Tsunami

The name tsunami came from the Japanese words, the term “tsu” means harbor and “nami” means wave. Hence the meaning of tsunami means harbor-wave

A tsunami occurs whenever there is a disturbance deeper under the ocean. These disturbances are caused mainly by the natural disasters like earthquake, a landscape or volcano. The most common cause for tsunami is an underwater earthquake. This underwater earthquake needs to be a larger one of about 7.0 magnitude or even bigger

This type of earthquake occurs because of the continental and the oceanic plates that are the huge areas of earth’s crust that push with each other and high pressure is built. The pressure builds and builds till the oceanic plate slips under the continental plate which releases all energy and that pressure which is called as an earthquake

As the underwater earthquake is large the ocean floor will also make movements accordingly and therefore the water above the floor will also move by pushing the ocean water also upward by causing the large ripple. This large water ripple starts to travel through the ocean. This large ripple soon becomes the tsunami which travels at a very fast speed of 600 miles per hour. This is how the tsunami occurs. Japan is the country where tsunami occurs more frequently. The record shows approximately 195 events

What is Climate Change?

Climate change

What is Climate Change?

Climate change

The Climate on Mars

Mars has seasons just like Earth though they last about twice as long because the Martian year is almost twice that of Earth. Mars axial tilt is 25.2 degrees which is also very close to the 23.5 of Earth.
When a Martian hemisphere is experiencing summer, the polar cap shrinks back and may even disappear from view altogether. At the same time the darker regions grow darker and change slightly from year to year. It was once thought that these markings were vegetation, but we now know they are windblown dust.
When winter ensues, the polar cap of that hemisphere grows and may expand into the middle latitudes. The ice sheets of the polar caps are mainly carbon dioxide ice, but it is believed that there may be some water ice trapped underneath those sheets closest to the pole itself.

Generally Mars is quite cold with lows that reach -140 C (-220 F) but occasionally there are days that are quite balms reaching 20C (68 F.) Because soil and rock absorb heat from the Sun, the surface would be slightly warmer. Frost that forms during the night would melt and be released as water vapor during the day.
The thin, chill blanket of the Martian atmosphere has an average density less than one-hundredth of the Earth's. At 142 million miles from the Sun, Mars receives less than half the solar energy that reaches the Earth. Yet coupled with the tenuous air and Mars' daily rotation, that energy produces some remarkable weather. Clouds of water ice form high in the Martian air, driven by winds that can gust up to 50 mph on the surface—and more than 125 mph in the vast dust storms that astronomers have seen sweeping the planet.

www.ozgate.com

Weather for summer; climate for life

As the summer holiday season approaches, is anyone paying attention to climate change, beyond a quick glance at the 7 day weather forecast?

In recent months our headlines have been dominated by spending cuts and the budget deficit. Climate change hardly got a look in at emergency budget time.

Whilst the picture across Europe isn't much different, EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard recently raised hackles by proposing a unilateral increase from 20% to 30% in Europe's self imposed 2020 carbon reduction target. This higher limit is supposed to kick in only when the rest of the world gets serious and a global climate change deal is in place.

As we know, Copenhagen last year put paid to that, at least for the time being. However, the Commissioner's thinking was that the global recession has made the 2020 carbon reduction targets cheaper to achieve, and - deal or no deal - Europe now needs to crank up its commitment to reduction in order to drive up the price of carbon and kick start investment in clean tech, and to retain its leadership status on the issue.

Hardly tabloid news fodder - and, as it happens, the Commissioner subsequently backed down somewhat in the face of opposition.

Regrettably, when climate change has managed to hit the headlines, it's been confined to alleged skulduggery and intrigue amongst the scientists, allowing the sceptics to gain the upper hand with the continuing 'Climategate' debate.

What about farther afield, in those countries where low carbon laws and policies lag well behind Europe?

It is well known that only 1 in 5 US citizens of voting age has any regular interest in international affairs, so 'Climategate' is unlikely to have had much impact over the Pond, let alone talk of European carbon targets. With hundreds of miles of Gulf coastline to clean up, and continued offshore drilling to think about, the focus for some time to come of the average American is likely to remain on fossil fuel dependency and energy security.

