Earth ChangesS


Igloo

Snow and ice blanket Germany


Spiegel Online International
Tue, 22 Jan 2013 13:13 UTC
Snowing in Germany
© Spiegel Online InternationalA commuter train battles snow to reach Munich's airport.
Winter weather threw travel across Germany into turmoil early this week. Snow blanketed much of the country, causing hundreds of cancelled flights and road closures. Conditions began to improve on Tuesday, but not before skiers at ice skaters could have a little fun.

Jack Frost continued to bite at Germany's nose on Tuesday, with snow still falling across many parts of Germany on Tuesday, following heavy snowfall on Sunday and Monday, the German Weather Service (DWD) reported.

The service said that 3.5 billion tons of snow fell in the country on Sunday alone. With winter weather continuing, that figure could rise to 6 billion tons by Wednesday.

Winter weather conditions led to frustrating travel conditions across the country. At Frankfurt's airport, Germany's largest, about 543 or 1,190 planned flights were cancelled Monday, according to German news agency DPA. In Munich another 200 flights were grounded. Delays affected air traffic at every German airport as crews de-iced planes and snow-removal equipment was used to clear gates.
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Cloud Precipitation

Extreme weather threatens Queensland, storm tides and 400mm of rain expected


The Courier-Mail
Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:42 UTC
flooding Gracemere and Rockhampton
© Peter Wallis Source: The Courier-MailAerials of flooding between Gracemere and Rockhampton, central Queensland.
The central Queensland city of Gladstone faces a one-in-100-year flood, and up to 1600 homes near Brisbane could be inundated as extreme weather hits.

Storm tides, extremely heavy rain and emergency dam releases have combined to present the state with its worst weather event since 2011.

Emergency flood alerts have been issued for several Queensland towns overnight with residents being told to get to higher ground.
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Info

Deformed dolphin accepted into new whale family

Linda Poon
National Geographic
Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:28 UTC
Deformed Dolphin
© Photograph courtesy Alexander Wilson and Aquatic MammalsA bottlenose dolphin, with an S-shaped spinal deformity, is seen here rubbing against a sperm whale.
In 2011, behavioral ecologists Alexander Wilson and Jens Krause of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Germany were surprised to discover that a group of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) - animals not usually known for forging bonds with other species - had taken in an adult bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

The researchers observed the group in the ocean surrounding the Azores (map) - about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal - for eight days as the dolphin traveled, foraged, and played with both the adult whales and their calves. When the dolphin rubbed its body against the whales, they would sometimes return the gesture.

Among terrestrial animals, cross-species interactions are not uncommon. These mostly temporary alliances are forged for foraging benefits and protection against predators, said Wilson.

They could also be satisfying a desire for the company of other animals, added marine biologist John Francis, vice president for research, conservation, and exploration at the National Geographic Society (the Society owns National Geographic News).

Photographs of dogs nursing tiger cubs, stories of a signing gorilla adopting a pet cat, and videos of a leopard caring for a baby baboon have long circulated the Web and caught national attention.
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Blue Planet

Tangaroan, new type of volcanic eruption


Sci-News
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 09:59 UTC
New type of volcanic eruption
© National Oceanography Center & National Institute of Water and Atmospheric ResearchMacauley volcano
An international team of researchers from the UK and New Zealand has discovered a previously undocumented type of eruption in underwater volcanoes.

Volcanic eruptions are commonly categorized as either explosive or effusive.

Inside volcanoes, gases are dissolved in the molten magma as a function of the very high pressures and chemistry of the magma. In the same way that gases dissolved in carbonated drinks bubble up when you take the lid off, when magma is erupted as lava, the pressure is relieved and the gases exsolve to form small gas bubbles or so-called 'vesicles.'

In explosive eruptions these vesicles expand so quickly they fragment the magma, violently ejecting lava, which cools and degasses to form solidified pumice that can be sufficiently light to float on water.

In air pumice is obviously associated with violent, explosive eruptions. Consequently underwater volcanoes flanked by highly vesicular pumice have, to date, also been interpreted as having erupted explosively.
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Bizarro Earth

Shallow 4.1 magnitude earthquake rattles East Texas


The Extinction Protocol
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:19 UTC
Image
© USGS
The U.S. Geology Survey confirms a 4.1 magnitude earthquake hit East Texas around 1:01 a.m. The earthquake struck at a depth of 5 km (3.1 miles). Friday morning with an epicenter 2 miles from Timpson, Texas. KSLA News 12 phone lines started ringing after numerous people felt the 'quake from Shelby County all the way to Bossier City. It woke me up out of a dead sleep," said Amanda Jones who lives on Highway 7 E between Center and Joaquin. Jones tells us it felt stronger than the last earthquake that hit East Texas last summer. Jones says she is unsure about damage but will wait until the sun comes up to check.

