Scientists urge for better ocean monitoring

On Sunday, October 31, ocean scientists urged many governments around the world to invest billions of dollars in ocean monitoring systems by 2015. According to the article, this monitoring system can do things from giving alerts for tsunamis to acidification linked to climate change. The scientists claim that this system would have large economic benefits. Oceans United, a scientific alliance, is going to present their plea to government in Beijing on November 3-5 which was set up in 2002 to for setting up such a system. The new system could cost up $10 billion to $15 billion to set and cost $5 billion annually to run and operate the system. This cost may seem like a large sum  compared to the current $1billion to $3 billion cost to monitor the oceans. However, if these new systems could help us with early alert systems for hazards such as tsunamis, large disasters could be avoided saving not only a lot of money but human lives as well. In the long run this new system could save us money and allow to gain more knowledge on the earth. We could then use this knowledge to help mitigate future disasters for people around the world.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101031/ts_nm/us_climate_oceans

Disaster's in Indonesia raise death tolls

A tsunami and volcanic eruption in Indonesia have killed more than 300 people with over 400 people missing, and tens of thousands of people displaced. On Tuesday, Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia's most active volanoes, erupted after a tsunami slammed remoted islands and flattened villages in western parts of Indonesia which was caused by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. According to the article, more than 40,000 people have been removed from the slopes of Mount Merapi where many of the houses there have been destroyed. This article relates to the Swiss Cheese Model we have been discussing in class in that everything bad that could happen has. Not only were these people hit by a tsunami but then they were hit by a volcanic eruption.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101027/wl_nm/us_indonesia_volcano

As storm Richard heads for Belize, starts to turn into Hurricane..

Tropical storm Richard dumped rain on Honduras as expected. However, as it moved towards Belize and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula it was seen as having hurricane strength. The storm was about 65 miles north of some remote areas, Cabo Gracia a Dios, which is located along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua where indigenous people live along rivers. The storm was expected to cause flash floods. This is great concern for these people because they live in wooden houses in this area. This storm could be devastating to these people.

Winds of the storm have reached 65 miles per hour and is expected to be a hurricane by Sunday. The storm has been predicted to hit areas that have U.S. oil and natural gas production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. This could be tragic if it were to wipe out these facilities and cause oil and/or natural gas to spread, similar to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101023/us_nm/us_storm_richard

Tropical Storm Richard heads for Honduras

The Tropical Storm named Richard is moving its way through the Caribbean as it moves for the northeast coast of Honduras. According to the article on the Yahoo Weather page, As of 4 a.m. Central Time, the storm was about 55 miles north of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border and is moving west at 8 mph (13 kph). It currently only has wind speeds of 45 mph, but the article says that it has the potential to turn into a hurricane. The storm could cause a lot of rain in Honduras that could cause flash floods and mud slides. Since people know of this storm and it's potential, people should be able to take precautionary measures to avoid any disasters. 


I was really interested in this article because in the middle of November I am traveling to Honduras for a research project. Certainly weather like this could effect our travels and research if they happen to be a problem at the time. 


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101023/ap_on_re_us/tropical_weather

As Hurricane Paula weakens as it heads toward Cuba..

Hurricane Paula started to weaken as is approached western Cuba on Wednesday. The hurricane went down to a Category 1 out of five on the Saffir-Simpson scale meaning that it has top wind speeds of 85 miles per hour 10 miles from the storm. The storm is expected to reach Cuba late Wednesday afternoon. This is the 16th named hurricane of the Atlantic hurricane season for 2010. It was the ninth to affect the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. However, Paula has caused little damaged. Luckily, Mexico's tourist industry has not been that affected by hurricanes during this years season. According to the article, Cuba has very few hurricane related deaths because evacuations are mandatory and done efficiently. This shows that this country is used to hurricanes hitting the area since the people are so well at preparing for them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101013/wl_nm/us_storm_paula

US and China playing blame game on climate change

During the week long United Nations meetings in China, climate change appeared to be an important topic. The United States and China kept accusing each other for willing to curb their greenhouse gas emissions. Both the U.S. and China are the two leaders in greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentalists are blaming each country for this lack of progress because both countries are worried about themselves more than the planet.

The U.S. is claiming that China and other developing nations are committed to curbing their emissions and have them monitored by the UN. China is saying that the U.S. and other rich countries should have to do more since they are more responsible for this problem.

It seems to me that China and the U.S. are acting very immature about the whole thing and need to grow and take responsibility for their actions. Big deal if you get blamed for the most greenhouse gas emissions or being responsible for the problem. The more important thing to is suck it up and start fixing it, otherwise time is just being wasted. I can understand that no one wants to look like the bad guy, but I would rather look like a bad guy than be the one who does not confess to their problems and try to fix them.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101009/ts_afp/unclimatewarming_20101009114808;_ylt=AunOooK6BeLiimpc1YGKwC3HSpZ4

Tornadoes rip through Arizona

Rare tornadoes go through Northern parts of Arizona

Early Wednesday morning, a group of four tornadoes swept through Northern Arizona. It is very rare for this part of the country to experience a cluster of tornadoes causing this much damage. According to the article, people thought to get to their basements from all the tornado movies they have watched. However, houses in Arizona do not have basements. This is exemplifies how rare these tornadoes really are. In the article, a meteorologist said that usually this area has only a couple of tornado warning around this time of the year. On Wednesday there were 22 warnings! This storm system moving across the region has also been causing damage in other parts of the southwest.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101007/ap_on_re_us/us_western_weather

Tropical Storm Nicole hits U.S.

Tropical Storm Nicole hit the eastern part of the United States over the weekend. The storm has causes the death of at least 6 people over. Most of the damage from Nicole has been due to large amounts of rain causing high water. North Carolina issued a state of emergency as well as warning for flooded rivers and creeks that are expected to rise after the storm has passed. Clearly getting these warnings out to people is important in saving lives by allowing people enough time to take the proper precautions with the storm. Other states that have issued flood warnings throughout parts of their state include New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C.


According to the article the Nicole was only a tropical storm for six hours on Wednesday but has caused large amounts of rainfall. The rain has cause flash floods in parts of Jamaica, causing more deaths. Although people may have been happy that Nicole did not turn into a hurricane, the storms other effects need to be taken into account, such has the large amounts of rain.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101002/us_nm/us_storm_nicole