And in many areas of the developing world, too many people are concerned with how to feed themselves on a daily basis to worry too much about what our scientists and politicians are up to.

In contrast, the view of UK business on all of this is becoming clearer, certainly if a recent global survey by Accenture is anything to go by. Despite the recent economic downturn, an overwhelming majority of corporate CEOs - 93 percent - believed sustainability will be critical to the future success of their companies.

More interestingly, they reckoned that within a decade, a tipping point could be reached whereby sustainability becomes fully integrated into core business - its capabilities, processes and systems, and throughout global supply chains and subsidiaries.

The key point is, climate change mitigation and the development of a worldwide low carbon economy is a massive business opportunity to be grasped. Crucially, a global climate change deal will create legal and policy frameworks in developing countries that will encourage long term investment. On the other hand, if Europe goes it alone with tougher carbon targets, it will make an already uneven playing field even worse and compromise European industrial competitiveness. That in turn risks calls for trade tariffs and protectionism.

So, despite the apathy - indeed hostility - in certain quarters, a global climate change deal appears good for business. But how on earth (pardon the pun), do we get one?

Refer : blogs.birminghampost.net

How do weather and climate affect people's lives?

Weather and climate can have a major effect on people's lives, for example:

Farming - There is a direct link between the type of agriculture and climate. For example, Eastern England has a drier, warmer, sunnier climate than the west. Arable crops tend to be grown in the east, and pastoral farming dominates in the west.

Housing - In particuarly hot climates, buildings may be painted white to reflect the heat. Houses in cold climates are often built on stilts to insulate them from the freezing ground.

Clothing - There is an obvious link between clothing and climate! Why would you wear a snowsuit rather than a bikini if you visited the Arctic?

Sport and leisure opportunities - Remember the Jamaican bobsled team of Cool Runnings? They weren't too successful! Why might this be?

Sources of energy - Particularly windy areas have plenty of potential for wind farms.

Tourism - The next post considers this in more detail.

Water supply - Most of the UKs population live in the south and east, which is relatively dry. Water has to be transferred from reservoirs in the wetter west.

Snow and Ice - In areas where snow and ice are rare, even a small snowfall can lead to chaos on the roads. Schools may even be closed for the day!

Rain means a wet commute for Southland

The National Weather Service pronounces approximately an inch of rain is estimated in the Los Angeles area Monday.

The blizzard outside Sunday night with merely light smidgens in Los Angeles and a number of sleet in the elevations, but was anticipated to strengthen.

Rains are not predictable to be unembellished an adequate volume of to grounds flooding or force flights in lower reach areas blackened by most recent year's wildfires, but some elevation road and rail network north of Los Angeles will be fastened and a flash flood watch for parts of L.A. and Ventura provinces has been give out until 6 a.m.

Heavy current of air and imaginable snowstorm as low as 5,000 feet have encouraged a winter storm notice in the inside mountains.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour 2010 Official video



Earth Hour 2010 Philippines



The Acropolis Earth Hour 2010

Hug support for climate action

Over the vacation more than one billion people took part in the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour initiative. That is why it is incongruous, said the World Wildlife Fund's that the G8 not put action against climate change on the table.

A group of campaigners sloped on Parliament Hill to ask G8 summit foreign ministers meeting in Chelsea to deliberate the agenda for June's G8 summit yesterday to talk about climate change.

"The success of Earth Hour year after year shows that Canadians want their government to put greening the economy on the table here at home and when it is a player on the world stage," said Keith Stewart, climate change director at WWF-Canada.

Paulette Roberge a spokesperson with WWF-Canada in Ottawa said "There seems to be a bit of disconnected between this huge groundswell of public support and what's happening at the political level."

"There is too much discussion and no consensus on how to approach it. It has to be discussed at a political level."

The WWF said Canada remainders one of the only countries yet to announce its contribution to help poor countries tackle climate change announced as part of the Copenhagen Accord.

