Earth ChangesS


Igloo

New paper predicts a sharp decline in solar activity until 2100


The Hockey Schtick
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:08 UTC
A new paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Research shows solar activity peaked at the end of the 20th century, but predicts a strong decrease in solar activity until around 2100 AD to low levels similar to the Dalton Minimum.

Solar Activity
© Steinhilber and BeerFigure 4 from Steinhilber and Beer shows solar activity peaked at the end of the 20th century, but is predicted to decline to levels similar to the Dalton Minimum during the 21st century. The two different shades of gray correspond to two different models. The Dalton Minimum "D" and Maunder Minimum "M" are notated.
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Bizarro Earth

U.S. Storm woes range from sinkhole to snow to twisters

Jason Keyser and Jim Salter
Associated Press via Yahoo News
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:48 UTC
Middle America was getting everything nature has to throw at it on Thursday, from snow in the north to tornadoes in the Plains, and with torrential rains causing floods and transportation chaos in several states - and a sinkhole in Chicago. Seemingly every community in the Plains and Midwest was under some sort of watch or warning. Up to a foot of snow was expected in parts of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Rivers were surging beyond their banks from downpours in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois. Tornadoes caused scattered damage in Oklahoma. Frost warnings were in effect in Kansas and Oklahoma as a cold front pushed out warmer air.
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This NOAA satellite image taken Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 1:45 a.m. EDT shows a stationary front across the Mid Atlantic with scattered showers. Low pressure is affecting a large part of the Mississippi Valley, Great Lakes, and the Plains.
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Question

238 pigs and 89 dogs "suddenly dead" in Chinese village

Anthony Tao
shanghaiist.com
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:32 UTC
This is alarming. According to Nandu.com, 238 dead pigs and 89 dead dogs were found in Dongtun village in Luoyang, Henan province yesterday. By all accounts, they died suddenly and at the same time.

Initial tests have ruled out the H7N9 virus as a cause. Thank goodness for that and all, to know the zombie apocalypse has not yet arrived, but the question still remains: why are pigs and dogs dropping dead?

Some are speculating that a nearby chemical plant's gas emissions may have poisoned the animals. "Usually there's a smell," a villager said, "today it was especially bad, really big."

People have also complained about dizziness in the gas's presence.

"Overnight, all the dogs in the village had basically died off," one villager said. "Those that hadn't died were in their last gasps."

Dozens of canines were apparently dumped by the side of the road, which may or may not be better than a river.

An official from Shanhua, the town where Dongtun is based, said the exact cause of this incident is currently under investigation.
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Cloud Precipitation

Flash flooding bearing down on Chicago

Ed Payne, Joe Sterling and Greg Botelho
CNN.com
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:43 UTC
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A tarp covers the infield at Wrigley Field in Chicago as a heavy rain falls Wednesday. More rain is expected Thursday.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for much of the Chicago area Thursday. The flooding comes as a powerful spring storm that snarled air traffic from Denver to Chicago moved into the U.S. heartland Thursday, tormenting the region with everything from heavy snow to severe thunderstorms.

The emergency is for DuPage and Cook counties in Illinois. Widespread flooding already has been reported in the region. About 3 to 5 inches of rain have fallen in the past 24 hours, and an additional 1 to 2 inches of rainfall are expected.

"Emergency management reported that numerous roads and interstates were closed due to flooding. Reports of stranded vehicles have also been relayed in addition to flooded homes and other buildings. Some municipalities have also declared states of emergency due to the flooding," the weather service said.
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Blackbox

Sinkhole swallows 3 cars in Chicago's Southeast side: 'I am lucky'


ChicagoTribune.com
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:34 UTC
One person was hospitalized after a sinkhole swallowed three cars in the South Deering neighborhood on the Southeast Side this morning. The person was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

Witnesses said the hole opened up around 5 a.m. at 9600 South Houston Avenue, quickly growing from about 20 feet to about 40 feet. First two cars slid in, then a third as the hole widened, witnesses said. A fourth vehicle was towed from the edge as it was about to fall inside, witnesses said.

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Bizarro Earth

Is Yellowstone's volcano bigger than previously thought?


The Extinction Protocol
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 09:47 UTC
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Yellowstone's underground volcanic plumbing is bigger and better connected than scientists thought, researchers reported here today (April 17) at the Seismological Society of America's annual meeting. "We are getting a much better understanding of the volcanic system of Yellowstone," said Jamie Farrell, a seismology graduate student at the University of Utah. "The magma reservoir is at least 50 percent larger than previously imaged." Knowing the volume of molten magma beneath Yellowstone is important for estimating the size of future eruptions, Farrell told OurAmazingPlanet. Geologists believe Yellowstone sits over a hotspot, a plume of superheated rock rising from Earth's mantle.

