Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Manam volcano (Papua New Guinea): Large explosive eruption sending ash plume to 45,000 ft altitude

T
Volcano Discovery
Sat, 12 Jan 2013 10:40 UTC
Manam Volcano
© Wikimedia Commons
An large eruption seems to have occurred this morning around 05:30 GMT from Manam volcano north of New Guinea. VAAC Darwin reported an ash plume rising to 45,000 ft (approx. 14 km) altitude.

A hot spot is visible on MODIS satellite data. For the moment, no precise other information about the nature of the eruption is available, as the island is remote and most of its population had been relocated after the last major activity in 2004.
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Arrow Down

Air pollution in Beijing surpasses 'health hazard' levels


RT.com
Sat, 12 Jan 2013 12:09 UTC

Air pollution in the Chinese capital has hit dangerous marks, reaching beyond the permissible level of pollution on the local environmental center's scale. Beijing residents are recommended to stay indoors by local authorities.

The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center has reported the rising of air-quality indices since Friday in many parts of the city.

A warning scrolled across the monitoring center's website says that the density of PM 2.5 had reached 700 micrograms per cubic meter in many parts of Beijing and that the polluted air was expected to linger for the next three days.

The index indicates the level of airborne PM 2.5 particulates, at which particle matters are considered the most harmful to health. Air is considered good when the index is at 50 or below, but hazardous with a reading between 301 and 500, when people are warned to avoid outdoor physical activities.

The city's authorities have blamed a lack of wind and foggy conditions for the high concentration of air pollutants.

"It is expected that air pollution in Beijing will remain heavy during the daytime today... people are advised to stay indoors as much as possible," China's state TV quoted Beijing's environmental protection center as saying on Friday.
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Sun

Climate change set to make America hotter, drier and more disaster-prone

Suzanne Goldenberg
Guardian
Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:35 UTC
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© Photo: Saul Loeb/AFPThe report says steps taken by Obama to reduce emissions are 'not close to sufficient' to prevent the most severe consequences of climate change.
Draft report from NCA makes clear link between climate change and extreme weather as groups urge Obama to take action.

Future generations of Americans can expect to spend 25 days a year sweltering in temperatures above 100F (38C), with climate change on course to turn the country into a hotter, drier, and more disaster-prone place.

The National Climate Assessment, released in draft form on Friday , provided the fullest picture to date of the real-time effects of climate change on US life, and the most likely consequences for the future.

The 1,000-page report, the work of the more than 300 government scientists and outside experts, was unequivocal on the human causes of climate change, and on the links between climate change and extreme weather.

"Climate change is already affecting the American people," the draft report said. "Certain types of weather events have become more frequent and/or intense including heat waves, heavy downpours and in some regions floods and drought. Sea level is rising, oceans are becoming more acidic, and glaciers and Arctic sea ice are melting."
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Bizarro Earth

At least 32 dead and 'dozens' more trapped as landslide sweeps away entire village in southern China

Steve Robson
Daily Mail
Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:13 UTC
A landslide has engulfed a village in southern China killing at least 32 people and leaving 'dozens' more trapped today. Mud and rocks smothered 16 homes in Zhaojiagou village, in county of Zhenxiong this morning. Rescuers have so far recovered 32 bodies and a further 46 have been reported missing according to state media sources.
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© ReutersDeadly: The death toll is currently 32 and is expected to rise as rescuers continue the hunt for survivors
Two victims have been taken to hospital. Falling earth swept over the village at around 8.20am this morning said the state-controlled channel CCTV. Local reports said a 700-strong emergency team had been dispatched to the disaster zone while Yunnan's provincial governor, Li Jiheng, had also travelled to the region.
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Ice Cube

California hit by unusual freezing weather and snow as the East basks in unseasonable warmth

Damian Ghigliotty
Daily Mail
Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:51 UTC
While the East Coast basks in relatively warm weather for mid-January, California is being hit with a blistering cold front. The unusually frigid weather has brought snowstorms and temperatures below 30 degrees to the Pacific Coast state, alarming motorists, farmers and zookeepers, among others. The California Highway Patrol on Friday partially reopened a 40-mile stretch of Interstate 5, north of Los Angeles, that was closed by snow as the cold snap sent temperatures plummeting throughout the state.
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The CHP began escorting southbound cars through the Grapevine section of the major north-south route after a 16-hour shutdown that prompted hundreds of truckers and other motorists to pull over and spend the night by the side of the road. 'There must have been 1,000 Mack trucks lined up,' one motorist, Heidi Blood, 40, said early Friday. Blood and her three youngsters had been visiting Orange County and set out at 4.30am Friday to head back north to their home in Kentfield, California, when they found the road shut down.

'I usually watch the news but I went to a spin class instead. I learned my lesson,' she said. Blood had to give an insulin shot in the car to her 13-year-old blind, diabetic dog, Barney. To pass the time, the family watched movies and read on their iPads, turning on the car every 30 minutes to use the heater.

Additional images
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Question

Nightly loud booms shaking things up in Warrick County, Indiana

Richard Gootee
Evansville Courier & Press
Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:13 UTC
Boom
© dealbreaker.com
Evansville - One thing's for sure: Something keeps going boom during the night around the Evansville area.

