Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Tajikistan - Earthquake Magnitude 6.1

Tajikistan Quake_240111
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Monday, January 24, 2011 at 02:45:29 UTC

Monday, January 24, 2011 at 07:45:29 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
38.437°N, 72.749°E

Depth
89.6 km (55.7 miles)

Region
TAJIKISTAN

Distances
95 km (60 miles) SW of Karakul, Tajikistan

150 km (90 miles) NE of Khorugh, Tajikistan

150 km (95 miles) SSW of Sary-Tash, Kyrgyzstan

350 km (215 miles) E of DUSHANBE, Tajikistan

Black Cat

Bye Bye Blackbird

Image
© Warren Watkins/The Daily Citizen/AP/FileA worker with US Environmental Services, a private contractor, picks up a dead bird in Beebe, Ark. on Jan. 1. The USDA said it killed hundreds of starlings in South Dakota this week.

It's not the "aflockalyptic" fallout from a secret US weapon lab as some have theorized. But the government acknowledged Thursday that it had a hand in one of a string of mysterious mass bird deaths that have spooked residents in Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, South Dakota, and Kentucky in the last month.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) took responsibility for hundreds of dead starlings that were found on the ground and frozen in trees in a Yankton, S.D., park on Monday.

The USDA's Wildlife Services Program, which contracts with farmers for bird control, said it used an avicide poison called DRC-1339 to cull a roost of 5,000 birds that were defecating on a farmer's cattle feed across the state line in Nebraska. But officials said the agency had nothing to do with large and dense recent bird kills in Arkansas and Louisiana.

Fish

US: Sea otter deaths on the rise; 304 found dead on Central Coast in 2010

Image
© Sentinel FileA female otter floats on her back with her pup resting on her belly in Elkhorn Slough. A recent study shows otters are on the decline along the Central Coast.
2010 was a hard year for Central Coast otters.

A preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that 304 otters were found dead along the coast between Half Moon Bay and Santa Barbara, according to the Monterey-based Otter Project.

When compared to the total spring count of 2,700 otters, 11.2 percent dead may not seem catastrophic, especially when compared to the 8 percent found dead in 2009. However, the jump from 232 dead otters in 2009 to 304 in 2010, makes scientists concerned for the species.

"Young pups and females died this year; if pups are dying, you have no future, and if females are dying you have no reproductive future," said Steve Shimek, chief executive of the Otter Project. "This suggests that we don't have a trend that will turn around too easily."

Though there was a peak of more than 3,000 otters in 2007 and there are a variety of causes for their death, what's unusual to Shimek is the number dying from disease.

Compass

SOTT Focus: Pole Shift? Look to the Skies!

Earth Magnetosphere
© unknown
In my previous article, "And They March...", I touched on the possibility that the mass death of blackbirds over Beebe, Arkansas was caused by the shockwave from an airbursting bolide or comet fragment. While that explanation seemed to fit with the facts in that specific case, it is clearly apparent that these animal die-offs are now a global phenomenon; and airbursting comets are not the cause of death in all cases. Furthermore, the animals dying are of very diverse types. Everything from cows to octopuses, to crickets are dying in large swaths in disparate regions around the globe. While animal-specific diseases and viruses may be responsible in some cases, there is clearly some larger process at work here that nobody in the mainstream has really grasped.

Shortly after I wrote this article, Niall Bradley mentioned in his article, "Procession of the Damned...", the possibility of these mass animal deaths being caused by magnetic changes. Apparently he's not the only one with magnetic changes in mind. A quick glance at the Google trends for the phrase "pole shift" over the last 12 months (and beyond) shows a big ol' hockey stick, shooting straight through the roof right after the new year!

Pole Shift Trend 12 Months
© Sott.netLast 12 months for the phrase "pole shift" on Google Trends.
Pole Shift Trends 30 Days
© Sott.netThe last 30 days for the phrase "pole shift" on Google Trends.

