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The following graphs/charts show that the 7.5 Earthquake that struck Alaska earlier today also dealt a jarring blow to both the Yellowstone Supervolcano as well as to the Louisiana Sinkhole. According to the USGS, the Alaskan quake struck on 2013-01-05 at 08:58:19 UTC. The charts below show proof that the EQ was felt at both the Yellowstone Supervolcano as well as at the Louisiana Sinkhole. The first chart below shows the Alaska EQ in blue and Yellowstone's reaction to it in red. Purple shows the overlap. Source
Because the Carlsberg Ridge is one of the slowest-spreading, and so supposedly less active oceanic ridges, many had thought it unlikely to be the location of a major volcanic eruption.. At ridges such as this, heat is thought to be released more slowly from the underlying magma. However, we may have to rethink that previous assessment. The Carlsberg Ridge region is currently being shaken by a major seismic swarm, which could very well be volcanic in nature. The strongest tremor in the current swarm is a magnitude 5.0. Nature journal said in previous eruption, "A huge plume of hydrothermal chemicals, drifted up to 1.4 kilometers above the vent site and 70 kilometers along the underwater ridge was seen some years ago. It's by far the biggest vent plume ever seen, and confirms that such plumes form following volcanic eruptions at the sea floor, even at slow-spreading oceanic ridges." 1
© Wikipedia
According to retired professor Masaki Kimura of Ryukyu University, this and other recent phenomena indicate an eruption of Mt. Fuji should have taken place in 2011 with a four-year margin of error ending in 2015.
First, a little background on Mt. Fuji. Japan sits on the edge of a "subduction zone" which is where one layer of the Earth's crust is pushed under another. In the below image, courtesy of Google Maps, you can see the trench along which subduction is occurring around Japan.
© NASA
The freeze is the coldest winter in 28 years, the English-language newspaper China Daily reported. The national average temperature across China's vast territory was a chilly 25.2 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 3.8 degrees Celsius) since late November. In northeast China, which typically has snowy, cold winters, the average temperature was an icy 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15.3 degrees Celsius), the lowest in 42 years.
Temperatures have dropped down to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius) in eastern Inner Mongolia, northern Xinjiang and the Arctic reaches of northeast China. (Mohe, in northeast China, holds China's record low temperature of minus 62.1 F, or minus 52.3 C, set on Feb. 13, 1962.)
© Common Coast Research and ConservationDead loons lie along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The rapidly changing ecology of the Great Lakes Basin, brought on in large part by non-native, invasive species, is causing devastation among Michigan's waterfowl, especially common loons.
The common loon, a beloved, iconic bird known for its eerily lonely, two-note call and its beautiful markings, suffered devastating losses along Lake Michigan's northern shoreline this fall. Thousands of dead birds, mainly loons, washed ashore - from the Upper Peninsula, down to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. A large percentage of the dead loons had just entered their first year of breeding maturity.
The reason for the die-off, which follows similar incidents in 2006 and 2007, isn't fully understood. But it is suspected that it is driven by the food chain linking the loon to invasive species, specifically, the quagga mussel, the zebra mussel and the round goby.
© The Daily Star/Hasan ShaabanPeople push a car in a flooded street in Hay al-Sellom, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013.
The Beirut suburb of Hay al-Sellom witnessed some of the worst devastation caused by the heavy winds and rain and raised fears that buildings in the area could collapse.
Lebanese Red Cross official George Kettaneh told the Voice of Lebanon radio station late Monday that four people died and 55 others were injured as a result of traffic accidents caused by rains and floods.
© Matt Rourke / AP filePeople play in water from an open fire hydrant during the afternoon heat on July 18, 2012, in Philadelphia. July was the hottest month ever on record in the contiguous U.S.
The average temperature for 2012 was 55.3 degrees Farenheit, 3.2 degrees above normal and a full degree higher than the previous warmest year recorded -- 1998 -- NOAA said in its report Tuesday. All 48 states in the contiguous U.S. had above-average annual temperatures last year, including 19 that broke annual records, from Connecticut through Utah.
It was also a historic year for "extreme" weather, scientists with the federal agency said. With 11 disasters that surpassed $1 billion in losses, including Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Isaac, and tornadoes across the Great Plains, Texas, and the Southeast and Ohio Valley, NOAA said 2012 was second only to 1998 in the agency's "extreme" weather index.
A long-term warming trend for the U.S., combined with drought and a northerly jet stream, led to the record heat, explained one of NOAA's scientists.
Yesterday afternoon, the day of Epiphany, a violent explosion of Mexico's Colima volcano caused a high alert in the Mexican civil protection system with the immediate evacuation of about 3,000 tourists inside the National Park Nevado de Colima. In locations around the volcano there has been an intense rain of ash, and from the summit of the mountain a cloud of lava and eruptive material has risen over 2 km high. At the time there were no damages nor was evacuation required of the land closest to the volcano, from which we have been able to enjoy the unique spectacle of nature, but in the next few days is not impossible that the eruption could intensify, although at the moment it is quiet. As a precaution, the National Park is closed to visitors indefinitely.
© Mail OnlineTemperatures set to drop as low as -15C next week
Weeks of mild weather, which has led to spring flowers blooming early in many parts of the country, will be replaced with freezing temperatures and icy winds that could even bring snow.
Clear skies and sunshine will precede a widespread frost later this week, with temperatures plunging further over the weekend as warm southerly winds give way to icy blasts from the north east.
A Met Office forecaster told the Daily Mail: "It does look like it's going to get colder. There's the scenario where we will get winds coming in from the North East that will cause colder weather. Usually that means we'll see snow flurries as well."
Forecasters say the temperature could plunge to -15C in parts of the north by next week.
© AP Photo/New South Wales Rural Fire ServiceIn this photo provided by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, plumes of smoke rise from a fire near Cooma, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. Temperatures across much of New South Wales state are expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) causing extreme conditions.
Temperatures soared to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas.
No deaths have been reported, although officials in Tasmania were still trying to find about 100 people who have been missing since last week when a fire tore through the small town of Dunalley, east of the state capital of Hobart, destroying around 90 homes. On Tuesday, police found no bodies during preliminary checks of the ruined houses.
"You don't get conditions worse than this," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said. "We are at the catastrophic level and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option."
Catastrophic threat level is the most severe rating.
Wildfires are common during the Australian summer. The combination of soaring temperatures and dry, windy conditions since Friday have sparked fires that burned 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) of forests and farmland across southern Tasmania.
