Six years of observations by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express have shown large changes in the sulphur dioxide content of the planet’s atmosphere, and one intriguing possible explanation is volcanic eruptions. The thick atmosphere of Venus contains over a million times as much sulphur dioxide as Earth’s, where almost all of the pungent, toxic gas is generated by volcanic activity.
Most of the sulphur dioxide on Venus is hidden below the planet’s dense upper cloud deck, because the gas is readily destroyed by sunlight.
That means any sulphur dioxide detected in Venus’ upper atmosphere above the cloud deck must have been recently supplied from below.
Venus is covered in hundreds of volcanoes, but whether they remain active today is much debated, providing an important scientific goal for Venus Express.
The mission has already found clues pointing to volcanism on geologically recent timescales, within the last few hundreds of thousands to millions of years.
A previous analysis of infrared radiation from the surface pointed to lava flows atop a volcano with a composition distinct from those of their surroundings, suggesting that the volcano had erupted in the planet’s recent past.
Now, an analysis of sulphur dioxide concentration in the upper atmosphere over six years provides another clue.
Immediately after arriving at Venus in 2006, the spacecraft recorded a significant increase in the average density of sulphur dioxide in the upper atmosphere, followed by a sharp decrease to values roughly ten times lower by today.
A similar fall was also seen during NASA’s Pioneer Venus mission, which orbited the planet from 1978 to 1992.
At that time, the preferred explanation was an earlier injection of sulphur dioxide from one or more volcanoes, with Pioneer Venus arriving in time for the decline.
“If you see a sulphur dioxide increase in the upper atmosphere, you know that something has brought it up recently, because individual molecules are destroyed there by sunlight after just a couple of days,” says Dr Emmanuel Marcq of Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales, France, and lead author of the paper published in Nature Geoscience.
“A volcanic eruption could act like a piston to blast sulphur dioxide up to these levels, but peculiarities in the circulation of the planet that we don’t yet fully understand could also mix the gas to reproduce the same result,” adds co-author Dr Jean-Loup Bertaux, Principal Investigator for the instrument on Venus Express that made the detections.
Venus has a ‘super-rotating’ atmosphere that whips around the planet in just four Earth-days, much faster than the 243 days the planet takes to complete one rotation about its axis.
Such rapid atmospheric circulation spreads the sulphur dioxide around, making it difficult to isolate any individual points of origin for the gas.
Dr Marcq’s team speculate that if volcanism was responsible for the initial increase, then it could come from a relatively gentle increased output of several active volcanoes rather than one dramatic eruption.
“Alternatively, and taking into account the similar trend observed by Pioneer Venus, it’s possible that we are seeing decadal-scale variability in the circulation of the atmosphere, which is turning out to be even more complex than we could ever have imagined,” he notes.
“By following clues left by trace gases in the atmosphere, we are uncovering the way Venus works, which could point us to the smoking gun of active volcanism,” adds Håkan Svedhem, ESA’s Project Scientist for Venus Express.
TEHRAN (FNA)- An earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Ahal in Fars province, Southern Iran, on Thursday.
The Seismological center of Fars province affiliated to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 06:27 hours local time (0157 GMT).
The epicenter of the quake was located in an area 53.8 degrees in longitude and 26.9 degrees in latitude.
There are yet no reports on the number of possible casualties or damage to properties by the quake.
Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth’s crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.
The worst in recent times hit Bam in southeastern Kerman province in December 2003, killing 31,000 people – about a quarter of its population – and destroying the city’s ancient mud-built citadel.
The deadliest quake in the country was in June 1990 and measured 7.7 on the Richter scale. About 37,000 people were killed and more than 100,000 injured in the northwestern provinces of Gilan and Zanjan. It devastated 27 towns and about 1,870 villages.
Last month, two quakes in Northwestern Iran also claimed the lives of 306 people and injured more than 4500 others.
An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale jolted Ahar in East Azerbaijan province at 16:00 hours local time (1130GMT) on August 11. The epicenter of the quake was located in an area 46.8 degrees in longitude and 38.4 degrees in latitude.
Almost an hour later another quake with magnitude 6 on the Richter scale jolted Varzaqan at 17:04 hours local time (1234GMT) in the same province. The epicenter of the quake was located in an area 46.7 degrees in longitude and 38.4 degrees in latitude.
National Earthquake Information Center
U.S. Geological Survey
http://neic.usgs.gov /
Tectonic Summary
The September 5th 2012 M 7.6 earthquake beneath the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, occurred as the result of thrust faulting on or near the subduction zone interface between the Cocos and Caribbean plates. At the latitude of this earthquake, the Cocos plate moves north-northeast with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 77 mm/yr, and subducts beneath Central America at the Middle America Trench.
Over the past 40 years, the region within 250 km of the September 5th earthquake has experienced approximately 30 earthquakes with M 6 or greater; two of these were larger than M 7, and neither caused documented fatalities. The first was a M 7.2 in August of 1978, 9 km to the north-northeast of the September 5th 2012 event; the second had a magnitude of M 7.3, and struck a region just over 50 km to the east-southeast in March 1990. The earthquake of October 5, 1950, M 7.8, occurred in the general area of the September 5th 2012 earthquake, although the hypocenter of the earlier earthquake is not known to high precision. The 1950 earthquake caused damage in northwestern Costa Rica and in the Valle Central of Costa Rica, but no reported casualties. The closest earthquake to cause fatalities in recent history was the M 6.5 April 1973 earthquake approximately 80 km to the northeast, which resulted in 26 fatalities and over 100 injuries.
Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity
Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics.
Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab. Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.
Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France.
The southern Caribbean plate boundary with the South America plate strikes east-west across Trinidad and western Venezuela at a relative rate of approximately 20 mm/yr. This boundary is characterized by major transform faults, including the Central Range Fault and the Bocon?-San Sebastian-El Pilar Faults, and shallow seismicity. Since 1900, the largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the October 29, 1900 M7.7 Caracas earthquake, and the July 29, 1967 M6.5 earthquake near this same region. Further to the west, a broad zone of compressive deformation trends southwestward across western Venezuela and central Columbia. The plate boundary is not well defined across northwestern South America, but deformation transitions from being dominated by Caribbean/South America convergence in the east to Nazca/South America convergence in the west. The transition zone between subduction on the eastern and western margins of the Caribbean plate is characterized by diffuse seismicity involving low- to intermediate-magnitude (M<6.0) earthquakes of shallow to intermediate depth.
The plate boundary offshore of Colombia is also characterized by convergence, where the Nazca plate subducts beneath South America towards the east at a rate of approximately 65 mm/yr. The January 31, 1906 M8.5 earthquake occurred on the shallowly dipping megathrust interface of this plate boundary segment. Along the western coast of Central America, the Cocos plate subducts towards the east beneath the Caribbean plate at the Middle America Trench. Convergence rates vary between 72-81 mm/yr, decreasing towards the north. This subduction results in relatively high rates of seismicity and a chain of numerous active volcanoes; intermediate-focus earthquakes occur within the subducted Cocos plate to depths of nearly 300 km. Since 1900, there have been many moderately sized intermediate-depth earthquakes in this region, including the September 7, 1915 M7.4 El Salvador and the October 5, 1950 M7.8 Costa Rica events.
The boundary between the Cocos and Nazca plates is characterized by a series of north-south trending transform faults and east-west trending spreading centers. The largest and most seismically active of these transform boundaries is the Panama Fracture Zone. The Panama Fracture Zone terminates in the south at the Galapagos rift zone and in the north at the Middle America trench, where it forms part of the Cocos-Nazca-Caribbean triple junction. Earthquakes along the Panama Fracture Zone are generally shallow, low- to intermediate in magnitude (M<7.2) and are characteristically right-lateral strike-slip faulting earthquakes. Since 1900, the largest earthquake to occur along the Panama Fracture Zone was the July 26, 1962 M7.2 earthquake.
References for the Panama Fracture Zone:
Molnar, P., and Sykes, L. R., 1969, Tectonics of the Caribbean and Middle America Regions from Focal Mechanisms and Seismicity: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 80, p. 1639-1684.
A preliminary review revealed some structural damage near the epicenter, but no reports of deaths or injuries, said Douglas Salgado, a geographer with Costa Rica’s National Commission of Risk Prevention and Emergency Attention. He said a tsunami alert had been called off for Costa Rica. The review also uncovered a landslide on the main highway that connects the capital of San Jose to the Pacific coast city of Puntarenas, Salgado said. Hotels and other structures suffered cracks in walls and saw items knocked off shelves. “There’s chaos in San Jose because it was a strong earthquake of long duration,” Salgado said. “It was pretty strong and caused collective chaos.” Michelle Landwer, owner of the Belvedere Hotel in Samara, north of the epicenter, said she was having breakfast with about 10 people when the earthquake struck. “The whole building was moving, I couldn’t even walk,” Landwer said. “Here in my building there was no real damage. Everything was falling, like glasses and everything.” At the Hotel Punta Islita in the Guanacaste area, “everybody is crying a lot and the telephone lines are saturated,” said worker Diana Salas, speaking by telephone, but she said was no damage there. In the coastal town of Nosara, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of the epicenter, trees shook violently and light posts swayed. Teachers chased primary school students outside as the quake hit. Roads cracked and power lines fell to the ground. A tsunami warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a bulletin. It said it was unknown if a tsunami was generated, but the warning was based on the size of the earthquake.
