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Japan government prepares plan to flee Tokyo

Mark Willacy
American Broadcasting Company
Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:50 UTC
Image
© Yomiuri Shimbun/Reuters
Fears for the future: a stunned woman stands amongst rubble in Ishimaki city after the earthquake
Japan is considering the possibility of creating a back-up capital city in case a major natural disaster, like the March 11 earthquake, strikes Tokyo.

A new panel from Japan's Ministry of Land and Infrastructure will consider the possibility of moving some of Tokyo's capital functions to another big city, like Osaka.

Japan is located on the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences one-fifth of the world's strongest earthquakes and geologists have warned Tokyo is particularly vulnerable to powerful earthquakes.

It is feared if a massive earthquake like the March magnitude 9.0 quake struck Tokyo, it could destroy the country's political and economic base.
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Satellite

Massive Japan Quake Even Rattled Upper Atmosphere

Charles Q. Choi
OurAmazingPlanet
Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:25 UTC
Image
© NASA Earth Observatory.
Map of Japan earthquake and aftershocks Map of Japan earthquake and aftershocks.
The giant earthquake that struck Japan this year not only shook the Earth, but also rattled the highest layer of the atmosphere, scientists find.

This research could lead to a new type of early warning system for devastating tsunamis and earthquakes.

The magnitude 9 quake that struck off the coast of Tohoku in Japan in March unleashed a catastrophic tsunami, ushered in what might be the world's first complex megadisaster and set off microquakes and tremors around the globe.

Past research revealed the surface motions and tsunamis that earthquakes generate can also trigger waves in the atmosphere. These waves can reach all the way to the ionosphere, one of the highest layers of the atmosphere.
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Sherlock

Alaska, US: Orange goo mystery solved after it invaded from skies in one of the world's most remote spots


The Daily Mail
Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:57 UTC
Scientists have identified an orange-coloured gunk that appeared along the shore of a remote Alaska village as millions of microscopic eggs.

But the mystery is not quite solved. Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Monday they don't know what species the eggs are or if they are toxic.

They have sent samples to a laboratory on the East Coast for further analysis.

Image
© Associated Press
What is it? The Coast Guard says the orange substance is not man-made and might be some type of algae
The neon orange goo showed up last week on the surface of the water in Kivalina, an Inupiat Eskimo community located at the tip of an eight-mile barrier reef on Alaska's northwest coast.
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Cloud Lightning

More Extreme Weather in Store Across U.S.

Colleen Jenkins
Reuters
Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:12 UTC
Image
© Reuters/ Mike Stone
A man removes his shirt to cope with the heat as he sits in the shade in Dallas, Texas August 5, 2011
More extreme weather was expected across the country on Sunday, as parts of the Midwest and Northeast faced possible flooding from slow-moving storms while blistering triple-digit temperatures were expected in coastal Southeastern states.

A strong, westerly wind flowing down from the Appalachian Mountains will briefly push temperatures in Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia over the century mark in the afternoons on Sunday and Monday, according to AccuWeather.com.

The temperature will feel like 110 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit with the humidity.

After dumping rains on the Bahamas, the remnants of former Tropical Storm Emily moved into the open Atlantic and away from the U.S. East Coast on Sunday as a tropical depression.
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Better Earth

Large variations in Arctic sea ice


Terra Daily / SPX
Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:34 UTC
Image
© Unknown
The good news is that even with a reduction to less than 50% of the current amount of sea ice the ice will not reach a point of no return: a level where the ice no longer can regenerate itself even if the climate was to return to cooler temperatures. Finally, our studies show that the changes to a large degree are caused by the effect that temperature has on the prevailing wind systems.
For the last 10,000 years, summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean has been far from constant. For several thousand years, there was much less sea ice in The Arctic Ocean - probably less than half of current amounts. This is indicated by new findings by the Danish National Research Foundation for Geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen. The results of the study will be published in the journal Science.

Sea ice comes and goes without leaving a record. For this reason, our knowledge about its variations and extent was limited before we had satellite surveillance or observations from airplanes and ships. But now researchers at the Danish National Research Foundation for Geogenetics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark (University of Copenhagen) have developed a method by which it is possible to measure the variations in the ice several millennia back in time.
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Better Earth

US: Murre Seabird Chicks Hatch for the First Time in 100 Years on the Channel Islands


US Geological Survey
Tue, 09 Aug 2011 08:55 UTC
Image
© Nova Scotia Musueam of Natural History
This July, researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service discovered that California Common Murre (Uria aalge californica) chicks had hatched on the Channel Islands for the first time since 1912.

