Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

South Pacific Sandy Island 'proven not to exist'


BBC News
Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:27 UTC
Sandy Island
© BBC NewsCartographers everywhere are now rushing to undiscover Sandy Island for ever.
A South Pacific island, shown on marine charts and world maps as well as on Google Earth and Google Maps, does not exist, Australian scientists say.

The supposedly sizeable strip of land, named Sandy Island on Google maps, was positioned midway between Australia and French-governed New Caledonia.

But when scientists from the University of Sydney went to the area, they found only the blue ocean of the Coral Sea.

The phantom island has featured in publications for at least a decade.

Scientist Maria Seton, who was on the ship, said that the team was expecting land, not 1,400m (4,620ft) of deep ocean.

"We wanted to check it out because the navigation charts on board the ship showed a water depth of 1,400m in that area - very deep," Dr Seton, from the University of Sydney, told the AFP news agency after the 25-day voyage.

"It's on Google Earth and other maps so we went to check and there was no island. We're really puzzled. It's quite bizarre.
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Sun

Worst US drought in decades deepens to cover 60 percent of the lower 48


Associated Press
Thu, 22 Nov 2012 02:49 UTC
Image
© Nati Harnik/APA tree trunk rests on the bed of a dried lake, the outcome of severe drought, in Waterloo, Neb., on Tuesday. A new report shows that the nation's worst drought in decades is getting worse again, ending an encouraging five-week run of improving conditions.
The worst U.S. drought in decades has deepened again after more than a month of encouraging reports of slowly improving conditions, a drought-tracking consortium said Wednesday, as scientists struggled for an explanation other than a simple lack of rain.

While more than half of the continental U.S. has been in a drought since summer, rain storms had appeared to be easing the situation week by week since late September. But that promising run ended with Wednesday's weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report, which showed increases in the portion of the country in drought and the severity of it.

The report showed that 60.1 percent of the lower 48 states were in some form of drought as of Tuesday, up from 58.8 percent the previous week. The amount of land in extreme or exceptional drought - the two worst classifications - increased from 18.3 percent to 19.04 percent.

Comment: This is not good news for those already struggling to put food on the table, as food prices are sure to rise.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flood warnings abound as sodden UK prepares for fresh rain

Steven Morris
The Guardian
Thu, 22 Nov 2012 03:20 UTC
Image
© Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesA car sits stuck in the village of Chilcompton, near Wells, Somerset.
Met Office warns of severe weather in south-west England, West Midlands, Wales and a much of Scotland, with 70mph winds

Householders, business people and motorists have been warned to prepare for flooding, gale-force winds and terrible driving conditions as another band of wet weather sweeps across the UK.

Up to 60mm (2.35in) of rain is expected to pound down within a few hours on to ground that is already sodden or flooded, and into rivers swollen by the autumn showers.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for south-west England, the West Midlands, the whole of Wales and a good deal of Scotland, and said winds of up to 70mph could add to the misery.

Bob Wilderspin, the Met Office chief forecaster, said: "The current unsettled spell of weather is set to continue, with further spells of heavy rain expected across the country over the next few days.
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Red Flag

Nanotechnology could reduce plant's ability to produce food


Common Dreams
Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:36 UTC
Image
© John Dziekan/Chicago Tribune/MCT)Fresh soybeans
'There could be unintended consequences ... if we're not careful.'

Long term use of nanotechnology to affect everything from stain-resistant clothing to more efficient fuel could reduce a plant's ability to produce food, according to a study of soybeans at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Scientists planted soybeans in soil doused with two kinds of metallic nanoparticles to determine whether the materials would become part of the plants.

In both cases, the substances became part of the plants. In ground spiked with zinc oxide nanoparticles, soybeans seemed to fare slightly better than normal. In soil treated with cerium oxide nanoparticles, the plants grew fewer leaves and punier bean pods," Scott Canon of The Kansas City Star reports. "That raises implications for the fields of Kansas, Missouri and the rest of the Grain Belt where, scientists presume, manufactured nanoparticles have been accumulating for a few decades now.

Comment: 'There could be unintended consequences ... if we're not careful.'
The following articles give a more in depth look at the unintended consequences associated with nanotechnology:

Nanotech: The Unknown Risks
Nanotechnology - the new threat to food
Alert over the march of the 'grey goo' in nanotechnology Frankenfoods
Nanotechnology builds artificial virus
Scientists Scared as Nanotechnology and Nanoparticles Become Common in Consumer Products
Study: Potential Hazards of Nanotechnology Not Known
The report linked nanoparticles to:
  • Damage to DNA
  • Disruption of cellular function and production of reactive oxygen species
  • Asbestos-like pathogencity
  • Neurologic problems (such as seizures)
  • Organ damage, including significant lesions on the liver and kidneys
  • Destruction of beneficial bacteria in wastewater treatment systems
  • Stunted root growth in corn, soybeans, carrots, cucumber and cabbage
  • Gill damage, respiratory problems and oxidative stress in fish


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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - SW of San Antonio, Chile


US Geological Survey
Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:36 UTC
Chile Quake_211112
© USGS
Event Time
2012-11-21 21:36:22 UTC
2012-11-21 18:36:22 UTC-03:00 at epicenter

Location
34.002°S 71.957°W depth=15.6km (9.7mi)

Nearby Cities
54km (34mi) SW of San Antonio, Chile
59km (37mi) SSW of Cartagena, Chile
76km (47mi) WSW of Melipilla, Chile
88km (55mi) NW of Santa Cruz, Chile
135km (84mi) WSW of Santiago, Chile

Technical Details
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Igloo

Global cooling predicted for the next 30 years

Jonathan DuHamel
Tuscon Citizen
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:49 UTC
Dr. Norman Page says that "The earth is entering a cooling phase which is likely to last about 30 years and possibly longer." See his detailed analysis here.

