Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Chile says Chaiten volcano still poses danger

Antonio de la Jara and Bianca Frigiani
Reuters
Sun, 28 Dec 2008 02:52 UTC
Chaiten volcano
© REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado File image shows members of Chilean armed forces watching the smoke rising from Chaiten volcano at Chaiten town, located some 1220 km (760 miles) south of Santiago May 4, 2008.
Santiago - Chile's government said on Friday the area surrounding the Chaiten Volcano, which erupted in May for the first time in thousands of years, was still not safe and that a decision regarding the future of the town of Chaiten would be made in coming days.

The Volcano, only six miles from the town, started spewing ash, gas and molten rock on May 2, forcing the evacuation of about 7,000 residents.

A cloud of debris that soared as high as 20 miles into the air was kept aloft by the pressure of constant eruptions for weeks, and even covered towns in neighboring Argentina with volcanic ash.

"We received the latest report from the Universidad Catolica ... and the only thing I can tell you is that the volcano is exactly as dangerous as it was before," Interior Minister Edmundo Perez-Yoma told reporters.

"We were hoping we might have better news, but unfortunately we don't."
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Better Earth

The Disturbing Sex Lives of Deep Sea Squid

Philip Bethge
der spiegel
Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:45 UTC
A Dutch biologist has extensively studied the reproductive techniques of deep-ocean squid. During sex, they are brutal and ruthless -- and sometimes clumsy.

Sex in the deep sea is a difficult proposition. The problems already begin with the partner search: How do you find someone to mate with in the pitch-black depths of the ocean? And for any creature that does manage to have a rendezvous beneath the waves, failure is simply not an option.

"Seize the moment," is how Dutch researcher Hendrik Jan Ties Hoving describes the most basic rule of undersea reproduction. "Chances are low of finding a partner a second time."
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Bizarro Earth

US: Floods could follow ice in Midwest


Associated Press
Sun, 28 Dec 2008 01:50 UTC
Chicago, Illinois - Rain and rapidly rising temperatures accompanied by thick fog threatened to cause flooding Saturday in the Midwest after days of Arctic cold, heavy snow and ice.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Magnitude 3.4 Earthquake Lancaster, Pennsylvania


WBAL
Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:32 UTC
The U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude 3.4 earthquake early Saturday, centered near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was felt as far south as Harford County in Maryland.

The quake was reported at 12:04 a.m. and lasted a few seconds. No damage was reported.

Harford County 911 officials confirm their 911 call center received "a few calls" from people in northern Harford County reporting that the ground shook around midnight.

The USGS said the quake was "widely felt" throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, from Hanover to the west to Harrisburg to the northeast.
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Cloud Lightning

Hawaii's Oahu island regains power after blackout from storm

David Briscoe
Associated Press
Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:41 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Lawrence JacksonPedestrians take pictures as traffic lights, street lights and buildings are without power along Kalakau Ave. and the rest of Honolulu, Saturday, Dec. 27, 2008, during an extensive blackout on the island. The island of Oahu lost power Friday evening in the midst of heavy rain and lightning, leaving some 800,000 residents and thousands of tourists in the dark, as well as the neighborhood where President-elect Barack Obama was vacationing.
HONOLULU - Crews gradually restored electrical service across parts of Oahu on Saturday after a power failure blacked out the island's population of about 900,000 people and thousands of tourists including vacationing President-elect Barack Obama.

Residents were urged to stay home after the lights went out during a thunderstorm Friday evening and to conserve water.

Hawaiian Electric Co. spokeswoman Jan Loose said power had been restored to about 113,000 customers as 6 a.m., mostly on the west side of the island. The utility serves a total of 295,000 homes and businesses.

She said power to neighborhoods on the eastern shore, where Obama was staying with his family, would likely not be restored until later Saturday.
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Question

Kilauea lava flow pauses for three days


UPI
Fri, 26 Dec 2008 13:36 UTC
Honolulu -- The Kilauea volcano on the big island of Hawaii took a three-day break this week from its 26-year eruption.

Scientists said that lava stopped flowing at what is known as the Thanksgiving Eve Breakout on Monday and started up again on Christmas Eve, the Honolulu Advertiser reported Friday.
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Phoenix

Montserrat volcano hurls lava, rocks, ash


Associated Press
Fri, 26 Dec 2008 11:06 UTC
San Juan, Puerto Rico - A volcano on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat has resumed its rumbling and hurled rocks and lava toward the abandoned capital.
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Bizarro Earth

Asia at risk of era of mega-disasters: report


Agence France-Press
Fri, 26 Dec 2008 03:57 UTC
Sydney - The Asia-Pacific faces an era of large-scale natural disasters which could kill up to one million people at a time, with Indonesia, the Philippines and China most at risk, according to an Australian report.

The Sydney Morning Herald cited a scientific report which found that the impact of natural events such as earthquakes and tsunamis would in coming years be amplified by rising populations and climate change.

The paper said the report, by government body Geoscience Australia, had prompted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to create a joint disaster training and research centre.

Geoscience Australia could not be reached for comment Friday.
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Alarm Clock

Earthquake strikes northern California: USGS


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 26 Dec 2008 01:47 UTC
Image
© AFP/File/Nicolas AsfouriA quake reading on a seismograph. A 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck northern California on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, revising an earlier report of a stronger quake.
A 4.5 magnitude earthquake struck northern California on Friday, the US Geological Survey said, revising an earlier report of a stronger quake.
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Igloo

Welcome to the Coldest Town on Earth

Larry Greenemeier
Scientific American
Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:46 UTC
Oymyakon, Siberia, is bracing for temps as low as minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 67.8 degrees Celsius)
SA siberia
© ©iStockphoto.comFRIGID CONDITIONS: The temperature in Oymyakon, Siberia, could plunge to match (or exceed) the record minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 68 degrees Celsius) reached in 1933.

As winter sets in, the 800 hearty denizens of the coldest town on earth are bracing for one of the most frigid blasts yet, as forecasters predict that temperatures in Oymyakon, Siberia, could plunge to the coldest ever recorded in an inhabited location. There is no disputing that the mercury slides in Alaska and even in the Midwestern U.S. in the heart of winter. But if you want cold, visit Oymyakon, which this winter is expected to reach (or perhaps exceed) its record low temperature: a bone-chilling minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 68 degrees Celsius) reached on Feb. 6, 1933. It is a record matched only by nearby Verkhoyansk, Siberia, which endured minus 90 degrees Fahrenheit on Feb. 7, 1892.
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