A new series of eruptions have begun on Manam Island off Madang in Papua New Guinea, with warnings to residents to take precautions.

The volcano is one of the most active in PNG claiming several lives over the last decade.

Vents on the volcano are glowing at nights and explosions in the craters can be heard more than 15 kilometres away.

Ima Itakarai, the assistant director of the Rabaul Volcanology Observatory says it’s possibility of a major explosion cannot be ruled out, but it’s not imminent.

Presenter: Brian Abbott

Speaker:Ima Itakarai, the assistant director of the Rabaul Volcanology Observatory in PNG

Volcano Activity Report [Last 30 days]
Log date	Location	Name of Volcano	Status	Volcano Number	Volcano type	Last erupt.	Upd.	Details
05.06.2012 08:21 AM	Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea	Manam Volcano	Volcano Activity	0501-04=	Submarine volcano ?		No. 0

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One idea for fighting global warming is to increase the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere, scattering incoming solar energy away from the Earth’s surface. But scientists theorize that this solar geoengineering could have a side effect of whitening the sky during the day.

New research from Carnegie’s Ben Kravitz and Ken Caldeira indicates that blocking 2% of the sun’s light would make the sky three-to-five times brighter, as well as whiter. Their work is published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal, oil, and gas have been increasing over the past decades, causing the Earth to get hotter and hotter. Large volcanic eruptions cool the planet by creating lots of small particles in the stratosphere, but the particles fall out within a couple of years, and the planet heats back up.

The idea behind solar geoengineering is to constantly replenish a layer of small particles in the stratosphere, mimicking this volcanic aftermath and scattering sunlight back to space.

Using advanced models, Kravitz and Caldeira-along with Douglas MacMartin from the California Institute of Technology-examined changes to sky color and brightness from using sulfate-based aerosols in this way. They found that, depending on the size of the particles, the sky would whiten during the day and sunsets would have afterglows.

Their models predict that the sky would still be blue, but it would be a lighter shade than what most people are used to looking at now. The research team’s work shows that skies everywhere could look like those over urban areas in a world with this type of geoengineering taking place. In urban areas, the sky often looks hazy and white.

“These results give people one more thing to consider before deciding whether we really want to go down this road,” Kravitz said. “Although our study did not address the potential psychological impact of these changes to the sky, they are important to consider as well.”

There are several larger environmental implications to the group’s findings, too. Because plants grow more efficiently under diffuse light conditions such as this, global photosynthetic activity could increase, pulling more of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

On the other hand, the effectiveness of solar power could be diminished, as less sunlight would reach solar-power generators.

“I hope that we never get to the point where people feel the need to spray aerosols in the sky to offset rampant global warming,” Caldeira said. “This is one study where I am not eager to have our predictions proven right by a global stratospheric aerosol layer in the real world.”

Scientists have gathered with other experts to create a strategy for potentially hazardous Near earth Objects (NEOs).Nearly 40 scientists, reporters, risk communications specialists, and Secure World Foundation staff participated in a meeting in November last year to come up with a strategy for dealing with hazardous NEOs.

The report created by the team will be presented at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) and its Action Team-14 on NEOs during the 55th session of the UN COPUOS being held in Vienna, Austria.

During the meeting, the group explored in detail the views of risk communication experts and experienced science journalists on the development of a successful communications strategy.

“A lot of attention is focused on the catastrophic damage a large asteroid could do if it collided with Earth,” Dr. Michael Simpson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation, said in a press release. “This report focuses on how to prevent the even greater damage we could cause ourselves by mis-communicating or failing to work together on a common response to the threat.”

He said the threat of an impact of a large asteroid could be what shows us that our future depends on working together.

“In technical organizations, communications with the public are often treated more as an afterthought than a critical mission element,” Dr. Ray Williamson, SWF Senior Advisor, said in a press release. “This report emphasizes how important clear, effective, and accurate assessments to the public of the danger posed by a threatening Near Earth Object are to the ultimate goal of protecting human life and property.”

