The Great Red Comet-Earth Science Chronicles

Peru says 5,000 birds, nearly 900 dolphins dead

2012-05-10T15:07:00.003-05:00

The Peruvian government said Wednesday that 5,000 birds, mostly pelicans, and nearly 900 dolphins have died off the country's northern coast, possibly due to rising temperatures in Pacific waters. The country's northern beaches were earlier this week declared off-limits as scientists scrambled to pin down what was causing such a massive toll, with non-government organizations blaming oil exploration work. But Peru's deputy environment minister Gabriel Quijandria, disputed this and said...

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Warmest May to April ever for U.S

2012-05-09T10:00:00.001-05:00

(Reuters) - The contiguous U.S. states posted record warmth from May 2011 through April, and drought conditions spread across more than a third of this area during the first months of 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA.L said on Tuesday. The contiguous United States had a national average temperature of 55.7 F (13.2 C) from May 2011 to April 2012, 2.8 F (1.6 C) above the 20th century average, NOAA said in a statement. It was the warmest ever May-to-April...

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70% of Hawaii’s Beaches Eroding

2012-05-08T13:21:00.001-05:00

The shoreline along Makapuu Point, Oahu, Hawaii, was included in the study released today showing that 70 percent of Hawaii's beaches are eroding. CREDIT: Brad Romine, University of Hawaii Sea Grant/ Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources Millions of years from now, the mighty islands of Hawaii will be mere vestiges of the grand splendor seen today, scientists say. And in the shorter term,...

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Rare Transit Of Venus Event Expected In June

2012-05-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

Rare Transit Of Venus Event Expected In June (via redOrbit) A once-in-a-lifetime event is on its way — an event that hasn’t occurred since 1882 and will not occur again until 2117 — and will be a spectacular event for millions of people all around the world. The Transit of Venus, as it is called, occurs when the planet passes across the face of the Sun…

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Eyeless Shrimp? Report Raises Concerns in Gulf

2012-04-19T09:55:00.000-05:00

Mutant creatures showing up after BP spill, says Al Jazeera English Shrimp missing their eyeballs (and even eye sockets), fish covered in lesions, deformed crabs, and other mutated sea creatures are showing up in unsettling numbers in the Gulf of Mexico two years after the giant BP oil spill, according to an investigation by Al Jazeera English. "The fishermen have never seen anything like this," says one scientist at Louisiana State University. "And in my 20 years working on red...

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Giant Sinkhole In Sweden Keeps Expanding!

2012-04-16T09:16:00.001-05:00

The enormous sinkhole at Malmberget is expanding. This is an image showing the giant pit from above. It looks like something taken straight from a horror movie. An enormous hole leading to hell, some would say. But this is not a movie. This is a real and dangerous phenomenon. New shocking images clearly show the enormous pit in Sweden is expanding. The 200 foot wide open pit is called the "Fabiangropen" (Fabian pit) and is in the Malmberget area is located at Gällivare, 75km from...

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Middle America Is Experiencing a Massive Increase in 3.0+ Earthquakes

2012-04-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

Area over which increased seismic activity has been observed A new United States Geological Survey study has found that middle America between Alabama and Montana is experiencing an "unprecedented" and "almost certainly manmade" increase in earthquakes of 3.0 magnitude or greater. In 2011, there were 134 events of that size. That's six times more than were normally seen during the 20th century. While the changes in the area's seismicity began in 2001, the trend has really accelerated...

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20 million hit by drought in southeast England

2012-04-05T15:11:00.000-05:00

Justin Tallis / AFP - Getty Images A wooden branch lies in the dry mud at the bank of the half-full Bewl Water reservoir in the English county of Kent on Thursday. Charlie Powell, a meteorologist at the U.K.'s Met Office, told msnbc.com there was no sign of an imminent downpour over England's drought-affected areas. London has an undeserved reputation as a rainy city, with “things to do” when the U.K. capital is wet a popular topic of conversation among tourists. But this year could...

