Earth Changes

Iceland's Reykjanes volcanic activity increases, 'very unusual' says scientist

Sputnik International
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 03:53 UTC

A view north of Grindavík on the Reykjanes peninsula.

Volcanoes on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula have not erupted since the 12th century, almost 800 years, and have over a short period experienced over 8,000 earthquakes as the land uplifts, indicating that the region is becoming active again.

Rising volcanic activity on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland could potentially result in causing disruptions for over 300 years, scientists have warned, according to the Guardian. Not having erupted in 800 years, the region is reportedly becoming active again as land uplifts of 10cm are occuring due to underground magma intrusions, according to Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO).

Sigríður Magnea Óskarsdóttir, a specialist in natural hazards at the IMO, said to inews that currently, the volcanic activity is "unusual".

"There were eruptions in the Reykjanes peninsula 800 years ago, but in our lifetime, what we are experiencing is very unusual", he said.

If the peninsula sees volcanic activity, eruptive episodes locally known as "fires" can occur, creating fissures of up to 8km in length in the earth that spew lava. These "fires" could possibly cover large areas of land in lava, as it happened between 1210 and 1240 when an area of around 50 square kilometres was affected.

Comment: There has been an uptick in volcanic activity recently, including these from the last few days:

COVID19 restrictions hasn't improved air quality over Germany

P Gosselin
No Tricks Zone
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 21:37 UTC

The Corona crisis has reduced car traffic, yet air quality has not improved. This suggests that the automobile's role in air pollution has been vastly exaggerated.

There are fewer cars on the road in major German cities due cities to the massive COVID-19 restrictions and "green zones", "and yet it apparently does not look as if this will significantly improve air quality," reports the online German Nordkurier here.

"Despite existing driving bans in large cities and the corona protection measures, nitrogen oxide pollution remains the same and is even increasing in some cases, according to the FDP in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania."

Environmentalists and climate activists like to claim that modern cars and industry have been polluting the air with dangerous particulate matter or nitrogen dioxide, but since restrictions were put in place 3 weeks ago, no improvement has been detected thus far.

Heavy spring snow, high winds leave thousands without power across New Brunswick, Canada

Brad Perry
Country94.ca
Fri, 10 Apr 2020 19:44 UTC

Very few vehicles were out on Bathurst streets on Friday during heavy snow and highway winds.

Heavy snow and strong winds have knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses across New Brunswick.

NB Power's online outage map shows more than 2,700 customers without power as of 9:30 a.m. Friday.

More than 260 customers are in the Kennebecasis Valley-Fundy region while more than 540 others are in Charlotte Southwest.

The utility is also reporting more than 1,000 customers without power in Central York Sunbury, including 266 customers in Fredericton.

There is no word from the utility on the lights will be back on.

Spring snowfall and widespread floods across Iran

Radio Farda
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 19:19 UTC

Sringtime snow in Heyran pass, NW Iran

Iran is grappling with potentially devastating floods in 16 provinces amid a coronavirus epidemic that has killed thousands, with tens of thousands infected.

Unusual snowfalls have blanketed many highland regions in Iran since April 8 and countries to the east, including Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries. Rain has inundated many cities and villages.

Comment: Snow falls in Dushanbe,Tajikistan in April - first time in 26 years

Emergency services have come to the rescue of many settlements and stranded passengers from western Iran to central regions and farther east near Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Iran suffered devastating floods in March and April 2019, that killed hundreds and wrecked economic havoc for more than three weeks. The high level of precipitation for two consecutive years comes after years of drought that brought the country to the verge of a serious water crisis. Many regions hit by this year's floods had not yet recovered from the 2019 disaster.

Hailstorms cause heavy damage to fruit crops in east China

Fresh Plaza
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 18:57 UTC

Hailstorms suddenly arrived in east China on 4 April to 5 April. Production areas in Pingdu, Laizhou, and Laiyang in Shandong suffered heavy damage.

