Tag: environment

Aviation photography: Quebec’s CL- 415s heading towards Fort McMurray, Alberta

Post author By Stanley
Post date 9 May 2016

A Bombardier CL-415 water bomber, property of the Government of Quebec, is being prepared for its flight towards Fort McMurray, May 2016

Quebec’s CL-415s helping out in Fort McMurray

On May 5th, 2016, according to what had been announced by the Government of Quebec, four CL-415s took off from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) heading to Fort McMurray, Alberta, to help in the fight against widespread forest fires in that province. It is the worst natural disaster that Canada has known in its history.

Preparing flight crews and aircrafts for such a long cross-country trip naturally demands much coordination from the SOPFEU (Society for the protection of forests against fires). Once they will have landed at the Fort McMurray airport, the pilots of those CL-415s will be under the direct command of the Albertan authorities in charge of fighting the wildfires, since the latter are best positioned to know exactly what the local needs are.

I figure that the flight service specialists (FSS) of the Nav Canada flight information center (FIC) in Edmonton must have quite busy days with the increased aerial activity associated with the numerous fires…

Crew members are walking towards the Government of Quebec CL-415; they will soon be airborne and heading to Fort McMurray in Alberta, to fight the forest fires (2016)

The picture above shows crew members heading towards their assigned aircraft. Once they start working in the Fort McMurray region, they will not only have to directly fight the forest fires but also head to sectors that have not yet been touched by fire and water the area thoroughly to prevent new wildfires.

A Government of Quebec CL-415 number 245 is taxiing at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport to take-off towards Fort McMurray, in Alberta, to help fight the out of control forest fires in that province during May 2016.

Taking pictures of propeller-driven aircrafts

A Bombardier CL-415 water bomber takes off from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport heading to Fort McMurray, in Alberta, to help fight the forest fires (2016)

It is a bit touchy to photograph propeller-driven aircrafts while making sure that there is a sensation of movement. In a natural reflex to want to avoid blurred pictures, the photographer uses a shutter speed that corresponds to the focal used for the shot. In the case of the picture above, the focal was 400mm. But if a shutter speed of 1/400 had been used, the propellers would have been totally immobilized and the aircraft would have looked like its climbing while not using its engines.

It was necessary to reduce the speed to 1/160, thus increasing the risk of obtaining a blurred picture. In order to get both image sharpness and moving propellers visual effect, the photographer has to follow exactly the movement of the aircraft with the camera so that it looks totally immobile in the viewfinder. This asks for a bit of practice but allows for more realistic photos.

The CL-415 in a black and white photo

Black and white photo of a Bombardier CL-415 (C-GQBG) flying over Quebec City in 2015

The government of Canada helping out Alberta’s citizens

The government of Canada, under Justin Trudeau, has promised to match the amounts of money offered by all Canadians to the Red Cross society toward helping the Fort McMurray population.

Obviously, its contribution will not stop there (in fact, far from it), but the message is for the whole Canadian population to contribute generously to support the efforts of the Red Cross. It is already estimated that the material damages will reach at least nine billion dollars and that numerous years will be required to rebuild everything. The Liberal Party of Canada had built its political campaign around the need to invest for the renewal of infrastructures. With the Fort McMurray fires, there will be plenty of new unplanned expenses ahead.

More than 1,400 firemen are fighting the wildfires. So few, there has been very few lives lost, although “very few” is always too much. The crisis is, according to everyone, well managed by the government of Alberta.

At the time of writing, there was still no rain forecasted for days to come and the drought was also extending to the southern half of Saskatchewan and part of Manitoba. The winds were expected to increase, which would mean that even more resources would be needed in the near future to bring those wildfires under control.

It seems to me that the government of many Canadian provinces would benefit in acquiring new water bombers like the CL-415 to give them an increased margin of manoeuver that would allow them to react more quickly, if we take into account the tendency for the ever growing number and size of forest fires. In the picture below, the government of Quebec CL-415 number 247 is just airborne from Quebec to Fort McMurray.

A Bombardier CL-415 C-GQBK airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport heading to Fort McMurray, Alberta, in May 2016

The CL-215s will not head to Fort McMurray

While several CL-415s are leaving for Alberta, few water bombers, like the two Canadair CL-215s shown below, stay at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in case of forest fires in the province and also to be used for the seasonal rehearsal needed for every pilot before they are dispatched across the province of Quebec.

