Igor near hurricane strength in Atlantic

Tropical Storm Igor is nearing hurricane strength as it swirls over the open Atlantic Ocean. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm is likely to become a hurricane late on Saturday or early Sunday.

Igor remains far from land and was about 1840km west of the Cape Verde Islands on Saturday afternoon. The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 110kph.

It was moving to the west at 30kph

Hurricane Earl Path Will Bring Real--And Financial--Aftermath

Hurricane Earl is set on a path for the U.S., currently projected to head up north to lower New England and potentially could maintain its hurricane strength while doing so.

Without minimizing the crouching-in-a-bathtub-while-your-house-pirouettes-around-you effect, it's important to remember how expensive storm damage can be, and how helpful it is to take preventive measures. Even though Earl doesn't look like it's going to pull any category 5 wizardry on the Northeast, consider Katrina's effect, it was only category 1 or 2 when it hit, but  the roofs of our American brothers leaked so terribly that they had to use generators to run the dryer in order to produce more towels to stop up the water.  Preventive measures like customized shutters are extremely expensive, but, after the stories I've heard, I wouldn't put my trust in ply board.

Bottom line: Prevention is expensive, but cleanup is even more expensive. The Northeast isn't used to hurricanes, it would be better for us to ask the victims of the Hurricane Katrina how devastating it was.

Two Moons Tonight, August 2010

Two moons appearing at the same time happens only once every 1,000 years and isn’t scheduled to reappear until 2287. The second moon will actually be the planet Mars in our Solar System and on the rare occasion it appears that we have two moons at the same time. This is according to an email rumor circulating since 2003 claims August 27 will bring 'the closest encounter between Mars and Earth in recorded history.

NASA has reported that there is no such thing as two moons showing in the skies over the world. And that this rumor started in 2003 and has since reoccurred at the end of August every year since.

The moon appears just after the sun goes down above the skyline and if there are clear skies in your area, it will be highly visible around the world. Mars comes so close to the earth (about 34 million miles) that it will appear the same as the moon.

So we should be expecting tonight some wonderful sight (if this is true) up in our sky.

Official: Int'l aid for Pakistan floods over $800M

According to recent news, the world has totaled a very big amount of money, given or pledged, summing up to more than $800 million to help Pakistan cope with massive floods, the foreign minister said Sunday, as a surging river in the south led authorities to urge thousands more people to evacuate.

Pakistan is grateful for the international assistance, which came after the United Nations appealed for $460 million in aid for the deluged country, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the the total commitments and pledges that Pakistan has got so far are $815.58 million.

 "In these circumstances, when the West and Europe and America are going through a recession ... this kind of solidarity for Pakistan, I think, is very encouraging.", Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi said in Islamabad.

The floods began in late July in the northwest after exceptionally heavy monsoon rains, expanding rivers that have since swamped eastern Punjab province and Sindh province in the south. The deluge has affected about one-fifth of Pakistan's territory, straining the civilian government as it also struggles against al-Qaida and Taliban violence.

At least 6 million people have been made homeless and 20 million affected overall.

Aid flowed relatively slowly to Pakistan in the first weeks of the crisis, apparently in part because many countries were unaware of the vast scope of the damage. A relatively low death toll — around 1,500 people — may have contributed to misimpressions, analysts have said.

The U.S. has promised $150 million to help the country whose support it considers critical to winning the war in Afghanistan. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged nations to step up aid after a visit to Pakistan.

August Pakistan Flood, The Worst in Its History

The recent floodings in Pakistan is the worst in its history ever, specifically the worst flooding in nearly a century, according to UN officials. The disaster has already claimed the lives of 1,600 people and affected over four million people and left at least 1,600 dead.

As the Disasters Emergency Committee launches an emergency appeal to raise funds for victims of the devastating floods in Pakistan, British charities are scrambling to get aid to the worst affected regions.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday he has never seen anything like the flood disaster in Pakistan after surveying the devastation and urged foreign donors to speed up assistance to the 20 million people affected.

Ban's comments reflect the concern of the international community about the unfolding disaster in Pakistan, which is battling al-Qaida and Taliban militants, has a weak and unpopular government, and an anemic economy propped up by international assistance.

"This has been a heart-wrenching day for me," Ban said after flying over the hard-hit areas with President Asif Ali Zardari. "I will never forget the destruction and suffering I have witnessed today. In the past I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this."

Ban visited Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country in May 2008, killing an estimated 138,000 people. He also flew to China's Sichuan province just days after an earthquake killed nearly 90,000 people in March 2008.

Patrick Fuller, from the British Red Cross, has been based in Islamabad for the past few days and visited many of the hardest-hit provinces.

He said the worst areas were "totally dependent" on outside help, and the International Red Cross was working with local partners to get a whole package of aid, such as tents, blankets, stoves and cooking pots, to about 35,000 families.

The world body has appealed for an initial $460 million to provide relief, but only 20 percent has been given.

President Zardari has been criticized for his response to the disaster, especially for going ahead with a state visit to Europe just as the crisis was unfolding. Zardari has visited victims twice since returning, but images of him at a family owned chateau while in France are likely to hurt him for months to come.

On Saturday, the prime minister said 20 million people had been made homeless in the disaster.

PHOTOGALLERY:

Rare Planet Alignment Gives Way to Perseid Meteor Shower

Fri Aug 13, 10:31 am MLA

 Click thumbnails to enlarge

The annual Perseid meteor shower is already putting on an excellent show, and the celestial fireworks have yet to peak. The main event is tonight. Meanwhile, a delightfully tight configuration of planets graces the evening sky. The Perseids are bits of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which has laid down several streams of debris, each in a slightly different location, over the centuries as it orbits the sun. 

Every August, Earth passes through these debris streams, which spread out over time. Most meteors are the size of sand grains, with a few as large as a pea. They vaporize as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating brilliant streaks across the sky.

This year 2010, the Perseid peak activity is expected over the night of Thursday 12th to Friday 13th 2010. And with no moonlight to speak of (the Moon is new on August 10th), conditions should be very favorable, weather permitting.

Rarely has there been a better time to go out, look up and enjoy easy-to-watch cosmic spectacles.

Meanwhile, Venus, Mars and Saturn are clustered in the evening sky and will be joined tonight and Friday by the graceful crescent moon. Anyone with clear skies can easily spot the foursome looming above the western horizon as soon as darkness falls. It's a great opportunity, using SPACE.com's planet alignment map, to find and identify planets you otherwise might mistake for stars. 

But wait, there's more. In the predawn all week, Jupiter is a brilliant jewel high in the southern sky and impossible to miss — nothing nearby is even close to being as bright.

While the planets and our moon are all very far apart in space, they appear lined up this week thanks to a special circumstance of orbital mechanics. The outer planets, Mars and Saturn, take much longer to go around the sun than the inner planet Venus. Venus "laps" the outer planets frequently, and it never strays far from the sun from our vantage point. 

Right now, as we look off into space in the evening, we're seeing Venus off to one side of the sun, and Mars and Saturn behind it and well beyond the sun.