Earth ChangesS


Radar

Magnitude 2.1 earthquake shakes Camden County, New Jersey

Dan Stamm
NBC 10 - Philadelphia
Fri, 23 Nov 2012 05:51 UTC
Image
No reports of injuries from 2.1 magnitude quake centered in Clementon.

New Jersey - A loud boom that shock homes in Camden County very early Friday was actually an earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the 2.1 magnitude quake hit near Clementon, N.J. at 12:13 a.m.

The epicenter was near W. Atlantic Avenue and Oak Lane -- a short distance from Clementon Park, according to the USGS.

The whole floor just started shaking really hard, said MaryLou Gicker of nearby Sicklerville.

Residents reported to NBC10 feeling the quake in nearby Pine Hill, Erial and Lindenwold -- some calling and e-mailing the station to say they believe something may have exploded.

"We went outside in the backyard we were looking in the sky to see if there were any fires," said Sicklerville's Bill Chalef. "We were listening for sirens going off to see if there was an accident or explosion."

There was no explosion though, just the movement of the earth.

There were no reports of injuries or damage from the 3.2-mile deep quake.

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Cloud Lightning

Storms claim first victim as 100mph gale winds batter Great Britain

Nathan Rao
The Express UK
Fri, 23 Nov 2012 22:59 UTC
storms great britain
Gales crash the Cornish coast at Porthleven yesterday
Britain's storms claimed their first victim last night as a man died after being trapped in his car by flood water and heavy rain 

The victim, was caught in Chew Stoke in Somerset as flood waters wedged his car under a bridge near a ford.

Emergency services were called and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meanwhile Britain is braced for yet more devastating storms tomorrow, which are set to bring torrential rain and 100mph gales.

The entire country is on flood alert with hurricane-force gusts likely to fell trees and damage buildings.

Forecasters said flood-hit regions face further mayhem as a deep depression from the Continent roars in tomorrow morning.

And parts of the country that have so far escaped the worst of the downpours face a battering with virtually everywhere on standby for lashing rain.
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Arrow Up

Mordor erupts! New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano that stars as 'Mordor' in Lord of the Rings erupts on video


indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com
Thu, 22 Nov 2012 05:10 UTC

New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano sprang suddenly to life on November 21, spewing ash nearly 20,000 feet into the air, canceling regional flights and coating everything in its vicinity in a layer of fine gray silt.

The volcano had erupted in August after being dormant for more than a century, according to news accounts. But since then it had been quiet.

"The eruption itself gave us no warning whatsoever, it just snuck up on us," said an unnamed observer to BBC News in the video below, which showed pictures of people hosing down their front porches and leaving footprints as they walked.

One resident described it as a mushroom-looking cloud not unlike that of a nuclear bomb. No one was reported hurt, though numerous flights were canceled as the ash cut visibility. About 50 hikers in Tongariro National Park, including numerous schoolchildren on a class trip, had to scurry to safety during the five-minute eruption, reported the website Live Mint. The mountain is closed to hikers for at least three days.
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© AFP Photo/GNS ScienceTe Maari Crater on Mount Tongariro situated in the central area of New Zealand's North Island.
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Bizarro Earth

Researcher: Japan should prepare for worst-case magnitude-10 earthquake

Shigeko Segawa
The Asahi Shimbun
Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:10 UTC
Earthquake Drill
© Asahi Shimbun file photoWorkers hold a drill simulating rescue work in Mie Prefecture in the event of a Nankai Trough earthquake.
Japan should be prepared for the possibility of a magnitude-10 earthquake, although the chances of a temblor that size are slim, a seismologist said.

"The chances of a magnitude-10 occurring are very low," professor Toru Matsuzawa of Tohoku University reported at a Nov. 21 meeting of the Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction, Japan. "But if we think of what could happen, with the maximum in mind, we can make a swift response."

The world's largest recorded earthquake was the magnitude-9.5 Valdivia earthquake off the coast of Chile in 1960, rupturing a 1,000-kilometer fault. A magnitude-10 earthquake would be 30 times more powerful than the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.

Matsuzawa said a magnitude-10 quake is possible in theory if a large fault slips.
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Bizarro Earth

South Pacific Sandy Island 'proven not to exist'


BBC News
Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:27 UTC
Sandy Island
© BBC NewsCartographers everywhere are now rushing to undiscover Sandy Island for ever.
A South Pacific island, shown on marine charts and world maps as well as on Google Earth and Google Maps, does not exist, Australian scientists say.

The supposedly sizeable strip of land, named Sandy Island on Google maps, was positioned midway between Australia and French-governed New Caledonia.

But when scientists from the University of Sydney went to the area, they found only the blue ocean of the Coral Sea.

The phantom island has featured in publications for at least a decade.

Scientist Maria Seton, who was on the ship, said that the team was expecting land, not 1,400m (4,620ft) of deep ocean.

"We wanted to check it out because the navigation charts on board the ship showed a water depth of 1,400m in that area - very deep," Dr Seton, from the University of Sydney, told the AFP news agency after the 25-day voyage.

"It's on Google Earth and other maps so we went to check and there was no island. We're really puzzled. It's quite bizarre.
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Sun

Worst US drought in decades deepens to cover 60 percent of the lower 48


Associated Press
Thu, 22 Nov 2012 02:49 UTC
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© Nati Harnik/APA tree trunk rests on the bed of a dried lake, the outcome of severe drought, in Waterloo, Neb., on Tuesday. A new report shows that the nation's worst drought in decades is getting worse again, ending an encouraging five-week run of improving conditions.
The worst U.S. drought in decades has deepened again after more than a month of encouraging reports of slowly improving conditions, a drought-tracking consortium said Wednesday, as scientists struggled for an explanation other than a simple lack of rain.

