...The Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1, 2011.[20] It was an above average season in which twenty tropical cyclones formed. Nineteen of the twenty depressions attained tropical storm status, tied with 1887, 1995, 2010, and later the 2012 season for the third highest number of named storms since record-keeping began in 1851. Seven of these tropical storms became hurricanes, while four of those hurricanes further intensified into major hurricanes.[21] The season was more active than usual due to lower than average wind shear, warmer than average sea surface temperatures, and the presence of a La Niña.[22] Collectively, the tropical cyclones of this season resulted in nearly $18.5 billion in damage and there were 114 deaths; a majority of it was caused by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.[23] The...
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...Dwayne Ryder Jr. Environmental Science Mr. Washington Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh named storm and fifth hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. The storm is currently ranked as the third most intense United States land falling tropical cyclone, behind only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane and Hurricane Camille in 1969 (Shah, 2005). In this paper I will tell you about some majors things hurricane Katrina effected such as communication failures and levee failures. It also caused major border lost to certain states all the way up to Mississippi (Tihansky, 2005) . Last but not least hurricane Katrina also caused...
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...Hurricane Sandy Research Paper Super storm Hurricane Sandy occurred from October 22, 2012 – October 31st, 2012. It was a storm that many people have never seen before and may never see again. Hurricane sandy destroyed homes, businesses, and took lives all in the process. When it comes to business continuity, what did the government, businesses/utilities, financial organizations and individuals do prior to the storm, during the storm, and after the storm. Hurricane sandy had an overall impact that will never be forgotten and taught us what we know today. The government played a role through FEMA in order to take actions prior to Hurricane Sandy. Government data forecasts were provided to the public. According to “Hurricane Sandy highlights role of government information in our everyday lives” by www.foreeffective.org, states that government satellites and airplanes collect the data on the storms strength and condition. The, the government scientists develop and apply the models that predict where the storm will go. Finally, a government agency, the national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service, provides that information to the public. New York, Maryland, Washington, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina declare state of emergency and people are told to evacuate. During the super storm FEMA provided an effective and efficient response to the damages caused by Hurricane Sandy. During the storm, housing for the thousands of people the hurricane displaced...
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...GLOBAL WARMING: Energy, Fall 2005 v30 i4 p36(2) It could get a lot warmer. (GLOBAL WARMING) Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2005 Business Communications Company, Inc. If humans continue to use fossil fuels in a business as usual manner for the next few centuries, the polar ice caps will be depleted, ocean sea levels will rise by seven meters and median air temperatures will soar to 14.5 degrees warmer than current day. These are the stunning results of climate and carbon cycle model simulations conducted by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. By using a coupled climate and carbon cycle model to look at global climate and carbon cycle changes, the scientists found that the earth would warm by 8 degrees Celsius (14.5 degrees Fahrenheit) if humans use the entire planet's available fossil fuels by the year 2300. The jump in temperature would have alarming consequences for the polar ice caps and the ocean, said lead author Govindasamy Bala of the Laboratory's Energy and Environment Directorate. In the polar regions alone, the temperature would spike more than 20 degrees Celsius, forcing the land in the region to change from ice and tundra to boreal forests. "The temperature estimate is actually conservative because the model didn't take into consideration changing land use such as deforestation and build-out of cities into outlying wilderness areas," Bala said. Today's level of atmospheric carbon dioxide is 380 parts per million (ppm). By the year 2300, the model...