Two Canadair CL-215 water bombers parked at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in May 2016.

Global warming

Some people can say that global warming is not responsible for the increasing number of extended wildfires. They might be right, but I prefer to adopt a wider view than only what is going on in Alberta. Heat transfer between the north and south are now more extreme in order to equalize the temperatures around the globe. All means to reduce the difference in temperatures between the equator and the poles are at work and this causes increasing problems to particular regions.

The Kamloops region in British-Columbia, when numerous forest fires were raging 2014.

A powerful El Nino phenomenon, repetitive Omega blocks, the air circulation in different cells (Hadley, Ferrell, polar, Walker) all participate in the heat exchange. At a more reduced scale, we also regularly hear of cold and warm fronts in the meteorological forecasts.

It is certainly not local warm fronts that are responsible for the fact that a thinner layer of permafrost is unable to ensure the stability of Arctic runways anymore. Nor are fronts responsible for the fact that houses on stilts do not have a stable foundation anymore. Many heat records have been established these past years in northern Canada. There will certainly be large amounts of money to spend to rebuild the Nordic infrastructures.

Brush fires as soon as April in Alberta

This year, as soon as April, there were widespread brush fires in a region as north as Fort McMurray in Alberta because winter has not brought much snow to humidify the land during Spring. I thus wondered what would happen once in July. Albertans did not need to wait that long to get the answer.

Western Canada forest after a fire (2014)

The modelization of climatic changes indicates that, in the Fort McMurray region, the forest fire season is already fifteen days longer that it used to be. More heat might favor more droughts. But an increase in temperature also favors the development of thunderstorms and with them comes lighting that will start up new fires.

One thing is sure: insurance companies will not lose time with the different theories on global warming. The reinsurers (those who insure the insurance companies) have the obligation to limit their losses to stay afloat and premiums will quickly increase to answer to the thousands of claims following an increasing number of natural disasters.

Photos of the local air traffic in Quebec, just after the CL-415s departed to Fort McMurray

FedEx ATR 72-202F C-FTAR and Air Canada Express Bombardier DHC-8-Q-402NG (C-GIJZ) at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport in May 2016

At the Quebec airport, between the take offs of the four Bombardier CL-415 towards Fort McMurray, I was able to take few pictures of the local air traffic. In the photo above, it is possible to see a FedEx ATR 72 (C-FTAR) taxiing toward the ramp after a landing runway 06. An Air Canada Express Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q-400) (C-GIJZ) was also being towed for is imminent departure.

ATAC’s Hawker Hunter N339AX

Being in luck, I was able to capture a Hawker Hunter (N339AX) belonging to the American company ATAC, just airborne from Quebec. As for any military jet, it is difficult to ignore them on take-off: the reactor’s noise is there to remind you of their presence…

A Hawker Hunter belonging to the american company ATAC is airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB), May 2016

A Hawker Hunter, from the american company ATAC, is airborne from the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) in May 2016

The pictures above have been taken with a Canon 5D MKII camera, equipped with a telephoto lens Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM with a polarizing filter and a Canon Extender EF 2X III which brought the focal length to 400 mm. Even then, more cropping was necessary to enlarge the aircraft since I was quite far away from the runway.

Wishing to ensure that the image was sharp (a blurred picture is more probable with a 400 mm focal length while the photographer attempts to follow a fast flying jet), I adjusted the shutter speed to 1/1600 and made sure that the automatic focus was set on AI servo.

I now realized that a slower speed could have worked a bit better since it would have allowed showing a blurred forest in the background while keeping the aircraft sharp. But it is not often that you have the opportunity to see a Hawker Hunter in flight these days and I played safe with the shutter speed. The ideal shot will be for another day…

CL-415s and CL-215s together in Quebec (2012 photo)

CL-415 and CL-215 water bombers belonging to the Gouvernment of Quebec. Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB) 2012

A last picture, taken few years ago, during autumn 2012, shows numerous water bombers CL-415 and CL-215 parked at the Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport (CYQB). During the off- season, the water bombers are brought back to Quebec City from the different bases were they have been in operation during summertime.

