When Clarke down on earth is trying to communicate with her mother Abby on the Ark, a storm is interfering with the signal. Sinclair shows a weather map to Abby and tells her "there's a hurricane right on top of them". The map he shows her has the coordinates 38°53'26.32"N 91°11'29.76"E, which is in China, and the picture seems to show the Gulf of Mexico area, but neither of these matches where Clarke actually is, which is in Washington state.
The committee of the Ark is not even ready to discuss the 3 flares they saw in the sky, dismissing it summarily as some natural phenomenon. They have killed 320 people a day before, they are on the verge of dying leading to the end of human race, how can they ignore any sign of hope. They should have grabbed any of the remotest possibility that may hint of ways of surviving.