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Stories of hurricane winds and rain lashing the coasts of Florida, Louisiana and other southeastern states pop up in the news constantly during the summer, but warnings of Pacific storms such as Jimena are few and far between. In fact, only one hurricane is thought to have ever struck California, and that was clear back in 1858. Could it happen again? Not impossible, but also extremely unlikely in any given year. The disparity is a result of the oceanic and atmospheric conditions at play in both basins, which send hurricanes in the Atlantic toward land and hurricanes in the Pacific away from it, generally sparing West Coasters from the rages of these storms. The hurricanes that swirl over both oceans form through the same mechanism, whereby warm ocean waters fuel the rotating storms. (Typhoons are also the same phenomenon; the name is simply the designation used in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans.)
It also sells furry representations of bed bugs, mad cow disease, E.Coli, Ebola and MRSA. The company describes its toys as "great learning tools, as well as amusing gifts for anyone with a sense of humour". Each purchase comes with an information leaflet with details of the relevant infection. The swine flu dolls are even for sale in the gift shop at the Atlanta, headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control, the US government agency charged with monitoring the outbreak. The toy, which is priced at $7.95, is available to British shoppers from the GIANTmicrobes website. New swine flu cases are falling in Britain, but medics are predicting a second wave of the virus as temperatures fall in the Autumn. The number of UK deaths linked to the virus currently stands at 66. Source : Telegraph UK |
