Very Strong earthquake on the Ambrym coast, Vanuatu
Last update: February 19, 2015 at 3:30 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Update : The aftershock sequence has started. Max aftershock so far was M5.1. The aftershock sequence means at least that the source of the earthquake was tectonic and not a volcano explosion (there is always an error margin in the calculation of earthquake epicenters).
Ambrym volcano has erupted 50 times in the last 150 years, an average of once every 3 years with eruptions usually between VEI 1 and VEI 3. In 1950, a VEI 4 eruption occurred (equivalent to that of the Icelandic eruption of 2010).
Around 2000 years ago, it erupted with VEI 6 (equivalent to Pinatubo 1991).
Update 13:45 UTC : Ambrym Island is also the location of the very active Ambrym volcano (Marum and Benbow craters). We do not know as yet whether the earthquake has influenced the activity of the lava lake in the Marum crater.
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.5
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2015-02-20 00:18:33
Last update: February 18, 2015 at 10:17 am by By Armand Vervaeck
Update 09:51 UTC : ER is not excluding slight damage in and around the direct epicenter area of Cle Elum. Slight damage could be falling roof tiles, cracks in walls, broken windows etc. The shaking values of USGS are indicating a max. weak shaking which normally does not generate any damage.
17km (11mi) ENE of Cle Elum, Washington
30km (19mi) NNW of Ellensburg, Washington
36km (22mi) WSW of Wenatchee, Washington
37km (23mi) WSW of East Wenatchee, Washington
166km (103mi) E of Olympia, Washington
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 4.29
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2015-02-18 01:04:12
Very Strong earthquake off the coast of Taitung county, Taiwan
Last update: February 13, 2015 at 11:26 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Update : Below the CWB (Central Taiwan Weather Bureau) intensity values. CWB is considering the shaking strong Taitung County.
Update : We do not expect any serious damage from this earthquake as the epicenter is located out of the Taitung coast.
25km (16mi) ESE of Taitung City, Taiwan
100km (62mi) NE of Hengchun, Taiwan
106km (66mi) ESE of Yujing, Taiwan
110km (68mi) E of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
744km (462mi) E of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.2
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2015-02-14 04:06:31
Last update: February 13, 2015 at 11:06 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Update : A very special and massive Ridge Earthquake generated by a transform part in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Certainly no shaking will be felt at the nearest islands (Greenland, Iceland and Ireland.
1165km (724mi) SE of Nanortalik, Greenland
1393km (866mi) SSW of Hafnarfjordur, Iceland
1398km (869mi) SSW of Kopavogur, Iceland
1401km (871mi) SSW of Reykjavik, Iceland
1504km (935mi) W of Tralee, Ireland
Power animals are spirit guides in animal form, valuable allies who can help you navigate through life’s challenges and transitions. You can turn to these perceptive and trustworthy oracles for advice and counsel on any questions or concerns, for they’re exceptional teachers who will help you learn about both the spirit and the natural world. Working with them on a regular basis will enhance your personal life and expand your spiritual capacities immensely.
Power animals can appear in meditations, visions, dreams, shamanic journeys, or on the earth in their physical form. They can be mammals, birds, or reptiles; and even so-called mythical creatures such as unicorns or dragons can be power animals, although they have no physical representations in the material world. However, since spirit animals’ power is drawn from their instinctual and wild nature, it’s uncommon for purely domesticated animals such as pets to be part of this group.
The source of power for your animal spirit guide won’t just be a single animal, but the entire species. For instance, if your power animal is Bear, it won’t be just one particular bear, but an animal spirit guide that’s representative of the entire species of bears. Consequently, you’ll probably develop a greater appreciation for all bears, and likely extend that care and respect to the animal kingdom as a whole. If Dolphin is your power animal, for example, your love and appreciation will likely go out to all creatures of the sea and naturally expand to include those of the land and the air. Your animal will also teach you to use this power compassionately, to heal and empower yourself and others.
The good news is that we can recover our power animal or even discover a new one by opening our hearts, minds, and souls to this notion, Your power animal may come to you in meditations, visions, dreams, or shamanic journeys. You’ll have an opportunity to recover your power animal in the guided meditation journey for this lesson. If you’ve had a particular affinity or attraction for an animal, it’s most likely this is your power animal. Just recently someone wrote and asked what I thought her power animal was. She went on to describe how hawks have shown up for her much of her life, especially in the past few weeks, and was wondering if this could perhaps be her power animal. I wrote back and basically confirmed what she already knew, that Hawk was her main animal spirit guide, or power animal.
