Earth ChangesS


Snowman

Best of the Web: Eminent geophysicist rejects global warming theory, says world on verge of 'mini ice age'

Matthew Cullinan
LifeSiteNews
Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:03 UTC
Image
© NASASunspot activity since 1990
An eminent Mexican geophysicist says that despite predictions of global warming based on computer models, the world may be on the verge of an eighty-year cold period similar to the "little ice age" experienced by Europe from 1300 to 1800 A.D..

Víctor Manuel Velasco, of the University of Mexico's Institute of Geophysics, says that recent winter conditions are similar to those of the "little ice age", and in particular the "Maunder Minimum," a period during which sunspot activity dropped significantly. He also notes that the Earth is in a similar position today in relation to the rest of the solar system, a fact which he regards as significant for climate.

"We are talking about the period between 1645 and 1715, which is known as the Maunder Minimum, a period in which the sunspots practically disappeared from the surface of the sun, and in which our planet occupied a position similar to which it has today, with respect to the center of gravity of our [solar] system." Velasco said in an interview published by the university.
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Bad Guys

US Will Be Left in Ruins, As More Disasters Are in Store? FEMA Warns Disaster-Relief Fund is Running Low

Thomas Frank
Firehouse
Sat, 28 May 2011 03:40 UTC
The federal government could run out of money to help communities such as Joplin, Mo., rebuild from devastating tornadoes and flooding.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has $2.4 billion in its Disaster Relief Fund to last through Sept. 30 and is seeking $1.8 billion for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Lawmakers from both parties say those sums are not enough to pay for the billions in damage caused by the extraordinary string of weather disasters.

"FEMA will have to stop recovery efforts in 50 states in the spring of 2012" without additional money, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., wrote in a letter to her colleagues. She heads the Senate panel that oversees FEMA finances.

The administration acknowledged Thursday that FEMA could run out of disaster-relief money. "That will depend on the summer storm season and other factors," said Meg Reilly, spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget.

FEMA Chief Financial Officer Norm Dong said the $2.4 billion will pay for "lifesaving and life-sustaining efforts" in heavily damaged areas by helping people get food, shelter and clothing.
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Attention

US: 2011 Now Deadliest Year for Tornadoes in Recorded History

Normaan Merchant
Detroit Free Press
Sun, 29 May 2011 16:44 UTC
Kevin Chew
© Joe Raedle / Getty ImagesKevin Chew prays by his father's casket Saturday in Seneca, Mo. Raymond Chew Sr., 66, died of injuries sustained in the tornado.
The death toll from the monster tornado last week in Missouri has risen to at least 139. Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said Saturday during a news conference that the death toll rose to at least 142, but later revised that figure down without elaboration.

That makes this the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1953, based on an assessment of figures from the National Weather Service.

If the death toll does stand at 139, it would place this year's tornado death toll at 520. Until now, the highest recorded death toll in a single year was 519 in 1953.
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Cloud Lightning

Flooding in Slovakia following heavy rains


Monsters and Critics
Sun, 29 May 2011 16:26 UTC
Slovakia was suffering from widespread flooding Saturday after heavy rains across the country, reported officials.

Flooding was reported in the southern city of Hnusta and nearby village of Klenovec. The northern city of Spissky Stiavnik had seen its main square and several homes in the city centre flooded.

However, there were, as yet, no weather-related deaths or injuries reported.
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Arrow Down

Lorry Swallowed By Hole In Chinese Bridge


Sky News
Mon, 30 May 2011 16:10 UTC
sinkhole
© UnknownMay 30th 2011. China. The bridge collapsed in the early hours of Sunday morning, injuring two men.
An investigation is under way in northeast China after a giant hole opened up in a road bridge, swallowing a passing lorry.

Two men who were inside the lorry were injured when the road collapsed beneath their vehicle, causing them to plunge into the river below.

The hole in the bridge measured approximately 14 metres by five metres, and developed in a section of the bridge that was built as an extension in 1995.

Local media reported that authorities suspect the lorry, which was carrying steel pipes, was overloaded.

However, the dramatic hole in the bridge across the Yitong River in Changchun city, the capital of Jilin province, is not the only such incident of a road structure failure in China in recent months.

Comment: Huge sinkhole appears in Germany! Usedom Island has a 'Grand Canyon' now

Florida: Sinkhole Opens up in Venus Backyard

Miraculous escape for driver as car falls 20ft into sinkhole at traffic lights during storm

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Cloud Lightning

Are You Ready for More?

Sharon Begley
Newsweek
Mon, 30 May 2011 15:27 UTC
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© Valentina Abinanti / PolarisJoplin, Missouri after the tornado that hit on May 22.
In a world of climate change, freak storms are the new normal. Why we're unprepared for the harrowing future.

Joplin, Mo., was prepared. The tornado warning system gave residents 24 minutes' notice that a twister was bearing down on them. Doctors and nurses at St. John's Regional Medical Center, who had practiced tornado drills for years, moved fast, getting patients away from windows, closing blinds, and activating emergency generators. And yet more than 130 people died in Joplin, including four people at St. John's, where the tornado sucked up the roof and left the building in ruins, like much of the shattered city.

