Natural Disasters Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on natural disasters.

A Natural disaster is an unforeseen occurrence of an event that causes harm to society. There are many Natural disasters that damage the environment and the people living in it. Some of them are earthquakes , cyclones, floods, Tsunami , landslides, volcanic eruption, and avalanches. Spatial extent measures the degree or severity of the disaster.

Essay on natural disaster

Levels of Disaster

The severity or degree of damage can be further divided into three categories:

Small Scale Disasters: Small scale disasters are those that extend from 50 Kms. to 100 Kms. So this kind of disasters does not cause much damage.

Medium-scale disasters: Medium Scale disasters extend from 100 Kms to 500 Kms. These cause more damage than a small scale disaster. Moreover, they can cause greater damage if they occur in colonial states.

Large Scale Disasters: These disasters cover an area of more than 1000 Kms. These cause the most severe damage to the environment. Furthermore, these disasters can even take over a country if the degree is high. For instance, the wiping out of the dinosaurs was because of a large scale natural disaster.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Types of Disasters

college essay on natural disaster

Causes: These can cause of releasing of the energy. This release is from the core of the earth. Furthermore, the release of energy causes seismic waves. Rupturing of geological faults causes earthquakes. But other events like volcanic eruptions, landslides mine blasts can also cause it.

Landslides: Landslides is the moving of big boulders of rocks or debris down a slope. As a result, landslides occur on mountains and hilly areas. Moreover, landslides can cause destruction to man-made things in many ways.

Causes: Gravitational pull, volcanic eruptions , earthquakes can cause landslides. Moreover, soil erosion due to deforestation is also a cause of landslides.

Avalanches: Avalanches are like landslides. But instead of rocks thousand tons of snow falls down the slope. Moreover, this causes extreme damage to anything that comes in its way. People who live in snowy mountains always have fear of it.

Causes: Avalanches takes places when there is a large accumulation of snow on the mountains. Moreover, they can also occur from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, the chances of surviving an avalanche are very less. This is because people die of hypothermia in it.

Tsunami: Tsunami is the production of very high waves in oceans and seas. Moreover, the displacement of the ground causes these high waves. A tsunami can cause floods if it occurs near shores. A Tsunami can consist of multiple waves. Moreover, these waves have a high current. Therefore it can reach coastlines within minutes. The main threat of a tsunami is if a person sees a Tsunami he cannot outrun it.

Causes: Tsunami is unlike normal eaves that occur due to the wind. But Tsunami is waves that occur by ground displacement. Thus earthquakes are the main causes of Tsunamis.

FAQs on Essay on natural disaster

Q1.What are natural disasters?

A1. Natural Disasters are unforeseen events that cause damage to the environment and the people.

Q2.Name some Natural disasters.

A2. Some Natural Disasters are earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, Landslides, floods, Tsunami, avalanches. Natural disasters can cause great damage to human society. But preventive measures can be taken to reduce the damage from these disasters.

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500+ Words Essay on Natural Disasters For Students

From the towering walls of water that sweep across coastlines to the ground-shaking tremors that ripple through the earth’s surface, natural disasters are a stark reminder of the immense power of nature and the fragility of our existence. These catastrophic events strike without warning, leaving in their wake a trail of destruction, displacement, and heartbreak.

Table of Content

Types of Natural Disasters

Causes of natural disasters, effects of natural disasters, precautions and preparedness, 500 words essay on natural disasters.

Natural disasters can take many forms, each with its unique characteristics and consequences. Some of the most devastating types include:

1. Earthquakes: Triggered by the sudden release of energy within the Earth’s crust, earthquakes can cause massive structural damage, trigger tsunamis, and disrupt vital infrastructure.

2. Tsunamis: Towering waves generated by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, tsunamis can inundate coastal regions with incredible force, sweeping away everything in their path.

3. Hurricanes and Cyclones: These powerful rotating storm systems, fueled by warm ocean waters, bring destructive winds, torrential rain, and storm surges that can devastate entire communities.

4. Floods : Caused by excessive rainfall, melting snow, or dam failures, floods can submerge vast areas, disrupting lives and destroying property.

5. Wildfires: Driven by dry conditions, high winds, and human activities, wildfires can consume vast swaths of land, threatening lives, homes, and natural habitats.

6. Volcanic Eruptions: The explosive release of molten rock, ash, and gases from the Earth’s interior can bury entire regions in a blanket of destruction.

7 . Droughts : Prolonged periods of abnormally low rainfall can lead to water scarcity, crop failures, and even famine in some regions.

While some natural disasters are triggered by geological processes deep within the Earth, others are influenced by human activities and the changing climate. Factors such as deforestation, urbanization, and the burning of fossil fuels can increase the risk and intensity of certain disasters.

Climate change, in particular, is playing an increasingly significant role in the frequency and severity of many natural disasters. Rising global temperatures are contributing to more intense hurricanes, prolonged droughts, and the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, which can exacerbate coastal flooding.

The impact of natural disasters can be catastrophic, affecting every facet of human life and the environment. Some of the most significant effects include:

1. Loss of Life: Natural disasters can claim countless lives, leaving families and communities devastated by the loss of loved ones.

2. Destruction of Infrastructure: Roads, bridges, buildings, and critical infrastructure can be severely damaged or destroyed, hampering relief efforts and hindering recovery.

3. Economic Losses: The damage caused by natural disasters can result in staggering economic losses, affecting businesses, industries, and entire economies.

4. Displacement of Populations: Disasters often force people to abandon their homes and seek shelter elsewhere, leading to humanitarian crises and long-term displacement.

5. Environmental Degradation: Natural disasters can disrupt ecosystems, pollute water sources, and contribute to soil erosion and habitat loss, threatening biodiversity and natural resources.

6. Psychological Trauma: Survivors of natural disasters often grapple with the psychological toll, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.

While it is impossible to prevent many natural disasters, proactive measures can be taken to mitigate their impact and enhance preparedness. Some of these measures include:

1. Effective Early Warning Systems: Developing and implementing robust early warning systems can provide valuable lead time for evacuation and emergency response efforts.

2. Disaster Risk Reduction: Identifying and addressing vulnerabilities through measures such as land-use planning, building codes, and infrastructure improvements can minimize potential damages.

3. Community Preparedness: Educating and empowering communities on disaster preparedness, including emergency plans, evacuation routes, and survival skills, can save lives and facilitate quicker recovery.

4. Resilient Infrastructure: Investing in resilient infrastructure, such as earthquake-resistant buildings and flood control systems, can reduce the impact of natural disasters.

5. Environmental Protection: Conserving and restoring natural ecosystems, such as wetlands and forests, can act as natural buffers against certain disasters and mitigate their effects.

6. International Cooperation: Fostering global partnerships and collaborations can facilitate knowledge-sharing, resource allocation, and coordinated response efforts during disasters.

Throughout human history, civilizations have grappled with the unpredictable and often merciless power of nature. Natural disasters, ranging from earthquakes and tsunamis to hurricanes and wildfires, have left indelible scars on communities worldwide, reminding us of our fragility in the face of nature’s might.

At their core, natural disasters are events triggered by the Earth’s natural processes, such as tectonic shifts, atmospheric disturbances, or geological phenomena. However, their consequences extend far beyond the physical realm, profoundly impacting lives, livelihoods, and the very fabric of societies.

The destructive force of these events is unparalleled. Earthquakes can reduce towering structures to rubble in mere seconds, while hurricanes and cyclones unleash winds of incredible ferocity, capable of obliterating entire coastlines. Wildfires, fueled by dry conditions and strong winds, consume everything in their path, leaving smoldering landscapes and displaced communities in their wake.

The human toll of natural disasters is staggering. Lives are tragically lost, families are torn apart, and survivors are left to grapple with the psychological trauma of witnessing such overwhelming devastation. Beyond the immediate loss of life, the aftermath often brings a cascade of challenges, including displacement, lack of access to essential resources, and the daunting task of rebuilding shattered communities.

The economic impact of natural disasters is equally profound. Infrastructure is crippled, businesses are disrupted, and entire industries can be brought to a standstill. The ripple effects of these events can reverberate throughout local and global economies, hampering recovery efforts and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities.

Moreover, the environmental consequences of natural disasters are far-reaching. Ecosystems are disrupted, delicate habitats are destroyed, and biodiversity is threatened as species struggle to adapt to the altered landscapes. The long-term effects on the natural world can be felt for generations, further compounding the challenges faced by impacted communities.

Addressing the threat posed by natural disasters requires a multifaceted approach that spans prevention, preparedness, and resilience-building efforts. Investing in robust early warning systems, fortifying infrastructure, and promoting disaster risk reduction strategies are crucial steps in minimizing the impact of these events.

Furthermore, addressing the underlying drivers of climate change is paramount, as many natural disasters are exacerbated by the effects of global warming. By transitioning towards more sustainable practices and reducing our carbon footprint, we can mitigate the intensity and frequency of certain disasters, safeguarding both human and environmental well-being.

Ultimately, natural disasters serve as a humbling reminder of the immense power of nature and the fragility of our existence. While we cannot control the forces that give rise to these events, we can cultivate resilience, foster global cooperation, and prioritize preparedness efforts to better withstand their fury.

As we navigate the unpredictable landscape of natural disasters, let us embrace our shared responsibility to protect lives, safeguard communities, and forge a more sustainable relationship with the natural world. By doing so, we can forge a path towards a future where the devastating impacts of these events are minimized, and humanity emerges stronger and more resilient in the face of nature’s challenges.

Also Read: My Aim in Life Essay For Students: 100, 200 & 500 Words Essay My Village Essay in English For Students 500+ Words Essay on Importance of Education in English

Natural disasters underscore our need for resilience and preparedness. By bolstering infrastructure, safeguarding the environment, and addressing climate change, we can lessen their impact. Emphasizing risk reduction and sustainable practices, we aim to protect lives, economies, and ecosystems. Together, through resilience and cooperation, we can build a future where communities coexist with nature’s forces.

Essay on Natural Disasters- FAQs

What is disaster 1 paragraph.

A disaster is a major disturbance in the operation of a community or society resulting in widespread human, material, economic, or environmental losses and impacts that surpass the afflicted community’s or society’s ability to manage using its own resources.

What are the 2 main types of disasters?

Disasters are typically divided into two categories: natural and man-made. Natural catastrophes are typically related with weather and geological occurrences such as severe temperatures, floods, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and drought.

What are 5 man-made disasters?

A. Man-made disasters involve human intent, neglect, or error in the breakdown of a man-made system, as opposed to natural disasters caused by natural hazards. Such man-made calamities include crime, arson, civil unrest, terrorism, war, biological/chemical threats, cyber-attacks, and so on.

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Essay on Natural Disaster

Students are often asked to write an essay on Natural Disaster in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Natural Disaster

Introduction.

Natural disasters are extreme, sudden events caused by environmental factors that injure people and damage property. They include earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, tsunamis, and other geologic processes.

Types of Natural Disasters

Earthquakes are sudden shaking of the ground. Floods occur when water overflows onto dry land. Hurricanes are intense wind storms. Tornadoes are violently rotating winds. Wildfires destroy forests and lands. Tsunamis are sea waves caused by underwater earthquakes.

Impact of Natural Disasters

Natural disasters can lead to loss of life, economic damage, and displacement of populations. They can also cause environmental damage, impacting biodiversity and ecosystems.

Understanding natural disasters and their effects can help us prepare and reduce their harmful impacts. It’s crucial to educate ourselves and take protective measures.

250 Words Essay on Natural Disaster

Natural disasters are catastrophic events triggered by environmental factors that kill people and cause damage to property and natural resources. They include earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, tsunamis, and other geologic processes.

The Cause and Effect of Natural Disasters

Natural disasters occur due to the movement of tectonic plates, weather changes, and geological processes. Earthquakes, for instance, are caused by the movement of tectonic plates. Floods and hurricanes are usually the result of extreme weather conditions. The effects are often devastating, leading to loss of life and property, displacement of people, and economic damage.

Human Interaction and Natural Disasters

Human activities can exacerbate the severity of natural disasters. Deforestation, urbanization, and climate change contribute to the frequency and intensity of these disasters. Climate change, driven by human activity, is causing more severe weather patterns, leading to increased instances of floods and hurricanes.

Prevention and Mitigation Measures

Prevention and mitigation of natural disasters involve predicting possible disasters and preparing for them. Technological advancements have made it possible to predict some disasters, enabling timely evacuations. Infrastructure can be designed to withstand natural disasters, and reforestation can help prevent landslides and floods.

Natural disasters are inevitable, but their impact can be reduced through innovative technology, proper planning, and sustainable practices. Understanding the causes and effects of these disasters is crucial for developing effective prevention and mitigation strategies.

500 Words Essay on Natural Disaster

The science behind natural disasters.

Understanding the science behind natural disasters involves studying the Earth’s interacting systems. For instance, earthquakes occur due to the movement of tectonic plates. When these plates move, they cause the Earth’s crust to break and shake, leading to an earthquake. Similarly, hurricanes form over warm ocean waters and are fueled by the heat and water vapor they provide.

Impacts of Natural Disasters

The impacts of natural disasters are multifaceted and far-reaching. They not only cause immediate loss of life and destruction of infrastructure but also have long-term effects on the socio-economic fabric of the affected regions. Natural disasters can lead to economic losses due to the destruction of infrastructure like buildings, bridges, and roads, disrupting trade, and causing a decline in tourism.

Climate Change and Natural Disasters

Disaster management and mitigation.

In conclusion, natural disasters are a significant global issue, causing immense loss and damage. Understanding the science behind these disasters, their impacts, and the influence of climate change can help us develop effective disaster management strategies. As we move forward, it is crucial that we continue to improve our resilience to these events, not only through scientific and technological advances but also by fostering global cooperation and community preparedness. After all, natural disasters are a shared global risk, and addressing them effectively requires collective action.

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

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Natural Disaster Essay: How to Write, Topics, & Examples

What would you do if someone told you that a tsunami would wipe out your house tomorrow afternoon? You won’t believe them. It always seems that natural disasters happen in someone else’s life. But every year, millions of people worldwide suffer from various natural calamities. This article attempts to systemize the chaos of nature for you to write an impressive natural disaster essay. You will get acquainted with the seven types of disasters, get a long list of topics and examples of natural disaster essay in 200 words and 300 words.

  • 🌪️ Natural Disaster: The Basics
  • 💡 114 Essay Topics
  • 📑 Outlining Your Essay
  • 🌊 Essay Sample (200 Words)
  • 🏜️ Essay Sample (300 Words)

🌪️ Natural Disaster Essay: What Is It About?

