Earth ChangesS


Evil Rays

Mysterious, unexplained "booms" in Alabama, Georgia, Wisconsin


Earth Sky
Sat, 24 Mar 2012 07:09 UTC
Image
© UnknownImage showing small seismic activity in parts of southern Birmingham, Alabama
In separate events, mysterious booms shook residents of Alabama, Georgia, and Wisconsin. So far, government activities, earthquakes, and sonic booms are ruled out.

It is a warm, breezy afternoon with plenty of sunshine. Outside, you can smell the flowers blooming. In the horizon, the sky appears slightly tinted with a green haze as the pollen swarms the air. Birds are chirping, and the bees are flying from flower to flower. Spring has finally arrived. Everything is perfect, and care free. All of a sudden, the serene and peaceful landscape screams....

BOOOOOOOM!

The ground slightly shakes, and it feels like a large tremor is occurring.

Immediately, you tune into your television, open up your facebook and twitter feeds to find out exactly what is going on. You realize you were not the only one who felt the Earth shake from under you. Others, just like yourself, heard a loud explosion, but had no idea where it came from. Was it an earthquake? No, there was no seismic activity in your area that would register high enough to feel the Earth shake from under you. Did a meteor hit the Earth? Did a house explode? Did a plane crash nearby? No signs of a fire or smoke outside your house.
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Blackbox

Arkansas bird death mystery solved?

Mark Johnson
NewsNet5.com
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:56 UTC
Image
© National Geographic
Remember New Year's Eve 2010 when thousands of birds mysteriously dropped from the sky over Beebe, Arkansas? Well, the mystery has been solved.

Last May, a crew from the National Geographic Channel dropped by the NewsChannel5 Weather Office. They wanted to see what important information we had found regarding the bird deaths over Beebe. Indeed, my research indicated a unique radar signature several thousand feet above the birds just as the mass deaths were occurring. With the help of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a unique weather phenomenon was blamed for startling the birds and causing the mayhem that resulted in the demise of thousands of birds that night.

On Thursday, an all-new National Geographic Special will debut explaining the Beebe event as well as several other mass animal deaths that occurred last winter. The show, "Omens of the Apocalypse," airs on the National Geographic Channel at 10 p.m.

Here's the original story from last January: Something weird happened in Beebe, Arkansas just before midnight on January 1st, 2010. Thousands of red-winged blackbirds literally fell from the sky throughout the town. Most of the birds were dead. A few were alive, but lthough barely. Results from preliminary testing released today by the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission Veterinary Diagnostic Lab show that red-winged blackbirds died from massive body trauma.
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Sun

Solar storm dumps gigawatts into Earth's upper atmosphere - enough to power New York for 2 years

Dr. Tony Phillips
PhysOrg.com
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:04 UTC
"This was the biggest dose of heat we've received from a solar storm since 2005," says Martin Mlynczak of NASA Langley Research Center. "It was a big event, and shows how solar activity can directly affect our planet."

Mlynczak is the associate principal investigator for the SABER instrument onboard NASA's TIMED satellite. SABER monitors infrared emissions from Earth's upper atmosphere, in particular from carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitric oxide (NO), two substances that play a key role in the energy balance of air hundreds of km above our planet's surface.

"Carbon dioxide and nitric oxide are natural thermostats," explains James Russell of Hampton University, SABER's principal investigator. "When the upper atmosphere (or 'thermosphere') heats up, these molecules try as hard as they can to shed that heat back into space."

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Bizarro Earth

6.1-strong earthquake considered the biggest in Australia in 15 years


HeraldSun.com.au
Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:43 UTC

Comment: The headline has been updated to account for the Herald Sun's correction.


Image
© USGS
The earthquake's epicentre was recorded at shallow depth near Ernabella, 415km north west of Coober Pedy and about 320km south west of Alice Springs, just before 8pm yesterday.

Geoscience Australia reported the quake could have been felt by people up to 500km away and damage experienced within a 40km radius of the epicentre.

Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepsen said the quake was the biggest in Australia in 15 years.

