According to Rod Blagojevich, former governor of the state of Illinois, “Wind is the country’s fastest growing source of energy, and I would like to see Illinois generate 3,000 megawatts of electricity from the wind (equivalent to three nuclear power plants) by 2012,” (Manor, pg.# 2). As near-sighted as this goal and Blagojevich’s political career turned out to be, it was not feasible, but many wind specialist agree that this amount of energy and perhaps even more can be generated by wind turbines as soon as the year 2030. There are a few factors to consider when determining where to place a wind farm and they’re not something that can just be slammed together overnight. The cost of constructing an entire wind farm can run into the billions of dollars, and with the U.S. being in a state of financial crisis, finding the funding for such projects can be a substantial task in itself. Factoring the
With convergence and coalescence, enhanced moisture levels resulted in heavy rainfall on the afternoon of 16 August 2004. 185 mm (7 inches) of rain fell over the high ground just inland of Boscastle. At the peak of the downpour, at about 15:40GMT, 24.1mm of rain (almost one inch) was recorded as falling in just 15 minutes at Lesnewth, 2.5 miles (4 km) up the valley from Boscastle. In Boscastle, 89 mm (3.5 inches) of rain was recorded in 60 minutes. Main Causes of the
Mr Watson had previously settled with flavourings company FONA International Inc. "[The popcorn manufacturer] did absolutely no testing whatsoever to think the consumer might be at risk," Mr Watson told CBS News. Mr Watson's case was helped by the testimony of Dr Cecile Rose, the doctor who diagnosed him with the condition. She had been a consultant to the flavourings industry and had seen the same disease Mr Watson had developed
Within this past century, there have been five major floods that were recorded to have claimed hundreds of millions of lives, millions of acres of farmland, destroyed thousands of homes, and billions of dollars of damage. In 1998, a flood of such catastrophic level in the Three Gorges area caused 4,000 casualties, left 14 million people homeless, and created $24 billion in economic loss. The proponents of the Three Gorges Dam believe that it will serve to protect 15 million people and 1.5 million acres of farmland in areas of the Yangtze River that are vulnerable to flooding. In order to do this, the water height of the reservoir upstream from the dam will change according to season. During the dry season, from November to April, the water level will be allowed to reach 185 meters above sea level, but during the flooding months, the water level will be reduced to 135 meters in order to attempt to contain flood waters.
As a result of gas station paying more for their gasoline, this will increase the amount the customer will have to pay for gasoline. According to the Federal Trade Commission, The storm “affected 19% of the United States oil production. Hurricanes Katrina (and a smaller previous Hurricane Rita) destroyed 113 offshore oil and gas platforms, damaged 457 oil and gas pipelines, and spilled nearly as much oil as the Exxon Valdez oil disaster”. This caused oil prices to increase by $3 a barrel, and gas prices to nearly reach $5 a gallon. Because of the devastation of hurricane Katrina many of the United States oil refineries were damaged, causing a decrease in gas supply.
Hurricane Katrina reached New Orleans on August 29, 2005 , as a powerful Category 5 hurricane. Hurricane Katrina impacted the lives of people who mainly reside in New Orleans, Louisiana, although surrounding areas were affected as well. New Orleans suffered great damage as a result of this storm. Damaged or lost property is still under renovation and it is believed to take many more years, until the city is completely restored. Hurricane Katrina consisted of much high wind strength and power which led to levies to fail, and developed flooding in the area.
A tsunami “wave train” may come as surges five minutes to an hour apart. The cycle may be marked by the repeated retreat and advance of the ocean. Despite a lag of up to several hours between the earthquake and the impact of the tsunami, nearly all of the victims were taken completely by surprise because there were no tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean to detect tsunamis or to warn the general populace living around the ocean. The Indian Ocean tsunami travelled as far as 3,000 miles to Africa and still arrived with sufficient force to kill people and destroy property.
Global Warming: Changing the Climate Control Policies For the past 10 years, 2000 until today, we have experienced some phenomenal natural disasters. For example, the 2004 Indonesia tsunamis, 2010 Haiti earthquakes, 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption, and massive hurricanes in the Atlantic, and they are leaving everyone wondering, why? Even though these are natural disasters and it seems there is nothing we can do to avoid these catastrophes; we can help control the climate around us. Climatologists have been warning the government all around the world of the possible effects due to global warming and there is still no agreement on the action that needs to be taken. Since we have the attention of everyone, now is the best time to take action against global warming.
The rate of sea level rise during the 20th century was about 10 times higher than the average rate during the last 3,000 years. Global ocean heat content has also increased since the 1950s. El Nino Definition – a warm ocean current of variable intensity that develops after late December along the coast of Ecuador and Peru and sometimes causes catastrophic weather conditions. More frequent, determined and fierce El Nino’s have been recorded in recent decades. The constant 1990 to mid-1995 warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation event was amazing in the 120 year record of the rare occasion.
Recent studies have shown that ninety-seven percent of scientists believe that manmade actions cause climate change (Samenow). The inconvenient truth is that climate change is a reality that must be addressed. The environment has become polluted, unpredictable, and dangerous as a result of climate change. The three major effects of climate change are: flooding, drought, and spread of disease. Scientists studying the polar ice caps have observed consistent annual increases in the rates at which they are melting; this indicate, that the temperature of Earth’s water is increasing and sea levels are rising.