Interesting Facts About Tsunami

• A tsunami (pronounced soo-nah-mee) is a series of waves that is very long and occurs over a long period of time.

• Tsunami are often caused by earthquakes orunder water landslides. The word ‘tsunami’ is a Japaneseword that means ‘harbour wave’.

• A tsunami can travel great distances - 17,000km or more - a tsunami can be more than 100km in length. It can also travel very fast, atabout 400 km an hour in some cases.

• Everything about the tsunami is big, fast andwide. Tsunami are not normal waves and are not tidalwaves either; they are giant waves that move separatelyfrom the tides. Tsunami can occur at any time, day ornight.

• An earthquake began in the ocean. Two parts of the earth moved and ground against each other. This caused part of the earth to drop down and all the water dropped as well. The movement caused a big wave to start. The wave as so-o-o-o big that it traveled thousands of kilometers and got bigger and bigger and wider and wider until it began to hit countries and coastlines.

• There is usually more than one wave in a tsunami. Sometimes after the first wave has hit, people think it is allover and head back to the beach; this is a dangerous thing to do. More waves will keep on a coming for a few hours.

• All low lying coastal areas can be affected by tsunami.

• A tsunami is recorded on average in Australia every two years but they are usually too small to be noticed by people.

• Tsunamis occur frequently in Japan and over the centuries, many thousands of Japanese have been killed by them. Tsunamis are sometimes incorrectly called tidal waves but have nothing to do with tides.

• A tsunami can also be generated by an enormous meteor impact with the ocean. Scientists have found traces of an asteroid-collision event that they say would have created a giant tsunami that swept around the Earth several times, inundating everything except the mountains 3.5 billion years ago. The coastline of the continents was changed drastically and almost all life on land was exterminated.

• A tsunami is not a single wave but a series of waves, also known as a wave train. The first wave in a tsunami is not necessarily the most destructive.

• When the ocean is deep tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface at speeds up to 500 miles per hour (800 kilometers per hour), crossing the entire ocean in a day or less. Scientists are able to calculate arrival times of tsunamis in different parts of the world based on their knowledge of when the event that generated them occurred, water depths, and distances.

• Flooding can extend inland by a thousand feet (300 meters) or more. The enormous energy of a tsunami can lift giant boulders, flip vehicles, and demolish houses.

• While a tsunami cannot be prevented; it can be anticipated by being wary about the signs. Earthquakes are the main cause of this surge, so if you are near a body of water and a strong earthquake has occurred, chances are a tsunami is already building up.

• It is a common occurrence that if a tsunami does occur, a trough, or a draw back occurs first, then a dramatic receding of the water happens in the shoreline exposing even those parts not normally seen during low tides. After this event expect a dramatic surge in the form of fast climbing of the tides to maximum heights, this is the main wave and the best way to avoid it is, to get to a higher ground.

• Today, tsunami warning devices are already in use and are constantly worked on, for improvement. The most common device in use now is the bottom pressure sensors. These are attached to buoys and measure the pressure of the water. This is an accurate device that conveys if a tsunami is really on the way or if the earthquake did not do any shift in the water to produce a tsunami.

• A number of national and international organizations cooperate to provide tsunami information and early warnings of tsunamis, including the United Nations and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

• Many communities on the Pacific Coast of the United States participate in early warning systems like the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.

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Interesting Facts About Coal

• Coal was formed about 300 million years ago.

• Coal is a combustible mostly black sedimentary rock composed mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons.

• Coal takes a million years to create and therefore it belongs to non-renewable energy sources.

• Coal mining uses two methods: surface or underground mining where surface mining is more dominant method because it is less expensive than the underground mining.

• Coal is mostly transported by train.

• Coal as the other fossil fuels as well isn't ecologically acceptable because of CO2 and global warming.

• Coal is classified into four main types: lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, anthracite and the coal value is determined by the amount of the carbon it contains.

• Coal is mined in 27 US states.

• Coal is mainly used for generating electricity (more than 90 % of US coal).

• Coal usually has a negative impact on environment, mining can damage ground and surface waters and when coal burns as the fuel it releases CO2 which is the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

• Coal is so called "dirty" energy source because of its negative effect on environment.

• Coal could be the world's most attractive fuel in years to come thanks to the methods of coal purification which are resulting in more cleaner coal, removing sulfur and other dangerous elements.

