© Unknown
Earth Changes
The prefecture of Niigata, Japan, has asked for a dispatch of troops to help in the wake of record-setting snowfalls, according to reports on Wednesday. 3 people have died in the northern part of Japan from avalanches in Akita. The Ground Self-Defense Force of Japan was expected to send troops to the town of Uonuma, where a snow depth of 4.09 meters, or 13.4 feet, has reportedly built up. Fearing roof collapse under the weight of the deep snow, complicated by warming and the potential for rain, the local officials called for the troops to help clear roofs. Niigata is in western Honshu, which winter climate is notorious for its waves of heavy snow off the Sea of Japan during cold outbreaks.
© USGS
Thursday, February 02, 2012 at 13:34:38 UTC
Friday, February 03, 2012 at 12:34:38 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location:
17.810°S, 167.149°E
Depth:
10.1 km (6.3 miles)
Region:
VANUATU
Distances:
124 km (77 miles) W of PORT-VILA, Efate, Vanuatu
251 km (155 miles) S of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu
294 km (182 miles) NW of Isangel, Tanna, Vanuatu
1803 km (1120 miles) ENE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia
© Lenny Ignelzi/AP Photo
The spokesman said the radiation levels were "barely measurable," but the plant was shut down as a precaution.
"At no point were the public or our workers in any danger," Southern California Edison spokesman Gil Alexander told ABC News.
Officials say the radiation leak likely occurred in the steam generator tubes of San Onofre's reactor #3. The steam system, which is supposed to be shielded from exposure to radiation, was replaced in December 2010. Alexander said plant officials will be conducting an investigation into why the new steam tubes leaked.
Gary Headrick is part of the environmental group San Clemente Green and lives just eight miles away from San Onofre.
© WWLTV Eyewitness News
New Orleans-- For years now, scientists have been monitoring the development of a massive dead zone off the coast of south Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico.
Now, new research is showing the presence of another underwater area lacking oxygen and life -- this time in the Chandeleur Sound, east of St. Bernard Parish.
Gulf waters include some of the richest areas for seafood in the country, and part of that critical habitat includes the Chandeleur Sound.
"This general area is a major path for migration of fish," said Dr. John Lopez of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.
Deep below the surface, life may be struggling. The Foundation, along with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCOM), recently decided to share their findings with each other concerning the dead zone in the Chandeleur Sound.
What they discovered was that the dead zone is four times larger than they initially thought. It covers more than a 1,000 square miles, stretching from the Chandeleur Islands, east to the Florida Panhandle and possibly beyond.
The chief climatologist for Environment Canada admits he has egg on his face.
Dave Phillips predicted last fall that Western Canada would have a colder than normal winter, but it's been the exact opposite.
It's the second- or third-warmest winter on record for some of the prairie provinces.
"We sometimes don't get it right. It's not something that's perfect," said Phillips. "Maybe nature sneers at these forecasts and gives us the opposite."
But he's not alone: most forecasters across Canada and the United States got it wrong.
The Weather Network suggested a roller-coaster winter with major storms for the West. AccuWeather also forecast parts of North America would be hit with the worst winter in 20 years.
Dave Phillips predicted last fall that Western Canada would have a colder than normal winter, but it's been the exact opposite.
It's the second- or third-warmest winter on record for some of the prairie provinces.
"We sometimes don't get it right. It's not something that's perfect," said Phillips. "Maybe nature sneers at these forecasts and gives us the opposite."
But he's not alone: most forecasters across Canada and the United States got it wrong.
The Weather Network suggested a roller-coaster winter with major storms for the West. AccuWeather also forecast parts of North America would be hit with the worst winter in 20 years.
© NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.
A growing rift in the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf.
A growing rift in the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf.
A massive crack in a huge sheet of Antarctic ice discovered in mid-October last year is steadily growing, as seen in recently released satellite images.
The fissure in the Pine Island Glacier ice shelf marks the beginning stages of the birth of a 350-square-mile (900 square kilometers) iceberg, part of a natural process known as calving.
The image was snapped on Nov. 13, 2011, when the rift was roughly 19 miles (30 km) long, 260 feet (80 meters) wide for most of its length, and 195 feet (60 m) deep. When researchers first spotted the crack in mid-October, it was roughly 18 miles (28 km) long.
The ice shelf is the floating end of the Pine Island Glacier, a slow-moving river of ice in West Antarctica that moves ice from the interior of the continent out to sea.
Belgrade, Serbia - Rescue helicopters evacuated dozens of people from snow-blocked villages in Serbia and Bosnia and air-lifted in emergency food and medicine as a severe cold spell kept Eastern Europe in its icy grip.
The death toll from the cold rose to 79 on Wednesday and emergency crews worked overtime as temperatures sank to minus 32.5 C (minus 26.5 F) in some areas.
Parts of the Black Sea froze near the Romanian coastline and the rare snow fell on Croatian islands in the Adriatic Sea. In Bulgaria, 16 towns recorded their lowest temperatures since records started 100 years ago.
