title: 2011 Pacific typhoon season

paragraphs: The 2011 Pacific typhoon season was an event in which tropical cyclones formed in the Western Pacific Ocean. The season ran throughout 2011 with most tropical cycle agency storming between May and November. The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean to the north of the equator between 100th meridian east and the 180th meridian.

paragraphs: Within the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, there are two separate agencies who assign names to tropical cyclones. This can often result in a cyclone having two names. The Japan Meteorological Agency named a tropical cyclone if it was judged to have 10-minute sustained wind speeds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph) anywhere in the basin.

paragraphs: While the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration assigned names to tropical cyclones which moved into or form as a tropical depression in their area of responsibility between 135°E and 115°E and between 5°N and 25°N even if the cyclone has had a name assigned to it by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Tropical depressions that were monitored by the United States' Joint Typhoon Warning Center were given a number with a "W" suffix. On average, 27 storms form in this basin every year.

paragraphs: During each season several national meteorological services and scientific agencies forecast how many tropical cyclones, tropical storms, and typhoons will form during a season and/or how many tropical cyclones will affect a particular country.

paragraphs: Since the 2000 Pacific typhoon season, the Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre (GCACIC), of the City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK), have issued forecasts of activity for each upcoming typhoon season. On May 4 and July 5, 2011, the GCACIC issued forecasts which predicted the amount of tropical cyclones, tropical storms and typhoons there would be during 2011 as well as for how many tropical cyclones will make landfall on China or pass within 100 km (60 mi) of the Korean Peninsula or Japan.

paragraphs: This season the GCACIC predicted in May that 31 tropical cyclones, 27 tropical storms, and 17 typhoons would either form or move into the northwestern Pacific this year. In their July forecast, the GCACIC lowered their prediction for the number of tropical storms developing into a typhoon by one which they blamed on the strength of the India-Burma trough. For Southern China the GCACIC predicted in May that seven tropical cyclones would make landfall, during the year compared to an average of five. They further predicted that five of the cyclones would make landfall on Southern China between May and August, while the other two would landfall between September and December. After two tropical cyclones had made landfall on Southern China during June, the July GCACIC forecast predicted that seven tropical cyclones would make landfall, during the main season between July and December. For the Korean Peninsular and Japan, the GCACIC predicted in May that six tropical cyclones would affect either Japan or the peninsular during the year compared to an average of four, and predicted that there would be an above average amount of landfalls on Japan. After three tropical cyclones affected the region in May and June, the GCACIC predicted that seven tropical cyclones would affect either the Korean Peninsular or Japan during the main part of the season.

paragraphs: Since the 2000 Pacific typhoon season, the Tropical Storm Risk Consortium (TSR) of University College London have issued forecasts of activity for each upcoming typhoon season. Forecasts on the number of tropical storms, typhoons and intense typhoons there would be during 2011 in the Western Pacific were released in March, May, July and August. In all of their forecasts this year, TSR predicted that the season would see activity close to the average with 28 tropical storms, 18 typhoons and 8 intense typhoons developing during the season.

paragraphs: On January 17, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) reported that they were expecting between 20 and 22 tropical cyclones to pass through the Philippine area of responsibility during 2011. On March 23 the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), reported that they had predicted that 6-9 tropical cyclones would affect Hong Kong during the season. On April 26, the Thai Meteorological Department predicted that 2 tropical storms would affect Thailand during 2011. They predicted that 1 would move through Vietnam and affect Upper Thailand, during August or September. While the second tropical storm was expected to move through Southern Thailand during October or November. On June 30, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau predicted that the 2011 season would be near its normal climatic average of 25.7, and predicted that 22-26 tropical storms, would occur over the Western Pacific during 2011, with 3 to 5 of them affecting Taiwan.

paragraphs: On April 1, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began monitoring an area of low pressure associated with intermittent convection over the South China Sea, roughly 535 km (335 mi) east-southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The former of these two agencies immediately declared the system a tropical depression, the first of the 2011 season. Following further development of the system, most notably convective banding around the low-level circulation center, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert on the storm. Early on April 2, the agency followed through with this alert and designated the low as Tropical Depression 01W. However, within hours of this, the depression became devoid of convection as wind shear buffeted the system. This prevented the cyclone from intensifying beyond depression status as it remained nearly stationary. Failing to regain convection by April 3, the depression degenerated into a remnant low and the final advisory from the JTWC was issued. The JMA continued to monitor the system as a tropical depression for another day before issuing their last warning on the system.

paragraphs: On March 30, the JMA began monitoring an area of low pressure southwest of Yap. By April 2, the system developed a low-level circulation, though convection appeared disorganized. Exhibiting good outflow within a region of weak wind shear, the low was anticipated to develop further over the following several days as it drifted west-northwestward. After briefly stalling early on April 3, the storm turned towards the east. Additionally, the JMA considered the system sufficiently organized to be declared a tropical depression. As the system was to the west of 135°E, PAGASA began issuing advisories on the depression as well, assigning it the name "Amang". Tracking northeastward, the depression eventually developed enough convection to be declared Tropical Depression 02W by the JTWC on April 4. However, this was expected to be brief as a decaying frontal boundary approached from the west and prompted the system to undergo an extratropical transition. This intensification prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) in Tiyan, Guam to issue a tropical storm warning for the islands of Agrihan, Pagan and Alamagan. Interacting with the front and high wind shear, the system became partially exposed and elongated as it moved over cooler waters. Early on April 6, the JTWC issued their final advisory on the depression as it began to dissipate over open waters. Following degradation of the storm's structure, the NWS discontinued warnings for the Mariana Islands on April 6. The JMA continued to monitor the system for several more hours before ceasing advisories on it as well.

paragraphs: Early on May 4, an area of low pressure formed about 140 km (85 mi) to the west of Palau Island. On that same day, the low pressure starts to strengthen rapidly with improved LLCC, tightly–wrapped shallow convective banding and a well–defined center. On the next day the low pressure starts to move northwest in general direction to the seas east of Philippine Islands. However it remained almost stationary by afternoon due to the influence of high pressure in the northeast of the system. By that time, its LLCC starts to become elongated and the system was also in favorable sea surface temperatures with low vertical wind shear. Later of that day, its LLCC starts to consolidate again and the system starts to move northwest slowly, whilst the Japan Meteorological Agency upgraded the system into a tropical depression In the afternoon of May 6, Joint Typhoon Warning Center upgraded the low pressure into a tropical depression. In the same evening, PAGASA upgraded the low pressure into a tropical depression and assigned its local name 'Bebeng'. In the afternoon of May 7, JMA upgraded the tropical depression to a tropical storm, and assigned the name 'Aere'. During the early morning of May 12, the JMA downgraded Aere to a tropical depression while south of Kyushu Island.

paragraphs: Throughout the Philippines, multiple agencies activated their emergency plans as the storm approached. The Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, and the Philippine Coast Guard were all placed on standby to deploy to areas struck by Aere once the storm passed. Several ports were affected by the storm, stranding 1,379 passengers by the afternoon of May 7. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, at least 35 people have been killed and two more are missing as a result of Aere. Agricultural losses are estimated at PHP1.37 billion (US$31.7 million). Widespread flooding and landslides damaged homes, blocked off roads and severed communications. In Catarman, Northern Samar, of rain fell in just 24 hours, resulted in significant flash flooding.

paragraphs: On May 19, the JTWC reported that an area of low pressure had persisted about 510 km (320 mi) to the southeast of Yap. As the system moved towards the northwest under the influence of a subtropical ridge of high pressure, it rapidly consolidated in an area of light to moderate vertical windshear. The JMA then started to monitor the system as a tropical depression later that day, before the JTWC designated it as Tropical Depression 04W early on May 20. The JTWC then reported later that day that the depression had intensified into a tropical storm with windspeeds of 65 km/h (40 mph), however it later reported that it had overestimated the windspeeds and consequently lowered the storm's status to a tropical depression, based on observations from Yap island. Late on May 21, both the JMA and the JTWC reported that the depression had now become a tropical storm with the JMA naming it as Songda. Over the next couple of days, the system gradually intensified further while moving northwest into PAGASA's area of responsibility. PAGASA named it as Chedeng. At 1200  UTC on May 24, the JTWC reported that Songda had intensified into a typhoon. 12 hours later the JMA followed suit while the system was about 800 km (500 mi) to the southeast of Manila in the Philippines. It rapidly intensified into a Category 5 typhoon. In the afternoon of May 29, Songda became extratropical south of Shikoku Island.

paragraphs: Although Songda remained offshore, heavy rains within the typhoon's outer bands impacted the Philippines, causing significant flash flooding and landslides. Four fatalities are attributed to the system there. Further north, Okinawa experience intense wind gusts, measured up to 198 km/h (123 mph), along with torrential rain. Extensive damage took place across the area with losses reaching ¥23.2 billion ($287 million); however, there were no fatalities. As it became extratropical, Songda brought heavy rains from Kyushu to eastern Honshu, causing significant flooding. At least 13 people were killed in the country and an estimated 400,000 had to be evacuated around Tokyo alone.

paragraphs: During the evening of May 31, the JMA upgraded an area of low pressure to a tropical depression. Initially, the tropical depression was about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Hong Kong. The system did not develop further and was downgraded to an area of low pressure by the JMA on June 2.

paragraphs: On early June 8, an area of low pressure formed about 10 km west of Cebu City, Philippines. As it moved towards the Mindoro Strait the JMA and JTWC began to monitor the system. In the early morning hours of June 9, the Philippines' PAGASA upgraded the system to a tropical depression and reported the storm center to be about 450 km west of Dagupan City in the Philippines. The next day, the JMA and JTWC upgraded the tropical depression into a tropical storm, with the JMA naming it Sarika. During the morning of June 11 the JTWC downgraded Sarika to a tropical depression after making landfall in Shantou, China. The JTWC soon issued their final advisory on Sarika. Sarika made landfall on mainland China with winds of 75 km/h (45 mph). As a result of the storm, 23 people were killed in Xianning, and ten more were declared missing. Damages from Sarika are estimated at $248 million.

