Earth Changes
At least three people died in Haiti as Tropical Storm Isaac triggered mudslides and flooding there before heading back over water and towards Cuba. Isaac should become a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday just as it nears the Florida Keys, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and then grow into an even stronger Category 2 storm.
"Hurricane conditions are expected in the hurricane warning area in southwest Florida and the Florida Keys on Sunday," the center said in a Saturday morning advisory.
The center now expects Isaac to build to a Category 2 hurricane, with winds up to 110 mph, after it enters the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
In Haiti, a woman and a child in the town of Souvenance were killed in the storm, a local official reported.
In the capital Port-au-Prince -- where some 350,000 people are still living in tents or shelters after the 2010 Haiti earthquake -- a girl, 10, was killed when a wall fell on her.
It is an astonishing view of the swirling paths hurricanes and tropical storms have taken across the globe.
This amazing image was created by designer John Nelson, and shows data of every recorded event since 1851.
It also offers a unique perspective of the earth from the bottom up - with Antarctica in the middle, the Americas on the right and Asia on the left
Mapmaker Nelson, the user experience and mapping manager for IDV Solutions, a data visualization company, claims the unique view was the best way to tell the story of the data.
'When I put it onto a rectangular map it was neat looking, but a little bit disappointing,' Nelson told OurAmazingPlanet.
But the unorthodox, bottom-up perspective allowed the curving paths the storms make across the world's oceans to shine, he said.
This amazing image was created by designer John Nelson, and shows data of every recorded event since 1851.
It also offers a unique perspective of the earth from the bottom up - with Antarctica in the middle, the Americas on the right and Asia on the left
© John Nelson, IDV Solutions
An astonishing new map reveals all of the world's hurricanes and intense weather events since 1951 in a single image.
An astonishing new map reveals all of the world's hurricanes and intense weather events since 1951 in a single image.
'When I put it onto a rectangular map it was neat looking, but a little bit disappointing,' Nelson told OurAmazingPlanet.
But the unorthodox, bottom-up perspective allowed the curving paths the storms make across the world's oceans to shine, he said.
"It was definitely the closest I've ever seen a lightning strike," LT. Jay Kircher said.
LT. Jay Kircher says he and his crew were sitting in the operations center when they heard the crack and then saw four lighting bolts come down and make a meteor like hole right in the center of the tarmac with spraying debris everywhere.
"I remember it was so different, usually you just hear it, you hear the crack and maybe a little rumble, but this was like a transformer about to explode," Kircher explained.
The U.S. Coast Guard has strict guidelines in place as far as severe weather goes, and all of their pilots have spent much of their careers studying it, and they say they have never seen anything like this.
Two powerful typhoons are heading toward China, putting the weather-beaten nation on alert again after four storms have caused landfalls across the country since the start of August. 
Typhoons Tembin and Bolaven may have a combined impact on coastal areas in the coming 10 days," Zhang Chang'an, chief forecaster at the China Meteorological Administration, said on Wednesday.
Both storms are strengthening, with Bolaven expected to be the strongest typhoon to hit China this year if it lands in the country, Zhang said, adding that the storm will bring maximum winds of 220 km/h.
© Weather Underground
Both storms are strengthening, with Bolaven expected to be the strongest typhoon to hit China this year if it lands in the country, Zhang said, adding that the storm will bring maximum winds of 220 km/h.
Four consecutive earthquakes - two of them powerful ones - rocked western Nepal in past 12 hours.
With their epicenters in the border area of Rolpa and Rukum districts, the tremors of the first quake were felt in Kathmandu at 10:15 pm last night.
Its magnitude was 5.6 on the Richter scale, according to Dilli Ram Tiwari, survey officer at National Seismological Centre (NSC) in Kathmandu.
The second quake was measured at 10:27 pm yesterday, and it was 4.4 in magnitude.
The NSC has recorded two earthquakes this morning also. The quakes at 6:02 am and 9.40 am were 4.4 and 5.2 on the Richter Scale, Tiwari said.
Source: The Himalayan
With their epicenters in the border area of Rolpa and Rukum districts, the tremors of the first quake were felt in Kathmandu at 10:15 pm last night.
