It was nowhere near a T5 ... that's the strongest tornado on the earth and have you seen some of these monsters in Tornado Alley ?!?
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It was nowhere near a T5 ... that's the strongest tornado on the earth and have you seen some of these monsters in Tornado Alley ?!?
xenogamer, the quote that you have posted is not contradictory. The USA does have the largest number of tornadoes in absolute terms. However, if you divide that number by the landmass you will get a lower figure than performing the same calculation for the UK. The UK has the most per square mile ;)
moira, you need to consider four factors: size, intensity, duration and location.
The meteorologist on the TV news said he thought windspeeds could have reached 150Mph, which would make it T5 (that starts at 137Mph). What he did not mention, and I suspect, is that it was probably a "microburst", as UK tornadoes are so small and short lived that they are quite variable in their intensity throughout their lives.
The T-Scale goes up to 10, incidentally, and can be mathematically extended beyond that. More info here:
http://www.torro.org.UK/TORRO/index.php
Here is another interesting site: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
It looks like the Brits have the tornadoes and the Yanks have the hurricanes :D
Ironically last week or two weeks ago, there was some big climate get together and there was actually a suggestion to pollute the atmosphere so that we could "cool" the planet.
I have read that it would cost more to counteract climate change than it would to adapt to the changes.
Climate change has always happened it's a stupid idea to try to stop it. We've survived bigger changes in the past and we'll survive the changes that will happen over the next few centuries. A lot of the reports that are being banded about are alarmist and designed to sell papers/ raise funds for research etc. Everyone has an agenda.
The London tornado was a 4 apparently on the scale of 1-10 (BBC this morning).
And we do have the most tornadoes in the world but only per land area. The USA has more actual tornadoes (Ain't statistics full of sh1t) and stronger tornadoes.
Moira & Nihil > in the US, we use the F scale, so I bet Moira was referring to that in stead of the T scale, which Nihil was referring to. Wind speeds of 150MPH are "only" F2's. The Fujita scale looks more at the damage caused than at the wind speed, though, while the T scale only looks at wind speed. If London's tornado was 150MPH, then it was indeed a T5.
I was just south of Xenia, Ohio when an F5 hit it in '74. I'll never forget that day. Damn thing had an 800 yard wide footprint on the ground (that's right, 1/2 mile). Left 9000 homeless in a town of 18000. Only killed 33 though. Easily one of the largest recorded tornados ever.
As for global warming, here in the midwestern part of the US, I find the most noticeable effect is the autumn turn coming about two weeks later than it used to. Spring is coming earleir, too. Also, snakes indigenious to more southern regions are turning up here, most notably the venomous copperhead.
Watch your step...
:)
Well I used to be an environmental science major before switching to IT... The big thing that most people never consider is that the earth has been warmer than it is now, and it has been colder than it is now. Species going extinct due to changes in climate is part of the cycle of the earth. So what is really the problem if the planet warms up a bit and the ice sheet melts and the ocean levels rise? An economic one.
Humans like living on rivers, beaches, and lakes. And most of the people who can afford to live on that kind of land have a lot of money and put a lot of money into their houses. Look at the most expensive real estate in the US. Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Portland, etc... All on the water, and all of them are at danger of rising ocean levels.
The earth will survive with a warmer climate, and many many animals in the world will also adapt and survive.. However, the countries with the most to lose are those that will have major economic damage as a result of a changing climate.
Imagine that Africa is no longer a major desert but rather grasslands and rain forest, while the US turns into a desert on the lower half. That would kind of change the "balance of power" in the world...
Is the climate getting warmer, definitely. What is causing it? Does it really matter? I don't think it does. Is this really damaging to the earth? Not at all..
But it is a concern to humans because it will change things in our life, and we don't adapt well to change any more.. When global climate change starts to affect the GDP of the major economic countries in the world a solution will be found. That will be the only thing that will drive change.
Negative, while I don't mind dealing into the mythological I base my idea on the words of climatologist in the USA and one at the National Laboratories in Boulder Colorado. You should take a trip up there, cool campus. Those links are interesting. The "myth" article references 1970s warnings of glaciation that cites mostly articles that say it's assumption was wrong at first because we "didn't have enough understanding of climate." I wasn't saying they are correct or incorrect just ironic. And I don't base it off some novel. In fact the article later states several source journals and papers that theorize an ice age is coming. And it did in fact note that cooling occurred in the 40s and 50s, well into the industrial age. It breaks down the theories based on inaccuracies, which is also Ironic, and thus makes them all a "myth". What will they find of our current summaries and ideals in 2050? But it does not change the fact that in the 70s we were all heading for an ice age according to several references right or wrong. And some of the same scientists making assumptions about global warming today are the ones who authored these "incaccurate" papers or spoke about them.
Negative thank you, I was referring to the Fujita scale, my mistake. I knew the London tornado wasn't in the same class as some of the twisters I've seen on TV from Tornado Alley :p Brokencrow, it must be weird to live somewhere those things are common. There are places where thunder is detected early enough for people to get off a golf course apparently, and weather stations issue "tornado warnings".
The US always has done everything on a far grander scale than we do in the UK :) I'd love to see a tornado, if I could do it from somewhere safe :) a bit mutually exclusive! I've always wondered why people who live in these areas choose to make their homes out of mobile caravans. I'd be wanting a nuclear bunker at the very least.
Re global warming, the most popular idea now is to get used to living with it. It wouldn't have to be a dramatic change anyway within our lifetime. The only really scarey thing is that global warming could trigger another ice age and then you haven't just got the earth becoming "a bit hotter/colder", you've got the sort of climate shift that may well have wiped out the dinosaurs.
I'm actually watching that for my Economics class, quite interesting so far.Quote:
If you haven’t seen an inconvenient truth, I suggest watching it. Just for the scenes that show how fast the glaciers have been melting. It's pretty scary and it's on us as human beings to do something.
And temperatures here in NY for November were outrageously warm. 70F in late November is unheard of. And in the summer I believe we reached 100F twice and in the mid 90s about 3 more times. Climate change is definitely going on, but I see some suggestions about adapting, what other options do we have if not adaptation and the oh so wonderful Air Conditioner that raises our electricity bill :)?
Quote:
The big thing that most people never consider is that the earth has been warmer than it is now, and it has been colder than it is now.
I respect your opinion but the major argument for global warming has been the ozone layers depletion. So what would happen if the ozone layer was destroyed so much that we get warmer than it was back then. I think that is the fear among scientists, environmentalists and every other group of people that research into global warming.Quote:
Is the climate getting warmer, definitely. What is causing it? Does it really matter? I don't think it does. Is this really damaging to the earth? Not at all..