Super Storm Sandy

Taxis in Hoboken New Jersey
http://www.annarbor.com/news/superstorm-sandy-stories-photos-and-videos-from-the-devastation/

Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast hard Monday night causing major blackouts and flooding. Millions of people didn't have power and many still don't. It could take over a week before the power is restored. The power being out has also caused several car accidents.  The subways in New York City are extremely flooded. The subways are an important method of transportation in NYC, with about 5 million people using the subway each day and without them it is extremely difficult for people to get around. several houses were destroyed by flooding. There were also several fires that destroyed houses as well. The overall death toll from this storm right now is 74 people. 

This is just a quick overview of the initial damaged that was caused by hurricane sandy. Hurricane sandy had such a huge impact on the country because it hit the most populated area of the country. The storm became worse because of the lunar cycle and then the cold air came in and caused a snowstorm. All of this is an example of the Swiss cheese model and shows how one hurricane that wasn't overly powerful can cause massive destruction under the right conditions. One good thing for the people being hit by the storm is that because they are in an important part of the country and it's around election time, they will get lots of aid swiftly which probably wouldn't be the case if this storm hit a more remote area of the country. It also is getting a lot more media coverage because of it's location. Another thing we can look at with this storm is the difference between MDC's and LDC's. The storm is causing massive damage and is definitely going to effect our country monetarily but the death toll is still only at 74. If we lived in a LDC country, we wouldn't be as effected monetarily but the death toll would be much much larger. 

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/hurricane-sandy-winter-storm-20121025

Scientist In Italy Found Guilty 

The scientists in Italy that I posted about yesterday were found guilty and were sentenced to six years in jail.

I don't think that the scientists should have been held responsible for something that they couldn't have predicted. This makes me worry about what will  happen in the future and if more scientists will be prosecuted.

Using GIS For Making Handicap Accessible Areas 

San Francisco is using GIS mapping for installing handicap ramps on street corners. One third of the street corners in San Francisco do not have handicap ramps and several of the ramps that they do have are outdated. The city is working on installing new ramps and updating the old ones by using the Curb Ramp Information System (CRIS) which is a map of curb ramps that was made on ArcGIS. The map shows where there are curb ramps and each ramp is color coded based on the condition it is in. The map is posted on the cities website for the community to use. It also is being used to help monitor the project and to determine which streets they want to do construction on. 

http://www.pwmag.com/ada-compliance/using-gis-to-meet-accessibility-requirements.asp

I've been using ArcGIS in class a lot to look at natural hazards and different enviromental trends but I didn't think about the advantages it could have for something like this. It just shows how useful technology like ArcGIS can be. 

The Top 13 Disasters In Western U.S.

A writer on the weather channel's web page put together a list of the worst disasters to hit the western U.S.. The worst 13 disasters are:

1. The San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906

2. Noachian Deluge (the great flood) in California, Oregon,Idaho, and Nevada  1861-1862

3. The Great Fire in Montana, Idaho, and Washington 1910

4. Northridge earthquake in California 1994

5. Aleutian Islands earthquake and tsunami in Alaska, Hawaii 1946

6. Mount St. Helen's eruption in Washington 1980

7. The Columbus Day Big Blow (windstorm) in California, Oregon, and Washington 1962

8. Oakland Hills firestorm in California 1991

9. Good Friday earthquake and tsunami in Alaska 1964

10. Big Thompson's Canon flash flood in Colorado 1976

11. Hurricane Iniki in Hawaii1992

12. Wellington Washington avalanche in 1910

13. Heppner Oregon flash flood in 1903 

http://www.weather.com/news/worst-western-usa-disasters-20121011?pageno=2

This article goes on to described each disaster and the impact that it had. I thought it was an interesting article to read because it talks about multiple types of natural hazards and how each one turned into a disaster. For example the earthquake that happened in the Aleutian Islands cause very minimal damage but the tsunami it caused hit Hawaii and caused 159 deaths. I was surprised that an avalanche and a windstorm were in the top 13 disasters. Although, the avalanche wouldn't have been a disaster if there hadn't been a train there at the time or if the train had been under the tunnel. 

