TROPICAL STORMS

1. TROPICAL STORMS

2. StarterIn pairs, think of 5 questions beginning with the letter ‘W’ that you could ask about this image

3. Lesson 1 and 2What are tropical storms? Lesson objectives • To understand what tropical storms are and how they are formed. Success Criteria • To label and annotate a world map showing a definition and the location of tropical storms around the world. • To draw a diagram showing the stages of the formation of a tropical storm.

4. What is a tropical storm? Definition: Tropical storms are large areas of low pressure or extreme depressions. They occur in areas where sea surface temperatures are over 27 degrees centigrade.

5. Depressions and Anti-cyclones • Depressions bring very wet and windy conditions. Depressions occur all throughout the year, but are most common around Autumn into Winter. Depressions also bring lots of clouds with them (try to remember a Depression as a depressingly wet and windy day!!!) • The opposite to a Depression is an Anti-Cyclone. Anti-cyclones bring calm weather with clear skies. You can also experience an anti-cyclone all throughout the year. During the summer months, anti-cyclones bring very hot weather with very little cloud and no rain, during the winter you usually get clear skies at night which makes it very cold. Usually in winter you will get lots of frost and fog in the morning as the night brought clear skies. Brrrrrrrr!!! Anti-Cyclones are also referred to as areas of High Pressure.

6. The Eye of the storm • On satellite images they are shown up as, swirling masses of cloud, with the eye clearly visible at the centre • The eye of the storm is where you will find the calm and clear area at the centre of the tropical storm. • THINK: Why do you think that the eye of the storm may be considered as being dangerous to people? Tip: Think about what happened in the Film “The day after tomorrow”.

7. Can you name the types of tropical storms? There are four types of tropical storms: • Hurricanes • Typhoons • Cyclones These are the different terms used, but they all mean the same!!

8. Map skills Task 1: • Using a world map complete the following: • Draw on where the different types of tropical storms are found • Shade in where sea temperature in over 27 degrees centigrade • Homework: Annotate the map with 6 interesting facts about tropical storms

9. Where can we find tropical storms?

10. The Hurricane Song • http://www.gatm.org.uk/geographyatthemovies/weather.html

11. Task 2: Using the cards, sort them into a sequence of events to explain the formation of a hurricane.

12. How a hurricane forms...card sort answers • Hurricanes need a lot of heat to form (a sea surface temperature of at least 26 degrees), which is why they usually occur over tropical seas. They also need to be between 5 and 20 degrees north or south of the equator. • Rising warm air rises fast, causing towering clouds, heavy rainfall, and intense low pressure. • The low pressure sucks in air, causing very strong winds which spiral - anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere - around the centre of the low, at speeds of around 120 km/h (75 mph). • Huge circular bodies of thick cloud around 450 km (300miles) wide. The cloud brings heavy rain, thunder and lightning. • In the centre is the eye of the hurricane, about 45 km across (30miles) across. Often there will be no cloud in the eye. Seen from below it will seem calmer, with a circle of blue sky above. The eye is formed because this is the only part of the hurricane where air is sinking. • In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing easterly tropical winds tend to steer hurricanes toward land - although their course is unpredictable. As they move inshore their power gradually reduces, because their energy comes from sucking up moist sea air.

13. Task 3: Using the text book on page 75, produce a diagram showing the stages of the formation of a tropical storm using the examples in the book. You must annotate the various stages of the storm. EXAM TIP The formation of a tropical storm could appear in two types of question; one involving diagrams and the other asking for a more detailed written response. Make sure that you can tackle both tasks effectively.

14. Plenary: Peer Assessment • Make up an exam question to test your peer. This question must test them on what they have learnt in today’s lesson. • Swap questions and attempt to answer it. • Now peer mark each other’s work. • Put an ‘S’ for strengths and write at least one strength of their work. • Put a ‘T’ for targets and write one improvement target to help them next time.

15. What are tropical storms? Lesson objectives • To understand what tropical storms are and how they are formed. Success Criteria • To label and annotate a world map showing a definition and the location of tropical storms around the world. • To draw a diagram showing the stages of the formation of a tropical storm.

