Earth ChangesS


Info

Stargazers In Awe As Total Eclipse Arcs Across Pacific

Eclipse_1
© AFPThe sun is seen partially covered by the moon on Easter Island, 3700 km off the Chilean coast in the Pacific Ocean.
A total solar eclipse drew an 11,000-kilometer (6,800-mile) arc over the Pacific, plunging remote isles into darkness in a heavenly display climaxing on mysterious Easter Island.

The skies grew black in the middle of the day Sunday as the Moon slipped in front of the Sun and aligned with the Earth, blotting out the sunshine that just moments earlier had swathed the island's silent, ancient stone guardians.

Applause erupted from thousands of stargazers who began gathering days ago on this remote Chilean outpost for the rare four-minute, 41-second eclipse.

"It was like being in the stadium at night with artificial light. It was like being in a dark room with a 10-watt bulb," awe-struck local official Francisco Haoa told AFP.

"It started with a shadow. The skies were perfectly blue, with lots of wind that chased away the clouds. Everyone applauded.

"We saw a luminous object near here and people started saying they were sure it was a UFO."

In Tahiti, where the solar eclipse began its trek, the effect was so stunning that crowds of football-mad Polynesians turned away from the World Cup final on their television screens to look to the skies instead.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.2 - Antofagasta, Chile

Antofagasta Quake_120710
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Monday, July 12, 2010 at 00:11:18 UTC

Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 08:11:18 PM at epicenter

Location:
22.255°S, 68.205°W

Depth:
91.3 km (56.7 miles)

Region:
ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE

Distances:
80 km (50 miles) ENE of Calama, Antofagasta, Chile

205 km (130 miles) E of Tocopilla, Antofagasta, Chile

245 km (150 miles) SW of Uyuni, Bolivia

1260 km (780 miles) NNE of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile

Monkey Wrench

Gulf of Mexico has many deepwater wells

Mars platform
© Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesRoyal Dutch Shell's Mars platform operates in 2,940 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 5,000 feet of water between the Gulf of Mexico's surface and the Deepwater Horizon blowout has kept the oil and natural gas flowing.

Each time BP has tried to cap its runaway well, the company has warned that no one has ever tried it at such a depth.

But elsewhere in the Gulf, companies have been drilling in far deeper water - and making the same environmental and safety promises that BP made.

The BP disaster is calling attention to unique engineering challenges and environmental risks associated with seeking oil and gas at great depths. Equipment designed to withstand harsh conditions deep underwater failed, making some engineers discount assurances that crises could be addressed at far greater depths.

Igloo

Info Commissioner Finds Saintly CRU Crew Guilty

Climategate row rumbles on

Climatic Research Unit director Phil Jones was being whisked back to his desk at the University of East Anglia by the University's Russell enquiry yesterday.

But with exquisite timing, the Information Commissioner's office chose the same day to confirm that CRU had twice broken the Freedom of Information regulations - once by ignoring the request, and twice by refusing the actual data. The breaches carry a civil penalty.

More is to come, as this was one of four complaints by David Holland under consideration by the ICO, which adjudicates on both FOI requests and EIRs, or Environmental Information Regulations. Other bodies include the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Met Office.

Hourglass

Gulf Oil Spill: Cap Removed From Gushing Well, Oil Flows Freely

oil cap
In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC, the arm of a remotely operated vehicle works at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, Saturday, July 10, 2010. (AP)

New Orleans, Louisiana - Robotic submarines removed the cap from the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, beginning a period of at least two days when oil will flow freely into the sea.

It's the first step in placing a tighter dome that is supposed to funnel more oil to collection ships on the surface a mile above. If all goes according to plan, the tandem of the tighter cap and the surface ships could keep all the oil from polluting the fragile Gulf as soon as Monday.

BP spokesman Mark Proegler said the old cap was removed at 12:37 p.m. CDT on Saturday.

"Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan," said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.2 - South of The Mariana Islands

Earthquake Mariana Islds_100710
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 11:43:32 UTC

Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 09:43:32 PM at epicenter

Location:
11.127°N, 146.050°E

Depth:
10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

Region:
SOUTH OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS

Distances:
295 km (185 miles) SSE of HAGATNA, Guam

345 km (215 miles) SSE of Rota, Northern Mariana Islands

450 km (280 miles) S of SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands

Fish

Fish Found Walking in Gulf Spill

walking fish
© Discovery News
Two new species of pancake batfish, which walk using their arm-like fins, have been found at the site of the Gulf oil spill, according to a study published in the Journal of Fish Biology.

Both fish live in waters either partially or fully encompassed by the Deepwater Horizon spill.

"One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area," says John Sparks, curator of Ichthyology at the AMNH. "If we are still finding new species of fishes in the Gulf, imagine how much diversity -- especially microdiversity -- is out there that we do not know about."

Telescope

Noctilucent Clouds as far south as France

Last night, sky watchers in Europe witnessed the finest display of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) so far this year. Electric-blue tendrils spread as far south as France:
Image
© Alexandre Croisier

"I could see the NLCs from my window," says photographer Alexandre Croisier of Brittany, France. "So I rushed down to the beach to take this picture--a 6 second exposure with my Canon 350D."

In England, the same display stretched from horizon to horizon. "There was quite a lot of detail visible, including swirls and tiger stripes," reports Mark Jones of Leamington Spa, UK. Even city lights did not overwhelm the NLCs. "I had no trouble seeing them from southwest London," says onlooker Maurice Gavin.

Bad Guys

Despite objections, cleanup waste moves to Pecan Grove landfill

Harrison County, Mississippi - First, oil made its way on our beaches, and now, oil is making its way into our landfill. Waste Management is now transporting and disposing of oil spill cleanup waste in the Pecan Grove landfill in Harrison County, over strong objections of County officials.

The tar balls, oily sand and other material are scooped up from the beach, bagged and dumped into Waste Management containers.

When they leave the beach, they're going to the company's Pecan Grove landfill in Harrison County. The company said the landfill is fully permitted and equipped to receive and dispose of the oil waste.

In a statement, the company said, "the content of cleanup waste has been analyzed, screened and profiled under prevailing regulations for proper waste disposal and deemed non-hazardous."

Bizarro Earth

North Dakota: Deadly downpour at Columbus

A recent fish kill at Short Creek Dam
© Kim Fundingsland/MDNA recent fish kill at Short Creek Dam north of Columbus appears to be quite extensive. Several species of fish began floating to the surface last Friday.

Normally the Fourth of July weekend at Short Creek Dam is a joyous and festive occassion. It wasn't this year.

When local Columbus Sportsmen's Club member Shannon Burau went to Short Creek last Friday morning to mow the campground in preparation for the big weekend, he discovered what he described as a sickening scene.

"It just made me ill. The whole shoreline was pretty much solid with dead fish and it was stinking like a lagoon," said Burau. "It was just a disaster, a disaster. I've never seen anything like it."