Human Civilisations and Plate Tectonic Boundaries

Human Civilisations and Plate Tectonic Boundaries
Student’s Name
Professor’s name
Institutional affiliation
Course Tittle
Date
Human Civilisations and Plate Tectonic Boundaries
Introduction
Geographers attribute the six continents' existence to a tectonic plate collision and movement that took place several years ago. This, according to geologists, must have occurred as a result of cyclonic activities, which causes faults that eventually forced the tectonic plates to move far away from each other. Today, earthquakes and hurricanes occurrences are being experienced in various parts of the world, and they too are associated with cyclonic movements. The earthquakes have resulted in a mixture of both positive and negative impacts on human civilization. On the one hand, the faults in areas such as the Middle East have raised the water table, thus easing access to water, which has led to the rise of agriculture and urban centers' development. On the contrary, the earthquake events have claimed many lives, with some killing up to 80% of the entire city or area. This paper explores the natural hazards that have occurred due to plate tectonics, the mitigations and adaptations developed by geologists to curb the same, and finally, the impact of climate change in controlling the prone risk regions to earthquakes.
Overview of Natural Hazards Concerning Plate Tectonics
Tectonic forces have triggered two significant factors that have resulted in the rise of the population around the tectonic plates. First, the faults and movement of the earth's crust have caused the areas around the earth's crusts to become more strategic in terms of accessing entry from one tectonic plate to the other. For instance, the coastal lines of different countries have experienced a surging number of people across time, something that has influenced most of such places to transform from rural to urban areas. As a result, the regions have experienced a growth in population despite their vulnerability status owing to their proximities to water tides and earthquakes, which have continued to claim several lives.
Human civilizations have thrived or gotten destroyed due to geological activities. While for some, it has brought prosperity, it has led to their demise. There is the ancient legend of Atlantis, which was quite a prosperous civilization. On one night, however, the city and the entire civilization were wiped off the earth's face, never to be seen again, due to what was perceived to be an underwater earthquake that caused a tsunami. It was an end to what was perhaps the greatest civilization at the time, according to legend.
The second factor that is more common in the Middle East which has resulted from the tectonic plate movements is the elevation of the water table. It was the case in Sefidabeh, where the population began to grow thanks to easy accessibility of water (Jackson, 2006). So was the case in other areas in Iran, such as Tabas and Bam City, which grew after water availability, which could be easily accessed through the "qanats" thanks to the rise in the water table (Jackson, 2006). Availability of water meant that the locals could practice agriculture, and the areas could grow. However, oblivious to the repercussions of the tectonic faults that caused a rise in the water table, the people in the regions were swept by earthquakes whose signs were envisioned by the increase of the water table.
A city like Tabas had up to 80% of its population killed in 1968, while 30% of Bam’s city population was swept away in 2003 (Jackson, 2006). Sefidabeh had six people die in what geologists claim was a lucky escape since most of the area's population were not in their homes (Jackson, 2006). The statistics are just the tip of the iceberg of vast numbers of lives claimed due to tectonic plate movements.
Geologist’s Strategies to Estimate Risks and Apply Mitigation/Adaptations
Sometimes Mother Nature is so violent and spontaneous that people are often found unawares when certain geological activities happen. In the past, natural disasters used to cause quite some severe destruction to property, infrastructure, and even lives. There were no early warning systems that could help detect and issue warnings sometime before the actual event. Luckily enough, with technology development, these systems are now there and help in early detection. When any geological activity occurs, these systems detect and analyze the information to determine whether it will be a minor occurrence or a severe phenomenon. It gives people enough time to evacuate to safe grounds, hence saving lives and property.
Hawaii in the United States is one of the worst affected locations globally when it comes to volcanic activities, earthquakes, and hurricanes, all due to the tectonic plate movements. The island itself was formed as a result of volcanic activity due to the pacific plate sliding over molten rock beneath. The frequent experiences of such disasters led the region's leadership to establish a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) organization, which is mandated to conduct a geological survey and warn the public in case of any anticipated possible disaster (Kauahikaua & Tilling, 2014). Therefore, one of the strategies that geologists at HVO have used to mitigate the effects of geological disasters such as earthquakes is applying a scientific approach in predicting catastrophes and alerting the public in good time for early evacuation (Kauahikaua & Tilling, 2014).
Volcanoes are some of the most abrupt and violent forces of nature. They are also among the most devastating, based on the scale of eruption. The HVO, as a result, focuses its study and monitoring on four...