For other articles on aviation and photography, click on the following link: Aviation photography

Tags AI Servo, Air Canada Express, air traffic, aircraft photos, airport, Alberta, Albertan government, Arctic, ATAC, ATR 72, automatic focus, aviation, aviation photography, black and white photo, blurred picture, Bombardier, Bombardier Q-400, C-FTAR, C-GIJZ, Canada, Canadair, Canadian, Canadian government, Canadian politics, Canon 5D MKII, Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM, Canon DSLR, Canon Extender EF 2X III, Canon lenses, CL-215, CL-415, climatic changes, cropping, CYQB, Edmonton, environment, evacuation of the population, FedEx, FIC, fighting the forest fires, firemen, flight service specialist, focal length, forest fires, forest fires surveillance, Fort McMurray, FSS, full frame camera, full frame sensor, global warming, government of Alberta, government of Canada, government of Quebec, Hawker Hunter, image sharpness, infrastructures, Justin Trudeau, Liberal Party of Canada, Manitoba, material damages, meteorological forecasts, military jet, N339AX, Nav Canada, permafrost, photography, photography technique, pilots, polarizing filter, political campaign, Province of Quebec, Québec, Quebec City, Quebec Government, Quebec Jean-Lesage international airport, Red Cross, runway, Saskatchewan, security, shutter speed, Sopfeu, telephoto lens, tips in photography, water bombers, wildfires

Photos of Canada

Photography: wildlife in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada

Post author By Stanley
Post date 26 April 2016

A Canada goose about to take off from Oak Bay, Victoria, British-Columbia in 2014

Obviously, the Canon 5D MKII is not the ideal camera for sport photography, but it still can offer very good results with its full frame sensor. You don’t get a high number of frames per second, but you get the benefit of a bigger image than one produced with an APS-C sensor. I was thus able to capture the full take-off run of this Canada goose in Victoria, British Columbia, while leaving enough space on the right side of the frame, which was essential for a balanced photographic composition.

Deer on a private property in Uplands, Victoria, British-Columbia in 2014

Deer move freely in Victoria’s Uplands sector and you can easily find them on private property lots. Since they are so numerous and have no natural enemies, the city has imposed new regulations to control their ever growing number. The picture above was taken from my vehicle: it was only necessary to slow down and proceed quickly to capture the animal while it was looking at the car.

Heron in flight in Oak Bay, Victoria, British-Columbia 2012

There are numerous herons in Victoria’s Oak Bay sector. This picture was taken very early in the morning, while there was a mixture of mist and low clouds and the rising sun was still blocked by some low clouds. The wind was calm. A graduated filter was nonetheless necessary to tone down the contrasts caused by a horizontal light.

Fighting herons in Oak Bay, Victoria, British-Columbia in 2012

Every bird has to fight for its own territory and those two herons are no exception.

Eagle observed in the Campbell River region, British-Columbia, Canada. Summer 2012.

While taking a little scenic cruise in British-Columbia’s Campbell River area, we were able to see numerous eagles diving to catch fishes then climbing back up in high trees to deliver the catch of the day. Pictures were hard to take since the captain had to keep the boat at a good distance from the eagles to respect their hunting territory. Moreover, it was windy and the boat was constantly moving.

Two eagles near Campbell River, British-Columbia, Canada in 2012

The two pictures of eagles were taken with a Canon 5D MKII equipped with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens. An extender (2X) was also added to increase the focal distance to 400mm. Even then, I had to crop quite a lot to bring the birds to an acceptable distance, which increased the digital noise. A quality APS-C equipped camera (like the Canon 7D MKII) would have been very useful here (10 frames per second and a reduced amount of cropping, if you are ready to compromise on the size of the image).

A full frame camera like the Canon 5DSr would have also been appropriate, with its 50.6 MP resolution, as long as a high shutter speed is selected. Due to all those pixels crammed on a regular full frame sensor (not a medium format), the slightest camera movement is recorded. But if you succeed in totally freezing a long distance shot, the exceptional resolution of the Canon 5DSr would allow you to greatly increase the size of the bird while protecting the sharpness of the image, especially now that the low pass filter has been neutralized in the model R.

Chipmunk near highway 93 towards Jasper, Alberta

On the car ride between Lake Louise and Jasper, we had to stop on numerous occasions to take pictures in the fantastic Jasper National Park. At one point, a little chipmunk, familiar with rest areas, paid us a visit hoping to add something new to his diet. The picture’s depth-of-field has deliberately been adjusted to make sure the chipmunk would be easily visible, since both animal and background had the same colours.

