Earth ChangesS


Phoenix

US: Colorado wildfire forces evacuation of 9,500 homes

Keith Coffman
Reuters
Thu, 24 Mar 2011 02:09 UTC
A wind-whipped wildfire forced the evacuation of 9,500 homes southeast of Denver on Thursday just as firefighters were gaining the upper hand on a separate blaze that has burned stubbornly for five days west of the city.

Deputy Michelle Rademacher of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said the latest fire has scorched about 1,600 acres in the wooded bluffs near Franktown, Colorado.

"We're not aware of any structures lost, but the high winds are pushing it close to heavily populated neighborhoods, so we called for mandatory evacuations," she said.

The fire grew quickly as sustained winds of 40 miles per hour fanned the flames through dry brush, grasses and trees.
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Eye 1

US: Emergency plans in Louisville, Colorado in event of disaster raise eyebrows

John Aguilar
Daily Camera
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:44 UTC
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Council members express concern over sanctity of private property rights

Language in Louisville's proposed emergency response plan, which would give the city the power to "commandeer private property" and "seize" buildings in a crisis, has given several of the city's elected leaders pause.

The emergency ordinance, which was supposed to have gotten an up or down vote earlier this month, was instead tabled until April so that the council can figure out how it wants to deal with what one member called the measure's "stark" language.

"I think any time you talk about government seizing private property -- that's not something I'm comfortable with," Councilman Bob Muckle said Tuesday.

Muckle said he understood that in extraordinary circumstances, extraordinary measures must be taken, but he said he wants to hear from the police chief and other city staff on exactly how they envision implementing Louisville's emergency measures.

The subject of municipal crisis management has taken on a special urgency in the wake of Japan's earthquake and tsunami and the resulting nuclear and humanitarian crises.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Flooding Damages N. Calif. Businesses and Homes

Sudin Thanawala
San Francisco Chronicle/ AP
Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:28 UTC
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© KGO-TV San FranciscoThe Bay Area is beginning to clean up from Thursday's storm as residents brace for more problems.
Crews on California's Central Coast were working Friday to reopen a highway through the Big Sur area and repair damage from a flood that forced the evacuation of a mobile home park, as the region got a respite from a powerful storm that brought heavy wind and rain.

Residents in the 45-unit Pacific Cove Mobile Home Park in Santa Cruz County were ordered to evacuate on Thursday when a failed drainage pipe tore a roughly 15-by-100 foot hole in the ground near homes and sent a 3-foot surge of water into Capitola Village, authorities said.

"The water was moving really rapidly and carrying debris, garbage cans, kids' toys, chairs," Pamela Bone, 52, a resident of the mobile home park said. "My neighbor and I were looking across from each other at the river running between us."

Bone said the area around her home was left caked in mud but the home itself had remained dry.

"I think we're the lucky ones," she said.

Four of the homes have been red-tagged, said Derek Johnson, a city spokesman, and crews were trying to restore electricity and other utilities to the area. The gas was not expected to be back on for at least another week.

Capitola is just south of Santa Cruz, where this month's tsunami caused millions of dollars of damage to the harbor.
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Bizarro Earth

Atlantic oil spill threatens endangered penguins

Jill Lawless
Associated Press
Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:20 UTC
Image
© OceanDoctor,org
London - Thousands of endangered penguins have been coated with oil after a cargo ship ran aground and broke up on a remote British South Atlantic territory, officials and conservationists said Tuesday.

The shipwreck also threatens the lobster fishery that provides a livelihood to one of the world's most isolated communities.

The Malta-registered MS Olivia was grounded on Nightingale Island in the Tristan da Cunha chain last week. The ship had been traveling from Brazil to Singapore and contained 1,500 metric tons (1,650 tons) of crude oil and a cargo of 60,000 metric tons (66,000 tons) of soya beans.

The ship's 22 crew members were rescued before it broke in two.

Tristan da Cunha's conservation officer, Trevor Glass, said oil was encircling Nightingale Island and called the situation "a disaster."

The territory's British administrator, Sean Burns, said more than half of about 500 birds gathered by rescue workers had been coated in oil. An environmentalist at the scene estimated that 20,000 penguins might be affected.
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Bizarro Earth

Dramatic video shows tsunami survivor's rescue


Mother Nature Network
Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:37 UTC
Almost a week after Japan was struck by twin disasters, images continue to appear showing the scale of the tsunami. ITN's Louisa James describes the rescue of one woman, plucked to safety as the water surged through Sendai.

