USGS

California's coast is going to experience Low to Very High coastal vulnerability in terms of sea level rise. California's coasts are experiencing coastal erosion and will be more vulnerable to rising sea levels. The current governor of California created a team to assess the best actions to take in order to mitigate this imminent hazard. Both soft and hard stabilization will likely be implemented where needed. It is important to take measures to minimize the negative effects hard stabilization comes with such as erosion of the beaches down drift the jettie or breakwater. Monterey Bay itself will experience low coastal vulnerability and I think that could be due to the preserve on its coast and into Big Sur. Lack of development on the coasts can slow down the imminent threat of sea levels rising. Though measures should still be taken to prepare for 100-year floods and possible storm surges that can occur along the coast.

Sources:
https://marine.usgs.gov/coastalchangehazardsportal/

Natural Hazards By Keller & Devecchio

https://www.wired.com/2017/02/think-states-alone-cant-handle-sea-level-rise-watch-california/

Wildfires and Droughts

Iceland doesn't experience drought or wildfires. They have plenty of access to fresh water and officials have even considered capitalizing on that as the projected supply available in the world is going to decrease.

I looked at the DW.com site concerning increased wildfires throughout the world. I found it interesting that Iceland, Greenland, Asia and smaller portions of land on each continent would not deal with this issue. Some areas are projected to actually have a decrease in wildfires because of increasing drought. It leaves much in question as so few areas will have less occurrences of wildfires and less access to fresh water. This will lead to great tensions over the natural resources of agricultural land and access to water.

Sources:
http://www.invest.is/files/skjol/pdff/natural_hazards_extract.pdf

http://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-fuels-wildfires-around-the-world/a-16518572

TEDx on Climate Change

The most surprising fact was that people will still survive this. I don't think the human population will be nearly as large as it is now. Rising sea levels take away large areas of land needed for agriculture and domesticated animals such as cows, horses, sheep, etc. The rise in temperature is already leading to diseases and parasites and bugs spreading to areas in which they didn't exist before. The quality of life is sure to go down and likely the average life-span, as well. It is wholly unnerving and the extreme cold period and warm period will be very harsh for people to endure. I'm worried these circumstances are setting the stage for mass extinction as proven in the past to happen along with climate change. Decreasing biodiversity will harm life in the ocean and on land, in turn, harming humanity, as well. Fossil fuels are not worth these catastrophic consequences lasting thousands of years.

Climate Change

Rising sea level are of great concern to Icelandic officials. Storm surges are becoming an ever increasing problem and climate change worsens this natural hazard. A rise of 5.5 meters in sea level was recorded between 1997 and 2007 in Reykjavik. Due do one of Europe's largest ice caps Vatnajokull melting, it reduces the load experienced on the island and has actually caused the south coast to uplift. This provides Iceland a natural protection from rising sea levels. The more urban south west portion of the island did not experience this uplift and subsidence is heavily occurring in that area. Therefore, being more prone to storm surges when winter cyclones hit the island most often.

The capital, Reykjavik, rose up from the ocean by 3.4 m per year. Most of the Icelandic population resides on the coasts and sea level rise is of huge concern. Current assessments are being conducted to minimize damage done to property, infrastructure, and harbors. This assessment will likely reveal costly measures as the likelihood of moving and/or rebuilding infrastructure further inland is likely.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently projected that sea levels will rise between +2.6 - .4mm per year and  +2.9- .4 mm per year.

Recently updated satellite data is proving the IPCC sea level projections to be correct and actually on the higher end of their projections. Whether this will take place in decades or longer-term is not yet clear. It is being alarmingly witnessed that sea level rise is accelerating due to Greenland and Antarctica losing mass. It is something island nation's like Iceland are watching closely and actively assessing how to successful mitigate this natural hazard.

Storm Surge in Iceland

Sources:
https://www.climatechangepost.com/iceland/coastal-floods/

Natural Hazards by Keller & Devecchio

Photo taken from https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-8276929-stock-footage-light-house-storm-surge-waves-crashing-grotta-iceland.html
In Reykjavik, Iceland

Coastal Hazard

Erosion occurs on all of Iceland's coasts. This is often because of glacial melting but is also due to some areas of Iceland's coast being lower in sea level than others. Some of these areas are archaeological sites with artifacts dating  back to the age of Vikings and medieval era. The extent to which coastal erosion is a problem is unknown. Most studies are centered around the soil erosion experienced in Iceland but steps are being taken to handle this issue and the coastal erosion. In places like Önundarfjörður bay in the Westfjords of Iceland to areas like the Snæfellsnes peninsula, archaeological sites along the shores of Iceland are being quickly eroded away. 
A preliminary study found most of Iceland's coast to be tolerable while much of the south west coast experienced the most severe erosion. This is due to glacial melting. The Breiðamerkursandur shoreline's rate of erosion measured are 4.5 m of coastline per year in 2004.  A proposed plan to once again place 'armour stone' along the coast and divert a road way farther from the coast has been recommended in order to reduce erosion. It is a costly expense at about 1.7 million USD.

