SECONDS OF DISTRUCTION…

TYPHOON

            Have you ever experience the effect of typhoon in your life. I think all of us had a bad experience about it. Because there are so many unpleasant things happen when a typhoon visits an area, like distraction of properties or maybe loss of life.

            Typhoon in meteorology the term used to describe a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Pacific Ocean. The same phenomenon in different localities is also referred to us a hurricane, cyclone or baguio. Typhoons are usually confined to a band between latitudes 6 degrees and 35 degrees (extreme limits) both north and south.

            A typhoon is one of special winds that whirl and considered the largest among these winds in size and height. Its wind speed is about 120 kilometers per hour or more compared to normal wind speed which is 20 kilometers per hour. People who are in a place where the eye of typhoon passes experience the great contrast between the edges of the strong winds and the eye. In the eye it is calm and the sun shines. A few meters away the winds are very strong and the weather is stormy. The diameter of the eye of the typhoon could be as small as 7 kilometers and as large as 100 kilometer. Generally it ranges from 20-25 km. the time for the eye to pass by location depends on the size of the eye and the speed of the storm. The typhoon consist of a cyclonic storm of unusually low atmospheric pressure, formed over the water are accompanied by winds that may reach velocities of 100 to 150 miles (160-240km) per hour in the most active parts of the vortex. Typhoon associates strong winds and rain with it. Seas become turbulent that’s why people along the shores experience tragedies.

            Frequent areas of typhoon occurrence are in the vicinity of the Philippine Islands, the South China Sea, the Ryuku Islands and the Taiwan Strait.

Typhoon may develop at any time during the year but occur most frequently on the month of June to November. These are the typhoon months in the Philippines. In the Bicol region almost every year we experience this weather disturbance which is actually affects the life of everyone. That’s why, now Albay Governor made a solution to it, on how to be safe when disaster came which is the risk reduction management. The target of this is the zero casualties. Our Governor is gaining excellence because of this successful move. So everyone should be alert when there is a disaster and keep safe and as I have said in my previous article, “expect the unexpected”

FLOODING

Next to Typhoon is flooding. Floods are becoming a grave concern nowadays. Almost all of the casualties and damage to properties is not due to typhoon winds but the floods brought about by rains. That’s why alarming quantities of rain water flow downhill from the highlands. Water that beneficial to us people but it can ruin our lives in different way like flooding that brings large amount of water.

Floods occur when the waters or rivers, lakes or streams overflow their banks and pour out onto the surrounding land. Often, bodies of water increase greatly in volume without causing floods. It is only when great amounts of overflowing water cause severe damage to large surrounding areas that bodies of water can be said to be in flood. Floods are caused by many different things; often heavy rainstorms that last for a brief time can cause a flood. But not all heavy storms are followed by flooding. If the surrounding land is flat and it can absorb the water, no flooding will occur. If, however, the land is hard and rocky, heavy rains cannot be absorbed. Where the banks are low, a river may overflow and flood adjacent land. Sometimes less severe storms can cause flooding. This happens when earlier rains have filled the soil which so much moisture that no more rain can be absorbed. When flood occurs, the destruction to the surrounding land can be very great. Whole villages and towns are sometimes swept away by water pouring swiftly over the land. Roads are washed away. Sometimes the flood waters overflow so quickly and with such violent force that people have no chance to seek safety. Often lives are lost in the onrushing waters of a severe flood. Sometimes it takes many days for the water to withdraw, leaving in their millions of destruction. Whether a flood occurs within a river basin or along a seacoast, the destruction can be severe. Floods are especially destructive if they affect heavily populated areas and people are unprepared. People may never be able to prevent floods completely, but meanwhile certain measures can be taken to control them and lessen the amounts of damage they can cause. However, the best way to avoid the possibility of flood damage is to limit the development of towns and cities in flood prone regions.

That’s why the Government also do something that could lessen the effect of flooding which is the tree planting program or the National Greening Program of President Noynoy Aquino. These days one of the common causes of flooding is the denudation of mountains. We need to plant more trees. The Government put a great emphasis to these because all of us will suffer. Nowadays we experience worst things because of this, what more in the near future. So do your part, you will not just benefit of it and can save your life.

WATER POLLUTION

drop counts, so do your part to have clean and safe water.

Nowadays thousands of hazardous substances end up in our water. Water may look clean but there are so many materials can get into it and make it unhealthy that is polluted. Dangerous substances can pollute any water source like steams lakes oceans and even water that comes into homes. These are unsafe to the health of aquatic life that inhabit the water to wild creatures that lives near the water and to people who drink the water and eat contaminated fish. We are the cause of pollution. I admit it.

Nature’s purification system helped to make the water clean again. Water from the oceans, rivers and even from the land rose as water vapor; leaving any impurities behind the water there fell again or clean rain. This cycle still works but now the impurities left behind are far more numerous and dangerous. Long ago most of the pollutants were Biodegradable. That is bacteria in the water and soil could break the waste down into less harmful substances. Today many of our pollutants are non-biodegradable. These pollutants are chemicals that cannot be digested by bacteria, broken down by sunlight, or made simpler by any material process. For example, plastics will remain unchanged for hundreds of years. Nature has no way of disposing them. So it is our move to do the right thing.

