© NASA
Earth Changes
Every day, NASA's AIM spacecraft maps the distribution of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) around Earth's north pole. The results are displayed on spaceweather.com in the form of the "daily daisy." On June 20th, pilot Brian Whittaker flew past a vivid display of NLCs over the North Atlantic Ocean and he decided to compare his own view to that of AIM. Here are the results:
"Once again, AIM's daily daisy-wheel allowed me to see where the northern horizon noctilucent clouds truly were!" says Whittaker. "This display reached a maximum height of about 10 degrees as seen from 37,000 feet at 50N latitude. It was my 4th and best sighting of 2013 so far."
© Douglas R Clifford/Tampa Bay Times
Ed Baker of Spring Hill drives over a bridge Wednesday while playing the 17th at Beacon Woods, where residents say there’s a stench
Ed Baker of Spring Hill drives over a bridge Wednesday while playing the 17th at Beacon Woods, where residents say there’s a stench
Residents started complaining the day after Tropical Storm Andrea blew through two weeks ago, said Beacon Woods Civic Association president Ron Meiczinger.
Meiczinger said the smell is concentrated in the creek area right behind three houses on Charter Oak Way.
He could still get a whiff on the other side of the canal, he said, although the smell wasn't as strong there. Residents at two houses across part of the golf course reported the stench, too, he said.
The smell reminds him of pig manure - worse than horse manure, he said. But the suburban neighborhood doesn't include any farms.
No one knows what's causing the smell, but the residents of Charter Oak Way are making their guesses.
Carol Hendrickson thinks the weeds that clog Bear Creek are creating the odor. Her neighbor Dee Macartney thinks it's the water itself.
Sarasota County - County workers are blaming a combination of factors for the deaths of thousands of fish in a pond off Clark Road this week. Heat, heavy rain, stormwater runoff and bird droppings depleted the oxygen level in Mirror Lake, near the southeast corner of Clark and Beneva roads, according to the county. Workers at nearby offices began to notice the dead fish Monday, but the majority turned up dead Tuesday, according to SNN Local News, Herald Tribune and World Chaos
© AP Photo/San Antonio Zoo
Thelma and Louise, a two-headed Texas cooter turtle, is seen in an undated photo provided by the San Antonio Zoo.
Thelma and Louise, a two-headed Texas cooter turtle, is seen in an undated photo provided by the San Antonio Zoo.
The female Texas cooter arrived June 18 and will go on display Thursday at the zoo's Friedrich Aquarium.
Zoo spokeswoman Debbie Rios-Vanskike (van SKYKE') said Wednesday that the two-headed turtle appears healthy and is able to swim and walk. She says experts at the zoo don't foresee any health issues for Thelma and Louise, named for the female duo in the 1991 Oscar-winning road movie of the same name.
The San Antonio Zoo is no stranger to two-headed reptiles. The facility was home to a two-headed Texas rat snake named Janus from 1978 until the creature's death to 1995.
Source: Associated Press
While its activity since then has waxed and waned, seismic activity increased since Tuesday morning and the volcano has started continuously shaking, said David Schneider, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. Some lava is flowing, and the volcano is spewing a cloud of steam and ash that has risen as high as 28,000 feet, said Schneider, at the observatory in Anchorage. "It's a pretty good size, but not high enough to affect overflying aircraft between America and Asia," he said. "It's more of a problem for local aviation." Pavlof is near the town of Cold Bay, a regional transportation hub whose long World War II-era runway serves flights to area villages, Schneider said.
© NASA
The Pavlof Volcano in Alaska is pictured in this May 18, 2013 NASA handout photo taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Situated in the Aleutian Arc about 625 miles (1,000 km) southwest of Anchorage, Pavlof began erupting on May 13, 2013.
The Pavlof Volcano in Alaska is pictured in this May 18, 2013 NASA handout photo taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Situated in the Aleutian Arc about 625 miles (1,000 km) southwest of Anchorage, Pavlof began erupting on May 13, 2013.
The eruptions from Pavlof Volcano, on the Alaska Peninsula 590 miles southwest of Anchorage, were its most powerful since its current eruptive phase began with low-level rumblings in mid-May, according to scientists at the federal-state Alaska Volcano Observatory.
The latest series of more powerful ash-producing blasts from the crater of the 8,261-foot (2,518-meter) volcano started late on Monday and continued overnight into Tuesday, scientists said.
"For some reason we can't explain, it picked up in intensity and vigor," said Tina Neal, an observatory geologist.
This week, pesticide makers are showcasing these tactics during National Pollinator Week with offers of free seed packets to people who take their poorly named "pollinator pledge." The "bee-washing" term has gained traction as scientists and groups like PAN continue to cut through the misinformation and point to the emerging body of science that points to pesticides as a critical factor in bee declines.
Monsanto hosted their first so-called Honey Bee Health Summit last week, a gathering at the company's headquarters in Missouri. Without question, some truly smart, dedicated scientists attended Monsanto's bee summit and are participating in these efforts.
The northeast Iowa town of New Hartford was mostly deserted Tuesday after authorities went door-to-door before dawn, warning residents a flooded stream would inundate most of the small community.
"Everybody was notified and told to evacuate," said Butler County emergency management coordinator Mitch Nordmeyer as he surveyed the town, about 90 miles northeast of Des Moines. "If they stayed they were staying at their own risk."
Although most of New Hartford's 500-plus residents heeded warnings and left town, some stayed behind and there was no sense of panic.
Residents had seen the normally placid Beaver Creek flood before. And after some areas upstream received more than 7 inches of rain on Monday, few seemed surprised the stream was surging out of its banks again.
"Everybody was notified and told to evacuate," said Butler County emergency management coordinator Mitch Nordmeyer as he surveyed the town, about 90 miles northeast of Des Moines. "If they stayed they were staying at their own risk."
© Associated Press/Charlie Neibergall
Jim Johnson rows his boat down Main Street, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New Hartford, Iowa
Jim Johnson rows his boat down Main Street, Tuesday, June 25, 2013, in New Hartford, Iowa
Residents had seen the normally placid Beaver Creek flood before. And after some areas upstream received more than 7 inches of rain on Monday, few seemed surprised the stream was surging out of its banks again.
Residents of New Zealand's capital are cleaning up after a storm rated the worst in over four decades subsided.
Winds of up to 140km/h - gusting to 200km/h in exposed areas - lashed Wellington, felling trees, lifting roofs, smashing windows, closing roads and schools and cutting power to homes and businesses.
Winds of up to 140km/h - gusting to 200km/h in exposed areas - lashed Wellington, felling trees, lifting roofs, smashing windows, closing roads and schools and cutting power to homes and businesses.
Lead mining and smelting have been going on in portions of southeast Missouri since the early 1700s. The region contains the world's largest deposit of the lead mineral galena.
USGS performed the study at the request of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of an assessment of potential damage to wildlife from exposure to lead-contaminated soil. USGS scientists in 2009 and 2010 captured 34 songbirds in the region known as the Old Lead Belt, portions of the Big River flood plain and in an area within the Mark Twain National Forest.
"We knew mining had gone on there for many years," said Nelson Beyer, author of the study. "We knew the area itself was very contaminated but there hasn't been a lot of work done on songbirds."
Tested birds - mostly cardinals, robins, blue jays and eastern towhees - had eight times the normal amount of lead in their blood, 13 times the normal amount in their liver and 23 times the normal amount in their kidneys, according to the survey that compared the Missouri birds with birds captured elsewhere.
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