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The Rise in Sea Level of the Mediterranean is Accelerating


Physorg
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© IEO
In this image, scientists are collecting samples during the RADMED campaign.
At the end of the 20th century, the rise in sea level of the Mediterranean sea was lower than in the rest of the world due to atmospheric pressure, but since the start of the 21st century the levels of the Mediterranean have regained pace and seem to be accelerating. This has been demonstrated by the updated results from the second edition of the book Cambio Climático en el Mediterráneo Español (Climate Change in the Spanish Mediterranean).

"The sea level in the Mediterranean has risen by between 1 and 1.5 millimetres each year since 1943, but this does not seem set to continue, because it now seems that the speed at which it rises is accelerating", Manuel Vargas Yáñez, main author of the book Cambio Climático en el Mediterráneo Español, and researcher in the Spanish Oceanography Institute (IEO), tells SINC.

The publication, which in its second edition includes, for the first time, climate figures from 1943 to 2008 using a marine observation system which is unique in Spain and pioneering in Europe, confirms that the Mediterranean is becoming warmer. Its salinity is also increasing, and the rise in sea level is accelerating. Since the start of the 21st century the level has already risen by 20 centimetres.

However, "during the last three years which were added to the study (from 2005 to 2008) the rise in temperatures has been slower than at the end of the 20th century, when the sea temperatures rose significantly", points out Vargas Yáñez, who insists on the necessity to study long series of figures to show the impact of climate change in the Mediterranean.
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Igloo

US: Unusual Snow Followed by Record Lows

Chris Dolce
The Weather Channel
Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:31 UTC
After bringing snow to the Pacific Northwest Wednesday into Thursday, a very cold storm originating from Alaska will continue southward along the coast of California.

Image
© unknown
Setup: Cold storm moves from CA to AZ
The image to the right shows this low-pressure system moving from California into the Southwest Friday through Saturday, bringing snow to unusual places along its path.

Snow will fall to elevations as low as 1,000 feet in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday. By Friday night into Saturday morning, it's not out of the question that some flakes may fall as low as sea level in the Bay Area. This is all dependent on how much moisture is leftover as the coldest air arrives.

Map: See Bay Area winter storm alerts

According to the National Weather Service, it has not snowed in downtown San Francisco since February of 1976. This gives an idea of the rarity of snow in San Francisco thanks to the marine influence of the Pacific Ocean.
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Bizarro Earth

The Mysterious Rumble of Thundersnow

Dauna Coulter
NASA
Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:58 UTC


NASA atmospheric scientists got an unexpected chance to study a curious phenomenon called "thundersnow" when a recent storm unleashed it right over their heads.

Walt Petersen and Kevin Knupp have traveled far and wide to study winter storms. They never dreamed that the most extraordinary one they'd see - featuring freakish thundersnow, a 50-mile long lightning bolt, and almost a dozen gravity waves -- would erupt in their own back yards. The storm hit Huntsville, Alabama, on the evening of January 9th.

"This incredible storm rolled right over the National Space Science and Technology Center where we work," says Knupp. "What luck!"

Snowstorms usually slip in silently, with soft snowflakes drifting noiselessly to Earth. Yet this Alabama snowstorm swept in with the fanfare of lightning and the growl of thunder.

Eyewitness Steve Coulter described the night's events: "It was as if a wizard was hurling lightning behind a huge white curtain. The flashes, muted inside thick, low hanging clouds, glowed purplish blue, like light through a prism. And then the thunder rumbled deep and low. This was one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced.'"
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Bizarro Earth

NASA Captures Massive Dust Plume Over Mediterranean


The Big Wobble
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:07 UTC
As protests continue to rock North Africa, heavy winter winds are also kicking up huge dust storms.

Image
© Nasa
On Wednesday, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured a photo of a massive dust plume over the Mediterranean Sea. The cloud of debris spans hundreds of miles--from the coast of Egypt, slightly west of the Nile River delta, all the way to Crete.

Though the source of the plume is not apparent from the photograph, NASA believes it to be a result of huge dust storms that occurred recently over Egypt and Libya.

Take a look at the dust plume in the natural-color photo (below), and scroll down further to see the storm that may have caused it. Then, look through our slideshow of the world's most severe snowstorms seen from space.
      Read More...
Fish

Tasmania: Spate of Derwent fish deaths

Meryl Naidoo
The Mercury
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:56 UTC
dead squid
© Nikki Davis-Jones
Tim Strange, of Claremont, with some of the dead squid that have washed up in the area.

Experts have no answers on what has caused the death of thousands of squid in the River Derwent this week.

Dead and dying arrowhead squid have been washed ashore or spotted floating on the water at Austins Ferry and Berriedale since Tuesday.

