Earth ChangesS


Attention

Russian Volcano Activity Causes Global Concern

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© NASA
Now the world has something else to grip about when it comes to Russia - the weather.

A string of volcanoes on Russia's eastern seaboard of Kamchatka have been unusually active for the last six months. The dust they threw up diverted winds in the Arctic, pushing cold air over Europe and North America and causing the unusually cold winter this year, say scientists.

The volcanoes (160 in total, of which 29 are active) are still on the go and could create more problems this year, depressing harvests around the world just as global food prices soar and culminating in a second freezing winter next Christmas.

The eruptions have come at the worst possible time. The Pacific Ocean has already been cooled by the so-called La Nina - which contributed to the deluge in Australia and Tropical Cyclones - while at the same time the Atlantic Ocean is warmer than usual, say climatologists. Erste Bank says the combination of this means the weather forecast for the first quarter of this year is extreme, which will hit both the agricultural and mining sectors, sending already spiking prices up even faster. "These climatic conditions reduce the outlooks of harvest for agricultural commodities (last year was also bad) and prevent the mining of commodities like coal," says Erste. "The extreme weather will probably culminate in the [first quarter] - this is the reason why the prices of commodities will be influenced by this weather... then an acceleration of consumer inflation... There are also problems for transport due to strong storms."

Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: The Beginning of Ice Age: Magnetic polar shifts causing massive global superstorms


Comment: The Earth doesn't stop wobbling all of a sudden for no reason. We are seeing the effects of a change in the electro-magnetic forcing upon the Earth (weather and geology). The change is forced upon the Earth and not the other way. For example if other planets experience a magnetic change, this is a smoking gun that it doesn't come from the Earth but from space. Too bad the article has no references.


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© Unknown
NASA has been warning about it...scientific papers have been written about it...geologists have seen its traces in rock strata and ice core samples...

Now "it" is here: an unstoppable magnetic pole shift that has sped up and is causing life-threatening havoc with the world's weather.

Forget about global warming - man-made or natural - what drives planetary weather patterns is the climate and what drives the climate is the sun's magnetosphere and its electromagnetic interaction with a planet's own magnetic field.

When the field shifts, when it fluctuates, when it goes into flux and begins to become unstable anything can happen. And what normally happens is that all hell breaks loose.

Magnetic polar shifts have occurred many times in Earth's history. It's happening again now to every planet in the solar system including Earth.

The magnetic field drives weather to a significant degree and when that field starts migrating superstorms start erupting.

Comment: All of the things described in this article are EFFECTS of changes in the solar capacitor. It is more likely that the Sun began to interact with its companion in 2005 exactly as described by the Cassiopaeans on 31 October, 2001:

Q: (L) Now according to these guys who are writing this web page about pole shift, they say it can be predicted where the poles will shift to. Is this in fact the case?
A: No.
Q: (L) Why can't pole shifts be predicted? Can't we know where the new pole will end up?
A: Chaotic function here
Q: (L) Okay, in a pole shift does the lithosphere of the planet slide on the core? (A) No. We have to be very precise. There are three possible things that would come under the name pole shift. Only one of them may come, or two, or three, okay? And these are the following - the axis of rotation with respect to stars is changing, straightening out for instance; this is one thing; while all the rest goes with the axis, the lithosphere and the magnetic field. Second, the axis stays where it is, maybe it shifts a little bit; the lithosphere stays where it is - maybe it wobbles - but the magnetic field changes: for instance reverses. Third, axis stays, magnetic field stays, but the lithosphere is moving. So that's three ways a pole shift can happen. And of course there are things that come together. The most dramatic one which is seen from outside is when the axis of rotation changes. The next dramatic one is probably when the lithosphere changes. And the third of unknown consequences is when the magnetic pole changes, okay? So, we want to have an understanding what will be the main change. (L) Well I guess we ought to ask an even more basic question: are we looking at a pole shift happening? That's starting at the beginning. (A) Alright. (L) In the next ten years. Is a pole shift possible in the next ten years?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) Is a pole shift of the axis...(A) Honey, you ask if the pole shift is possible, of course it's possible. But suppose it's almost zero probability? 'Is it possible' is not the right question. 'Is it going to happen?' That's a question. (L) Okay you ask, carry on. (A) Are we looking at a pole shift during the next ten or so years with a high degree of probability?
A: Yes.
Q: (A) In this concept of pole shift, what would be the main feature of this pole shift, of all those which we were discussing?
A: New axial orientation, and magnetic reversal.
Q: (L) That's fairly dramatic. (A) Alright, now, change of axis or orientation of axis of rotation: can we say we would straighten up, getting almost perpendicular to the ecliptic? Or the other possibility is that it will fall down being almost parallel to the ecliptic. The third is that we'll flip completely by 180 degrees. We know it's highly unpredictable, but can we have a clue from which one is, so to say, dominate?
A: Perpendicularity will be restored.
Q: (A) We know the axis will change dramatically and magnetic reversal will happen. You didn't mention a change or shift of the lithosphere alone. Can we...
A: Lithospheric shift will feature to some extent.
Q: (A) But, that means eventually that the equator will almost not change because...
A: Correct.
Q: (A) So it will just shift a little bit, but its not going to go to Hawaii? (L) Oh rats! That was my theory! Well, it was a good idea. (A) What about changes in the lithosphere: can we predict a little bit of change in geography, coming from motions in lithosphere and changes in water level?
A: Chaotic features predominate but in general it will be safer inland and in mountainous areas since less folding occurs in such locations.
Q: (A) Now, the major, the change of the orientation of the axis, what would be the main trigger, force, or activity, or what kind of event will trigger this change of the axis?
A: Cometary bodies.
Q: (L) Are the planets of the solar system going to kind of shift out of their orbits and run amok? Is that a possibility?
A: Yes.
Q: (A) Due to cometary orbits alone?
A: Yes. Twin sun also.
Q: (A) When we speak about these cometary bodies, are we speaking about impacts?
A: Some will hit.
Q: (A) What would be - if any - the role played by electric phenomena?
A: Twin sun grounds current flow through entire system setting the "motor" running.
Q: (L) Does this mean that all of the different bodies of the solar system are like parts of some kind of giant machine, and once this electric current flows through them, depending on their positions relative to one another at the time this current flows, that it has some influence on the way the machine runs?
A: Yes, more or less.