Spare an hour for the Earth:

On March 27, add to the competition compared to the global warming and climate alteration. All you need to do is indication you care for `earth,’ at least for an hour. Observe Earth Hour, to be precise.

Metropolises cross ways the globe have been perceive Earth Hour, an inventiveness World Wide Fund for Countryside kick-started in 2007. It is experimental on the last Saturday of March.

The movement calls for swapping off non-essential lights and methodological appliances for an hour by both households as well as corporate houses, the philosophy behind it being awareness towards actions required to combat climate change.

The resourcefulness that happening in Australia saw on March 31, 2007, 2.2 million inhabitants of Sydney substituting off their glows and electrical applications for an hour from 7.30 pm.

Needless to say about the action has taken the mind's eye of people of 400 cities in 36 countries across the world and 50 million people transferred off lights as well as employments to detect Ground Hour in 2008. Last year, 88 countries and 4,088 cities contributed.

In India, five highland societies in 56 Indian cities take part which is said to have saved 1000 MW of ultimatum for power for the period of the one hour.

Influence of Delhi alone remained 600 MW. At the creativity of Indian Institute of Sustainable Development New Delhi, Earth Hour 2009 was experiential in Orissa mostly in inner-city areas. Get-up-and-go protected throughout the peak hour was about 75 MW.

This year next Saturday Earth Hour would be empirical from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm in 4,000 cities and municipalities across the world. This is the time to connection the battle contrary to global warming and climate change.

Govt climate adverts slapped down by watchdog

Two government advertisements planned to raise responsiveness of ecological matters have been disqualified by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Together went over the current scientific agreement on climate alteration, the watchdog said in its rejoinder to the 939 protests made around the 'Act on CO2' movement.

Three other advertisements, with TV commercial, were blank.

Both disqualified adverts frolicked on judgments between fairy tale rhymes and environmental disaster.

One said Jack and Jill might not go up the hill since dangerous weather had produced a drought, while the second read: "Rub a dub, three men in a tub, a necessary course of action due to flash flooding caused by climate change."

The ASA said rights regarding the probability that "extreme weather events would become more frequent and intense" wanted to be complete additional hesitantly to reproduce the present technical harmony.

Todays weath and climate info

Fiji on alert:

Fiji is now on official cyclone alert as Tropical Cyclone Tomas tolerates down on the country. This is the newest weather meeting issued by the Nadi Weather Forecasting Centre at 5pm.

Hazardous Weather Briefing from the National Weather Service:

Heavy-duty to severe storms will be likely on Friday crossways the region starting around sunrise in the western counties and dispersal eastward throughout the day.

Watchful waiting on warm, wet weather:

County officials are observing probable Fox River-area flooding conditions, as precipitation for several days and melting snow might lead to certain water-logged homes by Sunday.

The Facts of Climate Change

There are many facts about climate change. Some are very hard facts. There are also some impacts about the climate change. They are as follows.

• Hard science strongly supports the climate change
• The climate is changing rapidly
• Using fossil fuels for electricity and industries we are releasing billions of tons carbon dioxide which results in the climate change.
• Carbon dioxide trap the sunlight around the planet acting like a blanket
• By slowing the emission of carbon dioxide the rate of climate change can be reduced.
• We are not working enough to reduce the emission.

Impacts on climate change are:

• Globally land and sea temperatures are rising
• Droughts, wildfires and floods are increasing
• Glaciers and permafrost are melting
• North and south poles ice are breaking up and melting
• There is an increase in the number of hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons.
• Fresh water resources are reducing annually.

Climate viewpoint doesn’t dismiss area’s flood fears

The National Weather Service’s latest rain forecast for March, April and May doesn’t do a great deal to lift or decrease doubts of spring flooding in the region.

North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota all have chance of receiving normal, above-normal or below-normal rain during the 3 months period.

Temperatures also have an equivalent possibility of being normal, above normal or below normal in those areas.

Last year outlook for the same era also called for equal chances, and it ended up being colder and wetter than normal.

