A science post!
I'm a hurricane fanatic. I know this. One day, it's going to be my job (Lord willing). Yahoo had a story about how there was a need to increase funding to research hurricanes. Here's the link to the story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060930/ap_on_sc/hurricane_research;_ylt=AvXUhM3RPAgL_KjO9HCPdbMPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
At the bottom of the story, there's a link to the National Science Board, and here is the actual report released by the NSB:
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/committees/hurricane/report.pdf
Now, two points jump out at me:
1) 50% of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coastline. As of the 2000 Census, 281,421,906 people live in 50 states, including the District of Columbia. So approximately 140 million are at risk from a hurricane strike. You can pretty much discount the West Coast, as the water is a bit colder than the Atlantic, but still, 140 million people at potential risk.
2) Annual funding for the government's the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Research Division, has never exceeded $5.1 million, and its staff has declined by 30 percent in the past decade. After reading this, all I can say is great job, guys. These guys are doing a tremendous job with basically no money whatsoever. Incredible.
The article's a very interesting read, and while I don't agree with everything in there, it does bring the need for more funding for hurricane research to the forefront.
Did I mention that you can send comments to them about the report until October 29th? The e-mail address is NSBHSE@nsf.gov.
Send 'em a shout-out for the guys who try to help predict these storms.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060930/ap_on_sc/hurricane_research;_ylt=AvXUhM3RPAgL_KjO9HCPdbMPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
At the bottom of the story, there's a link to the National Science Board, and here is the actual report released by the NSB:
http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/committees/hurricane/report.pdf
Now, two points jump out at me:
1) 50% of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coastline. As of the 2000 Census, 281,421,906 people live in 50 states, including the District of Columbia. So approximately 140 million are at risk from a hurricane strike. You can pretty much discount the West Coast, as the water is a bit colder than the Atlantic, but still, 140 million people at potential risk.
2) Annual funding for the government's the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Research Division, has never exceeded $5.1 million, and its staff has declined by 30 percent in the past decade. After reading this, all I can say is great job, guys. These guys are doing a tremendous job with basically no money whatsoever. Incredible.
The article's a very interesting read, and while I don't agree with everything in there, it does bring the need for more funding for hurricane research to the forefront.
Did I mention that you can send comments to them about the report until October 29th? The e-mail address is NSBHSE@nsf.gov.
Send 'em a shout-out for the guys who try to help predict these storms.