Page's prediction is based on observation of the geologic record. He notes that there has been no net warming since 1997 even thought carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere has risen 8.5%. Page says that atmospheric temperature is driven by sea surface temperature (SST) which is, itself, solar driven. The oceanic oscillations control the general climate.

There is good correlation between solar cycles and SST, but note that because of the enthalpy and thermal inertia of the oceans, there is a 10 - 12 year lag between solar cycle troughs and global SSTs. This lag time definitely establishes cause and effect similar to the lag in carbon dioxide changes following temperature changes in the major glacial cycles as shown in ice cores The graph below shows the variations in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the major oceanic oscillation (the red line is actual measurement, the blue line is predictive modeling.) (Graph source here.)

Global Cooling
© TallBloke Wordpress
Page says than in the figure "an approximate 60 year cycle is obvious by inspection and this coincides well with the 30 year +/- positive (warm) and 30year +/- negative (cold) phases of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation." The graph "shows warming from about 1910 to 1940-45, cooling from then to about 1975, warming to about 2003-5 and cooling since then. Total warming during the 20th century was about 0.8 degrees C." He also says that it is clear that we are entering the beginning of a 30-year cool phase of the PDO.
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Cloud Lightning

Hundreds of homes ravaged by deadly storms in Alabama


MSNBC.com
Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:34 UTC
Storms that spawned at least one twister were responsible for 2 deaths, more than 100 injuries and some 400 homes and buildings destroyed or damaged early Monday in the area around Birmingham, Ala. -- less than a year after the state saw 240 lives taken by tornadoes.

More than 200 homes were destroyed, the Red Cross said, and as many were damaged.

Jefferson County appeared hardest hit, especially the town of Clay, where the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado with 150-mph winds had struck. "We have major, major damage," said a Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency official, Bob Ammons, in reference to the region.

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Blackbox

Scientists baffled by over 100 dead starlings in Missouri


12NewsNow.com
Wed, 21 Nov 2012 10:49 UTC
Springfield --"I can't think of any explanation for what happened." says Judy Carmicheal who lives just about a hundred feet from where a flock of starlings died. On Saturday she came out to see the birds dead in the road on Fremont and Erie Street away from power lines and trees.

"None were on the sidewalk. There weren't any in the grass. They were just all right there and I just about counted everyone." says Carmichael. She counted about 100 birds. Garrett Lane works along the intersection and when he showed up some of the birds were still alive.

"Most of the birds were standing right here just leaning up against the wall so when I walked up they wouldn't fly away so that was kind of odd to me. Why aren't the birds flying away--they just weren't able to fly." says Lane. There were no dead birds on his lawn. He doesn't know what happened to the birds that couldn't fly.

Video

Comment: Radar Doppler images confirm overhead 'turbulence' cause of 2011 mass bird death case in Beebe, Arkansas Meteoric Deja-vu: Exactly one year later, dead blackbirds fall again in Beebe, Arkansas
A Sign for the New Year: 1,000 Birds Fall From the Sky in Beebe, Arkansas

Reign of Fire: Meteorites, Wildfires, Planetary Chaos and the Sixth Extinction

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Bizarro Earth

Volcano erupts on New Zealand's North Island


Agence France-Presse
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 21:37 UTC
Volcanic Eruption
© Agence France-PresseGraphic showing Mount Tongariro in New Zealand’s North Island, which erupted Wednesday sending a plume of ash into the atmosphere.
Wellington - New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano erupted on Wednesday, sending a column of ash high into the atmosphere of the country's North Island, scientists said.

The official GNS Science monitoring service issued a potential threat alert after the 1:25 p.m. (0025 GMT) eruption at the volcano which became active in August this year after lying dormant for more than a century.

Civil Defense authorities described the eruption as minor but said conditions could be hazardous in the vicinity of the mountain and nearby areas could experience ashfall.

The August eruption, the first since 1897, hit domestic flights and closed highways but Air New Zealand said it did not expect the latest activity to disrupt services, although it was closely monitoring the situation.

Local resident Clint Green witnessed the eruption and said it sent ash spewing about two kilometres (more than a mile) into the air.

"It was pretty spectacular. All of a sudden a towering black plume just began erupting very quickly, skyrocketing up," he told Radio New Zealand.

"At first I didn't believe what I was seeing."

There were no immediate reports of injuries.
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Cloud Precipitation

Storm slams Pacific Northwest with record rain, wind; at least one dead


NBC News
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:07 UTC
Image
© The Spokesman-Review/Associated PressDuring a strong gust of wind, Michele Purkey's umbrella flips back as she crosses street Monday in downtown Spokane, Wash.
The heavy winds and rain that pummeled the Pacific Northwest, flooding roads and highways and leaving at least one person dead, eased on Tuesday though showers remained in the forecast for much of the Thanksgiving holiday week.

Rain and wind pounded Washington and Oregon on Monday, flooding streets, toppling large trucks and cutting power to more than 20,000 people.

Nearly 2 inches of rain fell in six hours in one Seattle neighborhood - a total that Seattle Public Utilities meteorologist James Rufo-Hill called "extraordinary."

"It was a pretty big storm for most of the city - lots of rain in a relatively short amount of time," he said, but several neighborhoods "really got drenched."

By late Monday night, 2.13 inches of rain had fallen for the day at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, shattering the record of 1.23 inches for Nov. 19 set in 1962.

Comment: There is evidence of more to come, starting at 52 seconds.


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