Earth ChangesS

Bizarro Earth

2,300 Birds Found Dead Along Chilean Beaches

Dead Chilean Birds
© CNNWildlife engineer Guillermo Boigorria, left, and regional prosecutor Lev Castro inspect sea bird in Peru, which along with Chile has seen a rash of water bird deaths.
Chilean officials are asking fishermen to help save birds caught in nets after thousands of dead fowl appeared along coastal Chile this week.

At least 2,300 dead birds were found along beaches between Cartagena and Playa de Santo Domingo, Chile, said Jose Luis Britos, and environment professor and director of the Museum of Natural History of San Antonio, Chile.

Many of the birds, which come from several species, had broken wings and bruising on the outside of their bodies -- injuries consistent with getting trapped in fishing nets, Britos said.

He said bird deaths from fishing nets occur every year, but never at this level. In a typical year, about 15 to 20 dead birds are found, Britos said.

One hypothesis for the increase this year involves climate.

As Chilean weather gets colder this time of year, migrating birds that would normally travel north for warmth are instead lingering to feast on an influx of anchovies and sardines that had fled the coast of Peru in search of cooler waters.

Earlier this week, Peruvian authorities say warm waters off that country's coast are to blame for the deaths of more than 5,000 marine birds.

Bizarro Earth

5.3 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Israel and Palestine

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© USGS
5.3 earthquake felt in areas from northern Israel to central Israel. No injuries. Epicenter believed to be in Cyprus

An earthquake rocked Israel on Friday evening, shortly before 10:00 p.m. local time, and was felt in areas from northern Israel to central Israel.

According to a Channel 10 News report, the police in the Northern, Central and Tel Aviv Districts said they received hundreds of phone calls from citizens who felt the earthquake. Local residents reported feeling objects and buildings move for about 15 to 20 seconds. There were no reports of injuries or damages.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake measured 5.3 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was in Cyprus.

More than a 100 calls by concerned citizens were received in the northern city of Tzfat alone, the report said. The quake was felt even in Bat Yam, Kfar Saba, Ramat Hasharon, Ra'anana and other areas in central Israel.

Magen David Adom has sent reinforcements to its stations in northern Israel and is preparing for the possibility of secondary tremors, Channel 10 reported.

Igloo

Last Ice Age took just SIX months to arrive

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It took just six months for a warm and sunny Europe to be engulfed in ice, according to new research.

Previous studies have suggested the arrival of the last Ice Age nearly 13,000 years ago took about a decade - but now scientists believe the process was up to 20 times as fast.

In scenes reminiscent of the Hollywood blockbuster The day After Tomorrow, the Northern Hemisphere was frozen by a sudden slowdown of the Gulf Stream, which allowed ice to spread hundreds of miles southwards from the Arctic.

Geological sciences professor William Patterson, who led the research, said: 'It would have been very sudden for those alive at the time. It would be the equivalent of taking Britain and moving it to the Arctic over the space of a few months.'

Bizarro Earth

Global Warming Propaganda Alert! NASA Scientist James Hanson Says Civilization Will Be At Risk if Canada Exploits Oil Sands

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© unknownAn aerial view of the Syncrude tar sands mine is seen, north of Fort McMurray, Alberta.
A prominent NASA scientist penned a provocative column in the New York Times Thursday, suggesting the end of civilization could be nigh, thanks to Alberta's 'tar sands.'

"Global warming isn't a prediction. It is happening. That is why I was so troubled to read a recent interview with President Obama in Rolling Stone in which he said that Canada would exploit the oil in its vast tar sands reserves 'regardless of what we do,'" climatologist James Hanson wrote.

"If we were to fully exploit this new oil source, and continue to burn our conventional oil, gas and coal supplies...twenty to 50 percent of the planet's species would be driven to extinction. Civilization would be at risk."

Hansen, who has directed the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies for nearly three decades, has published numerous articles on the subject of climate change.

Comment: Hanson is pushing the Global Warming agenda. As we have stated on Sott.net many times, Global Warming does occur, but according to our research it is NOT man made; Global Warming is actually a precursor to rapid 'Ice Age' onset. And although oil consumption and drilling is harming the planet to a great extent, the environmental effects have nothing to do with Global Warming as described by Hanson.

