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US: Thousands of birds make crash landing in Utah


The Bellingham Herald
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:12 UTC
Image
© Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain | AP Photo
In this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, a surviving grebe waddles across the snow Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night.
St. George - Thousands of migratory birds died on impact after apparently mistaking a Wal-Mart parking lot and other areas of southern Utah for bodies of water and plummeting to the ground in what one wildlife expert called the worst downing she's ever seen.

Crews went to work cleaning up the dead birds and rescuing the survivors after the creatures crash-landed in the St. George area Monday night. By Tuesday evening, volunteers had rescued more than 2,000 birds, releasing them into nearby bodies of water.

"They're just everywhere," said Teresa Griffin, wildlife program manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resource's southern region. "It's been nonstop. All our employees are driving around picking them up, and we've got so many people coming to our office and dropping them off."

Officials say stormy conditions probably confused the flock of grebes, a duck-like aquatic bird likely making its way to Mexico for the winter. The birds tried to land in a Cedar City Wal-Mart parking lot and elsewhere.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

South of Kermadec Islands - Earthquake Magnitude 6.3


US Geological Survey
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:31 UTC
Kermadec Islands Quake_151211
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Date-Time
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 10:10:08 UTC

Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 10:10:08 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
32.604°S, 179.103°W

Depth
34.1 km (21.2 miles)

Region
SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS

Distances
130 km (80 miles) S of L'Esperance Rock, Kermadec Islands

386 km (239 miles) SSW of Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands

734 km (456 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand

1107 km (687 miles) NNE of WELLINGTON, New Zealand
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: Magma plume - profuse lava flow from Kīlauea breaches West Ka'ili'ili ocean entry for the first time in 4 years


BigIslandVideoNews.com
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:22 UTC
Image
© Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
This media release is from the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Lava from Kīlauea's remote Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent has again reached the ocean within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park boundaries, at a spot scientists have named the West Ka'ili'ili ocean entry.

The arduous hike to West Ka'ili'ili from the bottom of Chain of Craters Road is approximately four miles one-way across an uneven flow field. Currently, several streams of lava are pouring into the ocean, providing dramatic views. Visitors who stay after dark can also see channels of lava flowing down the pali and across the flow field, but conditions can change at any time.

Hikers need to heed all warning signs and ranger advisories, and be aware of earth cracks and crevices, sharp terrain and rain-slick pāhoehoe lava and other hazards. Steam plumes produced by lava entering the sea contain fine lava fragments and acid droplets that can be harmful. Scientists also confirmed that a lava delta is being formed at the base of a sea cliff at West Ka'ili'ili, and are monitoring the area closely. Lava deltas can collapse with little warning, produce hot rock falls inland, and generate large local waves.
      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

UK: Met Office issues severe weather warning for strong winds, heavy rain and ice across Sussex


Sussex Express
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:20 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Storms from the Atlantic with gusts of up 70mph are expected to lash Sussex tonight.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings of strong winds and heavy rain for today (Thursday December 15) and tomorrow (Friday December 16).

Forecasters say there is a risk of very strong winds and heavy rain moving eastwards across parts of Southern England later on Thursday and Friday morning.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "There is still some uncertainty regarding the northward extent of any severe weather though southern parts remain most prone with southern coastal areas seeing highest gusts.

"The public is advised to monitor warnings for this period, noting that the warning may be upgraded."

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings of ice on Saturday and Sunday when temperatures are expected to plummet.
      Read More...
Cow

Fountains of methane 1,000m across erupt from Arctic ice


DailyMail.Co.Uk
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:53 UTC
  • 'Methane fields on a scale not seen before' - researcher
  • More than 100 fountains, but could be 'thousands'
  • Could cause rapid climate change
The Russian research vessel Academician Lavrentiev conducted a survey of 10,000 square miles of sea off the coast of eastern Siberia.

They made a terrifying discovery - huge plumes of methane bubbles rising to the surface from the seabed.

'We found more than 100 fountains, some more than a kilometre across,' said Dr Igor Semiletov, 'These are methane fields on a scale not seen before. The emissions went directly into the atmosphere.'
Image

Far East Siberia: The melting of 'permafrost' under the sea has led to huge releases of methane - far more abrupt and intense than anything on land

Comment: The following links may put this information into perspective.
Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction!
Fire and Ice: The Day After Tomorrow

      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Record 67-foot wave recorded off Irish coast


The Guardian
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:17 UTC
Image
© Niall Carson/PA
Waves in Dublin Bay as storms batter Ireland and the UK.
The biggest wave ever to hit Irish shores - 20.4 metres (67ft) high - has been recorded, meteorologists have revealed.