Murres are football-sized seabirds with the tuxedo colors of penguins - except they can both fly in the air and dive down to 500 feet underwater. Historically, murres nested on Prince Island - a small islet off San Miguel Island within Channel Islands National Park. This colony disappeared nearly a century ago, likely a result of human disturbance and egg harvesting.

In California, Common Murres are most abundant off central through northern California with tens to hundreds of thousands of birds nesting at the Farallon Islands, off Trinidad Head, and at Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge.

"This is an exciting finding - certainly a historic one," says Josh Adams, a seabird ecologist with the USGS Western Ecological Research Center. "The murres appear to have reestablished their former southern range, perhaps benefitting from present ocean conditions."

This new colony is perched on 100-foot-high sea cliffs, and was spotted by Adams, USGS biologist Jonathan Felis and their Channel Islands National Park colleagues Laurie Harvey and David Mazurkeiwicz during their research trips to this remote windswept island this summer.
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Bizarro Earth

Iceland: A Noctilucent Masterpiece Over Reykjavíc

Jason Major
Universe Today
Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:04 UTC
Noctilucent clouds
© Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson
Noctilucent clouds over Reykjavíc.
Night-shining "noctilucent" clouds create a magical glow in the night skies over Reykjavíc, Iceland in this beautiful photo by Örvar Atli Þorgeirsson, taken on August 6. In the foreground is "The Sun Voyager" (Sólfar), an iconic steel sculpture located on the city waterfront representing a Viking ship.

Örvar did not set out to photograph this rare atmospheric phenomenon but had instead intended to shoot aurora triggered by recent solar outbursts.

"The forecast on the 6th of August was predicting extreme aurora activity," Örvar says in his Flickr description. "Even though it was very early August and the night would not get fully dark I went out as the aurora can be seen in deep twilight conditions. I saw the aurora for 1 - 2 minutes that night. I did not get a good picture of it though. Instead we witnessed this even rarer phenomenon called noctilucent clouds."
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Blackbox

Japan's Tsunami Smashes Antarctic Ice Shelf


Fox News
Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:38 UTC
NASA images capture waves' power

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Cloud Lightning

Thailand: Flash flood destroys hilltribe shelter, killing seven


The Nation
Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:56 UTC
Thailand shelter flash flood aftermath
A flash flood last week smashed a hilltribe shelter in Mae Hong Son, killing seven occupants and injuring a few others.

The area had suffered days of heavy rain triggered by the lingering influence of tropical storm Nock-Ten.

Scores of hilltribe people, mainly Karenni, were seeking refuge at the shelter after fleeing armed fighting in Burma. Altogether 346 households have been affected. One person of unknown nationality was reported missing.

The seven bodies were retrieved and subjected to verification of death and identification in neighbouring Tak before they were cremated in a ceremony organised by survivors and Thais of Karenni descent.

Two communities were accommodated at the shelter, which was located between Mae La-oon and Sob Moei districts. Initial rescue attempts and medical assistance were made difficult by the high waters and raging currents.

Four Thais, including three children, were hurt after they were swept away by torrential currents.

In Nan, more than 400 homes in Tha Wang Pha district were submerged under two metres of floodwaters while landslides and falling trees blocked a main road, marooning villages. Many homes located along a large creek were inundated, leaving many residents stranded.
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Alarm Clock

Fracking wastewater devours all life in West Virginia forest test


Mother Nature Network
Sat, 06 Aug 2011 22:04 UTC
west virginia
© Jeff Turner/Flickr
This is what's at risk.

Fracking fluid, the liquid waste left over from the controversial mining technique, wreacked havoc on a test plot of land in a test by the U.S. Forest Service.

A study by the U.S. Forest Service concluded that fracking wastewater, left over from hydraulic fracturing natural gas mining, is deadly when dumped on forestlands. A quarter acre section of forest was covered with 75,000 gallons of wastewater over a two-day application period. Two days after it was applied, all the ground plants were dead. Within 10 days, all the leaves on the trees started turning brown. After two years, more than half of the trees on the plot were dead.

Fracking fluid is made up of a slurry of caustic and toxic chemicals. Each company uses a different blend and is allowed to keep the ingredients secret in the name of protecting intellectual property. The fracking process kicks up a lot of really nasty water that is often dumped, untreated, into nearby waterways. It's disgusting.
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