Kilo Spins Out To Become The Longest Living Storm This Year
Hurricane-Typhoon Kilo spun out to become possibly the longest living storm of 2015. With a month and a half month left of 2015, it is unlikely we will get another storm like it.
Kilo formed in the Central Pacific basin on August 20th as a TD (Tropical Depression) and quickly intensified into a 60mph storm before weakening down to a TD once again.
Image: Via Wikimedia Commons
It stayed like this for the next 72 hours before rapidly forming into a major hurricane of 140mph and 940 millibars with two other hurricanes, called Ignacio 145mph and Jimena 150mph.
All storms decreased fairly slowly and all weakened. But Kilo paused at 80mph and left widespread flooding in most areas within the state of Hawaii.
On the September 1st, Kilo crossed the International Dateline becoming a typhoon and it slowly moved over to Japan before finally dissipating, this happened over 21 days.
Why is this happening? Why are storms living longer and getting stronger? Is there anything you can do to protect yourself against them?
The first place Kilo affected was Hawaii which caused flooding rain, damaging winds and coastal flooding.
If this was to happen to you this is what you should do!
Step 1
Look at what storm you have.
1. Tropical Depression 30-40mph
2. Tropical Storm 40-70mph
3. Cat 1 70-95mph
4. Cat 2 95-115mph
5. Cat 3 115-130mph
6. Cat 4 130-160mph
7. Cat 5 160mph+
Step 2
Prepare for the storm with sandbags and barricading up your house and camp out in a basement. Put layers of wood over your windows can keep your house safe.
Step 3
Wait it out until it’s gone.
Follow these steps and you should be ok.
Jack, aged 13
Vinegar Could Save The Coral In The Great Barrier Reef!
Coral-eating starfish have been eating away at the beautiful coral which lies within the Great Barrier Reef.
The attack has long attracted the attention of scientists as it has been extremely difficult to stop, until a recent discovery. Crown of Thorns starfish are known as one of the highest leading causes of vast loss in coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef in the past 30 years.
Researchers at James Cook University have uncovered the fact that a small dose of household vinegar will result in a 100% death rate for the culprits. A series of trials that took place at the university have indicated that all starfish given a 20ml dose of vinegar died within a 48 hour period.
Nutrients in the seawater from land-based agriculture cause a large amount of phytoplankton growth which the starfish larvae feed on. Recently, a very unique robot has been designed to seek and kill the Crown of Thorns starfish, but the vinegar-related discovery could potentially be the cheaper and easier solution.
Image: Via Kyle Taylor/ Flickr Creative Commons
The Australian government currently funds a number of Crown of Thorns eradiction programs, which have 27 marine tourism operators and two community groups involved. Importantly, the leader of the James Cook University report, Lisa Bostrom-Einarsson, said that further research into the impact of vinegar on other sea life had to be done to ensure that no widespread harm is inflicted.
However, the latest report card on the Great Barrier Reef’s health displays that targets to reduce chemical spillage aren’t being met which makes further outbreaks more likely.
Overall, this issue could potentially be solved with enough research and teamwork, so let’s hope that all of their effort pays off in the end!
Clara and Molly, aged 14
SeaWorld Bans Breeding Captive Killter Whales!
SeaWorld has been banned from breeding killer whales, this also bans trading, selling and transfer of the species. This new ban means that any female killer whales cannot have any fertilised eggs planted inside of them.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) praised the new ban claiming that “it is the first step to ending SeaWorld” and that it “ensures that no more Orcas will be condemned to a non-life of loneliness, depression and misery.”
Image: Via Wikimedia Commons
SeaWorld believes that these restrictions are inhumane and remove the fundamental purpose of an animal’s life. They stated, “breeding is a natural, fundamental and important part of an animal’s life and depriving a social animal of the right to reproduce is inhumane.”
A recent documentary called Blackfish showed the cruel treatment a performing killer whale called Tilikum received at the amusement park.
Image: Via Wikimedia Commons
Since its release there has been an 84% plunge in profits. The aim of animal right’s activists is to slowly destroy the company and end its cruel enslavement of animals once and for all.
This ban is one of the greatest achievements for animal rights activists trying to save killer whales.
Jude, aged 15
23-Million-Year-Old Rainforest Fossils Uncovered!
Gold Coast Hinterland local by the name of Guy Warren was hiking when he came across some unusual pieces of rock that he discovered in a creek alongside his home.
Image: Via Wikimedia Commons
The fossilised remains were taken to Queensland Museum palaeobotanist Dr Andrew Rozefeld for inspection.
Warren followed the creek upstream and was amazed to find fossilised leaves imprinted in layers between volcanic rock. He stated the following:
“I could see that it was quite slatey, so I just broke one of the bits away and then inside you could see some perfectly formed leaves.”
The imprinted find is believed to have originated in the Miocene Epoch. As time went on, the vegetation began to shift from broad-leaved forests to exposed, drier forests as well as grasslands and deserts.
Fossils of this age have been a very rare find to Queensland researchers, and have created much excitement.
A huge team of volunteers assisted Dr Rozefelds with delving through the fossils. One of which was Desley Faulkner, who currently has a job in creating detailed sketches of the veins contained in each fossil so they can be identified further.
An additional volunteer, Ms June Richardson, is a retired librarian. Her job is to log all of the discoveries.
The team at the museum is doing its very best to involve ordinary citizens. This broadens knowledge of such a miraculous aspect of history. Dr Rozefelds added:
“They’ve provided the really important initial work to get this project moving!”
Over the past few months, scientists, geologists, zoologists and everyday citizens have been taking a step back in time to truly discover the mystery of the embedded leaves, and wondering if this could potentially lead to other discoveries.
