As a basic piece of protective gear, helmets save bikers, climbers, and all manner of athletes from fatal injury every day. Prepare to add storm goers to that list.

While the thought of grabbing a helmet during severe weather may seem outlandish to some, one 8-year old Oklahoman storm survivor owes his life to the hard-shelled hat.

Emergency officials have yet to endorse helmet use, but given that the majority of tornado-related deaths result from head and neck injuries, a helmet seems a logical protective measure. (Not to mention it's more durable than using one's bare arms--the current accepted method.) In any case, it certainly can't do any harm. Adding a helmet to safety preparations might even help residents feel a bit more secure when those tornado sirens do sound up.

What do you say: ill-advised or ingenious?

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This past week, NOAA and FEMA urged the nation's public to educate their families and neighbors on severe weather risks, as well as to take immediate action when severe weather hits. The requests were main themes of the very first National Severe Weather Preparedness Week.

It's no coincidence that the SWPW's dates just happen to align with last year's April 25-28 super tornado outbreak--one of the largest in U.S. history--during which a confirmed 358 tornadoes wreaked havoc across 21 states over a mere 3 days. Like the tornado warning updates put into practice earlier this month, Severe Weather Preparedness Week is the latest attempt at remedying the public's often blasé attitude on severe weather threats. If successful, such campaigns could protect against the future loss of 325 lives and $11 billion in damages, the likes of which were seen last April.

Are you sometimes guilty of taking storm warnings 'with a grain of salt'? If so, make a pledge to yourself and your loved ones to start being more weather aware.

While Earth Day may have roots dating back to the late 1960s, there's never been a time when its cause--raising political awareness of environmental concerns around the globe--has held more significance.

What acts of green will you participate in? Visit earthday.org for scheduled events, and be sure to share your plans in the comments section!

For residents across the Central U.S., it was indeed an unlucky Friday the 13th. Nearly 200 preliminary tornado reports were logged for the Central and Great Lakes regions of the U.S. for April 13-16, 2012. Woodward, OK was one of the hardest hit areas; a deadly EF-3 storm roared through the town near midnight on April 15, claiming 6 lives. Casualties could have been much higher if not for the Storm Prediction Center (SPC). Thanks to their efforts, severe weather forecasts came nearly 2 days prior--the second time in U.S. history that the center has successfully issued high risk warnings more than 24 hours in advance.

Update: As of April 20, 71 tornadoes have been confirmed. This count includes: 33 EF-0, 19 EF-1, 3 EF-2, 5 EF-3, and an EF-4 storm near Marquette, KS; the 10 additional storms have not yet been assigned an intensity rating.