The European heat wave in 2003

The European Heat Wave 2003

The European heat wave of 2003 was the hottest summer on Europe since 1540. The heat wave led to many crisis in several countries and combined with drought  to create crop shortfalls in parts of Southern Europe. There were many people effected by the wave which led to about 35,000 deaths. During the heat wave, rivers and lakes in parts of Serbia where lowered and 215,000 forest were destroyed by forest fires. Europe has taken action from this heat wave and set up alarm systems for the elderly living alone, and Europe has made connections with the Heat-Health watch, which gives a warning either the day before or the day of about hot weather.

George Hadley

My presentation was on the famous Meteorologist, George Hadley. George Hadley was the creator of the Hadley Cell. The Hadley cell is simply explained as a giant conveyer belt of the atmospheric movement on earth. Cold and hot air are recycled, so whatever cold or warm air you feel now was cold or hot once before changed temperature depending on the location. The Hadley cell also explains why at the equator there are greens, meaning rainforests, and deserts as it gets farther away. This has to do with warm air rising and creating precipitation, which is heavier at the equator and it makes good conditions for rainforests.

Jim Cantore

     My presentation was about  Jim Cantore. He is an American meteorologist from White River Junction, VT. He graduated  from Lyndon State College in 1986. That same year he landed his first internship and job at The Weather Channel. It was here that he made a name for himself and ultimately celebritize meteorology. He is known for his enthusiastic and tenacious style of reporting. He also possesses an ability to translate complicated language into simple terms that anyone can understand. Jim has appeared on numerous tv shows and sports broadcasts. He is also is an advocate for preparedness and is an enthusiast of thundersnow.

A year without Summer in 1816

My presentation was on the year without Summer in 1816. North America and Europe were the countries that faced the devastating temperatures. It all started because of a eruption by  Mount Tambora which shot out volcanic ash into the atmosphere, 38 cubic miles of ash. Since the volcanic ash went into the atmosphere it covered solar radiation from hitting the surface which prevented the earth from getting warm. Farmers in North America and Europe weren't able to produce crops because of the cold weather and heavy rains. So people were starving and had to rebel and fight for food. Bakeries and food markets were getting robbed and people moved out of their villages to search for some type of food. People were dying from starvation, Cholera, and freezing temperatures. The only good thing that came out of this disaster was the invention of the laufmaschine and the help of creating the books Frankenstein and The Vampyre.

1888 Blizzard in New York

 My presentation was the Great Blizzard of 1888. The blizzard was around the upper east coast and the most recorded snow was in New York.The highest amount of snow was 58 inches making it pretty much hard to go anywhere because of the winds also. The winds were hurricanes winds at 85 mph. The blizzard formed from cold and warm air mixing. Then rain turned into snow and very high winds appeared. The blizzard would last 3 days. After this blizzard they decided to move water pipes, gas pipes, and the train system underground in New York. This was the most devastating blizzard of all time.

Johannes Kepler

     Johannes Kepler, a German Astronomer and Mathematician played a big role in The Scientific Revolution due to all his contributions to the world of science. Johannes Kepler grew up in a poor family, but because of his intelligence he was able to get a scholarship to the University of Tübingen. While Kepler was there he studied Mathematics, and Astronomy. Although the Astronomy he was thought there revolved around the Geocentric theory, meaning that the Earth was at the center and everything else revolved around it. During this time most people believed in the Geocentric theory because, there was religion involved in science. He was also introduced to the Heliocentric cosmological system of Copernicus. This was a theory that the sun was at the center, and everything else revolved around it. Later Kepler discovered what today are known as The Three Laws of Planetary Motion. The first being The Law of Ellipses, which states that the planets move in elliptical orbits with the sun at its focus. The second one is the Law of Equal Areas, which states that a line between the sun and a planet sweeps equal areas in equal times. The third law is The Law of Harmonies, which compares the orbital time period and radius of an orbit of any planet, to those of other planets. These three laws is what Johannes Kepler is most notably known for.