But authorities have yet to determine what is responsible for the loud sounds.

Local residents, mostly on Evansville's East Side and in Warrick County including Boonville, started reporting the mysterious sounds late Monday night. Additional reports of similar noises were also logged Tuesday night.

Caleb Donahoo, 24, said he has heard the booms each night at his home, which is in the Lynch-Green River roads area, with Monday night definitely being the loudest.

"The first night, it was about 11:45-ish. That was the loudest one we've heard so far. I was asleep, and it woke me up. It rattled the windows and the house and everything," Donahoo said Wednesday evening.

The incidents have spawned much speculation on social media, with theories ranging from a blown power transformer to a meth explosion or a sonic boom from some sort of aircraft, but so far nothing has been conclusive about the sounds' origins.

Vectren Corp. has no record of any blown transformers in any of the areas where the sounds were reported either night, according to spokeswoman Chase Kelley, though she said several of the company's own employees had asked a supervisor if a blown transformer was a cause of any of the sounds.

Others speculated it could be a mine blast, but Evansville-based Vigo Coal, which operates in Boonville, said its permit prohibits blasting work from dusk to dawn.
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Snowflake

11 dead as Mideast battered by hail, snow, rain


Gulf News
Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:01 UTC
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© Image Credit: REUTERSA car drives through the snow in Aley area, eastern Lebanon January 9, 2013. At least 17 people have also died due to the storm in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Bad weather has brought misery to Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Syria.

Abnormal storms which for four days have blasted the Middle East with rain, snow and hail have left at least 11 people dead and brought misery to Syrian refugees huddled in camps.

Officials reported that two women were found dead in the West Bank on Wednesday after their car was swept away in floods, while a 30-year-old man froze to death in Taalabaya, in Lebanon's Bekaa province, after he fell asleep drunk in his car.

Snow carpeted Syria's war-torn cities but sparked no let-up in the fighting, instead heaping fresh misery on a civilian population already enduring a chronic shortage of heating fuel and daily power cuts.

In Occupuied Jerusalem, schools closed at midday and driving wind, hail and rain battered the city as temperatures hovered just above freezing and the polar air mass moving down from Russia sent temperatures plummeting as far south as Cairo.

Raging winds and flash floods caused widespread damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territories.

"The Palestinian infrastructure is deeply flawed and unable to handle weather like this," said Ghassan Hamdan, head of medical relief in the northern city of Nablus.
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Snowflake Cold

January could get progressively colder for most of U.S.


Farm Futures
Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:17 UTC
Snow
© UnknownMeteorologists predict that the second half of January will bring significantly colder patterns.
AccuWeather reports that beginning near or just past the middle of the month, signs are pointing toward waves of frigid air moving southward across North America from the North Pole.

Much of the nation has been experiencing higher-than-average temperatures and lower heating bills so far during the cold weather season, with the exception of some bouts the past couple of weeks.

However, there are signs of a potential change on the way beginning during the second half of January.

A phenomenon known as sudden stratospheric warming has occurred in the arctic region during the past few days. The stratosphere is located between 6 miles and 30 miles above the ground.

Meteorologists predict that the second half of January will bring significantly colder patterns. Often when this occurs, it forces cold air to build in the lowest layer of the atmosphere then to drive southward.

SSC map
© AccuWeather
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Snowflake

Snow blankets parts of Middle East, Jerusalem

Jason Samenow
Postlocal.com
Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:35 UTC
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© ALAA BADARNEH - EPAA general view of the snow covered West Bank city of Nablus, taken from a hillside overlooking the city during snowy weather, on 10 January 2013.
Four to six inches of snow fell in Jerusalem Wednesday night into Thursday morning, snarling traffic and closing schools and government offices. The snow in Jerusalem resulted from a large storm system that produced days of inclement weather in the Middle East. Initially, the storm brought mainly wind and heavy rains that caused flooding and damage in some areas.

But as cold air wrapped into low pressure tracking through the region, temperatures plummeted and snow reports spiked. Up to three feet of snow fell on Mount Hermon in northern Israel the Inquisitr reported. Snow was also observed in areas of the West Bank, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.

The cold, stormy weather in Syria brought further suffering in war-ravaged cities and for refugees. "The United Nations says millions of people inside Syria and 600,000 refugees outside the country need assistance, including food, blankets and warm clothes," Voice of America wrote.
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Ice Cube

'Lowest temperaure in Bangladesh's history' brings at least 80 deaths


DAWN.com
Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:21 UTC
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A cold snap which saw temperatures drop to 40-year lows in Bangladesh has killed around 80 people, officials said.

According to AFP, Shah Alam, the deputy head of the weather office, said the lowest temperature was recorded at 3 degrees Celsius in the northern town of Syedpur.

He said the last time the temperature dropped below that level was in February 1968 when Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan.

"The temperature is the lowest in Bangladesh's history," he said.

The Red Crescent said hospitals were packed with patients suffering respiratory illness.

The society's general-secretary Abu Bakar said impoverished rural areas had been worst hit as many people could not afford warm clothing or heating.
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