As North America slowly drifted over the hotspot, the Yellowstone plume punched through the continent's crust, leaving a bread-crumb-like trail of calderas created by massive volcanic eruptions along Idaho's Snake River Plain, leading straight to Yellowstone. The last caldera eruption was 640,000 years ago. Smaller eruptions occurred in between and after the big blasts, most recently about 70,000 years ago. The magma chamber seen in the new study fed these smaller eruptions and is the source of the park's amazing hydrothermal springs and geysers. It also creates the surface uplift seen in the park, said Bob Smith, a seismologist at the University of Utah and author of a related study presented at the meeting.
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Question

Sea lion strandings climb, scientists still stumped

Megan Gannon
LiveScience
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:09 UTC
Sea Lions Rehab
© Pacific Marine Mammal CenterThis year, an unusually high number of sea lion pups have stranded on southern California's shores, overwhelming marine mammal rehab centers.
Scientists still don't know why nearly 1,300 sickly sea lions have beached themselves on the shores of southern California since the beginning of the year. However, they think some weird oceanic phenomenon may be blocking off the sea lion pups' source of food, scientists reported today (April 17).

The stranded sea lions - mostly pups born last summer - are typically turning up alive, but severely emaciated, some weighing less than 20 pounds (9 kg) when they should be well over 50 pounds (22 kg), marine officials say.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) declared an "unusual mortality event" last month in light of the spike in strandings. Since the beginning of the year, 1,293 sea lions have washed ashore from San Diego County to Santa Barbara County.

That's more than five times higher than the region's historical average of 236, averaged from the same period of time (January through April) from 2008 to 2012, said Sarah Wilkin, NOAA's marine mammal stranding coordinator for California.

The problem is most pronounced in Los Angeles County, where 459 strandings have been reported this year as of April 14. During the same period last year, 60 strandings were reported.
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Snow Globe

UK: Spring limps in at long last, but will the season bring birds, bees and blossom?

John Vidal
The Guardian
Sun, 14 Apr 2013 13:22 UTC
After weeks of bitter cold, experts fear that tens of thousands of migrant species may have already perished on Britain's shores

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© Owen Humphreys/PAFour-year-old Kadie Lane scents spring in Shiremoor, North Tyneside, on Saturday.
The warmer weather which is expected this week could herald one of the most spectacular springs in decades, with the arrival of migrant birds and the mass emergence of insects, blossom and spring flowers, say naturalists.

But the prolonged winter may also have exacted a terrible toll on wildlife, with many birds, animals and plants perishing after months of bitter winds, limited food and repeated heavy snowfalls.

"The main pulse of southern migrant birds, such as swallows and housemartins, should arrive this weekend," said Matthew Oates, a naturalist with the National Trust. "The winds are at last in the right direction. There are reports of a lot of chiffchaffs in the Channel Islands. They may be stuck there."

Late springs are not unusual, but 2013 has been exceptional because of the unremitting cold.

"This is stretching my experience," said Oates. "Frogs have only just started turning up. Even in 1996 they had done their thing by the end of March. This is quite remarkable. The insects still haven't got going, but as soon as it warms up the midges and flies should be out. The bigger insects still haven't started."

Some ornithologists fear that tens of thousands of migrant birds which feed on the wing off insects and usually reach Britain by the start of April may have arrived and died.
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Question

Australia: Another fish kill stinks out Wonnerup

Sharon Kennedy and Barry Nicholls
ABC Australia
Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:21 UTC
An estimated 7,000 fish are dead in the Vasse estuary at Wonnerup

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© Ruslan Kulski - ABC OpenThousands of fish are dead in the Vasse estuary
The latest fish deaths, the third such event in five years, has again called in the question the health of the Busselton waterways.

Low flows, poor water quality and phosphorus are the likely cause of the fish deaths in the Vasse estuary over the weekend, says Dr Kath Lynch of the Department of Water.

Water quality in the estuary is often poor but was notably bad this summer, she says.

Recent rains which washed down nutrients, combined with warm days, created perfect conditions for algae.

As a result, the water was depleted of oxygen, she explains in a nutshell.
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Bizarro Earth

Japan's volcanic island rocked by dozens of earthquakes


The Extinction Protocol
Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:40 UTC
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More than a dozen earthquakes, one of them magnitude 6.2, rocked a volcanic island south of Tokyo Wednesday, the national meteorological agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or property damage from any of the quakes and no risk of a tsunami, the agency said. The biggest tremor, with its epicenter located near Miyake Island some 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of Tokyo, was registered at around 5:57 pm (0857 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

"There may be slight changes in the level of sea along Japan's coast but there is no fear of damage resulting from this quake," the agency said. There had been 13 minor quakes near the island - an active volcano - since 10:15 am (0115 GMT) Wednesday. A small earthquake was also registered four minutes after the 6.2-magnitude tremor, the agency said. The volcano erupted in 2000, forcing all 3,800 islanders to evacuate. Many of them have since returned to the island. - ASIA ONE
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