London: A new island is forming in the Red Sea in the Zubair archipelago resulting from a volcanic activity as lava is cooled by the surrounding seawater and solidifies.
The underwater volcano behind the formation is located on the Red Sea Rift, where the African and Arabian tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart," New Scientist reported.
On 19 December, Yemeni fishermen first spotted lava spewing 30 metres into the air, which was later confirmed by satellite observations.
Earth Changes
© AP
A lack of snow in Iowa has cities rejoicing, because they are saving big bucks when it comes to time, equipment and supplies like salt. But winter is not yet over.
A lack of snow in Iowa has cities rejoicing, because they are saving big bucks when it comes to time, equipment and supplies like salt. But winter is not yet over.
It's not in your imagination. The unusually mild temperatures across several regions of the country in the past few months are disrupting the natural cycles that define the winter landscape.
What began as elevated temperatures at the start of fall in parts of the United States have become "dramatically" warmer around the Great Lakes and New England, according to Deke Arndt, chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center. And in the Washington area, the region is on track for its fourth-warmest year on record, along with its seventh-warmest December.
That, in turn, has created conditions where plants are blooming earlier and some birds are lingering before moving south.
Beachcombers in Tofino have noticed a significant uptick in debris of Japanese origin on their shores, a sign that items swept out to sea by the tsunami in Japan may have found their way to B.C. earlier than expected.
"In or around Dec. 5th the first item or two of some consequence was found," said Tofino mayor Perry Schmunk. "Some lumber came ashore that had Japanese export stamps on it."
On Christmas Day, Schmunk and his family were walking the beaches of Schooner Bay in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve when they made what he calls an "eerie" find, each marked with Japanese writing: a toothbrush and a baby's sock.
Schmunk said he felt intuitively that these personal items might be tied to the tragedy that occurred in March 2011, when a magnitude 9 earthquake triggered a tsunami leaving an estimated 20,000 people dead.
A collapsed sewer line caused a giant sinkhole to open up in Homewood on Thursday morning.
Officials from Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said a 20-inch sewer line collapsed and caused the sinkhole on Brushton Avenue just before 3 a.m.
Loretta Cousin said the situation could have been a lot more dangerous.
"Someone could have easily driven through there," Cousin said. "That ground just sunk, and cars can't go over it."
Officials from Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority said a 20-inch sewer line collapsed and caused the sinkhole on Brushton Avenue just before 3 a.m.
Loretta Cousin said the situation could have been a lot more dangerous.
"Someone could have easily driven through there," Cousin said. "That ground just sunk, and cars can't go over it."
A broken water main may be to blame for creating a sinkhole that has put a dozen nearby homes and scores of grave sites in peril.
The reports of the sinkhole began coming in around 9 a.m. Thursday from the 300 block of N. 10th St. in Allentown.
Officials evacuated at least 15 homes in the area. The fate of those homes has yet to be determined.
Inspectors spent the afternoon evaluating their structural integrity, but won't know what's up until the size of the sinkhole is calculated.
Several of the homes have shifted because of the sinkhole, leaving cracks inside, said fire officials.
Many of the evacuees will spend the night elsewhere, worrying about what could happen.
"Three of the homes have major shifting issues that you can physically see. You can see the doors don't open, cracks in the walls and in the foundations," said Asst. Chief, Lee Laubach, Allentown Fire Dept. "So, those are the three no-go homes right now."
Gigi Wilkins spent the week watching special effects at Disney World, but on Thursday she saw something much more earth shattering.
Literally.
Her vehicle was swallowed by a sinkhole Thursday morning at a rest stop off of Interstate 4 westbound near mile marker 46. Wilkins' 2008 white Ford Escape fell into the hole and her husband's Hyundai Santa Fe was on the verge of falling into the hole located in the rear parking lot of the rest area.
The North Port couple was driving home from Orlando after spending a week
vacationing with family and seeing shows at Disney World. They were parked alongside each other with one parking space between the vehicles.
Wilkins, 53, said she heard a cracking sound as she walked out of the bathroom toward her vehicle around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. She said she started trembling as she watched the ground around her vehicle sink in.
Literally.
Her vehicle was swallowed by a sinkhole Thursday morning at a rest stop off of Interstate 4 westbound near mile marker 46. Wilkins' 2008 white Ford Escape fell into the hole and her husband's Hyundai Santa Fe was on the verge of falling into the hole located in the rear parking lot of the rest area.
