Earth ChangesS


Fish

Eyeless Cave Fish Found in Indonesia

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© Agence France-PresseThis picture of a newly discovered eyeless fish, the Cavernicole, was released by the Expedition of Lengguru-Kaimana 2010.
Eyeless cave fish and a frog that carries its offspring on its back are among the new species a team of scientists have discovered in Indonesia's eastern Papua region.

The researchers from the Institute of Research and Development (IRD) in Montpellier, southern France, studied caves, underground rivers and jungles in the remote Lengguru area of New Guinea island.

'In terms of discoveries almost everything remains to be done in this area, which is very difficult to access but which has exceptionally rich biodiversity,' IRD scientist Laurent Pouyaud told AFP.

For seven weeks, the team including biologists, paleontologists and archaeologists explored the vast limestone 'labyrinth' where species have evolved in isolation for millions of years.

In one previously undocumented cave they found a new species of fish which had developed without eyes or pigmentation.

Igloo

UK: Widest-spread November snowfall for 17 years causes hazardous conditions on roads

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Motorists battled with hazardous conditions on the roads today as the widest-spread November snowfall for 17 years gripped the country. Parts of the UK were blanketed in white as many woke to wintry scenes and freezing temperatures following a bitterly cold night.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings, flagging up drifting snow for the eastern side of the country as well as parts of Wales and Northern Ireland, while North Yorkshire County Council said six village primary schools were forced to close. Worst-hit were the Scottish Highlands, with up to 8ins (20cm) of snow forecast to settle in Grampian - along with Yorkshire, north east England and East Anglia.

But the rest of Britain did not escape unscathed and snow ploughs and gritters were out in force. A heavy dump of snow caused havoc for commuters in north east Scotland and northern England where up to to 4ins (10cm) had settled today. Drivers also struggled on the North York Moors, which have been hit by bad weather and sub-zero temperatures.

The A170 at Sutton Bank was particularly affected, as was the B1249 at Staxton Bank near Scarborough. The A165 Reighton bypass was partially blocked this morning, with slow traffic around the Sands Road junction.

Arrow Up

Indonesian Volcano Death Toll Rises To 324

The number of people killed in recent eruptions of Indonesia's most volatile volcano has risen to 324, according to an official.

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© Gembong Nusantara/Associated PressA man stands in his destroyed village after the eruption of Mount Merapi in Klaten, Indonesia, on Friday. In addition to those killed immediately in the disaster, people have died from burns they sustained, officials say.
Syamsul Maarif of Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said Wednesday the official death toll from Mount Merapi's eruptions rose after some victims succumbed to severe burns and more bodies were found on the volcano's slopes.

The volcano, located in the middle of the central Indonesian island of Java, initially erupted Oct. 26 - less than 24 hours after a tsunami slammed into the remote Mentawai islands at the western end of the country, killing 509 people.

Igloo

US: Snow, Ice to Create Travel Trouble in the Upper Midwest

Snow-covered roads Upper Midwest 2010
© Harold Y., AccuWeather.comSnow-covered roadways will be common across the Upper Midwest today into tonight. Photo taken in Seattle, Wash.
The Upper Midwest will become one of the nation's worst regions for Thanksgiving travelers to pass through today due to an invasion of snow and ice. The snow will continue to create slick roadways from far eastern Montana to the western shores of Lake Superior today. The snow will fall intermittently throughout the day over North Dakota, eastern South Dakota and neighboring parts of Canada.

This afternoon and evening is when the snow will create the most adverse conditions for motorists in Minneapolis and Duluth. airline passengers should prepare for substantial delays. As the snow continues into tonight, as much as 6 inches will accumulate from northern North Dakota to places in the vicinity of western Lake Superior. International Falls, Minnesota, lies within this zone.

Gusty winds will worsen the situation for travelers today by whipping the snow around, leading to reduced visibility. The strongest winds will blast the northern High Plains, where high temperatures will be held to the teens and single digits. These winds will create dangerous blizzard conditions at times. While a substantial amount of new snow will not fall today, the winds will have no trouble blowing and drifting the snow left by recent storm systems.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 5 inches of snow remained on the ground in Rapid City, South Dakota

Igloo

Canada: Record Cold Plunges British Columbia Into Deep Freeze

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© CBCSnow caused traffic chaos and institutional closures in Victoria Monday
Weather system brings snow, power outages and unseasonably chilly temperatures

A blast of Arctic air is barrelling down on the West Coast of B.C., threatening to break low temperature records that have stood for 25 years. The low is expected to dip to -10 C in the Vancouver area and -4 C in Victoria - the "warm" spot for the province. The overnight low in the far northeast at Fort St. John is forecast at -30 C and in Prince George, in the central Interior, -26 C.

The lowest recorded temperature in Vancouver for this date is -12.9 C, set in 1985. Tuesday's forecast high of -6 C should smash the record for the coldest daytime high for Nov. 23 of -1 C, also set in 1985. The weather system brought more strong winds Monday night, knocking out power to more than 20,000 homes in the Fraser Valley. The outages were located mostly in Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Langley. Hydro crews were expected to have the power back on sometime overnight.

