Finland Natural Disasters

Finland's Main Natural Disasters

Flooded section of road in Southern Finland

Floods

     Finland is very fortunate. There are minimal amounts of earthquakes, that are small earthquakes that have reached the highest of 4.5 on the Richter Scale, inactive volcanoes, no worries of tornadoes, tsunamis, or typhoons. The people of Finland are very lucky to have suck few natural disasters to worry about, but flooding and snowstorms are a major concern for Finland. 

     Flooding generates a huge amount of financial costs in damages every year.  In 2013, flooding resulted in nearly 10 million euros in damages to the country.  The expansion and the consolidation of urban areas, along with the development of building more agriculture sections have increased the vulnerability of the country's to natural hazards. but more importantly to flooding.  Also with the face of climate change, the risks for floods and other natural weather events is expected to increase.  During the winters in Finland, the weather caused ice dams and flooding in several rivers in Finland, that caused residents to evacuate their homes, with roads impassable, and destruction of buildings.  And according to climate projections, similar winter time conditions are estimated to increase.  

     From the extreme winters to the flooding that is caused, the media and public have taken more of an interest in the shift of responsibilities for the damages caused and what do when the emergency with flooding arises.  In the areas of flooding that occur every year, possessing the know-how and profession skill associated with preparing for floods, flood protection and operational flood prevention is important for preserving the the land, people, animals, building, and crops.  Good cooperation with rescue services is vital for flood prevention. The good news is that Finland is pretty well prepared for floods.  For example, the most significant agricultural regions, such as the region of the River Kyronjoki, are protected against flooding up to certain limits.  

     To move forward with flooding in Finland, it is important to prepare safety plans and risk assessments of dams taking the occurrence of extreme floods into consideration. Also with plans and regular drills are needed to secure flood prevention and rescue operations. For example, teaching citizens to try to prevent flood damage by monitoring flood warnings and following the instructions from the authorities, such as protecting properties with sand bags, sealing doors, blocking sewers and under drains, moving valuable items to a safe location, etc.  Another way to educate citizens is to have them take out insurance to cover the damage that is caused to their property by the flooding and for the government to help compensate for the costs that were not covered by the home insurance policies. 

     Finally, the reduction of flood risks, and the avoidance of construction in flood risk areas in particular, can be influenced by land use planning.  Land use planning and concentrating construction outside of flood risk areas, are the cheapest way to avoid flood damage.  

Snow Storms

Snow in Lapland, Finland (Northern Finland)

     Snow can fall starting as early as November and can continue until May and many parts of Finland have a thick layer of blanket of snow.  The problems with snow storms in Finland is car accidents in the snow.  There are a lot of accidents that occur because of the snow every year.  For example, when people forget to change their tires or slip on the black ice on the roads, accidents are more likely to happen, and unfortunately, if the temperature is low enough, salting will not help the road conditions.  The best course of action would to make sure after the first snow fall, cities should have snow plow companies that take the snow and ice away.
     Road conditions are not the only downside to heavy snow fall.  Other blizzard damages can be tree tops or trees can bend because of the snow load, trains and trams delayed, false fire alarms if blizzard snow reaches a fire detector, delays in air traffic, and scaffoldings may collapse.
     Because the local severe weather can have impacts that can affect and threaten lives, the government can create a guide of general safety rules for public or a call-to-action statements, which can be included in the storm warning messages.  For example, in a regular snow storm (with low impact), it should be recommended to move indoors and to look out for falling trees or power lines.  In an dangerous snow storm, people should move indoors right away, and to stay away from the widows.  Also, to look out for power lines and trees that have fallen and to report them right away.  In a snow blizzard, people should avoid unnecessary traveling. A blizzard can cause poor visibility. In a dangerous blizzard, it should be advised to not travel.  It is highly dangerous and poor visibility makes it difficult to see barriers on roads and slamming on the brakes can cause the car to slide at a long distance, due to the slipperiness of the road.  
     Understanding the consequences of severe weather on Finland's society helps develop preparedness for such events in the future.  Knowledge on typical impacts of events can guide several preparedness measures that aim to prevent causalities.  The information can also be used to mitigate property damage and ensure society's faster recovery by planning ahead, when severe weather is forecasted. 

