Earth ChangesS


Alarm Clock

Another Iceland volcano ready to burst?

Bert Archer
thestar.com
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:35 UTC
Grimsvoetn
© STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGESGrimsvoetn erupted in May, sending clouds over Iceland and causing flight delays
Iceland is making itself felt again on the world scene, with news that Hekla, one of its more active volcanoes, may be on the verge of spewing more of that flight-disturbing ash in the near future.

Hekla has erupted about every 10 years for the past 30 (in 1981, 1991 and 2000). Eyjafjallajökull's eruption in April 2010 created the worst peace-time disruption in air traffic ever, grounding as many as 100,000 flights and stranding millions (and losing airlines hundreds of millions of dollars). This May, Grimsvoetn erupted, shutting airports, and either delaying or cancelling several hundred flights.

There's of course no way to prepare for the eruption, and if you've got flights booked to, through or over Western Europe, you might take comfort from Icelandic geophysicist Pall Einarsson, who told Ice News last week, speaking of recent fears regarding Hekla, "I've been saying this for three or four years and 'soon' means different things to journalists and geologists."
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No Entry

US, Colorado: Sink hole closes road in Longmont


The Longmont Times-Call
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:27 UTC
sinkhole Longmont
© Joshua Buck/Times-CallWeld County Sheriff Deputy Chad Walser talks with Longmont Emergency Unit crews and a firefighter from Mountain View Fire Rescue about closing Weld County Road 20 1/2 at Weld County Road 1 as a sinkhole grows Wednesday evening.
A 4-foot wide sinkhole in the roadway has forced emergency crews to close Weld County Road 20 1/2 between county roads 7 and 1.

A broken culvert has exposed a 15-foot by 15-foot cavern under the roadway and it is growing, officials on scene said as water gushed below. A Weld County Public Works crew left to pick up barricades in Johnstown and would return later this evening, Deputy Chad Walser said.

It was not known how long the road would be closed, but emergency crews on scene said they thought at least a week, as most of the area would have to be dug up.
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Arrow Down

England, Dorset: Beach-goers warned to stay away from landslide in Britport

James Tourgout
Britport News
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:27 UTC
landslip in britport
The massive landslip along the coast between Eype and West Bay
Beach-goers and fossil hunters have been warned to keep away from a massive landslip at West Bay.

Councils and coastguards sealed off the coast between West Bay and Eype after the landslide from the cliff to the waterline.

Now they are warning people to beware of the danger amid fears more earth may collapse.

West Dorset District Council technical services manager Steve Woollard said: "We have put up warning signs on both sides of the beach leading up to the landslide and also at the end of the Esplanade at West Bay.
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Newspaper

US, Colorado: Landslide spills debris, sediment into Dillon water supply

Caddie Nath
Summit Daily News
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:18 UTC
mudslide in Dillon colorado
© Summit DailyA portion of the mudslide that's causing some trouble for Dillon's water supply in Straight Creek.
Town will pull from Lasky Gulch while Straight Creek clears

A landslide crashed into Straight Creek on U.S. Forest Service land last week, threatening Dillon and Dillon Valley's primary water supply.

But the town and the valley will be able to pull clean drinking water from the high Lasky Gulch for at least a few months while waiting for the sediment from the slide to clear.

"The immediate concern was the question: Was it a large enough slide to where it could deposit enough material to create a blockage on Straight Creek?" Dillon town manager Devin Granbery said. "There would be a potential for the build up of water behind a blockage and then a release. and there was a potential for damage to property and life safety issues there."

A release of water from a behind a landslide dam could also damage the Dillon and Dillon Valley diversion plants downstream, which pull water from the creek to be filtered for drinking water.
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Sun

US: Help now available as Texas declared a disaster


The Lakelander
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 20:07 UTC
Texas drought
© Associated PressParched: A dry river bed at Big Bend National Park along the banks of the Rio Grande in Texas, where it has not rained since September 2010
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 213 counties in Texas as primary natural disaster areas after one of the worst droughts in more than a century. The state has sustained excessive heat, high winds and wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres.

Bosque County was recognized as a primary natural disaster area, and Hill County farmers and ranchers are also eligible for assistance because of their proximity to the disaster area. With 213 counties declared primary disaster areas and the remaining 41 qualifying for assistance because they are contiguous, the entire state has been declared a disaster.

