Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Alaska: Earthquake Magnitude 6.7 - Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands

Alaska Earthquake_180710
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 05:56:49 UTC

Saturday, July 17, 2010 at 09:56:49 PM at epicenter

Location:
52.970°N, 169.504°W

Depth:
35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program

Region:
FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA

Distances:
43 km (27 miles) W (274°) from Nikolski, AK

222 km (138 miles) WSW (244°) from Unalaska, AK

277 km (172 miles) WSW (243°) from Akutan, AK

1493 km (928 miles) WSW (241°) from Anchorage, AK

Chess

The Prince of Wales Accuses Sceptics of Peddling "Pseudoscience"

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© MET Office - GoogleGoogle Earth map showing the impact of a four-degree increase in global temperature.
The Prince of Wales has accused climate change sceptics of using 'pseudo science' and 'intimidation' to stop the world from addressing catastrophic global warming.

He likened the failure to combat rising temperatures across the world to playing "Russian Roulette with the future of our children".

But instead of acting, the Prince said more and more people are listening to the "siren voices" of climate change sceptics who argue that the theory of man-made global warming is simply a "sinister attempt to undermine the capitalist system".

"It has been profoundly depressing to witness the way the so-called climate sceptics are, apparently, able to intimidate all sorts of people from adopting the precautionary measures necessary to avert environmental collapse," he said.

"For too long we have treated the planet like a perpetual cash machine which doles out money without there ever being any need to check the bank-balance. But now, finally, the money is running out."

Magnify

Scientists Say Plants Can Remember Properties of Light

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© Stanislaw KarpinskiThe images showed chemical reactions in leaves that were not exposed to light
Researchers in Poland say plants are able to remember and react to information on light intensity and quality by transmitting information from leaf to leaf.

The scientists, led by Professor Stanislaw Karpinski of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, used fluorescence imaging to view the response of specimens of the Arabidopsisa plant to light shone on them. They found that when light was shone on one leaf at the bottom of the plant the entire plant responded. The response, in the form of a cascade of chemical reactions induced by the light, continued even after the light source was removed, suggesting the plant was remembering the information contained in the light.

Karpinski and colleagues discovered that when light is shone on a leaf a chemical reaction begins in one leaf cell and the reaction is immediately signaled to the rest of the plant by photo-electro-physiological signals (PEPS) from specialized cells called bundle sheath cells. Karpinski said the cells function in a similar way to a nervous system in animals.

Cloud Lightning

Four Kids Struck by Lightning at Bible Camp in Michigan, U.S.

Four teenagers in Montcalm county are hospitalized after getting hit by lightning at a Church Bible Camp.

The sheriff says it happened just after two this afternoon at Rock Lake Methodist Bible Church Camp in Richland township.

The four teenagers were standing near a baseball field huddled under some umbrellas when lightning hit them.

All were knocked to the ground and suffered burns and numbness to their bodies. Paramedics took two of them to a hospital in Grand Rapids, two others were taken to a nearby hospital.

Meteor

A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Cooling Upper Atmosphere

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© John Emmert/NRLLayers of Earth's upper atmosphere.
NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again.

"This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years," says John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19th issue of the Geophysical Research Letters (GRL). "It's a Space Age record."

The collapse happened during the deep solar minimum of 2008-2009 - a fact which comes as little surprise to researchers. The thermosphere always cools and contracts when solar activity is low. In this case, however, the magnitude of the collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain.

"Something is going on that we do not understand," says Emmert.

The thermosphere ranges in altitude from 90 km to 600+ km. It is a realm of meteors, auroras and satellites, which skim through the thermosphere as they circle Earth. It is also where solar radiation makes first contact with our planet. The thermosphere intercepts extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons from the sun before they can reach the ground. When solar activity is high, solar EUV warms the thermosphere, causing it to puff up like a marshmallow held over a camp fire. (This heating can raise temperatures as high as 1400 K - hence the name thermosphere.) When solar activity is low, the opposite happens.

