It's not going to let up

BAY AREA It's not going to let up yet Weather forecasters say the rainstorms to keep rolling in until next midweek

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

The unusual meshwork of atmospheric highs and lows is clamped down over the Pacific. Storms have been spoiling holidays in Hawaii for days on end, while a south-tilted jet stream has been pumping buckets of moisture into Northern California. Dreary, wet weather seems certain to persist across Northern California until at least the middle of next week, with one storm after another interrupted by only the briefest hints of spring sunshine. Sooner or later, something always perturbs this kind of pattern, which will allow the storm track to move back to the Pacific Northwest where people are more used to this kind of daily soaking. For now, though, all that the meteorologists can see are systems feeding off each other, citing atmospheric phenomena all over the globe including high pressure over Canada, which blocks Pacific storm systems from moving east, and a series of tropical cyclones over Australia, which is "helping to anchor the long wave pattern." "Think of the atmosphere like a river. There's a big current of air that flows around from the west to the east, and there are these buckles in it, areas that loop northward and other areas that loop southward." One such loop is a persistent trough of low pressure over the West Coast, and a high-pressure ridge to the north. As storms develop in the Gulf of Alaska, they ride up and down the ridge, skimming over Washington and Oregon for the most part but pummeling Northern California. "Once this patterns breaks down, it will be much more likely for the pattern to be drier in April, and maybe drier than normal." "There's no physical reasoning for me to say what I'm saying, but I would just anticipate, as the sun is moving north, for the jet stream to follow, and then we would think the storm track will move father north." Total rainfall, as measured in downtown San Francisco, has been 7.88 inches so far this month, exceeded only six times since the Gold Rush. Snowpack is about 25 percent above average in the Sierra. Last month had almost three weeks without any rain at all.

Mount Bulusan gets alert level 1

Volcanic Alert
March 30, 2006
SORSOGON CITY - The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology has placed Mount Bulusan on alert level one after it showed increased restiveness Sunday morning.
Renato Solidum, Phivolcs director, said under normal conditions, the volcano only records five or less number of quakes.
Solidum said there was a significant increase in seismicity at Bulusan since last year and an increase in steam emission on March 3 this year.
He said they expect steam-driven and "phreatic" explosions to occur with the volcano’s increased seismic activity.
"If the present earthquake activity persists in the coming days, the possibility of explosions greatly increases so that the four-kilometer radius PDZ may be extended accordingly," he added.

UPDATE
Bulusan volcano spewed a column of ash nearly 1.5km into the sky late Tuesday, raising fears of a major eruption. Officials said they were considered increasing the alert level. More earthquakes had been recorded in the area recently, a possible sign that the volcano may be about to erupt more powerfully. The ash column may have been created by a reaction between water and hot materials, a "possible sign of rising magma". A four-km exclusion zone is already in place around the volcano.

4.1 quake rattles Ridgecrest

SEISMIC UPDATE
Photo: Some minor damage was evident Tuesday afternoon after the 4.1 magnitude earthquake shook Ridgecrest. The Minit Shop on East Ridgecrest Boulevard suffered a new crack on the east side of their building.

At approximately 5:36 p.m. yesterday afternoon, an earthquake shook up residents throughout the Mojave Desert area.With an epicenter located about five miles east of Ridgecrest and 13 miles from Inyokern, the temblor registered at a 4.1 magnitude at a depth of about 6.4 miles according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Described as a “short, rocking jolt” by some concerned callers to The Daily Independent, the USGS-categorized “light” rumbler did some slight damage and was felt as far north as Panamint Springs in Death Valley National Park and as far east as Barstow.Regarding the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Public Affairs Officer Peggy Shoaf said, “As of this morning we have had no reports of damage.”At least one local business had reports of damage, consisting mainly of cracks in walls.

