Author: Sanjeda Patwari

Point Hope, Alaska is an extremely remote town in the United States. It is connected to the mainland by only one unpaved path and is surrounded by icy seas on all three other sides. Basic necessities like milk and bread are delivered by air and gas is brought in by barge during the summer. This town is a very traditional community of Inupiaq native Alaskans who are very in touch with nature and have not had access to high speed internet and so have not been disconnected from the outside world. Recently, the surrounding Arctic ice of Point Hope has started melting and receding. This has opened new underwater passageways for high-speed internet cables that Quintillion, a fund administration company, is taking advantage of to build a faster digital link between London and Tokyo. Point Hope is one of the places along this route so these Inupiaq native Alaskans will now have access to broadband speed internet.

While it is great that these people who have been long disconnected from the outside world will have means of communicating with the world, the receding Arctic ice has negative implications for the environment. The rising waters affect the sea mammals of the community and the seafood they rely on for sustenance. While these rising waters will help people communicate faster over great distances, this global warming will disrupt local ecology. Melting ice caps also change the dynamics of the planet’s temperatures, changing the global distribution of rain and causing drought.

Kang, Cecilia. “Melting Arctic Ice Makes High-Speed Internet a Reality in a Remote Town.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/technology/from-the-arctics-melting-ice-an-unexpected-digital-hub.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=13&pgtype=sectionfront.

This last week, a huge wildfire has ravaged through areas in California. It had destroyed about 800 structures and scorched 56,000 acres by Sunday. This wildfire has been recorded as the fifth largest in state history. People are working very hard to bring the blaze under control but the hot, dry Santa Ana winds and mountainous terrains make these firefighting efforts very difficult. The Thomas Fire has scorched 230,000 acres (more than the area of NYC), destroyed 790 buildings, and left 90,000 homes and businesses without power. The fires have also forced the evacuation of more than 200,000 people. There has only been one death reported from these fires.

Almost 90% of wildfires in the U.S. are caused by humans. These can result from unattended campfires, burning debris, discarded cigarettes, and intentional acts of arson. The other 10% of wildfires in the U.S. are started by lightning or lava. Fires usually start through hot lightning bolts that last for a really long time. It’s unclear at this time why the fires started because it takes while for wildfires to be properly investigated.

REUTERS. “California Wildfire Rages Toward Scenic Coastal Communities.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/12/10/us/10reuters-usa-wildfires.html.

NPS. “Wildfire Causes.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/learning-center/fire-in-depth/wildfire-causes.cfm.

Last night, a magnitude 6.5 earthquake hit Costa Rica, seriously injuring two people. Luckily the quake hit in a lowly populated area so there weren’t too many injured. There was no major damage done to buildings but electricity was knocked out in some areas and some rockslides occurred, obstructing a few highways. The 10-mile-deep earthquake was centered 10 miles southeast of Jaco, which is 60 miles southwest of San Jose. Four minutes after the quake, a 5.2 aftershock was felt.

Earthquakes occur when the plate boundaries of tectonic plates suddenly slip past one another at a fault. The location on the surface of the earth directly above where the earthquake starts is called epicenter. An earthquake can sometimes be a foreshock, which is a smaller earthquake that is followed by a larger magnitude earthquake, known as a mainshock, that happens in the same place as the foreshock. A smaller earthquake that follows a mainshock is known as an aftershock. Earthquakes can cause landslides, surface faulting, tsunamis, liquefaction, and flash floods.

The earthquake near Jaco didn’t cause too much damage because it hit a lowly populated area, the magnitude was not too large, and the epicenter of the quake was farther out into the ocean. We would think that there was a risk of a tsunami, considering that Jaco is a coastal town and the earthquake occurred at an underwater plate boundary, but the National Emergency Commission assured there was no chance of a tsunami.

The Associated Press. “Magnitude 6.5 Quake Hits Costa Rica Coast, Shakes Capital.” The New York Times, 12 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/11/12/world/americas/ap-lt-costa-rica-earthquake.html.