Picture Reference:

http://base-adaptation.eu/sites/default/files/BASE%20SYKE%20Photo%201.png

http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/911/cache/91119_990x742-cb1438273497.jpg

References: 

http://base-adaptation.eu/shifting-responsibilities-flood-damages-finland

http://www.climatechangepost.com/finland/river-floods/

http://www.peda.net/verkkolehti/jkl/lyseo/comenius_project_2010-2011?m=content&a_id=83

http://www.sirwec.org/Papers/quebec/20.pdf

Coastal Erosion

The High Coast, Kvarken, Gulf of Bothnia, Archipelago, Lighthouse

The active coastal dune fields of Finland are located between the swash zone (the zone of wave action) and the forest edge. The effect of waves during storms reaches far beyond the actual beach and can cause great changes (erosion) to sandy beaches at an exceptional speed. On the other hand, there can be periods, perhaps decades, of quiet evolution between the more severe storms. During the 90’s strong winds occurred and locally erosion of the coastal dunes at the Finnish coast has taken place. 

Thankfully, the Finnish coastal area is sparsely populated. Only about one third of the shore zone has been developed. The areas of the coastal dunes, where some erosion locally occurs, are usually desolated and undeveloped areas. 

Finland’s coastal area is in general, is pretty desolated. Forestry and coastal plains are the usual land use functions. In general, nature can take its course at the Finnish coasts. A lot of nature reserves are therefore present along the Finnish coast. In the last years however, a rapid increase in holiday houses is taking place in the coastal zone of Finland. 

Picture Reference:

http://footage.framepool.com/en/shot/181718852-the-high-coast-kvarken-gulf-of-bothnia-archipelago

Reference:

http://copranet.projects.eucc-d.de/files/000113_EUROSION_Western_coast_of_Finland.pdf

Extreme Weather

Hail Storms

    Finland has a much milder climate than most other regions of the world that lie as far north. Finland's climate is influenced chiefly by the Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current that flows off of Norway's west coast. Finland's many lakes and the gulf of Bothnia and Finland help give the country a relatively mild climate. 

    Especially in the Autumn and Winter the weather can be hazardous with heavy snowfall and strong winds.  Weather changes can be extreme and abrupt, and can be very dangerous when a person is outside, including hail storms. 

Large hail in Finland can occur anytime between May and mid-September, with the peak time for severe hail being late June to early August when over 85% of cases have occurred. July was the most active month for severe hail.  The maximum diameters of hailstones are typically smaller than 3 cm, but even tennis-ball and baseball-size hail have been reported a few times.

Because Finland is mostly forested with many large lakes and a relatively low population density, underreporting of severe hail is significant. The majority of severe-hail reports are from the agricultural areas in western Finland. A large number of reports are also near cities and towns. Most severe-hail cases occurred in southern and western Finland, generally decreasing to the north, with the majority of the cases near population centers. The proportion of large hail to all severe-hail cases is greatest over the agricultural area in southwestern Finland where any crop damage caused by severe hail is more likely to be reported. In this location, the distribution of reported hail sizes is probably closest to that in reality. In northern Finland, severe hail is observed infrequently, mostly due to the low population density and shorter convective storm season.

Photo References:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/uahPXO9RJUs/maxresdefault.jpg

References:

http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/reports/climate/Finland.htm

http://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/full/10.1175/2008MWR2707.1

Week 5 Blog: Volcanoes

A volcano is a vent or chimney which transfers molten rock known as magma from depth to the Earth's surface. Magma erupting from a volcano is called lava and is the material which builds up the cone surrounding the vent.

A volcano is active if it is erupting lava, releasing gas or generates seismic activity. A volcano is dormant if it has not erupted for a long time but could erupt again in the future. Once a volcano has been dormant for more than 10 000 years, it is termed extinct.

The explosiveness of a volcanic eruption depends on how easily magma can flow and the amount of gas trapped within the magma. Large amounts of water and carbon dioxide are dissolved in magma causing it to behave in a similar way to gas expanding in fizzy drinks, which forms bubbles and escapes after opening.

Volcanoes can be different in appearance with some featuring perfect cone shapes while others are deep depressions filled with water. The form of a volcano provides a clue to the type and size of its eruption which is controlled by the characteristics and composition of magma. The size, style and frequency of eruptions can differ greatly but all these elements correlated to the shape of a volcano.