Three people, two from heart attacks, when a major earthquake hit northwestern Costa Rica on Wednesday, authorities said. At least 20 people were injured and two others were missing, but the Red Cross said those numbers could rise as damage assessment teams reached more areas. Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, however, said there were no deaths caused by the earthquake, contradicting the Red Cross. The quake â initially rated at magnitude 7.9 but then revised by the the U.S. Geological Survey to 7.6 â struck at 10:42 a.m. ET at a depth of about 25 miles about 7 miles southeast of Nicoya. The town of 15,000 people is near the Pacific coast, about 90 miles from the capital, San Jose. Government buildings, including the National Assembly complex in San Jose, were under evacuation orders, the newspaper La Nacion reported. Thousands of youngsters were sent home from school as a precaution against aftershocks. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center canceled tsunami warnings for Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua.A man died in Nicoya when a wall fell on him, said Vanessa Rosales, president of the National Emergency Commission. He wasn’t immediately identified. A second person, identified only as an elderly man named Smith, died of a heart attack in San Antonio in Desamparados province, authorities said. A woman from the Pacific coastal town of Carrillo also died from a heart attack during the quake, Eva Camargo, director of the hospital in Filadelfia, told the news service Terra. The woman was about 55 years old and had the surnames Rodriguez Machado. Camargo said the hospital was treating at least 20 people for quake-related injuries. Two other people suffered minor injuries at the Hotel Barceló Tambor Beach in Playa Tambor, said Alcides Gonzalez, mayor of the coastal town of Paquera. The nature of their injuries wasn’t immediately known, but Gonzalez told La Nacion that the resort hotel was damaged when a pipe collapsed. It couldn’t be immediately determined whether the victims were tourists or hotel employees. Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Miranda met with the National Emergency Council and the International Committee of the Red Cross later in the morning. In a news conference monitored by NBC News, Chinchilla confirmed that several buildings had been damaged in the capital and called on residents of the western coast to remain calm.Power was out in Puntarenas, capital of the province of the same name, where Monsignor Sanabria Hospital was evacuated for a structural review amid visible signs of damage. A bridge over the Sucio River collapsed in the town of Sarapiqui, local media reported. Some roads were blocked by landslides, and the Red Cross said rescue teams were unable to reach some areas.
A powerful earthquake rocked Costa Rica on Wednesday, causing the deaths of at least two people, damaging buildings, and briefly triggering a tsunami warning. Unconfirmed media reports of people being treated for injuries. A spokesman for the local Red Cross said two people died during the earthquake, one from a heart attack. He was not immediately able to confirm media reports the other person had been crushed under a collapsing wall. The center had earlier warned of tsunamis for as far afield as Mexico and Peru. The quake’s epicenter was in western Costa Rica about 87 miles (140 km) from San Jose, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, and it was felt as far away as Nicaragua and Panama. The Guanacaste region around the epicenter is known for its beaches, surf and volcanoes.
…………………………………
LISS – Live Internet Seismic Server
GSN Stations
These data update automatically every 30 minutes. Last update: September 6, 2012 09:49:41 UTC
Seismograms may take several moments to load. Click on a plot to see larger image.
CU/ANWB, Willy Bob, Antigua and Barbuda
CU/BBGH, Gun Hill, Barbados
CU/BCIP, Isla Barro Colorado, Panama
CU/GRGR, Grenville, Grenada
CU/GTBY, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
CU/MTDJ, Mount Denham, Jamaica
CU/TGUH, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
IC/BJT, Baijiatuan, Beijing, China
IC/ENH, Enshi, China
IC/HIA, Hailar, Neimenggu Province, China
IC/LSA, Lhasa, China
IC/MDJ, Mudanjiang, China
IC/QIZ, Qiongzhong, Guangduong Province, China
IU/ADK, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA
IU/AFI, Afiamalu, Samoa
IU/ANMO, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
IU/ANTO, Ankara, Turkey
IU/BBSR, Bermuda
IU/CASY, Casey, Antarctica
IU/CCM, Cathedral Cave, Missouri, USA
IU/CHTO, Chiang Mai, Thailand
IU/COLA, College Outpost, Alaska, USA
IU/COR, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
IU/CTAO, Charters Towers, Australia
IU/DAV,Davao, Philippines
IU/DWPF,Disney Wilderness Preserve, Florida, USA
IU/FUNA,Funafuti, Tuvalu
IU/GNI, Garni, Armenia
IU/GRFO, Grafenberg, Germany
IU/GUMO, Guam, Mariana Islands
IU/HKT, Hockley, Texas, USA
IU/HNR, Honiara, Solomon Islands
IU/HRV, Adam Dziewonski Observatory (Oak Ridge), Massachusetts, USA
IU/INCN, Inchon, Republic of Korea
IU/JOHN, Johnston Island, Pacific Ocean
IU/KBS, Ny-Alesund, Spitzbergen, Norway
IU/KEV, Kevo, Finland
IU/KIEV, Kiev, Ukraine
IU/KIP, Kipapa, Hawaii, USA
IU/KMBO, Kilima Mbogo, Kenya
IU/KNTN, Kanton Island, Kiribati
IU/KONO, Kongsberg, Norway
IU/KOWA, Kowa, Mali
IU/LCO, Las Campanas Astronomical Observatory, Chile
IU/LSZ, Lusaka, Zambia
IU/LVC, Limon Verde, Chile
IU/MA2, Magadan, Russia
IU/MAJO, Matsushiro, Japan
IU/MAKZ,Makanchi, Kazakhstan
IU/MBWA, Marble Bar, Western Australia
IU/MIDW, Midway Island, Pacific Ocean, USA
IU/NWAO, Narrogin, Australia
IU/OTAV, Otavalo, Ecuador
IU/PAB, San Pablo, Spain
IU/PAYG Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands
IU/PET, Petropavlovsk, Russia
IU/PMG, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
IU/PMSA, Palmer Station, Antarctica
IU/POHA, Pohakaloa, Hawaii
IU/PTCN, Pitcairn Island, South Pacific
IU/PTGA, Pitinga, Brazil
IU/QSPA, South Pole, Antarctica
IU/RAO, Raoul, Kermadec Islands
IU/RAR, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
IU/RCBR, Riachuelo, Brazil
IU/RSSD, Black Hills, South Dakota, USA
IU/SAML, Samuel, Brazil
IU/SBA, Scott Base, Antarctica
IU/SDV, Santo Domingo, Venezuela
IU/SFJD, Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland
IU/SJG, San Juan, Puerto Rico
IU/SLBS, Sierra la Laguna Baja California Sur, Mexico
000
WEPA40 PHEB 051702
TSUPAC
TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 004
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1702Z 05 SEP 2012
THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC
OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...
WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
... TSUNAMI WARNING CANCELLATION ...
THE TSUNAMI WARNING AND/OR WATCH ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED FOR
COSTA RICA / PANAMA / NICARAGUA
THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY
NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND
ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 1442Z 05 SEP 2012
COORDINATES - 9.9 NORTH 85.5 WEST
DEPTH - 46 KM
LOCATION - OFF COAST OF COSTA RICA
MAGNITUDE - 7.6
MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY
GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON
------------------- ----- ------
ACAJUTLA SV 13.6N 89.8W NO TSUNAMI WAS OBSERVED
LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.
EVALUATION
ALTHOUGH SEA LEVEL READINGS DO NOT INDICATE THAT A TSUNAMI WAS
GENERATED... THERE MAY HAVE BEEN DESTRUCTIVE WAVES ALONG COASTS
NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE EPICENTER.
FOR THOSE AREAS - WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS
AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT
OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME
THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN
CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL
CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE
ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
NO TSUNAMI THREAT EXISTS FOR OTHER COASTAL AREAS IN THE PACIFIC
ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SMALL SEA LEVEL CHANGES.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW CANCELLED FOR ALL AREAS COVERED BY
THIS CENTER.
THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.
THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.
Clouds of volcanic ash from Anak Krakatau, or child of Krakatau, have become so prominent in recent days that Indonesian authorities have issued a warning for local residents and tourists. âThe ash was carried by wind from the southeast to the south, reaching Bandarlampung,â Nurhuda, head of the observation and information section of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Lampung province told state news agency Antara. The major population center of Bandarlampung is the capital of the Lampung province and is the same distance from the volcano as the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. âWe also advise fishermen and tourists not to come within a radius of 3 kilometers of Anak Krakatau. The thick plumes of smoke sent off by Krakatau contain toxic material that is hazardous for your health,â said Andi Suhardi, head of the Anak Krakatau observation post in Hargo Pancuran village. Officials advised residents to wear masks when traveling outdoors to protect themselves against the ash. Short term effects of volcanic ash could include respiratory discomfort, including nose and throat irritation. Those with pre-existing respiratory conditions could be susceptible to more long term effects.In addition to having negative effects on the human population, volcanic ash has also been proven to be harmful to livestock. The ash has been observed causing cosmetic damage, such as abrasion of the teeth, as well as more dire impacts like fluorine poisoning from the heightened levels of hydrogen fluoride found in volcanic debris. Following the 1995 Mount Ruapehu eruptions in New Zealand, two thousand sheep died after being affected by fluorosis while grazing on land littered with the ash. The added weight of ash in the animalsâ wool also led to widespread fatigue affecting the flocks. Observations of Anak Krakatau could be hinting toward a major eruption as the volcanology office in Bandung has recorded almost 90 eruptions per day over the past week. In addition, Nurhuda added that the volcano has been observed spewing red hot lava up almost 1000 feet above its peak in recent days. A major eruption of the tiny island volcano would be the first one for Indonesia since the eruption of Mount Merapi. In October 2010, the Indonesian government sounded the alarm regarding Mount Merapi and warned villagers in threatened areas to move to safe areas. The evacuation orders affected at least 19,000 people, but by the time volcanic activity had subsided, over 350,000 people were displaced.The eruptions would eventually claim the lives of 353 people with a number of victims succumbing to severe burns and some bodies being found on the volcanoâs slopes. The mountain continued to erupt until November 2010 and on December 3rd the official alert status was reduced to level 3, from level 4, the highest possible level. After the eruptions at Mount Merapi subsided, officials declared them the worst the country had seen since the 1870s. In addition to death, damage and displacement, the volcanic activity also disrupted air travel, grounding flights from Indonesia and Australia for over a month.
The Fuego volcano in central Guatemala is continuing to erupt, shooting lava and columns of ash into the air, and causing concerns of a possible ash cloud that could halt flights in the area. The volcano overlooks the tourist city of Antigua and is one of central America’s most active volcanoes. Lava flows of around 1000m are being spewed out down the west and east sides of the volcano. No evacuations have been ordered, but aviation authorities have been alerted about a potential ash cloud, and air traffic is expected to be hindered.
A severe weather watch is in place for Canterbury today, after Christchurch was hit by freakish weather last night leaving conservatories damaged and lifting a roof off a house.
Emergency services in Christchurch were kept on their toes when lightning, thunder, rain and hail the size of golf balls hit the region shortly after 6pm. It finished just after 7pm.
MetService said that the weather watch covers the possibility of northwesterlies gusting to severe gale strength at times in inland parts of Canterbury, Otago and Southland from late Wednesday through Thursday.
The Fire Service received about 20 callouts during and after the storm last night, about damage to roofs and conservatories from the hail, but many were false alarms triggered by the weather.