Igloo

Ice volcanoes attract curious explorers to Lake Michigan shore

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© Gary PorterPatti Bailie, director of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center preschool, helps Zack Durand out of an ice volcano, or ice-cano, at the nature center last winter.
Experts warn to explore formations with caution

Winter enthusiasts have been flocking to Bradford Beach, the Doctors Park beach and other spots along the Lake Michigan shoreline since last week's blizzard to check out a bizarre lunar landscape of craters, boulders and rounded mounds carved from the shoreline ice shelf by wind and waves.

Many are climbing inside ice volcanoes - ice cones several feet high that form along the lake when waves force water up through the ice.

"It's pretty cozy in here; I'm not going to lie," said Marna Lamson, 24, of Milwaukee, as she huddled inside an ice volcano close to shore. "It's very sheltered from the elements. The bottom is snow and ice."

While they may be fascinating to explore, naturalists warn that ice volcanoes also can be treacherous. Even if they're not spouting water because the mouth that links them to the lake has frozen over, volcano bases can quickly change from snow and ice to water, depending on conditions.

Ice shelves also can break apart unexpectedly with changes in temperature and wave action, said Don Quintenz, director of education at the Schlitz Audubon Center in Bayside.

"You can fall through the ice, so you have to be very careful," he said. "I've studied the ice, and I'm still amazed by how fast things can get soft, and what was solid becomes unsolid."

Camera

One Photographer's Harrowing Journey to the World's Most Remote Active Volcano

Mount Erebus
© Donna and Steve O'Meara
This guest post was written by Donna O'Meara, an award-winning writer and photographer living in Hawaii, who has photos currently on view in "Extreme Exposure" at The Annenberg Space for Photography

I held my breath and clanked up the metal gangplank of The Spirit of Enderby, a privately leased Russian icebreaker that would be my new home for the next month. Following "in the footsteps of Scott and Shackleton," Enderby left port from Invercargill, New Zealand, bound for Mount Erebus on Ross Island in Antarctica.

The journey is only possible for about six weeks each Austral Summer -- January and February in the Southern Hemisphere -- when temperatures allow the ice to melt. For four weeks, we would rock and roll across the the Southern Ocean, the most dangerous and damned patch of water on Earth, to cross the Ross Sea and reach the base of the towering 12,400-foot high mountain.

Wolf

'Super pack' of 400 wolves terrorise remote Russian town after killing 30 horses in just four days

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© Caters News AgencyAttacks: A hunter holds up the body of a dead wolf after a massive pack of 400 of the animals has terrorised the town of Verkhoyansk in Russia
A 'super pack' of wolves has been terrifying a town after leaving more than 30 horses dead in just four days.

Four hundred bloodthirsty wolves have been spotted prowling around the edges of Verkhoyansk, in Russia, attacking livestock at will.

