Earth ChangesS


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Coldest, Deepest Ocean Water Mysteriously Disappears

Bottom Water
© NOAAA layer of Antarctic Bottom Water colder than 0ºC (colors, with darkest blue areas having the thickest layer, and white none) covers the ocean floor around Antarctica (center, shaded grey). Rates at which this layer is thinning during the study period (red numbers in meters per decade) are shown for for each deep basin (outlined by thin grey lines). These rates are estimated using data from repeated oceanographic expeditions (ship tracks shown by thick black lines). Note that seawater at the ocean surface stays liquid even at temperatures approaching -2ºC because of its high salt content.

The coldest deep ocean water that flows around Antarctica in the Southern Ocean has been mysteriously disappearing at a high rate over the last few decades, scientists have found.

This mass of water is called Antarctic Bottom Water, which is formed in a few distinct locations around Antarctica, where seawater is cooled by the overlying air and made saltier by ice formation (which leaves the salt behind in the unfrozen water). The cold, salty water is denser than the water around it, causing it to sink to the sea floor where it spreads northward, filling most of the deep ocean around the world as it slowly mixes with warmer waters above it.

The world's deep ocean currents play a critical role in transporting heat and carbon around the planet, which helps regulate the Earth's climate.

Previous studies had indicated that this deep water has become warmer and less salty over the past few decades, but a new study has found that significantly less of this water has also been formed during this time.

Oceanographers examined temperature data collected from 1980 to 2011 at about 10-year intervals by an international program of repeated ship-based oceanographic surveys in the Southern Ocean.

Blackbox

Strange noise: Ireland residents tormented by 'mysterious' night time 'helicopter noises'

Roe Valley residents are mystified over strange late night noises high in the sky, which has left them scratching their heads. The late night noise surfaced recently in Drumsurn, according to local Sinn Fein councillor Brenda Chivers. "It's very annoying. It starts around 7pm and can go on until 2-3am. People have been out searching to see what it is, but they see nothing. There's no plane, just this constant drone, and nobody seems to know what it is; unless it's flying saucers! It's a mystery."

A similar noise was reported in Derry recently, but there was never any conclusion as to what it was. In the meantime, residents around the Roe have been "tormented" by late night "helicopter noise". "People are telling me they are hearing this noise at a time when children are either going to or are in bed, and it has wakened some and prevented others from getting to sleep," said DUP Colr. Alan Robinson, who said no one could tell him the source of the noise. "Someone knows the answer and I hope it will be discovered soon and the usual quiet Limavady nights return."

Cloud Lightning

Super-bolt rumbles in skies over Oklahoma

It woke up sleepy Tulsans, set-off car alarms and freaked out the family pet. Many people thought it was an earthquake that hit Tulsa at 3:33 this morning. Instead, says National Weather Service Meteorologist Steve Amburn, is was a "Super Bolt." Amburn says a super bolt is a positively-charged cloud-to-ground stroke of lightning. Computer records indicate a single "super bolt" struck in the heart of South Tulsa just after 3:30. No damage from the super bolt is reported.
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© Unknown

Blackbox

Mysterious rumblings bring down a barn in Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

A barn on the 4000-block of Otter Point Road collapsed after a series of unexplained tremors rumbled through the region on Thursday, March 15. Barrie Hanslip, owner of the 35-acre property where the barn was located, said the steepled barn tumbled downward after a large "boom" and rumble at 11:30 a.m. The large tremor was preceded by two smaller shakes around 9:00 a.m.


Magic Hat

Massive drill in Mexico coincides with real earthquake

Translated from Spanish by Sott.net

The government of the state of Chiapas had prepared for today at 12:00 a massive drill ("mega simulacro") of a 7.9 earthquake in the Richter scale.

mega simulacro
A poster of the government of the southern state of Chiapas announcing a massive earthquake drill
Monterrey - It was nothing but a moment of panic, as there are no lost lives, the president of Mexico Felipe Calderón Hinojosa confirmed today in Monterrey, commenting on the 7.8 earthquake in the Richter scale with epicenter in the borders of the state of Guerrero and that was felt in Mexico City and several other states.

In view of the scale of the event and because there have not been any lost lives, it is noteworthy that the government of the state of Chiapas had prepared precisely for today at 12:00 a massive drill ("mega simulacro") of the earthquake - something that is being actively discussed in social media networks.

Comment: A three-minute difference and almost the same intensity? It is too much coincidence to let it pass unnoticed.


Bizarro Earth

7.4 quake shakes Mexico, 100s of homes damaged

A woman comforts her children outside a school at the Roma neighborhood after a earthquake felt in Mexico City
© AP Photo/Alexandre MeneghiniA woman comforts her children outside a school at the Roma neighborhood after a earthquake felt in Mexico City Tuesday March 20, 2012. A strong, long earthquake with epicenter in Guerrero state shook central southern Mexico on Tuesday, swaying buildings in Mexico City and sending frightened workers and residents into the streets..
Mexico City -- A strong 7.4-magnitude earthquake hit southern Mexico on Tuesday, damaging some 800 homes near the epicenter and swaying tall buildings and spreading fear and panic hundreds of miles away in the capital of Mexico City.

