Earth ChangesS


Better Earth

Climate Change - Goliath's Panic Begins

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© UnknownThe higher-ups of the AGW movement, aka Goliath, sense that something is amiss.
A new editorial in Nature is startling for what it reveals, especially the fact Paul Ehrlich is a go-to figure about how hard scientists have it when it comes to media access. Ehrlich is an individual who became an international celebrity by spinning one frightening story after another (about the death of the oceans, for one thing) who maintains, with a straight face, that he and his fellow scientists have an unfair disadvantage in communicating their side of the climate debate. He is quoted by Nature as saying, regarding the aftermath of Climategate and the fact that skeptic scientists are finally getting a hearing,
"Everyone is scared shitless, but they don't know what to do."
People often forget: Goliath, right before the end, sensed that something was amiss.

For, ironically, among the most pervasive myths attending global warming is the one pitching David against Goliath, in which those touting the risks of damaging climate change are cast as David and Big Oil is Goliath. The story requires observers to ignore the facts: Media, most scientists, and governments the world over have spent and received so much money on their version of events that they have collectively become Goliath. Observers must ignore, too, the reality that skeptic scientists maintain their intellectual freedom at significant risk. Funding routinely dries up; tenure is denied them; ad hominem attacks of the most vicious variety are launched against them from the Ivory Tower of academia, from the studios of multi-billion dollar news organizations, and from the bully pulpit of government.

Life Preserver

Over 80 evacuated after landslides in south Russia

Landslides in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan have destroyed homes and caused the evacuation of 82 people, emergency workers said on Saturday.

The landslides, which are moving at a speed of 15 cm an hour, are occurring in the town of Buynaksk, some 40 km from the republic's capital, Makhachkala.

Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 - Kepulauan Obi

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© USGS
Date-Time:
Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 00:57:45 UTC

Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 09:57:45 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
1.710°S, 128.051°E

Depth:
52.4 km (32.6 miles)

Distances:
220 km (135 miles) N of Ambon, Moluccas, Indonesia

285 km (180 miles) SSE of Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia

1230 km (760 miles) NNW of DARWIN, Northern Territory, Australia

2415 km (1500 miles) E of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Gear

UN climate change claims on rainforests were wrong, study suggests

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© REXA new study, funded by Nasa, has found that the most serious drought in the Amazon for more than a century had little impact on the rainforest's vegetation
The United Nations' climate change panel is facing fresh criticism after new research contradicted the organisation's claims about the devastating effect climate change could have on the Amazon rainforest.

A new study, funded by Nasa, has found that the most serious drought in the Amazon for more than a century had little impact on the rainforest's vegetation.

The findings appear to disprove claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that up to 40% of the Amazon rainforest could react drastically to even a small reduction in rainfall and could see the trees replaced by tropical grassland.

Bizarro Earth

India: Earthquake Magnitude 5.6 - Myanmar

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© USGS
A 5.6-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale hit a northeastern Indian state on Saturday morning, but no casualties have been reported, the Indian news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) said.

The shock was felt at 04:50 a.m in most areas of the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya, reported the Regional Seismological Center at Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya.

The quake triggered panic in the affected regions, and many residents hurriedly ran out of the buildings. However, no injures or deaths have been reported, said IANS.

The northeastern regions of India are in the sixth most quake-prone belt in the world, said the Indian seismologists.

The northeastern regions of India are in the sixth most quake-prone belt in the world, said the Indian seismologists.

Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 3.1 - Canadian County, Oklahoma

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© USGS
A 3.1 magnitude earthquake struck southwest of El Reno in Canadian County early Saturday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake, which occurred about 3 a.m., was 12 miles south west of El Reno and about 3 miles beneath the surface. There have been no reports of damages.

Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 4.2 Near San Diego

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© USGS
Mount Laguna - A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude estimated at 4.2 hit below Mount Laguna at 8:32 a.m. today, automated seismographs report.

The USGS placed the epicenter in the Laguna Mountains, 14 miles northeast of Pine Valley and 14 miles south-southeast of Julian. The epicenter was also estimated to be 48 miles east northeast of downtown San Diego.

San Diego County sheriff's Lt. Harold Turner said dispatchers did not get any phone calls about the quake, one of hundreds that have rattled the East County in recent months.

The owner of the Pine Valley Inn said he was driving and did not feel it. But Ray Abdou said a guest said "it was pretty stout. It shook the building pretty good."

Bad Guys

Series of Earthquakes Hit India, Myanmar and Indonesia

A series of earthquakes ranging from 5.4 to 6.0 in magnitude rocked India, Myanmar and Indonesia on Saturday but fortunately no fatalities or injuries were reported.

According to India's meteorological department at about 5 in the morning a 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook Meghalaya Province causing frightened residents to run from their homes.

In Myanmar a 5.4 magnitude quake rattled Sagaing Province but not many felt the tremor as it is not a densely populated area.

And a 6.0 magnitude earthquake also struck the Indonesian province of West Papua before midday on Saturday making it just one in a series of jolts to hit the nation in recent weeks.

Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 4.9 off Oregon coast

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© USGS
The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo., reports a magnitude 4.9 quake Friday night off the Oregon coast. There were no immediate reports of it being felt or causing damage.

Geophysicist Randy Baldwin says the quake was centered about 330 miles west-southwest of Portland at a depth of six miles - shallow in earthquake terms.

He says quakes of that magnitude are common in that area, part of the Juan de Fuca Plate, and there is no danger of it generating a tsunami.

The quake hit at 7:53 p.m. PST. The earthquake information center is part of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Bizarro Earth

Light Earthquake Registered in Southwestern Bulgaria

A light earthquake was registered in southwestern Bulgaria Saturday morning, the Seismology Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences reports.

The epicenter is 220 km southwest of Sofia, not on Bulgaria territory. It happened at 3:30 am with a 3.5 magnitude on the Richter scale.

The quake was not felt in Bulgaria and there are no reports of fatalities and material damage, Bulgaria's Civil Defense says.