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Bizarro Earth

US: Gas 'fracking' not cause of Virginia earthquake


United Press International
Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:57 UTC
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© UnknownIllustration only
There is no connection between expanded "hydraulic fracturing" gas drilling in the Mid-Atlantic States and the Aug. 23 Virginia earthquake, scientists say

There is no evidence linking "fracking" of shale layers with strong, widespread earthquakes, they said.

"You've only got a very small volume of rock that you're taking out of there (with fracturing)," Anthony Crone, a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, told the Pittsburgh Tribune.

"The only conceivable thing that could happen is that hole could close up, so it would only have a very narrow sphere of influence."

Virginia officials said they're satisfied drilling did not cause last month's quake as no wells being drilled for natural gas extraction exist within 150 miles of the quake's epicenter.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Rain, Strong Winds Sweep North Georgia


GPBNews.com / Associated Press
Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:07 UTC
State emergency officials say nearly 100 homes were damaged in north Georgia's Cherokee County from severe weather that moved through Monday.
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© Duane TateAreas of north Georgia were hit with heavy rain, winds, and possible tornadoes on Tuesday.
Twisters and heavy rains were the result of slow-moving remnants of Tropical Storm Lee that pushed through the northern portion of Georgia. Across parts of the region, there were flooded roads reported with downed power lines. Schools are closed in Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in northwest Georgia because of flooding.

Forecasters say there's a flood warning in effect for the northwest corner of the state, with a flash flood watch extending until noon Tuesday through far north Georgia down to a line from Rome to Gainesville.

There were incidents and damage in other parts of the state due to the rough weather.

In Monroe County, Georgia emergency officials say an 18-car pile-up just north of Macon was due to the bad weather.

Officials at Fort Stewart said a lightning strike sent about 22 soldiers to the hospital on Monday, with at least three kept overnight.

Fort Stewart spokesman Pat Young said the soldiers were on the post's Donovan Field in a large, mobile tent that may have been directly hit by lightning.
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Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: Is The Number Of Earthquakes Increasing? Why The 5.8 Virginia Earthquake Might Just Be A Preview Of Things To Come


End Of The American Dream
Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:41 UTC
Virginia Quake
© End of The American Dream
Is the number of earthquakes increasing? Are major earthquakes becoming more frequent? In the aftermath of the magnitude-5.8 earthquake in Virginia, a whole lot of people are asking those questions. All over the mainstream media, "experts" are coming on and assuring the public that all of this is "normal" and that the number of earthquakes is not actually increasing. The USGS continues to insist that the frequency of major earthquakes has been "fairly constant" and that there is no reason for alarm. But is that really the truth? In this article, you will be presented with evidence that the number of earthquakes is definitely increasing. Please approach the evidence with an open mind. The truth is that this year we are on pace to have more than twice the number of major earthquakes than we did just 10 years ago. The mainstream media is much more interested in keeping people calm than it is in telling them the truth. Our planet is becoming increasingly unstable, and the magnitude-5.8 Virginia earthquake that we just witnessed might just be a preview of things to come.

The Virginia earthquake is already being called a "once a century" earthquake for the east coast. The earthquake was felt from Georgia all the way up to Ottawa, Canada. It was felt as far west as Cleveland, Ohio. It prompted the evacuation of congressional buildings and the Pentagon. The earthquake actually cracked the Washington Monument and now it is closed indefinitely for repairs.

But that was not the only major seismic event in the U.S. that day. A magnitude-5.3 earthquake rattled the area along the Colorado/New Mexico border. That was the largest earthquake that region had seen in more than 40 years.
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Cloud Lightning

UK: Flood warnings and storms herald the end of summer

Steven Morris
The Guardian
Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:03 UTC
UK wind
© Gareth Fuller/PAThe Met Office says the south-east of England is likely to bear the brunt of the strongest winds.
High winds up to 50mph and heavy rainfall predicted across the UK as drivers are warned to expect difficult conditions

Flood warnings were issued and some travellers faced difficult journeys as heavy rain and strong winds whipped across parts of the UK on Tuesday.

Winds of up to 50mph were predicted on the south and south-east coasts of England and up to 50mm of rain was expected to fall within 24 hours in some areas of the north-east and north Wales.

