Earth ChangesS


Attention

Quakes could rupture glacial lakes


BBC News
Sun, 15 May 2011 23:27 UTC
Image
© AFPMany lakes are said to be growing because of melting glaciers
Glacial lakes in the Himalayas could pose a major hazard to population centers if they are ruptured by earthquakes, scientists say.

The true risk to settlements and infrastructure downstream in the Hindu-Kush-Himalayas region is difficult to assess.

But the Himalayan region is dotted with glacial lakes and is in a seismically active zone.

Experts say that, on the basis of past records, a large quake in the region is overdue.

Many glacial lakes are said to be growing - some of them alarmingly - because of melting glaciers.

Some are at risk of rupturing, which would flood areas downstream.

There have been at least 35 glacial lake outburst events in Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and China during the last century, according to the United Nations Environment Program (Unep).
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Sun

North India endures another hot day


IBN Live
Tue, 17 May 2011 08:21 UTC
New Delhi, Torrid weather continued to bake North Indian plains as mercury soared over 46 deg C in parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, while it remained above 40 deg C in the national capital. There was no respite to Delhittes as sultry condition persisted with the city recording a maximum of 41.4 deg, two notches above normal.

The humidity oscillated between 25 per cent and 56 per cent, the MeT department said. The maximum soared to the season's highest on May 12 when it touched 43.1 deg C. In the deserts of Rajasthan the condition was worse as the liquid silver climbed as high as 46.7 deg C in Churu, 46 deg C in Jhalawar and 45.4 deg C in Sriganganagar.
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Info

Philippines: 144 quakes at Bulusan in last 24 hours


GMA News
Tue, 17 May 2011 08:17 UTC
Alert level 1 remains at Bulusan Volcano in Sorsogon after state volcanologists noted a significant rise in seismic activity in the area, recording 144 volcanic quakes there in the last 24 hours.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said 80 of these quakes were recorded in a seven-hour period on Monday, from 5:00 a.m. to noon.
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People

Japan: Aso volcano alert level raised to 2


Japan Times
Tue, 17 May 2011 07:55 UTC
Image
© FileMount Obamidake and Mount Yari from Mount Naka
Kumamoto - The Meteorological Agency on Monday raised the volcanic alert level for Mount Aso from 1 to 2, prompting local authorities in Kumamoto Prefecture to ban entry to areas within 1 km of the crater of Mount Naka, one of five peaks in the active volcano's central cone group.

The alert includes a warning for rocks ejected from Mount Naka in the off-limits areas.

The move came after the mountain belched a small amount of volcanic ash Friday and experienced a small eruption Sunday.
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Info

Eastern Turkey sees snow as other regions enjoy sun


Today's Zaman
Tue, 17 May 2011 08:12 UTC
A blanket of snow has covered the eastern province of Ardahan in mid-May as temperatures continue to rise in the rest of the country.

Heavy rainfall turned into snow late Sunday through Monday morning. Residents of the province were surprised to wake up to a snowy day in the middle of May, a time when many expect spring to arrive. The provincial capital saw five centimeters of snowfall and registered a low of zero degrees Celsius.
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Fish

Kazakh Ecologists Investigate Caspian Seal Deaths


Radio Free Europe
Mon, 09 May 2011 07:33 UTC
Image
© CourtesyA dead seal and pup on the Caspian shore in the Mangystau region on May 3.
Mangystaum, Kazakhstan -- Some 12-15 dead seals have washed up over the past week on the western Kazakh shore of the Caspian Sea, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Erik Utebaliev, a local resident, told RFE/RL he found 10-12 dead Caspian seals of all ages, from full-grown adults to pups, on May 3 and three more on May 8.

Kirill Osin, director of the nongovernmental organization EKO Mangistau, told RFE/RL he and his colleagues planned to inspect the seals on May 10 and take tissue samples for analysis to try to determine whether they were poisoned.

He said he had only seen photos of the dead animals and it was too early to speculate about the cause of death.

Osin recalled that the local authorities attributed a mass death of seals in the region two years ago to a virus and inclement weather.

He rejected that conclusion, noting that dead seals are found only in the vicinity of intensive exploitation of offshore oil deposits.
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Phoenix

Canada: Alberta Town Burns, Wildfires Shut Oil Facilities

Scott Haggett & Jeffrey Jones
Reuters
Mon, 16 May 2011 16:55 UTC
Image
© Agence France-PresseA forest fire is seen in California 2009. A wildfire engulfed the town of Slave Lake in western Canada, forcing the evacuation of its 7,000 residents at the start of the forest fire season, authorities said Monday
Wildfires whipped by high winds destroyed more than a third of a sizable town in northern Alberta and forced oil companies in Canada's largest energy-producing province to shut off tens of thousands of barrels of output on Monday.

Dozens of forest fires flared up across the province during a dry, gusty weekend, forcing the evacuation of several communities, including Slave Lake, a town of 10,000 people in northern Alberta known as a center for oil, gas and forestry.

Numerous homes and some public buildings had been razed in Slave Lake, Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee said.

She spoke to reporters from a command center in the town, about 200 km (125 miles) northwest of the provincial capital, Edmonton. It was deserted save for emergency personnel.

"You feel the intense heat, the sharp smell of smoke ... you see some areas still smoking and our fire-fighting crews are trying to contain any spot fires," Pillay-Kinnee said.

Two blazes, driven by winds gusting to 100 km per hour (60 miles per hour), converged on Slave Lake on Sunday. Complicating the situation on Monday were winds up to 50 km per hour (30 mph) in some regions as well as dry conditions.
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Bizarro Earth

Austria - Tornado ravages Müllendorf

Barbara Haas
oe24.at
Mon, 16 May 2011 23:58 UTC
Austria Tornado 1
© FF Müllendorf
An 80 meter wide tornado front leaves shambles near Eisenstadt.

Karl Tinhof is left in disbelief about having actually experienced this scene. "It was like a bomb attack. Trees simply snapped off, the bricks of houses were ripped off and dashing like bullets into the walls of other houses, terrible." The operations manager of the fire department of Müllendorf says it's a miracle that nobody died.

Since Saturday 3:28 pm the tranquil location in the district of Eisenstadt-Umgebung has been in shock. An 80 meter wide tornado swept over houses and gardens, unroofed dozens of houses, uprooted trees, and in three of the houses the trusses came off. A weather phenomenon that's in fact only known from Hollywood Blockbusters such as Twister has become an eerie reality.
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Life Preserver

US: Five Injured when Whale Watch Boat hit by Rogue Wave off Provincetown

Kevin Mullaney
Wicked Local Provincetown
Mon, 16 May 2011 17:13 UTC
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© Wicked Local photo by Vincent GuadaznoOne of five passengers being carried off the Whale Watcher, a whale watch boat based in Hyannis that got hit by a rogue wave Monday morning off Provincetown.
A whale watch boat carrying passengers out of Hyannis was hit by a rogue wave Monday morning causing minor injuries to five students from Barnstable High School.

The Coast Guard said in a release the crew of the 130-foot Whale Watcher notified Coast Guard Station Provincetown at 10:23 a.m., that five high school students suffered injuries after a five to seven foot wave struck the bow of the vessel during a whale watching tour about five miles north of Race Point.
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Evil Rays

Thousands flee town on fire in Canada


MSNBC
Mon, 16 May 2011 12:10 UTC
Slave lake, Alberta - A wildfire blazing through a northern Canadian town forced the evacuation of nearly 7,000 people, with many fleeing with just a few belongings before buildings were consumed - including the town hall and the main shopping mall.

Nearly a third of the buildings in Slave Lake were destroyed Sunday after strong winds suddenly turned the flames towards the town in Alberta Province, police said.

All residents were ordered to leave Sunday afternoon, but evacuation proved difficult as smoke and fast-moving flames blocked some of the highways. By Monday, however, 90 percent of residents were said to have fled.

"It was certainly a surreal experience seeing the flames against the night sky," Geoffrey Driscoll was quoted by the Calgary Herald as saying. "We could see behind us parts of the town on fire."
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