Annular Hurricane

A relatively new term used by the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), an annular (or annular-type) hurricane is a mature-stage tropical cyclone that possesses meteorological characteristics that make them unique as compared to other tropical systems of similar size, intensity, or location. First identified in 2002, the annular hurricane generally contains a large eye of between 25 miles and 45 miles (40 km–72 km) in diameter, with a symmetrical eyewall configuration, and convective activity that is evenly spread throughout the eyewall structure.

An annular hurricane tends to survive and even intensify in environments that are not often considered favorable for tropical cyclone development, such as those with mild wind shear and below-average seasurface temperatures (SSTs). Meteorologists believe that an annular hurricane is not as susceptible to eyewall rejuvenation cycles, and for this reason is able to maintain a certain level of intensity for much longer periods than statistical and other analogs would predict.

In seeking to better define and understand annular hurricanes, meteorologists and climatologists have studied past tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific Oceans, including 1996’s Hurricane Edouard and 2003’s Hurricane Isabel in the North Atlantic; and Hurricane Daniel in the eastern North Pacific Ocean in July 2006. At the time that Daniel exhibited annular characteristics on July 20, the system was of Category 4 intensity, with a central barometric pressure reading (estimated) of 27.99 inches (948 mb) and sustained winds of 125 MPH (205 km/h). Not all annular hurricanes are this powerful, however. In the example of Hurricane Epsilon in 2005, longevity rather than intensity, characterized the annular nature of this North Atlantic tropical system. It is possible that further research into the annular hurricane will indicate that Cyclone Caterina, which surprisingly appeared in the South Atlantic Ocean in March 2004 and made landfall in Brazil, was of the annular type.

Typhoon Angela

Philippines–Vietnam, October 25–November 6, 1995 

At the time said by the Philippine Weather Bureau to have been the most severe supertyphoon to have passed over Luzon Island since 1987, Angela delivered sustained 141-MPH (227-km/h) winds, 10-inch (254-mm) precipitation counts, and an 11-foot (4–m) storm surge to the central and northern provinces of the Philippines—and to the northeastern coast of Vietnam—between November 2 and 6, 1995. With a central barometric pressure of 27.25 inches (922 mb) at landfall in the Philippines, Angela demolished more than 15,000 buildings, left some 300,000 people homeless and claimed an estimated 740 lives in 25 of Manila’s surrounding provinces. Before breaking apart over central Vietnam on the evening of November 6, Angela’s 106-MPH, (171-km/h) winds and six-inch (152.4- mm) downpours caused an additional 20 deaths in that nation, making it one of the deadliest tropical

cyclones to have menaced southeastern Asia in recent memory.

The 27th tropical cyclone of a rigorously active typhoon season (one which had seen the Philippines affected by no fewer than 13 typhoons and tropical storms since April), Angela originated over the subequatorial waters of the western North Pacific Ocean approximately 350 miles (563 km) southeast of Guam on the afternoon of October 25, 1995. Steadily sapping the ocean’s surface of its heat and evaporative moisture, the budding tropical depression fitfully churned west-northwest at 15 MPH (24 km/h) before developing into a powerful tropical storm on the morning of October 28 and into a minimal Category 1 typhoon with a central pressure of 29.02 inches (984 mb) by the late-afternoon hours of October 30. Maximum sustained winds within Angela’s eyewall now measured 80 MPH (129 km/h). After following a northwesterly trajectory until nightfall on October 31, Angela abruptly swung southward and then a few hours later to the west, its rain bands further deepening as it spiraled toward the low-lying cities and towns of the Bicol region on the southeast leg of Luzon Island.

Well acquainted with the archipelago’s extensive history of tropical cyclone activity, Filipino authorities spent the morning of November 1 moving the residents of vulnerable shoreline communities to inland storm shelters in preparation for Angela’s predicted arrival at noon the following day. As the typhoon inexorably strengthened, its central pressure continuing to drop and its sustained wind speeds exceeding 110 MPH (177 km/h), 135,000 people in the provinces of Catanduanes and Camarines were loaded onto buses and into cars and driven to government shelters further inland.