Are there volcanoes in Finland? The answer is no, but Finland does have ancient volcanoes that are 2,500 Millions years old. The thought is that Finland's bedrock is so stable form the collision of volcanic island arcs. The oldest volcanic rocks is found in Finland and are called the Archean Greenstone Belts. The green area on the map below shows the oldest volcanic rock from the ancient volcanoes.

Finland is not in any danger from active volcanoes in the country, but has had to deal with the after math from other volcanic eruptions in other countries.  For example, the volcanic eruption from Holuraun volcano in Iceland, brought unusually high concentrations of volcanic gases to the people in Finland. The gases affected their quality of life and were instructed to stay indoors. 

Interesting tidbit: Volcanic ash clouds can damage aircraft engines but ash is not visible by radar, the main navigation aid for aircraft. There are nine Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres around the world which use satellites to help track volcanic ash clouds and provide warnings for aircraft.

Refrences:

http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/hazards/volcano/basics/what

www.luomus.fi/en/ancient-volcanoes-finland

http://www.wsj.com/articles/iceland-volcanic-eruption-sending-gases-throughout-region-1410446383

Week 3 Blog: Earthquakes

     This week for my blog, I will be discussing earthquakes and this natural disaster effects Finland. I will also be diving into the necessary precautions Finland has taken, in case Finland is hit by a massive earthquake.  

     And now for something completely different....

     Finland is relatively lucky, with the minimal amount of earthquakes it has to endured compared to other places on the planet (i.e. China).  Remember from the previous blog post, that Finland's location in the middle of the continental plate is far from the plate margin areas (that are affected by earthquakes).  When an earthquake does happen, the ground is stable from it's position on the continent, which makes shaking weak.  Most of the earthquakes take place in the Northern region on Finland and have never been higher than 4.7 on the Richter scale.
     To be honest, I had a hard time believing that Finland has minimal amounts of earthquakes. So, I went online to do some research of my own. I found a very interesting website that records the daily earthquakes of places from all over the world. Earthquake Tracker, recorded the last earthquake in Finland, which was 5 years ago, with a magnitude of 2.6 in Mantsala, Uusimaa, Finland.  The earthquake before that, was a year prior to the earthquake in Mantsala, with a magnitude of 4.1 in Dragsfjard, Sounthwest Finland, Finland.  From looking at the earthquakes and their seismic activity in Finland, for the past 12 years, there have only been seven earthquakes with a magnitude no greater than 2.7.
      Finland is not in great danger of having an earthquake become a natural disaster.  This doesn't mean that Finland is not at risk for other natural disasters that can hit their country (massive snow storms and flooding), but they still stay informed on earthquakes preparedness.  On a website dedicated to earthquakes called Shaking Earth, there is information on how to prepare for an earthquake before hand (flashlights with working batteries and non parishble food), to what to do during an earthquake, and after, along the side margins of the article. This website is published in Finland, from the University of Helsinki. I find it hard to believe that Finland would not be prepared in case of a dangerous earthquake, since Sweeden has had earthquakes above 7.0 on the Richter scale.  Another fascinating tidbit about Finkand is that the country will continuously give money to other countries that were devastated by a massive earthquake.  For example, Finland donated over 3 million euros to Nepal after the country was hit with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, back in May of 2015.

Photo:
Depressing Finland, Meanwhile in Finland. (2016). Retrieved
     from http://depressingfinland.tumblr.com/post/69893425717/meanwhile-in-finland.

Work Cited:
Earthquake Tracker, Today's Earthquakes in Finland. (2016).
     Retrieved from http://earthquaketrack.com/p/finland/recent.

Finland increases support to Nepal earthquake victims. (2016). Retrieved from                        http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=326218. 

Korhonen, N. (n.d.). Shaking earth. Retrieved from                                                                    http://www.helsinki.fi/lehdet/uh/101c.htm.

Week 2 Blog: Plate Tectonics

Welcome back to my geology blog! This week I will be writing about plate tectonics and which tectonic plate Finland is located on, as well as, the hazards that Finland faces from its location.

But first let's go over plate tectonics and what they do...

The rigid outer shell of the Earth, the lithosphere (creating land formations like oceans, continents, and mountains), is made up of huge rigid pieces, which are called lithospheric plates (continental and/or oceanic plates). In addition to the seven major plates, namely the Pacific, North-American, South-American, Eurasian, African, Australian-Indian and the Antarctic plates, several minor plates can be detected in the lithosphere. Even though the minor plates are smaller in size, they are no less important to the shape and formation of the Earth. For example, the tiny Juan de Fuca plate is largely responsible for the volcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest of the Untied States. "Circulating currents in the molten rocks below, propel the plates along like a jumble of conveyor belts in disrepair" (National Geographic). Most of the structure of Earth's crust stems from the relationship where plates meet or divide.  