There are many sources of pollution. Many different kinds of substance and conditions can cause water pollution. Each pollutant has a unique effect on life forms, and even small amounts of certain substances may cause problems for living things. Industrial chemicals and metals, oil spills, agricultural chemicals and sewage are sources of pollutions.

The Government and organizations and even student organizations are joining hands to fight water pollution. It is long here, so we can start solving problems like these before anything else that could happen to us in the near future and not to experience worst scenario.

Water is the most significant of all the earth natural resources. We cannot live without it. So protect it and value it.

AIR POLLUTION

If water pollution has a dangerous substance, air pollution contains harmful impurities that can affect our health safety or comfort of living things.

Air is said to be polluted when it contains enough harmful impurities to affect the health safety, or comfort of living things. The impurities or pollutants could be tiny particles of matter of gasses absent in clean air. When people breathe, pollutants in the air maybe deposited in the lungs or absorbed into the body. And polluted air can harm animals and plants as well as people. For this reason, our air supply should be closely watched and manage to assure its good quality.

There are two main types of air pollution; gases, which are mainly produced by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, and particulates, which are solid particles such as those found in the sooty debris released in the exhaust of automobiles. Both types of pollution can have natural or human causes.

The millions of people who live in cities need heat, hot water and electric power. Much of the energy for these needs comes from furnaces and power plants burning fossil fuels. This produces large amounts of gases that enter the atmosphere. Another source of air pollution is the use of fossil fuels in transportation. Vehicles are the source of vast amounts of polluting gases and particulates sometimes factories produce waste chemicals that escape into the air. Even ordinary wear and tear on brakes and tires produces dirt, as do sanding, grinding and drilling operations.

There are three basic approaches to control air pollution. Preventive measures, such as changing the raw materials used in industry or the ingredients of fuel; dispersal measures, such as raising the heights of smokestacks and collection measures such as designing equipment to trap pollutants before they escape into the atmosphere.

It’s not easy to bring about new developments needed to control air pollution. This is a challenge to all the engineers to think of a new perspective to lessen the air pollution. Innovation can be used effectively in preventing this environmental issue, so that we can live our life safely and healthy

If we cannot stop this, we can start solving it in ourselves. If you’re a smoker, quit smoking. So that you will be safe from any disease you can get from smoking and also if you did it at least in a simple way, you already help not just yourself and your health safety but also to others.

REFERENCES:

·THE NEW BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE, BY: Scholastic Library Publishing

· ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICA

· Science book
. Pictures from Image search-www.yahoo.com

BE PART OF CHANGE

                        Just put it there, put it everywhere! Where’s the discipline? Where’s the responsibility?

                        If you have these two, good for you. If you don’t have it, you have to work on it, or else you’re a big part of the trash in this world. Proper waste disposal is just a simple responsibility in this ever changing world. A simple effort but it can be a big change in some factors in our environment like maintaining the cleanliness and orderliness in our society. Hey, all of us have a purpose in this world, be a good citizen and be a productive one.

                        Let’s do our part to protect our mother earth. If you have the fear in your mind what will happen the next day or in the future, do all the good things that will prevent the effect of it in your life and to others. Be aware of these and be a role model to others especially the young ones. If you did it, you have responsibility in yourself and now you are disciplined to influence others and by these you achieve something that is unusual.

Expect the unexpected!

In our daily life, we have to consider everything as part of growing up to stand firm in life. But do we consider also the environmental concerns and issues especially nowadays?. Some of us ignore these things and a few are doing good in it and give some importance to it. Because of ignoring it, we have no choice to face and expect the unexpected, which is the climate change. Do we know about it?? Maybe, some are abusing it and other is gaining excellence to it.

We are the reason why this things happening to us, that’s why we are suffering right now. It creates an impact to the people that will affect their daily life and for the future generation. It is a big challenge to the people around the globe to face this problem.

Climate is changing and these changes are in large part caused by the human activities. But there are ways to reduce further human impact and we can find ways to adapt to change that is already happened and anticipated to happen in the future.

Albay Governor Joey  Sarte Salceda put some great points and recommendation on it, to collaborate to other agencies and even media is part of it. That’s why we do have some knowledge to it to adapt it and do some actions to prevent and reduce the impact of it especially to Albayano’s. And even other nations are influenced to do the same thing to be ready in every instance that we can experience something that we don’t expect.    If people want to make change happen, we have to do it ourselves and pass on what we know to others.

RECYCLING is not imposible...

Making scrap materials to a new product? Possible!

                        I’m talking about recycling. Recycling is process where used materials turned into a new product. Materials for recycling can be collected separately from general waste using dedicated bins, and collection vehicles or sorted directly from mixed waste streams. Most recycled materials includes most common consumer products like cans, copper wire, furnishings or equipment, bottles, jars, paperboard, cartoons, newspapers, magazines and others. The purpose of this is to conserve natural resources and also reduces environmental damage and decreases the amount of waste sent to landfills.

                       By engaging into recycling, we can improve our creativity and as well as it can play a big part in today’s awareness to our environmental problems. Also it can be our source of income by doing such thing and we can also encourage everyone to do the same thing and especially the youths of today’s generation. It’s just easy to do this, the only thing you will consider is willingness.