Earth Changes

"Incredibly severe": Scotland left in dark about cause of massive blackout

RIA Novosti
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 17:19 UTC

Investigators are still trying to ascertain why 200,000 homes in northern Scotland lost power earlier this week.

The blackout on Wednesday evening left almost a third of the country in darkness and was described by the distribution company, Scottish Hydro-Electric Power, as "incredibly severe."

The precise cause of the fault still remains unknown and a number of scenarios are being considered.

A spokeswoman for the utility company told RIA Novosti that such an occurrence is extremely rare.

"Our network transmission is 99.9 percent reliable. This is highly unusual, given the scale of the area. Our engineers have not heard of such an outage in recent times," the spokeswoman said.

Rare Arctic Bowhead whale seen in Cape Cod Bay - only the second in recorded history

capecodtoday.com
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 15:05 UTC

Experts call the sighting rare and remarkable

It is a remarkable sighting, according to experts from the Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) in Provincetown. Last Friday marks only the second time in recorded history that a bowhead whale has been seen so far south in the waters of the Atlantic. The whale was spotted swimming and feeding with right whales on Cape Cod Bay on April 11, according to a CCS release.

The first time a bowhead was spotted in our waters was two years ago, when one was observed by CCS researchers off the Outer Beach in Orleans in August 2012.

Magnitude-7.5 earthquake shakes Mexican capital

AP
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 10:41 UTC

A powerful, magnitude-7.5 earthquake shook central and southern Mexico on Friday. The U.S. Geological Survey said it was centered northwest of the Pacific resort of Acapulco, where many Mexicans are vacationing for the Easter holiday.

The quake was felt strongly in the resort city, as well as in Mexico's capital, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Is the giant rat reported in Gravesend in fact a rat?

Heloise Wood
thisislocallondon.co.uk
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 08:59 UTC

A massive rat which was reported in Gravesend yesterday (April 15) sparked debate throughout the borough.

The dead-looking rodent was pictured on a pink spade and tweeted by BBC Radio 2 yesterday.

Debate has raged over whether the photo might be a totally different rodent altogether, one pest control expert saying it could be a rodent known a beaver-type animal known as a coypu.

Another animal specialist claims it is an "oversized, brown rat" mutated from the increase in food waste.

BBC Radio 2 posted a photo of the dead-looking rodent on a pink spade on Twitter, from a listener known as "Sarah" days after the Daily Mail reported rats "the size of small cats" are invading cities and are immune to poison.

Ben Johnson, who is director of Direct Pest Solution, based in Trosley Avenue, Gravesend, believes it is another animal altogether.

He told News Shopper: "I don't think it's a rat, I believe it's a coypu, a bit like a beaver.

"We certainly haven't had any reports of giant rats."

Comment: All the recent, over the top claims, about "rats as big as cats' in the British print media, usually turn out to be this different rodent species - Coypu - misidentified by the observer.

27 killed as severe dust storm hits parts of India

Press Trust of India
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 15:19 UTC

At least 27 persons were killed and more than 30 injured in incidents of roofs collapse and uprooting of trees and poles after a severe dust storm hit several districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Ten persons were killed in Farukhabad, six including two children in Barabanki, three each in state capital Lucknow and Sitapur, two each in Hardoi and Jalaun and one in Faizabad last evening, officials said today.

Why it's a big deal: Half of the Great Lakes are still covered in ice

Stephanie Garlock
Grist
Wed, 16 Apr 2014 07:07 UTC

Over the winter, as polar vortices plunged the U.S. Midwest into weeks of unceasing cold, the icy covers of the Great Lakes started to make headlines. With almost 96 percent of Lake Superior's 32,000 miles encased in ice at the season's peak, tens of thousands of tourists flocked to the ice caves along the Wisconsin shoreline, suddenly accessible after four years of relatively warmer wintery conditions.

The thing is, all of that ice takes a long time to melt. As of April 10, 48 percent of the five lakes' 90,000-plus square miles were still covered in ice, down from a high of 92.2 percent on March 6 (note that constituted the highest levels recorded since 1979, when ice covered 94.7 percent of the lakes). Last year, only 38.4 percent of the lakes froze over, while in 2012 just 12.9 percent did - part of a four-year stint of below-average iciness.

