Earth ChangesS

Bizarro Earth

Aqua satellite sees sunglint on Gulf oil slick

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© NASA Goddard/ MODIS Rapid Response TeamAt 3 p.m. EDT on May 18, NASA's Aqua satellite swept over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from its vantage point in space and the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer instrument captured sunglints in a visible image of the spill.
At 3 p.m. EDT on May 18, NASA's Aqua satellite swept over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill from its vantage point in space and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument captured sunglints in a visible image of the spill.

The visible image showed three bright areas of sunglint within the area of the gray-beige colored spill. Sunglint is a mirror-like reflection of the sun off the water's surface. In calm waters, the rounded image of the sun would be seen in a satellite image. However, the waves in the Gulf blurred the reflection and created an appearance of three bright areas in a line on the ocean's surface.

According to the May 18 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) web update of the Deepwater Horizon incident, "satellite imagery on May 17 indicated that the main bulk of the oil is dozens of miles away from the Loop Current, but that a tendril of light oil has been transported down close to the Loop Current."

Bizarro Earth

Aqua Sees Second Tropical Storm In 2 Days Form Near Horn Of Africa

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© NASA/JPL/Ed OlsenNASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm 2A at 09:41 UTC (5:41 a.m. EDT) just as the storm was strengthening to tropical storm status. The visible image clearly shows higher thunderstorms around the center.
The Northern Indian Ocean cyclone season is off to a roaring start, as the second tropical storm formed within a day of the first one. NASA's Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Storm 02A today, May 19 and captured infrared, microwave and visible images of the storm.

At 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) on May 19, Tropical Storm 02A had maximum sustained winds near 39 mph, with higher gusts. It was located in the Arabian Sea (part of the Northern Indian Ocean) about 135 miles east-southeast of Cape Guardafui, Somalia. That's near 11.3 North and 53.5 East. It was moving west-northwest near 6 mph (5 knots).

NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm 2A at 09:41 UTC (5:41 a.m. EDT) just as the storm was strengthening to tropical storm status. The visible image clearly shows higher thunderstorms around the center, and the western side of the storm over land.

Bizarro Earth

46 Killed in Volcano Landslide in Congo

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© ReutersNyiragongo Volcano
A landslide on the slopes of Nyiragongo Volcano in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has killed at least 46 people and washed away more than 200 houses.

The landslide started after heavy rains caused an overflow of volcanic rivers at Kibumba in North Kivu province, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

United Nations peacekeepers are caring for the victims until other humanitarian organizations take over, UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC) spokesman Madnodje Mounobai told the UN News Center on Wednesday.

North Kivu province has been the scene of interminable cycles of violence during over 10 years of war in which the Congolese army has battled various armed groups competing for control of mineral resources.

The war in the eastern Congo has dragged on since 1998 and left over 5.4 million people dead.

Cloud Lightning

Videos: Oklahoma City Monster Hail Storm

Beatlesfanxxl - This was the most insane hail storm or storm in general I have ever seen! It was may 16th 2010. Sorry about all of the 'oh my Gods'. I was just in shock.


Aesnow - Oklahoma City Hail Storm on May 16, 2010. Video shot by Aaron Snow. Our Land Rover LR3 and Jeep Grand Cherokee were destroyed. The roof and siding and landscaping were completely beat up by baseball size hail.


Fish

Ancient Mass Extinction of Fish May Have Paved Way for Modern Species

A report looks at a 360-million-year-old gap in the fossil record and finds that marine vertebrates were recovering from an extinction event on par with the one that killed the dinosaurs. What happened is unclear.

Modern-day lizards, snakes, frogs and mammals - including us - may owe their existence to a mass extinction of ancient fish 360 million years ago that left the oceans relatively barren, providing room for marginal species that were our ancestors to thrive and diversify, paleontologists said Monday.

