Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Weird 2012 Quake Signals Tectonic Plate Birth

Andrea Mustain
OurAmazingPlanet
Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:34 UTC
Sumatra Earthquake
© OurAmazingPlanetThe earthquake that struck Sumatra was a big one. Here's how it compares to some record holders.
On the afternoon of April 11, 2012, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded - and now revealed to be among the weirdest - struck in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Sumatra. It's a region all too familiar with geological catastrophe.

Eight years earlier, in December 2004, the third largest earthquake on record had ripped through a nearby region of the ocean floor. The magnitude-9.1 earthquake and the monstrous tsunami that soon followed killed more than 227,000 people in 14 countries,

So when a magnitude-8.7 earthquake (some put the magnitude at 8.6) shook the Indonesian island on that Wednesday afternoon earlier this year, many expected the worst. Yet, no monster wave appeared. A wave did come ashore, but it was a miniature tsunami, just 12 inches (31 centimeters) high.

All told, the earthquake did very little damage - yet only five higher earthquake magnitudes have ever been recorded. So what was the deal?

New research published today (Sept. 26) in the journal Nature delves into the intimate details of this earthquake, along with the powerful, magnitude-8.2 quake that followed two hours later. The new studies add to an existing body of research that shows this was a remarkable event - one of the most surprising earthquakes ever recorded - and one that offers an unlikely snapshot of a geological process millions of years in the making.
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Cloud Lightning

Crazy Wild Sea Foam Floods Scottish Village

Laura Blum
Weather.aol.com / BBC News
Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:17 UTC
Residents of Footdee, a small fishing village in Aberdeen, Scotland, awoke to find their houses, cars and streets covered in white this morning. No, it wasn't an early snowstorm that blanketed the town. It was sea foam -- or spume -- blown in from the North Sea by heavy winds and crashing waves.

A Marine Scotland spokesman told BBC News: "Sea foam is created by the interaction of sea water movement and plant plankton residues." The organic mixture turned the area into a natural bubble bath, making for an incredible scene.

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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - NNE of La Paz, Mexico


US Geological Survey
Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:35 UTC
LaPaz Quake_250912
© USGS
Event Time
2012-09-25 23:45:26 UTC
2012-09-25 16:45:26 UTC-07:00 at epicenter

Nearby Cities
75km (47mi) NNE of La Paz, Mexico
154km (96mi) E of Ciudad Constitucion, Mexico
154km (96mi) SW of Ahome, Mexico
157km (98mi) SW of Los Mochis, Mexico
972km (604mi) SSE of Phoenix, Arizona

Technical Details
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Bug

Stink Bug Invasion Promises Foul Fall

Eli MacKinnon
Life's Little Mysteries
Tue, 25 Sep 2012 14:39 UTC
Stink Bug
© Image via David R. Lance, USDA | Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedBrown marmorated stink bugs feed on "about anything that makes a seed or a fruit," said Ames Herbert, a Virginia Tech University entomologist.
An invading force is laying the groundwork for a coup in the United States this year, and it's going on right under our noses. The brown marmorated stink bug, an insect species from Asia that has been steadily expanding its range since it landed on the East Coast 15 years ago, will begin to sneak into the homes of unprepared Americans by the hundreds in the coming weeks, entomologists say.

And because of an unusual late-season surge in the invasive pest's numbers, scientists and crop specialists worry that the bug could make one of its strongest showings ever when it comes out of hiding in the spring.

"We've seen increases in populations over the last month or so," said Tracy Leskey, a research entomologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "This is something that's different than in 2011."

Behind the invasion

In early fall, the stink bugs start to look for shelter in warm, indoor crannies, and attics are among their favorite places to set up thousands-thick overwintering settlements. A late batch of stink bug nymphs was born last October, but the majority probably perished in the field before maturing, Leskey told Life's Little Mysteries.

This year, however, two full generations have already managed to reach maturity ― likely due in part to an early spring ― so more will be ready to weather the winter and start multiplying as soon as spring arrives, according to Leskey.

