Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

California Under Water: Already-Flooded Golden State Braces as 'Monster' Storm Gets Set to Dump Two Inches of Rain an HOUR

  • Motorists stranded in cars after rivers burst their banks
  • Mudslides feared in mountainous areas
  • State prepares for seventh straight day of torrential rain
  • Cause is freak 'atmospheric river' that occurs once over few hundred years
  • One-third of state's annual average rainfall pours down in a week

California is bracing for another monster storm tonight after days of relentless rainfall forced officials to evacuate hundreds of homes in America's so-called Golden State.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a state of emergency for the worst hit areas today and rescue crews frantically tried to clear flooded roads before more thunderstorms, hail and even small tornadoes hit the region.

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© ReutersSwept away: A member of the Los Angeles Fire Department drives a watercraft in the LA River after two victims were reported to be swept away in the water today. The search eventually had to be called off due to the weather
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© Getty ImagesDesperate measures: Jennifer Bowerman and her son Sabastian, seven, are led across flood waters on a raft after being stranded in a hotel in San Diego today during the rainstorm
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© Associated PressNo go: Locals secure a van to prevent it from being swept into a river in Silverado Canyon in California today

Bad Guys

The Oil Slick BP Tried To Hide Has Been Discovered

oil spill current
© AP/Dave Martin
In Thick Layers On the Sea Floor Over An Area of Several Thousand Square Miles

BP and the government famously declared that most of the oil had disappeared.

But as I've noted, as much as 98% of the oil is still in the ocean.

I have repeatedly pointed out that BP and the government applied massive amounts of dispersant to the Gulf Oil Spill in an effort to sink and hide the oil. Many others said the same thing.

BP and the government denied this, of course.

But the oil is not remaining hidden.

Indeed, as the Wall Street Journal noted on December 9th:

Red Flag

Corals 'Severely Slimed' After Oil Spill, Expedition Finds

oiled coral
© Lophelia II 2010, NOAA OER and BOEMREThe sea fan Paramuricea sp. with the symbiotic brittle star Asteroschema sp. from a site in the Garden Banks region of the Gulf of Mexico. This apparently healthy coral was observed during the first leg of the cruise at approximately 360 meters depth and over 450 km away from the site of the Deepwater Horizon.
"It reminds me of going to a family funeral," said Charles Fisher, a biology professor at Penn State University, and chief scientist on a recent mission to study the impact of the Gulf oil spill on coral in the area.

Just like seeing extended family, "it's always fun to go into the deep sea, and we saw a lot of life," he said. "But, on the other hand the reason you're there is not a happy reason. Some corals have been severely slimed. Some are dead or dying."

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., led a nine-day mission this month to study the effects of the oil spill on life at the bottom of the sea. A team of scientists set out on a research vessel, spending just over a week in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.

Equipped with both an autonomous submarine called Sentry, as well as a submersible called Alvin, the scientists photographed, mapped and collected samples from the Gulf nearly 24 hours a day. They completed six dives on Alvin, and set up a camera near the site of a dying coral reef, which will snap photos every hour for the next two months monitoring the coral's heath.

Bizarro Earth

Japan: Bonin Islands Region: Earthquake Magnitude 6.3

Japan Quake_221210
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 21:49:39 UTC

Thursday, December 23, 2010 at 07:49:39 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
26.780°N, 143.635°E

Depth:
11 km (6.8 miles)

Region:
BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION

Distances:
145 km (90 miles) ESE of Chichi-shima, Bonin Islands, Japan

320 km (200 miles) NE of Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan

1050 km (650 miles) SSE of TOKYO, Japan

Igloo

Syracuse smashes snow records for December

snow bank
© Heather Ainsworth for The New York TimesWalking past towering snowbanks in Syracuse is part of winter living.

Syracuse, New York - In some places, as the first days of winter pass, the prospect of a white Christmas is just that: a possibility, sometimes realized, sometimes not.

But in this city, hard by the Snow Belt beneath Lake Ontario, there is no need for any caveat. By this time, every year, it has snowed so heavily and so often that any more would be incomprehensible.

Syracuse has met the incomprehensible. As of Tuesday, even before winter had officially begun - at 6:38 p.m. Eastern time - 71.9 inches of snow had fallen this month, making it the city's snowiest December ever.

There has been at least a trace of snow on all but four days so far this month. In one four-day stretch last week, 43.2 inches came down. Never mind the inch or so that fell earlier in the fall.

Cloud Lightning

December Storms: Road Closures, Mudslides, More Rain

Mudslides and rock debris force the closure of several highways

Orange County was hammered by another round of rain Wednesday as the region prepares for more storms.