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - 122km WSW of Lata, Solomon Islands

US Geological Survey
Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:20 UTC

Event Time
2014-04-18 04:13:12 UTC
2014-04-18 15:13:12 UTC+11:00 at epicenter

Location
11.155°S 164.806°E depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
122km (76mi) WSW of Lata, Solomon Islands
547km (340mi) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu
565km (351mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands
820km (510mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
1111km (690mi) NNW of We, New Caledonia

Technical Details

Peru's Ubinas volcano erupts

Becky Oskin
LIve Science
Thu, 17 Apr 2014 11:54 UTC

One of Peru's most active volcanoes, Ubinas, erupted a massive ash cloud Tuesday (April 15), prompting an evacuation of Querapi near the volcano because of falling ash starting today. The government declared a state of emergency in nearby provinces, which will provide financial assistance for those affected by the eruption, Notimérica reported.

The estimated 14,750-foot-tall (4,500 meters) ash cloud is the latest in an ongoing series of small eruptions at Ubinas, according to INGEMMET, the national geologic, mining and metallurgical institute. The volcano's activity increased this week, with several small to moderate explosions and ash clouds since Sunday, the agency said in a statement.

Ubinas is about 470 miles (756 kilometers) southeast of the capital of Lima. A major eruption in 2006 forced the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents and killed livestock that ate ash-coated grass.

Coast Guard still battling thick Great Lakes ice - in April

John Dodge
CBS News - Chicago
Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:35 UTC

Almost one month into spring, and the U.S. Coast Guard is still breaking up ice around the Great Lakes.

© NOAA
Satellite image of ice cover on the Great Lakes on April 15, 2014. Overall, nearly 39 percent of the Great Lakes were covered in ice as of April 15, including 62 percent of Lake Superior.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 64 percent of Lake Superior was covered in ice as of Wednesday. Lake Michigan was 21 percent covered, Lake Huron was 31 percent covered, Lake Erie was 14 percent covered, and Lake Ontario was 2 percent covered. The entire Great Lakes system was 37 percent covered in ice.

VIDEO. #USCG cutters break a way into #Marquette Harbor, helping local mining industry avoid a shutdown. #Michigan buff.ly/Qd6Fq4 -
USCG Great Lakes (@USCGGreatLakes) April 16, 2014

The Coast Guard on Wednesday released video of the cutter Morro Bay carving up ice in the harbor in Marquette, Mich., nestled along the shores of Lake Superior.

Massive sinkhole opens up in Burlington, Iowa

KWQC News
Wed, 16 Apr 2014 23:30 UTC

A massive sinkhole, around seven feet deep, appeared on a main road in Burlington Wednesday. Officials say a two-inch hole in an underground pipe, a water main break, caused the sinkhole.

"A lot of people are interested in it," resident Savanna Evans said. "A lot of people are taking pictures. You see it all over Facebook right now."

The sinkhole is right at the border of Burlington and West Burlington on Mount Pleasant Street.

"I drive on this street every day on my way to work, right there where this hole is," resident David Francis said.

"It does affect traffic," business owner Randy Wagler said.

Residents say they are surprised to see it.

"I kind of looked down, and was like, 'That's a big hole you've got there, mayor,'" Evans said.

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Earth Changes

"Incredibly severe": Scotland left in dark about cause of massive blackout

Rare Arctic Bowhead whale seen in Cape Cod Bay - only the second in recorded history

Magnitude-7.5 earthquake shakes Mexican capital

Is the giant rat reported in Gravesend in fact a rat?

27 killed as severe dust storm hits parts of India

Why it's a big deal: Half of the Great Lakes are still covered in ice

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - 122km WSW of Lata, Solomon Islands

Peru's Ubinas volcano erupts

Coast Guard still battling thick Great Lakes ice - in April

Massive sinkhole opens up in Burlington, Iowa

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