Earth ChangesS


Fish

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

Amina Khan
Los Angeles Times
Mon, 17 May 2010 15:32 UTC
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.
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.0 - Northern Peru


US Geological Survey
Wed, 19 May 2010 01:23 UTC
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:
5.069°S, 77.559°W

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
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Arrow Up

EPA Will Limit Pesticides Near Salmon Streams

Jeff Barnard
Associated Press
Tue, 18 May 2010 18:47 UTC
Image
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.
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Alarm Clock

Tarballs in Florida stoke fears of oil slick spread

Michael Haskins
Reuters
Tue, 18 May 2010 17:24 UTC
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.
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Blackbox

Mysterious ball lightning may be a hallucination

Kate McAlpine
New Scientist
Tue, 18 May 2010 14:08 UTC
Image
© 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.
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Bizarro Earth

Why deep-water oil spills do their damage deep down

Phil McKenna
New Scientist
Tue, 18 May 2010 14:04 UTC
Image
© 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.
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Bizarro Earth

Which U.S. Volcanoes Are Most Dangerous Right Now?

Remy Melina
Live Science
Tue, 18 May 2010 13:44 UTC
Image
© USGS/HVOLava bursts 450 meters high in September 1984. Hawaii's Kilauea volcano, on the Big Island, has had dozens of eruptions over the past 18 years during a streak of activity.
There are 65 volcanoes in the United States and its territories that scientists consider active, including Mount St. Helens. Of those volcanoes, 12 are on alert, which means they are on heightened watch for eruptive activity, and two are erupting right now or expected to erupt shortly.

Volcanic activity is constantly monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey, which is responsible for alerting the population and airlines of potential volcanic activities and issuing a warning if there is an impending volcanic eruption, said USGS seismologist Seth Moran.

"For a remote volcano, airlines need to know that a volcano might erupt so they are prepared to change their route to avoid the ash," USGS Volcano Hazards Program coordinator John Eichelberger told Life's Little Mysteries.

For a volcano near population centers, people may need to take precautions, such as having dust masks or staying out of a danger zone, or in extreme cases they may need to evacuate, Eichelberger said.
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Igloo

Geologist Declares 'global warming is over' - Warns U.S. Climate Conference of 'Looming Threat of Global Cooling'

Marc Morano
Prison Planet
Mon, 17 May 2010 23:07 UTC
Chicago - A prominent U.S. geologist is urging the world to forget about global warming because global cooling has already begun.

Geologist Dr. Don Easterbrook's warning came in the form of a new scientific paper he presented to the 4th International Conference on Climate Change in Chicago on May 16, 2010. Dr. Easterbrook is an Emeritus Professor at Western Washington University who has authored eight books and 150 journal publications. Easterbrook's full resume is here.

Dr. Easterbrook joins many other scientists, peer-reviewed research and scientific societies warning of a coming global cooling. Easterbrook is presenting his findings alongside other man-made global warming skeptics at the three day conference in Chicago.
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Igloo

New Ice Age 'to begin in 2014'

Jerome R. Corsi
World Net Daily
Mon, 17 May 2010 20:42 UTC
Habibullo
© World Net DailyHabibullo Abdussamatov
Chicago - A new "Little Ice Age" could begin in just four years, predicted Habibullo Abdussamatov, the head of space research at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia.

Abdussamatov was speaking yesterday at the Heartland Institute's Fourth International Conference on Climate Change in Chicago, which began Sunday and ends today.

The Little Ice Age, which occurred after an era known in scientific circles as the Medieval Warm Period, is typically defined as a period of about 200 years, beginning around 1650 and extending through 1850.
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Bad Guys

Less Toxic Dispersants Lose Out in BP Oil Spill Cleanup

Paul Quinlan
Greenwire
Thu, 13 May 2010 21:33 UTC
BP PLC continues to stockpile and deploy oil-dispersing chemicals manufactured by a company with which it shares close ties, even though other U.S. EPA-approved alternatives have been shown to be far less toxic and, in some cases, nearly twice as effective.

After the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and a deepwater well began gushing crude in the Gulf of Mexico three weeks ago, BP quickly marshaled a third of the world's available supply of dispersants, chemicals that break surface oil slicks into microscopic droplets that can sink into the sea.

But the benefits of keeping some oil out of beaches and wetlands carry uncertain costs. Scientists warn that the dispersed oil, as well as the dispersants themselves, might cause long-term harm to marine life
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