FEMA. “Why Earthquakes Occur.” Why Earthquakes Occur | FEMA.gov, FEMA, 23 Dec. 2015, www.fema.gov/why-earthquakes-occur.

In anticipation of the eruptions of Mt. Agung in Bali, Indonesia, and a volcano on Ambae Island in Vanatu, 114,000 people have left Bali and Ambae Island has been completely evacuated (Tousignant). Volcanoes occur where compressional and tensional plates meet. They form when magma rises through cracks in the Earth’s crust and reaches the Earth’s surface, creating eruptions of lava and ash. Eruptions occur when the pressure in the magma chamber builds up and forces magma out of the crater at the top of the volcano. Although volcanic eruptions can be deadly and destructive, they can also be beneficial for the environment. For example, the lava and ash deposited after an eruption creates fertile soil that is great for agriculture, and the high level of heat generated creates opportunities for generating geothermal energy (BBC). Furthermore, the particles of the ash and sulfur dioxide generated from an eruption remain in the stratosphere for years after an eruption. This is good because the particles reflect some sunlight back into space and less heat gets trapped by greenhouse gases (Tousignant).

The eruptions of Mt. Agung and the volcano on Ambae Island will help to slightly slow climate change. However, it will take a few months for the volcanic veil to spread across the globe so the impact on climate on a global scale won’t be felt for a while. When Mt. Agung last erupted in 1963, the average global temperature dropped 0.7℉ for a few years. Scientists also found that a couple small volcanic eruptions since 2000 have also helped slow the acceleration of global warming (Tousignant). Although volcanic eruptions definitely help slow climate change, they aren’t enough to help counter the damage we’ve already done to the Earth and its climate.

“GCSE Bitesize: Key Facts.” BBC, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/natural_hazards/volcanoes_rev1.shtml.

Tousignant, Lauren. “These Volcanic Eruptions Might Slow Climate Change, but Won’t Stop It.” New York Post, New York Post, 4 Oct. 2017, nypost.com/2017/10/04/these-volcanic-eruptions-might-slow-climate-change-but-wont-stop-it/.

In the month of September alone, two major earthquakes hit Mexico City, claiming hundreds of lives (REUTERS). Mexico City is so prone to earthquakes because its downtown area is built where the Cocos Plate and North American Plate converge. Furthermore, the ground the city is anchored onto is a very soft and wet soil, which amplifies the shaking caused by the “crumpling arising from the downward bending of the sinking Cocos Plate” (Vidale). The soil of Mexico City is prone to liquefaction, in which dirt turns into a dense liquid from sufficient churning. The two recent earthquakes in Mexico City were caused by this crumpling of the Cocos Plate and liquefaction of the above soil. Since these two devastations, an early warning app named SkyAlert has been used by nearly 6 million users, becoming one of the most downloaded apps in Mexico (REUTERS).

Alvaro Velasco, the co-founder and director of SkyAlert, is trying to expand to other earthquake-prone countries in Latin America but is struggling to find a sustainable business model because of recent change of regulation in Mexico City in regards to accessing funds through public financing. While SkyAlert warns people of a coming earthquake through detection sensors distributed around the city and a mobile system, the government funded nonprofit alert system, CIRES, warns the citizens of Mexico City through a network of sirens positioned throughout the city. Both companies sell alerting systems but the government requires buildings to purchase systems from CIRES, so SkyAlert’s public funding is extremely limited. SkyAlert is looking to monetize its free app through paid advertising and by offering a premium version for an annual fee of $4 (REUTERS). No matter how SkyAlert or CIRES stay funded, the takeaway from this article is that citizens of Mexico City have access to alert systems that may help them prepare for and stay safe in the case of coming earthquakes.

REUTERS. (2017, October 19). After Massive Quakes, Millions in Mexico Turn to Early Warning App. The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/10/19/technology/19reuters-mexico-quake-app.html

Vidale, J. (2017, September 20). Why Mexico City is so vulnerable to earthquakes. CNN. Retrieved October 22, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/20/opinions/what-made-mexico-shake-vidale/index.html