Earth Changes

Details of New Zealand Eruption Emerge

OurAmazingPlanet
Tue, 07 Aug 2012 12:54 UTC

© Don Swanson, 1984 (U.S. Geological Survey)
The snow-capped Ngauruhoe cone of New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano is one of the youngest and more active parts of the volcano.

New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano, located in the central part of the North Island, erupted at 11:50 p.m. local time Monday night (Aug. 6).

Details were slow to emerge because of the lateness of the eruption and cloudy weather conditions that blocked some monitoring efforts, but as daylight broke, scientists were able to shed more light on what happened.

Michael Rosenberg, the duty volcanologist at GeoNet (run by New Zealand's GNS Science and the Earthquake Comission), wrote that the eruption at the Te Māri craters was a short-lived phreatic one. Phreatic eruptions are stream-driven eruptions that happen when water beneath or above the ground is heated up, potentially causing it to boil and "flash to steam," creating an explosion, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. These eruptions can send ash and rocks flying, which this eruption seemed to do.

Johannesburg Marvels at Rare Snowfall

Agence France-Presse
Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:41 UTC

© News24
South Africans have taken to social networks sharing pictures of snow falling in Joburg and surrounding areas. Share your snow photos with us.

Snow flurries blew through Johannesburg on Tuesday, dusting the city in white as residents poured into the streets to watch the snowflakes fall.

"It's amazing, Merry Christmas!" said Roger Gibbs, driving through a leafy suburb where the trees were frosted in white.

Snow falls annually in the mountains of South Africa and Lesotho, which even hosts a ski resort, but the high plains around Johannesburg haven't seen snow in five years.

The snowfall swept north across Johannesburg, coating southern neighbourhoods in the early morning and then moving toward the Sandton and Pretoria.

"Amazing! Never happened in my life," said Mizundile Eseu, 23, a security guard.

Authorities urged motorists to take care on the roads, with few drivers used to travelling on snowy streets, but no accidents had been reported by midday.

Amazing Jumping Oak Gall Swarm Surprises Davis Neighborhood

iPscell.com
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:02 UTC

I was walking my dog Elvis with my daughter Julie on Sunday and as we have in the past, we came across something very science-y.

At the dog park where Elvis likes to play and hunt for rodents in the nearby bushes, there were millions (literally) of tiny sphere-like objects bouncing around on the ground.

Jumping Jehoshaphat!

The tiny balls bouncing all around us was like something out of a movie or invasion of the body snatchers.

These poppy seed-sized balls came in orange, yellow, and white versions. They were jumping around like crazy, collectively making an impressive "whoosh" sound.

What in the world? Others at the dog park were mystified too.

I've never seen anything like. No one had including people who had lived in Davis for decades.

Julie and I were puzzled. A fellow dog walker went home and got her husband, who is an entomologist. He took some to study, but off hand did not know what they were.

I speculated to Julie that this little bouncing balls were like some miniaturized form of Mexican jumping bean.

Increased activity seen at volcanoes in Italy and Mexico

Volcano Discovery
Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:46 UTC

Strombolian eruption from Etna's Bocca Nuova on 5 Aug

News have been dominated by Tongariro volcano's first eruption in 115 years (New Zealand). At the moment, the volcano is quiet, but eruptions could resume any time.

Etna (Italy): Strombolian activity continues at varying levels. Following a phase of weak activity during 4-6 Aug, an increase of activity was observed at the Bocca Nuova during the night 6-7 Aug.

Also in Italy, the activity at Stromboli (Eolian Islands) has been at relatively high levels over the past days. The number and size of explosions from the summit vents has increased.

Popocatépetl in Mexico: About 1 explosion occurs per hour, and strong glow is visible at night. A relatively powerful eruption late on 6 Aug sent ash to up to 30,000 ft (10 km) altitude.

The volcanoes in Guatemala have shown little changes in activity over the past days.

Half a million Chinese on the move and half of Manila swamped by floodwaters 3 meters high as region hit by third typhoon in a week

The Telegraph, UK
Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:43 UTC

Shanghai and the nearby coastal province Zhejiang have evacuated 456,000 people as China prepares for its third typhoon in less than a week. The emergency measures were taken after Typhoon Haikui turned Manila, the Philippines capital into "waterworld", killing 50 people. The typhoon is expected to make landfall in Zhejiang province, just south of Shanghai, late Tuesday or early Wednesday, the China Meteorological Administration said.

Update: Mount Tongariro eruption takes New Zealanders by surprise: volcanic lesson will be repeated many more times in the future

The Christian Science Monitor
Tue, 07 Aug 2012 13:35 UTC

A volcano quiet for more than a century erupted in a New Zealand national park, spreading thick ash for several miles and causing some residents to evacuate their homes. Some domestic flights were canceled Tuesday. Mount Tongariro spewed ash and rocks for about 30 minutes late Monday night after a few weeks of increased seismic activity. It didn't cause any injuries or damage in the sparsely populated central North Island region. Tongariro National Park has three active volcanos, is a popular tourist destination and was the backdrop for many scenes in the Lord of the Rings movies.