“Two conservatories collapsed because of the hail, and we had to assist one family whose roof had begun to lift,” a Fire Service spokesman told NZ Newswire.
The spectacular show could be seen and heard over most of the city, with MetService reporting more than 200 lightning flashes during the storm.
Joy Hartley-Anderson commented on the ONE News Facebook page that the storm “was awesome”.
“Just something special for us from mother nature to mark the two year anniversary of shaking the crap out of us.. ,” she posted.
On September 4, 2010, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook the ground beneath Christchurch more strongly than it had for thousands of years.
Flo Brown posted that the weather display was “amazing” and a “very special light display”.
However, Tania Ake said it was “pretty bad at Redwood” and freaked her out.
The storm caused a power outage in the Southbridge, but electricity company Orion managed to restore power to all but four customers.
The last time Canterbury had a hail storm of this size, there were a huge number of insurance claims for hail damage on vehicles.
Meanwhile, MetService said strong westerlies should remain over central New Zealand this morning.
The forecaster said westerlies could become severe gale strength at times in central Hawkes Bay and northern Wairarapa this morning.
Today
Extreme Weather
USA
State of Kentucky, [Louisville and Jeffersonville]
A severe thunderstorm rumbled through the region Wednesday afternoon, knocking out power for more than 6,000 people in Jefferson County and causing temporary flooding of some Louisville streets. Lightning strikes from the storm caused two house fires in Jefferson County, said Jody Johnson Duncan, a spokeswoman for MetroSafe Communications. The fires, at 2201 Deveron Drive in Shively and 7007 Windham Parkway in Prospect, were reported between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. No injuries were reported from the fires. The storm also caused several blown electrical transformers and knocked down wires around the city, Johnson Duncan said. Two people had to be rescued from their vehicles after driving into high water at South 7th Street and Berry Boulevard. The Jefferson County Public Schools delayed releasing elementary students while the storm passed through, said Rick Caple, the transportation director. The weather service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the storm, which it said was capable of producing damaging winds of more than 60 mph. The Metropolitan Sewer District, which tracks rainfall closely at several monitors, said that the storm produced 1.25 inches of rain in about 30 minutes, with some areas getting up to a half inch in as little as five minutes. Water pressure from the storm blew the covers off about 10 manholes, but all MSD storm water and sewer facilities were operating after the storm, said MSD spokesman Steve Tedder. He said a few pumping stations used backup power. Several trees were reported down in Jeffersonville, the weather service said. A weather spotter also reported a large tree down on a railroad track in Anchorage and another person reported on Facebook that a small car was crushed at Woodbourne Avenue. More than 6,000 electric customers in Jefferson County were without service at 6 p.m., according to Louisville Gas & Electric. The outages were spread across the county, with the outages tracking the path of the storm. The weather service also issued a tornado warning for northeastern Shelby County that was in effect until 5:05 p.m. There were no immediate reports of tornadoes.
An overnight wind storm with gusts of over 100 miles an hour at high elevations knocked out power to at least half of Alaska’s largest city in the biggest outage in Anchorage’s center in decades, municipal and utility officials said on Wednesday. “It’s incredibly substantial. A huge proportion of Anchorage is affected,” said Dawn Brantley, emergency program manager for the Municipality of Anchorage. She said she did not know yet what percentage of the city overall had been affected but called the outage the biggest for downtown Anchorage in decades. Electricity was cut to at least half of Anchorage, including nearly all customers of the utility that serves the central part of the city, the officials said. Tens of thousands of homes and businesses remained without power by midday on Wednesday, Brantley said. Both of Anchorage’s electrical utilities, city-owned Municipal Light and Power and member-owned Chugach Electric Association, suffered outages. Power outages caused schools, local colleges and state offices to close on Wednesday. Access to Joint Base Elemendorf-Richardson was limited to essential workers. But municipal offices were open, Brantley said. The storm knocked down large trees and caused some property damage, but no storm-related injuries were reported, she said.
(Francisco Seco/ Associated Press ) – A firefighter steps back while working to douse a fire in Alvaiazere, center Portugal, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012. A Portuguese official says authorities have asked other European countries to send help as the country’s firefighters struggle to contain forest blazes being fueled by high temperatures and strong winds. More than 1,700 firefighters, almost 500 vehicles and 13 aircraft fought blazes mostly in the north of the country.
By Associated Press, Published: September 4
LISBON, Portugal — Water-dumping aircraft from Spain and France on Tuesday joined Portugal’s battle to halt the spread of wildfires through thick woodland in the country’s north left tinder-dry by months of drought.Spain and France sent two aircraft each, Portugal’s Civil Protection Service said, a day after authorities appealed for help for fire crews struggling to contain blazes amid high temperatures and strong winds.
At mid-afternoon Tuesday, the Civil Protection Service said just over 1,000 firefighters were tackling 10 blazes in steep hills and dense forests in northern Portugal.More than 350 vehicles and 19 aircraft, including those from Spain and France, were on duty, it said on its website.Interior Minister Miguel Macedo met with national fire officials at their command center just outside Lisbon and said the temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), high winds and difficult terrain “have produced what firefighters call a perfect storm.”He said the difficult conditions were forecast to continue another 48 hours.Portugal is in the grip of one of its worst droughts in recent memory. At the end of July, 58 percent of Portugal was enduring extreme drought conditions and 26 percent was in severe drought, the two highest classifications, according to the Meteorological Institute.The lack of rain has left forests vulnerable. Between January and July, fires scorched some 67,000 hectares (165,550 acres) of forest and scrubland — triple the amount recorded in the same period last year, the National Forest Authority said in its latest report.The Civil Protection Service said firefighters extinguished two major forest blazes that had burned for more than 30 hours from Sunday and claimed the life of one person.In remote villages, locals used buckets and garden hoses to douse flames encroaching on their homes as black smoke billowed across blue skies.Despite the difficulties, Tuesday was quieter than the previous day when more than 7,300 firefighters and almost 2,000 vehicles attended 289 major forest blazes.The largest outbreak was in Ourem, near Leiria, where a blaze that started midday Sunday killed a 54-year-old farmer trying to protect his property. That fire was brought under control early Tuesday.
The 6 hurricanes so far in 2012 matches the average number in an entire season slightly less than half way through. NOAA’s updated hurricane forecast called for 5-8 hurricanes, 2 to 3 of which would be major (category 3 or higher). So far, there have been no major hurricanes.
While forecasting hurricane intensity is highly uncertain, Leslie has the potential to strengthen into a major hurricane. By Saturday, the National Hurricane Center predicts its peak winds will be 110 mph – which is right at the major hurricane threshold (category 3 storms have maximum winds of at least 111 mph).
We’ll have more on Leslie and the rest of the tropics tomorrow.
The extremely active 2012 Atlantic hurricane season continues. Leslie and Michael are swirling in the open sea, while a piece of Isaac’s remnants might regenerate into tropical storm Nadine.
Model forecasts for tropical storm Leslie steer it towards Bermuda Saturday into SundayBermuda, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland need to be on-guard for possible impacts from Leslie. The northern Gulf Coast should keep an eye on the ghost of Isaac.
Leslie
In the past six days, Leslie has been in a moderate-to-high shear environment, limiting its intensity, but not dismantling it. Now, models are in fairly good agreement that the shear should subside and the storm will finally become a hurricane.
While the track remains far off the U.S. East Coast, Leslie could impact Bermuda later this weekend, and likely as a rather strong hurricane.
The latest suite of model runs keeps a tight cluster centered on the tiny island. At 11 a.m. this morning, Leslie’s maximum sustained winds were 70 mph; it was centered about 470 miles south-southeast of Bermuda and drifting north at 2mph. In the longer term, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland need to be on the lookout.
Michael
Michael formed on Monday afternoon as a depression, but was quickly upgraded to the 13th named storm of the season on Tuesday morning.
It’s a very small system, with tropical storm force winds extending just 35 miles from the center (recall Isaac’s typically extended about 200 miles from the center). It is very far from any land, but the best reference point would be the Azores islands, 1155 miles to the northeast.
Michael is a 50 mph tropical storm and is not forecast to change much in the coming days… perhaps gradually strengthening as it meanders generally northward.
Isaac/Nadine
Finally, in an unusual fashion, the remnants of Isaac may be making a comeback… over the northern Gulf coast!
Tracing the low-level circulation (850mb vorticity – area of spin about 5,000 feet aloft) over the past week reveals a complex history of what was once Hurricane Isaac. After moving inland across Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, the circulation was distorted and ripped apart by a trough.
I simplified the events that transpired in the crude diagram shown here (to the right). Sometime around Monday, it appears that a part of the circulation split off to the northeast and a part split off to the south. This was not a clean separation, and someone else might analyze the circulation tracks slightly differently. But the basic point is that there is a disturbance re-entering the northern Gulf of Mexico that has some of Isaac in its “genes”. However, should this disturbance become a tropical storm, it would get a new name – Nadine – because there is not enough of Isaac’s circulation in its pedigree. As the National Hurricane Center described on its Facebook page:
There have been quite a few inquiries about whether the name “Isaac” would be given to the area of disturbed weather currently located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, if it were to develop into a tropical cyclone. The short answer is no, it would get a new name.
As of this morning, the disturbance is certainly active and producing heavy rain (regional radar loop) across parts of LA, MS, AL, and FL, but the bulk of the thunderstorm activity is offshore. For the most part, model guidance suggests that it will continue to drift toward the Gulf, then get nudged back east toward northern Florida… making “landfall” this weekend. Even if it doesn’t get named or develop beyond what it is now, it should still be a big rain maker for the northeast Gulf coast over the next few days.
We’re also already on the 13th named storm as of September 4th, which isn’t a record, but it’s really close. The only years to beat that date are 2005 and 2011 when the 13th named storm formed on September 2nd. Since records began 160 years ago, only about 8% of years even reach the 13th named storm by the END of the season, let alone prior to the peak.
But, in terms of major hurricanes (Category 3+), this season is definitely lagging behind its peers. By this date in 2005, we already had three major hurricanes (Dennis, Emily, and Katrina), and by this date in 2011, we had one major hurricane (Katia). This year, we have had none.
* Brian McNoldy is a senior researcher at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
The aftermath of Hurricane Isaac has washed ashore tens of thousands of dead “swamp rats,” invasive species whose rotting corpses are now presenting a health hazard in Mississippi.
