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Early in May, NASA earth scientists monitoring infrared images of the earth noticed unusual patterns in southwestern China. One sent an email to colleagues, noting: Something is happening in Sichuan province.
An Indonesian "mud volcano" that has oozed sludge for two years is collapsing under its own weight, worsening an environmental disaster that has displaced thousands, a study said Wednesday.
Sudden collapses of up to three metres (9.8 feet) have been recorded at the centre of the volcano in East Java, the study by Durham University and the Bandung Institute of Technology found.
"Such sudden collapses could be the beginning of a caldera -- a large basin-shaped volcanic depression," the institute said in a statement, adding that the caldera could be as much as 146 metres deep.
Sudden collapses of up to three metres (9.8 feet) have been recorded at the centre of the volcano in East Java, the study by Durham University and the Bandung Institute of Technology found.
"Such sudden collapses could be the beginning of a caldera -- a large basin-shaped volcanic depression," the institute said in a statement, adding that the caldera could be as much as 146 metres deep.
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| ©AFP/File/Dwi Narwoko |
| Gas flows from the crater surrounded by hot mud in Porong, Sidoarjo district. An Indonesian "mud volcano" that has oozed sludge for two years is collapsing under its own weight, worsening an environmental disaster that has displaced thousands, a study said Wednesday. |
Landslides caused by the Sichuan earthquake have blocked rivers and formed new, possibly unstable, lakes.
Satellite images taken by the Taiwan's National Space Organisation (NSPO) show one such lake forming in Beichuan County, one of the areas worst hit by the quake.
Satellite images taken by the Taiwan's National Space Organisation (NSPO) show one such lake forming in Beichuan County, one of the areas worst hit by the quake.
WASHINGTON - Another week, another rumbling train of tornadoes that obliterates entire city blocks, smashing homes to their foundations and killing people even as they cower in their basements.
Two further aftershocks have destroyed more than 420,000 houses in the Chinese region hit by a massive earthquake two weeks ago, state-run media say.
Many of the homes appear to have been empty, but six people are said to have been critically injured in the tremors.
Many of the homes appear to have been empty, but six people are said to have been critically injured in the tremors.
A report this week from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology says that weather in the Pacific Ocean is generally neutral, but there is a warming trend, which may signal the start of an El Nino pattern. Iowa State University Extension Climatologist Elwynn Taylor says that there is a change coming and that "there's not a La Nina with its risk of drought anymore."
A 5.3-magnitude earthquake hit the Zandjan province in northwest Iran on Tuesday, a seismological assessment center in Tehran reported.
The quake was registered at 10:48 local time (06.18 GMT). No reports of destruction or casualties have been released.
The quake was registered at 10:48 local time (06.18 GMT). No reports of destruction or casualties have been released.
CARBON buried in the Earth could ultimately determine the fate of our planet's atmosphere. So concluded a pioneering meeting last week about the Earth's long-neglected "deep" carbon cycle.
You may have heard earlier this month that global warming is now likely to take break for a decade or more. There will be no more warming until 2015, perhaps later.
Climate scientist Noel Keenlyside, leading a team from Germany's Leibniz Institute of Marine Science and the Max Planck Institute of Meteorology, for the first time entered verifiable data on ocean circulation cycles into one of the U.N.'s climate supercomputers, and the machine spit out a projection that there will be no more warming for the foreseeable future.
Of course, Mr. Keenlyside -- long a defender of the man-made global warming theory -- was quick to add that after 2015 (or perhaps 2020), warming would resume with a vengeance.
Climate scientist Noel Keenlyside, leading a team from Germany's Leibniz Institute of Marine Science and the Max Planck Institute of Meteorology, for the first time entered verifiable data on ocean circulation cycles into one of the U.N.'s climate supercomputers, and the machine spit out a projection that there will be no more warming for the foreseeable future.
Of course, Mr. Keenlyside -- long a defender of the man-made global warming theory -- was quick to add that after 2015 (or perhaps 2020), warming would resume with a vengeance.
NOAA reports that April 2008 was a full degree (F) below normal making it the 29th coldest April out of 115 years for the United States, the coldest in 11 years. Much of the western 2/3rds of the lower 48 were colder than normal. In Washington State, it was the second coldest April on record. In contrast in the east, in New York State it was the 3rd warmest.
All the monthly global data sets are updated now. The University of Alabama Hunstville (Spencer-Christy) MSU satellite derived lower tropospheric data shows an anomaly of just +0.015C. The UK Hadley Center version 3v which includes land station and some ocean reports showed an anomaly of +0.265C. Adding this month to the plot since 2002 shows the downtrend continues.
All the monthly global data sets are updated now. The University of Alabama Hunstville (Spencer-Christy) MSU satellite derived lower tropospheric data shows an anomaly of just +0.015C. The UK Hadley Center version 3v which includes land station and some ocean reports showed an anomaly of +0.265C. Adding this month to the plot since 2002 shows the downtrend continues.
