Earth Science

The environment that we know today is changing, and it is changing fast. How exactly? Well more carbon dioxide is now present in our atmosphere, which causes an increased temperature in it; that, my friends, along with other reasons, is…
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Flashfloods are instantaneous floods that cover roads and swell streams and rivers above their banks, or even create rivers where there were none to start with. These floods have many different potential causes and all are unpredictable and possibly deadly…
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The coriolis force (also called the coriolis effect) is a principle of physics whereby moving objects are deflected relative to a rotating reference frame.  A child throwing an object to another on a spinning carousel, for instance, will perceive it…
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During the hurricane season, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 become of intense importance to the public trying to understand the predicted damage a storm may do.  Originally, in the 70’s and 80’s the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale was…
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For those living on the Gulf Coast of the United States, media coverage of Hurricane Katrina was pretty much what it was for every other storm in recent history. Prior to the storm regular updates were given each time there…
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As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast, many residents were trapped because they had neglected to buy the most essential of emergency items: gasoline for the car. With the highways jammed, cars stuck in gridlock idled through what…
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Not only did the 2005 hurricane season include the devastating Hurricane Katrina, but it was a record breaking year for tropical storms in the Atlantic in general.  An estimated 3,865 deaths and $130 billion in damages were caused by the…
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Precise data is hard to come by in attempting to assess the damage done by a hurricane.  For one thing, there is a great deal of long term and indirect damage that will never be included in the calculations.  (Imagine,…
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How much rain is too much? To people that are suffering from dehydration or areas that have been in drought for too long, they would probably answer with an open ended statement suggesting that there could never be enough. But…
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Spending nearly 25 years of my life in Florida has not only opened up my ears to excellent tips about hurricanes but many different fallacies as well.  Although hurricanes have been given special media attention, especially after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina,…
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