While more than half of the continental U.S. has been in a drought since summer, rain storms had appeared to be easing the situation week by week since late September. But that promising run ended with Wednesday's weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report, which showed increases in the portion of the country in drought and the severity of it.

The report showed that 60.1 percent of the lower 48 states were in some form of drought as of Tuesday, up from 58.8 percent the previous week. The amount of land in extreme or exceptional drought - the two worst classifications - increased from 18.3 percent to 19.04 percent.

Comment: This is not good news for those already struggling to put food on the table, as food prices are sure to rise.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flood warnings abound as sodden UK prepares for fresh rain

Steven Morris
The Guardian
Thu, 22 Nov 2012 03:20 UTC
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© Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesA car sits stuck in the village of Chilcompton, near Wells, Somerset.
Met Office warns of severe weather in south-west England, West Midlands, Wales and a much of Scotland, with 70mph winds

Householders, business people and motorists have been warned to prepare for flooding, gale-force winds and terrible driving conditions as another band of wet weather sweeps across the UK.

Up to 60mm (2.35in) of rain is expected to pound down within a few hours on to ground that is already sodden or flooded, and into rivers swollen by the autumn showers.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for south-west England, the West Midlands, the whole of Wales and a good deal of Scotland, and said winds of up to 70mph could add to the misery.

Bob Wilderspin, the Met Office chief forecaster, said: "The current unsettled spell of weather is set to continue, with further spells of heavy rain expected across the country over the next few days.
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Red Flag

Nanotechnology could reduce plant's ability to produce food


Common Dreams
Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:36 UTC
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© John Dziekan/Chicago Tribune/MCT)Fresh soybeans
'There could be unintended consequences ... if we're not careful.'

Long term use of nanotechnology to affect everything from stain-resistant clothing to more efficient fuel could reduce a plant's ability to produce food, according to a study of soybeans at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Scientists planted soybeans in soil doused with two kinds of metallic nanoparticles to determine whether the materials would become part of the plants.

In both cases, the substances became part of the plants. In ground spiked with zinc oxide nanoparticles, soybeans seemed to fare slightly better than normal. In soil treated with cerium oxide nanoparticles, the plants grew fewer leaves and punier bean pods," Scott Canon of The Kansas City Star reports. "That raises implications for the fields of Kansas, Missouri and the rest of the Grain Belt where, scientists presume, manufactured nanoparticles have been accumulating for a few decades now.

Comment: 'There could be unintended consequences ... if we're not careful.'
The following articles give a more in depth look at the unintended consequences associated with nanotechnology:

Nanotech: The Unknown Risks
Nanotechnology - the new threat to food
Alert over the march of the 'grey goo' in nanotechnology Frankenfoods
Nanotechnology builds artificial virus
Scientists Scared as Nanotechnology and Nanoparticles Become Common in Consumer Products
Study: Potential Hazards of Nanotechnology Not Known
The report linked nanoparticles to:
  • Damage to DNA
  • Disruption of cellular function and production of reactive oxygen species
  • Asbestos-like pathogencity
  • Neurologic problems (such as seizures)
  • Organ damage, including significant lesions on the liver and kidneys
  • Destruction of beneficial bacteria in wastewater treatment systems
  • Stunted root growth in corn, soybeans, carrots, cucumber and cabbage
  • Gill damage, respiratory problems and oxidative stress in fish


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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - SW of San Antonio, Chile


US Geological Survey
Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:36 UTC
Chile Quake_211112
© USGS
Event Time
2012-11-21 21:36:22 UTC
2012-11-21 18:36:22 UTC-03:00 at epicenter

Location
34.002°S 71.957°W depth=15.6km (9.7mi)

Nearby Cities
54km (34mi) SW of San Antonio, Chile
59km (37mi) SSW of Cartagena, Chile
76km (47mi) WSW of Melipilla, Chile
88km (55mi) NW of Santa Cruz, Chile
135km (84mi) WSW of Santiago, Chile

Technical Details
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Igloo

Global cooling predicted for the next 30 years

Jonathan DuHamel
Tuscon Citizen
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:49 UTC
Dr. Norman Page says that "The earth is entering a cooling phase which is likely to last about 30 years and possibly longer." See his detailed analysis here.

Page's prediction is based on observation of the geologic record. He notes that there has been no net warming since 1997 even thought carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere has risen 8.5%. Page says that atmospheric temperature is driven by sea surface temperature (SST) which is, itself, solar driven. The oceanic oscillations control the general climate.

There is good correlation between solar cycles and SST, but note that because of the enthalpy and thermal inertia of the oceans, there is a 10 - 12 year lag between solar cycle troughs and global SSTs. This lag time definitely establishes cause and effect similar to the lag in carbon dioxide changes following temperature changes in the major glacial cycles as shown in ice cores The graph below shows the variations in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the major oceanic oscillation (the red line is actual measurement, the blue line is predictive modeling.) (Graph source here.)

Global Cooling
© TallBloke Wordpress
Page says than in the figure "an approximate 60 year cycle is obvious by inspection and this coincides well with the 30 year +/- positive (warm) and 30year +/- negative (cold) phases of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation." The graph "shows warming from about 1910 to 1940-45, cooling from then to about 1975, warming to about 2003-5 and cooling since then. Total warming during the 20th century was about 0.8 degrees C." He also says that it is clear that we are entering the beginning of a 30-year cool phase of the PDO.
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