The North Port couple was driving home from Orlando after spending a week
© Ernst Peters/The Ledger
DOT officials stand next to a 30 ft wide sinkhole that opened in a rest area on the west bound side of I-4 west of Old Grade Rd., near Polk City, Florida, Wednesday. Two vehicles including a Ford Escape were tempoararily stuck in the hole.
DOT officials stand next to a 30 ft wide sinkhole that opened in a rest area on the west bound side of I-4 west of Old Grade Rd., near Polk City, Florida, Wednesday. Two vehicles including a Ford Escape were tempoararily stuck in the hole.
Wilkins, 53, said she heard a cracking sound as she walked out of the bathroom toward her vehicle around 10:30 a.m. Thursday. She said she started trembling as she watched the ground around her vehicle sink in.
Customers in a Lower Valley neighborhood have running water again after broken pipe shut off service this morning. That water main break created a giant sink hole, that was big enough to swallow part of a police car.
Neighbors near the intersection of Rusk and Pecos woke up to quite the mess this morning. El Paso Water Utility crews spent the morning pouring dirt into the large sink hole that opened up during this morning's water main break. They had to shut off water to about 40 neighbors to fix it.
"That's really been hard," said April Gerome, who lives nearby. "There's been a lot of racket out here where they've been pumping water because the mud was up to the curb. You couldn't get in or out. It's really been something!"
Gerome woke up around 2:15 this morning to a strange sound coming from her front yard.
"I heard what sounded like water rushing," she said. She opened her front door and couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"To my shock there was just a river of water running though the front yard," she said.
© Reuters
Rice, groundnut and maize crops in coastal areas of two southern Indian states could be damaged by Thane
Rice, groundnut and maize crops in coastal areas of two southern Indian states could be damaged by Thane
Lashing rains and gale force winds are bearing down on India's southeastern coast, disrupting power supplies and communication lines as Cyclone Thane makes landfall near the industrial city of Chennai, officials said.
Packing wind speeds of up to 125kph, and accompanied by tidal surges of up to 1.5m, Thane hit Tamil Nadu state on Friday, killing at least eleven people and causing coastal villagers to move to relief shelters.
"Under the influence of this system, rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places and isolated extremely heavy falls would occur," the Indian Meteorological Department said.
"Gale wind speed reaching 120kph to 130kph gusting to 145kmph is likely along and off north Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry coasts during next three hours and then decrease gradually."
A volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Islands sent up an ash cloud today that prompted scientists to increase the alert level for commercial aircraft traffic.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said satellite images at 4:02 a.m. Alaska time showed Cleveland Volcano had spewed ash 15,000 feet into the air in a cloud that moved east-southeast. U.S. Geological Survey scientist-in-charge John Power called it a small explosion.
"It's not expected to cause a disruption to big international air carriers," he said.
However, it was significant enough to raise the alert level from yellow, representing elevated unrest, to orange, representing an increased potential of eruption, or an eruption under way with minor ash emissions or no emissions.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory said satellite images at 4:02 a.m. Alaska time showed Cleveland Volcano had spewed ash 15,000 feet into the air in a cloud that moved east-southeast. U.S. Geological Survey scientist-in-charge John Power called it a small explosion.
© Alaska Volcano Observatory
A satellite image of Cleveland Volcano on Oct. 7. The summit of the volcano is mostly snow-covered, and the growing lava dome is seen as the dark feature in the center of the volcano (inset area outlined by black square).
A satellite image of Cleveland Volcano on Oct. 7. The summit of the volcano is mostly snow-covered, and the growing lava dome is seen as the dark feature in the center of the volcano (inset area outlined by black square).
However, it was significant enough to raise the alert level from yellow, representing elevated unrest, to orange, representing an increased potential of eruption, or an eruption under way with minor ash emissions or no emissions.
© MEN Syndication
There's no place like foam … Cleveleys, near Blackpool gets in a lather with foam blown in from the ocean.
There's no place like foam … Cleveleys, near Blackpool gets in a lather with foam blown in from the ocean.
A thick white blanket settled gently on the seaside town of Cleveleys near Blackpool on Wednesday, but this was no seasonal dusting of snow from above.
The Environment Agency dispatched officers to Princess Promenade to gather evidence as gobs of foam blew in from the sea and smothered streets, cars and houses.
The foam is whipped up by strong winds once or twice a year along the town's seafront and vanishes soon after, a spokeswoman for the agency told the Guardian.