The hailstones damaged cherry trees, pear trees, peach trees, and apple trees. The cherry and peach trees in particular are in the middle of the flowering season, while apples are ripening on the trees. Some of the flowers have already begun to open in some of the warmer production areas.

The impact of these hailstorms was disastrous for the upcoming production volume of cherries and peaches. The overall production volume will be greatly reduced and some farmers may have lost their entire harvest.

Source: ifreshfair.com

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Federal food control, federal debt: Obey

Adapt 2030
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 14:46 UTC

Apple snails begin to devour rice crops across the S.E USA for the first time ever. Federal mandates to dump milk and forbid "non-essential" items like seeds, fertiliser and wasp killer as we the populace head into spring. More inflation as the US food supply grinds to a halts and is gobbled up by federal distress purchases, if Smithfield foods halts operations due to money flow pressure it will be nationalised. Meat bad, insect protein good. OBEY your masters as they tell you what you can eat or grow.

Comment: COVID-19 lockdown = Auto-genocide? Food shortages likely as US farmers dump MOUNTAINS and LAKES of food

See also:

Chernobyl forest wildfire seen from space as radiation spikes

Mike Wall
Space.com
Fri, 10 Apr 2020 16:11 UTC

A wildfire burning in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, as imaged on April 5, 2020, by the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite

© NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)
A wildfire burning in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, as imaged on April 5, 2020, by the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite.

The forest near the old Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is burning, and the effects are visible from space.

The Suomi NPP satellite, a joint project of NASA and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), captured a photo Sunday (April 5) of the human-caused wildfire burning in Ukraine's Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Radiation counts near the fire have registered 2.3 microsievert per hour, a spike from the typical 0.14 μSv/h, according to Live Science.

"At this point, the fire is about 250 acres (100 hectares)," NASA officials wrote in an image description. "Actively burning fires, detected by thermal bands, are shown as red points."

5.3 magnitude earthquake strikes California-Nevada border area near Yosemite

ABC
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 15:48 UTC

A preliminary magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Saturday morning near the California-Nevada border region, northeast of Yosemite National Park, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or major structural damage after the 7:36 a.m. temblor.

The quake's epicenter was located about 22 miles northwest of Benton, California, and 91 miles southeast of South Lake Tahoe, the USGS said. It was measured at a depth of six miles.

Comment: Are things heating up at Yosemite again? See: 'Long overdue' Yellowstone supervolcano eruption 'paused for now', according to naturalist

Winter returns to northern New England as potent storm unleashes heavy snow

Mark Puleo
AccuWeather
Sat, 11 Apr 2020 14:20 UTC

© Twitter/@NWSCaribou
Photos taken by the Dover-Foxcroft police show fallen trees causing power outages in central Maine.

Residents throughout New Hampshire and Maine woke up on Good Friday morning to a blanket of snow far more customary for January than April. An early-spring snowstorm had painted a similar scene across much of northern New England as it lifted off into Atlantic Canada Thursday night.

The National Weather Service (NWS) recorded over a foot of snow in nearly 50 locations, almost all of which were in Maine. In New Hampshire, the areas of Pittsburg, Jefferson and Berlin all recorded over 6 inches.

After Bangor, Maine, recorded one of the least snowy stretches in its history, the storm dumped nearly 8 inches of snow on the city according to a NWS spotter at Bangor International Airport. AccuWeather Meteorologist Ryan Adamson previously noted that the city averaged less than 4 inches of snow in April most years.

World's biggest waterfall completely dries out during devastating drought

Sophie Bateman
Daily Star (UK)
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 10:49 UTC

Iguazu Falls, located between Argentina and Brazil, has experienced a dramatic drop in water volume thanks to a lack of rain that is also affecting local water supplies

Startling images show how Iguazu Falls - the world's largest waterfall - is almost completely dry because of a serious drought.

According to local media, Iguazu Falls located on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Parana have experienced a dramatic fall in water volume.