Earth ChangesS


Question

Earth Opening Up? Strange Chemical-Like Odor in San Diego, California, US Area: Navy, Coast Guard Investigating


10 News
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:29 UTC
Authorities are investigating reports from around San Diego County of a strong, chemical-like odor.

People began making emergency calls about 2 p.m. to report a pervasive and pungent smell variously described as akin to kerosene, diesel fuel, bus exhaust, lighter fluid and other petroleum-based substances, according to Maurice Luque, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

On Wednesday afternoon, 10News received dozens of calls from residents who said they smelled what they believed was jet fuel in the air.


Residents from areas such as Encinitas, Solana Beach, Pacific Beach, Mira Mesa and La Jolla all reported the odor. Residents living in inland areas such as North Park, Hillcrest and Rancho Bernardo told 10News they smelled the odor in their area.
Read More...
Arrow Down

US, Maryland: Water Main Break Creates Sinkhole


NBC News, Washington
Thu, 18 Aug 2011 04:53 UTC

WSSC crews finished repairing a 30-inch water main break in Upper Marlboro, Md., that created a massive sinkhole in the 6900 block of South Osbourne Way between Brentwood Road and Carroll Way.

Crews are still working on the roadway, the Associated Press reported.

The pipe broke about 10:30 p.m. Sunday. Some residents experienced low water pressure. WSSC 's emergency outreach group delivered water to affected households.

Workers pumped water out of the hole to work on the pipe.

The sinkhole measured 6 feet deep and 15 feet wide, the AP reported. A car had to be towed from the scene after falling in the hole.

No word on how the break occurred or how many residents were affected.

Source: The Associated Press
Read More...
No Entry

US, New York: Crews Investigate Sinkhole On Upper West Side


CBS News New York
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:41 UTC
People are stopping, staring and taking pictures of a massive sinkhole that opened in the middle of 82nd Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West, but frustrated residents are asking what city officials intend to do to prevent future collapses.

"It's a recurring thing that happens every year," resident Kirk Williamson told CBS 2′s Elise Finch.

Williamson's window faces the hole that he says he first noticed on Friday. Since then, it has extended to 10 feet in circumference and 20 feet deep.

Just a few yards away is what's left of smaller sinkhole that formed last year and the hole left from a water main break just two weeks ago.

"There's a lot of work going on in here and it's taxpayer-paid for. If they don't really find a solution it will keep happening," Williamson said.

"There's been no one here investigating it. So that's a little bit troubling. This is a very family-oriented block," said resident Rochelle Hestnas.
Read More...
Better Earth

US: Whale dies after weeks in river, and after calf left


MSNBC /Associated Press
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:33 UTC
'We don't think she starved to death. There's something else going on,' official says

A wayward gray whale that had been on Northern California's Klamath River for more than a month, staying even after her calf went back to the ocean, died Tuesday morning after beaching on a sandbar.

Image
© Matt Mais / yuroktribe.orgThe adult gray whale blows a heart-shaped spout near the U.S. Highway 101 bridge over the Klamath River on July 24.
A cause of death will be determined after researchers test samples of the body, said Sarah Wilkin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. She was part of the team studying the whale and trying different tactics to send it back to the Pacific, three miles away.

"Based on the photos and everything, her fat layer looks good, so we don't think she starved to death," Wilkin said. "There's something else going on."

The mother and her 15-foot calf entered the river in late June during their northward journey from breeding grounds in Baja California up to Alaska.
Read More...
Bug

US: Flood "Bugnadoes" Sweep Across Missouri

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:56 UTC
Parts of Missouri affected by serious flooding in recent months are having to contend with a bizarre new natural hazard, swarms of bugs that appear in the shape of tornado funnels.

The large bug vortexes of flying bugs, which have been referred to by local people as "bugnadoes", have been spotted throughout low-lying parts of the State in the vicinity of the Missouri River.

It is unclear as of yet what species of flying insects is involved. To make matters worse, however, swarms of dragonflies have been seen flying around and feeding on the swirling bug funnels.

Read More...
Cloud Lightning

US: Hmm...NOAA's National Weather Service taking action to build a 'Weather-ready' nation


NOAA News
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:45 UTC
Image
© Unknown
NOAA is launching a comprehensive initiative to build a "Weather-ready" nation to make America safer by saving more lives and protecting livelihoods as communities across the country become increasingly vulnerable to severe weather events, such as tornado outbreaks, intense heat waves, flooding, active hurricane seasons, and solar storms that threaten electrical and communication systems.

