Having grown up on the Gulf Coast of Florida, I can say without hesitation that a hurricane is the most magnificent and absolutely the most terrifying of all events in nature. Recently NOAA announced that their Atlantic forecast is for an “extremely active” 2020 hurricane season, with 19-25 named storms and 3-6 major hurricanes. So, Eric Jay Dolin’s new book, A Furious Sky, the Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes is indeed most timely.
Dolin’s history of American hurricanes begins with Columbus’ fourth and last voyage to the Americas. Like other Europeans, Columbus arrived in the “New World” without even knowing the word hurricane.
On his previous voyages, Columbus had encountered severe storms and had heard of far worse meteorological monsters from the indigenous Taino natives. They called the giant storms juracan. The Taino also taught Columbus how to read the signs of an impending juracan.
A recent news item brought to 
The events leading up to the catastrophic explosion in Beirut, Lebanon that killed more than 135 and injured 5,000, began in November 2013, when the cargo ship 
Alexander Hamilton suggested in The Federalist Papers that “a few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws.”
On March 19, 2020, the Princess Cruise Line ship Ruby Princess arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and disembarked 2,700 passengers. These passengers included those who had been isolated in their cabins with fever. Roughly 2,000 of the passengers had been swabbed for coronavirus but were allowed to leave before the test results were available.
Ecuador has raised an alarm after a naval patrol sighted a fleet of around 260 Chinese fishing vessels just outside the Galápagos protection zone. Naval patrols had been stepped up to monitor the Chinese ships. Chinese fishing vessels come regularly to the Pacific around the Galápagos, but this year’s fleet is one of the largest in recent years.
Julie Dimperio Holowach, 63, from New York City died Monday after being bitten by a great white shark while she was swimming approximately 20 yards off the western shore of Bailey Island, near the city of Portland, according to Maine Department of Marine Resources Patrick Keliher in a 
As Hong Kong braces for its 
The 
Canadian Bert terHart recently completed a 267-day solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the world via the five capes on his 43′ sailboat using only traditional celestial navigation. He is the first North American to circle the globe solo and non-stop using only a sextant, a chronometer, an almanac, pen, paper, and charts with which to navigate.