In the United States, brown marmorated stink bugs are most prevalent in the Mid-Atlantic states. A recent national survey conducted by Hometeam Pest Defense found that 59 percent of Washington, D.C., homeowners had had problems with the bugs, making the nation's capital their densest urban stronghold. But the invasive species has now spread to 38 states, including California and Oregon, according to USDA-funded research.
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Snowflake

Flashback Britain Faces Big Chill as Ocean Current Slows

Jonathan Leake, Science Editor
The Sunday Times
Sun, 08 May 2005 05:43 UTC
Climate change researchers have detected the first signs of a slowdown in the Gulf Stream - the mighty ocean current that keeps Britain and Europe from freezing.

They have found that one of the "engines" driving the Gulf Stream - the sinking of supercooled water in the Greenland Sea - has weakened to less than a quarter of its former strength.

The weakening, apparently caused by global warming, could herald big changes in the current over the next few years or decades.

Paradoxically, it could lead to Britain and northwestern and Europe undergoing a sharp drop in temperatures.

Such a change has long been predicted by scientists but the new research is among the first to show clear experimental evidence of the phenomenon.

Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at Cambridge University, hitched rides under the Arctic ice cap in Royal Navy submarines and used ships to take measurements across the Greenland Sea.

Comment: Note, this was seven years ago. Since then, Arctic and Green land ice sheet melt has been increasing, with the Greenland sheet melt in 2012 setting an all-time record. Recent winters in the UK and Northern Europe have made it rather clear that we are facing a much colder Northern Hemisphere, which carries the possibility of a new mini, or full scale, ice age. One year soon, winter will arrive but spring and summer may not.

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Phoenix

California wildfire destroys 20 homes, threatens more


CBS News
Tue, 25 Sep 2012 02:57 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press/The Press-Enterprise/Frank BellinoResidents help battle the Temprano Fire Sunday, Sep. 23, 2012 in Murrieta, Calif. near Warm Springs Park and Preserve. Firefighters raced the winds Monday morning to contain Southern California wildfires that destroyed 20 homes and threatened several hundred more in rural areas.
Residents of a rural San Diego County community were waiting anxiously to learn the fate of homes near a destructive 4-square-mile wildfire that has left one man dead.

Christopher Kirchner told U-T San Diego that his rental home was about 200 feet from a residence that burned down - one of 20 homes destroyed by the fire so far.

"I was just talking to some of my neighbors," Kirchner said. "They were crying and saying they had no place to go. We've heard rumors that our place is still standing, but nobody will tell us anything."

Firefighters recovered a man's body from one of the destroyed homes Monday, a state fire spokesman, Robbie Richard said. Authorities say the man ignored evacuation orders issued for the community of Tierra del Sol.

"He felt that he was going to be OK if he stayed," sheriff's Lt. Rose Kurupas told the newspaper. It was not clear whether he was notified of the order in person or by an automated phone call.

Authorities said neighbors reported the man missing when they saw his only vehicle parked at the home. Neighbors told U-T San Diego he was 82 and had only one leg.
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Question

State's First Case of 'Zombie Bees' Reported in Kent

Sandi Doughton
Seattle Times
Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:44 UTC
CCD
© Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle TimesMark Hohn, a novice beekeeper in Kent, holds up a plastic bag with a dead zombie bee and pupae — two at each end of the bag.
The first confirmed case of "zombie bees" in Washington state has been found by a Kent beekeeper. Discovered in California in 2008, the bees are infected by a parasitic fly that causes the bees to lurch around erratically before dropping dead.

Mark Hohn didn't pay much attention to the dead bees scattered outside his shop when he got home from vacation a few weeks ago. He just pulled out a leaf blower and blasted away the mess.

It took him a few days to realize he had an invasion of the living dead on his hands.

"I joke with my kids that the zombie apocalypse is starting at my house," said the novice beekeeper. The dead and dying honeybees from Hohn's 1.25-acre spread in Kent are the first in Washington confirmed to be infected by a parasitic fly that causes the bees to lurch around erratically before dropping dead.