Your power animal may leave you at some point, even if you’ve paid attention to her over the years. Usually that means that the relationship has served its purpose, and another power animal either is or will be coming into your life. I’ve observed how these spirit guides will enter into our lives at a time when we most need their particular expression of spiritual power. For instance, if you’re moving into a position of leadership, Cougar spirit may very well leap into your life as power animal, helping you with confidence and clarity in your leadership roles. If you’re going through a major transformative process with big changes, you may find Snake spirit or Butterfly coming into your life as a power animal.
Another interesting facet is that often your power animal is reflective of your personality characteristics. For instance, Rachel is slight of build, energetic, with a tendency to move very quickly, often juggling several tasks at once, flitting from one to the other. It’s no accident that her power animal turned out to be Hummingbird. Gary is a fairly large man, gentle by nature, yet very capable of standing up for himself or for others as needed. No one messes with him. No surprise that his power animal is Bear.
Other questions that come up are about cats or dogs being power animals. Generally domesticated animals can’t be power animals because they’ve lost much of their wildness and are removed from the natural world. Likewise, some traditions believe that insects are to be excluded from being power animals because of their size and nature. Generally true, however in my book Power Animals, Dragonfly and Butterfly both argued vehemently about being included, so I caved and included them. I see now the wisdom of that, as they both offer unique types of power.
Yet another question that comes up on occasion is about mythological or etheric animals, such as dragons or unicorns. Although some would insist that they exist in third dimensional reality, it really doesn’t matter whether they do or not. If you believe they do, then they do. Any of these so-called mythological animals can certainly be your power animal. The only disadvantage is that they’re not commonly seen in the physical world as are other kinds of animals.
This is a highly personal and specialized relationship with an animal spirit guide. It’s not one you choose in the usual sense of the word. It’s more of a soul-to-soul connection, your soul bonding with the soul—or more accurately the oversoul—of the animal. The relationship is one to be nurtured and attended to on a regular basis, and if done, will last a number of years.
(excerpts taken from Power Animals: How to Connect with Your Animal Spirit Guides)
Connecticut Rocked By 11 Earthquakes In One Week
By Morgan Winsor @MorganWinsorIBT on January 17 201
Connecticut is likely experiencing an earthquake “swarm,” geologists say. Getty Images
Daily earthquakes in Connecticut in the last week have officials scratching their heads and discussing ways the state can prepare for and respond to the next seismic event. In the past seven days, 11 small tremors have been recorded in the Plainfield area, the Hartford Courant reported.
“So far, we have not found any answer to the question why this particular spot had these earthquakes,” Dr. Alan Kafka, director of the Weston Observatory at Boston College and a researcher of East Coast earthquakes, told the Courant. Kafka met with Plainfield officials Friday to discuss the quakes and address residents’ concerns.
Plainfield residents have made more than 300 calls to 911 in the past week, CBS News reported. A majority of the earthquakes have been less than a magnitude 2 on the open-ended Richter scale. The largest quake happened Monday with a magnitude of 3.1 to 3.3, which is enough to be felt by people but rarely causes damage, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
No injuries from the earthquakes have been reported, and less than a dozen people reported structural damage to buildings, such as cracked foundations, Plainfield Fire Marshal Paul Yellen told the Courant Friday.
Scientists are unable to determine the route of the rumblings because the quakes are too small to rupture the earth’s surface, which would have allowed officials to locate the epicenter. Rob Williams, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, told the New York Times Connecticut’s seismic activity appears to be an earthquake “swarm,” in which an area experiences a rapid succession of many earthquakes in a short period of time. Williams said swarms are fairly common geological events and are not precursors of something worse.
This is not the first time the northeast has experienced earthquakes, which occur when underground plates move against each other and release energy that produces seismic waves into the Earth’s crust. A slew of 38 minor quakes rattled Bar Harbor, Maine, from late 2006 to early 2007.
We all know how intricate are the relationships between a single tree and the forms of life that live with it, and around it. But why are trees so important to human beings who are after all–as forms of life–so distinct and different from trees? Though distinctive and different, human beings are part of the same heritage of life.
