Alyssa’s Blog

  Croatia is experiencing coastal erosion and a changing shoreline.  The vulnerability of the coastal zone to erosion has been assessed for a sea-level rise of 20 cm and 86 cm. In the predominant part of the coast, the coast flooding due to the sea level increase will be experienced only in the low-lying areas. These changes will have a relatively small impact on economic activities such as agriculture, fishery, and the tourist industry. However, there is a high probability that the groundwater will be affected due to the rise in sea level.  The Italian-Croatian Adriadapt project was established to address these changes. The organization is working on coming up with solutions for dealing with the predicted impacts of climate change on the area and presents the adaptation plans adopted by Italian and Croatian cities.  https://www.cmcc.it/article/cities-on-the-adriatic-coast-at-the-forefront-of-climate-change-impacts https://www.climatechangepost.com/croatia/coastal-er...

Croatia typically has a Mediterranean climate which consists of hot, dry, and sunny weather. It is mild along the coast and has a cool winter. I could imagine that it is similar to that of the Monterey coast.  The interior of Croatia can get colder than that of the coast. Temperatures fall below 0 Celsius or 32 Fahrenheit. Snow is common and can be heavy during the winter. Since the winters are a bit more extreme than the coast so are the summers. They can be sweltering according to visit-croatia.co.uk. The high 80s or low 90s Fahrenheit are common, and there is usually no breeze at all. Air conditioning is common in Croatia. This helps keep people cool during the summer.  There is also an infamous aspect of Croatian weather called the 'bura'. The Bura is a strong north-easterly wind that blows towards the coastline. It normally occurs during winter, and near the mountain range. Wind speeds can reach over 125 miles per hour.  https://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/information-on...

 Week 8 Landslides Croatia has a High hazard level for landslides according to thinkhazard.org.  This area is considered a high level of hazard due to the rainfall patterns, terrain slope, geology, soil, land cover, and earthquakes. As recent as 2018, Hrvatska Kpstajnica, Croatia had a landslide that destroyed 6 houses, and left several others damaged. Several rivers in the area were listed as level red, meaning they were dangerous. Disaster officials said levels of the Sava River were cause for concern.  Army officials worked to erect temporary flood defenses  and helped residents evacuate their homes. There are also Croatia Red Cross teams that provide assistance to citizens in affected areas.  https://thinkhazard.org/en/report/62-croatia/LS

  Volcanoes in Croatia There is a volcanic triangle in the Adriatic sea. The volcanic islands are Svetac, Brusnik, and Jabuka. According to WHO Euro, there have been four volcano events between 1990-2010. This is on the lower end of concern for Croatia in regards to natural disasters. The top natural disasters are drought, earthquakes, floods, and wildfire. Because of it being on the lower end of worry there is not a lot of information for Croatia's volcanic preparedness.  https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/167932/Croatia_report.pdf However, according to the American Red Cross there are several way to prepare yourself and your family. First thing is making sure you have access to the online NOAA radio station.  Having a safety kit that includes: goggles to protect your eyes, extra set of clothes, some food, and supplies for pets if you have them. If you are outdoors, seek safe shelter and avoid hazardous areas. Ashfall is one of the hazards of a volcano ...

  Week 3 - Earthquakes Most recently, Croatia has had one of the worst earthquakes in their history. December 29, 2020 a magnitude 6.4 struck near Petrinja, Croatia. Link:  https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/magnitude-64-earthquake-croatia There are a few projects in the area that focus on Earthquake forecasting, warning, and response. TURNkey is one project in Europe that focuses on collecting data.  https://earthquake-turnkey.eu/ Operational Earthquake Forecasting (OEF)  by collecting all available earthquake-hazard related information for the regions of interest (long-term) and by monitoring the regions with the multi-sensor-based earthquake information system (short-term).  Earthquake Early Warning (EEW)  by distributing reliable information that an earthquake is happening as fast and efficiently as possible to all stakeholders hence mitigating earthquake losses.  Rapid Response to Earthquakes (RRE)  by informing relevant stakeholders ab...

Croatia      Croatia is near where the Eurasian and African plates meet.  According to our textbook, this is a Convergent boundary. A Convergent boundary is where plates move toward each other. After looking into whether or not each plate was Oceanic or Continental, I found that both plates have both elements. Where the plates meet it seems like an Oceanic-Oceanic boundary. This is when a convergent boundary forms between plates of Oceanic lithosphere. There are also some volcanic islands off the coast of Croatia, which could be a result of these colliding plates. Brusnik and Jabuka are both uninhabited volcanic islands off the coast of Croatia.