paragraphs: Early June 15 an area of low pressure area embedded along the Intertropical Convergence Zone about 250 km west of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. As is moved towards the South China Sea, both the JMA and the JTWC started monitoring it. During the morning of June 15, the JMA upgraded it into a tropical depression. Due to an anticyclone, the system dissipated during the early morning of June 16,as it made landfall in Hong Kong.As it drifted over Hong Kong, the Hong Kong observatory's radar captured the center of the system.

paragraphs: On June 15, the JTWC started to monitor an area of disturbed weather that was about 1350 km (835 mi), to the southeast of Manila, Philippines. Over the next couple of days the system gradually developed further, before late on June 16, the JMA, JTWC and PAGASA, all reported that the system had developed into a tropical depression, with PAGASA naming it as Egay. Egay continued to develop during June 17 as it moved towards the northeast, and on June 18 the JTWC reported that Egay had intensified into a tropical storm. Late on June 19, the JTWC downgraded Egay to a tropical depression, but they upgraded Egay again to a tropical storm on June 20. Early on June 20, the JTWC downgraded Egay to a tropical depression again. On June 21, the JMA upgraded the system into a tropical storm and named it Haima, with the JTWC following suit on June 22.

paragraphs: During the evening of June 23, the JTWC downgraded Haima to a tropical depression after making landfall in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China but upgraded it to a tropical storm again on June 24. Early on June 25, Haima became a tropical depression after moving inland in Vietnam. As it made landfall over Hanoi, Vietnam, the JTWC and the Hong Kong Observatory downgraded Haima to a low pressure area.

paragraphs: Early on June 20, and area of low pressure about 760 km (470 miles), east of the Philippines began to be monitored by both the JTWC and JMA. That evening, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. Soon afterwards, PAGASA upgraded the system into a tropical depression, naming it as "Falcon". At the time of the upgrade, Falcon was about 1000 km (620 miles), east northeast of Cebu City. During the evening of June 21, the JTWC also reported that Falcon had strengthened into a tropical depression. On June 22, both the JTWC and the JMA upgraded Falcon into a tropical storm, and the JMA named it Meari. Meari leaves Philippines with 2 deaths and 5 missing. In the afternoon on June 24, the JMA upgraded Meari to a severe tropical storm as it passed Okinawa, Japan.

paragraphs: On June 26, Meari rapidly moved to the Yellow Sea but slowly passed Weihai, Shandong, China, and then the JMA downgraded Meari to a tropical storm on the same day. On June 27, the JTWC downgraded Meari to a tropical depression before it made landfall in North Korea, and the JMA reported that Meari became a low pressure area later.

paragraphs: Heavy rains from the storm's outer bands triggered significant flooding and landslides in South Korea. At least nine people were killed and three others were reported missing across the country. In North Korea, heavy rains from the storm caused widespread flooding and damage. At least 160 homes were destroyed and 50,000 hectares of crops submerged. Several reports of confirmed fatalities arose but no details on how many were given to news agencies.

paragraphs: Late July 9, 2011, an area of low pressure area formed about 300 km (186 mi) east of Aurora. The center was north of Basco, Batanes. On the morning of July 9, JMA upgraded the low pressure area into a tropical depression and it was 450 km northeast of Cagayan. In the afternoon, PAGASA upgraded the low pressure area into a tropical depression and named it Goring. After moving to Fujian, China, it weakened into an overland low pressure area on the evening on July 10.The remnant low of Goring appears to have redeveloped into a Tropical Depression on July 16

paragraphs: On July 11, both the JMA and JTWC upgraded a tropical disturbance to a tropical depression which was near Minamitorishima. On July 12, both the JMA and JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical storm and named it Ma-on. Early on July 13, the JMA upgraded Ma-on to a severe tropical storm. Late on July 13, both the JMA and the JTWC upgraded Ma-on to a typhoon. After absorbing Tokage, Ma-on reached its peak strength on July 16. The PAGASA named it Ineng on July 17.

paragraphs: As Ma-on was affecting Japan, the JTWC downgraded it to a tropical storm in the evening on July 19. Ma-on made landfall in Tokushima later. The JMA downgraded Ma-on to a severe tropical storm after it made landfall in Wakayama early on July 20. The JTWC downgraded Ma-on to a tropical depression on July 21 and discontinued advisories the following day. The JMA downgraded Ma-on to a tropical storm early on July 23. On July 24, Ma-on weakened into an extratropical cyclone east of the Tōhoku region.

paragraphs: A low pressure area has formed about 740 km north-northwest of Palau. Early on July 14, the JMA upgraded it into a tropical depression, and the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. On July 15, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm and named it Tokage, and the JTWC upgraded it to a tropical depression later. PAGASA also upgraded it to a tropical depression and named it Hanna. Due to the Fujiwhara effect, Typhoon Ma-on, the powerful storm just northeast of Tokage, later weakened Tokage to a tropical depression and completely absorbed it early on July 16.

paragraphs: It can be traced back to a Tropical Depression on July 10, which made landfall over Fujian, China.The remnant low of the weak depression drifted back south, and entered the South China Sea on July 13, and later started to reintensify as it drift back inland, the JMA reported that a low has strengthen into tropical depression as it drifted over Guangdong, China on July 16. On July 17, the depression dissipated completely.

paragraphs: Originally a low pressure area, the JMA reported that a tropical depression formed from it in the Gulf of Tonkin near Guangdong, China on July 16. However, it quickly dissipated after only six hours.

paragraphs: Early on July 22, an area of low pressure formed to the east of Philippines. The system gradually drifted west over the next few days and late on July 24, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center Started Monitoring the system as a Tropical Depression. Early the next day, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded the area of low pressure into a Tropical Depression. A few hours later, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) started monitoring the system as a Tropical Depression and named it 'Juaning'. The system continued to drift westwards and strengthened rapidly, that on midnight, that day, the JMA furhter upgraded the system into a Tropical Storm, naming it Nock-Ten. Early on July 27, the JMA reported that Nock-ten continued to strengthen and upgraded it into a Severe Tropical Storm. A few hours later, the JTWC reported that Nock-ten rapidly intensified to a category 1 typhoon and made its landfall over northern Aurora (province) and started weakening. Later the same day, the JMA reported that Nock-ten has exited the Luzon island at Candon maintaining severe tropical storm strength. However, overnight, the storm rapidly weakened and the JMA downgraded it into a minor tropical storm the next day. However, on July 29, the storm gradually regained strength and approached south China coast at Qionghai, China. Later that day, the storm strengthened over land and headed north towards Hainan's provincial capital region Haikou. Over the next day, the storm drifted to the west and made landfall over Northern Vietnam. The storm weakened rapidly and at midnight that day, the JMA, issuing their final warning on the system, Downgraded it into a tropical low.

paragraphs: The provinces of Albay and Camarines were reported to be completely flooded by the rain. Minor damage to rice crops was reported. More heavier rains were expected throughout the day as the system has exited land into south china sea and will soon start reintensifying. The number of missing was also pushed up to 31 after 25 crewmembers of a fishing boat were reported missing when their fishing boat was caught in the storm off Masbate. Nock-ten suspended all classes in Luzon from Pre-school to college levels on July 26 and 27. In Northern Luzon, Nock-ten poured down heavy rainfall becoming widespread flooding in the area. The national roads were impassable and landslides were also reported. About 26 domestic flights were cancelled from July 26 to 27 due to heavy rains and strong winds.

paragraphs: Late on July 23, an area of low pressure formed to the southeast of Chuuk. the system gradually drifted to the west and on July 25, the JTWC upgraded the low pressure area to a tropical depression. At that time, it was about to the west of Guam. At midnight, that day, the JMA started monitoring the system as a tropical depression. Early on July 28, the JTWC upgraded the system into a Tropical Storm. A few hours later, the JMA too upgraded the system to a tropical storm, naming it "Muifa". Soon, the storm moved into the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR), and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) named it "Kabayan". The storm gradually drifted north over the next day maintaining strength. On the night of July 29, Muifa was upgraded into a Severe Tropical Storm. Overnight, the storm strengthened rapidly and was upgraded into a Typhoon the next morning. The storm strengthened so rapidly, and the JTWC reported that the storm's peak winds were reaching , as it strengthened into a Category 5 Typhoon. However, the typhoon could not maintain Category 5 strength for a long time. According to the JTWC, On July 31, the typhoon interacted with an upper-level trough and weakened into a Category 4 Typhoon on the SSHS. The system gradually moved north, then turned west and drifted towards Okinawa, before turning northwest again, when it was finally downgraded into a Tropical Storm by the JTWC. Soon afterwards, the JMA too downgraded Muifa to a Severe Tropical storm. After weakening to a tropical storm, Muifa made landfall at the estuary of the Yalu River on August 8, and the JTWC issued the final warning. Early on August 9, Muifa weakened to a tropical depression in Northeast China and became a low pressure area later.

paragraphs: Muifa killed 2 men, as their boat was capsized in the vicinity of Hagonoy, Bulacan and Pampanga Delta. Due to the southwest monsoon enhanced by Muifa, it caused heavy rains in several parts of Luzon including Metro Manila. Early of August 2, the Malacañang Palace suspended government offices and Pre-school to college level in NCR. Nearby provinces like Calabarzon (Region IV-A) also suspended their classes. In Marikina 200 residents or 31 families living in communities along the Marikina River have sought shelter in evacuation centers.