Trees and forests are important for deep psychological reasons. In returning to the forest, we are returning to the womb not in psychological terms but in cosmological terms. We are returning to the source of our origin. We are entering communion with life at large. The existence of the forests is so important because they enable us to return to the source of our origin. They provide for us a niche in which our communion with all life can happen.
The unstructured environments which we need for our sanity and for our mental health, as well as for the moments of silent brooding without which we cannot truly reach our deeper selves, should not be limited to forests only. Rugged mountains and wilderness areas provide the same nexus for being at one with the glory of the elemental forces of life. Wilderness areas are live-giving in a fundamental sense, nourishing the core of our being. This core of our being is sometimes called the soul.
To understand the nature of the human being is ultimately a metaphysical journey; in the very least it is a transphysical journey. Transphysical translated into the Greek language means metaphysical. The metaphysical meaning of forests has to do with the quality of spaces the forests provide for the tranquility of our souls. Those are the spaces of silence, the spaces of sanity, the spaces of spiritual nourishment–within which our being is healed and at peace.
We all know how soul-destroying and destructive to our inner being modern cities can be; and actually are. The comparison alone between the modus of a technological city and the modus of a wilderness area informs us sufficiently about the metaphysical meaning of the spaces of forests, of the mountains, of the marshlands.
Though the trees are immensely important to our psychic well-being, not every tree possesses the same energy and meaning. The manicured French parks and the primordial Finnish forests are different entities. In the manicured French parks we witness the triumph of the Cartesian logic and of Euclidean geometry, while in the Finnish forests, immensely brooding and surrounded by irregular, female-like lakes we witness the triumph of natural geometry.
What is natural and what is artificial is nowadays difficult to determine. However, when we find ourselves among the plastic interiors of an airport, with its cold brutal walls and lifeless plastic fixtures surrounding us, on the one hand, and within the bosom of a big forest, on the other hand, we know exactly the difference without any ambiguity. In the forest our soul breathes, while in plastic environments our soul suffocates.
The idea that our soul breathes in natural unstructured environments should not be treated as a poetic metaphor. It is a palpable truth. This truth has been recognized on countless occasions, and in many contexts…although usually indirectly and semi-consciously.
Life wants to breathe. We breathe more freely when there are other forms of life which can breathe around us. Old beams made of oak in an old cottage breathe. Those panelings made of wood in the modern flat breathe. And we breathe with them. Those plastic interiors, and those concrete cubicles, and those tower blocks, and those rectilinear cities do not breathe. We find them ‘sterile,’ ‘repulsive,’ ‘depressing.’ Those very adjectives come straight from the core of our beings. And those are not just the reactions of some idosyncratic individuals, but the reactions of all of us, at least a great majority of us.
A plastic interior may be aesthetically pleasing. Yet after a while, our soul finds it uncomfortable, constraining, somewhat crippling. The primordial life in us responds quite unequivocally to our environments. We have to learn to listen carefully to the beat of the primordial life in us, whether we call it instinct, intuition, or the wholistic response. We do respond with great sensitivity to spaces, geometries and forms of life surrounding us. We respond positively to the forms which breathe life for these forms are life-enhancing. Life in us wants to be enhanced and nourished. Hence we want to be in the company of forms that breathe life.
It is therefore very important to dwell in surroundings in which there are forms that can breathe…the wooden beams, the wooden floors. Lucky are the nations that can build houses made of wood…inside and outside. For the wood breathes, changes, decays…as we do. It is also important to have flowers and plants in our living environment. For they breathe. To contemplate a flower for three seconds may be an important journey of solitude, a journey of return to original geometry…which is always renewing. We make these journeys actually rather often, whenever plants and flowers are in our surroundings. But we are rarely aware of what we are doing.
Forests and spirituality are intimately connected. Ancient people knew about this connection and cherished and cultivated it. Their spirit was nourished because their wisdom told them where the true sources of nourishment lay.
The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demand for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life’ s activity; it affords protection to all beings, offering shade even to the axeman who destroys it.
Buddha
Towards a Spiritual Renewal
We are now reassessing the legacy of the entire technological civilization and what it has done to our souls and our forests. Our problem is no longer how to manage our forests and our lives more efficiently in order to achieve further material progress. We now ask ourselves more fundamental questions: How can we renew ourselves spiritually? What is the path to life that is whole? How can we survive as humane and compassionate beings? How can we maintain our spiritual and cultural heritage?
The wilderness areas, which I call life-giving areas, are important for three reasons, Firstly, they are important as sanctuaries. Various forms of life might not have survived without them.
