Greatest Threat To America

Sorry Stephen Colbert, this time the greatest threat to America isn't bears (but still keep an eye out for those crafty Berenstains!). Scientists at an underwater facility have been experimenting on a new breed of sharks, not like the kind that ate Samuel Jackson in Deep Blue Sea, but ones that are much worse. These sharks have been scientifically engineered with the outcome being that they have fricken laser beams attached to their foreheads! We have this-just-in footage (from 2002*) of the facility where these beasts are being detained.

The real threat is the chance that these monsters escape. In the open oceans these things have the chance to procreate and from their, the end of the world begins. It's simple science folks, your standard laser beam is 1000 degrees Celsius and above. Once you have a hundred of these things roamin' around the ocean, shooting off their laser beams, 1000 C laser beam vaporizes a lot of water. Hell, after a few months we might not be called to blue planet anymore. And with the apocalypse coming up, I think this is the end that Nostradamus predicted. Sharks...with laser beams attached to their foreheads.

Earthquake in Japan, Technology Savior

Honshu, Japan -

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 happened 150 miles away from Japans Northeast coast last Friday. As of right now, there is no death related and nearly no structural damage reported by the 7.3 quake or its 4.7 after shock. This is incredible in terms of environmental hazards and mitigation. The event did happen some distance off in the ocean as opposed to in the heart of a city, which was a reason why this large scale earthquake caused little chaos. Japan it seems has nearly perfected their warning systems and mitigation efforts. People in the area affected by the quake had nearly 6 minutes to take action and precautions before the quake hit. Advanced warning systems play a large role in preventive measures, but so too does the technology employed on buildings.  Because of Japans cleverly designed buildings, they were able to withstand the prolong shaking that would topple many houses in less developed countries. This is a good example for showing the different affect hazards have on more developed countries compared to less developed ones. The earthquake that claimed a still undetermined amount of deaths in Haiti registered as a 7.0, smaller than the one that hit Japan. The main difference between the two outcomes was the construction of the houses. While the more advanced and developed Japanese society was able build structures that could withstand the tremors associated with quakes, the Haitians were stuck with much less.

 

Another interesting part of this article was the mention of the perceived tone of fear used by the Japanese news reporters. People are still frightful of another event like Fukushima so any mention of a potential tsunami in this case it was less than 3 feet, causes people to head for the mountains. This puts more responsibility on the government when issuing warnings, needing to take into consideration the potential reaction from the public. As we have seen in other environmental hazards around the world, looting and crime are an issue. Therefore issuing a warning, even if the waves are only to reach 5 feet,  is a concern.

Source: http://z6mag.com/featured/earthquake-in-japan-hours-after-2012-fukushima-aftershock-1616538.html

Driest Novemember for Northeast

Despite the effort of hurricane Sandy the U.S. Northeast experienced its second driest November in over a century, receiving on average only 1.04 inches of precipitation. This November will also be recorded as the coldest average since 1997, being 2.5 degrees colder than normal. It is not unnatural to have a few outliers of any measurement, weather is no exception. But should this record setting dry month alarm us, or should life continue as usual? Science has been increasing its understanding of climate change and the effect it has on weather patterns. Changes in the path of the Polar Jet Stream is an important reason why these changes of precipitation and temperature are happening. The jet stream plays a significant role in the weather we experience, depending if they it shifts higher or lower than typical in terms of latitude. If the jet stream is lower than its typical position, then it will bring with it the cold artic air from out of the north. If it is higher, then the warm moist air from the gulf will travel higher up in latitude and farther inland, bringing humid, hotter weather. This is due to Rossby waves, or a meandering of the jet stream. The jet stream has the power to turn rain forests in to deserts (in its most extreme form and over many years). In Africa, drought has been occurring for the past several years and science has beginning to point to the shifting jet steams as the cause.

