Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Flashback Curious cloud formations linked to quakes

Can unusual clouds signal the possibility of an impending earthquake? That's the question being asked following the discovery of distinctive cloud formations above an active fault in Iran before each of two large earthquakes occurred.

Frog

Flashback Frog Migration: Omen to China Earthquake Disaster

On May 5th, many Chinese locals noticed thousands of frogs on the move. They were seen traveling without fear of traffic as they crossed streets in mass floods.

Frogs
©Unknown

Many Chinese sensed the migration as a bad omen of a coming natural disaster, but the Chinese government told them that it was just a natural migration for the purpose of propagation. This calmed the people and no one took the omen very seriously.

Snowman

How Global Warming Can Chill the Planet

Scientists hope new evidence of an ancient rise in sea level from a fresh water flood will tell them how global warming can lead to global cooling.

A global cooling event was caused by global warming? Sounds strange. But that is exactly what scientists say happened.

conveyor belt in the ocean
©Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
The conveyor belt in the ocean that circulates warm water at the surface (White) and deep cold water (Purple)

Info

Flashback FAQ - Earthquake Effects & Experiences

Q: What are earthquake lights? Are they real?

A: Observations of earthquake lights (EQL), mostly white to bluish flashes or glows lasting several seconds associated with moderate to large earthquakes, have been reported infrequently by observers since ancient times. It wasn't until the phenomenon was captured in photographs, taken during the Matsushiro earthquake swarm in Japan between 1965 and 1967, that the seismological community acknowledged their occurrence. A satisfactory theory to explain EQL, however, has been elusive and is still not agreed upon. Proposed mechanisms include piezoelectricity, frictional heating, exoelectron emissions, sonoluminescence, phosphine gas emissions, and fluid injection (electrokinetics), but the most recent theory suggests that EQL are caused by separation of positive hole charge carriers that turn rocks momentarily into p-type semiconductors (first and second references below).

Fish

Acidified ocean water threatens marine life from Mexico to Vancouver Island

Greenhouse gases have so profoundly altered the world's oceans that scientists say "corrosive" acidified water is now surfacing off the west coast of North America.

Better Earth

Microbes found living at record 1.6km below seabed

OSLO - Microbes have been found living at a record depth of 1.6 km (a mile) beneath the Atlantic seabed in a hint that life might also evolve underground on other planets, scientists said on Thursday.

The discovery of prokaryotic microbes in searing hot sediments under the seabed off Newfoundland, Canada, doubles the previous depth record of 842 meters, according to experts in Wales and France writing in the journal Science.

Extinguisher

Homes burn as fire spreads in central California

CORRALITOS, Calif. - Gusty winds fanned a wildfire Thursday that burned several homes, forced evacuations and closed schools in the mountains of central California, where rugged terrain frustrated efforts to get a handle on the fast-moving blaze.

Hundreds of people fled as the more than 4-square-mile fire continued to grow despite more than 500 firefighters and a swarm of tanker planes and helicopters dousing the area.

Cloud Lightning

Tornadoes claim more lives in U.S. this year

Meteorologists who keep records for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration say that the United States is having its deadliest tornado season in a decade and that this year may be on pace to set a record for the most tornadoes.

Umbrella

Hailstorm, Torrential Rains Hit Bulgaria's Pleven

After an evening of a true torrential downpour on Wednesday, the region of Bulgaria's northern town of Pleven was hit by a severe hailstorm.

The worst-hit district was Dolni Dabnik, where the size of the ice pieces were as big as eggs, local citizens said.

Snowman

Arizona: Unseasonable weather brings rain, hail, snow

Arizona will be a contradiction of weather terms over the next few days as an unusual weather system passes through the state through Sunday.

Rain was falling in Phoenix, hail fell in the East Valley, a snow advisory has been issued in the north and a wind advisory in the southeast. Tucson and Nogales face hazardous fire conditions.

There is a 30 to 60 percent chance of rain on Friday, said Jaret Rogers, meteorologist for the National Weather Service.