2010 calm year for Hurricanes

"For the first time in recorded history, 12 hurricanes formed this year in the Atlantic basin without a single one making landfall in the United States, according to experts at Colorado State University" (USA Today). These hurricanes either turned right towards the Atlantic Ocean or left to the Caribbean Sea; in other words the U.S. got very lucky with the Hurricane season officially ending Tuesday. Now, why did these storms dodge the U.S.? Meteorologists think the hurricanes were deflected due to high and low pressure ridges. Only one actually made landfall, Hurricane Bonnie despite five of the twelve hurricanes being categorized as major. 

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/hurricanes/2010-11-29-hurricanes29_ST_N.htm

Environmental progression remains slow

President Obama seems seems to have an array of problems coming his direction. His plans to reduce industrial pollution 17% from 2005 levels by 2020 has not been accepted by Congress, and with the increase of Republicans in the House and Senate will further push his plans out of the mix. Currently, he is pursuing smaller measures and has made a bit of progress. "He has cited efforts to promote electric vehicles, nuclear power, renewable energy and energy efficiency. He also has touted the Environmental Protection Agency's plans, beginning next year, to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases" (USA Today). 


The major problems with Obama's plans and environmental agencies, is that they are trying to promote large scale changes. "Climate" is a word that seems to scare people, rather than inspire people to make a change. Companies need to begin focusing on what the people find appealing such as electric cars; things that directly affect people right now.


http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2010-11-29-climatepolicy29_ST_N.htm

Wintery weather across the globe

LONDON - Heavy snow spread across much of the United Kingdom over the weekend and temperatures are expected to remain below freezing through Sunday afternoon. Up to 6 inches of snow was expected for Scotland and around 4 inches for Northern Ireland. Snow blanketed the Netherlands as well which was the first snowfall of the year. On Saturday, up to 16 inches of snow buried northeast England and Scotland which the BBC said was the most widespread snow for the date since 1993 (MSNBC). This harsh weather pattern caused several delays and cancellations of races and soccer matches. Meteorologists warned people to avoid travel and stay indoors if possible. 


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40399876/ns/weather/

Minnesota storms take residents by surprise

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Rare November tornado strikes southeast Wisconsin

MILWAUKEE - Cleanup has begun for southeast Wisconsin after a rare and unusual Novemeber tornado went through the area late Monday night. Racine county was one of the hardest hit, and winds were strong enough to damage several homes and overturned semis. Approximately 3,000 homes lost power in the storm. Fortunately, no one was killed and only a few minor injuries were reported. Utility services returned power to people in the area quickly and clean-up crews standing by to help. By early Tuesday, the storms had moved from southeast Wisconsin into Indiana and Michigan.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/tornadoes/2010-11-22-midwest-storm_N.htm

Pakistan flooding major wake up call

ISLAMABAD - As posted earlier this year in my blog, Pakistian was hit with major flooding. This summer's floods covered 1/5 of the country, approximately the size of Louisianna. The disaster caught everyone by surprise, and overwhelmed emergency response teams. Many experts believe the floods were due to climate change, and others aren't sure the direct relation, but almost all can agree the floods are occuring more frequenty and people are ill equipped to handle the situation. People agree that changes need to be made and soon. Implementing programs that help the displaced and get people back to their normal lives a bit easier. "The failure to address the threat of climate displacement could undermine the long-term stability of countries likely to experience increased floods, storms, droughts and other disasters," said Gabaudan, the Refugees International chief. "Taking preventive steps now will strengthen these countries and provide support to the world's poorest people" (MSNBC).