Mountain goats in the Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada in 2014

It was hot, very hot, during summer 2014 in the Jasper National Park. The car’s thermometer was recording 38C between Lake Louise and Jasper. Numerous forest fires were raging. So much so that we had to delay our trip towards Jasper by 24 hours since Highway 93 had been closed by authorities. Mountain goats nonetheless had to endure part of their winter fur in that very high heat…

Canadian bighorns near Kamloops, Alberta, Canada in 2014

Near Kamloops, in Alberta, we were able to observe about twenty Canadian bighorns coming down from the surrounding mountains to help themselves from the cultivated lands in the valley. The picture above was taken with a Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS II USM telephoto lens, almost without cropping, the bighorns being close enough.

Brown bear near the Yellowhead Highway, Alberta, Canada in 2014

The picture above was taken alongside the Yellowhead Highway in Alberta. We saw the bear in a field and when he detected our presence, he changed direction and started moving toward us. Here, everything is about moderation and although I love photography, comes a time when a bear is big enough in the viewfinder to indicate that it is time to retreat…

Other pictures on Western Canada will be available in the coming months…

For more articles in the category « Photos of Canada », click on the following link : Photos of Canada

Political economy

Political economy: supercapitalism

Post author By Stanley
Post date 5 December 2015

Supercapitalism

The transformation of Business, Democracy and Everyday Life

Robert B. Reich is a professor at the Berkeley University in California. He also worked for the American government under President Bill Clinton as secretary of labour.

Here is a quote from the New York Times on their review of “Supercapitalism”: “Reich documents in lurid detail the explosive growth of corporate lobbying expenditures and campaign contributions since the 1970s. . . . Supercapitalism is a grand debunking of the conventional wisdom in the style of John Kenneth Galbraith”.

Ferocious competition on an international scale

During the first few decades that followed the Second World War, before the globalization of the economy, the author shows that in United States, profits derived from mass production were based on rules that insured stability. There was a better redistribution of a company’s profits between workers, shareholders and managers. The CEO even had the possibility to take decisions that would benefit to both the society and his company. The middle class was in better shape.

At the same time as capitalism progressively gained terrain around the planet, increasing inequalities of incomes and wealth followed.
The rise of supercapitalism, around the 70s, is due to the globalization of the economy and, consequently, to an increase of the international competition. Consumers and investors have been benefiting a lot from supercapitalism, but the citizen who feels a social responsibility and looks for the common good gradually lost ground.

The “consumer/investor” versus the “citizen”

The author writes that each person is of two minds: a “consumer and investor” but also a “citizen”. The consumer wants to acquire quality goods at low price and the investor wishes that the money invested towards his retirement provides a great rate of return. If the consumer finds a better price somewhere else, and if the investor considers that the return on investment (ROI) is not adequate, both will look towards the competition.

Meanwhile, the “citizen” in us wishes only good things for the society and the planet: companies must respect the environment; workers must have decent working conditions, etc. The paradox is that while we want the best, we encourage the worst.

Wishing the best while encouraging the worst

The fact that a superstore does not offer good working conditions to his employees irritates the “citizen” in us. However, the superstore’s lower operating costs allow us to save money. If prices go up, we will buy somewhere else.

As investors, we possess, through our mutual funds, numerous financially performing companies. In many countries around the world, profits redistributed to shareholders are the result of minimal working conditions given to employees and abuse on the environment. The investor regularly compares the rate of return of several mutual funds and other investments and he will not hesitate to sell his shares if profits are insufficient.

Increased pressure on the company’s CEO

Globalization and increased competition are forcing managers to think only in terms of return on investment. The CEO is accountable to his dissatisfied shareholders and mutual fund managers who both can sell their shares of an underperforming company.

Consequently, the role of a CEO is not to spend for reasons that would please the “citizen”, but instead to maximize profits using all the legal means at his disposal. This way, he satisfies the consumer and investor. He knows that all his competitors do the same.

As citizens, our role is to forbid companies to establish the rules of the game. Those rules must be set by the government in order to preserve democracy and encourage social responsibility.

