Descriptive Text

Flood

Flood is an overflow of water that soaks or covers land. Floods are the most frequent type of natural disaster worldwide. It can be caused by several things, naturally and form the effect of human behavior. The most common cause is because of the over capacity of the body of water, e.g. river or lake. As a result some of the water flows outside of the body of water. It can also occur in rivers, when the strength of the river is so high that it flows right out of the river channel. A flood from sea may be caused by a heavy storm, a high tide, a tsunami, or a combination the three.

Soil and vegetation absorbs most of the surface water, floods happen when there are lack of trees and the soil alone cannot absorb all the water. The water then runs off the land in quantities that cannot be carried in stream channels or kept in natural ponds or man-made reservoirs. A flood can also be caused by blocked sewage pipes and waterways, such as the Jakarta flood.

There are several types of flood. Periodic floods occur naturally on many rivers, forming an area known as the flood plain. These river floods usually result from heavy rain, sometimes combined with melting snow, which causes the rivers to overflow their banks. A flood that rises and falls rapidly with little or no advance warning is called a flash flood.

                                                 

Earthquake

Earthquake is a sudden shaking of the earth’s surface that often causes a lot of damage. It is the result of a sudden release of stored energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes may happen naturally or as a result of human activities. Smaller earthquakes can also be caused by volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear experiments.

At the Earth’s surface, earthquakes can be seen from the shaking or displacement of the ground. Sometimes, they cause tsunamis, which may lead to loss of life and damage of property. There are two types of earthquake that occurs naturally, they are tectonic and volcanic earthquakes. Tectonic earthquakes are earthquakes that are caused by tectonic plates getting stuck and putting a strain on the ground. The strain becomes so great that rocks give way by breaking and sliding along fault planes.

Volcanic earthquakes are earthquakes which are caused by themovement of magma in volcanoes. In volcanic regions earthquakes may be caused both by tectonic faults and by the  movement of magma in volcanoes. Such earthquakes can be an early warning of volcanic eruptions

The size of an earthquake is usually reported using the Richter scale or a related Moment scale. Earthquakes which are 3 on the Richter scale or lower are hard to notice. Whereas, those which are 7 on the Richter scale causes serious damage over large areas.

 

Komodo Dragon

Do you know what is the largest lizard? This lizard is called komodo. It lives in the scrub and woodland of a few Indonesian islands.
Komodo dragon is the world’s heaviest lizard, weighing 150 pounds or more. The largest Komodo ever measured was more than 10 feet (3 meters) long and weighed 366 pounds (166 kg) but the average size of komodo in the wild is about 8 feet (2.5 meters) long and 200 pounds (91 kg)
Komodo has gray scaly skin, a pointed snout, powerful limbs and a muscular tail. They use their keen sense of smell to locate decaying animal remains from several miles away. They also hunt other lizards as well as large mammals and are sometimes cannibalistic.
The Komodo dragon’s teeth are almost completely covered by its gums. When it feeds, the gums bleed, creating an ideal culture for virulent bacteria. The bacteria that live in the Komodo dragon’s saliva causes septicemia, or blood poisoning, in its victims. A dragon will bite its prey, then follow it until the animal is too weak to carry on
This lizard species is threatened by hunting, loss of prey species and habitat loss.

Marsupial Mammal

I inhabit a small area in south-western Western Australia. My species was quite widespread in Australia before European settlement but now we are endangered.
I prefer areas of open woodland. I forage for my food in the mornings and afternoons. At night I sleep in hollow logs or under fallen timber.
My body is about 25 centimeters long. My bushy tail is nearly as long as my body. I am covered in a reddish-brown coat with white stripes. My front legs are shorter then my back legs and I have small claws.
My ears are short but my snout is long I have a very long, sticky tongue for eating termites I can eat over 10000 termites in one day.