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Tsunami Warnings Now Faster, More Accurate
CWmike writes "As the deadly tsunami generated by Friday's massive earthquake off the coast of Japan headed toward the United States, scientists at NOAA's Center for Tsunami Research tracked its progress in real-time. Dozens of deep-ocean tsunami-monitoring sensors more than three miles beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean picked up information on the silent swell of water and transmitted it by way of a satellite to the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, Wash. Here, scientists crunched the data and quickly developed real-time predictions about how and when the tsunami would reach select locations in Hawaii, Alaska and the US west coast. The models predicted the wave arrival time, estimated wave height and the likely extent of inundation for about 50 communities likely to be affected."
Another piece of useful infrastructure: reader JustABlitheringIdiot writes "Google has launched a version of its Person Finder service for people caught up in the Japanese earthquake. The website acts as a directory and message board so people can look for lost loved ones or post a note saying they are safe."
Until we get the data to compare the model predictions with the real results, all that we know is that we have some model calculated fast... Just let it be a few more days (or hours) and then we can talk about something.
Why can't
A private service will charge a pretty penny for those warnings...
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Fortunately, we decided that we could do without fripperies like the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20042264-503544.html
saving $126 million, fully .01% of this year's deficit. Now all we need to do is find 10,000 other equally useful programs to cut.
I don't know enough fluid dynamics or whatever; but I'm surprised "when" isn't just "distance / speed-of-waves", and "how big" is just "size * some 1/distance factor, or perhaps 1/distance-squared if energy goes down too.
http://wonkette.com/440464/house-republicans-were-just-trying-to-cut-tsunami-monitoring-of-course
Just thought I would add this. http://xkcd.com/723//url
Doctors do Massage in Longview WA now, who knew?
Here in the USA I've read in news of exactly one person dead, and yes I'll troll and point out he and his friends were total DUMBASSES taking photos of incoming Tsunami waves at mouth of river outlet to ocean. His friends are lucky to be alive and can now reflect for years on how their utter stupidity got their companion killed horribly and how they made all their families suffer. I'm much more concerned how this system could have been better to help the Japanese,there were minutes between the quake and when the tsunami hit there. in this age of instant comm could not have more been saved by instant messaging system?
...harder, better, and stronger.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
but some are useful
--George Box
http://wonkette.com/440464/house-republicans-were-just-trying-to-cut-tsunami-monitoring-of-course
Looks like Democrats couldn't anticipate the consequences since there are zero mentions of this prior to this morning. This is political posturing, and a poor attempt at revisionist history, and seeking to capitalize on a natural disaster. No Democrats opposed the cut or made any statements on the subject prior to today. In the information age, I expect a group as powerful as the Democratic party to manipulate the media better than this.
The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.
This is the same party that takes individuals seriously that say that oceans won't rise because God told them so.
to be a self serving morally bankrupt parasite.
I'm no expert either. But my understanding of reactor operation is: even after a scram, the reactor core continues to produce decay heat and must be cooled for some time.
Reactor installations are normally equipped with backup diesel generators of sufficient capacity to run the necessary cooling pumps. It may be that the quake or subsequent tsunami damaged them so that they were not able to start. It is possible to backfeed a plant over the outgoing transmission lines to power pumps as well and that may have been their backup to the backup plan.
Have gnu, will travel.
True. For all we know, the GOP cuts were aimed at eliminating the National Weather Service tornado warning programs. After all, those tornadoes have been sent by God to punish the wrong doers in the states in tornado alley (primarily red states). The people on the west coast trust science and are less likely to put their fate into the hands of God or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Have gnu, will travel.
I believe the issue is that the massive heat is already there. No doubt they dropped the control rods (or whatever the control mechanism is), but everything is still hot and needs to be continually cooled until no longer hot. There are other complexities, like the one facility that has 6 reactors and only one of them is down. And a different (I think?) facility where they had the generators to run the pumps, but a hose broke or something and there was no coolant.
From what I've read, the unit is cooled with steam, so pumps aren't required. Unfortunately, power is required to control the valves. I'm guessing a manual override isn't possible or they've would have put that plan into motion.
I think the fuel is encased with a ceramic shell. The fuel has a melting point of 1000c while the ceramic is 2000c. That would require some serious heat buildup.
Life is not for the lazy.
Nah, well, it's hard to predict tsunamis and earthquakes - easier to predict the weather -
Democrats did attempt to add more money to NOAA’s budget. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., offered an amendment to the CR that would have directed “no less than $710,641,000 to the National Weather Service Local Warnings and Forecasts.” The amendment was one of several Democratic spending proposals that was found to be out of order, and not voted on.
Well, someone tried to add money to the budget - the statement that no one objected is not true -
There has been a huge redistribution of wealth from the poor and middle class to the wealthy over the past 10 to 15 years - the government no longer has the money - the wealthy, top 1 percent have the money now. If NOAA wishes to survive, it must receive patronage from the top 1 percent. And, thus, the privatization of all government functions is complete.
Next time, just say you solved all your budget worries by cutting food out.
It works, absolutely 100% guaranteed.
Now if only we could get republicans to follow what they preach, then the world would be a better place in, what... about 1-3 weeks?
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Already done, the only casualty in the US itself appears to be some guy in California that went out to the beach to 'get photos of the tsunami' and was washed out to sea.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g1TWby_VX05ZhuqBWleNvrMHSF3A?docId=CNG.282ada13094582f9a1838cc1441d70b5.3e1
From the article you cite:
For PTWC to be killed because of a decrease in budget for NWS/NOAA is like saying a decrease in the NASA budget will guarantee all NASA related projects to be terminated.
You know your point is weak when you resort to sensational journalism to make it.
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage