Earth Changes

Scientists Snare 'Superprawn' off New Zealand

Agence France-Presse
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00 UTC

© Agence France-Presse
This photo, released by Oceanlab on February 3, shows a scientist from the University of Aberdeen holding one of the 'supergiant amphipods' off the coast of New Zealand.

Scientists have captured a "supergiant" crustacean in waters seven kilometres (4.5 miles) deep off New Zealand, measuring 10 times the normal size of related species.

The "supergiant amphipod", which resembles a monster prawn, was found during an expedition to the Kermadec Trench north of New Zealand by scientists from the University of Aberdeen and Wellington's NIWA marine research institute.

Amphipods are normally up to three centimetres (around an inch) long and the University of Aberdeen's Alan Jamieson said he was stunned to find the 28 centimetre (11 inch) giant when emptying traps on his research vessel's deck.

"I stopped and thought 'what on earth is that?' whilst catching a glimpse of an amphipod far bigger than I ever thought possible," he said.

"It's a bit like finding a foot-long cockroach."

Bird Numbers Plummet Around Stricken Fukushima Plant

David McNeill
The Independent
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:37 UTC

Researchers working around Japan's disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant say bird populations there have begun to dwindle, in what may be a chilling harbinger of the impact of radioactive fallout on local life.

In the first major study of the impact of the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, the researchers, from Japan, the US and Denmark, said their analysis of 14 species of bird common to Fukushima and Chernobyl, the Ukrainian city which suffered a similar nuclear meltdown, showed the effect on abundance is worse in the Japanese disaster zone.

The study, published next week in the journal Environmental Pollution, suggests that its findings demonstrate "an immediate negative consequence of radiation for birds during the main breeding season [of] March [to] July".

Two of the study's authors have spent years working in the irradiated 2,850 sq metre zone around the Chernobyl single-reactor plant, which exploded in 1986 and showered much of Europe with caesium, strontium, plutonium and other radioactive toxins. A quarter of a century later, the region is almost devoid of people.

Timothy Mousseau and Anders Pape Moller say their research uncovered major negative effects among the bird population, including reductions in longevity and in male fertility, and birds with smaller brains.

Many species show "dramatically" elevated DNA mutation rates, developmental abnormalities and extinctions, they add, while insect life has been significantly reduced.

New Sott Report: Strange Noises in the Sky: Trumpets of the Apocalypse?

The Sott Report
Sott.net
Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:18 UTC

From as far back as 2008, video recordings of strange and disturbing noises that seem to come from the sky have been appearing on the internet. In the last 12 months, many more of these 'strange noise' videos have been recorded and uploaded by people from many different parts of the globe.

The precise origin and meaning of this phenomenon is, as yet, unknown. Are we dealing with a cosmic version of the 'bell tolling' for life on planet earth, or is there a more mundane explanation?

The Sott Report investigates.

Natural tilts in earth's axis cause ice ages - and their cycles could help predict the next one

Rob Waugh
Dailymail.co.uk
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:23 UTC

The idea that slight shifts in Earth's axis might have been enough to trigger the ice ages is a century old.

But a Harvard earth sciences Professor Peter Huybers has finally proved it, using computer models to test competing ideas - and finding that earth's tilting axis is the only one that works.

The finding could have profound implications for our understanding of our planet's climate - and could, its author says, be crucial to 'predicting long-term changes in future climate.'

Two 'cycles' in the way Earth's axis spins have an effect on the cycle - one lasting 10,000 years and one lasting roughly 40,000 years.

When they align correctly, ice melts. At the other extreme, glaciers advance.

Comment: For a clearer picture of these cycles, read Fire and Ice The Day After Tomorrow

Mexico volcano Popocatepetl spews gas into skies near capital

MSNBC / Reuters
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:15 UTC

Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano has been spewing gas, water vapor and incandescent materials into the skies near the country's capital for days, registering at least 14 "exhalations" late on Wednesday and in the early hours of Thursday, according to local media.

© Unknown
Popocatepetl belching a column of steam looms over residents of Xalitzintla municipality in Puebla on Wednesday.

The most significant emissions came on Tuesday afternoon and were accompanied by a small quantity of ash, scientists said, according to Excelsior newspaper reported (Link in Spanish).

Local civil protection officials have been giving evacuation training in communities near Popocatepetl ahead of a possible eruption, Reuters reported.

US: Blizzard Unfolding From Denver to Omaha

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:06 UTC

A raging snowstorm and blizzard are unfolding from the east slopes of the Colorado Rockies to part of the central Plains.

Travel conditions rapidly deteriorated rapidly overnight in Denver as heavy snow arrived. Heavy snow and blowing snow are dangerously reducing the visibility while roads have become snow-covered.

Two feet of snow has already buried the foothills west of Denver. Additional snow will fall into tonight, bringing snowfall totals in some of the foothills to near three feet.

Some roads and major highways have closed and others may follow as the storm strengthens and snow expands eastward. More than 400 flights have been canceled at Denver International Airport today in response to the blinding, heavy snow.