''There are a number of Aboriginal communities near the epicentre and they would have felt the earthquake strongly,'' he said.

''It is possible there could be some minor damage up there. One of these in a major city would be a different story.

''People as far north as Alice Springs and as far south as Coober Pedy and Oodnadatta could have felt this.''
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Blackbox

Micro-quake near Wisconsin city bothered by booms


AJC.com / Associated Press
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:56 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Carrie AntlfingerSharon Binger points to a crack on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 in the basement of her home in Clintonville, Wis. Binger said it was caused by vibrations and booms that city officials are unable to explain.
Federal geologists say a minor earthquake occurred this week near the Wisconsin city where researchers have been investigating a series of unexplained booming sounds. The U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday the 1.5 magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday just after midnight in the eastern Wisconsin city of Clintonville.

Geophysicist Paul Caruso says loud booming noises have been known to accompany earthquakes. He says it's possible the mysterious sounds are linked to the quake.

City officials have been seeking answers related to the late-night booms, which started Sunday night and have as yet defied explanation.
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Blackbox

Strange noise in Clintonville: Engineering firm hired to try to find epicenter of loud, booming shakes

Jessie Van Berkel
PostCrescent.com
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:44 UTC
Image
© Ron Page/The Post-CrescentShawn MacDonald (foreground) and Tammy Strey-Hirt of Clintonville listen during a question-and-answer session Wednesday night regarding the unexplained booming noises being heard in the city as citizens and members of the media gather at Clintonville High School to ask questions of officials.
Officials have tried to record a series of mysterious booming sounds that have roused residents from their beds in the past few days, but their attempts have come up empty.

City administrator Lisa Kuss, addressing a crowd of about 400 people Wednesday night at a public hearing to talk about the phenomenon, said the city will spend $7,000 to hire Waukesha-based engineering firm Ruekert & Mielke, which will place four seismometers around the city to try to locate the epicenter of the strange sounds.

If the firm finds the epicenter, the next step will be to pinpoint the depth and what is causing it. The cause is likely only a couple hundred feet under the earth's surface, Kuss said.

"It's possible we'll never have a definitive answer," Kuss told the audience at the Clintonville High School auditorium.

The big shakes have elicited big attention and the room was lined with media, including reporters from CNN, NBC and a photographer taking photos for the New York Times.

See an interactive map of where the reported "booms" have occured in Clintonville
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Bizarro Earth

Corn insecticide linked to great die-off of beneficial honeybees


Terra Daily / SPX
Thu, 22 Mar 2012 14:55 UTC
Image
© Unknown
New research has linked springtime die-offs of honeybees critical for pollinating food crops - part of the mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder - with technology for planting corn coated with insecticides.

The study, published in ACS' journal Environmental Science and Technology, appears on the eve of spring planting seasons in some parts of Europe where farmers use the technology and widespread deaths of honeybees have occurred in the past.

In the study, Andrea Tapparo and colleagues explain that seeds coated with so-called neonicotinoid insecticides went into wide use in Europe in the late 1990s. The insecticides are among the most widely used in the world, popular because they kill insects by paralyzing nerves but have lower toxicity for other animals.

Almost immediately, beekeepers observed large die-offs of bees that seemed to coincide with mid-March to May corn planting. Scientists thought this might be due to particles of insecticide made airborne by the pneumatic drilling machines used for planting.

Comment: Or, could the bee die-off be related to this: Study Says Insecticide Used with GM Corn Highly Toxic to Bees

For a more in depth look at What is killing the bees? read the following articles carried on SOTT.NET:

Wik-Bee Leaks: EPA Document Shows It Knowingly Allowed Pesticide That Kills Honey Bees

Beekeepers Suggest Pesticide is Destroying Insect Colonies

Bayer in the Dock Over Pesticide Linked to Colony Collapse Disorder

Germany Suspends Pesticide Approvals After Mass Death Of Bees

Have Bees Become Canaries In the Coal Mine? Why Massive Bee Dieoffs May Be a Warning About Our Own Health
The decline of bees has been in the headlines for several years, and theories to explain their deaths abound. But perhaps there is not just one single cause. University of California San Diego professor of biology James Nieh studies foraging, communication and health of bees. "I would say it's a combination of four factors; pesticides, disease, parasites, and human mismanagement," says Nieh. Bees might be weakened by having a very low level of exposure to insecticides or fungicides, making them more susceptible if they are attacked by viruses or parasites. "It's kind of like taking a patient who is not doing so well - very weak, poor diet, exposing them to pathogens, and then throwing more things at them. It's not surprising that honeybees are not very healthy."

