Jaime's Blogging World

  Like many others who have not taken a Geology course, I didn't know what a coastal hazard is. Lucky for you, my blog will help you understand this week's topic. Coastal hazards are typically natural events that threaten coastal areas. These events range from hurricanes, storm surges, rising sea levels, and coastal erosion. Due to Cuba's location, most of these events affect them; located in the Atlantic hurricane zone, hurricanes are the most lethal for my country.  Climate change is also negatively impacting Cuba; making sea levels rise, decrease in precipitation, and an increase in temperature. If we do not take action to reduce climate change many areas such as Cuba could be negatively impacted in the future. The risk of flooding and erosion only becomes riskier if we take no action against climate change. Cuba has already gone through enough with hurricane season, beginning in June until December. A person living in Cuba states, " I f  a lot of buildings collap...

Due to its location, my country, Cuba, is prone to tropical storms. Tropical storms are common in Cuba and result in mass amounts of destruction. Not only do tropical storms hit the Caribbean islands but possible hurricanes could also seriously affect infrastructure, buildings, and assets. These storms are likely to occur from June to November. There is currently a Tropical storm that hit Cuba.  According to Euro News, it " made landfall Sunday before crossing the island’s eastern coast as a tropical storm Monday with winds and heavy rain, leaving at least six dead after a night that saw protests by several dozen people in urban neighborhoods like Santos Suárez and central Havana." This actively demonstrates how life-threatening these tropical storms can truly be. People in Cuba do not have money to keep facing storm after storm. Money is low for the average citizen and these natural events could take everything from them. It is important that everyone helps each other in suc...

  Many people who have not taken geology courses may not know what mass wasting is. Mass wasting occurs when there is a downslope movement of the earth's elements due to gravity as shown in the image above. Most people know mass wasting as landslides, mudslides, and or rockfalls. These could active when there is intense rainfall, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, and more. My country Cuba is at high risk when it comes to mass waste due to the large mountains and tropical climate that receives tons of rainfall. Another huge problem that makes cuba vulnerable to landslides is climate change. The ongoing issue of climate change impacts each biome differently and for cuba it is likely that it will affect bedrock stability and slope through temperature and/or precipitation. Overall my country will have some landslides due to the terrain and other external factors. According to the article, " Tarps and plastic sheeting  are often used to drain water off of slide bodies and prevent ...

  Many people may not know how volcanos have come to be. Volcanos erupt because of the extreme temperature located below the earth which causes rocks to gradually dissolve and become a thick fluid referred to as magma. This comprises "molten and semi-molten rock found beneath the earth's surface. Since the magma is lighter than the surrounding solid rock, it rises to the surface and collects in magma chambers. After some time magma ultimately finds its way to the Earth's surface through vents and fractures. A strange but interesting example I thought of is how similar it is to popping a pimple because of the same way it releases fluid from the surface like our face. Luckily for my country Cuba, it does not have any volcanos. Although it may not have any direct volcanos that can affect them, some could potentially be a threat to Cuba. In the image above, La Soufriere is the nearest active volcano in Cuba. During my research, I discovered that this volcano has affected Cuba ...

     Many people have or may not have felt a earthquake in their lifetime. Earthquakes occur when faults break, which causes displacement on the Earth. Three different variations of faults can occur. We know this because of the direction they have moved. One of the faults is called a "Reverse Fault", this causes the block above the fault to lift due to compression. Another fault is a "Normal Fault", this causes the block above the fault to sink, exposing a Fault Plane on the surface of Earth. Another fault is the "Strike-slip Fault", that causes a vertical fracture on the earth resulting in the ground moving horizontally. Cuba is positioned among several active fault systems, resulting in typically two thousand earthquakes annually. Most of these earthquakes are ignored, although the island has faced numerous destructive earthquakes up to magnitudes of 7.0 or higher. I believe that because Cuba is not "seen" they cannot get the help they need in ...

 Tetnoic Plates are massive rocks under the earth's surface, generally composed of continental and oceanic lithosphere. Cuba is a part of North America, separated from the Caribbean plate by the Oriente Transform Fault. The North American Plate is the Earth's largest tectonic Plate, behind the Pacific Plate. This plate is part Oceanic and Continental. The Southern boundary with the Cocos Plate to the west and the Caribbean Plate to the east is a transform fault, represented by the Swans Island Transform Fault under the Caribbean Sea and the Motagua Fault through Guatemala.  Works Cited  https://rock.geosociety.org/net/gsatoday/archive/26/10/article/i1052-5173-26-10-4.htm#:~:text=Cuba%20is%20the%20largest%20island%20in%20the%20Greater%20Antilles%20and,NOAM)%20since%20late%20Eocene%20time.  https://www.researchgate.net/figure/a-Tectonic-map-of-the-Caribbean-showing-the-position-of-Cuba-as-a-part-of-the-North_fig3_252786886  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Amer...

Cuba is the largest tropical island located in the Caribbean, the average temperature is 79 degrees. Most of Cuba is made up of forests - covering about one-fourth of the surface area. The official name is the Republic of Cuba. There is a variety of different environments such as mountain forests to jungles and grasslands that unique animals call home. Cuba's original inhabitants were the Ciboney and Guanahatabey people. Later they would have the island taken over by the Taino people from Venezuela. Shortly after, American forces helped drive the Spanish out of Cuba in 1898, and by, 1902 Cuba obtained their own independence but with the strong influence of the United States over the island. A natural hazard is an event/process caused by the earth that potentially threatens human life and property such as houses, cars, etc. A disaster is an unpredictable event that takes place within a limited period and specific area. A disaster would declare a state of emergency, affecting over 10...