Earth Changes

Grounded: Airlines cancel 654 flights as Tropical Storm Isaac pelts Florida, heads across Gulf

The Washington Post
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC

© Tom Pennington/Getty Images
Storm clouds build offshore in Clearwater, Florida. Tampa area residents wait for tropical storm Isaac.

The airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale were hit the hardest, cancelling 589 flights - the vast majority of the 742 U.S. flights grounded overall because of the storm as of Sunday afternoon, according to the flight-tracking service FlightAware.

American Airlines and its American Eagle affiliate cancelled 486 flights. The last American flight left Miami at noon Sunday. The airline expects to be fully operational out of Miami by noon Eastern time on Monday, said airline spokesman Matt Miller. American runs a hub in Miami, a jumping-off point for flights to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Overall, airlines have cancelled 184 flights for Monday but expect to be operating normally by late Monday, according to FlightAware.

Isaac, already carrying winds of more than 60 miles an hour, was expected to cross the Keys by late afternoon. The storm will likely pick up strength from the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and strike as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday, the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency ahead of Isaac late Sunday and urged voluntary evacuations for coastal parishes in the state.

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 7.3 - Off The Coast of El Salvador

US Geological Survey
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 23:55 UTC

Date-Time:
Monday, August 27, 2012 at 04:37:22 UTC

Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 10:37:22 PM at epicenter

Location:
12.279°N, 88.530°W

Depth:
52.9 km (32.9 miles)

Region:
OFF THE COAST OF EL SALVADOR

Distances:
125 km (78 miles) S (184°) from Usulután, Usulután, El Salvador

144 km (90 miles) SSW (195°) from San Miguel, San Miguel, El Salvador

145 km (90 miles) SSW (211°) from La Unión, La Unión, El Salvador

175 km (109 miles) SSE (157°) from SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador

After Isaac slams tent camps, Haitians try to return to normal

Erika Angulo
NBC News
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 21:35 UTC

Haiti - Since Isaac stormed through this island country, streams of dirty water run through many of the tent camps earthquake refugees call home.

Floods represent the main threat, aid workers say. They not only destroy the fragile tents, but also bring with them a range of diseases, from stomach illnesses, to skin infections, to parasites, doctors here fear.

At the Marassa tent city in Port au Prince, residents feared what the storm would do to La Riviere Grise, or the gray river, named for its dirty color. After more than more than 24 hours of rain Saturday, La Rivere Grise became a fierce current that flooded part of the camp. Refugees who had been able to accumulate key survival belongings since the earth shook on Jan. 12, 2010 -- a tarp, a cooking pan, some clothes -- lost all again, in a few minutes.

The situation is similar in post-earthquake camps outside Port au Prince. Some tents survived the storms, others were blown away, shredded or buried under mud.

Swarm Of Quakes Rock Southern California Sunday Morning, Afternoon

Lawrence LeBlond
RedOrbit
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 17:49 UTC

A swarm of moderately-sized earthquakes struck Imperial County, north of El Centro, California late Sunday morning and early Sunday afternoon, according to the US Geological Survey. The series of temblors, some magnitude 5.0 and above, have been felt as far away as Orange County, and into Arizona and Baja California.

The USGS has so far recorded more than four dozen quakes in Imperial County, many near the city of Brawley. The first quake, a magnitude 3.9 event, struck at 10:02 a.m. (PST) northwest of Brawley and was followed by a series (swarm) of other quakes in the same general area, the USGS said in a statement.

As of 3 p.m. (PST), there have been no reports of serious damage or injuries, according to authorities in the region.

Some buildings in downtown Brawley did receive minor damage, however. Captain Jesse Zendejas of the Brawley Fire Department described the damage as "cosmetic" and said it occurred in at least three older buildings. Assessments were still ongoing as of press time.

Earthquake swarms are events where a local area experiences sequences of many earthquakes occurring over a relatively short period of time. The length of time used to define a swarm varies, but the USGS points out that an event may be on the order of days, weeks, or months, depending on circumstances.

Swarms are differentiated from aftershocks by the observation that no single earthquake can be attributed as the main shock. Earthquake swarms are generally grouped as events that precede volcanic eruptions in areas where volcanoes exist.

Dire warning over global food crisis

John Vidal
The Guardian
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 13:53 UTC

Things are so bad that farmers in the US have begun feeding their cattle candy

Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists

Water scarcity's effect on food production means radical steps will be needed to feed population expected to reach 9bn by 2050

Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about global food supplies, saying that the world's population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.