The group determined that there is a need to establish an effective international communications strategy for potentially hazardous NEOs by using anything from the television to the Internet.

They said that general education should include information about NEOs and their place in our solar system, the nature of the potential threat, and specific information related to warnings of potentially hazardous NEO.

The experts determined that a support group should be created for hazardous NEOs, complete with analysts, planners, scientists, psychologists, emergency management experts and other functional experts.

Historic Venus Transit – Next Transit 2117

No one reading this will still be alive the next time Venus crosses the sun in 2117. That makes today special. On June 5th at 3:09 pm PDT, the second planet begins its historic 7-hour transit of the solar disk. Observers on parts of all seven continents (map) will witness something like this:

© David Finlay of Sydney, Australia (June 8, 2004)

The timing favors observers in the mid-Pacific where the sun is high overhead during the crossing. In the USA, the transit will be at its best around sunset. Creative photographers will have a field day imaging the swollen red sun “punctured” by the circular disk of Venus.

Stay tuned to Spaceweather.com’s realtime gallery for constantly updated images of the transit. Another photo-stream of interest comes from the International Space Station where Don Pettit will be the first man in history to photograph a Venus transit from space. There are also many live webcasts of the transit from locations around the world: #1, #2, #3, #4. (Submit more webcast links here.)

Observing Tip: Do not stare at the sun. Venus covers too little of the solar disk to block the blinding glare. Instead, use some type of projection technique or a solar filter. A #14 welder’s glass is a good choice. Many astronomy clubs will have solar telescopes set up to observe the event; contact your local club for details.

Transit of Venus Web Links:

• NASA’s Transit of Venus home page
• The Mysterious Arc of Venus — Science@NASA
• James Cook and the Transit of Venus — Science@NASA
• Don Pettit and the Transit of Venus — Science@NASA
• Live images from the ISS –whoa!

BEFORE THE TRANSIT: As Venus approaches the sun, it turns its nightside toward Earth. This turning transforms Venus into a rarely-seen thin ring of light. Lorenzo Comolli photographed the phenomenon from Tradate, Italy, on June 4th:

© Lorenzo Comolli

The effect is caused by particles in upper layers of Venus’s atmosphere which scatter sunlight around the circumference of the planet. The ring is very difficult to observe, and often only black-belt astrophotographers are able to record the phenomenon.

“This picture was taken while Venus was a scant 2°17′ from the sun’s center, and it was very difficult to obtain due to the extreme proximity of the solar limb,” says Comolli. “Extreme care was due to avoid the sun light entering the telescope. The extension of the crescent to form a nearly complete ring was remarkable on June 4, while nearly invisible on June 2. Another interesting observation is the limb brightening in Venus’s southern hemisphere between 50° to 70° latitude. For confirmation, I obtained a second image using a W25 filter (red) that shows the presence of the brightening in the same way.”

More images: from Tobias Kampschulte of Gennadi, Rhodes, Greece; from Steve Miller of Lake Havasu City, Arizona: from Antonios Pantelidis of Florina, Greece; from Rob of Liverpool, UK; from Elias Chasiotis of Markopoulo, Greece; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Ernie Mastroianni of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; from Joe Mcbride of Grand Rapids, Michigan

