Hong Kong has new technology that protects against severe weather

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3041289/hong-kong-government-says-new-technology


Hong Kong government claims they have new technology that will protect them against severe weather on a scale of typhoon Mangkhut.Because of that typhoon and the damages that Hong Kong suffered from it, the officials have stepped in and invented technology that will protect the shoreline. "it uses laser imaging to capture the state of the facilities above the water and sonar waves to detect underwater structures, producing a high quality three-dimensional model for inspection."  With a wall like that protecting the shoreline, they will be able to detect when a typhoon is going to hit and prepare themselves. The wall is also made in a way that will be very difficult to tear down. With technology like that, Hong Kong hopes that whenever the next typhoon comes, their new inventions will be able to prevent costly damages as well as save peoples lives.

Israel holds extreme weather exercise

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-to-hold-extreme-weather-exercise-as-winter-arrives-610363


Israeli authorities will conduct drills on December 10-11 to better prepare themselves for extreme weather coming this next year. One exercise is called the "storm exercise" which will include a cold room that will have extremely high wind speeds circulating to prepare residents for severe storms. Other exercises include high heat in the room to prepare for hot weather that could cause heat exhaustions and heat strokes. I think that is a pretty good idea on conducting such drills because it prepares people for what is coming. The simulation may not be as severe as what is coming but at least they will know how to prepare themselves and what to do when such an event happens in real life. The Israeli authorities are also conducting a large scale earthquake big enough to create a tsunami just in case a weather event like that takes place.

Extreme weather patterns are raising the risk of a global food crisis

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/12/09/extreme-weather-patterns-are-raising-risk-global-food-crisis-climate-change-will-make-this-worse/


Extreme weather, specifically droughts and heat waves are putting important crops such as wheat, maize and soybeans at risk. If such events continue to occur, there will be a noticeable increase of price on scarce crops and there will be food shortages for us as humans and animals. Many crop holders will be losing money from such weather and will have a difficult time keeping their farm afloat. Droughts are not the only weather that could affect crops however. Cold weathers and floods also account for a lot of crop loss. In general , crops are at an all time risk and those who grow crops should try to preserve as much crops as they can before it becomes more difficult to not only grow crops but sell crops. " In general, extremes will become stronger and the likelihood that extremes will occur simultaneously will also increase" Kornhuber said. 

refugees at increased risk due to extreme weather

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50692857


Refugees in Africa and Asia are exposed to severe weather and have an increased risk of fatality. Many of these refugees live in tents that cannot really survive harsh winds. "An increasing number of camps for refugees and internally displaced people are being hit by extreme weather events and managing them in such conditions is proving to be increasingly difficult.".  A tropical cyclone hit South Africa killing 1,000 people back in march 2019. That storm also destroyed or damaged the shelters of 2,000 refugees. Many refugees also live in mud huts and are prone to being flooded by severe storms which proved to be the case many times over this past year. Statistics show that 28 million people were internally displaced in 2018 alone due to extreme weather.

Storm Atiyah, Red weather warning

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/storm-atiyah-extreme-caution-advised-as-met-eireann-issue-status-red-weather-warning-38763563.html


Met Eirann has issued a red weather warning as storm Atiyah is moving between Iceland and Ireland. Storm Atiyah is going to reach speeds varying from 80 km per hour to 130 km per hour.Officials have suggested residents to prepare for extreme winds and make sure they are safe from possible trees falling or vehicles being pushed by the wind. They have advised to not travel anywhere for the time being but if you must then take caution. Officials also told residents to prepare themselves for a power outage as power lines could possibly be knocked down by flying objects. Setting yourself up with an extra generator will go along way when the storm hits. This storm is not necessarily the longest one and will die down by rush hour but everyone should be ready and expect a violent storm nonetheless. The temperature during storm Atiyah is predicted to be 4 to 7 degrees  Celcius.

