Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

US: On the storm chase: Tornadoes possible today in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas

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© NOAA Storm Prediction CenterNOAA’s Storm Prediction Center forecasts a slight risk of severe thunderstorms over a large region of the central U.S. today
Pratt, Kansas - Following a sprint back south to the area (we were here for sight-seeing last week) from South Dakota, my storm chase team led by Jason Foster, and including meteorologist Mark Ellinwood, is on the road to try to find today's sweet spot of potential tornadic activity. The Storm Prediction Center is forecasting a "slight risk" of severe weather today over a large portion of the southern Plains into the upper Midwest.

It's been kind of quiet for May thus far in the Plains. Typically, this is the peak of both tornadoes in any given year, and it is also the peak for the Oklahoma and Kansas portion of Tornado Alley. Quiet days, and spreading wildfires aside, things have turned progressively more active lately, and today into tomorrow could end up making up for "lost time" last week.

Cloud Lightning

26 dead as Tropical storm leaves Philippines

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© AFP/FilePeople watch as waves slam into the seawall in Manila. Tropical storm Aere left the Philippines on Wednesday
The latest tally showed that Aere affected 71,267 families or 376,888 people in 464 villages, 65 municipalities, five cities, and 12 provinces in six regions nationwide.

Manila: Tropical Storm Aere left northern Luzon on Wednesday, but not before battering the Bicol region and leaving at least 26 people dead, a disaster official told Gulf News.

Most of the newly listed fatalities came from central Philippines and Metro Manila, not in central Luzon which Aure drenched and hit with rough winds from Monday to Tuesday, said Ronald Flores, acting officer in charge of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)

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US: Mount St. Helens Erupts Again - This Time in 3-D

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© Tomaso Ongaro et alPictured from the northwest, the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption is modeled in 3-D.
First accurate simulation "a big deal," could save lives, experts say.

Volcanologists have created the first ever 3-D simulation of the cataclysmic eruption of Mount St. Helens, which happened 31 years ago this month.

The model backs up current ideas about what led to the 1980 blast, which killed 57 people. The real news, though, is that the simulation could save lives in the future by helping researchers predict how dormant volcanoes may lose their tempers.

Cloud Lightning

US: A Bad Decision - FEMA must Help Tornado Victims

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© UnknownBellville, Wood County
The Federal Emergency Management Agency should reconsider its decision to deny Gov. Bob McDonnell's request to declare a major disaster in parts of Southwest Virginia ravaged by tornadoes.

FEMA denied McDonnell's request for Washington and Pulaski counties over the weekend indicating the damage was not severe enough to qualify for federal assistance.

Bizarro Earth

US: Washing Away the Fields of Iowa

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© Environmental Working GroupSoil Erosion rates by county in 2007
To an untrained eye, the fields of Iowa have a reassuring solidity. You cannot tell that the state has lost half its topsoil in the past century. According to a new report from the Environmental Working Group, Iowa's soil is washing away at rates far higher than anyone realized.

For Iowa - and other Corn Belt states facing similar problems - this means an increasing loss of fertility that has to be replaced chemically. It marks a failure of stewardship, since these soils will have to feed future generations. And every particle that washes away causes problems downstream, including sedimentation - which can increase the risk of flooding - and the alarming dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, the result of runoff of the chemical fertilizers farmers apply to make up for lost fertility.

The Agriculture Department says that a "sustainable" rate of topsoil loss for most of Iowa is 5 tons per acre per year, and the actual average soil erosion is 5.2 tons. But using Iowa State University statistics and an aerial survey, the Environmental Working Group concluded that average annual soil loss in much of Iowa is double the federal government's estimates. This pace of erosion is caused partly by an increasing number of intense storms. As the report says, it has been exacerbated by a fundamental bias in federal farm policy and supports. In the dozen years before 2009, Iowa received nearly $17 billion in subsidies that fostered high-intensity farming and less than $3 billion to support conservation. In the recent budget battles, conservation programs were the hardest-hit farm programs.