Companies are not against new rules that would apply globally to all competitors. What they want to avoid is that a specific company benefits more than another one in the new deal.

Winning or preserving a competitive advantage because of lobbyists

Considering the strong international competition between companies, it is easy to understand that massive amounts of money and other efforts deployed to gain a competitive advantage are in constant growth.

After having worked in Washington, the experienced politician is hired by big corporations as a lobbyist (3% in 1970, 30% in 2005). While the politician’s attention is focused on consumers and investors, the citizen’s voice wishing a greater social equality is not heard.

Supercapitalism thus modifies the way the democratic system operates.

Mutual benefits between politicians and lobbyists

Politicians use that competition to demand important amounts of money to finance their political campaign. In exchange, they support and help push the agenda of a specific company: “That’s how politicians keep their hold on power, and lobbyists keep their hold on money”.

Democracy is perverted by the actions of lobbyists and the attraction that money and other advantages has on politician’s decisions. The government is not managed from the inside but by external powerful economic interests.

Better regulations can improve democracy

The author writes that companies cannot take personal initiatives to correct the situation since it will undermine their position towards other competitors in a global market. “Supercapitalism does not permit acts of corporate virtue that erode the bottom line. No company can “voluntarily” take on extra cost that its competitors don’t also take on, which is why, under supercapitalism, regulations are the only means of getting companies to do things that hurt their bottom lines”. Regulations can only be imposed by political actions.

Learn to recognize the actions used to distract the population

It is necessary for citizens and Medias to recognize the half-truths and distortions that “confound efforts to prevent supercapitalism from overrunning democracy”. The author names a few:

The public blame that changes nothing: beware of politicians who publicly blame corporations for actions that respect the law but that the public despise. The corporation works for the consumer and investor, not for the citizen. A public blame is easy and makes the politician look good. The latter must instead work at improving the law and corporations will then be forced to respect the new parameters.

The corporation that pretends to act on behalf of the public interest: do not believe a corporation that says it works for the public good. It is not its role. It is possible that, in order to improve its image or to satisfy the consumer (and ultimately its shareholders), it does something that looks like it is good for the public. But, basically, there is no acknowledgment of the public good, only a desire to preserve or improve its competitive position.

Lobbyists who pretend to look for the public good: lobbyists and experts who pretend that their initiatives are in the public interest only detract attention from their real objectives that are to protect or advantage a specific corporation.

The private sector and the “voluntary” cooperation: beware of politicians who claim that the public can count on the voluntary cooperation of the private sector in order to protect the public good. It is not the private sector’s role and it will not spend any money unless all of its competitors do the same. Those are only words aimed at buying time and confuse the public. If the public good is so important, then a law must be voted.

Public relation campaigns aimed at one specific corporation: beware of public relation campaigns and pressure groups working to force a specific company to be more socially virtuous. Try to discover the real goals behind those efforts. If all this seems reasonable to you, then ask yourself if a new law or new regulations forcing all the competing corporations to modify their behaviour would better serve the public.

Conclusion

A final quote summarizes very well the author’s thoughts: “In general, corporate responsibilities to the public are better addressed in the democratic process than inside corporate boardrooms. Reformers should focus on laws or regulations they seek to change, and mobilize the public around changing them”.

Business

Ninety percent of everything

Post author By Stanley
Post date 4 February 2015

If there was only a book to be read to learn about the unknown aspects of the maritime business, it would be “Ninety percent of everything” from Rose George. The New York Times says of this book that “it is consistently absorbing, timely as well as deft and that it cracks open a vast, treacherous, and largely ignored world“.

This book holds real surprises. The author was authorized to come aboard the container ship Maersk Kendal to make the journey from Rotterdam towards Singapore, via the Suez Canal. The reader thus learns about the daily operations on these immense ships. But there is more: because the book is extremely well documented, links are established between significant facts of the maritime history and today’s events.

Maersk is Denmark’s biggest company and its sales are equivalent to 20 % of the gross national product of the country. Maersk’s fleet counts more than 600 ships. Its 2011 income was established at 60 billion dollars, which places it just under Microsoft.

