How anyone can continue to make excuses and give this administration the benefit of t he doubt after these measures are approved and put into play is beyond me. The excuse is always
he is one man
he does not have the power to do it all.
He is not responsible,
it was Bush’s mess
The GOP did it
The GOP will not cooperate
Well newsflash for all you folks that seem to still be living in La La Land…….. this is the second term for this administration those excuses are getting old and tired and frankly ridiculous. Look around people their accomplishments are equivalent if not worse to that of the GOP, you so vocally complain about.
I know those of you in love with the idealism that was sold to you will never ever look up from that hole you live in surrounding yourself with all those sound bites and eloquent speeches that mean absolutely nothing. You have closed yourself off and deafened yourself to the realities of those words that have turned into worthless rhetoric and dust. Unfortunately for us we will have to suffer with you for your lack of vision and understanding. Our children will suffer alongside yours while we listen to your deluded excuses and deranged plans for a better future . A future that is being destroyed as we speak. Stolen from us as they poison our water and food and allow the corporations to destroy our health with impunity.
Aided by the war mongering lunatics that sit opposite them. All looking out for their bottom line guaranteed by the corporations they empower. Sitting in their seats of power believing themsleves to be above reproach and the law. Forgetting the constituents they are supposed to represent. Those whose voices they are supposed to defend. They have convinced themselves of their own grandeur. They betray the Constitution they swore to defend. Their oaths hollow and meaningless, falling on deaf ears , called to task by none. While an endless battle is waged between two sides of the same coin . A coin tossed forth to pay for the same agenda. A people betrayed and enslaved by the lust for power and wealth, while some cheer “Yes We Can” and “Forward”! Marching us into the abyss of the unknown. The backbone of a country once straight and strong now bent and weary with the weight of its burden. Once wealthy and powerful she now knows hunger and lack. Lost and confused grasping to retrieve what was lost always just beyond her reach , always taunting her as it dissolves into nothingness before her very eyes.
One wonders which will deal the final blow to finally bring America to it’s knees! With nary a whimper of protest to stay it’s course…….
Civilian Cancer Deaths Expected to Skyrocket Following Radiological Incidents
by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
The White House has given final approval for dramatically raising permissible radioactive levels in drinking water and soil following “radiological incidents,” such as nuclear power-plant accidents and dirty bombs. The final version, slated for Federal Register publication as soon as today, is a win for the nuclear industry which seeks what its proponents call a “new normal” for radiation exposure among the U.S population, according Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the radiation guides (called Protective Action Guides or PAGs) allow cleanup many times more lax than anything EPA has ever before accepted. These guides govern evacuations, shelter-in-place orders, food restrictions and other actions following a wide range of “radiological emergencies.” The Obama administration blocked a version of these PAGs from going into effect during its first days in office. The version given approval late last Friday is substantially similar to those proposed under Bush but duck some of the most controversial aspects:
In soil, the PAGs allow long-term public exposure to radiation in amounts as high as 2,000 millirems. This would, in effect, increase a longstanding 1 in 10,000 person cancer rate to a rate of 1 in 23 persons exposed over a 30-year period;
In water, the PAGs punt on an exact new standard and EPA “continues to seek input on this.” But the thrust of the PAGs is to give on-site authorities much greater “flexibility” in setting aside established limits; and
Recently there have been many media outlets publishing articles on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation Tanks leaking Radioactive waste underground where they are located. Mixed with a deadly cocktail of nuclear waste and chemicals that not even those directly responsible and in charge of the safety protocol and maintenance of said tanks are sure of.
These p;ants like Nuclear Power Plants are subsidized with taxpayer monies. However, any upgrades or retrofitting that needs to be done must be paid for by the company itself, not taxpayer funds. Right off the nat the fact that company monies must be used to improve, repair or safeguard the facility for the security of the people that live in the surrounding areas, not to mention the soil and the underground water supply. A water supply that would concern areas outside of the immediate are of the Plant. The Colorado River being one of the sources in danger.
According to Wikipedia information available about the Colombia River Watershed, we are looking at waterways basins that empty into and mix with bodies of water all the way from Washington State to the Gulf Of Mexico.
We have Governor Inslee stating that there is no danger to the residents and yet there have been issues associated with the Hanford site since before 2010. That is 3 years of safety irregularities, leaks of dangerous radioactive waste not only into the ground endangering the water shed for millions of Americans both directly and indirectly situated near Hanford. Now they are trying to tell us that there is no danger to the public? According to the testimonies given in the videos provided below. It is indeed obvious that the leaks have been an ongoing problem that was made clear to both the management of the Plant and the DOE. Neither of which made any move to correct. Now we are expected to believe that there is no danger posed, yet the leaks and the danger to their exposure was never addressed, no one cared. SO now we are to believe the very same entities that have lied to us for well into 3 years?
How stupid do they actually think we are , exactly ?
If the testimony being given is to be believed then not only has our watershed been compromised, the air around the plant has been compromised as well. Contaminating the residents that live there and placing their children in danger.
The Nuclear Energy Plants and these Nuclear Waste Facilities are subsidized by taxpayer monies yet we have no say in vetting there safety practices. Nor do we apparently have any say in the approval process of these plants either. Recently the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved licenses to build two new nuclear reactors Thursday, the first authorized in over 30 years. They will be built in Georgia about 170 miles East of Atlanta. The location already contains two old reactors. Just what we needed …. more radioactive waste to be housed in these leaky sieves they call “Nuclear Reservation Plants”
This is madness and if it continues unchecked the contamination of Fukushima and Chernobyl will look like child’s play compared to the disaster in the making here in the US……..
Inslee says 6 underground tanks at Hanford leaking waste
by Associated Press and KING 5 News
Posted on February 22, 2013 at 2:37 PM
Updated yesterday at 5:12 PM
After meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu Friday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says at least six underground single-shell tanks at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in eastern Washington are leaking, not one as reported last week.
Inslee called the latest development “very disturbing news” and called for a new action plan to remove the nuclear material.
“There is no immediate or near-term health risk associated with these newly discovered leaks, which are more than 10 miles from the Columbia River,” Inslee said in a news release. “But nonetheless this is disturbing news for all Washingtonians. One week ago, Secretary Chu told me there was one tank leaking. But he told me today that his department did not adequately analyze data it had that would have shown the other tanks that are leaking.”
The amount that is leaking varies from tank to tank, but Inslee did not have specific amounts.
Inslee says Chu blames the Department of Energy’s failure to catch the leaks on their inability to properly evaluate the data from the monitors. The leaking was so small over a short period of time that it was imperceptible. If they had looked at the data over a longer period of time, they would have detected the leaks earlier.
Chu said there will be additional evaluations and information released in the coming days.
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America.[9] The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It flows northwest and then south into the US state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state of Oregon before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The river is 1,243 miles (2,000 km) long, and its largest tributary is the Snake River. Its drainage basin is roughly the size of France and extends into seven U.S. states and a Canadian province.
*****
Most of the Columbia’s drainage basin (which, at 258,000 square miles or 670,000 square kilometres, is about the size of France)[168] lies roughly between the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Cascade Mountains on the west. In the United States and Canada the term watershed is often used to mean drainage basin. The term Columbia Basin is used to refer not only to the entire drainage basin but also to subsets of the river’s full watershed, such as the relatively flat and unforested area in eastern Washington bounded by the Cascades, the Rocky Mountains, and the Blue Mountains.[169] Within the watershed are diverse landforms including mountains, arid plateaus, river valleys, rolling uplands, and deep gorges.
