Write a two-page paper about the severe weather in a particular small region of the world (see content below) with a bibliography. To be fair, everyone must use the following format: 12 point font, 1" margins, double-spaced text, place your name on a single line in the upper right hand corner of the first page (do not write the course name or number or the instructor's name or the date), title of the paper centered on the next double-spaced line, followed by the text of the paper. Do not use a title page (a waste of paper). Aim for two pages. You can go over slightly over two pages, BUT NO MORE THAN 2.5 PAGES. Anything longer will result in a loss of points. The bibliography should be placed after the main text of the paper. The bibliography does not count against the page limit. Failure to observe these format guidelines will result in loss of points.
Select a city or a region of interest to you. It is best to choose a small region like a city or county. Something the size of a state or a country is too big. It can be anywhere in the world, but you must be able to dig up the required information to write the paper. The paper must address the following points:
1. Introduce your selected region or city and provide a brief overview of the types of severe weather phenomena (e.g., severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, winter storms, flooding, heat waves, etc.) that occur there. You may want to include information such as the time of year each type of severe weather is most likely to occur and how often does each type of severe weather occur (e.g., every summer, once every 10 years or so, etc.).
2. Find and describe a single extraordinary severe weather event in your selected region. Describe its impacts on the area or community (in terms of loss of life, property damage, disruption of power and transportation, etc.). Newspaper type articles can be good sources for this information.
You should be somewhat general in your discussion for point 1 above, and specific in your discussion pertaining to point 2. As a guideline, point 1 can probably be addressed in a single paragraph, so most of the paper should be devoted to point 2. The information you gather should be incorporated into a single, cohesive paper (composed of an introduction, body, and conclusion). The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of a severe weather event on society, NOT to explain in detail the physics of how the severe weather event developed. This is not a technical paper.
Your paper will be graded according to content, organization, and proper use of the English language. It will not be judged by the size and/or intensity of the weather event. Your paper must contain a list of sources. Citations should be explicit enough to allow us to check them, i.e., each should contain a date, author, and complete web address (if from a web page). There are no strict formatting guidelines on citations. I suggest that you number the entries in your bibliography. Then wherever citations are required, use superscripted numbers corresponding to the numbered entry in the bibliography.
Note of caution: In grading your assignments, we will specifically be checking for cheating and copying -- this includes both word for word copying without quotation marks and proper reference and copying among classmates. There will be no tolerance for plagiarism (representing the words or ideas of another as one's own).
Links to a few sources of information are posted below to help get you started. You should find and utilize other reference sources as well.
· http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/severeweather/extremes.html -- NCDC Extreme Weather and Climate Events.
· http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/reports/billionz.html Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters, 1980-2004.
· http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/ -- Storm Prediction Center – Provides link to National Weather Service storm damage reports.
· http://www.dailyearth.com/ Newspaper Directory.
If the above topic does not interest you, you may select
another topic about severe weather. You must still follow the format guidelines
above. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): (a) a more
scientific paper describing the atmospheric conditions and the physical
processes that take place in the formation of a specific type of severe weather
(e.g., thunderstorms, lightning, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.); (b) a paper
about a single notable severe weather event (e.g., a hurricane, tornado
outbreak, etc.) describing the atmospheric conditions relevant to the
development of the storm(s), the areas affected, damages, and loss of life, and
whether or not local officials could have done anything to reduce the damage
done; (c) a paper discussing the possibility that the frequency and intensity
of severe weather events are now changing or may change due to global warming.
If you choose to select your own topic, you MUST get my approval either
by discussing it with me in person or by email. Failure to do so may result in
no credit given for your paper. In
addition, if you choose this option, I will expect your paper to be more
detailed and demonstrate that you have a good understanding of your topic.