Trade carried by sea increased by 400% since 1970. A majority of ships (68 %) navigate under flags of convenience, such as those of Panama or Liberia. It allows for tax reductions and the hiring of low wage immigrant workers. The seafarers are also less protected because the laws of a specific country differ from those in effect once the ships are in international water. The statistics show that 2000 sailors die at sea annually. On the flags of convenience black list: North Korea, Libya, Sierra Leone and Montenegro.

According to International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) ” the maritime and fishing industries “ continue to allow astonishing abuses of human rights of those working in the sector…Seafarers and fishers are routinely made to work in conditions that would not be acceptable in civilized society””. A striking example: a Manila company requires that seafarers looking for a job work for free for several months before they can be hired officially. It is worth reading this book, if only to acquaint of the MV Philipp seafarers story. The owners of this vessel, Vega Reederei in Germany, paid their Philippine sailors only a third of the agreed salary.

Given that a container ship can unload and reload thousands of containers within 24 hours, the crew does not have time any more to leave the vessel to profit from stop overs in the various countries like that was done in the past. A seafarer is confined on the boat for months.

There is no efficient way to know what is in all the containers. The United States receive annually 17 million containers and can inspect physically only 5 % of them. In Europe, the percentage is lower, between 1 and 3 %. This means of transportation is thus favored for weapons, drugs and human trafficking. Illegal weapons are regularly sent in separate parts, through several containers, and then reassembled once at the destination.

When a container ship goes through the Suez or Panama Canal, there is no rest authorized for the staff. The captain can be on watch for up to 36 hours in a row. The Suez Canal is nicknamed Marlboro Canal because of the packages of cigarettes handed to the customs officers, the police, the security guards and other official representatives in order to avoid delays that would immobilize the vessel for the most improbable reasons. The transit expenses, as for them, amounts to $300,000 for a ship the size of Maersk Kendal.

The Maersk Patras on the St-Lawrence seaway. The shot is taken from La Malbaie in 2012

The reader learns about the facts surrounding the wreckage of several ships, among which the Danny FII and the Erika. He also acquaints with obligations that bind the companies when a maritime shipping accident arises. The bodies and conventions dictating these procedures are UNCLOS, SOLAS and MARPOL.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) considers maritime transport as “a relatively small contributor to atmospheric emissions”. However, if we consider the global scale of trade carried by sea, it then becomes a top issuer of greenhouse gases. The fifteen biggest ships were the cause, in 2009, of a pollution equal to 760 million cars. It is interesting to note that “seventy percent of the pollution occurs within 250 miles of land, near coastlines linked to busy shipping lanes […]. In Los Angeles, half of all smog from sulfur dioxide comes in from ships”.

Part of the book deals with hijacking at sea. Again, Rose George offers extremely pertinent information. She explains what the easiest preys are for the Somalian and Yemenites pirates and indicates that the cargo does not present real interest for the pirates. They wish only for the ransom. The chapter covers the adventure of Maersk Alabama, the recent hijacking of MV Golden Blessing, the international recommended transit corridor (IRTC) along the Yemen coast, the protection obtained by the EU-NAVFOR, the pirate’s behavior once aboard ships and the effects on the equipage, before and during the lengthy negotiations.

She unveils surprising information as to the ways negotiations are made during situations of K&R (Kidnap and ransom). The negotiators, often working from London, know the habits and particular requests of the pirates and kidnappers of every problematic region. They know what amount of money will be demanded and how long it will take to solve a crisis. Act too quickly and the demands will increase. If an owner agrees to pay a high amount of money within a short time, the sums are going to increase. The negotiators thus respect the established scales.

There are so many interesting subjects in this book. The reader even learns about the help offered by rare volunteers to needy sailors, during certain stopovers. It is also possible to learn about the increasing noise pollution at sea, a pollution which largely affects marine mammals. There is also a very interesting section covering rescues at sea and the exploits of the merchant navy sailors in period of conflict.

This is a book that I strongly recommend. You will not see a container ship the same way after reading “Ninety percent of everything “.

Title: Ninety percent of everything

Author: Rose George

ISBN: 978-1-250-05829-4

Meteorology

Isaac’s Storm

Post author By Stanley
Post date 16 January 2015

A Man, a Time and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

The book recounts the events surrounding a disaster caused by a major hurricane having taken place in the United States in 1900. The author ensures that the scientific notions connected with meteorology are explained in a simple manner, knowing very well that a big part of his readership has only elementary knowledge on the subject.

