Earth ChangesS


Attention

Sub-glacial eruption of Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano forms deep 'cauldrons' of melted ice


RT
Thu, 28 Aug 2014 03:46 UTC
Icelandic volcano activity increased on Wednesday, with scientists detecting 10-15 meters deep cauldrons of melted ice at the Vatnajökull glacier, prompting fears of an imminent eruption.
Image
© Reuters / Sigtryggur Johannsson

A warning sign blocks the road to Bardarbunga volcano, some 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) away, in the north-west region of the Vatnajokull glacier August 19, 2014.
Icelandic scientists have detected a series of 10-15m deep cauldrons at Bardarbunga volcano glacier. They apparently are a result of melting following a sub-glacial eruption, the Icelandic Civil Protection Scientific Advisory Board reported. A surveillance flight over the surface of Vatnajokull has shown the cauldrons to be 1 km wide, located in a straight line some 4-6 kilometers south of the Bardarbunga caldera.
The 10-15 m deep cauldrons, 1 km wide, south of the #Bárðarbunga caldera. Picture by https://t.co/ZiKocZlLJSpic.twitter.com/lSLWDJZnEO
- Almannavarnir (@almannavarnir) August 28, 2014
"The cauldrons have been formed as a result of melting, possibly a sub-glacial eruption, uncertain when," country's Meteorological Office said, pointing out that the data is still being analyzed.

"During the night (Wednesday) we have had three larger events, two of them in the Bardarbunga caldera. Those were 5.2 and 5.3, and very similar to the events that we have seen there before," Palmi Erlendsson, a geologist at the Met Office told the country's RTE news.

At the same time, scientists have registered more than 1,300 earthquakes since midnight Wednesday. Meanwhile 50km to the north, a 4.5 magnitude quake shook the Askja volcano, presumably because magma from Bardarbunga crater is traveling in that direction.

Comment: Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sinkholes and flooding all in one: Iceland examines Bardarbunga volcano 'cauldrons'

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Windsock

'Tornado' seen over Romney Marsh, Kent, UK


kentonline.co.uk
Tue, 26 Aug 2014 12:30 UTC
Image
© Steve McGarrigIeA funnel cloud spotted from a Dymchurch caravan park.
Sky-spotters were stunned to see a large tornado forming over Kent this afternoon.

Onlookers grabbed their cameras after spotting what appeared to be a twister in the skies over Dymchurch, on Romney Marsh.

The funnel cloud - technically not a tornado because it did not touch the ground - was snapped from a caravan park and elsewhere in the town.

Pictures of the would-be tornado of rapidly rotating air were posted on Twitter by Jayne Theo and Steve McGarrigle.

Holidaymaker Jayne said: "On holiday this week in Dymchurch and saw this little twister forming this afternoon!"

And Steve posted: "Wow spotted mini tornados in the sky at Dymchurch."

A funnel cloud is made up of condensed water droplets that becomes a tornado on contact with the ground.

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X

More mysterious and rare sea creatures washing up along US west coast this summer

Joel Landau
NY Daily News
Thu, 21 Aug 2014 13:22 UTC
Thousands of Velella velella, also known as 'by-the-wind sailors' have been appearing on the beach from Washington to Southern California. The organisms are usually only found in the middle of the ocean, and the phenomenon has drawn a lot of excitement as people have been discovering them for the first time.
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© CNNThousands of Velella velella sea creatures are washing ashore on beaches along the West Coast this summer.
Thousands of members of a mysterious and rarely seen sea creature have begun popping up on the California shore, creating new attention to the jelly-like species.

Velella velella, a blue sea creature that bears some resemblance of a jellyfish, is about the size of a hand and usually remains in the water. They can be seen washed ashore in this CNN video.

But a shift in the currents and winds have brought thousands of them onto the West Coast this summer, creating an excitement over an animal of the ocean that is usually kept hidden from the public.

