Earth ChangesS


Blackbox

US: Arkansas investigating mysterious natural gas flowing from Quitman well

Arkansas State Oil and Gas Commission leaders are scratching their heads right now. They're trying to figure out why natural gas started flowing from abandoned water well in Quitman.

An emergency overnight prompted the evacuations of three homes. Residents we talked to off camera say they were awakened in the middle of the night, around 3:30 Monday morning. Officials asking them to leave their homes after gas pressure in the well forced it to spew out water.


Bizarro Earth

Floods force hundreds to evacuate in central Canada

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© Unknown
Persistent flooding in Canada's central province of Manitoba has forced hundreds of people from their homes and closed dozens of roads, authorities said Tuesday.

Officials worked around the clock to build higher dikes near towns along the Assiniboine River, near the province's western border where flood threats were the most serious.

A total of 763 people have been evacuated from their homes, the Manitoba Water Stewardship said.

"Ice jams along the Assiniboine River between Poplar Point and Baie St. Paul Bridge caused surges in the water levels, and overtopped and breached the dikes in some areas," the government agency announced.

"The dikes took quite a pounding," a government official told AFP, adding that repairs were quickly done.

Bizarro Earth

US: 3,200 Gulf wells unplugged, unprotected

Gulf oil relief well
© AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, FileIn this Sept. 18, 2010 file photo, the Development Driller III, which drilled the relief well and pumped the cement to seal the Macondo well, the source of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill, is seen in the Gulf Of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. More than 3,200 oil and gas wells classified as active lie abandoned beneath the Gulf of Mexico with none of the cement plugging normally required to help keep unused wells from leaking, threatening the same waters fouled by last year's BP oil spill, The Associated Press has learned.
More than 3,200 oil and gas wells classified as active lie abandoned beneath the Gulf of Mexico, with no cement plugging to help prevent leaks that could threaten the same waters fouled by last year's BP spill, The Associated Press has learned.

These wells likely pose an even greater environmental threat than the 27,000 wells in the Gulf that have been plugged and classified officially as "permanently abandoned" or "temporarily abandoned." Those sealed wells were first tallied and reported as a major leaking threat in an investigative report by the AP in July.

The unplugged wells haven't been used for at least five years, and there are no plans to restore production on them, according to the federal government. Operators have not been required to plug the wells because their leases have not expired.

As a result, there is little to prevent powerful leaks from pushing to the surface. Even depleted wells can repressurize from work on nearby wells or shifts in oil or gas layers beneath the surface, petroleum engineers say. But no one is watching to make sure that doesn't happen.

The addition of the unused but officially active wells, as documented in a list provided to the AP by federal officials under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, means at least three-fifths of the 50,000 wells ever drilled in the Gulf have been left behind with no routine monitoring for leaks.

Arrow Down

US,Iowa: Wintry weather makes farmers anxious

Oat producers didn't mind Saturday's brief snowfall. The weather forecast this week isn't too disconcerting either.

The rest of Northeast Iowa's crop farmers, on the other hand, have a slightly different opinion. Farmers are ready to plant corn and soybeans, but they're waiting for the recent cold snap to dissipate.

That may not happen until the end of the week. According to the National Weather Service in Des Moines, temperatures won't get above 50 degrees until Saturday and there's a chance of rain or snow, ranging from 30 to 80 percent, every day through Friday.

Monday's weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture Crops and Weather Report said farmers are anxious for warm and dry weather so planting can begin in earnest.

Leland Boyd isn't too worried. The Charles City farmer planted oats about two weeks ago and he'll wait for warmer days before he gets out the planter again.

Boyd doesn't mind a little snow to blanket the oat crop, but he doesn't want to stay too long.

Igloo

US: Manitowoc, Wisconsin area under winter storm warning, 6 inches possible

The National Weather Service out of Green Bay has issued a winter storm warning for the Manitowoc area starting at 1 p.m. today until 10 a.m. Wednesday.

According to its forecast:

A band of snow is expected to produce 6 or more inches of wet packing-type snow today and tonight. Locations near Lake Michigan may see lower amounts due to warmer temperatures. The snow also may mix with sleet and light rain at times, lessening the accumulation.

