Earth ChangesS


Better Earth

Gales cause roadblocks, power cuts and travel chaos


Uk Guardian
Thu, 10 Jan 2008 15:13 UTC


A driver had a lucky escape in Broughshane, County Antrim when a tree fell on his vehicle as high winds swept across Northern Ireland. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA

Roads have been blocked by falling trees, ferries cancelled, bridges closed and thousands of people left without power as winds of almost 80mph buffeted Scotland and Northern Ireland today.
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Umbrella

Deadly blizzards bring Asia chaos


BBC News
Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:52 UTC
Heavy snow and bitterly cold weather have caused scores of deaths and major disruption in parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and Pakistan.

Some areas have seen snow for the first time in years, with people struggling to keep warm in sub-zero temperatures amid power shortages.

In Iran, heavy snow over recent days has seen eight people frozen to death after being trapped in their cars.

Tens of thousands of other motorists were rescued from their vehicles.

Some desert areas in Iran reported snowfalls for the first time in living memory.
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Alarm Clock

Ecuador's Tungurahua Volcano May Erupt

Gonzalo Solano
Associated Press
Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:24 UTC
Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano is poised for a major eruption, a volcanologist said Wednesday. Authorities last week evacuated 10 villages from its western slopes as a precaution.

©AP Photo
Ecuador's Tungurahua Volcano
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.4 quake off Oregon coast


Reuters
Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:10 UTC
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the central Oregon coast at 8:37 p.m. EST tonight, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
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Bizarro Earth

Strong quake hits Canada : US Geological Survey


Agence France-Presse
Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:34 UTC
A strong 6.2-magnitude earthquake rocked southwest Canada Wednesday, shaking the Queen Charlotte Island region of British Colombia, the US Geological Survey said.
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Bizarro Earth

Strange Winter-Tornadoes Tear Through Midwest, Kill One

Carrie Antlfinger
Associated Press
Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:51 UTC


©Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Lightning flashes through the sky as neighbors look through the wreckage of a home destroyed by a tornado near Niangua, Missouri, on Monday, January 7, 2008.


A freak cluster of tornadoes raked across an unseasonably warm U.S. Midwest, demolishing houses, knocking railroad cars off their tracks, and even temporarily halting justice in one courthouse.

Record temperatures were reported across much of the country Monday, and storms continued to pummel the nation's midsection as darkness fell. More warmth and storms were in store for Tuesday.
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Bizarro Earth

Mystery of the monster hailstones

Ed Douglas
New Scientist
Sun, 23 Dec 2007 12:49 UTC
Shortly after 9 o'clock on a Sunday morning in January 2007, Raymond Rodriguez was in his driveway, changing a tyre on his car. Parked close by in the quiet cul-de-sac in Tampa, Florida, was a cherry red Ford Mustang. It belonged to Andre Javage, who had come to visit the night before. Out of nowhere, Rodriguez heard a high-pitched whistling. Then a 13-kilogram chunk of ice landed smack on the roof of Javage's Ford. The windshield blew out and the car bounced, Rodriguez said, a metre into the air. The roof was squashed flat.
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Calculator

Elephants outsmarting humans on Indonesia's Sumatra: report


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 08 Jan 2008 10:30 UTC
A herd of wild elephants on Indonesia's Sumatra has repeatedly outsmarted efforts to stop them stealing crops, wising up to attempts to chase them off with burning torches, a report said Monday.

The head of Way Kambas natural reserve in Lampung province, Hudiono, told the state-run Antara news agency that a herd of 25 to 30 elephants had been nightly roaming out of the reserve to raid crops since Thursday.
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Evil Rays

Papua New Guinea hit by two quakes


Agence France-Presse
Wed, 02 Jan 2008 15:03 UTC
Two earthquakes struck eastern Papua New Guinea on Wednesday but there was no fear of a tsunami or reports of damage, seismologists said.

The first quake, which reached 6.2 on the Richter scale, struck at 4:55 am (0025 IST) 90 kilometers of the largest city Lae at a depth of 47 kilometers.
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Snowman

6 missing snowmobilers alive

Robert Weller
Associated Press
Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:16 UTC
CONEJOS, Colo. - Six snowmobilers missing for three days in the snowy Colorado mountains called for help Monday and reported they were hungry but alive, authorities said.

Crews were on their way to meet the six, who are all from New Mexico, said Barbara Smith, a spokeswoman for the Conejos County Sheriff's Department.

The snowmobilers called 911 from an isolated and snowbound train station and said they were cold but otherwise all right, Smith said. They had been missing since Friday amid heavy snow in the area.
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