• Coal is used on the large scale in China and USA.

• Coal can be answer for future only if technology will enable "ultra-clean" coal.

• Coal must be relatively dry before it can be burned successfully.

• World coal consumption is more than 5.3 billion tons annually of which three quarters are used for generating electricity.

• Coal was already used in the Bronze age (Britain).

• Coal's share in the total world electricity production is about 40 %.

• Coal deposits could be enough to satisfy current world energy needs for the next 300 years.

• Coal is getting more attention because of the increased prices of oil and natural gas.

• Coal can be converted like to gasoline or diesel by couple of different processes like for instance the Fischer-Tropsch process, Bergius process and Karrick process.

• Coal is the official state mineral of the Kentucky and official and the official state rock of Utah.

• Coal total reserves are approximately about 1 × 1015 kg or 998 billion tons.

• Coal is mined in more than 100 countries.

• Coal is the main reason for China's economic boost as for China's environmental problems.

• Coal is a combustible mineral formed from the remains of trees, ferns and other decayed plants that existed and died up to 400 million years ago in some cases.

• Coal has been used as an energy source for hundreds of years and was part of international trade in as long ago as the Roman Empire.

• Coal provided the energy which fueled the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century and also launched the electric era in the 20th Century.

• 37% of the electricity generated worldwide is produced from coal.

• Coal is by far the cheapest source of power fuel per million Btu, averaging less than half the price of petroleum and natural gas.

• The world's iron and steel industry depends on the use of coal.

• The value of coal produced in the United States each year is nearly $20 billion.

• Coal is directly responsible for the existence of more than 90,000 U.S. jobs and nearly one million jobs directly and indirectly.

• Coal mining has a combined direct and indirect impact of $161 billion annually on the U.S. economy. This is $596 for every U.S. citizen.

• The federal government receives more than $11 billion annually in taxes and fees from the coal industry.

• State and local governments receive nearly $9 billion each year in revenues.

• Developing countries' demand for coal will double through 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

• Coal reserves are spread over almost 100 countries. Proven coal reserves are estimated to last over 200 years with current production rates. In contrast, proven oil and gas reserves are equivalent to around 40 and 60 years.

• America's coal is used primarily for the production of electricity.

• There were 315,000 Megawatts (net) of coal-based electrical generating capacity in the United States.

• Some 965 million tons of coal were consumed for the generation of electricity. This amounted to 86% of total U.S. coal production.

• Many large countries contain significant proven reserves of coal. While data quality varies widely, the countries with the greatest estimated recoverable reserves of coal are --

• United States 273 billion tons
• Russia 173 billion tons
• China 126 billion tons
• India 93 billion tons

• Australia 90 billion tons

• Coal was first discovered in what is now West Virginia in 1742 by John Peter Salley in what is now Boone County.

• McDowell County has produced more coal than any other county in West Virginia.

• The coal industry pays approximately $70 million in property taxes annually.

• The Coal Severance Tax adds approximately $214 million into West Virginia's economy.

• Twenty-four million dollars of coal severance taxes collected each year goes directly into the Infrastructure Bond Fund.

• All 55 counties, even the non-coal producing counties receive Coal Severance Tax funds.

• The coal industry payroll is nearly $2 billion per year.

• Coal is responsible for more than $3.5 billion annually in the gross state product.

• The United States produces about 20%, or 1.1 billion tons, of the world's coal supply—second only to China.

• The United States has about a 245-year supply of coal, if it continues using coal at the same rate at which it uses coal today.

• Montana is the state with the most coal reserves (119 billion tons). But Wyoming is the top coal-producing state—it produced about 400 million tons in 2004.

• Texas is the top coal-consuming state. It uses about 100 million tons each year.

• Coal ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.

• U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world's oil reserves.

• Each person in the United States uses 3.8 tons of coal each year.

• Coal is the world's most abundant fossil fuel - more plentiful than oil and natural gas. It is second only to oil as a source of energy that we use. Coal is widely used because it's easily obtained, there's lots of it, it's well distributed throughout the world, and it has a high energy content.

• Coal has many important uses, but most significantly in electricity generation, steel and cement manufacture, and industrial process heating.

