Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Mount Papandayan's Alert Level Raised


The Jakarta Globe
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:46 UTC
Mount Papandayan
© Suara Pembaruan PhotoIn the file photo taken in July 2004, Mount Papandayan in Garut, West Java was spewing smoke from its craters. On Saturday, the volcano's alert level is raised from level 2 (beware) to level 3 (stand-by).
The alert level of Mount Papandayan in Garut, West Java has gone up a notch to alert level 3 - just one level below eruption.

According to Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) the 2,665-meter volcano had shown a significant increase in tectonic earthquake activity since Friday.

"BNPB has dispatched a quick-response team to assess the necessary emergency action local government and other agencies need to take in order to ensure the safety of residents living around the volcano," Sutopo said.

Mount Papandayan last erupted on Nov. 11, 2002. Even though there were no deaths or casualties, dozens of houses were destroyed by the lava that swept through the villages within the volcano's 10km radius.

It's earliest recorded eruption was in 1772 when it destroyed 40 villages and killed 2,951 people.
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Bizarro Earth

US: FEMA program models catastrophic disasters

Manuel Valdez
SeattlePI.com
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:12 UTC
Image
© Unknown
With the disaster modeling program on his computer, project analyst Adam Campbell dials up a 7.2 earthquake for Seattle and King County.

He's looking for how many buildings will topple, how much debris will fill the streets, making them impassable for emergency responders. He wants to know how many casualties the massive quake will produce.

"Cascadia is a scary fault," said Campbell, a contractor for Federal Emergency Management Agency, in what will prove to be an understatement, as he demonstrates the program to The Associated Press,

Minutes later, FEMA's Hazus computer program churns out its hair-raising answers: Billions of dollars in structural damage; area hospitals leveled; tons of debris blocking the streets, and more than 1,000 deaths and several more thousand injured.

"The data that comes out of a tool like Hazus shows our risks and what kind of impacts could occur here," said John Schelling of the Washington Emergency Management department. "The program brings some resolution. It provides some context so people can begin to see some of the challenges following these types of disasters."
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Fish

Australia: Mystery fish kill worries locals


Fraser Coast Chronicle
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:03 UTC
dead fish
A Queensland estuary groper, estimated to weigh up to 30kg, lies dead on the banks of the Burrum River during the week.

A giant groper has died in the Burrum River, prompting speculation as to why fish are perishing in an apparently healthy waterway.

The stench of decaying fish hangs over sections of the river and stunned barramundi are reportedly being caught by hand as they swim aimlessly in the shallows.

Lifetime local Peter Pearson said he had never seen anything like it in his time living and fishing in the region.
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Eye 1

ConocoPhillips reports new China oil leak, faces bigger clean-up


M&C News
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:54 UTC
Image
© Chinafotopress/Getty ImagesA ship cleans up the leaking oil near the platform C in the Bohai Sea, China.

Beijing - The Chinese subsidiary of US-based oil firm ConocoPhillips has found a new oil leak and faces a bigger clean-up following two earlier spills in the Yellow Sea off north-eastern China, reports said on Friday.

The State Oceanic Administration said ConocoPhillips China (COPC) on Sunday reported a new leak at the C Platform of the Penglai 19-3 oilfield in the Bohai Gulf.

The new leak was about 11 metres away from the source of an oil spill reported at the platform in June, the administration said.
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Eye 1

UK: Shell battling North Sea oil pipeline leak


The Gazette
Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:46 UTC
Image
© Tim Boyle, Getty Images

London - Shell was battling an oil leak in a North Sea pipeline off the British coast Saturday, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant company said.

The leak was discovered Wednesday after an oil sheen was spotted on the surface near the Gannet Alpha production platform, 180 kilometres east of Aberdeen, on the Scottish east coast.

A clean-up vessel and spotter plane have been sent to the scene. Shell said it was not immediately clear how much oil had spilled into the sea.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Huge Sinkhole Closes East Burdick Expressway

Dave Caldwell
Minot Daily News
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 23:45 UTC
Sinkhole
© Minot Daily News
This huge sinkhole near the entrance to Roosevelt Park Zoo opened early Friday afternoon and nearly swallowed a large trailer carrying flood debris. The hole is 15 to 20 feet long, 8 to 10 feet wide and at least 8 feet deep.

