Earth ChangesS


Snowman

Scotland: The first snow of winter falls ... in August

Image
© Unknown
The first snow of winter fell in Scotland at the weekend - still August - forecasters have revealed.

Temperatures on the highest peaks of the Cairngorms began dropping below freezing on Saturday night into Sunday morning and mountains more than 1100 metres high in the area saw a light powder of snow.

Geoff Monk of Mountain Weather Info Service, which produces forecast for eight different mountain areas of the UK, said that very cold winds had given the Munros a wintry feel.

He added that he would not be surprised to see snow on the top of Ben Nevis this weekend.

Mr Monk said: "There were snow showers across the Cairngorms. They lasted a couple of hours, it was almost ongoing. On some places the snow remained on the ground.

"Most of it was gone after a few hours, but some fresh patches remained there until Monday morning.

"It is something that very occasionally happens in Scotland. Northerly winds from the Arctic cause them. It's very unlikely more snow will fall in the next 10 days.

Bizarro Earth

Alaska: Earthquake Magnitutde 6.3 - Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands

Alaska Quake_030910
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Friday, September 03, 2010 at 11:16:08 UTC

Friday, September 03, 2010 at 02:16:08 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
51.785°N, 176.010°W

Depth:
50.8 km (31.6 miles)

Region:
ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA

Distances:
45 km (30 miles) E of Adak, Alaska

130 km (80 miles) WSW of Atka, Alaska

1905 km (1180 miles) WSW of Anchorage, Alaska

2715 km (1680 miles) W of JUNEAU, Alaska

Info

Orbital Sunrise

Noctilucent Cloud
© NASA
The Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station photographed this image of polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by an orbital sunrise. Polar mesospheric, or noctilucent ("night shining"), clouds usually are seen at twilight, following the setting of the sun below the horizon and darkening of Earth's surface. Occasionally the station's orbital track becomes nearly parallel to Earth's day/night terminator for a time, allowing the clouds to be visible to the crew at times other than the usual twilight because of the station's altitude.

This photograph shows polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by the rising, rather than setting, sun at center right. Low clouds on the horizon appear yellow and orange, while higher clouds and aerosols are illuminated a brilliant white. Polar mesospheric clouds appear as light blue ribbons extending across the top of the image. The station was located over the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea (near the southwestern coastline of Turkey) when the image was taken at approximately midnight local time. The orbital complex was tracking northeastward, nearly parallel to the terminator, making it possible to observe an apparent "sunrise" located almost due north. A similar unusual alignment of the ISS orbit track, terminator position and seasonal position of Earth's orbit around the sun allowed for this striking imagery of over the Southern Hemisphere.

Bizarro Earth

Sweden: Aurora Surprise

Wow, what a surprise! I was out photographing lunar light landscape by the east coast north of Norrtälje when a nice Aurora Borealis display started to play. And just before that I witnessed/photographed a nice fireball, the smoke trail was visible for than 2 minutes. What a great night under a starry sky with moonlight! Canon 550D/350D and 15mm/20mm Sigma.

Swedish Aurora
© P-M HedénAurora
Swedish Fireball
© P-M HedénFireball

Cloud Lightning

Fire Tornado in Brazil


Magnify

Oilsands increase toxic metals downstream: study

Suncor oil sands extraction facility
© Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty ImagesAn aerial view of the Suncor oil sands extraction facility on the banks of the Athabasca River and near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta
Edmonton - A study released on Monday shows that the oilsands industry increases the concentrations of dangerous metals, such as mercury, in locations downstream of development.

National or provincial guidelines for the protection of aquatic life were exceeded for seven of these metals: cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver and zinc - in melted snow and/or water, says the research, published in the prestigious scientific journal called the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research was led by Erin Kelly and David Schindler, two ecologists at the University of Alberta. Other scientists from Queen's University in Kingston and Alaska also contributed.

Bizarro Earth

Infrared NASA image shows strong convection in new Atlantic Depression 9

Image
© NASA JPL, Ed OlsenThis infrared image from NASA's AIRS instrument onboard the Aqua satellite shows Tropical Depression 9 on Sept. 1 at 03:41 UTC (Aug. 31 at 11:41 p.m. EDT). It shows high thunderstorm cloud tops west and southwest of the center of circulation (purple) indicating strong convection.
The Atlantic Ocean is in overdrive this week, and NASA satellite imagery captured the birth of the ninth tropical depression in the central Atlantic Ocean today, trailing to the east of Tropical Storm Fiona.

NASA's Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument, flying onboard the Aqua satellite, captured an infrared image of Tropical Depression 9 on Sept. 1 at 03:41 UTC (Aug. 31 at 11:41 p.m. EDT). It showed high thunderstorm cloud tops west and southwest of the center of circulation indicating strong convection.

At 1500 UTC (10 a.m. EDT) on Sept. 1, Tropical Depression 9 (TD9) was born in the Atlantic Ocean. It had maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, and was moving west at 15 mph. It was located about 830 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands, near 12.4 North and 35.8 West. Although there are warm sea surface temperatures (as seen in NASA's infrared AIRS imagery) over the 80 degree Fahrenheit threshold that's needed to power up tropical cyclones, there is wind shear in the area, so intensification will be slow to occur.

Pocket Knife

Expedition Explores Violent Russian Volcanoes

Image
© Agnes SamperGorely's massive crater dwarfs the researchers along its edge.
A group of scientists is hiking in one of the most remote areas on the planet in pursuit of new information about the recurring deaths and rebirths of two volcanoes.

The European expedition is spending two weeks on the Kamchatka Peninsula, a vast, isolated region of the Russian Far East that is home to one of the most active volcanic areas in the world.

The expedition, which runs to Sept. 7, is focused on the Mutnovsky and Gorely volcanoes, peaks just 9 miles (15 kilometers) apart that have been active for as long as 800,000 years. Both mountains have undergone repetitive destructive and rebuilding episodes. [See pictures from the expedition.]

Cloud Lightning

US: Evacuation order expanded in North Carolina ahead of Hurricane Earl

North Carolina's governor has declared a state of emergency as evacuation of the coast ahead of Hurricane Earl continues.

Gov. Beverly Perdue issued the declaration during a Wednesday afternoon briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center near the state capital.

Earl's strongest winds are expected to reach the coast Thursday night into Friday morning. Perdue warned residents along the Outer Banks to leave those areas immediately.

Sherlock

Video: Hurricanes Could Carry Gulf "Oil" Inland