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
(2009 LE)	06th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.1150	44.8	50 m – 110 m	13.61 km/s	48996 km/h
(2006 SG7)	06th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.0857	33.4	71 m – 160 m	16.47 km/s	59292 km/h
(2001 LB)	07th June 2012	1 day(s)	0.0729	28.4	200 m – 450 m	11.56 km/s	41616 km/h
(2012 JU11)	09th June 2012	3 day(s)	0.0736	28.6	27 m – 60 m	3.80 km/s	13680 km/h
(2012 GX11)	10th June 2012	4 day(s)	0.1556	60.5	170 m – 380 m	6.38 km/s	22968 km/h
(2012 KM11)	14th June 2012	8 day(s)	0.0942	36.7	30 m – 67 m	5.92 km/s	21312 km/h
(2012 HN40)	15th June 2012	9 day(s)	0.1182	46.0	230 m – 510 m	13.79 km/s	49644 km/h
(2002 AC)	16th June 2012	10 day(s)	0.1598	62.2	740 m – 1.7 km	26.71 km/s	96156 km/h
137120 (1999 BJ8)	16th June 2012	10 day(s)	0.1769	68.8	670 m – 1.5 km	14.88 km/s	53568 km/h
(2011 KR12)	19th June 2012	13 day(s)	0.1318	51.3	140 m – 310 m	10.10 km/s	36360 km/h
(2004 HB39)	20th June 2012	14 day(s)	0.1605	62.5	77 m – 170 m	8.88 km/s	31968 km/h
(2008 CE119)	21st June 2012	15 day(s)	0.1811	70.5	21 m – 46 m	3.22 km/s	11592 km/h
308242 (2005 GO21)	21st June 2012	15 day(s)	0.0440	17.1	1.4 km – 3.1 km	13.27 km/s	47772 km/h
(2011 AH5)	25th June 2012	19 day(s)	0.1670	65.0	17 m – 39 m	5.84 km/s	21024 km/h
(2012 FA14)	25th June 2012	19 day(s)	0.0322	12.5	75 m – 170 m	5.28 km/s	19008 km/h
(2004 YG1)	25th June 2012	19 day(s)	0.0890	34.7	140 m – 310 m	11.34 km/s	40824 km/h
(2010 AF3)	25th June 2012	19 day(s)	0.1190	46.3	16 m – 36 m	6.54 km/s	23544 km/h
(2008 YT30)	26th June 2012	20 day(s)	0.0715	27.8	370 m – 820 m	10.70 km/s	38520 km/h
(2010 NY65)	27th June 2012	21 day(s)	0.1023	39.8	120 m – 270 m	15.09 km/s	54324 km/h
(2008 WM64)	28th June 2012	22 day(s)	0.1449	56.4	200 m – 440 m	17.31 km/s	62316 km/h
(2010 CD55)	28th June 2012	22 day(s)	0.1975	76.8	64 m – 140 m	6.33 km/s	22788 km/h
(2004 CL)	30th June 2012	24 day(s)	0.1113	43.3	220 m – 480 m	20.75 km/s	74700 km/h
(2008 YQ2)	03rd July 2012	27 day(s)	0.1057	41.1	29 m – 65 m	15.60 km/s	56160 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

1. Professor Ratul Rajkhowa of the Department of Zoology of Cotton College, holds a dead spider that was the alleged species that killed two people in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, in the department’s laboratory in Guwahati. Panicked villagers in a remote Indian state complained of an invasion of giant venomous spiders that resemble tarantulas but are unknown to local specialists. (AFP Photo/)

Los Angeles, California – Years of ferocious storms have threatened to gnaw away the western tip of a popular beachfront park two hours drive north of Los Angeles. Instead of building a 500-foot-long wooden defense next to the pier to tame the tide, the latest thinking is to flee.

Work is under way to gauge the toll of ripping up parking lots on the highly eroded west end of Goleta Beach County Park and moving a scenic bike path and buried utility lines inland away from lapping waves.

Up and down the California coast, some communities are deciding it’s not worth trying to wall off the encroaching ocean. Until recently, the thought of bowing to nature was almost unheard of.

But after futile attempts to curb coastal erosion – a problem expected to grow worse with rising seas fueled by global warming – there is growing acknowledgment that the sea is relentless and any line drawn in the sand is likely to eventually wash over.

“I like to think of it as getting out of the way gracefully,” said David Revell, a senior coastal scientist at ESA PWA, a San Francisco-based environmental consulting firm involved in Goleta and other planned retreat projects.

The issue of whether to stay or flee is being confronted around the globe. Places experimenting with retreat have adopted various strategies. In Britain, for example, several sites along the Essex coast have deliberately breached seawalls to create salt marshes, which act as a natural barrier to flooding.