The freezing weather system also dumped snow on the streets of Victoria and shut down some ferry routes between the islands. Police in Victoria asked people to keep their vehicles off the street after a dump of snow made some routes impassable and led to a rash of traffic accidents. Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for southern Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast as road conditions are expected to worsen. That prompted many businesses like Gateway Property Management to close for the day so their staff could avoid the afternoon rush hour, according to manager Nathan Enns.

"If the snow stops in the next hour then ... it's sort of a non-issue. But if it keeps going, it's going to be a messy, convoluted rush hour going home this afternoon," said Enns. In Victoria, the city urged drivers to stay out of their vehicles in order to give public works crews time to clear major arteries. A dozen smaller streets in the city are closed, in order to clear motor vehicle accidents, police said.

Igloo

US: Northwest Freezes as Rare Blizzard Roars Through

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© AP Photo/Elaine ThompsonU.S. Army Spc. Ron Washington checks his watch as he stands on the Alaskan Way Viaduct after walking from his Humvee to check on the gridlock on the highway Monday, Nov. 22, 2010, in Seattle. Drivers were stuck for hours throughout the Puget Sound region, as Washington state was hit by its first significant snowfall of the season, with several inches on the ground in Spokane and just enough snow in the Puget Sound area to make traffic a mess. More snow was forecast along with extreme cold in parts of Eastern Washington down to 19 below zero overnight in some spots near Spokane, with winds of up to 25 mph driving the wind chill even lower.
Seattle, Washington - A vicious storm struck the Pacific Northwest and other western states at the start of the holiday travel season, dumping heavy snow on roads, knocking out power to tens of thousands of people and causing a cargo plane to overshoot its runway in Seattle.

At least three deaths in Washington state have been blamed on the storm, including a man struck and killed outside his car Monday night on snowy Interstate 5 in Tacoma. Washington State Patrol Trooper Brandy Kessler said it wasn't clear whether the man was chaining up his car or pushing it when he was hit.

A man's body was found along the Willamette River waterfront in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday. Police were trying to determine whether the death was weather related.

Blowing snow, slick roads and temperatures in the mid-20s turned the Monday evening commute in the Puget Sound region into an hours-long crawl - for those who made it home. Some commuters gave up after being stuck for five hours or more and returned to their offices, or just left their cars at the side of the road.

Black Cat

Why Brainy Tail-Wagging Top Dogs Can Teach Aloof Cats a Thing or Two

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© CorbisTop dog: Scientists claim pet dogs are smarter than cats because friendly social mammals need more intelligence than solitary, aloof ones
Looking down on the world - and especially those tail-wagging dimwits known as dogs - may seem like the natural order of things for cats.

No longer. For scientists yesterday claimed pet dogs are smarter than their feline counterparts.

The reason, they claim, is that dogs evolved bigger brains because friendly, social mammals need more grey matter than solitary, aloof ones.

The findings, which are bound to divide pet owners around the world, come from a study into the brain size of more than 500 species of living and fossilised mammals.

The researchers at Oxford University charted the evolution of mammal brains over the last 60million years - from a few million years after the dinosaurs became extinct to the modern day.

They discovered that there is a strong link between the size of a brain relative to an animal's body and how sociable that creature is.

Sociable mammals such as whales, dogs, dolphins and humans tend to have much larger brains compared to their bodies. Solitary species - such as tigers, domestic cats and rhinos - have less grey matter, the scientists found.

Bizarro Earth

Papua New Guinea: Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - 23 Nov 2010

Papua Quake_231110
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 09:01:06 UTC

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 07:01:06 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
6.021°S, 148.957°E

Depth
66.2 km (41.1 miles) set by location program

Region
NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Distances
70 km (40 miles) WNW of Kandrian, New Britain, PNG

140 km (85 miles) WSW of Kimbe, New Britain, PNG

430 km (265 miles) NNE of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea

2415 km (1500 miles) N of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

Radar

Department of Defence Tries to Uncover Secret of Flying Snakes

DOD tries to uncover secret of flying snakes

An unusual breed of Asian snakes can glide long distances in the air, and the Department of Defense is funding research at Virginia Tech to find out why.

Most animals that glide do so with fixed wings or a wing-like part. But not the "flying snakes" of Southeast Asia, India and southern China - at least five members of the genus Chrysopelea.

As video of the reptiles show, they undulate from side to side, in almost an air-slithering, to create an aerodynamic system. It allows them to travel from the top of the biggest trees in the region (almost 200 feet high) to a spot about 780 feet away from the tree's trunk.

Attention

Strong Earthquake Hits Near Eastern Taiwan Coast

Strong Earthquake Hits Near Eastern Taiwan Coast; No Damage Reported

Officials say a strong earthquake has struck near the eastern coast of Taiwan. No casualties or damage have been reported.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau says the earthquake hit Sunday evening and was centered 13 miles (22 kilometers) from Hualien county, and about 85 miles (135 kilometers) southeast of Taipei. It says the quake registered magnitude 6.1, while the U.S. Geological Survey measured it at 5.6.

Earthquakes frequently hit Taiwan but most are minor and cause little or no damage.