Luke Howard

Luke Howard, otherwise the man who named the clouds, was a pharmacist and desired to be a Meteorologist. His father, Robert Howard was a professional Quaker and sent him to a Quaker school in Bur ford. He learned Latin but not the major subjects like Science and Mathematics. By learning Latin, he soon created the names for the three types of clouds, Cumulus, Stratus, and Cirrus. When Howard was 11, experienced a Great Fogg, which caught his attention. From that day on, be began to stare outside at the clouds everyday. Later on in his life, Howard published a few popular landmarks such as On the Modification of Clouds, The Climate of London, and the Seven Lectures of Meteorology, which was the first textbook on Meteorology. He was soon elected as a Fellow of The Royal Society when he published The Climate of London. His study on clouds has had a really big impact on science. When he died, Howard's work was soon taken over and expanded by Ralph Abercromby and Hugo Hildebrandsson.

F5 Tornado in Moore Oklahoma May 3rd, 1999

                   The tornado in Moore, OK was the most devastating tornado that the state has ever witnessed. It was classified as an F5 on the Fujita Scale and took close to 46 lives. The number of people who were injured is 800 with over 8000 homes in ruins. This tornado was also one of the most expensive tornadoes due to damage with a cost of $1.5 billion in property damage. The destruction itself lasted about an hour and a half with wind speeds in between 261-318. Within a 21 hour period, 74 tornadoes hit within two states, but this was obviously the worst, The cause of the tornado was like any other. Updrafts and downdrafts collided with string winds to form this destruction. The only difference was that the drafts were much stronger and the intensity level was quite high. The people of Oklahoma were used to tornadoes in the Spring because they were pretty common, but they had never gone through anything like this. Thanks to technology, the death penalty was lower than usual. The tornado also affected other cities such as Oklahoma City, Chickasha, Norman, Bridge Creek, Newcastle, Midwest City and Del City. To this very day, the people become fearful if you even mention this tornado

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit

Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was born May 24, 1686 Fahrenheit spent most of his life in the Netherlands, where he devoted himself to the study of physics. He was only fifteen when his parents both died from eating poisonous mushrooms. The city council put the four young Fahrenheit children in foster homes, and apprenticed Fahrenheit to a merchant. Said merchant taught Fahrenheit bookkeeping and took him to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is where Fahrenheit was first introduced to thermometers. But unlike the thermometers he would make later in his life that were quite versatile about how they recorded temperatures. The first thermometers he saw were only used to record the coldest and hottest days of the year. For seven years Fahrenheit worked out a scale measurement of temperature measurement based on three points, the freezing point of an equal mixture of salt, water, and ice, the freezing point of water, and the boiling point of water. This was not the first temperature scale created. Later Fahrenheit would meet Olaus Roemer, one of the supposed inventors of the alcohol thermometer (no one knows who was the first to invent the Alcohol thermometer). Fahrenheit would modify Roemer's design and make his famous mercury thermometer. For Fahrenheit knew mercury and alcohol were two of the only materials that could record temperatures accurately and consistently, for they could survive under the extreme conditions without freezing. But alcohol did evaporate when it got too hot this is when Fahrenheit realized mercury was the best fit for it did not freeze nor evaporate. Fahrenheit died September 16, 1736, his contributions to the fields of medicine and meteorology are what allow us to do a lot of what we do in said fields today.

1976 Thomspon Canyon Flood

This tragic storm  occurred on July 31. On that day the rainfall  was about 12 to 14 inches that continued for a four-hour period in the mountains which was located at Estes Park. Later on unusual patterns of the storm´s system to enclose upon the area and made the air difficult to breath because of rainfall. A front was moving slowly over southward over the Great Plains and in the evening on July 31, the front became a stationary over Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. The thunderstorms were fueled by the moisture which carried by the winds in the east. Hours hours later, there was heavy rainfall which covered over 70 square mile. The water increased speed as it was traveling down the steep hills which also increased the water level of the Thompson River. The Thompson River was a 18-20 foot wall of water that splashed into the canyon which covered the mouth of the canyon. The water was flowing at 31,200 cubic feet per sec at the peak of the canyon. Citizens who were trying to drive their way out the flood was either trapped inside their cars or swept away which lead them to their death. The storm lead to the killing of approximately 143 people dead and 150 injured. All the damage from the flood cost $31 million for, destroying, 418 houses, 52 businesses, 438 vehicles, bridges, roads, highways,and telephone poles.