Earth ChangesS


Hourglass

Timeline: 20 Years Of Major Oil Spills

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.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.1 - Izu Islands, Japan Region

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

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.4 quake shakes Chile, no damages

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).

Igloo

Back to Ice Age? Korea Shivering With Unusual Cold

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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.

Cloud Lightning

Cumberland River Floods Nashville as record rainfall leaves 20 dead

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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.

Arrow Down

Nashville Flooding Devastates City as Interstate-24 Becomes River

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© UnknownThe worst rains in Tennessee's history turned highways into rivers overnight
The Nashville, Tennessee flooding has gotten totally out of control with an Interstate being turned into what looks just like a river. Many cars are flooded in the river of an interstate. It is all just crazy and horrible! This Nashville flooding has been the worst rain that they have ever seen in all of Nashville's entire history.

Below I have a CNN video which shows a lot cars that are submerged in the water as well as a school building that has lost its ability to stay on land and is literally floating down Interstate 24 (I-24). The Harpeth River was forced to rise by 26 feet by Saturday evening which has in turn caused major flooding of the metro area in Nashville.

Emergency personnel have been having to do emergency evacuations of people from their homes as well as endure over 50 rescues of people from the floodwaters. At this time, people are homeless and having to live in shelters. Right now the Red Cross and Lipscomb University has offered to shelter the homeless due to the flooding.

Attention

Spring storm dumps snow on northeastern US

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© Toby Talbot, APA horse is seen through a snow-covered fence in a pasture in Calais, Vt., Wednesday, April 28. A spring snowstorm dumped 12 to 18 inches of snow in some areas of Vermont, according to the National Weather Service.
Montpelier, Vermont - A late-season snowstorm dumped up to 2 feet of heavy, wet snow on northern New York, Vermont and New Hampshire by Wednesday morning, cutting off power to thousands, closing some schools and leaving roads slippery.

"It definitely caught people off guard, considering we had 80 degrees back in March. It's a problem because some people swapped their (snow) tires out already," said Vermont highway dispatcher Greg Fox.

About 30,000 customers were without power in Vermont, New Hampshire and northern New York at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Utility officials said it could be Thursday before power is fully restored.

"We've been hammered all night," said New York State Police Trooper Eric LaValley of the Ray Brook barracks, in the Adirondack Mountains.

Large storms so late in the season are rare. On April 23, 1993, 22 inches of snow was reported in Malone, N.Y., and on April 27, 1874, 24 inches of snow was reported in Bellows Falls, Vt., said Mark Breen, the senior meteorologist at the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury.

Attention

Hail, sleet and snow slams southern California

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© Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles TimesNorthbound Interstate 5 is gridlocked as inclement weather conditions shut down parts of the freeway Thursday morning.
High winds, low temperatures and snow in some mountain areas forced closure of Interstate 5 over the Grapevine on Thursday morning as forecasters warned of gusts of up to 50 mph in parts of Southern California.

[Update at 10:45 a.m.: As of 9:30 a.m., lanes in both directions of Interstate 5 were reopened to traffic.]

Shortly after 7:30 a.m., the California Highway Patrol closed the southbound lanes of Interstate 5, and then about 8:15 a.m. shut down the northbound lanes at Vista del Lago.

"We've got icy roadway, hail, snow, black ice. You name it, it's up there," said CHP Officer Robert Rodriguez.

Officers were called out on about 20 crashes on the northern slope of the Grapevine early Thursday, including one in which a car ran into the back of a big rig, Rodriguez said. One motorist suffered moderate injuries.

Bad Guys

Whistleblower: BP Risks More Massive Catastrophes in Gulf

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© Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: futureatlas.com, US Coast Guard
A former contractor who worked for British Petroleum (BP) claims the oil conglomerate broke federal laws and violated its own internal procedures by failing to maintain crucial safety and engineering documents related to one of the firms other deepwater production projects in the Gulf of Mexico, according to internal emails and other documents obtained by Truthout.

The whistleblower, whose name has been withheld at the person's request because the whistleblower still works in the oil industry and fears retaliation, first raised concerns about safety issues related to BP Atlantis, the world's largest and deepest semi-submersible oil and natural gas platform, located about 200 miles south of New Orleans, in November 2008. Atlantis, which began production in October 2007, has the capacity to produce about 8.4 million gallons of oil and 180 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Bizarro Earth

US government fears Deepwater Horizon well could become unchecked gusher

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© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez MonsivaisHomeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano uses a map of the Gulf of Mexico during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, April 29, 2010. A leaked memorandum obtained by the Press-Register on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the Deepwater Horizon well site could be on the verge of becoming an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.
A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

"The following is not public," reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Response document dated April 28. "Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought."

Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, "I'm letting the document you have speak for itself."

In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. It appears the new leaks mentioned in the Wednesday release are the leaks reported to the public late Wednesday night.

"There is no official change in the volume released but the USCG is no longer stating that the release rate is 1,000 barrels a day," continues the document, referred to as report No. 12. "Instead they are saying that they are preparing for a worst-case release and bringing all assets to bear."

The emergency document also states that the spill has grown in size so quickly that only 1 to 2 percent of it has been sprayed with dispersants.