Humans derive about 20% of their protein from animal-based products now, but this may need to drop to just 5% to feed the extra 2 billion people expected to be alive by 2050, according to research by some of the world's leading water scientists.

"There will not be enough water available on current croplands to produce food for the expected 9 billion population in 2050 if we follow current trends and changes towards diets common in western nations," the report by Malik Falkenmark and colleagues at the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) said.

Comment: Forget vegetarianism as a long-term solution; this crisis will be all over long before 2050. No miraculous technologies are going to "increase yields by 300%". Food is likely to become extremely scarce within the next year or two. Start canning while it remains reasonably affordable.

Rising food prices and social unrest: New report shows that all hell will break loose in one to two years

Massive colorful dust devil

Yahoo! Screen
Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC

Gulf oil platforms evacuating workers due to Isaac storm threat

NBC News
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 11:50 UTC

Major oil producers said Sunday they would be evacuating workers from Gulf of Mexico platforms in the face of an imminent threat of high surf and winds from Tropical Storm Isaac.

BP Plc said it will shut production at all of its Gulf of Mexico oil and gas platforms and evacuate all workers on Sunday in light of Isaac's westerly shift and forecasts that it could strengthen into a hurricane. BP has already shut and evacuated four platforms, including Thunder Horse, the world's largest. The company said Sunday it will shut its other three platforms.

Chevron, second to BP in Gulf oil production, said it would be evacuating some workers directly involved in oil and gas production from some of its platforms. "Chevron continues to closely monitor the projected path of Tropical Storm Isaac and has begun to evacuate some essential personnel from some offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. Production has not been affected," the company said.

Massive Typhoon Bolaven slams Okinawa, Japan and heads for Koreas

CNN
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:33 UTC

A massive typhoon began to make landfall Sunday over Okinawa, bringing winds more ferocious than even the typhoon-weary Japanese island has seen in decades. It will likely be the strongest since 1956, said CN N International meteorologist Tom Sater.

With a cloud field of 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles), Typhoon Bolaven is 20 times larger than Okinawa's length. "It's been very, very severe," said storm chaser James Reynolds, on the northwestern coast of the island. Tree branches were flying through the air amid torrential rain, he said.

The infrastructure on Okinawa is designed to withstand violent storms. "Everything's made of solid concrete," said Reynolds. "Utility poles are so wide you couldn't even put your arms around them," Reynolds said. "All the houses are built with concrete. There's no such thing as a beach house in Okinawa because it would just get destroyed by a typhoon." Still, the power was out where he was Sunday.

Source of loud boom in California foothills a mystery

CBS Sacremento
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:27 UTC

People from all over El Dorado County say they're hearing loud booms several times a week, but there are many theories on what is causing them. "I thought it was thunder," said one person. "It's definitely not thunder; too consistent. I thought it was just mining," said another person. "I always considered them to be sonic booms from flying aircrafts for years," said Loring Brunius, owner of Sierra Rock Diamond Quarry.

People who live near Pleasant Valley say their days have been interrupted by loud booms, shaking the floor beneath them.

"You can feel it in the ground, no question about it. But no one's been able to figure out why," said Pleasant Valley resident Peter O'Grady. "I tend to hear somewhere between four to six of these things during the weekdays usually between 11 p.m. and 2 p.m.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom just like that," said Lorren Gonzales, who lives near Pleasant Valley.

Comment:

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 (Magnitude Updated to 6.6) - Molucca Sea

US Geological Survey
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:22 UTC

Magnitude 6.4

Date-Time
Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 15:05:37 UTC
Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 11:05:37 PM at epicenter Location
2.179°N, 126.893°E

Depth
106.5 km (66.2 miles) set by location program

Region
MOLUCCA SEA

Distances
163 km (101 miles) NNW (340°) from Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia

240 km (149 miles) ENE (71°) from Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia

461 km (286 miles) ENE (67°) from Gorontalo, Sulawesi, Indonesia

1022 km (635 miles) SW (236°) from KOROR, Palau

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Earth Changes

Grounded: Airlines cancel 654 flights as Tropical Storm Isaac pelts Florida, heads across Gulf

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 7.3 - Off The Coast of El Salvador

After Isaac slams tent camps, Haitians try to return to normal

Swarm Of Quakes Rock Southern California Sunday Morning, Afternoon

Dire warning over global food crisis

Massive colorful dust devil

Gulf oil platforms evacuating workers due to Isaac storm threat

Massive Typhoon Bolaven slams Okinawa, Japan and heads for Koreas

Source of loud boom in California foothills a mystery

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 (Magnitude Updated to 6.6) - Molucca Sea

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