Earth ChangesS


Attention

US: Researchers Discover Gulf Dead Zone Much Larger Than Previously Thought

Maya Rodriguez
WWLTV Eyewitness News
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:04 UTC
Gulf Dead Zone
© WWLTV Eyewitness News

New Orleans-- For years now, scientists have been monitoring the development of a massive dead zone off the coast of south Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, new research is showing the presence of another underwater area lacking oxygen and life -- this time in the Chandeleur Sound, east of St. Bernard Parish.

Gulf waters include some of the richest areas for seafood in the country, and part of that critical habitat includes the Chandeleur Sound.

"This general area is a major path for migration of fish," said Dr. John Lopez of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

Deep below the surface, life may be struggling. The Foundation, along with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCOM), recently decided to share their findings with each other concerning the dead zone in the Chandeleur Sound.

What they discovered was that the dead zone is four times larger than they initially thought. It covers more than a 1,000 square miles, stretching from the Chandeleur Islands, east to the Florida Panhandle and possibly beyond.
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Info

Weather Forecasters Get it All Wrong: Western Winter Surprisingly Dry and Warm

Chris Purdy
The Canadian Press
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:27 UTC
The chief climatologist for Environment Canada admits he has egg on his face.

Dave Phillips predicted last fall that Western Canada would have a colder than normal winter, but it's been the exact opposite.

It's the second- or third-warmest winter on record for some of the prairie provinces.

"We sometimes don't get it right. It's not something that's perfect," said Phillips. "Maybe nature sneers at these forecasts and gives us the opposite."

But he's not alone: most forecasters across Canada and the United States got it wrong.

The Weather Network suggested a roller-coaster winter with major storms for the West. AccuWeather also forecast parts of North America would be hit with the worst winter in 20 years.
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Igloo

Stunning Photo Shows Growing Antarctic Ice Rift


OurAmazingPlanet
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:29 UTC
Ice Shelf
© NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. A growing rift in the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf.

A massive crack in a huge sheet of Antarctic ice discovered in mid-October last year is steadily growing, as seen in recently released satellite images.

The fissure in the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf marks the beginning stages of the birth of a 350-square-mile (900 square kilometers) iceberg, part of a natural process known as calving.

The image was snapped on Nov. 13, 2011, when the rift was roughly 19 miles (30 km) long, 260 feet (80 meters) wide for most of its length, and 195 feet (60 m) deep. When researchers first spotted the crack in mid-October, it was roughly 18 miles (28 km) long.

The ice shelf is the floating end of the Pine Island Glacier, a slow-moving river of ice in West Antarctica that moves ice from the interior of the continent out to sea.
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Radar

Best of the Web: Helicopters rescue Europeans stranded by snow

Dusan Stojanovic & Maria Danilova
Associated Press
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:20 UTC
Belgrade, Serbia - Rescue helicopters evacuated dozens of people from snow-blocked villages in Serbia and Bosnia and air-lifted in emergency food and medicine as a severe cold spell kept Eastern Europe in its icy grip.

The death toll from the cold rose to 79 on Wednesday and emergency crews worked overtime as temperatures sank to minus 32.5 C (minus 26.5 F) in some areas.

Parts of the Black Sea froze near the Romanian coastline and the rare snow fell on Croatian islands in the Adriatic Sea. In Bulgaria, 16 towns recorded their lowest temperatures since records started 100 years ago.
Image
© AP/Efrem LukatskyA Ukrainian man, covered with plastic sheeting to form a tent for protection from the wind and cold, fishes through an ice hole on the Dnipro river outside Cherkasy, central Ukraine. The death toll from a severe cold spell in Eastern Europe rose to 71 Wednesday Feb. 1 2012.
In central Serbia, choppers pulled out 12 people, including nine who went to a funeral but then could not get back over icy, snow-choked roads. Two more people froze to death in the snow and two others are missing, bringing that nation's death toll to five.

"The situation is dramatic, the snow is up to five meters (16 1/2 feet) high in some areas, you can only see rooftops," said Dr. Milorad Dramacanin, who participated in the helicopter evacuations.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Alaska volcano lava dome forms, alert level raised


Associated Press
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:35 UTC
Anchorage - The warning level for a remote Alaska volcano has been raised after a new lava dome began forming, indicating the mountain could explode and send up an ash cloud that could threaten aircraft.
Image
© NASA/Getty ImagesThe eruption of the Cleveland Volcano is seen as photographed by an Expedition 13 crewmember on the International Space Station May 23, 2009 in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory on Tuesday elevated the alert status for Cleveland Volcano.

Officials say the new lava dome was spotted in the summit crater. The observatory says as of Monday, the dome was about 130 feet in diameter.

There have been no eruptions since Dec. 25 and Dec. 29, which destroyed the earlier lava dome built up over the fall.

