Category Archives: Earth Stuff

News of Earth Changes, climate shifts, weather anomalies, volcanoes, etc

IPCC Climate Panel Says Weird Weather Here to Stay

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Despite uncertainties, the IPCC warns that climate change will bring more extreme weather.

Extreme weather, such as the 2010 Russian heat wave or the drought in the horn of Africa, will become more frequent and severe as the planet warms, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns in a report released today. Some areas could become “increasingly marginal as places to live in”, the report concludes.

Climate change will make extremes of hot weather more common, and more extreme, in coming decades.

It is “virtually certain” — meaning 99–100% probability in IPCC terminology — that the twenty-first century will see an increase in the frequency and magnitude of warm temperature extremes and a decrease in cold extremes.

It is much less clear, however, how climate change will affect rainfall, flood risk and storminess.

A summary of the report for policymakers was released today at the IPCC plenary meeting in Kampala, Uganda. The full report, compiled over the past two and a half years by more than 100 scientists, draws on the results of thousands of published studies on physical-climate change, risk management and climate-change adaptation, and is scheduled for release early next year.

Read the rest of the story

 

Latest on El Hierro

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El Hierro Volcano (Canary Islands) : Red alert – spectacular increase of harmonic tremor

Last update: November 20, 2011 at 1:29 am by By 

Late night data update 19/11 – 23:16 UTC
– 15 M+1.5 earthquakes today
– Strongest earthquake being a 3.3 at 18:27
– Depth of the earthquakes since midnight : 16 to 23 km
– Harmonic tremor remains strong since 17:16 UTC tonight
– GOOD air quality all day long

 

Important update 19/11 – 17:46 UTC
– We have just noticed that the harmonic tremor is almost saturated again, the biggest change since the fallback on November 17. The second graph shows the harmonic tremor from November 17 when it collapsed, until the new saturated graph today.

Increase of harmonic tremor between 17:00 and 18:00 UTC on November 19 – image courtesy IGN

 

harmonic tremor from late November 17 until November 19 – Click on the image to see it in full size

 

Data update 19/11 – 16:37 UTC
– 10 M+1.5 earthquakes since midnight (a lot less than we have expected)
– Strongest earthquake being a 2.8 at 08:20
– Depth of the earthquakes since midnight : 16 to 23 km
– GOOD air quality values this morning

Update 19/11 – 16:37 UTC
– Ian Carson reports from El Hierro : Civil guard went out to sea in RIB (rigid inflatable) this morning. Spoke to English speaker also aboard. He said ‘volcano quiet today, stain still visible but much lighter than in past ‘Jacuzzi’ times.

for more, updates, and reports, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/

Thanksgiving Day Forecast fr/Storm Central

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Your Thanksgiving Day Forecast; Rain for the NW-Mild for the Central US-Average for the NE

November 17, 2011  |   Posted by: 


The Holidays are quickly approaching with Thanksgiving little than 6 Days Away Now! Shockingly enough, it seems as it was just Halloween. With Thanksgiving being less than a week away, many think of flurries and a cold morning to wake up to for Black Friday Deals! But actually you are in for a treat this Thanksgiving as mild temperatures and a dry air mass will take hold for your Holiday.

 Lets Break it Down:
Northwest:
-Another storm, this one being a rain producer, is going to be affecting the northwest into Thursday and Friday with the low pressure coming from the Gulf of Alaska. That is going to make way for a wet, not a washout, but a wet and windy Thanksgiving. Temperatures will also be chilly with most areas seeing temperatures in the 40′s and 50′s. Low 40′s for the Mountains but no snow is forecast at the moment.

Southwest:
-A warm Thanksgiving as always with temperatures in the 50′s and 60′s are likely. Mountainous areas will see temperatures in the 30′s and 40′s. No precipitation is expected.

South:
-Rain may take a big part as a low pressure may or may not develop in the Atlantic. A weak pressure would still bring rain to the Gulf States (aside from Texas). As for a Severe Weather Chance we are monitoring that chance for a Friday chance but showers seem to be the biggest threat on Thursday. Not a wash out with temperatures above 50 is likely. Florida will see temperatures in the 60′s and 70′s.

Southeast:
-Looks to be a dry and sunny holiday for the southeastern states from Virginia to Georgia.

Northeast:
-Thanksgiving is on tap for an average November day with temperatures in the 40′s and 50′s. Some models are showing a developing low pressure to swing in sometime in the second half of the week so changes may need to be made for a shower or snow chance. Stay Tuned!

