February 25, 2014

The Torino Impact Hazard Scale & NEO's

 The Torino Impact Hazard Scale
& Near Earth Objects (NEO's) 

The Torino Impact Scale isn't that old. First thought of by Professor Richard P. Binzel of MIT in 1995, and officially adapted and adopted by the UN in 1999- the scale is used to measure hazards caused by NEO's such as asteroids, meteors, and comets. So far we haven't had any noteworthy impacts here on Earth, even the 2013 Russian Chelyabinsk meteor which actually hit the Earth measured a Zero on the scale. It certainly makes you wonder what a 3 would be like. Below is the impact scale, and more resources that are available to monitor events such as these in the future. The next blip that comes up on the Earth's scale will occur in June of 2048, but at the moment has a Non-Zero rating - 2007 VK184.


You can track Near Earth Objects on
(Scroll to bottom of page, below is a screenshot:)


xoxo disaster girl

P.F.S. Links for the Curious

February 20, 2014

NOAA's Space Weather Scales - Geomagnetic, Solar Radiation & Radio Blackouts

 Space Weather Scales
Geomagnetic, Solar Radiation & Radio Blackouts

 Every 11 or so years the Sun goes through her 'angry phase' or the solar maximum, in which she spits out a whole lot of energy and radiation. Solar storms cause many different things to happen including the widely known Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis (or Northern & Southern Lights), weather changes, geomagnetic storms, radiation storms, and radio blackouts. In rare cases a solar storm can even cause an Solar Flare EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse / Solar Flare) which can knock down electricity grids and more. See: Solar Storm 1859 - The Carrington Event.

The sun can be monitored at www.SPACEWEATHER.com which has a variety of different features which can help you in keeping track of what the sun is spewing at us. The next solar maximum can occur between 2018 and 2023, so you have a bit of time to figure it all out :)

Below are the hazard scales for space weather, separated into 3 cateogories:
Geomagnetic, Solar Radiation, and Radio Blackout.
 



Fun Fact:
The largest solar flare happened on November 4th, 2003 and measured a huge X45!

For more information on solar flare classification see:

xoxo disaster girl

P.F.S. Links for the Curious

February 15, 2014

The Worst Places in the World Infographs!

Covering: Average Life, Deaths, Murders, GDP, Water Sources & Pollution

Submitted By: Aldo Baker

NEW LINKS ADDED IN THE RESOURCES SECTION!
Don't Miss Out!

xoxo disaster girl

February 9, 2014

Houston, We have a Problem - 2 Space Disasters that America Won't Forget

 Houston, We Have A Problem
2 American Space Disasters We Won't Forget



THE CHALLENGER SPACE SHUTTLE DISASTER

The Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster was unique in many ways. First because it was the first widely publicized and known space mission because the mission included a teacher by the name of Christa McAuliffe who was set to teach from space- and had a large child fan base. The explosion of the Challenger Space shuttle on January 28th, 1986 was later determined to be caused by a failure of 'O-Ring' seals, likely because of cold weather.This disaster was also unique because all of America saw it, over and over again, on every TV channel for quite some time after. The Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, which killed all 7 of its crew members, ground the space program for a full two years because of speculation of oversight by NASA. The 7 astronauts that died that day were: Francis R. Scobee, Commander, Michael J. Smith, Pilot, Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist, Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist, Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist, Greg Jarvis, Payload Specialist, and Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist/Teacher.




THE COLUMBIA SPACE SHUTTLE DISASTER

The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster that took place on February 1st, 2003 also killed all of it 7 crew members: Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Kalpana Chawla,David M. Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon. This time however the disaster did not occur upon take off, but the opposite- upon reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. This disaster caused by debris the shuttle had shed also caused the same speculations that its 17 year predecessor raised- Did NASA make the right choice? Both disasters were caused by problems NASA had known about and did not change. This disaster also caused the retirement of the Space Shuttle program by George W. Bush in 2004.



They will never be forgotten.

xoxo disaster girl

P.F.S. Links for the Curious
 


February 2, 2014

The Day the Temperature Went Nuts

The Day The Weather Went Nuts
in Spearfish, South Dakota


On January 22nd, 1943 the weather in Spearfish, South Dakota went just a little crazy. When people woke up that morning at 7:30 AM they were greeted with below zero temperatures, -4 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact. So they did what any average person would do and went to suit up for a very cold day, but something changed. In exactly two minutes the temperature outside had jumped to 45 degrees, or a 49 degree temperature rise in just two minutes! Over the next hour and a half the temperature would continue to creep up to 54 degrees, which was making for a nice January morning temperature- with a reverse wardrobe. For two hours the people of Spearfish and now also Rapid City had moderately warm January temperatures before it happened again. At 9:27 AM the temperature once again had an extreme fluctuation, dropping once again to -4 degrees Fahrenheit.

This bizarre weather event was later blamed on inversions, or cold and warm air moving back and forth at the base of the Black Hills. See the pictures below (courtesy of the NWS) for a more detailed view of the days weather events:

The Front as it moved back and forth.

MDUC, Rapid City Temperature Recording Chart


It was reported locally that the temperature had changed so quickly that it had cracked the glass windows on several vehicles. Spearfish, South Dakota now holds the world record for for the fastest temperature change on record. 

For more information please see the link below, which is the official weather review for this event.

xoxo disaster girl