Eau Claire weather

On Sunday, the city of Eau Claire received a surprise. Fat, heavy snow flakes fell through the day and into the night, causing college students of UW-Eau Claire to cross their fingers and hope that maybe the university would cancel classes like every other grade school in a 100 miles radius.

According to an article on spectatornews.com, the facilities department was a bit under prepared for the sudden snow. The stark contrast between a warm November full of sweatshirts to a snowy December where a parka might be necessary and caught the attention of lots of students. Where did this sudden snow come from?

I have no documented source from the city of Eau Claire but 5 days later and my street still has too much snow for my car to make it up the small hill. Yes the snow was sudden, but more plows need to be out on the roads. Now.

Volcanic Eruption in New Zealand

On November 21st Mount Tongariro, the volcano that neighbors Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings erupted again for the first time since 1897, according to an article on National Geographic. The article said the volcano shot ash into the air for over 5 minutes and went 2.5 miles up. 

Some flights have been canceled from this eruption and more are planned to be canceled. The last huge eruption in New Zealand caused lots of air traffic issues. The potential problem with this eruption is there is a strong chance for a second eruption to occur in a few weeks. 

In an article on The New Zealand Herald didn't suggest that any people were injured or in danger from a second eruption but air travel will be effected if there isn't a secondary eruption. 

The government said to check with them before going hiking on the mountain and to keep a look out for observatories but that is the only preparation that citizens can do. 



http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10849136
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/121121-mount-doom-volcano-new-zealand-science-eruption/?source=hp_dl1_news_mount_tongariro201320121127

Mt. St. Helens 3D

Boring Mt. St. Helens map

Total Volume Loss

Mt. St. Helens before/after

BEFORE

AFTER

President Obama's win

President Barack Obama won the presidential election for his second term in office. A reason why I chose to vote for him is because of his stance on environmental issues.
From the White House website:

 “We can’t have an energy strategy for the last century that traps us in the past. We need an energy strategy for the future – an all-of-the-above strategy for the 21st century that develops every source of American-made energy.” - President Barack Obama, March 15, 2012

Personally, how he plans to bring out country forward with energy is the most important environmental issue for me.  I hope that in this next term, the dependence on petroleum and coal will be greatly reduced.  This are extremely high hopes but our days left are numbered (that link is more for show rather than information. I didn't confirm the source). 

We can prevent our environment from turning into a disaster but that is up to us and up to our government to make it a priority. 

Hurricane Sandy

The title of this article is "Climate Change And Hurricane Sandy: How Global Warming Might Have Made The Superstorm Worse." I'm not going to even pretend to me a meteorologist or an expert on global change but that is a ridiculous article if you ask me.  Has it really not been commonly accepted STILL that the climate is changing? 
According to the Environment Protection Agency, "the evidence is clear." Taken directly from their website, "Many places have seen changes in rainfall, resulting in more floods, droughts, or intense rain, as well as more frequent and severe heat waves." I am a journalist so I have been staying up-to-date on Hurricane Sandy and I surprisingly haven't seen all that many articles about how global change had an effect in this superstorm.  
Best quote from the article though: "If this were a criminal case, detectives would be treating global warming as a likely accomplice in the crime." 

Hurricane Sandy

After the first presidential debate, it was no secret that President Obama messed up.  You could almost Governor Romney was finally in the battle after the first debate.  I write this as the votes are being counted so we don't know who our President will be but many people agree the Hurricane Sandy, as devastating as it was, saved Obama's chances. 

They way he dealt with the disaster showed him as a president and showed that he can lead.  This restored a lot of faith in him as a leader which in turn inspired lots of undecided voters which way they should cast their vote. 

As we discussed in class, this disaster may have saved his presidency. 

Hurricane Sandy

On Nov. 4th, the New York Marathon was canceled because of Hurricane Sandy. This was a huge upset because people from around the world flew to New York for the marathon. 

I completely agree with the Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to cancel the event. In the article on The Independent, it stated that people throughout the city were still without power and it just comes down to what matters the most — the event or the people of New York City. 

On Humans of New York (a blog and Facebook page devoted to capturing the humans of New York City) there were multiple photos showing marathon runners staying in town to help people with clean up and volunteering.

It relates to what we talk about in class that best and most efficient way to keep hazards from turning into disasters is community preparedness. Obviously, Sandy was a disaster but because of the community working together.  Also, we all know celebrities love to prove how great of people that they are so their involvement didn't hurt the cause either. 

PGA

The high PGA areas tend to have more stations location near them.

Building damage and geologic factors

 

 

Although building status and building damage density can be related, liquefaction is unrelated to the buildings because it occurs in the soil.  It doesn't have anything to do with building status. 

Hurricane Sandy

This is an impressive event of all the right factors occurring at the same time.  A Swiss Cheese Model.  With the moon, the Arctic jet stream and the hurricane.  I have friends that live in New York City and the New England area and they said it isn't very bad —right now, it isn't even raining in Massachusetts.  I think after Hurricane Katrina, we over prepare for natural disasters but in my opinion it is always better to over-prepare, lost money or not.  Obviously we are not in the best economic situation to waste money but a life should never have a price tag on it so protection of the people should always be first.  


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/us/hurricane-sandy-churns-up-east-coast.html?hp&_r=0


As the day progresses, the storm is getting worse.  I've seen lots of jokes online about Sandy and it seems as if a lot of the general public is not taking the situation very seriously.  Because the East Coast doesn't have as many environmental hazards occur as other parts of the US, they may just be unprepared.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/30/us/hurricane-sandy-churns-up-east-coast.html?hp&_r=0

Jailed over earthquake predictions

After thinking about this for awhile, I am still in disbelief that scientists could be jailed over a failed earthquake prediction.
A quick summary of the article, six scientists and a government official are being sentenced to six years in jail for failure to accurately predict an earthquake that occurred in Italy in 2009.  Yes, more than 300 people were killed because the earthquake was predicted incorrectly but natural hazards are currently impossible to predict! To be held accountable for the deaths of these people is "both unfair and naive", quoted from the second CNN article. 

In another quote taken from the second article, "Eugenio Carlomagno is among the citizens of L'Aquila to feel let down by the panel. 'There are big responsibilities that this trial has to establish. No one alerted us, there were no evacuation plans that could have saved lives,' he told CNN.'

Regardless of if the citizens were not alerted, it is still the earthquake that killed the people.  Not the earthquake. 

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/23/world/europe/italy-quake-scientists-guilty/index.html?on.cnn=2
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/20/world/europe/italy-quake-trial/index.html

Earthquake Risk Assessment

Earthquake Preparation

 Today, the "Great Shakeout" will occur.  Millions of people around the world will hit the deck in a massive earthquake drill to prepare for future earthquakes.  Homes, schools and offices are all going to participate in the event.  This is behavioral preparation. If they can prepare the generation public to react in a certain way, hopefully they will stay calm during the actual hazard.  Therefore, more lives will be saved. 
According to www.ready.gov, they say the best ways to react during a earthquake if indoors is to drop to the ground, get under or near something sturdy and cover your face and head.  Quoted from the website, "Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place." This seems a little too easy to protect yourself from an earthquake.  What is a pillow really going to do? I understand that there is only so much a person can do to protect themselves if there is an earthquake but telling a person to cover their head with a pillow for protection seems a little unnecessary.




http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/18/shake-rattle-and-roll-us-other-countries-to-participate-in-earthquake-drill/
http://www.ready.gov/earthquakes

Comparing soil to drought and crop yields

Drought Map

Oil Spill in New Zealand

Yesterday, according to BBC an oil tanker off the North-East coast of New Zealand began leaking oil.  This is being called the worst oil spill in the history of New Zealand and is expected to get significantly worse over the next few days.

Posted on Ministry for the Environment, "Being an island nation, the health of our ocean, our land and our people are inextricably linked."  The health of the ocean and beaches is extremely important to New Zealand's economy.  Not only does fishing support a large part of their industry, tourism does as well.  Right now, it is 'summer' in Australia and New Zealand.  Having one of their best beaches closed for a significant period of time is going to affect their economy.

Obviously the affects on the environment and wildlife is going to be tragic and detrimental, as well.

http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/oceans/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15251319

Chinese landslide

A landslide occurred in China on October 4th.  The landslide was a result of an earthquake and flood that occurred a month ago. 
The landslide buried a primary school, trapping 18 students and one adult.  The people are thought to still be trapped inside.  This disaster was entirely preventable if the school was located at a more secure location. 
There is an estimated $160 million in damages from the earthquake, flooding and the landslide. 
The article didn't mention the rescue methods being used to rescue the people in the school but I'm hope that it is a first priority.
The article also mentioned that the school was only in session because they were making up from school due to delayed when the earthquake hit.  If natural disasters are that common, it seems there should be better security methods in place or schools located in better areas!



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/04/china-landslide-buries-primary-school

World Earthquakes and Tsunamis

Acalanche in Himalayan mountains kills multiple climbers

This was a very sad article to read.  I enjoy participating in dangerous and extreme activities.  I have sky-dived, bungee jumped, mountain climbed (my next adventure will hopefully include some sort of rainforest!) but I try to weigh the risks of a situation before partaking in it.  When I first started mountain climbing, this past February, my friends were careful and instructive on how to read a map before we did any climbing.  We were in Scotland and the weather can change really easy.  Getting lost on a mountain top can be very dangerous, but at the same time you be ready for a bad situation.

In this article a Nepalese official commented and said that this event was completely a natural disaster. There are nothing the climbers could have done to prevent being killed in the avalanche, other than not going climbing.  When you participate in dangerous activities — whether it be base jumping, storm chasing or mountain biking — there is a risk.  You have to respect nature and always have it in your mind that disaster events can affect you.  

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/23/nepal-himalayas-avalanche-climber-deaths

Wildfires

This article is important to me because my uncle is currently living in the thick of the wildfires.  He lives in an RV in a forest and earlier this summer when he was visiting Wisconsin, the fires got within a mile from his RV and there was nothing he could do to save all of his belongings. 

This particular article said that these new fires were started by a lightning strike on September 9th, 2012 so there was nothing in particular that we as humans could have done to prevent this fire (unless you want to go wild and say by using fossil fuels we have causes global change and so on and so forth ...). 

My uncle and his friends are experienced dirt bikers, so these fires have destroyed or are destroying their favorite places to bike as well as their property and belongings.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120921142832.htm

Flood Hazard Map

Using this information, floods can not be prevented but they can be prepared for.  Knowing where floods occur, how often and how extreme can allow the citizens of the probable flood area to prepare themselves for prevention and for the after affects.  Depending on what areas are affected, you can decide what would/wouldn't be good farm land so you can attempt prevent crop damages and food shortages.