Earth ChangesS


Umbrella

Australia: Dust-tructive storms wreak havoc

Gregor Heard
Stock & Land
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:40 UTC
The term "Collins Street farmer" was given a new meaning last week, as Melbourne, along with most of the state, was inundated by dust caused by fierce winds which reached more than 130 kilometres per hour.

The dust was topsoil from farms across south-eastern Australia, including large tracts of South Australia and northern Victoria.

Image
©Unknown
Dust sits over Swan Hill last week
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Cloud Lightning

China: Woman killed by lightning in Shanghai, husband injured


People's Daily
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:16 UTC
A 61-year-old woman was killed by lightning in Shanghai on Tuesday, shortly after the local observatory issued a warning.

Yu Jinyun and her husband, Xie Baoren, 62, were struck by a bolt of lightning at 7:55 a.m. while riding a motorbike on a bridge. Yu died instantly while Xie was rushed to hospital.

The Shanghai Observatory issued a lighting warning at 6:46 a.m. and upgraded it at 7:27 p.m.. It also issued a strong wind warning.
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Bizarro Earth

Small earthquake strikes parts of south Texas


MSNBC
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:58 UTC
No injuries reported after 3.7 magnitude tremor woke residents

Falls City, Texas - A small earthquake awoke residents in south Texas, but there are no reported injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the 3.7 magnitude quake happened shortly before 5 a.m. Monday about 45 miles southeast of San Antonio.
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Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: Climate change confirmed but global warming is cancelled

Owen McShane
National Business Review
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:18 UTC
Unlike so many of the hapless victims on TVOne's daily Crimewatch (also known as One Network News) I have recently been lucky enough to be in two right places at the right time.

In December last year, at the UN conference in Bali, I heard Viscount Monckton present a paper prepared by himself, the Australian Dr David Evans and our own Dr Vincent Gray (who were at Bali, too) that showed while the IPCC models predict that greenhouse gases would produce an extensive "hot spot" in the upper troposphere over the tropics, the satellite measurements show no such hotspots have appeared.

Monckton and Evans found a large part of this discrepancy is the result of some basic errors in the IPCC's assessment of the Stefan-Boltzmann equation. When they applied their revised factor to the effect of greenhouse gases, the temperature rise was about a third of that predicted by the IPCC.

So by late last year we not only knew IPCC forecasts of atmospheric global warming were wrong; we were beginning to understand why they are wrong.
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Info

Quakes Near Washington's Olympic Peninsula May Stir Temblors in California


Peninsula Daily News
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:12 UTC
Over the past 3,000 years, almost every major earthquake on California's San Andreas fault was closely linked in time with an earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone, an offshore fault off the Olympic Peninsula, new research shows.

Cascadia Subduction Zone
©Keith Thorpe / PDN
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Frog

Scientists find bizarre lungless frog


msnbc/Live Science
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:45 UTC
The first lungless frog has been discovered lurking in the jungles of Borneo.

The enigmatic amphibian, dubbed Barbourula kalimantanensis, apparently gets all the oxygen it needs through its skin.

lungless frog
©David Bickford / LiveScience
The first lungless frog has been discovered lurking in the jungles of Borneo.
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Fish

Karachi: Fishermen concerned over mysterious death of fish


The International News
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:52 UTC
Fishermen have expressed concern over the large-scale death of fish at the Karachi coast. They demanded of the concerned authorities to conduct a survey to learn the actual reasons behind the death of the fish and to take effective steps to address the problem.

Hundreds of dead fish, including Mullet, Bohi and other species, have been seen at the seashore near Baba, Bhit, Shamspir and Salehabad islands, the premises of Karachi Fish Harbour (KFH) and other coastal villages for the last couple of days.
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Bizarro Earth

Storm dumps more than 2 feet of snow in northern Minnesota


Associated Press
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:00 UTC
Residents of the Iron Range and other parts of northern Minnesota are digging out from under at least 2 feet of fresh snow.

The grand prize for the most snowfall goes to Virginia, Minn., where 32 inches piled up between Friday night and this morning. More than a foot fell in the northern Minnesota community of about 9,000 people since Sunday evening, the National Weather Service said.

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Evil Rays

Navy sonar blamed for death of beaked whales found washed up in the Hebrides

Michael McCarthy
The Independent
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:32 UTC
Anti-submarine sonar may have killed a group of whales found dead in the Hebrides in one of Britain's most unusual strandings, scientists believe.

Five Cuvier's beaked whales, a species rarely seen in British waters, were discovered on beaches in the Western Isles on succeeding days in February. Another animal from a related species was discovered at the same time.
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Target

Alaska: Earthquakes Hit Remote Aleutian Islands


Associated Press
Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:57 UTC
Anchorage, Alaska - Several earthquakes have jolted various sections of Alaska's remote Aleutian Islands.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says three light quakes struck early Sunday. Officials say the quakes ranged in magnitudes between 4.2 and 4.7.

The center says a moderate earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 occurred late Saturday night in the Rat Islands region of the Aleutians.

There are no immediate reports that any of the quakes were felt or caused any damage.
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