Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

US: On the move? Scientists discover geothermal activity outside Yellowstone zone

Nancy Houser
Digital Journal
Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:46 UTC
NASA's Landsat satellites have been tracking Yellowstone's underground geothermal activity, a deep heat that is stored 4,000 miles into the earth's core. But there are areas where these energy levels are becoming erratic. Old Faithful could be in trouble.
Image
© Unknown

The Landsat Program is jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, beginning its services of remote sensing in 1972. It became part of the Yellowstone National Park's new monitoring plan in 2005. In addition to remote sensing, Landsat also uses airborne reconnaissance in order to "observe geothermal changes across all of Yellowstone in a systematic and scientific manner." (NASA)

Up until recently, the heat coming from Yellowstone's underground magma chamber has always been the fuel for over 10,000 of the volcano's features: Old faithful, hot springs, geysers, mud spots, terraces and mud pots. But NASA is reporting that the Landsat imagery has picked up some unexpected developments outside the park's borders, also picked up by energy companies beyond the park's borders.
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Ambulance

Update: Tropical Storm Washi leaves 436 dead as it slams into the Philippines


NewsDay.com
Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:22 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Pounding rain from a tropical storm swelled rivers and sent walls of water crushing into two southern Philippine cities in the thick of night, killing at least 436 people, many caught in their beds, officials said Saturday.

Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwen Pang told The Associated Press that the latest toll was based on a body count in funeral parlors. She said that 215 died in Cagayan de Oro and 144 in nearby Iligan, and the rest in several other southern and central provinces.

Most of the dead were asleep Friday night when raging floodwaters tore through their homes from swollen rivers and cascaded from mountain slopes following 12 hours of pounding rain in the southern Mindanao region. The region is unaccustomed to the typhoons that are common elsewhere in the archipelago nation.

Many of the bodies in parlors were unclaimed, indicating that entire families had perished, Pang said.

The number of missing was unclear Saturday night. Before the latest Red Cross figures, military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang said about 250 people were still unaccounted for in Iligan.
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Cloud Lightning

At Least 180 Dead After Storm Pummels Philippines

Maria Ressa
CNN
Sat, 17 Dec 2011 02:51 UTC

At least 180 people are dead after Tropical Storm Washi pummeled the Philippines, officials said Saturday.

The vast majority of the bodies were found in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, according to military officials and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Five people were killed in a landslide, but all others died in flash flooding.

The provinces of Compostela Valley and Zamboanga del Norte were also hit, said Benito Ramos, chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

About 400 people are missing after the storm, which is called Sendong locally. More than 2,000 have been rescued, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said officials are investigating reports that an entire village was swept away.
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Life Preserver

US: First Debris from Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Reaches West Coast

Arwyn Rice
Peninsula Daily News
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:43 UTC
Oceanographer Jim Ingraham
© Arwyn Rice/Peninsula Daily News Oceanographer Jim Ingraham answers questions about the islands of debris from the March 11 Japan tsunami that are slowly floating toward the Pacific Northwest. Behind him is a float, found east of Neah Bay, that is believed to be the first identified piece of wreckage to arrive via ocean currents.
Port Angeles, Washington - The first piece of debris that could be identified as washing up on the West Coast from the March 11 tsunami in Japan - a large black float - was found on a Neah Bay beach two weeks ago, Seattle oceanographers Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Jim Ingraham said Tuesday night.

Since then, the two researchers, known as DriftBusters Inc. - who have used flotsam to track wind and water currents in the Pacific since 1970 - have learned that the black, 55-gallon drum-sized floats also have been found on Vancouver Island.

Ebbesmeyer and Ingraham spoke to more than 100 people at Peninsula College and brought the float with them, along with examples of other items that may be showing up on beaches in the next year.

Tons of debris washed out to sea when a tsunami struck northern Japan after a massive magnitude-9.0 earthquake March 11.

About a quarter of the 100 million tons of debris from Japan is expected to make landfall on beaches from southern Alaska to California, possibly in volumes large enough to clog ports, Ebbesmeyer said.
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Blackbox

India - Bird deaths: 250 crows die in Hazaribagh; samples sent to diagnose disease


India Times
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:39 UTC
Altogether 250 crows have died in Hazaribagh district in the last 48 hours following an undiagnosed disease.

District animal husbandry officer Yamuna Prasad said the birds died at Bishnugarh and Katkumsandi blocks, and their faeces would be sent to Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bhopal and Indian Institute of Virology, Pune for tests.

"After getting the reports we have deputed a team to create awareness among the villagers at every 5 km with necessary instructions like not to handle the dead crows without gloves and bury the birds immediately and using masks," he said.

