Earthquakes
EMSC Tonga Region
Apr 25 23:43 PM
5.0 33.0 MAP
USGS Tonga Region
Apr 25 23:43 PM
4.7 92.0 MAP
GEOFON Tonga Islands Region
Apr 25 23:43 PM
5.4 10.0 MAP
USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 25 23:19 PM
2.7 42.8 MAP
GEOFON Southern Xinjiang, China
Apr 25 22:50 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP
USGS Southern Xinjiang, China
Apr 25 22:49 PM
4.5 13.8 MAP
EMSC Southern Xinjiang, China
Apr 25 22:49 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP
EMSC Central Italy
Apr 25 22:42 PM
2.6 9.0 MAP
EMSC Southern Italy
Apr 25 22:38 PM
2.8 9.0 MAP
EMSC Poland
Apr 25 22:18 PM
2.9 2.0 MAP
USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 25 22:11 PM
4.6 44.1 MAP
EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 25 22:11 PM
4.5 60.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 22:06 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP
USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 25 21:04 PM
4.4 10.0 MAP
EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 25 21:04 PM
4.4 10.0 MAP
GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 25 21:04 PM
4.3 10.0 MAP
EMSC France
Apr 25 21:02 PM
2.7 2.0 MAP
EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 25 20:45 PM
4.7 100.0 MAP
GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 25 20:45 PM
4.6 88.0 MAP
EMSC Ionian Sea
Apr 25 20:29 PM
2.9 10.0 MAP
GEOFON New Britain Region, P.n.g.
Apr 25 20:17 PM
4.7 262.0 MAP
EMSC New Britain Region, P.n.g.
Apr 25 20:17 PM
4.8 256.0 MAP
USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 25 18:17 PM
2.5 46.1 MAP
EMSC Cyprus Region
Apr 25 18:16 PM
3.4 20.0 MAP
EMSC Cyprus Region
Apr 25 17:52 PM
3.6 2.0 MAP
GEOFON Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Apr 25 17:40 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP
EMSC Greece
Apr 25 17:33 PM
2.5 24.0 MAP
USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 25 16:54 PM
2.8 1.8 MAP
EMSC Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 16:31 PM
5.1 2.0 MAP
GEOFON Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 16:31 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP
USGS Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 16:30 PM
5.1 22.7 MAP
USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 25 16:19 PM
2.8 141.3 MAP
GEOFON Southern Peru
Apr 25 16:19 PM
4.8 93.0 MAP
USGS Southern Peru
Apr 25 16:19 PM
4.6 109.6 MAP
EMSC Southern Peru
Apr 25 16:19 PM
4.6 110.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 16:18 PM
3.2 7.0 MAP
EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 25 16:17 PM
4.1 10.0 MAP
USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 25 16:17 PM
4.1 10.0 MAP
GEOFON Galapagos Islands Region
Apr 25 16:00 PM
4.4 10.0 MAP
EMSC Galapagos Islands Region
Apr 25 16:00 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP
USGS Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Region
Apr 25 16:00 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP
GEOFON Galapagos Islands Region
Apr 25 15:44 PM
5.3 10.0 MAP
EMSC Galapagos Islands Region
Apr 25 15:44 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP
USGS Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Region
Apr 25 15:44 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP
EMSC Greece
Apr 25 15:16 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP
EMSC Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 25 14:37 PM
3.6 9.0 MAP
EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 25 14:21 PM
2.4 16.0 MAP
EMSC Bosnia And Herzegovina
Apr 25 14:13 PM
2.9 2.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 14:07 PM
3.0 7.0 MAP
EMSC Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 25 13:39 PM
3.9 10.0 MAP
EMSC Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 25 13:27 PM
5.2 10.0 MAP
GEOFON Southern Mid Atlantic Ridge
Apr 25 13:27 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP
USGS Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 25 13:27 PM
5.2 10.0 MAP
EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 25 13:01 PM
3.1 400.0 MAP
EMSC Greece
Apr 25 12:58 PM
2.8 9.0 MAP
EMSC Azores-cape St. Vincent Ridge
Apr 25 12:42 PM
2.4 27.0 MAP
USGS Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Apr 25 12:31 PM
2.5 0.2 MAP
EMSC Greece
