Earth ChangesS


Attention

Tourists warned as floods continue to wreak havoc in Thailand


CNN Go
Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:22 UTC
Bangkok braces for floodwaters following word from officials that the worst yet to come

Bangkok is bracing for the worst flooding it's seen in decades as waters from the flooded central plains continue to rush in.

Rising water levels on the Chao Phraya river and city canals have left some riverside restaurants, shops and homes submerged, while public piers are covered in makeshift platforms and sandbags to keep ferry passengers dry.
Image
© Christophe Archambault/AFP/Getty ImagesA Thai employee of a riverside restaurant sits idle on a stool as water from the Chao Phraya River floods low-lying areas of Bangkok.
For now, major city tourist areas such as Sukhumvit Road, Khao San Road and Silom are unaffected by the floods.

Thailand's Flood Relief Operations Command (FROC) says the critical dates are October 14-16, as a high spring tide will prevent the Chao Phraya River from draining into the sea, leaving Bangkok and its surrounds fighting to keep waters from flooding the city.

For a graph outlining the city's flood risk areas, check out this Bangkok Post article. The United States Embassy in Thailand has also issued an emergency message to U.S. citizens via its website.
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Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: Clear link between solar activity and winter weather revealed

Tamera Jones
Physorg.com
Mon, 10 Oct 2011 15:10 UTC
space weather
© Nasa.gov
Scientists have demonstrated a clear link between the 11-year sun cycle and winter weather over the northern hemisphere for the first time.

They found that low solar activity can contribute to cold winters in the UK, northern Europe and parts of America. But high activity from the sun has the opposite effect.

The study helps explain why the UK has been gripped by such cold winters over the last few years: the sun is just emerging from a so-called , when solar activity is at its lowest.

'Our research establishes the link between the and winter climate as more than just coincidence,' says Dr Adam Scaife from the UK's Met Office, one of the study's authors.

The findings, published in Nature Geoscience also raise the tantalising possibility that the regularity of the solar cycle might help weathermen predict cold winter weather over the northern hemisphere.
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Nuke

Fukushima: Actual fallout was 10 times more than reported

Mochizuki
Fukushima Diary
Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:06 UTC
10%
© unkonwn
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology admitted that they have made a "mistake" on the report about fall out in Fukushima.

The data is about the amount of fallout and the rain, from 6/6/2011 ~ 8/4/2011.

Having said that it was a simple error, it turned out that it was 10 times more than originally reported.

For example...

6/11
  • Cs-134 6.6 MBq/km2 → 160 MBq/km2
  • Cs-137 8.0 MBq/km2 → 200 MBq/km2
7/19
  • Cs-134 31 MBq/km2 → 590 MBq/km2
  • Cs-137 39 MBq/km2 → 750 MBq/km2
Though it was an "error", none of the numbers decreased.

If it was a pure mistake, the average of the error must be zero.

However, ALL the data turned out to be way more than originally reported.

This is their typical way.
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X

Australia: Mystery toxin may have killed Gold Coast horses

Arlie Felton-Taylor and Neroli Roocke
ABC
Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:30 UTC
Image
© Tony BartlettTests are continuing to determine how 21 quarter horses died on the Gold Coast.
Biosecurity Queensland's chief vet says a toxin is the mostly likely cause of the deaths of 21 horses on a single property in the state's south.

The animals started dying late last week at Kooralbyn, in the Gold Coast hinterland.

Dr Rick Symons says hendra virus has been ruled out and blood tests from ill and dead horses have shown nothing else.

Authorities are now waiting for the results of test on samples taken during autopsies.
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Cloud Lightning

US: As record rainfall floods Central Florida, high winds batter the region, too

Arelis R. Hernández and Leslie Postal
Orlando Sentinel
Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:45 UTC
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© Joshua C. Cruey, Orlando Sentinel / October 9, 2011Workers from CSX and Orange County work to clear the roadway of water and repair the railroad near United Way after prolonged heavy rains caused flooding in Orlando on Sunday.
The weekend's wet, windy weather was a record-setter, and some of it is lingering this morning. Rain and wind battered Central Florida early today, leading to floods in low-lying areas, hazardous road conditions and power outages. Today's forecast calls for overcast skies, windy conditions and scattered showers.