A natural disaster is a large-scale meteorological or geological event that can to cause loss of life or massive damage to people’s property. Floods and severe storms are the most reported acts of nature in the US, but other incidents also happen from time to time. That is why you can dedicate your essay on natural disasters to earthquakes, droughts, wildfires, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, or tornadoes.

The picture lists the 7 main types of natural disasters.

It is a powerful funnel-shaped cloud that rotates and demolishes buildings, hurls cars, and uproots trees. Tornadoes appear from cumulonimbus clouds, pending with their smaller part to the ground. This column of air has a wind speed of up to 300 mph. In your disaster management essay, you can suggest reasonable precautions to save as many people and property as possible in a tornado area.
It is a tropical cyclone that affects the coastal population of the southern Atlantic Ocean, eastern , Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. These acts of nature may include heavy winds, floods, and tornadoes. For this reason, you can describe natural disasters’ impact on human life in the essay.
Floods are the most common natural disaster in the US. They usually occur when the volume of water in a stream is larger than the channel’s capacity. Then, the land that is typically dry gets submerged. Streamflow depends on numerous factors making floods hard to predict.
This Japanese word (‘tsu’ for harbor and ‘nami’ for wave) denominates powerful waves caused by an underwater earthquake, land slumping, landslides on the seafloor, meteorite impact, or volcanic eruption in the ocean. In a tsunami disaster essay, you could describe a historical tragedy and analyze its causes.
This type of disaster starts when lightning hits a tree in the wood or due to man-made causes. It is an unplanned and uncontrolled spread of fire in natural areas with combustible vegetation.
It is an extended lack of water in a given region. A drought can happen due to the below-normal precipitation. It causes crop damage and water shortage in the area. It can last for years or end in weeks.
It is the result of seismic waves in the Earth’s crust. Tectonic plates shake or move, damaging everything that stands or lives on them. Some of them may be caused by anthropogenic factors.

💡 114 Natural Disasters Essay Topics

What could you write in a natural disaster essay? You can invent your own topic about various types of natural disasters, their causes, and aftermath, or their impact on human life and the economy. Depending on the discipline, you can also describe historic calamities that changed the direction of human civilization. Alternatively, choose one from our comprehensive list below.

  • Why are the Great Plains of the central US ideal for tornado formation?
  • Global Warming and Climate Change Legislation.
  • Research the atmospheric parameters inside a tornado.
  • Energy, Technology and Climate Change.
  • Why are the boundaries of Tornado Alley in the US so debatable?
  • The global climate change as a manmade disaster.
  • Which actions should you never do when a tornado is nearby?
  • Volunteers’ Role During Disasters.
  • Suggest your opinion on the best action strategy in a hurricane.
  • The Columbia Disaster and safety violations.
  • What were the causes and effects of a flood?
  • Analysis on Climate Change and Global Impact.
  • Describe the most devastating wildfires in the US and find their common features.
  • Earthquake Engineering Considerations and Methods.
  • Brainstorm ideas to prevent wildfires.
  • Global warming and the greenhouse effect.
  • How can building dams cause earthquakes?
  • Climate Change and Its Impact on Freshwater.
  • Analyze the impact of droughts on tourism.
  • Climate Change Effect on Coral Reef Communities.
  • Describe the most extended droughts in human history.
  • Marine and Coastal Climate Change in Australia.
  • Write an essay on natural disasters and earthquakes in particular.
  • Air pollution and mortality rates
  • What are the distinctive features of droughts in third-world countries?
  • Global Warming, Climate Change, and Society’s Impact on the Environment.
  • Study the relationship between global warming and droughts.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Hurricane.
  • Evaluate the damage caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
  • Social Media’s Role in Disaster Response.
  • Classify the effects of natural disasters in an essay.
  • Sustainability and Climate Change.
  • Describe the 1815 volcanic eruption of Mt. Tambora, Indonesia.
  • Hurricane Katrina: Overview, Impact, Response.
  • Each new leap of civilization causes new responses of nature.
  • Animal Exploitation. Animal Agriculture and Climate Change.
  • Think of any positive effects a volcanic eruption may have.
  • In Arizona, Collaboration Averts Water Disaster.
  • Children are the poorest victims of any disaster.
  • A Solution to Remedy Climate Change.
  • Which ways of disaster risk reduction do you know?
  • An Emergency Operations Center During Hurricane Harvey.
  • Research the current problems in disaster management.
  • Disaster Recovery Plan for Information Technology Organizations.
  • Analyze ineffective disaster management in an essay about hurricane Katrina.
  • Nurse Competencies and Scope of Practice in Disaster.
  • What should a household have at home in the case of a disaster?
  • Hurricane Katrina: The Powerful Natural Disaster.
  • Describe the humanitarian disaster during the drought in Somalia.
  • Technology in Disaster Preparedness.
  • Can man-made disasters entail natural calamities?
  • Disaster Management in Philadelphia.
  • Review the criteria for disaster classification.
  • Jeddah Floods and Adaptation Strategies in the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
  • Search for real examples of hybrid disasters.
  • Natural Disasters Prevention: A Tabletop Exercise.
  • Who is responsible for casualties after a natural disaster?
  • The Sand Storms: Remote Sensing and Meteorological Variables.
  • List the lessons we could learn from our past disaster experience.
  • Fire Development, Growth, and Spreads.
  • The ice storm and silver thaw: A gentle disaster.
  • Fire Crisis Management in the UAE.
  • Rockslides: A pressing issue for rural areas.
  • 1d – 2d Flood Modeling Using PCSWMM.
  • What are the psychological benefits of disaster preparedness?
  • Structural Control and Origin of Volcanism in the Taupo Volcanic Zone.
  • When does a blizzard become a disaster?
  • Extreme Weather Events + Geographies of Globalization.
  • Research the causes of dust storms and name the affected areas.
  • Strategies for Sustainable Integrated Oil Disaster Management in West Africa.
  • Why did the San Francisco earthquake (1906) cause devastating fires?
  • Causes of Climate Change.
  • What could be done to help people who lost their homes in an earthquake?
  • Book Review: Energy and Global Climate Change.
  • Analyze the role of World Vision in humanitarian aid after disasters.
  • Tangshan earthquake of 1976 showed that high population density is disastrous.
  • The Role of Carbon Dioxide in Climate Change.
  • Rock avalanche: Why water is the most powerful geological agent.
  • Aspects of Climate Change.
  • When do extreme weather conditions turn into a disaster?
  • Climate Change: Reasons, Kyoto Protocol.
  • Write an article on shelter-providing organizations for disaster victims.
  • Establishing an IT Disaster Recovery Plan.
  • Describe earthquake cycles in Haiti.
  • Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food.
  • How can nature damage ecology in natural disasters?
  • Climate Change. Problems. Effects.
  • Disaster management should include psychological help to the survivors.
  • Climate Change Causes: Position and Strategies.
  • Suggest ways to prevent damage caused by debris flow.
  • HAT 4: Disaster in Franklin Country.
  • How did the lack of evacuation after the Bhola cyclone (1970) result in the massive death toll?
  • The Effects of Climate Change.
  • The most significant Yellow River flood: 2 million deaths in 1887.
  • Resilience Building Against Natural Disasters in the Caribbean Islands.
  • Sinkholes: A natural disaster or attraction for cavers and water-divers?
  • Global Climate Change and Health.
  • Describe the dynamics of landslides in California.
  • Which early-warning systems to detect avalanches do you know?
  • Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action.
  • Pyroclastic flow: The deadliest volcanic hazard.
  • Communication During Disaster Response.
  • Describe the volcano eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the Herculaneum and Pompeii.
  • Disaster Planning for Families.
  • Disaster prevention measures: Investments that save millions of lives.
  • Natural Disaster Management and Historical Prospective Study in the UAE.
  • Research the PTSD in survivors of natural disasters.
  • Are the latest disasters the nature’s fightback to humanity?
  • Estimate the human impact on natural disasters.
  • List the countries with the largest number of disasters and find their standard features.
  • Everyday Communication on Climate Change.
  • Insurance coverage against disasters: Our inevitable future.
  • Emergency Planning Before and After Hurricane Katrina.
  • One natural disaster could bring the world to its end.

Haven’t found a suitable topic in the list above? Use our essay topic generator to get more ideas.

📑 Natural Disaster Essay Outline

Outlines differ, depending on the assigned length and essay type. It is a reference sample. Feel free to modify it, extending some points and narrowing the others. Still, the overall structure should remain the same. We have chosen the “Causes of Earthquakes” essay topic for demonstrative purposes.

  • Hook . There are millions of possible ways to start your essay, from a rhetorical question to any imaginable scenario. The point is to grab the reader’s attention, showing them that your writing is unique and creative. For example: We are always concerned with the consequences of a natural disaster. But what brought us into such a calamity in the first place?
  • Concepts. Natural disasters can be studied in the framework of various disciplines. But in all cases, they are linked with geology, biology, chemistry, geography, and some other subjects with broad and complicated terminology. Explain the terms that could be elusive for your readers here. For example: For the purposes of this essay, an earthquake is a sudden displacement of the land surface.
  • Background. How did you come to think of this problem? Why is it topical? The causes of earthquakes are numerous and often unrelated. To understand them as a system, we need a strict classification.
  • Thesis statement . Clearly state the aim of your essay. This essay attempts to group the causes of earthquakes to determine which factors can be tackled by human forces.
  • Transition sentence. It comes in the previous sentence (for paragraphs 2 and 3) and ensures smooth reading. E.g.: Tectonic movements are the most powerful causes of earthquakes, and we cannot influence them. But still, there is something we could do.
  • Topic sentence . What will you explain in this paragraph? Human interference with nature can also cause earthquakes.
  • Evidence. How can you confirm the topic sentence? Heavy clubbing of dam water can disturbance the crustal balance. Nuclear bombing causes shockwaves that penetrate the surface, changing the tectonic plates and their natural alignment. Mining can also cause earthquakes by removing extensive volumes of stone from under the ground.
  • Warrant. Why does the reader need this information, and how does it relate to the thesis statement? Knowing these facts can help us change the old-fashioned approaches and lessen the ecological damage to our planet.
  • Summary. Collect and summarize all your arguments here. Tectonic movements, volcano eruptions, and geological faults cause a significant part of earthquakes worldwide. But various man-made causes bring us to the same result.
  • Rephrased thesis. We cannot stop the tectonic movements or hinder volcanic eruptions, but we can use natural resources with more care.

🌊 Natural Disaster Essay 200 Words

Below you will find a short natural disaster essay for 200 words. It explores the causes and effects of the tsunami in Japan in 2011.

Tsunami in Japan: Causes and Effects The proximity of the deadliest disasters is often unpredictable. As a result, the consequences of a tsunami can exceed any possible expectations. This essay looks for the decisive factors that caused the tsunami in Japan in 2011 and its results for the local population and other countries. The causes were out of human control and could not be predicted. The Pacific plate moved in the horizontal and vertical plane, advancing beneath the Eurasian Plate. It displaced the seawater above and entailed several destructive waves. The disaster had enormous consequences for the Japanese people and their economy. It killed almost 16,000 people, although the country had a sophisticated alarming system. Besides, the earthquake caused fires and explosions at oil factories. The cooling system of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went out of service. Two people were lost, and many were injured. Nissan, like many other large corporations, had to suspend the operation of its four factories. The economic losses due to the catastrophe amounted to 300 billion dollars. But the disaster moved to other places. On 24 March 2011, the earthquake in the east of Myanmar claimed the lives of 60 people and destroyed 300 buildings. As we can see, everything is linked on our planet. Movements of the earth’ crust in any part of the world bring about earthquakes and tsunami in other countries. The series of waves in Japan was caused by the underwater earthquake and had horrible consequences.

🏜️ Natural Disaster Essay 300 Words

If your assignment is longer, you will have to provide your opinion in the essay. Or, you can make your argumentation more detailed. Below you can check our 300-word sample of a disaster essay.

The Economic Effects of the Dust Bowl Drought When someone says “a natural disaster,” we usually imagine an earthquake or a tsunami. Buildings are destroyed, and property is lost. But imagine a scenario of a devastating drought, which happened in the US in the 1930s. Its effect is less visible because it lies in the domain of the national economy. This essay reveals the economic consequences of the Dust Bowl drought. During the third decade of the XX century, strong winds raised choking dust in the southern states, from Texas to Nebraska. People and animals died as the crops failed in the area for several years in a row. The Dust Bowl lasted for almost a decade and was also called “the Dirty Thirties.” This drought intensified the impact of the Great Depression. Local farmers had to migrate to urban areas in search of better conditions and other sources of living. About 2.5 million people moved West from the worst-hit states, namely New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. But they found only discrimination, meager salaries, and inhuman working conditions. Many had to live in tents near irrigation ditches. They were called “Okies,” a disdainful name for migrants of any state. Regular rains returned to the southern states by the end of 1939, closing the drought. However, the economic aftermath persisted. The counties that suffered the most failed to recover the agricultural value of their land till the 1950s. Thus, the local population kept decreasing for twenty years. Although a drought does not ruin property, it can tangibly lower human life levels. The Dust Bowl threw people into a lose-lose situation. Their farms were unfit for gaining any profit, and the new places of living gave them no better opportunities. It took two decades to restore public wellbeing in the Southern States.

Researching the worst acts of nature can teach you to value what you have. We hope that this article has made your creative writing more manageable and pleasurable. You can write an essay of any length by simply following our outline. All you will need to do after that is make a cover page for it.

Please share your natural disaster essay ideas in the comments below.

❓ Natural Disaster Essay FAQ

How to write an essay about natural disaster.

Your approach should depend on the discipline. But in any case, you can discuss the types of disasters, their consequences, characteristics, and preconditions. The excellent idea is to select a past disastrous event and analyze it from the economic, social, or individual point of view.

What Is a Disaster Essay?

A disaster essay explores the stages of a natural or man-made calamity and seeks the possible ways to prevent similar emergencies in the future. An article on disaster management studies the correct and efficient activities to lower the casualties and property loss after a disaster.

What Is Disaster Preparedness Essay?

This type of writing analyzes the level of readiness of a region or municipality to an unexpected natural disaster. You can highlight the vulnerable groups of the population that will suffer the most. Or, you may invent measures that could reduce the disaster response and coping time. Such assignments teach you strategic thinking and a systematic approach to problem-solving.

How to Describe a Natural Disaster for an Essay?

You should specify that the event was unexpected and led to many deaths and property loss. The most critical things include the causes of the disaster, its progress and duration, and the negative consequences for the locals. You can also specify the negative effect on the economy and humanitarian condition of the area.