Cherry-Picking the Data Again to Support Global Warming Agenda

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC

A new statistical analysis by NASA scientists has found that Earth's land areas have become much more likely to experience an extreme summer heat wave than they were in the middle of the 20th century. The research was published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Insecticides Modified in GM Corn Polluting U.S. Waters

Elizabeth Renter
Activist Post
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:51 UTC

Corn, a crop most likely to be genetically modified - with 70 percent of corn engineered simply to drown in Monsanto's best-selling herbicide Roundup - is casting off its GMO contaminants into surrounding waterways, and likely making it into your drinking water.

According to researchers, the insecticides modified into the corn are being detected in streams up to 500 meters away from corn farms, and quite possibly further.

The research was conducted in the states of Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana, where corn fields are abundant. Scientists found the bacterial protein washed off the corn and directly into the streams. While they won't say for certain what this means for human health, the consensus is that it can't be good.

According to U.K.'s Independent, U.S. corn has a gene from the Bacillus thuriengensis (BT) bacterium inserted into it to repel bugs. This gene produced the Cry1Ab protein, which "has insecticidal properties."

It's this protein that is being found in the water system.

It's believed the protein is making its way to the water because of the practice of leaving plant material on the field until the next season. This "no till" method is used because it prevents erosion, but it also provides an opportunity for the potentially dangerous protein to be washed away.

13th Century Volcano Caused Mass Deaths in London's East End?

Mike Brooke
EastLondonAdvertiser.co.uk
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:42 UTC

Archeologists who discovered thousands of skeletons in medieval mass graves in London's East End believe many were the victims of a 13th Century volcanic eruption on the other side of the world. The skeletons were uncovered next to Spitalfields Market when the new Spital Square development was started 20 years ago.

Experts believed for years they were plague victims - but radiocarbon dating didn't add up.

Now a 10-year ecological investigation by the Museum of London has discovered the likely cause to be a volcano which caused world temperatures to cool and crops to fail, resulting in mass starvation.

Some 10,500 skeletons dating from the 12th to 16th centuries were uncovered by the archaeologists, including mass burial pits which had scientists baffled because the radiocarbon dating didn't match known events in medieval England like the Black Death or Great Famine.

Mount Tongariro erupts in New Zealand- loud explosions, lightning, plumes of smoke; first activity in 100 years

NZHerald.co.nz
Mon, 06 Aug 2012 12:39 UTC

The volcanic alert level for Mt Tongariro has risen from 1 to 2 after the central North Island volcano erupted for the first time in more than a century late last night.

GNS science is reporting that at approximately 11:50pm on Monday night ash fall began to be reported in the volcano's vicinity - it has since been reported as far east as SH5 near Te Haroto and in Napier.

GNS duty volcanologist Michael Rosenberg told Radio New Zealand that some people are reported to have left their houses on the southern shores of Lake Rotoaira, though no formal notices of evacuation have been issued so far by Civil Defense.

He said residents in the area have told GNS of hearing several loud explosions, lightning and plumes of smoke and police have been told by an onlooker that "a new hole in the side of the mountain" had formed.

They have also reported bright red rocks flying out of the mountain.

As interesting as this show seems like it might be, I think I'm gonna pass. If somebody came to my home, my peasant premise, and tried to...

Buffalo_Ken

Fox News/CNN play their role in the media acting troupe, another example of a 'play within a play'. There was no release of any 'novel' virus,...

Reecus

Massive snowfall makes headlines and is taken in good measure but soon the amount of snow that will fall we stop folk in their tracks both...

Winternights3

Oh, and I thought he was f**king rhesus monkeys ... :O

codis

But now she is almost safe from Ze Virus ... Soon to be totally safe

codis

Earth Changes

Details of New Zealand Eruption Emerge

Johannesburg Marvels at Rare Snowfall

Amazing Jumping Oak Gall Swarm Surprises Davis Neighborhood

Increased activity seen at volcanoes in Italy and Mexico

Half a million Chinese on the move and half of Manila swamped by floodwaters 3 meters high as region hit by third typhoon in a week

Update: Mount Tongariro eruption takes New Zealanders by surprise: volcanic lesson will be repeated many more times in the future

Cherry-Picking the Data Again to Support Global Warming Agenda

Insecticides Modified in GM Corn Polluting U.S. Waters

13th Century Volcano Caused Mass Deaths in London's East End?

Mount Tongariro erupts in New Zealand- loud explosions, lightning, plumes of smoke; first activity in 100 years

Latest News

Picture of the Day

Quote of the Day

Recent Comments

Quantum Quirk

Contact Us