Earth ChangesS

Cloud Lightning

Global warming continues, says U.N.

The long-term trend of global warming is continuing, despite the current La Nina weather phenomenon that is bringing relatively cooler temperatures to parts of the Equatorial Pacific region, says the United Nations World Meteorological Organization.


Cloud Lightning

Uncommon cold is an antidote to warming fears

You have to hand it to the global warming crowd. A little cold and snow doesn't scare them one bit.

Here in Northwest Montana we recently received good news when it was announced that our local ski resorts are having record years for snowfall. The Whitefish Mountain Resort, for instance, had gotten 424 inches of snow at the summit as of April 4, a hefty improvement over the previous record of 406 inches, which was set in the 1996-97 season.

Bizarro Earth

Minor Earthquake Shakes Santa Rosa

The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 2.9 struck at about 5:19 a.m. Wednesday near Santa Rosa.

According to the USGS, the earthquake had a depth of 3.8 miles and was centered 3 miles northwest of Santa Rosa and 52 miles northwest of San Francisco City Hall.
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A few NBC11 viewers called the newsroom to report they felt the shaking but said that nothing was damaged.


Health

Swarming Killer Bees Send 70 Mexican Police Officers to the Hospital

At least 70 police officers were hospitalized after so-called Africanized bees swarmed a police shooting range in southern Mexico, authorities said Tuesday.

The attacked occurred Monday in Tapachula, Chiapas, after one of the policemen hit the bees' hive with a bullet, local police officer Miguel Serrano said Tuesday. At least 10 of the 70 officers stung were in serious condition, he said.

Bizarro Earth

7.3 Earthquake Among Series To Hit South Pacific

Vanuatu โ€• A series of earthquakes has rocked an area of the South Pacific, the strongest being a 7.3 magnitude Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

At least 7 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 or greater have occurred in the last 12 hours, according to the USGS website.

Attention

Magnitude 7.3 Earthquake - Loyalty Islands

The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred 85 km (55 miles) SSW of Isangel, Tanna, Vanuatu, 175 km (110 miles) NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, 275 km (170 miles) S of PORT-VILA, Efate, Vanuatu, 1800 km (1120 miles) ENE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia at 5:46 AM MST, Apr 9, 2008 (11:46 PM local time in Loyalty Islands). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. No reports of damage or casualties have been received at this time.


Umbrella

Australia: Dust-tructive storms wreak havoc

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

Cloud Lightning

China: Woman killed by lightning in Shanghai, husband injured

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.

Bizarro Earth

Small earthquake strikes parts of south Texas

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.

Cloud Lightning

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

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.