The wave was measured at a special buoy off the Donegal coast on Tuesday as a force ten storm raged.

Meteorologists at Met Eireann said the data, sent from about 60 miles from the Irish coast, provided evidence of the most severe weather conditions it has encountered that distance offshore.

"At 14.00 today the M4 weather buoy off the Donegal coast recorded a maximum wave height of 20.4 metres which is the highest maximum wave recorded in Irish waters," Met Eireann reported.

At Malin Head, the most northerly tip of Ireland, wind gusting to 87mph (140km/h) was recorded.

Elsewhere, the Irish coastguard has urged people to stay off exposed coasts, cliffs, piers, harbour walls, beaches and promenades during this week's forecast stormy weather.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: Two more earthquakes reported in Maine

Alli Knothe
Boston.com
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 08:24 UTC
The central coast of Maine was hit by two small earthquakes at nearly the same moment Monday night.

The earthquakes, which measured 2.3 and 1.9 on the Richter scale, occurred about a second apart, at 11:41 p.m. The epicenters were about 4 miles apart in an area of Hancock County near Ellsworth and Searsport, according to a preliminary earthquake report released by the United States Geological Survey.

More than 25 people have logged on to the USGS website so far to say they felt the quakes. Four reports came from the town of Blue Hill, where one epicenter was located. Ten reports came from the town of Sedgewick, the second epicenter.

"I thought a big giant tree had crashed into my house," said Shari Whelan, a resident of Sedgewick who works as a general manager at the Barncastle Hotel and Restaurant in Blue Hill. Whelan said she was watching television when the house began to shake and she heard a "boom," that sounded like thunder.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

UK faces days of battering winds and blizzards

Peter Walker
The Guardian
Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:22 UTC
Image
© Daniel Gilfeather / Rex Features
Waves batter a promenade in Ayrshire.
Met Office predicts 'classic winter weather - the sort we've forgotten all about' as parts of UK see driving rain and gales

Much of the UK faces several days of battering winds and localised blizzards as a pair of particularly severe weather systems pass over the country.

The bad weather claimed a life on Tuesday night when an HGV driver was killed in a collision involving two cars and three lorries on the M5 in Gloucestershire, police said.

Many parts of England and Wales experienced gales and driving rain on Monday night. The UK's former ambassador to Venezuela and Chile had to be rescued by firefighters after a tree crashed through the roof of his family home in Winchester, Hampshire. Emergency services said 65-year-old Richard Wilkinson had an extremely lucky escape after the 18m (59ft) tree crushed the bungalow. "I was between sleeping and awake, listening to the storm outside when there was an enormous crash like the Eiffel Tower falling into the Crystal Palace," he said.

With winds gusting up to 70mph, Hampshire police said they had received more than 200 calls about flooding and fallen trees over 24 hours.
      Read More...
Arrow Down

South Africa, Johannesburg: Car Swallowed By Sink Hole

Phakamile Hlubi
Eyewitness News
Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Susan Mottrami/iWN
The pothole in Fouurways that Orla Meaker fell victim to.
A Fourways woman escaped serious injury on Monday morning, when her car fell into a massive hole in the middle of the road as she was driving.

Orla Meaker was on the road in the early hours of the morning when her car was suddenly swallowed up by a gaping hole on Kingfisher Drive.

Apparently the 3m sinkhole had been caused by a burst water pipe which had eroded a section of the road overnight.

Meaker says her car may be damaged beyond repair.

"I'd say it's very bad. I'm not an expert but some of the gentlemen here guess that the gearbox is gone and the whole thing is a serious mess."
      Read More...
Info

US, Tennessee: Sinkhole Swallows Pool, Nears House


Elizabethton Star
Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:00 UTC
A sinkhole has drained a family's swimming pool in Erwin and was growing in size.

Homeowner Brad Thelen said the noise of the sinkhole opening under the in-ground pool awakened his wife Chemene on Wednesday night, according to The Johnson City Press.

The hole was about 10 feet across Thursday afternoon. By Thursday evening, it had tripled in size and was not far from the Thelans' home. The family removed valuables and was staying with relatives until the sinkhole stabilized.

A playground at Love Chapel Elementary School, adjacent to the family's property, was roped off until seismologists examine the hole.

Source: The Associated Press
      Read More...
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