Witnesses reported that so much water poured out of Laguna Canyon into downtown Laguna Beach just before dawn that swiftwater rescue units were being deployed there. One man was rescued as mud flowed through his house, according to Laguna Beach fire officials.

A man who raises Koi on a fish farm in Laguna Canyon lost about 300 fish when his ponds overflowed. Some of the fish, which look like big goldfish, were swept down the canyon. Others were struggling to live in big puddles.

Laguna Koi Ponds at 20452 Laguna Canyon Road has been in business for 21 years, raising fish that can sell for up to $200 each.

Igloo

Snowed In: A Photo Journey Across A Paralyzed Europe

Traveling to Europe? Not so fast. Most airports in western and central Europe are at best open on an intermittent basis, and at worst completely shut down, with the UK taking the brunt of the storm. Disruptions in traffic continue for a fourth day as travellers across the continent are paralyzed and scrambling to find way to get home, with just 4 days until Christmas. For all those reading Zero Hedge from some airport terminal, our condolences. As always, nothing conveys the story as well as a few simple pictures: we have compiled a representative sample of snapshots from across Europe to show just why all those hoping for a strong holiday retail season in Europe will be very disappointed.
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Cloud Lightning

Storm causes hillside collapse, flooding in Southern California

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© APPeople attempt to pull a truck out of the rain-swollen Santiago Creek near Modjeska Canyon, Calif. on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010.
A powerful storm dumped more rain on already waterlogged Southern California on Wednesday, washing hillsides onto highways, endangering houses in canyons and forcing rescuers to pluck dozens of motorists from flooded streets.

The storm was expected to ease as it moved eastward. Floodwaters washed away homes in Arizona, and inundated parts of Nevada and Utah.

The low-pressure system could be in New Mexico by Thursday and could reach the Gulf Coast by Saturday with some rain, but not the deluge that hit Southern California, forecasters said.

In Southern California, the burst of heavy rain in the morning left streets flooded and caused minor mudslides. The threat, however, of larger mudslides could last for weeks in the suburban Los Angeles canyon hillsides laid bare by wildfires.

"The ground is so saturated it could move at any time," said Bob Spencer, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

Igloo

Mayor of London: There's a Mini Ice Age Coming, Says Man Who Beats Weather Experts

Piers Corbyn not only predicted the current weather, but he believes things are going to get much worse, says Boris Johnson, London's mayor

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© Getty ImagesFootprints remain after people walked on the snow-covered beach at Weston-Super-Mare, England
The man who repeatedly beats the Met Office at its own game

Well, folks, it's tea-time on Sunday and for anyone involved in keeping people moving it has been a hell of a weekend. Thousands have had their journeys wrecked, tens of thousands have been delayed getting away for Christmas; and for those Londoners who feel aggrieved by the performance of any part of our transport services, I can only say that we are doing our level best.

Almost the entire Tube system was running on Sunday and we would have done even better if it had not been for a suicide on the Northern Line, and the temporary stoppage that these tragedies entail. Of London's 700 bus services, only 50 were on diversion, mainly in the hillier areas. On Saturday, we managed to keep the West End plentifully supplied with customers, and retailers reported excellent takings on what is one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
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We have kept the Transport for London road network open throughout all this. We have about 90,000 tons of grit in stock, and the gritters were out all night to deal with this morning's rush. And yet we have to face the reality of the position across the country.

It is no use my saying that London Underground and bus networks are performing relatively well - touch wood - when Heathrow, our major international airport, is still effectively closed two days after the last heavy snowfall; when substantial parts of our national rail network are still struggling; when there are abandoned cars to be seen on hard shoulders all over the country; and when yet more snow is expected today, especially in the north.

Bizarro Earth

US: Los Angeles Evacuations Ordered; California Braces for More Rain

San Bernardino County Firefighter
© AP Photo/Daily Press/James QuiggSan Bernardino County Firefighters Jay Hausman, left, and Ryan Beckers, right, pull a victim from a car caught in swift water at Hughes and Avalon Road in Victorville, Calif., Monday, Dec. 20, 2010.
If six days of pounding rain wasn't enough to dampen holiday spirits, a seventh could prove to be downright dangerous. Forecasters expected heavy rains across California going into Wednesday, and authorities began evacuations late Tuesday as concern grew about potential mudslides in the wildfire-scarred foothills across the southern part of the state.

Officials ordered evacuation of 232 homes in La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta, foothill suburbs of Los Angeles, because of forecasts of more heavy rains on already saturated mountainsides.

San Diego police evacuated dozens of homes and businesses but no structural damage was reported in the city, said Lt. Andra Brown. A commuter rail station was closed in the city's Sorrento Valley area due to heavy rains. About a dozen homes were evacuated in a cul-de-sac south of downtown.