paragraphs: On July 28, an area of low pressure formed about to the West of Guam. Over the next few days, the system gradually drifted to the northwest and on July 31, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded the low into a Tropical Depression to the west of Philippines. Later that day, The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) started monitoring the system as a tropical depression and named it "Lando". The system slowly tracked northward. However, on the next day, due to Fujiwhara effect, Typhoon Muifa the much more powerful system, just to the northeast of Lando, weakened Lando. As a result, the PAGASA issued their final warning on the system, downgrading it to a tropical low. But despite this, Tropical Depression Lando regenerated soon afterwards, and the JMA reissued their advisories on Lando. Tropical Depression Lando continued to persist for another day, as it slowly tracked eastward, just off the western coast of Luzon. Then, during the late afternoon of August 2, the JMA stopped tracking Lando, as it had dissipated. Early on August 3, the remmants of Tropical Depression Lando dissipated completely, without ever reaching Luzon.

paragraphs: Early on August 3, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded an area of low pressure near Wake Island to a tropical depression. The system intensified rapidly and just 6 hours later, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm, naming it "Merbok". Soon, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) started monitoring the system as a tropical depression, and upgraded it to a tropical storm later. Merbok began to move westward slowly, but soon afterwards, it turned northwest and gradually drifted in that direction. Late on August 5, the JMA upgraded Merbok into a Severe Tropical Storm. Early on August 6, the JTWC upgraded Merbok into a Category 1 Typhoon East-southeast of Tokyo, Japan. Early the next day, the storm's winds reached a peak of on the SSHS. Later that day, the system was caught in a moderate Vertical Wind Shear and started weakening. On August 8, the system started accelerating towards north at the speed of and was gradually diminishing because of colder and colder sea surface temperatures and unfavorable conditions. As a result, the JMA reporting that the system was no longer a Severe Tropical Storm, downgraded Merbok to a Tropical Storm. Late on that day, the system started showing extratropical characteristics as the convection near the eye dissipated rapidly. Thus, the JTWC issued their final warning on the system reporting that the system was no longer tropical. Later, the JMA, issuing their final warning on the system, reported that the system was no longer tropical.

paragraphs: Early on August 3, a tropical depression formed near the Bonin Islands. The system slowly began to track northwestwards, towards Japan. Late on August 4, the system dissipated near the Kii Peninsula.

paragraphs: Late on August 8, the JMA upgraded a low pressure area to a tropical depression west of Guam, and the JTWC issued a TCFA. The system gradually drifted north and early on August 10, the JTWC started monitoring the system as a tropical depression and designated it with "13W". Initially, the JMA predicted the system to strengthen into a tropical storm, but on August 11, as it moved further north into cool waters and experienced unfavourable conditions, the JMA issued their final advisory. Later, the JTWC too issued their final warning on the system, reporting that it has moved into a subtropical ridge and was expected to dissipate into a remnant low. However, the JMA continued to track the remants as a weak tropical depression over the next few days until the system dissipated on August 15.

paragraphs: Late on August 8, the JMA upgraded an area of low pressure to a tropical depression, to the northwest of Minamitorishima. The system gradually moved to the northeast. On August 10, the system was caught in a moderate vertical wind shear and due to cold sea surface temperature, the system dissipated into a remnant low.

paragraphs: On August 19, a low pressure area developed east-northeast of Guam. Early on August 20, the system developed a broad area of low level circulation center and a good divergence aloft becoming more well defined. Later that day, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical depression southeast of the Bonin Islands. On August 22, the system started interacting with an anticyclone and was exposed to a strong vertical wind shear, prompting the JMA to stop monitoring the system as a tropical depression, as the system dissipated to a remnant low. However, at midnight, the same day, the remnants regenerated, and the JMA started tracking the system as a tropical depression again, until it last appeared near Okinawa, Japan on August 25, as the system dissipated completely.

paragraphs: Late on August 19, an area of low pressure developed north of Palau. Early on August 20, the system became more better organized and developed a low-level circulation center. The system then turned north and continued to drift north until on August 21, when the JMA upgraded the low pressure area to a tropical depression east of Philippines. The JTWC also issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) on the system reporting that the system was becoming more well organized. Later that day, the PAGASA started monitoring the system as a tropical depression and named it "Mina". Late on August 22, the system became more well organized prompting the JTWC to initiate advisories on the system, designating it with "14W". On August 23, the JMA upgraded 14W to a tropical storm, naming it "Nanmadol". Overnight, the system continued to intensify and early on August 24, the JMA upgraded Nanmadol to a severe tropical storm. Later that day, convective banding improved and Nanmadol developed an eye-like feature. As a result, Nanmadol continued to intensify rapidly and became a typhoon, by midnight, that day. Nanmadol continued to drift northeast and made landfall over Gonzaga, Cagayan, Philippines with strong winds of over . Nanmadol weakened significantly after interacting with land and early on August 28, the JMA downgraded Nanmadol to a severe tropical storm. Late on August 28, Nanmadol made its second landfall over Taimali in the Taitung County of Taiwan and started weakening. Landfall weakened the system rapidly prompting the JMA to downgrade Nanmadol to a tropical storm with winds of under . Soon it started experiencing strong wind shear and continued weakening. The shear pushed convection about south of the LLCC. The system also accelerated towards China at and weakened to a minimal tropical storm. After its third landfall over Fujian, China, Nanmadol weakened rapidly prompting both the JTWC and the JMA to issue their final warnings on the system.

paragraphs: On August 27, five people died after Nanmadol caused landslides. At least two Filipino fishermen were reported to be missing after Nanmadol's strong winds whipped up large waves.

paragraphs: Late on August 22, an area of low pressure developed to the west of Guam. At midnight that day, the system became sufficiently well organized that the JMA started tracking it as a tropical depression. On August 23, the system moved into an environment of low wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures prompting the JTWC to issued a TCFA on it. By August 25, the system grew strong enough that the JMA upgraded it to a tropical storm, naming it "Talas". Later that day, the JTWC followed suit and initiated advisories on Talas. Talas continued to strengthen and by midnight that day, it became a severe tropical storm. Over the next few days, Talas continued to drift north very slowly until late on August 29, when the JMA upgraded Talas to a typhoon. Soon, a subtropical ridge to the west of the storm weakened and the subtropical ridge to the east of the system pushed Talas to the west. As a result, Talas accelerated towards the west maintaining strength and outflow. An upper-level cyclone over the system suppressed the convection and kept it from reaching the center. Therefore, Talas remained weak and did not strengthen further. Convection never managed to consolidate the center and convective banding remained well away from the fully exposed low-level circulation center. The convective banding continued to expand more and more with the outer rainbands already brushing parts of Japan. Coastal areas in the nation have already reported gale-force winds several hours before landfall, while the Omega block continued to drive Talas towards the nation. Land interaction weakened Talas, prompting the JMA to downgrade Talas from a typhoon to a severe tropical storm with winds of under . Early on September 3, Talas made landfall over Aki, Japan. After landfall, Talas accelerated north at over and its central convection became significantly eroded and was displaced to the northeast as Talas was exposed to a very strong wind shear of over that made the LLCC very distorted and difficult to pin-point. Talas was embedded in a baroclinic zone and the JTWC anticipated an extratropical transition, which prompted them to issue their final warning on the system. On September 5, the JMA issued their final warning on the system, reporting that Talas has become extratropical on the Sea of Japan.

paragraphs: On September 1, a low pressure area formed to the northeast of Guam. On the next day, the JMA started monitoring the low pressure area as a tropical depression. Soon, the system developed a well-defined but partially exposed low-level circulation center (LLCC), prompting the JTWC to issue a tropical cyclone formation alert. On September 3, the central convection around the LLCC deepened with favorable equatoward outflow prompting the JTWC to initiate advisories on the system, designating it with "16W". Soon, 16W accelerated north at over with its LLCC being being consolidated by convection. Also, data from an ASCAT scatterometer pass revealed that the LLCC was tightly wrapped with winds prompting the JTWC to upgrade 16W to a tropical storm. An Aqua microwave imagery depicted that the LLCC remained partially exposed though consolidated with deep central convection. Albeit in an area of moderate vertical wind shear, an anticyclone enhanced northeastward outflow while a tropical upper tropospheric trough (TUTT cell) suppressed the outflow towards the west. As 16W continued to accelerate north at a staggering , convective banding became fragmented and detached behind the main area of central convection. However, the outflow to the southeast of the storm remained favorable and 16W continued to strengthen, prompting the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm, naming it "Noru".

paragraphs: Late on September 4, Noru's LLCC that remained partially exposed since formation unexpectedly became elongated and started weakening. However, data from an ASCAT scatterometer pass depicted that the LLCC had an expansive area of strong tropical storm force winds along the eastern and northern peripheries. A TUTT cell wrapped the east and northeastern sides of Noru suppressing its outflow. Soon, the convective banding, which was already fragmented started becoming disorganized causing Noru to start weakening. A new TUTT cell developed over the system and started restraining outflow. As a result, the LLCC became fully exposed and virtually lacked convection. The TUTT cell moved over Noru snuffing outflow in all directions and sheared the remnant central convection, prompting the JTWC to downgrade Noru to a tropical depression. However, data from an scatterometer pass depicted that Noru had winds of over near the center, prompting the JTWC to reupgrade the system to a tropical storm. On September 5, Noru started to appear like a hybrid system, primarily showing subtropical characteristics. The JTWC added that Noru was undergoing an extratropical transition and would become an extratropical cyclone within 24 hours. Noru continued to transition into an extratropical cyclone with a broadening LLCC and weaker winds at the core, being embedded in an upper-level trough that suppressed the formation of convection within the LLCC. With the extratropical transition well underway, Noru drifted into an area of low sea surface temperatures and started weakening, prompting the JTWC to downgrade Noru to a tropical depression. On September 6, Noru finished the extratropical transition becoming an extratropical cyclone east-southeast of Hokkaido, Japan, prompting the JMA and the JTWC to issue their final warning on the system.