16. Lesson 3:How are tropical storms measured? What evidence is there on Figure 5 to suggest that changes in sea temperatures occurred between 1980 and 2010? 4 marks

17. Using the Markscheme below self assess your answer using the self assessment sheet. • Identifies a cycle/fluctuations (1), indicates increasing/decreasing • sea temperatures (1) • Identifies a peak (dates/number of storm days) (1), link to heating or El Nino (1) • Identifies a trough (dates/number of storm days) (1), link to cooling or La Nina (1). • Higher/lower sea temperatures = more/fewer tropical storm days = 1 mark only.

18. How are tropical storms measured? Lesson objectives • To understand how tropical storms are measured. Success Criteria • To practice an exam question and self assessment • To accurately complete the Saffir-Simpson scale card matching exercise. • To create an article educating others about the usefulness of Saffir-Simpson scale .

19. How are tropical storms measured? All tropical storms are dangerous, but some are more so than others. To make comparisons easier and to make the predicted hazards of approaching tropical storms clearer to emergency managers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's tropical storms forecasters use a disaster-potential scale which assigns storms to five categories. This can be used to give an estimate of the potential property damage and flooding expected along the coast with a tropical storms.

20. The scale was formulated in 1969 by Herbert Saffir, a consulting engineer, and Dr. Bob Simpson, director of the National Hurricane Centre. The World Meteorological Organization was preparing a report on structural damage to dwellings due to windstorms, and Dr. Simpson added information about storm surge heights that accompany tropical storms in each category. It is called the Saffir-Simpson scale. Herbert Saffir

21. Task: Read the cards you have been given and match them up so that the categories match the wind speeds and descriptions of what effects the tropical storm would have.

22. Saffir- Simpson Scale

23. Task: Now stick the answer sheet into your book.

24. Plenary Literacy Task: The map below shows the path taken by tropical storms and their intensity. Write a short article for a Geography magazine aimed at GCSE Geography students on how useful this map is to Geographers and people living in areas prone to tropical storms?

25. Now pretend you are the editor of the magazine and peer mark your study buddy’s article using a red pen. Is it good enough to go to print? How can it be improved? Put one Strength and one Target. S = Strength T= Target

26. Starter:In pairs, think of 5 questions beginning with the letter ‘W’ that you could ask about this image

27. Effects of tropical storms Lesson Objectives • All to know the effects of a tropical storm • Most to categorise the effects into primary and secondary effects of tropical storms • Some to know the differences between the environmental, social and economic effects of tropical storms Success Criteria • All to complete table of the effects of a tropical storm • Most to group effects of a tropical storm into primary and secondary effects

28. Task 1: In pairs create a thought shower on the effects of a tropical storm. When creating your thought shower you might like to think about tropical storms that have been in the news, for example Hurricane Katrina. Think of as many effects as you can, big or small. Effects of a tropical storm

29. The intense winds of tropical storms can destroy whole communities, buildings and communication networks. As well as their own destructive energy, the winds generate abnormally high waves and tidal surges, which cause flooding in coastal areas. The most destructive elements are the high seas and the flooding that accompany the storms.

30. Literacy Task: Look at this image it shows a storm surge caused by a Tropical storm. Write a short poem describing its power and what a person might feel seeing it coming towards them.

31. What is a Storm Surge? Storm surges: Abnormal rise of the sea along a shore as the result of a storm; sometimes called a tidal surge. Draw a quick but accurate sketch of this diagram. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/storm_surge.shtml

32. Annotate your diagram with some of this information a storm surge is... Storm surge is water that is pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds swirling around the storm. This advancing surge combines with the normal tide to create a tropical storm tide. This rise in water level can cause severe flooding in coastal areas, particularly when the storm tide coincides with the normal high tides. The level of surge in a particular area is also determined by the slope of the continental shelf. A shallow slope off the coast will allow a greater surge to inundate coastal communities. Communities with a steeper continental shelf will not see as much surge inundation, although large breaking waves can still present major problems. Storm tides, waves, and currents in confined harbours severely damage ships, marinas, and pleasure boats.

33. Did you know • The highest storm surge ever recorded was 15 metres above normal high tide (Cyclone Mahina in the Pacific Ocean, 1899) • Hurricane Katrina (2005) had the highest recorded storm surge of any Atlantic hurricane. It was 8.5 metres in height. • (Do not confuse a storm surge with a Tsunami!!!)

