PART 1 For the previous weeks discussion, you watched documentaries describing the devastation caused by hurricanes and tornadoes and then wrote a summary of your thoughts. Many of you stated how you found these storms fascinating to study despite the danger they pose to society.
In this week’s discussion assignment, we will investigate the evidence that human activity (i.e. primarily from the use of fossil fuels) is causing these natural disasters to become more frequent and more dangerous.
In May 2021, Steve E. Koonin published his book “Unsettled: What climate science tells us, What it doesn’t and Why it matters”. Here is a brief background on him:
Dr. Steven Koonin is a leader in science policy in the United States. He served as Undersecretary for Science in the U.S. Departement of Energy under President Obama, where he was the lead author of the department’s strategic plan and the inaugural Quadrennial Technology Review (2011). With more than 200 peer-reviewed papers in the fields of physics and astrophysics, scientific computation, energy technology and policy, and climate science, Dr. Koonin was a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech, also serving as Caltech’s vice president and provost for almost a decade. He is currently a university professor at New York University, with appointments in the Stern School of Business, the Tandon School of Engineering, and the Department of Physics.
Objective: To critically think about the variables that impact the global distribution and creation of hurricanes and tornadoes
Directions:
Step 1: Read Chapter 6: Tempest Terrors (p.111-126) from the book Unsettled. (I included his bibliography of Ch. 6 at the end for reference if you’re interested in reading/researching his sources)
Chapter 6 Tempest Terrors- Unsettled.pdf download
Step 2: After you’ve finished reading the chapter, please post a brief summary of the chapter on the discussion board.
To receive full-credit please follow these guidelines:
Write a minimum of 1 paragraph (I recommend typing in Word or Google docs first, saving and then copy/paste into Canvas).
What did you learn or find most intriguing from chapter 6?
Were you surprised by the statistics/conclusions that Koonin described?
Are you more or less worried about the “increasing” risk of hurricanes and tornadoes?
How does the climate science (from the IPCC assessment reports Koonin references) contradict what the media, politicians and journalists frequently say to the public?
After reading “Tempest Terrors”, would you be interested in reading the remaining chapters of Unsettled? Or buy the book for yourself?
Reflect on any misconceptions you may have had prior to reading chapter 6.
Reply to at least 1 of your classmates.
PART 2 (Reply to the following)I learned that there seems to be no definitive pattern to when and where hurricanes other than the natural prerequisites that are needed to form a hurricane. No data shows that human development has increased or decreased the rate at which hurricanes appear. I was surprised by the statistics that were shown, simply because the appearance at which hurricanes appear is so random and sporadic, It jumps up and down a lot and has downward and upward trends (that we know of). I’m less worried about the “Increasing” risk of hurricanes, the statistics show that the “Upwards” trend of hurricanes is equal to or less than what it has been in the past. Climate science shows that media is skewing information in favor of their story, human activities currently seem to have no major effect on hurricanes worldwide.
After reading “Tempest Terrors” I’d be interested in reading the rest of the information that the book has to offer in previous and later chapters. I might buy the book myself simply to be more informed about what goes on in nature. I had thought that hurricanes formed on a relatively constant trend and looked more like a heartbeat than an upward/downward trend with spikes.