One class of pesticides, neonicotinoids in particular has received a lot of attention for harming bees. In late 2010, the EPA came under fire from beekeepers and pesticide watchdog organizations. This happened when Colorado beekeeper Tom Theobald spoke out about how the EPA allowed clothianidin to be used without any proof it was safe and despite the fact that the EPA's own scientists believed it "has the potential for toxic risk to honey bees, as well as other pollinators."


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Bizarro Earth

Papua New Guinea - Earthquake Magnitude 6.6.


US Geological Survey
Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:08 UTC
PNG Quake_210312
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 22:15:05 UTC

Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 08:15:05 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
6.244°S, 145.959°E

Depth
105.9 km (65.8 miles)

Region
NEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Distances
66 km (41 miles) ESE of Goroka, New Guinea, PNG

114 km (70 miles) S of Madang, New Guinea, PNG

382 km (237 miles) NNW of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea

2469 km (1534 miles) NNW of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia
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Info

Coldest, Deepest Ocean Water Mysteriously Disappears


OurAmazingPlanet
Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:43 UTC
Bottom Water
© NOAAA layer of Antarctic Bottom Water colder than 0ºC (colors, with darkest blue areas having the thickest layer, and white none) covers the ocean floor around Antarctica (center, shaded grey). Rates at which this layer is thinning during the study period (red numbers in meters per decade) are shown for for each deep basin (outlined by thin grey lines). These rates are estimated using data from repeated oceanographic expeditions (ship tracks shown by thick black lines). Note that seawater at the ocean surface stays liquid even at temperatures approaching -2ºC because of its high salt content.

The coldest deep ocean water that flows around Antarctica in the Southern Ocean has been mysteriously disappearing at a high rate over the last few decades, scientists have found.

This mass of water is called Antarctic Bottom Water, which is formed in a few distinct locations around Antarctica, where seawater is cooled by the overlying air and made saltier by ice formation (which leaves the salt behind in the unfrozen water). The cold, salty water is denser than the water around it, causing it to sink to the sea floor where it spreads northward, filling most of the deep ocean around the world as it slowly mixes with warmer waters above it.

The world's deep ocean currents play a critical role in transporting heat and carbon around the planet, which helps regulate the Earth's climate.

Previous studies had indicated that this deep water has become warmer and less salty over the past few decades, but a new study has found that significantly less of this water has also been formed during this time.

Oceanographers examined temperature data collected from 1980 to 2011 at about 10-year intervals by an international program of repeated ship-based oceanographic surveys in the Southern Ocean.
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Blackbox

Strange noise: Ireland residents tormented by 'mysterious' night time 'helicopter noises'


Derry Journal
Tue, 20 Mar 2012 08:46 UTC
Roe Valley residents are mystified over strange late night noises high in the sky, which has left them scratching their heads. The late night noise surfaced recently in Drumsurn, according to local Sinn Fein councillor Brenda Chivers. "It's very annoying. It starts around 7pm and can go on until 2-3am. People have been out searching to see what it is, but they see nothing. There's no plane, just this constant drone, and nobody seems to know what it is; unless it's flying saucers! It's a mystery."

A similar noise was reported in Derry recently, but there was never any conclusion as to what it was. In the meantime, residents around the Roe have been "tormented" by late night "helicopter noise". "People are telling me they are hearing this noise at a time when children are either going to or are in bed, and it has wakened some and prevented others from getting to sleep," said DUP Colr. Alan Robinson, who said no one could tell him the source of the noise. "Someone knows the answer and I hope it will be discovered soon and the usual quiet Limavady nights return."
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