All-out blizzard conditions will develop in the swath between Denver to Omaha before the storm runs its course.

Concerns grow over volcanic eruptions

Elizabeth Weise
USA Today
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:04 UTC

Scientists have known for decades that hidden under those impressive vistas at sites such as Death Valley and Yellowstone National Park are magma pools that under the right conditions can trigger explosive eruptions.

State Highway 178 between Death Valley National Park and Shoshone, Calif.

Now, new research is changing scientists' understanding of the timing of those eruptions, and prompting them to call for greater monitoring of sites to help save lives when the next big volcano explodes.

Two recent papers highlight the shift. One looked at a Death Valley volcano thought to be 10,000 years old and found it last erupted just 800 years ago, and is still an eruption danger. The other found that large caldera volcanoes, such as the one under Crater Lake in Oregon, can recharge in a matter of decades, rather than the thousands of years previously thought.

"The understanding of the timing of eruptions and the timing of the building up to eruptions is changing," says Margaret Mangan, the scientist in charge of volcano monitoring in California for the U.S. Geological Survey. "These two papers are very nice examples of good scientific work."

One thing that's coming to light is that eruptions are often clustered, with "long stretches of inactivity punctuated by periods of activity that can go on for years," Mangan says.

Vanuatu: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - 2nd Feb 2012

US Geological Survey
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:44 UTC

Date-Time:
Friday, February 03, 2012 at 03:46:23 UTC

Friday, February 03, 2012 at 02:46:23 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
17.376°S, 167.278°E

Depth:
21.7 km (13.5 miles)

Region:
VANUATU

Distances:
116 km (72 miles) WNW of PORT-VILA, Efate, Vanuatu

204 km (126 miles) S of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu

318 km (197 miles) NW of Isangel, Tanna, Vanuatu

1844 km (1145 miles) NE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

Russian Winter Goes Extreme, Claims Lives

Pravda
Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:29 UTC

Winter temperatures in Russia have gone extreme. The air in some regions of the republic of Yakutia (Siberia) has cooled down to -50 degrees Centigrade. Anomalous cold of -40 degrees is expected in the Perm region of Russia, Vesti.Ru reports.

In the European part of Russia, the current temperatures are ten degrees below the norm. On Wednesday morning, the temperature in the Moscow region dropped to 26 and even 30 degrees below zero Centigrade.

Cold weather is expected to become even colder this week in Moscow and the region, RIA Novosti reports. Winter cold has already claimed several human lives. One person died of frostbite yesterday in Moscow. Ten others asked for medical help and were hospitalized.

Ukraine suffers from extreme cold as well. According to Ukrainian news agencies, the cold has killed 30 people during the last three days. More than 600 people asked for medical help, 544 of them were hospitalized.

Russia's Chief Sanitary Doctor Gennady Onishchenko believes that there is a positive side to such severe winter cold. Low temperatures prevent the epidemic of flu, the official said.

Floods Create 'Inland Sea' in Australia

Madeleine Coorey
Agence France-Presse
Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:20 UTC

Sydney - Major flooding hit parts of Australia's east on Friday, stranding thousands of residents, prompting a military airlift and leaving some communities only accessible by helicopter.

The deluge, which has sparked dozens of rescues and left about 7,275 people isolated in various parts of New South Wales state has also impacted Queensland to the north where homes have reportedly been inundated.

"From the air it looks like an inland sea," New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell said after visiting the region.

Evacuations have been ordered from some houses and businesses in the New South Wales town of Moree, where more than 600 people have registered with an evacuation shelter as the Mehi River peaked, the State Emergency Service said.

"The town of Moree is inundated with water -- so north Moree is not only cut off, but many of the properties there are flooded," O'Farrell said.

"As you fly over the centre of the town there are streets that look like canals that have more relevance to Venice than north western New South Wales."

A Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft was moving bedding to Moree, as locals sandbagged buildings against the Mehi and rising Gwydir river as the water hit levels not seen in decades.

Vax analysis that shows how deadly they are: [Link]

L. Wood

Well, FWIW, the number of sites claiming that actress Melle Stewart is dead is growing which makes the BFM's silence all the more suspect, eh...

Rowan Cocoan

Good thing semis will all be automated in the next 10 years

Bobble

I wonder if that negroid snake oil salesman was actually voted into office, or if he had some computerized remote help, like the senile deepfake....

codis

Is this the effect of geo engineering I wonder? Forcing droughts on areas and the like, surely that precipitation needs to go somewhere? Just find...

Christian83

Earth Changes

Scientists Snare 'Superprawn' off New Zealand

Bird Numbers Plummet Around Stricken Fukushima Plant

New Sott Report: Strange Noises in the Sky: Trumpets of the Apocalypse?

Natural tilts in earth's axis cause ice ages - and their cycles could help predict the next one

Mexico volcano Popocatepetl spews gas into skies near capital

US: Blizzard Unfolding From Denver to Omaha

Concerns grow over volcanic eruptions

Vanuatu: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - 2nd Feb 2012

Russian Winter Goes Extreme, Claims Lives

Floods Create 'Inland Sea' in Australia

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