Earth ChangesS


Attention

Haiti's Fault Rupture Boosts Long-Term Risk of Jamaica Quake

Tom Randall and Meg Tirrell
Bloomberg
Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:25 UTC
The magnitude 7 earthquake that killed as many as 100,000 people in Haiti this week may increase the likelihood of a future quake in Jamaica, according to seismologists who study geological risk.

When aftershocks subside in the coming weeks, Haiti's prospects of another earthquake will plummet, while areas west along the same fault line will see increased seismic pressure, said Stuart Sipkin, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado. It could take decades or a century for the pressure to rupture on the western edge of the fault in Jamaica.

A similar quake flattened the Haitian capital of Port-au- Prince 240 years ago, so long ago that most residents were unaware they were at risk, said Roger Musson, who advises engineers on regional dangers for the British Geological Survey. The 1770 upheaval was part of a string of westward-moving temblors that culminated in Jamaica in 1907, he said.

"In Haiti, there's not been earthquakes in living memory; now it's likely that the stress will be increased on the next segment along," Musson, the agency's head of seismic hazard, said in a telephone interview. However, he added, "You are constantly surprised by earthquakes doing things that they're not supposed to do."
Read More...
Sheeple

Turkey: Sheep Gives Birth to Human-Faced Lamb


The Daily Telegraph
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:32 UTC
Image
© The Daily Telegraph
A sheep gave birth to a dead lamb with a human-like face. The lamb was born in a village not far from the city of Izmir, Turkey.

Erhan Elibol, a vet, performed a caesarean on the animal to take the lamb out, but was horrified to see that the features of the lamb's snout bore a striking resemblance to a human face.

"I've seen mutations with cows and sheep before. I've seen a one-eyed calf, a two-headed calf, a five-legged calf. But when I saw this youngster I could not believe my eyes. His mother could not deliver him so I had to help the animal," the 29-year-old veterinary said.

The lamb's head had human features on - the eyes, the nose and the mouth - only the ears were those of a sheep.
Read More...
Chalkboard

New Zealand experiences temperature extremes in 2009


Xinhua
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:13 UTC
New Zealand experienced extreme temperature swings in 2009, as heat waves in January and early February were followed by the coolest May on record.

Heat waves occurred in January and the start of February; May was the coldest on record; October had its lowest temperatures since 1945; and August was the warmest August ever, according to are port by the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) released on Wednesday.

In individual months, especially September and November, daily temperatures frequently broke long-standing records, with extremely cold temperatures often occurring within a week or so of record hot events.

NIWA climate scientist James Renwick said in a press release that wild swings in temperature were sometimes only days apart.
Read More...
Igloo

India: 19 die due to cold in Uttar Pradesh, toll reaches 356


DNA India
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 21:11 UTC
Lucknow - Nineteen people have died due to the cold in Uttar Pradesh where Hamirpur recorded the lowest temperature of 4.2 degree celsius.

While seven people died overnight due to the cold in Ghazipur, three each died in Kushinagar and Deoria, two each in Banda and Baghpat and one each in Shrawasti and Faizabad, taking the death toll to 356 this winter in Uttar Pradesh, reports said.

Hamirpur, which recorded a minimum temperature of 4.2 degrees, was the coldest place in the state. The state capital experienced a minimum of 8.6 degrees which was two degrees above normal.

However, the maximum temperature in Lucknow was 15. 7 degrees, seven notches below normal, the Met office said.

The Met office has predicted dense to moderate fog in the eastern districts of the state and moderate fog in the western region.
Read More...
Igloo

Korea: Is Current Cold Winter Ushering In 'Mini-Ice Age'?

Park Si-soo
The Korea Times
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 17:07 UTC
The ongoing winter has shattered many records in Korea's modern meteorological history and more records are expected to be rewritten before it is over.

Record high snowfall in central parts of the country early this month already broke a 73-year-old record. In Seoul on Wednesday, the mercury dropped to minus 15.3 degrees Celsius, challenging the lowest temperature in the capital city of -16.7 degrees, set on Jan. 22, 2004.

