Throughout this process I learned that science and art can be fascinating subjects. Of course I want my viewers and myself to take away the effects and impacts of hurricanes and the risk global climate change has on effecting natural disasters, but I think I’ve gained even more from this project and class. This project allowed me to learn about something that I had never considered learning about before. I got to conduct and dive into my own research because it was my own interest driving me to learn more; I wasn’t reading and searching for more sources because a class or professor was telling me to do so. I was (and am) learning for the sake of learning. After all, isn’t that what we as students are supposed to be doing at an institution of higher learning? We are supposed to be fostering that curiosity and hunger for knowledge and strive to constantly learn more. We can then apply that knowledge to other areas of interest in order to solve problems and create change. Ultimately, that is my goal for this project, for myself and for my viewers. I want them to come to my site thinking that hurricanes are the most random, irrelevant, and unrelated topic, but leaving my blog glad that they know this seemingly random and unrelated information now. It is because of that reason that I brought up the many different social and political issues in addition to the scientific and artistic information. I also left a bigger question about the responsibility we, as humans have to help our fellow humans. Although we cannot always predict or prevent hurricanes from happening, we can help after the fact and we can better prepare for hurricanes or any natural disaster that might happen later.

My project includes information about their formation, decay, effects on man-made development and ecosystems, the effects of global climate change on the future of hurricanes, and the sociological effects of hurricanes and the rebuilding that follows. There is a lot of information on hurricanes. On my blog I try to present the information in a way that is simplified and comprehensive for any viewer with any level of knowledge about hurricanes. I include pictures, diagrams, key terms, and videos to make the information more tangible and interactive. I also have external resources that viewers can use to learn more about hurricanes on their own. Given the large quantity of information and the different social and political issues associated with hurricanes, I didn’t focus on one in particular but rather touched on a few and left some final questions regarding these issues for viewers to think and learn more about. I touch on the issue of global climate change, the issue of clean up and rebuilding after hurricanes, the issue of where man-made cities are located and how they are built to withstand hurricanes, and the issue regarding the destruction of ecosystems.

However, I think that because there is so much information and only some of it could be touched on is a weakness of my project. I think some of the social and political issues could definitely be expanded on as well. But I think that this only offers opportunity to later researchers or even myself to add to my blog and add to the basic information that is presented. I also think other, more philosophical questions could even be raised regarding hurricanes and all natural phenomenon and our place amongst it all. There is definitely room for more research and I think that turns this negative, or weakness, into a positive.