Earth ChangesS


Attention

The coming ice age could be just one winter away

Patrick Collins
Ice Age Now
Tue, 04 May 2010 20:44 UTC
Image
Robert Felix argues convincingly that, rather than runaway heating due to humans' burning fossil fuels, the world is much more likely to face rapid onset of the next ice age in the near future.

"Metres of snow every day for months on end", as seems to have occurred before, would kill everyone in northern countries - Russia, Poland, Germany, Scandinavia, northern Britain, Canada, northern USA - from Moscow to Seattle - in just a few days.

Elementary risk analysis shows that, at the very least, detailed studies of possible counter-measures and even preparations for a "crash program" are URGENTLY needed.

Governments have already spent hundreds of millions, supposedly to avert global warming, yet even the worst-case risk is decades away.

The coming ice age could be just one winter away.
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Mr. Potato

Stunning Pictures of Al Gore's New $9 Million Mansion Media Totally Ignored

Noel Sheppard
NewsBusters.org
Tue, 04 May 2010 19:02 UTC
Nobel Laureate Al Gore purchased a $9 million mansion in the luxurious hills of Montecito, California, recently, and with the exception of the Los Angeles Times and Fox News, America's media couldn't care less.

You think it might be because the Gore-loving press wouldn't want people to consider the possibility that all of his global warming hysteria was really about lining his wallet and not saving the planet?

Formulate a response to that question as you look at what all that money the former Vice President is making off of spreading this myth can buy (h/t Doug Ross):
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Attention

Best of the Web: It's snowing in Mexico in May!

Carlos Hernández (Translated by Sott.net)
El Diario
Sun, 02 May 2010 16:06 UTC
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© El DiarioThe Ice Age cometh: local residents pose for photographs in the snow. In Mexico. In May!
The 50th cold wave entered Friday night to the [Chihuahua] State, and caused a snowfall in 18 municipalities. The snow reached 18 centimeters in Ignacio Zaragoza and 12 centimeters in Gomez Farías.

In the state capital, the weather phenomenon took people by surprise, since for 32 years it did not snow in May, said spokesman of the State Civil Protection Unit, Martín de la Rosa.

The municipalities that were covered in white from the early hours of Saturday are: Aldama, Aquiles Serdan, Bocoyna, Buenaventura, Casas Grandes, Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, Galeana, Gomez Farias, Guachochi, Guerrero, Ignacio Zaragoza, Madera, Matachi, Ocampo, Riva Palacio, San Juanito and Temosachic. It also snowed in San Juanito, Creel, Cusárare and in the region of Divisadero.

In the areas of Rubio and Anahuac, snow fell more intensely, while the inhabitants of Bachíniva, Namiquipa and Riva Palacio, also reported to the Civil Protection Unit of this phenomenon.
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Bizarro Earth

Large amounts of nitrogen stored beneath selected agricultural areas


PhysOrg
Tue, 04 May 2010 16:24 UTC
Large amounts of nitrogen are stored in the soils of agricultural areas in Nebraska and Maryland, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Once in the soil, nitrogen can be converted to nitrate, which can readily move to groundwater.

"We expected to find nitrogen stored in organic matter in these soils, but didn't realize how much," said Tom Nolan, USGS hydrologist, who led the study. "If mobilized, the large reservoirs of nitrogen could significantly impact water quality."

Nitrogen occurs in soil, plants, and groundwater, and it is difficult to account for all of the various forms it can take. For this study, scientists at the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program and the USDA Agricultural Research Service used a new version of the Root Zone Water Quality Model to estimate unsaturated zone nitrogen mass balances at four agricultural fields. The study was reported in the May/June 2010 edition of the Journal of Environmental Quality, published by the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.

The mass balances were expected to reveal the predominant forms of nitrogen in important agricultural settings. The four sites had variable climate, soils, and management practices, and included: an almond orchard in central California; a cornfield that is about 0.6 kilometers from the almond orchard; a corn-soybean crop rotation in eastern Nebraska; and a corn-soybean rotation in eastern Maryland.
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Bizarro Earth

Expert Views on the Deepwater Horizon Incident and Aftermath

George Gould
Guidry News
Mon, 03 May 2010 13:18 UTC
mexico oil well blowout
© Unknown
I had the pleasure of listening in to a phone conference on Friday organized by Morgan Stanley's oil field services' analyst, Ole Sorer. The topic was the Deepwater Horizon disaster, including what went wrong, who is liable, and what some of the longer-term impacts to the E&P industry might be. The discussion leaders included Mike Smith, a 15-year veteran of Transocean (since retired) and two attorneys who have dealt with oil spill litigation in the past. I learned a lot, and thought I'd share some of their perspectives with the readers of Seis Matters.

