Earth ChangesS


Evil Rays

Scientists detect unusual seismic signals from tornado

Image
© Unknown
An Indiana University geophysical experiment detected unusual seismic signals associated with tornadoes that struck regions across the Midwest last week - information that may have value for meteorologists studying the atmospheric activity that precedes tornado disasters. The experiment by IU researchers involves deployment of more than 100 state-of-the-art digital seismographs in a broad swath of the U.S. midcontinent. One of the twisters that struck southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois on Feb. 29 passed through the seismic detection array.

"In examining the seismograms, we recorded unusual seismic signals on three of our stations in southern Illinois," said Michael Hamburger, professor in the department of geological sciences at IU Bloomington and one of the researchers conducting the experiment. "The seismograms show a strong, low-frequency pulse beginning around 4:45 a.m. on Feb. 29. Our preliminary interpretation, based on other seismic records of tornadoes, suggests that we were recording not the tornado itself, but a large atmospheric pressure transient related to the large thunderstorms that spawned the tornadoes."

Info

Early Spring Is Bad News for Butterflies

Fritillary butterfly
© Carol BoggsA Mormon Fritillary butterfly feeding on an aspen fleabane daisy, a main nectar source.

Butterflies in the Rocky Mountains are likely taking a hit from climate change, according to new research.

Lab experiments suggest that Mormon fritillaries, dainty butterflies with gold, orange and brown-flecked wings, are dying off in Colorado's Rockies because earlier snowmelts are killing off the wild flowers they feed on.

Long-term data gathered by the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory reveal that snowmelts are occurring earlier in the year, and wildflower and butterfly populations are declining. Now, a group of scientists says they have found a connection among the observed trends.

Early, springlike weather may be pleasant for humans, but the mild temperatures can have serious consequences for other organisms.

The balmy weather can trick plants into thinking spring has actually arrived, so they begin to bud - only to be killed off by subsequent freezing weather. And when the plants die off, butterflies don't have as much access to nectar, their required food source.

And when female butterflies don't eat as much nectar, they don't lay as many eggs, according to laboratory work.

Attention

White Cliffs of Dover Suffer Large Collapse

Thousands of tons of chalk from the famous White Cliffs of Dover have collapsed into the sea following a huge rockfall.

Tons of cliff-face sheared off near an area known as Crab Bay, but no-one was injured, the coastguard said.

The collapse may have been caused by rain over the winter months being absorbed into the chalk and freezing.
White cliff rockslide
© John McLellanAn aerial view of the latest chalk slip at the White Cliffs of Dover
The collapse may have been caused by rain over the winter months being absorbed into the chalk and freezing here.

Comment: Considering the sentimental value the Cliffs have for the British people, a collapse of this magnitude could be taken as a symbol of their current state.


Stop

Jellyfish invading Australian Gold Coast canals, numbering in their thousands

Image
© Adam HeadThousands of jellyfish are invading the canals behind Macintosh Island in Surfers Paradise.
(Australia) In a sight that has locals and tourists amazed, the stingers have floated into the waterway, behind Macintosh Island at Surfers Paradise, from the ocean.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Steve Williams, who manages the Capricorn One highrise overlooking the canal.

"There are thousands upon thousands of them that seem to come in every day on the incoming tide and the water has been thick with them . Many of our guests are from overseas and they're loving it.

"It's a bit of a phenomenon and quite spectacular."

Stop

Methane build-up: Mysterious hog farm explosions stump scientists

Image
© Charles ClantonFoam climbs through the vent of a hog farm's manure pit.
(United States) A strange new growth has emerged from the manure pits of midwestern hog farms. The results are literally explosive.

Since 2009, six farms have blown up after methane trapped in an unidentified, pit-topping foam caught a spark. In the afflicted region, the foam is found in roughly 1 in 4 hog farms.

There's nothing farmers can do except be very careful. Researchers aren't even sure what the foam is.

"This has all started in the last four or five years here. We don't have any idea where it came from or how it got started," said agricultural engineer Charles Clanton of the University of Minnesota. "Whatever has happened is new."

A gelatinous goop that resembles melted brown Nerf, the foam captures gases emitted by bacteria living in manure, which on industrial farms gathers in pits beneath barns that may contain several thousand animals.

The pits are emptied each fall, after which waste builds up again, turning them into something like giant stomachs: dark, oxygen-starved percolators in which bacteria and single-celled organisms metabolize the muck.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Papua New Guinea

PNG Quake_140312
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 21:13:11 UTC

Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 07:13:11 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
5.642°S, 151.025°E

Depth:
47.8 km (29.7 miles)

Region:
NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Distances:
96 km (59 miles) E of Kimbe, New Britain, PNG

174 km (108 miles) ENE of Kandrian, New Britain, PNG

598 km (371 miles) NE of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea

2429 km (1509 miles) N of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

No Entry

Giant Sinkhole Opens Up on Major Saskatoon Road

Image
© unknownSaskatoon sinkhole
Canada - A sinkhole large enough to drive a car into opened up on a major Saskatchewan road causing traffic chaos.

The three-metre wide chunk of road opened up on Idylwyld Drive north of 39th Street just before 9 a.m. Monday forcing thousands of motorists to take several detours.

It was caused by a break in a 20-centimetre pipe under the road causing water to swirl beneath the asphalt and led to the sinkhole.

"They are totally unpredictable," said public works manager Pat Hyde to the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. "This could have been happening for days or weeks."

The city received no reports of vehicles falling into the hole, but one commenter on Yahoo! Canada News joked, "I lost my car in there. It's on top of the Jeep, and under the BMW."

Holes are created because freezing and thawing cycles put pressure along underground pipes causing them to become weak and break. Snow melts forcing moisture into the cracks of roads and when it freezes it expands and makes the small cracks into bigger holes. The warmer winter across much of Canada is resulting in potholes being spotted earlier than normal.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - Off The East Coast of Honshu, Japan

Honshu Quake_140312
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 10:49:24 UTC

Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 08:49:24 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
40.799°N, 144.770°E

Depth:
9.5 km (5.9 miles)

Region:
OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Distances:
244 km (151 miles) S of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan

268 km (166 miles) SSE of Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan

279 km (173 miles) E of Hachinohe, Honshu, Japan

717 km (445 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake shakes Tokyo region hours after northern Japanese tremor causes small tsunami

A series of earthquakes rattled Tokyo and northeastern Japan on Wednesday evening but caused no apparent damage or injury in the same region hit by last year's devastating tsunami.

A magnitude-6.8 earthquake first struck the southern coast of Hokkaido island in the evening, causing a small tsunami. Tsunami advisories were issued along the northern Pacific coast, prompting some communities to advise residents to evacuate coastal homes.

A swelling of 20 centimeters (8 inches) was observed in water at the port of Hachinohe in Aomori about an hour after the tremor, with smaller changes reported elsewhere. The agency lifted all tsunami advisories within about 90 minutes.

Within about three hours, a magnitude-6.1 quake shook buildings in the capital. It was centered just off the coast of Chiba, east of Tokyo, at a rather shallow 15 kilometers (9 miles) below the sea surface.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 6.9 - Off East Coast of Honshu Japan

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 09:08:37 UTC
Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 07:08:37 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
40.899°N, 144.923°E

Depth:
26.6 km (16.5 miles)

Region:
OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Distances:
235 km (146 miles) S of Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan

265 km (164 miles) SSE of Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan

293 km (182 miles) E of Hachinohe, Honshu, Japan

734 km (456 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan