Earth ChangesS


Evil Rays

Arctic temperature headed below freezing

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That
Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:27 UTC
There's a couple of indicators that at least for Arctic temperature, the numbers are headed south. First the weather plot from the drifting buoy that is connected with NOAA's North Pole Cam:
Artic temp graph 08-2009
© unknown

After some very brief excursions above freezing, it is now averaging below freezing. See the raw weather data here. The temperatures from the buoy have been hitting -2°C regularly the past nineteen days.

Another indication is the north pole cam itself.
NOrth Pole Camera
© NOAA
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Phoenix

US: California firefighters battle wilderness blazes

Robert Jablon
Associated Press
Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:31 UTC
Los Angeles - California firefighters working in withering heat battled wildfires Thursday in rugged mountains above the foothill suburbs of Los Angeles, in the central coast region and on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park.

Weather plagued fire crews as temperatures in some areas rose toward triple digits and humidity levels headed downward. For a second day, the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning of extreme fire conditions for many of Califonia's central and southern mountain ranges.
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Alarm Clock

Pacific Ocean garbage patch worries researchers

Michelle Rindells
Associated Press
Fri, 28 Aug 2009 03:13 UTC
Los Angeles - A tawny stuffed puppy bobs in cold sea water, his four stiff legs tangled in the green net of some nameless fisherman.

It's one of the bigger pieces of trash in a sprawling mass of garbage-littered water, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where most of the plastic looks like snowy confetti against the deep blue of the north Pacific Ocean.
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Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: Wellington rocked by two earthquakes


TVNZ
Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:38 UTC
Wellingtonians had a shaky night's sleep as two earthquakes rocked the city in the early hours of the morning. The quake, which measured 5.2 on the Richter scale, was centred 20 kilometres south of Wellington at a depth of 30 kilometres. It struck at 2.10am Friday.

Some residents say it is the biggest earthquake they have felt in 35 years. A second quake followed at 3.52am in the same area and measured 4.3.

Police were inundated by 111 calls from people wanting more information on the quake but had no reports of damage, a central police communications spokesman said.

However some residents have reported cracks in ceilings. GNS Science duty seismologist Ken Gledhill says the first earthquake was felt from the Kapiti Coast to the top of the South Island.

More than 100 reports of shaking were received by the GeoNet website within 25 minutes of the earthquake.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Six earthquakes hit Oklahoma today

Brian Sargent
NewsOK
Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:44 UTC
Six earthquakes struck Oklahoma today, including five in Jones. Magnitudes of the quakes in Jones ranged from 2.5 to 2.7 on the Richter scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. All five epicenters were near the intersection of Main Street and SW 3. They were reported at 7:58 a.m., 10:17 a.m., 10:31 a.m., 12:13 p.m. and 1:32 p.m.

Today's strongest quake measured 3.4 on the Richter scale. It was reported at 3:22 a.m. in Seminole County about 15 miles northeast of Ada.

There were no reports of damage, said Pontotoc County Emergency Manager Chad Letellier, whose office is in Ada. More than 30 people reported feeling the quake, he said.
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Cow

UK: Farmers issue warning after fatal cow attacks

Alexander Monro
Reuters
Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:30 UTC
The deaths of no fewer than four people after being trampled by cows in the past two months has prompted Britain's main farming union to issue a warning about the dangers of provoking the normally docile animals.

Cows can become aggressive and charge, especially when calves are present and walkers are accompanied by dogs, said the National Farmers Union (NFU).

The union and the Ramblers' Association both advise that walkers release dogs from their leads when passing through a field of cows.
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Bizarro Earth

Canadian crops off

Ian Elliott
Feedstuffs
Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:57 UTC
With farmers stung by a terrible growing season, Canada will produce less grain and oilseeds, Statistics Canada says in its new estimate of field crops released in Ottawa last Friday.

Crops will be off for almost all crops, the federal agency reports in first estimate for this summer's crop. Spring wheat production at 16.1 million metric tons (mmt) will be down more than 12% from last year. The durum harvest is expected to be off more than 18% at around 4.5 mmt.

Feed grains like corn and barley will also be down from last year at 9.4 mmt (-10.9%) and 8.9 mmt (-24%) respectively.

Canadian farmers will also take in a smaller oilseed crop, although increased soybean output will reduce the drop from last year. The canola crop at 9.5 mmt will be down 24.5%. Soybean output at more than 3.4 mmt is up 4.4%.

"In the West, late germination caused by unfavorable conditions this spring has held back progress by about two weeks compared with normal," Statistics Canada says. "Yields will drop for all major crops compared with 2008. In the drought-stricken areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta, higher than normal abandonment was also shown to be a factor in the loss of production."

"In Ontario and Quebec, excessive moisture and cool growing conditions held back growing progress."

The report summarizes results of a survey of 14,600 farmers undertaken by the government agency between July 27 and August 4.
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Bell

Guatemala at food shortage risk after drought


People's Daily Online
Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:51 UTC
Guatemala is at risk of a food shortage because a drought has reduced more than 60 percent of the production of corns and beans in five key provinces, the Food Security Ministry said on Monday.

According to news reaching here, the ministry said the worst hit provinces are Zacapa, Chiquimula, Jalapa, Jutiapa and El Progreso. In El Progreso, 90 percent of the bean crops that farmers planted have been lost.

Around 4,000 settlements across those provinces will suffer food shortages, a figure which represents around 80 percent of the population there.

State-run welfare body the Social Cohesion Council said it is already financially supporting 136 towns at the highest risk.

In May, the government approved a plan worth 273 million quetzals (around 33 million U.S. dollars) to cover such emergencies.
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Cow

Canada: Alberta ranchers forced to sell herds


CBC News
Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:45 UTC
Alberta cattle drought
© CBCMany Alberta ranchers are being forced to sell cattle because drought and hail have decimated pastures and sent the price of hay spiking.

Many ranchers across Alberta are being forced to sell off part of their herds because they can't afford to feed them.

The summer drought has more than doubled the price of hay and a hail storm earlier this month damaged what was left of many farmers' pastures.

Loretta Blain and her husband, who have ranched near Olds for 40 years, have just had to sell most of their cattle.

"This year, I have talked to so many people who are in the same position as us that are having to sell their cows," Blain said. "I don't know where there are going to be cows had in this country pretty soon."

Many cattle producers face the same situation. They've had a series of difficulties over the last seven years: a drought, export problems with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a huge jump in the price of fuel and this summer's drought and hail.
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Ambulance

U.S. Corn, Soybean Crops Stunted by Unusual Weather

Jeff Wilson
Bloomberg
Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:12 UTC
Corn and soybean crops in the U.S., the world's largest grower, may be smaller than the government predicted after planting delays and an unusual dry spell, said Jerry Gidel at North American Risk Management Services Inc.

Parts of the Midwest, the main growing region, received less than 50 percent of normal rainfall in the past 30 days, according to the High Plains Regional Climate Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. Corn plants that farmers will begin harvesting next month are growing at about half the five-year average, and the rate of pod-filling by soybeans is 17 percentage points below normal, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

Corn prices plunged 43 percent in the past year partly because the USDA predicted the second-largest crop ever, and soybeans are down 23 percent on the government's forecast for record production of the oilseed. Analysts, traders, farmers and processors who start the annual seven-state Professional Farmers of America Midwest Crop Tour today probably will find fields are likely to produce less than expected, Gidel said.
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