Minot Public Works Director Alan Walter said the sinkhole was caused by a sewer collapse. Sinkholes have been common throughout the city as high groundwater has caused a large amount of subsurface erosion. East Burdick Expressway will be closed from the west end of the Burdick viaduct to Eighth Avenue Southeast until further notice.

Detours will be from Fifth Street Southeast to Valley Street and from Valley Street to Eighth Avenue Southeast.
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Blackbox

US: Hundreds Of Birds Found Dead in Oklahoma


VERTEXNews
Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Associated Press/Condo
Broken Arrow - It was a bit of a mystery as hundreds of birds were found dead yesterday in the Oklahoma town of Broken Arrow.

Tulsa County and state experts say severe weather is to blame.

Officials speculate lightning and thunder scared the birds out of the trees, causing them to either fly or be blown back into trees and buildings. Most of the birds were found near a local Walmart. Experts are also speculating the birds were so soaked with rain, they died from hypothermia.

State wildlife experts say bird die-offs are common after severe weather.

They also say there is no threat of disease from the dead birds.
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Cloud Lightning

Three Atlantic tropical storms in the making?


MSNBC
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:45 UTC
Franklin, Gert and Harvey could be born this weekend, forecasters say

Image
© National Hurricane Center
Three systems are brewing in the Atlantic with decent potential for becoming tropical storms over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.

The system closest to North America has the highest chance - 60 percent of turning into a tropical storm within 48 hours - but poses little threat and is likely to be short-lived, the Weather Channel reported.

It was about 200 miles north of Bermuda on Friday afternoon, when it became a tropical depression - one level before tropical storm.

Two systems farther out in the Atlantic have 40 and 50 percent chances, and could impact Caribbean islands by next week.

A fourth system closer to the U.S. East Coast was given a 20 percent chance of turning into a tropical storm within 48 hours.

Private forecaster accuweather.com reported earlier this week that it expected at least three named storms by Aug. 25. The next names to be used for the Atlantic season are Franklin, Gert and Harvey.

The Atlantic season has already provided five named storms but none were very severe.

Accuweather.com expert Paul Pastelok attributed the lack of severity to "disruptive areas of wind shear and pockets of dry air lurking about the Atlantic."

"These two inhibiting factors have minimized the intensity of tropical systems to date this year and may continue to govern the intensity of future storms over the next couple of weeks," accuweather.com stated.
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Sun

Japan: Heatwave Kills Four, Sends 900 to Hospital


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 12 Aug 2011 05:00 UTC
Image
© Unknown
A blistering summer heatwave in Japan has claimed four lives and seen 900 people hospitalised this week, media said Friday, amid an energy saving campaign due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The mercury has risen above 35 degrees centigrade (95 degrees Fahrenheit) for three days in a row in much of Japan, where the thermostats of most air-conditioners have been turned down to reduce electricity consumption.

More than two-thirds of Japan's nuclear reactors are offline five months after the March 11 quake and tsunami sparked the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years ago at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Four people died of heat stroke on Thursday -- two farmers, a security guard and a construction worker -- said the Asahi daily.

More than 900 people have been taken to hospital with heatstroke symptoms, including about 20 in serious condition, said the Kyodo News agency.
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Phoenix

St Joe County, Michigan, US: Mysterious fire completely destroyed an entire power substation


WTVB
Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:20 UTC
Engineers for Midwest Energy Cooperative say they have never seen anything like this. A mysterious fire destroyed an entire power substation and left 12-hundred customers in White Pigeon and Constantine in the dark for much of Monday evening.

They have been able to back feed service to restore power, but it may take them a while to rebuild the substation, which was totally flattened. The Cooperative's Terry Rubenthaler says there was so much damage, that they may never be able to tell what destroyed it. They will be evaluating the situation and then deciding how to proceed with repairs.
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