A thought about the Tidal Wave

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Gulzakar

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,074
0
0
I've always taken a more spiritual (non-religious) view of the earth and universe...

We are all connected, even in small ways...sometimes the smallest of actions...two events that seem totally unrelated might actually be tied together...it's silly, I know...and I wasn't even brought up on this belief! can you belive that?

:)

The universe is the canvas and we are the pallette :)
 

PanzerIV

Diamond Member
Dec 19, 2002
6,875
1
0
I have to agree with the consensus of opinion that on this living planet (living meaning our planet is never at rest internally or externally) natural disasaster have always and will always occur with no regard to any design. I remember watching something a few years ago that some type of cataclysmic event in prehistoric time almost decimated the human population. Our already sparse numbers were vastly reduced. I do not recall what the even was or even how it's suggested scientists could know this but it was either on the Learning Channel or Discovery Channel.
 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
81
Originally posted by: Gulzakar
Mount Vesuvius, Plague, Small Pox, War (indirectly so), etc...

you ever think this is natures way of dealing with imbalance?
The force is strong in this one...

 

Gulzakar

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,074
0
0
Panzer IV, I agree with you...

but I always make it a policy to never rely on absolutes...I prefer the term improbable :) hehe.
 

element

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,635
0
0
Originally posted by: iwearnosox
Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
What tidal wave?

Both terms have been used to describe the catastrophe that struck during the weekend. Are they interchangeable?

Apparently "tidal wave" has been on the wane since 1963, when "tsunami" was adopted for general use by an international scientific conference.

Here are the distinctions, as noted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey. First, from NOAA: "tsunami (pronounced 'soo-nah-mee') is a series of waves of extremely long wave length and long period generated in a body of water by an impulsive disturbance that vertically displaces the water. ... Tsunami is a Japanese word represented by two characters: 'tsu' and 'nami.' The character 'tsu' means harbor, and the character 'nami' means wave. In the past, tsunamis were often referred to as 'tidal waves.' The term 'tidal wave' is a misnomer. Tides are the result of gravitational influences of the moon, sun, and planets. Tsunamis are not caused by the tides and are unrelated to the tides; although a tsunami striking a coastal area is influenced by the tide level at the time of impact."

Nevertheless, elsewhere on its Web site NOAA terms a tidal wave "a huge destructive wave," and "an unusually high water level along shore. Refers to a storm surge or Tsunami."

One contributor to NOAA's Web site takes note of tidal wave's customary usage: "The terms 'tsunami' and 'tidal wave' mean the same thing. ... 'Tidal wave' is most often seen in reproductions of old news reports and older text books."

The U.S. Geological Survey also prefers "tsunami," but says they are "sometimes referred to as 'tidal waves' and 'seismic sea waves.' The term 'tidal wave' is a misnomer.

The impact of a tsunami upon a coastline is partially dependent upon the tidal level at the time it strikes, but its generation is unrelated to ocean tides."


Speaking of misnomers let's change driveway to parkway and parkway to driveway, since you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway, they are misnomers as well.
 

mercanucaribe

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
9,763
1
0
The formation of a tsunami has nothing to do with people. If you want to see natural disasters that result from human activity, look at hurricanes, drought, flooding, etc. These have all become worse over the last century due to global warming.
 

Gulzakar

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,074
0
0
I think the earth is pissed off

but thats just me
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Yeah it is just you, ever think something might be wrong with you?


I'm not the one who's getting testy.
 

DurocShark

Lifer
Apr 18, 2001
15,708
5
56
I've always thought Disasters were just the way that Earth shakes things up, gives different species a chance to compete with more established species.
 

Doggiedog

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
12,780
5
81
Originally posted by: PanzerIV
I have to agree with the consensus of opinion that on this living planet (living meaning our planet is never at rest internally or externally) natural disasaster have always and will always occur with no regard to any design. I remember watching something a few years ago that some type of cataclysmic event in prehistoric time almost decimated the human population. Our already sparse numbers were vastly reduced. I do not recall what the even was or even how it's suggested scientists could know this but it was either on the Learning Channel or Discovery Channel.

I think it was the super volcano episode on the History channel. Supposedly, mitochondria in our cells point to a single group of ancestors or survivors of a catastrophe 10s of thousands of years ago.
 

shimsham

Lifer
May 9, 2002
10,765
0
0
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The formation of a tsunami has nothing to do with people. If you want to see natural disasters that result from human activity, look at hurricanes, drought, flooding, etc. These have all become worse over the last century due to global warming.


what? weve only been able to reliable keep stats for the past 150 yrs or so. hardly long enough to determine mans role in any way. how do you know that there were more hurricanes on the eastern coast in 2004 than in 0004?
 

mercanucaribe

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
9,763
1
0
Originally posted by: shimsham
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The formation of a tsunami has nothing to do with people. If you want to see natural disasters that result from human activity, look at hurricanes, drought, flooding, etc. These have all become worse over the last century due to global warming.


what? weve only been able to reliable keep stats for the past 150 yrs or so. hardly long enough to determine mans role in any way. how do you know that there were more hurricanes on the eastern coast in 2004 than in 0004?

