Guides
Guides to a restless planet
Plain-English answers to the questions people ask most: what an earthquake's magnitude means and what to do when the ground shakes, how hurricanes are rated and when their seasons peak, what a volcano's alert level tells you, and how satellites find wildfires.
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All guides
EarthquakesEarthquake Magnitude Explained: What M4, M6 and M8 Really MeanWhat the magnitude number measures, why each step is about 32 times more energy, how magnitude differs from how strongly you felt it, and how often big earthquakes happen.EarthquakesWhat to Do in an Earthquake: Drop, Cover and Hold OnWhat to do during an earthquake indoors, outdoors, in bed or in a car, what to do once the shaking stops, when to move to high ground for a tsunami, and how to prepare.StormsHurricane Categories Explained: The Saffir–Simpson Scale and the Forecast ConeWhat Category 1 to 5 means in km/h and mph, the difference between a hurricane, a typhoon and a cyclone, how to read the forecast cone, and why water is more dangerous than wind.StormsHurricane and Typhoon Season: When It Starts, When It Peaks, and How Storms Get Their NamesThe tropical cyclone seasons for the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the southern hemisphere, when each one peaks, how storms are named and why names are retired.VolcanoesVolcano Alert Levels and the VEI: How Eruption Danger Is MeasuredWhat green, yellow, orange and red mean for a volcano, the difference between the ground alert level and the aviation colour code, how the VEI measures eruption size, and how many volcanoes are erupting right now.WildfiresHow Satellites Spot Wildfires: Reading a Fire Hotspot MapHow NASA satellites detect fires from space, what a hotspot on the map really means, how fresh the data is, what it can miss, and why there are hotspots where there is no wildfire.
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