Sixteen out of 21 oceanic shark and ray species, which are caught for their valuable fins and meat, face the threat of extinction, the IUCN Shark Specialist Group (SSG) said on Friday.
The SSG cited a study conducted by 15 scientists from 13 research institutes around the world.
Thresher sharks, silky sharks, short-fin mako, and the great white shark are under particular threat as they take a long time to mature and reproduce. Scientists have warned that the current trend could upset the overall balance of the marine environment.
Earth Changes
HAYWARD -- The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a walking tour on Thursday in Hayward, showing off the stress that is building up on the Hawyard Fault. USGS scientists say the Hayward fault is predicted to be the most likely fault in the Bay Area to generate a major earthquake by 2032. The fault runs from the South Bay to San Pablo Bay. The last major earthquake on the fault occured in 1868, though several small earthquakes have shaken the East Bay in recent months.
Scientists say the stress building up on the fault is visible. There are cracks in concrete and in some places, offset of 3 to 4 inches. There is a virtual tour set up on the USGS website showing areas under going stress.
Scientists say the stress building up on the fault is visible. There are cracks in concrete and in some places, offset of 3 to 4 inches. There is a virtual tour set up on the USGS website showing areas under going stress.
Scientists have unveiled a hypothetical Scenario describing how a magnitude 7.8 Southern California earthquake - similar to the recent earthquake in China - would impact the region, causing loss of lives and massive damage to infrastructure, including critical transportation, power, and water systems.
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| ©USGS |
| This "ShakeMap" is a representation of the shaking produced by the ShakeOut Scenario earthquake. The colors represent the Modified Mercalli Intensity with the warmer colors representing areas of greater damage (from figure 1.2). |
A Bizarre colorful cloud formation in the sky was recorded on video just before last week's China earthquake at two places near the quake's epicenter.
All throughout the history, there had been incidents of strange things happening before major earthquakes. For the first time, strange clouds were recorded on video just 30 minutes before Sichuan earthquake. Coloured clouds were recorded using mobile phone cameras in Tianshui, Gansu province approximately 450km northeast of epicentre. Later, similar clouds were reported 200 miles away from the quake's epicentre, Wenchuan.
Last year "earthquake lights' were reported before an earthquake in Peru. Scientists believe that this could be due to the emission of radiations(Scalar waves) from the earth's crust.
All throughout the history, there had been incidents of strange things happening before major earthquakes. For the first time, strange clouds were recorded on video just 30 minutes before Sichuan earthquake. Coloured clouds were recorded using mobile phone cameras in Tianshui, Gansu province approximately 450km northeast of epicentre. Later, similar clouds were reported 200 miles away from the quake's epicentre, Wenchuan.
Last year "earthquake lights' were reported before an earthquake in Peru. Scientists believe that this could be due to the emission of radiations(Scalar waves) from the earth's crust.
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| ©Unknown |
May, 09, 2008, 2 days before the Chinese deadly earthquake, somebody took those pictures in Linyi, Shandong province, east China. As you can see they capture lot of "line-shaped" clouds. Apparently someone has spotted an Earthquake Cloud and predicted that a 6+ earthquake will happen within 2 days, but they didn't know where. Of course, nobody believed them at that time. Then, 12, May, a 7.8 earthquake occurred in Wenchuan, Sichuan province, west China.
Here are those pictures. (click here to see the original post in Chinese)
Here are those pictures. (click here to see the original post in Chinese)
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| ©Unknown |
Can unusual clouds signal the possibility of an impending earthquake? That's the question being asked following the discovery of distinctive cloud formations above an active fault in Iran before each of two large earthquakes occurred.
On May 5th, many Chinese locals noticed thousands of frogs on the move. They were seen traveling without fear of traffic as they crossed streets in mass floods.
Many Chinese sensed the migration as a bad omen of a coming natural disaster, but the Chinese government told them that it was just a natural migration for the purpose of propagation. This calmed the people and no one took the omen very seriously.
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| ©Unknown |
Many Chinese sensed the migration as a bad omen of a coming natural disaster, but the Chinese government told them that it was just a natural migration for the purpose of propagation. This calmed the people and no one took the omen very seriously.
Scientists hope new evidence of an ancient rise in sea level from a fresh water flood will tell them how global warming can lead to global cooling.
A global cooling event was caused by global warming? Sounds strange. But that is exactly what scientists say happened.
A global cooling event was caused by global warming? Sounds strange. But that is exactly what scientists say happened.
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| ©Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute |
| The conveyor belt in the ocean that circulates warm water at the surface (White) and deep cold water (Purple) |
Q: What are earthquake lights? Are they real?
A: Observations of earthquake lights (EQL), mostly white to bluish flashes or glows lasting several seconds associated with moderate to large earthquakes, have been reported infrequently by observers since ancient times. It wasn't until the phenomenon was captured in photographs, taken during the Matsushiro earthquake swarm in Japan between 1965 and 1967, that the seismological community acknowledged their occurrence. A satisfactory theory to explain EQL, however, has been elusive and is still not agreed upon. Proposed mechanisms include piezoelectricity, frictional heating, exoelectron emissions, sonoluminescence, phosphine gas emissions, and fluid injection (electrokinetics), but the most recent theory suggests that EQL are caused by separation of positive hole charge carriers that turn rocks momentarily into p-type semiconductors (first and second references below).
A: Observations of earthquake lights (EQL), mostly white to bluish flashes or glows lasting several seconds associated with moderate to large earthquakes, have been reported infrequently by observers since ancient times. It wasn't until the phenomenon was captured in photographs, taken during the Matsushiro earthquake swarm in Japan between 1965 and 1967, that the seismological community acknowledged their occurrence. A satisfactory theory to explain EQL, however, has been elusive and is still not agreed upon. Proposed mechanisms include piezoelectricity, frictional heating, exoelectron emissions, sonoluminescence, phosphine gas emissions, and fluid injection (electrokinetics), but the most recent theory suggests that EQL are caused by separation of positive hole charge carriers that turn rocks momentarily into p-type semiconductors (first and second references below).
Greenhouse gases have so profoundly altered the world's oceans that scientists say "corrosive" acidified water is now surfacing off the west coast of North America.