Levee break shuts down california highway, strands students overnight at school

https://weather.com/news/news/2019-12-05-california-flooding-closes-highway-101


A levee broke and stranded about 30 students and teachers in the school and they had to sleepover in the building. The parents of those students tried the best they can to come and pick them up however, the floods were just too high forcing the students to stay put. Cots were set up in the schools gym and everyone stranded received great care and shelter. Two homes in the same neighborhood however, got flooded to the point where they had to evacuate in order to stay safe. The highway was closed till about 8 pm and some streets were not opened until after midnight. The heavy storm continued throughout the night knocking over a tree into a powerline resulting in the loss of electricity for people of that neighborhood. Fortunately there was no fatalities or injuries which is always a good sign. The floods slowly went away and highways and streets are operating at normal rates.

Typhoon Kammuri kills at least 4 people in the phillipines

https://weather.com/news/news/2019-12-03-philippines-typhoon-kammuri-death-toll-damage


A powerful typhoon last Tuesday took the lives of 4 or more people. Kammuri also was strong enough to rip off the roofs of some peoples houses and knock down power lines leaving many people without electricity for a long period of time. Although the typhoon didn't last longer than a day, it was able to cause a lot of damage for the time it lasted. Many people were forced to leave home and find shelter elsewhere until their houses were and still are being repaired. Also people lost their vehicles which made transportation a lot more difficult for many. Those who still had a functioning vehicle were still not clear to travel as the roads were flooded and fallen trees were in the way. Aside from a disastrous Tuesday, everything seemed to quiet down after that day and residents are expected to make a full recovery. Fortunately the casualties weren't super high and the damage wasn't the worst that this country has endured.

Migrants in Bosnia face horrific conditions as winter descends

https://weather.com/news/news/2019-12-04-bosnia-migrant-camp-winter-photos


Hundred of migrants in Bosnia refused to drink water and eat the food that was provided to them in order to protest the conditions in their camps. The migrants wanna move further down as the makeshift camp that they are living in now is not safe. The migrants are living in tents and do not have a good source of electricity and not that much food resources. The council of Europe commissioner, is shutting down Vucjak, which is one of the regions that these camps are set in because of freezing weather and sight of first snow fall for the year. The weather is so cold that by keeping Vucjak open, it is only a matter of time that fatalities would start to occur. All the migrants want to do is cross the border and for that reason they are refusing to eat or drink in order to force the authorities to keep the camp going until they reach warmer climates.

Picture above shows a person in Vucjak camp standing outside of the tents where people are taking shelter. 

Snow in Florida

https://weather.com/news/news/2019-12-06-florida-snow-alpine-adventure-park


If all goes as planned and it snows in florida next year, a Snowcat Ridge Alpine snow park will open as it is under construction now. It will be set to only be opened during winter months and will solely depend on natural snow to carry their success. The park will be built 30 miles north of Tampa. Hard to believe that Florida has a snow attraction park.  This park will consist of a 60 foot tall and 400 foot wide tubing slide where people can use for sledding and snowboarding. The park will also run even when the temperatures reach as high as 80 degrees. It has snowed before in that area so its not impossible to have a snow attraction park in that area but it is still very hopeful because they are depending on a lot of things to happen.

Picture above shows the attraction park and test tubes going down as they are preparing to potentially open up this year provided they are met with some decent snowfall.

Can our global energy industry weather extreme weather?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2019/11/22/can-our-global-energy-industry-weather-extreme-weather/#2aa7c18e3248

Researchers created reports that considered the effect of extreme weather events of fossil fuel , renewable energy , nuclear power and electricity. Furthermore, they also made research on the occurrence of droughts and floods since 1977 (globally) which show significant difference.

When it comes to fossil fuel, it is just fuel at the end of the day and the delivery of fossil fuel becomes difficult when the temperatures are low. Coal stacks are also frozen quite often and the diesel generators cannot function when temperatures reach a low point.In a case of flooding, fossil fuel cannot be loaded onto a transportation vehicle nor can it be unloaded if there is a delivery.

2019 concludes a decade of exceptional global heat and high impact weather

https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/69400

2020 is less than a month away and after the year of plenty weather related disasters that 2019 is concluding with, it will take a lot for 2020 to surpass this year. Global warming went to an all time high creating more problems in Antarctica and all over the world in general. 2019 is on record to become the third or second (depending on December) warmest year on record. Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit a record level of 407.8 parts per million. Sea levels have went up to the highest they have been according to scientists.

