Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Eight injured as German tornado hits North Sea island


BBC News
Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:53 UTC
Image
© AFPThe storm came amid a heatwave in Germany
At least eight people have been injured after a tornado struck a German island in the North Sea.

The tornado hit a campsite with about 100 people on the island of Duene, off the coast of the larger island Heligoland, at 1315 GMT.

Storms have also hit other parts of the country amid a heatwave in Germany, with temperatures reaching 40C.
Image
Heligoland, just off the northern German coast

Two people were seriously injured, and at least six people were less badly hurt, reports say.

The tornado destroyed the campsite and knocked over light aircraft at a nearby airfield, according to the DPA news agency.

Eyewitnesses described a "black wall" that formed and then dissipated, the news agency said.

Several people were injured by flying deckchairs, the ZDF television network reported.

Heligoland itself was undamaged by the storm.
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Better Earth

The Antarctic Ice Sheet is Growing Thicker

Robert Holmes
IceAgeNow.com
Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:50 UTC
These two photos, taken in the late 1980s, show that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is growing thicker. If you or someone you know has seen these towers - or actually worked on them - I'd love to hear from you.
Image
© Robert HolmesTransmission Towers Buried in Ice Sheet.

In the mid 1960s, ITT built a power transmission line in Antarctica. The transmission towers stood 115 feet tall. As you can see in these photos, all but the top 30 feet of the towers are now buried in ice. And the crane used to build the towers will soon be totally covered by ice. (By the way. If you know what kind of crane this is, or how tall it is, please let me know.)
Image
© UnknownConstruction Crane Buried in Ice Sheet

Not only are the power transmission towers being buried, so are the Antarctic research stations themselves. The old Byrd Station has been shut down because it is buried beneath 40 to 50 feet of ice and snow and is slowly being crushed.

The old South Pole station is also buried beneath the ice. So is the old Siple station. The current South Pole station is also slowly being buried. A new station is now being built on top of the ice to replace it.

Comment: Here's a bit more information on the Antarctic Ice: Antarctic sea ice peaks at third highest in the satellite record

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Info

Stargazers In Awe As Total Eclipse Arcs Across Pacific

Martin Bernetti
Sydney Morning Herald
Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:09 UTC
Eclipse_1
© AFPThe sun is seen partially covered by the moon on Easter Island, 3700 km off the Chilean coast in the Pacific Ocean.
A total solar eclipse drew an 11,000-kilometer (6,800-mile) arc over the Pacific, plunging remote isles into darkness in a heavenly display climaxing on mysterious Easter Island.

The skies grew black in the middle of the day Sunday as the Moon slipped in front of the Sun and aligned with the Earth, blotting out the sunshine that just moments earlier had swathed the island's silent, ancient stone guardians.

Applause erupted from thousands of stargazers who began gathering days ago on this remote Chilean outpost for the rare four-minute, 41-second eclipse.

"It was like being in the stadium at night with artificial light. It was like being in a dark room with a 10-watt bulb," awe-struck local official Francisco Haoa told AFP.

"It started with a shadow. The skies were perfectly blue, with lots of wind that chased away the clouds. Everyone applauded.

"We saw a luminous object near here and people started saying they were sure it was a UFO."

In Tahiti, where the solar eclipse began its trek, the effect was so stunning that crowds of football-mad Polynesians turned away from the World Cup final on their television screens to look to the skies instead.
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.2 - Antofagasta, Chile


USGS
Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:56 UTC
Antofagasta Quake_120710
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Monday, July 12, 2010 at 00:11:18 UTC

Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 08:11:18 PM at epicenter

Location:
22.255°S, 68.205°W

Depth:
91.3 km (56.7 miles)

Region:
ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE

Distances:
80 km (50 miles) ENE of Calama, Antofagasta, Chile

205 km (130 miles) E of Tocopilla, Antofagasta, Chile

245 km (150 miles) SW of Uyuni, Bolivia

1260 km (780 miles) NNE of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile
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Monkey Wrench

Gulf of Mexico has many deepwater wells

Randy Lee Loftis
The Columbus Dispatch
Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:35 UTC
Mars platform
© Chang W. Lee/The New York TimesRoyal Dutch Shell's Mars platform operates in 2,940 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 5,000 feet of water between the Gulf of Mexico's surface and the Deepwater Horizon blowout has kept the oil and natural gas flowing.