Comment: Forget about CO2, Cosmic Climate Change is Underway


Arrow Down

Peru: Temperatures in Cusco highlands drop to -20°C

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© Image Shack
The extremely low temperatures in the highlands of Cusco region reached -20°C (-4°F) this week, one of the lowest this year, reports the regional head of the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (Senamhi), Zenon Huaman.

He told Andina news agency that these temperatures were registered in areas higher than 3,800 metres above sea level in the provinces of Canchis, Quispicanchis and Paucartambo.

He also said that the sensation of cold is more noticeable in the city of Cusco, that has had temperatures of 4.2°C(39.6°F), and recommended to wear warm clothes and take precautions to avoid respiratory diseases and infections.

Bizarro Earth

US: Nearly 1,000 Small Quakes Since July 7th 5.4 Magnitude Earthquake - Southern California

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© USGS
A week after a strong 5.4 magnitude shook the Coachella Valley and surrounding areas, more than 800 smaller quakes have been recorded in the same area.

According to U.S. Geological Survey data, hundreds upon hundreds of smaller magnitude quakes have hit the Borrego Springs and nearby communities since July 7, adding up to around 877 temblors.

Of those, six earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 3.0 have hit in the area, according to the U.S.G.S.

On July 7, an earthquake measuring 5.4 magnitude hit northwest of Borrego Springs, sending shock waves through Southern California and neighboring Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. More than 24,000 people reported feeling that earthquake to the U.S.G.S., using their 'did you feel' it feature.

Snowman

Alberta walloped with snow

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You're not seeing or hearing things. It's the middle of July and heavy snow is blanketing parts of Alberta.

"There wasn't any snow on the ground last night when I went to bed," says Megan Gibson from the Marmot Basin Ski Resort near Jasper. "I think it started snowing as early as this morning and since about 6:30 this morning, we've had around 18 centimetres fall at the lower chalet."

Gibson adds that even heavier amounts are expected higher up. Usually at this time of year crews are preparing for the next ski season instead of actually partaking in winter-like activities.

While not completely impossible, heavy snow like this in July is pretty rare.

"This is totally out of the blue. To receive this much snow in July and have it stay on the ground is unheard of," says Gibson.

Bizarro Earth

US: Washington, DC Area Shaken by 3.6 Magnitude Earthquake

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© USGSPotomac-Shenandoah Region
The DC area was shaken by a minor earthquake early Friday. The quake hit at 5:04 a.m. EDT and had a magnitude of 3.6. The quake was centered in the Rockville, Md., area said Randy Baldwin, a physicist with U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center.

Gloria Jackson, a police communications supervisor for the Montgomery County Police Department, said the department has gotten numerous calls about the earthquake, but that no injuries or significant property damage had been reported as of 5:35 a.m.

Details from USGS:

Date-Time:
Friday, July 16, 2010 at 09:04:47 UTC

Friday, July 16, 2010 at 05:04:47 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
39.167°N, 77.252°W

Depth:
5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program

Region:
POTOMAC-SHENANDOAH REGION

Distances:
15 km (10 miles) NW of Rockville, Maryland

30 km (15 miles) ENE of Leesburg, Virginia

35 km (20 miles) NW of WASHINGTON, D.C.

70 km (45 miles) WNW of ANNAPOLIS, Maryland

Binoculars

UK: Swarm of 30,000 Bees That "Turned the Sky Black"

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© MasonsAfter an hour the bees clumped together into a 2ft long 'grape' on a nearby 10ft high conifer tree before flying away
A swarm of 30,000 bees surrounded a home in Lincolnshire "turning the sky black".

Phil Sanderson, 34, said the sound of the insects was the equivalent to "a crowd of people blowing vuvuzelas".

The swarm initially swirled around the father of three's home so loudly that he couldn't hear his partner Serena Reed, 34, talking.

After an hour the bees clumped together into a 2ft long 'grape' on a nearby 10ft high conifer tree before flying away.

Mr Sanderson, a mail order catalogue worker who photographed the bees at home in Pinchbeck, near Spalding, Lincs., said the noise sounded "exactly like being at a World Cup game".