Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Why this year's Gulf dead zone is twice as big as last year's

Tim Philpott
Mother Jones
Wed, 14 Aug 2013 15:00 UTC
Image
Dead Sea scrolls: In the red part, "habitats that would normally be teeming with life become, essentially, biological deserts," NOAA says. NOAA.
First, the good news: The annual "dead zone" that smothers much of the northern Gulf of Mexico - caused by an oxygen-sucking algae bloom mostly fed by Midwestern farm runoff - is smaller this year than scientists had expected. In the wake of heavy spring rains, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been projecting 2013's fish-free region of the Gulf to be at least 7,286 square miles and as large as 8,561 square miles - somewhere between the size of New Jersey on the low end to New Hampshire on the high end. Instead, NOAA announced, it has clocked in at 5,840 square miles - a bit bigger than Connecticut. It's depicted in the above graphic.

Now, for the bad news: This year's "biological desert" (NOAA's phrase) is much bigger than last year's, below, which was relatively tiny because Midwestern droughts limited the amount of runoff that made it into the Gulf. At about 2,900 square miles, the 2012 edition measured up to be about a third as large as Delaware.

Comment:
Original 'Fall of Eden'? Agriculture is a "profoundly unnatural activity" and the "worst mistake in human history"

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Cloud Precipitation

Man shoots video of waterspout with rainbow over Baltic Sea


upi.com
Wed, 14 Aug 2013 15:42 UTC

A Swedish man's video of a liquid tornado, known as a waterspout, in front of a rainbow over the Baltic Sea has gained him international attention.

Lars Lundqvist, 54, said he woke early Wednesday at his home on the island of Gotland and decided to photograph the unusual weather, The Local.se reported Wednesday.

"It was very dramatic out there and I thought I'd take a few stills, but then after 15 minutes I saw a weird, grey pillar and I thought: 'What the hell is that?'" Lundqvist said.

He soon realized the pillar was a liquid tornado.

"I was surprised. I've never seen one over the sea before. It was impressive, particularly so with that rainbow there. It was great scenery, magnificent really," he said.

Lundqvist said the waterspout was not filled with sharks, as in the recently released cult film "Sharknado."

"I was looking for sharks," he joked. "But I didn't see any. I didn't see any flounders or cod either actually. Nothing. I felt very safe."
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Info

Aquatic apes: Cooper the chimp proves he can paddle like a human - and even does breaststroke

Anna Hodgekiss
The Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 14 Aug 2013 13:37 UTC
Cooper, who showed off his skills in a swimming pool in Missouri, also enjoyed diving to the bottom of the six-foot deep pool to pick up objects

He and an orangutan, called Suryia, were were separately filmed ploughing through water using a form of breaststroke

Both animals used a leg movement similar to the breaststroke 'frog kick'

They may be no match for Michael Phelps, but a chimp and orangutan have proved to scientists that apes can swim like humans.

The two captive animals were separately filmed ploughing through water using a form of breaststroke.

Most land mammals swim instinctively by paddling their paws. Scientists believe the peculiar swimming style of humans and apes might be the result of life in the trees.


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Cooper the chimpanzee showing off his skills in a swimming pool in Missouri. Not only could he swim, but he is said to have enjoyed diving to the bottom of the six-foot deep pool to pick up objects
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Cloud Lightning

Caught on film: blinding lightning bolt strikes commuter train in Japan


The Telegraph, UK
Wed, 14 Aug 2013 12:04 UTC
A commuter train in Tokyo is struck by lightning illuminating the evening sky and sending sparks across the railway tracks.


A Tokyo resident filmed the moment an Odakyu Electric Railway train travelling from the Izumi-Tamagawa Station to Noborito Station took a direct hit of lightning on Monday evening.

The train was travelling over a railway bridge when it was struck sending sparks flying at the front of the train as it slowed to a stop.

The passengers onboard reported carriages suddenly went dark as the train temporarily lost power.

There were no reported injuries and the train regained power and was able to move again after 10 minutes.
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Snowflake Cold

The early chill in the Arctic continues

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Wed, 14 Aug 2013 00:00 UTC
Temperature above 80 degrees north drops below freezing early, and continues to drop.

Many people have been watching the remarkable early drop in air temperature at the DMI plot here:
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This drop looks to be about two weeks early. As this next analysis of sea surface temperature shows, much of the area is below freezing. Of course in seawater, ice doesn't form until temperatures get below 28.4°F (-2°C), so it is close, but not quite there yet.

