Earth ChangesS

Fish

Florida fears deepen as oil enters the Loop Current


Raw Story
Wed, 19 May 2010 21:23 UTC
oil slick

Oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is being picked up by a strong ocean current that will take it to Florida in days and possibly on up the Atlantic coast, experts warned Wednesday.

The Loop Current has started sweeping leaking crude from the giant slick off Louisiana towards Florida's popular tourist beaches and fragile coral reefs, threatening a whole new dimension to the unfolding environmental disaster.

Scientists laid out a worst-case scenario in which the oceanic conveyor belt would see the first oil wash up in Florida in as little as six days, before carrying it up the US east coast and even into the Gulf Stream.
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Better Earth

Earth's mantle flows 20-30 times faster that previously thought


PhysOrg
Wed, 19 May 2010 21:06 UTC
Image
© Unknown
The Earth's mantle flows far more rapidly around a sinking tectonic plate than previously thought, according to new computer modeling by UC Davis geologists. The findings could change the way that we think about plate tectonics and the amount of energy available for earthquakes. The results will be published May 20 in the journal Nature.

"Our model suggests that some parts of the mantle are moving at screaming speeds compared to what we can observe directly at the Earth's surface," said Magali Billen, associate professor of geology at UC Davis and co-author of the paper. "There is much more mixing and more rapid transport of heat in these regions of the Earth than we suspected."

Billen and graduate student Margarete Jadamec, now a postdoctoral researcher at Monash University in Australia, studied the Alaskan subduction zone, where the Pacific plate is diving beneath Alaska and pushing up Mt. McKinley.

To do so, they built the most detailed computer model to date of the plate and the surrounding mantle. The model revealed that rather than moving at roughly the same speed as the plate, the mantle was flowing much faster. "We expected it to flow faster, but the surprise was that it is flowing 20 to 30 times faster," Billen said.
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Bizarro Earth

Aqua satellite sees sunglint on Gulf oil slick


PhysOrg
Wed, 19 May 2010 20:57 UTC
Image
© NASA Goddard/ MODIS Rapid Response TeamAt 3 p.m. EDT on May 18, NASA's Aqua satellite swept over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from its vantage point in space and the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer instrument captured sunglints in a visible image of the spill.
At 3 p.m. EDT on May 18, NASA's Aqua satellite swept over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from its vantage point in space and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument captured sunglints in a visible image of the spill.

The visible image showed three bright areas of sunglint within the area of the gray-beige colored spill. Sunglint is a mirror-like reflection of the sun off the water's surface. In calm waters, the rounded image of the sun would be seen in a satellite image. However, the waves in the Gulf blurred the reflection and created an appearance of three bright areas in a line on the ocean's surface.

According to the May 18 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) web update of the Deepwater Horizon incident, "satellite imagery on May 17 indicated that the main bulk of the oil is dozens of miles away from the Loop Current, but that a tendril of light oil has been transported down close to the Loop Current."
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Bizarro Earth

Aqua Sees Second Tropical Storm In 2 Days Form Near Horn Of Africa

Rob Gutro
Red Orbit / NASA
Wed, 19 May 2010 20:25 UTC
Image
© NASA/JPL/Ed OlsenNASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm 2A at 09:41 UTC (5:41 a.m. EDT) just as the storm was strengthening to tropical storm status. The visible image clearly shows higher thunderstorms around the center.
The Northern Indian Ocean cyclone season is off to a roaring start, as the second tropical storm formed within a day of the first one. NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Storm 02A today, May 19 and captured infrared, microwave and visible images of the storm.

At 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) on May 19, Tropical Storm 02A had maximum sustained winds near 39 mph, with higher gusts. It was located in the Arabian Sea (part of the Northern Indian Ocean) about 135 miles east-southeast of Cape Guardafui, Somalia. That's near 11.3 North and 53.5 East. It was moving west-northwest near 6 mph (5 knots).

NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm 2A at 09:41 UTC (5:41 a.m. EDT) just as the storm was strengthening to tropical storm status. The visible image clearly shows higher thunderstorms around the center, and the western side of the storm over land.
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Bizarro Earth

46 Killed in Volcano Landslide in Congo


PressTV
Wed, 19 May 2010 17:52 UTC
Image
© ReutersNyiragongo Volcano
A landslide on the slopes of Nyiragongo Volcano in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 46 people and washed away more than 200 houses.