I appreciated the way the events were told, since Erik Larson’s book is not limited only to human or material disaster which ensued from the passage of the hurricane on Galveston and the surrounding cities. The reader can learn about the development of Meteorological Offices in the United States, the equipment used at that time as much as the help brought by ship captains with regards to weather observations. It is also interesting to read about all the political and commercial pressures felt by some staff of the US Weather Bureau.

The Galveston disaster was not due to the malfunction of the meteorological instruments nor their limitation. It was rather caused by the disproportionate egos of the forecaster Isaac Cline and some of his managers, as well as pressures of all kinds on Isaac as an observer and forecaster.

Isaac Cline: a disproportionate ego

Isaac had acquired an excellent reputation throughout the years. Little by little, his scientific approach gave way to a certainty of always being right and the desire to be perceived as the leading expert in the field of meteorology. In one of his papers, he refutes openly one hundred years of accumulated knowledge in meteorology.

The Galveston population had asked for a breakwater to be built in order to limit the potential damages caused by a major hurricane. But Isaac wrote an article in which he explained why Galveston was not susceptible to suffer the effects of a major hurricane. The breakwater not being seen any more as a pressing project, the idea of its construction was abandoned.

An ego bigger than nature from some administrators of the US WEATHER BUREAU

On the island of Cuba, in 1900, there were American observers working for the US WEATHER BUREAU and Cuban observers monitoring the weather for their own country. The Cubans, as natural residents of the island, had gradually acquired a huge experience in the prediction of the passage and the trajectory of major meteorological systems. Powerful countries having a natural tendency to underestimate the capacities and experience of inhabitants of smallest nations, warnings coming from the Cubans were regularly brushed aside.

If the US WEATHER BUREAU had been attuned to the Cuban weather observer comments in 1900, the terrible hurricane which destroyed Galveston would have had much less tragic consequences. But, in the “Isaac storm” book, we learn that the communication links were voluntarily cut between both countries by the US WEATHER BUREAU. The Cuban forecasters were considered like poor inhabitants capable of announcing a storm only when it had practically left the island.

“The same day that the Weather Bureau published in the newspaper of Havana that the last hurricane had reached the Atlantic, the Belen Observatory (Cuba) said in the same papers that the center had crossed the eastern portion of the island and that it would undoubtedly reach Texas. A few hours later the first telegraphic announcement of the ravages of the cyclone in Galveston was received”. Six days after the Galveston disaster, the War Department revoked the ban on Cuban weather cables and the communication of information was re-established.

Of pressures exercised by the Galveston businessmen on the forecaster and weather observer Isaac Cline

A first type of pressure on the observer was of commercial order: there was a competition between Houston and Galveston to determine which of both cities would become the major commercial center in the South of Texas. Galveston was however more vulnerable to hurricanes, because it is an island while Houston is farther away inland. Isaac Cline, the observer and forecaster based in Galveston, minimized the chances that his city could suffer the devastating effects of a major hurricane. It was out of question to depreciate Galveston in the eyes of potential investors.

Of strong pressures exercised by administrators of the US WEATHER BUREAU on the forecaster and weather observer

Another type of pressure on the observer resulted directly from Isaac’s managers, in the US WEATHER BUREAU. At the time, weather forecasts were only at an elementary stage and the US WEATHER BUREAU wanted to avoid alarming the population by using words like “hurricane”. They did not want to be the laughing stock of the population if the famous hurricane announced ended up to be only a standard storm. Isaac knew that his role consisted in delaying as much as possible the use of the word “hurricane”. Not wanting to go against the orders and to preserve his reputation with the Bureau, he possibly convinced himself that there was no major meteorological system approaching Galveston. He even told the population to stay put.

Galveston has always suffered and still does from an unfavorable geographical position. The hot waters in the Gulf of Mexico have always been an essential ingredient in the recipe of a major hurricane. This is where a storm will draw much of its energy. But, in the 1900 disaster, Galveston was also a victim of the combination of disproportionate egos, lack of judgment and commercial and political pressures exercised on the forecaster and the observer. All in all, approximately 10,000 people died in Galveston while thousands of others suffered the same fate in the surrounding cities.

If the population had been informed correctly, damage to property would nevertheless have been extremely important, but the losses of life would have been negligible.