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The DMI sea ice plot looks to be slowing significantly, but has not made a turn yet.

Comment: There will be penguins ice skating across the Potomac before politicians in Washington admit we could be approaching a new ice age.

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X

Mysterious dolphin death rate 7 times higher than normal

John Del Signore
Gothamist
Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:12 UTC
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© Marine Mammal Stranding Center
Bottlenose dolphins are washing up on mid-Atlantic beaches in staggering numbers this summer. In response, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has declared an "unusual mortality event," and researchers say the death rate is seven times higher than normal for the East Coast in July.

"This is the highest number that we have had for this time of year since 1987," Susan Barco, research coordinator for the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center told USA Today. And what happened in '87? Morbillivirus, a virus related to measles, killed over 740 dolphins along the East Coast in a three month span. According to the Press of Atlantic City, four of the 28 dolphins that washed up in New Jersey last month had the morbillivirus, with lab tests pending for the rest of the carcasses.

"The minute (the dolphins) started coming in, there were similarities (to the 1987 outbreak)," Bob Schoelkopf, founding director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, told the Press of Atlantic City. The huge number of strandings has put an enormous financial strain on groups like his that lack institutional backing, but the NOAA's declaration of an "unusual mortality event" will direct some federal funding to the Center.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.6 - WSW of Mutis, Colombia


US Geological Survey
Tue, 13 Aug 2013 16:18 UTC
Mutis Quake_130813
© USGS
Event Time
2013-08-13 15:43:14 UTC
2013-08-13 10:43:14 UTC-05:00 at epicenter

Location
5.757°N 78.200°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
102km (63mi) WSW of Mutis, Colombia
170km (106mi) W of Quibdo, Colombia
180km (112mi) WNW of Istmina, Colombia
189km (117mi) WNW of Tado, Colombia
386km (240mi) SSE of Panama, Panama

Technical Details
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Ice Cube

Greenland ice sheet is melting but much of the heating is coming from inside the earth

Ellie Zolfagharifard
The Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:54 UTC
Study suggests melting in an area is due to composition of Earth's mantle

The IceGeoHeat team claims they produced more accurate forecasts by adding their new findings to earlier models on climate change

Ice in Greenland is melting partly because of heat from the Earth's mantle, according to a team of international researchers.

The group claims that they are the first to find a connection between melting of the Greenland ice sheet and the high heat flow from the Earth's mantle.

The findings, they suggest, could have implications for future predictions on climate change and the reasons behind ice melt in the region.

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In total, the Greeland ice sheet contains an amount of ice that would lead to a rise of global sea level by more than seven metres, if completely melted
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Health

River otter attacks woman swimmer in British Columbia lake


cbc.ca
Tue, 13 Aug 2013 10:03 UTC
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© Theresa Weltzin'I think the first bite was down here on my left calf because it's the biggest chunk,' says Theresa Weltzin.
A B.C. woman says she was viciously attacked by a river otter while swimming in one of the province's lakes earlier this month.

Theresa Weltzin was on a family vacation at a cabin on Greeny Lake, in B.C.'s South Cariboo region, more than 200 kilometres northwest of Kamloops, when she encountered the otter.

During a swim on Aug.1, Weltzin made it halfway across the lake when she spotted an otter coming her way.

"I stop and watch and wonder, and then it goes below surface probably about 10 feet away, and then it bites me and I scream," Weltzin told CBC News.

"I think the first bite was down here on my left calf, because it's the biggest chunk."

The otter bit Weltzin a total of nine times.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning sparks massive fire at refinery in Venezuela


RT
Mon, 12 Aug 2013 09:25 UTC

Partial view of the refinery of Guaraguao after a fire broke when a lightning struck a treatment pond, in Puerto la Cruz, state of Anzoategui, 220 km east of Caracas, on August 11, 2013. (AFP Photo / Jose Manuel Rondon)

A huge pillar of black smoke enveloped the Venezuelan town of Puerto La Cruz on Sunday after a bolt of lightning set fire to one of the country's largest oil refineries, prompting residents to evacuate the immediate area.

Firefighters battling the blaze in heavy rain managed to extinguish the fire, according to vice-president of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, Asdrubal Chavez.

He congratulated fire crews for their "sustained effort which allowed us to control this important fire in record time."

"There has been no loss of life nor injuries," said Information Minister Delcy Rodriguez, adding that the evacuation of the area around the refinery was merely a precaution.

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