Sandstorm

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Sandstorm Hits North China
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Cyclone Glenda batters Onslow

March 30, 2006
Cyclone Glenda has crossed the West Australian Pilbara coast hours earlier than expected.
Mardi Station recorded winds gusts of almost 180 kilometres per hour as the severe category 4 cyclone passed through.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the cyclone is now heading past the coastal town of Onslow, where winds are reaching 140 kilometres an hour.
It warns there is potential for very dangerous storm tides, which could cause flooding.
Western Power's Evette Smeathers says many residents have already lost electricity supplies.


Related Video






RELATED STORY
Cyclone Glenda 'as strong as Larry'
Cyclone Glenda was 100 kilometres from Karratha in Western Australia's Pilbara region this afternoon, as 220 kmh winds put the town on red alert.
The cyclone is bigger than the storm that flattened Darwin in 1974 and about as powerful as Cyclone Larry, which devastated north Queensland last week.
Glenda's eye threatens to cross the coast this evening just west of Karratha and Dampier, about 1,540 km north of Perth.
WA Fire and Emergency Services Authority spokesman Bill Rose said told smh.com.au: "It's not going to hit Karratha full-on, it should hit somewhere between here and Onslow, which is good because there's nothing there.

Colombians evacuate as volcano threatens eruption

VOLCANIC ALERT
March 29, 2006
Authorities have demanded the evacuation of nearly 9,000 residents close to Colombia’s most active volcano after the geological institute said an eruption may be days or weeks away.The Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining, working with scientific teams in United States, Ecuador and Germany, raised to level two the status of the Galeras volcano following increased activity in the volcano’s core.“I trust the scientists and my feeling is that this could be a big eruption,” said Fabio Trujillo, acting governor of the department of Narino, home to the volcano.“We are appealing to the common-sense of the people to leave the area of danger and so save their lives.”

ERUPTIVE HISTORY OF THIS VOLCANO

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Photo: People flock to Bronte to see the waves.

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Previous Posts:

Avian Flu Virus

Earth News: Week Ending March 24

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Pandemic (Parts 1-3) Posted in Blog Archives

Apocolyptic Times

Mayan Prophecy Retold (A Movie Review)

Total solar eclipse streaks across Earth

BREAKING NEWS: SOLAR ECLIPSE
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 9:44 a.m. ET March 29, 2006
Schoolchildren shouted and even scientists shed a tear as the moon's dark shadow sped across Earth's surface from Brazil to Mongolia on Wednesday, marking the first total solar eclipse in more than two years.
"God is great, this shows the greatness of God," Nana Appah exclaimed as she joined the crowds on Ghana's Cape Coast beach. "This shows the greatness of nature. It is very, very beautiful. I’ve never experienced anything like this before."

View the Eclipse
March 29: Watch the total solar eclipse in video from Side, Turkey, provided courtesy of NASA and Exploratorium.

Mega eruption of Yellowstone's southern twin

BREAKING EARTH SCIENCE NEWS
March 28, 2006
"Vilama Caldera formed during a single event that emitted approximately 2000 cubic kilometers (almost 500 cubic miles) of pyroclastic material," said geologist Miguel M. Soler of the National University of Jujuy in San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina. The volume of ash and pyroclastic material, called ignimbrites, produced by the 8.4 million-year-old eruption, and the size of the associated caldera, put it among the world's largest known eruptions, he says. "In contrast, for example, Yellowstone produced its important volumes of ignimbrites and lavas in three cataclysmic events. Eruptions at 2.0, 1.3, and 0.6 million years ago ejected huge volumes of rhyolite magma, and each formed a caldera and extensive layers of thick pyroclastic flow deposits," said Soler. Soler will present some of the recent groundbreaking work on Vilama supervolcano on Monday, 3 April 3 at Backbone of the Americas - Patagonia to Alaksa. The meeting is co-convened by the Geological Society of America and the Asociación Geológica Argentina, with collaboration of the Sociedad Geológica de Chile. The meeting takes place 3-7 April in Mendoza, Argentina. The Vilama Caldera appears to have been created when the 10 by 24-mile roof catastrophically collapsed on a chamber of molten rock, or magma, explosively venting vast amounts of ignimbrites out in various directions. That massive roof collapse is the one thing all large calderas have in common and what separates them from the exponentially smaller "single vent" volcanic eruptions like Mount St. Helens or Mount Pinatubo.

