Tornado Essays - Tornado, Storm, Wind, Thunderstorm, Funnel Cloud

Tornado A tornado is a violent windstorm usually characterized by a twisting, funnel shaped cloud that is caused by a thunderstorm or a hurricane. It is produced when a cool air mass meets a warm air mass and forces the warm air mass to rise over the cool air mass very rapidly. Most of the damage from a tornado is a result of high wind velocity and wind blown debris. Most tornadoes occur during the months of March through August, but they can occur during any time of the year. They also seem to strike in the afternoon to the evening. What you should do and know You should know all key terms that are used to describe tornado threats. 1. Tornado Watch- This means that tornadoes are possible and you should stay tuned to a radio station for more reports. 2. Tornado Warning- A tornado has been sighted and you should take shelter immediately. 3. Severe Thunderstorm Watch- Severe thunderstorms are possible and they may bring a tornado. 4. Severe Thunderstorm Warning- A severe thunderstorm is here and a tornado may be present. 5. You should know the country and terrain in which you live. This is used in identifying the location of a tornado. 6. You should know the places you can seek shelter such as a cabin or rest area. 7. Practice doing this before you head out into the wilderness. 8. You should have emergency supplies on hand such as: Flashlight with extra batteries Portable battery operated radio with extra batteries First aid kit with all supplies and manual Emergency food and water Nonelectric can opener All essential medicines Money Sturdy, good shoes 9. Make an inventory of all your possessions and take pictures of them so if they are lost they you can replace them. Tornado Danger Signs Large hail Calmness before the tornado hits Cloud of debris Funnel cloud Roaring noise Calmness and clear skies after the tornado What to do during a tornado watch 1. Listen to your radio for the latest weather updates. 2. Be alert for an approaching storm so you can get ready and gather your emergency disaster materials up. If you see a funnel cloud call your local emergency number to report it if you can. 3. Be ready to take shelter. What to do during a tornado if you are outside If possible get inside a building If there is no shelter nearby or there is no time to get indoors, lie down in a ditch or a low-lying area with your hands shielding your head. Be aware of flooding in the low lying area or ditch. What you should do after the tornado Help any injured or trapped people Give first aid if it is necessary and do not move any seriouly injured victims unless they are in jeopardy of more injuries. Call for help Turn on your radio to get the latest information Use a telephone if you have one to make any emergency calls Did you know this... Tornadoes can be nearly invisible and only marked by swirling debris at the base of the funnel. On average the U.S. experiences about 100,000 thunderstorms a year and out of those about 1,000 tornadoes develop. Although tornadoes can occur throughout the world the U.S. has the most and most devastating ones. Tornadoes produce the most violent winds in the world. Tornado winds can be as high as 300 miles per hour, travel distances over 100 miles and reach heights of over 60,000 feet above the ground. In 1988 121 tornadoes struck 15 south central states. This resulted in 14 deaths and damages reaching $108 million.

Observations on What Is Language

Observations on What Is Language Language- more specifically human language- refers to the grammar and other rules and norms that allow humans to make utterances and sounds in a way that others can understand, notes linguist  John McWhorter, an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. Or as Guy Deutscher said in his seminal work, The Unfolding of Language:  An Evolutionary Tour of Mankinds Greatest Invention, language is what makes us human. Discovering what is language, then, requires a brief look at its origins, its evolution through the centuries, and its central role in human existence and evolution. Greatest Invention If language is mankinds greatest invention, it is supremely ironic that it was actually never invented. Indeed, both Deutscher  and McWhorter, two of the worlds most renowned linguists, say the origin of language remains as much as mystery today as it was in biblical times. No one, says Deutscher, has come up with a better explanation than the tale of the  Tower of Babel,  one of the saddest and most significant stories in the Bible. In the biblical fable, God- seeing that people of the earth had become skilled in construction and had decided to build an  idolatrous tower, indeed an entire city, in ancient  Mesopotamia  that stretched to the heavens- infused the human race with a myriad of tongues so that they could no longer communicate, and could no longer build a massive edifice that would replace the almighty. If the tale is apocryphal, its meaning is not, as Deutscher notes: Language often seems so skilfully drafted that one can hardly imagine it as anything other than the perfected handiwork of a master craftsman. How else could this instrument make so much out of three dozen measly morsels of sound? In themselves, these configurations of the mouth- But, if you run these sounds through the cogs and wheels of the language machine, says Deutscher, arrange them in some special way and define how they are be ordered by rules of  grammar, you suddenly have language, something that an entire group of people can understand and use to communicate- and indeed to function and a viable society. Chomskyan Linguistics If languages mysterious origin sheds little light on its meaning, it can be helpful to turn to Western societys most renowned- and even controversial- linguist: Noam Chomsky. Chomsky is so famous that an entire subfield of linguistics (the study of language) has been named after him. Chomskyian linguistics is a  broad term for the principles of  language  and the methods of language study introduced and/or popularized by Chomsky  in such groundbreaking works as Syntactic Structures  (1957) and Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965). But, perhaps Chomskys most relevant work for a discussion on language is his 1976 paper, On the Nature of Language. In it, Chomsky directly addressed the meaning of language in a way that foreshadowed the later assertions of  Deutscher  and McWhorter. The nature of language is considered as a function of knowledge attained...[T]he language faculty may be regarded as a fixed function, characteristic of the species, one component of the human mind, a function which maps experience into grammar. In other words, language is all at once a tool and the mechanism that determines how we relate to the world, to each other, and, even to ourselves. Language, as noted, is what makes us human. Expressions of Humanity Famed American poet and existentialist, Walt Whitman, said that language is the sum total of all that humans experience as a species: Language is not an abstract construction of the learned, or of dictionary makers, but is something arising out of the work, needs, ties, joys, affections, tastes, of long generations of humanity, and has its bases broad and low, close to the ground. Language, then, is the sum of all human experience since the beginning of humankind. Without language, humans would be unable to express their feelings, thoughts, emotions, desires, and beliefs. Without language, there could be no society and possibly no religion. Even if Gods wrath at the building of the Tower of Babel led to a plethora of tongues throughout the world, the fact is that they are still tongues, languages that can be deciphered, studied, translated, written, and communicated. Computer Language As computers communicate with humans- and with each other- the meaning of language may soon change. Computers talk through the use of  programming language. Like human language, computer language is a system of grammar, syntax, and other rules that allow humans to communicate with their PCs, tablets, and smartphones, but also allows computers to communicate with other computers. As  artificial intelligence  continues to advance to a point where computers can communicate with each other without the intervention of humans, the very definition of language may need to evolve also. Language will still always be what makes us human, but it may also become the tool that allows machines to communicate, express needs and wants, issue directives, create, and produce through their own tongue. Language, would then, become something that was initially produced by humans but then evolves to a new system of communication- one that has little or no connection to human beings.