ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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When choosing where to live, one good thing to keep in mind are your friendly neighborhood… [Man pondering]

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natural hazards. [Hazard signs appear]

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A natural hazard is a naturally occurring event [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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… that has a negative effect on people…

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… property…

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… or the environment. [Trees on fire]

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We’re talking earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, floods, and wildfires. [Dino pointing at a blackboard]

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All that good stuff.

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But don’t panic: the chances of you running into all of these hazards in one spot are [Man in a hurricane, a flood and a fire and in the background]

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pretty slim.

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If you do, we know a Hollywood agent who might like to talk to you for a few minutes about [Movie poster]

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a development deal.

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But yeah, the natural hazards you might have to face are partly determined by where you

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live.

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Like…think about earthquakes.

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There are even more earthquakes in California than there are Kardashians. [Kardashians flying around]

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Why so many?

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Because earthquakes happen along fault lines, or breaks in the earth’s crust.

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California happens to sit on a pretty big fault line called The San Andreas. [The San Andreas fault line is drawn]

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When two tectonic plates scrape each other a certain way, it can cause anything from

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a little rolling that barely wakes you up… [Man asleep in bed]

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…to a big shaking that levels buildings. [Man in bed looks shocked]

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As long as we're talking about tectonic plates, we might as well talk about volcanoes.

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Volcanoes are another natural hazard which forms where two tectonic plates meet. [Gap in the earth where a volcano forms]

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There are 65 active volcanoes in the United States.

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It would have been much easier for Frodo if he’d lived here instead of Middle Earth. [Frodo tosses the ring into the volcano]

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When volcanoes erupt, it can send ash and rock into the air or create quick-moving lava flow. [Volcano spits out a ball of rock]

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If beaches are your thing, but the wind in your hair isn’t…then stay away from these

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areas, where every year brings “Hurricane Season”. [Hurrican season sign]

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Hurricanes form over warm bodies of water and require very specific weather conditions [Hurricane shown on a map]

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to form, which is why they only affect certain areas.

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When hurricanes finally hit land, they arrive as huge storms, bringing with them winds reaching [News presenter in a hurricane]

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speeds of up to 75 to 200 miles per hour. [The presenters hat is blown off]

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Another weather related natural hazard is a tornado.

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These violent rotating columns of air can reach speeds of up to 300 miles per hour and [Tornado approaching a house]

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can leave a trail of damage up to 50 miles long. [The house flies into the air]

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And while they won’t actually take you over the

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rainbow…there is a reason that everyone’s favorite storm chasers, Dorothy and Toto,

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hailed from the interior U.S. state like Kansas. [Dorothy looking out the window]

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That’s because there’s also “no place like” the central U.S. for prime tornado-making

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conditions.

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It’s along here, in this stretch of land known as “Tornado Alley,” that warm air [Tornado Alley is shown on the map]

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from the Gulf of Mexico meets up with cold air from Canada in a, um…

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North American bad weather trade agreement. [Arrows showing the flow of air]

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Wildfires are most common in the forested areas of the United States.

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That’s because for a spark to become an out-of-control fire you need lots of leaves,

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branches and grass, combined with hot, dry conditions. [Leaves covering the floor of woodlands]

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Yeah, we're looking at you again, California.

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A wildfire has natural causes, like lightning… [A wildfire]

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…but sadly, most wildfires are caused by human carelessness. [Man chucks a cigarette onto the leaves]

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Which only you can prevent. [Bear grabs the man]

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We’re almost out of danger, but there’s one natural hazard we haven’t covered, and

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it’s also the number-one weather-related killer in the United States.

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We’re talking about… floods.

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And yup, they can happen just about anywhere that water overflows onto land, usually during [Flood warning signs appearing all over the US]

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heavy storms.

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A flood can result in water a few inches deep…or it can cover rooftops. [Woman holding an umbrella]

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And while living near a river or other body of water can make flooding more likely, even [The woman disappears behind the flood water]

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a sewer backing up in your street during a heavy storm is enough to cause high water [A tortoise shoots out of a drain]

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levels.

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And that concludes our tour of natural hazards.

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If, after learning about these natural hazards, you no longer wish to live on the planet Earth [Man jumps into a spaceship]

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because it seems like Mother Nature’s out to get you… we honestly don’t blame you. ['Mother Nature' looking angry]

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