One of the strongest to shake Mexico since the deadly 1985 temblor that killed thousands in Mexico City, Tuesday's earthquake hit hardest in border area of southern Oaxaca and Guerrero states. In Guerrero, officials confirmed that some 800 homes had been damaged, with another 60 having collapsed.

Hours after the shaking at noon local time (18:02 GMT), there were still no reports of death or serious injury, even after a less powerful, magnitude-5.1 aftershock was felt in the capital and several other aftershocks near the epicenter in a mountainous rural region.

"It was very strong, very substantial," said Campos Benitez, hospital director in Ometepec, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from the epicenter.

Cloud Lightning

Devastating 'Mini-Tornado' Hits Australian City

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© Agence France-Presse The devastation caused by a "mini-tornado" after it tore through the Australian city of Townsville, ripping roofs off houses, bringing down power lines and injuring nine people
A devastating "mini-tornado" tore through the city of Townsville on Tuesday, ripping roofs off houses, snapping trees in half and injuring 13 people as wild weather pounded northern Australia.

The Queensland State Emergency Service (SES) said it received dozens of calls for help, with 13 people needing treatment, mostly for cuts and abrasions. Three were hospitalised.

"Rapid Damage Assessments in the Townsville area have recorded approximately 60 homes with varying degrees of roof damage," the SES said, adding that at least six of the properties suffered significant structural damage.

Meteorologists, who said the freak storm could not officially be called a tornado as there was no funnel, recorded winds of up to 111 kilometres (69 miles) per hour, leaving thousands of homes without power.

The weather bureau forecast further heavy rain.

One resident told Sky News that when the storm hit it sounded like "a jet taking off". Another said it was like "being in a washing machine".

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh, who faces being thrown out of office in state elections this weekend, said it was a frightening experience for the people affected.

Attention

Big Earthquake Hits Mexico, No Major Damage Reported

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© Reuters/Edgard GarridoMexico City residents stand outside their buildings after feeling the tremors from an earthquake in the southern state of Guerrero, in Mexico City March 20, 2012.
Mexico City - A major earthquake struck Mexico on Tuesday, unleashing panic as it damaged hundreds of buildings and caused homes in the capital to bounce like "trampolines".

Office workers fled into the street when the 7.4-magnitude quake shook Mexico City for more than a minute. Cell phone lines went down, building were evacuated, traffic snarled and the stock exchange had to suspend trading early.

The governor of the southwestern state of Guerrero, Angel Aguirre, said he had received reports of 500 homes damaged, with some of them knocked down, but he gave no more details.

The tremor was one of the strongest since the devastating 8.1-magnitude earthquake of 1985, which killed thousands in Mexico City.

No deaths were reported on Tuesday and the quake caused no major disruptions to air travel or to oil installations, but it scared many residents.

Martha Suarez, an Argentine living in the capital's Roma neighborhood said she had never known anything like it.

"My TV set fell over, the building felt like it was on a trampoline. This one was like no other I have felt before," Suarez said, holding her little dog close.

Emergency services said 800 houses were damaged in Guerrero state, many of them in Ometepec, near the epicenter of the quake. Officials in Guerrero, which is home of popular Pacific beach resort Acapulco, could not say if buildings had collapsed.

Bizarro Earth

Strange noise: Something's rattling small Wisconsin town

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© N/A
Mysterious explosions. Unexplained shaking. Something's going on in Clintonville, Wisconsin, but nobody seems to know what it is.

The sounds -- variously described as rattling pipes, clanging metal, thunder or firecrackers -- have continued on and off since early Sunday night in just one part of the small town of 4,600, located about 180 miles northeast of Madison.

Accompanying the sounds are vibrations that have shaken homes and household objects in the northeast corner of town, city manager Lisa Kuss said.

The sounds were loud enough Monday morning that a CNN journalist could hear them during a cell phone conversation with Kuss.

Cloud Lightning

NASA Sees More Severe Weather Over Eastern Texas, Oklahoma

A low pressure area is centered over eastern Oklahoma, and its associated cold front drapes south into eastern Texas. The front is stalled over eastern Texas and eastern Oklahoma and is generating severe weather today. NASA's Aqua satellite and NOAA's GOES-13 satellite have been providing infrared, visible and microwave images to forecasters of the stalled frontal system.

On March 20, a flood warning was in effect up and down the eastern sides of Texas and Oklahoma, including Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. The National Weather Service posted a flood warning for the double cities because of heavy rainfall over the last 36 hours. More isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop late afternoon and evening, generating more heavy rainfall, lightning and small hail.
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© NASA/JPL, Ed OlsenThe AIRS instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image that showed cloud top temperatures in the severe frontal system over Texas and Oklahoma on March 20 at 0753 UTC 34:53 am EST). The strongest thunderstorms, heaviest rainfall and coldest cloud top temperatures (around 220 Kelvin/ -63.6 F/-53.1 C) appear in purple.