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Iceland volcano may erupt soon, scientists say

Brad Lendon
Cable News Network
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:59 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse/Getty
Iceland's Hekla volcano, pictured in 2006, has erupted four times since 1970. The last eruption was in February 2000.
An eruption of Hekla, one of Iceland's most famous volcanoes, may be imminent, scientists in the island nation say.

Pall Einarsson, a geophysics professor at the University of Iceland, told Iceland Review that sensors around the volcano have shown unusual movements in the past few days.

While those sensors are new and the data they provide cannot be seen as conclusive proof that an eruption is coming, Einarsson told Agence-France Presse that "the volcano is ready to erupt."

"The mountain has been slowly expanding in the last few years because of magma buildup," AFP quotes Einarsson as saying.
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People

Rains to cut Ukraine wheat harvest, USDA says

Caroline Henshaw
Dow Jones Newswires
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:49 UTC
Image
© Unknown
London--Ukraine could lose up to 30% of its grain in some regions as heavy rain hammers crops just as the harvest gets underway, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wednesday.

A powerful cyclone--abnormal for this time of year--has hit the center of the country, with some parts receiving 150 millimeters of rain in four days, compared to a monthly average of 80 millimeters, according to Hydrometcenter.

Some industry analysts project a 10% decline and some say the losses may reach 20%-30% in the affected regions if heavy rains continue for another week, as forecasters expect, said the USDA.

"Rains in Ukraine that lasted for over a week in the last part of June will definitely have a negative impact on the production of major winter crops, including wheat and barley," it said in the report.
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Radar

7.9 quake near New Zealand


Reuters/Associated Press
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:13 UTC
Image
© Unknown
A powerful magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck near the Kermadec Islands in the South Pacific Ocean on Thursday, triggering a tsunami alert for New Zealand and Tonga, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake struck at 7:03 a.m. Its epicenter was 131 miles east of Raoul Island, part of the Kermadec archipelago, and was only 30 miles deep, the USGS said.

The Kermadec Islands are a remote outpost that are generally uninhabited aside from a weather station and a hostel for visiting New Zealand scientists.

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Center said that it did not yet know whether an actual tsunami had developed but said that if it had, it would hit East Cape in New Zealand within two hours and Auckland within three hours.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Apocalyptic Time-Lapse Video of Massive Phoenix Dust Storm

Nancy Atkinson
Universe Today
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:16 UTC

The Phoenix Haboob of July 5th, 2011 from Mike Olbinski on Vimeo.

This isn't space and astronomy-related, but this video of the massive dust storm that swept through the Phoenix area yesterday is just amazing, if not apocalyptic! Mike Olbinski, a photographer from the area shot this timelapse, and on his website says, "There are really not many words to describe this dust storm, or what we call it here (and they also do in places like the Sahara Desert)...a haboob. This was a haboob of a lifetime. I've lived in Phoenix for my entire 35 years of existence and have never seen anything like this before. It was incredible."

Olbinski stood on the top of a 4-story parking garage and said people everywhere were snapping photos and video, "like madmen."

Olbinski says he wishes he could have shot five more seconds of video, but the dust was so thick, daytime turned into night instantaneously. He also has an amazing black & white photo of the event posted on his website.
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Bell

Attack of the jellyfish: Sea creatures shut down ANOTHER power station amid claims population surge is due to climate change


Dailymail.co.uk
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:43 UTC
Another power station was shut down by jellyfish today amid claims that climate change is causing a population surge among the species.

A huge swarm clogged up the Orot Rabin plant in Hadera, Israel, a day after the Torness nuclear facility in Scotland was closed in a similar incident.

Hadera ran into trouble when jellyfish blocked its seawater supply, which it uses for cooling purposes, forcing officials to use diggers to remove them.

Image
© Agency Presse France/Getty
Nuisance: A digger drops jellyfish cleared from the power station in Hadera, Israel.
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Alarm Clock

South Korea: Mysterious Tremor Sends Mall Shoppers Scurrying


The Chosun Ilbo
Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Some 500 tenants and shoppers fled to safety on Monday morning when the TechnoMart shopping mall in Seoul began to tremble for unknown reasons. The Gwangjin District office ordered all tenants to stay away for three days and began a precision safety check. The mall accommodates about 1,200 small electronic appliance shops, a large shopping center, a multiplex cinema, and restaurants.

