Originally presented 15 Oct 2005
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may serve as a wake-up call for potential change coming throughout this century. No longer can we view hazardous weather as something that only affects “them” wherever “they” are, as the aftermath of these storms continue to have national impacts. We have never before seen an American city so damaged, awakened to the devastation affecting smaller communities over such a wide region, or seen fellow citizens scattered from their communities so widely and without any definite plans for continuing their lives.
So among questions we need to examine are: What should we teach about the causes of these newsworthy events? How do we proceed with national and state policy responses for recovery? What must be the interconnected roles of emergency planners, scientists, engineers, first-responders, and government administrators? Ultimately as educators, it comes down to: How can we prepare our students to handle future situations that may effect them?
This Earth2Class Workshop will focus on many of these concerns, joined by Dr. Klaus Jacob, who has extensive experience in assessing disaster risk management and helping to plan emergency responses to natural hazards.
E2C Presentations related to this Workshop
“Natural Hazards and Risks: How Should We Investigate Them? How Should We Teach about Them?”
For recent stories about the Katrina/Rita recovery efforts: http://www.usatoday.com/news/hurricane.htm
Cutting-Edge Research
Dr. Klaus Jacob, among many other accomplishments, is a Special Research Scientist at LDEO. A geophysicist by training, he also serves as adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he teaches and does research on disaster risk management.
His Washington Post op-ed piece, Time for a Tough Question: Why Rebuild?, appeared on 6 Sep.
The Center for Hazards and Risk Research is a component of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The goal of the Earth Institute is to mobilize the sciences and public policy to build a prosperous and sustainable future. In addition to understanding hazards and risks, Earth Institute cross-cutting themes include:
| urbanization | global health | poverty |
| water | energy | ecosystems |
| climate & society | food, ecology, & nutrition |
Another CEI component is the Center for International Earth System Information Network. One CIESEN project related to today’s topic is “Metropolitan East Coast Assessment: Climate Change and a Global City.”
Classroom Resources
Classroom activity created by E2C Workshop participants Lisbeth Uribe (The School at Columbia); Veronica Thompson (Bayard Rustin HS for the Humanities, NY); Enid Ringer (Bayard Rustin HS for the Humanities, NY); Meryl Ginsburg (Pascack Valley HS); and Deena Bollinger (South Orangetown Middle School)
“Could a Tsunami Occur in New York City? How to Predict and Prepare for These Natural Disasters”
Lesson plans developed by Maura Crowe
Other Educational Resources for teaching about HURRICANES
National Weather Service “Weather Education” links http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/edures.htm
Weather Safety: Hurricanes http://www.weather.gov/om/hurricane/index.shtml
Official glossary http://www.weather.gov/glossary/index.php?letter=h
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab
Hurricane Research Divisions http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/abouthrd.html
Project Atmosphere Canada http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/education/teachers_guides/toc_e.html
Hurricanes http://www.msc.ec.gc.ca/education/teachers_guides/documents/01_hazardous_wx_hurricanes.pdf
“Investigating the Climate System: Weather”
http://www.strategies.org/TRMM/Weather_04.pdf
“What Could a Hurricane Do to My Home?”
http://www.strategies.org/climate/Hurricane_May02.pdf
Hurricane season preparedness: How to minimize prep costs
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/hurricane-season-preparedness-credit-cards.php
Other Resources for This Topic
Suggestions for Additional Information
LDEO Resources:
LDEO Center for Hazards and Risk Research http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/chrr/index.html
“Mapping the Risks of Hurricane Disasters”http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news/2005/09_24_05.htm
US Geological Survey
Hurricane Katrina Response http://www.usgs.gov/katrina/
Hurricane Rita Response http://www.usgs.gov/rita/
NOAA
Environmental Impacts of Hurricane Katrina http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/hurricane_katrina/
Hurricane Katrina satellite imagery http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/index.cgi?page=products&category=Year%202005%20Storm%20Events&event=Hurricane%20Katrina
Hurricane Hunter Views of
Katrina http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2005/s2496.htm
National Hurricane Center/Tropical Prediction Center
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml
2005 Tropical Cyclone
Achive http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/index.shtml
Hurricane
Preparedness http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories
Hurricane
Katrina http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_pages/katrina2005/index.html
Hurricane
Rita http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Storm_pages/rita2005/index.html
FEMA
FEMA Home http://fema.gov
FEMA for Kids http://www.fema.gov/kids/
2005 Hurricane Recovery Informationhttp://www.fema.gov/press/2005/hurricane_season.shtm
Tropical Storm Watch http://www.fema.gov/storm/trop.shtm
NASA JPL
Research into hurricane formation: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=942
American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/
National Geographic
National Geographic
“Gone with the Water”
http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/index.html
“Hurricane Hunter Gets an Insider’s View of Katrina”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0916_050916_katrina_hunter_2.html
“Major Hurricanes Predicted to Increase in Years Ahead”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/07/0719_hurricanes.html
Google Earth
Hurricane Katrina images http://earth.google.com/hurricane.html