Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 11 SepteMber 2017

Winds, fire, floods and quakes: A nutty run of nature

By SETH BORENSTEIN the temperature hit 106
AP Science Writer degrees and at least six
WASHINGTON (AP) — deaths were reported
With four big hurricanes, from the heat wave.
a powerful earthquake WHAT’S GOING ON
and wildfires, it seems HERE? Sometimes there’s
that nature recently has a pattern in chaos.
just gone nuts. Sometimes there isn’t.
Some of these disasters, Looking for patterns
like Friday’s earthquake gives us a sense of con-
in Mexico, are natural. trol, even if we don’t re-
Others may end up hav- ally have it, said Scott
ing a mix of natural and Lilienfeld, a psychology
man-made ingredients professor at Emory Uni-
after scientists examine versity in Atlanta. “The
them. We also always human mind is a pattern-
tend to look for patterns seeking organ,’” he said.
and order in chaos, “That’s how our minds
even when they aren’t work.”It can take weeks
there, psychologists say. or months for scientists to
“Nature’s gone crazy,” Soldiers remove debris from a partly collapsed municipal building after an earthquake in Juchi- determine whether an
mused Jeff Masters, tan, Oaxaca state, Mexico, Friday, Sept. 8, 2017. extreme weather event
meteorology director to have back-to-back as energy as about half that deep in the past 40 was worsened by man-
at the private service storms of that strength, a normal six-month hur- years, he said. made climate change.
Weather Underground. Masters said. And then ricane season. WILDFIRES But scientists have long
“Welcome to the future. there is Hurricane Katia, EARTHQUAKE On Friday, 82 wildfires predicted that the stron-
Extreme weather like this just a shade under major As Mexico was brac- were burning in the Unit- gest hurricanes will get
is going to be occurring hurricane status, due to ing for Katia off the Gulf ed States involving near- stronger and wetter, fu-
simultaneously more of- hit Mexico’s Gulf coast. coast, one of the stron- ly 1.5 million acres in nine eled by warmer ocean
ten because of global The last couple of years gest earthquakes in the states in the West. So far water. And some say the
warming.” were quiet for Atlan- country’s history hit late this year, more than 8 mil- recent global increase
A look at a rough few tic hurricanes, which Thursday off its Pacific lion acres have burned, in powerful hurricanes
weeks in North America: makes this year seem coast, near the Guate- only behind 2015 and fits perfectly with global
HURRICANE QUARTET even worse, said Colo- mala border. The mag- 2012. One fire at the warming.While warming
Hurricane Harvey hadn’t rado State University me- nitude 8.1 earthquake Rogue River-Siskiyou Na- may play a small role, so
even fizzled and Hous- teorology professor Phil was felt for more than tional Forest in Oregon does Twitter and Face-
ton hadn’t even dried Klotzbach, a hurricane 650 miles (1,000 kilome- has burned more than book in making things
out from record flooding expert. He said calcu- ters). The quake shook at 175,000 acres and is only appear worse, said
before Hurricane Irma lations that measure a depth of 43 miles (69 5 percent contained as Klotzbach.
formed and also grew strength and duration kilometers) and a quake of Friday, according to “It just feels like, you
into a powerful Catego- show the three current hitting at that depth with the National Interagen- know, it’s the apoca-
ry 4 storm. Right behind Atlantic storms set a one- that strength is unusual, cy Fire Center. lyptic end times,” he
Irma, Jose has powered day record for energy on according to Cornell Uni- Drought and a heat said. “But a lot of this
up to a Category 4 Friday. In just three days, versity geophysics pro- wave contributed. On stuff is getting atten-
storm. It is highly unusual, Irma, Jose and Katia fessor Geoff Abers. It was Sept. 1, in normally tem- tion because of social
but not unprecedented have produced as much one of the five largest for perate San Francisco, media.”q