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Carbon Dioxide Linked to End of Last Ice Age

2012-04-05T11:16:00.002-05:00

This graph shows Antarctica warming up slightly before atmospheric carbon dioxide rose and well before global temperatures warmed. In a new study, researchers explain that a change in the Earth's orbit resulted in a change in ocean circulation that prompted the Antarctic to warm before the rest of the planet. CREDIT: Jeremy Shakun View full size image The circumstances that ended the last ice...

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New Comparison of Ocean Temperatures Reveals Rise Over the Last Century

2012-04-04T09:30:00.001-05:00

Argo's 3,500 ocean-profiling robots blanket the world's oceans. (Credit: Image courtesy of Scripps Institute of Oceanography) ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2012) — A new study contrasting ocean temperature readings of the 1870s with temperatures of the modern seas reveals an upward trend of global ocean warming spanning at least 100 years. The research led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego physical oceanographer Dean Roemmich shows a .33-degree Celsius (.59-degree...

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Mysterious Geologic Structure Seen from Space

2012-03-27T10:11:00.002-05:00

Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers snapped this photo of a lava crater in Mauritania from the International Space Station. CREDIT: ESA/NASA View full size image A huge, copper-toned formation in West Africa dominates a mesmerizing photo taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers snapped this hypnotic image of the so-called Richat structure in...

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What Happened to Winter?

2012-03-19T09:14:00.003-05:00

The Stidman family, Fil, Anna, and their daughters Laura, back left, and Sarah, of Raleigh, N.C. enjoy the warm Washington weather underneath a blooming magnolia tree on the Capitol grounds, March 12, 2012. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo) The winter of 2011-12 might well earn the title of "the winter that wasn't" in many parts of the United States. The season has entered the books as the fourth warmest on record for the Lower 48, according to an analysis by the National Climatic Data...

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Record-breaking warm weather advances beginning of growing season

2012-03-16T09:35:00.000-05:00

Fig 1 Recent abnormally warm weather has resulted in a very early start to the growing season across the Great Lakes Region and much of the central and eastern USA. The trend towards warmer than normal conditions is not new, with above normal mean temperatures observed across Michigan during much of the period back to the middle of last November. The winter of 2011-2012 (December through February) was the fourth mildest on record. The prolonged warm spell is the result of a very...

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Venus and Jupiter Dance at Dusk

2012-03-08T10:44:00.001-06:00

Here is the scene looking west about an hour after sunset in late March. Over four evenings, a waxing crescent Moon will move upward past Jupiter and Venus. Click on the image for a high-resolution version. Sky & Telescope diagram For the past month the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, have been an eye-catching duo in the western sky after sunset. Week by week they've been gradually sliding closer together, and their celestial performance is about to culminate. By...

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Asteroid 2012 DA14 heads for Earth next year

2012-03-06T11:38:00.000-06:00

Scientists are predicting that the asteroid 2012 DA14 has a small chance of colliding with Earth in eleven months. Watch the skies in February 2013! According to RT, NASA has confirmed that the 60 meter (or 197 feet) asteroid, which was spotted by Spanish stargazers in February this year, may be on a collision course to Earth. The scientists suggest confronting this asteroid with either big guns or, more strangely, with paint. The problem with either option is that there is no...

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Climate change may increase risk of water shortages in hundreds of US counties by 2050

2012-02-28T14:47:00.002-06:00

More than 1 in 3 counties in the United States could face a "high" or "extreme" risk of water shortages due to climate change by the middle of the 21st century, according to a new study in ACS's Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. The new report concluded that 7 in 10 of the more than 3,100 U.S. counties could face "some" risk of shortages of fresh water for drinking, farming and other uses. It includes maps that identify the counties at risk of shortages. In the...

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Europe Hammered By Winter, Is North America Next?

