Natural disasters can be devastating, claiming lives and destroying homes. Sometimes, bad weather is predictable, and you can secure your family and home before it approaches. Other times, bad weather comes out of nowhere and leaves you very little time to get everyone to safety.

The weather doesn’t need to be severe to be a bother. Even a simple rainstorm can ruin plans for family fun or make your drive to work more dangerous. You can better prepare yourself for severe weather by installing your own weather sensors. With this advanced technology you can monitor:

•Barometric pressure
•Solar radiation
•Wind speed
•Wind direction
•Humidity
•Temperature
•UV Rays

Different Kinds of Weather Sensors

1.Barometers - use water, air, or mercury to measure atmospheric pressure. Barometers should be kept inside a building where the temperature is relatively constant. A drop in barometric pressure is indicative of a storm.

2.Pyranometers - measure solar radiation and require direct sunlight. They should be positioned out in the open where the sun will beat down on them regularly.

3.Anemometers - measure wind speed and need to be placed where the wind is unobstructed by other objects. Typically, anemometers are mounted a little more than thirty feet off the ground, such as on a roof, and face north.

4.Hygrometers - determine the humidity in the air and are used in conjunction with thermometers. Hygrometers should be arranged near thermometers.

5.Thermometers - measure air temperature and should be positioned four to six feet above ground in a shaded area but away from trees. If you opt to place your thermometer on a building, you should pick a place on a north-facing wall below the eaves to protect it from sun and rain.

6.UV Ray Sensors - monitor the harmful ultra-violet rays projected by the sun. Over exposure to such rays can lead to serious health problems like skin cancer and cataracts. UV ray sensors can be mounted on a wall or inserted into the ground.

Your Personal Meteorologist

Instead of purchasing several different weather sensors and using them separately, you can buy a single device called a personal weather station. Personal weather stations combine all the weather sensors listed above into one multi-featured, accurate environmental monitoring system. Whether installed on your rooftop or ground mounted, personal weather stations provide you with the information necessary to make quick decisions about the safety of loved ones.

Unlike meteorologists or weathermen, weather sensors provide vital and reliable information specific to the weather in your backyard. With weather sensors, you can predict and determine approaching weather to better protect your home and family.

But a new royal has entered the debate, and Monaco’s Prince Albert recently joined Prince Charles at his innotative Poundbury village in Dorset.

The significance that it was Charles’ 58th birthday wasn’t overlooked by one Monaco travel guide.

‘Since Albert came to power he has made the environment his number one priority. And just as Prince Charles has become known for his views on everything from architecture to climate change, so has Prince Albert. Of course Albert’s position isn’t as important as Charles’ as future King of England, but where he can he tries to champion the environmental cause’.

In April 2006 Prince Albert made a trip to the North Pole to highlight the issue of global warming, and since then has taken part in other initiatives to try and push the environment up the political agenda of fellow world leaders, including involving Monaco more at the United Nations and for the first time calculating the tax haven’s GDP, which will allow Monaco to commit money towards developing countries.

‘As soon as he came to power he signed Monaco up to the Kyoto Treaty designed to cut the world’s greenhouse emissions’, add the guide, ‘and he has established his own foundation to promote better understanding of the issues of the rise in sea levels and quality of water’.

With the threat of rising sea levels, it’s easy to see that Monaco could easily be affected as it sits on the shores of the Mediterranean. The world’s second smallest country, and the best known tax haven, Monaco has in the past increased her size by reclaiming land from the sea, resulting in area where the district of Fontvieille now stands, and one of the best known hotels in Monaco, the Columbus, is situated.

But there is a danger that by championing the environmental cause that Prince Albert could turn off his people before he turns off the warming of the planet.

‘Monaco is home to the world’s wealthy’, say the travel guide, ‘And it’s a place of fun. The Monaco Grand Prix, the casino and the fact that it’s the most sought after tax haven in Europe might not sit comfortably with heavy politics. Happily the environment is an issue that has moved from the fringe to mainstream, and is something that nearly everyone is concerned about. Luckily for Prince Albert he has identified himself with an issue that is just as important to the tax exiles and business people who bring their money to Monaco as it is to everyone else. In the past Prince Charles has been slightly ridiculed with his views on the environment and organic farming, but now with hindsight a lot of people think he was ahead of his time.’

Referring to Monaco’s tax haven status they add ‘Prince Albert needs to be careful not to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Monaco is to start asking businesses in strict confidentiality for finance figures so Monaco can do more at the United Nations and on environmental issues. If he looks down from his palace and sees the wealth surrounding him he might be tempted to tap into it for environmental causes as he believes in it in such a genuine and sincere way. There have been press reports of some of his staff leaving, and if true it can only be hoped that it wasn’t over fiscal matters. From the European royal families environment issues we would view Charles as the king, and hopefully Albert will be the prince!’.

Global Warming

Prince Albert’s father, Prince Rainier, was Europe’s longest reigning Monarch until his death in April 2005. Known affectionately as the ‘builder prince’ he transformed Monaco into the world’s favourite tax haven and ensured the Monaco Grand Prix became one of the best known annual sporting events. The Principality Albert succeeded to was a country known throughout the world for money and glamour, and the Monte Carlo casino only added to its legendary status.

Albert has continued in his father’s footsteps with a plan to develop an island off Monte Carlo, and like his father with the reclaimed land in Fontvieille the map of Monaco will change again.

In keeping with his stance on the environment, it is thought that a successful bid to build the island will need to be seen to be environmentally friendly, with the possibility of lower rise buildings than some parts of Monaco have endured to create more living space.

Monte Carlo has long been associated with glamour, heightened throughout the world in 1956 when Prince Albert’s father married his mother, US actress Grace Kelly.

Speculation was rife earlier this year that Prince Albert would be announcing his own engagement to South African swimmer Charlene Wittstock.

‘Things have gone quiet recently on the Charlene front’, comment the Monaco travel guide, ‘Monaco is all about glitz and glamour and perhaps a surprise announcement will be made soon. But it’s possible that Albert is more interested in environmental affairs than affairs of the heart’.

Monaco has been making the news recently as Monaco real estate prices have escalated, and are on a level with London and New York.

Even the cheapest studios are edging towards the million Euro level according to some Monte Carlo property companies.

‘Increasing taxes elsewhere in Europe, especially in the UK, have seen inquiries increase significantly over the last twelve months,’ they say, ‘and it’s not the Monaco weather that’s drawing buyers, but the income tax free status of being a resident, and the security that goes with living in Monaco. There’s one policeman for every one hundred residents and has to be the safest country to live in Europe’.

Recycling scrap metal is a fantastic way that your business can help the environment. Scrap metal, as the name suggests, is unwanted metal parts and pieces, which are traded and sold as a commodity as well as used to practical effect. Trading in scrap metal prevents the need for further manufacture by reducing the overall demand, and if you can be resourceful with other people’s wasted material, you can save your business money, as well as saving the environment and halting dangerous weather patterns. From raw material stages through to finishing and distribution, the production chain of many products is carbon intensive. Carbon dioxide, being the main contributor to global warming, is what you should aim to avoid, and if you can find scrap material in place of new material, you are diminishing the demand for metal production, hence reducing the carbon emissions associated with it.

Another benefit of using and recycling scrap metal is that scrap has a residual value in trade as a commodity. Even if you don’t make use of the scrap material in your own business, you can easily hold on to it until you find a buyer for scrap materials, in which case you should be able to earn a profit as an investment buy. What this means is, in effect, you can reap the value of a bulk investment in scrap metal, whilst also acquiring odd bits of scrap that may be necessary in the course of your trade. Eventually, you can even reap a return when the market for scrap increases, whether online or on the open market.

Recycling scrap metal is a great way to save your business money and the environment. Scrap metal is both purposeful and valuable at an investment level, and eventually you should be able to sell any excess scraps to generate extra income on your purchase. Of course, if you know what you’re looking for in a bulk scrap lot, trading in scrap can be quite a profitable endeavor. Either way, you’re contributing to saving and preserving the environment for the future of our people, whilst helping to calm the effects of global warming to reduce severe weather patterns and climate change.

There are very few things that effect fishing as much as the weather and moon, hence the title of this article…The weather, moon, and fishing. Every time you turn on a fishing show, open a fishing magazine, or go to a fishing website, it seems as if someone is trying to sell you something that will supposedly help you catch more fish. The funny thing is that the things that will actually help you catch more fish don’t cost one red cent. They are all totally FREE to anyone who wants them.

Those things are practice and understanding the weather and moon. Practice is simple. That just means spending time on the water. That’s right, there’s no substitute for spending time on the water ding what it is that you like to do anyway…fishing! The more time that you spend on the water (practicing), the better angler you will become, it’s that simple. I realize that this is no secret. You will become better at anything that you spend time doing, everyone knows that, and it goes for fishing too.

The other thing that effects fishing, to quite a great degree, is the weather and moon. You see, the weather and moon effect the behavior of fish and if fish aren’t feeling well, they tend not to be hungry. This makes sense, right? If you have an upset stomach or just feel off, do you feel like eating? Of course not. Well, the same principle goes for fish. For example when the weather changes and the barometric pressure changes, this effects the behavior of fish. And you as an angler need to know how.

What about when it’s a full moon? People always say that human beings act weird when the moon is full. You’ve heard this theory, right? Well, the same goes for fish, although fish don’t act weird, unless you consider being much more active weird. The bottom line is that during certain phases of the moon, fish are much more active, and again you as an angler need to which phases are which, and what this means to fishing.