Comment: Something strange and worrying is definitely going on, since Velella velella is only one out of many mysterious and rare creatures that were either caught or spotted in the recent times: Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

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Bandaid

Minneapolis girl attacked and chased by otter in Wisconsin lake

Andy Rathbun
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Wed, 13 Aug 2014 10:50 UTC
Image
It was a fun time at the lake -- until the otter arrived.

After spending about an hour swimming with friends in Bone Lake near Luck, Wis., on Saturday, Rory Kliewer began to climb a ladder onto a dock when she suddenly felt something bite her backside and thigh.

"I thought it was a northern pike," the 12-year-old Minneapolis girl said Wednesday. "I thought a fish was after me."

As she threw the creature off of her, she realized that the animal was an otter -- later estimated at 3 1/2 feet long and about 40 pounds.

"It was a big, nasty one," said Rory, who had been staying at a friend's family cabin over the weekend.

The otter then bit Rory's head and pulled itself onto her, scratching her face.

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© Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi12-year-old Rory Kliewer shows the scratches on her face and ear Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, at her home in Minneapolis after being attacked by an otter while swimming Saturday, Aug. 9, at Bone Lake in Polk County, Wis. Kliewer sustained bites, scratches and bruises during the attack.

Comment: There appears to have been a spate of unusually aggressive animal attacks on humans of late including some by species normally thought of as being wary and retiring when encountering people, see also: Giant anteaters kill Brazilian hunters!

Bear attacks kill at least three people with many others injured in Siberia and far-east Russia

Boy and grandmother attacked and injured by river otter on Pilchuck River, Washington

Paddling family of three attacked by a beaver in Austria

400 pound alligator attacks 9-year-old boy, Florida

Crocodile kills fisherman in front of his wife in Northern Territory, Australia

Man mauled by bear in Italian wood

The interested reader might wish to look at the chart below for animal events over the period 2007 to the present, which include reports of not only mass die-offs and strange behaviour but also includes abnormal migrations and gatherings. Note that the number of records this year have already surpassed the 2013 total.



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Attention

Giant sinkhole consumes Indiana couple's backyard


ABC News
Mon, 25 Aug 2014 07:39 UTC
Indiana sinkhole
An Indiana couple's backyard features a sinkhole that's 40 feet wide and 30 feet deep.
An Indiana couple's backyard turned into a huge sinkhole -- and it was unclear over who was responsible to fix it.

The sinkhole in Frank and Letitia Casto's yard used to be about four feet wide and six feet deep. It now measures about 40 feet wide and 30 feet deep.

"It just keeps dropping and swallowing trees, and this is where we are at," Letitia Casto told ABC News station WLS.

The hole was initially filled with rocks and covered with grass, but it kept growing, swallowing up trees.

"We've been complaining to different people for all this time, and everybody just keeps kind of ignoring us," Frank Casto told WLS. "It could have been a little problem, but it's turned into a monster, at this point."

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Fish

Rare creatures left stranded by stormy seas in Queensland, Australia

Jon Coghill and Rob Blackmore
abc.net.au
Wed, 27 Aug 2014 10:16 UTC
Image
© Jo JoyceJo Joyce photographed this sea snake near Pincushion Island on the Sunshine Coast. It was about 50cm long..
The Sunshine Coast played host to a handful of odd and rare animals after last weekend's deluge. Marine biologist Julian Pepperell was called on to investigate.

Sunshine Coast locals have noticed a plethora of strange creatures washed up on beaches and lost from home.

Red stinky blob

Debbie Higgs of Mt Coolum found a "weird red blob-like creature" on Mudjimba Beach.

"It's 25cms long roughly. It's oval-shaped, frilly and it's got a peculiar pattern down its back. [It was] cold, squishy and had that really gluggy type feeling like a jellyfish. It had vibrant dark red around it in a frill," she said.

"When I found it, it was still pulsing. I didn't want to touch it in case it was poisonous. I've never seen anything like it.

Debbie says she put a photo on twitter and linked it to Instagram and "suddenly all these people started contacting me."

Since, the story has been published worldwide.

"We contacted a museum and we've been told it's a Spanish dancer usually found in Indian waters or off Bali," Debbie said.
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© Debbie HiggsDebbie Higgs found this suspected Spanish Dancer on Mudjimba Beach.

