Solar Activity Anew

Breaking Solar News
SOLAR ACTIVITY ALERT

The New Year could begin with a bang--or rather a solar flare. A sunspot hidden just behind the sun's eastern limb has unleashed two X-ray flares and a bright CME (coronal mass ejection) in the past 24 hours. This activity could signal the return of large sunspot 978, which has spent the last two weeks transiting the far side of the sun. Today or tomorrow, the sun's rotation should carry the active region over the limb and into view from Earth; then we can evaluate its potential for more flares and CMEs.

Update: Comet 8P/Tuttle

Last night, Comet 8P/Tuttle passed by spiral galaxy M33. It was, well... a picture is worth a thousand words:

MORE COMET TUTTLE PHOTOS

"The emerald-colored comet and M33 were a fantastic late Christmas gift for me," says Gerald DeShirlia who photographed the encounter from his drive way in Wimberley, Texas, using a 7-inch refracting telescope and a Canon 20D digital camera.

Now Comet 8P/Tuttle is heading toward Earth. On Jan. 1st and 2nd it makes its closest approach to our planet--only 24 million miles away. The emerald-colored comet will brighten to a predicted magnitude of 5.8, visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky sites and a fine target for backyard telescopes. sky map.

S. Korea hit by rare December yellow dust storm

South Korea
Satellite Image: Dust over Korea
South Korea’s weather service said Saturday (Dec. 29) it issued a yellow dust advisory, its first ever issued in the month of December, for the central part of the country.

The Korean Meteorological Administration said the advisory was issued for Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi-do (Gyeonggi Province) and other nearby areas as well as five islands near the western sea border with North Korea at 2 p.m.

Most of the country will come under the influence of the hazardous dust from late at night, it said.

The last time a yellow dust storm hit South Korea in December was in 2001. No advisory was issued because the country did not start the system until the following year.

Korea faces the seasonal phenomenon every year from February through April, as sand and other dust from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia are carried over to the country by easterly winds.

Wisconsin weather, 'wow what a year'

Wisconsin, USA
WISCONSIN had some pretty wicked weather this past year, ranging from blizzards to record flooding, winter snow storms, severe thunderstorms, high winds, large hail and droughts. "This was a very interesting year for Wisconsin in the weather department and it seems like every year gets more UNUSUAL than the previous year and you wonder how the heck we can top the previous year. So, but looking back at 2007 all I can says is "Wow, what a year!" Record rains caused five deaths, numerous mud slides, road closures, and flooded homes and businesses. 22 inches in one month is a lot when you compare it to the average of 32-35 inches for the entire year. Total damage to property and crops from the rain was about $112.5 million.

Related News
TEXAS - A little over a year ago, ranchers had to search as far away as Kansas for hay to feed their cattle. Many ranchers were forced to sell off cattle or ship them out-of-state. But this year, the fortunes have turned, thanks to this year’s wet weather that brought rain to almost every corner of the state. It was a year of recovery for Texas agriculture as farmers saw RECORD YIELDS for corn, cotton, wheat, sorghum, soybeans and hay. “I don’t know if it’s ever happened before but it’s a PRETTY RARE occurrence. It’s pretty UNUSUAL to have the entire state wetter than normal at the same time.” Cattle raisers also replenished herds, often finding livestock from the drought-stricken southeastern U.S, and benefited from stable beef prices. But the banner year was tempered by the rain’s tapering off during the last four months of the year and an uncertain future. “We didn’t get the fall rains so the pond levels are really dropping.”

EXTREME COLD AND SNOW
ILLINOIS - December snow piling up - 13.7 inches so far - more than double 30-year average of 6.6 inches for December. Winter's third significant storm Friday blanketed much of the Chicago region, clogging traffic, canceling flights and leaving 2 to 6 inches of snow in its wake. The storm marked the 14th snowfall in December, making the month ONE OF CHICAGO'S SNOWIEST EVER. "Unfortunately, the encore is flurries and bitter cold next week...It's just that this snow has been earlier. Normally this is what it's like in January."

