Tag Archives: earth changes

More Ash from Icelandic Volcano

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Flights cancelled as ash cloud heads towards UK

 

 

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Philip Hammond: “We know much more about the composition, direction and size of the plume than we did last year”

Flights in Scotland have been cancelled by a regional airline as volcanic ash continues to head towards the UK.

Loganair, based at Glasgow airport, has cancelled 36 flights on Tuesday as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) warns that disruption cannot be ruled out.

Analysts expect the ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano to reach Scotland and Northern Ireland by Monday evening.

The event comes a year after ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano spread across Europe, causing huge disruption.

to read more go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13498477

Earthquakes Running Backwards

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Scientists Find Odd Twist in Slow ‘Earthquakes’: Tremor Running Backwards

ScienceDaily (May 22, 2011) — Earthquake scientists trying to unravel the mysteries of an unfelt, weeks-long seismic phenomenon called episodic tremor and slip have discovered a strange twist. The tremor can suddenly reverse direction and travel back through areas of the fault that it had ruptured in preceding days, and do so 20 to 40 times faster than the original fault rupture.

to read more go to:   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110522141545.htm

 

What to do in case of a… Zombie Invasion???

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Zombie Apocalypse Post Sends Hordes to CDC Blog

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer
Date: 19 May 2011 Time: 01:53 PM ET
Zombie apocalypse
Zombies, the brain-craving, shambling undead, are a pop culture phenomenon.
CREDIT: © Chrisharvey | Dreamstime.com

First there was “Dawn of the Dead.” Then there was “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” (Quirk Books, 2009). Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are jumping on the zombie bandwagon.

Yes, that CDC. A post on the health agency’s blog titled “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse” went viral this week, causing the blog’s servers to temporarily crash. The blog normally gets 1,000 to 3,000 hits per day, said CDC spokesperson Dave Daigle. Before the page went down on Wednesday (May 18), the post had garnered 30,000 hits. As of Thursday morning, 55,000 people had clicked on the post.

“We did not anticipate this type of reaction,” Daigle told LiveScience.

to read more go to:   http://www.livescience.com/14240-cdc-zombie-apocalypse.html

 

Japan’s Coastal Towns Flood at High Tide Due to Quake

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Quake shifted Japan; towns now flood at high tide

(AP) – 1 day ago

ISHINOMAKI, Japan (AP) — When water begins to trickle down the streets of her coastal neighborhood, Yoshiko Takahashi knows it is time to hurry home.

Twice a day, the flow steadily increases until it is knee-deep, carrying fish and debris by her front door and trapping people in their homes. Those still on the streets slosh through the sea water in rubber boots or on bicycle.

“I look out the window, and it’s like our houses are in the middle of the ocean,” says Takahashi, who moved in three years ago.

The March 11 earthquake that hit eastern Japan was so powerful it pulled the entire country out and down into the sea. The mostly devastated coastal communities now face regular flooding, because of their lower elevation and damage to sea walls from the massive tsunamis triggered by the quake.

In port cities such as Onagawa and Kesennuma, the tide flows in and out among crumpled homes and warehouses along now uninhabited streets.

A cluster of neighborhoods in Ishinomaki city is rare in that it escaped tsunami damage through fortuitous geography. So, many residents still live in their homes, and they now face a daily trial: The area floods at high tide, and the normally sleepy streets turn frantic as residents rush home before the water rises too high.

“I just try to get all my shopping and chores done by 3 p.m.,” says Takuya Kondo, 32, who lives with his family in his childhood home.

Most houses sit above the water’s reach, but travel by car becomes impossible and the sewage system swamps, rendering toilets unusable.

Scientists say the new conditions are permanent.

To read more and view images, go to:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g31xAce2wgkCARS9xY7KlRVOpbpg?docId=5497a108a13f4a6391243ee6e156debf

 

Giant Ocean Whirlpools Found

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Giant ocean whirlpools puzzle scientists

12.04.2011

Giant ocean whirlpools puzzle scientists. 44010.jpegUS scientists discovered two giant whirlpools in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Guyana and Suriname. It became a sensational discovery because this part of the ocean has been studied thoroughly, and no one expected anything like that to appear in the area. More importantly, no one can understand where the whirlpools came from and what surprises they may bring to people.

According to Brazilian scientist Guilherme Castellane, the two funnels are approximately 400 kilometers in diameter. Until now, these were not known on Earth. The funnels reportedly exert a strong influence on climate changes that have been registered during the recent years.

“Funnels rotate clockwise. They are moving in the ocean like giant frisbees, two discs thrown into the air. Rotation occurs at a rate of one meter per second, the speed is sufficiently large compared to the speed of oceanic currents, on the border hoppers is a wave-step height of 40 cm,” Castellane said

to read more go to:   http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/12-04-2011/117547-ocean_whirlpools-0/

 

Arctic Ozone Layer reaches New Low

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Arctic Ozone Levels Reach All-Time Low

by NANCY ATKINSON on APRIL 6, 2011

In the past, massive ozone loss over Antarctica has grabbed the headlines. But this year, measurements by several different sources show record levels of stratospheric ozone loss over the Arctic. Scientists say the main reason for the record ozone loss this year is that unusually cold stratospheric temperatures, which have endured later into the season than usual. Scientists say the unusual loss is not catastrophic, but something that needs to be monitored.

To read more go to:

http://www.universetoday.com/84655/arctic-ozone-levels-reach-all-time-low/

Continuing Problems in the Gulf

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Corexit and Crude Oil Still in Gulf A Year After BP Disaster;
Marine Life Dead and Some People Sick

New evidence that Corexit dispersant is degrading very slowly while sea floor marine life suffocate covered by oil. Dolphin stillborn deaths in January and February 2011 were ten times normal and many Gulf coastal residents are sick.

© 2011 by Linda Moulton Howe

To read more go to:

http://www.earthfiles.com/news.php?ID=1828&category=Environment

Earth is a ‘Rotating Potato’?

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New Results from GOCE: Earth is a Rotating Potato

by NANCY ATKINSON on MARCH 31, 2011

Although they aren’t particularly fond of the comparison, scientists from the GOCE satellite team had to admit that new data showing Earth’s gravity field – or geoid — makes our planet look like a rotating potato. After just two years in orbit, ESA’s sleek and sexy GOCE satellite (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer) has gathered sufficient data to map Earth’s gravity with unrivalled precision. While our world certainly doesn’t look like a spinning tuber, this exaggerated view shows the most accurate model of how gravity varies across the planet.

The geoid is nothing more than how the oceans would vary if there were no other forces besides gravity acting on our planet.

To read more go to:

http://www.universetoday.com/84532/new-results-from-goce-earth-is-a-rotating-potato/

 

The Science of Tsunamis

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The Science Behind a Tsunami

by NANCY ATKINSON on MARCH 12, 2011

Model projections of wave heights from the Japan quake on Friday. Image from NOAA. Click image for higher resolution.

The massive magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck off the east coast Japan’s main island on March 11, 2011 set in motion a fierce tsunami that may have claimed thousands of lives, and sent tsunami warnings all across the Pacific basin, thousands of kilometers away from the quake’s epicenter. How do earthquakes trigger such enormous tsunami events, and how can scientists predict where these massive waves might travel? Universe Today talked with Anne Sheehan, who is a professor of geological sciences at University of Colorado at Boulder, and is also affiliated with the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, as well as getting input from David Admiraal, an associate professor of Engineering at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.

Universe Today: How does an earthquake trigger a tsunami?

to read the rest of the article go to:

http://www.universetoday.com/84004/the-science-behind-a-tsunami/