paragraphs: Late on September 4, an area of low pressure developed to the southeast of Okinawa, Japan. Over the next two days, the system drifted north and developed a well defined LLCC with organized convective banding, prompting the JMA to upgrade the low pressure area to a tropical depression. On September 7, convection consolidated the low-level circulation center very well with tightly curved banding wrapped into it. Also, high sea-surface temperatures and very low wind shear caused the system to undergo rapid deepening, prior to which, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm and named it "Kulap". However, the system stopped strengthening soon after as the LLCC became partially exposed and the convection was displaced to the south. Kulap remained small in size and dry air entering from the western periphery kept it from strengthening further. Wind shear increased, pushing convection about south of the LLCC. Also, Kulap was beneath a tropical upper tropospheric trough (TUTT cell) that caused subsidence. A mid-level subtropical steering ridge cuased Kulap to track in a northwestward direction. On September 8, Kulap moved into the east-northeast periphery of the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) prompting the PAGASA to start issuing advisories on the system, naming it "Nonoy". However, Kulap quickly accelerated north and exited the PAR on the same evening, prompting the PAGASA to issued their final advisory on the system. After increasing wind shear caused further weakening, the JTWC downgraded Kulap to a tropical depression late on September 8. Early on September 10, the JMA too downgraded Kulap to a tropical depression, and continued to track Kulap's remnants as a tropical depression until it finally dissipated early on September 11.

paragraphs: Early on September 8, a cluster of thunderstorms came together as a low pressure area with imporoving outflow and a developing low-level circulation center (LLCC). Later that day, the JMA upgraded the low pressure area to a tropical depression north-northeast of the Northern Mariana Islands. Over the next two days, the system gradually drifted west and intensified slightly, prompting the JTWC to issue a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) on it. Convection gradually consolidated the LLCC and the JTWC initiated advisories on the system on September 11, designating it with "18W". The next day, the depression drifted into the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) and the PAGASA initiated advisories on the depression, naming it "Onyok". However, just as similar to Kulap, Onyok also exited the PAR in 6 hours from entering the region. In an advisory, the JTWC reported that there were at-least two more vortices associated with the system, that caused an abrupt, erratic movement. However, being in an area of warm sea surface temperatures and low vertical wind shear, the depression continued to strengthen and on September 13, the JMA upgraded the depression to a tropical storm and named it "Roke". On September 17, Roke developed a small, deep convective eye promoting the JMA to upgrade Roke to a severe tropical storm with winds of over . Between September 19 and 20, Roke underwent "Explosive intensification", a more extreme case of rapid deepening that involves a tropical cyclone deepening at a rate of at least 2.5 mbar per hour for a minimum of 12 hours. Also, they added that Roke developed a eye and a good poleward outflow channel. On September 21, Typhoon Roke made landfall over Hamamatsu, Japan at about 5:00 UTC (14:00 JST). Soon Roke started weakening as cloud tops started getting warmed up and eye diameter started to decrease. However, the system still maintained a near radial outflow and the convective structure continued to remain organized that kept Roke from dissipating rapidly. Although Roke entered a de-intensification phase, it still had plenty of strength that posed a great threat to regions of Japan. Being about southwest of Yokosuka, Kanagawa, the typhoon accelerated north-northwestward at about with winds of over (1-min sustained) being a Category 3 typhoon on the SSHS. Being embedded in the baroclinic zone, Roke started its extratropical transition. Also, land interaction severely weakened the storm to a minimal Category 1 typhoon with winds of under (1-min sustained). Only six hours later, the storm further weakened and accelerated northeastward at about with rapidly dissipating deep convection completely sheared to the northeast of the LLCC. As a result, the JTWC ceased advisories on the storm, as it became fully extratropical.

paragraphs: Early on September 13, a low pressure area formed northeast of the Northern Mariana Islands. The system gradually drifted north and steadily intensified until the next day when the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical depression. Later on September 14, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) on the system reporting that the system could intensify into a tropical storm within 24 hours from then. Convection rapidly consolidated the center with persistent, deep convection around the northeastern periphery, prompting the JTWC to initiate advisories on the system, designating it with "19W". Soon, the JMA also initiated advisories on the system, upgrading it to Tropical Storm "Sonca". In the begging, Sonca seemed to have intensified rapidly since formation, however, soon the storm weakened back to a minimal tropical storm because of dry air entering the LLCC that caused it to elongate and weaken. However, that was not for too long as vigorous convection persisted over the well defined LLCC with tightly curved banding wrapped in, Sonca continued to strengthen gradually and the JTWC reported winds of at-least near the center. As Sonca continued to strengthen, and the JMA upgraded it to a severe tropical storm on September 17. Later that day, Sonca developed a large ragged eye with deep convective banding tightly wrapped into it. As a result, Sonca strengthened more rapidly and by early the next day, it became a typhoon. On September 18, Sonca reached a peak intensity of (1-min mean) and (10-min mean) and soon the convection around the northern periphery started weakening. Being embedded in a baroclinic zone with low sea surface temperatures, Sonca started its extratropical transition late on September 19. The transition took place relatively fast because of a frontal boundary and the JTWC reported that Sonca became extratropical early on September 20, while the JMA did the same later in the evening.

paragraphs: Early on September 14, the JMA started monitoring a cluster of thunderstorms to the southeast of Taiwan as a tropical depression. But because of the land interaction, the system could not be empowered and the JMA stopped tracking the depression late on September 15, as the system dissipated.

paragraphs: In the evening of September 21, a low pressure area developed to the east-southeast of Palau. The low gradually drifted west and became more well organized prompting the JTWC to issue a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) on it. Later, the LLCC became well organized with flaring deep convection developing around it, so the JMA started monitoring the low as a tropical depression. Later on September 23, the JTWC also initiated advisories on the system designating it with "20W". Early on September 24, the JMA further upgraded 20W to a tropical storm and named it "Nesat". Nesat continued to drift west with expanding deep convection around the entire system and consolidating convection around the LLCC. The mid-level warm anomaly near the system continued to intensify and convective banding near the LLCC became more and more tighter. As a result, the JMA upgraded Nesat to a severe tropical storm on September 25. Late on the same day, the JMA further upgraded Nesat to a typhoon.

paragraphs: On the evening of September 21, at almost the same time when Nesat was first seen, another low pressure area persisted far south of Hong Kong. The low slowly drifted north and strengthened slowly until on September 24, when the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical depression east of Vietnam. Later that day, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert stating that the low could develop into a tropical cyclone. Early on September 25, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm and named it "Haitang".

paragraphs: On September 26, the Japan Meteorological Agency started to monitor a weak tropical depression. It had developed about to the northwest of Manila in the Philippines. The next day the JTWC issued a tropical cyclone formation alert on the system. However less than 3 hours later, the JTWC designated it as Tropical Depression 22W. JMA reported that the depression had become a tropical storm and named it Nalgae.

paragraphs: The storm slowly drifted to the west. It got stronger slowyl. Nalgae developed a microwave eye like feature and well defined convective banding in all the quadrants. The system had a tiny radius of winds. It was still strengthening significantly and was very well defined. On the evening of September 28, the JMA reported that Nalgae continued to intensify. They upgraded it to a severe tropical storm with winds of over . On that night, the PAGASA began advisories on Nalgae. They gave it the local name "Quiel" as it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). Late on September 29, the JMA upgraded Nalgae to a typhoon. Nalgae quickly intensified on September 30, and became a category 4 super typhoon early on October 1. This was just before making landfall over Luzon. Due to land interaction and colder sea surface temperature in the South China Sea, the JMA downgraded Nalgae to a severe tropical storm on October 2. Then a tropical storm late on October 3. The JTWC downgraded Nalgae to a tropical depression on October 4. The JMA also did it on the next day. Later on October 5, the last low of Nalgae dissipated.

paragraphs: Hitting the Philippines just days after Typhoon Nesat, Nalgae caused further damage across Luzon. It was first feared that Nalgae would cause much more damage to Luzon. But damage from the storm was lighter than Typhoon Nesat. Nearly 2,900 homes were destroyed and about another 15,400 took damage. At least 18 people were killed by the storm and another 7 were reported as missing as of October 11. A total of 1,113,763 people were affected by the storm. Total losses in the country reached just over 115 million PHP (US$2.62 million).

paragraphs: On October 7, the JTWC started monitoring a tropical disturbance about 750 km (465 mi) to the south of Hagåtña, Guam. Over the next couple of days the system gradually developed further while moving towards the west. The JMA reported on October 9, that the disturbance had become a tropical depression. Early on October 10, the JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical depression called "23W". The PAGASA also upgraded it to a tropical depression and named it "Ramon". On October 11, the JMA and the JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical storm and named it "Banyan". Early on October 12, Banyan made landfall over Leyte, Philippines. The JTWC downgraded it to a tropical depression. A half day later, the JMA also downgraded Banyan to a tropical depression. The system dissipated in the South China Sea on October 16.

paragraphs: While going through the Philippines, Banyan had heavy rains across much of the country. This led to widespread flooding. At least ten people were killed by the storm. A total of 75,632 people were affected by the storm.

paragraphs: On December 11, a disturbance formed and stayed near Chuuk. On December 13, the low pressure area quickly got stronger. On the same day, the JTWC upgraded the low pressure to a tropical depression. They named it "27W". The JMA also upgraded it to a tropical depression. The JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical storm on December 14. They then downgraded it to a tropical depression early on December 15. The PAGASA called it "Sendong" as it entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility. After passing Palau on December 15, both the JTWC and the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm. They named it "Washi". On December 16, Washi made landfall over Surigao del Sur, a province of the Philippines. Several hours later, Washi arrived at the Sulu Sea and regained its strength quickly. Late on December 17, Washi crossed Palawan, and arrived at the South China Sea. On December 19, Washi weakened into a tropical depression and dissipated.