The wet and windy weather was expected to continue throughout the week as a series of low pressure systems move through.
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Cloud Lightning

Canada: Tornado rips through Quebec community, uprooting trees and damaging homes


The Canadian Press
Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:00 UTC
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© CTV News
Residents in Trois-Rivieres, Que., spent Labour Day cleaning up after a small tornado ripped through the city Sunday night.

Powerful winds reaching 130 kilometres an hour uprooted trees in the community northeast of Montreal and caused damage to about 70 homes.

Andre Cantin of Environment Canada says the tornado ranked as zero on a scale up to five and was over in about a minute.

Cantin says there have been four tornadoes in Quebec so far this year and the province averages six annually.

The mayor of Trois-Rivieres, Yves Levesque, says no one was hurt in the storm.

He says the clean-up is well underway, though some are still without power.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Tropical Storm Lee's Flood Threat Expands


The Weather Channel
Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:35 UTC
Through Wednesday, the combination of the front and Lee's remnant low will produce a large swath of 6 to 10 inches (yellow shading on map below) of rain from the Deep South to the central Appalachians, with locally higher amounts. A much larger area extending into the Northeast has the potential to see 2 to 6 inches (green shading below).

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© The Weather ChannelHeavy rain outlook through Wednesday, September 7, 2011
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Cloud Lightning

US: 'Oh my God! I'm freaked out. It's a tornado!' Video captures the terrifying moment a furious twister hit the New York State Thruway

Paul Bentley
The Daily Mail
Mon, 05 Sep 2011 03:55 UTC
Incredible video footage shows the moment a tornado struck the New York State Thruway last night.

A woman who had stopped in her car during a storm, films the raging winds gathering pace until, about six minutes in, a full on tornado appears in front of her.

The National Weather Service said it received multiple reports of the tornado in Montgomery County.

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© YoutubeFrightening: The video shows the twister emerging out of nowhere
'We have video evidence that certainly suggests it was a tornado,' Meteorologist Ray O'Keefe said.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo said: 'It appears a tornado touched down in the Amsterdam area Sunday evening.
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US: Devastating Tree-Killing Pathogen Traced to California


International Business Times
Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:08 UTC
A new study by UC Berkeley and Italian researchers may have solved a decades-long mystery behind the source of a tree-killing fungus that affected six of the world's seven continents.

Genetic sleuthing by an international team of researchers has fingered California as the source of the pathogen, Seiridium cardinale, which is the cause of cypress canker disease and has killed as much as 95 percent of native trees in the cypress family, including junipers and some cedars.

The findings were published Thursday in the journal Phytopathology.

"The fungus was likely introduced from California either in the South of France or in Central Italy 60 to 80 years ago, and that introduction resulted in a global pandemic that has devastated the region's iconic Italian cypress trees," Matteo Garbelotto, adjunct associate professor and cooperative extension specialist in ecosystem sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a university release.
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Attention

Somalia Famine: UN Warns of 750,000 Deaths


BBC News
Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:46 UTC
Somali mother and child
© AFPSome 750,000 could die in Somalia unless aid is stepped up, the UN warns
As many as 750,000 people could die as Somalia's drought worsens in the coming months, the UN has warned, declaring a famine in a new area.

The UN says tens of thousands of people have died after what is said to be East Africa's worst drought for 60 years.

Bay becomes the sixth area to be officially declared a famine zone - mostly in parts of southern Somalia controlled by the Islamist al-Shabab.

Some 12 million people across the region need food aid, the UN says.
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Cloud Lightning

Tropical Storm Talas leaves 29 dead, 56 missing in Japan

Junko Ogura and Yoko Wakatsuki
CNN
Mon, 05 Sep 2011 15:24 UTC
japan,flood
© Getty ImagesRescue workers search for missing people amongst a destroyed house caused by floodwaters in Tanabe, Wakayama prefecture, in western Japan.
Tokyo -- The death toll from Talas, which swept across western Japan, has risen to 29, local authorities said Monday.

Another 56 people are missing, according to a tally of casualties compiled from various prefectural police.

The storm unleashed record rainfall that triggered landslides and flooding.

The Japan Meteorological Agency briefly classified the storm as a typhoon before it made landfall. But the Joint Typhoon Warning Center recorded the storm making landfall in Japan as a tropical storm.
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