Earth ChangesS


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Canada: Mud, rocks, trees slide onto Trans-Canada in British Columbia closing road for days


The Canadian Press
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
A large mudslide has closed the Trans-Canada Highway between Lake Louise, Alta. and Golden, B.C.

Parks Canada spokesman Mark Merchant says mud, rock and large trees poured onto the highway late Friday night near the spot where the road overlooks the Spiral Tunnels on the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Merchant says no one was injured, but provincial officials in B.C. say the highway will likely remain closed until Sunday afternoon.

He says the slide likely occurred because the area has received a lot of rain lately.

Traffic is being detoured south on Highway 93, which has reopened after being closed Friday due to a fatal crash that involved a fuel tanker.

Last month, a woman was injured when her car was caught in a mudslide on the Trans-Canada between Hope and Chilliwack.
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Bizarro Earth

Canary Islands Government Monitors El Hierro Earthquake Swarm


Irish Weather Online
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:35 UTC
The Canary Islands Government has said it is monitoring an earthquake swarm on the small island of El Hierro where in excess of 400 tremors of low magnitude have been recorded in the past four days.

On Friday, the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Government Security Canary convened the first ever meeting of the Steering Committee and Volcanic Monitoring, reflected in the Specific Plan Protection Civil and Emergency for Volcanic Risk, given what it described "the significant increase in seismic activity".

Image
© Google EarthLocation of tremors on El Hierro
A statement (translated from Spanish) issued following the meeting outlined: "This committee met this morning (Friday) at the headquarters of the Directorate General Security and Emergency Tenerife, established after the assessment of information gathered from seismic and volcanological last July 17 by the National Geographic Institute (IGN) and Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands, the situation is total normal for the green light for the information population, activating mechanisms for monitoring and oversight needed to coordinate the actions of self civil population and information contained in the Plan."
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Bizarro Earth

US: Heavy Rainstorms are Chicago's Latest Weather Nightmare


Chicago Tribune
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 15:01 UTC
Heavy Rains in Chicago
© Robert Kozloff / Chicago TribuneA tow truck prepares to hook up a stranded car on the feeder ramp from I-90/94 to I-290 and the Congress Parkway downtown.
Those looking for some kind of a break from the heat of the last week got it overnight -- a rainstorm that dropped temperatures into the low 70s. But like the heat wave that preceded it, this rainstorm was anything but ordinary.

According to ChicagoWeatherCenter, the total rainfall at O'Hare -- 6.91 inches as of about 6:50 a.m. -- is the largest single-day rainfall since records began in 1871. The highest previous daily total was 6.64 inches on Sept. 12, 2008. And more rain is on the way.

There were rainfall totals as high as 7 inches as the storm moved noisily through the Chicago area after midnight, resulting in flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service and enough flooded roads and highways to make life miserable for passengers headed to or from O'Hare International Airport and make a mess of traffic overnight and into Saturday morning.

The north side got the brunt of the rain, with O'Hare International airport getting 5.53 inches in two hours, according to ChicagoWeathercenter.com. Some other totals of note reported by the Weather Center: 6.41 inches in Glenview, 5.4 inches in Arlington Heights and 5.49 inches in Elk Grove Village.
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Bizarro Earth

Ecuador: Reventador Volcano Activity Increases

galapagosonline
Zimbio
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:35 UTC
Reventador
© galapagosonline
The Reventador Volcano has shown increased activity and government officials ask no one to approach. Revenatador is located 90 km west of Quito and has a long history of activity. In November 2002 the volcano erupted for the first time in 26 years destroying roads between Quito and Lago Agrio. The 17 km high ash cloud affected 2 million people as it spread over the provinces of Pichincha, Napo and Suscumbios and forced the closure of the Quito Airport causing flights to be rerouted to Guayaquil or Latacunga. A subsequent eruption in November of 2008 effected residents of El Chaco in the Amazon basin.

The Geophysical Institute of Ecuador stated "it is clear that the volcano appears significantly more active than in previous months, this being much more noticeable in recent days " Rash on the volcano Reventador occurs "significantly active than in previous months" and "in these circumstances the presence of people near the crater of Reventador is dangerous and in no way recommended to climb to the summit."
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Cloud Lightning

Swollen rivers still threatening some parts of Czech Republic

České noviny
ČTK
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:03 UTC
CZ flood
© ČTKPersistent rain on the night of 22 July lead to rise of Moravia river. The river burst its banks and disrupted transport between Hanušovice and Králíky
Prague - Swollen Czech rivers are still threatening some parts of north-east Bohemia and north Moravia, but meteorologists say rain should start abating tonight.

Yet, they have extended the warning against floods until 10:00 CEST on Saturday in the above parts of the Czech Republic.

Heavy rains started afflicting the country on Wednesday.

Some lower-category roads have been closed in the Liberec Region, north Bohemia, in the Kralovehradecky Region, east Bohemia, and in the Olomouc Region, north Moravia.