Human beings are curious creatures, for the most part. One of the things men and women have always strived to understand is the climate that sustains life here on Earth. With the help of new technology and the cooperation of scientists around the globe, new information about the climate and the science of weather is being uncovered on a regular basis. With the click of a mouse you can find the weather in Malaga, Spain or Anchorage, Alaska.

Not only are the men and women of meteorology able to classify several distinct climate “zones” on the planet, they are able to make unusually accurate weather predictions for these zones as well. Certain lines of latitude are used to mark the boundaries of these climate zones, with the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle as two of the more prominent markers. (These well-known latitude marks are at 66.5 degrees, both north and south.) The other two major lines of latitude used to describe climate zones are the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees south) and the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees north). The designation of these tropical latitude markers is not random, by any means. These lines indicate the points farthest north and south at which the sun will appear directly above any location at midday (noon).

One of the key uses for these lines of demarcation - classifying weather and identifying the location of major storms and weather events. For scientists, the section of the globe that lies between the two tropic lines is called by the common name of “low latitudes.” This area of the Earth’s atmosphere is distinguished by its high rainfall totals, high humidity and relatively constant, warm temperatures.

The middle latitudes, ranging from the tropical latitude markers to the Arctic and Antarctic circles, have generally temperate climates. It is in this region of the globe that plant and animal life experiences four distinct seasons and somewhat consistent rainfall patterns.

Between the Arctic and Antarctic circles and the two poles are the high latitudes, regions of the globe known for long winters, cold temperatures most of the year, and very short summer seasons. The majority of precipitation in these regions is snow.

One of the key benefits of this classification system is the ability to give weather some perspective. The Earth’s climate is so complex that it can become confusing without some way of categorizing the climates of particular regions. Yet, within the above-mentioned zones, there are numerous variations. For example, weather patterns can be distinctly different over land (continental) and on or near the ocean (maritime). But that’s not all. Within these smaller classifications, scientists have to take mountains and ocean currents into account.

Beyond the efforts to describe and predict weather patterns, efforts continue to understand the larger category of climate. Climates do change, though human ability to fully understand these long-term alterations is somewhat limited. Overall, the climate zones of the globe give scientists a useful overview of weather changes as well as weather consistency. With this information we have some idea of what weather to expect tomorrow.

Weather changes that we experience on earth are the result of a complex set of factors involving the sun, the earth’s atmosphere and other influences. The atmosphere that sustains plant and animal life on earth is a primary factor in the extraordinary range of weather conditions seen and felt around the world.

For most, the details of how weather patterns form is less important than whether the factors lead to rain, snow, heat, strong winds or other conditions. Those who are not professionals in the weather-watching industry rely on those who are professional. These specialists have benefited, in recent years, from the introduction of specialized instruments and computer modeling that help track storms and predict weather conditions. In addition, amateurs have access to high-quality instruments and information that puts them nearer to the status of a meteorologist or other weather/climate professional.

Clouds are a major climate structure that professionals and amateurs alike watch every day, a key part of weather observation. Being able to identify different types of clouds and follow their movements can go a long way toward making an educated guess about upcoming weather. Clouds not only have very distinct forms but also occupy various levels in the atmosphere. It’s a safe bet that, with low clouds some sort of precipitation will arrive in the near future. This feature separates the contribution of low clouds from those seen at the middle and higher levels.

Cumulus clouds, generally, signify fair weather in an atmosphere that is stable. Cloud watchers know not to expect precipitation. But when these same clouds gather quickly, this may be a signal that thunderstorms will soon arrive, bringing strong winds and rain.

Observation of such items as the direction of wind and the barometric pressure also aids in predicting and preparing for changing weather conditions. For example, almost everyone knows that when barometric pressure falls there is an increased chance of precipitation. For those north of the equator, the prevailing winds are from the southwest, bringing whatever conditions are forming in the western and southwestern states. It is interesting to note that winds can blow in a direction opposite that of storm movement, since huge thunderstorms can affect large masses of air.

One of the more interesting features of the earth’s fascinating weather is the color that appears with sunrise, sunset and various cloud formations. A simply explanation might be that the impact of sunlight on particles suspended in the air cause light waves to travel in many different directions. The differences in color are essentially the result of different lengths of the light waves, with the shorter waves producing violets and blues. Colors in the orange and red area have longer wavelengths. Some of the shading in color is due to the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. For example, clouds appear white because the water droplets that make them tend to scatter all spectrum colors. Thickness due to heavy water concentration makes the clouds appear darker, even gray, dark blue or black. While it may take a lifetime to understand even a part of our fascinating weather, a few interesting facts explain a lot.