Related News

Vesuvius found to be more dangerous than was thought
DPA , ROME Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006,Page 6
Researchers have found evidence of a catastrophic eruption by Mount Vesuvius some 4,000 years ago which devastated the area of present-day Naples for centuries afterward.
The finding, published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States, provides today's disaster planners with a new "worst-case scenario."
It had previously been believed that the volcano's worst eruption was the notorious one of 79 AD which wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
But according to experts an eruption 3,780 years ago was more destructive.
Well-preserved remains of a prehistoric village were found about 15km northeast of Vesuvius, where volcanic deposits captured quickly abandoned domestic scenes. Outlines of huts and skeletons of pregnant goats were preserved by the high-speed surges of hot volcanic ash and gases, and researchers found a skeleton of a man and woman buried under 1m of pumice outside the village.
About 15km north-northwest of Vesuvius, thousands of human and animal footprints solidified in cooling ash were found.
Their path indicates a massive, rapid evacuation out of the devastated area.
Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo and Michael Sheridan say their findings represent an important "step forward in our knowledge of Vesuvius."
They note that while the Pompeii eruption had suggested that the area north of Naples was not at risk, the Old Bronze Age eruption suggests all areas surrounding the volcano could be affected.

Prague braces for flood as river rises

Updated: 1:37 p.m. ET March 28, 2006
PRAGUE - Authorities reinforced the main river in Prague on Tuesday as rising waters threatened to flood low-lying parts of the historic city, including its zoo.
Barriers were erected to prevent water spilling into streets, and metal walls will be erected at the medieval Kampa district below the 14th century Charles Bridge.
“It is necessary to secure this part of the city as soon as possible due to the growing water flow in the Vltava river in Prague,” Prague City Council said in a statement.
Rivers across the central European country were rising fast due to rain and unusually warm weather that melted deep snow.
An operator at the Vltava river management firm Povodi Vltavy said the water flowing into Prague was three times the average for spring, and estimated it could rise by another about 75 percent in the coming days. Weather forecasters said there would be more rain throughout the week.

Cyclone Glenda upgraded to category 5

BREAKING STORM NEWS: AUSTRALIA
March 29, 2006
Australia is bracing for its second major cyclone in two weeks as a storm with winds of around 280km/h (175mph) headed for its western coast.
Cyclone Glenda was expected to hit north-west Australia's Pilbara coastline late on Thursday.
A major iron ore port on the Pilbara coast has sent its ships out to calmer waters, and the 10,000 residents of the coastline are preparing their houses.
Australia's north-east is still recovering from Cyclone Larry.
That storm, which hit the state of Queensland, caused no fatalities but left a damage bill which is expected to top AU$1bn (US$707m).
A weather forecaster told ABC radio on Wednesday that Cyclone Glenda's current wind speeds were similar to that of Larry's prior to it hitting the coast.
"It is a very large system, one of the strongest cyclones we have seen off our Australian coastline," Gavin Edmonds said.

On a Related Note (U.S.)
CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO The 'Long Island Express' hurricane of Sept. 22, 1938, wrecked boats and pier sheds in New London, Conn.

New England Overdue for Big Hurricane
March 29, 2006

DOVER, N.H. — New England could be in for a big one. Meteorologists say conditions — including warmer temperatures in the Atlantic Basin and cooler temperatures in the Pacific Ocean — are ripe for the Northeast coast to be hit by a whopper of a hurricane this season.

Earthquake risk rattles Allstate

Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET March 26, 2006
The chance of a major earthquake hitting Ohio may be low, but it's not remote enough for one major insurer.
Allstate Insurance Co., battered over the past 15 months by seven of the 10 most-expensive catastrophes in the company's history, is taking steps to reduce its exposure to disasters by discontinuing writing residential and commercial earthquake coverage in most of the nation, including Ohio. The company also is planning to shed some of the 407,000 earthquake policies it has in force nationwide.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW

Earth News Update: Avain(bird)Flu Virus

The following Breaking News Stories are posted at Earth Frenzy Radio

Scientists study revived 1918 flu virus

How Serious Is the Risk?