The drowned rodents, known as nutria, are a stark reminder of the effects of hurricanes on wildlife, which can range from mass death to – surprisingly enough – dolphin baby booms. In the case of the nutria, the drownings may be a blessing for the Gulf Coast, where the beaver-like creatures wreck havoc on native marsh vegetation.
The clean-up, though, is proving unpleasant.
“They’re actually starting to swell up and bust,” Hancock County Supervisor David Yarborough told local news station WLOX. “It smells really bad.”
Nutria aren’t the only animals to suffer after hurricanes. A study of alligators in southwest Louisiana after Hurricane Rita hit in 2005 found that the reptiles were physically stressed a month after the initial storm surge inundated their marshy habitat. Blood tests on the gators showed elevated stress hormones as well as other signs of ill health, the researchers reported in February 2010 in the Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological Genetics and Physiology.
Research on Florida manatees has suggested that docile “sea cows” die more frequently during years with extreme storms, perhaps due to immediate causes like getting swept out to sea, or perhaps due to post-hurricane environmental changes such as cooling in coastal waters, according to a 2006 paper published in the journal Estuaries and Coasts. That study tracked a handful of manatees through the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons and found that the animals tended to “ride out” the storms in place rather than attempt to avoid them.
Other studies have found changes in fish populations right after hurricanes, as well as changes in phytoplankton, the algal basis of the ocean food chain, though these changes are short-lived. Sometimes, though, hurricane effects echo over long time periods. A 2010 study on bottlenose dolphins found that two years after Hurricane Katrina, the number of baby dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico suddenly skyrocketed.
Some of the jump could be explained by dolphin mamas getting pregnant sooner than usual after losing their previous calves in the storm, the researchers reported in the journal Marine Mammal Science. But the storm had another effect: It destroyed a significant chunk of the Gulf of Mexico fishing fleet. Fewer fishermen meant more food for dolphins and their young, the researchers concluded.
Nutria death zone
Mississippi’s nutria population took a hit from Isaac. Sanitation workers have been cleaning up the carcasses with pitchforks and front-end loaders.
“Estimates are there will be over 20,000 carcasses, but that is unclear now,” Robbie Wilbur, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, told LiveScience. “Eventually, the totals will be numerated in tons when they’re all disposed.”
The carcasses are being sent to the Pecan Grove landfill in Harrison County, Miss., Wilbur added.
“It’s starting to get bad,” said Mark Williams of the Department of Environmental Quality’s Solid Waste Management branch. “It’s heated up over the last two or three days, and of course that really expedites the degradation process.”
Nutria are native to South America, but the rodents were brought to North America in the late 1800s and farmed for their fur. Escaped and released nutria established themselves in the marshes of the Gulf Coast, where they gnaw the roots of marsh plants, destroying the vegetal web that keeps the marshes from washing away.
Hurricane Isaac likely won’t set Mississippi’s nutria population back for long. Nutria can produce litters with as many as 13 babies, and they’re capable of reproducing twice a year starting at as early as four months of age. Baby nutria begin supplementing their mother’s milk with marsh vegetation within hours of birth.
Thousands of homes were without power across Perth this afternoon in the aftermath of a cold front that lashed the city today.
A Western Power spokeswoman said thousands of homes had without power at different times during the day, but the number was steadily decreasing.
Midland, Upper Swan and Pickering Brook were the worst affected areas.
Many home owners are tonight counting the cost of damage caused by the storm.
Nine News reports that a lightning strike caused a fire at a house in Bellevue caused more than $100,000 in damage, while wild winds brought down trees, including one in Forrestfield that crushed a car.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology warns that widespread damaging winds could tonight affect areas in a line south from Augusta to Lake Grace to Israelite Bay, including people in or near Bridgetown, Albany, Katanning and Esperance.
A deep low south of Bremer Bay will move eastwards during the evening, producing winds up to 100km/h which could result in damage to homes and property.
Dangerous gusts in excess of 125 km/h could cause significant damage or destruction to homes and property in localised areas.
Isolated thunderstorms and small hail is also possible.
The Bureau warned of dangerous surf conditions which could cause significant beach erosion.
Broad cold front sweeps over Western Australia
A cold front, which crossed the coast from Geraldton, 450km north of Perth, to Bremer Bay, 500km southeast, late yesterday brought widespread heavy rains and hail today.
There were numerous reports of small, but intense hailstorms across the metro area, including the city, Ellenbrook, Woodvale and Midland to the east.
One PerthNow commenter, from Midland, said a fierce hailstorm had left the ground white, as if it had snowed.
Today’s cold, wintry weather comes after yesterday’s strong cold front brought squally thunderstorms packing potential wind gusts up to 125km/h which swept across the South West and metropolitan area yesterday afternoon, hitting areas from Geraldton to Narrogin to Albany last night.
The State Emergency Service received 35 calls for help during and after the storm, mainly in the metro area for minor damage to homes and fallen trees on patios.
Heavy rain in South-West, Perth Hills
In the South West Forest Grove recorded 50mm, Cowaramup 47mm; Witchcliffe, just south of Margaret River, and Donnybrook had 43mm; Cape Naturaliste 33mm and Bunbury 27mm, with many centres receiving 20mm or more.
Further north, Dwellingup, 97km south of Perth, got 52mm; Bickley in the Perth Hills received a drenching with 67mm; Swanbourne 41mm and Jandakot 33mm. Perth city recorded 27mm and Perth Airport 31mm.
Most stations in the Hills received 40mm or more, with Pickering Brook 56mm; Karnet and Mundaring 46mm.
Strong winds buffeted most of the South West and the city with gusts recorded over 100km/h. Mandurah had a gust of 102km/h and Rottnest Island 96km/h.
Good rainfalls reached most of the Wheatbelt with farmers welcoming much-needed falls of 15mm to 30mm to boost yields on all grain crops.
In the Central West, Dandaragan had 24mm; Badgingarra 22mm, Northampton 18mm, Mingenew 17mm; and Morawa 11mm, with Geraldton Airport recording just over 8mm. But much of the region received 15mm or more.
In the Great Southern Wandering got 35mm, Williams 27mm, Katanning 25mm, Narrogin 24mm, Brookton 21mm and Lake Grace 10mm.
In the Central Wheatbelt, where farmers are desperate for rain, York got 26mm, Wongan Hills 17mm; Northam 16mm.
Sheep farmers warning
Sheep farmers in the Lower West, Great Southern, Southwest, South Coastal,Southeast Coastal, and the southern parts of the Central Wheat Belt and Central West districts are advised that wet and windy conditions are expected during Tuesday as a deep low pressure system moves to the south of the state. There is a serious risk of sheep or lamb losses.
A hailstorm has battered Johannesburg, with several road accidents being reported. Radio 702’s early morning show has been inundated with calls and SMSes from people reporting heavy hail and rain. Several said road conditions were very poor and urged motorists to drive with extreme caution. Presenter Ray White said he had heard of a fatal accident in Randfontein. A caller said she was stuck behind a three-car pile-up. One man, calling from Rosebank, said: “It’s white, white, white.” Another woman said that even though she was driving at 50km/h, her brakes were not working because of the slipperiness of the roads. On Twitter at 5.57am, the SA Weather Service posted this warning: “Severe thunderstorm over N. Joburg and Centurion with possible heavy falls that might lead to road flooding within the next 30min.”
Heavy rain and a high tide caused flooded streets in Fall River on Wednesday. Trucks, cars and ambulances tried to navigate streets that looked more like rivers. Flash floods forced people to abandon cars and even trapped some people inside Bruce Morrow’s sporting goods store. “We were inside and people all of a sudden the people inside said, ‘Hey the water is coming in the doors,’” said Morrow. Close to 40 people were trapped in the store during the torrential downpour and flash flooding. “He told us we could leave, but where were we going to go? Honestly, the water was all the way up. Where were you going to go? Swim across to a truck that’s submerged?” said Melonie O’Brien, who was trapped in the store. Some drivers plowed through flooded streets, leaving small wakes in their path. Roads were closed; cars were diverted or abandoned in the middle of the madness. “My car is here. Now I have to walk to work because I can’t get by anywhere,” said Shannon Sousa, who abandoned her car. “Just made it here, but all over it’s completely flooded. It’s ridiculous. It’s like the whole city is shut down right now.” The ramp to 24 at Exit 8A was waterlogged and closed to traffic. The only way people were getting around at the height of the storm was on foot and without shoes. Everything in the town was soaked. “This is the worst it’s ever been in the last 22 years since we’ve been here. Just two weeks ago it was almost this bad. This is the worst,” said John Norfolk, who is cleaning up after his store flooded. The Red Cross is on the scene trying to help some of the stores and businesses that have been drenched with the torrential rains.
Torrential rains and floods yesterday killed at least 15 people in Pakistan, officials said. Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the north and the southern port city of Karachi were among the worst-hit areas. Police officer Malik Shafiq said “13 people, including three women, were swept away” by a flooded stream in Machhera village, about 35kms from the Kahmir capital Muzaffarabad. “So far we recovered one body while efforts were underway to find others,” Shafiq said. Rescue work was underway, he added. He adding there were also reports of landslide in the area. “The water level is still very high and has hampered the rescue operation. It seems that there is no chance for any survival,” Ansar Yaqoob, a senior government official added. Two people died when the roof of their house collapsed due to rain in the Hafizabad district of Punjab province. Police said more people were still trapped under the debris. In Karachi, prolonged power cuts and gridlocks were reported after heavy rainfall as officials struggled to restore electricity to the financial hub with a population of more than 18mn. Chief meteorologist Arif Mehmood said his department had forecast heavier monsoon rains than the previous year.
A steam leak brought on by an involuntary chemical reaction at France’s oldest nuclear plant has led to two people being slightly burnt, officials say. The accident occurred at the Fessenheim nuclear power plant in northeastern France within 1.5 kilometres of the border with Germany and about 40 kilometres from Switzerland. “It was not a fire,” the local prefecture said. “There was an outlet of oxygenated steam” produced after hydrogen peroxide reacted with water in a reservoir. About 50 firefighters have been deployed, an official from the service said. French power supplier EDF said “two people were slightly burnt through their gloves.”