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UK: Mysterious hole sparks fears in Harlesden

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© UnknowwnRay Szynowski says the hole myseriously appeared without any sign of what caused it
Residents were shocked to find this gaping hole as they arrived back from work late one afternoon.

The crevice, which is some 3ft deep and 2ft wide, appeared in Leopold Road, Harlesden without any sign of what caused it.

Concerned residents spotted the hole shortly before 5pm last Wednesday, and rushed out to put up makeshift barriers and scrawled a 'danger' sign warning motorists and pedestrians of the hazard.

Family

Earthquake hits southern Spain, ten dead

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© Unknown
Damaged cars in Lorca after the earthquake
At least ten people were reported dead and dozens injured after an earthquake shook southeastern Spain on Wednesday, toppling historic buildings in the medieval town of Lorca.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has hit the town of Lorca in southern Spain, leaving seven people dead and several medieval buildings collapsed.

The 5.2 magnitude earthquake was felt across the Murcia region, where hundreds of British expatriate live, from Alicante to Malaga and as far away as Madrid.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has hit the town of Lorca in southern Spain, leaving a seven people dead and several medieval buildings collapsed.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 5.3 earthquake kills at least 4 in Spain

5.3 earthquake spain
© Unknown
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has toppled several buildings in southern Spain, near the town of Lorca, killing at least four people, officials say.

The quake struck at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), some 120km south-west of Alicante, at 1850 (1650 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.

TV shots showed rescue workers rushing through debris-littered streets.

Lorca Mayor Francisco Jodar told local radio the four deaths were caused by falling debris and cave-ins.

Old buildings, including a clocktower, were badly damaged by the quake, which followed a smaller 4.4-magnitude quake about two hours earlier.

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has deployed emergency military units to the scene, the Spanish EFE news agency reported.

Earthquakes are common in southern Spain, but they rarely result in casualties.

A number of aftershocks have been felt in the Murcia region, where authorities fear the death toll could rise.

The area worst hit by Tuesday's quake suffered previous tremors in 2005 and 1999.

Control Panel

Best of the Web: Volcano heats high-mountain lake to 108 degrees - Now imagine what a few thousand underwater volcanoes could do

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© Unknown
Last month, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) announced that the water temperature in the main crater of Taal volcano in the Philippines had risen from 86.9 degrees Fahrenheit to 88.7 degrees Fahrenheit (30.5C to 31.5C), a sign that the volcano might soon erupt.

This provides an example of how much heat a volcano can generate.

And this is not the only lake that's running hot.

On March 1st of this year, the water temperature in New Zealand's Mt Ruapehu crater lake reached an astounding 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit (41C).

This was just short of the highest temperature ever reached since the lake was re-established in 2002, say volcanologists from New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS).

"The highest recorded temperature was 42.5degC (108.5F) in May 2003," says GeoNet duty volcanologist Agnes Mazot.

"The temperature of Crater Lake is a measure of amount of volcanic heat coming from Ruapehu," Mazot added.

Bizarro Earth

US: Wild April 2011 Weather: Historic Month by the Numbers

Wild Weather
© NOAA

April 2011 sure was a wild weather month. A record-breaking tornado outbreak capped a month of extremes, and many natural disasters, including historic flooding and devastating wildfires, continue into May.

Here are the numbers, according to the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

Temperature

Average U.S. temperature in April: 52.9 degrees Fahrenheit (11.6 degrees Celsius).

Degrees above the 1901-2000 average: 0.9 degrees F (0.5 degrees C).

State that had its warmest April on record: Delaware. April 2011 was the fourth warmest April for Virginia and the fifth warmest for Texas. Florida and Louisiana had their seventh warmest, New Mexico and West Virginia their eighth, New Jersey its ninth and Maryland its 10th.

Washington State came in at its second coolest April, 5 degrees F (2.8 degrees C) below their long-term average. Oregon (with its fifth coolest April) and Idaho (10th coolest) were also much cooler than normal.