🔗 References

  • Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
  • Types of Disasters | SAMHSA
  • Natural Disaster – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
  • Natural Disasters – National Geographic
  • What Is Disaster Management: Prevention and Mitigation

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Natural Disasters Essay

Madhuri Thakur

Natural Disasters Essay – Introduction

Natural disasters are powerful and dangerous events that are caused by nature. Disasters happen suddenly with little or no warning and cause severe damage to people, property, and the entire environment. It can be earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. This essay will further elaborate in detail on natural disasters.

Today, natural disasters are becoming increasingly common. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the number of disasters in the United States has tripled since the 1960s. It can be because of climate change, population growth, and urbanization. And as the Earth’s climate becomes warmer, such natural disasters will become more common.

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There are three levels of natural disasters: small, medium, and large-scale. The events that do not cause too much harm in the world are small-scale, like lightning, storms, etc. Medium Scale disasters are riskier and more harmful than small-scale disasters, like blizzards or landslides. Meanwhile, professionals who  write papers for money often analyze the impact of large-scale disasters, which cause significant environmental damage, including tsunamis, wildfires, etc.  The disasters that cause too much environmental damage, such as tsunamis, wildfires, etc., are large-scale disasters.

This natural disasters essay will talk about the types of natural disasters as well their causes and impacts.

List of Natural Disasters

Some common natural disasters, along with their nature of impact and consequences, are provided in the table below:

Shakes the ground and can collapse buildings Injuries, loss of life
Big storms with strong winds and heavy rain Flooding, destruction of homes
Too much water causes damage to homes and roads Property damage, displacement
Spreads quickly and destroys everything in its path Destruction of vegetation, property
Giant waves that flood coastal areas Flooding, destruction of infrastructure
Releases lava, ash, and gasses damaging surrounding areas Property damage, respiratory problems

Types of Natural Disasters

There are different ways that natural disasters can happen. Some of the types are as follows,

Internal: It includes all the disasters that happen when there are some changes under the earth’s surface. These include earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, etc. We cannot easily predict these events.

External: It is when there is a disturbance above the earth’s surface. It is generally because of us humans who change the environment. These are usually landslides, floods, etc.

Temperature: When the temperature of the air or ocean changes, it can cause disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes. Even drought and glacier melt occurs because of the change in temperature of the environment.

Biological: These disasters occur because of viruses and bacteria that cause harmful diseases that can kill people. For instance, COVID-19, Ebola virus, etc., are some examples.

Causes of Natural Disasters

There are different causes for each natural disaster.

  • Too much rain can overfill the dams and flood a large area near the dam. It can cause damage to nearby buildings and homes.
  • When a storm forms over the ocean due to warm water, it is known as a Hurricane. There are also strong winds that can push the ocean water to the seashore and cause floods.
  • Tornadoes form when two different air temperatures clash, i.e., damp air from the ground collides with dry air from above. It creates a spiral of air that can be very powerful.
  • When two pieces of the Earth’s crust move against each other, it creates vibrations that we can feel on the ground. As these vibrations are too strong, they can cause buildings to fall and cause damage.
  • Volcanoes are mountains that release hot gasses, ash, and lava from below the earth’s surface to the above ground.

Natural Disasters Effects

Natural disasters can have long-term impacts, including economic and social disruption, displacement, and health problems. The severity of the disaster depends on factors such as the event’s intensity, location, and effectiveness of the disaster management system.

Material and financial loss, social unrest, and political instability are common impacts of natural disasters. Homelessness and a lack of access to basic necessities can occur after a natural disaster, leading to social disruption and decreased economic activity.

Emotional and psychological damage, as well as long-term health problems, can result from natural disasters. Air pollution can cause respiratory problems, and trauma and stress can lead to mental health issues.

Natural disasters can also impact the environment, causing soil erosion, water pollution, and a decrease in biodiversity. These impacts can have long-term consequences and require efforts for recovery and rebuilding.

Natural Disaster Management

It’s really important to be ready for natural disasters and keep ourselves safe. Countries that are ready to face natural disasters have to suffer less damage. So, governments should have disaster management policies for prevention, response, and recovery. Here are a few precautions we can take for some common natural disasters:

Earthquake Preparedness

  • Building strong structures so they don’t break during earthquakes.
  • Creating early warning systems that can alert people before an earthquake happens.
  • Educating people about the dangers of earthquakes and what to do when they happen.

Hurricane Preparedness

  • Developing evacuation plans and identifying safe locations to stay during a hurricane.
  • Establishing systems to provide early warnings and updates on approaching hurricanes.
  • Ensuring proper drainage systems to mitigate flooding caused by heavy rain during hurricanes.

Flood Preparedness

  • Implementing measures to manage water flow and prevent flooding.
  • Educating individuals on flood risks and providing guidance on evacuation procedures.
  • Creating emergency response plans to provide immediate assistance during and after a flood.

Wildfire Preparedness

  • Promoting fire safety practices and educating individuals on the prevention of wildfires.
  • Clearing dry leaves and vegetation around homes to reduce fire risks.
  • Cooperating with firefighting agencies and having evacuation plans in place during wildfire emergencies.

Tsunami Preparedness

  • Raising awareness about tsunamis and educating coastal communities on evacuation routes.
  • Establishing warning systems near coastal areas to provide early alerts for tsunamis.
  • Conducting drills and exercises to ensure that individuals know how to respond to a tsunami.

Volcano Preparedness

  • Monitoring volcanic activities and studying eruption patterns to predict volcanic eruptions.
  • Establishing communication systems to disseminate timely warnings about volcanic eruptions.
  • Collaborating with scientists and experts to develop evacuation plans and safe zones during volcanic emergencies.

Overall Disaster Management

Individuals should develop personal emergency plans and be aware of the risks of different types of disasters. Governments and individuals can be better prepared to respond to natural disasters by having emergency plans. Thus, taking these precautions can lower the risk of disasters and protect ourselves and our communities.

Conclusion – Natural Disasters Essay

Natural disasters can cause immense destruction, pain, and loss of life. So, to lessen the impacts of these disasters, taking disaster management measures is necessary.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Natural Disasters — Natural Disasters: Causes and Impacts

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Natural Disasters: Causes and Impacts

  • Categories: Natural Disasters

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Words: 682 |

Published: Jan 31, 2024

Words: 682 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, definition of natural disasters, causes of natural disasters, environmental effects of natural disasters, economic effects of natural disasters, social effects of natural disasters, mitigation and preparedness measures.

  • Callaghan, K., & Alexander, M. (2018). Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast: A Comprehensive Analysis of Impacts. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Kennedy School.
  • IPCC. (2014). Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Cambridge University Press.
  • McMahon, J., & Keefer, J. (2016). Social Vulnerability and Tropical Cyclones in Sint Maarten. Journal of Water and Climate Change , 7(2), 396-408.
  • UNDRR. (2017). Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. United Nations.
  • Vos, F., Dykes, J., & Pierce, L. (2017). Flood Preparedness and Early-warning System Effectiveness in the Philippines. Disasters, 41(S1), S16-S37.

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Essays About Natural Disasters: 5 Examples and Prompts

Essays about natural disasters teach us many things; read on to see examples and prompts you can use for your piece.

Natural disasters are the sudden occurrence of natural and severe hazards threatening human welfare and survival. These events can cause injuries, destroy assets such as homes and businesses, and even death. Some examples of natural disasters are tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and storms.

Although emergency protocols are in place to alleviate and prevent natural disasters’ impact on both humanity and the economy, there is still no guarantee that these will be able to protect and save everyone from these misfortunes. Therefore, writing essays about natural disasters helps spread awareness on how to act when one faces these mishaps properly.

Below are five examples you should read to create essays about natural disasters effectively:

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1. Planning For a Safer Tomorrow by Jyotsana B

2. natural disasters are often not natural by sandra valdez, 3. natural disasters essay by pradeep, 4. equity during natural disasters by writer kip, 5. natural disasters: nature’s revenge by anonymous on loveliessays.com, 1. my experience with natural disasters, 2. natural disasters: a history, 3. natural disasters and the economy, 4. types of natural disasters, 5. my take on natural disaster management, 6. causes of natural disasters, 7. after effects of natural disasters, 8. recovery from a natural disaster.

“Natural disasters have a severe impact on the society, therefore it is important to plan and develop a safety programme and devise means to efficiently deal with natural disaster. Development programme that go into promoting development at the local level have been left to the general exercise of planning.”

The author shares tips on how to prevent calamities and be prepared in case these natural disasters occur. These steps include proper analysis and risk assessment, adequate information database, modern infrastructure, and networks of knowledge-based institutions. The essay further expounds on each point and gives specific directions on successfully implementing these precautions.

“The word ‘natural’ indicates that humans have not triggered the catastrophe. However, human activity can definitely interfere with nature, which in turn may either cause a natural disaster or make its impacts much worse.”

Although Valdez agrees that “natural disasters” means humans do not directly create them, she also considers human’s significant contributions to these tragedies. She offers an example of earthquakes and the fluid injection incident in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Denver, Colorado. She further lists more human activities that trigger earthquakes, blaming human engineering that stresses the Earth’s faults. Finally, she acknowledges human speeds up disasters and human elements are innate in these equations.

“There is no doubt that extending help to someone during tough times is paramount. Rich countries should support poverty-stricken nations with altruistic aid while calamities take place… Being rich, similar nations are in a position to support countries that suffer economically and emotionally during nature havoc. The result of this is, not only induces good relations between countries but also paves the way to commercial transactions with minimized taxes in the future.”

Pradeep supports that countries with more resources should aid those with lesser assets. It’s not only because of altruistic reasons but because it can also be the foundation for good relationships between governments. These relationships can result in successful transactions and give comfort and security to grief-stricken countries.

“Should we allow prices to increase during natural disasters or should we protect against price gouging?… No policy is best for everyone… In the grand scheme of things, the market will return to normal the quickest whenever the market prices are allowed to fluctuate.”

Kip criticizes the way businesses increase the goods’ prices when there is a natural disaster. He questions if it’s the right thing to do to consumers who are only trying to purchase what they need to be ready for catastrophes. 

He also includes business reviews that rationalize high prices by arguing increasing prices prevents product hoarding. He challenges this statement by asking the readers to consider those who don’t have the money to buy these overpriced essentials. The writer also mentions other terms to explain the economy during a natural disaster and even involves the government’s processes to mitigate its harmful effects.

“Our environment is our responsibility… Exactly who polluted our planet so much? There is only one answer: man. It is man’s actions that have caused the problem… Humanity must realize that if the current trends are allowed to continue unchecked, the future of life on Earth is at risk. it must be conserved.”

Is nature retaliating because of humans’ disregard for it? The author offers reports to present the unpredictability of these disasters brought by climate change. To further prove their points, the author lays down facts like the quick rising of the sea and changing rain patterns. 

At the end of the essay, the writer urges man to be an environmentalist because he depends on his surroundings for food and shelter. Therefore, to survive, humans must treat nature well.

A tip: Run your essay through essay writing apps to organize and help you with style and grammar.

8 Prompts on Essays About Natural Disasters

There are many aspects of natural disasters you can zero in on. Here are easy but compelling prompts to tackle:

Essays About Natural Disasters: My experience with natural disasters

Share your experience with a calamity, and narrate what happened before, during, and after. Are there certain things you wish you did or didn’t do? Include how it affected your life and how you understand things work, such as the importance of first responders and following authorities in times of panic and chaos.

Then, focus on your personal experience. For example, your family might have to move places because you lost your home. Or that today, you always have an emergency bag packed and ready. You might also be interested in these essays about nature .

List down notable natural disasters that changed the course of the world. This could include volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and hurricanes. Then, explain why they happened, how the government or country dealt with it, and discuss the precautions executed in case the disaster occurs again. Finally, include the lessons you learned from these tragedies.

Explain how natural disasters affect the economy. Then, to make it more relatable, you can relay the impact of these tragedies on your life. For example, did any of your relatives lose their job because of a natural disaster? Was your family forced to close down your business? Include personal anecdotes to create an engaging essay.

List the many natural disasters and discuss them in detail. In this essay, you can delve into the causes of each type of natural disaster and how it impacts nearby civilizations. What do you fear the most in these disasters? To make it easier, you can pick two natural disasters to compare and contrast.

Choose an incident where natural disaster management was applied and give your thoughts about it. Research a recent natural disaster and study how the local and national government managed it. If any failed initiatives or points could be improved upon, make sure to write your thoughts about this in your essay. Then, you can discuss what you believe will aid natural disaster management in the future.

For this prompt, you can split your essay into two sections. One section can discuss environmental causes, while the other delves into human activities that cause natural disasters. Topics can include pollution, climate change, and overpopulation of small areas. To create an emotive essay, write about your thoughts on what we can do as a society to mitigate these harmful activities.

Consider the short and long-term effects of these natural disasters. You can concentrate on a specific tragedy that the general public knows so your reader can easily imagine what you describe in your essay. To make your piece more interesting, you can list natural disasters’ negative and positive effects.

If you want your essay to focus on something positive, choose to discuss new beginnings. For example, you can center on a community and how its people helped each other recover. You can also include the assistance they received from different places and how it aided them in restarting their lives after the disaster.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

The Problem of Natural Disasters Essay

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Introduction

California flooding of 2022.

Natural disasters can have devastating effects on an area and its inhabitants, and unfortunately, the frequency of such events has been increasing in the past few years. One such event is the California flooding of 2022. This event resulted from an extended period of heavy rainfall combined with abnormally high temperatures that caused the Sierra Nevada snowpack to melt rapidly, leading to unprecedented flooding in the state. Therefore, this essay will discuss the causes of the California flooding of 2022, the extent of the damage, how the human race can prepare for such future events, and how the event has affected me personally.

The Natural Disaster Occurrence

California Flooding in 2022 occurred due to heavy rain and snow melt in the spring of 2022. That was coupled with a hot winter that caused an early snow melt in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. These conditions created excessive surface runoff that caused flooding in many areas of California. The flooding resulted from increased precipitation and warmer-than-normal temperatures, which caused the snow to melt faster than usual (Kreibich et al., 2022). Additionally, the soil in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains was saturated with water due to the earlier snowmelt. The extra water had nowhere to go when the heavy rains fell, leading to flooding. This flooding was further exacerbated by the lack of vegetation and soil stripped away by the fire season of 2020.

Flooding was a result of hydrologic processes, which are the study of the movement and distribution of water on Earth. The hydrologic cycle is a continuous process in which water evaporates from the surface of the Earth, condenses and forms clouds, and then falls back to the Earth as rain or snow (Kreibich et al., 2022). When this process is disrupted, it can lead to flooding. Additionally, climate change has caused the average global temperature to increase, which has caused more intense storms, leading to more flooding.