The landslide started after heavy rains caused an overflow of volcanic rivers at Kibumba in North Kivu province, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

United Nations peacekeepers are caring for the victims until other humanitarian organizations take over, UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC) spokesman Madnodje Mounobai told the UN News Center on Wednesday.

North Kivu province has been the scene of interminable cycles of violence during over 10 years of war in which the Congolese army has battled various armed groups competing for control of mineral resources.

The war in the eastern Congo has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.4 million people dead.
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Cloud Lightning

Videos: Oklahoma City Monster Hail Storm

Beatlesfanxxl and Aaron Snow
Youtube
Sun, 16 May 2010 12:19 UTC
Beatlesfanxxl - This was the most insane hail storm or storm in general I have ever seen! It was may 16th 2010. Sorry about all of the 'oh my Gods'. I was just in shock.


Aesnow - Oklahoma City Hail Storm on May 16, 2010. Video shot by Aaron Snow. Our Land Rover LR3 and Jeep Grand Cherokee were destroyed. The roof and siding and landscaping were completely beat up by baseball size hail.

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Fish

Ancient Mass Extinction of Fish May Have Paved Way for Modern Species

Amina Khan
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 17 May 2010 15:32 UTC
A report looks at a 360-million-year-old gap in the fossil record and finds that marine vertebrates were recovering from an extinction event on par with the one that killed the dinosaurs. What happened is unclear.

Modern-day lizards, snakes, frogs and mammals - including us - may owe their existence to a mass extinction of ancient fish 360 million years ago that left the oceans relatively barren, providing room for marginal species that were our ancestors to thrive and diversify, paleontologists said Monday.

The report, by University of Chicago researchers, focused on events at the end of what is commonly called the Age of Fishes, which lasted from 416 million years ago to 359 million years ago. That age was followed by a 15-million-year period of relative silence in the fossil record.
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.0 - Northern Peru


US Geological Survey
Wed, 19 May 2010 01:23 UTC
Peru Earthquake_190510
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 04:15:42 UTC

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 11:15:42 PM at epicenter

Location:
5.069ยฐS, 77.559ยฐW

Depth:
125.6 km (78.0 miles)

Distances:
125 km (80 miles) NNW of Moyobamba, Peru

130 km (80 miles) NNE of Chachapoyas, Peru

545 km (340 miles) S of QUITO, Ecuador

775 km (480 miles) N of LIMA, Peru
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Arrow Up

EPA Will Limit Pesticides Near Salmon Streams

Jeff Barnard
Associated Press
Tue, 18 May 2010 18:47 UTC
Image
Grants Pass, Oregon - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it will impose restrictions on spraying three agricultural pesticides to keep them out of salmon streams after manufacturers refused to adopt the limits voluntarily.

EPA will develop new rules for applying the chemicals diazinon, malathion and chlorpyrifos that will include no-spray zones along streams and restrictions on spraying depending on weather conditions, EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said in an e-mail. There will also be requirements to report dead fish.

Even at very low levels, the chemicals have been found by federal biologists to interfere with salmon's sense of smell, making it harder for them to find food, avoid predators and return to native waters to spawn.
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Alarm Clock

Tarballs in Florida stoke fears of oil slick spread

Michael Haskins
Reuters
Tue, 18 May 2010 17:24 UTC
A member of the Louisiana State Wildlife Response Team cleanses a pelican of oil at the Clean Gulf Associates Mobile Wildlife Rehabilitation Station
A member of the Louisiana State Wildlife Response Team cleanses a pelican of oil at the Clean Gulf Associates Mobile Wildlife Rehabilitation Station

Key West - Fears that ocean currents were spreading oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill flared on Tuesday after tar balls turned up in Florida, raising pressure on energy giant BP to capture more of the leaking crude.

In Washington lawmakers pushed forward with efforts to raise companies' liability cap for oil accidents and the Obama administration said offshore drilling was critical to meet U.S. energy needs despite the risks made evident by the spill.
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