At the U.N.: This Virus Has an Expert 'Quite Scared'

Fears of Flooding Face Oahu Residents

BREAKING CLIMATE NEWS: HAWAII, U.S.A.

March 26, 2006
Kaaawa (KHNL)- Fears of flooding face Windward Oahu residents as the wet weather keeps falling.

Some people weren't prepared for the heavy rains, but others are taking matters into their own hands in their continuous battle against Mother Nature.

VIEW VIDEO
Heavy Rains Cause Mudslides on Oahu

RELATED NEWS

The turnaround from December's record-low rainfall has been an unusually wet March in Hawai'i as the storm watch continues with no end in sight. Boulders from a hillside littered Kailua Road yesterday morning, blocking one Kailua-bound lane from about 10 a.m. to noon. Heavy rains also caused boulders to fall elsewhere on O'ahu. "It's got to end sometime. This is wild. I've never experienced this kind of weather event or episode to my recollection. This kind of persistent trough is VERY, VERY RARE. Like a one-in-a-hundred-years kind of thing." The weather service was reviewing data to confirm if this has been the wettest March on record in Hawai'i. It already is the WETTEST MONTH EVER in Lihu'e, Kaua'i. From March 1 through 8 p.m. Sunday, Lihu'e had recorded 32.95 inches of rain. The previous high for the entire month of March was 3.03 inches. Honolulu International Airport had recorded 10.28 inches for the month as of 4 p.m. Sunday. 1.64 inches is the average March rainfall at the airport. "So far, February was wetter than normal and we're coming up to 40 days of excessive rains."

SOUTH AFRICA - Several families have been left homeless after their homes flooded and collapsed at Qho and Qhonyana village in Taung in the North West due to heavy rain. Taung residents are now starting to panic. Since the rain started about three months ago, six people drowned and 1040 families have been left homeless. Heavy floods have also destroyed bridges, burying them underwater, making it impossible in some villages for children to attend school. The last heavy floods to hit Taung were about 18 years ago. At the beginning of March, when the first floods fell on the area, the North West government promised to promptly supply food and shelter. However, communities say they are still waiting.

The situation in most villages of Taung in the North West remains critical following continuous torrential rain in the area. Most bridges in the villages are underwater. The floods, which hit the area for almost three months, have reportedly left some of the villages isolated and inaccessible. Rains the night of the 24th - measuring about 30mm - caused extensive damage at Qho village where several houses mostly built of mud have collapsed. More rain is still expected in the area.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - Traffic on the Puerto Plata-Navarrete highway has become chaotic in the last days, due to new mudslides affecting the route from the heavy rains. A 300 meter section of the Maimón–La Colorada road has been washed out by torrents and debris falling from the hills located on both sides of the route. Along the old highway numerous potholes and sunk pavements can also be observed, which makes the transit of vehicles in the zone markedly difficult.

New Eruptions in Poas Volcano

Photo Above: This is the summit area of Poas Volcano, only about an hours drive from the capital city of San Jose. The summit contains a number of explosion craters such as this one, and one of them contains a lake. The crater in this photo contains a small turquoi se lake of sulfurous steaming water. Poas is one of the main tourist attractions for Costa Rica, but violent explosions occasionally occur here. You can see that there is almost no vegetation and the whole area is covered by ash.

BREAKING NEWS: VOLCANIC ALERT
March 27, 2006

San Jose, Mar 27 (Prensa Latina) Costa Rica closed the area surrounding its central mountain range Monday, due to fear of new eruptions from Poas Volcano.
Emergency Prevention Commission chief (CNE) Lidier Esquivel reported that the generated earth movements do not represent any immediate risk to the residents on the volcano´s slopes, but there exists the danger of new explosions.
Park Security informed that the measure will be effective for a long time, in order to protect the lives of the neighbors and tourists, he stated.
Alajuela Province´s Poas Volcano, 40 miles northwest of the capital, suddenly began emitting water and wet sediment since Friday.

