Inside this issue:
- Euro Creditors Claim Second Government In Three Days: Berlusconi Falls
- A Hurricane of Snow Approaches Alaska
- Quarter-mile-wide Asteroid Narrowly Misses Earth – Will Be Closest Call Until 2028
Nov 082011
Nov 262010
Illinois representative, Republican, climate change denier, John Shimkus. He'd like to have a hand in our energy policy!
With the incoming class of Republicans set to begin their rule in the House of Representatives this coming January, battles for leadership of various positions and committees have already begun. Names have been put forward hoping to step into a larger, brighter spotlight – as is the norm in the world of politics. As each formally unknown (or better said, not-as-known) Congressperson steps forward, the evaluation of who they are and what they believe begins. One of the bigger standouts in this arena of committee leadership change comes from Illinois representative John Shimkus, who is aiming for the leadership of the Energy and Commerce committee.
As the title of the committee indicates, one of the realms that it has jurisdiction over is the nation’s energy policy. As an extension of that, it also has huge effects on our environmental policies, just by which policies and energy sources would be favored by it (coal vs. clean, for example). With the threat of Global Warming still incrementally playing out year by year across the world, and with so many things related to energy, consumption, and resources seemingly near dramatic tipping points, now would be the time for some decisive leadership to help ensure that America will be on the right paths to not only help itself from an energy standpoint, but also help the world in the fight against Global Warming.
Instead? Mr. Shimkus takes his cues on Global Warming from The Bible. Continue reading »
Jun 302010
Hurricane Alex about to make landfall in northeastern Mexico
Hurricane Alex, a large and quickly intensifying storm, is about to make landfall on the northeastern coast of Mexico near the barrier island town of La Yegua, Tamaulipas. Winds in Alex have quickly jumped to 100mph sustained in the hours before its landfall, and will be effecting a large amount of real estate. Hurricane force winds extend out 70 miles from the center, tropical storm force winds 205 miles. Half a foot to a foot of rain is expected in the storm’s path which is certain to cause life threatening flash floods. That’s not the only effect, however…
Jun 262010
Visible satellite loop of Tropical Storm Alex, ending at 13:00 June 26 EDT. (click for motion)
Fueled by light winds aloft and water temperatures in the mid-80′s, Tropical Depression #1 has strengthened to Tropical Storm Alex this morning – at present sporting winds of 45mph.
Warnings are currently up for the entire coastline of Belize, as well as the coast of Mexico up to Cancun. The system is expected to make landfall later today near the Mexico/Belize border as a tropical storm.
Jun 252010
Satellite image of TD #1 – 23:00 June 25 EDT.
Update: TD #1 has since become Tropical Storm Alex. See here for more.
Somewhere on the list of “things that don’t need to happen right now” when it comes to the ongoing ecological disaster caused by the Deepwater Horizon well there is, relatively close to the top, an entry for “hurricane enters Gulf of Mexico”. While far from being the case at the current time, something is now officially out there.
All things considered, perhaps the closest watched tropical depression ever has just formed in the Caribbean Sea – TD #1. All eyes would be on this disturbance in a normal year. The difference for this year? The whole world is already watching the unfolding disaster in the Gulf, and a tropical system of any magnitude will only serve to make matters much worse. Continue reading »
Sep 222006
Weather was, and will always be, my first informational love. It was the first complicated concept that I took any interest in when I was a child, and it is still something I check in on a daily basis. For everything else that I’ve taken an interest in as far as information that I can read – politics, the world, technology – weather seems simple and refreshing to me. It’s something that is, for the most part, not screwed up by the day to day drama of our fellow man. It’s something that just… is. It has always been, and it will forever be. The science of trying to decode and predict the ultimate form of chaos theory on this planet will always interest me.
Thankfully for the betterment of public safety, our government has taken an interest in the weather for a long time now. In America, the National Weather Service has been around and kicking since 1870. Back then, when Ulysses S. Grant ordered its creation, the main purpose was to provide meteorological observations for the military. Their mission would expand over time to providing the public with warnings of impending dangerous weather conditions, and finally just an official outlet for day to day forecasts of what is to come. The knocks about the weather man being as they are, the weather service has made dramatic strides in forecasting what’s to come, and what’s to come over a longer period of time, and continues to improve. Severe weather warnings usually give people up to fifteen minutes of lead time before a tornado sweeps through their neighborhood, which is why when we hear about a tornado hitting a trailer park or neighborhood, we hear of a handful of deaths instead of hundreds. The strides made in tropical weather forecasts have allowed for the tremendous development of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts – it is much safer to live on the hurricane coasts now than it was a hundred years ago. Odds are if a disastrous storm is on the way, you are going to be told about it, and you are going to have more than enough time to get out. Whether or not you remain behind is pretty much left up to an individual’s choosing – the New Orleans debockle not withstanding.
What is most important is that all of this information is provided to the American public free of additional charge – our tax payer dollars go toward this, fund this, and it – unlike a number of other governmental programs – actually pays us back.
Aug 292006
On August 29, 2005, a bit before 8:30 in the morning local time, a natural disaster named Katrina destroyed a major city. It was about this time where the first levees in the city of New Orleans failed, sending a torrents of polluted water into the city, submerging some districts by more than twenty feet. New Orleans became the third American major city in the past 106 years to be destroyed – the other two being Galveston, Texas (1900 – hurricane) and San Francisco, California (1906 – earthquake). It is surely a major multi-generational event for such a disaster to befall a highly populated chunk of real estate. Throughout human history, such disasters can be the end of a given city being such a highly populated area – such as the Roman Empire’s Pompeii, which was lost to a volcano. With our better improved technology allowing us to rebuild wherever we so choose, the odds of a city being abandoned after a major disaster are pretty much nill, but the effects can last more than a hundred years.
Sep 012005
Words can’t quite describe what is going on. Pictures, a little better.
Aug 302005
Words can’t quite describe what is going on. Pictures, a little better.