U.S. Geological Survey
- Recent Earthquake Data
- USGS shows all recent earthquake information exact times, locations, and major cities located near the epicenter
- Scientific information is also provided. Lengthy tectonic and seismotectonics summaries are included with each quake as well
- Maps are shown to help explain the data better
- Current Streamflow Conditions
- This page helps you identify risk assessment of floods on U.S. rivers
- A countrywide detailed, up-to-the-minute map, shows the most current information that is transmitted directly to the USGS offices
- Using The Map: you can be linked to more specific locations throughout the country that provides you with more information regarding water levels
- USGS Historical Flood Information
- Reports for floods from the earth 20th century to the present help provide information on areas flood vulnerability
- Information on specific floods is shown since the early 2000s. After that, the information is more sporadic but you can still see information on major floods all the way back to 1903
- Volcano Hazards Fact Sheets
- This page gives many links to detailed pdf page files of recent volcano information and status updates
- It breaks the volcanic activity down by a state by state basis (off all the states containing active volcanoes in the U.S.) and also has general volcano information. The info is clearly broken down to make research on specific volcanoes easier to track
- One of the most informative parts of the entire USGS website
- USGS Landslide Hazard Information
- First off, the page has research links that you can go to that explain everything you would want to know about landslides. I found the links to post-wildfire debris flows and information on landslide studies in Western Oregon the most helpful
- There is also links to previous landslides dating back to 2004
- There are some drawbacks to the landslide information on this site, however
- Many of the pages do not look complete and links are broken or non existent
- Much of the information on landslide advisories and state and local information about landslides is missing a lot of information that could be helpful
- Hurricane and Coastal Storm Information
- There is a good amount of information on coastal change and tsunamis but the coastal and marine geology section of the USGS really lacks adequate information on hurricanes
- Much of the information on hurricanes is found in links to other sites and the options for searching for specific storms is not easy to navigate
- I would mostly stay away from the USGS website for information on hurricanes
CNN
- There is no specific location to look on the Cable News Network's (CNN) website when looking for recent environmental hazards but this is one of the best sites I have found that consistently reports on major storms around the globe
- There are several nice features through the site:
- The search option is easy to use and I am often able to look up specific hazards news stories
- CNN is often the first place you hear about storms after they hit (this is not always a reliable source to find out information about hazard potential). They update their site quickly and will build on previous stories after they have found new information on a storm
- Viewing a site like CNN shows you how storms are translated to the public because they are writing for a general audience who normally finds out about storms through local and, in this case, national news outlets
- There are often high quality videos that accompany their stories that help you get a more well rounded idea about the storm. You can better understand the impact hazards have on people if you see it through media outlets rather than reading about it
The New York Times
National Public Radio (NPR)
- Much like the CNN website, the New York Times is a trustworthy source for news that reports on a wide variety of issues
- Also like CNN and other general news outlets, there is no specific location you can go to find recent hazard information so you will have to use the search option to find it
- The Times always gives lengthy, detailed accounts of the hazards and seems to have many great photos that I have been able to use to strengthen the legitimacy of my blogs
- Hurricane Info
- This is a one stop shop of everything you would want to know about hurricanes
- This page shows hurricane warnings and forecasts, information to help you learn about hurricanes, identifies hurricane centers, and looks at past storm damage and even shows the economic costs of many past hurricanes
- Links to the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center prove useful and contain a mountain of information on threats of upcoming storms
- One of the best things about the site is the education and publication links that can explain the science behind these storms at a level that can help the average reader gain knowledge about the storms
- Weather Education (here is a link to the education page of the website that I think is helpful)
- Links to a glossary helps you navigate difficult phrasing and terminology that are needed in order to understand how hazards are reported on
- Many useful images are used to help explain hurricane and tropical storm formations and movements
- Up-To-The-Minute Storm Updates
- Storm tracking of any hurricane or tropical storm that is a threat to the United States
- Live imaging shows the movement of the storm and the predicted path that it will take
- Statistics on size, speed, direction, average wind speed/gusts, temperature, etc. are shown to best forecast any storm
Weather Underground
- U.S. Severe Weather Alerts
- All forms of severe weather are identified and tracked on a state-by-state or regional basis
- Links to every city that are under the possible risk of severe weather are available that give you a descriptive analysis of the storm
- Weather News
- There is an impressive list of bloggers linked to this page that regularly report on storms around the world
- the bloggers include Ph.D.'s, an NOAA Hurricane Hunter, an Atmospheric Scientist, a Hurricane Specialist at the Weather Channel, Meteorologists, etc.
- The most recent news stories are linked to the page as well
- Climate Change Information
- This page does not directly contribute to this blog but is full of valuable information and current news reports on climate change in the world
- Global warming could be contributing to larger, more catastrophic storms in the future
- Natural-Disasters Info From Around The World
- The latest U.S. news and World news on the formation, tracking, and aftermath of major natural-disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding, tsunamis, hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires
- Severe Weather is also commonly reported on such as areas impacted by high winds, snow and ice, as well as extended periods of heavy rainfall and lightening storms
- Simply some of the best aerial imaging I have found on the web
- A separate portion of the webpage is set aside for solely natural hazards that shows detailed images of hazards from all over the globe
- The site does have some useful information under the News & Notes tab which you can view by clicking here. The best use of this site is through detailed pictures that help you interpret the location and size of the hazard being reported on
National Public Radio (NPR)
- Natural Disaster Stories
- NPR contains valuable information about environmental hazards in the United States and around the world by experts in the field that contribute their knowledge to audio clips that can often be accessed online
- Especially valuable to the topic of hazards because the reports often deal with storm mitigation strategies
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