Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Ozone Hole A Surprise Rainmaker

Don't look now, but the climate problem we thought we had already solved -- the ozone hole over Antarctica -- has been rearranging rainfall patterns throughout the Southern Hemisphere for decades, a new modeling analysis shows.

ozone graphic
© Science/American Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe presence of the ozone hole moves the westerly jet and the dry subtropics towards the South Pole, leading to increases in subtropical precipitation.
The idea that losing ozone in the cold stratosphere over the South Pole could affect weather in the lower atmosphere all the way to the warm equator means Earth's changing climate system is even more complicated than most everyone thought.

The modeling study, published in the recent online issue of the journal Science, revealed that thinning of the ozone layer prompts severe cooling in the lower stratosphere over Antarctica. This cooling causes the lower level troposphere to rise and leads to a poleward shift in a strand of strong winds known as the westerly jet. Moving this jet stream pulls the storm track and other atmospheric circulation features farther south.

Bizarro Earth

Hundreds of Endangered Whales Swarming New England Coast

Right Whales
© NOAANorth Atlantic right whales.

A record number of critically endangered right whales are crowding the chilly waters off Cape Cod, Mass.

Researchers counted more than 100, and possibly as many as 200, animals during aerial surveys on Tuesday, the Boston Globe reported, a number that could represent nearly half the entire known right whale population that remains on Earth. Right whales, one of the rarest kinds of baleen whales, are teetering on the brink of extinction. Only about 450 to 500 North Atlantic right whales are thought to remain on the planet.

Charles "Stormy" Mayo, senior scientist at the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown told the Globe the whales are as close as a few yards offshore to about a quarter-mile out, and said he expects the marine crowd to remain in the area for at least another week.

The right whales are gathered for a feeding frenzy on zooplankton, tiny, rice-sized crustaceans the baleen whales strain into their massive mouths.

Mayo said it's likely the record number of whales showed up this year because the waters are particularly rich with plankton this year, in much the same way that, on land, some years are better for crops than others.

Bizarro Earth

Tropical System Could Bring Early Start to Hurricane Season

Low Pressure System
© NOAA/NASA GOES Project
Hurricane season doesn't start in the Northern Atlantic Ocean until June 1, but one low pressure system wants to make an early debut.

There's a low pressure area with a small chance for development north-northeast of Puerto Rico, and NASA's GOES-13 satellite captured a visible image of the storm.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) issued a Special Tropical Weather Outlook yesterday, April 20, that noted the low pressure area was located about 460 miles (740 kilometers) northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico at 3:35 p.m. EDT. The NHC noted that slow development is possible over next couple of days. The low is moving west -northwest at 10 mph (16 kph).

Bizarro Earth

Australia: Dead Fish Found on Dam Bank

Dead Fish
© The Ridge News

A phone call to the Ridge News on Tuesday morning alerted us to the amount of European Carp fish in a dam at Big Warrambool.

There are thousands and thousands of dead fish on the water and line the banks metres deep.

It is a mystery why they have all died, but a Lightning Ridge local fisherman suggests there is not enough oxygen in the water for the amount of fish.

There is still an amazing amount of fish with their mouths out of the water, they will probably also die.

These fish must have been washed down in flood water and have been left behind in the dam as the waters have dried up.

Bizarro Earth

UK: Outbreak of Toxic Caterpillars in Pangbourne

Moth Caterpillar
© BBCThe oak processionary moth caterpillar feeds on oak tree leaves.
Residents in Pangbourne and parts of west London have been warned to steer clear of a toxic caterpillar.

The Forestry Commission has issued a caution not to touch the caterpillars of the oak processionary moth.

Their hairs contain a toxin that can cause itchy skin rashes as well as eye and throat irritations.

The Forestry Commission's Stewart Snape said residents can report sightings but that the caterpillars should only be removed by pest control operators.

Officials are now dealing with outbreaks of the moth in Pangbourne in West Berkshire and the London boroughs of Ealing, Brent, Hounslow, Richmond upon Thames and Hammersmith & Fulham.

Health Protection Agency director Dr Brian McCloskey said: "We strongly advise people not to touch or approach the caterpillars or their nests because of the health risks caused by the toxin-containing hairs.

Radar

First tropical weather bulletin of the 2011 hurricane season is issued

Image
© National Hurricane Center/Miami
And here we go. Here's the first special tropical weather outlook from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, for the north Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

It's an unusually early forecast of the potential formation of a tropical weather system about 460 miles northeast of Puerto Rico.

According to a "special tropical weather outlook" issued Wednesday afternoon, the low pressure system has developed shower and thunderstorm activity near its center and satellite data and ship reports indicate gale-force winds north of the center.

Slow development of the system is possible during the next few days as it moves west northwest at about 10 mph.

Evil Rays

Philippines: Intensity 3 quake 'with rumbling sounds' felt near Taal Volcano

Intensity 3 and Intensity 1 volcanic earthquakes were felt in two villages near Taal Volcano yesterday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported.

Phivolcs said in its April 20 bulletin that a total of 13 volcanic earthquakes were detected in Taal Volcano during the past 24 hours.

One of the quakes, which occured at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, was felt at Intensity 3 in Barnagay Calauit and Intensity 1 in Barangay Pira-Piraso.

Phivolcs said that the tremor was accompanied by rumbling sounds.

In the Phivolcs Earthquake Intensity Scale, Intensity 3 is classified as "weak", but it is felt by many people indoors specially in upper floors of buildings.

Bizarro Earth

Russia: Spewing volcano threatens Kamchatka reindeer

Image
© RIA NovostiKizimen
The continuing eruption of the Kizimen Volcano in Kamchatka poses a threat to wild reindeer which are listed as endangered species.

As the volcano continues to spew ash for hundreds of kilometers, reindeer are leaving their traditional habitat for lack of fodder.

Reindeer moss, the animals' only food in winter, is buried under a thick crust of ice and ash.

Experts from the Krontosky Nature Reserve warn that Kamchatka's less than 1,000 reindeer may die out as a result of the eruption.

Kizimen, one of the 29 acting volcanoes in Kamchatka, has been spewing ash since December 2010.

Blackbox

US: Arkansas investigating mysterious natural gas flowing from Quitman well

Arkansas State Oil and Gas Commission leaders are scratching their heads right now. They're trying to figure out why natural gas started flowing from abandoned water well in Quitman.

An emergency overnight prompted the evacuations of three homes. Residents we talked to off camera say they were awakened in the middle of the night, around 3:30 Monday morning. Officials asking them to leave their homes after gas pressure in the well forced it to spew out water.


Bizarro Earth

Floods force hundreds to evacuate in central Canada

Image
© Unknown
Persistent flooding in Canada's central province of Manitoba has forced hundreds of people from their homes and closed dozens of roads, authorities said Tuesday.

Officials worked around the clock to build higher dikes near towns along the Assiniboine River, near the province's western border where flood threats were the most serious.

A total of 763 people have been evacuated from their homes, the Manitoba Water Stewardship said.

"Ice jams along the Assiniboine River between Poplar Point and Baie St. Paul Bridge caused surges in the water levels, and overtopped and breached the dikes in some areas," the government agency announced.

"The dikes took quite a pounding," a government official told AFP, adding that repairs were quickly done.