Apr 25 12:07 PM
2.7 10.0 MAP
GEONET Whanganui
Apr 25 11:54 AM
2.9 33.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 11:49 AM
2.4 5.0 MAP
USGS Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 11:30 AM
4.5 9.7 MAP
EMSC Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 11:30 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP
EMSC Greece
Apr 25 10:45 AM
2.8 10.0 MAP
GEOFON Greece
Apr 25 10:34 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP
USGS Greece
Apr 25 10:34 AM
4.5 10.2 MAP
EMSC Greece
Apr 25 10:34 AM
4.4 8.0 MAP
EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 25 10:25 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP
EMSC Greenland Sea
Apr 25 10:09 AM
4.5 2.0 MAP
USGS Norwegian Sea
Apr 25 10:09 AM
4.6 9.8 MAP
GEOFON Greenland Sea
Apr 25 10:09 AM
4.2 10.0 MAP
USGS Aegean Sea
Apr 25 10:07 AM
4.2 9.2 MAP
GEOFON Aegean Sea
Apr 25 10:07 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP
EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 25 10:07 AM
4.1 9.0 MAP
EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 25 08:52 AM
2.5 20.0 MAP
USGS Dominican Republic Region
Apr 25 08:23 AM
3.7 76.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 08:16 AM
2.6 6.0 MAP
EMSC Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 07:53 AM
5.2 50.0 MAP
GEOFON Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 07:53 AM
5.1 10.0 MAP
USGS Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 07:53 AM
5.2 10.0 MAP
EMSC Greece
Apr 25 07:49 AM
2.4 5.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 07:48 AM
2.4 5.0 MAP
EMSC Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 07:42 AM
5.7 10.0 MAP
USGS Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 07:42 AM
5.7 13.8 MAP
GEOFON Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 25 07:42 AM
5.8 10.0 MAP
GEOFON Democratic Republic Of Congo
Apr 25 07:24 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 07:22 AM
3.3 3.0 MAP
USGS Puerto Rico
Apr 25 07:00 AM
2.7 63.5 MAP
USGS Samar, Philippines
Apr 25 06:55 AM
5.0 122.8 MAP
GEOFON Samar, Philippines
Apr 25 06:55 AM
4.8 99.0 MAP
EMSC Samar, Philippines
Apr 25 06:55 AM
5.0 100.0 MAP
EMSC Near The Coast Of Western Turkey
Apr 25 06:51 AM
2.8 14.0 MAP
EMSC Vancouver Island, Canada Region
Apr 25 06:24 AM
3.9 28.0 MAP
USGS Vancouver Island, Canada Region
Apr 25 06:24 AM
3.9 27.8 MAP
EMSC Crete, Greece
Apr 25 05:42 AM
3.4 5.0 MAP
USGS Gulf Of Santa Catalina, California
Apr 25 05:29 AM
3.0 13.3 MAP
EMSC Cyprus Region
Apr 25 05:23 AM
3.1 2.0 MAP
GEOFON Off Coast Of Southern Chile
Apr 25 05:02 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP
USGS Off The Coast Of Aisen, Chile
Apr 25 05:01 AM
4.9 10.0 MAP
EMSC Off Coast Of Aisen, Chile
Apr 25 05:01 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP
USGS Northern Alaska
Apr 25 04:47 AM
2.8 11.1 MAP
GEOFON South Of Mariana Islands
Apr 25 04:46 AM
4.7 226.0 MAP
USGS Guam Region
Apr 25 04:45 AM
4.8 214.5 MAP
EMSC Guam Region
Apr 25 04:45 AM
4.8 216.0 MAP
EMSC Caucasus Region, Russia
Apr 25 04:17 AM
3.4 10.0 MAP
GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 25 03:45 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP
EMSC Crete, Greece
Apr 25 03:26 AM
2.5 19.0 MAP
EMSC Tonga
Apr 25 03:23 AM
5.0 156.0 MAP
USGS Tonga
Apr 25 03:23 AM
4.8 159.7 MAP
GEOFON Tonga Islands
Apr 25 03:23 AM
5.3 134.0 MAP
EMSC Ionian Sea
Apr 25 03:21 AM
2.8 153.0 MAP
EMSC Western Mediterranean Sea
Apr 25 03:19 AM
2.9 11.0 MAP
USGS Northern Algeria
Apr 25 03:18 AM
4.7 9.6 MAP
GEOFON Northern Algeria
Apr 25 03:18 AM
4.7 6.0 MAP
EMSC Northern Algeria
Apr 25 03:18 AM
4.7 10.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 02:37 AM
3.0 6.0 MAP
EMSC Crete, Greece
Apr 25 02:08 AM
2.4 8.0 MAP
EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 25 01:26 AM
2.6 12.0 MAP
EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 25 00:55 AM
2.6 4.0 MAP
EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 25 00:42 AM
3.4 16.0 MAP
EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 25 00:04 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP
sources : USGS – EMSC – GFZ – GEONET
Quake rocks Andaman Nicobar Islands
The Hindu
PTI
A tremor with moderate intensity shook parts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Wednesday.