The report, by University of Chicago researchers, focused on events at the end of what is commonly called the Age of Fishes, which lasted from 416 million years ago to 359 million years ago. That age was followed by a 15-million-year period of relative silence in the fossil record.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.0 - Northern Peru

Peru Earthquake_190510
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 04:15:42 UTC

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 11:15:42 PM at epicenter

Location:
5.069ยฐS, 77.559ยฐW

Depth:
125.6 km (78.0 miles)

Distances:
125 km (80 miles) NNW of Moyobamba, Peru

130 km (80 miles) NNE of Chachapoyas, Peru

545 km (340 miles) S of QUITO, Ecuador

775 km (480 miles) N of LIMA, Peru

Arrow Up

EPA Will Limit Pesticides Near Salmon Streams

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Grants Pass, Oregon - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it will impose restrictions on spraying three agricultural pesticides to keep them out of salmon streams after manufacturers refused to adopt the limits voluntarily.

EPA will develop new rules for applying the chemicals diazinon, malathion and chlorpyrifos that will include no-spray zones along streams and restrictions on spraying depending on weather conditions, EPA spokesman Dale Kemery said in an e-mail. There will also be requirements to report dead fish.

Even at very low levels, the chemicals have been found by federal biologists to interfere with salmon's sense of smell, making it harder for them to find food, avoid predators and return to native waters to spawn.

Alarm Clock

Tarballs in Florida stoke fears of oil slick spread

A member of the Louisiana State Wildlife Response Team cleanses a pelican of oil at the Clean Gulf Associates Mobile Wildlife Rehabilitation Station
A member of the Louisiana State Wildlife Response Team cleanses a pelican of oil at the Clean Gulf Associates Mobile Wildlife Rehabilitation Station

Key West - Fears that ocean currents were spreading oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill flared on Tuesday after tar balls turned up in Florida, raising pressure on energy giant BP to capture more of the leaking crude.

In Washington lawmakers pushed forward with efforts to raise companies' liability cap for oil accidents and the Obama administration said offshore drilling was critical to meet U.S. energy needs despite the risks made evident by the spill.

Blackbox

Mysterious ball lightning may be a hallucination

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© Scott Stulberg/CorbisThe fluctuating magnetic fields in lightning strikes may induce hallucinations of glowing orbs called ball lightning
Seen something pale and round floating in the midst of a thunderstorm? If it lasted for a few seconds or less, it might be all in your head. Fluctuating magnetic fields, created by a nearby lightning bolt, could trick the brain into "seeing" round glowing objects, explaining at least some observations of mysterious 'ball lightning'.

The phenomenon is often described as a hovering orb of light - smaller than a beach ball - that lasts for a few seconds or minutes. It is thought to occur when lightning strikes the ground, but its exact cause is not clear.

Now it seems the glowing blobs may be a hallucination. Moving charges, in lightning strikes or in wire coiled around a patient's head, generate magnetic fields. A fluctuating magnetic field induces an electric field that, if powerful enough, can make neurons fire in the visual cortex. Pale ovals, bubbles, lines, or patches are sometimes observed by patients who undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

During a lightning storm, the initial stroke towards Earth is so short that we wouldn't have time to react to it - two to three millionths of a second. After it hits the ground, a return stroke, which carries some of the charge back into the sky with a thunder-causing shockwave, lasts around 0.2 milliseconds - very near the shortest duration of the clinical stimulation.

Bizarro Earth

Why deep-water oil spills do their damage deep down

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© Deepwater Horizon ResponseOil and gas stream from the riser of the Deepwater Horizon well
Surface slicks may account for as little as 2 per cent of the oil now spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a study of a controlled deep-water spill conducted in 2000 by the US Minerals Management Service and a consortium of oil companies, including BP.

The study challenges the estimate by federal officials, based on the amount of oil on the sea surface, that around 5000 barrels (800 cubic metres) of oil per day are pouring into the sea from the site where the BP-operated drilling rig Deepwater Horizon was destroyed by fire last month. It also adds weight to reports of massive underwater oil plumes that government officials are now downplaying.

In June 2000, Project Deep Spill released hydrocarbons into the sea off the coast of Norway at a depth of about 800 metres. The tests included releases of 60 cubic metres of crude oil and 60 cubic metres of diesel fuel over separate 1-hour periods.

Researchers were unable to calculate the amount of crude oil that surfaced because it emulsifies or mixes with water. They did, however, determine that only between 2 and 28 per cent of the diesel fuel that was released rose to the surface. The average was 8.7 per cent.