.Some such incidents are shown in Figure 15.2LandslideFloodTsunamiDroughtForest fireLightningNatural disasters15Science | Natural disasters129CycloneVolcanoEarthquakeFigure 15.2 Some natural disastersSome examples for natural disaster are drought, landslide, flood, lightning, forest fire, cyclone, earthquake, tsunami, tornado and glacier erosion. The way that natural disasters occur and their influence differ from region to region, and from country to country. Reasons for the occurance of natural disasters are the weather and climatic changes, changes occuring at the interior of the earth and the changes occuring in the biosphere. Human activities affect to increase the intensity of natural disasters.Activity 15.1Make a collection of news paper head lines written on natural disasters.With referring to the collection, prepare a list of natural disasters occuring all over the world.Some of the natural disasters that affect Sri Lanka are