Super Typhoon Haiyan update

Photo by Bullit Marquez/ap on cnn.com

In a brief article by cnn there is a current death toll in the Philippines of 5209 and 23404 reported as injured. At least 1582 people are still missing and the death toll is expected to rise. Over 3 million people are displaced.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/22/world/asia/philippines-typhoon-haiyan-deaths/

The New York Times reports that secondary threats are beginning to emerge from the typhoon's devastation such as disease and infection. With so many displaced and with destroyed homes, many are living in substandard shelter and must face the effects of new storms, leading to issues such as pneumonia. 

Many aid organizations have brought in food ad some medical supplies but the need for shelter and dry clothing is crucial. Many are living under tarps scavenged from debris, and are wearing one set of clothes, in constant rain. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/world/asia/pneumonia-a-new-threat-to-storm-battered-philippines.html?_r=0

It is often difficult to count the direct deaths of a disaster. In a case such as Typhoon Haiyan, the secondary and tertiary affects can be more deadly. Secondary affects can be building collapse. Tertiary could be disease. 

Super Typhoon Haiyan Aftermath

 

Mitigation techniques and improper goverment management has lead to Typhoon Haiyan turning into a perfect disaster. With over 600,000 homeless and starving, goverment officials blame the local goverments for the lack of aid distribution. Aid is taking much too long to arrive according the United Nations, with some aid only arriving today, a week after the storm made landfall.

The initial death toll was believed to be around 10,000, but as of today, the official death toll lies around 2300. With 20,000 people still missing, many fear that the number of deaths will rise significantly in the coming days. The international relief effort has been staggering, however the aid supplies and rescue teams are hampered by road blockages and reports of rebel attacks.

As of Thursday, the military relief from other countries is beginning to roll in, providing security however the situation is very grim for residents trying to survive inside the damaged cities. Rebels have begun to loot stores and make attacks on warehouses suppling food and aid. To make the situation worse, body collection has begun but there are many corpses still awaiting pick up that are rotting in the tropical climate. Mass burials are exacerbated by rebel attacks.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10448420/Typhoon-Haiyan-Philippines-government-on-defensive-over-slow-response.html

Super Typhoon Haiyan Overview

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/files/2013/11/rbtop0-haiyan.jpg

It has been almost a week since the devastation of Super typhoon Haiyan. This was one of the strongest storms in history, ranking at 4th in the list of strong tropical cyclones. Also this storm was the thritieth named storm of the region. According to the behavioural paradigm, the science behind the storm indicates that this cyclone was a category 5 on the saffir-simpson scale, which measures the strength of tropical cyclones and hurricanes. With sustained winds of up to 145 mph, and 1 minute winds of over 195 mph (gusts of 235 mph) it is no surprise that this storm is capable of causing catastrophic destruction. The majority of damage and death caused by this storm is due to the storm surge that occured as the typhoon approached. With a low pressure of 895 mb, the storm had a predicted storm wall of 15 meters in height, the textbook lists this as "Catastrophic".

According to our textbook, some disasters occur due to the swiss-cheese model. The swiss cheese model accounts for all the factors that lead to an event, like a block of swiss cheese that has holes, the holes represent a perfect formation of disasterous factors. In the case of super storm Haiyan, the factors include poor infrastructure, warning/evacuation, poor rescue/aid techniques and other previous disasters. To address the last one first as a precursor, the Bohol region of the Phillipines was affected by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake previously on Oct 15, causing approximately 200 deaths in the region, damaging homes and displacing many residents.

Poor infrastructure resulted in poor housing situations and improper buildings, this contributed to the event because the homes and emergency shelters were not adequate to withstand a storm of that magnitude, causing severe damage to buildings. The warning system was also inadequate, many sources indicate that some areas prone to flooding and landslides were evacuated, and that a level 1 (low threat) warning had been issued, but it was not until landfall that a level 4 (high threat) warning had been issued, indicating a lack of warning and preparation to evacuate all residents. Lastly, post event aid was slow due to weather and lack of communication, leading to a failure to provide aid within the golden hours (first 24-48 hours of a disaster). Much of the aid from international sources lies waiting at airports as roads are still blocked with debris. Some rescue teams from other countries have not even arrived until today. As a result, there has been a loss of population management resulting in looting and violence, as people become desperate for help.

The increasing frequency of storms such as Haiyan and Sandy are an indication that a broader factor is in play. According to the complexity paradigm, the global earth systems such as the atmosphere, biosphere etc are all interconneced, meaning that changes in one region can affect other regions. For example drought in Africa can cause dust storms which enter the atmosphere and cause rainstorms in the Americas. The increase in global temperature will create more typhoons as well as drought in other regions. Thus, nations should take these incidents as warnings to better prepare thier countries with proper infrastructure, warning, education, and post event aid planning.