Whirring around a central pressure of 27.25 inches (922 mb) at landfall near the port town of Bicol shortly after noon on November 2, 1995, Angela’s sustained, 130-MPH (209-km/h) winds, 168-MPH (270-km/h) gusts, and flooding rains devastated much of central Luzon Island. In Manila, Angela’s 125-MPH (201-km/h) winds caused skyscrapers to sway and toppled a large billboard onto a nearby garage, crushing eight buses and two cars. On Catanduanes Island, where Angela’s fury was felt the hardest, the governor stated to reporters that, “The winds are so powerful that people in tall buildings

here feel they are being hit by an earthquake.” In the town of Mabolo, 180 miles (290 km) southeast of Manila, Angela’s 9-inch (229-mm) precipitation counts turned streets into waist-deep mires that kept several thousand people from their houses for nearly a week. In neighboring Sariayain, a four-lane highway was swept away by a landslide, and more than 5,000 buildings in surrounding villages collapsed.

City-States

CITY-STATE IS AN independent political entity composed of a large and important town and surrounding countryside. In ancient times, city-states, such as the Greek city-states and Rome, sometimes became great economic and military powers that secured far-flung empires, thereby imposing their will and culture on other civilizations. In late medieval and Renaissance ITALY, powerful trading city-states flourished such as Florence, Milan, and Venice. City-states also city-states existed in northern GERMANY at Bremen and Hamburg. Some contend that city-states exist today and new forms are emerging that exhibit economic power and independence if not the political sovereignty of earlier classical examples.

The first city-states were in Sumer in the fertile lower Tigris-Euphrates Valley of Mesopota-mia. The open area was vulnerable to invasion, but the Sumerians found strength in their urban units. Important cities were Akkad, Eridu, Kish, Lagash, Larsa, Umma, Ur, and Uruk. Rulers of the most important Sumerian cities were periodically able to assert their control over the region.

The city-state reached its zenith in ancient GREECE. Although sometimes able to form federations to face a common foe like Troy and Persia, the Greek city-state, or polis, remained the form of social structure. The most significant were Athens and Sparta. Of lesser importance were Argos, Corinth, and Thebes. Within these cities, different forms of government were tried, such as monarchy (hereditary kingship), tyranny (dictatorship), timocracy (rule by the wealthy), oligarchy (rule by a few), and democracy (rule by the people [free male citizens]).

One of their greatest achievements was democracy, which until the late 18th century was believed feasible only in city-states where people could easily meet and reach community decisions. Though disunited and small in territory and population, the Greek citiesstates contained fiercely patriotic and creative citizens. Their cities became the cradle of Western civilization with monumental achievements in art, literature, drama, history, architecture, science, and philosophy.

The Greeks spread their rich culture by founding new and significant city-states throughout the Mediterranean region. Greek colonies appeared at locations as diverse as on the shores of the BLACK SEA, present-day FRANCE, Africa, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Italy. It was from a small city-state in Italy that the world’s greatest empire arose. Legend says that the city of Rome was founded by it first king, Romulus, on the Palatine Hill on the Tiber River. The Roman Republic was born when the rule of Etruscan kings were overthrown in 509 B.C.E. Despite a vulnerable geographic position, the empire won by its energetic and ambitious citizens would be of unrepresented durability, might, and size as it stretched from Scotland to Persia.

Eventually the republic, governed by a senate, would be replaced by the rule of emperors following the rise to power or Caesar Augustus, and the city of Rome would become a crowded metropolis of towering marble structures such as the Colosseum. Wherever the Roman legions marched, they brought not only Roman rule, but law, order, economic unity, trade, and massive public works. Rome was also unique in the liberal granting of Roman citizenship to conquered peoples across the empire, but it also brought oppression and slavery. Rome’s greatest contributions to Western civilization were law, public administration, urban planning, military strategy, literature, and architecture.

The Western Roman Empire eventually succumbed to a slow decline, the causes of which are still debated. The Goths would depose the last emperor in 476 C.E. The disorder of the Holy Roman Empire led to the formation of independent towns and principalities in northern Italy. The three most important city-states were Florence, Milan, and Venice. Lesser city-states included Ferrara, Genoa, Lucca, Mantua, Padua, Pisa, Siena, and Urbino. The Italian city-states, the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and the Papal States constantly engaged in wars and intrigues, thereby producing ever-shifting borders and alliances

Eventually, some city-states commanded enough territory and wealth to become major European powers and centers of culture and learning as their plotting princes and ruling families helped fuel the Renaissance by patronizing the arts. Most of these city-states began with an adherence to republican ideals but degenerated into ruthless oligarchies and despotism, but often with a façade of republican institutions.