paragraphs: In the Philippines, Washi caused at least 1,268 deaths. 1,079 people are officially listed as missing. Washi affected 102,899 families or 674,472 people in 766 villages in 52 towns and eight cities in 13 provinces. Most of the deaths were in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. Five people were killed in a landslide, but all others died in flash flooding. More than 2,000 have been rescued, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Officials were also investigating reports that an entire village was swept away. The flash flooding happened overnight, following 10 hours of rain. This was made worse by overflowing rivers and tributaries. In some areas, up to 20 centimeters of rain fell in 24 hours. At least 20,000 people were staying in 10 evacuation centers in Cagayan de Oro. Officials said that despite government warning, some people did not evacuate. At least 9,433 houses were destroyed while 18,616 were damaged.

paragraphs: Within the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, there are two separate agencies who assign names to tropical cyclones which often results in a cyclone having two names. The Japan Meteorological Agency names tropical cyclones should they be judged to have 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 65 km/h, (40 mph), to the north of the equator between the 180° and 100°E. Whilst the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration assigns names to tropical cyclones which move into or form as a tropical depression in their area of responsibility between 135°E and 115°E and between 5°N-25°N even if the cyclone has had a name assigned to it by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

paragraphs: Tropical Cyclones are named from the following lists by the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in Tokyo, Japan, once they reach tropical storm strength. Names are contributed by members of the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee. Each of the 14 nations or territories submitted 10 names, which are used in alphabetical order, by the English name of the country. The next 24 names on the naming list are listed here.

paragraphs: The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration uses its own naming scheme for tropical cyclones in their area of responsibility. PAGASA assigns names to tropical depressions that form within their area of responsibility and any tropical cyclone that might move into their area of responsibility. Should the list of names for a given year prove to be insufficient, names are taken from an auxiliary list, the first 10 of which are published each year before the season starts.

paragraphs: During their 2012 annual session the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee said that the name Washi would be retired from its naming lists. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that the names Bebeng, Juaning, Mina, Pedring were retired from PAGASA's list of local names after they each caused over 1 billion PHP in damages to the Philippines during 2011. The name Sendong was also retired from the list after it caused over 300 deaths, when it made landfall on the Philippines during December 2011.

paragraphs: This table lists all the storms that developed in the western Pacific Ocean to the west of the International Date Line during the 2011 season. It includes their intensity, duration, name, landfalls, deaths, and damages. All damage figures are in 2011 USD. Damages and deaths from a storm include when the storm was a precursor wave or extratropical low.

paragraphs: The table on the right shows the ACE for each storm in the season. Broadly speaking, the ACE is a measure of the power of a typhoon multiplied by the length of time it existed, so storms that last a long time, as well as particularly strong typhoons, have high ACEs. ACE is calculated for only full advisories on specifically tropical systems reaching or exceeding wind speeds of 34 knots (63 km/h, 39 mph), or tropical storm strength. Accordingly, tropical depressions are not included here. The ACE also does not include subtropical storms. Later the JMA reexamines the data, and produces a final report on each storm, which can lead to the ACE for a storm being revised either upward or downward. Until the final reports are issued, ACEs are, therefore, provisional.


title: The Saga Begins

paragraphs: "The Saga Begins" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "American Pie" by Don McLean


title: It's All About the Pentiums

paragraphs: "It's All About the Pentiums" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "It's All about the Benjamins (Rock Remix)" by Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs . It is about a man who is obsessed with computers.


title: Pretty Fly for a Rabbi

paragraphs: "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" (also called "Pretty Fly (For a Rabbi)" in Australia) is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" by The Offspring.


title: You're Pitiful

paragraphs: "You're Pitiful" is a parody of "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt by parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. It was released only online in June 2006. Blunt's record label did not want Yankovic to release the song, so he put it on his website for a free download.


title: Stage (geology)

paragraphs: A stage or age in geology is a period of time measured in millions of years. It is less than an epoch, and more than a chron or chronozone.

paragraphs: Technically, a "stage" is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of sedimentation or deposition. An example of a stage in the Geologic time scale is the Kimmeridgian.


title: Red beds

paragraphs: The term red beds usually refers to strata of reddish-colored sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, siltstone or shale that were deposited in hot climates under oxidizing conditions. They are usually formed in terrestrial situations: on land, and in rivers and lakes.

paragraphs: The red color comes from iron oxide in their mineral structure. Although they have been deposited throughout the Phanerozoic, they are most commonly associated with rocks deposited during the Devonian, Permian and Triassic periods. The Old Red Sandstone is one of the most famous rock formations.

paragraphs: Red beds have economic significance since many of them contain reservoirs of petroleum and natural gas.

paragraphs: Secondary red beds are linked to the uplift, erosion and surface weathering of previously deposited sediments and require conditions similar to primary red beds for their formation.

paragraphs: The formation of red beds has been much discussed. The basic chemical change which produces them is oxidation. At first it was thought they indicated desert conditions. Some do, and this can be proved if the strata show signs of dune formations. However:


title: Wesel

paragraphs: Wesel is a city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Wesel is near to Duisburg and belongs to the Ruhr area.


title: Titanosaurus

paragraphs: Titanosaurus was a genus of sauropod dinosaur, first described by Lydekker in 1877 from fragments, but not confirmed by later research.

paragraphs: Titanosaurus was 9-12 metres (30-40 ft) long and weighed about 13 tons. Titanosaurus has traditionally been treated as a "wastebasket taxon" for poorly preserved sauropod remains. The most well-known species of "Titanosaurus", "Titanosaurus" colberti, has been renamed "Isisaurus". The remains were from the Upper Cretaceous of India.


paragraphs: The First Minister and the deputy First Minister (Irish: "Céad-Aire agus an leas-Chéad-Aire", Ulster Scots: "Heid Männystèr an tha Heid Männystèr depute"), (FM/dFM for short), are jobs in the Northern Ireland Government. The First Minister is not more important than the deputy First Minister. The two positions are a diarchy, meaning they have equal power; both are nominated and appointed by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

paragraphs: Currently, the position is vacant. Before however, the incumbents were Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party as First Minister and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin as deputy First Minister.

paragraphs: Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are divided into two groups, Nationalists and Unionists (although there are also some independent or "Other" members).

paragraphs: The First Minister and the deputy First Minister are elected on a joint ticket. Under the St Andrews Agreement, the Leader of the largest party nominates the First Minister, and the leader of the next largest party that is in the other group nominates the deputy First Minister.

paragraphs: Their joint nomination has to obtain an overall majority in the Assembly along with a majority of both designated Nationalist MLAs and designated Unionist MLAs. Designated Other MLAs also vote.

paragraphs: This diarchy was created to enable the leaders of the main unionist and nationalist parties to work together as a team jointly representing both communities.

paragraphs: The first two holders of the office now known as "deputy First Minister", namely Seamus Mallon and Mark Durkan, were both referred to during their periods of office as "Deputy First Minister", with a capital D. This version was also adopted in 1999 for the logo of the OFMDFM.

paragraphs: Several weeks after Martin McGuinness took up office as Deputy First Minister in 2007, civil servants began asking the Assembly's Hansard team to replace the capital D with a lower-case d, deputy was spelled this way in the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the legislation which created the office.

paragraphs: It was neither Mr McGuinness nor his advisers who asked for the change. The Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, William Hay, ordered the change and the capital D was dropped from Hansard references. The Office of the First and deputy First Minister still uses both versions of Mr McGuinness' title on their website, and their archive of press releases has been changed, but the capital D still appears in some places, and a spokesman confirmed on 20 March 2008 that the office has "no plans" to change the OFMDFM logo. However, the Assembly committee that looks at their work is now listed as the "Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister". It was decided that Mr McGuinness should be the deputy First Minister, unless all the other letters in the title are in capitals. Confusion is not completely resolved however; if Mr McGuinness writes to the Assembly committee, his note will have a letterhead that comes from the Office of the First Minister and "Deputy" First Minister, but he'll get a reply back from the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and "deputy" First Minister.


title: Outlook, Saskatchewan

paragraphs: Outlook is a town in west central Saskatchewan. It is about 80 kilometres south-southwest of Saskatoon. About 2,000 people live in Outlook. It has the longest pedestrian bridge in Canada, the Skytrail.


title: Skytrail

paragraphs: The Skytrail Bridge is a bridge in Outlook, Saskatchewan that crosses the South Saskatchewan River. Today, it is a pedestrian bridge, but it was a railway until 1987. It is now the longest pedestrian bridge in Canada.


title: Scrophulariaceae

paragraphs: Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family, is a family of flowering plants, with around 3000 species in around 200 genera, mainly found in the northern temperate regions of the world. The family name is based on the name of the included genus Scrophularia.


title: Cold seep

paragraphs: A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where hydrogen sulfide, methane and other hydrocarbon-rich liquids leak out of the Earth's crust, often in the form of a brine pool. Cold seeps form a biome supporting several native species.

paragraphs: Cold seeps change the shape of the ocean floor over time, where reactions between methane and seawater create carbonate rock formations and reefs. These reactions may change when bacteria are present.

paragraphs: Cold seeps at different depths have different names. Other kinds of cold seeps are:

paragraphs: Cold seeps occur over cracks in the seafloor caused by the movement of the Earth's crust. Oil and methane "seep" out of those cracks, get dissolved by tiny bits of rock, and emerge over an area several hundred meters wide.

