How do Variants of Covid work?

 What COVID-19 variant are we on? Currently, the dominant variant nationwide is BQ.1.1. "The original omicron variant is gone now," says Dr. Rupp. "Currently subvariants of omicron are circulating, including BQ.1.1, BQ.1, BA.5, BF.7, and XBB. Dec 14, 2022

What is known about the latest Covid variant?

According to the CDC, the Omicron variant spreads more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Delta variant. In its early days, the variant caused an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in South Africa—they went from 300 a day in mid-November 2021 to 3,000 a day at the end of that month. Dec 9, 2022

What are the symptoms of the new COVID-19 BA 5 variant?

All of the variants, including omicron BA.5, cause similar COVID-19 symptoms:

runny nose.

cough.

sore throat.

fever.

headaches.

muscle pain.

fatigue.

Severe weather, America's gift to the future

Severe weather is any dangerous meteorological phenomenon with the potential to cause damage, serious social disruption, or loss of human life. Types of severe weather phenomena vary, depending on the latitude, altitude, topography, and atmospheric condition

Thunderstorms, hail, blizzards, ice storms, high winds, and heavy rain can develop quickly and threaten life and property.

The Fujita Scale For Tornadoes

Original F scale (1) Enhanced F scale (2) Category Damage Wind speed (mph) 3-second gust (mph) F-0 Light 40-72  65-85 F-1 Moderate 73-112 86-110 F-2 Considerable 113-157 111-135 F-3 Severe 158-207 136-165 F-4 Devastating 208-260 166-200 F-5 Incredible 261-318 Over 200

The Great Red Spot is a persistent high-pressure region in the atmosphere of Jupiter, producing an anticyclonic storm that is the largest in the Solar System. Located 22 degrees south of Jupiter's equator, it produces wind-speeds up to 432 km/h.

Volcano, Mauna Loa

 

The world’s largest active volcano erupted for the first time in 38 years. Notice that Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, was going to erupt — as it did this week for the first time in nearly four decades — came to people on the Big Island of Hawaii an hour before the lava began to flow. Public officials scrambled to alert nearby residents. Scientists rushed to predict which areas of the island might be in danger. The curious made plans to observe what could shape up to be an event of a lifetime: the exhalation of a massive mountain.

The eruption was years in the making, matched not quite in scale by the ongoing effort to monitor the volcano with seismometers, spectrometers, tiltmeters, GPS units, and other state-of-the-art tools. “Mauna Loa is one of the most well-instrumented volcanoes in the United States,” said Wendy Stovall, a volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Even still, so much about the inner workings of the mountain is unknown, Dr. Stovall and other scientists said.

Weston Thelen, a volcanologist with the U.S.G.S. who monitored the mountain from 2011 to 2016, said that sheer size, mineral composition and heat all presented logistical difficulties for scientists and public officials hoping to predict its movements. “Mauna Loa is a beast,” he said.

With the eruption underway, researchers on the Big Island, including Jim Kauahikaua, a volcanologist with the U.S.G.S. Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, have had to strike a careful balance between concern for public safety, given the many unknowns, and the desire to collect data.