Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Hummingbird Rarely Seen in Massachusetts Hospitalized


The Associated Press
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:35 UTC
A hummingbird rarely seen in Massachusetts and trying to survive a brutal Cape Cod winter has wound up in the hospital. The Cape Cod Times reported that the Allen's hummingbird was brought to the Wild Care of Cape Cod animal rehabilitation center in Eastham after being found in the snow with ice crystals on its wings on Sunday.

The thumb-sized bird had survived two major snow storms, subfreezing temperatures and high winds by feeding on sugar water from a Harwich woman's back yard feeder.

Lela Larned, Wild Care's executive director, said the bird was "at the end of the line."

She says it appears to be getting better, but whether it survives remains uncertain.
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Bizarro Earth

Off Southern Coast of Argentina: Earthquake Magnitude 6.3


Xinhua
Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:24 UTC
Image
© USGS
A strong earthquake measured 6.3 magnitude hit off the southern coast of Argentina on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said.

According to a USGS report, the earthquake occurred at about 0800 a.m. local time (1200 GMT) at the depth of 10 kilometers. The epicenter was 2625 kilometers south of the capital Buenos Aires.

No tsunami alerts were issued by the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
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Better Earth

Doing battle with the red devils of the Pacific

Peter Aldhous
New Scientist
Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:37 UTC
Mexican fishing fleets call them diablos rojos, or "red devils" - and when Stanford University graduate student Julie Stewart wrestles the first Humboldt squid aboard our research vessel, the Fulmar, in California's Monterey Bay, it becomes obvious why.

This beast is angry, and has flashed from white to a deep maroon. It's nearly 1.5 metres long, including the tentacles, which flail in Stewart's hair until she can offload the catch into a cooler filled with seawater. That only gives the squid ammunition, as it can now fire a powerful jet of water and ink at anyone who strays into its sights.

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Bizarro Earth

Flashback California's attack of the jumbo squid

Phil McKenna
New Scientist
Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:14 UTC
Ferocious, pack-feeding jumbo squid have invaded waters off California's central coast and are devouring local fish populations. Researchers say global warming and overfishing are likely to blame.


Humboldt or jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) first appeared off Monterey, California during an El Niño event which warmed waters in 1997. Since 2002 they have taken up permanent residence.
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Frog

Transparent frogs, tiny geckos and snail-sucking snakes

Shanta Barley
New Scientist
Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:34 UTC
Image
© Paul S Hamilton / RAEISee-through diversity
An expedition to the coastal rainforests of western Ecuador has discovered 30 new species of frog and a slug-sucking snake.

The team of scientists, who work for Reptile and Amphibian Ecology International, also identified four new species of stick insect, three species of lungless salamanders, a tiny, scaly-eyed gecko known as Lepidoblepharis buschwaldii and a bushmaster - the longest viper in the world.

Most of the new animals were discovered in the forests of Cerro Pata de Pájaro, a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Its cloud forests are particularly fecund: 14 of the 30 new species of frog discovered were found in a patch of cloud forest just a couple of miles wide, according to the press release.

The newly-discovered frogs are "rain" frogs of the genus Pristimantis, which lay their eggs in trees. As the eggs hatch, miniature versions of the adult frogs - some the size of a pinhead - fall into the water below.
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Bizarro Earth

Caribbean at risk of more large earthquakes

Kate Ravilious
New Scientist
Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:29 UTC
Image
© KPA/Zuma/Rex FeaturesMore to come?
Earthquake experts are warning that the devastating quake that struck Haiti on Tuesday could be the first of several in the region. They say historical records suggest that not all the energy that has built up in the faults running through the Caribbean region was released in this week's tragedy.

Their fear is that enough energy remains in the fault system to trigger another earthquake of the same scale as Tuesday's.

The last time Haiti was struck by earthquakes of this scale was in 1751 and 1770, when three large earthquakes hit within the space of 20 years. They ruptured the same fault segment as the one that slipped on Tuesday, as well as segments lying further to the east, in Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic.

"Last time round there was a sequence of earthquakes," says Uri ten Brink, an expert on earthquakes in the region from the US Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. "I'm worried, as we might expect the eastern side of the fault to rupture next." Other geologists concur. "Stress transfer along the fault is likely to trigger a chain of quakes," says Bill McGuire from University College London.
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Bizarro Earth

Southwestern Iran: Earthquake Magnitude 4.9 - Khuzestan


Press TV
Sat, 16 Jan 2010 19:31 UTC
Image
© USGS
A moderate magnitude-4.9 earthquake has shaken the city of Andimeshk in Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan, seismologists have announced.

Local seismological centers affiliated to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the trembling at 23:53 local time (20:23 GMT) on Saturday.

The epicenter was located a few kilometers away from Andimeshk, on the foot of the Zagros Mountains with a population of more than 180,000 people

The shake caused panic, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage in Andimeshk, located 726 km (451 miles) southwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Iran is located at the juncture of some of the world's most active seismic faults causing minor and major jolts on an almost daily basis.
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Attention

Haiti's Fault Rupture Boosts Long-Term Risk of Jamaica Quake

Tom Randall and Meg Tirrell
Bloomberg
Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:25 UTC
The magnitude 7 earthquake that killed as many as 100,000 people in Haiti this week may increase the likelihood of a future quake in Jamaica, according to seismologists who study geological risk.

When aftershocks subside in the coming weeks, Haiti's prospects of another earthquake will plummet, while areas west along the same fault line will see increased seismic pressure, said Stuart Sipkin, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden, Colorado. It could take decades or a century for the pressure to rupture on the western edge of the fault in Jamaica.

A similar quake flattened the Haitian capital of Port-au- Prince 240 years ago, so long ago that most residents were unaware they were at risk, said Roger Musson, who advises engineers on regional dangers for the British Geological Survey. The 1770 upheaval was part of a string of westward-moving temblors that culminated in Jamaica in 1907, he said.

"In Haiti, there's not been earthquakes in living memory; now it's likely that the stress will be increased on the next segment along," Musson, the agency's head of seismic hazard, said in a telephone interview. However, he added, "You are constantly surprised by earthquakes doing things that they're not supposed to do."
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Sheeple

Turkey: Sheep Gives Birth to Human-Faced Lamb


The Daily Telegraph
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:32 UTC
Image
© The Daily Telegraph
A sheep gave birth to a dead lamb with a human-like face. The lamb was born in a village not far from the city of Izmir, Turkey.

Erhan Elibol, a vet, performed a caesarean on the animal to take the lamb out, but was horrified to see that the features of the lamb's snout bore a striking resemblance to a human face.

"I've seen mutations with cows and sheep before. I've seen a one-eyed calf, a two-headed calf, a five-legged calf. But when I saw this youngster I could not believe my eyes. His mother could not deliver him so I had to help the animal," the 29-year-old veterinary said.

The lamb's head had human features on - the eyes, the nose and the mouth - only the ears were those of a sheep.
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Chalkboard

New Zealand experiences temperature extremes in 2009


Xinhua
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:13 UTC
New Zealand experienced extreme temperature swings in 2009, as heat waves in January and early February were followed by the coolest May on record.

Heat waves occurred in January and the start of February; May was the coldest on record; October had its lowest temperatures since 1945; and August was the warmest August ever, according to are port by the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) released on Wednesday.

In individual months, especially September and November, daily temperatures frequently broke long-standing records, with extremely cold temperatures often occurring within a week or so of record hot events.

NIWA climate scientist James Renwick said in a press release that wild swings in temperature were sometimes only days apart.
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