paragraphs: Methane () is the main part of what we commonly refer to as natural gas. But in addition to being an important energy source for humans, methane also forms the basis of a cold seep ecosystem.


title: Calamba City

paragraphs: Calamba City is a city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. It is the regional center of Calabarzon, after Lucena City, Calamba is a component city in the placed,

paragraphs: first is San Pablo City, The City of Calamba, is one of the fastest growth city in region 4A, and it growth population, which divided into barangays, because of its economic some, commercials, entertainment, factory companies and others, are served in city, Calamba City is south of Manila. Calamba City is a popular tourist destination. It has several hot spring resorts. Most of these are in Barangay Pansol. There are 651 resorts and hot springs in the city. The Canlubang Golf and Country Club has been the host of many Philippine Opens. Calamba is also an important modern industrial center in the CALABARZON region. This is shown by the large number of industrial parks and business estates in the city. 454,486 people live in the city (2015). There are in 58,466 households. Calamba City is the most populated city in Laguna province. San Pedro, Santa Rosa City, Biñan City, and San Pablo City follow it as the top 5 municipalities and cities by number of people in the province.

paragraphs: Calamba City is the birthplace of José Rizal. He is a national hero in the Philippines.

paragraphs: The name of the city comes from a legend. The legend says that during the early time of the Spanish period in the country, two "guardias civil" or Spanish soldiers were lost. As they moved through the area that is now Calamba, they met a young woman. She came from a river carrying a jar of water and a wooden stove. The soldiers asked the lady what the name of the place was. They asked this in Spanish and used an angry tone to hide the fact that they were lost. She did not speak Spanish and thought she was being questioned about what she was carrying. She answered ""kalan-banga"", meaning "clay stove" ("kalan") and "water jar" ("banga"). Because they could not pronounce it correctly, the city has been called Calamba since then. This legend is immortalized with a large concrete water jar built in the city plaza with the names of the city's barangays written on it. It is said to be the World's Biggest "Claypot". This same jar is also in the city's seal. The idea to build the plaza came from Dr. Agapito Alzona. He was a town councilor at the time. It was built on an unused area that was at one time the old town market. The plaza was built in 1939.

paragraphs: Before it became a separate city, Calamba was a part of Tabuco. Tabuco is now known as Cabuyao, Laguna. Calamba became an independent "pueblo" on August 28, 1742.

paragraphs: While the area was under the control of the Japanese in World War II, the city was the site of a massacre. The Imperial Japanese Army killed at least 2,000 civilians.

paragraphs: With the passage of Republic Acts of the Philippines-Republic Act,No. 9024 on April 7, 2001 and the approval of the people on April 21, Calamba went from being a municipality into being Laguna's second component city. San Pablo City was the other component city at the time. Calamba is seen as a major growth center.

paragraphs: On October 28, 2003, Calamba City became the regional center of Region IV-A CALABARZON.

paragraphs: Calamba has been the home to five national heroes: Dr. Jose Rizal, General Paciano Rizal, Teodora Alonzo, General Vicente Lim, and Lt. Geronimo Aclan.

paragraphs: The main church in Calamba City is the St. John the Baptist Church. It was built in 1859. The church was burned by the Japanese during World War II. It was rebuilt by Fr. Eliseo Dimaculangan. It was the christening site of Jose Rizal. The original baptismal font has been is still there.


title: Laguna (province)

paragraphs: Laguna is a province in the Philippines. It is about 30 kilometres south of Manila. Laguna is named after "La Laguna" which means the lake, meaning Laguna de Bay. This is the largest lake in the Philippines, and is on the north edge of the province. Laguna province has six cities: Biñan, Cabuyao, Calamba, San Pablo, San Pedro, and Santa Rosa. There are two international schools, IB World Schools, to be specific, located in Biñan: Brent International School Manila, and The Beacon Academy.


title: Deposed Queen Lady Yun

paragraphs: Deposed Queen Lady Yun or Waste Queen Lady Yun (, hanja:廢妃 尹氏, 1445? - August 16, 1482) was Queen of Joseon Dynasty, King of Joseon Dynasty Seongjong's Second Wife, Mother of King Yeonsan. first cousin once removed to Shin Suk-ju.


title: Institute of Welsh Affairs

paragraphs: The Institute of Welsh Affairs is an independent, think-tank based in the capital of Wales, Cardiff. It focuses its research on politics, culture, economy, education, environment, science and technology in Wales, with the aim of developing plans for "policy innovation and improvement" and promoting new thinking on Welsh issues. The IWA publishes numerous reports on the research it carries out, and organises public seminars and conferences to encourage discussion and debate. It is highly regarded for the quality of its work and its commitment to informed public discussion.

paragraphs: 2010 saw the begin of ClickonWales.org, the IWA’s online news-analysis magazine. ClickonWales is designed to bring users a new level of regular commentary and analysis on Welsh affairs, and opportunities for debate. Expert contributors and commentators from across the political spectrum will be commissioned daily. The site also features the ‘Wales factfile’ and the ‘Lecture Library’. Wales factfile is a handy one-stop shop for information and data about many aspects of Wales and its economic, social, cultural and political life. The ‘Lecture Library’ is a place where organisations will be able to post

paragraphs: the texts of public lectures on a wide range of subjects.

paragraphs: The Institute of Welsh Affairs was created on 22 July 1987 (Company No: 02151006).

paragraphs: The IWA is a membership based organisation, it has approximately 1,200 individual and 150 corporate members, and more than 100 Fellows.

paragraphs: The corporate members include BBC Wales, British Gas, Cardiff County Council, Corus Steel, Eversheds, Julian Hodge Bank, ITV Wales, the

paragraphs: Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, S4C, Welsh Water, and the University of Wales.

paragraphs: The Institute is governed by a Board of Trustees. Its first chairman was Henry Kroch, then chairman of AB Electronics. Since 1992, the chairman has been Geraint Talfan Davies, and since 1996 the director of the organisation has been former journalist and television producer, John Osmond.

paragraphs: As at November 2010, the Board members were Eurfyl ap Gwilym, Guy Clarke, Rhys David, Geraint Talfan Davies (Chairman), Peter Davies, Sue Essex, Nigel Griffiths, Gerald Holtham, Megan Mathias, Rob Humphreys, Robert Jolliffe, Ruth Marks, Chris O'Malley, Wendy Sadler, Professor John Tucker, Sir Adrian Webb, Dr. Ruth Williams and Professor Laura McAllister.

paragraphs: The IWA has five area branches – for north Wales, for west Wales, Swansea Bay, Gwent, and Cardiff and the Valleys. A sixth 'virtual' branch - IWA Women - has been formed to raise the profile of women's concerns in Wales and to increase the engagement of women with the IWA and civil society in Wales more generally.

paragraphs: Approximately one third of the IWA's income is derived from membership subscriptions, the remainder coming mainly from the funding of specific research projects by trusts and foundations, and other public and private organisations.

paragraphs: The IWA publishes a journal three times a year (in spring, summer and winter), called "Agenda". First published in 1994, "Agenda" contains numerous articles on current issues in Wales, written by experts in their field, including academics, politicians and business people, and a wide range of participants from Welsh civil society.

paragraphs: It now publishes a regular bulletin on developments in the Assembly, "Assembly Bwletin Cynulliad", published in association with Grayling Wales. These can be downloaded from clickonwales.org. In addition, the IWA has published a multitude of research reports, discussion papers and books.

paragraphs: One of the IWA’s central activities is holding events which are designed to disseminate information to the public on a host of public policy issues. The events range from the smaller ‘coffee shop’ debates to full-scale conferences.

paragraphs: Typically, an IWA event will focus on a contested issue in Welsh politics. It will bring in an expert (or number of experts) who have detailed knowledge and understanding of the issue, to clearly present both side’s arguments clearly. This is inline with the first part of its mission, which to help raise the level of public debate on issues affecting Wales, by placing quality information in the public domain.

paragraphs: In 2010 the IWA began the Inspire Wales Awards, in association with the Western Mail . The Awards aim to raise the profile of Welsh men and women who are making a contribution to our society, to encourage active citizenship and create role models for others. Categories for the awards include the environment, business, education, sport, and arts, media and the creative industries. 2011 sees the IWA/Western Mail Business Awards, celebrating business achievement in Wales.

paragraphs: In November 2006 the IWA published a report entitled "Time to Deliver: The Third Term and Beyond". This looked at policy options for the Assembly’s third term, and was the result of work by eight study groups in individual policy areas.

paragraphs: In 2010 the IWA's director, John Osmond was asked by the Older People's Commissioner to carry out a study exploring Welsh policy responses to our rapidly ageing society, in particular the Welsh Government’s policy which has been developing in a number of innovative ways since 2003. The findings were published in the bilingual report, 'Adding Life to Years / Ychwanegu Bywyd at a y Blynyddoedd'.

paragraphs: The IWA's most recent publication, entitled 'Engaging Wales' disengaged youth', explores the issue of so-called 'NEETS' - Children Not in Education, Employment of Training. It contains contributions from experts in the fields of youth policy, education, employment, and youth-centred charities. A full list of the IWA's research outputs is available on its website.

paragraphs: The IWA's priority areas for its future work include economic development, the environment and climate change, education, health and culture, governance and civil society.


title: Table Mountain

paragraphs: Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is 1084.6 meters (3,563-feet) tall, of sandstone and granite. With nearby mountains and Table Bay, it surrounds the central part of Cape Town.

paragraphs: It is a significant tourist attraction, featured in the flag of Cape Town and other local government insignia. Many visitors use the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway or hike to the top. The mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National Park.

paragraphs: The upper part of the mountain "mesa" (table) consists Silurian/Ordovician quartzitic sandstone, commonly referred to as Table Mountain Sandstone (TMS). It is highly resistant to weathering and forms steep grey crags.