Extent of Damage

The flooding in California was devastating in its scope and severity. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (2022), more than 500,000 individuals were affected by the flooding, with over 400,000 homes damaged or destroyed. Additionally, more than 2,000 businesses were affected, and an estimated $25 billion in damages occurred, making it one of the most expensive disasters in US history (FEMA. gov., 2022). In emergency response, there were more than 8,000 calls for help, with more than 80,000 evacuating their homes (FEMA. gov., 2022). Additionally, over 500 medical reports were filed due to the flooding (FEMA. gov., 2022).

Human Race Preparation for Such Future Events

In preparing for future floods, the human race must take action locally and globally. On the local level, governments can improve infrastructure in areas prone to flooding, such as building levees and dams. Additionally, building codes can be updated to ensure that new buildings are constructed with flood-resistant materials (Quesada-RomĂĄn et al.,). On the global level, reducing carbon emissions is essential to slow the effects of climate change. That can be done by investing in renewable energy sources and encouraging individuals to make lifestyle changes that reduce their carbon footprint.

In addition to those measures, ensuring that the public is prepared to respond to flooding is essential. That includes educating the people on the importance of preparing for floods, such as stocking up on necessary supplies and having an evacuation plan (Quesada-RomĂĄn et al., 2022). It is also vital to ensure that the required resources are in place to help those affected by the flooding, such as shelters, food, and medical services. Finally, ensuring that the recovery process is well-planned and organized is crucial (Quesada-RomĂĄn et al.,). That includes establishing a recovery plan that outlines the steps to be taken for rebuilding and restoring affected areas and providing assistance to those affected by the flooding.

Personal Effect of the Disaster

The California flooding in 2022 has had a devastating effect on both my family and me. After living in the Golden State most of my life, I have had a very personal and emotional connection to the area and its people. I remember the beauty of the rolling hills and the vibrant colors of the wildflowers that grew in the spring. Now, all that is gone replaced with a landscape of destruction and devastation. The effects of the flooding were far-reaching, and those of us living in California were hit the hardest. My family and I had to evacuate our home, leaving behind all our possessions and memories. We were lucky that we were able to find shelter with family members in another state, but the loss of our home still weighed heavily on our hearts. Nevertheless, through all of that, I have been able to find a silver lining. I learned the essence of taking care of our environment and the need to prepare for natural disasters. I have also appreciated the support and kindness of those willing to help during the disaster.

The California Flooding of 2022 resulted in significant destruction and hardship. Countless homes and businesses were destroyed, leaving many without a source of income. The economic impact was immense, resulting in billions of dollars in lost revenue. Furthermore, the response from the state government was substantial, providing emergency relief and financial support to those affected by the flooding. Though the damage was extensive, it could have been much worse if not for the prompt and comprehensive response from the state government. Therefore, the human race must be prepared for such events by understanding the risks and damages associated with the occasion and taking steps to mitigate and reduce them. Additionally, it is essential to ensure that the public is prepared to respond to the event and that the necessary resources are in place to support the recovery process.

FEMA. gov. (2022). California Severe Winter Storms, Flooding, Landslides, and Mudslides DR-4683-CA. Web.

Kreibich, H., Van Loon, A. F., SchrĂśter, K., Ward, P. J., Mazzoleni, M., Sairam, N.,… & Di Baldassarre, G. (2022). The challenge of unprecedented floods and droughts in risk management . Nature, 608 (7921), 80-86. Web.

Quesada-RomĂĄn, A., Ballesteros-CĂĄnovas, J. A., Granados-BolaĂąos, S., Birkel, C., & Stoffel, M. (2022). Improving regional flood risk assessment using flood frequency and dendrogeomorphic analyses in mountain catchments impacted by tropical cyclones . Geomorphology, 396 , 108000. Web.

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  • Essay On Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters Essay

500+ words essay on natural disasters.

A natural disaster is defined as an event of nature, which overwhelms local resources and threatens the function and safety of the community. Natural disasters are the consequence of natural phenomena unleashing processes that lead to physical damage and the loss of human lives and capital. Earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis, windstorms, floods and droughts are some examples of natural disasters. These disasters disrupt the lives of communities and individuals and the economic activity of the affected area. Students must go through this essay on Natural Disaster and gather ideas to write effective essays on topics related to them. Practising essays on such topics will improve the writing skills of the students and help them score better in the English exam.

Classification of Natural Disasters

Natural disasters result from forces of climate and geology. These are perhaps the most “unexpected” and costly overall in terms of loss of human lives and resources.

Disasters are classified into four categories depending on how they arise:

(1) Internal Earth Processes: It covers geophysical phenomena arising from the internal processes of the earth. It includes earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions etc., which human beings cannot usually predict or prevent.

(2) External Earth Processes: These comprise phenomena such as landslides, collapses, flooding, mudslides etc. These hazards can be avoided and are often associated with man-made alterations in the environment, such as deforestation on hillsides or excavations and many more such activities.

(3) Hydrometeorological Hazards: It is associated with changes in air and ocean temperature. This hazard is responsible for the formation of weather phenomena such as hurricanes and tornadoes, and the precipitation and climate variations that sometimes cause extreme flooding, storm surges, droughts and other hydrological phenomena.

(4) Biological Hazards: Biological disasters result from the proliferation of agents such as bacteria, viruses and toxins that can kill or disable people, harm animals, and crops and damage the environment. Some examples of biological hazards are cholera, dengue, yellow fever, Ebola virus and Marburg virus. The current pandemic situation due to Coronavirus is also an example of biological hazards.

Disaster Management

Disasters have massive human and economic costs. They may cause many deaths, severe injuries, and food shortages. Most incidents of severe injuries and deaths occur during the time of impact, whereas disease outbreaks and food shortages often arise much later, depending on the nature and duration of the disaster. Anticipating the potential consequences of disasters can help determine the actions that need to be started before the disaster strikes to minimize its effects.

Disasters are the ultimate test of a community’s emergency response capability. There are 3 major steps that can be taken to manage disaster which include pre-disaster management, during-disaster management and post-disaster management. The pre-disaster management involves generating data and information about the disasters, preparing vulnerability zoning maps and spreading awareness among the people about these. Apart from these, disaster planning, preparedness and preventive measures are other steps that need to be taken in vulnerable areas.

During disasters, rescue and relief operations such as evacuation, construction of shelters and relief camps, supplying of water, food, clothing and medical aids etc. should be done on an emergency basis. Post-disaster operations involve rehabilitation and recovery of victims. It should concentrate on capacity building in order to cope with future disasters, if any. These measures have special significance to India as about two-thirds of its geographical area and an equal proportion of its population are vulnerable to disasters. The Government of India has also taken some steps for disaster management such as passing the disaster management bill and the establishment of the National Institute of Disaster Management.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Natural disasters Essay

What are the types of natural disasters.

Floods/tsunamis, wildfires, drought, hurricane/storms and earthquakes are examples for common natural disasters.

How can we control the impact of a natural disaster?

Impact of natural disasters can be mitigated to an extent by creating awareness among the public about counter measures to be taken. Governments could use disaster prediction technology and install warning systems to alert people about impending disasters. Implementing and enforcing building codes is another measure to reduce the after-effects of disasters.

How do natural disasters affect the environment?

Wildfires, floods, and tornadoes cause structural changes to our ecosystem and also damage the natural inhabitation of that area.

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  • Natural Disasters Essay for Students in English

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Read Natural Disaster Essay on Vedantu

The planet earth has gone through many changes over these centuries. These changes are majorly due to natural disasters happening throughout time. When we talk about natural disasters, pollution, ozone depletion and global warming are the most common scenarios we witnessed.

Growing industrialisation and exploitation of natural resources have changed the echo system bringing on the verge of imbalance. However, over these decades, humans have also introduced many disaster warning systems helping to predict natural occurrence in advance. You can read more about Natural Disasters on Vedantu.

Different Faces of Natural Disasters

Nature possesses the character of a special balance in which all living beings live together in harmony with their environment. But whenever this balance is disturbed, we see the disastrous form of nature which wreaks havoc upon this world. Natural disasters come in various forms like earthquakes, Tsunami, Storms, Cyclones, droughts etc. These disasters have always occurred throughout history but the current threat of climate change has severely increased its risks. Man has to learn that he cannot control nature and his life should revolve around the conditions present in the environment and not the other way around.

We have tried to change the basic character of the Human-Nature relationship with every metric of development being centred on financial interest and the rise of global consumerism.  This way of life promotes greed and has fundamentally made human beings disoriented towards nature. Our festivals celebrate the intrinsic relationship between humans and the environment where we celebrate Mountains, Rivers, and Animals etc. Natural disasters are a reminder that humans must never take the gift of nature for granted and always reciprocate for the resources that we have received from the environment. Clean Air, Clean Water and harmony in the ecosystem is a prerequisite for Human well being.  

How to Deal with Natural Disasters?

India, due to its unique geographical character, faces natural disasters every year which cause massive harm to lives and property. Whether it be the floods of Uttarakhand in 2013 or the landslides in Western Ghats of Kerala. The cost of our blind exploitation of natural resources without showing reverence for the delicate balance of Nature has severely harmed us and we must learn lessons from these incidents.

One of the greatest stories of the Indian government in dealing with disaster readiness has been the story of the Indian state of Odisha. Odisha is a coastal state in eastern India that regularly faces cyclones that have caused great harm to the state. To deal with the menace of these cyclones the Odisha Government made an elaborate plan by taking the local communities in confidence and have successfully reduced the number of deaths in Odisha to a very small number which used to be in thousands earlier. Other Indian states should also learn from the experience of Odisha on how to improve disaster preparedness.

Keeping our environment safe and following the right process will help in bringing down the natural disasters. It is vital to learn about them.

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FAQs on Natural Disasters Essay for Students in English

1.  What are natural disasters increasing?

Over the years, natural disasters have increased. Regular earthquakes, massive flooding, cyclones, etc. have increased. According to the office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) which maintains an emergency disaster database, if a natural disaster kills 10 people, then it leaves 100 people injured. Increase in hydro-meteorological disasters, the combination of natural and man-made factors is leading to an increase in natural disasters.

2. What are the natural disasters that happened in 2020?

From wildfires in the US to locusts attack in India and back-to-back cyclones in India, there are many natural disasters in 2020. According to the Global Catastrophe Recap’s First Half of 2020 report, there were more than 207 natural disasters in just the first six months of 2020, causing \[$\]75 billion loss globally.

3. What natural disaster is the worst?

Every natural disaster causing the loss of both property and human lives is the worst. Be it the earthquake, wildfire or cyclone; each disaster can be the worst in its sense.

4. What are the causes of natural disasters?

Natural disasters are caused by a number of reasons which may or may not be linked to Human interference. Floods, for example, occur generally because of a sudden increase in water level which cannot be supported by the natural geography of the river, however, it has been observed that floods have also occurred due to human interference like encroachment of river banks, illegal sand mining and obstructions in the natural flow of the river. 

5. What are the agencies that deal with natural disasters?

On the National level, Natural disasters are dealt with by the National Disaster Relief Force or the NDRF. The NDRF has its own commissioned force which is highly experienced and trained to deal with situations when a disaster has occurred. Apart from the NDRF, there is also the SDRF which is present in every state. The central and state governments work in coordination during Natural disasters and saving lives along with restoration of normalcy is the primary concern of the relief operations.

6. What are the ways to deal with floods and droughts?

It may sound surprising to some people but India is a unique country where due to its vast geography, we have seen conditions where some parts of the country are facing floods while other parts suffer from drought in the same year. These are especially tough to deal with as the volume of water in floods just cannot be stored and once a region is facing drought, access to water becomes a question of survival. Linking rivers is a very grand scheme which can solve some of our problems but this also needs to be dealt with caution.

7. What can I do to contribute to disaster relief programmes?

The central and state governments carry out various programmes which are directly related to disaster relief work, coordinating with the agencies and donating to these relief operations are some things that we can do as citizens. There are various NGOs that provide relief material to people who are suffering from natural disasters. Creating awareness about such an important issue is also an essential activity. You can learn more about it on Vedantu website and download it in PDF format.

8. Which regions are the most affected by natural disasters in India?

Every part of the country has a unique geographical character and in some way or the other, they face the threat of natural disasters. Bihar and Assam are two such states which face floods on an annual basis, The Himalayan states have a very delicate ecology and save the menace of flash floods and landslides. Maharashtra has a problem of flooding in the Western Ghats while Vidarbha faces drought. Innovative ways must be discovered by states to deal with natural disasters.

Geography Notes

Essay on natural disasters: top 12 essays | geography.

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Natural Disasters’ for class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Natural Disasters’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Natural Disasters

Essay Contents:

  • Essay on the Initiatives Taken by the Government

Essay on Natural Disaster # 1. Introduction:

The definition of natural disasters is any catastrophic event that is caused by nature or the natural processes of the earth. The severity of a disaster is measured in lives lost, economic loss, and the ability of the population to rebuild. Events that occur in unpopulated areas are not considered disasters. So a flood on an uninhabited island would not count as a disaster, but a flood in a populated area is called a natural disaster.

All natural disasters cause loss in some way. Depending on the severity, lives can be lost in any number of disasters. Falling buildings or trees, freezing to death, being washed away, or heat stroke are just some of the deadly effects. Some disasters cause more loss of life than others, and population density affects the death count as well.

Hence, there is loss of property, which affects people’s living quarters, transportation, livelihood, and means to live. Fields saturated in salt water after tsunamis take years to grow crops again. Homes destroyed by floods, hurricanes, cyclones, landslides and avalanches, a volcanic eruption, or an earthquake are often beyond repair or take a lot of time to become livable again. Personal effects, memorabilia, vehicles, and documents also take a hit after many natural disasters.

The natural disasters that really affect people worldwide tend to become more intense as the years go on. Frequency of earthquakes, mega storms, and heat waves has gone up considerably in the last few decades. Heavy population in areas that get hit by floods, cyclones, and hurricanes has meant that more lives are lost.

In some areas, the population has gotten somewhat prepared for the eventuality of disasters and shelters are built for hurricanes and tornadoes. However, loss of property is still a problem, and predicting many natural disasters isn’t easy.

Scientists, geologists, and storm watchers work hard to predict major disasters and avert as much damage as possible. With all the technology available, it’s become easier to predict major storms, blizzards, cyclones, and other weather related natural disasters. But there arestill natural disasters that come up rather unexpectedly, such as earthquakes, wildfires, landslides, or even volcanic eruptions.