No injury or casualty has been reported.
The epicentre of the tremor measuring 5.7 on the Richter Scale was between Little Andaman and Car Nicobar, said disaster management director Ashok Sharma.
The earthquake occurred at 1.12 PM and originated at a depth of 10 km, he said.
It may be recalled following a massive earthquake off Sumatra coast on April 11, a tsunami alert had been sounded in the islands.
**********************************************************************************************************
Volcanic Activity
Volcano Watch: Heavy Breathing in Santorini
Analysis by Sarah Simpson
Wed Apr 25, 2012 07:27 AM ET
The iconic white roofs of the Greek isles of Santorini may not stay that way forever. Those buildings are perched, after all, on the rim of a massive underwater volcano blamed for destroying the Minoan civilization of Crete. And it’s restless.
ANALYSIS: White Roofs Help Volcanoes Chill Out
About 3600 years ago, at the height of Minoan civilization, Santorini let loose with one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history. The explosion blanketed nearby islands with piles of ash hundreds of feet thick and sent out a gigantic tsunami that devastated Crete, about 68 miles to the south.
Smaller eruptions across the ensuing millennia ended abruptly in 1950. Then, after 60 years of calm, the caldera reawakened early last year with an escalating swarm of earthquakes. When geologists took a closer look, they could see the ground was swelling as well, as though the sleeping giant were yawning.
Lava from Puu Oo spreads over coastal plain
POSTED: 03:35 p.m. HST, Apr 25, 2012
LAST UPDATED: 08:12 p.m. HST, Apr 25, 2012
Lava flows from Puu Oo vent are spreading over the coastal plain in Kalapana and over the weekend entered the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. But the flows are still about a half-mile from the ocean.
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory released new lava photos taken Monday that show slow-moving breakouts of pahoehoe lava, with the characteristic look of bunched up rope as it cools.
Other photos released in the last month show how the lava has been spreading on the plain, rather than moving directly to the south, toward the ocean.
The plain is below the Pulama Pali and the Royal Gardens subdivision.
The observatory also released video and thermal images showing the summit lava lake rising at Halemaumau Crater.
A glow from the lava lake illuminates the gas plume coming from the vent at night. The lava level rises and falls as the volcano goes through inflation and deflation cycles. The lake level is about 230 feet below the floor of Halemaumau Crater
| 14 | 26.04.2012 | Volcano Activity | Mexico | State of Puebla, [Popocatepetl Volcano] |  |
| 25.04.2012 | Volcano Eruption | Ecuador | Cordillera Oriental , [Tungurahua Volcano] |  |
 |
***********************************************************************************************************
Extreme Temperatures/ Weather
Hard Freeze Warning
GRAND FORKS ND
Rare Weather Phenomenon Hit Part of Twin Lakes Area this Morning
By: KTLO
Posted: Wednesday, April 25, 2012
National Weather Service Meteorologist B. J. Simpson says a rare weather phenomenon occurred this morning at the Twin Lakes Area. Between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. the temperature in Mountain Home rose some 18 degrees going from 64 to 82 degrees before dropping back into the upper 60′s just before 7 a.m. Local weather observer Chuck Beall at Mallard Point
reported about a 20 degree rise in a 90-minute span this morning before it dropped back.
Simpson on the phenomenon.
National Weather Service meteorologist B. J. Simpson on this mornings “heat burst” that saw the temperature rise some 18 degrees between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.