Note From the Editor's Desk
Skywatch/The Great Red Comet

Having lived in Costa Rica, and having studied its multi diversified eco-system of rainforests, plant and animal habitat, it is paradise at its very best. However, it is also a country that is susceptible to great dangers from both earthquakes and volcanoes. There are 112 volcanic formations that belong to the Pacific Ring of Fire. Seven are active, including Arenal, Poas and Irazu. Poas has the second widest crater in the world, so of course it would endanger the entire area near San Jose, if it were to violently erupt.

At one time I had property about 15 miles from Arenal Volcano, situated on Lake Arenal (see photo on left) It was a beautiful site, lush tropical foliage, many varieties of animals and insects, and a magnificent view of the lake. Yet looming only miles from my door was one of the most active volcanoes on earth, that rumbled and spurted ash and smoke.

Well, to make a long story short, During my time in Costa Rica, I had an uneasy feeling, one of insecurity, considering all the dangers surrounding me. I left the country in the spring of 2003, and things have been relatively calm there, except for some rough weather conditions on the caribbean coast. But the country is long overdue for something more omminous to occur, considering that the last major earth event was in 1963, when Irazu blew it's stack, dispersing ash and smoke over metropolitan San Jose and surrounding areas for nearly 2 years. Needless to say, that was quite a mess for area residents, I'm sure the older residents haven't forgotten how powerful and destructive volcanoes or earthquakes can be, both in loss of life and property damage.

Like so many other regions of the world, it appears that mother earth has had enough of those who are determined to destroy her through environmental neglect. The warming of the earth is destined to change our very existence, along with increased volcanic activity and seismic events that will crisscross the globe like a chain of tumbling dominoes. You see all these major earth events go hand and hand, they are interrelated as one event leads to another, all very powerful and destructive in nature.

We all think we live in a fantasy world. We think that because we exist in a world of high technology and innovation, that we will be safe from nature's fury. That my friends is dangerous thinking, nothing more then a false sense of security.

We are living in perilous times, a time in which the earth has become very restless and angry. Maybe this is the time of cleansing, to rid the world of those who are determined to lay waste to the earth's vast richness and diversity, and those who place in jeapardy the ultimate survival of mankind.

Yes, I do believe it is a time of re-awakening. Everyday, there are more people beginning to realize that the world cannot continue on is present course, that each of us will have to change our ways, if this earth is going to have a future for those who carry on for the next generation. The earth and climate changes that we see developing before our very eyes, seem hard to believe and difficult to accept, but it appears that they will become a part of our future, as the trend seems irreversible.

Man in their stubborness and ignorance, will not amend their ways, until it has already past the point of no return. Maybe it already is too late. Maybe life in our solar system, was never meant to last forever. After all, even the Sun in all its glory and might will one day burn out and become a dim remnant of a once bright and magnificent star.

He who giveth, also taketh away. That which was mighty, once day becomes insignificant. We live and we die. Nothing was meant to last forever. All these sayings, are true in one respect or another. Maybe we should be grateful for what we still have and can enjoy on this earth, and give thought to what it might be like to exist on the opposite end of the spectrum, a dismal and bleak world, where man must dig and claw in order to survive. Which end of the spectrum seems more promising? I believe we all know the answer to that question.

Steven Shaman

OTHER SOURCES
Costa Rican Volcanoes

Nobody has yet discovered if the ancient tribes of Costa Rica offered virgin sacrifices to the volcano gods. One thing is certain--they had plenty of options for doing so.

Cyclone on track to force five

BREAKING STORM NEWS: AUSTRALIA
Photo: Making waves ... lifeguards rescue surfers from the swell at Sydney's Coogee beach yesterday as Cyclone Wati hit the coast.

March 28, 2006
SEVERE tropical cyclone Glenda is expected to grow into a category-five storm before it crosses Western Australia's Pilbara coast later this week.

