Earth ChangesS


Attention

Dead Blue whale draws crowd to Ophir beach, Oregon

Image
© Randy Robbins.The decaying body of a blue whale washed ashore Monday near the Ophir rest area about 7 miles north of Gold Beach.
A large, dead blue whale measuring approximately 80 feet and weighing nearly 20 tons made landfall in Ophir, about 7 miles north of Gold Beach on Monday, according to Russ Stauf, Rogue Watershed manager.

The rare beaching attracted a crowd all day Tuesday, with motorists parking along Highway 101 at the Ophir rest stop, some walking across the sand for a closer look.

The stench of the large marine mammal was oppressive from more than 100 yards away. That didn't stop a group of preschool children, including one child who was clutching a furry Orca whale toy, from trekking along a winding path to the beach to see the whale up close. They were joined by a woman who stood inside the curl of the huge, upright tail.


Meteor

Mystery boom, ground shaking reported in Evesham, UK

Image
© Wikimedia CommonsBridge over Avon in Evesham
Mystery surrounds a loud noise which occurred at night over Evesham with no one able to come up with an explanation. The noise was hard by scores of residents in and around the Vale with many posting their experience on Facebook.

The sound has been described as ranging from a hurricane coming down the chimney, to a sonic boom, loud bangs or a roaring noise. Several people said they looked outside and saw lights. The noise was heard around 8pm on Friday October 30. Another said that though the noise appeared to come from the sky, it was felt as vibration under foot and through the building.

Posting on an Evesham forum, one man said: "It was not fireworks or thunder. We went out to look from Hampton and it was like Northern Lights over Beckford way. We watched the changing colours in the night clouds. It was the most weird sky I have ever seen with strange sounds too."

More than 205 responses were posted on social media with many saying they had heard something around Harvington, Sedgeberrow, Offenham and beyond. A number said they had also seen colours in the sky at the time while others said there was just sound. Some believed it was thunder or fireworks.

Chris Livingston, from the Worcester Astronomical Society, said he had heard nothing about the reports and said it was the last night of the Orionids meteor shower, but doubted they would have caused a noise as described. Michael Morris, also from the Worcester Astronomical Society added: "Only a very large meteoroid would cause the effect experienced. Such a meteoroid would glow brighter than the sun and would have been seen by thousands of people. So no, it is incredibly unlikely to be anything astronomical."


Comment: It's not as unlikely as he supposes:
Finding unseen meteors

The Leonid meteor shower of Nov. 18, 1999, gave researchers an ideal opportunity to test Keay's hypothesis. Colin Price and Moshe Blum of Tel Aviv University found that Leonid meteors produced distinct VLF electromagnetic pulses.

Additionally, they discovered that there were many meteors that were not visible to observers — they were detected only by the VLF radiation they emitted. Finding meteors solely by their VLF signatures "detected nearly 50 times more meteors than the optical method," Price and Blum wrote.

Can You Hear a Meteor?
and
Because sound travels so much more slowly than light does, the rumblings of a particularly large meteor shouldn't be heard for several minutes after the meteor's sighting. A meteor 100 kilometers high would boom about five minutes after it appears. Such an object is called a "sonic" meteor. The noise it makes is related to the sonic boom caused by a faster-than-sound aircraft.

Can you hear meteors?



David Galloway, a seismologist for the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, said he had checked all the data recorded for the Evesham area and there was no reading at all for a tremor or earthquake. "If it was something atmospheric, such as a sonic boom or noise from an 'air quake', it is unlikely to be picked up with our equipment even if there was a vibration, rather like the effect a heavy lorry rumbling past your house. I have checked the date. There was certainly no recorded seismic activity in that area between the times of 7pm and 9pm on that evening."

Comment: Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction!


Attention

5.2-magnitude earthquake hits Pandeglang, Indonesia

Image
An earthquake registering 5.2 on the Richter Scale hit near the Pandeglang Regency in Banten this afternoon. Tremors from the earthquake were reportedly felt in Jakarta.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the earthquake occurred at 1:14pm today. The earthquake's epicenter was 88 km Southwest of Pandeglang, 10 km below sea level.

"There was an earthquake in Pandeglang with effects being felt in Jakarta," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as quoted by Vivanews today.

"There's no potential for a tsunami. We hope that citizens can remain calm."

Pandeglang is situated around 100 km to the west of Jakarta. Despite reports that the earthquake shook Jakarta as well, we must admit we didn't feel it at all.

Attention

Mild earthquake shakes central Slovakia

Image
A 3.2-magnitude earthquake jolted central Slovakia on the afternoon of November 3.

The epicentre of the quake is believed to have been located between the village of Brusno and the town of Brezno (Banská Bystrica Region). The locals admit that it scared them.

The tremor was recorded by seismic stations of the National Network of Seismic Stations and the Local Seisimic Station Eastern Slovakia. Slovak Academy of Sciences' Earth Science Institute will analyse the records and details concerning the perceived effects, the TASR newswire reported.

