The Facts Behind Haiyan

Today in class we did a little research on Typhoon Haiyan including the facts surrounding the storm and what may have caused it. It was nearly a week ago the that the largest typhoon in recent memory hit the Philippines causing an estimated 10,000+ deaths and millions in damage. The typhoon measured a five on the saffir-simpson scale, and had low pressure at 895 milibars contributing to a 15 ft. high wall of water. Winds speeds were measured at 195 miles per hour, and gusts reached 235 miles per hour. Lastly, through my groups research, we realized warnings were issued in some areas, and many warnings didn't correctly measure the size of the storm. A storm this size would have a major effect no matter where it hit, but couple the lack of proper warning with the poor building infrastructure and overall poverty of the nation and we begin to see the swiss cheese model in effect. The majority of homes and buildings in general in many parts of this country are not properly built or constructed. We also discovered there was an earthquake in October in the same location where major parts of the storm hit. This left some already without homes living in shelters, just further contributing to the potential for overall death and destruction when the storm hit. Lastly, we took a look at Haiyan from a contextual view and how it relates to future storms. There was one clear point that stood out: climate change. We found climate change affects systems globally, creating a higher frequency of strong category storms such as Haiyan. Increased temperature will contribute to heavy precipitation in some areas and much direr conditions in others. This presents the fact that there is a strong possibility more of these storms will come. Maybe not always to the magnitude of Haiyan, but definitely still creating problem for humans as a whole.