Earth ChangesS


Bell

John Hirst, UK's Top Meteorologist, Blasted For Receiving Bonus After Predicting 'Mild Winter'


Huffington Post
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:54 UTC
John Hirst, the head of the UK's national weather service (Met Office), came under fire this week over the fact that, as the country's top weatherman, he had a predicted a mild winter for Britain, which is instead currently suffering from its biggest cold spell in 30 years. To make matters worse, Hirst, following a significant pay increase, now makes more than the Prime Minister, despite leading an organization notorious for getting its forecasts wrong, the Telegraph reported recently.

In the video below, a BBC host asks Hirst bluntly, "So given that it's clearly not a mild winter by any standards, why are you getting a performance-related bonus?"

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Roses

How Plants 'Feel' the Temperature Rise


ScienceDaily
Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00 UTC
Image
© iStockphotoArabidopsis thaliana
Plants are incredibly temperature sensitive and can perceive changes of as little as one degree Celsius. Now, a report in the January 8th issue of the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, shows how they not only 'feel' the temperature rise, but also coordinate an appropriate response -- activating hundreds of genes and deactivating others; it turns out it's all about the way that their DNA is packaged.

The findings may help to explain how plants will respond in the face of climate change and offer scientists new leads in the quest to create crop plants better able to withstand high temperature stress, the researchers say.

"We've uncovered a master regulator of the entire temperature transcriptome," said Philip Wigge of John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom in reference to the thousands of genes that are differentially activated under warmer versus cooler conditions.
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Bizarro Earth

Colombian Volcano Erupts, Evacuation Ordered


Reuters
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:34 UTC
Image
© Ingeominas/ReutersAn aerial view of the Galeras volcano near Pasto city is seen in this handout file photo taken December 3, 2009.
The Galeras volcano in southern Colombia erupted on Saturday, shooting rock and ash and prompting authorities to order the evacuation of about 8,000 people.

No one was killed or injured in the eruption. But officials warned that the volcano could remain volatile.

Galeras, located in the Andes mountains near Colombia's border with Ecuador, erupted 10 times in 2009. Most people living in the vicinity have grown used to the alerts and refuse to evacuate when ordered to by local authorities.

Thousands of revelers celebrating the annual Black and White Carnival in the nearby city of Pasto were startled by Saturday's eruption but the festivities carried on.
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Bizarro Earth

US: 6.5 magnitude quake strikes off northern California coast


ABC 15
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:31 UTC
Image
The quake struck about 27 miles west of Eureka, CA
The U.S. Geological Survey says a 6.5 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Northern California.

The USGS says the quake hit just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday about 27 miles from Eureka, a coastal city that's 110 miles south of the Oregon border.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there is no threat of the quake generating a tsunami.

USGS geophysicist Richard Buckmaster says the quake was felt as far south as Capitola in central California, and as far north as Roseburg in central Oregon.

Comment: The US Geological Survey's details are available here.

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Compass

San Francisco's famous sea lions relocate to Oregon

Keely Chalmers
KGW.com
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:28 UTC
Thousands of San Francisco's famous sea lions now calling the Oregon Coast home after their mysterious disappearance from San Francisco's famous Pier 39.

Marine experts now believe the sea mammals headed 500 miles north to the Sea Lion Caves near Florence, beginning in October, about the same time San Francisco's population began to dwindle.

Pier 39 is well known for the sea lions that crowd its docks. But those docks are now empty - and the El Nino weather pattern is likely to blame, scientists believe.
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Bizarro Earth

Strong earthquake strikes near Solomon Islands


The Washington Post
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:03 UTC
Sydney, Australia -- A strong earthquake shook the South Pacific near the Solomon Islands on Saturday, just days after a large earthquake and tsunami hit the country. No tsunami watch was issued after Saturday's quake.

The 6.3 magnitude quake struck 90 miles (146 kilometers) southeast of the provincial capital Gizo at a depth of 22 miles (35 kilometers), the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued no tsunami warning.
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Fish

Great Lakes Threatened by Carp Invasion

Philip Sherwell
The Daily Telegraph
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:00 UTC

They are the voracious Asian invaders that have evaded poisoning, lock gates and hi-tech electronic barriers as they penetrated thousands of miles of American rivers and canals, devouring most of the food in their path.

Now the silver and bighead carp, originally imported from Taiwan, face the might of the US Army in a last-ditch effort to prevent them from reaching the largest freshwater system in the world - the Great Lakes and their connecting rivers that straddle the Canadian border.
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Snowman

Heavy snow brings travel chaos in Germany


BBC News
Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:34 UTC
Frankfurt airport snow
© APSome passengers had to stay overnight in Frankfurt airport
More than 150 flights from Germany's largest airport, Frankfurt, have been cancelled as snowfall continues.

Many passengers were left stranded in the airport as snow ploughs attempted to clear runways. In Nuremberg, one plane slid off the runway.

A blizzard is forecast to hit the country soon and people have been advised to stock up on enough essential supplies to last up to four days.
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Snowman

Rare self-rolling giant snow balls found in UK

Heidi Blake
The Daily Telegraph
Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:54 UTC
self-rolling snow balls
© Ron Trevett A field full of hundreds of rare self-rolling snow balls in Yeovil
They may look like winter's answer to crop circles, but these mysterious snow rolls are in fact a rare natural phenomenon usually found only in the world's most remote and frozen regions.

Also known as snowrollers, snow bales and snow doughnuts, they form mostly in unusual conditions created by a precise combination of snow, ice, wind, temperature and moisture on the prairies of North America.

But this week's frozen weather has allowed the snow cylinders to make a freak appearance in the UK.
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Igloo

Best of the Web: Ice Age Cometh: Death toll rises to 22 as Britain braces for coldest night yet


Times Online
Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:52 UTC
Image
© Neodaas / University of DundeeNasa satellite picture of Britain doused in snow received by the University of Dundee
The death toll from Britain's biggest freeze for decades reached 22 today as the country prepared for its coldest night so far, bringing the promise of even more treacherous conditions.

Thousands of homes have been left without power, schools have closed and travellers have faced chaos as the weather hit roads, rail services and airports over the last two days. The disruption is estimated to have cost businesses around £700 million.

Councils continued to struggle with a growing salt emergency as police warned drivers in many areas not to travel unless their journey was essential.

The AA expect to have attended 20,000 breakdowns today - compared with about 9,000 for a normal Thursday - and warned that conditions were expected to remain "treacherous".

Meanwhile, the shutdown of an offshore Norwegian gasfield pushed Britain's gas infrastructure into emergency mode, forcing the closure of industrial companies in the north of England in order to preserve supplies to homes, shops and offices.

Although major airports stayed open, some air passengers had long waits for their flights, particularly at Gatwick, on the outskirts of south London, where more than 130 flights were cancelled. EasyJet had to axe more than 100 flights and British Airways was among other carriers that had to cancel some services.

The body of Philip Hughes, 45, from Slough, was recovered from beneath ice at the Lakeside Country Club in Surrey where he was watching the world darts championship. A spokesman said it appeared to have been a "tragic accident".
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