© Earth Observatory / NASA
Earth Changes
Despite being classified as a "minor" (menor, in Spanish) eruption, Chile's Puyehue Cordón-Caulle Volcano continues to pump out large amounts of ash. This natural-color satellite image shows the pale plume blowing to the northeast of the active vent.
According to SERNAGEOMIN, the Chilean National Service of Geology and Mining, ash rose to a height of 5 kilometers (3 miles), and blew as far as 300 km (190 miles) from the volcano. Wide-area satellite images show the full length of the plume, and ash covering the Argentinian plains to the east of Puyehue Cordón-Caulle.
© Evrim Aydin / Anadolu Agency / Reuters
Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed building in Van, eastern Turkey, on Wednesday.
Rescue workers search for survivors at a collapsed building in Van, eastern Turkey, on Wednesday.
The 5.7-magnitude quake Wednesday toppled 25 buildings in the city of Van, Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said. The death toll could have been even worse: Only three of the buildings were occupied because the others were evacuated after the Oct. 23 quake that killed more than 600 people and destroyed at least 2,000 buildings.
Rescue workers sped up their search for survivors by daylight on Thursday, pulling a man in his 60s out of the wreckage of a pancaked hotel, live NTV television broadcast showed. Soon after, rescuers dug a young man from the rubble of an apartment building, the state-run Anatolia news agency said. The young man became the 25th people to be survived alive so far.
The workers used the glare of high-powered lights to work throughout the night despite several aftershocks. Atalay said rescue work was concentrating at the site of two collapsed hotels and one apartment building.
© Basehunters/Tornadovideosdotnet/YouTube
The second tornado season kicked off in Oklahoma this week.
The second tornado season kicked off in Oklahoma this week.
Tornadoes can strike virtually anywhere and anytime in the United States, and November is known as a particularly big month for twisters, especially in the Southeast area known as Dixie Alley. But this year, it's the traditional Tornado Alley that has taken the November punches.
At least six tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma Nov. 7, combined with baseball-size hail and wind gusts up to 92 mph (148 kph). One twister destroyed an Oklahoma State University extension office.
The barrage continued last night (Nov. 8) with 10 reported tornadoes across Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.
The main tornado season runs from spring to early summer, but tornadoes can form under a variety of conditions and strike during fall and winter. Tornadoes have killed 548 people so far in 2011, according to the Storm Prediction Center, making this one of the most active tornado years in U.S. history. A massive outbreak in April killed nearly 250 people in Alabama alone. One month later, another massive twister killed more than 150 in Joplin, Mo.
Last November, severe weather was slow to start, but this year the second tornado season is already in full swing.
While Dixie Alley has been mostly quiet, some scientists are starting to suspect that November is in fact the beginning of the Southeast's only tornado season.
"Sometimes you get started in November and you just keep going all the way to April and May," said meteorologist Steve Wilkinson of the National Weather Service office in Jackson, Miss.
Victoria's State Emergency Service has responded to more than 1000 calls for help overnight after one of the wildest storms to lash the state this year. SES rescuers responded to cases of flash flooding, hail damage, people trapped in cars, unroofed homes and fallen trees. In one of the worst-hit areas, Frankston received 30 millimetres of rain in 20 minutes yesterday. Residents made more than 200 calls for help, including 150 about flooding and 40 about building damage.
In Croydon several people had to be rescued from their vehicles after they became stuck in flood waters. There were another 150 reports of fallen trees, many in towns northwest of Melbourne including Castlemaine, Woodend and Maryborough. The northeast endured the worst of the storm, where 65mm of rain fell - the highest rainfall for the state. In Wodonga, several houses had their roofs ripped off. There were also reports of flooded backyards and falling trees.
Record heat
Sydney residents have sweated through what could be the hottest November night on record. Temperatures climbed to a top of 28.4C and never dipped below 26.5C, Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) duty forecaster Dmitriy Danchuk said. Previously, the hottest November night on record was in 1967, when the minimum temperature was 24.8C. The average minimum temperature for November is 15.6C. "So last night we had temperatures that were 10.9 degrees above average," Mr Danchuk said. "That's a pretty rare occasion. The last time we had high temperatures like this was on November 14, 1976. "This could be a record."
© n/a
Record heat
Sydney residents have sweated through what could be the hottest November night on record. Temperatures climbed to a top of 28.4C and never dipped below 26.5C, Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) duty forecaster Dmitriy Danchuk said. Previously, the hottest November night on record was in 1967, when the minimum temperature was 24.8C. The average minimum temperature for November is 15.6C. "So last night we had temperatures that were 10.9 degrees above average," Mr Danchuk said. "That's a pretty rare occasion. The last time we had high temperatures like this was on November 14, 1976. "This could be a record."