Armour stone is pictured beneath the graph showing soil erosion throughout Iceland and it's coasts.

Rip currents along Iceland's coast have lead to many fatalities. In the case of the famous tourist spot  Reynisfjara beach, people are often warned to stay away from the water's edge. Warnings aren't always heeded, most notably by tourists, and are either rescued or die as a result. The Iceland Association for Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR) and the South Iceland Police conclude that extra security measures must be taken in order to safe guard people on this beach and others. This has yet to be completely sorted out and for the time being, ICE-SAR is still often called out to rescue those who get caught in rip currents when getting too close to the water's edge. 

 Sources:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shores_of_Akranes.jpg
http://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/nature_and_travel/2016/02/09/reynisfjara_to_get_extra_safety_supervision/
http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/invaluable-treasures-being-washed-sea-erosion-threatens-archaeological-sites
http://www.vegagerdin.is/vefur2.nsf/Files/2005_strandrof_strandvarnir_Breidamerkurs/$file/Coastal%20erosion%20and%20coastal%20protection%20near%20the%20bridge%20across%20J%C3%B6kuls%C3%A1%20river,%20Brei%C3%B0amerkursandur,%20Iceland.pdf

http://www.rala.is/desert/4-1.html
https://hmdecozine.com/2014/01/21/iceland/

Cyclones

Intense storms frequently occur near Iceland in the winter season. One particular year, in 2015, Iceland experienced hurricane force winds so high that such an intense storm occurs every 10-20 years. The Icelandic MET office issued a weather warning Monday December 7, 2015 to warn citizens of the impending storm and its magnitude. Forecaster Elin Bjork Jonasdottir warned the public that the storm would begin with heavy slow fall causing little to no visibility. In the late evening, warmer conditions would lead to sleet or rainfall until Wednesday that week. Forecasters predicted that this storm will be far more severe than storms previously experienced. In an article by Eric Chaney, he described this cyclone to be the worst experienced by Iceland in 25 years. The East Iceland Hallormsstadahls recorded winds of 160 mph. Sustained maximum wind-speeds of 60 mph were also recorded. Icelandic authorities gave notice to the public before the storm system hit and even upped the threat level to “hazard."

 700 rescue workers worked on approx. 350 calls during this storm. Effective emergency crews were on stand by to help people in need during this record storm in Iceland. There were no reports of any severe injuries and attributed this to the public heeding the warnings given by the authorities. Property damage was experienced with roofing becoming loose and even flying into a neighbor’s yard. Two boats in Reykjavik sank in the harbor and all domestic flights were grounded. There were many road closures due to the continuing hazardous conditions. 

With a storm of this magnitude the lack of injury or fatalities was due to authorities having enough time to warn the public. 

Sources: 

weather.com Iceland's Worst Storm in 25 Years Causes Property Damage But No Injuries by Eric Chaney

en.vedur.is Icelandic Met Office Weather Warning-hurricane force winds 7 Dec.

Photo from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_Low

Lightning Strikes in the U.S

Lightning occurs within many different natural hazards. Within thunderstorms usually strike from cloud to cloud. There are many times, however, when lightning does strike the ground. Lightning only occurs within cumulonimbus clouds in this instance. It can also occur within volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and extreme forest fires. There is a human induced instance of lightning caused by surface nuclear detonations. Lightning occurs when opposite charges within a cloud or opposite charges in the cloud and the ground. The negative electrons are attracted to the positive electrons. This process takes place when a stepped leader (negative electrons) move downward closer to the ground, while the streamers (positively charged electrons) move upward and emanate from a tall object such as a tree. This is when cloud to ground lightning occurs. It is highly dangerous as it can cause fires and human fatalities, though some people have survived lightning strike, more often than not they are left with devastating chronic health issues. Thunder occurs with lightning as the lightning rapidly heats the air around it, causing it to expand and create the sound wave we know as thunder. Lightning can heat the air around it to about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

It is important to know that lightning strikes tall objects. People should know that if they are in a field and there are no tall objects around, it is best to lay down if escape from the hazard zone is not possible. Avoid being to tallest object in the presence of lightning to avoid being struck. Also, not wearing or holding a good conductor, such as metals, is important to know. Having rubber soled shoes also helps, in the event a person is truck, channel the lightning into the ground and increases the possibility of surviving a lightning strike. The best preventative measure to take is to stay indoors during any type of storm or if large cumulonimbus clouds are on the horizon.  Lightning related fatalities have decreased in the U.S since people from rural areas are not dwelling in cities. The Gulf Coast in the U.S experiences the greatest number of lightning strikes with Central Florida being the primary area this occurs. 

Photo by Trevor Pitts

Sources: Natural Disasters by Keller & Devecchio

nssl.noaa.gov

geology.com World Lightning Map