Geography · Environmental Studies

Natural Hazards and Disasters

1,386 Questions

Natural hazards and disasters involve the study of extreme natural events like earthquakes, floods, and cyclones, alongside their management and mitigation strategies. This geography and environmental studies topic is heavily tested in civil services and state public service examinations. Use these questions to prepare for inquiries on disaster response, community recovery, and tremor causes.

Earthquake and tremor causesDisaster management activitiesFlood management mythsCyclone and severe weatherPost-disaster health problemsCommunity disaster response

Natural Hazards and Disasters Questions

Multiple choice

What was the Bhopal Disaster (1984)?

  1. a gas leak that killed thousands

  2. a widespread famine

  3. a massive series of factory fires

  4. a nuclear meltdown in central India
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The Bhopal Disaster was a gas leak incident in India in 1984 at a pesticide plant, which resulted in thousands of immediate deaths and long-term health consequences.

Multiple choice

What is founder's effect?

  1. natural disaster that randomly wipes out part of population

  2. when a population migrates to a new area

  3. when a barrier permanently separates a population into two

  4. when a group breaks off to form a new population
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The founder effect occurs when a small group of individuals breaks off from a larger population to establish a new colony, leading to reduced genetic diversity compared to the original population.

Multiple choice

What is bottleneck effect?

  1. natural disaster that randomly wipes out part of population

  2. when a population migrates to a new area

  3. when a barrier permanently separates a population into two

  4. when a group breaks off to form a new population
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The bottleneck effect is a sharp reduction in the size of a population due to environmental events or human activities, which significantly reduces the genetic variation of the population.

Multiple choice

What was the main cause of the Aral Sea drying up?

  1. Soviet irrigation

  2. God's wrath

  3. Over-consumption by livestock

  4. Global Warming
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The Aral Sea began to shrink in the 1960s after the Soviet Union diverted the rivers that fed it for large-scale irrigation projects to grow cotton in the desert.

Multiple choice

All of the following are examples of limiting factors except...

  1. Food

  2. Shelter

  3. Weather

  4. Water
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Limiting factors are biotic or abiotic resources that restrict population growth, such as food, water, and shelter. Weather is generally considered a density-independent factor rather than a limiting resource in this context.

Multiple choice biology global environmental change causes of greenhouse effect greenhouse effect pollution and its effects

Which of the following sectors can possibly be affected by the onset of EI-Nino?
$1$. Food processing industries
$2$. Irrigation sector
$3$. Power sector
Choose the correct answer using the codes.

  1. $1$ and $2$
  2. $2$ and $3$
  3. $1$ and $3$

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

El Niño Southern Oscillation refers to the cycle of warm and cold temperatures, as measured by sea surface temperature (SST) of the tropical central and eastern Pacific Ocean. El Niño is accompanied by high air pressure in the western Pacific and low air pressure in the eastern Pacific. These changes in tropical rainfall affect weather patterns throughout the world, particularly for the national agriculture, fishing, forestry, and energy sectors.


So the correct option is '2 and 3'.

Multiple choice biology global environmental change causes of greenhouse effect greenhouse effect pollution and its effects

What can humanitarian be harmed by unmitigated greenhouse emissions?

  1. Severe weather

  2. Infectious diseases

  3. Food crises

  4. All of above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Unmitigated greenhouse emissions lead to climate change, which causes severe weather patterns, spreads infectious diseases through changing habitats, and disrupts agriculture, leading to food crises.

Multiple choice

Returning to the new normal following a disaster

  1. Prevention (Mitigation)

  2. Preparedness

  3. Response

  4. Recovery
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Recovery is the phase of the disaster cycle that focuses on restoring systems, infrastructure, and community life to a new normal following the event.