Five people in the Auckland region have been diagnosed with potentially fatal meningococcal disease in the past week. Auckland Regional Public Health Service said no-one had died from it and no links between the cases had been established. Since January, 16 people in Auckland have contracted meningococcal disease – less than the 23 patients diagnosed with it during the same period in 2011. The last death from meningococcal disease reported in Auckland was in August last year. Meningococcal disease can be life threatening if it is not treated early. The health service is encouraging Aucklanders to remain alert for flu-like symptoms that become worse within two or three days. On Monday, a Wellington teenager died from suspected meningococcal disease. It is the first suspected meningococcal death in that region this year. Amanda Crook-Barker had the day off school after feeling “a little bit sick”. The 12-year-old vomited in the morning and developed a rash around 3pm. Ambulance staff were called after her symptoms worsened and she died in hospital at 5pm.
Biohazard name:
Neisseria meningitidis
Biohazard level:
3/4 Hight
Biohazard desc.:
Bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS virus, variola virus (smallpox), tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria. Among parasites Plasmodium falciparum, which causes Malaria, and Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes trypanosomiasis, also come under this level.
Meteoroids streaking through the atmospheres of planets such as Earth, Mars and Venus can change these worlds’ air, in ways that researchers are just now beginning to understand.
Most planetary atmospheres are made up of simple, low-mass elements and compounds such as carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen. But when a debris particle, or meteoroid, passes through, it can shed heavier, more exotic elements such as magnesium, silicon and iron.
Such elements can have a significant impact on the circulation and dynamics of winds in the atmosphere, researchers say.
“That opens up a whole new network of chemical pathways not usually there,” said Paul Withers of Boston University.
Contaminating the outer layers
Part of a planet’s upper atmosphere, the ionosphere contains plasma – a mixture of positively charged (ionized) atoms or molecules and the negatively charged electrons stripped from them. When simple elements such as oxygen move into this outer shell, they break apart easily, decaying in a matter of minutes.
But meteoroids streaking toward a planet’s surface carry heavier metals that can be removed in a variety of ways. A grain of dust, for instance, may rapidly burn up, shedding already-ionized magnesium as it falls. Or, neutral magnesium may be torn from the small rock, then receive a charge from sunlight or from stripping an electron from another particle. The newly charged elements can take as much as a full day to decay.
Meteoroids that blaze a trail through the atmosphere are called meteors, or shooting stars. Only those that make it to the ground are meteorites.
“When we add metal ions to the ionosphere as a result of this meteoroid input, we create plasma in regions where there wasn’t any plasma there to start out with,” Withers told SPACE.com.
In a recent article for Eos, the American Geophysical Union’s newspaper covering Earth and space sciences, Withers discusses important questions raised by the recent wealth of research on the upper atmosphere of Mars and Venus.
Shocking similarities, strange differences
Over the last decade, scientists have collected more and more information about the ionospheres of Mars and Venus. Though one might envision the composition and location of the two planets would create different interactions in the ionosphere, the two are actually very similar, scientists say.
“If you stand at the surface of the two planets, they are very different,” Withers said. “But up at about 100 kilometers (62 miles), conditions are surprisingly similar.”
The pressures, temperatures, and chemistry at high altitudes are comparable for the two planets. So too are many of the properties of the layers of charged particles shed by meteoroids.
“The plasma densities are quite similar on average on all three planets, which is not what you might expect on the first impression,” Withers said, referring to Earth, Mars and Venus.
Since the sun is the ultimate driving force for most ionization processes, it’s tempting to assume that Venus has more particles in a given area than Mars does because it orbits twice as closely to our star. Instead, the two planets have similar densities, which differ from Earth’s measurements by only a factor of ten.
At the same time, the layers affected by the meteoroids on Earth are very narrow, maybe only a mile or two wide, while Venus and Mars both have layers stretching six to eight miles.
According to Withers, the difference may come from the presence of Earth’s strong magnetic field, a feature lacking on the other two planets. But scientists aren’t certain how much of a role the field actually plays.
Finding the source
To study Earth’s ionosphere, scientists can launch rockets to take measurements in the region. But the process is more complicated for other planets.
As a spacecraft travels through the solar system, a targeted radio signal sent back to Earth can be aimed through the ionosphere of a nearby planet. Plasma in the ionosphere causes small but detectable changes in the signal that allow scientists to learn about the upper atmosphere.
This process – known as radio occultation – doesn’t require any fancy equipment, only the radio the craft already uses to communicate with scientists on Earth.
“It’s really one of the workhorse planetary science instruments,” Withers said.
Because it is so simple, the process has been applied to every planet ever visited by spacecraft.
Only in recent years has enough data come back on Venus and Mars to seriously examine their upper atmospheres. As of yet, no numerical simulations have been created to explain some of the differences, but Withers expressed hope that this would change in the near future. Such simulations could help answer some of the questions that the observations have raised.
Withers also hopes that, in time, a detailed understanding of the ionosphere could even help scientists engage in a kind of “atmospheric archeology” for Venus and Mars.
One day, scientists may be able to track the history of comets in the solar system by measuring how planetary atmospheres have been affected by the icy wanderers’ shed dust and gas. But conclusions drawn by this sort of sleuthing are probably a ways down the road, Withers said.
A new strain of avian flu virus that was found in China two months ago has appeared in Vietnam, health experts have confirmed. The new strain, 2.3.2.1 C, which has been detected through epidemic investigations, is highly toxic and therefore extremely deadly, Diep Kinh Tan, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said at a meeting on September 4 to review the epidemic situation. The 2.3.2.1 C strain has recently spread to Vietnam and is now present in affected areas in seven provinces and cities, namely Haiphong, Ha Tinh, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Bac Kan, Thanh Hoa and Quang Ngai, said Hoang Van Nam, head of the Department of Animal Health (DoAH). As the new strain is different from the A/H5N1 virus, the ministry is to conduct experiments and tests to confirm if the vaccines that are being used to combat A/H5N1 are also effective against the new strain.If the existing medication is ineffective, studies on new vaccines against the new strain should be conducted soon, Tan said, adding that he has asked the DoAH to isolate the virus for this purpose. The Central Veterinary Diagnosis Center is also monitoring and looking into the new strain to help find a specific medication against it. The avian flu has so far this year severely impacted the seven above-mentioned provinces and cities, with more than 181,000 ducks and chicken having died or been culled, the DoAH reported. Most of these provinces are involved in smuggling poultry from China that might have carried pathogens that were then spread to domestic poultry, the department said.
Biohazard name:
H5N1 (2.3.2.1 C) – Very highly pathogenic avian influenza virus – New strain
Biohazard level:
4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.:
Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status:
confirmed
06.09.2012
Biological Hazard
Canada
Province of Ontario, [From Port Stanley in Elgin County to the village of Morpeth in Chatham-Kent]
Tens of thousands of rotting fish are lining a 40-kilometre stretch of shoreline along Lake Erie, reports the provincial environment ministry, which is investigating the cause. A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Environment said Tuesday the kill was reported on the weekend. So far it appears the fish may have died from the affects of a naturally occurring lake inversion rather than a spill, but cautioned the investigation is continuing. The question now is which agency is responsible for cleaning up the rotting carcasses of thousands of yellow perch, carp, sheepshead, catfish, big head buffalo and suckers, which kept untold beachgoers from enjoying their Labour Day weekend. “It (the water) was quite putrid really … I had never experienced anything like this,” said Neville Knowles, of London, Ont. and cottager at Rondeau Provincial Park for more than 50 years. The dead fish stretch from west of the fishing village of Port Stanley in Elgin County to the village of Morpeth in Chatham-Kent or just east of Rondeau. “There was a significant number of fish, tens of thousands,” the environment ministry’s Kate Jordan told the Star. Jordan said the ministry officials took fish and water samples for analysis, “but all observations made at the site … did not show anything unusual and we did not see any evidence of … a spill to the lake or man-made pollution … so we are considering natural causes, including a lake inversion.” She explained that an inversion happens when the surface water cools down dramatically, sinks and displaces the bottom layer, which has lower oxygen content. As the bottom layer is displaced, it rises and robs fish of oxygen needed to survive. The phenomenon is also referred to as the lake “rolling over.” Even so, some residents are suspicious just the same that run-off from a large pig operation along the stretch may have caused the fish to die, said Knowles, who quickly added there is nothing to support that position.
Biohazard name:
Mass. Die-off (fishes)
Biohazard level:
0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:
This does not included biological hazard category.
The Coast Guard is investigating about 90 reports of oil and chemical releases associated with Hurricane Isaac, including a leak from a closed storage facility in Plaquemines Parish that killed several brown pelicans, officials said Tuesday. Separately, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries closed a stretch of coastline from Elmer’s Island to Belle Pass after a tar mat appeared in the Gulf of Mexico and tar balls washed ashore. The closure affects commercial and recreational fisheries from the shore to one mile offshore. The agency and Department of Environmental Quality will determine the source of the oil, but its location has stoked concerns that it is remnants of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil leak. The Coast Guard did not address Tuesday’s coastal closure, which happened hours after senior officers, including Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp, held a press conference at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans’s headquarters in Algiers. But Coast Guard officials said that in addition to causing new spills, hurricanes do stir up oil resting the seabed. “It often happens, particularly down here in the Gulf area,” Papp said. Oil samples have been sent to a Coast Guard laboratory in New London, Conn., for analysis, which is expected to take a week, Lt. Lily Zepeda said. The Coast Guard is responding to “several different reports of oil,” including at Myrtle Grove in Plaquemines Parish, said Rear Adm. Roy Nash, commander of the 8th Coast Guard District, whose headquarters is in New Orleans.A “defunct” terminal with storage tanks at Myrtle Grove leaked oil that has been contained, said Capt. Peter Gautier, commander of Coast Guard Sector New Orleans and captain of the port of New Orleans. But the oil contaminated seven or eight brown pelicans. “Several of those are dead,” he said. Other reports range from lose barrels to overturned rail cars and tanks that are not leaking, Gautier said. He also cited a chemical release in Braithwaite, the scene of some of Isaac’s most serious flooding that left two people dead and scores of others homeless when the storm surge topped a parish-owned levee. Incidents reported to the Coast Guard’s National Response Center last week include an oil storage barge carrying 1,646 barrels of crude oil that was missing from an oil production facility in Barataria Bay; a discharge from an offshore platform near South Pass; and a release from a platform near High Island because of an equipment malfunction after the platform was evacuated. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., also at the press conference, called Isaac’s hovering on the region for 60 hours “unprecedented.”"It could have been a lot worse, considering he infrastructure,” Landrieu said of the region’s petroleum industry. She also used Isaac to renew her call to provide hurricane protection to communities such as Venice in Lower Plaquemines, home to people who work in the offshore industry and maritime commerce. “This is a very strategic area for the United States of America,” Landrieu said. Papp, the senior most Coast Guard officer, said he traveled to the Gulf Coast “to thank my Coast Guard people” for their response to Isaac. He also said Coast Guard personnel stationed in the region were impacted by the storm like everyone else.
