

Scientists warn California could be struck by winter ‘superstorm’ - cwan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110117/us_yblog_thelookout/scientists-warn-california-could-be-struck-by-winter-superstorm

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ghshephard
This is a case where the original scientific phrasing, "ArkStorm" actually has
more panache than the more mundane "Super Storm" that the AP used in their
title. It's even clever, Ark, not as in Noah, but as in "Atmospheric River
1000"

The interesting question that gets asked (and it can be about all sorts of
natural disasters like Earthquakes) - is that for rare events, that happen
only once every 500 years, what steps should we take, if any, to mitigate the
damage beyond what we do for the once-every-100 year events that we are so
familiar with.

Total recovery costs for the ArkStorm will be on the order of $725 Billion, if
another storm like the 1861-1862 one hits California. This type of event
strikes every 600 years on average or so based on archaeological records - do
you take any steps to prepare for it? If so, how on earth can you sell it to a
populace that has trouble getting concerned about something like Global
Warming, which if it continues existing trends, will have readily apparent
effects within as little as 200 years?

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agnesberthelot
I always try to keep a balanced perspective when reading news like this ...
not to panic too much but at the same time not to get too complacent.
Actually, reading this news reminds me of checking my earthquake emergency
kit.