The sixth tropical cyclone of the WA season reached category-four strength today, as it travelled west-southwest roughly parallel to the Kimberley coast, with gusts of up to 235km/h.
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Noel Puzey said Glenda was likely to intensify into a force-five storm as it tracked the coastline in the next few days.
"I think it probably will (strengthen) over the next 24 to 48 hours," Mr Puzey said.
By late Thursday or early Friday, Glenda could bear down on the central Pilbara mining region.
"In the 48 to 72 hour time it is probably more likely to affect the central to west Pilbara coast."
Residents and industry in the storm's projected path are battening down.
Fire and Emergency Services Authority spokesmen were urging residents to batten down loose boards, remove loose debris from near houses and stock up on emergency supplies.
Last weekend, category-four Floyd caused wind gusts of up to 280km/h, but, like Bertie, the first cyclone of the season last year, it did not threaten the coast or the state's huge resources industry.
The first big storm to cross the Pilbara coast this year was category-three Clare, which caused evacuations in the region on January 9, as key ports were closed and mining operations were shut down.
A week later, category-two cyclone Daryl threatened northern settlements before moving away from the WA coast.
Earlier this month, cyclone Emma crossed the coast as a category-one storm, after briefly shutting down mining, oil and gas operations in the Pilbara region.
WA's cyclone season runs between November and April, with most activity in the latter half of the period.

RELATED BREAKING NEWS
Storms rage as cyclone season peaks
March 28, 2006
STAFF at the West Australian Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre were yesterday monitoring three systems as the storm season appeared to peak a month out from its end.

Earthquake jolts southern Japan, felt in Tokyo

BREAKING SEISMIC NEWS: JAPAN

No immediate reports of injuries or damage; no tsunami warning issued
March 28, 2006
TOKYO - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 jolted southern Japan on Tuesday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake, which struck at 10:33 p.m., was also felt in Tokyo.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
The focus of the tremor was about 254 miles below the seabed in the Pacific Ocean off the southern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, the agency said.

Related News
Earthquake hits central RP (1:50 p.m.)
MANILA -- A strong earthquake shook the central Philippines early Tuesday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, the government's earthquake monitoring agency said. The magnitude 5.1 temblor occurred at 7:43 a.m. and was centered undersea, 45 kilometers off San Jose town in Mindoro Occidental province, which is about 260 kilometers south of Manila.

Freak German tornado kills two in Hamburg

BREAKING CLIMATE NEWS
March 28, 2006
BERLIN (Reuters) - A rare tornado wreaked havoc in the northern German city of Hamburg on Monday, tearing the roofs off houses, overturning cars and killing two people, authorities said.The southern district of Harburg was hardest hit by the violent storm, which knocked down three cranes at a construction site, killing two operators, a police spokeswoman said. Two others at the site also suffered injuries, she added.The whirlwind overturned several cars and trucks and one company building had its entire roof stripped off, local fire services said. Damage to power masts left parts of the city, including a hospital, without electricity.The tornado caused serious traffic hold-ups in the area, as well as disruptions to rail services. Police said it was too early to estimate the cost of the damage.In June 2004, two small villages in eastern Germany suffered extensive damage when a tornado tore through them, wrecking houses and leaving hundreds of people with no power.

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March 27, 2006
From the Editor's Desk

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Skywatch-Earth News You Can Count On

Will We Be Warned When Next Tsunami Comes

Skywatch Announcement

March 27, 2006
Experts from 140 nations meet in Germany from Monday to see how far the world has come with early warning systems in the 15 months since the devastating Asian tsunami.

