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Singapore's Main Hazard: Flooding

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Singapore’s Main Hazard: Flooding    Singapore’s main hazard is flooding. Each year, the small country located in south-east Asia is hit by heavy rainfall during monsoon season. These storms can drop heavy amounts of rain in a short amount of time causing flash floods. The urban city cannot absorb the heavy rainfall and this could lead to flooding. The country has been proactive to try to mitigate the risk. Most of Singapore is flat lying, making drainage slow. The rainwater is not absorbed by the ground due to the fact that much of Singapore is industrialized. Heavy rainfall could knock out power, leaving citizens stranded and unable to access emergency response systems resulting in potential for loss of life. These factors create a recipe for disaster if these situations are not mitigated properly. Luckily Singapore’s government is proactive and has invested in sophisticated drainage systems and implemented guidelines on new construction. To help mitigate the risk of...
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Singapore Coastal Concerns

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         Singapore faces many challenges when it comes to coastal hazards. Most of Singapore is 15m above Singapore Height Datum and 30 percent of the island is 5m above Singapore Height Datum. Rising sea levels could lead to coastal flooding, land loss, and infrastructure damage. Coastal erosion also has an impact on shorelines. Singapore's tropical climate combined with flash floods in low lying urban areas leave the country vulnerable to mass destruction.      Singapore's Prime Minister has vowed to spend 100 billion over the next 100 years to protect against rising sea levels. They are using computers to simulated combined effects of sea-level rise and rainfall on the country's coastlines. Singapore also plans to build a larger additional terminal at its airport on higher ground, 18 feet above sea level. There are planned to have more than 6 miles of drainage to keep the runways clear of water.  Singapore also utilizes mangrove forests to...
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 Singapore's Heat Wave         Singapore's extreme weather consist of extreme heat. It was reported that Singapore experienced 122 days of extreme heat in 2024 alone. The extreme weather is due to climate change. Whereas Singapore might have only had 4 days of extreme heat without climate change the World Weather Atrribution and Climate Central (a non-profit group of scientists) report that this dramatic change is due in part to climate change. The average temperature from South-East Asia was 27.4 C in 2024. They recorded this temperature is 0.8 degrees hotter than the average from 1991-2020. It is reported that 2024 was the hottest year on record for Singapore.  Singapore's National Environmental Agency monitors the weather and routinely posts advisories during extreme weather, including extreme heat.  singapore-experienced-about-122-more-dangerous-heat-days-in-2024-due-to-climate-change
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Mass Wasting - Not What You Think!     In 2020 and 2021 Singapore reported more landslides due to heavier rainfall. There were 21 incidents reported per year. Luckily most cases were minor and did not involve major damage. Singapore's Building and Construction Agency (BCA) monitors the incidents and believes the higher number is due to signifcantly higher rainfall than they had ever received. It was estimated in April 2021 Singapore got almost as much rain in three hours as they do in one month (about 90%). Despite the increase in landslides, Singapore was able to prevent damage by implementing measures to regularly inspect and monitor slopes. Before any construction work can begin the BCA takes measures to ensure buiding owners evaluate slopes to help mitigate future damage. Protection measures such as retaining walls, stablizing structures all help prevent slopes from weather conditions, such as flooding
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Volcano!

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          Volcano     Singapore h as often been thought of one of the most safest countries due to its geographical location, however a recent study by   Dr Andrew Verolino at NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore, published an investigation in  Natural Hazards And Earth System Sciences  in April about how undersea volcanic eruptions could possibly affect Singaore. There are over 466  volcanic islands  in the waters of Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The potential threat is KW-23612 which is located in northern South China Sea. If this  volcanoe should erupt it could trigger tsunami waves that could reach Singapore. These potential waves could trigger flooding, damage infrastructure and could cause serious issues for Singapore. Volcanic ash could ground air traffic and cause potential health risk to Singaporeans if winds were right.  Source  https://secretsingapore.co/vo...
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Structural safety in Singapore

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  Structural safety in Singapore     Singapore is  renowned for it's high rise buildings and modern skylines. The country has maximized it's small land size by building up! There are many high rise buildings in Singapore including Guoco Tower, which is the tallest in the small country. Although Singapore is not in direct danger of earthquakes, (due to its location) small tremors from other countries like Indonesia and the Phillipines can be felt. Singapore has proactively taken steps to guard their infrastructure by equipping their buildings with earthquake resistant designs such as deep foundations, vibration dampers and regularly checking and repairing older buildings. It's safe to say, you're safe in Singapore! Source :  Singapore Standards eShop
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Safe in Singapore

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     Singapore is a small city-state located in Southeast Asia. This small country sits on the Sunda Plate. This plate runs across most of Southeast Asia. The nearest tectonic plate boundry is the Sunda Trench, which is about 500-700km southwest from Singapore. The Sunda Trench is where the Indo-Australian Plate is subducting beneath the Eurasian Plate (convergent boundry). This boundry is west of Sumatra, Indonesia and is part of the Ring of Fire. The distance between the Sunda Trench and Singapore makes this small country relatively safe from major disasters like earthquakes. Unlike most of Southeast Asia, Singapore has no active volcanoes and is shielded by surrounding land masses lowering the risk for  tsunamis. Source: National Library Board
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