Earth ChangesS


Butterfly

The Monarch butterfly's mysterious migration to Mexico


Agence France-Presse
Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:00 UTC
Each autumn, millions of Monarch butterflies embark on a treacherous journey across North America to the same forest in central Mexico -- a migration that baffles scientists as much as it enthralls nature lovers.

Taking wing in an unrelenting stream from Canada, the orange and black "flying flowers" return like clockwork to an ancestral homeland they have never seen 4,500 kilometers (2,800 miles) away, where they will lay their eggs to carry on the species.

Image
©Unknown
A Monarch butterfly
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Cloud Lightning

Florida: Huge Waves Create Dangerous Beach Conditions


wesh.com
Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:28 UTC
Big waves pounded the shoreline at Daytona Beach on Wednesday, creating dangerous conditions for swimmers.

Gusting winds have built up the big surf during the heart of spring break, and with the approaching holiday, lots of locals down were at the beach as well.

Authorities said gusty winds are changing the course of the waves at the beach and helping them grow to between 4 and 6 feet, which is dangerous for swimmers.
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Cloud Lightning

Missouri: Heavy Rain, Record Flooding Hit the Ozarks

Josh deBerge
KSPR Weather
Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:16 UTC
These are absolutely incredible rainfall totals. The rainfall total of nearly 4 inches at Springfield-Branson National Airport is a record daily amount for the month of March.

Ozarks floods
©KSPR Weather

Good morning. Some of us, for the first time in nearly 36 hours are finally not seeing any rain this morning. Radar shows the eastern Ozarks stil experience heavy rain.
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Question

Mirrored glass to blame for bird deaths in Moscow


RIA Novosti
Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:51 UTC
Mirrored glass could be behind the deaths of some 50 migrant birds reported in Moscow within a week, Moscow's environmental department said on Friday.

A total of 46 dead waxwings were found dead on 15-18 March, with head injuries, broken bones, ruptured internal organs and crushed chests in southeast and northwest Moscow.
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Bizarro Earth

Residents moved to safety after Xinjiang earthquake

Yang Jian
Shanghai Daily
Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:49 UTC
AN earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale has forced the Xinjiang government to move 144 families in a village of Yutian County to safe places, Xinhua news agency reported today.
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Question

Bee colony collapse dilemma still a mystery

Ryan Smith
Meadville Tribune
Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:43 UTC
For those studying the colony collapse dilemma that continues to affect bee populations around the country, it seems, at least for now, "enigma" remains the buzz-word.

Researchers in the Colony Collapse Disorder field have indicated that various factors - including foreign pathogens, genetics, stress levels, nutrition and pesticides - could be to blame for the problem. But there's still no smoking gun to explain what's become an ongoing scientific mystery.
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Snowman

Great Splitting Icebergs


ESA
Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:38 UTC
The radar image indicated the berg was unstable and likely to split. Just days afterwards on 4 March, Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) sensor captured the break. Both bergs are estimated to measure around 30 km in length. As a reference, South Georgia Island is approximately 180-km long.

The radar image indicated the berg was unstable and likely to split. Just days afterwards on 4 March, Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) sensor captured the break. Both bergs are estimated to measure around 30 km in length. As a reference, South Georgia Island is approximately 180-km long.

Image
©ESA
Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) sensor captures the break up of the massive A53A iceberg located just east of the South Georgia Island (visible at image bottom) in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Both bergs are estimated to measure around 30 km in length. As a reference, South Georgia Island is approximately 180-km long.
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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake - Xinjiang-Xizang Border Region


usgs.gov
Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:20 UTC
Earthquake Details
Magnitude 7.2
Date-Time

* Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 22:33:00 UTC
* Friday, March 21, 2008 at 06:33:00 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 35.445°N, 81.392°E
Depth 22.9 km (14.2 miles) (poorly constrained)
Region XINJIANG-XIZANG BORDER REGION
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Attention

Hawaii volcano explodes for first time in 84 years


Associated Press
Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:17 UTC


Kilauea impact
©Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Rocks ejected by the explosion created impact craters when they landed.

An explosion atop the long-erupting Kilauea volcano rained gravel-size rocks onto a tourist lookout, road and trail before dawn Wednesday, injuring no one but forcing parts of a national park to close.

It was the first explosion in Kilauea's main Halemaumau Crater since 1924, scattering debris over about 75 acres, said Jim Kauahikaua, scientist-in-charge at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on the Big Island.
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Stop

More than 100 cars involved in massive pileup in Czech Republic


Associated Press
Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:03 UTC
Czech television is reporting that more than 100 cars have been involved in a massive pileup on the country's major highway, which connects Prague with the eastern Czech Republic.
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