Great Lakes:
-A windy and mild day is on tap for most regions with areas seeing 40 to 50 degree temperatures. No precipitation is expected but with a high pressure in play, windy conditions with rapid pressure changes is forecast to occur.

North:
-No Snow! A chilly November day with no precipitation expected. Most locations will be in the 40′s with some locations way north in the 30′s.

Central United States: (All Other Regions):
-A mild day on tap with temperatures in the 40′s and 50′s. No snow, or rain is forecast but along with the great lakes, you will see windy conditions which will bring the  windchill to near freezing. A freeze or frost may be in store for your morning shopping deals so dress for the weather!

On behalf of the whole team at Storm Central, we would like to wish you Happy Thanksgiving to all! With that will come a special opportunity at Storm Central but details will be released over the weekend on our facebook page. So Stay Tuned! Also, this forecast may change over the next few days but a huge change is not expected! Please SHARE this outlook/forecast to your family and friends as they too will be celebrating turkey day too.

-Matt Baranowski
-11/17/11
-10:00pm CDT

from:  http://stormcentral1st.com/?p=3495

 

 

http://stormcentral1st.com/?p=3495

Tornadoes—Now?

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25 Tornadoes across seven states so far, another system next week

Published on November 17, 2011 8:00 am PT
– By TWS Senior Meteorologist
– Edited by Staff Editor


(TheWeatherSpace.com) – A string of severe storms moved from mainly Louisiana to the Carolinas between Tuesday and Wednesday, which proved fatal in some cases as damaging winds and tornadoes struck.

So far 25 tornadoes hit from Texas to the Carolinas. One of those supercells travelled from Louisiana, eastward to the South Carolina coast. This was a long tracking supercell, but a long track tornado did not form from it. It dropped tornadoes along the path, none of them through most, or the entire length.

A similar system will try again for the Southeastern United States next week, stay tuned .

from:    http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-111711_25-tornadoes-seven-states.html
.

Pacific Northwest Snow

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Bulk of the snow chances hits the Pacific Northwest overnight into Saturday

Published on November 18, 2011 9:30 am PT
– By TWS Senior Meteorologist
– Edited by Staff Editor


The Western U.S. is a tough spot to forecast for. Many news outlets five days ago (maybe even a week ago) called for a snow event in both Portland and Seattle, one of those being Accuweather. The thing about Accuweather is they never wait, they believe they can call an event and just ‘hope’ the model run was correct. They key here is to wait.(TheWeatherSpace.com) – A cold storm system is moving through the Pacific Northwest today, with the bulk of the cold air and moisture combined being tonight into Saturday across Tacoma.

Freezing levels seem to be hovering over 1,000 feet today across both Washington and Oregon with isolated flakes to 300 feet. During the overnight hours, a northeast wind will come into play for areas surrounding the county zones of Thurston and Pierce County.

What this will be doing is creating a convergence zone over both those counties. This will run with drier air in the lower levels to bring the snow level down below 300 feet by later tonight, into Saturday. This convergence zone will be an east to west orientating snow event, meaning it will not move up to Seattle, but stick over the two counties areas all night and into Saturday.

As for Portland, Oregon — the snow level will be around 1,000 feet overnight tonight into Saturday morning. There will be an offshore wind in this area as well but it is hard to say if snow will fall here. I’m going to say wet snow is possible, but nothing accumulating with the band that will move through overnight tonight and into Saturday morning.

Out of all the areas between Seattle and Portland, Tacoma, Washington will see the best chances of snowfall and Seattle coming in last for any chances. The main focus here is the convergence zone over KTCM.

from:   http://www.theweatherspace.com/news/TWS-111811_tacoma-snow-portland-close.html

Series of Earthquakes off New Zealand

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Series of strong to very strong earthquakes out of the New Zealand North Island coast

Last update: November 18, 2011 at 11:03 am by By 

Earthquake overview :  3 earthquakes have struck 100 km out of the New Zealand East Cape coast. The earthquakes were largely observed by people on the East Cape.  The earthquake was felt as far as Rotorua.

“I have Felt it” Reports –> see below + Let us know “how you have felt this earthquake”
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).

