Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Asphalt volcanoes discovered off California

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© Dana Yoerger/Woods Hole Oceanographic InstitutionBathymetric image of asphalt volcanoes off the coast of Santa Barbara
Seven small undersea "volcanoes" that once spewed asphalt into the Pacific Ocean have been mapped off the coast of California. They could be the cause of a prehistoric marine dead zone thought to exist in the area.

David Valentine and colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara, surveyed the sea floor and discovered the mounds, the largest of which rises 20 metres above the seabed, made from tar. Some were still releasing methane. It is the first time that asphalt volcanoes have been identified in the area. Valentine says they formed as sticky hydrocarbons seeped from the seabed around 40,000 years ago.

Methane would also have been released at a rate that greatly exceeds today's output, with devastating consequences for the local ecosystem. The gas would have attracted bacteria that metabolise methane and deplete oxygen. That fits with analysis of sea-floor sediments, which suggests that a dead zone of around 600 square kilometres formed here about 40,000 years ago.

Cloud Lightning

In the shadow of the volcano, where day becomes night under a blanket of ash

With thick rubber boots and protective masks covering their mouths and noses, two young girls play amid the carpet of ash that covers everything in the Icelandic region of Eyjafjoll.

Their tights and clothes are covered in the fine black powder, but they certainly seem to be enjoying their late-night frolic.

Except for the fact that it is in the middle of the day.
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Playing in the dark: Two girls, their faces covered by industrial masks, play in the thick layer of ash that has dumped on the Eyjafjoll region of Iceland after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano

Umbrella

Flashback Photo Survey: Flood hits Austria

Flood in Vienna
A woman walks in a flooded street in Klosterneuburg at the northern border of Vienna June 24, 2009. After heavy rain in the past days, rivers burst their banks, flooding parts of lower Austria. [Agencies]

Bad Guys

Indians Warn of War Against Amazon Mega-Dam

Kayapó Indians
© T TurnerKayapó dance at an anti-dam protest in 2006.
Kayapó Indian leader Raoni Metuktire arrived in Europe last week and has appealed for support for his tribe, which is campaigning against the Belo Monte dam on the Xingu river in the Brazilian Amazon.

Raoni said, 'I have always prevented my people from fighting, but I am very worried now. It is time that we take back what belongs to us'.

He added that '3,000 warriors' are ready to take up arms.

Raoni met French ex- President Jacques Chirac and asked that he and the current President Nicolas Sarkozy urge President Lula of Brazil not to allow the dam to be built.

If constructed, the dam would be the third largest in the world and it would flood a large area of land, dry up certain parts of the Xingu river, cause huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks upon which Indians in the area depend for their survival.

Blackbox

Rainbow similar to before China and Chile quake seen over Los Angeles

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© Nicholas Gumina "Same thing before the China and Chile quake
San Diego, California residents are reporting shaking continuing in the area. The shaking, according to the USGS, is likely due to the Easter quake this year which rocked the region.

Twitter is rolling with reports of rainbow cloud over Los Angeles today. Reports are coming in that this looks similar to before both the China and Chile quakes where residents reported and took photos of such events in the sky.

While no one can be sure what it means, people should always be prepared for a major Earthquake in Southern California as it is seismically active.


Bizarro Earth

From above and below, Gulf oil leak looks severe on video

The Waterkeeper Alliance provides aerial footage of the Gulf oil leak, shot last week. And BP, after initially refusing, releases underwater footage of the leak.

Bizarro Earth

Yay for Hay! Redneck Rocket Science - perhaps BP should listen?

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CW Roberts employees demonstrating the use of hay to assist in a defense against the oil spill in the Gulf. This is the method that is included in the Walton County Plan of Action.


Bizarro Earth

Rare "King of Herrings" Found off Swedish Coast

Oarfish
© AP/Roger JanssonIn this undated photo released by The House of the Sea aquarium in Lysekil, Sweden, a 12-foot Giant Oarfish found off Sweden's west coast is displayed and measured.
A maritime expert says a 12-foot Giant Oarfish - the world's largest bony fish - has been found in Swedish waters for the first time in 130 years.

Also known as the "King of Herrings," the dead fish was picked up by a west coast resident who found it floating near the shore over the weekend. It was handed over to The House of the Sea aquarium in the town of Lysekil, where expert Roger Jansson says it's being kept pending a decision on what to do with it.

Johansson said Wednesday the Giant Oarfish can grow up to 36 feet, and is believed to live in deep waters. He says the last recorded discovery in Sweden was in 1879.

Recycle

A Passion to Clean up the Pacific Ocean's Great 'Garbage Patch'

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© Tony Avelar/The Christian Science MonitorMary Crowley’s project wants to enlist fishing vessels to help attack the mass of floating plastic garbage known as the North Pacific Trash Gyre.
Mary Crowley would rather be at sea. But she's not. Instead, she is in a small conference room at a roadside Marriott in this landlocked town north of Sacramento.

Around her are mainly men, many with beards, and many with baseball caps pulled down low and arms crossed tight. They are listening. Many of them would also rather be at sea.

Can these wishes be joined? We shall see in the next month or so.

Ms. Crowley has long hair, a ruddy outdoor complexion, and a sincere manner. She wants to sail west in the next month or two, out to what is called the North Pacific Trash Gyre. Her goal is to start cleaning up the plastic trash that has leaped into social consciousness over the past couple of years.

Comment: For more information about the serious problem with trash in the oceans of our planet read the following articles carried on SOTT:

The Biggest Dump in the World

What is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?

A Plague of Plastic

Mission to Break up Pacific Island of Rubbish Twice the Size of Texas

Huge Garbage Patch Found in Atlantic Too


Vader

Cap-and-Trade is back on the cards thanks to BP oil disaster

On Wednesday,
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© UnknownSenators John Kerry (right) (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (center) (I-CT)
plan to introduce legislation designed to inflate the cost of energy, strain family budgets, and decimate America's manufacturing sector -- all in the name of supposedly saving the climate.

Kerry and Lieberman have been revamping legislation that narrowly passed the House of Representatives last year. The House bill imposes oppressive limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and establishes a complex cap-and-trade scheme in which the federal government determines how much CO2 a business may emit. If a business exceeds its allowance, it may purchase additional "carbon credits" from an exchange, where the credits will be traded like a commodity. Rules for the exchange of carbon credits, including the trading of carbon derivatives, are addressed in the House bill, and my sources tell me that the Senate version will include these same stratagems.

In an e-mail sent to the media last week regarding their plans, Kerry and Lieberman said, "We can no longer wait to solve this problem which threatens our economy, our security and our environment."