Cleveland is a 5,675-foot peak on an uninhabited island 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Authorities say sudden eruptions could occur at any time, and ash clouds 20,000 feet above sea level are possible.
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Attention

Best of the Web: US: Mysterious Cape Cod Dolphin Beachings Continue

Jim Axelrod
CBS News
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:06 UTC
video
© cbsnewsClick here to watch video.
More than 100 dolphins have stranded themselves along Cape Cod's 25-mile coastline in the last three weeks, and the number is growing.

Rescuers there say it's just about the worst they've ever seen. And scientists are still looking for answers. The alarming number of dolphins beaching themselves along the 25-mile Cape Cod coastline was baffling scientists for a third week.

On Monday, they responded to a call that three dolphins were approaching shore. Two swam away unharmed, but one got too close to the beach and needed intervention by rescuers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

The animal later died and, along with three more carcasses discovered over the weekend, the number of dolphin beachings swelled to 102, nearly the normal amount for an entire year.

Katie Moore, manager of the Marine Mammal Rescue Team, says she simply doesn't know why this is happening.
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X

Severe Weather - Serbia: Six Die in -36 Degree Freeze


AnsaMed
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:35 UTC
Kosovo on alert - Bosnian villages isolated.

The death toll from the wave of freezing weather across Serbia over recent days has risen to six. The body of a man was found near to his home in Topola, south of Belgrade. Before then, another five had died across the country as temperatures sank to a record -36 degrees in the southern highlands of Pesterska. In the city of Sjenica, thermometers stood at -29, while in Belgrade the temperature at 7am today was -12. A state of emergency has been declared in around fifteen areas. Dozens have been admitted to hospital with broken bones following falls on the ice. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the southern highlands of Pesterska was -39.4 degrees in 1986.

The cold has also caused emergency conditions in Kosovo, where temperatures dropped to -22 degrees last night. Snow and ice are causing traffic problems in some parts of the country although the main routes are free. Low temperatures led to electricity blackouts in some areas, although no deaths have been reported.
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Igloo

Homeless Hard Hit as Death Toll From Severe Cold Spell in Eastern Europe Hits 58


Washingtonpost.com
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:40 UTC
Image
© Associated PressThe woman looks through an icy window on a bus in Kiev, Ukraine.
Kiev, Ukraine - Dozens of homeless people have died in an Eastern Europe cold snap, and some analysts blame a Soviet-era legacy of viewing the homeless as those who need to be punished instead of helped.

Temperatures have plunged to minus 27 C (minus 17 F) in some areas. At least 58 people have died overall in the past week, while hundreds have sought medical help for hypothermia and frostbite. Snow and ice have disrupted traffic and power in some parts.
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Bizarro Earth

Breathtaking Cloud Formation Shines Over Rockies

Remy Melina
OurAmazingPlanet
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:22 UTC
Lenticular Cloud
© Richard H. HahnRichard H. Hahn snapped this stunning picture of a lenticular cloud over Rocky Mountain National Park just after sunset on Jan. 5, 2012.

This spectacular, multi-hued formation of lenticular clouds was observed soon after the sun set over Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colo., on Jan. 5.

Professional photographer Richard H. Hahn was on the south side of the park's Deer Mountain when he noticed the unique cloud formation in the dusk sky. He rushed to find a shooting angle that would place the colorful clouds in the context of the valley and mountains, and he snapped the magnificent view at 5:02 p.m. MST (7:02 EST).

"The great colors lasted only a few minutes, so it was a lucky observation," Hahn told OurAmazingPlanet. "I felt very grateful to be in a high-enough elevation with a favorable shooting angle to capture this scene with perspective."

Lenticular clouds are characterized by their smooth, symmetrical oval or round shapes, and because of this, they are often referred to as "flying saucer" or "UFO" clouds. They can appear near the lee side of a mountain ridge, which is the portion of the mountain sheltered from winds.

"I have seen quite a few interesting lenticulars during my nine years in Colorado, but never one quite like this," Hahn said. "The significance of this particular atmospheric event was the dramatic shape and color of the cloud. It really did look like the mothership UFO."
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Snowflake

Dozens freeze to death as extreme cold grips Europe


MSNBC
Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:14 UTC
"We are getting some 'real' winter this week," meteorologist says

Kiev, Ukraine - A severe and snowy cold snap has killed at least 48 people across central and eastern Europe.

Officials have responded with measures ranging from opening shelters to dispensing hot tea, with particular concern for the homeless and elderly.
Image
© Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP/Getty ImagesAn official gives out hot tea to an elderly man at a newly opened shelter in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday. Temperatures have plunged to as low as minus 23 C (minus 10 F) in the country.
Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday that the number of people who died of hypothermia in recent days reached 30.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said on its website that most of the victims were found frozen on the streets. On Monday, officials had put the death toll at 18 people.

Temperatures plunged to minus 23 C (minus 10 F) in the capital Kiev and elsewhere in Ukraine as schools and kindergartens closed and authorities set up hundreds of heated tents for the homeless.

Officials have appealed to people to stay indoors.

Comment: Major dips in temperatures are happening elsewhere as well: Deep freeze grips much of Alaska

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