Southern parts of the peninsula are also struggling with "unprecedented" blizzards.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), Younggwang, a rural country in South Jeolla Province, was bombarded with 20.5 centimeters of snow, while other towns in the vicinity saw snowfall ranging from three to 10 centimeters.
Read More...
Fish

Thousands of dead crabs wash up on Kent beaches


BBC News
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:18 UTC
Image
The crabs should not pose a danger to people or animals
Thousands of dead crabs have been washed up on Kent's beaches after being killed by the cold weather.

The velvet swimming crabs are littering beaches around Thanet, along with smaller numbers of whelks, sponges and anemones.

It is the second year that icy temperatures have killed off the sea creatures in such large numbers.

Last year the Environment Agency set up an inquiry amid fears a mystery virus could be to blame.
Read More...
Fish

Record Cold Kills Thousands Of Fish


WPLG Miami
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:48 UTC
Image
© WPLG Miami
Fort Lauderdale -- As Florida's record cold snap moves out, the impact near-freezing temperatures have had on wildlife continues to threaten the state's fragile ecosystem.

Freezing fish, thousands of them, line the coast of South Florida from Key West to Fort Lauderdale.

"Cold water stress is causing all of these fish to die. We are seeing freshwater fish, saltwater fish, all turning up belly up," said Officer Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Pino ad the FWC patrol the state's waterways.

"The problem is the cold weather is altering the oxygen levels in the water, and that's causing the fish to die," he said.
Read More...
Igloo

Flashback Guinea: Record cold snap destroys crops, kills hundreds of animals


Reuters
Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:28 UTC
Near-freezing temperatures in north-central Guinea in January destroyed crops and livestock on which thousands of people depend for food as well as cash.

Elderly locals told IRIN they had never seen cold this intense in Mali, a town in Guinea's Labé region.

"The vegetation looks as if it was burned in a fire," Hannibal Barry of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told IRIN from Mali on 19 February during a joint evaluation by UN agencies, local authorities and NGOs.

Temperatures dropped to 1.4 degrees Celsius from 17 to 26 January, according to a preliminary report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP).

The cold wiped out crops - mainly potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onions and bananas - across five districts in Mali. It is not yet known how many hectares were destroyed, Mamadou Saliou III Diallo, head of agricultural operations at the Mali prefecture, told IRIN after visiting the affected areas.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: Magnitude 4.0 Earthquake Rattles Oklahoma


NewsOn6.com
Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:53 UTC
An earthquake struck near the central Oklahoma town of Jones Friday morning, rattling parts of the whole state, including Green Country.
Oklahoma 4.0 Earthquake Reading
© Oklahoma Geological SurveyAn earthquake reported near Jones had a 4.0 magnitude Friday morning. (Photo: Oklahoma Geological Survey)

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 4.0 earthquake struck at 9:18 a.m. Jones is located about 17 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

Employees at the National Weather Service office in Tulsa say they felt the quake. A News On 6 viewer in Sapulpa reported feeling the quake as well.

"I was sitting in my office when I heard a 'thud' and felt a shake in the floor. I thought it was a big truck that had gone by on Yale, or that someone had dropped something really heavy on the 2nd floor," said Don Davis who works at 71st and Yale in Tulsa.

Suzie Reynolds from Broken Arrow said, "I was laying in bed with my 6-year-old daughter and she sat up and said 'What is that?? It sounds like someone is tapping on our window.' It was our window panes shaking!!"

"I work at Roosevelt Elementary. And I was sitting at my desk and I felt my chair moving around and thought nothing. Until I read on the Internet that we had the after effects of the earthquake. I was amazed. I told my co-workers and they laughed until they looked on NewsOn6.com," said Tammy Starks.
Read More...
Magnify

Northern lights activity quieter than it's been in decades

Nicolette Helling & Mitchell Davis
Fox 21 News
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:08 UTC
Not since 1913 have the Northland skies seen such a lull in northern lights activity.

A jewel of our region, many are wondering why the aurora borealis has become so hard to see and when will the lights will come back.

They are colors Mother Nature doesn't share very often.

"It's glowing, fluorescing greens and blues in the sky. They dance and they move around, I mean, it's beautiful," said Joel Carlson, director of the Palucci Space Theatre in Hibbing.

Read More...