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40309467/ns/us_news-environment/

State of emergency declared

BOGOTA, Columbia - Columbian President declared a state of emergency Thursday for Columbia after heavy rains and flooding hit the area affecting 1.2 million people. 136 people have been killed already and over 200 have been injured due to the flooding and mudslides in the area. Many people have lost everything they have, so the President really wants to try to utilize outside resources to help the people. Additionally, large amounts of crop and livestock have been damaged. Meterologists are predciting more rainfall in Columbia for the next two weeks, so help right now is neccessary to prevent more death and damage.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/11/19/colombia.rain.calamity/index.html?hpt=T2

http://gnrworld.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/colombia_bogota-lg-map.jpg

Flooding and mudslides hit London

LONDON - Wednesday morning large amounts of heavy rainfall hit southwest London causing major flooding and muslides around the area. Water levels and damage was so high that many people were trapped in houses and cars and numerous road systems remain unpassable. Barry Green, an owner of a local bakery shop said, "One minute I was making bread, the next I was wading waist high through muddy water. We've had people coming in to help but it's pretty much destroyed the shop" (MSNBC). Fortunately, several search and rescue teams were able to use helicopters to rescue people in trapped cars. No injuries were reported thus far.


This news article relates very well to this past week's lectures. Flash flooding comes suddenly and unexpected which correlates to the situation in England. People were unprepared and large amounts of rain hit the area quickly and in a short period of time. Although no one was hurt, the damage was apparent.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40234497/ns/weather/

Building collapse: Cause of bad weather or bad construction?

NEW DELHI - A five story tenement suddenly collapsed Tuesday morning, killing at least 64 people and that number could rise. Survivors of the collapse used cell phones to try and call rescuers to the area, but struggled to reach the site because of the poor building contruction and soggy soils surrounding the area. Rescuers worked all through the night using jackhammers and sniff dogs to try and find the trapped bodies, hoping to find some alive.

 The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear, but many think it has to do with this year's heavy monsoon rains. Additionally, the building complex had very poor construction and it's location was right near a river. "The area is frequently flooded, and sits near a waterlogged riverbank. Residents said that this year’s unusually heavy monsoon had left the basements of buildings in the low-lying area flooded" (NY Times). Apparently, the tenant of the building is looking to be arrested, but has yet to be located.

This news article ties directly into this weeks lecture. We have been talking about mudslides quite frequently, and although the building collapse was not directly related to a mudslide, the collapse happened under similiar circumstances. The ground was extremely wet and the soil beneath the building became quite unstable and weak.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/world/asia/17india.html?_r=1&ref=world

High-rise fire causes 53 deaths

SHANGHAI - A massive fire that burned a high-rise building in Shanghai killed 53 people and sent 70 people to the hospital with injuries. The cause of the fire is still unknown but a witness says the fire began when some materials in the building complex caught fire. "The government said more than 100 fire trucks were called to battle the blaze, which was largely put out about four hours later. Firefighters could be seen taking bodies from the building, while survivors were rushed away in ambulances" (Yahoo news). 


The problem with this fire, and other disasters which have been occuring in recent years is due  to a recent new contruction stint in Shanghai. This construction frenzy ranges "from high rises that dot its skyline to new subway lines, highways and airport upgrades. But unsafe building work remains a chronic problem in China" (Yahoo news). High-rise buildings, although stable and conveinient in many cases, pose a large threat. These create major problems for hazards such as fires, and earthquakes. 


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101116/ap_on_re_as/as_china_fire;_ylt=AqNeCjM6fKW0dhWCSup4AWlw24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTJqM2E5amJrBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMTE2L2FzX2NoaW5hX2ZpcmUEcG9zAzQEc2VjA3luX3BhZ2luYXRlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDc2hhbmdoYWloaWdo

400 car crashes in Minnesota

EDEN PRARIE, Minnesota - Heavy snowfall and winter storms struck the state of Minnesota over the weekend leading to a large number of car accidents, 45 of them which led to minor injuries. Additionally, a large crash in western Wisconsin was said to be the cause of two deaths. "Nearly a foot of snow had fallen in parts of the Twin Cities area by Saturday evening, downing trees and causing sporadic power outages" (USA Today). The cooling temperatures in the area also lead to large patches of ice on the roads which is the major reason for the large number of crashes around the same time. Fortunately, meteorologists have predicted weather in the high 30's which will keep the pavement a bit warmer, hopefully melting the ice.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2010-11-13-midwest-snow_N.htm