Jamie Ward in Center, TX tells us her house shook for at least 20 seconds. A man from Carthage, TX who was working the night shift at a gas plant says "it felt like it was coming from the bottom of my feet up." He described what he felt "like the wind was shaking the travel trailer." He tells us he looked for damage but didn't see any. A woman who lives on W. 70th in Shreveport tells us she was laying in bed when "stuff started shaking." Bossier City resident Sarah Rains, who lives off of Sligo Rd., says she and her roommate felt their trailer shake and thought it might have just been heavy winds. Katy Cash of Keatchie says she felt her house shake but thought she was just imagining it when her chandelier over the dining table started swaying. Katy tells us her mom in Florien, Louisiana also felt it. - KSLA
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Bizarro Earth

Earthquake swarm reported near Nevada's Topaz Lake


The Extinction Protocol
Fri, 25 Jan 2013 08:17 UTC
Image
Sixteen small quakes hit an area near Topaz Lake early Thursday, but there have been no reports of damage or injury. The quakes hit an area southwest of the lake between midnight and 5AM. They ranged from 1.1 to 3.7 in magnitude, and were between three and nine kilometers deep. Another handful of small quakes hit several hours later, in the afternoon and evening. The remote area is about 45 miles southeast of Gardnerville. Another small swarm hit an area about 20 miles west northwest of Donner Lake between 5:45AM and 6:15AM Thursday. They ranged between 0.5 and 2.1 in magnitude, with no reports of damage or injury. - KOLOTV
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Snowflake

Shimla, India, witnesses 8-year record breaking snowfall in a single day

Bhawani Negi
Hindustan Times
Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:39 UTC
Shimla snow
© Unknown
The "Queen of Hills" was witness to the record breaking single day highest snowfall in the month of January in the last eight years.

The heavy snowfall continued on second consecutive day on Friday till late night and recorded a total of 63.6 cms of snow in two days in Shimla.
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Snowflake Cold

Temperatures drop to record low as arctic blast sweeps Canada, U.S.

Michel Comte
AlterNet
Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:16 UTC
cold weather
© Unknown
Arctic air sweeping through Canada and parts of the United States sent temperatures plunging to record lows on Wednesday with a wind chill of minus 40 degrees (Celsius and Fahrenheit).

Canada was the coldest nation in the world at the start of the day with with temperatures as low as minus 43.1 degrees Celsius (-45.6 Fahrenheit) in the Northwest Territories, according to public broadcaster CBC.

In Ottawa, buildings cracked in the cold, making sounds like the crash of a wrecking ball.
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Cloud Precipitation

NASA satellite sees massive rainfall totals from Tropical Storm Oswald

Rob Gutro
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:09 UTC
TRMM satellite rainfall oswald
© NASA/SSAI, Hal PierceThis TRMM satellite rainfall analysis covers the period from Jan. 15-22, 2013. The analysis showed that Oswald and its remnants have already dropped over 600 mm (~23.6 inches) of rain...
Tropical Storm Oswald's heavy rains have caused flooding in Queensland, Australia and NASA's TRMM satellite measured almost two feet of rain fell in certain areas.

Tropical cyclone Oswald's sustained winds have never been greater than 35 knots (~40.2 mph) but the storm's extreme rainfall has resulted in widespread flooding in Australia over northern Queensland. Many roads have been reported flooded resulting in some communities being cut off.
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Cloud Precipitation

Mozambique floods displace 70,000 people


News 24
Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:01 UTC
Maputo Mozambique flood
© AFP / StringerA road washed away by torrential rainfall in Maputo, Mozambique.
Floods in southern Mozambique have displaced up to 70 000 people and cut power exports to energy-hungry neighbour South Africa in half, officials said on Thursday.

The south and centre of the country have been placed on red alert after experiencing the heaviest rainfall since devastating floods killed some 800 people in 2000.

In some places current water levels are higher than they were during that disaster.

As the Limpopo River raged through the southern town of Chokwe, people slept in the open, many by the roadside, local media reported. The record flood levels submerged houses in some places, emergency officials said.

"We are sending seven days of food for 70 000 people," the country's international humanitarian head Lola Castro told AFP.
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