Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Southern Africa hit by worst floods in years


Agence France-Presse
Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:24 UTC
Southern African countries have been hit by the worst floods in years, killing more than 100 people and displacing thousands, as a tropical storm threatened to bring more pain on Saturday.

As Mozambique braced for the arrival of a strengthening tropical storm Izilda, record river levels across the region threatened to exacerbate floods which have already affected hundreds of thousands of people.

Namibia's government declared a state of emergency last week in areas where floods have affected over 350,000 people, 13,000 of whom were displaced, according to numbers released by the United Nations on Friday.
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Better Earth

US: Moderate Quake Hits Silicon Valley; No Reports of Damage


Associated Press
Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:02 UTC
A moderate earthquake rattled parts of Silicon Valley Monday, but there were no immediate reports of damage.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the temblor had a preliminary magnitude of 4.3 and struck at about 10:40 a.m. PDT. It was centered 11 miles north of the city of Morgan Hill, or about 16 miles southeast of San Jose.
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Target

Strong 6.0 earthquake hits Indonesia: USGS


ANTARA News
Sun, 29 Mar 2009 07:48 UTC
A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia's Papua region early Sunday, the US Geological Survey said.

The quake, which hit at 2:59 am (1759 GMT Saturday), was centred 135 kilometres (85 miles) southwest of the Papuan provincial capital of Jayapura at a depth of 53 kilometres, the USGS was quoted by AFP as saying.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity.
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Butterfly

Gorging on omega-3 fats lets birds get fit without exercise: study

Emily Chung
CBC News
Fri, 27 Mar 2009 01:48 UTC
bobwhite quail
© Jean-Michel Weber/University of OttawaBobwhite quails are typically poor fliers and "not really endurance athletes at all," said researcher Jean-Michel Weber.
It's a pity you're not a quail. Ottawa researchers have found that quails can boost their aerobic fitness just by sitting around and eating fats, provided they're the right kind.

The right kind happens to be omega-3 fatty acids, the same fats shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and lower blood pressure in humans.

After sedentary bobwhite quails were fed a supplement of omega-3 fatty acids for six weeks, their muscles showed a huge boost in the activity of enzymes that improve endurance compared to quails that didn't get the supplement, said a research paper published Friday in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

The same enzymes get more active and improve endurance in human athletes who train very hard for weeks, said University of Ottawa biologist Jean-Michel Weber, who conducted the study with his student Simba Nagahuedi.
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Wolf

US: Urban coyote attacks on rise, alarming residents

Judith Kohler
The Associated Press
Sun, 29 Mar 2009 01:11 UTC
urban coyotes
© AP Photo/Colorado Divison of WildlifeThis is an undated file photograph taken in November of 2008 of a pair of coyotes roaming through a housing subdivision in the south Denver suburb of Littleton, Colo., that was taken by a member of the Colorado Division of Wildlife. After a handful of recent attacks by coyotes in suburban Denver enclaves, officials are trying to keep the animals away from residents.
Denver - A coyote ambling into a Chicago sandwich shop or taking up residence in New York's Central Park understandably creates a stir. But even here on the high plains of Colorado, where the animals are part of the landscape and figure prominently in Western lore, people are being taken aback by rising coyote encounters.

Thanks to suburban sprawl and a growth in numbers of both people and animals, a rash of coyote encounters has alarmed residents.

Wildlife officials are working to educate the public: Coyotes have always been here, they've adapted to urban landscapes and they prefer to avoid humans.

"Ninety-five percent of this problem is a human problem, and we really need to focus on that 95 percent to solve it," said Nicole Rosmarino, wildlife program director of the environmental group WildEarth Guardians.
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Better Earth

The Global Warming Scam: Roger Revelle and Al Gore


Brasscheck TV
Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:18 UTC
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Target

Earthquake rattles northern Peru


BBC News
Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:14 UTC
A moderate earthquake has occurred near the city of Piura in northern Peru but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The magnitude 5.8 quake struck at 1235 local time (1735 GMT), 85km (55 miles) to the south-west of the city of about 400,000 people.

The US Geological Survey estimated its depth to be 15.6km (9.7 miles).
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Attention

Strong earthquake strikes off Japan


ABC News (Australia)
Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:07 UTC
A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake has struck off Japan's southern island of Okinawa, the US Geological Survey says.

The quake struck at 4:19am (local time), 165 kilometres north-west of Okinawa's capital Naha at a depth of 138 kilometres.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

About 20 per cent of the world's most powerful earthquakes strike Japan.
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Blackbox

Another volcano in Alaska erupts?

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That
Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:39 UTC
Mount Gareloi
© NASAGareloi Island

Map Mt Gareloi
© Wikimedia Commons

This time it appears to be Mount Gareloi. Something big is going on there seismically. The webicorder is going nuts.

Update: I double checked the webicorder to see if it was still operating, and it appears to be. Still no word on the AVO website about the status of Gareloi.
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Bizarro Earth

Major Eruptions Continue at Mt. Redoubt

Joseph D'Aleo
IceCap
Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:32 UTC
Mt. Redoubt
© unknown

Alaska's Mount Redoubt continued its volcanic explosions Friday, sending ash clouds as high as 60,000 feet above sea level and prompting drivers to head to the auto parts store for new air filters. The National Weather Service said most of the ash was expected to fall to the north, but trace amounts of ash from eruptions on Friday and smaller ones overnight could fall on Anchorage itself.

Since the series of eruptions began Sunday night, the volcano has had several (actually closer to a dozen) bursts. One on Thursday sent ash 65,000 feet high. 5 eruptions followed Friday sending ash as high as 51,000 and 60,000 feet. The last time the volcano had erupted was during a four-month period in late 1989 and early 1990.
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