• Coal provides over 23% of global primary energy needs. It generates around 39% of the world's electricity. Almost 70% of total global steel production is dependent on coal.

• There are four main types of coal and all are found in Canada: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite.

• There is more stored energy in Canadian coal than all the country's oil, natural gas, and oil sands combined.

• Canada exports about 28 million tonnes of coal annually to more than 20 countries.

• Canada ranks tenth in the world in total coal reserves with 4 billion tonnes of bituminous coal. That's coal covering a football field to a height of about 4,500 kilometers!

• U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world’s oil reserves.

• Coal ash is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.

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Interesting Facts About Nile River

• The Nile is famous as the longest river in the world. The river got its name from the Greek word Neilos, which means valley. The Nile floods the lands in Egypt, leaving behind black sediment. That's why the ancient Egyptians named the river Ar, meaning black and "Rivers of Life".

• The River Nile is about 6,670 km (4,160 miles) in length and is the longest river in Africa and in the world. Although it is generally associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile’s course runs through that country.

• The River Nile runs through Egypt, creating a fertile green valley across the dessert.

• It was by the banks that one of the oldest civilizations in the world began. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile, using the soil to produce food for themselves and their animals.

• The Nile and its tributaries flow through 10 distinct African nations: Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Eritrea and Burundi.

• The vast river system of the Nile includes two main tributaries: the White Nile (so named for its milky, silt-filled appearance), and the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan on its way to the sea.

• The source of the White Nile is the springs of Mount Bigugu in Rwanda. The source of the Blue Nile is Sakala Springs above Lake Tana in Ethiopia, which contributes to more than 50 percent of the river’s flow. The water’s volume from the Blue Nile increases tremendously in the monsoon season, from July to September.

• The Nile flows south to north, beginning in the highlands of Ethiopia and Rwanda heading toward the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, Egypt.

• Around 5000 B.C., the first great Egyptian civilization was founded in the northern Nile Valley. The Egyptians came to rely heavily on the Nile and its annual summer floods for irrigation, agriculture and transportation.

• The ancient Egyptians worshiped the Nile as one of their gods (the god Hapi) and made sacrifices solely for the Nile’s sake.

• The first dams were built on the Nile in 1861 in order to raise the river levels for easier navigation and increased irrigation. Major dams on the Nile today include Aswan Dam, Roseries Dam, Sennar Dam and Owen Falls Dam.

• Today the Nile remains a vital pathway that is essential to millions of African farmers. Egypt still imports 40 percent of its grain by means of the Nile.

• The entire Nile River Delta is estimated to drain an area of 1,293,000 square miles. This area is so vast that is has a number of different climate areas. North, in Egypt and Sudan, rainfall is sparse. More to the south, in and around Ethiopia, rainfall is heavy, contributing to the floodwaters that rush downstream and eventually create the wonderfully fertile soil that supports so much of life in Egypt and Sudan. Dams, the most notable being the Aswan High Dam, have been built along the route to prevent massive flooding of populated areas.

• The Nile River Delta is home to many species of animals, including crocodiles, turtles, baboons, wildebeest, and more than 300 species of birds, including fishing eagles, ibis, and the Nile Valley Sunbird.

• The people who lived along the Nile in ancient times used the river for agriculture and transportation. That hasn't changed, although the methods of agriculture and transportation have. Steam ships are still used in Egypt and Sudan, to transport goods.

• Only 22% of the river passes through Egypt, the other countries through which Nile passes are Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

• The cities that Nile flows past are Cairo, Khartoum, Gondokoro, Aswan, Karnak, Thebes and the town of Alexandria.

• The source of the river is debatable since it is commonly known that the source of the river is Lake Victoria, which is the biggest lake in Africa, but it is observed that on the northern side of the lake there is a waterfall called Ripon Falls, which has a small opening and seemingly that is where the water in the River Nile comes from but then this cannot be held as the ultimate truth since there are many rivers that flow into Lake Victoria therefore which one of these or if all of them are the sources of The Nile. Presently River Kagera and its tributary, which is called Ruvubu whose headwaters are in Burundi, are considered to be the source of the River Nile.

• Nile also played an important in the building if the famous Pyramids since the blocks of stone, which were used to make these pyramids, were actually transported from the source to the site with the help of Nile.

• Its average discharge is 3.1 million litres (680,000 gallons) per second.

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