The East Coast of the United States isn't the first place that comes to mind as being at risk of tsunamis, but new sonar maps are now helping to show that these risks do exist.
For about the past five years, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, along with other governmental and academic partners, have been gauging the potential for tsunamis generated by landslides in submarine canyons in the mid-Atlantic to strike the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The investigation was requested by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is concerned about the potential impact tsunamis might have on new and existing nuclear power plants, especially in light of the devastating tsunami in Japan in March that sparked the greatest nuclear disaster in years.
The research identified landslides along the submerged margin of the North American continent as the leading potential source of dangerous tsunamis to the East Coast. These landslides either originate in submarine canyons or on the continental slope.
For about the past five years, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, along with other governmental and academic partners, have been gauging the potential for tsunamis generated by landslides in submarine canyons in the mid-Atlantic to strike the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. The investigation was requested by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is concerned about the potential impact tsunamis might have on new and existing nuclear power plants, especially in light of the devastating tsunami in Japan in March that sparked the greatest nuclear disaster in years.
© USGS
Idealized diagram of a continental margin, showing the shelf, slope, and rise.
Idealized diagram of a continental margin, showing the shelf, slope, and rise.
© USGS
USGS date here.
Hurricane-force winds cause damage overnight in area's largest town
Anchorage - Initial reports from towns along Alaska's northwest coast early Wednesday indicated that a massive Bering Sea storm had tossed rocks onto roads, eroded beaches and blown off roofs - and that's before water surges expected to peak Wednesday night.
Anchorage - Initial reports from towns along Alaska's northwest coast early Wednesday indicated that a massive Bering Sea storm had tossed rocks onto roads, eroded beaches and blown off roofs - and that's before water surges expected to peak Wednesday night.
© NOAA
The massive storm bearing down on Alaska was caught by infrared instruments on a NOAA satellite at 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 8.
The massive storm bearing down on Alaska was caught by infrared instruments on a NOAA satellite at 9 a.m. ET on Nov. 8.
The storm is predicted to bring hurricane-force winds and high waves through the Bering Strait and along the Alaskan coast. Coastal flood warnings are in effect for much of western Alaska, and some coastal villages evacuated last night (Nov. 8), according to news reports.
"This will be extremely dangerous and life-threatening storm of an epic magnitude rarely experienced," read a statement from the NWS. "All people in the area should take precautions to safeguard their lives and property."
A tropical storm (possibly a subtropical hybrid) has formed in the Mediterranean Sea. No, this isn't a typo. Take a look at the satellite imagery from early Tuesday morning below. Circled in white is the storm south of France and to the west of Italy. Click here to view real-time satellite imagery of the system.
Although rare, this is not an unprecedented event. According to the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA, low-pressure systems resembling tropical storms and hurricanes have occurred in September 1947, September 1969, January 1982, September 1983 and January 1995. Due to their rarity, they have not been fully studied so there is some question as to whether these systems have the same structure as tropical storms found over the tropical waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Although rare, this is not an unprecedented event. According to the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA, low-pressure systems resembling tropical storms and hurricanes have occurred in September 1947, September 1969, January 1982, September 1983 and January 1995. Due to their rarity, they have not been fully studied so there is some question as to whether these systems have the same structure as tropical storms found over the tropical waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
© The Weather Channel
An unprecedented number of fish with red spots, lesions and parasites, as well as dead dugongs and turtles, have been found this year.
Fishermen and conservationists blame the state of the marine life on dredging to widen Gladstone Harbour to accommodate carrier ships servicing the booming liquefied natural gas and coal seam gas industries.
But the Gladstone Port Corporation does not believe the dredging is causing the disease in fish, and authorities say last year's wet summer may be a factor in the poor health of the harbour.
Water testing shows a number of sites within the harbour exceeded national guidelines for aluminium, copper and chromium. Experts say the levels pose a minimal risk to marine life; however, the Queensland Government has appointed an independent scientific panel to conduct more research.
View a gallery of photos of diseased marine life found in Gladstone waters, interspersed with quotes from local fishermen and stakeholders.
Fishermen and conservationists blame the state of the marine life on dredging to widen Gladstone Harbour to accommodate carrier ships servicing the booming liquefied natural gas and coal seam gas industries.
© Trevor Falzon
A bull shark with red marks on it caught in the Calliope River, Gladstone in October.
A bull shark with red marks on it caught in the Calliope River, Gladstone in October.
Water testing shows a number of sites within the harbour exceeded national guidelines for aluminium, copper and chromium. Experts say the levels pose a minimal risk to marine life; however, the Queensland Government has appointed an independent scientific panel to conduct more research.
View a gallery of photos of diseased marine life found in Gladstone waters, interspersed with quotes from local fishermen and stakeholders.
