Mooney posted about it a couple days ago – but I just found this other image of the first hurricane, Andrea, of the season. This picture was taken May 8 and by the next morning the storm had developed well enough to be classified as a subtropical storm. Hurricane season doesn’t officially start until June 1, but Subtropical Storm Andrea was named the first storm of this 2007 Atlantic hurricane season – we’ll be seeing plenty more.
By May 9 the storm had winds up to 75 km/hr. These winds fueled fires in Georgia and Florida (where the red boxes are) and the storm was not predicted to bring any sort of significant rain to the severely drought ridden areas of Georgia and Florida.
This is going to be one scary year for hurricanes.
Le. Sigh.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, the U.S. government failed to take advantage of millions of dollars in foreign aid from its allies, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
The U.S. has collected about $126 million and used just $40 million of the $454 million in cash that was offered, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officials and contractors. Some offers were rescinded or redirected to organizations such as the Red Cross. Other offers were tied up in bureaucracy, the paper said.
…
Wasted aid included medical supplies from Italy that spoiled in the elements for weeks after Katrina caused massive flooding and other damage in Louisiana and Mississippi, the report said.
“Tell them we blew it,” one disgusted State Department official wrote, according to the Post.
Also, the Department of Homeland Security accepted, then later rejected, an offer from Greece to use two cruise ships as hospitals or to house displaced residents for free because the ships could not arrive soon enough, the Post said. The government paid $249 million to use Carnival Cruise Lines vessels.
WTF.
I got sunburned SO bad today – this story completely outrages me and makes me so incredibly sad, but I am so tired from the sun and from getting only 3 hours of sleep last night that I really can’t write any commentary. But I assure you. I’m pissed off about it. #$%^ing #$%^s.
Weather effects everyone on earth, it can cut into lives… be tranquil or wonderous… dangerous or beautiful… It is mighty unpredictable. Appreciation of nature and the power of it hasn’t exactly been a priority for the world and society that we live in today. We have the privilege of living within it, and often destroy it and most definitely underestimate the awesome power and workings that weather and climate have over us.
It is for that reason that along side my paleontology posts I’ll be start weather posts as well. It seems appropriate that we should be reading about and learning about the weather that can drastically change our lives in just a singular event.
Weather is one of the most widely talked about topics, it effects people on different scales. Some people just need to go out of their way to bring an umbrella to work where as other are displaced as their houses are ripped apart. Weather dictates the types of life that we lead and the way we build our infrastructure. In conjunction with the geological events of the earth and all of the variety of Earth’s life weather has shaped the face of the planet. Consider deserts and the Amazonian swamp forests. The climates and weather the shape the lives of people there and around the area. The weather completely dictates the types of food and products they can produce, obviously in conjunction with climatic regions – which we’ll get to eventually.
Weather also provides and dictates the food that we’ll eat. In the IPCC reports often food was mentioned – either deminishing food supplies or increased food supplies because of climate change. Climate change for this reason, and many others is one of the most vital things facing the world today (along side resource depletion and over population, IMO.)
For these reasons, and many others, climate and weather are extremely important topics to discuss. From here on I’ll start by talking about how to read nature and amateur signs in weather. Then the climatic regions of the world, and eventually all the different types of weather that occur, including could types! (cucumber-nimbus! i heart kids) In conjunction with this series on weather my intentions are to keep an eye on the big weather events around the world. It won’t take long for anyone to see how incredibly humble we should be in front of the forces of nature. I’ll also throw in the history of weather here and there too – and of course discuss climate change and keep an eye on climate change news and developments just as much as I usually do. Woo! Weather!
Geography and dinosaurs. yay.
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