Typhoon Haiyan Ravages South-Western Pacific
Article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/14/world/asia/typhoon-haiyan/
A week ago, Typhoon Haiyan ripped through the Philippines. This article reports on not only the devastation it is causing to the people in the Philippines, but also the damage to the atmosphere and oceanic ecosystems as well. One of the reasons that the Typhoon was so fierce is because it was fueled by water that was much warmer than normal seas.
I chose this article because it was interesting and also very current and relevant in today's news. It also accurately compares the damage with one of the most well known hurricanes ever: Katrina. As you can see by the picture above, even though Haiyan is smaller in diameter (which is why it is classified as a typhoon) it has an average wind speed of 190-200 mph. Katrina's maximum speed was 170. If we can learn from this terrible disaster, then we can prevent bad results in the future.
The next steps are rather obvious: Recover as much as possible from this terrible natural disaster, while also learning more about Haiyan and how to prevent catastrophes such as this one from ever happening again. This part of the world has been ravaged by storms like this before, as well as the Tsunami that hit Japan 2 years ago. Better protection from Typhoons and Tsunamis are definitely necessary, as this article explains, as well as the need for better forecasting techniques to give possibly affected areas more notice.
I chose this article because it was interesting and also very current and relevant in today's news. It also accurately compares the damage with one of the most well known hurricanes ever: Katrina. As you can see by the picture above, even though Haiyan is smaller in diameter (which is why it is classified as a typhoon) it has an average wind speed of 190-200 mph. Katrina's maximum speed was 170. If we can learn from this terrible disaster, then we can prevent bad results in the future.
The next steps are rather obvious: Recover as much as possible from this terrible natural disaster, while also learning more about Haiyan and how to prevent catastrophes such as this one from ever happening again. This part of the world has been ravaged by storms like this before, as well as the Tsunami that hit Japan 2 years ago. Better protection from Typhoons and Tsunamis are definitely necessary, as this article explains, as well as the need for better forecasting techniques to give possibly affected areas more notice.