Superstorm Sandy Shook the Earth

sciencehabit writes "When Superstorm Sandy struck the United States on 30 October, it didn't just devastate the Eastern Seaboard, it shook the ground as far away as the West Coast, producing tiny vibrations in Earth's crust that were picked up by seismometers there. Scientists can use this activity to track the path of the storm. Now, they say that analyzing past records of these vibrations may help them discern whether climate change has influenced the amount of storminess over the world's oceans in recent decades."

Comments

well, that's grasping

[Anonymous Coward]

It should be simple enough to check for increased or decreased storminess through satellite images and records.

If you're trying to find another proxy then you're not getting the results you want from the available proxies.

Re:well, that's grasping

[beschra]

I'll feed the troll.

One thing that's probably very difficult to measure from satellite images is energy in a storm, which I would think would be an important part of measuring storminess. I'd think that knowing how far the impact extended through the earth would be very helpful in measuring energy.

Re:well, that's grasping

[Anonymous Coward]

As per the article, they're also planning to look at data from the pre-satellite era, and can use seismic data to fill in any gaps in the satellite network.

Re:well, that's grasping

[Troed]

Here's a graph on total cyclone energy over time. The global warming signal should be easily spotted:

http://policlimate.com/tropical/global_running_ace.png

Re:well, that's grasping

[fustakrakich]

Obviously Clinton's and Bush's (both) fault. Under our wonderful new stewardship it's lower than it was 30 years ago :-/

Re:well, that's grasping

[Fesh]

Looks like it fluctuates with the sunspot cycle... Needs to be controlled for that to produce any useful conclusions.

Please stop

[Whatanut]

Plesae stop calling it "super storm". It was unusual for that area. That is all. It was no where near has large a storm as have been seen in other places.

Re:Please stop

[ackthpt]

Plesae stop calling it "super storm". It was unusual for that area. That is all. It was no where near has large a storm as have been seen in other places.

It wasn't even unusual. Storms like Sany shaped the Eastern Seaboard. Why the continued moronic assumptions history began with European settlers?

I'm an avid hiker and camper, covering considerable area in my exploration. Very often I take the time to examin my surroundings and wonder what forces shaped them. Sometimes the truth is hidden beneath grasses and behind trees, others the truth is fully exposed in rock outcrops, valley floors and mountain ranges. The Earth didn't stop changing, either, it's constantly changing. We're just a bink in the eye of time, though we're doing a marvelous job of paving ground, digging holes and pulling carbon back to the surface.

Enjoy the ride.

Re:Please stop

[BlackSnake112]

It became super storm when it joined up with other weather systems when it hit the north east. Prior to that it was just hurricane Sandy. Also the media needed to make the storm sound very bad to the average joe. Usually hurricanes are not that strong when they hit the north east. Many people would not and did not leave. Calling it super storm Sandy makes it sound worse to make people listen. Many people did not listen and go to higher ground. I know people who work for the Verizon. They had to go in to restore service. On some coastal towns they plowed the streets to clear the sand. In the plow banks they saw bodies. Well an arm or leg poking out of the sand.

Re:Please stop

[Runaway1956]

"It wasn't even unusual. Storms like Sany shaped the Eastern Seaboard. Why the continued moronic assumptions history began with European settlers?"

Two thumbs up.

We're supposed to believe that before Europeans arrived, the Americas were an idyllic paradise, that suffered no storms, no earthquakes, no wars, no famine. Ehhh - Europeans brought all those evils here, along with smallpox and polio.

Re:Please stop

[Hunter Shoptaw]

Well they were going to go with "Bigger than average storm for this area, but not quite a hurricane," but then marketing got a hold of it.

Re:Please stop

[ackthpt]

"It wasn't even unusual. Storms like Sany shaped the Eastern Seaboard. Why the continued moronic assumptions history began with European settlers?"

Two thumbs up.

We're supposed to believe that before Europeans arrived, the Americas were an idyllic paradise, that suffered no storms, no earthquakes, no wars, no famine. Ehhh - Europeans brought all those evils here, along with smallpox and polio.

Geocaching has a type of cache called Earthcache, where to log a find the geocacher must read about some feature, observe and report back to the cache owner. These really are some great eye openers in what is present, but in getting the mind working on how a feature came to be, what time was involved, how climate changed during the creation of the feature.

Re:Please stop

[Holi]

No the whole reason it is considered a super storm is it was th combination of two storm fronts. If they had missed, regardless of the damage it would not be called a super storm. Think of the "Perfect Storm" it wasn't called that because of the amount of damage caused, but because of the potential damage do to the power it produced. And it released an incredible amount of force, just most of it was impacted on empty ocean.

Re:Please stop

[Holi]

per wikipedia it was the largest hurricane (by gale diameter) ever observed in the Atlantic basin. Kinda makes you look like an ass for your ill informed comment

Also

[sunking2]

Scientists can now detect the vibrations from an ant walking. Ants must be becoming larger, more powerful, and are on the brink of world domination.

Re:Seriously,

[GameboyRMH]

It's the same old fight against environmental regulations that's been going on at least since American cities were choking on coal smog in the late 1800s/early 1900s and the companies doing the polluting said that breathing it was good for your health.