Secondly, they are important as givers of timber that breathes and out of which will be made beautiful panels and beams that breathe life into our homes.
Thirdly, and most significantly, they are important as human sanctuaries, as places of spiritual, biological and psychological renewal. As the chariot of progress which is the demon of ecological destruction moves on, we wipe out more and more sanctuaries. They disappear under the axe of man, are polluted by plastic environments, are turned into Disneylands.
The rebuilding of sanctuaries is vital for the well-being of our body and the well-being of our soul, for the two act in unison. We have lost the meaning of the Temple (Templum) in now deserted churches.
We have to recreate this meaning from the foundations. We have to re-sacralize the world, for otherwise our existence will be sterile. We live in a disenchanted world. We have to embark on the journey of the re-enchantment of the world. We have to recreate rituals and special ceremonies through which most precious aspects of life are expressed and celebrated.
Forests still inspire us and infuse us with the sense of awe and mystery . . . that is when we have time and the quietness of mind to lose ourselves in them. And here is an important message. Forests may again become sacred enclosures where great rituals of life are performed, and where the celebration of the uniqueness and mystery of life and the universe is taking place. It depends on our wills to make the forests the places of the re-sacralization of the world. The first steps in this direction were taken when by the famous Polish director, Jerzy Grotowski, who has abandoned the theatre in order to make nature and particularly forests the sacred grounds for man’s new communion with the cosmos.We must develop a similar spirit of reverence and empathy for the trees and forests. For they are true sanctuaries.
Before the Europeans came to America, it is estimated that anywhere from 1.2 million to 12 million Native Americans inhabited the land. The population of the Native Americans was reduced to 250,000, due to mass murder, genocide, imported diseases, slavery and suicide. There is no question about it, these people suffered a great tragedy. One could argue that it is the most devastating thing to ever happen to any population of people in the history of the world. Yet, little to no attention is given to this tragedy. One has to wonder, why?
Not only were the Native American people killed, but much of their customs, traditions and spirituality were lost along with them. Perhaps this was another reason for the genocide? These people were truly connected and in tune with Mother Earth, often referred to as the Keepers of the Earth. They taught to “walk lightly upon the Earth and live in balance and harmony.” Maybe, if more of the Native Americans were alive today the Earth wouldn’t be in as much turmoil as it is. We can all benefit from adopting some of the ancient spiritual teachings from the Native American elders into our daily lives.
10 Pieces Of Wisdom & Quotes From Native American Elders
“The Great Spirit is in all things: he is in the air we breathe. The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother. She nourishes us; that which we put into the ground she returns to us.” –Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki Algonquin
“The first piece, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the Universe and all its powers and when they realize that at the center of the Universe dwells the Great Spirit and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.” –Black Elk – Oglala Sioux
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” –Cree Indian Proverb
Go Forward With Courage
When you are in doubt, be still, and wait;
When doubt no longer exists for you then go forward with courage.
So long as mists envelop you, be still;
Be still until the sunlight pours through and dispels the mists
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” –Chief Seattle
“Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men, we didn’t have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no delinquents. Without a prison, there can be no delinquents. We had no locks nor keys and therefore, among us there were no thieves. When someone was so poor that he couldn’t afford a horse, a tent, or a blanket, he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift. We were too uncivilized to give great importance to civilized property. We didn’t know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being was not determined by his wealth. We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians, therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another. We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don’t know how to explain how we were able to manage these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society.” –John (Fire) Lame Deer Sioux Lakota
“Oh Great Spirit, help me always to speak the truth quietly, to listen with an open mind when others speak, and to remember the peace that may be found in silence.” –Cherokee Prayer
“Peace and happiness are available in every moment. Peace is every step. We shall walk hand in hand. There are no political solutions to spiritual problems. Remember: if the Creator put it there, it is in the right place. The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears. Tell your people that, since we were promised we should never be moved, we have been moved five times.” –An Indian Chief
The U.S. Climate of 2014: Remarkable Hot, Cold, Wet and Dry Extremes
By: Bob Henson , 4:17 PM GMT on January 12, 2015
How you experienced the climate of 2014 depended a great deal–by some measures, more than any year in U.S. history–on where in the nation you happened to be. This was made abundantly clear in the full 2014 report on U.S. temperatures and precipitation, released this morning by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). When looking at the entire contiguous 48 states, the annual rankings aren’t especially striking: the year placed 34th warmest and 40th wettest out of 120 years of data. The overall warmth comes as no surprise, given that every year since 1996 has placed above the nation’s long-term temperature average.
These unremarkable statistics obscure the real story of 2014: the titanic contrast between a parched, scorched West (especially California, where the heat left all-time records in the dust), a very warm New England and Florida, and a much cooler area in between, with some months at or near all-time record lows in states stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast.
NCDC’s state-by-state map of 2014 temperature rankings (see Figure 1) tells the tale vividly. California, Nevada, and Arizona all saw their hottest year on record, going back to 1895. The year placed among the top-twenty warmest in most of the other western states, as well as in Maine. At the same time, a corridor of seven central states–Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan–saw 2014 place among their top-ten coolest years.
Figure 1. State-by-state rankings for annual average temperature in 2014. A ranking of 1 denotes the coolest year in the 120-year record, while 120 denotes the warmest. Image credit: NOAA National Climatic Data Center.
Another way to look at these contrasts is through the statistical lens of NCDC’s Climate Extremes Index. The CEI is made up of five different indicators that show how much of the nation experienced a particular type of weather extreme. Two of the indicators relate to the percentage of the nation experiencing either unusually warm or cold daily highs or unusually warm or cold daily lows (averaged from month to month in both cases). Some 23.2% of the contiguous U.S. qualified as having unusually warm highs for the year, which is the 18th-largest percentage out of the past 120 years. The percentage of the nation experiencing unusually cold highs (18.6%) ranks 21st. What’s especially intriguing is that this is the first year on record that both the warm-high and cold-high percentages have exceeded 15%, a sign of how difficult it is to sustain such wildly divergent temperature regimes between the Pacific and Atlantic for an entire year. Overall, using all the elements of the CEI, 2014 ranked as the 9th most extreme year since 1910 (excluding the impact of tropical cyclones), or the 19th most extreme when including the impact of tropical cyclones. Interestingly, for the second year in a row, daily record low minimums occurred more often than daily record high maximums (20,937 vs. 14,122). This trend is unlikely to continue; the opposite occurred for a number of years prior to 2013.
The Midwest and Southern chill established itself early, with a series of cold-air outbreaks that came to be associated with the term “polar vortex”. (That phrase’s meaning became so mangled in press coverage and popular understanding that it led the American Meteorological Society to update its official definition). Colder-than-average weather persisted across much of the central and east until May and June, which came in above average in most states. Midsummer saw a return to strikingly cool weather across the nation’s heartland. The pattern was even more unusual–and pleasant for millions of residents–in that it was accompanied by relatively dry weather. It was the coolest July on record for Arkansas and Indiana, and the second coolest in Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri.
After the west-to-east contrast eased somewhat in late summer and early autumn, a record-setting Arctic outbreak in November reestablished the cold-east/warm-West pattern once more, leading to the second-coldest November on record for Alabama and Mississippi. Finally, just in time for the holidays, the 48 states got on the same temperature track, with unusual mildness nationwide producing the second-warmest December on record. Alaska joined in as well: the state’s 19 first-order weather stations were a collective 7.5°F above average for the month, and Fairbanks saw its second warmest December in its 111-year record, according to the Alaska Climate Research Center. Overall, 2014 was Alaska’s warmest year in a 97-year period of record, with an average statewide temperature 4°F above the average for 1971-2000.
Figure 2. State-by-state rankings for annual average precipitation in 2014. A ranking of 1 denotes the driest year in the 120-year record, while 120 denotes the wettest. Image credit: NOAA National Climatic Data Center.
Days of deluge
The national precipitation ranking and the state-by-state maps (see Figure 2) hide some dramatic contrasts as well. Most of the year was extremely dry in California, even though the state ended up near average for total annual precipitation. Elsewhere, intense bouts of precipitation made the headlines in a number of spots. Day after day of extreme rain pushed the June precipitation totals across parts of the Midwest into record-obliterating territory. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, received 13.70″ for the month, with more than half of that falling in just three calendar days. The town of Canton broke South Dakota’s monthly precipitation record with 19.65″.
