The climate of Romania

Drought related periods (regarding intensity, duration and spatial extension) became more frequent and severe in the last decade having a very negative effect upon crop yields. Some of the drought years may be considered as catastrophic concerning the impacts upon the mean yield of winter wheat and maize crops - the most important crops in Romania. / Diana Tîrnovanu, Romania

Some research studies have shown that the decline in crop yields reached 40-60%, especially in the southern part of the Romanian Plain. In the excessive drought years main crop yields were partially or entirely compromised in the areas without irrigation systems. The critical development stage of these crops (formation of the reproductive organs during flowering and grain filling) very often coincides with almost total depletion of the available water supply in the soil and with the maximum evapotranspiration demand. / Diana Tîrnovanu, Romania

Inflation in Romania was a major issue during the 1990s, when the yearly inflation reached a peak of 256% in 1993. Since then, the inflation has slowly decreased, reaching a period of deflation in 2015. / Diana Tîrnovanu, Romania

Climatic conditions make the Mediterranean region one of the areas most severely affected by land degradation. 12 of the 27 European Union Member States declared themselves as affected countries under the 1992 United Nation Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD): in the Mediterranean: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain and in central and eastern Europe: Hungary, Latvia, Slovak Republic, Bulgaria and Romania.

In currently affected areas, desertification is likely to become irreversible if the environment becomes drier; the pressure from human activities will increase and the soil will be further degraded. / Diana Tîrnovanu, Romania

• Factories

• Dry Cleaners

• Chemical Solvents

• Electrical Power Plants

• Burning Fossil Fuels

• Cars and trucks

• Hair sprays, lawn mowers, leaf blowers

• Glass and oven cleaners

• Motor Boats

• Motorcycles

Ripeanu Arsaluis Luiza, Romania

• CAUSES LUNG DISEASE

• CAUSES EYE IRRITATION

• DESTROYS BUILDING MATERIALS

• BREAKS DOWN IMMUNE SYSTEM

• CARBON MONOXIDE

• SMOKE

• REACTIVE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Ripeanu Arsaluis Luiza, Romania

Rains

Each time there are more rains than the drainage system can take, there can be floods. Sometimes, there is heavy rain for a very short period that result in floods. In other times, there may be light rain for many days and weeks and can also result in floods.

River overflow

Rivers can overflow their banks to cause flooding. This happens when there is more water upstream than usual, and as it flows downstream to the adjacent low-lying areas (also called a floodplain), there is a burst and water gets into the land.

Hurricanes, Strong winds in coastal areas

Sea water can be carried by massive winds and hurricanes onto dry coastal lands and cause flooding. Sometimes this is made worse if the winds carry rains themselves. Sometimes water from the sea resulting from a tsunami can flow inland to cause damage./Ripeanu Arsaluis Luiza, Romania

Environment

The environment also suffers when floods happen. Chemicals and other hazardous substances end up in the water and eventually contaminate the water bodies that floods end up in. In 2011, a huge tsunami hit Japan, and sea water flooded a part of the coastline. The flooding caused massive leakage in nuclear plants and has since caused high radiation in that area.

Additionally, flooding causes kills animals, and others insects are introduced to affected areas, distorting the natural balance of the ecosystem./ Ripeanu Arsaluis Luiza, Romania

Dam breaking (raptured dam or levee) (Embankments, known as levees, are built along the side of a river and are used to prevent high water from flooding bordering land)

Dams are man-made blocks mounted to hold water flowing down from a highland. The power in the water is used to turn propellers to generate electricity. Sometimes, too much water held up in the dam can cause it to break and overflow the area. Excess water can also be intentionally released from the dam to prevent it from breaking and that can also cause floods.

Ice and snow-melts

In many cold regions, heavy snow over the winter usually stays un-melted for sometime. There are also mountains that have ice on top of them. Sometimes the ice suddenly melts when the temperature rises, resulting in massive movement of water into places that are usually dry. This is usually called a snowmelt flood. Ripeanu Arsaluis Luiza, Romania

Floods can have devastating consequences and can have effects on the economy, environment and people.

Economic

During floods (especially flash floods), roads, bridges, farms, houses and automobiles are destroyed. People become homeless. Additionally, the government deploys firemen, police and other emergency apparatuses to help the affected. All these come at a heavy cost to people and the government. It usually takes years for affected communities to be re-built and business to come back to normalcy.

Ripeanu Arsaluis Luiza, Romania

• Heavy Rains

• Overflowing Rivers

• Broken Dams

• Ice and Snow-melts

• Hurricanes,Strong winds in coastal areas

Theresa Bora,Romania

• Threat to human health and lives

• Damage to buildings and infrastructure

• Loss of agricultural production

• Sewage overflow

• Decrease of water quality

• Threats to species and ecosystems

• Outbreaks of diseases

• Higher flood risk during winter due to reduced snow cover / Cordoneanu Stefania-Alina,Romania

Landslides are caused by these three main events—

Slopes saturated by water:

Intense rainfall and snowmelt and seepage often leave land surfaces saturated. Flooding results and water overflowing its channels often wipe out land surfaces to cause mudflows.

Seismic activity:

Earth tremors, earthquakes and natural seismic activity that cause the earth to rumble or shake (vibrations) can weaken the bonding of bed rock and expose the earth to landslides./ Theresa Bora,Romania

Volcanic activity:

Lava from eruptions has the potential of melting snow at here high rates. A combination of melted snow, debris, volcanic ash and soils flowing rapidly along a slope can result in catastrophic landslides.

Geological:

Weathered rock, sheared, fissured or jointed rock material are known causes of landslides. Contrasting earth material and low adhesiveness of the rock also cause landslides. This is so because cohesive rock material often holds itself in place and are less prone to weathering and movement./ Diana Tîrnovanu,Romania

Morphological:

All forms of erosion such as fluvial, water, wave, glacial along a slope may cause landslides and other types of flows. Deposition from erosion may also cause build up of earth material (or debris) at places which may eventually give way in the form of landslides. Weathering is also a major cause of landslides. It is a powerful process of weakening debris and earth material of the surface of the slope.Human: Activities such as mining, construction, farming, deforestation, irrigation, reservoirs and dams, and the like, all contribute to exposing the surface of the earth and causing landslides. For example, in many mining communities along slopes, tunnels and deep wells are dug into the ground and often left unfilled. With time, air and water get in and may result in the earth giving way. Such activities also expose lands to weathering and massive erosion which all end up causing some types of landslides.

Andrei Petre, Romania

Loss of lives:

Landslides and mudslides kill between 25 and 50 people every year in the USA alone. Globally, it is believed that the number of deaths is highly underestimated.

In total, 2,620 fatal landslides were recorded worldwide during the 2004 and 2010 period of the study, causing a total of 32,322 recorded fatalities.

Destruction of property:

In 1980, Mount St Helens in Washington USA erupted and causes a rock debris landslide believed to be the biggest in history. The landslide traveled about 14 miles, wiping away highway bridges, buildings, and roads. It is known that the amount of debris in this avalanche can fill 250 million dump trucks.

Diana Tîrnovanu, Romania

Campfires:

In many places, camping is a big thing. People, both young and old spend time in the woods to enjoy the great outdoors. Sometimes fires are needed for various things during camping and they can start wildfires if not putout properly.

Andrei Petre,Romania

Economic costs:

Landslides bring huge costs to communities and cities affected, by clean up and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure. In 2005 it cost the USA $3.5 billion in damage repair.

Destruction natural environment:

Debris flows usually uproot trees and wipe out vegetation and wildlife in its path.

Andrei Petre,Romania