 

Isoseismal map – image courtesy Geonet GNS Science

Update : Historic powerful earthquakes in the same area :
Same distance from the coast : M 7.0 and M 6.6 in 1995
Close to the coast : M 6.7 in 1914 and M 6.3 in 1956 

Update : According to the USGS, who has reported an epicenter closer to the coast, the following theoretical MMI numbers could be expected : 213 MMI V, 6,000 MMI IV, 288,000 MMI II and III. These numbers are contradicted by the Geonet reported numbers and the registered shaking values. The current experience, like so many other experiences in the past, are showing the importance of a tight seismograph network. Especially epicenter location and depth have often even bigger error margins than officially reported in their data sets.

Update : There was NEVER a tsunami risk

Update : The earthquake has been felt as far as Rotorua

Update : Reports from New Zealanders reveal a max. MMI IV (light shaking). Although the numbers are looking very strong, only 26 people have reported the earthquake to Geonet. Both other earthquakes were only felt by very few people. MMI IV in New Zealand gets the notion : largely observed

Update : The epicenter is on top of a subduction slope in front of the coast. The subduction slope are in fact 2 tectonic plates gliding below each other. The damaging Christchurch earthquake was triggered by the same tectonic movements.

Update : We do NOT expect the M 6.1 earthquake to be damaging because of the depth of the hypocenter and the distance out of the coast.

Update : We have initiated this article after the 3th quake, the 6.1 magnitude earthquake.

Update : New Zealand GNS Science reports magnitudes of 5.3, 5.8 and 6.1 at depths of 12, 33 and 40 km. GNS Science data for New Zealand will be more precise than any other seismological agency in the world because of the many instruments they have installed all over New Zealand.

for more information, and updates, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/11/18/series-of-strong-to-very-strong-earthquakes-out-of-the-new-zealand-north-i

4.6 Quake Washington State Border

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Magnitude 4.6 earthquake strikes the Washington – British Columbia border area

Last update: November 18, 2011 at 8:03 pm by By 

 

Earthquake overview : At 05.09 AM on November 18 2011, a moderate earthquake struck the western USA / Canada border. The shallow depth of 11.9 km made it feel as a strong earthquake

Keep this page open or return regularly as we will be back with more details when they become available

Update : Based on the cartography and on condition that the preliminary epicenter is correct, we can report that the epicenter was below a rocky area 3.5 km from a valley with a lot of cultivated fields.

Update : Within a radius of 270 km NO important + M5 earthquakes were registered in the recent history

Update : We ask ourselves at Earthquake-Report.com why USGS earthquake maps are stopping at the Canadian border for this earthquake.

Update : Theoretical estimates are giving the following MMI numbers for the various cities and villages near the epicenter :
V MMI (moderate shaking) : Omak and Okanogan
II MMI (very weak shaking) : Brewster, Bridgeport, Coulee Dam and Entiat

Update : Based on the I Have Felt It reports received from the British Columbia area, the number of people who have felt the earthquake is far more than the expected numbers from USGS.

Update : Following the theoretical calculations from USGS, the earthquake was felt by 1,000 people as a moderate V MMI shaking, 12,000 people have felt a light shaking and 36,000 people a weak to very weak shaking.

to read more, and for updates, go to:    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/11/18/magnitude-4-6-earthquake-strikes-the-washington-british-columbia-border-area/

Cooking Oil to Heat Your Home

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Used Cooking Oil to Power U.K. Homes

by 
Published on November 1st, 2011
Liverpool, England, Merseyside, travel, boat, barge, river, shipping

The Federation of Fish Fryers in the U.K. estimates that one out of every four British potatos becomes part of a fish and chips dinner. That’s 1.25 million tons every year and a whole lot of cooking oil. Photo: Flickr/ Nigel’s Europe

Creative greenies have found some pretty cool applications for used cooking oil. It powers bus fleets, helps people travel the world and can even be used to heat your home. This month, Merseyside, England is taking recycled oil even further by using it to power local homes.

Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority (MWDA), its contractor Veolia Environmental Services and green energy firm Living Fuels are teaming up to collect waste oil, refine it and produce a patented bioliquid, waste management officials said.

Living Fuels will use the bioliquid to power specially-designed engines and supply power to the national grid – a move that waste management officials said will provide renewable energy, help keep the community clean and save U.K. water companies millions of pounds per year.

Cooking oil is a common household waste product in Merseyside, thanks to all those yummy fish and chips platters. And many residents simply pour their used oil down the sink – which gunks up local sewer systems and contaminates the environment, officials said.

Water companies in the U.K. currently spend £15 million a year clearing used cooking oil from their sewers, and 75 percent of the 200,000 drain clearance call-outs every year involve cooking oil, according to MWDA.

