Earth ChangesS


Ambulance

Canada: 40-car pile up in Ontario; Woman Killed Getting Out of Car to Survey Damage

Pat Hewitt & Alexandra Posadzki
Winnipeg Free Press
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 11:16 UTC
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© Tony Clement / The Canadian PressAn ambulance arrives at the scene of a multi-car pile-up on Highway 11 between Barrie and Orillia, Ont. on Friday, in this photo by Industry Minister Tony Clement.
A 40-car pile up in central Ontario claimed the life of a woman Friday after she got out of her damaged car in whiteout conditions and was struck by another vehicle, police said.

Several others were sent to hospital following the chain-reaction crash on Highway 11 that left two jack-knifed tractor trailers - one on each side of the highway - as well as several dented vehicles littered in the ditches.

Some 20 to 30 vehicles were scattered in the southbound lanes of the highway in Oro-Medonte Township between Barrie and Orillia in the aftermath of the collisions.

The crash happened just before noon when drivers were blinded by a major snow squall, police said.

The woman was killed after she got out of her vehicle to survey the damage, said provincial police Const. Peter Leon.

"She exited her vehicle and was struck by another vehicle that was also involved," said Leon.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Igloo

Deep Freeze Gripping Midwest, Aiming for Northeast

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:24 UTC
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© photos.com.There is plenty more cold coming. AccuWeather's Long Range Weather Pattern Expert Joe Bastardi said, "The period from January 20 to February 10 will bring the coldest weather since 2007 during the same period."
The coldest air of the winter so far has arrived over the northern Plains and Midwest and will cause temperatures to plummet in the Northeast in the wake of today's disruptive snowstorm.

The wave of arctic air may lead to frozen pipes in some households and eventually broken water mains in some communities.

Furnaces and heaters will be working hard in coming days, and you will get the bill for it later in the month.

Actual temperatures may do no better than the single digits for highs today in Chicago and Milwaukee.
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Question

Pole Shift: North Races, South Crawls


Modern Survival Blog
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:40 UTC
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© Modern Survival Blog
While the speed of the earth's magnetic north pole shift has drastically sped up lately to about 34 miles per year (55 km), let's look at what is happening with the south magnetic pole.

Every magnetic field has two polarities, North and South for example, and one might think that whatever is happening with one pole would be happening (in the inverse?) to it's opposite pole.

Well as it appears, the earth's magnetic south pole is not behaving similarly to it's opposite north pole. In fact, it's drift, or pole shift, is actually slowing down! Presently it's only moving 3 miles (5 km) per year, only a tenth the speed of the north!

(Pole coordinate data sourced from NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center)

Not only that, but it is interesting to note that both the north and south magnetic poles are favoring one side of the earth - the south pole is heavily favoring one side, and continues to move further away from true south.

The south magnetic pole is actually 1,800 miles (2,900 km) away from the earth's true south pole! That is a substantial offset.

The north magnetic pole is fairly near true north and is 'only' about 360 miles (580 km) away.
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Snowman

US: Quick-Hitting Snowstorm Invading New England

Kristina Pydynowski
AccuWeather
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:47 UTC
A quick-hitting snowstorm will continue to invade New England today. Despite its brevity, enough snow will fall to disrupt travel and daily routines.

The snowstorm will remain on a south to north track through New England today, moving at a rather fast pace. Any one particular area will only have to endure the snowstorm for roughly six to eight hours.




That snowy period will end during the midday hours in Boston and Providence and early this afternoon in Portland.

This afternoon and tonight is when the storm will unleash substantial and wind-whipped snow over Atlantic Canada. Rain mixing in along the coast, however, will limit snow accumulations.

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© AccuWeather.comThe harsh winds following the snowstorm are also igniting lake-effect snow downwind of the Great Lakes.
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Info

Winter Storms Converge on Atlantic Canada

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 02:12 UTC
The same snowstorm that hit New England Friday morning will affect the Maritimes and the Gulf of St. Lawrence region of Canada into Friday night. A second storm will hit Newfoundland later in the weekend.

