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Nevado del Ruiz' ashes prompt closure of Colombian Airport - submarine volcano erupts near Tonga


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 14:37 UTC
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© El Espectador
The increase in the emissions of ashes from Colombia's volcano Nevado del Ruiz prompted today the closure of nearby La Nubia airport to prevent traffic congestion to and from the terminal. According to Director of the Volcano Observatory of Manizales, Gloria Cortes, the communities near the crater, the most watched over in Colombia, remain on alert because of this increase in its activity.

The measure to suspend operations in the terminal was adopted to prevent any air accident because the ashes might interfere with the good functioning of plane turbines. Besides, the volcano, located between the central departments of Caldas and Tolima, continue emitting sulfure dioxide, though for the time being the situation is not serious, said Cortes as quoted by El Espectador newspaper.

Located 220 km west of Bogota, is part of the volcanic strip of Los Andes, also including another 74 similar structures. Its first eruptions occurred 1.8 million years ago, in the early Pleistocene, but the most lethal explosion was registered in November, 1985, when an enormous lahar (mud and debris flow) buried the small town of Armero, in Tolima, in Lagunilla valley, where only one fourth of its 28,000 inhabitants managed to survive in the absence of early warnings or predictions. Chinchina town also suffered the impact of the phenomenon, losing nearly 2,000 inhabitants. - Prensa Latina

Comment: Seems Mother Earth is moving about again:

Time-bomb? Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano eruption mystery - ground sinking below lava build-up by a foot a day

Indonesia's Soputan volcano blows its top in strong, explosive eruption

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Binoculars

Rare Harlequin duck turns up in Aberdeen, Scotland


Evening Express
Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:05 UTC
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The rare Harlequin Duck on the River Don.
Twitchers travelled hundreds of miles to a city riverbank today to catch an "exceedingly rare" glimpse of a Harlequin duck.

The bird turned up at the Don Estuary at Seaton Park in Aberdeen on Saturday afternoon and has been watched closely by eagle-eyed enthusiasts ever since.

Within hours of its arrival, twitchers were heading to the grassy park to watch the duck feeding in the river.

Comment: See map of animal related events for the last month below (includes unusual migrations, die-offs, strange behaviour and attacks).



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Ice Cube

Extreme cold, subzero temperatures to blast Eastern U.S.

Alex Sosnowski
Accuweather
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:21 UTC
As the latest blast of arctic air settles southward, many areas in the East will have their coldest day of the winter so far on Thursday.

Throughout the day Thursday, temperatures are forecast to remain below the freezing mark (32 degrees Fahrenheit) from Hatteras, North Carolina, to Atlanta; Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; and Little Rock, Arkansas. The cold will persist despite sunshine.
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Frigid temperatures at night into Friday will raise the risk of unprotected pipes freezing and bursting.

While chilly air will reach the Florida Peninsula, temperatures will stop short of a damaging frost or freeze in the central and southern counties.

Farther north, the combination of dry arctic air, wind and temperatures will contribute to AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures remaining below zero much of the time across the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley, New England and the interior mid-Atlantic. This will occur after RealFeel Temperatures bottom out to start the day at or below minus 30 F in the northern-tier states.

In the northern states, the cold will be severe enough to bring the risk of frostbite and hypothermia to those spending time outdoors without the proper clothing. Waiting at the bus stop can not only be a painful experience, but a dangerous one.

The cold has been hindering construction projects and causing school delays and closures in some locations.

Comment: Winter is here. Is a new ice age impending?

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Magnet

NOAA: Large geomagnetic storm hits Earth

Luke Funk
MyFoxNY
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 11:28 UTC
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The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a warning for a large geomagnetic storm on Wednesday morning.

The NOAA organization said the primary areas that would be affected would be in the northern portion of the northern hemisphere.

Some of the storm's potential effects were power system voltage irregularities, possible false alarms triggered on security systems, and problems with GPS systems.

The storm could also impact spacecraft and cause orientation problems in satellites.

The warning also said that the storm could push the area where the Aurora could be seen as far south as Pennsylvania to Iowa to Oregon.

The main intensity of the storm was supposed to have affected the planet just before 6:30 a.m. but the storm was reported to still be in progress at 9 a.m.

The storm was listed as a G3 on the NOAA storm scale, which is considered large, but not the most severe.
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia's Soputan volcano blows its top in strong, explosive eruption


The Extinction Protocol
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 21:24 UTC
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The volcano erupted this morning at 02:45 local time with a strong explosion from the summit lava dome. It sent an 6 km tall ash column to approx. 26,000 ft (8,5 km) altitude. The eruption followed an increase in seismic activity in December, when so-called "drumbeat" earthquakes appeared - a type of volcanic tremor typically associated with movements of viscous magma at shallow depths,- in this case new lava rising beneath the existing lava dome (in place since 1991). As a consequence, the alert status of the volcano had been raised to the second highest level "Siaga" (3 on a scale of 1-4, alert).