34. Task 2: a) Discuss what these images show. b) Using these photos of Haiti after Hurricane Hanna, can you identify the primary and secondary effects of a Tropical Storm? The island of Haiti was greatly affected by Hurricane Hanna Images of Haiti, an between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean

35. MEDCs are better placed to reduce the effects of tropical storms, because they have more financial resources and educational and technological know-how to help deal with them. This means they are better able to observe and predict storm behaviour, and to invest in infrastructure, which can withstand storms - as well as having more resources for repairing the damage caused. Therefore...if MEDCs are better prepared for tropical storms and LEDCs are not, in what ways do you think that LEDCs can be affected by tropical storms? Think about countries poor low lying like Bangladesh. Who and what do you think LEDCs rely on after a storm event?

36. Task 3: Create a table that shows the effects of a tropical storm, consider the physical, environmental, social and economic effects. Use the text book (pg. 72) to help you.

37. Plenary: Which effect do you consider to be the most severe and why? Go back to your poem and add another verse about the primary effects of a tropical storm. Extension: Add a verse to your poem about the secondary effects of a tropical storm.

38. Effects of tropical storms Lesson Objectives • All to know the effects of a tropical storm • Most to categorise the effects into the primary and secondary effects of tropical storms • Some to know the differences between the environmental, social and economic effects of tropical storms Success Criteria • All to complete table of the effects of a tropical storm • Most to group effects of a tropical storm into primary and secondary effects

39. Case Study: Hurricane Katrina Lesson Objectives • All to create the case study of Hurricane Katrina Success Criteria • Produce detailed DVD notes • You will of created a detailed case study of Hurricane Katrina.

40. Starter: Find New Orleans in the Atlas. Work out the longitude and latitude? Tip: look at page 103 Answer: Latitude 30 degrees North Longitude 90 degrees West

41. Task: Using the Geofile and the DVD to help you, create a case study of Hurricane Katrina. You will need to use the following structure to help you. When did Hurricane Katrina hit? Describe the path of Hurricane Katrina What Category did Katrina reach? What wind speeds did Katrina reach? What states did Hurricane Katrina hit? How did people prepare for the Hurricane? What were the primary effects of Hurricane Katrina? What were the secondary effects of Hurricane Katrina? How did people respond to the Hurricane? Including the clean-up.

42. Case Study of Hurricane Katrina Causes of Hurricane Katrina Path of the Hurricane Summary of key Facts and Figures Primary Effects Secondary Effects Responses and clean up

43. Plenary: Give me 5!!! Write five things that you have learnt about Hurricane Katrina. Pick your best answer to share with the class.

44. Case Study: Hurricane Katrina Lesson Objectives • All to create the case study of Hurricane Katrina Success Criteria • Produce detailed DVD notes • You will of created a detailed case study of Hurricane Katrina.

45. Case Study: Cyclone Nargis Lesson Objectives • All to create the case study of Hurricane Nargis Success Criteria • You will have created a detailed case study of Cyclone Nargis.

46. Starter:In pairs discuss what this image is, what shows and how it might be useful.

47. Case study: Cyclone Nargis 2008 Convection increases, Changes direction eastwards May 1st Landfall May 2nd Burma. Peak winds of 215 km/h Category 4 Dies outs May 3rd Convection decreases Originally predicted to hit Bangladesh or SE India April 27th: formed in Bay of Bengal

48. Cyclone Nargis May 2008: The impacts 1000s missing. Many feared washed out to sea 75% of health service & 4,000 schools damaged 65% of paddy fields contaminated by salt water 2.7% of projected GDP predicted lost by event Extensive destruction of buildings, e.g. Labutta town 75% buildings collapsed 100,000 fishing vessels destroyed 146,000 fatalities 700,000 homes destroyed in delta 5 regions declared a disaster area $10 estimated cost 75% livestock killed 1,163 temples destroyed

49. Cyclone Nargis May 2008: the response • 44 countries responded by donating money to the relief operation, food, shelter, volunteers, water and medicine. • Long term response has been to restore quality of life through projects working with farmers, rebuilding school and health centres and clean water supplies. • Improving road infrastructure to allow for quicker access to safer areas in future disasters. • Preparation to prepare people in most vulnerable areas and educate on appropriate response.

50. Case Study of Cyclone Nargis Causes of Cyclone Nargis Path of the Cyclone Summary of key Facts and Figures Primary Effects Secondary Effects Responses and clean up