Locals say they have never seen so many dead fish.

The Environment Protection Authority yesterday confirmed reports of more dead squid further down the river.
      Read More...
Igloo

US: A Snowy Drought In January


Earth Observatory
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 13:01 UTC
Snow Cover
© NASA Earth Observatory
NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, based on data from the MODIS Snow and Sea Ice Global Mapping Project.
January 2011 was marked by a series of crippling snow storms across the United States. By January 12, about 71 percent of the country had snow on the ground, the fifth-largest snow cover extent in the last 45 years. This image, made with data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite (from the monthly snow cover product), shows the maximum snow cover for the month. The image shows that every state in the contiguous United States, with the exception of Florida, got snow in January.

The image provides a gauge for both snow extent and the length of time snow stayed on the ground. Areas that are white in this image were entirely covered with snow for most of the month. Pale green areas had snow for just part of the month or were only partly snowy, with areas of exposed ground. Dark green areas are places where MODIS did not observe snow during the month. The sensor does not see through clouds, so it does not see snow that is only on the ground on cloudy days.

With all the snow, it would be easy to think that the United States received plenty of winter moisture, but snow is deceptive. It takes about 10 inches of fresh snow to make an inch of liquid water when it melts. The winter storms brought more snow, but less rain to much of the United States, said the National Climatic Data Center. January 2011 was the ninth-driest January in the United States in 117 years. The southern half of the country was particularly hard hit. New Mexico experienced its driest January on record.
      Read More...
Heart - Black

Gulf Coast dolphin death toll rises to nearly 60

Leigh Coleman
Reuters
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:20 UTC
dead,dolphin
© AP

The death toll of dolphins found washed ashore along the U.S. Gulf Coast since last month climbed to nearly 60 on Thursday, as puzzled scientists clamored to determine what was killing the marine mammals.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared the alarming cluster of recent dolphin deaths "an unusual mortality event," agency spokeswoman Blair Mase told Reuters.

"Because of this declaration, many resources are expected to be allocated to investigating this phenomenon," she said.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Indonesian mud volcano flow 'to last 26 years'

Mark Kinver
BBC
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:26 UTC
The world's largest mud volcano, which left 13,000 families homeless, is likely to continue erupting for another 26 years, researchers have estimated.

mud volcano

The mud buried homes, schools and farmland, and has displaced thousands of families
It first erupted back in May 2006, and - at its peak - was spewing 180,000 cubic metres of mud a day, equivalent to 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The volcano, in East Java, Indonesia, has buried homes, schools and farmlands over seven square kilometres.

The findings have been published in the Journal of the Geological Society.
      Read More...
Radar

Aftershock hits New Zealand city


BreakingNews.ie
Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:09 UTC
Image
Hopes are fading of finding any more survivors following the devastating earthquake in New Zealand after a strong aftershock measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale caused problems in the city and suburbs this morning.

Up to 113 are dead and around 200 others are still missing in Christchurch.

One of the missing is a 40-year-old man from Abbeydorney in Co Kerry.

The Irish man was working as an accountant at the PGG Building when it collapsed and had been living in New Zealand with his wife and son.

Reporter Will Hine from Radio New Zealand said it is unlikely any more survivors will be found.

Dozens of foreign language students died when the Canterbury Television building collapsed.

The City's Mayor, Bob Parker, said many countries are suffering together.
      Read More...
Igloo

US: Cold, Snow To Put Icy Grip On Bay Area Starting Thursday Evening


CBS News
Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:40 UTC
Image
© San Francisco Chronicle
One to two inches of snow fell in San Francisco on February 5, 1976, and dusting the Marin Headlands
Cold, wet weather will once again put an icy grip on the Bay Area as we head toward this weekend, bringing with it a chance that San Francisco residents could see some snow, forecasters said Wednesday.

Talk began swirling in recent days that snow could drop on San Francisco for the first time in 35 years.

National Weather Service forecaster Bob Benjamin said that while snow would likely fall at elevations lower than last weekend, it was still too soon to know for certain if there would be flurries in the city.

If the coldest predictions materialize, "In some form, people at or near sea level will see snow in the air," Benjamin said.

A southern-moving unstable cold front carrying moisture was expected to coast into the Bay Area come late Thursday, Benjamin said.

The front was expected to sit over the Bay Area and by Sunday morning bring record-breaking cold temperatures, with 20s to lower 30s forecast over the North Bay valleys, upper 20s to lower 30s around most of the San Francisco Bay shoreline southward through the Santa Clara and Salinas valleys. Higher elevation spots were expected to mostly be in the 20s.
      Read More...
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