Some people who were evacuated in the regions could return to their homes today, while others preventively stay outside their homes.
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Sun

SOTT Focus: Connecting the Dots: Cosmic Changes, Planetary Instability and Extreme Weather

Sott Editors
Sott.net
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:10 UTC
Image
© NASA / SDOThe Solar Dynamics Observatory's view of the coronal mass ejection of June 7, 2011.
With Earth Changes now clearly happening and time pressing, the editors of Sott.net are faced with the urgency of catching up with an avalanche of significant news items and trying to make sense of things! Recent weather events have been unprecedented: both spring and early summer have been bizarre across the globe, to say the least.

You name the weather or geological type of phenomenon; someone in the world had it: volcanoes, earthquakes, torrential rain, floods, sinkholes, tornadoes, droughts, wildfires ... even summertime snow! Let's review them all as best as we can, starting from the top: the cosmic factor.

Solar Activity
© Mike BormanImage Taken: Jun 4, 2011
Location: Evansville, Indiana, USA
Cosmic Changes Are Under Way

Changes on planet Earth comprise such a wide variety of phenomena, from extreme weather anomalies to volcanoes and earthquakes, so perhaps it's a good idea to zoom back and see if we can make sense of any changes in the cosmic climate that may be affecting us. Yes, we are aware that this approach goes against the sanctioned narrative claiming that these changes are caused by carbon-burning human beings living in an isolated bubble that can only grow warmer. But the pieces of the puzzle on the table point to a different, larger picture.

A huge central piece is our sun, which is not surprising, since this ongoing explosion in space is what brings order to our corner of the universe and to life to Earth. For the last couple of years the sun was expected to go into high activity in accordance with its usual 11-year sunspot cycle. But scientists were left scratching their heads as our local star remained quiet. Now it's giving off such a display of flares that it has NASA scientists going 'ooh and ahh'.
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Attention

15 Whales Dead in Northwest Scotland


PhysOrg
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:00 UTC
Image
© Florida Keys News BureauTwo stranded pilot whales struggle in shallow waters.
Fifteen pilot whales have died in a mass stranding near the northwestern tip of Scotland, according to a rescue charity.

Rescuers have been trying to save a pod of around 60 long-finned pilot whales in the Kyle of Durness, a sea inlet near Cape Wrath.

Around 35 beached as the water receded at low tide and 20 were refloated using inflatable pontoons as the water level rose again.

However, the remainder perished, said the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) charity.

The rescue effort was stood down following nightfall Friday and was to resume after sunrise Saturday.

Mark Simmonds, head of science at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said the Kyle of Durness looked like a "whale trap".

"Something may have startled the group further out to sea and they panicked, came into this unusual situation and were unable to find their way out.
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Sun

US: East Coast Hit by Searing Heat, Records Broken

Lauren Keiper
Reuters
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 07:08 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Jim YoungA boy cools off at the Crown Fountain at Millennium Park in Chicago
East Coast residents sought refuge on Friday from sweltering temperatures, flocking to beaches, pools and air-conditioned malls as the mercury climbed into the triple-digits along the U.S. Eastern seaboard.

The temperature in Newark, New Jersey soared to 108 degrees, shattering an all-time high of 105 degrees recorded in 2001, according to AccuWeather.com.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor hit 107 degrees, with its heat index reaching 120 degrees.

"This is truly a spectacular heat wave, especially considering its size -- how hot it's been in many areas of the Midwest and now the East Coast," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Mike Pigott.

The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings and advisories for wide swaths of the country's mid-section and along the East Coast from Maine to Georgia.
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Snowman

Chile hit by 'white earthquake' of heavy snow

Robin Yapp
The Telegraph, UK
Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:56 UTC
Image
© ReutersA bird rests on the head of a sheep after a heavy snowfall at Balmaceda, Chile
A "white earthquake" of heavy snow has blanketed parts of Chile leading the government to declare a "disaster area" in eight municipalities where around 16,000 people were left isolated.

Temperatures plunged to as low as -23 C (-9.4F) in some rural areas as severe snowfall wreaked havoc, leaving people without food supplies, mobile phone signals or radio communications.

Miguel Mellado, governor of the province of Cautin, said that in four days from Sunday to Wednesday the area had seen "four months worth of snowfall."

In the town of Lonquimay, around 350 miles south of the capital Santiago, more than 6,500 people were trapped in their homes after snow piled up to 2.3 metres (7ft 6ins), while in surrounding rural areas it was reported to have reached 9ft.

According to the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, the sub-zero temperatures froze pipes leaving many residents without water while even fuel in car's petrol tanks had become frozen.

Sebastian Pinera, the Chilean President, was due to visit the affected region on Friday to see the extent of the problems and the emergency aid efforts for himself.
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Attention

US, Louisiana: Huge Sinkhole Swallows Metairie Road


WDSU
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 03:32 UTC
Image
Crews Hustle To Fix Busy Street

An open joint in a sewer pipe is to blame for the formation of a huge sinkhole in Jefferson Parish.

The opening in the ground formed on Friday, when the dirt beneath the asphalt shifted and left a void beneath the surface of the street near the intersection of Clearview Parkway and West Napoleon.

Crews spent the afternoon filling in the giant hole and traffic was expected to return to normal by Friday evening.
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