A cave-in at a construction site injured eight workers and trapped at least one other in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Wednesday, local authorities said. The collapse happened at 7:30 am in the underground structure of a planned market for home furnishings and building materials in Qiaokou district. A staff member of the market, who declined to give a name, said that the workers were pouring concrete over the roof of the building when the collapse happened. At least one worker remained trapped in the rubble and a search by three teams of firefighters continued, said an official surnamed Tong from the fire control department of Wuhan on Wednesday. The cave-in caused a clutter of steel bars and concrete that made the rescue work difficult, Tong said. Eight injured people pulled from the debris were sent to Wuhan No 10 Hospital for treatment. Six workers were slightly injured and two critically, a doctor at the hospital said. A resident surnamed Wang who lives near the construction site said that he heard a loud bang and felt a tremor when the site collapsed. The construction company for the project is Zhejiang Baoye Construction Group.
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” data-mce-href=”http://theextinctionprotocol.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/01.png?w=640″>May 19, 2012 – CHILE – A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Antofagasta, Chile. The depth of the earthquake was 25 km (15.5 m) and was downgraded from a 6.2 magnitude quake by the USGS. The epicenter of the earthquake was 54 km (33 miles) SW of Taltal, Antofagasta, Chile and 849 km (527 miles) N of Santiago, Chile. This is the third moderate earthquake to strike along the Chilean coastline in five days. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coastal region of Aisen, Chile on May 18. A 6.2 earthquake also struck near Tarapaca on May 14. Tension continues to mount on the very dangerous Nazca plate which is violently diving or undergoing subduction under the South American plate. The absolute motion of the Nazca Plate has been calibrated at 3.7 cm/yr east motion (88°), some of the fastest absolute motion of any tectonic plate. The subducting Nazca Plate, which exhibits unusual flat-slab subduction, is tearing as well as deforming as it is subducted under the land mass. No tsunami warnings were issued with today’s 5.9 earthquake and there have been no reports of damage or injuries. Today’s earthquake, however, is one more indication tension along the Nazca tectonic plate is building. This region should remain alert for the potential occurrence of a stress-break or sizable release of seismic tension that could be manifested in a major earthquake. –The Extinction Protocol
A report, published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, has unveiled recently that a volcano, namely Indonesia’s Mount Marapi, erupted early Friday at 7:15 a. m. local time, lasting for nearly ten minutes.
It has been found that the volcano has had several such eruptions since when its alert status was updated last August. Also, the same has erupted for a total of around 454 times since the late eighteenth century till 2008.
While a majority of these were minor eruptions, fifty of them were significant, last in the year 2005, found the team of researchers from Oregon State University.
The erupted volcano is located in the province of West Sumatra, near the cities and town of Bukittinggi, Padang Panjang and Batusangkar in West Sumatra. As per the findings, the volcano is the most active one.
It is being said that its eruptions had killed 300 people between October and November and had caused around 300,000 people to relocate as well. “Our study found some of the first evidence that the region has a much more explosive history than perhaps has been appreciated”, said Morgan Salisbury, lead author.
May 19 (Reuters) – Guatemala’s Fuego volcano belched burning lava and black ash into the sky early Saturday, leading the government to issue an airplane advisory and close sections of highway.
The volcano, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, erupted about 2:45 a.m. (0745 GMT), spewing a column of ash up to 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above the crater and launching burning red lava nearly 1,300 feet (400 meters) high.
The national emergency commission issued an advisory, warning planes not to fly within a 25-mile (40 kilometer) radius of the volcano. The La Aurora international airport in Guatemala City remained open.
The commission also closed two stretches of highway threatened by lava flows that reached the base of the mountain.
Guatemala’s four active volcanoes have a history of causing shut downs. In 2010, an explosion at the Pacaya volcano about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Guatemala City coated the city in a thick layer of black ash and rock, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate and closing the international airport. (Reporting By Mike McDonald; Editing by Bill Trott)
MIAMI — The National Hurricane Center is keeping an eye on a low pressure system off the South Carolina coast to see if it will develop into a tropical depression or storm.
An advisory issued Saturday said satellite and radar images shows the system about 120 miles southeast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., has begun to acquire more tropical characteristics as showers and thunderstorms increased near the circulation center.
Forecasters say additional development of the system is possible, meaning it could become a tropical depression or a tropical storm over the next day or so. The hurricane center says the system has a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone, and could move either to the south or west during the next 48 hours.
MessageToEagle.com – Scientists are still unable to determine what is causing the “warming hole” over United States.
Some have suggested natural variations in sea surface temperatures could be responsible, but recent studies indicate the hole has been created due to air pollution.
Temperatures are increasing on global scale, but in the central and eastern United States warming has not kept pace with other parts of the world over much of the last century.
As shown in the lower map, which is based on data from NASA’s Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP), parts of the United States even cooled between 1930 and 1990. Areas of the greatest cooling are blue; those that warmed are red.
Climate scientists have taken to calling the large area of cooling a “warming hole” because the areas surrounding it have warmed at a faster rate.
While working at Harvard University, Eric Leibensperger used global climate models to estimate the cooling effect sulfates have had on the climate of the United States since 1950.As seen in the top map, they found that between 1970 and 1990-the period when sulfates were at their highest levels-average temperatures were nearly 1°Celsius (1.8°Fahrenheit) cooler in a core area centered on Arkansas and Missouri and about 0.7°Celsius cooler in a larger tear-drop region throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.
The cooling effect extended into the North Atlantic Ocean as well; sulfate pollution lowered sea surface temperatures there by 0.3°Celsius.
Image credit: NASA
Leibensperger’s research also shows that the cooling effect from sulfates is diminishing.
The amount of the pollutant in the atmosphere has declined significantly in the last few decades due to the Clean Air Act.
According to Environmental Protection Agency estimates, the amount of sulfur dioxide (a precursor to sulfates) released into the atmosphere fell by 58 percent between 1980 and 2010. Satellites have confirmed the decrease; the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite observed a sharp decline in sulfates over the eastern United States between 2005 and 2010.
As a response to the declining sulfate levels, Leibensperger’s modeling shows temperatures over the central and eastern United States have increased by 0.3°Celsius between 1980 and 2010. How much more warming can we expect as sulfate concentrations continue to decline? Not much, according to Leibensperger.
Sulfate concentrations have declined so much already that the impact of future decreases won’t be nearly as substantial.
MessageToEagle.com based on material provided by NASA.
On Sunday, May 20th, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun, producing an annular solar eclipse visible across the Pacific side of Earth. The path of annularity, where the sun will appear to be a “ring of fire,” stretches from China and Japan to the middle of North America:
An animated eclipse map prepared by Larry Koehn of ShadowandSubstance.com shows the best times to look. In the United States, the eclipse begins at 5:30 pm PDT and lasts for two hours. Around 6:30 pm PDT, the afternoon sun will become a luminous ring in places such as Medford, Oregon; Chico, California; Reno, Nevada; St. George, Utah; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas. Outside the narrow center line, the eclipse will be partial. Observers almost everywhere west of the Mississippi will see a crescent-shaped sun as the Moon passes by off-center.
Because this is not a total eclipse, some portion of the sun will always be exposed. To prevent eye damage, use eclipse glasses, a safely-filtered telescope, or a solar projector to observe the eclipse. You can make a handy solar projector by criss-crossing your fingers waffle-style. Rays of light beaming through the gaps will have the same shape as the eclipsed sun. Or look on the ground beneath leafy trees for crescent-shaped sunbeams and rings of light.
Something special is happening to Venus in the evening sky. The second planet is diving toward the sun for a much-anticipated transit on June 5-6. As Venus turns its night side toward Earth, the planet is transforming into a beautifully slender and colorful crescent:
John Chumack of Dayton, Ohio, took the picture on May 14th using a 10-inch telescope. “I was blown away by the sight of Venus,” he says. “The planet was 14% illuminated, 47 arcseconds in diameter, and blazing at -4.43 magnitude.”
The crescent shape of Venus is easy to see in good binoculars or small telescopes. No special observing experience is required. Just find Venus in the western sky after sunset (you can’t miss it), point and look. A good tripod to hold the optics steady is recommended.
As the evening wears on and Venus sinks toward the horizon, the refractive effect of Earth’s atmosphere splits the crescent into the colors of the rainbow. Kevin R. Witman of Cochranville, Pennsylvania, observed the phenomenon on May 11th: “Earth’s atmospheric refraction of Venus’s ample light made a beautiful image through my 10-inch telescope.”
MessageToEagle.com – A fascinating accretion phase of a supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy tens of millions of light years away, was observed by researchers using the light of three powerful infrared telescopes.
The resolution at which they were able to observe this highly luminescent active galactic nucleus (AGN) has given them direct confirmation of how mass accretes onto black holes in centres of galaxies.
The observation was led by Gerd Weigelt, a director of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany.
“This three-telescope interferometry is a major milestone toward directly imaging the growth phase of supermassive black holes,” said Sebastian Hoenig, a postdoctoral researcher at the UC Santa Barbara Department of Physics, and one of the astrophysicists who utilized this technique to observe the AGN at the centre of galaxy NGC 3783.
Hoenig described their findings as a ring of hot dust that marks the transition from a more-distant mixture of gas and dust in a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) structure, to a gaseous disk closer to the black hole.
The dusty part, he said, is interesting because it dominates the infrared emission of active galactic nuclei and can be easily observed.
However, observing the ring of hot dust in NGC 3783 was a challenge for the astrophysicists.
Not only is the ring distant and faint, but the ability of individual infrared telescopes to resolve distances between actively accreting objects is also highly limited.
Artist’s view of a dust torus surrounding the accretion disk and the central black hole in active galactic nuclei. Credit: NASA E/PO – Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnet
Even the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world, the Keck telescopes, were not powerful enough, though they can show objects in the infrared comparable to about the size of a football field at the distance of the moon.
