The Floods of 2011

[GLCQuantum]

We were called in for a meeting at the school today by the director to be warned of the impeding danger we will be facing over the next few days. I can't see it being a huge problem in this area (Samut Sakhon) but who knows.

She said that we should be expecting between 50cm to a metre of water. The school has been allocated a safe house by the authorities, so if things did get bad it will act as a 'refugee' camp as such with fully stocked water and food supplies. We've been told that after tomorrow we shouldn't leave the school until things get better as it will be too dangerous!

Can't see it myself..... hope I'm right.

[Winkie]

Every 1 degree Celsius that the world gets warmer brings at least 7% more precipitation due to increased evaporation but the the increase can be larger, as much as 15% in tropical regions. It's based on a thermodynamic equation called the Clausius-Clapeyron relation and it's been understood since about the 1830's.
Physics determines the state of the physical world!

It's an interesting statement that you make. I only occasionally jump into these types of discussions, but your total confidence in your statement prompted me to think a little.

Thinking.... that was an action performed in the physical world.

Could you please express my 'thought' as a mathematical equation, and then, consequently, calculate what I was thinking about?

Obviously most of 'Physics' is based on current beliefs only, one good recent example can be seen here:-

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... n-science/

If true, this seems to blow huge holes in "physics' as a rigid and inflexible concept.

Surely the basis of ALL scientific research is 'thinking outside the box' not confining yourself to its contents

[STEVE G]

Surely the basis of ALL scientific research is 'thinking outside the box' not confining yourself to its contents

I quite agree and there is far more to discover in Physics than is understood.
The thing is though, when something as simple as evaporation has been confirmed by experiment time and time again over more than a century, the chance of that then changing has to be miniscule.
I work in aviation and it would be like an aircraft getting to the end of the runway and finding out that Bernoulli's principle doesn't work every time!

Scientists Tie Extreme Rain to Global Warming
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/ ... 2304.shtml

[Napalmberg]

Arriving bkk friday 28. Oct. Any problems getting to Hua hin by car?

[Winkie]

I work in aviation and it would be like an aircraft getting to the end of the runway and finding out that Bernoulli's principle doesn't work every time!

Hi Steve

But it seems that Bernoulli's Principle (which is only a theory), is a misconception, or at least too simple on its own to explain why planes fly. If Bernoulli's principle were correct then planes flying upside down would surely hit the floor quite rapidly.

Here are some interesting articles about Bernoulli and its incorrect application to Flight and Lift:-

http://home.comcast.net/~clipper-108/lift.pdf
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/wrong1.html
http://amasci.com/wing/airfoil.html
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/bernnew.html

You'll notice that I've not tempted to use any articles by Alex Jones, the references are from respected sources, such as NASA.

I'm not a specialist on any of this at all, just found your answer interesting and had a quick look.

What it does demonstrate is, after 100 yrs of flight, we still don't truly understand what 'Physics' really is, and, for this reason, why is it not possible, that a 'karma' principle, or 'effect' or 'equation' is discovered tomorrow, and rapidly becomes 'mainstream physics'

Bernoulli Principle is nothing to do with the lifting of an object, its primarily focused on fluid dynamics, and, in 1750, the thought of making a flying machine would have been considered by many to be complete quackery. Today's quackery is tomorrow's physics, and tomorrow's physics is later disproved, as humans are not all-knowing, and surely will never have total knowledge. Physics, and other sciences are just as much about tradition, beliefs, mis-conceptions, fashions, even politics, and simply the limits of human understanding.

Think I am straying off topic a little!!

Back on topic

I'm in Bangkok (Sukhumvit Area), still no sign of flooding here. But its more than 2 weeks since water was on the shelves of any supermarket, and many other essentials are becoming more difficult to find. No sign of water from my office window, but for sure its getting closer.

[Winkie]

Heavy Rain Storm in Bangkok now......

[STEVE G]

.....why is it not possible, that a 'karma' principle, or 'effect' or 'equation' is discovered tomorrow, and rapidly becomes 'mainstream physics'

If all this rain is caused by 'karma', I notice that our rice farm in Issan is having the best crop in years whilst Bangkok is flooded!

Back to topic, I see that Don Muang is now closed.

[dtaai-maai]

Arriving bkk friday 28. Oct. Any problems getting to Hua hin by car?

As things stand at the moment, the answer is no, and my guess is it will still be no for the foreseeable future. (i.e. no problem)

[Spitfire]

Something that seems to have been glaringly obvious and rather pathetic in all of this is the difficulty that certain government agencies have had working/co-operating with each other (FROC/BMA/City Hall authorities etc). It's almost been like they have been in competition with each other over solutions or protecting what they are responsible for and interpreting things as they see fit without one ounce of intention of doing what's needed.

Seems like a bloody bunch of children bickering over what to do and who's in charge or who they have to listen to, and all have their vested interests to protect first over the people that are the victims of the floods.

[Mandm]

Hope all ok there. Arriving bkk on 28 th also.

[Spitfire]

Maybe we should have a thread that folks can announce their impending presence in HH on?

[STEVE G]

Thai Air may reduce intl flights as floods hit staff

Oct 25 (Reuters) - National carrier Thai Airways International Pcl said on Tuesday it may reduce international flights from Bangkok's main Suvarnabhumi airport due to a shortage of staff because flooding has made living and travel conditions difficult in the capital.

"We are considering whether we should reduce flights. If the situation is prolonged, we are facing a shortage of staff -- many have houses in Don Muang district," Thai Airways President Piyasvasti Amranand told Reuters, referring to the area around Bangkok's old airport, parts of which are flooded.

He also said the number of foreign tourists might be reduced because of the problems.

[PeteC]

Something that seems to have been glaringly obvious and rather pathetic in all of this is the difficulty that certain government agencies have had working/co-operating with each other (FROC/BMA/City Hall authorities etc). It's almost been like they have been in competition with each other over solutions or protecting what they are responsible for and interpreting things as they see fit without one ounce of intention of doing what's needed.

Seems like a bloody bunch of children bickering over what to do and who's in charge or who they have to listen to, and all have their vested interests to protect first over the people that are the victims of the floods.

Take a read of this: http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... er-shunned

The military wanted them in, the government didn't per my information. A waste of a huge trained resource and supplies. Of course it wouldn't bode well if they got done in a few days what the government hasn't been able to achieve over a few weeks. Too much loss of face...and of course once again the people in the water continue to suffer. Pete

[Whaler]

as for shortages, or water etc, imo, they are being a bit over hyped and certainly exaggerated, some big chains like Tesco are evidently suffering supply chain problems, but in absolute terms, taking account of local shops etc, I would be surprised if you really noticed.

We had trouble getting water today most of the little shops up Soi 88 were out and the one that had about 10 cases of small bottles was snapped up by one lady as we walked in the shop. We took the last 4 out of the fridge and even large bottles of coke were in short supply.

[PeteC]