“Millions of pounds are being tipped down the drain every year as a direct result of pouring cooking oil into the sink,” said Joe De’Asha, chairperson of MWDA. “As well as removing this waste product from the environment we’re also helping to create energy. So, residents can be doubly pleased they’re helping clean up Merseyside.”

Collection tanks have been fitted at the region’s 14 household waste recycling centers, where residents can bring their leftover cooking oil rather than pouring it down the drain. Holding about 330 gallons, each tank will produce enough electricity to power one average home for an entire year, according to Living Fuels.

“Since we started out three years ago we’ve collected enough waste oil to power 5,000 UK homes for a year. But we can still do much, much more,” said Rob Murphy, operations director for Living Fuels.

The company has been collecting cooking oil from U.K. businesses since 2008, and executives said they are thrilled to have Merseyside as a partner to rescue more waste oil from landfills and water supplies.

Cooking oil recycling will be available to all Merseyside residents, including households in Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St. Helens and Wirral

from:    http://earth911.com/news/2011/11/01/used-cooking-oil-to-power-u-k-homes/

Storms on the Rise Since the ’80’s

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Weather has become more erratic since 1984

16 November 11

A study from climatologists at Princeton University suggests that weather has grown more erratic on a day-to-day basis since the middle of the 80s. 

David Medvigy, an assistant professor in the Department of Geosciences at Princeton, and Claudie Beaulieu, a postdoctoral research fellow in Princeton’s Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, believe that extremely sunny or cloudy days have become more common and that swings between stormy days and dry days have increased dramatically.

This has obviously occurred at a time when global temperatures have been rising, but it’s impossible to say for sure whether the increase in variability is being caused by climate change. On the one hand, a warmer world means there’s more energy in the atmosphere to generate dramatic weather with, but on the other hand, climate is merely an average of weather over a long period of time.

This increase in variability could have impacts on the stability of ecosystems and on industries like agriculture, renewable energy production and transport. “Our work adds to what we know about climate change in the real world and places the whole problem of climate change in a new light,” saud Medvigy. “Nobody has looked for these daily changes on a global scale. We usually think of climate change as an increase in mean global temperature and potentially more extreme conditions — there’s practically no discussion of day-to-day variability.”

He added: “If you don’t know what role variability is playing now, you’re not in a very strong position for making remarks about how it might change in the future,” he said. “We’re at a stage where we had better take a look at what this research is pointing out.”

The most extreme variations in weather were observed in the tropics, but those effects radiate around the glove, said William Rossow, a professor of earth system science and environmental engineering at the City College of New York. “Wherever it’s raining heavily, especially, or variably is where the atmosphere is being punched. As soon as it is punched somewhere in the tropics it starts waves that go all the way around the planet,” he said.

“Signals end up going over the whole globe, and whether they’re important in a particular place or not depends on what else is happening,” he added. “But you can think of storms as being the disturbances in an otherwise smooth flow. That’s why this is a climate issue even though we’re talking about daily variability in specific locations.”

The results of the study were published in the Journal of Climate.

from:    http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-11/16/erratic-weather

New Canary Island Forming

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Undersea volcano about to create new Canary Island

14 November 11

Volcanologists studying an undersea volcano erupting near the island of El Hierro believe that it’s just 70 metres from the surface and may create new land.

Over the past week or so, the geological upheaval in the Canary Islands has caused jets of water to rise more than 20 metres into the air and locals claim to have even seen rocks thrown out of the sea. Measurements taken by researchers show that seething water is significantly warmer than the surrounding sea. The culprit is the Canarian hotspot — the islands are underlain by a deep magma plume that is believed to have first appeared 60 million years ago.

Since July 2011, more than 10,000 small earthquakes have shaken the island of El Hierro and since October they’ve grown significantly stronger, with some surpassing four on the Richter scale. At the start of November, residents in the southern part of the island had to leave their homes after tremors hit the area and supherous gases drifted through. The Canary Islands’ volcanology institute,Involcan, has reported a three-fold increase in carbon dioxide levels.

Since then, however, the quakes have shifted from the south of the island to the north. While the southern tremors occurred at a depth of more than 10km, the northern ones have moved upwards and Spain’s national geographic institute has warned that there could be minor eruptions in or near the El Golfo valley on the northern coast of the island.

For the moment, however, there is no immediate risk of major surface eruption, so locals are canvassing for names for the imminent new territory. Proposed names, according to Spiegel Online, include “The Discovery”, “Atlantis”, and “The Best”.

from:    http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-11/14/canary-islands-volcano