According to the Transocean veteran, BP had discovered significant quantities of oil and gas at Macondo, the name of the field that the Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling. BP had reached total depth and penetrated the reservoir horizon at 18,000 feet. Halliburton had cemented the last casing string in the well and inserted several cement plugs within it which BP intended to drill out at some future point when they returned to Macondo to begin full-field development.

With the cement plugs in place, Transocean had begun the process of removing the drill string in the well (used during the cementing operation) and had begun to replace the heavier mud in the wellbore with less dense sea water. This is apparently a common practice, as the plugs are designed to contain the reservoir fluids downhole. Effectively, the Deepwater Horizon was hours away from moving off the Macondo location.
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Hourglass

Timeline: 20 Years Of Major Oil Spills


ABC News
Tue, 04 May 2010 07:17 UTC
Oil Rig - Timor Sea
© UnknownIn August 2009, up to 30,000 tonnes of oil spilled into the Timor Sea after the West Atlas oil rig began leaking oil and gas
March 24, 1989 - The oil tanker Exxon Valdez hits Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef in Alaska, spilling 40.9 million litres of crude oil. It is thought to be one of the worst man made environmental disasters ever.

1991 - The Gulf War oil spill is estimated to be the largest oil spill in history. In order to ward of a potential landing by United States marines, the Iraqi military dumped up to 1.5 million tonnes of oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf. The oil damaged the ecosystem in the Persian Gulf, around Kuwait and Iraq.
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.1 - Izu Islands, Japan Region


US Geological Survey
Mon, 03 May 2010 03:19 UTC
IZu Island Earthquake
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Monday May 03, 2010 at 10:27:45 UTC

Monday, May 03, 2010 at 07:27:45 PM at epicenter

Location:
29.614°N, 141.064°E

Depth:
82.3 km (51.1 miles) set by location program

Distances:
300 km (190 miles) NNW of Chichi-shima, Bonin Islands, Japan

405 km (250 miles) SSE of Hachijo-jima, Izu Islands, Japan

535 km (335 miles) N of Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan

685 km (425 miles) S of TOKYO, Japan
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.4 quake shakes Chile, no damages


Associated Press
Mon, 03 May 2010 21:27 UTC
Santiago - The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude-6.4 earthquake has struck off Chile's central coast. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The USGS says the quake's epicenter was 151 kilometers (94 miles) south-southwest of Concepcion, Chile, at a depth of 20 kilometers (12 miles).
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Igloo

Back to Ice Age? Korea Shivering With Unusual Cold

Park Si-soo
Korea Times
Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:51 UTC
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© Choi Heung-sooTwo people in coats walk down a street in central Seoul, Wednesday, as midday high temperatures stood at 7.8 degrees Celsius in Seoul, the lowest for late April since 1908.
Spring is overdue ― way long overdue. And for office worker Beh Hye-lim, a portable heater is still a must-have item in her office in southern Seoul.

Despite efforts to stay warm, the 27-year-old has been struggling with cold from chilly weather for days.

''Warm rays of sunshine were usual at this time in previous years. But it's literarily freezing,'' she said sneezing.

The entire Korean Peninsula is shivering with a record-low spring chill ― the midday high temperature for Seoul recorded 7.8 degrees Celsius and 6.7 degrees for Daejoen, 170 kilometers south from the Seoul, Wednesday, the lowest for late April since 1908, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).

The mercury across the country is forecast to do down further Thursday, with some snow expected in mountainous areas in Gangwon Province.

"The unusual chill is likely to continue until mid May,'' the state weather agency said, adding, ''Rain and accompanying wind made people feel much colder.''

The lowest mid-day temperature for late April in Seoul was 10.1 degrees Celsius, set on April 27, 1962.
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Cloud Lightning

Cumberland River Floods Nashville as record rainfall leaves 20 dead


wsmv.com
Mon, 03 May 2010 18:20 UTC
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© Unknown
Storms Kill 6 In Nashville, Evacuate Thousands From Homes

Nashville, Tennessee - The Cumberland River was expected to crest sometime Monday evening but would not begin receding until Tuesday, according to the Nashville mayor's office.

The Cumberland flooded quickly after the weekend's storms dumped more than 13 inches of rain in Nashville over two days. That nearly doubled the previous record of 6.68 inches of rain that fell in the wake of Hurricane Fredrick in 1979.

The weekend thunderstorms killed at least 20 people in Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. At least six people were killed in Nashville.

Floodwater continued to rise Monday midday in downtown Nashville, shutting down most of lower Broadway including First and Second avenues. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center and numerous buildings downtown near the Cumberland River had lower-level flooding.

Heartland Christian Towers residents are being moved to hotels or picked up by family members. The retirement home is on Fernbrook Lane off McGavock Pike in Nashville.

Air 4 flew over a flooded home along Pennington Bend that was engulfed in flames at 10:30 a.m. The NWS advised that major flooding is expected to continue along Cumberland River Monday followed by a gradual decrease in water levels, and that homes in the area should be evacuated.
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