You are laying on the beach, enjoying the sun and sand, when suddenly, you look up to see the water rushing away from you. Parts of the sand that had been underwater a second ago are now bare, full of…
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December 26, 2004 a massive earthquake rocked the islands of Indonesia. One of the biggest on record, experts immediately feared a gigantic tidal wave—a tsunami—would follow. And follow it did, with a horrific outcome as it swept away whole towns,…
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The oceans, in conjunction with the atmosphere, create the climate experienced on Earth. For a long time, discussions of climate change did not take the oceans, and the major impact they have on climate, into consideration. The top few meters…
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A Rogue wave is one of nature’s most unstoppable forces. It comes with little or no warning and devastates anything in its path. Walls of water 90 feet high crash over you, sending your boat rolling, and you are flung…
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Red tide is a phenomenon that occurs all across the world along the coasts. It is formed when phytoplankton or algae accumulate in such large numbers in a given area that they discolor the water. The preferred name by scientists…
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Sir Francis Beaufort was the person who created the Beaufort Wind Scale while he was a Commander in the British Royal Navy in 1806. This scale had 0 to 12 scale categories that indicated how much a ship’s sail would…
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Aquaculture is the term used for the growing and cultivating of plants and animals in water. Fresh water aquaculture can take place in lakes, streams, ponds or man-made environments. Marine aquaculture takes place in salt water and involves the raising…
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A supercell thunderstorm is a powerful type of thunderstorm formed from a particular combination of winds, moisture, and temperatures, and often produces destructive weather effects such as tornadoes and hail. The one characteristic that makes a supercell unique is the…
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Tropical storms and hurricanes have been named in some countries since the 1800’s. Others started naming the storms in early 1930’s but it wasn’t until the mid 1950’s that a “real” system was set in to motion by all the…
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Thanks to news coverage of hurricanes and other major storms, almost everyone has heard the term “storm surge,” and most people have at least some notion of what a storm surge is, at least to the extent that the words…
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