paragraphs: Below the sandstone is a layer of micaceous shale, which weathers quite readily. The basement of folded metamorphic shales intruded by the Cape Granite are of late Precambrian age.


title: Fingal’s Cave

paragraphs: Fingal's Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, part of a National Nature Reserve owned by the National Trust for Scotland. It is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns. These are part of the same ancient lava flow as the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and those of nearby Ulva.

paragraphs: In both cases, the cooling surface of the mass of hot lava cracked in a hexagonal pattern in a similar way to drying mud cracking as it shrinks. These cracks slowly extended down into the mass of lava as it cooled and shrank to form the columns, which were later exposed by erosion.

paragraphs: The breakup of Pangaea separated the two parts of the same rock formation.

paragraphs: The size of the cave, and its naturally arched roof, and the eerie sounds produced by the echoes of waves, give it the atmosphere of a natural cathedral. The cave's Gaelic name, Uamh-Binn, means "cave of melody."

paragraphs: Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and wrote "Die Hebriden" (in English, "Hebrides Overture Opus 26", commonly known as "Fingal's Cave overture"), inspired by the weird echoes in the cave. Mendelssohn's overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination. Other famous 19th-century visitors included author Jules Verne; poets William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson; and Romantic artist J.M.W. Turner, who painted "Staffa, Fingal's Cave" in 1832. Queen Victoria also made the trip.


title: Deadpool

paragraphs: Deadpool (Finn Anderson the ranga), better known as Flanders not Randerz, is a comic book character in the Marvel Universe published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by Rob Leifeld in 1991. Deadpool began as a villain but is currently being used as an anti-hero and in his own comic book series he ended as a good guy. He is currently one of the most popular Marvel characters. He has had many of his own book series as well as been in most of Marvel's other titles. He is often seen in several of the X-Men series of books and is a regular character in the series "Uncanny X-Force". His clothing is colored red and black, and he has two guns and short katanas as well as many other weapons.

paragraphs: Deadpool's special power is regeneration. His body can repair itself from any injury. He has formed a relationship with the personification of Death but because his healing power is so strong, he cannot die. This is a common theme in his stories. Deadpool is well known for "breaking the fourth wall". He knows he is a comic book character. Deadpool will often talk to the readers or refer to a specific issue when talking about something that happened in the past. He also can transport to the other alternative universes. His fighting skills are also very known.

paragraphs: In the comic book universe, Deadpool was mostly considered neutral and sometimes even evil, but near the end of the series he was proved to be a good person. He tried really hard to fight his own psychotic mind behaviour and stop killing people. He got married with a person that cared for him and had a daughter. He made friends with an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and by himself destroyed a whole evil army that was trying to kill his family. In the end, on a vacation with his family and friends, Deadpool hugged his daughter as a second earth came crashing down from the sky, presumably killing him and his family and friends, along with many lives on earth, joining up the story with Secret Wars.

paragraphs: However, Deadpool is seen again in the preview of All-new All-different Marvel, confirming his return.

paragraphs: He has been portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in "" before having a more faithful take starting with "Deadpool".


title: Villain

paragraphs: A villain is a bad person in fiction. The word comes from a Latin word meaning a feudal farm worker or peasant. Villains, or antagonists, are usually found in fiction, such as books and movies. The audience do not usually like the villain and they support the hero or heroine. However, in some cases the villain is more praised by the public than the hero, as the example of Joker in the Batman franchise. In some movies and books (such as the movie Ocean's Eleven), the villain is a good person and the hero/heroine is bad (such as a robber). When used in comic books, they are depicted as supervillains. Supervillains usually hold some kind of unnatural force.


title: Giant's Causeway

paragraphs: The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. The formation is a result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland. It is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It was named a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of "Radio Times" readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.

paragraphs: The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.

paragraphs: The Giant's Causeway is today owned and managed by the National Trust. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland.

paragraphs: The Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave are part of the same volcanic eruption. They were separated by the plate tectonics movements which happened when the supercontinent Pangaea broke up.

paragraphs: During the Palaeogene period, some 50 to 60 million years ago, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity. Highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form a large scale lava plateau. As the lava cooled rapidly, contraction occurred. The size of the columns is mostly determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleogene period. Parts of this plateau can be found in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Norway, as well as at Fingal's Cave.


title: Ornithopter

paragraphs: An ornithopter from the ancient Greek language is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers try to make the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects seem real. Though machines may differ in form, they are usually built on the same scale as these flying creatures. Manned ornithopters have also been built, and some have worked. The machines are of two general types: those with engines, and those powered by the muscles of the pilot.


title: Calgary Stampede

paragraphs: The Calgary Stampede happens every year and has a rodeo, exhibits, and a festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which calls itself ""The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,"" brings over one million visitors every year and has the world's largest rodeo. It also has a parade, rides, stage shows, concerts, farming games,and racing. People from Calgary also begin wearing cowboy hats and other cowboy gear in spirit of the event. The stampede began as a farming fair in 1886 and turned into the Calgary Stampede in 1923.


title: Juggling

paragraphs: Juggling is a skill where a person (the "juggler") keeps objects ("props") moving for a long time, using their hands or other parts of their body. The most common props are balls (or beanbags), clubs and rings. Some jugglers use more dangerous-looking objects such as knives, fire torches and chainsaws. There are other kinds of juggling prop such as diabolos, yo-yos, poi, devil sticks, cigar boxes, foot bags and hats. Some jugglers use bouncing objects.

paragraphs: Juggling can be for entertainment, art or sport.


title: 3753 Cruithne

paragraphs: 3753 Cruithne was discovered on October 10, 1986, by Duncan Waldron on the UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, Coonabarabran, Australia. The 1983 appearance is given to Giovanni de Sanctis and Richard M. West of the European Southern Observatory in Chile. It was not until 1997 that its unusual orbit was found by Paul Wiegert and Kimmo Innanen, working at York University in Toronto, and Seppo Mikkola, working at the University of Turku in Finland. The asteroid is named after the Cruithne, a people of early medieval Ireland.

paragraphs: 3753 Cruithne is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) in diameter. From 1994 through 2015, 3753 Cruithne makes its annual closest approach to Earth every November. Although Cruithne's orbit is not thought to be stable over the long term, calculations showed that it has probably been synchronized with Earth's orbit for a long time. There is no danger of a collision with Earth for millions of years, if ever. Its orbital path and Earth's do not cross.

paragraphs: Cruithne is in a normal elliptic orbit around the Sun. Its period of revolution around the Sun, about 364 days at present, is almost equal to that of the Earth. Because of this, Cruithne and Earth appear to follow each other in their paths around the Sun. This is why Cruithne is sometimes called "Earth's second moon". However, it does not orbit the Earth and is not a moon. In 2058, Cruithne will come within 13.6 million kilometres of Mars. Cruithne's distance from the Sun and orbital speed vary a lot more than the Earth's, so from the Earth's point of view Cruithne actually follows a kidney bean-shaped horseshoe orbit ahead of the Earth, taking slightly less than one year to complete a circuit of the "bean". Because it takes slightly less than a year, the Earth "falls behind" the bean a little more each year, and so from our point of view, the circuit is not quite closed, but rather like a spiral loop that moves slowly away from the Earth.

paragraphs: After many years, the Earth will have fallen so far behind that Cruithne will then actually be "catching up" on the Earth from "behind". When it eventually does catch up, Cruithne will make a series of annual close approaches to the Earth and gravitationally exchange orbital energy with Earth; this will alter Cruithne's orbit by a little over half a million kilometres so that its period of revolution around the Sun will then become slightly more than a year. The kidney bean will then start to migrate away from the Earth again in the opposite direction — instead of the Earth "falling behind" the bean, the Earth is "pulling away from" the bean. The next such series of close approaches will be centred on the year 2292 — in July of that year, Cruithne will approach Earth to about 12,500,000 kilometres.

paragraphs: After 380 to 390 years or so, the kidney-bean-shaped orbit approaches Earth again from the other side, and the Earth, once more, alters the orbit of Cruithne so that its period of revolution around the Sun is again slightly less than a year (this last happened with a series of close approaches centred on 1902, and will next happen with a series centered on 2676). The pattern then repeats itself.

paragraphs: More resonant near-Earth objects (NEOs) have since been discovered. These include 54509 YORP, (85770) 1998 UP1, 2002 AA29, and 2009BD which exist in resonant orbits similar to Cruithne's.

paragraphs: Other examples of natural bodies known to be in horseshoe orbits include Janus and Epimetheus, natural satellites of Saturn. The orbits these two moons follow around Saturn are much simpler than the one Cruithne follows, but operate along the same general principles.

paragraphs: Mars has four known co-orbital asteroids (5261 Eureka, 1999 UJ7, 1998 VF31, and 2007 NS2, all at the Lagrangian points), and Jupiter has many (more than 1000 known objects, the Trojan asteroids); there are also other small co-orbital moons in the Saturnian system: Telesto and Calypso with Tethys, and Helene and Polydeuces with Dione. However, none of these follow horseshoe orbits.


title: Mirror's Edge

paragraphs: Mirror's Edge is a single-player first person action-adventure video game made by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

paragraphs: The plot of Mirror's Edge follows Faith, a member of a group called the Runners. The Runners deliver things from person to person as an underground system, as the city spies on the citizens a lot. Faith's sister is accused of killing a candidate for mayor of the city, and Faith finds out it's part of a plan to kill the Runners. The true killer ends up being an ex-Runner gone rogue working for the government, and Faith saves her sister from being arrested.


title: WWE Fatal 4-Way

paragraphs: Fatal 4-Way was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event made by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on June 20, 2010.


title: Okaloosa County, Florida

paragraphs: Okaloosa County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida, and was formed on June 13, 1915. As of 2000, 170,498 people lived there. Okaloosa County's seat is Crestview.


