Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Rare thundersnow in Dallas, Texas: 'How is this possible?'

Brad Sowder
KOCO
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:38 UTC
Dallas thundersnow map
© KOCO.com
You have seen snow, and you have seen a thunderstorm, but have you seen them at the same time? If you were in south Dallas this Tuesday morning you would have.

Thundersnow is rare. Most thunderstorms form when warm air at the surface rises, cools and then condenses. Condensation continues and forms storm clouds aloft.

When the air is cold at the surface something else has to force that air to rise. This Tuesday morning, the thundersnow in north Texas was caused by a short wave trough moving through the region.

This trough created upper-level diverging air which in turn creates converging air at the surface forcing air to rise. The snow and sleet created quite a headache for the morning commute. It also canceled many flights out of DFW.
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Arrow Down

Video: Sinkhole swallows car in Brazil - literally!

Ian Chant
geekosystem.com
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:20 UTC
From the first few frames of this video, you can tell that something has gone wrong with the car being filmed, though it takes our intrepid videographer a little while to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. What happened seems to be a sinkhole opening in a Brazilian road and swallowing an automobile whole like an enraged mud elemental. For those of you who can spare 3 full minutes of your Friday afternoon to watch this hatchback be claimed by the proud and ingenious mole men who dwell just beneath out feet, we fully recommend watching the entire thing, for the sake of context and narrative. If you're busy folk like us, though, feel free to skip to about 1:30 to see the real fun begin as the hole widens and a full-sized automobile does it's best impression of a Hot Wheels car being flushed down the toilet by a toddler. Bye bye, car!

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Arrow Up

Hike in food prices impacts Food Bank stock in Texas

caitlin Napoleoni
FOX34 News
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:46 UTC
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You may have noticed an increase in food prices while at the grocery store. Consumers are not the only ones taking a hit. David Weaver of the South Plains Food Bank said they are getting less bang for their buck. "Our budget is pretty much the same we're just not able to purchase as much. And so that's where we're seeing the decline. Also, we get USDA commodities through the TFAT program which purchases food and their buying power has diminished as food prices have gone up."

Eddie Owens, Director of Communications and Public Relations at United Super Market said "what our guests are able to afford to provide to the Food Bank through their donations or through their cash donations are certainly impacted by the rising cost of food."

Doing more with less is the only way the food bank will be able to take care of vulnerable residents in the Lubbock area. Weaver adds "we're in the process of making plans to accommodate for some of those anticipated cuts and taking care of more people."
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Arrow Up

German food prices spike due to extreme weather in 2012


Deutsche Welle
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:38 UTC
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Food prices in Germany rose sharply in December, posting their strongest gains in four years. The rise added to higher costs for energy, keeping inflation in Europe's largest economy at a high level.

German inflation edged up at the end of 2012, rising to 2.1 percent in December compared with 1.9 percent in November, according to latest data released by the German Statistics Office, Destatis, Tuesday.

The consumer price index was boosted markedly by soaring food prices, which jumped 4.8 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

"This marks the strongest increase in food prices since September 2008," Destatis said in a statement.

Year-on-year, food prices rose 3.2 percent, adding to 5.2 percent higher prices for energy - the primary drivers of inflation in Germany last year.
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Bomb

A bit of a bombshell from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme? Black carbon is a larger cause of climate change than previously assessed

Anthony Watts
WattsUpWithThat.com
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:57 UTC
From the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme via Eurekalert, some of the heat gets taken off CO2 as the 'big kahuna' of forcings, now there is another major player, one that we can easily do something about. I've often speculated that black carbon is a major forcing for Arctic sea ice, due to examples like this one. - Anthony

Reducing diesel engine emissions would reduce warming
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© American Geophysical Union 2013 D. W. FaheyThis shows black carbon processes in the climate system.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Pacific-Antarctic Ridge


US Geological Survey
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:59 UTC
Pacific Antarctic Ridge
© USGS
Event Time
2013-01-15 16:09:37 UTC
2013-01-15 05:09:37 UTC-11:00 at epicenter

Location
62.580°S 161.397°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
1027km (638mi) ENE of Scott Island Bank, Antarctica
2571km (1598mi) SSE of Dunedin, New Zealand
2617km (1626mi) SE of Invercargill, New Zealand
2618km (1627mi) SE of Gore, New Zealand
2844km (1767mi) SSE of Wellington, New Zealand

Technical Details
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Snowflake

Heaviest snow in 7 years strikes Tokyo

Nick Wiltgen
wunderground.com
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 12:01 UTC
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© Photo credit: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty ImagesA pedestrian looks at the falling snow while crossing the road in the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on January 14, 2013.
The heaviest snowstorm in seven years struck Tokyo Monday, causing thousands of car accidents and disrupting train travel just as the nation celebrated a unique national holiday.

Coming of Age Day, held the second Monday of every January, celebrates those who have turned or are about to turn 20 years old. Ceremonies and parties are held in communities across Japan, and the newly-minted adults often wear traditional kimono for the occasion.

But with wind-driven snow flying in the Japanese capital Monday, getting around proved difficult. Roads were clogged with slush, and the country's extensive rail network experienced delays. The snow was the first of this winter for Tokyo.
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Sun

U.S. Agriculture Secretary: 2013 already a drought disaster

Tim Wall
Discovery News
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:17 UTC
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The first month of 2013 is already a disaster for many farmers. Last week, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared 507 counties in 14 states natural disasters due to the ongoing drought.

America's first official disaster areas of 2013 were designated because the 597 have experienced severe drought conditions for eight consecutive weeks, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Last year, 2,245 counties in 39 states were declared disasters by the USDA. With continued drought projected for much of the United States, farmers may have another hard year ahead of them. A hard year for farmers means a had year for anyone who eats. Global food prices are strongly affected by America's harvests.
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Question

Chinese village suffers over 20 sinkholes in five months

Ian Jones
MSN News
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:50 UTC
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Residents in the village of Lianyuan in southern China's Hunan Province have been treading rather gingerly these last few months.

Over 20 sinkholes have opened up in the ground since last September.

The cave-ins, which range in size, have seen houses collapse and rivers run dry. And there is never any warning as to where and when the sinkhole occur.

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No Entry

Volcano lava flows worry Italian island


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 15 Jan 2013 10:47 UTC
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© AFP PhotoThe flanks of the Stromboli volcano north of Sicily spews lava towards the sea on January 14, 2013 after one of Europe's most active volanoes churned into activity. Spectacular lava flows and smoke from an active volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli on Monday sparked fear among inhabitants but geophysicists said the situation was under control.
Spectacular lava flows and smoke from an active volcano on the Italian island of Stromboli on Monday sparked fear among inhabitants but geophysicists said the situation was under control.

Stromboli is part of the seven-island Eolian Archipelago just off Sicily in southern Italy.

The volcano is active but on Monday there was a particularly powerful eruption and sustained lava flows following four days of heightened activity.
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