I did some research and it turns out that the recent hurricanes can't be blamed on global warming.
http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9909/17/floyd.global.warming/
http://www.techcentralstation.com/091404D.html

Apparently hurricanes will be intensified with continued warming according to NOAA.
http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~tk/glob_warm_hurr.html


Flood and drought though result when you alter the heat "conveyor belts". The recent erratic behavior of El Nino is an example.
 

judasmachine

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2002
8,515
3
81
i don't think there is any intelligence behind it but it just happens no matter who is in the way.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,419
8
81
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
Originally posted by: shimsham
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The formation of a tsunami has nothing to do with people. If you want to see natural disasters that result from human activity, look at hurricanes, drought, flooding, etc. These have all become worse over the last century due to global warming.


what? weve only been able to reliable keep stats for the past 150 yrs or so. hardly long enough to determine mans role in any way. how do you know that there were more hurricanes on the eastern coast in 2004 than in 0004?

I did some research and it turns out that the recent hurricanes can't be blamed on global warming.
http://www.cnn.com/NATURE/9909/17/floyd.global.warming/
http://www.techcentralstation.com/091404D.html

Apparently hurricanes will be intensified with continued warming according to NOAA.
http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~tk/glob_warm_hurr.html


Flood and drought though result when you alter the heat "conveyor belts". The recent erratic behavior of El Nino is an example.
What you say is true, but that doesen't mean what you believe is true.

What he says is also true. We have no way to tell whether the changes are due to natural cycles or not. 100 - 150 years simply isn't a large enough chunk of data to make that assertion.

Remember, 20,000 years ago, we were in the middle of an ice age... just one of many that have been or will be, I'm sure. Think about that for a minute. It means that the Earth has been getting warmer for the last 20,000 years. And you think our recorded history of 150 years holds any significance? :p

It will probably keep getting warmer until some equillibrium is met.. at which time we'll start getting colder again, or who knows..... we just simply... don't know.
 

dderidex

Platinum Member
Mar 13, 2001
2,732
0
0
Originally posted by: aplefka
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Nope.

Its just us adjusting to the Earth not the other way around. If we can't adjust, we die. Simple as that.

I think you bring up something that many people have forgotten. The planet was here for just a little bit longer than us. That's why sometimes it pisses me off to hear the way people talk now, and the way they take things for granted. I'm no activist for anything, but at the same time, if we continue down the path we're going, we're gonna be fvcked in 50 years or so.

You gotta wonder about the logic of cramming THAT MANY PEOPLE into an area where Tsunami activity is KNOWN TO OCCUR and is COMMON, and then not provide any kind of evacuation plan or safety areas.

It's just brain-damaged.

When people get greedy, find a pretty spot, and start cramming in as much development as possible to cash in forgetting to provide any kind of safety to them (would cut into the profit margins, no?), a few hundred thousand people die.

Why is this so alarming to anyone?

It's like, look dipshit, you just built a freaking SERIES OF CITIES on a coastal area plagued by intense geological disasters, don't you think that this might lead to - oh, I dunno, SOME KIND OF CATASTROPHE!?

Right up there with people who build in the shadow of a volcano and complain about nature's cruelty when it errupts, or build around major fault lines and are shocked when earthquakes happen, or build in flood plains and bemoan the cruelty of the world when their houses are washed away.

Gods above, people love whining about their stupid decisions.
 

Gulzakar

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,074
0
0
aren't their sonar beacons that detect these things? I think Hawaii is surrounded by them.
 

mercanucaribe

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
9,763
1
0
Eli, global warming is known to be accelerated by human produced greenhouse gases. The only scientists disputing that are a few with vested interest. We have sufficient geological data and ice cores to know that global warming is real. Temperature hasn't been rising over the past 20,000 years. It has been rising and falling in a natural rythm, and overall has been falling over the past 2,000 years.

http://www.worldviewofglobalwa...anm_etal_tempchart.gif
http://www.worldviewofglobalwa...mages/CO2TempChart.jpg
 

Legendary

Diamond Member
Jan 22, 2002
7,019
1
0
Originally posted by: Gulzakar
aren't their sonar beacons that detect these things? I think Hawaii is surrounded by them.

The Indian Ocean lacks these since most of the countries on the Indian Ocean are 3rd-world or nearly so.
 

FoBoT

No Lifer
Apr 30, 2001
63,084
15
81
fobot.com
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
The formation of a tsunami has nothing to do with people. If you want to see natural disasters that result from human activity, look at hurricanes, drought, flooding, etc. These have all become worse over the last century due to global warming.

wrong
global warming is a MYTH

nice try n00b