Heavy snow in northeast puts a damper on Halloween weekend

Record snowfall totals are being set up and down the northeast this past Halloween weekend. Plainfield, Massachusetts saw 27 inches of wet snow in the past 48 hours which is a record for this time of year. Even New York City saw the flakes flying and they received around 1.5 inches. The heavy wet snow has caused 21 deaths in the region. These deaths have been associated with down electric wires,fallen trees from the wet snow and traffic accidents. Additionally this storm has also left three million without electricity. States of emergency have been declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and certain parts of New York. Airports have been bogged down and some roads have become inaccessible for the time being. A lot of people were unprepared for the winter weather to strike so early in the season and therefore long term power outages and expected to occur for the remainder of today and into the rest of the week.

Looking at this situation from a complexity approach, the overall preparedness for this storm was low due to the fact that the entire northeast is still recovering from the Irene which flooded large areas of the region a few months ago wiping entire towns off the map in states such as Vermont. From a personal point of view however, after having worked in the northeast in New Hampshire I know that the people of this region are very hearty and they can deal with large snowstorms such as the Halloween blizzard.

image: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/30/MNFA1LOALE.DTL

Article: http://online.wsj.com/article/AP4a3385d8d10049a6825f80f1d086fed9.html

Mexico braces itself for yet another hurricane

Today a category 2 hurricane named Rina is expected to hit the eastern Mexican coast. The Mexican government has issued a hurricane warning for the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, which includes Cancun. NASA's Terra satellite passed over the large storm and took pictures. Then, NASA's Aqua satellite took measurements of the clouds using an infrared instrument mounted on the satellite. The infrared imagery showed powerful convection surrounding the eye of the hurricane. The fastest recorded winds of this storm now are around 110 mph. The infrared imagery also showed forecasts of rainfall estimates which range from 8-16 inches associated with this hurricane. Additionally the infrared data also showed that Rina is in an area of  warm ocean temperatures, which will allow the storm to potentially strengthen over time.

The satellite (remote sensing) technology is astounding and helps forecast hurricane strength,rainfall estimates,temperatures, and where storms could make landfall. Technology such as the satellite mounted intruments is the future for forecasting hurricanes and other dangerous storms as technology progresses foreward in this field of remote sensing.

Image taken by the Terra satellite.

 

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111025163126.htm  

Devastating earthquake hits eastern Turkey

Earlier this morning a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Lake Van region of eastern Turkey. The death toll stands at 138, with the majority of the deaths occuring in Van. In addition to the deaths there are at least 350 injured in the wake of the quake. Experts say this quake is the most powerful in more than a decade. Almost 100 buildings were destroyed in the quake including many homes/buildings around the lake. Additionally a student dormitory was destroyed resulting in many injuries. Rescue teams have already been deployed to dig through the rubble in search of survivors. A crisis center has been created in the country's capital Ankara. Concerns in the aftermath of the quake are the drastic search for survivors and possible flooding due to the displacement of Lake Van. Turkey has a fairly good response time for earthquakes. The structural integrity of some of the buildings in the rural areas of the country was one of the causes to the loss of life from this quake. Had the quake struck earlier in the day there could have been more injuries as people could have been sleeping in the homes that collapsed.


Location of the earthquake.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/23/turkey-earthquake-up-to-1000-feared-dead
http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/23/world/europe/turkey-earthquake/?hpt=wo_c2

Mass flooding in thailand

Thailand is being affected by floods and experts say that it is some of the worst flooding in decades. The entire country has been engulfed by the flood waters destroying roads,buildings and has killed almost 800 people so far.  The Thailand government has estimated the damage costs to be around 3 billion US dollars. The economic impact of these floods is that the global economy could potentially be slowed down. Thailand is a major source of economic supplies for the United states and the rest of the world due to the fact that there are many major factories/plants that produce electronics (Dell) and cars such as Toyota parts. This situation can be looked at with the social perspective because US consumers rely on this country to produce electronics for phones and cars and if the plants that produce these parts are slowed down, then so will the economy.


Article and image:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-18/western-digital-exports-from-thailand-to-fall-on-flood.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204618704576640883035602852.html

Volcanic eruption causes chaos in Spain

Yesterday, volcanic debris (pyroclasts) were being thrown into the air caused the evacuation of more than 600 residents of the island of El Hierro. The island is part of the Canary Island hot spot chain and is very popular with European tourists. The activity has caused the busy port on La Restinga island to close and now ships and air crafts are banned form the area until the volcanic activity subsides. Currently the oceanic eruption is in deep enough waters here it shouldn't directly threaten the towns on the island. However, if the activity moves into shallower waters, there could be potential explosions from the hot volcanic material reacting with the water. 


Location of the volcano in the Canary Island volcanic chain taken from the MODIS satellite
http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/earth-science/geology/evidence-of-el-hierro-volcanic-eruption-visible-from-space/41796.html/comment-page-1

Article:
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/view_news/2421/El-Hierro-volcano-Canary-Islands-Spain-eruption-update.html

Category 3 hurricane to hit Mexico later today

Hurricane Jova is expected to make landfall on the Pacific coast of Mexico today. The storm is now a category 3, just becoming a category 3 on Monday with winds of excess of 115 mph. The storm is one of the largest in almost a decade and is threatening resort towns along the coast. Puerto Vallarta is directly in the hurricanes path and is expecting flooding, heavy rains, and large waves. The rains and waves are expected to have the greatest impact due to the fact that the population is on the coast. Additionally, logging (deforestation in the region) has weakened the slopes in the mountainous portions of the affected region and landslides are now a possibility too. These ever growing threats associated with the storm have caused for hurricane warnings to be issued by the Mexican government.