The discovery expands the range of the so-called "zombie bees" first discovered in California in 2008 by San Francisco State University biologist John Hafernik. Through his website ZombeeWatch.org, Hafernik is recruiting a network of citizen scientists, like Hohn, to help determine how widespread the parasite is and whether it is contributing to the demise of bee colonies across the country.

"We really would like to get more samples from Washington and from all over," Hafernik said.

Unlike healthy bees, which spend the night tucked up in their hive, infected bees fly after dark and tend to congregate at lights. Hohn noticed bees buzzing around the light in his shop, flying in jerky patterns and finally flopping on the floor.
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Question

'Dragon' Rumours Scare Kashmir Residents

Ashiq Hussain
Hindustan Times
Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:23 UTC
Monitor Lizard
© Wikimedia CommonsSouth African white throated monitor, likely female. Generally smaller than the central and northern African species.

Authorities in Kashmir have launched a hunt for a 'large mysterious' lizard, which created panic in a village in the outskirts of the capital Lawaypora

People in Lawaypora locality are frightened for the past couple of days after an 'unusual lizard-like' creature appeared in the village. Nobody in the village knows exactly what the creature is.

Rumours were rife across the city that "a great African lizard" has appeared. Others talked about the giant carnivorous Komodo dragon walking through roads in the locality.

"Scared villagers informed us about a very big reptile, something which is unheard of in the valley," said Ghulam Mohiuddin, station house officer of the concerned police station. He said wildlife officials were informed on Friday and they had now set up a trap to nab the reptile.

"We have laid a snare at the mouth of a septic trench as the residents said the creature went inside it and had not appeared since then," said wildlife warden at the nearby Hokersar wetland, Abdul Rouf.
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Bizarro Earth

Stratospheric Circulation Changes Drive Ocean Changes, and thus Climate Changes

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Mon, 24 Sep 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© Thomas Reichler, University of Utah.The simplified artist’s conception shows how changes in polar vortex winds high in the stratosphere can influence the North Atlantic to cause changes in the global conveyor belt of ocean circulation.
From the University of Utah and the "science is not settled" department comes this interesting bit of research.

Salt Lake City, Utah - Sept. 23, 2012 - A University of Utah study suggests something amazing: Periodic changes in winds 15 to 30 miles high in the stratosphere influence the seas by striking a vulnerable "Achilles heel" in the North Atlantic and changing mile-deep ocean circulation patterns, which in turn affect Earth's climate.

"We found evidence that what happens in the stratosphere matters for the ocean circulation and therefore for climate," says Thomas Reichler, senior author of the study published online Sunday, Sept. 23 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Scientists already knew that events in the stratosphere, 6 miles to 30 miles above Earth, affect what happens below in the troposphere, the part of the atmosphere from Earth's surface up to 6 miles or about 32,800 feet. Weather occurs in the troposphere.

Researchers also knew that global circulation patterns in the oceans - patterns caused mostly by variations in water temperature and saltiness - affect global climate.

"It is not new that the stratosphere impacts the troposphere," says Reichler, an associate professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah. "It also is not new that the troposphere impacts the ocean. But now we actually demonstrated an entire link between the stratosphere, the troposphere and the ocean."

Funded by the University of Utah, Reichler conducted the study with University of Utah atmospheric sciences doctoral student Junsu Kim, and with atmospheric scientist Elisa Manzini and oceanographer Jürgen Kröger, both with the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany.
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Stop

Rabbit Deaths Worry Neighbors

Christie Walton
FOX 4
Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:57 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Missouri, US - People in a St. Louis neighborhood are trying to figure out what's happening to small animals in the area. About three weeks ago they noticed a string of small animal deaths.

"I found three underneath the clubhouse and two in the grass up near the siding," said neighbor Joe Dobbs.

Dobbs found eight dead rabbits in his yard alone. Now, neighbors are concerned about what's happening.

"It seems like it happened over night," said neighbor Chuck Hart.

The Department of National Resource says they can't figure out how the rabbits are dying. Neighbors are concerned that West Nile is killing off the rabbits. The Department of Natural Resources says that's an unlikely scenario.
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