Vitus Jonassen Bering, also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering, was born in August 1681, in Horsens, Denmark. He was a Danish map-maker and explorer in Russian service, and an officer in the Russian Navy. Bering is known for exploration of the Bering Strait and Alaska.
Vitus Bering was the captain of the First Kamchatka Expedition and the Great Northern Expedition. In July 1728 Bering set sail from the Siberian peninsula of Kamchatka and in August passed through the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean. In spite of the bad weather he concluded that Siberia and America were not joined.
During the reign of Empress Anna, in 1741, Bering's expidition mapped much of the Arctic coast of Siberia. Bering sailed into the Gulf of Alaska and explored the southwestern coast, the Alaska Peninsula, and the Aleutian Islands. He died in December, 1741, on Bering Island, near the Kamchatka Peninsula.
The Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, the Bering Glacier and the Bering Land Bridge were all named in his honor.
Витус Йонассен Беринг, также известный как Иван Иванович Беринг, родился в августе 1681 года в городе Хорсенс, в Дании. Он был датским картографом и исследователем на службе в России и офицером военно-морского флота России. Беринг известен как исследователь Берингова пролива и Аляски.
Витус Беринг был капитаном Первой Камчатской Экспедиции и Великой Северной Экспедиции. В июле 1728 года Беринг отплыл от Сибирского полуострова на Камчатку и в августе через Берингов пролив в Северный Ледовитый океан. Несмотря на плохую погоду, он пришел к выводу, что Сибирь и Америка не соединяются.
Во время правления императрицы Анны, в 1741 году, экспедиция Беринга нанесла на карту большую часть арктического побережья Сибири. Беринг отправился в залив Аляска и разведал юго-западное побережье, полуостров Аляска и Алеутские острова. Он умер в декабре 1741 года на острове Беринга, недалеко от Камчатского полуострова.
В его честь были названы Берингов пролив, Берингово море, остров Беринга, ледник Беринга и заповедник Беринг-Лэнд-Бридж.
Mother Nature can act rather scary sometimes. Almost every day TV channels, radio and newspapers report on natural disasters striking different parts of the world. Scientists say that earthquakes, tornados, floods, droughts, tsunamis, landslides and hurricanes are happening more frequently nowadays. Global warming, pollution and growing industrialization lead to imbalance in our echo-system.
A natural disaster can be defined as an uncontrollable extreme disruption which causes ecological and financial damage and victims of vulnerable population. Sometimes the events can be predicted by special meteorological warning systems and they often happen in the same geographical area because they are related to climate and physical characteristics of the region. For example, Florida is constantly suffering from tornadoes and hurricanes, and Japan – from earthquakes.
An earthquake happens when tectonic plates of the earth move and they make the area shake violently. According to the Richter scale the magnitude of earthquakes is measured from 1 to 10 points. The most powerful earthquake was recorded in 1960 in Chile, its magnitude was 9.5.
Volcanic eruptions occur when hot red magma erupts from the earth’s crust and flows from the top of the volcano. It also throws volcano ashes into the air which are harmful to inhale for human beings and animals.
A tsunami is a series of dangerous huge ocean waves, usually caused by underwater earthquakes. This natural disaster attacks the shore all of a sudden and often results in thousands of deaths. The height of the waves can reach 30 metres.
Flooding is another natural disaster. Floods happen when the water level in rivers and seas becomes too high. Sometimes flash floods can even wash away whole villages.