Its magnitude was 5.6 on the Richter scale, according to Dilli Ram Tiwari, survey officer at National Seismological Centre (NSC) in Kathmandu.
The second quake was measured at 10:27 pm yesterday, and it was 4.4 in magnitude.
The NSC has recorded two earthquakes this morning also. The quakes at 6:02 am and 9.40 am were 4.4 and 5.2 on the Richter Scale, Tiwari said.
Source: The Himalayan
Sotara volcano looks set to erupt for first time in recorded history
The seismic network recorded 110 magnitude 0.2-1.6 events mainly located in an area 0.1-5 km NE of the peak, at depths of 2-6 km. Inflation was detected in the NE area, coincident with the zone of increased seismicity.
Web-camera views showed no morphological changes.
The Alert Level was raised to III (Yellow; "changes in the behavior of volcanic activity"), or the second lowest level. (Smithsonian Institute)
Source: Earthquake Report
© Hao Bin/European Pressphoto Agency
A collapsed section of the Yangmingtan Bridge’s ramp, in the city of Harbin, dropped 100 feet to the ground on Friday, killing three people and injuring five.
A collapsed section of the Yangmingtan Bridge’s ramp, in the city of Harbin, dropped 100 feet to the ground on Friday, killing three people and injuring five.
A nearly 330-foot-long section of a ramp of the eight-lane Yangmingtan Bridge in the city of Harbin dropped 100 feet to the ground. Four trucks plummeted with it, resulting in three deaths and five injuries. The 9.6-mile bridge is one of three built over the Songhua River in that area in the past four years.
China's economic stimulus program in 2009 and 2010 helped the country avoid most of the effects of the global economic downturn, but involved incurring heavy debt to pay for the rapid construction of new bridges, highways and high-speed rail lines all over the country.
Three of the dead have already been identified, Emergency Ministry says. They are reported to have been tourists.
The overall number of those affected by the disaster currently stands between 1,500 and 1,800 people, according to different sources.
The heavy rainfalls battering the area in the last 24 hours - in some places the average monthly falls - triggered the flooding.
As many as 112 families have been displaced due to landslides that took place in Dolkha district between mid July to mid August this year.
Majority of the displaced families are from Bhirkot VDC. As many as 24 families have been completely displaced while others have been affected partially as a result of landslides.
Similarly, landslides completely displaced six families in Bhimeshwor Municipality and 10 other families have been partially affected.
The landslides also damaged houses in Jafe, Namdu, Mirge, Babare, Sahare, Suspakshamawati, Dandakharka, Chyama, Pawati and Laduk VDCs, according to Nepal Red Cross Society.
Harka Bahadur Shrestha, President of NRCS, Dolkha, said the NRCS had distributed clothing, utensils, and tent worth Rs. 6,500 per family as immediate relief to the landslide victims.
The landslide completely displaced 49 families and left partial damages in the houses of 63 families in Dolakha, added Shrestha.
Majority of the displaced families are from Bhirkot VDC. As many as 24 families have been completely displaced while others have been affected partially as a result of landslides.
Similarly, landslides completely displaced six families in Bhimeshwor Municipality and 10 other families have been partially affected.
The landslides also damaged houses in Jafe, Namdu, Mirge, Babare, Sahare, Suspakshamawati, Dandakharka, Chyama, Pawati and Laduk VDCs, according to Nepal Red Cross Society.
Harka Bahadur Shrestha, President of NRCS, Dolkha, said the NRCS had distributed clothing, utensils, and tent worth Rs. 6,500 per family as immediate relief to the landslide victims.
The landslide completely displaced 49 families and left partial damages in the houses of 63 families in Dolakha, added Shrestha.
A Russian floating oil rig in the Arctic has been ambushed - by a group of Greenpeace activists. Six men scaled the platform and are currently dangling off the side, suspended by cables, in protest against energy giant Gazprom's plans to drill in the area. Let's now talk to Piers Corbyn, the director of WeatherAction.com
Comment: Go here to see John Nelson's hurricane and tropical storms map in close-up detail.