Sunday's storms came after a soggy Saturday broke a nearly 60-year-old record for daily rainfall in Orlando, officials said. Saturday's rainfall totaled 6.16 inches at Orlando International Airport, beating the previous record of 3.29 inches set in 1954, according to Tony Cristaldi, a senior meteorologist at the weather service.

"That's a lot of water," Cristaldi said. Late Sunday and early today, Volusia, Brevard and Indian River counties faced tropical-storm force winds, with some areas getting 70-mph gusts.
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Attention

US, California: Giant Sinkhole Opens up Near UCSD


Sandiego 6
Fri, 07 Oct 2011 10:08 UTC
Image
© unknownLa Jolla sinkhole
Water is expected to be restored late Friday morning in University City where there's a 50-foot-long, 25-foot-wide sinkhole.

Officials say a storm-water pipe ruptured below the middle of Campus Point Drive.

Runoff from the pipe then eroded the ground beneath the pavement.

About 30 commercial properties have been without water service since early Thursday.
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Cloud Lightning

Mexico: Hurricane Jova becomes a major storm in Pacific


The Associated Press
Mon, 10 Oct 2011 04:50 UTC
Image
© wunderground.com
Hurricane Jova has strengthened to a major storm in the Pacific as it heads toward Mexico's coast.

Jova's maximum sustained winds have increased early Monday to near 120 mph (195 kph) with some additional strengthening forecast in the next day or so.

A hurricane warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Punta San Telmo northward to Cabo Corrientes. Also, a tropical storm warning is in effect for Lazaro Cardenas northward to south of Punta San Telmo.

Jova is centered about 265 miles (430 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico, and is moving east near 5 mph (7 kph).

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Irwin is swirling farther out in the Pacific with winds near 50 mph (85 kph).
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Arrow Up

Thailand's Floods Death Toll Rises to 260


Press TV
Sun, 09 Oct 2011 10:14 UTC
Thailand's devastating floods have reportedly claimed the lives of at least 261 people, while leaving another four people missing.
Image
© unknownThailand flood death toll hits 260
On Sunday, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported the rise in the death toll and warned that the flooding situation is to continue in 30 different provinces, Xinhua reports.

The flooding has affected approximately 2.34 million people in 10,130 villages, which have been hit by the flood waters. Officials warn that the flood could be heading towards the capital Bangkok.

After water levels exceeded one and a half meters, hundreds of prisoners were evacuated from a prison in the Ayutthaya town, about 105 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital, Bangkok, on Thursday.
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Cloud Lightning

Thailand: Prime Minister warns floods threaten Bangkok

Thanyarat Doksone & Todd Pitman
Associated Press
Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:47 UTC
Image
© Sunti Tehpia/APA man fishes near a sleeping Buddha statue submerged in the floods at Lokayasutharam temple in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand Saturday.
Bankok - Thailand's prime minister is warning that rising floodwaters that have wreaked havoc across the nation are now threatening the capital, Bangkok. The death toll from the worst monsoon rains in decades rose Saturday to 253.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the flooding - which has severed rail links with the north, shut dozens of highways and swamped ancient Buddhist temples in the city of Ayutthaya - has reached a crisis level.

Bangkok has so far been spared serious damage, but many fear it could be inundated as large amounts of water flows from submerged northern rice fields toward the Gulf of Thailand. That critical runoff is expected to be impeded by high ocean tides in mid-October, and Tropical Storm Nalgae is also forecast to bring new rain in the days ahead.

In a radio message Saturday, Yingluck said authorities are hoping to ease the crisis by installing up to 400 water pumps along the Chao Phraya River, which snakes through Bangkok, to help push water to the sea. Seven canals will also be dug on the outskirts of the city, she said.
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Attention

US: Lava builds in Alaska volcano, may threaten planes


The Seattle Times
Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:42 UTC
Mt. Cleveland Volcano
© UnknownMt. Cleveland Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Lava has reached the edge of a crater in a volcano in Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands, indicating the mountain could explode and send up an ash cloud that could threaten aircraft.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory says satellite images show lava at the edge of the crater rim of 5,675-foot Cleveland Mountain on uninhabited on Chuginadak Island, about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Volcano monitors say if the dome continues to grow, it could overflow the rim and increase the possibility of an explosion.

The observatory says an eruption could send up an ash cloud 20,000 feet or more.

The nearest village, Nikolski, is on another island about 50 miles east and has 18 permanent residents. The village was not considered in harm's way in previous eruptions of the volcano.

Source : The Associated Press
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