Sometimes, a time of warning is there, but it’s often very short with catastrophic results. Areas that are not used to disasters affected by flash floods or sudden hail storms can be affected in an extreme way. However, despite the many natural disasters the world over, mankind has shown amazing resilience.

When an area or country is badly affected by a natural disaster, the reaction is always one of solidarity and aid is quick to come. There are organizations set up with the primary goal of being prepared for natural disasters. These groups work on global and local scale rescue work. Aside from those who have chosen to make disaster relief their life-work, when disasters hit, it’s the individuals who step in who help to make a difference.

Many people talk about when a disaster has hit and their neighbours and countrymen have come to aid, often to their own loss. People will step in and donate items, time, and skills in order to help those affected by a natural disaster. Celebrities will often do what they can to raise money through concerts, phone marathons, and visiting affected areas with aid.

People have also shown that they can rebuild, lives can be remade or start over. Trauma is a big after effect of natural disasters and getting counseling has been the focus of aid-to heal emotionally as well as physically. It’s clear that natural disasters are a part of life as we know it. However, science is making it more possible to predict, aid is faster at coming, and people are learning how to rebuild in safer areas.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 2. Earthquake :

India is having a high risk towards earthquakes. More than 58 per cent of India’s land area is under threat of moderate to severe seismic hazard. During the last 20 years, India has experienced 10 major earthquakes that have resulted in more than 35,000 deaths. The most vulnerable areas, according to the present seismic zone map of India include the Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan regions, Kutch and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Depending on varying degrees of seismicity, the entire country can be divided into the following seismic regions: Of the earthquake-prone areas, 12% is proneto very severe earthquakes, 18% to severe earthquakes and 25% to damageable earthquakes.

Though the regions of the country away from the Himalayas and other inter-plate boundaries were considered to be relatively safe from damaging earthquakes, the presence of a large number of non-engineering structures and buildings with poor foundations in these areas make these regions also susceptible to earthquakes.

In the recent past, even these areas also have experienced earthquake, of lower magnitude than the Himalayan earthquakes. The North-eastern part of the country continues to experience moderate to strong earthquakes. On an average, this region experiences an earthquake with magnitude greater than 5.0 every year.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are situated on an inter-plate boundary and therefore are likely to experience damaging earthquakes frequently. The increase in earthquake risk in India in recent times is caused due to a spurt in developmental activities driven by urbanization, economic development and the globalization of India’s economy. The increase in the use of high-technology equipment and tools in manufacturing and service industries have also made them susceptible to disruption due to relatively moderate ground shaking.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 3. Flood and Drought :

The country receives an annual precipitation of 400 million hectare meters. Of the annual rainfall, 75% is received during four months of monsoon (June — September) and, as a result, almost all the rivers carry heavy discharge during this period. The flood hazard is compounded by the problems of sediment deposition, drainage congestion and synchronization of river floods with sea tides in the coastal plains.

The area vulnerable to floods is 40 million hectares and the average area affected by floods annually is about 8 million hectares. About 30 million people are affected by flood every year. Floods in the Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra plains are an annual feature. On an average, a few hundred lives are lost, millions are rendered homeless and several hectares of crops are damaged every year around 68% arable land of the country is prone to drought in varying degrees.

Drought prone areas comprise 108.11 million hectares out of a total land area of 329 million hectares. About 50 million people are affected annually by drought. Of approximately 90 million hectares of rain-fed areas, about 40 million hectares are prone to scanty or no rain.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 4. Cyclone :

India’s long coastline of 7,516 kilometer is exposed to nearly 10 per cent of the world’s tropical cyclones. Of these, the majority has their initial genesis over the Bay of Bengal and strike the east coast of India. On an average, five to six tropical cyclones form every year, of which two or three could be severe.

Cyclones occur frequently on both the Coasts (the West Coast —Arabian Sea; and the East Coast —Bay of Bengal). More Cyclones occur in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea and the ratio is approximately 4:1.

An analysis of the frequency of cyclones on the East and West Coasts of India between 1891 and 1990 shows that nearly 262 cyclones occurred (92 severe) in a 50 km wide strip on the East Coast. Less severe cyclonic activity has been noticed on the West Coast, with 33 cyclones occurring in the same period, out of which 19 of these were severe.

In India, Tropical cyclones occur in the months of May-June and October-November. The cyclones of severe intensity and frequency in the north Indian Ocean are bi-modal in character, with their primary peak in November and secondary peak in May. The disaster potential is particularly high at the time of landfall in the north Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) due to the accompanying destructive wind, storm surges and torrential rainfall.

Of these, storm surges are the greatest killers of a cyclone, by which sea water inundates low lying areas of coastal regions and causes heavy floods, erodes beaches and embankments, destroys vegetation and reduces soil fertility.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 5. Landslide :

In the hilly terrain of India including the Himalayas, landslides have been a major and widely spread natural disasters that often strike life and property and occupy a position of major concern. One of the worst tragedies took place at Malpa (Uttrakhand) on 11th and 17th August, 1998. When nearly 380 people were killed when massive landslides washed away the entire village. This included 60 pilgrims going to Lake.

Mansarovar in Tibet. In 2010 Cloud burst led flash mudslides and flash floods killed 196 people, including 6 foreigners and injured more than 400 and swept away number of houses, sweeping away buildings, bus stand and military installations in trans-Himalaya Leh town of Jammu and Kashmir.

Giving due consideration to the severity of the problem various land reform measures have been initiated as mitigation measures. Landslides occur in the hilly regions such as the Himalayas, North-East India, the Nilgiris, and Eastern and Western Ghats.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 6. Avalanche :

Avalanches are river like speedy flow of snow or ice descending from the mountain tops. Avalanches are very damaging and cause huge loss to life and property. In Himalayas, avalanches are common in Drass, Pir Panijat, Lahaul-Spiti and Badrinath areas.

As per Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), on an average around 30 people are killed every year due to this disaster in various zones of the Himalayas. Beside killing people, avalanches also damage the roads and others properties and settlements falling in its way.

Area Prone to Avalanches:

I. Avalanches are common in Himalayan region above 3500 m elevation.

II. Very frequent on slopes of 30-45°.

III. Convex slopes more prone to this disaster.

IV. North facing slope have avalanches in winter and south facing slopes during spring.

V. Slopes covered with grass more prone to this hazard.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 7. Tsunami:

Tsunami, or seismic sea waves, are large ocean waves generated by impulses from geophysical events occurring on the ocean floor or along the coastline, such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions.

Mostly occurring in the Pacific Ocean, tsunamis, although hardly noticeable at sea, can reach gigantic proportions as they reach shallow, coastal waters. In Hawaii and Japan, for example, tsunamis have been known to reach 30 m in height. At least 22 countries along the rim of the Pacific are estimated to beat risk from potential tsunami.

The fact that tsunamis can travel 10,000 km at velocities exceeding 900 km per hour with little loss of energy and are, therefore, capable of hitting areas not directly affected by the inducing event, has led to the establishment of a tsunami early warning service for the whole circum-Pacific area.

However, only a few of the 22 countries most at risk are considered to have standard operating procedures for immediate evacuation or reliable, rapid communication systems capable of receiving real-time warnings from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

About 6,000-people have been killed by tsunami during 1977-1986 alone. Probably the best documented of these events is the occurrence at Noshiro, Japan, in 1983 which caused approximately 100 deaths and extensive property damage and flooding. The tsunami (Dec. 2004) in South East Asia lead to a death tool of over 2.5 lakhs peoples of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and India.

Tsunamis have multiple origin—16.5 per cent resulted from tectonic earthquakes associated with the eruption, 20 per cent from pyroclastic (ash) flows or surges hitting the ocean, 14 per cent from submarine eruptions, 7 per cent resulted from the collapse of the volcano and subsequent caldera formation, 5 per cent from landslides or avalanches, 3 per cent from atmospheric shock waves and 25 per cent had no discernible origin, but probably were produced by submerged volcanic eruptions.

A partial geographical distribution of tsunamis is given in Table 30.2:

Over past two thousand years there have been 10, 00,000 deaths attributed to tsunami in the Pacific region alone. Earlier Pacific Tsunami warning system was established for forecasting the event. Now global network was established in all Oceans & Seas.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 8. Windstorms:

Judged by the frequency with which they cause damage and by the surface area of the regions they strike, windstorms can be said to be the most significant of all natural hazards. Windstorms influence precipitation systems floods and, most importantly, cause severe destruction to crops and properties.

Severe tropical cyclones (called “ hurricanes ” in the Atlantic, Caribbean and north-eastern Pacific; “ typhoons ” in the western Pacific; and “ cyclones ” in the Indian Ocean and in the sea around Australia), tornadoes, monsoons and thunderstorms between them affect every country in the world.

Today increasing attention is being paid to windstorms, particularly tropical cyclones as some scientists see their incidence as being a possible indicator of global climatic change and predict an increase in their frequency.

Have tropical cyclone frequencies or their intensities increased with global changes throughout the last century? At present, available evidence does not support this idea, perhaps because the warming is not yet large enough to make its impact felt (WMO/UNEP, 1990).

Global information on Kanor windstorms and their impact is collated by organisations such as UNDRO UNEP and AID/OFDA. However, global listings of disasters rarely include those which occur in small states such as island states, which in areas such as the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South Pacific are particularly prone to tropical cyclones.

This is because listings often set a criteria based on magnitude of impact with which small states cannot compete against larger countries. However, the proportional impact upon small states is often far greater in terms of population, housing and economics.

The impact of cyclones goes far beyond just deaths and building damage. In developing countries destruction of infrastructure and primary agriculture can lead to a decrease in exports and gross national product, while increasing the likelihood of forfeiture of international loan repayments. Contamination of water supplies and destruction of crops can also lead to disease and starvation.

Many mid-latitude cyclonic depressions can give rise to exceptionally heavy rain and widespread flooding and snow fall too. Dust storms are windstorms accompanied by suspended clay, silt materials, usually but not always without precipitation. Average 130-800 million tonnes of dust are entrained by winds each year.

Severe windstorms with high level of flush rain often called thunderstorms associated with lightning, hail and tornadoes cause massive destruction of properties and also human lives through out the world. Early warning and emergency relief operation are the major management activity.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 9. Forest Fire :

Forest or bush fire, though not causing much loss to human life, is a major hazard for forest cover in the country. As per Forest Survey of India report, 50 per cent of the forest cover of the country is fire prone, out of which 6.17 per cent is prone to severe fire damage causing extensive loss to forest vegetation and environment. Average annual physical loss due to forest fire in the country is estimated to worth Rs.440 crores.

The major loss due to forest fire is caused to the environment which gets adversely affected by this calamity. The degradation of climate, soil and water quality, loss of wildlife and its habitat, deterioration of human health, depletion of ozone layer, etc., along with direct loss to timber are the major adverse impact of forest fires.

The coniferous forests in the Himalayan region are very susceptible to fire and every year there are one or more major fire incidences in these areas. The other parts of the country dominated by deciduous forest are also damaged by fire up to an extent. It is worth mentioning that in India 90 per cent of the forest fires are man-made (intentionally or unintentionally).

Essay on Natural Disaster # 10. Volcanoes:

Volcanoes are conduits in the earth’s crust through which gas enriched molten silicate rock magma reaches to the surface of earth crust.

An active volcano occurs where magma (molten rock) reaches the earth’s surface through a central vent or a long crack (fissure) Volcanic activity can release ejecta (debris), liquid lava and gases (H 2 O vapour C 2 , SO 2 , NO x , etc.) to the environment.

There are two types of magma ejected out of volcanoes —silica poor materials, and silica rich materials. The silica poor volcanoes called basaltic volcanoes, while the silica rich volcanoes are andesitic volcanoes.

There are many hazardous phenomena produced directly or as secondary effects, by volcanic eruptions.

The direct hazards of volcanic eruptions are:

a. Lava flow;

b. Ballistics and tephra clouds;

c. Pyroclastic flows and base surges;

d. Gases and acid rains;

e. Lahars (mud flows); and

f. Glacier bursts (Jokulhlamps).

In addition indirectly they are associated with earthquake and tsunami events. Volcanoes are visually one of the most spectacular natural hazardous to occur and probably most devastating in terms of loss of human life.

The volcano likes Mt. Vesurivs, Mt. St Helena, Krakatoa, and Mt, Pelee are significant because of either the enormity of the eruption or the resulting death tool. As per Gaius Pinius Caecilius secundus on 24 August, 79 AD the Nt. Vesuvius eruption causes 2,000 death and burying of the Pompeii city.

There is no doubt that the earth is experiencing on of the most intense periods of volcanism in the last 10,000 years. This period began at the beginning of the seventh century, concomitant with global cooling that peaked in the little ice age.

In contrast the volcanic events of the last century may be viewed as freak eruption of supposedly dormant volcanoes. In the present era, volcanic eruption are pervasive, unpredictable and deadly.

Land use planning better prediction of volcanic eruptions and development of effective evacuation plans reduce the loss of human life from volcanic eruption. The prediction systems related to volcanic activity has improved considerably during past few decades. The environmental consequence of volcanic eruption without or with anthropogenic emission is shown in Fig. 30.3.

Essay on Natural Disaster # 11. Planning For a Safer Tomorrow :

Natural disasters have a severe impact on the society, therefore it is important to plan and develop a safety programme and devise means to efficiently deal with natural disaster. Development programme that go into promoting development at the local level have been left to the general exercise of planning.

Measures need also to be taken to integrate disaster mitigation efforts at the local level with the general exercise of planning, and a more supportive environment created for initiatives towards managing of disasters at all levels: national, state, district and local.

The future blue-print for disaster management in India rests on the premise that in today’s society while hazards, both natural or otherwise, are inevitable, the disasters that follow need not be so and the society can be prepared to cope with them effectively whenever they occur.

The need of the hour is to chalk out a multi-pronged strategy for total risk management, comprising prevention, preparedness, response and recovery on the one hand, and initiate development efforts aimed towards risk reduction and mitigation, on the other. Only then can we look forward to “sustainable development”.

Prevention and Preparedness :

Disaster prevention is intrinsically linked to preventive planning.

Some of the important steps in this regard are:

1. Introduction of a comprehensive process of vulnerability analysis and objective risk assessment.

2. Building a Robust and Sound Information Database:

A comprehensive database of the landuse, demography, infrastructure developed at the national, state and local levels alongwith current information on climate, weather and man-made structures is crucial in planning, warning and assessment of disasters. In addition, resource inventories of governmental and non-governmental systems including personnel and equipment help inefficient mobilization and optimization of response measures.

