Nomenclature

[David]

Okay, I saw that dumb disaster movie the other night, & I've got news for all of you. That is NOT a tsunami (tidal wave) that hits New York. Everybody in the press & elsewhere is calling it a tidal wave, but it's not. For the past few weeks, I've been puzzled over just how they were going to work in a tidal wave (a seismological event) in a movie about global warming/cooling, tornadoes & hurricanes (meteorological events).

Sure enough, they didn't. It's a storm surge that swamps Manhattan, caused by the intense low pressure at the center of the cyclonic storm that hits North America -- similar to the storm surges that are generated by hurricanes as they move ashore. The powerful low pressure at the center of the storm literally lifts the water column & carries it ashore, flooding low-lying areas.

So watch your nomenclature!