The local inhabitants concurred that the temblor felt like a gas blast, as though a blast wave had been generated, and thunder was heard.

"It was over very quickly," several locals told TASR.

Attention

Bali's Denpasar airport shuts as Mount Rinjani erupts

Image
© Reuters/Lalu Edi/Antara Foto Volcanic ash is seen during an eruption inside the crater of Mount Rinjani on the Indonesian island of Lombok Oct. 25, 2015 in this photo taken by Antara Foto.
Indonesia closed Bali airport, one of the country's busiest international terminals, until Thursday due to volcanic eruptions on Mount Rinjani on a nearby island, meteorological agency said on Wednesday.

Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar and Selaparang airport in West Nusa Tenggara will be closed until Thursday and the situation will be re-evaluated before reopening, Indonesia's meteorological agency said in a statement.

"Tremors due to volcanic activities are continuously recorded and potential of more eruption is still high," it said. Mount Rinjani has been spewing ashes since last weekend.

Tens of thousands of travelers in Bali were stranded in July when the resort island's airport was closed due to volcanic eruptions on Mount Raung in East Java.


Attention

Third shark attack in 2 months off Mozambique

Image
Jaws 3
A third shark attack happened in the Bay of Inhambane in southern Mozambique for the past two months, resulting in a fisherman losing both arms, local news agency reported on Monday.

The attack happened on Sunday in shallow water of the bay, when the fisherman, who was fishing for prawns, pulled his nets ashore, according to the state-owned news agency AIM.

The victim was rushed to local hospital for treatment, but the shark had virtually severed both arms from his body, and the medical team believed there was no option but to amputate them.

Tornado2

'Rare' tornado hits east of Adelaide as severe storms blast South Australia

South Australia storms
© Australian Bureau of Meteorology South Australia weather radar on 4 November 2015 at 6.30pm shows the progress of the storms.

Storms caused flooding in regional centres, with properties in Whyalla, Port Pirie and Kapunda the worst hit


A rare tornado has touched down east of Adelaide as severe storms swept across the state causing isolated flooding and other damage.

The State Emergency Service said the category F1 or F2 twister had likely brought down trees in the Monarto area on Wednesday but there were no reports of any injuries or property damage.

Comment: See also: Severe storms, huge hailstones, 'tornado', batter south eastern Australia

Additional coverage of the storm from 9news.com.au




Bizarro Earth

6.3 quake hits near East Timor's capital

Dili Quake
© USGS
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake shook the East Timorese capital of Dili, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has reported.

The quake's epicenter was located 83 kilometers west of Dili at a depth recorded at 143 kilometers, the USGS added.

Minor damage has been reported, but no immediate casualties.


The USGS reported that this was the third earthquake to strike East Timor since Tuesday. The first two measured 5.7 and 4.9 in magnitude.

No tsunami threat has been issued at this point.

Witnesses said they felt the quake strike at 12:44 pm local time, SBS reported.

Cloud Precipitation

Cyclone Chapala triggers heavy flooding in Yemen

Image
© Twitter @ionacraigMukala is pictured under water after the Chapala cyclone struck the coast of Yemen
A rare tropical cyclone slammed into Yemen on Tuesday, triggering heavy flooding and causing damage in the southeastern region of the war-torn country.

Packing winds of more than 60 mph, Cyclone Chapala made landfall in the provinces of Hadramawt and Shabwa, Minister of Fisheries Fahd Kafain told Agence France-Presse.

"The damage is enormous," said the minister, who is part of a commission established to deal with the cyclone that brewed in the Arabian Sea.

The World Health Organization said that it had delivered trauma kits for 1,000 patients in Mukalla, the provincial capital of Hadramawt, and was providing fuel for hospitals and ambulances.



Bizarro Earth

Should we be alarmed? Models predict abrupt changes in food chains as Southern Ocean acidifies fast

Image
© Craig PlattAntarctica waters have a low threshold to start with, before carbon emissions are added.
The Southern Ocean is acidifying at such a rate because of rising carbon dioxide emissions that large regions may be inhospitable for key organisms in the food chain to survive as soon as 2030, new US research has found.


Comment: That is 15 years from now. Marine life is more threatened by humans eating them than by climate change.


Tiny pteropods, snail-like creatures that play an important role in the food web, will lose their ability to form shells as oceans absorb more of the CO2 from the atmosphere, a process already observed over short periods in areas close to the Antarctic coast.

Ocean acidification is often dubbed the "evil twin" of climate change. As CO2 levels rise, more of it is absorbed by seawater, resulting in a lower pH level and reduced carbonate ion concentration. Marine organisms with skeletons and shells then struggle to develop and maintain their structures.

Comment: What if carbon emissions are a natural consequence of our changing world, what then can the world leaders do about it besides selling us another scam?