*****
In 2000, about six million people lived within the Columbia’s drainage basin. Of this total about 2.4 million people lived in Oregon, 1.7 million in Washington, 1 million in Idaho, half a million in British Columbia, and 0.4 million in Montana. Population in the watershed has been rising for many decades and is projected to rise to about 10 million by 2030. The highest population densities are found west of the Cascade Mountains along the I-5 corridor, especially in the Portland-Vancouver urban area. High densities are also found around Spokane, Washington, and Boise, Idaho.
*****
Several major North American drainage basins and many minor ones share a common border with the Columbia River’s drainage basin. To the east, in northern Wyoming and Montana, the Continental Divide separates the Columbia watershed from the Mississippi-Missouri watershed, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. To the northeast, mostly along the southern border between British Columbia and Alberta, the Continental Divide separates the Columbia watershed from the Nelson-Lake Winnipeg-Saskatchewan watershed, which empties into Hudson Bay. The Mississippi and Nelson watersheds are separated by the Laurentian Divide, which meets the Continental Divide at Triple Divide Peak near the headwaters of the Columbia’s Flathead River tributary. This point marks the meeting of three of North America’s main drainage patterns, to the Pacific Ocean, to Hudson Bay, and to the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico.[174][175]
Further north along the Continental Divide, a short portion of the combined Continental and Laurentian divides separate the Columbia watershed from the MacKenzie-Slave-Athabasca watershed, which empties into the Arctic Ocean. The Nelson and Mackenzie watersheds are separated by a divide between streams flowing to the Arctic Ocean and those of the Hudson Bay watershed.[176] This divide meets the Continental Divide at Snow Dome (also known as Dome), near the northernmost bend of the Columbia River.[177]
To the southeast, in western Wyoming, another divide separates the Columbia watershed from the Colorado-Green watershed, which empties into the Gulf of California. The Columbia, Colorado, and Mississippi watersheds meet at Three Waters Mountain in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.[178] To the south, in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, the Columbia watershed is divided from the Great Basin, whose several watersheds are endorheic, not emptying into any ocean but rather drying up or sinking into sumps.[174] Great Basin watersheds that share a border with the Columbia watershed include Harney Basin, Humboldt River, and Great Salt Lake.[174] The associated triple divide points are Commissary Ridge North, Wyoming,[179] and Sproats Meadow Northwest, Oregon.[180] To the north, mostly in British Columbia, the Columbia watershed borders the Fraser River watershed. To the west and southwest the Columbia watershed borders a number of smaller watersheds that drain to the Pacific Ocean, such as the Klamath River in Oregon and California and the Puget Sound Basin in Washington.[174]
*****Please notice point number 15 which enters into the Colorado River Drainage Basin
The map below is of the Colorado River Watershed which stretches from Wyoming all the way down through Mexico. Touching on Wyoming, Colorado, UtahNevada, Arizona, New MexicoBaja Californis , Sonora Mexico
Below is a Map of the Colorado River basin from Colorado all the way to the Gulf of Mexico through New Mexico and Texas as indicated by the yellow line.
Six underground tanks that hold a brew of radioactive and toxic waste at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site are leaking, federal and state officials said Friday, prompting calls for an investigation from a key senator.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the leaking material poses no immediate risk to public safety or the environment because it would take a while — perhaps years — to reach groundwater.
But the leaking tanks raise new concerns about delays for emptying them and strike another blow to federal efforts to clean up south-central Washington’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation, where successes often are overshadowed by delays, budget overruns and technological challenges.
Department of Energy spokeswoman Lindsey Geisler said there was no immediate health risk and said federal officials would work with Washington state to address the matter.
Regardless, Tom Towslee, a spokesman for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the senator will be asking the Government Accountability Office to investigate Hanford’s tank monitoring and maintenance program.
Wyden is the new chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
State officials just last week announced that one of Hanford’s 177 underground tanks was leaking 150 to 300 gallons a year, posing a risk to groundwater and rivers. So far, nearby monitoring wells haven’t detected higher radioactivity levels.
******************************************************************************************************** Event – Public Hearing on Exposed Workers at Hanford Nuclear Site – Part I
Uploaded on Jan 9, 2010
Part I of the U.S. Department of Energy, Environment, Safety and Health, Public Hearing on Exposed Workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation held February 3, 2000 at the Federal Building in Richland, WA.
Sound quality is poor due to on camera mic and bad acoustics.
Talk – Walter Tamosaitis – A Deep Concern on the Hanford Horizon: The WTP
Uploaded on Sep 11, 2010
Talk by Dr. Walter Tamosaitis, the Research and Technology Manager of Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant, who was summarily terminated from his job after he raised safety issues associated with the design and operation of this nuclear facility
A section of the roof at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear plant has collapsed – but there has been no increase in radiation at the site, authorities say.
No-one was hurt when the roof over a turbine hall gave way under heavy snow.
The “sarcophagus” used to seal off the failed reactor was unaffected, officials said, but around 80 construction workers were moved away.
The 1986 explosion and reactor meltdown at Chernobyl was the world’s worst-ever nuclear accident.
Correspondents say the roof collapse will revive concerns about the condition of the defunct power plant.
“There are no changes in the radiation situation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or in the exclusion zone,” Chernobyl’s administrators said in a statement.
‘Stay calm’
The affected area was about 50m (165 feet) away from the sarcophagus built to contain leaking radiation from the exploded reactor, Chernobyl spokeswoman Maya Rudenko told the Associated Press.
“Everyone should stay calm,” Ms Rudenko said. “Yes it is unpleasant, but there is no danger.”
Ukrainian officials released a photo showing the affected area
A huge new containment structure is currently being built to slide over the reactor, amid concerns about the long-term viability of the existing encasement.
The concrete shell is being built by French construction companies and funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as other donors. After the roof collapse, two firms, Vinci and Bouygues, moved their workers away from the site as a precaution.
The explosion at Chernobyl’s number four reactor in 1986 – when Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union – sent a huge plume of radiation across Europe.
Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Ukraine, western Russia and Belarus.
The number of people who died because of the accident remains controversial, but thousands are thought to be at higher risk of cancer as a result of exposure to radiation.
The area around the plant is heavily contaminated and a 30km (19 mile) exclusion zone is in force.
Ukrainian officials say a roof section at the exploded Chernobyl nuclear power plant has collapsed causing no injuries and leaving radiation levels unaffected. Maya Rudenko, spokeswoman for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, said a 600-square-metre section of the roof over the turbine hall at energy block No 4 collapsed on Tuesday. Rudenko emphasised, however, that the affected area is about 50 metres away from the exploded reactor. She said on Wednesday that radiation levels were normal and there was no danger to the public, so “everybody should be absolutely calm.” The Emergency Situations Ministry said that the roof collapse was caused by heavy snowfall. The April 1986 explosion at Chernobyl has forced the evacuation of 115,000 people and a 30-kilometre area around the plant remains largely off-limits.
Officials in Ukraine were rushing to reassure the public that radiation levels remained unaffected after the 6,500 square foot section of roof over the turbine hall at the fourth power block collapsed under heavy snowfall. French construction firms Vinci and Bouygues they had evacuated around 80 employees as a precaution. The two companies are working on constructing the sarcophagus structure covering the reactor that exploded in 1986. The structure is in place to contain radiation emanating from the exploded reactor. “Everybody should be absolutely calm,” a Chernobyl spokesman said. “Yes, it is unpleasant, but there is no danger.”
The April 26, 1986, accident in the then-Soviet republic of Ukraine sent a cloud of radioactive fallout over much of Europe and forced the evacuation of about 115,000 people from the plant’s vicinity. A 30-kilometre (19-mile) area directly around the plant remains largely off-limits. A new, giant, arch-shaped confinement is currently being constructed over the old sarcophagus. The construction of the new shelter was not affected by the accident, said Anton Usov, spokesman for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which runs the $2 billion project co-sponsored by the bank and international donors. “The old shelter was not affected, the new safe confinement was not affected either,” Usov said. The workers are expected to return as soon as an investigation into the accident is completed and the roof is reinforced in order to prevent water from getting inside.
