Earth ChangesS


Fish

'Miracle turtle' returns to the sea - after lots of surgeries


MSNBC
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:37 UTC
'Andre' even got help from a dentist who installed braces to close gashes

When rescued, he had a collapsed lung, pneumonia and holes in his shell that exposed his spinal cord and allowed in several pounds of sand - as well as a crab. Thirteen months later, and after surgeries that included braces to close gashes, he's a free turtle.

A sea turtle, to be more precise, one from an endangered species whose chances of bouncing back just got a little bit better.

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Info

Updated Hurricane Forecast Calls for More Storms


OurAmazingPlanet
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:33 UTC
Emily
© NOAATropical Storm Emily on August 3 from NOAA's geostationary satellite GOES-EAST.

This year's hurricane season could be even more active than originally forecast, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA issued its updated 2011 Atlantic hurricane season forecast today (Aug. 4), raising the number of expected named storms from its preseason outlook issued in May. The new forecast calls for 14 to 19 named storms (which include tropical storms and hurricanes), seven to 10 hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher). The previous forecast called for 12 to 18 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes and three to six major hurricanes.

"The atmosphere and Atlantic Ocean are primed for high hurricane activity during August through October," said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. "Storms through October will form more frequently and become more intense than we've seen so far this season."

The climate continues to show signs of an active season ahead. Exceptionally warm Atlantic Ocean temperatures (the third warmest on record), the possible redevelopment of La Niña and reduced vertical wind shear (which tends to cut off storm circulation) and lower air pressure across the tropical Atlantic all favor an active season.
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Bizarro Earth

200 Meter-long Crack Opens in Chile

Andrey Eroshin
Earth Changes and the Poleshift
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:00 UTC
The authorities were unable to explain the causes of the fissure in the ground measuring about 200 meters.

Fear, disbelief and surprise are some of the expressions of the neighbors in the south east of the city who see a large crack was created in front of their homes. The issue has concerned neighbors, who called on the authorities to go to the site and verify field causes strange phenomenon.

Until the area became ONEMI staff, Sernageomin, Aguas del Altiplano and the police, who cordoned off the affected site, located in a vacant lot of 1.700m2 Tucapel dividing populations VII and Villa Primavera, road frontage Ignacio Vergara (Spring) and William Source (Tucapel VII).

Franz was Schmauck, regional director of ONEMI, who said he is still working to determine the causes of the fact that last night was only a small area, and today dawned older residents said, with 170 meters and a width that reaches 10 cm. It is expected that the next few hours of awareness of the technical report to confirm the cause, however there is talk of a possible leak of water that would have caused the softening of the soil saline.

Chile Fissure_1
© Poleshift Ning.com
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Bizarro Earth

Kuril Islands - Earthquake Magnitude 6.3


USGS
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:47 UTC
Kuril Quake_040811
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Thursday, August 04, 2011 at 13:51:36 UTC

Friday, August 05, 2011 at 01:51:36 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
48.784°N, 154.835°E

Depth:
49 km (30.4 miles)

Region:
KURIL ISLANDS

Distances:
230 km (142 miles) SSW of Severo-Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands, Russia

542 km (336 miles) SSW of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia

659 km (409 miles) NE of Kuril'sk, Kuril Islands

1907 km (1184 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
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Nuke

Canada: Japan's Fukushima Catastrophe Brings Big Radiation Spikes to B.C.

Alex Roslin
Straight.com
Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:08 UTC
Gordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility
© n/aGordon Edwards, president of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility, says that while radiation coming from Fukushima will lead to higher cancer rates in Canadian, the risk posed to individuals is very small.
After Japan's Fukushima catastrophe, Canadian government officials reassured jittery Canadians that the radioactive plume billowing from the destroyed nuclear reactors posed zero health risks in this country.

In fact, there was reason to worry. Health Canada detected massive amounts of radioactive material from Fukushima in Canadian air in March and April at monitoring stations across the country.

The level of radioactive iodine spiked above the federal maximum allowed limit in the air at four of the five sites where Health Canada monitors levels of specific radioisotopes.