In the U.S., the starkest example can be found in Alaska, where entire villages have been forced to move to higher ground or are thinking about it in the face of melting sea ice. Hawaii’s famous beaches are slowly shrinking and some scientists think it’s a matter of time before the state has to explore whether to move back development.

Several states along the Atlantic coast have adopted policies meant to keep a distance from the ocean. They include no-build zones, setbacks or rolling easements that allow development but with a caveat. As the sea advances, homeowners promise not to build seawalls and must either shift inland or let go.

Over the past half-century, the weapon of choice against a shrinking shoreline has been building a seawall or other defense. Roughly 10 percent of California’s 1,100-mile coast is armored. In Southern California, where development is sometimes built steps from the ocean, a third of the shore is dotted with man-made barriers.

While such buffers may protect the base of cliffs, and the land and property behind them, they often exacerbate the problem by scouring beaches, making them narrower or even causing them to disappear.

This is one reason state coastal regulators in 2009 turned down a proposal by Santa Barbara County to fortify an eroding section of Goleta Beach park lashed by periodic storms. A rock wall was built as a temporary stopgap, but a long-term solution was needed. After the state rejected the construction of another hard structure, park officials, working with environmentalists, came up with a Plan B: Move gas, water and sewer lines out of the risk zone. Relocate a bike path to higher ground. Demolish 150 parking spaces and allow the acre of asphalt to be reclaimed by the beach.

Last month, the county Board of Supervisors gave the go-ahead for an environmental review. Work could begin next year if the $4 million plan passes other regulatory hurdles.

Around California, relocation of coastal infrastructure and development is being pushed by the Surfrider Foundation and other environmental groups. But the efforts also are being driven by increased awareness of climate change. Sea level has risen by 7 inches over the last century in California. By 2050, it’s projected to rise between 12 to 18 inches.

San Francisco is mulling a significant retreat on its western flank where the scenic Great Highway is under assault from the Pacific. Erosion has inched closer to the roadway each year, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues girding segments with broken-up rock, a costly temporary fix that has had limited success.

The San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association favors mixing retreat with coastal armoring. City, state and federal agencies are considering the group’s plan, which calls for moving segments of the Great Highway inland and allowing sand dunes to reclaim some of the paved-over space. The group also wants a temporary seawall to protect a sewer tunnel that’s part of a multi-billion dollar sewage and storm water system expected to be affected by sea level rise while money is raised to relocate it in about 50 years.

South of San Francisco, the beach town of Pacifica has been an early adopter of planned retreat as it battles constant erosion. The city in 2002 purchased some homes that were at risk of falling into the sea and demolished them.

This summer, the city of Ventura is pressing ahead with its $4.5 million retreat. Last year, crews removed a disintegrating oceanfront bike path at Surfer’s Point, a popular surfing spot, and built a new one farther inland. The beach was widened and cobblestone was put down.

Mark Gold, associate director at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, commended local efforts but thinks a large-scale approach is needed.

“It’s definitely something that needs to be taken a lot more seriously,” Gold said.

So far, most of the scaling back in California has occurred on public land. It’s a harder sell for private property owners to take the same action unless beachfront homes are on the verge of being submerged. The state, however, has a built-in retreat: People who want to build new oceanside construction agree not to build a seawall if their homes become threatened in the future.

Charles Lester, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, said planned retreat is an attractive option in theory, but it’s hard to execute in densely populated coastlines where there may not be room to move back. Still, he said it’s a tool worth using where possible.

Just don’t call it surrender.

“I don’t think it’s giving up. It’s about making a smart, sustainable decision,” said Gary Griggs, who studies coastal erosion at University of California, Santa Cruz.

1

06.06.2012

Explosion

Bulgaria

Obshtina Sliven, Sliven [Unnamed ammunition depot]

Explosion in Bulgaria on Tuesday, 05 June, 2012 at 19:16 (07:16 PM) UTC.