The Chernobyl spokesman said that Ukrainian workers at the plant have not been evacuated or ordered to implement any additional safety measures. “We are not wearing face masks, we have not been evacuated, which is what would have happened had there been danger,” she stated. Some environmentalists expressed concern. “Even if the radiation level has not changed, it’s still an alarming signal,” Vladimir Chuprov, head of the energy program at Greenpeace Russia, said, according to the Interfax news agency. “If the panels in the turbine hall have collapsed, then in principle there is no guarantee that the sarcophagus, built in 1986, will not start falling apart in the near future.”
The robot pair, called simply the “Quadruped walking robot,” was designed by Toshiba specifically for this kind of work. The larger, legged robot can go up and down stairs, allowing it to access places that rolling bots cannot.
But rolling is still a useful skill, so it carries a second robot on its back that can go off on its own after being lowered down on a little crane. You can see it in action in this video:
As you can see, the walking bot isn’t the quickest. But what matters isn’t speed but versatility — these robots can get anywhere and send back images and radiation readings to their operator.
They’re still in the early state of development but worked well enough to show off to the press Wednesday — what remains is adding more battery life and features like waterproofing and further hardening against radiation and temperature.
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBCNews Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.
disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only
Fish caught near Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant have radiation levels 100 times higher than normal, officials say.
Japan’s Environment Ministry carried out a study that found fish caught near the plant had more radiation than fish caught elsewhere, RIA Novosti reported.
The levels found ranged from 4,400 becquerels per kilogram to 11,400 becquerels per kilogram, against the maximum “safe” level of 100 becquerels per kilogram.
The findings have prompted a government investigation into the physiological basis for contamination and why radiation readings in some specimens remain hundreds of times over the official safe limit, The Asahi Shimbun reported.
The Council for Science and Technology Policy, a government panel, is to study why radiation levels in fish near the plant have not decreased since March.
Researchers will analyze cesium levels in the fish’s otolith, a part of the inner ear.
Researchers will measure cesium levels in contaminated seabed soil near the nuclear plant, in an effort to determine when the fish were contaminated.
It appears that questions regarding the strange “explosions” which occurred all over the state of Michigan days ago are only continuing to grow.
With a puzzling lack of interest even from the local media, complete silence by law enforcement/military outlets, and activist investigators being arrested for attempting to obtain a statement at a U.S. military base, one would clearly be justified in wondering if there is not a cover up in the works.
For those unfamiliar with the story, throughout June 6-7 Michigan residents from all corners of the state began to report hearing loud “explosions” that actually rocked the ground hard enough to shake their houses.
Although some reports have focused on the “explosions” occurring in the Northern Indiana/Southern Michigan area, other reports have revealed that these “explosions” have also been heard and felt near Saginaw (Central Eastern Michigan) and on up to Northern Michigan.
“Explosions” are the only way to explain these types of sounds, because no one is claiming that ground movement was the result of an earthquake or anything else commonly seen. Indeed, after speaking with Bob Powell of The Truth Is Viral, it has been described as similar to the firing of artillery both in terms of sound and impact.
Whatever the cause, the fact is that the explosions must have been massive in scale – enough to trigger reports of them for at least 100 square miles – yet, at the same time, so small as to not cause serious enough damage as to be readily apparent.
There are, however, numerous reports of an area where 60-foot trees are now inexplicably missing their tops, and many that were simply snapped in half. This apparently occurred around the same time as the mysterious “explosions.” There is no evidence as to what might have caused this damage as of yet. Indeed, Bob Powell described this area as being “out in the middle of nowhere.”
And then there is the matter of radiation spikes in the Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana region. This was reported by two privately owned radiation measurement facilities, BlackCatSystems and Radiation Network, as well as some individual radiation monitors, which communicated an alarming increase in the level of radiation in the area around the same time the mysterious “explosions” were felt and heard.
Although normal radiation levels in this region usually stay at or around 5-6 CPM (Counts Per Minute), on the evening of June 6, radiation levels skyrocketed to 7,139 CPM. This figure was reported by both of the private radiation measurement facilities. It should be noted that both of these facilities are separately operated.
According to Anthony Gucciardi of Natural Society, these figures were confirmed by the EPA’s own radiation level readings. However, the actual EPA levels were quickly hidden from the viewing of the general public, and the EPA online measuring tool was disabled. Subsequently, Radiation Network and BlackCat announced that they had experienced “technical difficulties” and “errors in the system” resulting in a change in the readings posted online.
Of course, the possibilities for false readings always exist, but the fact that both of these systems “malfunctioned” at the same time and produced the same reading seems a bit more far-fetched. If Gucciardi’s claims are true, then it would be just as likely that the spikes in radiation were real but were edited once attention was drawn to them.
In addition, Gucciardi also writes that startling increases in radiation levels have been recorded by private individuals as far away as Colorado.
With all of these very strange “coincidences,” one obviously wonders what could have caused such loud “explosions” with such a level of impact.
Furthermore, one must wonder what could have caused the tree damage which was reported, as well as the increased levels of radiation.
For instance, Bob Powell states that there are no fracking projects being conducted for at least 150 miles. If this is true, then the likelihood of fracking as the source of the “explosions” is minimal. Likewise, Powell says that he contacted NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency) and was told there was no seismographic evidence of any earthquake or even any explosion in the region.
Powell also stated that he was reassured by the relevant authorities that sinkholes, another hypothesis put forward by puzzled onlookers, could not have produced the “boom” that was heard by so many.
All of these questions seem like a local journalist’s dream. However, at least at this point, the local media has refused to investigate the cause of the “explosions” even in the face of so many Michigan witnesses.
One could argue that there is a similarity between the Michigan “explosions” and the Wisconsin groaning noises which were heard by small town residents on what was, at one time, a regular basis. Although the citizens largely knew that the “official” explanations for the noises was rubbish, the local media quickly accepted whatever claims were put out to the general public and ceased coverage.
But at least they did cover it at the beginning. That’s much more than can be said about the Michigan media. Thus, it has once again fallen on local activists and the alternative media to uncover the events surrounding these bizarre occurrences.
Of course, this is exactly what local activists and independent media have tried to do. Indeed, they might be more successful at doing so if they were not being handcuffed and interrogated for simply trying to obtain an official PR statement from the Alpena Regional Combat Training Center, which is exactly what happened to Bob Powell.
Powell claims that when he attempted to enter the military base, as he has done on numerous occasions before when attached to CBS, he was instructed to park in the designated area. When he returned to the guard shack, he was met by security where he was arrested. Bob Powell states:
I went up to the guard shack and I was handcuffed and put down on my knees, legs crossed, you know, the whole nine yards. . . . . . And all of a sudden here comes a bunch of Air Force security guys with M-4s and I said ‘So are you gonna put a bullet in the back of my head now?’ But surprisingly, the answer was ‘No.’ But it turns out that I’m on a list. And I can only assume it’s because of the work that I’ve been doing so far. And I’m no longer allowed on military reservations. And, apparently, I can’t even film outside of a military installation. . . . . I was, I wouldn’t say interrogated, but I was talked to about what I was doing there and what my purpose was and all that. I was held in custody for about two hours. And the Air Force didn’t do anything. They released me to the Sheriff’s Department.
Powell states that he was then charged with Driving Under Suspension, as his license was suspended in South Carolina, his home state, for not having insurance. You can see Powell’s video regarding his arrest below.
Reporter Detained/Arrested Investigating Mysterious Explosion That Rocked N.E. Mi On 6-6-12 (1 of 2)
Reporter Detained/Arrested Investigating Mysterious Explosion That (2 of2)
In an interview with Powell, he also claims that the entire law enforcement community has remained silent regarding the “explosions” in the area.
Thus, while the initial question was centered around the nature of the booming noise, it appears that a much bigger question has arisen. That is, why are the authorities and the media apparently ignoring these “explosions?” Even more so, why are they covering it up? Why such systemic silence?
Though some may be tempted to legitimize the “no comment” position maintained by the media and the government, it is almost impossible to believe that these agencies and outlets have no interest in what is obviously a big deal to many of the people who have personally heard the “explosions.”
In fact, the longer this whole thing continues, the more it seems that a cover up is very much in the works.
Particularly interesting are the photos posted by Anthony Gucciardi regarding what many of his readers are claiming to be military vehicles heading for the center of the “explosions.” Gucciardi writes:
Eyewitnesses on the ground near the media-blacked-out elevated radiation zone near the border of Indiana and Michigan, . . . . . are now sending in a large number of photos and videos documenting massive explosions accompanied by unmarked helicopters, A-10 Thunderbolts, and military personnel. These reports come after a Department of Homeland Security hazmat fleet was sent out to the location after ‘years’ of inactivity.
Of course, it should be noted that there are military bases located nearby to at least some of the areas that have experienced these “explosions.” This should be taken into consideration when one mentions troop or military vehicle movements. In addition, it should be mentioned that the claims regarding the DHS hazmat fleet are somewhat suspect and have yet, to my knowledge at least, been proven or corroborated.
Nevertheless, in the midst of this mystery, one thing is for certain – something is happening in Michigan. The only question is what it is and why it is being covered up. At the very least, why the silence?
As Bob Powell concluded:
If you’re looking for information in the local media, good luck. Because they’re not saying a word.
Two earthquakes of mild intensity shook parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat today, but there were no reports of any casualty.
A quake measuring 5 on the Richter scale was experienced in parts of western Maharashtra at 10.50 am. Its epicentre was Goshatwadi village, about 10km from Koyana dam in Satara district, the Met office here said.
An aftershock of 4.4 magnitude was registered an hour later, it said. The Koyna dam, situated in a quake-prone region, is safe, officials said.
The tremors were also felt in several parts of Mumbai, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.
There were no reports of any damage to life or property, they added.
A quake, measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale, was felt at 8.55 AM in parts of Gujarat. The earthquake had its epicentre at Vamka taluka in Kutch, which is an active fault line, scientists at Institute of Seismological Research said.
An aftershock measuring 2.9 was also felt, they said.
Besides Kutch district, tremors were experienced in parts of Saurashtra region.
No loss of life or damage to property has been reported so far in Gujarat, officials said.
Among those who felt the tremors in Mumbai were megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who resides in suburban Juhu.
“Earthquake in Mumbai ! Did you feel it… I did.. .Shutters and building shook twice for few seconds,” Bachchan tweeted.
This 6.2 Earthquake was reviewd and has been posted by the USGS. This is a Earthquake Alert by MrHurricaneTracker. This earthquake was on the Ring of Fire and we are watching it real close due to the passed few days and earthquake activity. Stay tuned right here on MHTAlerts. The Earthquake location 57.588°S, 65.414°W
(Reuters) – A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 struck offshore western Java in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait at a depth of 30.5 miles (49 km), the U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday.
The USGS initially reported the quake as measuring 5.8 and a depth of 27.3 miles (44 km). It revised the location to 97 miles (157 km) south of T.Telukbetung in Sumatra, after first reporting it at 111 miles (178 km) west of Sukabumi in Java.
There were no immediate reports of damage or a tsunami warning from the quake, which was 109 miles (177 km) west-southwest of the capital Jakarta on Java.
SYDNEY: A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage either.
The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, around 150 kilometres south east of the capital Port Vila.
Vanuatu lies on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a zone of frequent seismic activity caused by friction between shifting tectonic plates.
The earthquake hit shortly after 9:00am (around 2200 GMT Saturday), USGS said.
The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued an information bulletin but no alert, saying “a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii”.
The deluge began around 3:30 a.m. Over the next few hours, fast-moving hailstones pummeled the area north of Amarillo, Tex., which had lately been sitting in mud and dust due to a lack of precipitation, according to the news organization. The hail mixed with the mud and dust to create four-foot high mounds that shut down a major highway for the next 18 hours.
LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – A San Diego “earthquake” mystery today Friday April 13, 2012 has been denied as a sonic boom. San Diego residents reported an earthquake like event at 8:38 am to 9 am PST today. While a light San Diego neighboring earthquake did happen this morning, there was no sonic boom from MCAS Miramar, officials tell news.
Earlier today, local news erroneously reported that there wasn’t an earthquake at the time. But USGS does confirm to news that a neighboring earthquake did strike around that time. But the quake wasn’t substantial. And it wasn’t precisely in San Diego either.
disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only
Radiation from nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima may not present as much of a threat to wildlife as previously thought, British researchers say.
Earlier studies on the impact on birds of the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Russia in April 1986 have been put in doubt by new research, the University of Portsmouth reported Wednesday.
The findings by Portsmouth researcher Jim Smith and colleagues from the University of the West of England are likely to also apply to wildlife at Fukushima in Japan following its nuclear disaster in 2011, the university said.
“I wasn’t really surprised by these findings — there have been many high profile findings on the radiation damage to wildlife at Chernobyl but it’s very difficult to see significant damage and we are not convinced by some of the claims,” Smith said.
“We can’t rule out some effect on wildlife of the radiation, but wildlife populations in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl have recovered and are actually doing well and even better than before because the human population has been removed.”
Previous studies had suggested radiation affected bird populations following the Chernobyl disaster because it damaged to birds’ antioxidant defense mechanisms, but the new research found the birds’ antioxidant mechanisms could easily cope with radiation at density levels similar to those seen at Chernobyl and Fukushima.
The researchers said their finding would likely apply to other forms of wildlife as well.
“We would expect other wildlife to be similarly resistant to oxidative stress from radiation at these levels,” Smith said.
Although heat waves can kill in the short term, the authors say, even minor temperature variations caused by climate change may also increase death rates over time among elderly people with diabetes, heart failure, chronic lung disease, or those who have survived a previous heart attack.
New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) suggests that seemingly small changes in summer temperature swings-as little as 1 degrees C more than usual-may shorten life expectancy for elderly people with chronic medical conditions, and could result in thousands of additional deaths each year. While previous studies have focused on the short-term effects of heat waves, this is the first study to examine the longer-term effects of climate change on life expectancy.
The study will be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“The effect of temperature patterns on long-term mortality has not been clear to this point. We found that, independent of heat waves, high day to day variability in summer temperatures shortens life expectancy,” said Antonella Zanobetti, senior research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at HSPH and lead author of the study. “This variability can be harmful for susceptible people.”
In recent years, scientists have predicted that climate change will not only increase overall world temperatures but will also increase summer temperature variability, particularly in mid-latitude regions such as the mid-Atlantic states of the U.S. and sections of countries such as France, Spain, and Italy. These more volatile temperature swings could pose a major public health problem, the authors note.
Previous studies have confirmed the association between heat waves and higher death rates. But this new research goes a step further. Although heat waves can kill in the short term, the authors say, even minor temperature variations caused by climate change may also increase death rates over time among elderly people with diabetes, heart failure, chronic lung disease, or those who have survived a previous heart attack.
The researchers used Medicare data from 1985 to 2006 to follow the long-term health of 3.7 million chronically ill people over age 65 living in 135 U.S. cities. They evaluated whether mortality among these people was related to variability in summer temperature, allowing for other things that might influence the comparison, such as individual risk factors, winter temperature variance, and ozone levels. They compiled results for individual cities, then pooled the results.
They found that, within each city, years when the summer temperature swings were larger had higher death rates than years with smaller swings. Each 1 degrees C increase in summer temperature variability increased the death rate for elderly with chronic conditions between 2.8% and 4.0%, depending on the condition.
Mortality risk increased 4.0% for those with diabetes; 3.8% for those who’d had a previous heart attack; 3.7% for those with chronic lung disease; and 2.8% for those with heart failure. Based on these increases in mortality risk, the researchers estimate that greater summer temperature variability in the U.S. could result in more than 10,000 additional deaths per year.
In addition, the researchers found the mortality risk was 1% to 2% greater for those living in poverty and for African Americans. The risk was 1% to 2% lower for people living in cities with more green space.
Mortality risk was higher in hotter regions, the researchers found. Noting that physiological studies suggest that the elderly and those with chronic conditions have a harder time than others adjusting to extreme heat, they say it’s likely these groups may also be less resilient than others to bigger-than-usual temperature swings.
“People adapt to the usual temperature in their city. That is why we don’t expect higher mortality rates in Miami than in Minneapolis, despite the higher temperatures,” said Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology at HSPH and senior author of the paper.
“But people do not adapt as well to increased fluctuations around the usual temperature. That finding, combined with the increasing age of the population, the increasing prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes, and possible increases in temperature fluctuations due to climate change, means that this public health problem is likely to grow in importance in the future.”
** How to Prepare For an Earthquake **
By Eddie Sage on 14 April 2012
One of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of nature is a severe earthquake and its terrible aftereffects. An earthquake is the sudden, rapid shaking of the earth, caused by the breaking and shifting of subterranean rock as it releases strain that has accumulated over a long time.
For hundreds of millions of years, the forces of plate tectonics have shaped the earth, as the huge plates that form the earth’s surface slowly move over, under and past each other. Sometimes, the movement is gradual. At other times, the plates are locked together, unable to release accumulated energy. When the accumulated energy grows strong enough, the plates break free. If the earthquake occurs in a populated area, it may cause many deaths and injuries and extensive property damage.
While earthquakes are sometimes believed to be a West Coast occurrence, there are actually 45 states and territories throughout the United States that are at moderate to high risk for earthquakes including the New Madrid fault line in Central U.S.
The 2011 East Coast earthquake illustrated the fact that it is impossible to predict when or where an earthquake will occur, so it is important that you and your family are prepared ahead of time.
Ruins left over from the 2004 temblor that nearly destroyed Banda Aceh.
The Nation/Asia News Network
Friday, Apr 13, 2012
A fierce earthquake from the Nicobar Islands could strike over Songkran, sending a tsunami crashing into the Andaman Coast, an expert warned yesterday after finding that the 8.6magnitude Sumatran tremor three days ago was exceptionally deep.
“Whenever there is a quake rooted in the [Earth's] mantle, a following quake will be likely in the next few days,” said Professor Thanawat Jaruphongsakul, a senior seismologist at Chulalongkorn University.
Fear of another devastating tsunami panicked Thailand and Southeast Asia on Wednesday.
An underwater quake, with its epicentre at the Nicobar Islands, about 150 kilometres north of Aceh on Sumatra, would affect six coastal provinces of Thailand on the Andaman Sea, especially Ranong, which lies closest to a fault line connecting with the Nicobar Islands, he said.
The quakes on Wednesday originated from mantlelevel crust, 20 kilometres below the Earth’s surface, which is regarded as a layer that would cause very high magnitude tremblers.
The quake that hit Japan in March came from a shallower layer, so it would take up to 100150 years for the next quake. However Wednesday’s quakes, with their epicentre at Aceh, followed just eight years after the massive one that triggered a continentwide tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people in many countries, he said.
“Why did Wednesday’s quakes emerge just eight years afterwards? This is new to most seismologists and geologists, who are unfamiliar with quakes with depth rooting to the mantle layer,” he said.
Seismologists were closely watching and cautiously studying the 9.0 quake that devastated Sendai in Japan on March 11 last year. The first tremor on March 9 was recorded at 7.3 on the Richter scale. That one was understood by seismologists as the main shock, but there were two aftershocks on an even greater scale at 9.0 on March 11 that followed, he said.
The tsunamis created on Wednesday were not powerful or harmfully high because the quake was the horizontal dipslide type. But a mantlebased quake at an island with active underwater volcanoes located north of the Nicobar Islands would probably be a vertical strikeslip type, which would directly impact the six Thai coastal provinces, and possibly deluge them with tsunamis, he added.
Professor Michio Hashzume, a wellknown Japanese seismologist, said Wednesday’s quakes were a new type known to have started in the mantle. It was difficult to tell whether a new quake would follow within a few days, like the Sendai quakes, which were similar to Wednesday’s quakes. Then there was a 7.3, followed by a 9.0 two days later.
If there are quakes near the Nicobar Islands, they may cause huge collapses in the seabed and outer crust. The seabed may rise and form new islands, he said.
A 4.3 MAGNITUDE earthquake has struck in the sea off Italy’s Sicily, sending residents into the streets but with no immediate reports of victims or injuries, officials said.
Thursday morning the Turrialbla volcano unleashed a new series of eruptions, with experts converging on the colossus to take a close look at the smoke emanations coming from its centre.
For a live view of the volcano (photos update every 10 seconds) click here.
According to the Red Sismológica Nacional (RSN) and the Observatorio Vulcanologio y Sismologico de Costa Rica (OVISCORI) the activity does not present any danger, but will continue to monitor the volcano much closer.
The alert followed reports by area residents of hearing a large rumble and then the sighting of dark coloured smoke, produced by gas fumes from the volcano.
Last January the volcano became a concern for residents and experts following the emanation of white gas fumes.
Several RSN experts are on their way to the top of the volcano and the OVISCORI is keeping the national park closed and under a green alert.
Fiery lava and ash spew from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano
Published on Apr 13, 2012 by itnnews
Mount Etna has begun spewing blood-red lava and grey and white ash into the air, the volcano’s 24th eruption in a series that started this year. Report by Sophie Foster.
TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 164
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
340 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2012
OKLAHOMA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE
CRAIG CREEK DELAWARE
KAY LINCOLN LOGAN
MAYES NOBLE NOWATA
OSAGE OTTAWA PAWNEE
PAYNE ROGERS TULSA
WAGONER WASHINGTON
About 12 tonnes of radioactive water has leaked at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with the facility’s operator saying Thursday that some may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the leak was found early Thursday from a pipe attached to a temporary decontamination system, and the water had already gone through some of the cleansing process.
The water, once it has been used to cool the reactors, contains massive amounts of radioactive substances and is put into the water-processing facility so it can be recycled for use as a coolant.
“Our officials confirmed that cooling water leaked at a joint in the pipes,” a TEPCO spokesman told AFP, adding that “it is possible that part of the water may have flowed outside the facility and poured into the ocean”.
The leak has since been plugged, the spokesman added, saying the utility was probing the cause of the accident and how much, if any, water flowed into the Pacific.
The accident was the latest of several leaks of radioactive water at the troubled plant, undermining the government’s claim made in December that the shuttered Fukushima reactors were now under control.
In one incident last month, about 120 tonnes of radioactive water leaked at the plant’s water decontamination system and about 80 litres (21 gallons) seeped into the ocean, according to TEPCO.
The plant about 220 kilometres (135 miles) northeast of Tokyo was crippled by meltdowns and explosions caused by Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami in March last year.
Radiation was scattered over a large area and made its way into the sea, air and food chain in the weeks and months after the disaster.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes around the plant and swathes of this zone remain badly polluted. The clean-up is proceeding slowly, amid warnings that some towns could be uninhabitable for three decades.
A vast ice shelf in the Antarctic peninsula, a hotspot for global warming, has shrunk by 85 percent in 17 years, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday.
Images taken by its Envisat satellite show that the so-called Larsen B ice shelf decreased from 11,512 square kilometres (4,373 square miles) in 1995, an area about the size of the Gulf state of Qatar, to only 1,670 sq km (634 miles) today.
Larsen B is one of three ice shelves that run from north to south along the eastern side of the peninsula, the tongue of land that projects towards South America.
From 1995 to 2002, Larsen B experienced several calving events in which parts of the shelf broke away. It had a major breakup in 2002 when half of the remainder disintegrated.
Larsen A broke up in January 1995.
“Larsen C so far has been stable in area, but satellite observations have shown thinning and an increasing duration of melt events in summer,” the agency said in a press release.
Ice shelves are thick floating mats of ice, attached to the shore, that are created by the runoff into the sea from glaciers.
Scientists say they are extremely sensitive to changes in atmospheric temperature and can be hollowed out from below by warmer ocean currents.
The northern Antarctic peninsula has been subject to atmospheric warming about 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) over the last 50 years, a figure that is several times greater than the global average.
Ice shelves are not the same as ice sheets, the vast blanket of frozen water that covers Antarctica.
If these melted, even partially, they would drive up sea levels, threatening small island states and coastal cities. But the scientific evidence is that the icesheets so far are stable.
“These observations are very relevant for measuring the future behaviour of the much larger ice masses of West Antarctica if warming spreads further south,” ESA quoted Helmut Rott, a professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, as saying.
Massive Solar Flare rocked Earth with Earthquakes & Volcano eruptions this week! (April 13, 2012)
Published on Apr 13, 2012 by adrinilinjunky
A massive Earth directed Solar Flare that launched off the Sun on (April 9th 2012). The expected arrival date was 2 days later which was (April 11th 2012). This was also the day; the Earth just got rocked by all the magor Earthquakes such as a 8.6 off the coast of Sumatra, 7.0 Michoacan Mexico, 6.2 the off the coast of Oregon, 4.3 Utah, 5.0 North Indian Ocean, 6.9 in the Gulf of California & many other less magnitude quakes. So it clearly shows that Solar Flares/CME affect & have a magor impact on our Seismic activity dealing in reguards to Earthquakes & volcano eruptions.
Ecosystems are changing worldwide as a result of shrinking sea ice, snow, and glaciers, especially in high-latitude regions where water is frozen for at least a month each year-the cryosphere.
Scientists have already recorded how some larger animals, such as penguins and polar bears, are responding to loss of their habitat, but research is only now starting to uncover less-obvious effects of the shrinking cryosphere on organisms.
An article in the April issue of BioScience describes some impacts that are being identified through studies that track the ecology of affected sites over decades.
An article in the April issue of BioScience describes some impacts that are being identified through studies that track the ecology of affected sites over decades.
The article, by Andrew G. Fountain of Portland State University and five coauthors, is one of six in a special section in the issue on the Long Term Ecological Research Network. The article describes how decreasing snowfall in many areas threatens burrowing animals and makes plant roots more susceptible to injury, because snow acts as an insulator.
And because microbes such as diatoms that live under sea ice are a principal source of food for krill, disappearing sea ice has led to declines in their abundance-resulting in impacts on seabirds and mammals that feed on krill. Disappearing sea ice also seems, unexpectedly, to be decreasing the sea’s uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
On land, snowpack changes can alter an area’s suitability for particular plant species, and melting permafrost affects the amount of carbon dioxide that plants and microbes take out of the atmosphere-though in ways that change over time. Shrinking glaciers add pollutants and increased quantities of nutrients to freshwater bodies, and melting river ice pushes more detritus downstream.
Disappearing ice on land and the resulting sea-level rise will have far-reaching social, economic, and geopolitical impacts, Fountain and his coauthors note. Many of these changes are now becoming evident in the ski industry, in infrastructure and coastal planning, and in tourism. Significant effects on water supplies, and consequently on agriculture, can be predicted.
Fountain and his colleagues argue that place-based, long-term, interdisciplinary research efforts such as those supported by the Long Term Ecological Research Network will be essential if researchers are to gain an adequate understanding of the complex, cascading ecosystem responses to the changing cryosphere.
Other articles in the special section on the Long Term Ecological Research Network detail further notable scientific and societal contributions of this network, which had its origins in 1980 and now includes 26 sites.
The achievements include contributions to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, to ecological manipulation experiments, to bringing decision makers and researchers together, and to mechanistic understanding of long-term ecological changes.
Deadly March Tornadoes Were First Billion-Dollar Disaster of 2012
The swarms of March caused more than $1.5 billion in damage and killed 40. However, the drama is difficulty to qualify because tornadoes are ‘atypical events’ by nature
Tornado damage in Henryville, Ind., after a tornado swept through the small community on March 2, 2012. Image: Michael Raphael/FEMA
A swarm of tornadoes that tore through the Midwest and Southeast in early March has earned the grim title of the nation’s first billion-dollar weather disaster of 2012.
From March 2 through the early hours of March 3, 132 tornadoes were reported across nine states. Although those numbers are preliminary, and will undoubtedly decrease once overlapping reports are eliminated, their aftermath was devastating, causing more than $1.5 billion in damage and killing 40 people.
The storms killed four people in Ohio, but they took the greatest toll in Indiana, killing 13, and Kentucky, where 23 people died.
The costly disaster follows on the heels of a record-breaking year for devastation wrought by the vagaries of the weather and longer-term climate conditions. Last year, the United States experienced 14 separate events that caused $1 billion or more in damage. Five of those events were tornado outbreaks.
[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.]
(CNN) — A pair of strong earthquakes rocked Mexico’s Gulf of California only minutes apart early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quakes — magnitude 6.9 and 6.2 — were centered about 85 miles northeast of Guerrero Negro in the Mexican state of Baja California, or 325 miles south-southwest of Phoenix in the United States. Both epicenters were shallow, a little more than six miles underground.
No tsunami warnings were issued and there were no immediate reports of damage, but people as far north as Tucson, Arizona, reported feeling them.
The temblors were recorded at 12:16 a.m. and 12:06 a.m. local time (3:16 a.m. and 3;06 a.m. ET).
7.0 Mexico/ 5.9 Oregon Coast/8.6 Sumatra/6.1 Tokyo
203 km (126 miles) S of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
290 km (180 miles) SSW of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada
352 km (218 miles) SW of HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Canada
421 km (261 miles) E of BOSTON, Massachusetts
(AGI) Catania – Mount Etna is erupting for the sixth time this year with lava and plumes of smoke and ash from a new crater on the volcano’s southeast side. The new activity was preceded by new phase that began last night and that, according to experts from the INGV in Catania, has the same characteristics as the one before this one. Ash, carried by wind towards the east, has not yet created problems at the Fontanarossa airport, which is fully operational. . .
An unusual spring storm in the Texas Panhandle Wednesday afternoon dumped two to four feet of hail near Dumas.
Trucks were reported sliding off the road on Highway 287 as a result of the unexpected weather phenomenon. Snow plows were being used to clear the roads.
Some vehicles were trapped in the drifts of hailstones.
Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus said a tornado watch was in effect for the Panhandle region through 10 p.m. Wednesday, and the storms were moving very slowly between Pampa and Dumas north of Amarillo and to the east of Dalhart.
Melting hail and heavy rain triggered flash flooding in the Panhandle
An EF-1 tornado that set down near Stockton Wednesday afternoon destroyed a building near a home and left debris strewn across the surrounding area, according to local meteorologists.
In Stockton, a highway traffic camera captured a funnel cloud southwest of the city, near Lathrop and a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento said it later touched down in French Camp, south of Stockton.
Discovery Bay resident Carlos Espinoza noticed the unusual atmospheric conditions just before the funnel cloud formed.
