Crazy Weather Harms Cities Across the US
People living in Illinois can tell that something strange is going on; starting with tornadoes and storms tearing through the South, flooding in Mississippi, heat wave in Champaign-Urbana, and Tsunami and Earthquakes in Japan.
These days, when the weather breaks records, it’s natural to wonder if global warming is to blame. So it’s not surprising that in recent weeks, climate scientists have been asking a whole bunch of questions on if the whole weather change is due to global warming.
On April 28, 2011, the death poll approached 300 from tornadoes and thunderstorms violently tearing through the South in cities like Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. NOAA, (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), reported that, “It was the worst tornado outbreak since 1974, when storms killed 315 people.” The deadliest tornado outbreak on record was on March 18, 1925, when 695 people died.
Now, Tsunami… Earthquake… Nuclear Crisis… Japan… On April 7, 2011, Japan’s most powerful earthquake struck the north-east coast, triggering an enormous tsunami.
“Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which struck about 250 miles north-east of Tokyo,” reported BBC News.
Officials say 350 people were dead from the disaster, and tons still missing. The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900, and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand. It was reported that a ship was drawn towards the vortex off the port of Oarai, Ibaraki.
Starting on May 20, 2011, Champaign, Urbana has been going through a major heat wave. “This heat isn’t really a big deal because, I mean, summer is coming soon. Mother nature is trying to make us get used to the hot weather again,” said Freshman Margaret Taylor.
Sophomore Joe Carter said that, “This heat is probably getting to all of us because we had gotten used to the cold weather. The hot weather just randomly popped out of nowhere, and most of the classrooms had gotten really hot and sticky from the heat.”
Weather forecasts have shown that the heat will eventually decrease next week, but of course, it’s been shown on “http://www.wunderground.com“, that the weather will start increasing again and become way worse than the recent week.
On April 28, 2011, authorities along the waterway in both states of Mississippi started warning nearby residents to brace for the possibility of any flooding. “River boats in Mississippi are closing, along with hundreds of levees in both states where the river crosses en route to the Gulf of Mexico,” reported the CNN Wire Staff.
“We’re going to do everything we can to prepare for the worst-case scenario while we still are hoping for the best case,” said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
“Hopefully the water does not start harming a whole bunch of people,” said Freshman Ellie England.
Freshman Ricky Patel responded to that by also hoping that, “All the hundreds of cities along the river stay safe and out of the wild waters way,” he said.
Now, as school ends and summer begins, Champaign-Urbana students can only wish for the best weather.
Senior Laeticia Ngamboma pretty much said that she hopes for, “No storms, no tornadoes, no floods, and definitely no out of control heat,” she said.
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