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April Flowers of the Pacific Northwest April is a good flower month in the Pacific Northwest. Redwood Flowers Flowering plants and shrubs are showing up in all the redwood forests. Review: Cordless Line Trimmers The latest models of cordless line trimmers makes emissions free lawn care a more practical and affordable choice for almost everyone. | Quick Takes: Salamanders Phidippus Jumping Spiders Turkey Tails Orange Butterfly Quiz Lady Butterflies |
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UNICEF Asks For Help UNICEF is one of the few humanitarian organizations that has a permanent presence in Myanmar, and emergency assistance is already underway. Climate Change and Increased Cyclonic Activity in the Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal has a long cyclone history and scientists are trying to determine how climate change might influence cyclonic patterns. A 2001 study concluded, "The results of the study, which has considered the entire existing data of 122 years of tropical cyclone frequency over the north Indian Ocean from 1877 to 1998, have shown that there is indeed a trend in the enhanced cyclogenesis during November and May. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) notes, "cyclones originating from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea have been noted to decrease since 1970 but the intensity has increased." The World Meterological Organization (WMO) released a Statement on Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change. They report, "Given the consistency between high resolution global models, regional hurricane models and MPI theories, it is likely that some increase in tropical cyclone intensity will occur if the climate continues to warm." For practical predictive purposes, some uncertainty exists regarding the choice of factors to include in any cyclone intensity model. A recently proposed model suggests that a variety of measurements be taken into consideration, including, "initial storm intensity, intensity changes during past 12 hours, storm motion speed, initial storm latitude position, vertical wind shear averaged along the storm track, vorticity at 850 hPa, Divergence at 200 hPa and sea surface temperature (SST)". |