Several major one-day rainfall events emerged from an extremely moist summer air mass that slathered much of the eastern United States in early August. Detroit experienced its second-heaviest calendar-day rainfall (4.57″) on August 11, as did Baltimore on August 12 (6.30″). Even more impressive was the 13.57″ that fell at Islip, New York, on August 11-12. The downpour set a new state record for 24-hour rainfall, which is especially noteworthy given that a tropical cyclone was not directly involved. A few weeks later, not to be outdone, Phoenix set an all-time calendar-day rainfall record on September 8 with 3.29″, fed by deep moisture from ex-Hurricane Norbert.
Figure 3. A highway in Brentwood, New York, resembles an infinity pool after more than a foot of rain fell across parts of central Long Island on August 11-12, 2014. WunderPhoto credit: Hurricane765.
The NCDC’s Climate Extremes Index lends some statistical backing to this anecdotal portrait of deluges. The “extremes in 1-day precipitation” indicator measures how much precipitation for the year fell in calendar days with extreme amounts (equal to the wettest tenth percentile of all days). Some 15.3% of the nation saw a much-above-average number of days fall into this category for 2014. That’s a bit less than the 2013 value of 16.3%, but still enough to put it at 11th highest of the past 120 years. Notably, all of the top seven years for this index, and 13 of the top 15 years, have occurred since 1990.
Wet days getting wetter, and droughts getting hotter
The recent uptick in extreme one-day precipitation totals across the nation is consistent with more than a decade of research showing that many parts of the world, including the United States, are seeing their heaviest bouts of rain and snow getting even heavier over time. This conclusion was reinforced on a national and regional scale in the 2014 U.S. National Climate Assessment and on a city-by-city scale in a study by Brian Brettschneider (Boreas Scientific LLC) highlighted by Weather Underground blogger Chris Burt last August. The result is also consistent with the basic concept that a warming planet will see an increase in hydrologic contrasts, as warmer temperatures allow for more water to evaporate from lakes, oceans, and plants–helping boost the output of rainstorms and snowstorms–while sucking more water from already-parched land, intensifying the effects of drought.
This process is vital to keep in mind when taking stock of the California drought, arguably the nation’s most catastrophic weather event of the year. Although calendar year 2013 was the state’s driest on record, the water year of 2013–14 (July to June) placed third driest. (Water years are the most commonly used index for assessing California precipitation, which occurs mainly in the fall through spring). A NOAA-led study released in December found that the severity of drought conditions over the last three water years–looking only at rainfall–is within the realm of natural variability, with 1974–75 to 1976–77 even drier than the period from 2011–12 to 2013–14. However, the temperatures associated with the more recent drought went well beyond what one would expect from historical analogs (see Figure 4), which has made the impact on ecosystems, agriculture, and people even more severe. The NOAA study acknowledged, “record-setting high temperature that accompanied this recent drought was likely made more extreme due to human-induced global warming.” In a similar fashion, the intense Texas drought of 2011 was associated with all-time temperature records established during the brutal, more prolonged droughts of the 1930s and 1950s. As states and regions consider how best to adapt to drought conditions in the future, they would be well advised to consider the possibility that temperatures during drought periods could soar beyond anything observed in more than a century of experience.
Figure 4. The annual average temperature for California in 2014 came in far above the previous record for the last 120 years, and it was roughly 4°F above the 20th-century average. Image credit: NOAA National Climatic Data Center.
Figure 5. A lone weed grows on an unplanted field on August 21, 2014 in Firebaugh, California. As the severe California drought continued for a third straight year, Central California farming communities struggled to survive, with an unemployment rate nearing 40 percent in the towns of Mendota and Firebaugh. Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.
And Now Strange Booms Reported Across Oklahoma Baffle Scientists
Thousands of Oklahomans have been reporting strange booms today morning, January 8, 2015.
They were heard and felt in Newalla, Norman, Meeker, Lake Draper, Shawnee, Wellston, Agra, and Parkland, so all around the Sooner State. But once again their source remains unknown.
Did you also hear these booms? Most reports came from the area of 9000 block of Tecumseh, but were also felt and heard in Newalla, Norman, Meeker, Lake Draper, Shawnee, Wellston, Agra, and Parkland.
Police and scientists from Lincoln, Cleveland, McClain, Pottawatomie, and Oklahoma counties are investigating to find out the source of the booms.
The Oklahoma Geological Survey has not received any reports of mysterious noises or unusual seismic activity. So what could it be?
Some believe they are linked to the cold weather, to ice quakes!
Also known as cryoseismic boom, they are mini explosions within the ground caused by the rapid expansion of frozen water. And the boom sounds similar to a sonic boom.