3. Creating State-of-the-Art Infrastructure:

The entire disaster mitigation game plan must necessarily be anchored to front line research and development in a holistic mode. State-of-the art technologies available worldwide need to be made available in India for upgrading of the disaster management system; at the same time, dedicated research activities should be encouraged, in all frontier areas related to disasters like biological, space applications, information technology, nuclear radiation etc., for a continuous flow of high quality basic information for sound disaster management planning.

4. Establishing Linkages between all knowledge-based Institutions:

A National Disaster Knowledge Network, tuned to the felt needs of a multitude of users like disaster managers, decision-makers, community etc., must be developed as the network of networks to cover natural, man-made and biological disasters in all their varied dimensions.

Capacity Building :

Reconstruction and rebuilding is a long drawn process and those involved in this exercise have to draw upon knowledge of best practices and resources available to them. Information and training on ways to better respond to and mitigate disasters to the responders go a long way in building the capacity and resilience of the country to reduce and prevent disasters.

Training is an integral part of capacity building as trained personnel respond much better to different disaster sand appreciate the need for preventive measures. The multi-sectoral and multi-hazard prevention based approach to disaster management. Professional training in disaster management is essential and should be built into the existing pedagogic research and education.

Specialised courses should be treated as a distinct academic and professional discipline, the subject needs to be discussed and taught as a specific component in professional and specialised courses like medicine, nursing, engineering, environmental sciences, architecture, and town and country planning.

Secondly, there has to be a focus towards preventive disaster management and development of a national ethos of prevention calls for an awareness generation at all levels. An appropriate level of awareness at the school level will help increase awareness among children and, in many cases, parents and other family members through these children.

Curriculum development with a focus towards dissemination of disaster related information on a sustained basis, covering all school levels may be worked out by the different school boards in the country.

Training facilities for government personnel involved in disaster management are conducted at the national level by the National Centre for Disaster Management at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, in New Delhi which functions as the nodal institution in the country for training, research and documentation of disasters.

At the State level, disaster management cells operating within the State Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs) provide the necessary training. Presently, 24 ATIs have dedicated faculties. There is a need for strengthening specialized training, including training of personnel in disaster response.

Finally, capacity building should not be limited to professionals and personnel involved in disaster management but should also focus on building the knowledge, attitude and skills of a community to cope with the effects of disasters. Identification and training of volunteers from the community towards first response measures as well as mitigation measures is an urgent imperative.

A programme of periodic drills should be introduced in vulnerable areas to enable prompt and appropriate community response in the event of a disaster which can help save valuable lives.

Communi ty Level:

Disaster management programme must strive to build a disaster resilient community equipped with safer living and sustainable livelihoods to serve its own development purposes. The community is also the first responder in any critical situation there by emphasizing the need for community level initiatives in managing disasters.

There is a need to create awareness through education training and information dissemination, community based approach followed by most NGOs and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) should be incorporated in the disaster management sector as an effective means of community participation.

Finally, within a vulnerable community, there exist groups that are more vulnerable like women and children, aged and in firm and physically challenged people who need special care and attention especially during crisis. Efforts are required for identifying such vulnerable groups and providing special assistance in terms of evacuation, relief, aid and medical attention.

Management of disasters should therefore be an interface between a community effort to mitigate and prevent disasters as also an effort from the government machinery to buttress and support popular initiatives.

Developing a St ronger Plan:

Given the damage caused by disaster, planned expenditure on disaster management and prevention measures in addition to the CRF is required. The Central Sector Scheme of Natural Disaster Management Programme has been implemented since 1993-94 by the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation with the objective to focus on disaster preparedness with emphasis on mitigation and preparedness measures for enhanced capability to reduce the adverse impact of disasters.

The major activities undertaken within this scheme include the setting up of the National Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM) at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, creation of 24 disaster management faculties in 23 states, research and consultancy services, documentation of major disaster events and forging regional cooperation.

The Eighth Plan allocation of Rs.6.30 crore for this scheme was increased to Rs.16.32 crore in the Ninth Plan. Within this scheme, NCDM has conducted over 50 training programme, training more than 1000 people, while 24 disaster management centers with dedicated faculty have been established in the states.

Over 4000 people have been trained at the State level. In addition, some important publications and audio-visual training modules have been prepared and documentation of disaster events has been done.

Though limited in scope and outlays, the Scheme has made an impact on the training and research activities in the country. Creation of faculties in disaster management in all 28 states is proposed to be taken up in the Tenth Plan in addition to community mobilisation, human resource development, establishment of Control Rooms and forging international cooperation in disaster management.

There is also an urgent need for strengthening the disaster management pedagogy by creating disaster management faculties in universities, rural development institutes and other organisations of premier research. Sustainability is the key word in the development process.

Development activities that do not consider the disaster loss perspective fail to be sustainable. The compounded costs of disasters relating to loss of life, loss of assets, economic activities, and cost of reconstruction of not only assets but of lives can scarcely be borne by any community or nation.

Therefore, all development schemes in vulnerable areas should include a disaster mitigation analysis, where by the feasibility of a project is assessed with respect to vulnerability of the area and the mitigation measures required for sustainability. Environmental protection, afforestation programme, pollution control, construction of earthquake resistant structures etc., should therefore have high priority within the plans Mitigation measures on individual structures can be achieved by design standards building codes and performance specifications.

Building codes, critical front-line defence for achieving stronger engineered structures, need to be drawn up in accordance with the vulnerability of the area and implemented through appropriate techno-legal measures. Mitigation measures need to be considered in land use and site planning activities.

Constructions in hazardous areas like flood plains or steep soft slopes are more vulnerable to disasters. Necessary mitigation measures need to be built into the design and costing of development projects. Insurance is a potentially important mitigation measure in disaster-prone areas as it brings quality in the infrastructure consciousness and a culture of safety by its insistence on following building codes, norms, guidelines, quality materials in construction etc.

Disaster insurance mostly works under the premise of ‘higher the risk higher the premium, lesser the risk lesser the premium’, thus creating awareness towards vulnerable areas and motivating people to settle in relatively safer areas?

Essay on Natural Disaster # 12. Major Initiatives taken by Government of India:

Natural disasters have become a recurring phenomenon in the recent past. In the last twenty years or so three million people have been killed as a result of such events. There is a need to focus and develop a plan that would focus on disaster management planning for prevention, reduction, mitigation, preparedness and response to reduce life and property due to natural disaster.

If we take it in the Indian context, the five year plans have never really taken into consideration the issues relating to the management and mitigation of natural disasters. The traditional perception has been limited to the idea of “calamity relief”, which is seen essentially as a non-plan item of expenditure. Disasters can have devastating impact on the economy and is a significant setback to the development in a given region.

Two recent disasters, the Orissa Cyclone and the Gujarat Earthquake, are cases in point. The development process needs to be sensitive towards disaster prevention and mitigation aspects. There is thus a need to look at disasters from a development perspective as well.

Disaster management may not be directly associated with planned financing, but number of schemes are in operation, such as for drought proofing, afforestation, drinking water, etc., which deal with the prevention and mitigation of the impact of natural disasters. Extra assistance for post-disaster reconstruction and streamlining of management structures also is a major consideration of the plan.

A specific, centrally sponsored scheme on disaster management also exists. The plan thus already has a defined role in dealing with the subject. There have been an increasing number of natural disaster over the past years, and with it, increasing losses on account of urbanisation and population growth, as a result of which the impact of natural disasters is now felt to a larger extent.

According to the United Nations, in 2001 alone, natural disasters of medium to high range caused at least 25,000 deaths around the world, more than double the previous year, and economic losses of around US $ 36 billion. Devastations in the aftermath of powerful earthquakes that struck Gujarat, El Salvador and Peru; floods that ravaged many countries in Africa, Asia and elsewhere; droughts that plagued Central Asia including Afghanistan, Africa and Central America; the cyclone in Madagascar and Orissa; and floods in Bolivia are global events in recent memory.

However, what is disturbing is the knowledge that these trends of destruction and devastation are on the rise instead of being kept in check.

Natural disasters know no political boundaries and have no social or economic considerations. They are borderless as they affect both developing and developed countries. They are also merciless, and as such the vulnerable tend to suffer more at the impact of natural disasters.

For example, the developing countries are much more seriously affected in terms of the loss of lives, hardship borne by population and the percentage of their GNP lost. Since number of the most vulnerable regions is in India, natural disaster management has emerged as a high priority for the country.

Going beyond the historical focus on relief and rehabilitation after the event, we now have to look ahead and plan for disaster preparedness and mitigation, in order that the periodic shocks to our development efforts are minimized.

Physical vulnerabilities have a direct impact on the population their proximity to the hazard zone and standards of safety maintained to counter the effects. For instance, some people are vulnerable to flood only because they live in a flood prone area. Physical vulnerability also relates to the technical capacity of buildings and structures to resist the forces acting upon them during a hazard event.

However, physical calamities is not the only criteria, there are prevailing social and economic conditions and its consequential effect on human activities within a given society. Parts of the Indian sub-continent are susceptible to different types of disasters owing to the unique topographic and climatic characteristics.

About 54 per cent of the sub-continent’s land mass is vulnerable to earthquakes while about 4 crore hectares is vulnerable to periodic floods. The decade 1990-2000, has been one of very high disaster losses within the country, losses in the Orissa Cyclone in 1999, and later, the Gujarat Earthquake in 2001 alone amount to several thousand crore of Rupees, while the total expenditure incurred on relief and reconstruction in Gujarat alone has been to the tune of Rs.11,500 crore. Disasters often result in enormous economic losses that are both immediate as well as long term in nature and demand additional revenues.

Also, as an immediate fall-out, disasters reduce revenues from the affected region due to lower levels of economic activity leading to loss of direct and indirect taxes. In addition, unplanned budgetary allocation to disaster recovery can hamper development interventions and lead to unmet developmental targets.

Disasters may also reduce availability of new investment, further constricting the growth of the region. Besides, additional pressures may be imposed on finances of the government through investments in relief and rehabilitation work.

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A Pandemic College Essay That Probably Won’t Get You Into Brown

theatre writing

Community disruptions such as COVID -19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. — The 2020-21 college-admissions Common Application.

COVID -19 is a very destructive respiratory disease that has caused much pain and suffering for millions of people around the world. Although my heart grieves for all the lives lost, each of us has suffered in our own unique ways. For me, that suffering took the form of not getting an opportunity to play the lead in our spring drama, which was, so tragically, cancelled.

For years, I have been working toward this goal. As a freshman, I auditioned for the role of Laura in the Tennessee Williams famous American drama “The Glass Menagerie.” While I did not win the role, I find it very ironic that now, only three years later, we have all become aware that life is as precious as those fateful glass figurines due to COVID -19.

As a sophomore, my efforts to secure the role of the wrongly accused Desdemona in William Shakespeare’s important play “Othello” were, once again, thwarted. Our drama coach, Ms. Wilkie, told me during the audition process that sophomores would be considered for leading roles, but the parts of Othello, Iago, and Desdemona all went to upperclassmen, even though none of them had taken private acting classes, as I have, with Leonard Michaels (Broadway credits include “Company,” “Starlight Express,” “Pump Boys and Dinettes”), at the Willows Dramatic Academy for Young Performers.

This experience taught me that authority figures do not always have “the answers,” a lesson reinforced when Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is a very respected medical adviser to many Presidents of the United States of America, said at first that masks should not be worn but then said that they should.

When discussing masks these days, it is impossible not to conjure in one’s mind images of the famous “Comedy and Tragedy” masks, which were worn in ancient Greece during the classical period, from approximately 500 to 300 B.C.

Junior year was a turning point for my high-school theatrical career. I auditioned to portray Abigail Williams in “The Crucible,” a play that on the surface purports to be about the Salem witch trials but is in fact a parable about McCarthyism, which was a terrible episode of American history that itself had a long-lasting impact on American history. Although I did not receive the part of Abigail Williams, I did play the pivotal role of Deputy Governor Danforth, who has several lines. Our school newspaper declared my presentation “dramatic” (review attached).

This year, my senior year, Ms. Wilkie said that we would be doing the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Our Town.” Never could I have foreseen that “our town” would be affected by the respiratory disease only a few short months later.

Needless to say, I watched in horror in January and February of last year as news reports emerged from China about a new respiratory ailment that threatened to sicken people and shut down vast portions of the economy. In March, we received word that our very high school would be closing its mahogany doors. The curtain on my high-school theatrical career, tragically, fell forever, before I even had the chance to audition for the central role of the Stage Manager, which I planned to reinterpret as a strong, independent woman in the wake of #MeToo.

Perhaps Fate is the real Stage Manager.

The Stanislavski method of acting teaches us to incorporate our actual experiences into our Craft. Should I have the great honor of studying at the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University, I vow to incorporate the suffering of this past year into my Art as a tribute to all those, including myself, who have experienced such tremendous loss.

It is believed that the immortal bard, William Shakespeare, said, “Instead of weeping when a tragedy occurs in a songbird’s life, it sings away its grief.” My time at Brown will be my chance to “sing away grief,” except that, unlike the tragedies of Shakespeare and other playwrights, my tragedy is real and therefore more tragic.

Please find attached a video of me in a scene from Herb Gardner’s “A Thousand Clowns” (performed with J. Leonard Mitchell, member, Actors’ Equity). ♦

What Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Took from the Tornado

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Argumentative Essay: Natural Disaster: Their Abatement and Safety Measures

Introduction & Thesis

It should be left up to the government when it comes to natural disasters. They are something that government agencies can predict and are able to give warning for. The government should be the main focus when it comes to natural disaster safety measures and abatement.

The government is not able to predict all natural disasters, and so should not be held accountable for death tolls or the damage caused by natural disasters.

Counter Argument

The government is in a far better position to protect people from natural disasters then they are on their own. Plus, they have access to weather monitoring devices and warning systems that they can use to help save lives. We have seen what happens when a government does nothing from when George Bush Jar did nothing to help the millions affected by hurricane Katrina. The funny online pictures of George Bush Jar fishing in the floodwaters of New Orleans accurately summed up what happens when the government does nothing about natural disasters.

Natural disasters are the work of god and so cannot be abated or guarded against by humans. Like the story of Job, the bad times should be endured whilst giving thanks for what we do have.

God helps those who help themselves. God did not give us the capacity for thought and lateral thinking so that we could not use it. It is our job as children of god to use his gifts to cure disease, help the suffering, make safe ourselves from natural disasters and abate their devastation. God did not punish Noah for building an arc to avoid the floods.

People can help themselves. It is the people who are ill prepared for hurricanes that sustain the most damage. People who stay in their houses and are killed are responsible for their own deaths; the people who do not board up their houses or leave glass items lying around, or do not switch of their water and gas lines. These people are proof that people can take care of themselves during natural disasters if they try harder.