***********************************************************************************************************
Storms, Flooding
| Current Emergencies | |||||||
 |
|||||||
| Upd. | Date (UTC) | Event | Country | Location | Level | Details | |
| Today | Flash Flood | MultiCountries | [Haiti and Dominican Republic] |  |
|
||
| 1 | 19.04.2012 | Biological Hazard | China | Ningxia Autonomous region, [Touying township] | |
|
|
| 3 | 24.04.2012 | Epidemic Hazard | Vietnam | Province of Quang Ngai, [Son Ky Commune] | |
|
|
| Short Time Event(s) | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Upd. | Date (UTC) | Event | Country | Location | Level | Details | |
| Today | Vehicle Accident | Indonesia | Province of East Kalimantan, [Island of Borneo] | |
|
||
| Today | Extreme Weather | China | Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, [Southern regions] | |
|
||
| Today | Nuclear Event | USA | State of California, [Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant] | |
|
||
| Today | Heat Wave | USA | State of Texas, San Angelo | |
|
||
| Today | Epidemic Hazard | India | State of Maharastra, Mumbai (Bombay) [Girgaum] | |
|
||
| Today | Flood | Canada | Province of British Columbia, [Princeton and Kimberley] | |
|
||
| 25.04.2012 | Vehicle Incident | India | State of West Bengal, Salar | |
|
||
| 25.04.2012 | HAZMAT | USA | State of South Carolina, Columbia [Columbia Nuclear Fuel plant. Westinghouse Ltd] | |
|
||
| 25.04.2012 | Vehicle Accident | USA | State of Florida, Deerfield Beach | |
|
||
| 25.04.2012 | Forest / Wild Fire | New Zealand | Northland, [Manawatu Region] | |
|
||
| 25.04.2012 | Flash Flood | Afghanistan | Province of Balkh, [Kushandi and Shulgara districts] | |
|
||
| 25.04.2012 | Biological Hazard | Australia | State of Queensland, [Gordonbrook Dam] | |
|
||
| 1 | 25.04.2012 | Epidemic Hazard | Taiwan | Changhua County, [Fangyuan Township] | |
|
|
| 3 | 25.04.2012 | Event into space | USA | States of Nevada and California, [Reno-Sparks area, Carson City, Minden, South Lake Tahoe, Placerville and Truckee] | |
|
|
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
LOUISVILLE KY PADUCAH KY
Severe Thunderstorm Watch
LOUISVILLE KY NORMAN OK
Severe Weather Statement
LOUISVILLE KY PADUCAH KY
Gale Warning
MARQUETTE MI BALTIMORE CANYON TO HATTERAS CANYON HATTERAS CANYON TO CAPE FEAR CHICAGO IL ANCHORAGE ALASKA GEORGES BANK...FROM THE NORTHEAST CHANNEL TO THE GREAT SOUTH CHANNEL INCLUDING WATERS EAST OF CAPE COD...TO THE HAGUE LINE
Flood Warning
MISSOULA MT PENDLETON OR LAKE CHARLES LA SPOKANE, WA POCATELLO ID
Flash Flood Warning
JACKSON KY
*******************************************************************************************************
Solar Activity
3MIN News Apr25: Solar Watch/Magnetic Storm Watch
Published on Apr 25, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120424/173017423.html
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/24/news/economy/south-china-sea/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/24/markets/euro-crisis/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/article/2012-hurricane-season…
http://www.universetoday.com/94790/lunar-satellite-reveals-apollo-16-remains/
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/factory20120420.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/jpl/news/earth20120424.html
http://spaceweather.com/
http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html
http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/
http://umtof.umd.edu/pm/
http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater
http://www.ips.gov.au/HF_Systems/6/5
http://solarimg.org/artis/
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/
http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php
http://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/SWMF_RealTime_browse.cgi
http://grb.sonoma.edu/
| Solar X-rays:Geomagnetic Field: | >
|
From n3kl.org
************************************************************************************************************
Solar System
NASA releases photo of meteor blazing across Nevada skies
Lisa Warren / NASA-JPL via AP
An image provided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows a meteor over Reno, Nevada on April 22, 2012.
NASA has released a photograph of a flaming meteor that unleashed a powerful sonic boom Sunday morning, rattling houses in California and Nevada when its disintegration released energy equivalent to a 5-kiloton explosion.
The former space rock entered Earth’s atmosphere around 8 a.m. PT on April 22 and exploded over California’s Central Valley, according to NASA, which pinpointed the location in a map posted on its website.
According to space.com, several witnesses initially thought they had experienced an earthquake.
“An event of this size might happen about once a year,” said Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office. “But most of them occur over the ocean or an uninhabited area, so getting to see one is something special.”
Hunt is on for pieces of van-sized California meteor
- 15:33 25 April 2012 by Lisa Grossman
- Magazine issue 2862.
Wanted: fragments of a minivan-sized meteor that exploded over northern California and Nevada on Sunday morning and may well have survived to strike Earth.
Meteorites – meteors that make landfall – can provide crucial information about the chemical composition of the early solar system. “It’s like getting sample return without having to go there,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, Alabama.
However, meteorites are rare. Though meteors frequently streak across the sky, they tend to burn up before reaching the ground or they land in the sea. There’s reason to think the recent meteor is different.
Apart from exploding over land, it created a sonic boom, so it must have stayed intact for long enough for it to get down into the denser air low in the atmosphere – just 16 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, Cooke reckons – raising the chance that some of it hit the dirt.
*************************************************************************************************************
Mysterious Booms / Rumblings
Minor temblor in Appling confirmed
Tuesday, April 24, 2012 4:03 PM
A mysterious boom that shook portions of Appling late Monday was confirmed Tuesday as a minor earthquake, according to Columbia County authorities.
The event, which registered a 2.1 magnitude on the Richter scale, occurred at 9:26 p.m. and was located near Columbia and Appling-Harlem roads, Emergency Services Director Pam Tucker said.
The temblor was not listed on national earthquake monitors, but was confirmed by a seismologist at Savannah River Site, she said.
“This would explain the loud boom and shaking that many residents felt,” she said.
Earthquakes occur periodically in the area, which lies along the fall line, where the Coastal Plains and Piedmont regions meet.
For decades, scientists have monitored the region around the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ earth-and-concrete Thurmond Dam for seismic activity, which has included dozens of small quakes.
According to the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., Thurmond Lake is one of the major earthquake centers in Georgia and South Carolina, where pressure changes caused by water in reservoirs can promote seismic movement.
The largest recent quake in the lake area occurred in Lincoln County on Aug. 2, 1974, and registered 4.2. Three other quakes were recorded in nearby Edgefield County, S.C., in 1996, measuring 2.5, 2.3 and 2.2.
Experts say Augusta is unlikely to experience a serious quake.
*************************************************************************************************************
Articles of Interest
Warning signs from ancient Greek tsunami
by Staff Writers
San Francisco CA (SPX) Apr 25, 2012
 This figure shows the study area in Greece (Thermaikos Gulf). Red stars indicate drilling sites, where researchers have found high-energy layers, which are interpreted a of a tsunami origin. Credit: Klaus Reicherter, RWTH Aachen University. |
In the winter of 479 B.C., a tsunami was the savior of Potidaea, drowning hundreds of Persian invaders as they lay siege to the ancient Greek village.
New geological evidence suggests that the region may still be vulnerable to tsunami events, according to Klaus Reicherter of Aachen University in Germany and his colleagues.
The Greek historian Herodotus described the strange retreat of the tide and massive waves at Potidaea, making his account the first description of a historical tsunami. Reicherter and colleagues have added to the story by sampling sediments on the Possidi peninsula in northern Greece where Potidaea (and its modern counterpart, Nea Potidea) is located.
The sediment cores show signs of “high-energy” marine events like significant waves, and excavations in the suburbs of the nearby ancient city of Mende have uncovered a high-energy level dated to the 5th century B.C. The Mende layer contains much older marine seashells that were probably scoured from the ocean bed and deposited during a tsunami.
Earthquake forecast modeling in the North Aegean Basin near the peninsula suggests that future earthquakes in the area could produce significant tsunami waves, although the area is not included currently in the ten “tsunami” prone regions of Greece.
However, Reicherter and colleagues say their new findings suggest the Thermaikos Gulf where the peninsula is located should be included in tsunami hazard calculations, especially since the area is densely populated and home to many holiday resorts.
Reicherter will present his findings at the Annual Meeting of the Seismological Society of America (SSA) on April 19 in San Diego.
