Earth ChangesS


Umbrella

Northwest wind and rain targets Midwest

PORTLAND, Ore. - A storm that brought hurricane force winds and heavy rain to the Northwest, killing at least four, was en route to the Upper Midwest, which has already been hit with heavy snow and rain.

Many roads remained closed by downed trees and landslides in Oregon and Washington, communications were spotty at best and power remained out for thousands of residents after back-to-back storm fronts Sunday and Monday that were among the region's worst in recent memory.

Bizarro Earth

Strong quake hits Indonesia's Sulawesi island



©REUTERS/Graphics
An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook the northern part of Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, the meteorology agency said.

An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale shook the northern part of Indonesia's Sulawesi island on Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, the meteorology agency said.

Butterfly

Rare Sumatran rhino sighting in Malaysia



©Unknown

A Sumatran rhinoceros has been photographed in peninsular Malaysia in the first sighting for more than a decade, raising hopes the animal can avoid extinction, a report said Sunday.

The New Straits Times said the image, captured by a camera trap, snapped just a small part of the rhino but experts declared the wrinkly and folded thigh was unmistakable.

Cloud Lightning

Seattle, WA Rescue efforts underway as governor declares emergency; cities remain cut off, in the dark.

The Coast Guard scrambled helicopter rescue crews to the hardest-hit locations in Western Washington today as Gov. Christine Gregoire declared a state of emergency because of massive flooding, heavy rain and high winds that have killed at least two people.

The weather caused a three-day shut-down of Interstate 5 near Chehalis, and cut off coastal communities. All over Western Washington, flooding deluged homes and businesses.

©Steve Ringman/Seattle Times
Woodinville firefighters Jesse Disch, left, and Justin Ralph pull residents of the Archstone Apartments and their pets to safety.

So far, the worst of the weather has focused on Grays Harbor and Pacific counties, which have reported tens of thousands of customers without electricity, and most major roads in and out closed or blocked, including U.S. Highways 12 and 101. At one point early Monday nearly every road into Aberdeen was closed or blocked.

The Chehalis River was also flooding in Lewis County, including Chehalis, where helicopters were scrambled to rescue people from their flooded homes. . The weather service said heavy rain and lowland snow likely would cause the river to surge into areas that had never flooded before.

Bizarro Earth

Flashback Fire down below; Could we be standing above an untamed nuclear reactor nearly 10 kilometres across?

SOON we will be able to see into the centre of the Earth. Giant detectors will let us look down through the crust, the rocky mantle and the iron core. And there, thinks Marvin Herndon, we will see an enormous nuclear reactor, an 8-kilometre ball of fissioning uranium and plutonium.

Better Earth

Flashback Geophysicist and new movie predict Doomsday on Earth

The Earth's geomagnetic field is dying -- and that spells Doomsday for this planet.

The good news is that it could take another billion years to happen. The bad news is that it could occur within the next century.

Bizarro Earth

Indonesia prepares after psychic 'predicts quake'

Local officials in a quake-prone Indonesian province said Monday they were taking precautionary measures after a Brazilian psychic warned a powerful earthquake would strike next month.

Bizarro Earth

Earth's Tropics Belt Expands

WASHINGTON - Earth's tropical belt seems to have expanded a couple hundred miles over the past quarter century, which could mean more arid weather for some already dry subtropical regions, new climate research shows.

Snowman

Snow, Freezing Rain on Tap in Northeast

ALBANY, N.Y. - A storm system slid across the Northeast with snow, sleet and freezing rain Sunday, glazing roads and tying up air travel after blacking out thousands of customers in the Midwest.

Evil Rays

An earthquake hits Iran city, cutting some power - agency

An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.6 hit an area around the northwest Iranian city of Tabriz on Saturday frightening residents when some power and telephone lines were cut in the city, the official IRNA news agency said.

The disruption to services in a large part of the city sent many people into the streets in panic, some taking to their cars and causing heavy traffic, IRNA reported.

Downed phone lines made it difficult for officials to contact the affected area to determine possible damage, IRNA said.