[Info-vax] [OT follow-up] Hurricane Sandy and hurricane frequency over time

[AEF]

On Wednesday, October 30, 2013 10:19:51 AM UTC-4, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> In article <d292cb72-df75-4b2c-8116-f2679650085e at googlegroups.com>,
> 
> 	AEF <spamsink2001 at yahoo.com> writes:
> 
> > On Wednesday, October 30, 2013 7:22:58 AM UTC-4, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> 
> >> In article <c8330b60-473a-4b06-a1fd-468cf17bfcaf at googlegroups.com>,
> 
> >> 
> 
> >> 	AEF <spamsink2001 at yahoo.com> writes:
> 
[...]
> 
> > Anyway, with meteors and asteroids: The last earth-altering one hit about 65 
> 
> > million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs. 
> 
> 
> 
> Science no longer holds to this theory for the mass extinction of the
> 
> dinosaurs.  For obvious reasons...

Really? This is news to me. There is a layer around the earth enriched in 
iridium by a factor of 100. This element is also more abundant in meteors than 
on earth, and it dates back to the time of the extinction of the dinosaurs. I 
could swear I once saw on TV or read that dinosaur fossils are found only below 
this level, but I couldn't find such a specific statement in a cursory check on 
the Web. See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_anomaly

for more on this fascinating theory.

What are these "obvious reasons" you speak of?

> >                                                You've also got your "Meteor 
> 
> > Crater" in Arizona. Had that one hit a city -- well -- pretty bad news. 
> 
> No one said they have never hit the earth, but the chances are real
> astronomical. ;-)  And thus, not really worth the concern they have
> been getting lately.  Especially when coupled with the fact that
> unless you thought "Armageddon" was documentary there really is
> nothing we are going to do about.

Hollywood has zero credibility with me. 

> 
> > also got the 1908 Tunguska asteroid (or whatever it was -- not sure how certain 
> 
> > that is), 
> 
> 
> 
> Jury seems to be still out on Tunguska as it bears no resemblence to a
> normal impact of any kind.

I thought the latest was that it was most likely an asteroid. It was a great 
mystery for a long time, with various scientists coming up with ideas like 
antimatter and mini black holes and the like. 

> >           and the recent one in Russia.
> 
> > Still, your point is well taken. We'll most likely be okay for decades, or even 
> > centuries to come. But it can't hurt to keep an eye to the sky -- well, 
> > depending on the cost, of course.
> 
> And just think of all those nice 6 figure salaries being paid for with
> tax dollars so some people can play with real expensive toys.

Helps keep those pesky scientists off the street! Helps lower the unemployment 
rate. Increases demand for goods which helps the economy. It also puts severe 
demands on technology, creating better technology, without having a war do it 
instead.

What six-figure salaries? Scientists don't make that much. I know. I _was_ one 
once! And it paid far less than that! Even tenured professors don't make that 
much. At U. of Md. the school newspaper publishes all faculty members' 
salaries. I think the biggest one I saw was $70K, with most being significantly 
less. 

> > And there will be more big storms -- just not every year like many people 
> > predicted (Andrew Cuomo, and a few in this NG). Probably more often than 
> > before, though. I don't think a storm like Sandy has hit the East Coast
> > for a long time, if ever. 
> 
> Two tings on this....
> 
> Like many of these modern phenomena there is really insufficient data
> to tell if this is an upward trend or just part of a cycle (a lot like
> the ozone hole question).

Exactly my point, though I think the evidence on the ozone hole is better than 
that.
 
> 
> I saw NBC's coverage of Sandy, one year later on the news last night.
> 
> People were lamenting that one year after Sandy some houses still sit
> 
> pretty much as they did the day after the storm with no apparent repairs
> 
> being made.  In 1972 Hurricane Agnes dumped its wrath on Northeastern
> 
> Pennsylvania.  No one would argue that Agnes was a more violent storm
> 
> than Sandy.  However, many houses sat for years with nothing done to
> 
> fix them.  A local car dealership (Fiat and Alfa Romeo) got caught with
> 
> their pants down and did not even get the cars out before the flooding.
> 
> Building sat there with mud encrusted $50,000 sports cars on the showroom
> 
> floor for over 5 years before the bankruptcy court let them finally tear
> 
> it down and dispose of the destroyed cars.  Tropical Storm Lee flooded
> 
> the a number of places along the Susquehanna River in PA (once again!!)
> 
> in 2011.  Much of this has not been recovered yet and even commercial
> 
> place with good insurance are just now starting to open back up.  The
> 
> only difference I have seen with Sandy is the amount of coverage it is
> 
> getting.  Lots of places in the US get destroyed by storms every year.
> 
> Few of them get the coverage new Jersey is getting.

That's to make up for all the insulting jokes about New Jersey! There is one I 
like: "Oh, you from Jersey too? What exit?" I love it. I grew up in New Jersey 
and now live here again, and you really can get a pretty good idea of were 
someone lives by their exit number.

This was more than a flood. Something like 80% to 90% of customers lost power 
in a huge swath of the area; many, if not most, for over a week! Subway and 
automobile tunnels completely flooded! One of them was recently shut down for 
long term repairs. Mass transit systems completely shut down! Lower Manhattan 
flooded big time and closed down. The Jersey shore in shambles! Roller coasters 
swept away!

I think this being probably the first time something of this magnitude has hit 
the East Coast also may have something to do with it. 

No, I'm not losing any sleep over future meteor or asteroid impacts. There are plenty of man-made problems worthy of far more attention.

Remember the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami at the end of 2004? Notice 
that there weren't any videos, or even photos, taken from the places hardest 
hit? That was pretty big and got plenty of coverage.

[...]
> 
> bill
[...]
> -- 
> 
> Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
> 
> billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
> 
> University of Scranton   |
> 
> Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>

AEF