—————————————-

Assignment 1

—————————————-

answer the following questions:

1. What creates our climate?

2. What does the mesosphere protect us from?

3. What is at the "heart" of weather?

4. What would the temperature of the planet be without greenhouse gases? 5, What are greenhouse gases doing to our planet now?

—————————————-

Assignment 2

—————————————-

Recent Hurricanes (or tornado.)

We are lucky to have good weather in California. Other areas, however, are prone to severe weather, such as hurricanes or tornados, which are very different phenomena, but both can cause severe damage. Pick a hurricane or tornado (or other type of storm) that occurred within the last few years to discuss. What was it's name (if it had one)? Where did it occur? What category was it? Where did it make landfall? How much damage did it do? Why did you pick this particular hurricane or tornado? Where did you get your information?

———————————————————————————————————

Instructor's EXAMPLE: Small tornado near Corona CA

Several years ago, I was driving north on the I-15 early in the evening (I was commuting home from SDSU to Upland). A weather warning sounded on the radio, and the announcer said there was a tornado warning for the area I was driving in. I was shocked. I did not know that it was even possible to have tornados in our area! In fact, there is website called "tornado history project" which has a map which shows where tornados have occurred in southern California. At the time, while I was driving, I tried to remember what you are supposed to do, in case I saw the funnel cloud approaching. I remembered that you are not supposed to stay in your car, or hide under a bridge or in a culvert because winds can increase in those areas. If there is no solid shelter you are supposed to lie flat in a ditch. So I looked for a ditch! Fortunately the tornado never came close to me. And I don't think it did much damage. But it made me rethink the types of severe weather that can occur in our area! (the photo below is of a tornado that touched down in Riverside County, CA)

I had a student go on a family trip for a wedding to Oklahoma. As they were driving from the airport to their relative’s house the radio announced not one, but two tornados in the area! They made it to the house and hid in the basement until the danger was over. They could hear the wind roaring and said it was really scary. Fortunately it missed their neighborhood, but there was substantial damage in the town.

———————————————————————————————————

END ASSIGNMENTS

———————————————————————————————————

Thank You.