Super Typhoon Haiyan Ravages Phillipines

The Phillipines is in a state of emergency after super typhoon Haiyan made landfall, killing more than 10,000 people.  Tacloban city, the capital of Leyte province, took the majority of the storm; the majority of its residents are now without shelter, food or water. Aid has been sent but it is being held up by blocked roads and debris. The storm is said to have affected more than 9.7 million people. At least 1,774 people are confirmed dead, with 2,500 injured and 82 missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Typhoons are not uncommon for the Phillipines, but locals insist that the government has not learned its lesson. In December 2012 Typhoon Bopha killed 1,067 while Thelma, the deadliest storm in Philippine history, killed 5,080 in November 1991.

Rain is making relief efforts difficult and over 660,000 people may be displaced. Material losses are said to exceed $12 million, or 5 percent of the economic output, a devastating number for Phillipines. Many countries have pledged aid and hope to intervene soon. Four out of five airports are open and accepting aid from international sources, but some say the relief effort has been delayed.

The typhoon itself made landfall on Friday, November 8 and boasted 147mph winds and is one of the largest storms in recent history. Officials estimate 10,000 deaths, as stated earlier, but have not been able to make official counts.  Many structures in the path of the storm were destroyed, and thousands plea for help. Many corpses have been found, but until an infrastructure has been established, they must lie in the streets. The World Heatlth Organization stresses the need for sanitary conditions and clean water.

This catastrophe highlights the need for proper risk prevention and disaster preparedness techniques. In class we discussed the timeframe for relief, which can be described as the golden hours. Usually the golden hours are the first 24 hours after a disaster in which rescue efforts can be made to reduce loss of life. However, in this situation, many mitigation and prevention techniques could have been applied before the storm. Some mitigation techniques could have been proper buildings that can withstand typhoons, proper warnings to evacuate affected communities, and efforts to prevent loss of life.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-11/philippines-declares-calamity-as-fresh-storm-approaches.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57611701/philippines-typhoon-survivors-plead-for-help-as-scale-of-devastation-becomes-clear/

Carbon dioxide injected into wells causing earthquakes

In a study performed near Snyder, Texas researchers have vound that carbon dioxide injected into oil and gas wells has caused a series of minor earthquakes. The study analyzed 93 earthquakes between March 2009 and December 2010 linked injecting and hydraulic fracturing to magnitude 3 and above earthquakes. Six temporary seismograph locations were set up and gathered data to support the study, as apart of the USArray program. Carbon dioxide is injected into mature oil fields to enhance output, in Texas, where there are over 7000 oil fields.

I found this story to be fascinating, further research indicates that the authors of the study Wei Gan and Cliff Frohlich are still in the process of studying this phenomenon and there may be a high connection between carbon dioxide injections and earthquakes. However, the phenomenon may be also related to other natural factors such as natural plate tectonics.

This phenomenon indicates that hydraulic fracturing may have a higher impact that is unknown. The implication of these impacts may be good or bad, as the minor earthquakes may release tension in whatever deep faults may occur in the area, thus reducing the impact of a future catastrophic earthquake. However, the impact may have a poor effect on the land quality, leading to issues such as mass wasting.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/04/earthquake-co2-texas-idUSL2N0IP1XR20131104

Study found in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS):

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/10/31/1311316110.abstract

Low birth weight linked to air pollution in Europe

A study in Europe suggests that severe air pollution can be linked to low birth rates in babies. The study is based on data collected from over 74,000 women in 12 countries over a course of 15 years. One doctor says the study is similar to those performed about smoking cessation, indicating that air pollution has a similar effect.

This is an issue as low birth rates of 5.5 lbs or less can cause increased respiratory problems and other disorders. The study found that for every increase of pollution per 5mg per cubic meter of air, the risk of low birth rate increased by 18 percent. Researchers also found that babies within higher risk areas had a smaller head circumference as well. Factors such as maternal smoking, age, height, weight and education were also taken into consideration but air particulates and traffic density were deemed a major cause in this study.

The article stipulates that if the women had been exposed to the amount of pollution set by the World Health Organization standards, at least 145 out of 50,151 babies could have a normal weight. This issue would involve preventing pregnant women from being exposed to high  pollution areas such as streets with heavy traffic. Researchers suggest that goverment policies should be in place to limit air pollution by requiring reductions in emissions by transportation.

This article was an interesting read because the study took many years to complete. This suggests that the day to day impact of air pollution is limited but over time it may be a hazard, especially to vulnerable people such as pregnant women and babies. Thus risk reduction and prevention would include reducing emissions. However, reducing emissions does not necessarily reduce the risk of global warming. As a health based risk though, this study suggests that air pollution should be reduced.  Often air pollution is neglected as a serious risk due to the fact that unless its particularly heavy, it will not affect a person on a daily basis; therefore, it is ignored and the need for transportation and heating outweighs long term health risks. I found it particularly interesting how the article related air pollution effects on newborn babies as the same effects of smoking while pregnant.

Article can be found at Aljazeera, provided by rueters:

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/11/1/air-pollution-linkedtolowbirthweightineurope.html