leetb18

[leetb18]

Are Tropical Storms Getting Worse? FINAL BLOG

Introduction

One of the most common things that we have had to deal with more and more is destructive weather. Many people from the younger generation assume that this is just the “normal”, when in fact it's not. Many areas around the world have seen an increase in the amount and severity of their destructive weather. The city of Naples, Florida is no different. Each and every year the city of Naples experiences tropical storms, some being very destructive. Many of the citizens have started to buy flood insurance to help protect their homes because of this. If you are a citizen across the United States and are interested in buying flood insurance, visit FEMA’s (1) website for more details. 

Statement of Research Question(s)

As a person that lives nowhere near water, I started on a quest to learn how much more devastating these tropical storms have been now compared to the past. I will be focusing on the city of Naples for my benchmark in terms of comparison. The reason for why I picked Naples is that my family just recently got a condo there and I wanted to learn about what potentially could happen in a worst case weather scenario. In the past 12 years there have been two big storms that have hit Naples. The first was Tropical Storm Fay in 2008 and the second was Hurricane Irma in 2017. In 2008 Fay ultimately caused 36 deaths and $560 million in damage (2). In 2017 floods caused approximately 60.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of property and crop damage across the United States (3). Even though the 60.7 billion dollars was across the United States, it shows there has definitely been an increase in the severity and number of devastating storms in the world. 

Synthesis 

After going through many articles in the library as well as online, all of the evidence pointed to an increase in the number and severity of devastating storms in Naples, as well as the rest of the world. 

Discussion of issues

This cannot just be a coincidence that there has been an increase in tropical storms in Naples. After learning about climate change through the first part of this class, as well as all of my prior knowledge of the subject, I can confirm that this is the biggest reason why there are many more devastating storms. This is a topic that needs to be spread across the world because even though hurricanes and other devastating weather events aren't happening where a person lives, they are still being affected by them. One of the biggest problems that is going on is coming with people not fully understanding what's actually happening. To help show this I compared what Naples looked like directly after Irma and then one year later. Many people may think that it may look completely normal, but that is not the case. Directly after the hurricane Naples was devastated.

Naples Florida Immediately after Irma

 As the article states, houses have significant roof damage or flooding on the ground floor (4). The article shows devastating pictures as well. Then looking a year later there is still devastation. There are some families are still struggling, living homeless or in temporary housing (5). These events may seem like they are only bad for a week, but they leave behind devastation that lasts much longer. If you are a resident of Florida looking for help or are looking for ways to help, please visit the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (6).

Conclusions 

After doing my research and learning more about climate change throughout this class I can say that there has been an increase in the amount and severity of weather related disasters across the world and more specifically in Naples, Florida. This really isn’t even up for much discussion because the data behind it is so profound. What needs to happen as a result of my research as well as many others is that the people of the world need to be deeply educated about this. They need to understand the severity of what is going on, how these events are affecting them, and that time is running out. This is a problem that isn’t going to go away and will most likely get exponentially worse. People need to be more selfless in their decision making when it comes to climate change. 

Summary of what I have learned

Coming into this class and this project I feel like I was just above the average american and their knowledge about climate change. I didn’t know a whole lot about it and honestly didn’t really care. I took the approach of thinking “it’s not my problem” and “someone else will figure it out”. Being one single person I didn’t think that I could do anything to help. Was I right in saying that someone else will figure it out? I probably was because that just isn’t my area of expertise, but do I still have a role to play? Absolutely. Ever single person can get educated and then help spread the word. This is something that isn’t going to change over night and the more people that are on board the better chance us humans have at solving the problem. I will leave anyone who is reading this with one final statement. Get educated on climate change and then educate as many people as you can to help save this world.

1 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2020. Flood Insurance. https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance

2  City of Naples, 2020, Floods, Storms & Hurricane Facts. https://www.naplesgov.com/building/page/floods-storms-hurricane-facts

3  City of Naples, 2020, Floods, Storms & Hurricane Facts. https://www.naplesgov.com/building/page/floods-storms-hurricane-facts

4  Keneally, M. (2017, September 10). Hurricane Irma caused sizable damage in Naples, drone footage shows. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-irma-caused-sizable-damage-naples-drone-footage/story?id=49757223

5 Naples News Daily Staff (2018, September 7). Hurricane Irma: One year later. Naples Dailey News. https://www.naplesnews.com/story/weather/hurricanes/2018/09/07/hurricane-irma-one-year-later-naples-marco-island-florida/1224427002/

6 Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2020. DEP Hurricane Information. https://floridadep.gov/hurricane

[leetb18]

Are Tropical Storms Getting Worse?