Today's explosion caused parts of the summit dome that occupies the crater, open to the western flank, to collapse and produce a glowing avalanche that traveled approx. 2000 m, remaining within the volcano's caldera. It seems that no pyroclastic flow (which could sweep over the caldera walls and into inhabited areas below) occurred. No damage to people or infrastructure was reported. Continued glow from the summit dome after the explosion suggests that magma has and continues to arrive now there. - Volcano Discovery

Comment: Time-bomb? Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano eruption mystery - ground sinking below lava build-up by a foot a day

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Bizarro Earth

Time-bomb? Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano eruption mystery - ground sinking below lava build-up by a foot a day


The Extinction Protocol
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 21:19 UTC
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Skaftafell - Just north of here, on the far side of the impenetrable Vatnajokull ice sheet, lava is spewing from a crack in the earth on the flanks of Bardarbunga, one of Iceland's largest volcanoes. By volcanologists' standards, it is a peaceful eruption, the lava merely spreading across the landscape as gases bubble out of it. For now, those gases - especially sulfur dioxide, which can cause respiratory and other problems - are the main concern, prompting health advisories in the capital, Reykjavik, 150 miles to the west, and elsewhere around the country.

But sometime soon, the top of Bardarbunga, which lies under as much as half a mile of ice, may erupt explosively. That could send plumes of gritty ash into the sky that could shut down air travel across Europe because of the damage the ash can do to jet engines. And it could unleash a torrent of glacial meltwater that could wipe out the only road connecting southern Iceland to the capital. All of that could happen. Then again, it may not.

Such are the mysteries of volcanoes that more than four months after Bardarbunga began erupting, scientists here are still debating what will happen next. The truth is, no one really knows. Volcanic eruptions are among the Earth's most cataclysmic events, and understanding how and when they happen can be crucial to saving lives and reducing damage to infrastructure and other property.

Comment: Indonesia's Soputan volcano blows its top in strong, explosive eruption

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Info

3 rhinos escape out of safari park in Israel

John Hutchinson
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:28 UTC
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The rhinos make a run for it after seeing their chance with the security guard sneaking in a nap
This video footage shows the moment a young female rhinoceros named Rihanna led two pals on an escape bid from a safari park after spotting the security guard had fallen asleep.

The footage shows the rhinos escaping from the front entrance of the Ramat Gan Safari Park in the city of Ramat Gan in the Tel Aviv district of western Israel after a security guard nodded off to sleep and failed to notice until too late what was happening.

Although another employee of the park gave chase, it was too late to stop the white rhinos from hitting the road.

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Cloud Precipitation

Surprise hail storm sends 14 skydivers hurtling to the ground in Melbourne, Australia

Lucy Thackray
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 20:08 UTC
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Many onlookers ran into the sea to rescue one on the victims who slammed into the water
14 skydivers have been ripped out of the sky by wild winds, with two victims rushed to hospital and 12 others treated by paramedics after the terrifying crash landings.

After a 38-degree sunny day, a fierce storm quickly took hold with the skydivers suddenly facing an intense hail storm and violent winds.

Horrified members of the public looked to the sky as skydivers fell at a rapid pace, battered onto St Kilda beach in Melbourne.

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Attention

Sharks feed on humpback whale carcass in Batemans Bay, Australia

Tegan Osborne
abc.net.au
Wed, 07 Jan 2015 19:32 UTC
Image
© Lifesaving Services Australia
The whale was spotted floating very close to a rocky point at South Broulee beach.
Sharks have been seen devouring a dead whale floating close to rocky coastline at South Broulee near Batemans Bay in NSW, forcing authorities to close five beaches.

The young humpback whale was spotted off the rocks at the popular swimming beach on Wednesday morning, according to Stan Wall from Lifeguard Services Australia.

A 100m exclusion zone was set up around the whale and at one point a crowd of more than 300 people gathered to watch.

However, Mr Wall said, after some time, lifeguards in the area were unable to see any spray or air bubbles coming from the animal and it was presumed dead.

"We think it might have come into collision with a boat or maybe even hurt itself on the rocks that we saw it on this morning," Mr Wall said.
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Black Cat 2

Rare Pallas's cat captured on camera for first time at national park in Siberia

Anna Liesowska
The Siberian Times
Tue, 23 Dec 2014 18:37 UTC
Image
© Saylyugem National Park
Caught on camera a handful of times anywhere in the world, including in Pakistan, Iran and Nepal.
With dumpy little legs, a dense body and a penchant for hiding from trouble, the Manul has proved elusive to nature lovers worldwide.

Stunning images of an extremely rare and secretive cat have been taken for the first time in Siberia by staff at a new national park. The Manul, which looks similar to an overgrown tabby cat but is threatened with extinction, was spotted lurking beneath a rock in the snowy Altai Mountains.

With dumpy little legs and a big dense body it is considered the clumsiest member of the feline family because it often prefers not to run away from danger but simply hide. Also referred to as a Pallas Cat, because of this elusive nature the photographers were extremely fortunate to snap pictures within the Saylyugem National park.

Indeed, they have only ever been caught on camera a handful of times anywhere in the world, including in Pakistan, Iran and Nepal. Now park directors are hoping the new images will inspire animal lovers to travel to the Siberian region and see them living in the wild.
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