Global warming can lead to/aggravate which of the following natural disasters?…

Concept

Climate change alters the atmosphere, oceans, and hydrological cycle. Higher temperatures increase evaporation and atmospheric moisture, shift precipitation patterns, and warm the oceans; these mechanisms can aggravate hydro-meteorological hazards. Geological hazards such as earthquakes arise primarily from processes within the solid Earth.

Application

• Drought: warming increases evaporation and soil-moisture loss, while altered rainfall patterns can lengthen dry periods.

• Flood: warmer air can hold more water vapour, supporting heavier precipitation, and sea-level rise increases coastal-flood risk.

• Storm: warmer oceans and a moister atmosphere can increase the rainfall and intensity associated with severe storms.

Cross-check and contrast

Earthquakes result chiefly from the sudden release of tectonic stress in the Earth’s crust; atmospheric warming is not their governing cause. This separates the geophysical hazard from the three climate-sensitive hazards.

Therefore, the climate-sensitive set is drought, flood and storm, corresponding to “A, C, D Only”.