Hitting Home...in a Sense

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/12/intel-cuts-q4-revenue-forecast-by-1-billion-due-to-hard-drive-s/

So... I happened to stumble upon this link where Intel is cutting it's forecasts due to the Thailand floods. As a techy/nerd/geek/trekky this news really does "hit home".  Will update more later!

Disasters and Fraud

Hello--Today I was looking up something to blog on and after looking up disasters in the news, I found a few articles on the fraud that comes with disasters. After looking at these I couldn't help think about the amount of people that claim insurance or use federal and state resources to their advantage. I remember when the hail hit us a number of years ago and people were reporting damage from hail on their vehicles from minor dinks and scratches (not caused by hail) and getting away with it.

I know in class we discussed if aid should be provided and how it should be provided. Should it be government  provided or by a third party? Should people in the Midwest help pay for hurricane damage along the coasts? All these are great questions and along with these questions one must think of how to regulate the aid. This article below shows the scandals involved with government aid in Connecticut. I linked to this article as it is well-known of the scandals that took place during lets say, hurricane Katrina, but other fraud is taking place in all levels of the government. How would you regulate aid?

http://www.ctmirror.org/story/14710/usda-says-d-snap-safeguards-worked

taken from http://i.ehow.co.uk/

Tectonic Plates

I am really interested in tectonic plates. I think they are truly amazing. Ever since first learning about them I have always interested. They are huge, powerful, and drastic features.

I think part of this fascination comes from learning about Pangea. It is hard for me to imagine that at one time, North America was pretty much next to Africa (I am truly just imagining this in my head--I know this was millions of years ago).

Bringing this post back to recent times, I looked up some recent news. In an article I found, seismologists are learning more and more about earthquakes.

I will be updating this post soon, hopefully with a map from ARCGIS software.

Source: http://theconversation.edu.au/tectonic-plate-forces-may-hold-secrets-of-earthquakes-4223

Thai Flooding

So Thailand has been facing flooding for awhile now...The floods have claimed more than 300 lives since the heavy rains began in July and some 600,000 workers and 14,000 companies have had to shut down.

This is a pretty big deal and action needs to take place. It is said that it would take 40 days for the 12 BILLION cubic meters of floodwater to drain in to the Gulf of Thailand. Damages are estimated at $6 billion and could only be higher if Bankok isn't kept under control.

Thailand is one of the leading exporters of computer hard-disks and with this flood there might be a world wide shortage. But more importantly, there have been over 300 lives taken since July...I think even though that doesn't "affect" us, it is an important thing to think about. What happened if 300 students at UWEC just perished in a flood? It is hard to relate to disasters abroad, and that is the reason why it is hard for the US to get involved. This isn't just natural disasters, it also has to do with foreign policies and wars.





READ MORE AT: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/world/asia/bangkok-opens-floodgates-as-government-response-is-criticized.html?_r=1

Keeping it Local

For this post I wanted to find some environmental hazard going on at our home soil. Today an article was posted at the Huffington Post regarding mining in Wisconsin. There is tons of iron ore along Lake Superior's shoreline. The article relates to job creation, but also addresses the impact on the environment.

Interestingly I found out we are the Badger state because of the lead miners who "were said to burrow like badgers". Wisconsin has been known to be a conservative state which was the first to ban pesticide DDT, the first to pass a law limiting acid rain, and also the first to enact an endangered species list!

Wisconsin Badger!

The article is well written and you can tell there was tons of research put into in both the impact on the local area and the outcome that would happen with a new mine. Here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/06/wisconsin-mine-plans-jobs-environment_n_997909.html

Something different....

Meteor showers. Environmental hazards?

I looked up some weather news and found news of a meteor shower that occurs every October. It is a Draconid meteor shower which is typically a weak meteor shower with not too many visible meteors seen per hour. This year however, the Earth will be going through a few dust streams and as a result we may see several hundred meteors per hour at its peak

I know this isn't an environment hazard but it got me thinking about a super hazard. Maybe a huge meteor won't be stopped by our atmosphere? How did the dinosaurs go? Haha.

Anyways, here is a news article regarding the upcoming Draconian meteor shower: http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=meteor_outburst_forecast_in__270911?ref=ccbox_weather_topstories

Extreme Weather

I like to look at extreme weather--from hurricanes to massive tornadoes.

Today while browsing the internet, I found a video of condition 1 weather in Antarctica. Weather there is classified from conditions 1 (bad) 2 (not so nice) 3 (nice).

I read that you can go down there to work 1 season/year at a time. This sounds super interesting and something I may consider doing someday. You would think there is only scientists/engineers down there, but there are actually just people living there.

I found a good link that answers many questions regarding the weather in Antarctica. Check it out here: http://www.antarcticconnection.com/antarctic/weather/faq.shtml

Looking at Tropical Storms

Today I wanted to look at at hurricanes again. The first search result told me of a storm forming out at sea. Tropical Storm Ophelia went from a Tropical Wave to a Tropical Storm w/o ever being a Tropical Depression. I thought it was interesting to look at the different type of tropical systems that develop.

From Wikipedia:
A tropical depression is an organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined, closed surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of less than 17 metres per second (33 kn) or 38 miles per hour (61 km/h). It has no eye and does not typically have the organization or the spiral shape of more powerful storms. However, it is already a low-pressure system, hence the name "depression".

A tropical storm is an organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface circulation and maximum sustained winds between 17 metres per second (33 kn) (39 miles per hour (63 km/h)) and 32 metres per second (62 kn) (73 miles per hour (117 km/h)). At this point, the distinctive cyclonic shape starts to develop, although an eye is not usually present.

Tropical waves, easterly waves, or tropical easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic region, are a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relativelylow air pressure, oriented north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics causing areas of cloudiness and thunderstorms

Wind is currently sustaining around 60mph. It is expected to die out around Puerto Rico.

Date:	September 21, 2011
Time:	12PM EST
Winds:	60 mph
Pressure:	1005 mbar

Postal Workers

I was looking into hurricanes and I found this interesting guy. This is Mr. Floyd. He is an USPS mail man from Virginia Beach. No rain, no sleet, or pounding hurricane will stop the USPS.

Doing these postings made me want to search disasters and the damage. Seeing this tidbit, it made me realize how much disasters can impact everyone no matter where the disaster hits. That new computer part I ordered from the east coast during hurricane Irene? Yeah, delayed. Family coming home from being on the east coast? Yep, won't be seeing them as their planes have all been delayed and or cancelled.

So to sum up, disasters happen all the time all over the place. So much is done to ensure the world keeps going round. Hurricane Irene was a big one that many weren't ready for, but from looking around the Internet, you can see the amount of work people put into their efforts to minimize the damage.

Millions affected by floods in Pakistan

I wanted to first write about something that is happening now that we know little about. I found some information on the Pakistan floods--which surprisingly is affecting way more than I previously thought. Over 5 million are affected with some 435 confirmed dead.

The video above shows a good map and video from those affected.