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...high-yield debt instrument that is usually insurance linked and meant to raise money in case of a catastrophe such as a hurricane or earthquake. One of the advantages of catastrophe bonds is that they are not linked to the stock market or the poor economic conditions occurring today. The emergence of catastrophe bonds occurred because of the large losses insurance companies suffered following Hurricane Andrew. A catastrophe bond deal occurs as; “an insurer will issue a bond whose returns are tired to the likelihood of one or more natural disasters over a certain period of time. If the event does not happen, investors earn a yield on the bond. But the principle can be wiped out if a devastating storm does strike,” (Ahmed). The catastrophe bond can be beneficial to the insurance company when a natural disaster occurs because they now have more money on hand due to the investors. It can also be very beneficial for investors when a natural disaster does not occur and they earn a relatively high yield compared to other securities. The main issue with the catastrophe bond as both an insurance company and an investor is that the likelihood of a natural disaster is entirely random and cannot be predicted through any mathematical formula. The Japanese earthquake was the first large natural disaster to occur during the emergence of catastrophe bonds, excluding Hurricane Katrina. This earthquake will be revolutionary in the catastrophe bond market because of the large implications at hand...
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...industrial activities and combustion of fossil fuels have increased the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to the increase in temperature of the surface of the earth. Scientists and researchers have argued that the increase in the earth’s surface temperature can cause climate change which can lead to catastrophic and disastrous events such as the raise of the ocean water levels due to the melting of the polar ice and flooding the coastal areas. 1.2 INTRODUCTION Climate change is the world phenomenon in which the temperature of the earth’s surface increases to the level in which it threatens the wellbeing and proper operation of the ecosystems thereby affecting the life of humans and other animals due to the unpredictable seasons and effects of droughts, floods and higher temperatures that lead to the great loss of biodiversity( )…………………states that the term ‘gender’ refers to sexually ascribed roles responsibilities and opportunities associated with women and men, as well as...
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...Izetta Clay 11/24/12 Prof: Jeff Ambrose ENG 100 Research Paper Hurricane Sandy's in KINGSTON, Jamaica KINGSTON, Jamaica Hurricane Sandy's howling winds and pelting rains lashed precarious shantytowns, stranded travelers and downed power lines Wednesday as it roared across Jamaica on a course that would take it on to Cuba and then possibly threaten Florida and the Bahamas. Sandy's death toll was at least two. An elderly man was killed in Jamaica when he was crushed by a boulder that rolled onto his clapboard house, police reported. Earlier Wednesday, a woman in Haiti was swept away by a rushing river she was trying to cross, in some southern towns of Jamaica, a few crocodiles were caught in rushing flood waters carried them out of their homes in mangrove thickets, showing up districts where electricity was knocked out, local residents reported. One big croc took up temporary residence in a family's front yard in the city of Portmore. Wednesday evening the hurricane's eye had crossed Jamaica and emerged off its northern coast near the town of Port Antonio, meteorologists said, but rain and winds continued to pound the Caribbean island, and hurricane conditions were predicted to last well in the night. It was the first direct hit by the eye of a hurricane in Jamaica since Hurricane Gilbert 24 years ago, and fearful authorities closed the island's international airports and police ordered 48-hour curfews in major towns to...
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...Hypothesis/Research Questions LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS................... METHODOLOGY/RESEARCH DESIGN * Scope and Limitations …………………………………………………………….. * Procedures * Data Sources * Budget....................................................................................................................... * Instruments * Budget ……………………………………………………………………………... Results and Discussion ……………………………………………………………………. * SWOT Audit ………………………………………………………………………. * SWOT Matrix …………………………………………………………………….. Recommendations ………………………………………………………………………… Summary and Conclusion References Appendices Abstract Extensive importation of foreign products continues to cripple the Jamaican economy. The country imports just about everything as such this limits the amount of foreign exchange that could contribute effectively to the country’s development. The importation of paper is an area of concern which we believe must receive careful attention and must be seriously addressed. Paper is a resource that is utilized daily in many operations if not all and this precious resource has to be imported from other countries while the resources available in the country which could be adequately utilized in producing this heavily used commodity are being wasted. The parish of St. Thomas is indeed a parish that possess a vast amount of coconut husks and hibiscus leaves which could be used to create paper which will...