We can use the Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) forecast to help us in predicting where drought prone areas are, or where a drought is developing. And over several years we can see patterns develop. This is one aspect of the engineering paradigm, forecast potential hazards. Another part is looking at how drought would affect an area like the northeast coast. This isn’t an area where we have much agriculture, so famine is an unlikely result. But with a decrease in fallen precipitation there comes an increase with ground water usage which further depletes the already low levels. Therefore we can combat drought in this area, but only at the cost of our fresh groundwater. We need to fix the problem at the source; which is to understand the extent of our anthropogenic actions on the earth and its systems so that we can minimize them.  

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121205142325.htm

Hazard Mitigation in Kentucky

Hazard, Kentucky is in the process of installing an earthquake monitoring station in Perry County. Kentucky is home to a fair amount of tectonic activity, but the earthquakes generated are usually less than a 5 on the Richter scale and therefore unnoticed by the media. By installing this monitoring station as well as others around the state, the KGS (Kentucky Geological Survey) can generate a map showing where and how strong the earthquakes are. This will help to define the fault zone and areas that may be too hazardous (or at least risky!) for human development. By using this engineering paradigm approach, we are trying to predict as well as we can when and where earthquakes will strike. Earthquakes are very difficult hazards to predict, but over time we can see patterns develop and make more informed decisions. This is one way of mitigating a hazard, this informed planning. Another way this monitoring station helps to mitigate is by giving advanced warning, albeit not by much, of impending earthquakes. While we are using the engineering paradigm approach of environmental hazards to vaguely predict earthquakes, we also use the behavioral paradigm approach because we are looking at the behavior of the hazard itself. Where is it occurring and where will it occur are two related questions involving the behavior of a hazard. 

http://www.hazard-herald.com/view/full_story/21084866/article-Earthquake-monitoring-station-planned-for-Perry?instance=popular

Bopha Still Threatens

After flooding the southern Philippines, Typhoon Bopha rotated back around and now threatens the northwest part of the country. This weather bureau issued storm warnings, just as they had done in the previous encounter with Bopha, which shows the competency of the government to take necessary precautions to protect its people. Bopha again adjusted paths and now forecasters say it will end up in the South China Sea, but heavy rains and strong winds will still affect the Philippines. These forces could cause other disaster, most notably landslides but also fallen trees.  Emergency personal and volunteers are spread thin, still recovering in the south and now to deal with the threat of Bopha’s return. As the death toll tops 500 (600 missing), locals stand dazed and in shock, making rescue operations more difficult. Trying to organize rescue teams has been made harder because local landmarks have been destroyed. This would be a perfect use for GIS and GPS. You would need an aerial photo with a decent resolution and then a GPs unit and you could find what houses the locals are looking for.  Also by using GIS you could accurately plan a location for emergency centers. In the article, a woman recalls getting a message from her mother that said she and her brother had made it a health center. Unfortunately, it was in the path of the typhoons storm surge and the center, as well as everyone inside, was swept away. With simple technology and planning many lives could have been saved.

 

In the aftermath, Food shortages are developing due in part by the typhoons strong winds that destroyed many acres of crops, but also but the destruction of markets. 400,000 people have lost their homes and now reside in overcrowded evacuation centers. Hopefully, these centers are not in danger of an environmental hazard such as a steep slope prone to landslides (which has a  greater chance of occurring  during heavy rains). For economic loss the Philippines suffered a blow by losing 18 percent (34,600 acres) of their banana plantations, equivalent to 300 million dollars. International aid has been saught and now recieved by the Phillipines, quickening the recovery process.