The plate boundaries, (is the boarder between two tectonic plates) are seismically most sensitive and, therefore, the majority of earthquakes occur at these sites. "An earthquake occurs where there is stress in the rock masses that have accumulated to the point where they exceed the strength of the rock material, leading to a sudden burst of the energy along a fracture" (National Geographic). The main part of the stress results from the relative motion of the plates. Plates either move apart from one another, collide with or slide past one another. Tectonic earthquakes occur due to the release of the stress caused by relative plate motion. The most destructive earthquakes are always tectonic. The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent - where plates move into one another, divergent - where plates move apart, and transform - where the plates move sideways in relation to each other.

Now let's take a look at Finland and see where it is located on lithospheric plates...

- Finland is located on the Eurasian Plate. -

- Finland has multiple plate movements and plate boundaries surrounding the country. -

- To the south of Finland, there is a convergent boundary that transitions to a transform fault (along the Atlantic Ocean), and to the west of the Atlantic Ocean is it framed by a divergent boundary, with a plate that moves inward to the country. -

Finland's location in the middle of the continental plate, is beneficial with regards to earthquakes, since it is far away from the plate boundary areas. This means that the ground is stable and when shaking, from earthquakes, is weak. "The strongest earthquakes recorded in Finland, have been 4.7 on the Richter scale." (Korhonen). The majority of earthquakes occur in northern Finland.

"Finland is located on fairly firm ground although several minor earthquakes occur annually." (Korhonen)

Maps:

Learn.org,. "Interactives. Dynamic Earth. Plates & Boundaries". N.p,. 2016 Web. 9 Feb 2016. Retrieved from www.learner.org/interactives/dynamicearth/plate.html.

E-education.psu.edu,. "W. Jason Morgan | Earth 520: Plate Tectonics And People: Foundation Of Solid Earth Science". N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. Retrieved from www.e- education.psu.edu/earth520/content/l2_p14.html.

Work Cited:

Korhonen, Nina. "Universitas Helsingiensis 1 01". Helsinki.fi. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. Retrieved from http://www.helsinki.fi/lehdet/uh/101c.html.

National Geographic,. "Plate Tectonics, Tectonic Plates Information, Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic". N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. Retrieved from http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/plate-tectonics-article/

Welcome to my blog for Geology: Natual Hazards!

    Week 1 Blog:
    This week for my blog, I will be discussing the differences between Hazards, Disasters, and Catastrophes and write a bit about a country that I will continuously come back to about its natural hazards, Finland.
    As you can see below, Finland is a small country in between, Russia and Sweden and the south end of the country is surrounded by The Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia.

    Some interesting facts about Finland...

    - The North of Finland, from August to April, you can experience the Northern Lights and the Auroral activity peaks at the beginning and the end of the season.

    - In the very North of Finland, Lapland, the sun stays above the horizon for more than two months between Mid-May and late July. Also, in the Southern parts of Lapland the sun stays up constantly for a month in June-July. 

Hazard, Disaster, and Catastrophe

Hazard: Is a process and event that is a potential threat to human life and property. The process and events themselves are not a hazard, but become so because of human use of land. For example, most hazards are dormant or potential, with only a theoretical risk of harm, but once a hazard become "active", it can create an emergency. The five types of hazards are physical, chemical, biological, psychological, and ergonomic. An example of a hazard would be the risk of a landslide by a house.

Disaster: A disaster is a hazardous event that occurs over a limited time span within a defined area. Criteria for a natural disaster are 1) 10 or more people are killed, 2) 100 or more people are affected, 3) a state of emergency is declared, and 4) international assistance is requested.  For example, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is remembered as one of the worst natural disasters in United States history. 

Catastrophe: Is a massive disaster that requires a significant amount of money and a long time (often years) for recovery to take place. For example, Hurricane Katrina, which flooded New Orleans and damaged much of the coastline of Mississippi in 2005, was the most damaging and costly catastrophe in the history of the United States. Recovery from this catastrophe has taken years and is still recovering in parts of New Orleans.