According to Satya Prakash, the state coordinator of the Indian Bird Conservation Network, said tests on crow deaths in Jamshedpur and Bokaro have been found to be H5N-1.
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Blackbox

US - More bird death: Dozens of dead birds found in northwest New Mexico


The Republic
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:03 UTC
A strange sight in Bloomfield where 40 to 50 dead birds were found along U.S. 64.

Some of the black and speckled birds were lying on their backs with their small feet sticking up in the air, and at least one was missing its head.

The Daily-Times reports about 30 dead birds were north of the highway and about 20 additional piles of flattened feathers were on the highway.

Wildlife biologist John Kendall with the Bureau of Land Management investigated the cluster.

He thinks they likely roosted in shrubs north of the highway Wednesday night and died when they flew into the side of a large truck driving the highway late Wednesday or early Thursday.

It's also unlikely the birds died from environmental causes because they were so close together when they died.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Thousands of birds make crash landing in Utah


The Bellingham Herald
Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:12 UTC
Image
© Utah Division of Wildlife Services, Lynn Chamberlain | AP PhotoIn this photo provided by Utah Division of Wildlife Services, a surviving grebe waddles across the snow Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 after thousands of the birds crash landed throughout Southern Utah on Monday night.
St. George - Thousands of migratory birds died on impact after apparently mistaking a Wal-Mart parking lot and other areas of southern Utah for bodies of water and plummeting to the ground in what one wildlife expert called the worst downing she's ever seen.

Crews went to work cleaning up the dead birds and rescuing the survivors after the creatures crash-landed in the St. George area Monday night. By Tuesday evening, volunteers had rescued more than 2,000 birds, releasing them into nearby bodies of water.

"They're just everywhere," said Teresa Griffin, wildlife program manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resource's southern region. "It's been nonstop. All our employees are driving around picking them up, and we've got so many people coming to our office and dropping them off."

Officials say stormy conditions probably confused the flock of grebes, a duck-like aquatic bird likely making its way to Mexico for the winter. The birds tried to land in a Cedar City Wal-Mart parking lot and elsewhere.
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Bizarro Earth

South of Kermadec Islands - Earthquake Magnitude 6.3


US Geological Survey
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:31 UTC
Kermadec Islands Quake_151211
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 10:10:08 UTC

Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 10:10:08 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
32.604°S, 179.103°W

Depth
34.1 km (21.2 miles)

Region
SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS

Distances
130 km (80 miles) S of L'Esperance Rock, Kermadec Islands

386 km (239 miles) SSW of Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands

734 km (456 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand

1107 km (687 miles) NNE of WELLINGTON, New Zealand
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Bizarro Earth

US: Magma plume - profuse lava flow from Kīlauea breaches West Ka'ili'ili ocean entry for the first time in 4 years


BigIslandVideoNews.com
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:22 UTC
Image
© Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park
This media release is from the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Lava from Kīlauea's remote Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent has again reached the ocean within Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park boundaries, at a spot scientists have named the West Ka'ili'ili ocean entry.

The arduous hike to West Ka'ili'ili from the bottom of Chain of Craters Road is approximately four miles one-way across an uneven flow field. Currently, several streams of lava are pouring into the ocean, providing dramatic views. Visitors who stay after dark can also see channels of lava flowing down the pali and across the flow field, but conditions can change at any time.

Hikers need to heed all warning signs and ranger advisories, and be aware of earth cracks and crevices, sharp terrain and rain-slick pāhoehoe lava and other hazards. Steam plumes produced by lava entering the sea contain fine lava fragments and acid droplets that can be harmful. Scientists also confirmed that a lava delta is being formed at the base of a sea cliff at West Ka'ili'ili, and are monitoring the area closely. Lava deltas can collapse with little warning, produce hot rock falls inland, and generate large local waves.
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Cloud Lightning

UK: Met Office issues severe weather warning for strong winds, heavy rain and ice across Sussex


Sussex Express
Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:20 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Storms from the Atlantic with gusts of up 70mph are expected to lash Sussex tonight.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings of strong winds and heavy rain for today (Thursday December 15) and tomorrow (Friday December 16).

Forecasters say there is a risk of very strong winds and heavy rain moving eastwards across parts of Southern England later on Thursday and Friday morning.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "There is still some uncertainty regarding the northward extent of any severe weather though southern parts remain most prone with southern coastal areas seeing highest gusts.

"The public is advised to monitor warnings for this period, noting that the warning may be upgraded."

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings of ice on Saturday and Sunday when temperatures are expected to plummet.
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