Related Links
Seismological Society of America
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest
New CU-NOAA monitoring system clarifies murky atmospheric questions
by Staff Writers
Boulder CO (SPX) Apr 25, 2012
 A new technique to measure CO2 and trace gas emissions may be of help in monitoring greenhouse gases. Credit: National Park Service. |
A University of Colorado Boulder-led team has developed a new monitoring system to analyze and compare emissions from man-made fossil fuels and trace gases in the atmosphere, a technique that likely could be used to monitor the effectiveness of measures regulating greenhouse gases.
The research team looked at atmospheric gas measurements taken every two weeks from aircraft over a six-year period over the northeast United States to collect samples of CO2 and other environmentally important gases. Their method allowed them to separate CO2 derived from fossil fuels from CO2 being emitted by biological sources like plant respiration, said CU-Boulder Senior Research Associate Scott Lehman, who led the study with CU-Boulder Research Associate John Miller.
The separation was made possible by the fact that CO2 released from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas has no carbon-14, since the half-life of that carbon radio isotope is about 5,700 years – far less than the age of fossil fuels, which are millions of years old.
In contrast, CO2 emitted from biological sources on Earth like plants is relatively rich in carbon-14 and the difference can be pinpointed by atmospheric scientists, said Lehman of CU’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.
The team also measured concentrations of 22 other atmospheric gases tied to human activities as part of the study, said Miller of the CU-headquartered Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. The diverse set of gases impact climate change, air quality and the recovery of the ozone layer, but their emissions are poorly understood.
The authors used the ratio between the concentration level of each gas in the atmosphere and that of fossil fuel-derived CO2 to estimate the emission rates of the individual gases, said Miller.
In the long run, measuring carbon-14 in the atmosphere offers the possibility to directly measure country and state emissions of fossil fuel CO2, said Miller. The technique would be an improvement over traditional, “accounting-based” methods of estimating emission rates of CO2 and other gases, which generally rely on reports from particular countries or regions regarding the use of coal, oil and natural gas, he said.
“While the accounting-based approach is probably accurate at global scales, the uncertainties rise for smaller-scale regions,” said Miller, also a scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder. “And as CO2 emissions targets become more widespread, there may be a greater temptation to underreport. But we’ll be able to see through that.”
A paper on the subject was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, published by the American Geophysical Union. Co-authors include Stephen Montzka and Ed Dlugokencky of NOAA, Colm Sweeney, Benjamin Miller, Anna Karion, Jocelyn Turnbull and Pieter Tans of NOAA and CIRES, Chad Wolak of CU’s INSTAAR and John Southton of the University of California, Irvine.
One surprise in the study was that the researchers detected continued emissions of methyl chloroform and several other gases banned from production in the United States. Such observations emphasize the importance of independent monitoring, since the detection of such emissions could be overlooked by the widely used accounting-based estimation techniques, said Montzka.
The atmospheric air samples were taken every two weeks for six years by aircraft off the coastlines of Cape May, N.J., and Portsmouth, N.H.
Fossil fuel emissions have driven Earth’s atmospheric CO2 from concentrations of about 280 parts per million in the early 1800s to about 390 parts per million today, said Miller. The vast majority of climate scientists believe higher concentrations of the greenhouse gas CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere are directly leading to rising temperatures on the planet.
“We think the approach offered by this study can increase the accuracy of emissions detection and verification for fossil fuel combustion and a host of other man-made gases,” said Lehman. He said the approach of using carbon-14 has been supported by the National Academy of Sciences and could be an invaluable tool for monitoring greenhouse gases by federal agencies like NOAA.
Unfortunately, NOAA’s greenhouse gas monitoring program has been cut back by Congress in recent years, said Lehman. “Even if we lack the will to regulate emissions, the public has a right to know what is happening to our atmosphere. Sticking our heads in the sand is not a sound strategy,” he said.
Related Links
University of Colorado at Boulder
The Air We Breathe at TerraDaily.com
How humans have transformed Earth: Incredible video illuminates every road, shipping route and flight path
- Three per cent of the planet’s land surface is under tarmac – an area the size of India
By Rob Waugh and Ted Thornhill
UPDATED: 10:26 EST, 25 April 2012
From space Earth looks completely untouched.
However, it’s deceptive, as a new video shows in mesmerising fashion.
‘Anthropocene’ demonstrates just how much the planet has been transformed by humans by illuminating every road, shipping route and flight path.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Illuminating: Anthropocene is a three-minute rollercoaster ride through the latest chapter in the story of how one species has transformed a planet
*************************************************************************************************************
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]