To achieve that angular resolution in a single telescope, it would have to be 130 meters in diameter.
“In order to spatially resolve the accretion process onto supermassive black holes in nearby galaxies, we have to be at least a factor of ten better,” said Hoenig.
However, by using the AMBER interferometry instrument to simultaneously combine the light from three 8-meter telescopes at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, the research team was able to achieve the angular resolution needed to observe the hot dust ring.
The combination of the light from the three telescopes was no small feat, as the tiny differences in the arrival of light in the individual telescopes have to undergo constant correction with an accuracy of a few micrometers ?” roughly ten times smaller than the thickness of a hair, according to Hoenig.
Very Large Telescope Interferometer at the ESO/Paranal Observatory in Chile. Credit: Sebastian Hoenig
“The ESO VLTI provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of active galactic nuclei,” said lead researcher Weigelt.
“It allows us to study fascinating physical processes with unprecedented resolution over a wide range of infrared wavelengths. This is needed to derive physical properties of these sources.”
“Our main interest is to learn how supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies are fueled, so that they grow to the enormous million to billion solar mass objects we see today,” added Sebastian Hoenig. @ MessageToEagle.com via
http://sheilaaliens.net/?p=710 “A huge hole in the road has appeared just yards from people’s homes in Newburn, near Newcastle. The 10ft deep crater appeared suddenly on the afternoon of Thursday, May 17, taking an 8ft section of brick wall with it.
Police closed off the road for a while as experts from Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Water were called in to find the cause. Workmen were later called in to fill in the hole.
A police spokesman said: “There are a lot of mine workings around here. Possibly it is a coal working. We are still trying to work out what’s happened. “
Lynsey McMeekin, 28, of Spencer Court, whose flat looks onto the hole, said: “It is just crazy.
“When I saw all the police cordons I thought there must have been an accident. “
The crater expanded from Millfield Lane into land belonging to Just Brickwork Ltd after a dividing wall dramatically collapsed into the hole. Newburn Dene and a water culvert run underneath Millfield Lane and the Spencer Court flats, which were built in 2006.
The lane is one of the main access routes to the nearby Newburn Manor Primary School and is regularly used by parents dropping off their children at school.
Robert Lowes, 41, who lives on the nearby Manor Grove estate said the area had been blighted by sink holes for years. Just a few months ago a post box collapsed into a hole that appeared overnight.
He said: “There is subsidence all around here. “We have had other big dips in the tarmac all over the place.
MessageToEagle.com – Earth is an amazing planet and our nature is full of wonders. We have previously written about incredible singing plants.
This time we would like to focus our readers’ attention on another amazing geological phenomena, namely so-called growing stones.
It is difficult to image that stones can really grow, but these stones seem to be alive!
The Romanian Trovants Museum Natural Reserve is located in Valcea County, close to the road connecting Ramnicu Valcea and Targu Jiu, 8 km far from Horezu.
Here in a small village named Costesti, there are some fascinating and mysterious stones, called trovants, which are believed to have a life in them. Trovant is a geological term used often in Romania. It means cemented sand.
Trovants are geological phenomena which consist in spherical shapes of cemented sand, appeared due to some powerful seismic activity.The earthquakes that led to the creation of the first trovants are supposed to have taken place 6 million years ago.
What makes these trovants unique and mysterious is that are reproducing after coming in contact with water.
After heavy raining the stones grow starting with 6-8 millimetres and ending with 6-10 meters.
It’s really remarkable!
Trovants in Romania are stones that grow.
One of the strangest aspects about these stones is that although they vary in size, from a couple of millimeters to even 10 m, they are very similar, taking into account a natural law that states there are no such things as identical stones.
In addition, just like the famous rocks in Death Valley, California, the trovants often move from one place to another place.
Scientists believe that the stones increase in size due to high content of various mineral salts, which are under their shell. When the surface becomes wet, these chemicals start spreading and put pressure on the sand, making the stone “grow”.
A “living” stone.
A trovant having a strange shape.Today trovants are protected.
However, despite their best efforts, scientists have failed to come up with a logical explanation why the stones have extensions that remind of roots. If they are cut, their sections have colored rings, just like trees.
These stones behave almost like some kind of unknown inorganic life-form! We cannot deny that our planet is truly amazing!
Local residents have been aware of the stones unusual properties for more than 100 years, but they have never paid the trovants any special attention. The stones were often used as building materials and tombstones.
Today, the Trovants Museum in Romania is protected by UNESCO.
An explosion at a school in Italy Saturday injured killed one person and six students, two seriously, according to reports and officials.The blast happened at 7:45 a.m. at a school in Brindisi as students were waiting to go inside, NBC News reported.The school is opposite a court in the city.A Civil Protection Authority official told Reuters that one person had been killed and six injured.There were unconfirmed reports that the dead person was a student.
19.05.2012
Chemical Accident
USA
State of California, Los Angeles [Los Angeles harbor]
Fire officials say a large cargo ship has been evacuated in Los Angeles harbor as firefighters work to find the source of a gas leak.The incident began early Friday afternoon. Fire spokesman Matt Spence says the type of gas is unknown and may be coming from a container at the bottom of a deep stack of containers.About 25 firefighters, wearing gas masks, are working to find the source of the gas by removing the containers piece by piece.Spence says the ship was outbound from the Port of Los Angeles, and it’s unclear what its haul is.Spence says there’s no immediate cause for alarm or immediate indication of terror threat as firefighters investigate the situation.
[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.]
OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – A magnitude 4.0 earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay area on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The quake, which was initially reported at a 4.3 magnitude, was centred about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of San Francisco, and was at a depth of 5.5 miles (8.8 km), the USGS said.
There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
“It woke me up. I heard a woman in my building scream. It lasted several seconds,” said a resident in nearby Oakland, located across San Francisco Bay. The resident said it was still dark when the quake hit.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Paul Simao)
Eight elderly mountaineers who went missing in Japan’s Northern Alps following a snowstorm were confirmed dead on Saturday after some of them were evacuated by helicopter, police said.A group of six climbers in their 60s and 70s were spotted early Saturday after they collapsed near Mount Korenge in central Nagano prefecture, a police spokesman said.The climbers, who went missing Friday on their way to the 2,932-metre (9,676-foot) Shiroumadake Peak, were transported by helicopter to a nearby village but were later confirmed dead, he said.The spokesman also confirmed the death of a 62-year-old woman who was found unconscious near Jiigatake Peak, south of Mount Korenge.Another 71-year-old man died of hypothermia after he made an emergency call for rescue after being stuck in bad weather near Karasawa Peak, south of Jiigatake Peak.Climbers are rushing to the Northern Alps during the nation’s “Golden Week” spring holidays in late April and early May as a climbing season in the region just begins.
A flooded mountain river swept away dozens of people along with their houses, farms and cattle Saturday in western Nepal, officials said.Police official Shailesh Thapa said five bodies have been pulled out from the Seti river in Kaski district. Police are searching for more victims.There are several people believed to be missing, including three Russian tourists who were trekking in the area, Thapa said. The names of the Russians were not yet known.Police teams were trying to reach the village in the Mount Annapurna area where the flooding had started.The flooding even reached the tourist resort town of Pokhara, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of the capital, Katmandu.
The Annapurna region is popular area for thousands of trekkers who visit the area every year. May is the end of the trekking season, so there are not many trekkers left in the region.The Seti river is a main source of water for the people in the region, and many villages are located on the banks of the river.
MessageToEagle.com – Our cars, power plants, and other industrial sources, which rely on fossil fuels, are poisoning us and our environment.
Approximately 30 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), a product of industrial combustion, enter the Earth’s atmosphere every year.
What can we do about it?
Researchers concluded that, since it’s so difficult to get rid of, carbon dioxide has to be usefully explored by converting it to building materials.
In order to transform the volatile natural gas into solid state, the so called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) are needed.By genetically engineering ordinary baker’s yeast, Professor Angela Belcher along with two of her graduate students, Roberto Barbero and Elizabeth Wood, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. converted carbon dioxide into carbonates.
Their experiment, which has been tested in the lab, can produce about two pounds of carbonate for every pound of carbon dioxide captured.
Scientists want to moderate carbon dioxide’s poisoning effects on global climate experiment with storing the gas underground but it is still unknown whether this strategy is effective and first of all, safe.
Future house made of carbon dioxide could solve many environmental problems.
“We want to capture carbon dioxide and not put it underground, but turn it into something that will be stable for hundreds of thousands of years,” says Belcher, the W.M. Keck Professor of Energy.
Her brilliant and simple´idea is based on observations of aquatic organisms, especially those living in deep waters, like the marine snail family Sluchotek.
The creatures form a protective carapace of the carbon mainly of calcium carbonate from waste products, and metal ions contained in seawater.
Funded by the Italian energy company Eni, the new MIT process for turning carbon dioxide into carbonates requires two steps. The first step is capturing carbon dioxide in water. Second, the dissolved carbon dioxide is combined with mineral ions to form solid carbonates.
Carbon Cycle
Some companies already convert carbon dioxide to solid material, but their methods are based on a chemical process.
“We’re trying to mimic natural biological processes,” says Belcher.
But, “we don’t necessarily want to make the exact same structure that an abalone does.”
The process will enable the reduction of by-products, and it will convert carbon dioxide into carbonates, which in turn, can be used as building materials produced on a large scale.
The MIT team’s biological system captures carbon dioxide at a higher rate, says Barbero.
Another advantage of the biological system is that it requires no heating or cooling, and no toxic chemicals.
The basic method can be modified in such a way that the reaction product meets certain requirements – brittleness, hardness, flexibility, etc., with the introduction of appropriate metal ions.
By optimizing methods, the process can be further extended and used in industrial factories or power plants.
@ MessageToEagle.com based on material provided by MIT
On June 5 and 6, you will have the chance to see Venus pass across the face of the Sun in what will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
It will take Venus about six hours to complete its transit, appearing as a small black dot on the Sun’s surface, in an event that will not happen again until 2117!
Transits of Venus occur only on the very rare occasions when Venus and Earth are in a line with the Sun.
At other times Venus passes below or above the Sun because the two orbits are at a slight angle to each other. Transits occur in pairs separated by eight years, with the gap between pairs of transits alternating between 105.5 and 121.5 years. The last transit was in 2004.