title: Martin County, Florida

paragraphs: Martin County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida, and was formed on June 13, 1915. As of 2000, 170,498 people lived there. Martin County's seat is Stuart. The county is named after John W. Martin. The state park Jonathan Dickinson State Park is in this county.


title: Wuerhosaurus

paragraphs: Wuerhosaurus was a stegosaurid dinosaur (related to Stegosaurus) from the Lower Cretaceous of China.

paragraphs: Many details of the skeleton are lacking. It had bony, rounded plates along its back and probably 4 bony spikes at the tip of its tail. It had a shorter body and wider hip bones than other stegosaurids. It was one of the last genera of stegosaur known to survive, since most others died out by the end of the Jurassic.


title: Franklin County, Florida

paragraphs: Franklin County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida, and was formed on June 13, 1915. As of 2000, 11,057 people lived there. Franklin County's seat is Apalachicola.


title: Hillsborough County, Florida

paragraphs: Hillsborough County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida, and was formed on June 13, 1915. As of 2000, 11,057 people lived there. Hillsborough County's seat is Tampa.


title: Inner Hebrides

paragraphs: The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides.

paragraphs: Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which enjoy a mild oceanic climate because the Gulf Stream runs past them.

paragraphs: There are 36 inhabited islands and a further 43 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than . The main commercial activities are tourism, crofting, fishing, and whisky distilling.

paragraphs: Combined, the islands have an area of approximately , and had a population of 18,257 people in 2001. The population density is therefore a little over 4 persons per km (11 persons per square mile).

paragraphs: There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors.

paragraphs: In the historic period the earliest known settlers were Picts to the north and Gaels in the south. The islands became part of the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, the "Suðreyjar" kingdom of the Norse. The Norsemen ruled for over 400 years until sovereignty was transferred to Scotland by the Treaty of Perth in 1266.

paragraphs: Control of the islands was then held by various clan chiefs, principal of which were the Clan MacLeod and Clan MacDonald. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had a devastating effect on many communities and it is only in recent years that population levels have ceased to decline.

paragraphs: Sea transport is crucial and ferry services operate between the islands and the mainland Britain. The Gaelic language and the Wee Free Church of Scotland remains strong in some areas. The landscapes have inspired a variety of artists, and there is a diversity of wildlife.

paragraphs: Skye, Mull and Islay are the largest islands.


title: Hebrides

paragraphs: The Hebrides are two archipelagos off the west coast of Scotland. They are:


title: Scion xB

paragraphs: The Scion xB was a car made by Toyota for the United States and is sold under the Scion brand. It is a box-shaped, 5-door small car and is sometimes called the box car. There are two types of Scion xB cars on the road today. The first type was made from 2004 until 2006. This type was known for its boxy shape and high fuel economy.

paragraphs: The second type started being made in 2008 and is still being made today. This type looks much rounder and it is more powerful than the first type of car. This type is also not as popular because it is a more generic type of car. There has been a lot of criticism about the second type of Scion xB because of this reason. Also, many original xB owners despise the xB2 even being called an xB. The xB2 has its own name in other markets. Scion used the xB name in an attempt to help sell it in America.


title: Earthquake protector

paragraphs: Earthquake protector is a type of base isolation made to protect building and non-building structures against damage from strong earthquakes.

paragraphs: A building's seismic performance may be improved by reducing vibrations. This may be done with damping mechanisms in vibration control technologies and especially in base isolation.

paragraphs: However, for the very pliant systems such as base isolated structures, with a relatively low bearing stiffness but with a high damping, the so-called "damping force" may turn out the main pushing force at a strong earthquake. This finding created a theoretical ground in earthquake engineering for a damping-disengaged base isolation technology called Earthquake protector.


title: Storegga Slide

paragraphs: The three Storegga Slides are amongst the largest known landslides. They occurred under water, at the edge of Norway's continental shelf, in the Norwegian Sea, which is between Norway and Greenland, just north of Great Britain.

paragraphs: This caused a very large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. The collapse involved an estimated 290 km length of coastal shelf, with a total volume of 3,500 km of debris. This would be the equivalent volume to an area the size of Iceland covered to a depth of 34 m (112 ft).

paragraphs: Based on carbon dating of plant material recovered from sediment deposited by the tsunami, the latest incident occurred around 6100 BC. In Scotland, traces of this tsunami have been recorded, with deposited sediment being discovered in the Montrose Basin (estuary of the South Esk river), and the Firth of Forth, up to 80 km inland and 4 metres above current normal tide levels.

paragraphs: As part of the activities to prepare the Ormen Lange natural gas field, the incident has been thoroughly investigated. One conclusion is that the slide was caused by material built up during the previous ice age, and that a recurrence would only be possible after a new ice age. This conclusion is supported by numerous scientific studies. Facts and arguments supporting this conclusion were made public in 2004.

paragraphs: It was decided that the development of the Ormen Lange gas field would not significantly increase the risk of triggering a new slide. A new slide would trigger a very large tsunami which would be devastating for the coast areas around the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.


title: Brett Skinner

paragraphs: Brett Skinner (born June 28, 1983 in Brandon, Manitoba) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League with Amur Khabarovsk.

paragraphs: Skinner was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks 68th overall in the 3rd round of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. Brett was a member of the Trail Smoke Eaters in the BCHL in 2000–01, the Des Moines Buccaneers in the USHL in 2001–02, and then the University of Denver from 2002–2005. As a Denver Pioneer, he was a member of two NCAA national championship winning teams, was named an All-American in 2004–05. He was named team captain for what would have been his senior year at Denver (2005–06) but signed his first professional contract with the Canucks on August 30, 2005, and made his pro debut with affiliate, the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, in the 2005–06 season. At the trade deadline, Skinner was traded by the Canucks, along with a 2nd round pick to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for Keith Carney and Juha Alen on March 9, 2006. Despite being dealt, Skinner remained on loan with the Moose until the end of the season.

paragraphs: Brett spent the 2006–07 season, playing with the Augusta Lynx, Portland Pirates and the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights. He was traded by the Ducks, along with Nathan Saunders, to the Boston Bruins for Mark Mowers just prior to the 2007–08 season on September 24, 2007. Skinner enjoyed a break out year with the Providence Bruins recording 47 points in 68 games and playing in the AHL All-Star game.

paragraphs: On July 3, 2008, Skinner was signed to a one-year contract by the New York Islanders. Brett was assigned to affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL, to start the 2008–09 season. When a rash of injuries hit the Islanders, Skinner was recalled and made his NHL debut in a 4-2 defeat against the New York Rangers on October 27, 2008. Skinner played 11 games with the Isles before he was returned to the Sound Tigers. On January 13, 2009, Brett was traded by the Islanders to the Atlanta Thrashers for Junior Lessard. He was then assigned to affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, where he remained for the rest of the season.

paragraphs: On July 8, 2009, Skinner signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche. He was assigned to the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, for 2009–10. Skinner scored 28 points in 73 games for the Monsters. During the season on January 22, 2010, Skinner was re-called but did not debut with the Avalanche.

paragraphs: Skinner left North America as a free agent and signed a one-year contract with Russian team, Amur Khabarovsk, of the KHL on August 12, 2010.


title: Alex Smart

paragraphs: Alexander Smart (May 29, 1918 – April 18, 2005) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played one season for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League and spent the majority of his career in the Quebec Senior Hockey League.

paragraphs: Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Smart played junior hockey in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League with the Portage Terriers for two seasons. In 1937–38, joined the senior ranks with the Toronto Marlboros of the Ontario Hockey Association and scored 23 points in 12 games at a goal-per-game pace. The following season, he began a three-year stint in the Montreal City Hockey League (MCHL) with the Verdun Maple Leafs and Montreal Sr. Canadiens.

paragraphs: In 1941–42, Smart moved with the Sr. Canadiens to the Quebec Senior Hockey League (QSHL). Affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, Smart was called up to the NHL in 1943 and, on January 14, became the first player in league history to score a hat trick in his NHL debut (this feat was later matched by Réal Cloutier of the Quebec Nordiques in 1979, Fabian Brunnström of the Dallas Stars in 2008, and Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers in 2010). He completed the season with 5 goals and 2 assists in 8 games – the lone NHL stint of his career.

paragraphs: Smart spent the remainder of his career in the QSHL with the Montreal Royals and Ottawa Senators with the exception of one more season in the MCHL with the Montreal Vickers and the final season of his career in the OVHL with Eastview St. Charles. He recorded a career-high 66 points in 47 games with the Senators in 1947–48, then helped the club to an Allan Cup in 1949 as Canada's senior amateur champions. Smart retired after the 1950–51 season spent with Eastview.

paragraphs: After retiring from the QSHL, Smart became a scout for the Los Angeles Kings and worked with Goodyear Tire for forty years.


title: Brock Trotter

paragraphs: Brock Trotter (born January 16, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Dinamo Riga of the Kontinental Hockey League. He played two games in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens during the 2009-10 NHL season.

paragraphs: On April 15, 2008, he was recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. He was expected to play his first NHL game on April 19, 2008, against the Boston Bruins but was a late scratch. In the 2009–10 season on February 5, 2010 Brock was again recalled from Hamilton Bulldogs to Montreal. He finally made his NHL debut on February 6, 2010 against the Pittsbugh Penguins in a 5-3 victory. Playing with familiar Bulldogs teammates with Ryan White and David Desharnais, Trotter went scoreless in two games before returning to the Bulldogs to lead the team with 36 goals and place second to Desharnais with 77 points.

paragraphs: On July 28, 2010, Trotter left the Canadiens organization and North America to sign a two-year contract as a free agent with Latvian team Dinamo Riga of the KHL.