Scientists On Trial

In 2009 there was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in L'Aquila Italy that killed over 300 people. The scientists studying the tremors before the earthquake did not make an official earthquake warning. The scientist also had interviews with the local media before the earthquake and reassured people that they didn't have to evacuate. The scientist argue that it was not there fault because it is impossible to really predict an earthquake and that the chances of them being hit was very improbable. The tremors that were felt before the earthquake were not uncommon in the area and most of the building that clasped were not up to the standards for earthquake prone areas. The verdict on whether the scientist are guilty will come in tomorrow. 

http://www.weather.com/news/italy-earthquake-trial-20121021

The scientist shouldn't be on trial for not accurately predicting an earthquake and stating to the media what they believed to be true. I can think of multiple times when I have check the weather and it has said it would be sunny and instead it's raining or the times when we are only expected to get a little bit of snow and instead there is a blizzard. Are we going to accuse all weathermen for giving us false information? Where do we draw the line? I understand the families being upset but accusing the scientist of manslaughter when they made their best assessment of the situation based on the probability of an earthquake occurring and other scientific knowledge isn't justice. If they had ignored the tremors completely or knew a warning should have been place but it didn't get done for whatever reason then yes the scientist would be at fault. If the verdict comes in that they are guilty, I can't help but wonder what that means for the scientific community. Science isn't exact, there is still a lot that can't be explained or predicted and with so many different variables in nature it's impossible for scientist to know exactly what will happen. If scientist are prosecuted for bad predictions then they will be afraid to make any predictions if there is a slight chance of them being wrong. This could extend to more than just the weather and there wouldn't be a lot of advances in science and technology if the entire science community is afraid of being prosecuted for things they couldn't have predicted.

Earthquake in China

South Western China after earthquakes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-19527691

An earthquake hit Yunnan and Guizhou China. At least 80 people are dead and a lot more are injured, thousands of houses were destroyed as well. The strongest earthquake had a magnitude of 5.6 and caused several landslides. One of the landslides killed 18 children and an adult at Tiantou Primary School. The school was buried by a landslide that was caused by the earthquakes that hit the area. The children that died normally don't have school this week and actually go to a different school but were at this school because they had to make up missing class from the last earthquake that hit and destroyed their school.

I read this article not long after we talked about direct and indirect causes. The earthquake indirectly caused the deaths of the children in the school because it caused the landslide. This article also relates to the Swiss cheese model of disaster. If the other earthquake hadn't caused them to miss class then the school would have been empty and no one would have died.  

This is a video of the landslide.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRBHpIq5O68

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19527695

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-198399

Shrinking Fish

Scientist believe that global warming might cause fish to decrease in size. As the temperature of water increases, the density of the water decreases which means there is less oxygen in the water. They believe that fish may decrease up to 24%  of there size by 2050 and that the overall amount of fish in the tropical oceans will decrease.

http://www.weather.com/news/global-warming-to-shrink-fish-20121001

I found this article interesting. Global Warming is considered a contextual hazard because the effects it may cause are still unknown.

Earthquake In Texas

An earthquake with a 3.4 magnitude hit Dallas Texas but no serious damage was done and there were no injuries. The airport was able to continue with their regular flight plans. Some houses had cracked walls and ceilings  but that was the extent to the damage. 

http://www.weather.com/news/dallas-earthquake-20120930

I posted this article because it is an example of how natural hazards in the United States get more attention than more serious hazards in other parts of the world. No one was injured and there was almost more damage but it got more coverage than the 7.3 earthquake that hit Columbia. 

Here is the link for the article on the earthquake in Columbia:  http://www.weather.com/news/deep-earthquake-columbia-20120930