NOAA is also announcing that the United States has so far this year experienced nine separate disasters, each with an economic loss of $1 billion or more - tying the record set in 2008. The latest event to surpass the $1 billion price tag is this summer's flooding along the Missouri and Souris rivers in the upper Midwest. This year's losses have so far amounted to $35 billion.

"Severe weather represents a very real threat to public safety that requires additional robust action," said Jack Hayes, director of NOAA's National Weather Service. "The increasing impacts of natural disasters, as seen this year, are a stark reminder of the lives and livelihoods at risk."
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Pakistan PM Declares Disaster Areas Following Monsoon Rains

Mark Dunphy
Irish Weather Online
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:28 UTC
Monsoon rains have resulted in serious flooding in Pakistan's southern Sindh Province. A drain breach in Badin District left residents marooned on dry spots separated by high water.

The flooding in southern Pakistan affected 100 villages and more than 200,000 people, according to news reports. Pakistan's prime minister declared parts of the region disaster areas and pledged thousands of tents to provide temporary shelter.

Pakistan typically receives most of its moisture between July and September. Despite some cloud cover, these images, acquired one month apart, show significant changes to the landscape. In mid-August, flood water sits on areas that had been dry a month earlier. Although conditions remain relatively dry around the city of Hyderabad, flooding is obvious around the city of Badin.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured these images on August 16, 2011 (top), and July 17, 2011 (bottom). The images show southern Pakistan, near the coast and near the border with India.
Image
© NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase contrast between water and land. Water ranges in color from electric blue to navy. Vegetation is green, and bare ground is pink-beige. Clouds are pale blue-green.
Image
© NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Off The Coast of Honshu, Japan - Earthquake Magnitutde 6.2


USGS
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:29 UTC
Honshu Quake_170811
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 11:44:07 UTC

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 09:44:07 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
36.776°N, 143.773°E

Depth
10 km (6.2 miles) (poorly constrained)

Region
OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Distances
304 km (188 miles) E of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan

339 km (210 miles) E of Mito, Honshu, Japan

349 km (216 miles) ESE of Sendai, Honshu, Japan

418 km (259 miles) ENE of TOKYO, Japan
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

US: Indiana fair tragedy was no 'fluke,' expert says

Tim Ballisty
Weather.com
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:06 UTC
Image
© NOAA
In a recent AP article, Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana was quoted as saying that the blast of wind that toppled the stage rigging at the Indiana State Fair, killing 5 people, was a "fluke event".

A "fluke" by definition is an unlikely chance occurrence. The destructive and deadly wind gust on Saturday evening in Indianapolis was no chance occurrence.

Let's stop bucketing meteorology and weather in general into some magical mystery science that can't be explained. When a tragic accident due to existing extreme weather conditions occurs, there is a notion to just throw your hands up in the air and say, "Well, nothing could have been done to avoid this" or "Nobody could have seen this coming" or "It was just a damn fluke". In many instances, that just simply is not the case and it wasn't the case in the tragedy at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Powerful, damaging winds were a known threat several days before and during the minutes leading up to the stage collapse.

Let's lay out the facts.
Read More...
Blackbox

US: 700 water main breaks in Houston - a day

Miguel Llanos
MSNBC /Reuters
Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:55 UTC
Image
© Pat Sullivan / APA broken water main was being replaced in Houston, Texas, on July 27.
City imposes water rationing; heat, high use put pressure on pipes across central US

It's not just hot and dry in Houston, the city's also losing water at an alarming rate due to water main breaks - 700 a day, the mayor said Tuesday.

Other cities across the central U.S. - which has had the worst of this summer's heat - are also seeing more breaks than usual as older pipes feel the strain from both sides: increased water use builds pressure from inside pipes, while dry soil shrinks away, leaving space on the outside of pipes for the inside pressure to burst through.

While many homeowners know the frustration of frozen pipes bursting "it can be surprising to know that high heat can also put stress on a pipe and cause it to break," Greg Kail, spokesman for the American Water Works Association, told msnbc.com.
Read More...