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Transcript for Hurricane Force - A Coastal Perspective, segment 03 of 12
We're dealing with a, with a geologic force, a natural force that has great power. It has a suddenness about it. It can devastate whole areas. It can devastate communities. It can create economic hardship to areas and, by the definition alone, it means it's something we've got to learn more about. We've got to understand not only where they form and how they form but what their impact is, and that's where we as, as geologists can enter the scene. We can look at hurricanes through time, look back through geologic history, compare that with the present, and start by understanding geology of coastal regions, understand what the specific impact would be of a hurricane and what hazards exist. Ultimately, it's a public safety question.
During nineteen ninety-two, the U. S. Geological Survey put together a plan for a national coastal geology program. An important element of that plan was to look at catastrophic events and their role, such as hurricanes, in causing coastal erosion. We do a wide variety of research related to hurricanes and extreme storms, including visiting and investigating the effects.