Even those who deny the existence of global climate change are having trouble dismissing the evidence of the last year. In the U.S. alone, nearly 1,000 tornadoes have ripped across the heartland, killing more than 500 people and inflicting $9 billion in damage. The Midwest suffered the wettest April in 116 years, forcing the Mississippi to flood thousands of square miles, even as drought-plagued Texas suffered the driest month in a century. Worldwide, the litany of weather's extremes has reached biblical proportions. The 2010 heat wave in Russia killed an estimated 15,000 people. Floods in Australia and Pakistan killed 2,000 and left large swaths of each country under water. A months-long drought in China has devastated millions of acres of farmland. And the temperature keeps rising: 2010 was the hottest year on earth since weather records began.

Comment: It would appear that there is a pattern emerging. One that will not be turned around nor easily understood by our presenty accepted scientific minds.
Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step From Extinction!

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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia Volcano Sees Rising Activities


VIVAnews
Mon, 30 May 2011 11:15 UTC
Dieng Volcano
© VIVAnews / Adrozen Ahmad Dieng volcano.
Chief of Geological Disaster Mitigation and Volcanology Agency, Surono, said Dieng Mountain in Central Java has seen increasing activities in the past few days as poisonous gas starts spewing into the air.

The Indonesian Red Cross has evacuated inhabitants living in four villages of Sumberejo, Serang, Kaliputih and Simbung. This causes tourists to avoid coming to the area.

A staff at a homestay in Dieng said, "Some cancellations are indeed made. Tourists called off visits after being informed of the volcanic activities," said Dwiyono who, like many Indonesians, uses one name.

He believed tourist attractions in Dieng are still secure since the Timbang Crater, which produces carbon dioxide, is located 12 kilometers away from the said spots.
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Arrow Down

Australia: Plague of Ravenous Mice Eat Farmer John Gregory's Pigs

Sarah Mennie
Adelaide Now: Sunday Mail
Sat, 28 May 2011 10:00 UTC
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© Sunday MailSaving his bacon: John Gregory covers his pigs in engine oil to protect them from mice.
When South Australian farmer John Gregory entered his piggery he could not believe what he saw - mice attacking his pigs.

Since he first saw them dining out on his prized stock he has been at his wit's end about how to get rid of them.

Now, as a desperate last resort, he is covering his pigs at a farm property in Wynarka, 130km east of Adelaide, in engine oil to protect them from the mice, with the rodents apparently turned off by the taste.

"The mouse problem got really bad in April," Mr Gregory said.

"We went away in the school holidays and when we came back we drove up the driveway and it looked like the ground was moving - there were hundreds of thousands of them."

Mr Gregory, 50, said he put engine oil on his 15 pigs to protect them from the sun about once a month.
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Binoculars

Canada: Mysterious Craters Endanger Quebec Residents, Stump Experts


Global Winnipeg
Fri, 27 May 2011 00:00 UTC
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© Global NewsSo far, no one can explain why these craters are suddenly appearing in Quebec City.
They began appearing last week - massive, mysterious craters on a hill in Quebec City.

"I've lived here 30 years, it's a mystery," said resident Edwin Richard.

About 40 sinkholes between five and eight meters wide began eating out a hill in the Charlebourg borough. They're so big, they've put nearby homes in danger. On Friday, experts were on hand to try to figure out what's causing the craters.

"We have a problem here, it's not possible to say the cause," said city engineer Marcilio Gama Coehlo.

"We spoke to specialists at the ministry and at the university - they have no idea," said city engineer Daniel Lessard.

The only thing they do know is that the hill used to be the site of a sand pit.

For now, the only thing they can do is more tests.
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Magnify

Indonesia: Weather Blamed for Caterpillar Plague

Fidelis E. Satriastanti & Elisabeth Oktofani
Jakarta Globe
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
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© JG Photo/Safir MakkiA boy eyeing a caterpillar in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, where thousands of the prickly insects have infested pine trees.
Unpredictable weather coupled with a decline in natural predators is responsible for a recent plague of caterpillars in parts of the country.

Though the phenomenon is centered largely in Probolinggo, East Java, smaller reported outbreaks in Central Java, West Java, Bali and, most recently, Jakarta have prompted fears of a widespread infestation.

But Aunu Rauf, an entomologist at the Bogor Institute of Agricultural (IPB), says there is no connection between the outbreaks in Probolinggo and those in the other areas.

"There are at least 120,000 types of caterpillars in the world, so those found in Bekasi [West Java] and Probolinggo would be different from each other," he told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

"I'm sure the ones in Tanjung Duren [West Jakarta], where people have claimed to have been 'attacked' by caterpillars, are also a different type."

Since March, millions of hairy caterpillars have cropped up in at least five subdistricts in Probolinggo, invading fields and homes. They have also caused itchy rashes among residents.
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