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...[pic] Program: CS) Submitted by: Bachelor of Science in Computer Sciences (BS Muhammed Ahmed Ishtiaq Section: A Submitted to: Miss Ayesha Khalid Registration no: BCS01103118 Date: Jan, 12, 2012 GROUP NUMBER: 5 1 The Group Members are: ¬ Naqash Azeem Reg. no. bcs01103158 ¬ Muhammed Ahmed Ishtiaq Reg. no. bcs01103118 ¬ Muhammed Raza Reg. no. bcs01103153 ¬ Bilawal Jehangir Reg. no. bcs01103071 ¬ Muhammed Arslan Akram Reg. no. bcs01103181 ¬ Muhammed Iqbal Reg. no. bcs01103100 ¬ Syed Ali Farhan Tirmzi Reg. no. bcs01103093 2 3 ABSTRACT It is an undeniable truth that each and every thing which has come in to existence will come to an end. There is a spring after an autumn and autumn have to face spring after it. The three Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity & Judaism) are agreed on the same fact that one day the earth will meet to its end. Even many non-Abrahamic religions and...
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...The effects of global warming on the environment and human life are numerous and varied. Scenarios studied by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predict that global warming will continue and get worse much faster than was expected even in their last report. Research by NOAA indicate that the effects of global warming are already irreversible. The IPCC reports attribute many specific natural phenomena to human causes. The expected long range effects of recent climate change may already be observed. Rising sea levels, glacier retreat, Arctic shrinkage, and altered patterns of agriculture are cited as direct consequences of human activities. Predictions for secondary and regional effects include extreme weather events, an expansion of tropical diseases, changes in the timing of seasonal patterns in ecosystems, and drastic economic impact. Concerns have led to political activism advocating proposals to mitigate, or adapt to it. Geoengineering is a further potential response, which could potentially reverse some effects that may otherwise be irreversible. It is notable that many of the effects of global warming are non-linear in nature, with potential for dramatic positive feedback effects. This means that the climate may enter a critical state where small changes can trigger runaway or abrupt climate change. Geoengineering has been suggested as a means of interrupting or reversing these effects. A notable example of a 'runaway' effect is the release of methane...
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...Unit 9 Assignment 1: Geology of the Area Maryland’s Geology From the Atlantic coast on the east to the Appalachian Plateau on the west, Maryland has a great variety of geology and landforms. Maryland is part of six physiographic provinces (shown in the figure below). A physiographic province is a geographic area in which the geology (including lithology and structure) and climate history have resulted in landforms that are distinctly different from adjacent areas. An overview of the geology by physiographic province is provided below. Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Coastal Plain Province is underlain by a wedge of unconsolidated sediments including gravel, sand, silt, and clay, which overlaps the rocks of the eastern Piedmont along an irregular line of contact known as the Fall Zone. Eastward, this wedge of sediments thickens to more than 8,000 feet at the Atlantic coast line. Beyond this line is the Atlantic Continental Shelf Province, the submerged continuation of the Coastal Plain, which extends eastward for at least another 75 miles where the sediments attain a maximum thickness of about 40,000 feet. The sediments of the Coastal Plain dip eastward at a low angle, generally less than one degree, and range in age from Triassic to Quaternary. The younger formations crop out successively to the southeast across Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore. A thin layer of Quaternary gravel and sand covers the older formations throughout much of the area. Mineral...
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...Unit 9 Assignment 1: Geology of the Area Maryland’s Geology From the Atlantic coast on the east to the Appalachian Plateau on the west, Maryland has a great variety of geology and landforms. Maryland is part of six physiographic provinces (shown in the figure below). A physiographic province is a geographic area in which the geology (including lithology and structure) and climate history have resulted in landforms that are distinctly different from adjacent areas. An overview of the geology by physiographic province is provided below. Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Coastal Plain Province is underlain by a wedge of unconsolidated sediments including gravel, sand, silt, and clay, which overlaps the rocks of the eastern Piedmont along an irregular line of contact known as the Fall Zone. Eastward, this wedge of sediments thickens to more than 8,000 feet at the Atlantic coast line. Beyond this line is the Atlantic Continental Shelf Province, the submerged continuation of the Coastal Plain, which extends eastward for at least another 75 miles where the sediments attain a maximum thickness of about 40,000 feet. The sediments of the Coastal Plain dip eastward at a low angle, generally less than one degree, and range in age from Triassic to Quaternary. The younger formations crop out successively to the southeast across Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore. A thin layer of Quaternary gravel and sand covers the older formations throughout much of the area. Mineral...
