Earth ChangesS


Binoculars

Volcano Watch: Things are not always what they seem

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© USGS / B. GaddisAs lava entered the sea in July 2008, littoral explosions sent incandescent lava fragments skyward, building a small littoral cone on the flank of Kilauea
The Hawaiian Islands are home to numerous beautiful landforms. The islands themselves are volcanoes, but these volcanoes are speckled with secondary landforms.

For example, there are numerous cones, or puu, strewn along the coast from the "Road to the Sea" to the Kahuku fault scarp. Are these primary vents? If so, this region would be in Lava Flow Hazard Zone 1 because, by definition, Hazard Zone 1 includes primary vents. Yet this region is not designated Lava Flow Hazard Zone 1.

The "cones" along the coast are littoral cones. Littoral cones are a type of volcanic landform created when lava flows come into contact with the sea. Littoral is a word that means "of or pertaining to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean."

When seawater and lava interact, the water is converted instantly to steam. This transformation is so abrupt that steam-driven explosions occur. The explosions fragment the lava and propel lava bombs and tephra into the air. The fragments deposited on shore form the cones.

Attention

Philippines: 7 quakes recorded at Taal Volcano

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Taal Volcano
At least seven volcanic quakes were recorded around restive Taal Volcano in Batangas in the last 24 hours, state volcanologists said Friday.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology also noted weak steaming activity even as it said Alert Level 1 stays.

"Alert Level 1 is still enforced over Taal Volcano. This means that a hazardous eruption is not imminent. However, the public is reminded that the Main Crater should be strictly off-limits due to sudden occurrence of steam explosions and accumulation of toxic gases," it said in its Taal update.

Cloud Lightning

Heavy Rain, Winds Bring Flood Threat to U.S. Northeast

Flights to airports in parts of the U.S. Northeast were delayed as much as three hours or more as a storm packing 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain and wind gusts as high as 60 mph (97 kph) moved across the northern U.S.

Winter storm warnings range from Ohio to Maine, while high wind warnings and watches extend from North Carolina to Massachusetts, according to the National Weather Service (link). Almost 1,100 flights were canceled today, the FlightAware tracking service reported.

A cold front will move through the New York City area about 3 p.m., raising sustained winds to as high as 30 mph with gusts of 60 mph or higher, said Lauren Nash, a weather service meteorologist in Upton, New York.

Cloud Lightning

US: Body of 4th Amish child swept away by flood waters found

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© unknown
Emergency workers in rural Kentucky have found the body of a fourth Amish child killed a buggy flipped in a rain-swollen creek.

The discovery dashed hopes that the 11-year-old girl might have been alive and clinging to a tree or rock through the night.

Arrow Up

The Rise in Sea Level of the Mediterranean is Accelerating

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© IEOIn this image, scientists are collecting samples during the RADMED campaign.
At the end of the 20th century, the rise in sea level of the Mediterranean sea was lower than in the rest of the world due to atmospheric pressure, but since the start of the 21st century the levels of the Mediterranean have regained pace and seem to be accelerating. This has been demonstrated by the updated results from the second edition of the book Cambio Climático en el Mediterráneo Español (Climate Change in the Spanish Mediterranean).

"The sea level in the Mediterranean has risen by between 1 and 1.5 millimetres each year since 1943, but this does not seem set to continue, because it now seems that the speed at which it rises is accelerating", Manuel Vargas Yáñez, main author of the book Cambio Climático en el Mediterráneo Español, and researcher in the Spanish Oceanography Institute (IEO), tells SINC.

The publication, which in its second edition includes, for the first time, climate figures from 1943 to 2008 using a marine observation system which is unique in Spain and pioneering in Europe, confirms that the Mediterranean is becoming warmer. Its salinity is also increasing, and the rise in sea level is accelerating. Since the start of the 21st century the level has already risen by 20 centimetres.

However, "during the last three years which were added to the study (from 2005 to 2008) the rise in temperatures has been slower than at the end of the 20th century, when the sea temperatures rose significantly", points out Vargas Yáñez, who insists on the necessity to study long series of figures to show the impact of climate change in the Mediterranean.

Igloo

US: Unusual Snow Followed by Record Lows

After bringing snow to the Pacific Northwest Wednesday into Thursday, a very cold storm originating from Alaska will continue southward along the coast of California.