Introduction

One of the most common things that we have had to deal with more and more is destructive weather. Many people from the younger generation assume that this is just the “normal”, when in fact it's not. Many areas around the world have seen an increase in the amount and severity of their destructive weather. The city of Naples, Florida is no different. Each and every year the city of Naples experiences tropical storms, some being very destructive. Many of the citizens have started to buy flood insurance to help protect their homes. If you are a citizen across the United States and are interested in buying flood insurance, visit FEMA’s website (1). 

Statement of Research Question(s)

As a person that lives nowhere near water, I started on a quest to learn how much more devastating these tropical storms have been now compared to the past. I will be focusing on the city of Naples for my benchmark in terms of comparison. In the past 12 years there have been two different storms that have hit Naples. The first was Tropical Storms Fay in 2008 and the second was Hurricane Irma in 2017. In 2008 Fay ultimately caused 36 deaths and $560 million in damage (2). In 2017 floods caused approximately 60.7 billion U.S. dollars worth of property and crop damage across the United States (3). Even though the 60.7 billion dollars was across the United States, it shows there has definitely been an increase in the severity and number of devastating storms in the world. 

Synthesis 

After going through many articles in the library as well as online, all of the evidence pointed to an increase in the number and severity of devastating storms in Naples, as well as the rest of the world. 

Discussion of issues

This cannot just be a coincidence that there has been an increase in tropical storms in Naples. After learning about climate change through the first part of this class, as well as all of my prior knowledge of the subject, I can confirm that this is the biggest reason why there are many more devastating storms. This is a topic that needs to be spread across the world because even though hurricanes and other devastating weather events aren't happening where a person lives, they are still being affected by them. One of the biggest problems that is going on is coming with people not fully understanding what's actually happening. To help show this I compared what Naples looked like directly after Irma and then one year later. Many people may think that it may look completely normal, but that is not the case. Directly after the hurricane Naples was devastated. As the article states, houses have significant roof damage or flooding on the ground floor (4). The article shows devastating pictures as well. Then looking a year later there is still devastation. There are some families are still struggling, living homeless or in temporary housing (5). These events may seem like they are only bad for a week, but they leave behind devastation that lasts much longer. If you are a resident of Florida looking for help or are looking for ways to help, please visit the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (6).

Conclusions 

After doing my research and learning more about climate change throughout this class I can say that there has been an increase in the amount and severity of weather related disasters across the world and more specifically in Naples, Florida. This really isn’t even up for much discussion because the data behind it is so profound. What needs to happen as a result of my research as well as many others is that the people of the world need to be deeply educated about this. They need to understand the severity of what is going on, how these events are affecting them, and that time is running out. This is a problem that isn’t going to go away and will most likely get exponentially worse. People need to be more selfless in their decision making when it comes to climate change. 

Summary of what I have learned

Coming into this class and this project I feel like I was just above the average American and their knowledge about climate change. I didn’t know a whole lot about it and honestly didn’t really care. I took the approach of thinking “it’s not my problem” and “someone else will figure it out”. Being one single person I didn’t think that I could do anything to help. Was I right in saying that someone else will figure it out? I probably was because that just isn’t my area of expertise, but do I still have a role to play? Absolutely. Ever single person can get educated and then help spread the word. This is something that isn’t going to change over night and the more people that are on board the better chance us humans have at solving the problem. I will leave anyone who is reading this with one final statement. Get educated on climate change and then educate as many people as you can to help save this world.

1 Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2020. Flood Insurance.

 https://www.fema.gov/flood-insurance

2 City of Naples, 2020, Floods, Storms & Hurricane Facts. https://www.naplesgov.com/building/page/floods-storms-hurricane-facts 

3 City of Naples, 2020, Floods, Storms & Hurricane Facts. https://www.naplesgov.com/building/page/floods-storms-hurricane-facts 

4 Keneally, M. (2017, September 10). Hurricane Irma caused sizable damage in Naples, drone footage shows. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/hurricane-irma-caused-sizable-damage-naples-drone-footage/story?id=49757223

5 Naples News Daily Staff (2018, September 7). Hurricane Irma: One year later. Naples Dailey News. https://www.naplesnews.com/story/weather/hurricanes/2018/09/07/hurricane-irma-one-year-later-naples-marco-island-florida/1224427002/

6 Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2020. DEP Hurricane Information. https://floridadep.gov/hurricane