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...are threatened by natural disasters. This has led to consequences like poverty and disease (World Risk Report 2013). The assertion that disasters in Africa occur when hazards and vulnerability meet is true. Disasters in Africa tend to affect the vulnerable. Natural disasters occurring in African countries undermine the economic survival of poor communities. Many populations in countries throughout the continent have suffered under the impact of such hazards, which have killed thousands and caused injuries to many others. Mainly it is the vulnerable groups of people and their locations that are exposed to risk of these disasters. It is of paramount importance to note that these disasters can be natural or man-made. It is the scope of this paper to deliberate if disasters in Africa really occur when hazards and vulnerability meet or not. Increasing disaster threats not only reflect the onset of events such as earthquakes or floods, but also the changing demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the population. A large, violent tornado, for instance, passing through an open field presents little danger. On the other hand, a relatively weak tornado can pose significant risks to human life and can result in great economic losses in densely populated areas. While the intensity is important, of equal or greater importance is the presence of a population whose demographic or socioeconomic characteristics may place its members at greater risk of harm before, during, and after...
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...This paper will discuss deforestation across the globe and how it affects the world’s ecosystems. Everyday, a piece of Earth’s ecosystem is demolished by human hands for the conquest for timber, minerals, and other resources. Forests cover 2% of the Earth’s surface, 6% of the landmass, and yet they house half the animal and plant species while rainforests cover twice that area. Deforestation is occurring across the globe on a scale that if it were continue at its present rate the forests could disappear within the next one to two hundred years. This raises concerns and questions. First, why should we be concerned? Second, what kind of damage could deforestation lead to animal and plant species, human existence, and to mother Earth and its atmosphere? Third, how and why the rainforests benefit the human race. To answer these questions, this paper will discuss where the most deforestation is occurring and the consequences of deforestation. Tropical rainforests are defined by two primary factors: location and amount of rainfall they receive. Rainforests receive from 4 to 8 meters of rain a year. Most of the rainfall is blocked by heavy vegetation, and water reaches the forest floor by rolling down branches and trunks. A distinctive characteristic is that the rainforests have no seasonality or no dry or cold season of slower growth. In addition, they are the Earth’s oldest living ecosystems. The rainforests are a priceless part of mother earth and their removal through deforestation...
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...the risk of the hazards for the whole community. As the plan is being developed planners should lay the groundwork for an all-hazard approach to risk. The plan should include mitigation strategies for the risk that could impact the planner's community. For example, on the coast, there should be a strategy to handle hurricanes, storm surges, and floods. A different approach will deviate for specific regions. Once the mitigation initiatives are developed, they will help to minimize or eliminate those vulnerabilities for the targeted location. The ultimate goal is to have a risk base plan that will guide the community for prevention, protection, preparedness, response, and recovery. The guiding principles will assist the community to be ready to be put the plan into action if every needed. Goals Mitigation goals should be attainable, and they should include feedback from every stakeholder, partnership, and each in the community wanting to get involved in the planning process. The whole community will determine the outcome of the plan. Keep in mind that many communities have multiple jurisdictions and each participating community will have an input. Based on research completed within the Institute for Environment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Institute for Sustainable Coastal Communities, some of the most reliable plans include multiple jurisdictions overlapping boundaries, listing out the jurisdictions and partners agencies and persons (Mitigation...
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