It is up to the government to give ample warning about things such as hurricanes. If they did not, then people would not even get the chance to board up their houses and secure them. Nor would they know anything about how to make a house safer if the government did not give enough warning and advice. It is up to the government to warn people and to give advice on what to do.

The government is not expected to do all of the work when warning for a natural disaster, implementing safety procedures and abating further damage. But, they are responsible for a lot of it and should be accountable if they do not do a good enough job and do not warn and help to abate the damage. Death and damage is going to happen if the government fails to act beforehand and afterwards–such as with hurricane Katrina and New Orleans.

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Natural Disasters: Analyzing the Causes and Mitigation of Earth's Catastrophic Events

Natural disasters are catastrophic events that occur due to natural processes and can have devastating impacts on human lives, infrastructure, and the environment. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and tsunamis are among the various types of natural disasters that pose significant risks to communities around the world. This essay delves into the causes of natural disasters, the mechanisms that drive these events, and the strategies employed for mitigating their impact on human lives and communities.

Earthquakes are caused by the sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust due to the movement of tectonic plates. When accumulated stress along geological faults exceeds the strength of the rocks, it results in the rupture and sliding of rocks past one another, generating seismic waves that propagate through the Earth. Earthquakes can cause ground shaking, surface rupture, landslides, and tsunamis, depending on their magnitude and location.

Hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones or typhoons, are powerful and large rotating storms that form over warm ocean waters. They draw energy from the warm ocean surface, and as the warm, moist air rises, it cools and condenses, releasing latent heat and fueling the storm's strength. Hurricanes can cause destructive winds, storm surges, and heavy rainfall, leading to flooding and extensive damage to coastal areas.

Floods are natural disasters that result from excessive rainfall, melting snow, storm surges, or the failure of natural or artificial barriers, such as dams or levees. Floods can cause significant damage to infrastructure, disrupt communities, and pose risks to human lives and public health. Flash floods, which occur suddenly and with little warning, are particularly dangerous.

Wildfires are uncontrolled and rapidly spreading fires that occur in forests, grasslands, and other vegetation. They are often fueled by dry conditions, high temperatures, and strong winds. Wildfires can lead to destruction of ecosystems, loss of wildlife habitat, and damage to property and human communities.

Tsunamis are large ocean waves generated by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides. When these events displace large amounts of water, they generate waves that can travel across entire ocean basins at high speeds. When the waves reach shallower coastal areas, they can rapidly rise and inundate land, causing massive destruction and loss of life.

Mitigating the impact of natural disasters is a critical aspect of disaster management and preparedness. Various strategies and measures are employed to reduce the vulnerability of communities and infrastructure to natural disasters.

Disaster preparedness includes early warning systems, which provide timely information about imminent threats such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and floods, enabling communities to evacuate and take necessary precautions. Building codes and engineering standards are also crucial for ensuring that infrastructure can withstand the forces of natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes.

Afforestation and reforestation initiatives help mitigate the impact of wildfires by creating firebreaks and reducing the availability of fuel for fires. Moreover, measures such as floodplain mapping and the construction of flood control structures, such as levees and dams, can help mitigate the impact of floods on communities.

Public education and awareness are essential for promoting disaster preparedness and resilience. Communities need to be informed about the risks they face and the appropriate measures to take in the event of a natural disaster. Governments, organizations, and individuals must work together to build resilient communities and implement effective disaster management strategies.

In conclusion, natural disasters are powerful and unpredictable events that have significant impacts on human lives and communities. Understanding the causes and mechanisms behind natural disasters is crucial for implementing effective strategies to mitigate their impact. Early warning systems, building codes, preparedness measures, and public education are essential components of disaster management and can help build resilient communities that can withstand and recover from natural disasters.

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college essay on natural disaster

How to Write the Oregon State University Essays 2024-2025

Applicants to the Honors College at Oregon State University will need to respond to one essay prompt, as well as four short-response questions with a limit of 100 words each. Any time you’re applying to a more selective program within the university as a whole, you want to make sure your strengths come across fully, and the essays are a fantastic opportunity to contextualize your more objective achievements like grades, awards, and so on.

Want to know how your profile stacks up at Oregon State? Calculate your chances of acceptance for free right now!

Oregon State University Supplemental Essay Prompts

Honors college applicants.

Prompt 1: Choose a specific connection that you consider interesting or unique; describe and explain the connection and its parts and why that connection is meaningful or significant. You can choose from activities, academic subjects, concepts, natural or human phenomena, etc. Write an original essay that clearly and completely addresses the prompt above in 450-500 words in order for your Honors College application to be considered. Making connections and drawing insights from those connections is a central part of the Honors College experience. (450-500 words) ‌ 

Short Answer Prompts: Please address your experience in each category below, keeping in mind how you could contribute to the future community of excellence at OSU. Respond to all four questions and limit answers to 100 words per question.

Describe any special interests and how you have developed knowledge in these areas. Give examples of your creativity- the ability to see alternatives; take diverse perspectives; come up with many, varied, or original ideas; or willingness to try new things. (100 words)

Describe a significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to address this challenge. include whether you turned to anyone in facing the challenge, the role the person played, and what you learned about yourself. (100 words), osu remains committed to creating an inclusive environment and dismantling systems that perpetuate discrimination at various levels. how, specifically, will you contribute to furthering this commitment (100 words), articulate the goals you have established for yourself and your efforts to accomplish these. give at least one specific example that demonstrates your work ethic/diligence. (100 words), honors college applicants, prompt 1, choose a specific connection that you consider interesting or unique; describe and explain the connection and its parts and why that connection is meaningful or significant. you can choose from activities, academic subjects, concepts, natural or human phenomena, etc., write an original essay that clearly and completely addresses the prompt above in 450-500 words in order for your honors college application to be considered. making connections and drawing insights from those connections is a central part of the honors college experience. (450-500 words).

This prompt invites you to explore a specific connection between two or more things that you find interesting or meaningful. Your goal should be to demonstrate your ability to think creatively and across disciplines, and draw insights from seemingly disparate ideas. 

This is also a great opportunity to show off your unique way of looking at the world. The key to a strong response is to not only describe the connection, but also delve into why it’s significant to you.

The broadness of this prompt may seem overwhelming, but take a breath! Here are some questions to help get you thinking about what you might write about. 

  • Have you noticed two areas of your life that are unexpectedly related? Maybe you or someone else was surprised by how similar they are, how one influenced the other, or how lessons learned in one context could be applied to another. 
  • Have you ever connected two concepts that you had previously seen as unrelated? What led you to make this connection? Why does it stand out in your memory as significant?
  • Are there any connections that you have discovered or learned about that shape your understanding of a topic, your community, or even the world? 
  • Is there a connection that is particularly significant to you, your worldview, your values, or goals? 

You can use these questions to generate a list of possible topics. We recommend shooting for 5-10–especially for this kind of nuanced prompt, giving yourself more options means you can compare and contrast them, to determine which is truly the strongest. When you’re ready to narrow down your initial list, think about the following considerations. 

First, your topic should be specific and unique. Talking about how art and science connect is not a strong choice, because art and science are each huge fields, and lots of students see some overlap between them. 

A much stronger choice would be writing about how looking at cells under a microscope gave you a much deeper appreciation for the forms and colors of abstract art. Take advantage of the space given to you – with up to 500 words, you have the room to lay out complex connections. In fact, Oregon State tells you directly that’s exactly what they want you to do!

You’ll also want to pick a connection that you have a personal link to. The point of any college essay is to show the admissions committee more about who you are, not just tell them about something you care about. For the above example, the intersection between microbiology and abstract art could be used to show the author’s attention to detail, love of research, and/or open-mindedness about different art forms.

Finally, you want to hint at how this connection you see will allow you to make positive contributions to the Honors College. Oregon State isn’t expecting you to have the next four years fully planned out, but showing that you’ve already thought about how this aspect of your identity would be an asset to the Honors College community is often the thing that takes an essay from good to great.

This may sound like a lot to keep track of, but if you take your brainstorming seriously, incorporating all of these elements can happen quite naturally. Let’s look at some hypothetical student topics that would make strong responses for this prompt. 

  • A student passionate about both music and math could explore the connection between musical rhythms and mathematical patterns. They might describe how learning about sequences and series helped them conquer a difficult piece, and why they find beauty in the intersection of rhythm and structure. They might talk about how they look forward to using these insights to help make math less intimidating to artistically minded students. 
  • A student interested in environmental science and neuroscience could discuss the relationship between green spaces in cities and mental health. They could explain how their experience volunteering in a community garden taught them to see parks as a key element of public well-being, and how this insight drives their future goals of participating in community gardening at and around Oregon State.
  • A student who loves literature and psychology might write about how reading classic novels helped them understand human behavior. They could describe how analyzing characters’ motivations in books like Crime and Punishment deepened their understanding of moral dilemmas and decision-making processes in real life. Perhaps they plan to start a book club on their floor, so that they can get to know others through their connections to fictional characters. 

As you refine your choice of topic, remember that you’ll need to provide specific examples of your points, so make sure you’ll be able to do so. Note that all of the above examples reference particular moments in the student’s life that illustrate how they first made this connection, and why it became so meaningful to them. 

Describing what learning the piano was like for you is far more effective than just stating “I had always seen math and music as separate fields, but when I learned the piano, that changed.” Instead, you could say something like:

“My fingers flew across the black and white keys, trying desperately to keep up with Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. For weeks now, every time I started getting close to the third movement, I would make a mistake I couldn’t recover from. As my left hand slipped, that familiar frustration started crackling in my chest. 

But then, in a fraction of a second, my math lesson from the previous day popped into my head: sometimes, a sequence of numbers doesn’t follow the pattern you expect. This time, rather than giving up, I added a quick series of notes which aren’t in the sheet music, but would connect my mistake to the next measure.”

By immersing us fully in this moment alongside them, the student allows us to see exactly how they think, and ensures that they will stand out even from other students who might be exploring a related topic.

Honors College Applicants, Short Response 1

With just 100 words, you’ll need to choose your topics for these next four prompts carefully, to ensure you’re able to clearly communicate what you want to say even in such a short space. To start, this one focuses on your unique interests and creativity, so you’ll want to select a topic that demonstrates your out-of-the-box thinking. 

Your brainstorming for the prompt above could actually come in handy here. Although you don’t want to write about the same thing, as repeating yourself wastes your precious space, you could potentially write about one of the other options you were considering.

Alternatively, you could ask yourself the following questions, to kick off your brainstorming:

  • Examples: Rock climbing, crocheting, Scottish folklore
  • Tracking the popularity of various bird seeds at your birdfeeder, doing a painting on your ceiling that incorporates the stain caused by water damage
  • Training your pet ferret to roll over, analyzing Shakespeare through the lens of immigration

Regardless of which topic you choose, you’ll want to explain what it is quickly, in around twenty words, so that you can spend the bulk of the response explaining what this particular interest says about who you are more broadly. You’ll also want to use specific, anchoring details to make your essay come alive for your readers–describing your creativity in a creative way can take the essay to the next level.

Let’s look at an example of what a strong response might look like. 

“Last summer, fascinated by sustainable architecture, I built a small model home using recycled materials. I researched eco-friendly construction techniques, such as repurposing materials, and implemented those ideas in my model by using worn out dishrags as insulation and plastic bottle caps as roof shingles. I tested my model by leaving it outside in a rainstorm, and was thrilled when not a single drop got through! This project not only deepened my understanding of sustainable practices, but also pushed me to be attentive to detail and see function rather than solely form.”

‌This example is specific in showing the student’s creativity–it doesn’t just mention the recycled model home project, but also gives details about particular materials they repurposed. We can see that they have a deep knowledge of architectural practices and sustainable design, and an appreciation for both the beauty and necessity of building. 

Hopefully, this essay demonstrates that even in just 100 words, you can seamlessly incorporate many elements, to craft a response that makes a genuine impact on your reader.

Honors College Applicants, Short Response 2

To respond to this prompt, you may want to check out our Overcoming Challenges essay breakdown, as this is an example of that archetype. This supplement, however, is only 100 words, so the response will have to be much shorter than your typical Overcoming Challenges essay. As a result, you’ll want to focus on just the most important aspects of this kind of prompt. 

Helpfully, the basic structure your response should take is laid out in the prompt itself: you should describe an important challenge you’ve faced, the way that you handled this problem, and who or what might have helped you through it. Then, you should reflect on how you might have grown or learned about the world and yourself through this process. 

Given the abbreviated length, you should spend around twenty words describing the problem, forty to fifty describing your response and the resources you used, and the last twenty to thirty words reflecting on the broader impact this challenge and resolution had on you. Note that these are just approximations–every response will be different, but if you’re struggling to stay within the count, this is a good blueprint.

Before you start worrying too much about length, though, here are some guiding questions to help you come up with an appropriate problem to write about.

  • Have you faced a challenge where you had to rely on external support or resources to work through it?
  • Have you dealt with a challenge that changed your perspective or worldview?
  • Are there any obstacles you’re particularly proud of having gotten past? 
  • What adverse circumstances have taught you the most about yourself?

Make sure to pick something that you can effectively unpack in 100 words. This is a very short response, so you probably won’t be able to do justice to a long and involved story, even if it was deeply meaningful to you. You still want to pick something significant to you, of course–if you don’t really care about this problem, the admissions committee won’t either–but the problem should be relatively straightforward.

That said, you want to avoid cliché topics like moving to a new place, suffering a sports injury, or working through a difficult class. While you don’t need to find something that admissions officers have absolutely never seen before, as that’s practically impossible, there are some topics that are just too overused.

Here are some examples of experiences that could work well:

  • Doing a major group project where the members all had different ideas about what your final presentation should look like, so you organized a meeting with your teacher so she could help you find a middle ground
  • Spilling water on your final painting for an art class, and brainstorming ideas with your classmates about how to incorporate the huge blotch into the piece
  • Tutoring at an elementary school where many students don’t speak English, and reaching out to language instructors at your local university to learn how to use image-based instructional methods

If your story is not as unique as you might like, that’s okay. Try to find an angle that’s particular to you, or reflect on the experience in a way that demonstrates your unique worldview, values, and personality. There’s no one way to stand out from the crowd, but you want to make sure you incorporate something that shows admissions officers what you have to offer that nobody else does.

After selecting your story, try to pick a few key details to make your account compelling and anchored in something real. You don’t have a ton of room, but even saying something like “The hallway rang with a mix of languages, from Spanish to Korean to Arabic,” rather than “When I arrived at the school, I heard a lot of different languages,” goes a long way.