After defeating its rival, Genoa, Venice emerged the most republican and successful Italian city-state in amassing riches through trade and in avoiding the endless conflict suffered by the others. Yet the cities’ sovereignty was lost in the 19th century through infighting and the inability to unite against outside aggression. The Black Death also took a horrendous toll on their dense populations.

Today, SINGAPORE (“the lion city”) and HONG KONG are often viewed as modern city-states exerting enormous economic power and political independence, although the extent and future of Hong Kong’s quasi-independence from CHINA is in question. Less convincingly, some contend that other large cities may develop into city-states because of their economic influence, such as LONDON, LOS ANGLES, NEW YORK, Rotterdam, and TOKYO. Yet these and other large urban centers, with international trade and ties, are firmly a part of their nation-states, with neither a prospect nor a desire of gaining the political independence or sovereignty sufficient to qualify as true city-states as traditionally defined. Nevertheless, many large cities are gaining greater independence in managing local affairs and international economic activities.

More futuristically, some assert that “Dubai Internet City” in India is destined by design to become a completely new type of city-state for the 21st century as it strives to reach its goal of becoming an independent and principal ground base for the cyber-world economy, thus substituting communication and corresponding economic centralization for geography as defining characteristics of the city-state. Also predicting the future, some economists argue that the forces of globalization or regional economic and political unification will eventually make cities more important than nations. Some envision this happening to cities in the center of Europe, such as Lyons, Stuttgart, Milan, and Barcelona, if the EUROPEAN UNION strengthens and blurs national distinctions. Therefore, the definition of a city-state may ultimately change to reflect traditional economic independence, but with new forms of political autonomy and perhaps transcending traditional geographic boundaries.

Christmas Island

HRISTMAS ISLAND IS AN isolated island in the INDIAN OCEAN, located about 220 mi (360 km) southwest of JAVA, INDONESIA, and 1,400 mi (2,300 km) northwest of AUSTRALIA, to which it belongs as a dependency. Maintained chiefly as a phosphate-mining colony since the 19th century, it is now being developed as a tropical island holiday spot and as a potential launching site for the Asia-Pacific Space Center.

The island is the summit of a submarine mountain. About 60 million years ago a volcanic cone emerged, became covered in coral and limestone, and sank back into the sea, only to reemerge from tectonic uplifts about 10 million years ago. Coral reefs surround the crown of this peak. It is evident that this is the top of a mountain because there is virtually no continental shelf: the surrounding waters plummet to 1,650 ft (500 m) within 660 ft (200 m) of the shore. Sea cliffs up to 60 ft (20 m) rise straight from the sea toward a central plateau. There are a few shallow bays, the largest being the island’s only port, Flying Fish Cove, on the northeast corner. Most of the island is covered by tropical

rainforest, which, since 1998, has been preserved as a national park. This park attracts visitors to its unique flora and fauna, notably the island’s most famous residents, the red crab: 100 million of them crowd the forest floors. The surrounding waters are known for their varied tropical fish, spinner dolphins, and the occasional whale shark.

The island was noted in the logs of various British and Dutch explorers in the 17th century and given its name by one of these on Christmas Day, 1643. The uninhabited island was annexed by Great Britain in 1888, and some settlers arrived from the COCOS ISLANDS (560 mi or 900 km to the southwest) to collect timber and supplies. Phosphate mining began in the 1890s, with imported labor from Southeast Asia. Today’s Chinese and Malay populations are descendants of these workers and are the bulk of the island’s population. The island was administered as part of the Singapore Colony until 1957, when Australia bought it for £2.9 million.

The mines closed in the 1980s, so Australia granted citizenship in 1984, giving its residents social services and emigration possibilities. The mine was bought by locals in 1991 and reopened on a smaller scale, but government-sponsored tourism is now the largest industry, including a casino.

Choke Point

CHOKE POINT IS ANY narrow passage that restricts traffic. It literally connotes a location where the flow could be choked off. As a military term, it refers to areas in lines of sea, ground, air or space communications (physical travel) that restrict freedom of movement by slowing and confining. This allows an adversary to focus observation, targeting, and engagement assets on a likely area of contact, which can occur at several scales both conceptually and physically at the choke point.