Satellite image of Hurricane Jova
http://www.newsday.com/news/weather/hurricane-jova-becomes-a-major-storm-in-pacific-1.3234113



Forecast predictions for Mexican coast
http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4623

Article
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-11/hurricane-jova-heads-for-mexico-coast-as-warnings-issued.html

Oil spill- New Zealand

An oil spill has occurred on the eastern coast of New Zealand near Tauranga late yesterday. So far around 50 tons of hazardous oil has been leaked into the ocean and now there are reports of oil washing up on the New Zealand beaches. The government of new Zealand are urging tourists on the beaches to not go near the oil due to health hazards and its high flammability. The oil spill is now threatening the diverse wildlife in the region which includes penguins, seals and various birds. Additionally the impacted area s located in wildlife migration routes which could pose problems to dolphins and whales migrating for the wintertime. The cargo ship that spilled the oil was called the Rena, after it ran across a reef rupturing the tanker. The total amount of fuel in the ship was 1700 tons of oil. Efforts are slow to start the cleanup of the oil and the WWF are worried that these slow efforts will only worsen the situation for wildlife in the region.

Article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/10/new-zealand-oil-spill-wildlife-tragedy?newsfeed=true


An oil covered penguin off the coast of NZ
http://www.voxy.co.nz/files/imagecache/news_item_image/files/blue-penguin_1.jpg

Lab 4 entry: Yellowstone Wildfires of 1988

The great wildfires of the 1988 summer in Yellowstone will always be ingrained into the memories of the residents who live in the area. The fires started in mid July and lasted until September 11,1988 when rain/snow fell in the area. During those long three months, 63 percent of the park burned and around 300 mammals in the park were killed. How these horrific fires started was mainly from lightning strikes (42) but there was also a human factor as well. Nine of the 51 fires were started by human carelessness (cigarette butts, improper extunguished fires). All of this could have been prevented had the natural burn policy not been implemented that year. The federal government in total spent 120 million dollars fighting the fires and around 25,000 people were on the ground or flying above fighting the inferno. The firefighters saved people's property but the environmental damage was much higher due to the extreme drought that was occurring that summer.

The Crown fire of 1988 in Yellowstone National Park (affected mammals shown in foreground)
http://www.thefurtrapper.com/images/Crown%20Fire%20Elk.jpg

From a complexity approach there could have been outside factors that could have made the fires much worse. More people would have been affected by these fires had Wyoming's low amount of private homes built in wilderness areas near the park expanded. Had there been a higher population density around the park many more homes/lives would have been affected that summer and the price tag (cost) of the fires would have been higher. Additionally, had there been a higher density of dead plant matter on the forest floor (fuel) the fires would have destroyed even more acreage of the park instead of just 63 percent. Fire suppression had led to the loss of diverse plant species and has also led to a larger fire risk in these areas where suppression of fires is the norm.

Steep slopes (topography) of the land in the region also allowed for the quick spread and the intensity of the fires as well. Rain also would have played a large factor into mitigating the fires as well. The summer of 1988 was one of the driest seasons on record only receiving 8.5 inches of rain total. Had there been even less rain maybe around 3 inches instead the fires would have started even sooner than they did. On the opposite side of the spectrum had there been more rain not nearly as many fires would have started that year and they possibly could have been contained quicker. Wind also intensifies fire behavior and had the winds been gusting stronger on certain days, the fire could have spread out much quicker. The other risks associated with the Yellowstone fires are in conjunction with the density of the road system in the park, the density of lightning strikes that occur in the park and historic fire locations.

What everyone has learned from this event is to educate the public about the dangers and causes of forest fires. New mitigation strategies have been created from this event to help further prevent an outbreak like the fires of 1988 from occurring again (see links page).

 

Extent of burned area due to the 1988 wildfires in Yellowstone

http://wildfiretoday.com/2009/08/20/yellowstone-fires-big-blowup-august-20-1988/




Links: http://www.firewisewyoming.com/firebehavior1.html
http://wyohomelandsecurity.state.wy.us/Library/mitigation_plan/Chap17_Wildland_Fire.pdf

Effects of Fukushima plant being felt still

  Large quantities of Plutonium has been leaked into the Japanese countryside from the Fukushima nuclear plant. The tsunami affected plant which was crippled in March has been leaking the harmful radioactive substance into the soil. The substance has been found 40km away from the plant in at least six different places surrounding the plant.

  The vast breadth of the affected area is prompting evacuation orders although none have been issued as of yet. Scientists warn that the long half life of plutonium (up to 24,0000 years) could have long term health hazards on the Japanese populace such as lung cancers and leukemia. Additionally, the Japanese government is in fierce debate about the the severity of the plutonium and whether or not an evacuation is necessary at this point in time.



Locations that Plutonium has been discovered
Image source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111001002464.htm


Articles: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7e3af460-ece6-11e0-be97-00144feab49a.html#axzz1ZjjjQacc
 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204226204576604013365441594.html

Tornado hits South Africa

Most people would think that tornadoes are rare in South Africa, however this is not the case. Earlier on Sunday a powerful tornado hit the town of Ficksburg which is located very close to the small country of Lesotho in the Maluti Mountains. Thousands of homes were demolished in the outbreak and at least one young boy was killed. Additionally, more than 40 other people have b een taken to nearby hospitals for wounds. Search and rescue efforts are underway, and the death tool so far doesnt look like it will be too high.



Monthly tornado average for South Africa.

Image: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/
_a1AVUIK5Er8/Sv0fQREuZwI/AAAAAAAAGLw/
poCowQnNmVg/s400/TORNADO+GRAPH.jpg


Article: http://www.irishweatheronline.com/news/atmosphere/storm/tornado-kills-boy-9-destroys-over-1000-homes-in-ficksburg-south-africa/40432.html