This website is the digital version of the 2014 National Climate Assessment, produced in collaboration with the U.S. Global Change Research Program. For the official version, please refer to the PDF in the downloads section.
Lahars move rapidly down valleys like rivers of concrete. If you are on the floor of a valley that leads from a volcano and become aware of an oncoming lahar, seek high ground. Lahar is an Indonesian term that describes a hot or cold mixture of water and rock fragments that flows down the slopes of a volcano and typically enters a river valley.
How Fast can Sharks Swim? Whale sharks are slow swimmers and their top speed is no more than 5 miles (8 kilometers per hour) probably due to the fact that whale shark is the biggest fish in the world. It reaches a length of 40 ft (12 m) and weighs up to 13 tons (12 metric tons). Great white sharks are one of the fast movers in water. They are able to reach speeds of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). They swim just below the waterâs surface. The white sharkâs body is built for the speed and its swift-moving ability makes it even more lethal killing machine.