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Blackbox

Wind and waves growing across globe


PhysOrg
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:54 UTC
Image
© Todd Binger
Oceanic wind speeds and wave heights have increased significantly over the last quarter of a century according to a major new study undertaken by ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Young.

Published in Science, the study is the most comprehensive of its kind ever undertaken.

Other authors include Swinburne University oceanographers Professor Alex Babanin and Dr Stefan Zieger.

"Careful analysis of satellite data shows that extreme oceanic wind speeds and ocean wave heights have increased dramatically over the last 23 years," Professor Young said.

"Off the southern coast of Australia, the highest one per cent of waves have increased in height from approximately five metres to almost six metres over the last 20 years"

"Extreme conditions are where we are seeing the largest increases, but mean conditions are also going up.

"Extreme wind speeds have increased over most of the globe by approximately 10 per cent over the last 20 years, or 0.5 per cent every year.

"Extreme wave heights have increased by an average of seven per cent over the last 20 years, or 0.25 per cent a year in equatorial regions and 0.5 per cent a year in higher latitudes.
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Bizarro Earth

Kamuela, Hawaii: A Rainbow At Night


SpaceWeather
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:01 UTC
Recipe for a rainbow: Add bright sunlight to raindrops and voila!--a beautiful band of multi-colors arcs across the sky. With such an ingredient list, you might suppose that rainbows can only be seen during the day, yet last night Ethan Tweedie of Kamuela, Hawaii, recorded this spectacular example long after dark:

Night Rainbow
© Ethan TweedieLocation: Kamuela Hawaii
Image Taken: Mar 24, 2011
"It was a moonbow," explains Tweedie. The bright moon played the role of sun, illuminating nightime raindrops falling through the damp Hawaiian air. "I've been trying to photograph a moonbow for a long time. Last night I was driving back from the Volcano there it was!"

Tweedie's long exposure revealed something even more rare: a secondary moonbow. It's the faint 'bow arciing above the brighter primary. Primary rainbows are caused by single reflections inside raindrops; secondary bows are caused by double reflections. It was a night to remember, indeed.
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Bizarro Earth

California's Tornado Alley? Third Twister This Year for Colusa County

Brett Israel
OurAmazingPlanet
Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:22 UTC


Northern California is looking a lot like Tornado Alley these days.

Just north of Sacramento, two reported weak tornadoes struck this week in Colusa County, which did not have a single tornado report from 1950 to 2010, according to the Weather Channel. Colusa has now had three reported tornadoes this year and four in the past five months. That's some serious action for a state that averages about five tornadoes per year.

No witnesses saw the touchdown of yesterday's (March 23) reported EF-0 tornado - the weakest ranking with winds between 65 and 85 mph (105 and 137 kph) - but people did see a funnel cloud and six homes reported damage, the Sacramento Bee reported. Another funnel cloud was captured on YouTube on Monday (March 21).
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Bizarro Earth

US: 1000s Of Fish Die In Hanna Park Lake


News4Jax
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:48 UTC
Dead Fish
© News4JaxThousands of fish turn up dead in the lake at Hannah Park. Scientists say golden algae caused the fish kill.

Atlantic Beach, Florida -- Dozens of dead fish have risen to the surface at a lake in Hanna Park. The floating fish have produced a foul smell and an eerie site.

"I've seen a couple of people biking around, but as soon as they get to this area, they turn right back around," visitor Heather Lenier said.

The sight and smell is enough to keep people away from the lake.

Scientists said an outbreak of golden algae is responsible for the death of thousands of fish. The algae is producing a toxic chemical. When fish come in contact with the tainted water, their blood cells literally explode.

"Those cells that carry oxygen are being ruptured," biologist Dana Morton said. "Oxygen is not getting to the fish, and the fish look like they are suffocating, which they really are."

Morton said that as harmful as the algae is for fish, it is harmless for humans.
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Radar

Burma earthquake: More than 60 killed


British Broadcasting Corporation
Fri, 25 Mar 2011 05:50 UTC
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© Agence France-PresseA rising toll and damage across both sides of the Burma Thailand border has followed the quake
More than 60 people have died in a magnitude-6.8 earthquake in Burma which struck near the Lao and Thai borders.

It happened at 1355 GMT on Thursday and was centred about 70 miles (110 km) from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai, the US Geological Survey said.

It was felt 800km to the south in the Thai capital Bangkok, and in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

The quake was shallow, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10km). There are fears the casualties could be much higher.
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