This article is posted at Earth Frenzy Radio Blog
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Note* Earth News for Week Ending March 24, 2006 Will Be Posted Today At Earth Frenzy Radio Blogsite

Crazy weather

BREAKING CLIMATE NEWS
Locals near Everest fret about Mother Nature’s next surprise
Photo: SNOWED UNDER: Namche Bajar last week under a metre of snow

March 27,2 006
If there is all this global warming how come it snowed so much this spring? That is what trekkers and Sherpas in Khumbu were asking last week as an unprecedented and unseasonal blizzard dumped heavy snow at the tail end of a bone-dry winter. Meterologists explain it is not so much climate change but climate variability associated with the greenhouse effect. No one we spoke to in Khumbu last week could remember a winter like this without snow, or a spring with so much. “This is something we never saw and heard about,” said 80-year-old Jangbu Sherpa, at Namche Bajar. “It’s quite ominous.”

RELATED CLIMATE NEWS

NEW ZEALAND - Rainfall records show New Zealand's weather is changing in line with forecasts for climate change. Analysis of rainfall over the past 100 years shows western New Zealand is getting wetter. The figures also confirm expectations that climate change will mean more droughts on the country's east coast. Another trend is stronger westerly winds over the south of the country. While New Zealand's climate is highly variable, an increase in average temperatures has also been recorded. There are also more extreme events, with more episodes of very heavy rain.

Brighter sun adds to fears of climate change

SKYWATCH SPECIAL REPORT

BREAKING ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS

Photo: This image was acquired from NASA's Skylab space station on December 19, 1973. It shows one of the most spectacular solar flares ever recorded, propelled by magnetic forces, lifting off from the Sun. It spans more than 588,000 km (365,000 miles) of the solar surface. In this photograph, the solar poles are distinguished by a relative absence of supergranulation network, and a much darker tone than the central portions of the disk. (Courtesy NASA)

March 26, 2006 (article published in its entirety)

THE amount of sunshine reaching earth is increasing, accelerating the pace of climate change, scientists have found.
A series of independent studies around the world show a significant rise in the amount of sunshine penetrating the atmosphere to be absorbed by the earth’s surface and turned into heat.
The research will concern climate researchers who are already predicting a rapid rise in global temperatures due to man-made emissions of so-called greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. “The enhanced warming we have seen since the 1990s along with phenomena such as the widespread melting of glaciers could well be due to this increased intensity of sunlight compounding the effect of greenhouse gases,” said Professor Martin Wild of the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science in Zurich, Switzerland.
Researchers will present their findings to the European Geophysical Union conference in Vienna next week.
They reverse a 30-year trend. Measurements of sunshine levels between 1960 and 1990 had shown a decrease in the amount of sunshine reaching the earth, a phenomenon known as global dimming.
This was thought to have been caused by dust, smog and other pollutants, mainly from industrialised western countries.The pollutants, known as aerosols, reduced sunshine levels by absorbing and scattering solar radiation and promoting the formation of clouds that reflected radiation back into space.
In the last two decades, however, there have been significant decreases in such pollutants, partly due to industry becoming cleaner but largely because of the collapse of the Soviet Union and much of its heavy industry.
Wild said: “Sunshine levels had been decreasing by 2% a decade between 1960 and 1980 — a total decline of about 6%. Now they are going up again. Perhaps this is why our Swiss glaciers are melting.”
A 6% increase in the amount of solar radiation reaching earth would have a powerful impact on climate, especially when added to the warming effect of greenhouse gases which have already raised global temperatures by about 0.6C. Researchers predict an additional rise of at least 1.5C by 2050.
Such rises could be disastrous for agriculture, wildlife and human settlements in many regions, especially the tropics. But scientists warn they may have to revise these calculations sharply upwards if the impact of “global brightening” has to be factored in.
Atsumu Ohmura, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, has collated measurements from 400 sites worldwide and found an increase in sunshine at 300 of them, sited mainly in Eurasia and the Polar regions.
Some showed a decline in sunshine since 1990, largely in fast-developing countries such as China and India.
“A widespread brightening has been observed since the 1980s. This may substantially affect surface climate, the water cycle, glaciers and ecosystems,” said Ohmura.

