Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Cyclone Giovanna pummels Madagascar, kills one

Alain Iloniaina
Reuters
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:40 UTC
Power cut off in major towns; authorities tell drivers to stay off roads

Image
© NASATropical Storm 12S built up steam and became a cyclone on February 10, 2012 as NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead.
Antananarivo, Madagascar - A category 4 cyclone pummelled Madagascar's eastern shores on Tuesday, killing at least one person and causing power shutdowns in some major towns, the authorities said.

In the eastern port city of Tamatave, schools and offices were closed for a second day as heavy rains and powerful gusts lashed the seaboard after Cyclone Giovanna hit the island.

"One person died in Brickaville after an electricity pole fell on her," Alain Mahavimbina, the top official in Antsinanana, told Reuters.

Madagascar is prone to cyclones and tropical storms, especially in the rainy season, from February to May. In 2008, Cyclone Ivan smashed Madagascar, killing more than 80 people and leaving over 200,000 homeless.

"Tamatave is like a ghost town," resident Joel Milamaro told Reuters. "The roads are deserted."
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Bizarro Earth

Stricken Fukushima Nuclear Plant at Dire Risk of Massive New Earthquake, Scientists Warn

Damien Gayle
The Daily Mail
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:25 UTC
crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi
© APThe crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, northern Japan, pictured nine days after the March earthquake struck
Scientists have issued a dire warning that the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant is at risk of a massive new earthquake.

Research using data from more than 6,000 recent tremors has found that last March's disaster has reactivated a seismic fault practically beneath the power station.

Now scientists are telling Japanese authorities to urgently shore up the damaged reactor in expectation of more massive 'quakes.

Fukushima Daiichi was the scene of the worst nuclear disasters in history after it was damaged by the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9 earthquake and following tsunami.

But this tremor's epicentre was about 100 miles from the site, off the coast of Japan, and a much closer one could occur in the future at Fukushima.
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Bizarro Earth

Japan: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - Near East Coast of Honshu


US Geological Survey
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:26 UTC
Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 06:21:58 UTC
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 03:21:58 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
36.154°N, 141.494°E

Depth:
10 km (6.2 miles)

Region:
NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Distances:
93 km (57 miles) ESE of Mito, Honshu, Japan

113 km (70 miles) SSE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan

151 km (93 miles) ESE of Utsunomiya, Honshu, Japan

165 km (102 miles) ENE of TOKYO, Japan
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Bizarro Earth

Solomon Islands - Earthquake Magnitude 6.4


US Geological Survey
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:02 UTC
Solomon Quake_140212
© USGS
Date-Time
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 08:19:58 UTC

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 07:19:58 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
10.387°S, 161.262°E

Depth
54.7 km (34.0 miles)

Region
SOLOMON ISLANDS

Distances
72 km (44 miles) W of Kira Kira, San Cristobal, Solomon Isl.

178 km (110 miles) SE of HONIARA, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands

189 km (117 miles) SSE of Auki, Malaita, Solomon Islands

2082 km (1293 miles) NNE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia
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Bizarro Earth

Quake Hits Eastern Japan: Nuclear Plant Stable


My Sinchew
Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:03 UTC
Tokyo - A powerful earthquake rocked eastern Japan Tuesday, but no tsunami warning was issued and no damage was reported at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The US Geological Survey said the 6.0 magnitude quake, with an epicentre 10 kilometres (six miles) deep, was centred 166 kilometres east-northeast of Tokyo, where correspondents said buildings swayed.

Japan's meteorological agency also located the quake off the coast of Ibaraki prefecture, south of the stricken plant.

A very small change of tidal level was forecast but was not expected to cause any damage.

Nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant remained stable.

Office buildings in Tokyo swayed for around a minute when the quake struck at 3.21pm (0621 GMT), but there was no sign of panic in a city well accustomed to tremors.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake in March 2011 triggered a monster tsunami that killed more than 19,000 people and crippled the cooling systems at the Fukushima plant, causing meltdowns in some of its reactors.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Study Finds Minnesota Groundwater Full of Chemicals

Denise DePaolo
Associated Press
Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:48 UTC
Moorhead - A new study finds Minnesota groundwater is contaminated with low levels of chemicals. It's the first study to examine groundwater across Minnesota for "chemicals of emerging concern."