So while the geomagnetic field hasn't significantly shifted yet, it appears something has shifted in the minds of the public about such a possibility. In fact, here on SOTT.net we recently carried a story, "Shift of Earth's Magnetic North Pole Impacts Tampa Airport" which, according to our webmaster, and to our general surprise, was the most popular article on the site that day. The Tampa airport article simply states that the Tampa airport authorities are having to repaint one of their runways because it is no longer aligned with true magnetic north. No big deal, right?

But come to think of it, if a tiny magnetic (likely localized) shift is enough to throw a spanner in the works of air travel, I can't even imagine the chaos that would ensue during a complete magnetic reversal. As we'll see below, hindered air travel will probably be the least of our worries.

Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 3.5 - Sedona, AZ

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:

Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 12:16:47 UTC

Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 05:16:47 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
34.872°N, 112.058°W

Depth:
5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program

Region:
ARIZONA

Distances:
25 km (15 miles) W of Sedona, Arizona

50 km (30 miles) SW of Flagstaff, Arizona

55 km (35 miles) NE of Prescott, Arizona

160 km (100 miles) N of PHOENIX, Arizona

Fish

Ireland: Hundreds of fish die in County Antrim river

dead,fish antrim,river
© BBC

Hundreds of fish have been found dead in the Six Mile Water river in County Antrim.

Billy Robinson from Ballynure Angling Club walked a few miles alongside the river on Sunday afternoon.

He said he has seen dead fish from Duck bridge right up towards Ballyclare.

"There are quite a few dead trout, from small fish, up to fish weighing three quarters of a pound to a pound in weight, so it seems to be a total fish kill," he said.

"I'm looking over the bridge at the moment and there must be around 30 or 40 fish dead in the space of a few yards."

Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: Quake shook house 'like dog with a bone'

Image
© File photo / Mark Mitchell
Roofing contractor Tony Stuart awoke today wondering how much more damage his house could absorb in the "shake rattle and roll" of the latest earthquake aftershock to hit Christchurch.

The 5.1 scale aftershock hit at 6.03am today and was centred 10km south-west of Christchurch at a depth of 10km.

There were few immediate reports of damage but Mr Stuart, who lives in the Cashmere Hills, said "the whole house was shaking on its foundations.

"The whole house just shakes like a dog with a bone. The whole house just shakes, rattles and rolls."

He said this morning's aftershock lasted about 15 seconds.

"I've had enough of them, I am sick and tired of them."

He said he was noticing more damage in his house all the time.

"It is amazing... the violence and how bad a house can shake. It's the noise and everything shakes and rattles and you wonder what sort of force causes this."

Stop

Flashback UK: M45 shut for hours by freezing rain

The UK M45 motorway was shut for several hours by the Highways Agency for safety reasons after freezing rain fell.

Officials said the decision to shut the motorway, in Warwickshire and Northamptonshire, was taken after two minor collisions early on Sunday.

The M45 was shut at about 0500 GMT to allow salt spreading to take place and it reopened westbound at about 0950 GMT and eastbound at 1030 GMT.

The agency said the motorway had been treated overnight.

Life Preserver

New Zealand: Storm pounds North Island

New Zealand flood
© Benjamin EitelbergAuckland, Kohimarama Road
Walls of sandbags are being erected as dozens of Auckland house owners prepare for a second bout of flooding in 24 hours.

The Auckland Civil Defence emergency coordination centre has been activated and controller Clive Manley says the region will continue to be affected by gales.

Residents of Herald Island are bracing for another surge of water at high tide.

About 30 Herald Island properties were evacuated and properties in Maratai, Leigh, Clevedon, Beachlands and Sandspit were flooded by intense rain which hit the city last night.

Manley says those areas are likely to be flooded again during high tide at midnight.

He has sent workers to shore up the Herald Is properties with sandbags.

"Those properties will remain evacuated overnight. People will keep away from those areas."

The weather has cut power in Remuera and in Mt Wellington, while in west Auckland, residents at Piha, Titirangi and Henderson have been without electricity.

Vector says it has been working on fixing the fault, but some areas may be without power because of damage to service lines.

Igloo

Video: U.S. shivers from season's coldest weather

Bitter cold grips most of U.S. Currently the North Eastern United States and as many as 32 Eastern States are seeing heavy winter snow. Temperatures in many states are seeing double digit negative temperatures.

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