“I hear what I thought was thunder, said Espinoza. “Curious, I went out to look”
Espinoza grabbed his compact camera and snapped a series of 11 pictures that showed the funnel cloud forming and extending towards the ground.
A retired police officer, Espinoza knew what he’d witnessed.
“We’ve been shown how to look for certain weather conditions, explained Espinoza. To see this come up right in front of you was surprising, and fun!”
By early Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado swept through French Camp.
People who live in French Camp said they knew it was a tornado before the weather service did, as they watched it tear apart a building and send pieces of corrugated metal flying into telephone poles.
“[I was] scared to death,” said tornado victim Valentin Guitierrez. “We really thought we were going to die. I thought I was going to die.”
Guitierrez owned the shed that was destroyed when the tornado touched down. He said the sight of the twister and resulting damage was stunning.
“I heard a loud loud noise. I ran out to look out the back window and I see this big ol’ cloud,” said Guitierrez. “I see it flip over the trailers, so I figured it was a tornado. So I ran to the front of the house, told my family to get on the ground.”
One man said he’d never seen anything like it in his 65 years in San Joaquin County.
It is not unheard of to have twisters spawn from the clouds in the San Joaquin Valley, but it’s not common.
Besides the funnel cloud, a mass of unstable air between Spring storms triggered thundershowers and hail in the Central Valley, according tometeorologists.
The thundershowers erupted in a break between two storm fronts that have gotten April off to a wet start.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning Wednesday afternoon for Tulare County near Hanford where quarter-inch sized hail fell accompanied by strong winds, lightning and thunder.
National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson said some BB-size hail was reported in the San Jose area around noon.
Meanwhile, a strong line of thundershowers roared into the Sierra foothills, dumping half inch in diameter hail and heavy downpours.
Two more low pressure system were lined up off shore ready to bring showers for the morning commutes both on Thursday and Friday.
Forecasters predicted the North Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains could get 2 inches or more of rain by Saturday while the central Bay Area could expect 0.5 to 2 inches.
After one of the driest winters in a century, Mother Nature has done her best to eliminate potential drought conditions with one of the wettest Marchs in the past 80 years and now the April showers.
The same has held true for the Sierra where for much of the winter the ski resorts were forced to rely on snowmaking machines.
“Back in January, when we didn’t have any snow, we were looking for a tough season,” said Jennie Bartlett, a spokeswoman for Sugar Bowl. “But March was an awesome month for us. We got over 200 inches of snow.”
Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear, joins Thom Hartmann. California beware! A radioactive wave is headed toward the West Coast of the United States courtesy of the Fukushima nuclear disaster? So with nuclear power still wreaking havoc on the environment – why are the Japanese about to flip on more of their nuclear reactors?
From n3kl.org
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[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.]
April 12, 2012 – WORLD – A strong earthquake hit Mexico on Wednesday, shaking buildings and sending people running out of offices onto the streets of the capital Mexico City. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.5 -magnitude quake was centered on Mexico’s Pacific coast near Michoacan and struck fairly deep under the earth at 65 km or 40 miles. Prior to the Mexico earthquake, a powerful and shallow 5.9 struck near the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate off the coast of Oregon- indicating tectonic plates worldwide are being rattled by planetary seismic tension. Prior to Oregon earthquake, two massive 8.0+ magnitude earthquakes (8.6 and 8.2) struck the ocean floor off the north coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. As I warned in my book The Extinction Protocol, the power unleashed in these seismic events is growing. This is testament to the dangers and seriousness of the earth-changes facing us and how these events are unleashing more unbridled force with each successive eruption. The Indian Ocean strike-slip fault earthquakes are very unusual. As a matter of fact, I’ve never heard of a strike-slip lateral earthquake of this great a magnitude; especially under water. Preliminary assessment of the Indonesian quakes by U.S. geologists suggests one plate lurched past each other as much as 70 feet. San Andreas is a strike-slip, lateral- can we even imagine two sections of ground moving 70 feet near San Francisco? Had the force of the Sumatra quakes been unleashed upon San Andreas, the city would have been completely destroyed. Ironically, the largest surface displacement ever recorded in a lateral strike-slip fault was 21 feet and that was in the 1906 7.9 San Andreas earthquake. Just so we understand the significance of what transpired today; the Japanese March 11, 2011 earthquake move the ocean floor 79 feet sideways and 10 ft upwards, but today’s earthquakes happened in double 8.0+ magnitude sequence and moved the earth nearly as far. Worst, the seismic tension from the event ricocheted around the world and contributed to other earthquakes. –The Extinction Protocol
According to the Arizona Geological Survey, 131 earthquakes were detected in 2011 compared with 53 in 2010. That was twice as many as in 2009 and about a third more than in 2008. Most of the earthquakes were in the northwestern part of the state. The Yuma area was also shaken by earthquakes associated with the Gulf of California Rift Zone.
Many of these earthquakes (magnitude ca. 1.6) occurred near Lake Mead. These are attributed to mining and quarrying, and also to crustal adjustments to water going into and out of the lake. The strongest earthquakes (magnitude ca. 3.6) occurred near Clarkdale in the central part of the state. The Survey says that these events are consistent with past behavior: “a propensity for deeper seismicity to occur in two pockets, the northwestern Utah-Arizona border and well within the Colorado Plateau in the northeast corner of the state” and “the highest concentration of energy release correlates well with the pattern of established Quaternary faulting, indicating that this portion of the crust continues to be an active area of strain release and of particular interest for hazard studies in Arizona.” The strain is due to on-going crustal extension.
Read more here. The Arizona Geological Survey provides several videos dealing with earthquakes and geothermal energy on its Youtube Channel. Give it a look. Also take a look at the new issue of Arizona Geology Magazine.
An earthquake with an initial magnitude of 8.9 has struck under the sea off Indonesia’s northern Aceh province.
The quake triggered a tsunami warning across the Indian Ocean region.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it was not yet known whether a tsunami had been generated, but advised authorities to “take appropriate action”.
The region is regularly hit by earthquakes. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed 170,000 people in Aceh.
The US Geological Survey, which documents quakes worldwide, said the Aceh quake was centred 33km (20 miles) under the sea about 495km from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
It was initially reported as 8.9 magnitude but was later revised down to 8.7 by the USGS.
The tsunami warning said quakes of such a magnitude “have the potential to generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin”.
Tsunami watch lifted after two big earthquakes
By the CNN Wire Staff
Jakarta, Indonesia (CNN) — A massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon, triggering a tsunami watch for the Indian Ocean, which was later canceled.
The quake struck about 434 kilometers (270 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province, and had a magnitude of 8.6, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It took place at a depth of 23 kilometers (14 miles).
A second large quake, with a magnitude of 8.2, occurred off the west coast of Sumatra about two hours later, the USGS said.
Gary Gibson from the Seismology Research Center in Melbourne, Australia, said the location of the second quake reduced the possibility of a tsunami.
There was also a series of smaller quakes off the west coast of northern Sumatra with magnitudes between 5.1 and 5.4.
There were no reports of destruction or deaths.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on local television that there were no reports of casualties or damage in Aceh.
Four people were slightly injured on Simeulue Island, off the coast of Aceh, the National Disaster Management Agency said Wednesday.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch for the entire Indian Ocean. And a few hours later, the center announced the tsunami watch was canceled.
“A significant tsunami was generated by this earthquake. However, sea level readings now indicate that the threat has diminished or is over for most areas,” the center said.
Buffalo, New York
Clevelnad, Ohio
Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina
Blacksburg, Virginia
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Baltimore, Maryland,Washington, D.C.
