Posts

Hurricane Joaquin Intensifies but U.S. Landfall Not Certain

-
By Neil Hartnell NASSAU, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Hurricane Joaquin strengthened as it battered the Bahamas with torrential rains, storm surges and heavy winds on Thursday and U.S. officials raced to prepare for possible landfall early next week, three years after Superstorm Sandy devastated New York and New Jersey. Joaquin, the third hurricane of the 2015 Atlantic season, intensified into a major Category 4 storm on a scale of 1 to 5, with maximum sustained winds of 130 miles (209 km) per hour, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. U.S. energy installations in the Gulf of Mexico were unaffected by the storm. While forecasts of the storm's trajectory were still uncertain, Joaquin was the first tropical cyclone to potentially threaten the U.S. northeast since Sandy. Several computer models showed Joaquin approaching the coast of the Carolinas by the weekend, then losing strength as it moves offshore past Delaware and New Jersey early next week to head toward Long Island and New Eng...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tar Sands Mining Moves to Utah

-
Image
The Canadian tar sands, or oil sands, are much more carbon-laden than most other fossil fuels produced in North America, and their possible outsized impact on the climate is one of the primary reasons the proposed  Pipeline, which would carry tar sands oil to Texas refineries, is so controversial. Despite long odds as oil prices continue their dip below $50 per barrel, commercial   mining is coming for the first time to the U.S., where an Alberta company called   has begun producing tar sands from a mine in eastern Utah. Up to 76 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil may be locked up in deposits of thick clay-like and hydrocarbon-laced  beneath the state’s redrock canyon country, according to University of Utah estimates. (The Canadian oil industry refers to the sticky bitumen as “ ,” but in the U.S., the federal government   “ ,” a name the Canadian industry   because it is used by its critics.) Oil price volatility makes tar sand...
Post a Comment
Read more

As Joaquin Looms, Eastern U.S. States Start to Batten Down

-
By Daniel Bases NEW YORK, Oct 1 (Reuters) - As Joaquin strengthened into a major Category 4 hurricane near the Bahamas on Thursday, states along the U.S. East Coast hustled to activate emergency plans developed after Superstorm Sandy slammed the region in 2012, aiming to blunt the storm's potential impact. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose state took a direct hit from Sandy, declared a state of emergency, warning residents to "be prepared but don't panic." The governor of North Carolina made a similar announcement, a day after Virginia declared a state of emergency. "The weather reports are not encouraging," Christie told a press conference, adding he would consider ordering evacuations if necessary. Forecasters are still uncertain of the likely track of the hurricane and where it might make landfall. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters the Federal Emergency Management Agency had increased staffing at its 24-hour National Watch Cen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hurricane Joaquin Could Affect More than 65 Million from Carolinas to Mass.

-
Image
Flooding from   will impact areas from South Carolina to Massachusetts regardless of whether it makes landfall or if the center stays out to sea. People should not let their guard down due to a shifting track of the hurricane as the risk to lives and property in this complex situation remains high. A copious amount of moisture will unload very heavy rainfall along parts of the Atlantic Seaboard and the Appalachians into early next week. Strong winds, coastal flooding and beach erosion will occur and could be very damaging even in the absence of a landfall. Hurricane Joaquin strengthened rapidly Wednesday into Thursday. Joaquin reached Category 3 status late Wednesday evening and Category 4 status on Thursday afternoon. JUMP TO:   |   |  The storm will bring pounding surf, dangerous seas, strong winds, drenching squalls and flash flooding to the central Bahamas. Wind gusts could reach between 75 and 100 mph on some of the islands. As a result, Joa...
Post a Comment
Read more

How Will Joaquin Compare with Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Isabel?

-
Image
For the number of people now living along the mid-Atlantic coast that did not experience Sandy or Isabel, this storm could deliver rough weather. In both Sandy and Isabel, gusty winds and flooding occurred well away from the center of the storms. Questions have been raised about the similarity to   with other recent hurricane strikes in the mid-Atlantic states. "There is going to be catastrophic flooding from North Carolina to Massachusetts, and this is going to disrupt the economy regardless of whether or not Hurricane Joaquin makes landfall," Mike Smith, senior vice president and chief innovation executive of AccuWeather Enterprise Solutions said. No matter how similar the pattern may seem, no two storms are ever exactly alike. The same can be said about the situation developing this weekend along the Atlantic coast with the approach of Joaquin. A slightly different storm track and the position of other weather systems nearby can translate to huge differences in the w...
Post a Comment
Read more

MacArthur Genius Grant Winner Probes the Pruning Brain

-
Harvard neuroscientist Beth Stevens wins a MacArthur Fellowship for studies of how microglia cells prune away excess neuronal synapses during brain development and how that necessary function might go awry in neurodegenerative diseases. By | | “They’re like the Pac-Man of our brain.” , talking about , which make up more than half . This week Stevens got a MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called genius grant, for her studies of glia.  “These cells are incredibly responsive to damage or injury. They can protect our brain by, for example, clearing bacteria or debris in the brain in the case of injury and disease… “Until about 10 years ago, almost all of the research devoted to these cells was in these contexts. We discovered that there was another role for these cells in the normal healthy brain, in particular during development… “So a synapse is the junction of communication between two neurons, it’s how neurons talk to each other…we’re actually born with an excess of synaptic c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eye of Hurricane Joaquin Passing over Bahamas

-
Image
The eye of Hurricane Joaquin is passing over Samana Cay in the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory on Thursday October 1, 2015 | Major Hurricane Joaquin is shown at the far eastern periphery of the GOES West satellite's full disk extent, taken at 8 a.m. (EDT) on October 1, 2015. (Reuters) - The eye of Hurricane Joaquin is passing over Samana Cay in the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory on Thursday. The hurricane is located about 80 miles (125 km) south southeast of San Salvador, Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (205 km/h), the agency said. "A turn towards the northwest and north is expected on Friday, and a faster motion towards the north is expected Friday night and Saturday," the Miami-based weather forecaster said. (Reporting by Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernadette Baum) see also:
Post a Comment
Read more