Comment: See also: Australian students discover rare fish dead on beach

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Attention

Persistently high methane concentrations show up over Beaufort Sea in the Arctic


arctic-news.blogspot.co.uk
Tue, 19 Aug 2014 09:18 UTC
Image

High methane concentrations have been showing up over Beaufort Sea over the past few days, as shown on the image above. This follows the recent high methane concentrations over the East Siberian Sea.

The persistent character of these very high methane concentrations over the Arctic Ocean indicates that methane has started to erupt from clathrates under the seabed, triggered by very warm water reaching the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.


Comment: Perhaps the true trigger is seismic activity, which then also warms the water at the bottom of the ocean, see : Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sinkholes and flooding all in one: Iceland examines Bardarbunga volcano 'cauldrons'


Methane eruptions from hydrates in sediments under the Arctic Ocean helped mean methane levels reach new records, with mean global methane readings as high as 1835 parts per billion recorded at several altitudes on August 17, 2014.

Comment: See also: Hundreds of methane plumes erupting along U.S. Atlantic coast

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Question

Tide that flooded Sagar Island, India in July a mystery

Prithvijit Mitra
The Times of India
Tue, 26 Aug 2014 12:30 UTC
Sagar island, india
Are climate change fears coming true in the Sunderbans? An unexpected high tide has left a major portion of Sagar Island flooded, leaving environmentalists worried about its future.

Sea water gushed into the island through Muriganga river on July 14, causing extensive damage to crops and destroying homes. Around 10 villages were affected and they continue to be submerged by the untimely rise in water level, which could have been triggered by a change in climate in the region, fear experts.

It is usually the shara-sharir baan (neap tide) that hits Sunderbans twice a year - in April and September. But it rarely triggers a flood. This sudden influx of water was not neap tide, say locals and experts. It was much fiercer and struck at least two months ahead of the neap tide, they say.

Comment: Climate change may be the answer, yet extremes in weather may not be the best explanation. Strange events are happening in the worlds oceans, such as Major seismic event imminent ? Strange glowing lights seen by pilots over part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and massive aquatic life die off. Geological events such as underwater volcanos or other explanations such as methane explosions and a changing planet may point to a better assessment of what might have caused the unusual and unseasonal tide.

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Sun

Guatemala declares state of calamity in 17 drought-hit regions


Shanghai Daily
Tue, 26 Aug 2014 00:00 UTC
Guatemala drought
© Daniel Leclair/Reuters
Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina on Monday declared a state of calamity in 17 of the country's 22 departments, where as many as 200,000 rural and indigenous families whose livelihoods depend solely on farming are said to have been afflicted by a severe drought in those areas and a potential famine.

"At a cabinet meeting this Monday, we signed a governmental decree that declares a State of Calamity in 17 departments as a result of the effects on agriculture of the prolonged drought," the president said in a tweet.

The decree, which requires legislative approval, would allow emergency assistance and humanitarian aid to be delivered to families in the affected regions which have been without rainfall for two months and suffered crop losses.
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Bizarro Earth

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, sinkholes and flooding all in one: Iceland examines Bardarbunga volcano 'cauldrons'


BBC
Thu, 28 Aug 2014 08:09 UTC
barbarbunga cauldrons
Scientists in Iceland say they are examining several 'cauldrons' found near Bardarbunga volcano, which could potentially be a sign of an eruption.

The cauldrons, depressions in the volcano's surface, each between 10-15m (49 ft) deep and 1km (0.6 miles) wide, were seen during a flight on Wednesday.

Iceland's Met Office said they were formed "as a result of melting, possibly a sub-glacial eruption."

Bardarbunga volcano has been hit by several recent tremors.

The area experienced a magnitude 5.7 earthquake on Tuesday. Experts say these earthquakes are caused as magma flows beneath the ground, cracking the rocks as it moves.

The Met Office has kept its aviation warning level - indicating the potential threat of volcanic activity to air travel - at orange, its second-highest.

Comment: Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano: Magma moving towards new volcanic system

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