Twenty four teams of hunters have been put together to get rid of the wolves, with a bounty of £210 for every wolf skin brought to officials.

Stepan Rozhin, an administration official for the Verkhoyansk district in Russia, said: 'To protect the town we are creating 24 teams of armed hunters, who will patrol the neighbourhood on snowmobiles and set wolf traps.

'But we need more people. Once the daylight increases, the hunters will start shooting predators from helicopters.'

A pack of wolves this size is unheard of, with the animals usually preferring to hunt in smaller groups of just six or seven.

The massive group is believed to be made from hundreds of packs and has left animal experts baffled.

Dr Valerius Geist, a wildlife behaviour expert, said the harsh Siberian winter - where temperatures plummet to minus 49C - had killed off the animal's usual prey.

He said: 'It is unusual for wolves to gather in such numbers or hunt large animal like horses.

'However, the population of their usual prey, rabbits, has decreased this year due to lack of food, so wolves have had to change their habits.

'Wolves are very careful to choose the most nutritious food source easiest obtained without danger - which in this case happens to be horses.

Cloud Lightning

Australia: Deluge tops up Victorian floods

Australia flood
© ABC NewsA man floats on blow-up tube down Langbourne Drive, in Narre Warren South
Transcript of radio broadcast.

Eleanor Hall: The wild weather associated with Cyclone Yasi caused more flooding in Victoria on the weekend. Heavy downpours on Friday night and into Saturday caused flash flooding across the state.

While Melbourne was deluged, once again the state's north-west seems to have suffered the worst of it. For some people it's their fourth flood in recent months, as Simon Lauder reports.

Cloud Lightning

Sri Lanka Floods Force 320,000 to Evacuate

Sri Lanka flood family
© ReutersA family stands near their flooded home in the Batticaloa district, about 320 kilometers (199 miles) east of Colombo.
Floods and mudslides in Sri Lanka have forced 320,000 people to flee their homes and killed at least 11.

The Disaster Management Center said Monday the evacuees are being housed in 759 temporary camps after heavy rains last week forced them to flee. In addition to the 11 deaths, three people are missing.

Snowman

U.S. Back-to-Back Storms, More Subzero Cold This Week

us snow clearing
© Nam Y. Huh, APA man clears snow at a gas station in DeKalb, Ill., on Sunday.
Back-to-back storm systems and widespread cold will bring more harsh winter weather to the eastern two-thirds of the nation this week.

One storm will spread snow and rain along a path from the Tennessee Valley to the Northeast from today through Tuesday, while the next storm will bring significant snowfall to the central and southern Plains from late tonight into Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a new blast of arctic air will spread southward and eastward, with subzero low temperatures extending over a large area from the Plains to the Northeast on Tuesday night.

Bizarro Earth

Solomon Islands - Earthquake Magnitude 6.2

Solomon Islands Quake_080211
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Monday, February 07, 2011 at 19:53:42 UTC

Tuesday, February 08, 2011 at 06:53:42 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
7.157°S, 155.284°E

Depth
413.9 km (257.2 miles)

Region
SOLOMON ISLANDS

Distances
110 km (65 miles) SSW of Arawa, Bougainville, PNG

150 km (95 miles) WSW of Chirovanga, Choiseul, Solomon Islands

930 km (580 miles) ENE of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea

2265 km (1400 miles) N of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

Camera

US: Poisonous New Pseudoscorpion Found in Colorado Cave

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© Dave SteinmannThe new pseudoscorpion is top of the food chain in Glenwood Caverns.
Nearly blind animal has venom-tipped pincers.

Unless you've been living in a cave, you probably haven't run across this new species of poisonous, nearly blind pseudoscorpion.

The 0.5-inch-long (1.3-centimeter-long) species, Cryptogreagris steinmanni, was discovered recently in high-altitude caverns near Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Pseudoscorpions are essentially scorpions that lack a stinging tail. However, the new species does have long, venom-tipped pincers that likely help it nab agile prey, such as springtails, in the gloom.

Most likely, the new pseudoscorpion lives only in Glenwood Caverns and Historic Fairy Caves, the study authors say.

"A lot of these caves are islands, almost like an isolated environment where invertebrates ... evolve into being adapted to underground life," said biospeleologist David Steinmann, a zoology department associate with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Steinmann collected the new species after it was discovered in 2000 by tour guide Micah Ball.

With its primitive eyes and pale color, the arachnid is perfectly suited to its dark, chilly existence and has probably been scurrying through the passages for millions of years, Steinmann said.