On March 18, seven days after an earthquake and tsunami triggered eventual nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, the first radioactive material wafted over the Victoria suburb of Sidney on Vancouver Island.
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Attention

US: Storms Cause Sinkhole in Major Intersection of Ellsworth, Maine


The Republic
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 06:47 UTC
The Maine Department of Transportation is going to use an underground camera to help determine what caused an 8-foot by 10-foot sinkhole to form in a U.S. Route 1 intersection in Ellsworth before making a permanent fix.

Department of Transportation crews filled the hole with gravel early Tuesday after the hole formed following a Monday night storm.

Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Latti says an old, underground drainage system was undermined during the storm. The hole was filled with 10 yards of gravel.

Latti tells the Bangor Daily News officials will make a more permanent repair, but they want to diagnose the problem properly first. So they're going to use an underground camera to investigate the drainage system.

Source: The Associated Press
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Bizarro Earth

US: Volcano Watchers Raise Alert Status for Mount Cleveland

Casey Grove
Anchorage Daily News
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:28 UTC
Mt Cleveland
© Anchorage Daily News
Signs of lava at Mount Cleveland prompted volcanologists to raise their alert level Tuesday afternoon for the Aleutian Islands volcano.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory reports "heightened or escalated unrest" and the possibility of an eruption at the 5,676-foot volcano, according to the observatory's website.

Cleveland Volcano comprises the western half of Chuginidak Island, which sits about 115 miles west of Dutch Harbor and 950 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Satellite data and visual observations in late July revealed a lava dome about 140 feet in diameter growing in the volcano's crater, said volcanologist Chris Waythomas. The dome grew another 10 feet or so between Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the observatory.

"Sometimes lava domes like that can be explosive and lead to ash production," Waythomas said.

The volcano observatory raised the advisory status from "advisory" to "watch" and the aviation warning level from yellow to orange.
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Arrow Up

Iraq Hit By Extreme Weather As Temperature Reaches 52 Degrees Celsius


Irish Weather Online
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:34 UTC
Image
© UnknownIraq Hit By Extreme Weather As Temperature Reaches 52 Degrees Celsius
Extreme weather in Iraq where temperatures reached 52 degrees Celsius (125.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on early Tuesday afternoon, forecasters said.

With a humidity of five percent and winds with a speed of about 9 kilometres (2.6 miles) per hour, temperatures reached 52 degrees Celsius (125.6 degrees Fahrenheit) at Ali Air Base near the city of Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar Governorate. The record temperature was recorded at around 1 p.m. local time.

Others parts of Iraq also experienced extreme heat on Tuesday, including in Al Diwaniyah where forecasters said the temperature could still reach 53 degrees Celsius (127.4 degrees Fahrenheit) later in the day. In Baghdad, the country's capital, temperatures reached 51 degrees Celsius (123.8 degrees Fahrenheit).
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Arrow Down

US: 'It was horrifying'! New Yorkers describe seeing baseball-sized hailstones fall in freak storm

Mark Duell
The Daily Mail
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:41 UTC
Some thought it as 'horrifying', others labelled it 'unbelievable' and one man even described feeling a shock wave from a sonic boom.

But this was not the end of the world - rather a freak outbreak of hailstones that centred over the Queens area of New York City.

Some of the hailstones were as big as baseballs and smashed car windows, punctured outdoor furniture and sent people scurrying inside.

Image
© ABCBaseball sized: A freak outbreak of hailstones centred over the Queens area of New York City on Monday night and scared local residents
Image
© ABCImpact: Cars had their wind-shields s masked by the base-ball sized hail which followed a heatwave in New York
However the strange weather was good news for vehicle repair shops, which were experiencing overwhelming demand.
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Bizarro Earth

Double Rainbow, Now With Lightning!


OurAmazingPlanet
Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:29 UTC
Lightning & Rainbow
© dcstormchaser / YouTube.
Lightning struck seemingly in front of a double rainbow in suburban Washington, D.C., yesterday (Aug. 1). All the action was caught on video.

The rare moment happened as thunderstorms moved through the region early Monday morning, reported the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog. The storms hit Fairfax, Va., bringing little rain, but creating a double rainbow as the sunlight poked through the clouds. Lightning appears to cut through the bows in the video.

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