Each time BP has tried to cap its runaway well, the company has warned that no one has ever tried it at such a depth.

But elsewhere in the Gulf, companies have been drilling in far deeper water - and making the same environmental and safety promises that BP made.

The BP disaster is calling attention to unique engineering challenges and environmental risks associated with seeking oil and gas at great depths. Equipment designed to withstand harsh conditions deep underwater failed, making some engineers discount assurances that crises could be addressed at far greater depths.
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Igloo

Info Commissioner Finds Saintly CRU Crew Guilty

Andrew Orlowski
The Register
Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:38 UTC
Climategate row rumbles on

Climatic Research Unit director Phil Jones was being whisked back to his desk at the University of East Anglia by the University's Russell enquiry yesterday.

But with exquisite timing, the Information Commissioner's office chose the same day to confirm that CRU had twice broken the Freedom of Information regulations - once by ignoring the request, and twice by refusing the actual data. The breaches carry a civil penalty.

More is to come, as this was one of four complaints by David Holland under consideration by the ICO, which adjudicates on both FOI requests and EIRs, or Environmental Information Regulations. Other bodies include the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Met Office.
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Hourglass

Gulf Oil Spill: Cap Removed From Gushing Well, Oil Flows Freely

Tom Breen
Huffington Post
Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:22 UTC
oil cap
In this image taken from video provided by BP PLC, the arm of a remotely operated vehicle works at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site in the Gulf of Mexico, Saturday, July 10, 2010. (AP)

New Orleans, Louisiana - Robotic submarines removed the cap from the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, beginning a period of at least two days when oil will flow freely into the sea.

It's the first step in placing a tighter dome that is supposed to funnel more oil to collection ships on the surface a mile above. If all goes according to plan, the tandem of the tighter cap and the surface ships could keep all the oil from polluting the fragile Gulf as soon as Monday.

BP spokesman Mark Proegler said the old cap was removed at 12:37 p.m. CDT on Saturday.

"Over the next four to seven days, depending on how things go, we should get that sealing cap on. That's our plan," said Kent Wells, a BP senior vice president.
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.2 - South of The Mariana Islands


USGS
Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:07 UTC
Earthquake Mariana Islds_100710
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 11:43:32 UTC

Saturday, July 10, 2010 at 09:43:32 PM at epicenter

Location:
11.127°N, 146.050°E

Depth:
10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

Region:
SOUTH OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS

Distances:
295 km (185 miles) SSE of HAGATNA, Guam

345 km (215 miles) SSE of Rota, Northern Mariana Islands

450 km (280 miles) S of SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands
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Fish

Fish Found Walking in Gulf Spill

Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News
Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:19 UTC
walking fish
© Discovery News
Two new species of pancake batfish, which walk using their arm-like fins, have been found at the site of the Gulf oil spill, according to a study published in the Journal of Fish Biology.

Both fish live in waters either partially or fully encompassed by the Deepwater Horizon spill.

"One of the fishes that we describe is completely restricted to the oil spill area," says John Sparks, curator of Ichthyology at the AMNH. "If we are still finding new species of fishes in the Gulf, imagine how much diversity -- especially microdiversity -- is out there that we do not know about."
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Telescope

Noctilucent Clouds as far south as France


Space Weather
Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:58 UTC
Last night, sky watchers in Europe witnessed the finest display of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) so far this year. Electric-blue tendrils spread as far south as France:
Image
© Alexandre Croisier

"I could see the NLCs from my window," says photographer Alexandre Croisier of Brittany, France. "So I rushed down to the beach to take this picture--a 6 second exposure with my Canon 350D."

In England, the same display stretched from horizon to horizon. "There was quite a lot of detail visible, including swirls and tiger stripes," reports Mark Jones of Leamington Spa, UK. Even city lights did not overwhelm the NLCs. "I had no trouble seeing them from southwest London," says onlooker Maurice Gavin.
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