Week 16 Final Report

With its beautiful, pristine forests and snow-covered mountainous terrain, Germany is arguably one of the most scenically beautiful countries in the world. And even though this country is not exactly hazard-prone, it does, however, have its fair share of natural hazards that cause severe damage and economic loss. The most major natural hazards that occur in this country are floods, storms, extreme temperatures, and earthquakes. All of these risks have shown a profound spatial variability.

These natural hazards will continue to affect the lives of the residents in Germany unless measures are taken to reduce these risks. Risk management would include first identifying the hazards. The flood-prone areas in Germany are mainly the areas near the ocean, so making sure there are proper water channels that hold excess rain and ocean water would be a first priority in preventing surrounding infrastructure. Earthquakes in Germany are also prevalent and have caused landslides and rockslides that have resulted in massive devastation. There are mountainous highways in certain states in Germany that would need netting on slopes around the highways. Emergency shelters are a must-have in this country for every type of natural hazard, as well as an advanced warning system that warns residents of oncoming storms, earthquakes, and floods.

The areas in Germany at the most risk for the major hazards is the lower terrain areas, and the areas surrounding the ocean. Germany has a large coastline along the North Sea, spanning some 3,500  km and also 2,000 km along the Baltic Sea. The vulnerability in these areas is intensely high, but it is significantly lower along the Baltic Sea. So the areas along the North Sea would be of utmost concern when there is a chance of flooding.

Germany is considered a country that is relatively safe and it also boasts of a high standard of living. But, like most countries, Germany does have problems with natural hazards and battling the elements. Of all the cities in Germany, Munich is considered one of the best areas to live not only because of the low crime rate, but it is also geographically in a safer area. If I were to build a house in this country, it would be in Munich or surrounding areas.

References:

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11069-014-1265-6

http://www.thelocal.de/20140604/germanys-most-dangerous-and-safest-cities-crime-rates

Coastal Hazards in Germany

An extreme coastal hazard that Germany faces is erosion. The German coastline is mainly shallow and the sand along the coast is not as compact as most other sandy coastlines. This poses a problem when there are stormy waves because it causes the coastline's sand to slowly wash away.

Germany revamped its efforts on protecting the coastline after a tsunami struck in 2004. Germany partnered with a hazard program ESCAP to provide better systems for warning of possible conditions that lead to coastline erosion. Because of these recent efforts, Germany has not experienced the severe coastal erosion that it had in the past

References: 

ttp://www.unescap.org/news/escap-and-germany-strengthen-partnership-early-warning-coastal-hazards
 

     

Like most countries in the world today, Germany faces extreme weather due to climate change from global warming. In 2013, low-pressure areas over central Europe and parts of Germany brought monsoon-like rainfall that was almost unseen over half a century ago. In 2014, the early summer in this country was unnaturally warm and the month of August was unnaturally cold. These changes in temperature are a sure sign that the climate is drastically changing. But the biggest concern to German citizens is the recent boughts of flooding they have been experiencing. The floodings have caused thousands of dollars worth of damage and pose a risk to health and safety. Germany’s normal weather patterns are temperate and there are usually no extremely low or high temperatures, but this has slowly been changing over the past couple of years. This country does not experience too much in the way of tsunamis or cyclones, and the only main concern here is the flooding and damage (such as sinkholes) caused by extreme rain that does occasionally occur.

Nicola, Stefan. Germany Faces Extreme Weather as Climate Change Brings Rain. Bloomberg. September 14, 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-15/germany-faces-extreme-weather-as-climate-change-brings-rains

Landslides are one of the major natural hazards in Germany and the landslide recordings in this mountainous country date back all the way to the year 1137. Landslide impacts on infrastructure and society in Germany cost a total of about $300 million US dollars annually. Most of these landslides occur in low mountain range areas and there is significant landslide exposure in the Lower Saxon Upland area. Also, the city of Munden is built on rough, mountainous  terrain and is at risk of severe landslides because of the local topography and disintegrated bedrock.

    Landslide mitigation in Germany was aimed at protecting the highway systems. The most frequently applied method was removing bedrock and vegetation from areas surrounding highways and infrastructure. Back in the 1960s, netting on slope areas was installed, but this did little to prevent serious landslide activity. Within the last decade, millions of German dollars have been put into reconstructing significant slope areas that threaten cities and highways.

Works Cited:

Klose, Martin. Landslide Impact: a Historical and Socioeconomic Perspective. 2015 Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/...Landslide...Germany.../562778b108aefb8...

     The Eiffel is a low mountain range in West Germany and is home to volcanoes. The Eiffel is located in the Rhine region which houses several volcanoes that could erupt at any moment. But many residents do not take this threat seriously. One of the major warning signs that these residents depend on is the movement of ants to signify a potential eruption. Some believe that the risk of an eruption in Germany is the stuff of science fiction, while others believe that the threat has been underestimated. Experts agree that an eruption in the Rhine region will happen again at some point in the future. All over the world, volcanoes seem to follow similar cycles, so the threat of a volcano in this area may also do the same, but this area may not see another for some time since the last eruption occurred over 11,000 years ago.

Bojanski, Axel. Germany: A Danger of Volcanic Eruptions? 2007

Retrieved from: http://www.q-mag.org/germany-a-danger-of-volcanic-eruptions.html

Week 3

     This week, we explored earthquakes and the effect they have on the environment. Earthquakes that are felt by humans are very rare in Germany. The majority of Germany’s earthquake faults are located in the three areas of crustal weakness: the Rhine area, the Swabian Alb, and the Eastern Thuringa. There have been several small scale earthquakes in Germany that were recorded beginning in the late 1600’s. One such earthquake was recorded in an engraving and showed cracked walls in a monastery. One of the most significant earthquakes occured on April 13 1992. This quake caused some moderate damage to buildings and infrastructure. Being that earthquake activity in this country is a rare occurrence, there have not been to many measures made to prevent earthquakes other than reinforcing buildings.

Works Cited

Grunthal,G. 2015, January 30. Seismicity in Germany in Global Context. Retrieved from

/http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/en/section/seismic-hazard-and-stress-field/topics/where-in-germany-does-the-earth-quake/seismicity-in-germany-in-global-context/

Week 2

Germany is not one of the most hazard-prone locations in the world, but it does experience natural hazards from time to time. The most significant natural hazards in this country are floods, storms, earthquakes and extreme temperatures. Germany is located on the Eurasian plate, but is not significantly close to any plate boundaries.

Works Cited:

Kreibich, 2014, A Review of Multiple Natural Hazards and Risks in Germany.
Retrieved from: http:// http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11069-014-1265-6

Hello everyone reading this!

The country I chose to study this semester is Germany. I have relatives from there and have always been interested in learning more about this country.

The assignment for this week asks the difference between natural hazards, disasters, and catastrophes.  Hazards are the possibility of dangers or risks. Disasters are sudden calamities that seriously affect communities  and while catastrophes can also be considered disasters, they take several years to overcome.