In central Serbia, choppers pulled out 12 people, including nine who went to a funeral but then could not get back over icy, snow-choked roads. Two more people froze to death in the snow and two others are missing, bringing that nation's death toll to five.
"The situation is dramatic, the snow is up to five meters (16 1/2 feet) high in some areas, you can only see rooftops," said Dr. Milorad Dramacanin, who participated in the helicopter evacuations.
The death toll from the cold rose to 79 on Wednesday and emergency crews worked overtime as temperatures sank to minus 32.5 C (minus 26.5 F) in some areas.
Parts of the Black Sea froze near the Romanian coastline and the rare snow fell on Croatian islands in the Adriatic Sea. In Bulgaria, 16 towns recorded their lowest temperatures since records started 100 years ago.
© AP/Efrem Lukatsky
A Ukrainian man, covered with plastic sheeting to form a tent for protection from the wind and cold, fishes through an ice hole on the Dnipro river outside Cherkasy, central Ukraine. The death toll from a severe cold spell in Eastern Europe rose to 71 Wednesday Feb. 1 2012.
A Ukrainian man, covered with plastic sheeting to form a tent for protection from the wind and cold, fishes through an ice hole on the Dnipro river outside Cherkasy, central Ukraine. The death toll from a severe cold spell in Eastern Europe rose to 71 Wednesday Feb. 1 2012.
"The situation is dramatic, the snow is up to five meters (16 1/2 feet) high in some areas, you can only see rooftops," said Dr. Milorad Dramacanin, who participated in the helicopter evacuations.
Anchorage - The warning level for a remote Alaska volcano has been raised after a new lava dome began forming, indicating the mountain could explode and send up an ash cloud that could threaten aircraft.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory on Tuesday elevated the alert status for Cleveland Volcano.
Officials say the new lava dome was spotted in the summit crater. The observatory says as of Monday, the dome was about 130 feet in diameter.
There have been no eruptions since Dec. 25 and Dec. 29, which destroyed the earlier lava dome built up over the fall.
Cleveland is a 5,675-foot peak on an uninhabited island 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Authorities say sudden eruptions could occur at any time, and ash clouds 20,000 feet above sea level are possible.
© NASA/Getty Images
The eruption of the Cleveland Volcano is seen as photographed by an Expedition 13 crewmember on the International Space Station May 23, 2009 in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.
The eruption of the Cleveland Volcano is seen as photographed by an Expedition 13 crewmember on the International Space Station May 23, 2009 in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.
Officials say the new lava dome was spotted in the summit crater. The observatory says as of Monday, the dome was about 130 feet in diameter.
There have been no eruptions since Dec. 25 and Dec. 29, which destroyed the earlier lava dome built up over the fall.
Cleveland is a 5,675-foot peak on an uninhabited island 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.
Authorities say sudden eruptions could occur at any time, and ash clouds 20,000 feet above sea level are possible.
Rescuers there say it's just about the worst they've ever seen. And scientists are still looking for answers. The alarming number of dolphins beaching themselves along the 25-mile Cape Cod coastline was baffling scientists for a third week.
On Monday, they responded to a call that three dolphins were approaching shore. Two swam away unharmed, but one got too close to the beach and needed intervention by rescuers from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
The animal later died and, along with three more carcasses discovered over the weekend, the number of dolphin beachings swelled to 102, nearly the normal amount for an entire year.
Katie Moore, manager of the Marine Mammal Rescue Team, says she simply doesn't know why this is happening.
Kosovo on alert - Bosnian villages isolated.
The death toll from the wave of freezing weather across Serbia over recent days has risen to six. The body of a man was found near to his home in Topola, south of Belgrade. Before then, another five had died across the country as temperatures sank to a record -36 degrees in the southern highlands of Pesterska. In the city of Sjenica, thermometers stood at -29, while in Belgrade the temperature at 7am today was -12. A state of emergency has been declared in around fifteen areas. Dozens have been admitted to hospital with broken bones following falls on the ice. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the southern highlands of Pesterska was -39.4 degrees in 1986.
The cold has also caused emergency conditions in Kosovo, where temperatures dropped to -22 degrees last night. Snow and ice are causing traffic problems in some parts of the country although the main routes are free. Low temperatures led to electricity blackouts in some areas, although no deaths have been reported.
The death toll from the wave of freezing weather across Serbia over recent days has risen to six. The body of a man was found near to his home in Topola, south of Belgrade. Before then, another five had died across the country as temperatures sank to a record -36 degrees in the southern highlands of Pesterska. In the city of Sjenica, thermometers stood at -29, while in Belgrade the temperature at 7am today was -12. A state of emergency has been declared in around fifteen areas. Dozens have been admitted to hospital with broken bones following falls on the ice. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the southern highlands of Pesterska was -39.4 degrees in 1986.
The cold has also caused emergency conditions in Kosovo, where temperatures dropped to -22 degrees last night. Snow and ice are causing traffic problems in some parts of the country although the main routes are free. Low temperatures led to electricity blackouts in some areas, although no deaths have been reported.