At the tactical level of operations, the spectrum of choke points may array from a doorway of a building, to a bridge across an impassable river, to a mountain pass of some width. As the level of operations expands, then major ports and river valleys add to the array. Globally, major straits, isthmuses, and coastal corridors may “choke” movement of men and materiel at that larger scale of operation.

Maritime strategists have used the concept of controlling choke points as a resource-efficient way to negate the near total maneuverability availed by the open ocean. Transit from world waterway to world waterway is often confined by constricted terrain, be it submerged or above sea level. The BAB EL MANDEB, Straits of Hormuz, Malacca Straits, Cape of Good Hope, Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom (GIUK) Gap, the Straits of GIBRALTAR, and the English Channel are a short list of the many challenges to any battleship captain. Sir John Fisher, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy may have coined the phrase “choke point.” He proposed that the control of these key locations was central to the domination of the seas and consequently to the welfare of the UNITED KINGDOM.

Commercial concerns arise where natural hazards or accidents could disrupt the flow of goods, particularly oil. Oil transport by tanker is the most flexible means of transport on a global scale. Restricted to a near fixed set of maritime routes because of economic efficiencies, the tankers are vulnerable to a number of choke points. An accident in one of these restrictive passages could cause immediate disruption of commerce and significant financial loss. Be they natural (Strait of Hormuz) or man-made (Suez Canal), they pose a significant risk. However the economic effects must not be overstated in every case. The closure of the Suez Canal from late 1960 until 1975 caused the marketplace to adapt, and the advent of the supertankers brought new economic efficiency along with ecological perils.

Military and commercial operations are now dependent upon space-based assets such as navigational, meteorological, and communications satellites. The concept of choke points is equally applicable to space. Launch restrictions based on Earth rotation, orbit targets, and cargo requirements place spacecraft into a very restricted launch “tunnel” that extends from the fixed site launch facility to its orbital target. Spacebased or terrestrial-based military assets could focus on this tunnel for observation and interdiction. Certain points in translunar space, known as lunar libration points, provide physical advantages of a military nature. Basically objects at these locations enjoy a balance of lunar and earth gravitational pulls and can hold position effectively with low fuel consumption.

These positions can contest access to and from the moon while dominating earth and moon by observation. They may constitute operational chokepoints. The term choke point has gained wider usage to include any constraining aspect of an operation or process, be it military, business, or academic. It is now being applied to cyberspace when addressing network security and vulnerability.

Chile

CHILE IS A LONG and narrow country in South America, about 3,999 mi (6,435 km) long and an average of 112 mi (180 km) wide. From west to east, the country is divided in three distinctive geographical spaces: the Pacific coast, the intermediate depression (depresión intermedia), and the ANDES.

A mountain range known as the Cordillera de la Costa (Mountains on the Coast) separates the coast from the intermediate depression. The ocean has abundant natural resources, the southern intermediate depression has rich soils, and the Andes has provided essential hydraulic (rivers that flow from east to west) and mining resources, and has had a crucial effect on the climate. In addition to its South American territory, Chile has rights to parts of the Antarctic continent and island territories off its coast in the PACIFIC OCEAN (most notably EASTER ISLAND). 

From the far north to the extreme south, Chile has a large variety of climates, environments, natural resources, and vegetation. The Great North (Norte Grande), what today includes the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta, was incorporated to the country following the War of the Pacific (1879–83) against BOLIVIA and PERU. This region includes the Atacama Desert, one of the driest deserts in the world, and with the exception of a few oases, the environment is extremely harsh, water resources are limited, and vegetation is scarce. The principal cities are located along the coast, where there is also an important and growing fishing industry. The interior and the northern Andes are rich in mineral resources. Nitrate was exploited between 1880 and 1930s. In the 1930s, large-scale copper replaced nitrate as the most important Chilean export. Today, the mine of Chuquicamata continues to be the largest open-pit mine in the world.

South of the Great North lies the regions of Atacama and La Serena. The environment is less extreme, and the presence of rivers and valleys facilitates the development of small-scale agriculture. These regions have also been important for small-scale mining. To the east, the skies are particularly clear, attracting astronomers and space scientists from all around the world.

Despite the efforts of decentralization, the center of Chilean political, social, and industrial life continues to be the Central Valley. About 70 percent of the population lives in the Central Valley (which includes the regions of Valparaiso, O’Higgins, and Maule and the Metropolitan or capital region). As with many other Latin American capitals, Santiago suffers acute problems of atmospheric pollution and congestion. The central valley has a Mediterranean CLIMATE and rich soils, favoring the development of agriculture. Today, fruit and wine have become important commodities. Abundant rainfall and vegetation characterize the southern provinces. Fishing, agriculture, and livestock have been among the most important economic activities.

The city of Concepción, the third-largest city in the country, has substantial industrial activity, making a pole of development and growth in the south. South of Concepción and the the Bío Bío River lies La Frontera, which until the 1870s under the control of the Mapuches, native Latin Americans who had successfully resisted Spanish colonization. Today, the Mapuches are still struggling to recover their land and be recognized as a distinctive ethnic group in the country.

Further south lies the lake region. Settled by German immigrants in the mid-19th century, its amazing beauty, lakes, and volcanoes have made it a favorite tourist destination. While a third of the national territory lies south of the city of Puerto Montt and the Seno de Reloncaví, it has only about 3 percent of the country’s population. Poor transportation has made communication difficult. Only in 1988, the country inaugurated the Southern Highway, a 683-mi (1,100-km) road that joined Puerto Montt and Puerto Yungay. Historically, the city of Punta Arenas has been an important port strategically located in the Strait of Magellan. Today, the region of Magellan is also important because of the petroleum industry.

Chechnya

CHECHNYA IS A constituent republic of the Russian Federation, situated on the northern slopes of the CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS. Since the early 1990s it has been partially controlled by rebel groups who have attempted to proclaim a separate Chechen republic. The conflict between the Russian government and Chechen separatists has now lasted over a decade and has claimed an estimated 150,000 lives. Although the surface issue of the conflict is nationalist and religious identity, a more serious issue lies beneath and ensures that the conflict will continue: the presence of oil and the location of Chechnya in the middle of one of the region’s major pipelines.

The Chechen Republic occupies the middle portion of the Terek River Valley, which rises in the Caucasus Mountains and flows east into the CASPIAN SEA. The southern portion of the country rises sharply to the Front Range of the Caucasus, culminating at the area’s tallest peak, Tebulosmta (14,734 ft or 4,492 m), while the northern part of the country descends to the dry lowlands of the Nogay Steppe. Chechnya’s capital and main city is Grozny, located on the Sunzha River, in a narrow valley between two ridges that run parallel to the Caucasus. Much of the city is in ruins. Many of Chechnya’s oil fields are located right in Grozny, or close by. The city also has a number of mineral springs.

The other major river in Chechnya is the Argun, which flows down from the Caucasus heights and joins the Terek near the city of Gudermes, another major oilfield. Major pipelines run across the northern part of the country, following the Terek Valley. The Chechens were formerly linked with their neighbors to the west in the Chechen-Ingush A.S.S.R. Today, a separate Ingush republic borders Chechnya to the west, along with the autonomous republic of North Ossetia, the Russian kray (district) of Stavropol to the north, and the autonomous republic of Dagestan to the east. To the south, Chechnya shares a remote border with GEORGIA, high in the Caucasus Mountains. The republic covers about 6,747 square mi (17,300 square km) and contains roughly 1 million people, the largest ethnic group in the North Caucasus. They call themselves Nokhchi and share linguistic traits with other Caucasian peoples.

Most Chechens are Muslims, and much of their history is affected by their relationship with other Islamic peoples in the region. Traditional Chechen society was clan-based, similar to highland peoples in other parts of the world, but a common identity was forged through some of the longest colonial struggles in world history, defying incorporation into the Russian Empire for nearly a century. Fierce resistance continued after formal annexation in 1859, inspiring romantic visions of heroic mountain rebels in Russian literature and art.

The Soviets, too, had their struggles with the Chechens, culminating in the forced deportation of nearly the entire nation to Central Asia and Siberia after World War II. The Chechens were allowed to return home under the Khrushchev administration, which also attempted to bring technological and industrial advances to the region for the first time. The Chechen capital of Grozny soon became one of the centers of the Soviet oil industry. By the 1990s, it is estimated that Chechnya produced 4.2 million barrels of oil a year, and refined another 18 million, contributing up to 6 percent of the gross domestic product for the entire Soviet Union.