2012-02-23T09:59:00.000-06:00

This map shows temperature anomalies for Europe and western Russia from January 25 to February 1, 2012, compared to temperatures for the same dates from 2001 to 2011. The anomalies are based on land surface temperatures observed by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Terra satellite. For the first half of this year’s winter, the big news was warm temperatures and lack of snow. Ski resorts were covered in bare dirt, while January temperatures in southern California topped July highs. Then,...

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Ancient plants back to life after 30,000 frozen years

2012-02-23T09:48:00.000-06:00

Scientists in Russia have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago. The fruit was found in the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia, a top site for people looking for mammoth bones. The Institute of Cell Biophysics team raised plants of Silene stenophylla - of the campion family - from the fruit. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they note this is the oldest plant material by far to have been brought to...

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Believe it or not, the Sky is Falling

2012-02-10T16:22:00.001-06:00

A new paper just published in Geophysical Research Letters by Roger Davies and Mathew Molloy of the University of Auckland finds that over the past decade the global average effective cloud height has declined and that “If sustained, such a decrease would indicate a significant measure of negative cloud feedback to global warming.” Davies and Molloy are quick to point out that part of the decline from 2000 to 2010 in cloud height is due to the timing and variability of El Niño/La Niña...

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Arctic Is Already Suffering the Effects of a Dangerous Climate Change

2012-02-02T16:29:00.001-06:00

Two decades after the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system,” the Arctic shows the first signs of a dangerous climate change. (Credit: Image courtesy of CSIC, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2012) — Two decades after the United Nations established the Framework Convention on Climate Change in order to "prevent dangerous anthropogenic...

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Breathtaking Cloud Formation Shines Over Rockies

2012-01-31T13:58:00.001-06:00

RIchard H. Hahn snapped this stunning picture of a lenticular cloud over Rocky Mountain National Park just after sunset on Jan. 5, 2012. Credit: Richard H. Hahn This spectacular, multi-hued formation of lenticular clouds was observed soon after the sun set over Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, Colo., on Jan. 5. Professional photographer Richard H. Hahn...

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Arctic Ocean freshwater bulge detected

2012-01-25T12:07:00.000-06:00

UK scientists have detected a huge dome of fresh water that is developing in the western Arctic Ocean. The bulge is some 8,000 cubic km in size and has risen by about 15cm since 2002. The team thinks it may be the result of strong winds whipping up a great clockwise current in the northern polar region called the Beaufort Gyre. This would force the water together, raising sea surface height, the group tells the journal Nature Geoscience. "In the western Arctic, the Beaufort Gyre is...

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25 Indonesian Volcanoes Showing Abnormal Activity

2012-01-16T10:52:00.001-06:00

Twenty-five volcanoes in Indonesia, including Anak Krakatau, above, are showing signs of increased activity, a presidential aide said on Saturday. (Reuters Photo) Padang, West Sumatra. Twenty-five volcanoes in Indonesia are now showing abnormal activity or have been put on alert or watch status, presidential special aide Andi Arief said here on Saturday. “According to official data, 25 volcanoes are now under alert or watch status and they must be given...

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'Off the scale' smog grounds China flights

2012-01-10T09:07:00.000-06:00

Rider battles thick smog in Beijing on January 10, 2012. Picture: AP AP MORE than 150 flights to and from Beijing have been cancelled or delayed as a thick cloud of acrid smog shrouded the city, with US figures saying the pollution was so bad it was off the scale. The national meteorological centre said the Chinese capital had been hit by thick fog that reduced visibility to as little as 200 metres in some parts of the city, while official...

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Bees being turned into 'zombies' by parasite

2012-01-04T13:46:00.002-06:00

Honey bees are abandoning their hives and being turned into “zombies” by a deadly fly parasite in their stomachs. The parasite makes the bees flee their hives and then walk round and round in circles before dying. It also makes them seek out bright lights. The parasite lays its’ eggs inside the abdomen of the honey bee. About a week after the bee dies, the pupae emerge from the throats and heads of the dead bees. Scientists discovered the parasite by accident but they believe it may...

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