Global Warming vs. Wild Weather

This year's unusual weather has had many people wondering, is global warming contributing to the wild weather? Well the truth is the year has been very strange in correlation with the last several years. "In Brooklyn, residents were surprised by what seemed to be a tornado in September. That came on the heels of a 2007 tornado in the borough—the first in more than a century. Last winter, much of the northern hemisphere experienced record cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls, while the southern hemisphere had record heat. Seoul had its heaviest snowfall in recorded history; Australia, Pakistan, and Brazil experienced torrential rainfall that caused massive flooding; in Florida, the unusual winter freezes threatened citrus crops, and the summer of 2010 was a scorcher for much of the U.S." (MSNBC). However, are all the changes and record numbers due to global warming? Many people seem to be under the assumption that global warming has to do with increases in temperature, but that's not always the case. In some cricumstances, rising sea levels attribute to changes in wind and rainfall patterns. In order to properly determine the effects of global warming on weather, scientists choose to focus on large scale, long term weather patterns instead of one big storm, or one big rainfall. Afterall, an unusually large storm could be attributed to the collision of two large storm fronts. 
However, people may not be entirely wrong in their assumptions. Recent research has definitely shown a slight alteration of these weather patterns. "Eleven of the past 30 summers were either abnormally wet or abnormally dry in the Southeastern states" (MSNBC)." Scientists will continue to study the various theories and assumptions, to determine just how much of an effect global warming has on our wild weather.


http://www.newsweek.com/2010/11/09/the-truth-behind-wild-weather-and-global-warming.html

Massive Mudslide a Coincidence?

TAIPEI, Taiwan - After Typhoon Megi struck the Taiwan area, the forces led to a large mudslide on a mountainside highway which covered a nearby Buddhist temple. The landslides caused by the typhoon killed nine people and also damaged a large bus carrying Chinese tourists traveling on the highway. Searchers found the bus parts covered in mud and crushed parts scattered about. Reporters noted that the area had an astounding 45 inches of rainfall causing the mudslide to be quite large.

This event that occured alongside the mountain is not uncommon for a landslide. In fact, areas with steep terrain and high relief are topographically prone to cause landslides. This is due to the fact that there is are high levels of rockfall, deformed rock masses, and areas high in rainfall. The rainfall triggers slope instability and can prolong the landslide causing even greater damage.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/world/asia/24typhoon.html?ref=landslides_and_mudslides

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39772671/

Mount Merapi Continues to Strike

MAGUWOHARJO, Indonesia - Mount Merapi, after dozens of blasts and weeks of disruptions and disaster to the people of Indonesia, has not finished causing turmoil. On Friday, and explosion of hot gases sent 160,00 villagers to areas to underprepared evacuation camps which created chaos among the disaster relief. This new explosion will now cause that stress and chaos to rise even more, and will continue to raise the death toll. "At least 64 people were killed by the latest eruption, which was by far the largest since the volcano on central Java Island started spewing ash and gas on Oct. 26" (New York Times).

In class we dicussed some of the problems with volcanoes, especially in terms of environmental disaster mitigation and discovered that there are not many opporunities to prevent volcanoes from happening. There are ways scientists can monitor and warn people of volcanic activity, through various tools such as measuring seismic waves, but all in all it is important to have prepared evacuation sites and community awareness. This seems to be the major problem with the Indonesian eruption. Not only is the volcano not letting up, but disaster aid and preparedness is low increasing the death toll.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/world/asia/06indo.html?_r=1&hp


Slideshow of the Volcanoes Devastation

Tropical Storm Tomas Builds up Again

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Tropical Storm Tomas, which built up again throughout the week, heads towards the coast of Haiti and is expected to approach Haiti sometime on Firday. There have been several warnings issued for Cuba, The Domican Republic, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. In addition to the trpoical storm warning for Haiti, there has also been a hurricane watch issued for the area.

If the tropical storm does hit the coast of Haiti, this will be the second storm to hit the area after the devastion of the Haitian earthquake. So far, there have only been several deaths, and the people of Hatiti hope things will remain that way. There have been U.S. navy vessels that have been in the area trying to provide relief which is a very good mititgation strategy; get aid in before the disaster strikes.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/hurricanes/2010-11-02-haiti-hurricane_N.htm