Karma's Blog

This week, we discussed coastal hazards, more specifically the damages they cause. In my chosen country, Jamaica, they are faced with various coastal hazards, such as coastal erosion and sea level rise. Unfortunately, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, coastal areas are home to at least 70% of the Jamaican population, as well as around 55% of its economic assets such as airports, tourism infrastructure, and harbors. Therefore, coastal hazards are both a social and economic threat in Jamaica, and make it extremely difficult for them to recover and redevelop.  The main coastal problem Jamaica faces is erosion, which is a direct result of both rising sea levels and the deterioration of coral reefs. This erosion can also be linked to the severe hurricanes Jamaica experienced in 2004 and 2007, Hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Dean. For example, one of the most well-known beaches in Jamaica, Hellshire Beach, has lost over 100 feet of its beach in the last 15 years. A

Hello everyone!  This week, we discussed extreme weather events, such as thunderstorms, severe thunderstorms, lightning, hail, and tornadoes. Therefore, I chose to center this blog post around one of the extreme weather events that Jamaica experiences: thunderstorms.  According to the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, the rainy season occurs from June to November, and thunderstorms are a part of daily atmospheric conditions. On average, Jamaica experiences around 82 inches of rainfall annually. More specifically, Jamaica's North Coast gets an average of around 134 inches annually, due to relief rainfall that occurs in the mountainous regions. In November of 2023, Jamaica experienced such heavy rainfall that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Mining had to increase support for farmers. The thunderstorms caused farmers to suffer damages that led to an immense decline in the production of vegetable lines, as well as flash floods that many areas in Jamaica had to be placed on

This week, we discussed mass wasting, which is defined as any type of downslope movement of Earth materials.  Mass wasting is more generally referred to using simple terms such as landslides, mudslides, rockfalls, and debris flows.  Furthermore, mass wasting events do not require any triggers, but rather occur due to the influence of gravity.  Aside from floods, landslides are the most frequently occurring natural hazard that Jamaica experiences. Moreover, they are typically caused by seismic activity, as well as heavy rainfall from hurricanes and tropical depressions. These mass wasting events have resulted is loss of lives, destruction to both infrastructural and natural environments, and long-term damage to Jamaica's socioeconomic development. From November 16th-18th in 2023 alone, landslides caused by heavy rainfall damaged road networks so badly, repair costs were estimated by the National Works Agency to be $409 million.  On June 7, 1692, a massive earthquake occurred in the

Hi everyone! Welcome to my Week 5 Blog Post. :)  Jamaica does not have any active volcanoes, but interestingly it is believed to have been formed as a result of prehistoric volcanic activity. More specifically, scientists presume that over 40 million years ago, Jamaica was was created as a result of an underwater volcanic eruption!  Although Jamaica does not have any volcanic activity, the eastern region of the Caribbean does. According to the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Center, the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, or Lesser Antilles, form a curved chain of volcanic islands along the eastern margin of the Caribbean Sea. This chain of volcanic islands are referred to as an "island arc," but only the western arc is active. Furthermore, the Lesser Antilles has 21 volcanoes that are likely to erupt again, all of which are dispersed across 11 volcanically active islands. In the Eastern Caribbean region, volcanic eruptions are one of the most threatening hazards

 Hello everyone! Welcome to my Week 3 Blog. :) This week, we learned more about earthquakes, specifically the way countries have learned to prevent and mitigate the negative impacts they produce.  Annually, around 200 earthquakes occur in and around Jamaica, most of which have magnitudes of less than 4.0. The regions that have the highest seismic hazard are located in Jamaicas most important urban areas, located in the southeastern region of the island (seen in map above). In just last year alone, Jamaica experienced an unusual surge in seismic activity, with a total of over 320 earthquakes. According to the Earthquake Unit, this number of recorded events surpassed the numbers documented in past years. Out of these events, the largest one had a magnitude of 5.6, which categorizes it as a moderate earthquake.  Now you may be wondering: How does Jamaica prepare for, prevent, and mitigate the effects of the earthquakes they so frequently experience?  The Director General of the Office of

Hello everyone! Welcome to my Week 2 Blog Post. :) This week we learned about tectonic plates, more specifically understanding their boundaries, which is vital in determining how they contribute to devastating natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.  For my chosen country, Jamaica, they are located on the boundary of two tectonic plates called the Gonave and the Carribbean. Due to the fact that these plates continuously converge, which means they move toward one another, uplifts occur in Jamaica. Moreover, this convergence is what makes Jamaica's beautiful, lush land so mountainous, but it also carries the inherent risk of frequent earthquakes.  Throughout history, Jamaica has experienced a number of deadly earthquakes, with the largest and most damaging one occurring on June 7, 1692 at a 6.2 magnitude. This earthquake is famously known as the Port Royal earthquake, which is a city in Jamaica where the highest number of people lost their lives due to a portion