Tremors

"The building rocked up and down right after 10 o'clock in the morning and I felt dizzy, so I rushed to the elevator with about 60 colleagues," said a 35-year-old woman who gave her surname as Lee and works on the 20th floor. The water in plastic bottles and leaves of potted plants shook visibly, she added.

A staffer of Prime Center, the property firm managing the mall, said, "Mild tremors occurred, but we regard them as temporary since there were no signs of further tremors."

The 39-story building complex was built based on an anti-earthquake design so that strong winds can shake the building from side to side.

According to tenants, tremors were felt mainly on floors 18 to 39. But some people on the seventh and ninth floors also said they felt tremors. "I thought it was an earthquake," said an office worker on the 22nd floor who gave his surname as Choi. "At the time, people who were walking fast or talking on the phone didn't feel the tremor, but nearly everyone who was sitting down did."
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Fish

US: Fourth of July weekend jellyfish invasion

Joe Burbank
Orlando Sentinel
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:49 UTC
Image
© Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel
Dozens of Sea Nettle jellyfish are among the thousands that washed ashore in Ormond Beach, Saturday, July 2, 2011. This photo was shot about two miles north of Granada Blvd.
Florida's Volusia County beaches were littered with Sea Nettle jellyfish over Fourth of July holiday weekend

In all my years of beaching it in northern Volusia county, I've never seen an invasion of jellyfish, also known as sea jellies, quite like what filled the surf and littered the beach shoreline in Ormond on Saturday.

Looking like glass medallions twinkling in the afternoon sun, the jellies stretched by the thousands in northern Volusia, up to Ormond-By-The-Sea. More than 2,000 visitors countywide reported being stung according to Volusia County Beach Patrol.
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Bell

Shaanxi Landslide Kills 18 People

Mo Hong'e
Xinhua
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:55 UTC

Beijing - The death toll has risen to 18 from a rain-triggered landslide in northwestern China's Shaan-xi Province.

400 rescuers have completed a search mission and pulled out 20 people from the debris.The landslide had a volume of 5-thousand-cubic-meters and engulfed 12 houses when it hit an area near a major highway in Lue-yang County. Authorities have cleared the road and transportation is expected to resume on Wednesday morning.

More heavy rains are expected to hit the southern part of Shaan-xi, according to weather forecasters. Local authorities are on high alert and are evacuating people living in low-lying areas.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Washington, US: Landslide Cuts Power, Hits Central Avenue in Kent


Seattle Times
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 03:55 UTC
Crews in Kent were clearing the remains of an overnight landslide that brought down trees and shut down a section of busy Central Avenue South, near East Titus Street.

A landslide in July is a little strange, even in the Puget Sound area.

City crews in Kent were clearing the remains of an overnight slide that brought down trees and shut down a section of busy Central Avenue South, near East Titus Street.

Power to about 1,400 Puget Sound Energy customers was temporarily knocked out Tuesday night but had been restored by early Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the city said officials don't know what caused the mudslide.
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Alarm Clock

Laos: PanAust Says Contract Worker Swept Away in Phu Kham Landslide

Esmarie Swanepoel
Miningweekly.com
Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:10 UTC
Perth− Gold miner PanAust said on Tuesday a contract worker in Laos was likely killed after heavy rain swept through its Phu Kham operations.

The excavator operator was working on an off-site road clearance when his excavator was swept away in a landslide, the company said.

The Phu Kham gold operations and the surrounding area received significant rainfall from tropical storm Haima between June 24 and June 26, which caused widespread flooding and infrastructure damage across the region, and resulted in the loss of two days of concentrate production.

Further heavy rains also occurred on July 2 and 3, which caused concentrate production to be suspended yet again, and caused further damage to road infrastructure in the region.

Concentrate production resumed on July 4.
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