Researchers tested 40 shallow wells for 92 contaminants. They found 20 different contaminants. One or more chemicals were found in about one-third of the sampled wells.

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency scientist Sharon Kroening says the chemicals come from products like medications, detergents, insect repellents and fire retardants.

The most chemicals were found at wells near landfills. Researchers also found a higher incidence of chemicals in wells near residential areas with septic systems. The state Health Department will set an exposure limit for emerging chemicals.

The $400,000 study was paid for by the Minnesota Legacy Fund.
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Attention

Video Reveals Shocking Footage of Sea Lions Strangled by Debris

Wynne Parry
Live Science
Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:00 UTC
Sea Lion
© Alaska Department of Fish and Game, NOAA Permit No. 14325A Steller sea lion has picked up a discarded band that is cutting into its neck.
The images aren't pretty: Sea lions with shiny fishing lures protruding from their mouths or with their necks tightly bound, even deeply cut, by packing bands once used to secure boxes. Seals with necks tightly encircled by pieces of fishing net.

The scientists who study these animals know that becoming entangled with items such as these can injure or even kill the unlucky animals.

A video, put together by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, documents the effects of loops, fishing gear and other debris, including a tire and a wind sock - which drowned a sea lion by pinning her flippers to her body.

The researchers posted the video on YouTube recently to let people know about the problem.

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Bizarro Earth

Take A Look: A Venice Canal...Frozen

Brett Israel
OurAmazingPlanet
Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:24 UTC
Frozen Venice
© mesebar2/flickr On Feb. 6, 2012, Venice's famed canals were choked with ice.
This winter has been an odd one so far in Italy. Earlier in February, Rome saw a surprisingly heavily snowfall. Later in the month, Venice's famous canals froze, as seen in the above picture.

Until this past weekend, much of North America -- except for Alaska -- has enjoyed a mild winter. The return of La Niña, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon featuring cooler-than-average Pacific Ocean temperatures that influences global weather patterns, has pushed the jet stream north, which is partly to blame for Alaska's snowy winter. But in the European region, the effects of La Niña are relatively weak and variable, according to the Met Office, the UK's weather service.

Regardless, cold air pouring southward into southern and eastern Europe has created a brutal winter. The cold has been blamed for tens to hundreds of deaths, according to news reports.
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Snowflake

Emergency food flown into stranded European towns

Alina Wolfe Murray
Associated Press
Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:04 UTC
Image
© Vladimir Gogic/APA Serbian police helicopter delivers food to sailors stuck on stranded boats on the Danube river near Smederevo, Serbia, on Monday, Feb. 13.
Bucharest, Romania - Military planes and police helicopters flew in tons of emergency food to snowbound villages and ships in the Balkans on Monday, after blizzards so fierce that some people had to cut tunnels through 15 feet (4 meters) of snow to get out of their homes.

Since the end of January, Eastern Europe has been pummeled by a record-breaking cold snap and the heaviest snowfall in recent memory. Hundreds of people, many of them homeless, have died in the bitter cold and tens of thousands have been trapped by blocked roads inside homes with little heat.

Authorities declared a state of emergency Monday in eastern Romania, where 6,000 people have been cut off for days. About a dozen major roads were closed, 300 trains canceled and more than 1,000 schools shut down.

In addition to the flights, the defense ministry also sent 8,000 soldiers out clearing roads across Romania and helping those trapped by the overwhelming snow.

Emergency officials in Serbia used helicopters to deliver food and evacuate sailors stuck on icebound boats on the Danube river near the town of Smederevo. They also resupplied a Danube island near Pancevo, north of the capital of Belgrade.
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Snowflake

Snow Piled 10 Metres High Along Japanese Road

Jordan Chittley
Daily Buzz
Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00 UTC

We've dodged much of winter's wrath in Canada with higher than normal temperatures and smaller amounts of snow this year. The same can't be said for other parts of the world.

A cold snap returned to Japan this week bringing blizzards and creating record snow piles in some areas. The city of Niigata in central Japan has already seen 13 feet of snow and the weather agency is predicting up to 25 additional inches over the next few days, reports WFMY News. The village of Okura has received more than 10 feet of the white stuff and the Hokuriku area received three feet in less than 24 hours.

It is no wonder this road in Japan has massive snow walls on both sides. The video below shows footage from a bus travelling up the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Snow is as high as 10 metres above the road in some spots.

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