Extreme weather heat are taking an increasing toll on humanity and its health. Such heats that we have seen this past year, cause many droughts putting crops at risk and therefore making food and supplies a more scarce item. Many people are also dying and going to hospitals for reasons caused by the extreme heat that we have endured in June and July. Strong heatwaves caused many wildfires this year including some major ones in California and the amazon this year.

Climate change is real. India fifth most vulnerable to extreme weather disasters

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/climate-change-is-real-india-fifth-most-vulnerable-to-extreme-weather-disasters-shows-study-4704031.html

India is ranked 5th in the world when it comes to being vulnerable to extreme weather disasters. India is a poor country which by study shows that poor countries are more vulnerable to diasters like this as well. Myanmar who is a neighboring country, tops the list for being the most vulnerable country to weather related disasters. Indias economic loss from extreme weather events such as cyclones and hurricanes is estimated to be over $37.8 billion dollars. That is debt that India may never and probably will not recover from. Not to mention that weather disasters occur quite often in India and Myanmar.

Last year, over 220,000 people had to evacuate their homes and 20,000 houses and 80 dams were destroyed by flooding and heavy winds. India was also hit by cyclones Titli and Gaja which both had wind speeds of over 150 km per hour. Titli killed about 8 people and left 450,000 people without electricity.

NJ weather: Cold and sunny weekend before storm

https://www.nj.com/weather/2019/12/nj-weather-cold-sunny-weekend-before-chance-of-rain-across-the-state.html



Saturday for New Jersey is set to be sunny, yet very cold throughout the day. New Jersey will most likely see the highest temperature to go as high as in the 40s but will feel like 25 with the wind chill.Saturday night is expected to be clear of storms and rains but the temperature will be dropped to low 20s and feel like 10 with the wind chill. As for the rest of the weekend, it seems like a quiet weekend for New Jersey with some coldness to deal with. The forecasters are however predicting a storm with some pretty heavy rainfall that's gonna take place sometime in the midweek. Forecasters suggest for everyone to prepare themselves for slick roads and longer commute time during the week.

The picture above shows the areas in New Jersey that will be affected by the recent weather. The south looks like they won't have a lot to bargain with but New Jersey looks like they will have to deal with coldness and possibly snowfall and icy roads.

unusual tornadoes confirmed in Arizona

https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2019-11-30-tornadoes-confirmed-arizona-phoenix-late-november

Three tornadoes appeared in one day in Phoenix, Arizona, as a powerful storm continues to head west. This was only the 3rd time that 3 or more tornadoes were recorded in the same area in one day since 1950. These tornadoes caused massive destructions to peoples homes and vehicles and injured a lot of people on its way to destruction. Tornado warnings are unusual in Arizona since they usually do not have tornadoes, so three tornado warnings in one day was a very dangerous sight for people living in Arizona.

Some posted pictures of their homes being completely demolished by the tornadoes. There are also pictures and videos of large trees being thrown around like a piece of paper.The wind gusts were recorded over 60 mph. Fortunately the tornadoes have died down while moving west so other states received minimal damage or no damage at all. Arizona however received all the damage and will need time to recover from such a disaster.

Developing weather patterns has forecasters on early alert for potentially significant storm

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/12/07/Developing-weather-pattern-has-forecasters-on-early-alert-for-potentially-significant-storm/6781575736114/

The forecasters are predicting a major disruptive storm that can potentially delay travel time via car and plane. The storm will also have a huge effect on power so people .should prepare for power outage and figure out ways to generate more. Heavy winds and rain as well as snow are to be expected in a short amount of time. Those who are traveling by airplane, should keep an eye on the news and notices as their flights might be cancelled.

Such a severe storm may cause flooding in in many areas affecting commuters. This storm is to hit southeast and the east coast with mainly rain , however some cities in the Mideast might be hit with heavy rain resulting from this storm. This storm is as large as reaching montreal so people should realize that this storm is extremely severe and should take a few days to prepare for whats coming. Fortunately the storm is just avoiding Chicago so we are safe from the heavy snows for now.

Picture showing the path of the storm and the areas it is affecting. By the look of it, most of the areas in united states will be affected only by heavy rain while some areas will have some snowfall.

Thanksgiving storm blankets Southern California mountaints

https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/thanksgiving-storm-blankets-southern-california-mountains-with-snow-shuts-down-the-grapevine/636596

Thanksgiving started out with thunderstorms and heavy rains for southern California. It got so bad that there was reported flooding in a few areas of southern California. The rains however, did solve an ongoing fire problem for California for the time being. Places like long beach in California received up to 2.17 inches of rain which now surpassed the previous record of 1.93 inches back in 1970. This storm was very problematic for travel and many families had to cancel their thanksgiving plans as the roads were completely overflowing with water . Other problems included icy roads closer to the mountains cause cars to skid off the road on turns.

 The problems did not stop after the thanksgiving break as another storm followed up to add on more rain and caused problems for another week. These 2 storms combined to put an end to the fire season in California, however, started a new season of a wet winter.

How cold weather affects your brain

https://www.bustle.com/p/how-cold-weather-affects-your-brain-according-to-experts-19367014

 As winter is slowly creeping up on us, many believe it changes their ways of functioning. One may think that they feel more sluggish or tired. Commuting is a hassle on its own and when they streets are covered in snow and ice it becomes that much harder. Most hate the idea of waking up and having to deal with the cold and long commute. Others however, feel more alive during winter time.

A small study of about 28 participants in 2016 done by "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" , indicates that peoples brain activity does in fact change depending on which season it was. Study shows that people pay more attention to what they are doing in the summer season as opposed to the winter season, However working memory was higher during winter. Despite these results, the results at their respected workplace were the same and the seasons had no involvement in their job performance. Study suggests that going out into the cold weather might improve cognitive performance but that is still a controversial study. Studies have however shown that "a variation of temperatures seem to affect people in different ways"

Winter weather blamed for seven deaths heads for the northeast

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/02/winter-weather-blamed-for-seven-deaths-heads-for-the-northeast.html

The dangerous winter weather that has caused already 7 deaths while marching across country is now heading northeast. This weather is bringing heavy snow and chilling winds to cities like boston and Philadelphia for the first time this winter. Such weather will cause delay in travel. Boston and its neighboring cities are expected to receive as much as 6 inches of snow while areas a few miles farther will receive as much as 11 inches of snow. New York is expected to miss the severe storm but other cities are not gonna be as fortunate.

In New York, the ice caused a Delta owned aircraft to skid off the landing strip when they were landing. Fortunately, there was no fatalities or injuries reported among the 72 passengers and the plane crew. Amid all the chaos in the airport, 25 other arrivals and departures were cancelled for the day.

Warming at the poles will soon be felt globally in rising seas

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/12/arctic/


Global warming is a hot topic right now and has been a huge issue for a few years now. With the constant melting of ice and glaciers, the sea levels are rising faster than ever before creating a lot of problems in the near future. Sea levels of such height could prove to be very problematic when hurricans and cyclones come by. Also eventually the water will overflow and slowly start to flood the land that people have houses on.

"—Antarctic warming has been similar to the global average, although some parts are warming much faster." With the weather warming up so fast, the Antarctic is at a risk of melting away. The glaciers are rapidly retreating, much faster than they ever have creating a terrible scenario for the wild life there. Many believe that polar bears are at a risk of becoming extinct in a few years if global warming continues to trend.

Extreme weather could drive 22 million people from their homes this year

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/extreme-weather-could-drive-22-million-people-from-their-homes-this-year/ar-BBXJC32

Aside from fatalities, weather related disasters cause a lot of damage to the community and drive people out of their homes. After hurricane Katrina for example, there was many fatalities but a lot more fatalities came after the fact because the lack of homes and food since the hurricane destroyed all those things.According to the article, hurricanes and cyclones drove as much as 7 million people out of their homes in the first 6 months of 2019. Now the study shows that by the end of this year, as much as 22 million people will be homeless because of severe weather. Hurricanes and cyclones are not the only weather disasters that occur, we have to take earthquakes and floods into account as well. Fires in california also had a huge impact on housing because of the ash it left behind.Those who have farm lands suffered huge losses this year due to flooding or drought. Many of those who live on farm depend on their crops not only for food but for money and when weather destroys their crops constantly, it becomes very hard to survive for those people.

They have not predicted anything for 2020 as of right now, however if the trend continues, then 2020 will be a much worse year. Hurricanes are coming out a lot more often than before and other parts of the world have to deal with drought all the time.