Reasons why New Zealand is a Dangerous Place to Live

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Reasons why New Zealand is a Dangerous Place to Live

New Zealand is located in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean,

southeast of Australia. This beautiful country has many high lands,

huge rivers and mountains, which are steep, very jagged and glaciated.

There is plenty of ash over the North Island resulting from volcanic

eruptions.

What makes this amazing country so dangerous is that so many natural

hazards exist here. New Zealand situated right through the ring of

fire. This is a zone where frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

happen. New Zealand's volcanoes occur by the Indo-Australian plate

going underneath the Pacific plate which melts causing the burst of

lava, and the treacherous volcano. There is a long string of volcanoes

here, some are extinct and some are active. This area is called the

subduction zone.

One big volcano, called White Island erupts every year. In Wellington

there is a volcano that is next to an enormous fault. This could erupt

at any time and if it does there will be disastrous results. 50

volcanoes surround the popular city of Auckland. In some places there

is so much molten rock that the volcano could go underwater. If the

water gets in, the whole city could be destroyed. Lake Taupo was

formed 3000 years ago by a mammoth volcanic eruption.

Another major natural hazard in New Zealand is the earthquakes. In

1931 Napia - South Island a massive earthquake hit this city. It

destroyed many homes and buildings.

The climate of the country is spectacular. When the wind, water and

warm air from Australia meet the cold air from Antarctica the air is

forced to rise above the Southern Alps causing immense rainfall. It is

known that 9m of rain falls every year in New Zealand. This amount of

rain is called RELIEF RAINFALL. This often results in floods.

It also the impact of man on the environment that makes it so

dangerous to live here. People have chopped down many trees which

reduces infiltration and increases run-off, which also causes

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