Heavy snow can cause travel to become extremely hazardous as roads become snow or ice covered. Heavy snow also could reduce visibilities to a quarter of a mile or less at times.

"You just have to be cautious and slow down because the snow is so wet and heavy. When the roads are slushy, it pulls you into a ditch, that's why you have to be careful," said Gary Kennedy, Manitowoc County Highway Commissioner.

Snowman

Wisconsin, US: Slush and Snow Sticking Around into Wednesday

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© Lyssa BeyerSnow fell on Port Washington despite the fact that April is almost over, covering cars in white and forcing drivers to bust out their scrapers.
Port Washington and Saukville are covered in white again after a wintry storm Tuesday.

The National Weather Service predicts a 100 percent chance of precipation in Port Washington and Saukville as we look into the overnight hours.

Tonight, residents can expect "rain showers, possibly mixed with snow and sleet before 10 p.m.; then rain, possibly mixed with snow showers between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.; then periods of snow after 1 a.m," according to the National Weather Service. Thunder is also possible tonight, and has already been heard throughout the area this afternoon.

Will it be over by Wednesday? Well, maybe.

Evil Rays

Enormous amount of high-level radioactive waste coming from Unit No. 2 - Reactor and containment are breached

Arnie Gundersen interview, Democracy Now, April 19, 2011:

Transcript Excerpts

Amy Goodman: Can you talk about TEPCO saying that they were optimistic that they could bring down radiation at the damaged plant and go to a cold shutdown of the facility in six to nine months? ... Will radiation be leaking for the six to nine months?

Arnie Gundersen: Radiation is leaking every day now, both liquid into the ocean and also airborne. When you see those clouds of smoke coming out of the unit, that's not steam, that's radioactive steam. So, they're releasing radioactivity as a airborne, and also, probably more important right now is Unit 2, the reactor has a hole in it, and the containment has a hole in it. So they're pouring water in the top, and it's running out the bottom. And it's what's causing all of this enormous amount of high-level radioactive waste. ...

Phoenix

US: Crews battle fierce fire west of Fort Worth, Texas

Dallas - State officials said Tuesday that a wildfire burning about 70 miles from the Dallas-Fort Worth area has blackened an area twice as big as previously estimated, and that strong wind gusts and hot temperatures would make it tougher to fight the blaze.

Fish

California: Hundreds of dead fish found in Ventura Harbor

Ventura Harbor -- Hundreds of fish have been found dead in Ventura Harbor. This is the second large fish kill in Southern California this year. This time, hundreds of dead fish are floating in Ventura Harbor.

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The phone calls started coming into the Ventura Harbor Patrol around 6 a.m. Monday. Boaters were already noticing a large number of dead fish floating in the water. One officer said that in the past year, there have been three or four times that this has happened, and in recent days, he was worried that this was going to happen again.

Once again, something's fishy along our Southern California coastline: Another fish die-off, this one in the Ventura Harbor.

Snowman

Canada: Record breaking snow for Calgary

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Calgary smashed a one-day snowfall record on Thursday -- breaking a record that's been holding strong for 110 years.

Does April snow bring May flowers?

Calgary residents are probably wondering what happened to spring after 23 cm was noted at Calgary International Airport on Thursday -- breaking the record for the most snowfall on April 14. The last time the city saw that much of a wallop on the same day was back in 1901 (17.8 cm).

Other areas throughout the city actually saw upwards of 30 cm pile up.

According to Environment Canada, a weather disturbance from BC moved into southern Alberta on Wednesday evening, bringing heavy snow into the foothills.

Despite the fact the calendar says April, other parts of Alberta also reported accumulations including: Edmonton International Airport (8 cm), Red Deer (11 cm), Lethbridge (6-17 cm), Cochrane (10-12 cm) and Stony Plain (16 cm).

Although it's spring, this type of weather isn't unusual for Alberta. "Some of the highest snow totals for Calgary happen in April and May, which is why this isn't a shock for residents," says Rob Davis, another meteorologist here at The Weather Network.