SCOTS SET TO TACKLE VOLCANO

VOLCANIC NEWS
Photo: The glowing dome at dawn. Photograph taken by one of the MVO's remote cameras located on Perches Mountain to the southeast on 19 January 2006

March 25, 2006
SCOTS scientists are on an urgent mission to find out if a faraway volcano is about to erupt.
A team from the University of St Andrews, in Fife, are heading over to the tiny island of Montserrat, West Indies, to measure how much of a threat the Soufrire Hills Volcano is to the 9000- strong nation.
The Caribbean island, which belongs to the UK, was devastated by the volcano's eruption in July 1995.
Two-thirds of the population fled abroad and only a handful ever returned.
The mountain is once again showing signs of activity after a lava dome was spotted growing at its summit.
The formation is caused by new magma, which is forced up from within the Earth.
The dome will eventually become unstable and collapse with deadly hot rocks and ash flowing down the mountainside.

RELATED NEWS

PHILIPPINES - Government authorities have drawn up contingency plans for the evacuation of thousands of residents living in 6 towns near the foot of Mt. Bulusan which has shown restiveness since last Sunday. At present, however, the volcano remains at the low Alert Level No. 1.

WA braces for cyclone Glenda

BREAKING STORM NEWS: AUSTRALIA
March 27, 2006
Residents of the far north of Western Australia were bracing for the sixth cyclone of the season. At Port Hedland and in the Pilbara region, residents were urged to prepare for tropical cyclone Glenda, which today was a category one storm off the Kimberley coastline. This system is expected to rapidly intensify as it moves off the north-west coast. "At this stage we are saying it could be at least a category three, which is severe." Floyd, the fifth cyclone of the November to April season in WA, was downgraded to a tropical low.

RELATED STORM NEWS

Cyclone Larry has helped save the Great Barrier Reef from a major bleaching event, after a one degree rise in sea surface temperatures above the normal summer maximum due to global warming, by lowering the water temperatures, a marine specialist says. Cyclones Larry and Wati together helped avoid an event similar to that of 2002 when over 60 per cent of the reef was bleached and 10 per cent actually died. "It's certainly eliminated any possibility that a final blast of summer might have caused further damage from coral bleaching."

NEW ZEALAND - Tropical Cyclone Wati is expected to weaken further over the next day or two, bringing relief to northern areas of New Zealand lashed by heavy rain overnight. This morning Wati was no longer a tropical cyclone. "It's still quite a deep low sitting in the eastern Tasman Sea. It's expected to slowly weaken further and cross the North Island tomorrow but it will be pretty weak by then." Over 100mm of rain fell in parts of the Coromandel in the last 24 hours and Northland was lashed by heavy rain yesterday. "The weather is pretty unsettled in a lot of places really. There is rain over most of the North Island and parts of the South Island as well." The weather will be unsettled for the next couple of days.

One killed in southern Iran quake

SEISMIC NEWS
LONDON, March 26 (IranMania) - One person was killed in a powerful earthquake that hit a mountainous area of southern Iran, state television reported on Sunday, according to AFP.
The quake struck on Saturday with a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale, damaging some rural houses and blocking mountain roadways to villages, the report said, adding that 2,000 blankets and other items have been sent to the affected areas.
The epicenter was southwest of the town of Fin, north of the city of Bandar Abbas in Hormozgan province.
Last November, nine people were killed and scores more injured when a similar earthquake measuring close to 6.0 struck Qeshm island, just to the south of Bandar Abbas.

RELATED NEWS
Reports released on Sunday said that the city of Fin has been jolted 23 times over the past 24 hours.

Ready for more rain? Storm due to hit Monday

CLIMATE NEWS
March 26, 2006
The National Weather Service has released a special weather statement for the greater Bay Area, warning of a powerful Pacific storm predicted to make land Monday and issuing a wind advisory for the region.
The storm will hit the entire area from Monterey clear to the North Bay, weather service meteorologist Steve Markkanen said today
Monday morning is expected to be warm and sunny but an approaching cold front will bring clouds, southerly winds and chilly weather to most of the region by the afternoon, according to the weather service.
By Monday evening, sustained southerly winds of up to 35 mph and gusts of up to 50 mph will blow across the Bay Area