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Hanford, California
647 PM PDT WED APR 11 2012
...WINTER-LIKE STORM TO REACH THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA THURSDAY
NIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Reno, Nevada
300 PM PDT WED APR 11 2012
...HEAVY SNOW POSSIBLE IN THE SIERRA...
.A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION THURSDAY
AFTERNOON INTO FRIDAY BRINGING THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW IN
THE SIERRA.
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
FRIDAY EVENING...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WATCH FOR HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM
THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS
OF THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS: 1 TO 2 FEET.
* ELEVATION: ABOVE 4000 FEET.
* TIMING: FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING.
* LOCATIONS INCLUDE: CAMP NELSON...GIANT FOREST...JOHNSONDALE...
LODGEPOLE...SHAVER LAKE...YOSEMITE VALLEY.
* WINDS: SOUTHWEST WINDS 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 60 MPH
OVER HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
* IMPACTS: SNOW COULD CAUSE TRAVEL DELAYS AND POSSIBLE ROAD
CLOSURES ABOVE 5000 FEET. GUSTY WINDS WILL CREATE AREAS OF
BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WITH REDUCED VISIBILITIES. PEOPLE
LIVING IN OR PLANNING TRAVEL INTO THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA
ABOVE 5000 FEET SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR WINTER WEATHER
CONDITIONS.
FLOOD ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Amarillo, Texas
1220 AM CDT THU APR 12 2012
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED AN
* URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR...
SOUTHERN MOORE COUNTY IN THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAS...
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF DUMAS...
* UNTIL 415 AM CDT
* HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
MOORE COUNTY.
* THE HEAVY RAIN HAS CAUSED FLOODED ROADWAYS IN WESTERN MOORE
COUNTY AND WILL LIKELY CAUSE URBAN FLOODING IN DUMAS AND IN
CREEKS ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MOORE COUNTY.
FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Spokane, Washington
1138 AM PDT WED APR 11 2012
...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPOKANE, WA HAS ISSUED A FLOOD
WATCH FOR THE FOLLOWING RIVERS IN IDAHO...
COEUR D`ALENE RIVER AT CATALDO AFFECTING KOOTENAI AND SHOSHONE
COUNTIES
...EXPECTED RAIN FALL TONIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY OVER THE COEUR D`ALENE
RIVER BASIN WILL LEAD TO POSSIBLE MINOR FLOODING ON THE COEUR D`ALENE
RIVER AT CATALDO.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPOKANE, WA HAS ISSUED A
* FLOOD WATCH FOR
THE COEUR D`ALENE RIVER AT CATALDO
* FROM THURSDAY EVENING TO FRIDAY EVENING.
* AT 9:30 AM WEDNESDAY THE STAGE WAS 37.6 FEET.
* MINOR FLOODING IS POSSIBLE.
* FLOOD STAGE IS 43.00 FEET.
* FORECAST...THE RIVER WILL RISE TODAY AND THURSDAY...POSSIBLY
ACHIEVING FLOOD STAGE LATE THURSDAY EVENING. THE RIVER WILL
LIKELY CREST SLIGHTLY ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AND BEGIN TO DROP
DURING THE DAY FRIDAY.
* AT 43.0 FEET...MINOR FLOODING OF FARMLAND FROM CATALDO DOWNSTREAM TO
HARRISON IS LIKELY. THE CAMPGROUND AT CATALDO WILL ALSO BEGIN TO
FLOOD. PORTIONS OF DUDLEY ROAD, WEST OF LATOUR CREEK, WILL LIKELY
BE UNDERWATER AND IMPASSABLE. IF THERE IS SIGNIFICANT WATER ALREADY
IN THE FLOODPLAIN, THESE IMPACTS MAY OCCUR AT LOWER STAGES.
Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear, joins Thom Hartmann. California beware! A radioactive wave is headed toward the West Coast of the United States courtesy of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
KAMPS: And that plume, as you said, it’s taken a year but it has now hit Hawaii. Another year from now it’ll probably reach the West Coast of the US.
Artist’s impression showing how the solar wind shapes the magnetospheres of Venus (shown with a brown tail, closer to the Sun) and Earth (shown in blue). Both planets are roughly the same size. Venus is closer to the Sun, at roughly 0.7 AU (Astronomical Unit) while Earth is located at 1 AU. Unlike Venus, Earth has an internal magnetic field which makes its magnetosphere bigger. The lines coming out of the Sun symbolise the propagation direction of the solar wind. Credit: ESA
Venus is a rarity among planets – a world that does not internally generate a magnetic field. Despite the absence of a large protective magnetosphere, the near-Venus environment does exhibit a number of similarities with planets such as Earth. The latest, surprising, example is the evidence for magnetic reconnection in Venus’ induced magnetotail.
Planets which generate magnetic fields in their interiors, such as Earth, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn, are surrounded by invisible magnetospheres. Their magnetic fields deflect the charged particles of the solar wind (electrons and protons) as they stream away from the Sun. This deflection creates a magnetosphere – a protective “bubble” around the planet – which ends in an elongated magnetotail on the lee side of the magnetosphere.
Since Venus has no intrinsic magnetic field to act as a shield against incoming charged particles, the solar wind sometimes interacts directly with the upper atmosphere. However, Venus is partially protected by an induced magnetic field. ….
Boom can be heard at the very first few seconds of PART 2 — uploading that video next (right now its 2am CDT)
I am not drawing ANY conclusions on this yet.. just a strange coincidence as of now… but hoping there are some other people besides my wife and I, who heard these sounds yesterday—- here in South Saint Louis, Missouri USA.
Approx coordinates of the rumbles and boom heard: 38°36’14.85″N , 90°14’7.74″W ..
Confirmed 1st hand reports — heard by myself, my wife, and neighbor. Looking for others in the area who may have heard these multiple rumbles. 3am for 15 or 20 minutes.. 9am for 20-30 minutes.. and 11am for about 10 – 15 seconds.. Two times VERY long.. one time very short…..not a jet, train, or truck.. which you CAN hear in the video clearly as such.
Some kind of rumbling / drilling sound ?!! Carries on for a very long time.
One boom at 3am (not captured on video).. one boom about 945am (captured on video at the very start of part 2)… camera is a Sony DCR SX-63 … records in 30 minute segments.. part 1 30 min long.. part two 17 min long.
every bird in the area is chirping.. its about 40 degrees F outside. No wind 1-5 mph tops.
you can hear the rumble OVER any animals, trucks, planes, helicopters AND EVEN over the police sirens. NO air conditioners fans or construction going on.. especially at 3am the first time we heard it (it woke up my wife .. who woke me up).
Yesterday — 4/11/2012 — my wife and I were awoke about 3am CDT to a long persistent rumble — which shook our house and windows… it lasted for about 15 minutes before I got out of bed and came down to record video of it….
my camera died at 315am (approx) .. as soon as i took it outside… blast confounded! Then the sound stopped abruptly.
Then…. within the hour of this first rumble at 3am — we saw the large earthquakes in Indonesia — don’t know yet if these are related… may not be related at all (im HOPING!).
Then move forward to about 9am CDT — the rumble appeared again.. this time with a series of “booms”. I grabbed my cam and ran outside.. and this is where you begin in the video.
Clearly.. a low audible rumble for many minutes.. towards the end of this Part 1 .. you can hear it pick up in intensity.
Start of video 2 you can hear the last “boom”.. only one boom heard on cam. At 3am.. the first “boom” rattled the windows and woke my wife, who woke me in turn to check out what was going on.
Hoping this is just some kind of anomaly… if we get a repeat… I will deploy the cam again if I hear it.
The part 2 of this video.. the boom in particular.. sounds similar to the Wisconsin booms a few weeks ago… if you have some kind of audio processing gear.. let me know what you think if you have the time to analyze this fully.
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Ukrainian officials released a photo showing the affected area