The heaviest snow will stretch from southeastern Maine through Prince Edward Island, southeastern New Brunswick and northwestern Nova Scotia, where 15 to 25 centimeters of snow will fall from the storm.




A mix with or a change to rain will limit accumulations in southeastern Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Like many storms that visit the region, the system is strengthening. As a result, winds will kick up and can gust past 80 kph tonight, raising seas and leading to blowing snow.

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© AccuWeather.com
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Igloo

US: Forecast for the Rest of Winter Looks Rough

Heather Buchman
AccuWeather
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 01:00 UTC
For people who are sick of the cold and snow and hoping for a quick end to winter, AccuWeather.com Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi may have bad news.




More persistent cold is expected to hold strong through at least the middle of February across much of the eastern two-thirds of the country. Bastardi also expects wintry events to last into April in some areas, which would be longer than last year.

Based on what is predicted for the rest of the season, Bastardi also says that this winter could end up being the coldest for the nation as a whole since the 1980s.

Persistent Cold, Storminess to Continue from Plains to East

While cold weather is of course a part of winter, the persistent nature of colder-than-normal conditions and a lack of brief warm spells people can typically look forward to during midwinter have been unusual this season. Temperatures since Dec. 1, 2010 have averaged below normal from Boston and New York City to Chicago, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Atlanta and even Miami.

Temperatures are expected to continue averaging below normal in many of these places, from the northern and central Plains into the East, through at least the middle of February.

The biggest snowstorms in February will target areas mainly north of a line running from the Mason-Dixon Line to the Ohio River and I-40 across the Plains, according to Bastardi.

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© AccuWeather.com
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Radar

Magnetic Mayhem - Is Earth's fluctuating magnetic field responsible for recent spike in mass animal deaths?

Chantel Day
KLHU Special Report
Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:14 UTC
Chantel Day of KLHU TV presents this special report probing a possible connection between the recent mass marine and avian deaths with erratic fluctuations in the planet's magnetic field:

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Question

FDA Claims They Poisoned Birds In North Dakota


MSNBC
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:22 UTC
When the US Federal Department of Agriculture heard that an officer from the Animal Control Center was planning to send some of the dead starlings to South Dakota State University for testing, they claimed that they had killed the birds in an effort to cull the population.

Nice try

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Eye 1

Farmer wants to know what's killing his buffalo

Justin Murphy
Auburnpub.com
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:26 UTC
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© Yellowstone National Park
Dozens of buffalo on a Sempronius farm have died mysteriously over the last four months, and veterinary examinations provide no clue to what happened.

"We're going nuts down here trying to figure out what's going on," farm owner Peter Head said. "This is going to put me out of business."

Beginning in October, the buffalo have been dying off sporadically - as many as six on some days. Of the original 110 animals, 55 have died, including 17 of 23 calves and many of the older animals, Head said.

"They just stand around like they have stomach cramps," Head said of the sick buffalo. "Like something's bothering them on the inside."
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Bizarro Earth

24 Stranded New Zealand Whales Die


Time
Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:10 UTC
Beached Whales
© Department of Conservation / AFP / Getty ImagesOne of 25 pilot whales that died after beaching themselves in the sand at Spirits Bay, New Zealand.

Wellington - New Zealand conservation officials on Friday euthanized 10 pilot whales, the only survivors of a 24-strong pod that became stranded in a mangrove swamp.

The whales had been found earlier in the day trapped in the shallow water and mud in Parengarenga Harbor on North Island, with 14 already dead.

The mammals had been there for some time and the 10 survivors were in poor shape, said Department of Conservation area manager Jonathan Maxwell.

With worsening weather and a high tide more than eight hours away, "the chance of successfully refloating the whales was virtually nil," Maxwell said.

"Sadly, the current conditions were against these animals. The kindest thing was to end their suffering," he said. "If we felt there was a real chance we could have successfully rescued them, we would have."
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