My Solutions For Less Pollution In London
Image: Via Geograph
Nearly 9,500 if London’s citizens and visitors lose their lives due to air pollution every year, and varied news sources only seem to be covering the problem now.
Recently it has been found that London, Birmingham and Leeds are three of the UK’s cities that have been over the EU safety limits on NO2 for five years, resulting in legal action that led to a supreme court ruling that the government must create a clean-up plan by the end of the year.
London’s youth tend to have barely any knowledge of how much of a problem this is, as the only news coverage that I have been witnessing has been on a small scale, with the front-liners being about Johnny Depp’s dogs being smuggled into Australia.
Of course, there are many problems around the globe that deserve the front page, but why shouldn’t this problem be broadcast as well? Within the UK in particular of course.
And to worsen the problem, air pollution has been linked to the potentially fatal lung and heart diseases; breast cancer and diabetes.
If you want to improve your daily life environmentally, here are a few ways to go about it:
- Walk or cycle to school
- Recycle, Recycle, Recycle!
- Conserve water
- Create your own vegetable garden!
There are many ways, no matter how small, to help create a better planet!
The UK have air quality standards in check (which are based on the EU limit values), yet the fundamental drivers of pollution; Industrialisation, Population Growth and Globalisation are most definitely not in check.
I have some asthmatic friends that suffer from the pollution in central London. With one of the causes being “cars with smoky exhausts”. And, additionally, I myself have seen some annoyingly foggy days. One of them in particular went shopping in Oxford Circus and suffered a tight chest and breathing problems due to the traffic pollution in the area at the time.
With data from 2010 displaying cars as being 28% of ground-based transport pollution, and buses and coaches standing at 16%, our daily lives could be largely affected by efforts to make changes, which is one of the reasons that the population of London is well and truly avoiding the subject of potentially large change.
The Great Smog of 1952 is a key example from the past showing how terrible it could become. Yes, we are far more ‘Environmentally Friendly’ in this day and age, yet the causes of that case could be unique, and we could face something just as terrible in the near future with modern problems.
There are many changes to be made, and we solely need to get on with it and make them.
Clara, aged 13
Sea Life Plea And The RSPB Rescue!
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Image: Via Wikimedia Commons
Coastline conflict is having a huge impact on our coastal sea life particularly in rural West Scotland. It was recorded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds that “these once flourishing seabird colonies are in deep trouble and the cliffs are falling silent. Since the 1980s, Scotland alone has had 80% of its artic skuas, presumed perished.” This shocking statistic just goes to show how fast our environment is dying right on our doorstep.
But it is not just seabirds, there is an abundance of sensational sea life deep in the depths of these seas. RSPB research discovered that “the west coast of Scotland has cold water coral reefs that are thousands of years old, rare little sea horses off the south coast of England…the leatherback sea turtle that weighs a tonne, the basking shark” and the world’s largest jellyfish-all belongs to us!
The RSPB carefully watch these creatures every day because many UK sea species now have a decreasing population growth rate, the RSPB have had to rescue more coastal nature than ever before.
It is hard to face but it is partly down to us. Pollution, rubbish left on beaches, construction works and the impact of the amount of vehicles we bring to small coastal towns; have had a huge impact on our environment and that is why the RSPB are so passionately trying to explain to us that “all sea birds face many threats to their survival at sea, notably from dwindling supplies of their staple fish prey due to climate-driven sea warming from getting caught in fishing gear, and from increasing offshore development.”
It is high time that we faced these urgent problems and praise the backbreaking work that the RSPB are doing.
So next time when you visit the coast-appreciate our surroundings and thank the RSPB for being there for animals with no voice!
Together we can “Safeguard or Sea Life!”
Our Elephants Our Fight!
Image: Via Wikimedia Commons
Recently scientists have surprisingly been able to track the hot-spots for elephant poaching, by extracting DNA from fingerprints on seized ivory and matching it with DNA from elephant dung, all over the African continent. They have discovered that around 50,000 elephants are believed to be poached each year and the highest hot-spots are Mozambique and Tanzania. Other hot-spots on the radar are The Tridom which consists of Gabon, the Republic of Congo and Cameroon. Meaning millions of beautiful and magnificent elephants are being ruthlessly killed. The main reason is that their ivory helps the production of piano keys, electrical appliances and even book covers! Are we judging this book by its cover? For sure!
Elephants are very harmless animals, they have no need to attack or kill humans, but when we humans challenge them to their death; that is the very moment they retaliate. If you do not hurt elephants they will not hurt you. They eat food such as leaves and plants and only drink water, but if they see a juicy crop- they will go for it in a flash. The knowledge of declines and surges and population helps conservationists and managers see where and when elephants are on the brink.
Save the Elephants is an expert in the protection of our elephants. Using an abundance of workers, the foundation is fighting for the lives of the elephant species. They have now discovered a new horizon for the project and have finally produced the new tracking devices, for years they have been masterminds in tracking, designing and testing the elephant collar, but now Save the Elephants have created routes of thousands of elephants and have collected vital information using this: how far they travel in search for mating, their instinct behaviour and their food. Tracking down endangered elephants has never been so easy!
So as we can see poaching is a strong battle, which foundations like Save the Elephants are unfortunately facing but it will not win! Why would anyone try and hurt such beautiful and harmless creatures that have evolved over centuries? The future does not seem so grim anymore and as our ancestors have worked for issues like this over decades we too as the new generation will carry that fight on until the day when man and beast will never be at conflict!
Jack and Molly, aged 13
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