Building on the original theories of Nicolaus Copernicus from 1543, scientists were able to predict and record the transits of both Mercury and Venus in the centuries that followed.
Johannes Kepler successfully predicted that both planets would transit the Sun in 1631, part of which was verified with Mercury’s transit of that year.But the first transit of Venus to actually be viewed was in 1639, an event that had been predicted by the English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks.
He observed the transit in the village of Much Hoole in Lancashire, the only other person to see it being his correspondent, William Crabtree, in Manchester.
Later, in 1716, Edmond Halley proposed using a transit of Venus to predict the precise distance between Earth and the Sun, known as the astronomical unit
Ultraviolet image of Venus’ clouds as seen by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (Feb. 26, 1979). (Credit: NASA) As a result, hundreds of expeditions were sent all over the world to observe the 1761 and 1769 transits. A young James Cook took the Endeavour to the island of Tahiti, where he successfully observed the transit at a site that is still called Point Venus.
Jay M Pasachoff, an astronomer at Williams College, Massachusetts, expects the transit to confirm his team’s theory about the phenomenon called “the black-drop effect”, a strange, dark band linking Venus’s silhouette with the sky outside the Sun that appears for about a minute starting just as Venus first enters the solar disk.
Balck-drop effect on Venus. Image credit: NASA Pasachoff and his colleagues will concentrate on observing Venus’s atmosphere as it appears when Venus is only half onto the solar disk. He also believes that observations of the transit will help astronomers who are looking for extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the Sun.
“We are fortunate in that we are truly living in a golden period of planetary transits and it is one of which I hope astronomers can take full advantage,” Pasachoff says.
So, don’t forget to look for Venus on June 5-6 and experience something you will never be able to see again!
MessageToEagle.com – Several very unusual sounds coming from the oceans have been recorded by scientists world-wide.
Are the sounds caused by very large life forms lurking in the unexplored darkness of Earth’s deep oceans or perhaps something else?
Something is down there and experts do not know what it is…
All of these sounds have no thing in common – they remain unexplained.
Bloop
In 1997, deep sea microphones captured a loud and unusual sound, dubbed a Bloop in Earth’s Pacific ocean.
Although Bloops are some of the loudest sounds of any type ever recorded in Earth’s oceans, their origin remains unknown. The Bloop sound was placed as occurring several times off the southern coast of South America and was audible 5,000 kilometers away.
The sound does have similarities to those vocalized by living organisms, but researchers say not even a blue whale is large enough to croon this loud. In fact, no known creature on Earth can create this sound, scientists say.
“The sound waves are almost like voice prints.You’re able to look at the characteristics of the sound and say: ‘There’s a blue whale, there’s a fin whale, there’s a boat, there’s a humpback whale and here comes and earthquake, Christopher Fox of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Acoustic Monitoring Project at Portland, Oregon said.
But the Bloop is a mystery. Is it a monster of the deep?
No further Bloops have been heard since 1997, although other loud and unexplained sounds have been recorded in other places under different circumstances.
Other examples of unexplained sounds coming from the oceans are:
Julia
The sound was recorded on March 1, 1999 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array.
The source of the sound is unknown, but is sufficiently loud to be heard over the entire array. The duration is approximately 15 seconds and is severely band limited. The approximate origin is 1999JD60 2218Z near 15S, 98W. Listen to the Julia sound
Train
This sound was recorded on March 5, 1997 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array.
The sound rises to a quasi-steady frequency. The origin of the sound is unknown. Listen to the Train sound
Slow Down
This sound was recorded May 19, 1997 on the Equatorial Pacific Ocean autonomous hydrophone array.
The sound slowly descends in frequency over about 7 minutes and was of sufficient amplitude to be heard on three sensors at 95W, and 8S, 0, and 8N, at a range of nearly 2,000 km. This type of signal has not been heard before or since. It yields a general location near 15oS; 115oW.
This sound was recorded by the autonomous hydrophone deployed at 8oN, 110oW on July 7, 1997 at 0730Z.
Origin of the signal is unknown, and it was not detected on any other hydrophone. The band of energy between 1 and 6 Hz represents “strumming” of the mooring in mid-water currents. Listen to the Whistle sound
Upsweep
This sound was present when PMEL began recording SOSUS in August, 1991.
It consists of a long train of narrow-band upsweeping sounds of several seconds duration each. The source level is high enough to be recorded throughout the Pacific. It appears to be seasonal, generally reaching peaks in spring and fall, but it is unclear whether this is due to changes in the source or seasonal changes in the propagation environment. The source can be roughly located at 54o S, 140oW, near the location of inferred volcanic seismicity, but the origin of the sound is unresolved. The overall source level has been declining since 1991 but the sounds can still be detected on NOAA’s equatorial autonomous hydrophone arrays. Listen to the Upsweep sound
What are these mysterious and unexplained sounds?
According to scientists, some of the sounds can have straightforward origins and they can be traced to weather and ocean currents.
The upsweep sound was first believed to be biological, possibly produced by fin whales. However, when the sound was picked up by receivers on opposite sides of the Pacific, researchers concluded that it was too loud to have been produced by a whale. The signals also stayed the same over the course of many seasons, whereas whale song should have varied as the whales migrated. Also, the sound was too uniform to have come from whales.
Although Upsweep’s relatively pure tone didn’t fit with the more varied sounds typical of other volcanic activity, the researchers speculated that it came from some kind of oscillation of bubbly liquid, perhaps seawater coming into contact with a large pool of lava. “Somehow within the volcanic cycle,” explains Emile Okal of Northwestern University in Chicago, “there must be some resonance of a column of water or gas.”
Our oceans still hold many secrets left to unravel.
The train sound that resembles the rushing noise of a distant train could be ocean currents.
“Moving fluids generate vibrations, just like blowing air through a clarinet,” Fox says. “If you have moving ocean water and the right conditions coming around a seamount or something, that could generate sound.”
Scientists believe that the Bloop sound most likely comes from some sort of animal, because its signature is a rapid variation in frequency similar to that of sounds known to be made by marine beasts. It could be a giant squid, but then again we have little information on these creatures. “We don’t have a clue whether they make noise or not,” says Fox.
Perhaps the most tantalizing sound is Slowdown, which has been picked up a few times every year since about May 1997.
“It sounds like an airplane going by,” says Fox. It has been detected in the Atlantic as well as the Pacific, but always from the south, indicating an Antarctic origin.
Could the sound come from a moving iceberg? We simply don’t know. What we do know is that 75 % of the earth is covered with water. 97 % of earth’s water is in the oceans.
Now, don’t forget that we have only explored 5% of all our oceans. We really do not know what is down there….
Much remains to be learned from exploring the mysteries of the deep.
At least three people were killed and about 50 people injured when an explosion and fire broke out at a petrochemical factory on Map Ta Phut industrial estate.Thousands of people were evacuated from nearby factories and communities in a three kilometre radius of the estate to prevent them from inhaling toxic gases.The explosion occurred at a unit of Bangkok Synthetics Co (BST) at about 3.45pm, followed by a fire that sent thick black smoke into the sky.The search for victims continued Saturday night, health authorities said.Most of the dead and injured were workers and mechanics at the factory.They suffered from inhaling toxic gases, burns and wounds from the blast.Rayong Governor Senee Jittakasem declared the industrial estate and surrounding area, covering 30 communities, a disaster zone to facilitate the emergency operation.The governor also instructed people in 10 communities near the estate to evacuate, although the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) confirmed that air-monitoring stations in the area detected no irregularities in air quality.Firefighters used foam to douse the blaze. It took more than four hours to get the fire under control.Mr Senee said an initial investigation found that the blast occurred when workers were putting toluene, a type of chemical widely used as an industrial feedstock and as a solvent, into a tank.The blast ignited a fire that ravaged part of the factory but did not spread to nearby factories. However, some buildings at adjacent plants were damaged by the blast, said IEAT governor Verapong Chaiperm.Mr Verapong said he had ordered factories near the BST plant to suspend operations and evacuate their staff.Deputy Public Health Minister Surawit Khonsomboon said toluene could cause serious health effects if a person inhaled a large amount of it. Exposure to even a small amount would cause minor ailments such as breathing difficulty, dizziness and vomiting.Sumetha Wichienpet, chief of hazardous response and remedial action at the Pollution Control Department, said toluene was not carcinogenic and its health impact would be short term.Dr Naris Onprom, director of Rayong Hospital, confirmed that a 30-year-old male worker had died at the hospital.The victim was identified as Chaiya Aksornsri. He suffered severe head injuries and burns to 50% of his body.An official at Map Ta Phut Hospital said two people died at the hospital, but their identities were not revealed.Industry Minister Pongsvas Svasti said the BST plant had suspended production for maintenance. He believed an error during the work caused the accident.MR Pongsvas, who will inspect the site today, said he had briefed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra about the accident. She had instructed agencies to take care of the injured and speed up compensation for all those affected.According to BST’s website, the company was established in 1991. The company’s products include Butadiene, Butene-1,MTBE and C4 Raffinates, which are major raw materials of downstream petrochemical processes such as the manufacturing of synthetic rubbers and plastic resins.
[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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Thank you for your time and attention, blessings to all :)
,” she posted.
MessageToEagle.com – Scientists are still unable to determine what is causing the “warming hole” over United States.
Image credit: NASA
MessageToEagle.com – A fascinating accretion phase of a supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy tens of millions of light years away, was observed by researchers using the light of three powerful infrared telescopes.
Very Large Telescope Interferometer at the ESO/Paranal Observatory in Chile. Credit: Sebastian Hoenig
MessageToEagle.com – Earth is an amazing planet and our nature is full of wonders. We have previously written about 
Trovants in Romania are stones that grow.
A “living” stone.
A trovant having a strange shape.
MessageToEagle.com – Our cars, power plants, and other industrial sources, which rely on fossil fuels, are poisoning us and our environment.
Carbon Cycle
MessageToEagle.com – Stargazers, it’s time to mark a very special event in your calendar!
Balck-drop effect on Venus. Image credit: NASA Pasachoff and his colleagues will concentrate on observing Venus’s atmosphere as it appears when Venus is only half onto the solar disk. He also believes that observations of the transit will help astronomers who are looking for extrasolar planets orbiting stars other than the Sun.
MessageToEagle.com – Several very unusual sounds coming from the oceans have been recorded by scientists world-wide.