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57558048/typhoon-bopha-threatens-philippines-again/

That's not classy, its trashy

Landfills have constantly been increasing in size and number over the last few decades as we as a species try to find a place to hide our massive amounts of waste from sight,  then from there out of mind. But after watching a part of a documentary called, How The Earth Made Us (BBC), I became aware of something I had never heard of before. A gyre, or a spiral/whirl can exist in many forms. You could have a gyre of wind, gyre of water, hell a gyre of geese! But what about a gyre of garbage, mostly composed of plastics and Styrofoam, swirling around in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Yes, there actually exists an immense swirl of garbage that grows everyday and is currently the largest landfill (or waterfill?) in the world, more than tripling the state of Texas in size. Seventy percent of all the plastic falls to the ocean surface where it can damage the coastal floor ecosystem. This is extremely hazard for wildlife, which can also indirectly affect us. But where this garbage is primarily a growing concern is in the Midway Atoll. This area is roughly, as the name implies, half or midway between North America and Asia. The Albatross is an oceanic bird that lay and hatch its eggs on and around these islands. Once hatched, the mother searches far and wide looking for food, normally for squid or fly fish eggs. But what has been happening more often than not it seems is that, mistaking it for food, the albatross picks up numerous pieces of plastic ranging from bottle caps to checkers, and feed it to their young.  Plastic, as you may remember from being a child, doesn’t taste good, nor is it good or safe to ingest no matter what species you are.

 There are plenty of people in the world that do not see this as a problem, or more likely don’t even see it at all. Now the albatross isn’t the only living organism to suffer from this floating gyre of garbage, but lets imagine it is. 500,000 albatross eggs are hatched at Midway every year, with roughly 200,000 chicks that die. As i was saying, some people may down play this event as trivial. But looking at the big picture as opposed to looking at a small, narrow instant gratification scope, we can see that this has enormous potential consequences. The less albatross their are, then their is a less diverse food supply for those animals that feed on them. Conversely, if there are less albatross, then their primary food source will increase because of the decrease in predators. This can change the entire ecosystem with which the albatross is apart. Everything in this world is interconnected, you cannot change "x" without it having a direct affect on "y". The repercussions of this are to many and too detailed to explain in full in this blog, so I encourage my readers to look into the complete connectedness of the world’s ecosystems.  

Thinking about a very positive affect on humans, what if a tsunami were to occur right by this gyre? We would have a giant wave of our own garbage with the potential the impact thousands of people along the coast and deliver back to us our garbage. The physical affects on humans from this gyre are at this point minimal. But the affects on wildlife and the future affects it may have on us should be a growing concern. 

Sources: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-ocean2aug02,0,4917201.story
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm

  

Typhoon Bopha

Typhoon Bopha recently crossed paths with the southern portion of the Philippines this last week causing pandemonium. This area has had many run-ins with these natural disasters, experiencing a typhoon season just like we experience hurricane season on the east coast. This typhoon was a beast with sustained winds up to 260km per hour and gusts of 315km per hour. So far, approximately 620 people have been reported either dead or missing in the wake of this storm and its subsequent disasters. The subsequent disasters that I’m referring to are the floods that swept many people into the chaos of Bopha. These regional floods also destroyed two emergency centers along with the 78 soldiers and villagers located there. Another disaster that was triggered by this typhoon was the landslide that added to the death toll. Heavy rains, especially in areas with steep slopes lacking vegetation over, can over saturate the soil and seep in between the bedrock and soil. Yet another hazard Bopha brought with it was the flying debris such as the roofs of poorly constructed houses that were ripped off. 

When it comes to mitigating hazards there is much that can be done for typhoons. Typhoons are slow developing hazards that can be seen days before they reach land. This allows us to predict when and where the disaster will strike to a fairly accurate degree. Knowing that you live in a typhoon prone area can help you in constructing houses or improving new ones that can withstand strong gale force winds. Planning on where to put emergency buildings is another important step in the mitigation process. As i mentioned above 78 people died because an emergency station was flooded. We need to be aware of potential floods levels that are associated with typhoons so that we can construct these important emergency facilities in safe areas. 

Typhoon Bopha on its way to the Phillipines on Dec. 3rd, 2012 

Source: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57557204/philippines-death-toll-from-typhoon-bopha-nears-300/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/world/asia/typhoon-said-to-have-killed-hundreds-in-philippines.html?_r=0