Above average rain is predicted for the southern half of the country, but those chances are extend only to northern Nebraska.

in a short period of time 8 to 14 day rain outlook was released Wednesday show that the south part of the red river valley includes a rain to the below average level.

Weather Facts

The fastest speed a falling raindrop can hit you is 18mph.

Lightning bolts can travel 60 miles.

Dirty snow melts faster than clean.

One lightning bolt has enough electricity to service 200 000 homes.

A cubic mile of ordinary fog contains less than a gallon of water.

Rain contains vitamin B12.

A lightning bolt travels at about 14,000mph and brings 300,000 volts of electricity to the ground.

A molecule of water will stay in Earth’s atmosphere for an average duration of 10-12 days.

It is possible to see a rainbow at night.

The typical lifetime of a small cumulus cloud is between 10 to 15 minutes.

The amount of water held in the atmosphere at any time is sufficient to produce about 2.5cm of rain over the surface of the earth.

Lightning is 5 times hotter then the surface of the sun.

The average lifespan of a tornado is less than 15 minutes.

Apple iPad:

IPad half-inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds, with a 9.7-inch capacitive touch screen IPS LCD display, 1GHz Apple "A4" chip developed by the P.A. Semi team, 10-hour battery life and a month of standby.

It'll come in 16, 32, and 64GB sizes, and it's got the expected connectivity: very little. 30-pin Dock connector, a speaker, a microphone, Bluetooth, 802.11n WiFi and optional 3G, as well as an accelerometer and a compass.

Climate in Paris - Rain

January - 1°C 6°C 56
February - 1°C 7°C 46
March - 4°C 12°C 35
April - 6°C 16°C 42
May - 10°C 20°C 57
June - 13°C 23°C 54
July - 15°C 25°C 59
August - 14°C 24°C 64
September - 12°C 21°C 55
October - 8°C 16°C 50
November - 5°C 10°C 51
December - 2°C 7°C 50

Germany

Baltic Coast and North German Plain
Due to the weight of the sea, the climate about the Baltic and the North Coast is rather unwavering and with little inconsistency. In difference to inner Germany, the separation between seasons is less distinct. Nonetheless, winters can be harsh with spiteful winds and gear temperatures.

Summers are temperate and enjoyable. Rain shower are recurring but do not last too long: the sunlight catalog is high, whilst the number of rainfall guarantee a green and productive countryside.

Bavarian Alps

The type of sit out of Bavaria is like to the climate of the Austrian Alps, esp. of nearest Tyrol. Winters can be cold and with familiar snowfalls. Germany's greatest peaks and deep valley offer incomparable winter sport break.

The south is mainly renowned for its temperate foehn wind, which are disreputably accountable for the complete thing from headache to needless biased change. These warm blow winds as a rule happen in autumn and spring and often monetary recognition for theatrical temperature fluctuations.

Germany - Central and Southern Hills

Away from each other from the coastal region, the Northern regions and Southern Bavaria, Germany's type of weather is moderately constant. From Leipzig and Dresden to Stuttgart the summers are humid with recurrent rain showers. Winters are normally cold. The quantity of snowstorm and average temperatures is in general prejudiced by altitude rather than by a mixture of climatic regions.

The weather is continental in the intelligence that it vary from year to year, connotation a chilly spring and rainy summers one year can be followed by enormously warm and sunny the next year.

The area in the region of the Rhine is blessed with a mainly enjoyable climate which allows for the winning cultivation of grapevines. Close to the German border with Switzerland, in the region of Freiburg im Breisgau, temperatures are in general warm an adequate amount of for tobacco to produce successfully.

Weather and Climate in Germany

Germany's climate is approximately as wide-ranging as its kingdom but it is regularly temperate. Extreme temperature lows and highs are rare.

Winter temperatures are different from west to east, with approximately sub-zero temperature in the west and well underneath freezing in the east of Germany.

Summer temperatures are characteristically between 20°C and 30°C, with more rainfall during the summer months.

Recurrent changes of weather create forecasting not easy. To be on the out of harm's way side, be sure to bring a jersey and wet weather conditions clothing with you.