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© unknownSetup: Cold storm moves from CA to AZ
The image to the right shows this low-pressure system moving from California into the Southwest Friday through Saturday, bringing snow to unusual places along its path.

Snow will fall to elevations as low as 1,000 feet in the San Francisco Bay Area on Friday. By Friday night into Saturday morning, it's not out of the question that some flakes may fall as low as sea level in the Bay Area. This is all dependent on how much moisture is leftover as the coldest air arrives.

Map: See Bay Area winter storm alerts

According to the National Weather Service, it has not snowed in downtown San Francisco since February of 1976. This gives an idea of the rarity of snow in San Francisco thanks to the marine influence of the Pacific Ocean.

Bizarro Earth

The Mysterious Rumble of Thundersnow



NASA atmospheric scientists got an unexpected chance to study a curious phenomenon called "thundersnow" when a recent storm unleashed it right over their heads.

Walt Petersen and Kevin Knupp have traveled far and wide to study winter storms. They never dreamed that the most extraordinary one they'd see - featuring freakish thundersnow, a 50-mile long lightning bolt, and almost a dozen gravity waves -- would erupt in their own back yards. The storm hit Huntsville, Alabama, on the evening of January 9th.

"This incredible storm rolled right over the National Space Science and Technology Center where we work," says Knupp. "What luck!"

Snowstorms usually slip in silently, with soft snowflakes drifting noiselessly to Earth. Yet this Alabama snowstorm swept in with the fanfare of lightning and the growl of thunder.

Eyewitness Steve Coulter described the night's events: "It was as if a wizard was hurling lightning behind a huge white curtain. The flashes, muted inside thick, low hanging clouds, glowed purplish blue, like light through a prism. And then the thunder rumbled deep and low. This was one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced.'"

Bizarro Earth

NASA Captures Massive Dust Plume Over Mediterranean

As protests continue to rock North Africa, heavy winter winds are also kicking up huge dust storms.

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© Nasa
On Wednesday, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite captured a photo of a massive dust plume over the Mediterranean Sea. The cloud of debris spans hundreds of miles--from the coast of Egypt, slightly west of the Nile River delta, all the way to Crete.

Though the source of the plume is not apparent from the photograph, NASA believes it to be a result of huge dust storms that occurred recently over Egypt and Libya.

Take a look at the dust plume in the natural-color photo (below), and scroll down further to see the storm that may have caused it. Then, look through our slideshow of the world's most severe snowstorms seen from space.

Fish

Tasmania: Spate of Derwent fish deaths

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© Nikki Davis-JonesTim Strange, of Claremont, with some of the dead squid that have washed up in the area.

Experts have no answers on what has caused the death of thousands of squid in the River Derwent this week.

Dead and dying arrowhead squid have been washed ashore or spotted floating on the water at Austins Ferry and Berriedale since Tuesday.

Locals say they have never seen so many dead fish.

The Environment Protection Authority yesterday confirmed reports of more dead squid further down the river.

Igloo

US: A Snowy Drought In January

Snow Cover
© NASA Earth ObservatoryNASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, based on data from the MODIS Snow and Sea Ice Global Mapping Project.
January 2011 was marked by a series of crippling snow storms across the United States. By January 12, about 71 percent of the country had snow on the ground, the fifth-largest snow cover extent in the last 45 years. This image, made with data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite (from the monthly snow cover product), shows the maximum snow cover for the month. The image shows that every state in the contiguous United States, with the exception of Florida, got snow in January.

The image provides a gauge for both snow extent and the length of time snow stayed on the ground. Areas that are white in this image were entirely covered with snow for most of the month. Pale green areas had snow for just part of the month or were only partly snowy, with areas of exposed ground. Dark green areas are places where MODIS did not observe snow during the month. The sensor does not see through clouds, so it does not see snow that is only on the ground on cloudy days.

With all the snow, it would be easy to think that the United States received plenty of winter moisture, but snow is deceptive. It takes about 10 inches of fresh snow to make an inch of liquid water when it melts. The winter storms brought more snow, but less rain to much of the United States, said the National Climatic Data Center. January 2011 was the ninth-driest January in the United States in 117 years. The southern half of the country was particularly hard hit. New Mexico experienced its driest January on record.