Honors College Applicants, Short Response 3

‌This prompt asks you to reflect on your personal experiences, beliefs, and values, and explain how you will actively contribute to making OSU more inclusive. To get started, you’ll want to identify a moment or experience where you actively worked towards inclusivity, to demonstrate your personal investment in diversity.

To brainstorm, consider when diverse experiences, identities, or perspectives have made a difference in your own life, or in the lives of those close to you. You don’t have to have created the environment that made this mingling possible yourself, so long as you still learned what a positive diverse environment looks like, and took away lessons that you could bring to Oregon State with you.

While describing past experiences is important, you want to do that relatively quickly, as the real key to this essay is explaining how you will work to embrace diversity on Oregon State’s campus. You’ll want to reflect on what your past experiences taught you about how to make a community more inclusive, and how you plan to put those lessons into action. As always, specificity is crucial, to show that diversity is a genuine value of yours.

Let’s look at some hypothetical examples of what a strong response might include. 

  • A student with a foster sibling might write about their efforts to change the language teachers and administrators at their school used around families and parents, and how they hope to start a club or movement on campus around awareness and celebration of nontraditional families. 
  • A computer science student passionate about the outdoors might talk about how through coding classes at OSU, they hope to create an app to upload accessibility descriptions to trail maps, to make hiking more accessible to those with disabilities. 
  • A student interested in neuroscience might write about how they can’t wait to join clubs and initiatives focused on mental health and lead outreach efforts to struggling students, because in high school they volunteered for a crisis hotline, which taught them that people with mental illnesses must be involved in designing the support systems that are supposed to help them. 
  • A student from a rural area might talk about how being from a small town allowed them to get involved in local government even while still in high school, and how they hope to join OSU’s student government and host informal activities like barbeques to encourage all students to have a voice in what happens at the school.

Each of these students has a specific vision for how they will show up for underrepresented students at Oregon State. Even if you haven’t had a chance to do activism work in high school, or don’t have a super specific plan for what you hope to do in college yet, that’s okay–just write about a past experience that taught you about diversity, and how those lessons will guide your future on Oregon State’s campus.

Honors College Applicants, Short Response 4

Here, the qualities you want to demonstrate are your capacity for hard work, dedication, and attention to detail. You’ll also want to showcase a goal you’ve set yourself, to show how those qualities are going to help you grow and develop in college.

First, you’ll want to pick a clear, focused goal. Something like “become a better writer” is a worthy goal, but it’s also one where measuring progress is hard, and one without a clear point at which you could say you’ve “accomplished” it.

Reading the classics for a better understanding of technique, writing 500 words every day for a month, or submitting a piece of work for publication are more specific ways of articulating the same idea as this vague goal.

Your goal should also be relatively ambitious. Choosing something like getting better at chores, or achieving a high score in a video game, may not be taken seriously by an admissions committee. On the other hand, choosing something drastic, like becoming the president of the United States or winning a Nobel Peace Prize, will also come across as disingenuous, so make sure you aim for the middle ground.

The best essay will focus on a goal that is achievable, but also demonstrates that you have confidence and self-motivation, and are eager to employ those traits in service of what matters most to you. You should also be able to cite concrete steps you’ve already taken that prove you’re currently working towards your goal. Your essay might even show grit and perseverance if you’ve overcome setbacks or worked through hardship in pursuit of your goal.

Covering all these bases might sound overwhelming, so let’s look at an example of an essay that puts all these things together. 

“Growing up without much money didn’t just mean going without the 64 pack of crayons. It meant that when I came home after school, my parents were too busy to help me with homework. As a high schooler, I wanted to give others the support I hadn’t had, so I co-founded a free tutoring program at the library for low-income students. Managing volunteers and developing lesson plans while doing my own work has required strong organization skills and the sacrifice of free time, but my efforts have helped over 30 students improve their grades, which is more than worth it.”

This student clearly tells us about how their background shapes their goals: feeling lost academically inspired them to help prevent others from feeling that way. They then explain a step they’ve already taken–starting a tutoring program–that shows they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. They come across as empathetic, altruistic, and genuinely appreciative of education and the opportunities it provides, and they also clearly place a high value on equity.

Whatever story you tell, choose something that showcases your best qualities, your capacity for growth and reflection, and, of course, your readiness to work hard to achieve your dreams. 

Where to Get Your Oregon State Essay Edited For Free

Do you want feedback on your Oregon State University essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

Need feedback faster? Get a free, nearly-instantaneous essay review from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!

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college essay on natural disaster

Essay on Depression Among College Students

How it works

In college, where academic stress meets the ups and downs of finding oneself, depression is becoming a big issue. This essay looks into what causes depression in students and suggests ways to help them cope and feel better.

  • 1 The Hidden Struggle: What is Depression?
  • 2 Why is This Happening?
  • 3 Finding a Way to Help: Solutions and Support
  • 4 Conclusion

The Hidden Struggle: What is Depression?

Depression, often called the “invisible illness,” shows up in many ways. It can be constant sadness, feeling hopeless, or even physical stuff like being tired all the time or not being able to sleep. For college students, depression can hit hard because of the unique problems they face.

There’s the stress of classes, social pressures, money worries, and growing up. Trying to keep up with schoolwork, while feeling like you have to be the best, can make students feel like they’re not good enough. Social life in college isn’t easy either. Making new friends and fitting in can leave students feeling lonely.

One of the toughest things about depression in college is the stigma. Even though people are talking more about mental health now, lots of students still don’t ask for help because they’re scared of being judged or seen as weak. This makes things worse because not getting help can make depression symptoms stronger, making it harder to handle school and personal life.

Why is This Happening?

To really tackle depression in college, we need to know what’s causing it. Academic pressure is a big one. The load of homework, exams, and keeping grades up can lead to constant stress and feeling burned out. At top schools, this pressure can be even worse, making students feel like they always have to outdo their classmates.

Money problems are another big cause. College is expensive, and student loans can make students feel very insecure about their finances. Many students work part-time jobs while studying, which throws off their balance and adds more stress.

The social side of college also affects students’ mental health. Trying to fit in, make friends, and feel like you belong can be a lot. Social media doesn’t help either, with its perfect pictures making students feel even more inadequate and lonely. Moving from high school to college often means leaving behind family and old friends, causing homesickness and a sense of losing touch, which can add to depression.

Finding a Way to Help: Solutions and Support

Helping depressed college students needs a bunch of different efforts, like raising awareness, having good support systems, and making changes at the school level. First, creating a culture where mental health is openly talked about and understood is really important. Schools should focus on mental health education, using workshops, seminars, and support groups to spread awareness and reduce stigma. By making it normal to talk about mental health, students might feel more at ease asking for help without fearing judgment.

Good mental health services are crucial. Colleges need to make sure counseling is easy to get, well-staffed, and able to handle all kinds of student needs. Adding mental health resources to academic advising can help too, offering a complete approach to student well-being, covering both school and emotional problems.

Making a supportive campus environment is key to reducing factors that lead to depression. Schools can have policies that help balance work and life, like flexible deadlines, mental health days, and activities to relieve stress. Encouraging students to join extracurriculars and creating inclusive communities can help them make meaningful connections and feel less isolated.

On a bigger scale, tackling financial stress is necessary. Schools should look into financial aid, scholarships, and affordable housing to ease the load of student loans and reduce money stress. Offering resources for financial literacy and budgeting can also help students manage their money better.

Depression among college students is a complicated issue that needs a kind and thorough approach. By understanding the special challenges students face and addressing the root causes of depression, we can create a supportive environment that promotes mental well-being and academic success. It’s everyone’s job—schools, lawmakers, parents, and friends—to make sure students have the resources and support they need to handle the pressures of college and come out stronger and more resilient.

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college essay on natural disaster

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“A PSA for College Students with ADHD: Just Write a Crappy Draft.”

“if i couldn’t write the best version of my essay, or even a good version of my essay, i would write the worst version of my essay. and that’s what i did. i wrote in purposefully irreverent, goofy ways that amused me and kept my attention. in the end, to my surprise, i had a draft that had actually captured my ideas and was fun to read during revision.”.

Willa Bywater

In my first year of college, I found myself with a brand new problem: I was totally unable to write an essay.

My professor had given us clear instructions. I was passionate about (read: hyperfixated on) the subject. I’d been researching for days. But I couldn’t seem to get started — there was too much I wanted to say and, horror of horrors, I couldn’t even use the just-start-rambling tactic that had carried me through high school. The topic was too important , the stakes were too high, and every time I started to write, it came out wrong.

Like many with ADHD, I’m an all-or-nothing type. I haven’t yet found the magic key that lets me put, say, 45% effort into something. I have to give 100% perfection or it’s simply not worth doing at all .

All the same time, in high school, even when I’d make a bulleted outline for an essay and try to follow it, I’d get stuck, delete the outline in frustration, abandon the draft entirely, and write the whole essay in one go. Writing off the cuff produced some beautiful sentences, but I was prone to rambling or leaving things out. When I’d revise, I couldn’t recapture the energy and thought process I had while freewriting. Even with a reverse outline (first draft then outline), I got stuck. My transitions didn’t make as much sense the second time around, my writing seemed clunkier, and I still ended up scrapping everything. For a while, this strategy was workable. My essays, while spontaneous and poorly outlined, were good enough .

Now in college , as the night wore on and my meds wore off – still with no essay in sight – I was frustrated to the point of tears. Then I had an idea: I decided that if I couldn’t write the best version of my essay, or even a good version of my essay, I would write the worst version of my essay. And that’s what I did. I wrote in purposefully irreverent, goofy ways that amused me and kept my attention. In the end, to my surprise, I had a draft that had actually captured my ideas and was fun to read during revision.

I dubbed this strategy The Crappy Draft.

[ Read: How to Prepare Your ADHD Teen for College, According to Research ]

Why The Crappy Draft Technique Works for ADHD College Students

The goal of The Crappy Draft is twofold. First, it relieves the pressure to Write Something Good and makes the task that’s been driving you crazy into something lighthearted, with stakes so low they’re in the ground. And you get something done . Revising is tomorrow’s problem; tonight, you can sleep knowing you got started.

Second, The Crappy Draft lets you see the shape of your essay. Yes, this version may be nonsensical, but it also holds great wisdom. One of the great skills of the ADHD brain is making connections even where seemingly none exist. If harnessed correctly, this can be a great essay-writing tool: the ways in which you jump from one topic to another when you’re not thinking about writing a polished draft often allow for your best ideas to come forward.

You may be surprised to find how easy it is to turn something from apparent crap into an eloquent essay! For example, in one Crappy Draft of a history paper, I wrote “We can all talk a big game about war, but maybe we mostly just want everyone to have enough potatoes and not get their stuff stolen.” In the final version of the essay, this became “People want to avoid war more than they want to protect territory or follow orders, and sometimes they can even succeed in avoiding it.”

I’ve since used The Crappy Draft approach to great success every time I feel even slightly stuck on an essay. The Crappy Draft allows me the pleasure of writing in my own voice while capturing all of my ideas without censoring myself or succumbing to anxiety . And because my goofy Crappy Drafts are fun to read, they keep me focused when I go back to revise. The process is more manageable, and the final product is more organized, thoughtful, and in-depth.

[ Read: “Writing Made Easier for College Kids with Learning Differences” ]

How to Write Your Own Crappy Draft

1. Type at the top of your document: THIS DRAFT IS CRAPPY ON PURPOSE. I’LL MAKE IT GOOD LATER.

I type this in bold and highlight the words in red, but you do you. The important thing is that by writing this affirmation, you release yourself from the need to write anything presentable.

2. Write the silliest version of your draft you can possibly write.

Hit the points you want to hit but don’t pay any attention to whether you’re hitting them in the right order. Forgo punctuation. Don’t just write from your inner monologue — write from the most informal, personal part of your brain. Put in as many swears and as much Internet slang as you want. Make yourself laugh. Have fun with it.

Don’t forget the “assignment” part entirely, though. Here’s what I wrote one of my Crappy Drafts when I noticed myself going wildly off topic and getting distracted:

Man, do you ever think about the butterfly effe– [I AM HIT OVER THE HEAD WITH A COMICALLY LARGE HAMMER. NEXT PARAGRAPH PLEASE !!]

Optional step: Change the font to Comic Sans or some other stupid-looking font.

This is also a neat trick for resetting your brain when you’ve been staring at your words for hours and are starting to hate them. Different font? Ooh, it must be a different task! How new and exciting!

3. Get a good night’s sleep and revise another day.

I’m hopeful that your Crappy Draft will surprise you and make you smile. Read your draft with an open mind. Follow what jumps out at you, and you’ll find the makings of a strong, cohesive essay.

How to Write an Essay in College: Next Steps

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  • Read: “3 College Tips to Help Students Stress Less, Learn More”
  • Read: “Yes, You Really Do Belong in College”

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  1. 1000 Words Essay On Natural Disaster

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    500+ Words Essay on Natural Disasters. A Natural disaster is an unforeseen occurrence of an event that causes harm to society. There are many Natural disasters that damage the environment and the people living in it. Some of them are earthquakes, cyclones, floods, Tsunami, landslides, volcanic eruption, and avalanches.Spatial extent measures the degree or severity of the disaster.

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    The disaster brought considerable financial losses to the states, and the Sonora government had to provide funding and support in the form of $30 million for the purpose of residential relief. The paper discusses the affected areas, the causes of the hazard, and its impacts.

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    1. Loss of Life: Natural disasters can claim countless lives, leaving families and communities devastated by the loss of loved ones. 2. Destruction of Infrastructure: Roads, bridges, buildings, and critical infrastructure can be severely damaged or destroyed, hampering relief efforts and hindering recovery. 3.

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    500+ Words Essay on Natural Disasters. A natural disaster is defined as an event of nature, which overwhelms local resources and threatens the function and safety of the community. Natural disasters are the consequence of natural phenomena unleashing processes that lead to physical damage and the loss of human lives and capital.

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    From wildfires in the US to locusts attack in India and back-to-back cyclones in India, there are many natural disasters in 2020. According to the Global Catastrophe Recap's First Half of 2020 report, there were more than 207 natural disasters in just the first six months of 2020, causing. 75 billion loss globally.

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    Essay Example: In college, where academic stress meets the ups and downs of finding oneself, depression is becoming a big issue. This essay looks into what causes depression in students and suggests ways to help them cope and feel better. The Hidden Struggle: What is Depression? Depression,

  26. How to Write an Essay in College with ADHD? Crappy Draft Method

    "A PSA for College Students with ADHD: Just Write a Crappy Draft." "If I couldn't write the best version of my essay, or even a good version of my essay, I would write the worst version of my essay. And that's what I did. I wrote in purposefully irreverent, goofy ways that amused me and kept my attention.