12/11/2012 ~ Sandy Part 2/2 (The After)

     Alright here's part 2 of my Hurricane Sandy mitigation posts. In this post, I'll be taking a look into the post Sandy mitigation techniques; i.e. how they provide assistance, solutions and aid to the areas hit by the hurricane. I should also clarify here that when I say they, I'm referring to the U.S. government.
   
     According to the Huffington Post, there are a few key ways to improve upon the protection in the area like lower cost solutions and sea walls. FEMA is also providing aid in the form of door to door assistance as well as Disaster Recovery centers being set up around the area.

     I guess they're doing the best they can, but I agree with Huffington Post and many others who think that the term '100 year flood' should be changed. People seem to think that they only occur once every 100 years when in fact they are more like percentages, the likelihood of such a flood occurring is 1%.

12/11/2012 ~ Apologies and Updates(Sandy Part 1/2(The Before))

     I know I owe this blog an apology. I underestimated the amount of work that I would end up having with the amount of credits I am taking this semester, as well as the amount of hours I'd be busy with my job. Because of the crazy-business that resulted from this, I haven't posted since October. I know I can't make up for missing over a month's worth of posts, but I do want to touch on a few more things before I leave this post behind me.

     Okay. I would be remiss if I didn't post about Hurricane Sandy. Since it's such a bit topic, I'm going to break it into two posts. This first one will be on the mitigation prior to Sandy, while the second will be on the mitigation after the hurricane.

     Mitigation before Sandy hit consisted of prepping with sandbagging, providing residents with radios, generators & other materials to aid in the after process, evacuations, and warnings going out about a week before the expected hit.

NY Times; CBS; Aljazeera

Personally, I just don't think they knew how bad it would end up being, and therefore didn't prepare enough.

10/9/2012 ~ An End In Sight?

As you may have noticed, most of my other blog posts have revolved around one main hazard that we've been dealing with (at least, here in the U.S.) for the past year. The drought has been on many people's minds, but according to two separate stories on Accuweather.com, the rains are returning.

In California and other South-West states there has been a weather shift with low pressure areas which has led to showers and storms in areas that haven't seen rain since early spring. In Seattle, WA, there has been a historic dry spell, but it has been broken at last as high pressure systems bring precipitation back to the typically rainy city.

Here in the middle of Wisconsin, where drought has led to loss of crops and other problems, we began getting rain yesterday, and it is supposed to continue on into the weekend. Personally, I'm thinking it's about time! We need the rain! Badly. I hope that you, too, wherever you are in the world, get the weather that you need to thrive in.

As always, here are the links to the articles. Enjoy:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/california-thunderstorms-may-b/86200
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/seattle-portland-historical-dr/86184

10/7/2012 ~ Prapiroon

Hey everyone, sorry for not posting in a while, I've been really busy with writing stories and working on drawings for my other classes.

Anyway, there's a relatively new tropical storm in the oceanic region of Japan and the Philippines that could very well become a typhoon in the next few days. A typhoon is simply a different word for hurricane, used in Asian and Australian regions.

According to http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/new-tropical-threat-in-pacific/86175 and http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/74653-tropical-storm-prapiroon/ the storm will likely bring heavy rains to the Philippines, and move North to hit Japan in about a week. And while it may not reach land for a week, it will definitely disrupt the local fisheries, ports and shipping industries.

Let's all keep Japan in our hearts, minds, and, if you're into it, prayers.

9/25/2012 ~ Eight-Legged Creepy Crawlies

More news of the effects of the abnormally warm Spring and Summer weather of this year. According to Accuweather.com, the warm weather led to a greater population of flying insects, like mosquitos, beetles, and flies, all of which are the primary food source for spiders. With there being plenty to eat this year, the spider population has increased dramatically.

But what does it mean for us? Well, if you're like me, you may have been feeling paranoid for a while now about the massive infestation of spiders on, or in, everything you keep outside. This answers my own questions as to why, after parking my bike outside my appartment every night this summer, every morning it was covered in spiders and their webs. And not just my bike either. I haven't been able to open my bedroom window since I moved in in the Spring.

Well, this is just one more reason I'm ready for a nice Winter this year. I'm rooting for a white holiday season!

As always, here's a link to the article. Hope you all are having a wonderful week!
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/abundance-of-spiders-weaving-s/77850

Chao!

9/18/2012 ~ Whirling Infernos?

Here in the U.S., we've had our fair share of fire-related problems this summer, especially because of the droughts that dried out a good part of the country. In Australia, they've also been hit hard by wildfires, but they recently got a taste of some other rare weather occurances spawned by the fires.

According to Examiner.com and Accuweather.com, a 100ft fire tornado was born in the middle of one of the wildfires that are currently raging out there in the Outback. A fire tornado occurs when the hot air of a wildfire whirls up and around into a tornado, and sucks up the fire from below. Also called a firenado, fire devil, or firewhirl, this fire tornado spun around the Australian landscape near Alice Springs for over a half an hour.

I feel like these columns of fire are pretty cool to see, but they are also quite deadly. As I read in the article on Examiner.com, the worst recorded killer fire tornado was in Japan, where out of 44,000 people, only 300 survived.

Like I always do, here are the links to the articles and the videos on the whirling infernos:

http://www.examiner.com/article/australian-outback-bushfire-spawns-amazing-fire-tornado

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/100-foot-firenado-in-australia/75219

9/15/2012 ~ The Year of the Allergen

It might come as a surprise, but allergies, having the potential to 'threaten' human society, (even if it just means the sniffles) can be considered Environmental Hazards. And if you're like most of us who live in the U.S., then you've probably noticed that allergies have been particularly bad this year. According to these two articles, the potency of this season is due to last years warm winter, and how dry this summer has been.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/allergy-season-stronger-2012_n_1435031.html
http://www.accuweather.com/en/features/fall-allergies/fall-2012-allergies-outlook/69578

Personally, I don't really get affected by seasonal allergies, but my family, friends, and co-workers have been feeling it since March. If you have allergies, I'd watch out for the ragweed this fall!