"Many producers have lost their crops due to the devastation caused by the drought and wildfires," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "President Obama and I want these farmers and ranchers to know that we will support them through the recovery process and help them once again become productive suppliers of food, fiber and fuel that keep America prospering. This designation will help provide that support."
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Bizarro Earth

US: Girl Dies, Father Hurt in Utah Road Collapse Crash


Huffington Post
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:10 UTC
Utah Sinkhole_1
© Rex OlsenThis is a picture of the car that landed in the sinkhole.
Tabiona - A teenage girl is dead and two people injured after a road collapsed, leaving a 40-foot wide gap in an eastern Utah highway.

The Utah Highway Patrol says heavy rainfall opened the hole more than 30 feet deep along State Highway 35 late Wednesday. It happened near Tabiona, a town about 80 miles east of Salt Lake City.

The highway patrol says 15-year-old Justine Barneck died after the SUV she was riding in crashed as it approached the hole a few minutes after the collapse. Her father, 59-year-old Michael Barneck, was injured in the accident.

Utah Sinkhole_2
© Kevin Ashbv / Vernal ExpressA home sits on the other side of a large sinkhole that was created from a heavy rainstorm washing out a culvert under state Road 35 in Tabiona Wednesday night.
The driver of a second car that plunged into the gap, 37-year-old Heidi Paulson, also was hurt.

The road remained closed Thursday. An investigation is under way.
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Info

Loss of World's Top Predators Is Pervasively Changing Ecosystems

Wynne Parry
Live Science
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:01 UTC
Coral Sharks
© Brian ZgliczynskiA healthy coral reef ecosystem with sharks off Jarvis Island, an uninhabited island located in the South Pacific Ocean. A loss of these large predators can alter the patterns of predation and herbivory, ultimately leading to an coral system where reef-building corals and coralline algae lose their competitive advantage.
The loss of top predators, such as lions, wolves and sharks, is causing unpredictable changes to food chains around the world, according to a review written by 24 scientists.

These animals, called apex predators, play a crucial role in ecosystems, and their disappearance - often due to hunting by humans and loss of habitat - can lead to changes in vegetation, wildfire frequency, infectious diseases, invasive species, water quality and nutrient cycles, according to the authors led by James Estes, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"The loss of apex consumers is arguably humankind's most pervasive influence on the natural world," the researchers conclude in a review published in the July 15 issue of the journal Science which examined findings from studies of ecosystems on land, in freshwater and in the ocean.
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Bizarro Earth

Vanuatu Evacuation Alert as Volcano Rumbles


Australia Network News
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:06 UTC
Ambae Volcano
© ABC, AustraliaMV Brisk lands at Pentecost island, just east of Ambae.
Vanuatu's Ambae volcano has begun spewing volcanic gases, and residents could be forced to evacuate part of the island.

An expert from the Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory has been sent to monitor the volcano, which has been known to trigger earthquakes.

They have measured an increase in tremor activity in the area and are expecting more explosions.

If the volcano does becomes more active, people living around it will be forced to evacuate.

Volcanologist Sylvain Todman, from the Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory, told Pacific Beat they were watching the situation very closely.

"At the moment we have sporadic explosions but the explosions are getting bigger and bigger every time," he said.
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Bizarro Earth

UK: 3.9 Earthquake Strikes in Middle of Channel


The Guardian, UK
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 04:37 UTC
Image
© Ho/AFP/Getty ImagesThe earthquake struck in the middle of the Channel and was felt by some residents in West Sussex.
West Sussex residents report buildings shaking for few seconds in 3.9 magnitude earthquake

An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.9 has struck in the middle of the Channel. Residents in parts of West Sussex reported buildings shaking for a few seconds at around 8am on Thursday.

The British Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 10km and its epicentre was south of Portsmouth, Hampshire. Official measurements showed it happened at 7.59am BST.

Sussex police, the Solent coastguard and West Sussex fire and rescue service said they had not been called out to any incidents related to the quake.

David Kerridge, from the British Geological Survey, said the earthquake was the largest in the area since a magnitude 4.5 quake in 1734.
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Bell

Best of the Web: Japan Earthquake And Tsunami Makes 2011 The Costliest Natural Disaster Year

Greg Jacobs
Kozmedia News
Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:38 UTC
Image
According to a German insurance company Munich Re, the devastating earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan earlier in the year has made 2011 the costliest year on record for natural disasters. Despite there being more than five months left in the year, the costs of rescue and recovery for the disasters that occurred on the southwestern coast of Japan has already eclipsed most natural disaster spending for many years past.

According to Japan's records, the total economic loss for the first six months of this year alone stands at $265 billion. This is 200 million more than what was spent in the entire year of 2005. 2005 had previously been the most expensive year, before the disasters that occurred this year. In 2005, hurricane Katrina had devastated most of the US southern states near and around New Orleans in America, setting the then record for costs in a natural disaster.
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