For more information, please read:

Climate Change Swindlers and the Political Agenda
Global Warming on Mars & Cosmic Ray Research Are Shattering Media Driven "Consensus"
Ice Ages Start and End So Suddenly, "It's Like a Button Was Pressed," Say Scientists
Reflections on the Coming Ice Age
'Forget global warming, prepare for Ice Age'
Scientist predicts 'mini Ice Age'


Attention

Peru Says 5,000 Birds, Nearly 900 Dolphins Dead

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© Agence France-Presse/Silvia OshiroA dying pelican crawls away from the surf to die on the beach of Paita, in Tumbes province, 1,100 kilometres north of Lima and close to the border with Ecuador on May 2.
The Peruvian government said Wednesday that 5,000 birds, mostly pelicans, and nearly 900 dolphins have died off the country's northern coast, possibly due to rising temperatures in Pacific waters.

The country's northern beaches were earlier this week declared off-limits as scientists scrambled to pin down what was causing such a massive toll, with non-government organizations blaming oil exploration work.

But Peru's deputy environment minister Gabriel Quijandria, disputed this and said warming waters, which disturbs species' food supplies, was a possible cause.

He said that although tests conducted on 877 dolphins found dead on the coast had not been completed, contamination from heavy metals or the presence of bacterial infections was not responsible.

Bizarro Earth

Why the Recent Sumatra Quake Was So Strange

Sumatra Quake
© USGS/Karl Tate @ OurAmazingPlanet
The unexpectedly large earthquake that hit Sumatra last month is forcing scientists to rethink common assumptions about earthquake physics, researchers say.

The magnitude 8.6 earthquake that struck in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of Sumatra on April 11was one of the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded, and was felt as far away as Bangladesh and India. However, no quake-related fatalities were reported.

Seismologists have done preliminary studies on the earthquake and found that it had some unusual aspects, ones that could help them better understand earthquakes that happen away from the boundaries between tectonic plates and better appreciate how powerful those quakes could potentially be.

Bizarro Earth

Japan's Mt. Fuji a Ticking Time-bomb? Scientists Find 30 km Long Active Fault

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An active fault as long as 30 km may lie directly beneath Mount Fuji, a team of researchers has said in a recent survey report. The possible fault was detected through a simulated earthquake conducted during a crustal survey over a distance of around 34 km from Fujiyoshida in Yamanashi Prefecture to Susono in Shizuoka Prefecture, said Hiroshi Sato, professor at the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo.

Bizarro Earth

'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' Plastic Has Increased Hundredfold Since the 1970s

bird in plastic garbage
© Reuters
Scientists have found that the massive swirl of plastic waste known as the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' has increased a hundredfold since the early 1970s, which could spell major changes for California and other coastal states.

During a 2009 expedition, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers took water samples 1,000 miles west of California, and then compared the amount of plastic they detected with samples dating back to 1972.

While many of the samples taken 40 years ago included little or no plastic, vast stretches of the North Pacific are now polluted with billions of tiny pieces of confetti-like trash that come from flotsam and jetsam that is swept into the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone by circulating ocean currents known as a gyre, and is then broken down by winds and waves.

The particles of 'microplastic' - pieces of plastic smaller than 5 milometer in diameter - sit on or near the surface, where they are consumed by fish, sea turtles and other marine animals.

The latest samples show that the garbage patch - which is about the size of Texas - has become much denser: There are roughly 100 times more pieces of plastic per cubic meter of water than were in samples during the 1970s, according to the study cited by the San Jose Mercury News.

'We were really surprised. It is a very large increase,' said Miriam Goldstein, a Ph.D. graduate student in biological oceanography and lead author of the study.

Bizarro Earth

Pagan Island Volcano Erupts in Mariana Islands

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© NASA Volcanic plume from Pagan Island.
A NASA satellite has captured a dramatic image of steam and gas plumes from a volcano in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean, U.S. scientists said.

The image shows the activity on Pagan Island, the largest and one of the most active of the Marianas volcanoes, a NASA release reported Thursday.

Fires and smoke on the island was imaged on Tuesday by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite.

Igloo

Britain's Coldest May in 300 Years

Cold Britain
© GettyMore rain is predicted for the next few weeks.

Central England temperatures so far this month average 8.6C, 1.6C below normal.

The last time May was colder was in 1698, at 8.5C over the whole month.

And the Met Office has warned that weeks of wet weather ahead could wash out the Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations.

The Environment Agency issued two flood warnings and 14 alerts, warning of high tides swamping coastlines across South Wales.

Up to 2cm of rain will fall across the south and Midlands today. Severe weather warnings have been issued in the south-west. Wednesday and Thursday will see many parts hit by another 3cm of rain - totalling 5cm, or a month's worth, in 24 hours - with localised flooding and transport problems expected. Warnings have been issued.

Gales hitting 50mph will buffet vehicles, rip branches from trees and threaten property damage.