MICHIGAN - Five to 7 inches of snow was reported in the region following the storm that blanketed the Great Lakes region with several inches of snow. Milwaukee's total at Mitchell International was 6.3 inches, TOPPING THE RECORD for the date of 5.3 inches set in 1968.

Madness as huge waves pound coast

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO VIEW GALLERY

Breaking Earth News
Australia

Madness as huge waves pound coast - people watching the treacherous surf from the beach were knocked off their feet by FREAK waves, a boat full of lifesavers was flipped over, and surfers were swept out to sea as the Coast was hammered by huge surf yesterday. All beaches on the Gold Coast were closed as winds of up to 90km/h whipped up dangerous waves that caught plenty off guard. Two people were stranded in waist-deep water after a freak wave pounded them against eroded dunes at The Spit about 2pm yesterday. They were forced to cling to poles under the sand-pumping jetty to avoid being swept out to sea. A huge crowd of people, including small children, also risked their lives trying to get a closer look at Mother Nature's fury by venturing to the end of rock wall at The Spit. Huge waves hit the wall as dozens fled to safer ground. Two surfers were swept north from Tallebudgera to Burleigh Heads after being caught in the strong sweep. A surf boat crew from the Greenmount surf club flipped their craft about 6am and had to be rescued by a jet-ski patrol. The weather bureau warned the treacherous conditions will not ease until Thursday. A severe weather warning remained for the southeast because of an intense low pressure system sitting 460km off Fraser Island. Only the bravest surfers dared to take on the swell, said to be the BIGGEST OF 2007. Waves of up to 13m were recorded off Coolangatta. The wave buoy off Narrowneck recorded 9m swells and shark nets were torn loose. Surf lifesavers along the Gold Coast still had to brave the conditions and warned several people, including two busloads of tourists, from entering the water near North Kirra. Showers and increasingly gusty winds keeping most people away from the water. The massive waves flooded the Vikings Surf Life Saving Club car park. Earlier, members from the club sandbagged the area. Lifesavers carried out two rescues at The Pass yesterday and later helped more than 200 people off The Pass lookout after churning water cut them off from dry land. About 20 children were taken off the lookout by air tubes for safety measures. While the low-pressure system off the Coast could not technically be classed as a tropical cyclone, it packed a similar punch. "I haven't seen anything quite of this magnitude this year. They've been good solid 10-foot (3m) waves today, (some) up to four metres. The problem is the swell's really big but not many people can surf it - only experienced tow riders. It's quite tragic really. Many people just have to sit and look at it. On days like today jet-skis really are the only option."

New Year Comet To Brighten the Night Sky

Breaking Cosmic News


The Flyby of Comet 8P/Tuttle
Two nights before closest approach, on Dec. 30th and 31st, something extraordinary will happen: Comet 8P/Tuttle has a beautiful close encounter with spiral galaxy M33. The comet and the galaxy may even overlap! This is a can't-miss opportunity for astrophotographers around the world.

After a 13.6 year absence, Comet 8P/Tuttle is once again traveling through the inner solar system and on Jan. 1st and 2nd it makes its closest approach to Earth--only 24 million miles away. The emerald-colored comet will brighten to a predicted magnitude of 5.8, visible to the unaided eye from dark-sky sites and a fine target for backyard telescopes.sky map.

On Dec. 29th in the mountains of northern Italy, Giampaolo Salvato took a picture of Comet 8P/Tuttle, see below, using no telescope at all. "This is a 5 minute exposure with my Canon 5D digital camera set at ISO 400," he says.

Click on the image for an even wider view, which encompasses exploding Comet 17P/Holmes, variable star Algol, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and some lovely star clusters. Comet Tuttle is racing across this starry expanse for a Dec. 30th encounter with spiral galaxy M33--a can't-miss event for astrophotographers.

Comet 8P/Tuttle Photo Gallery
Stay tuned to Skywatch-Media News for more photos!

2007 a year of weather records in U.S.

Breaking Earth News
USA
"It's the run of weather extremes in different locations" that have the mark of man-made climate change, said top European climate expert Phil Jones, director of the climate research unit at the University of East Anglia in England.

WASHINGTON - When the calendar turned to 2007, the heat went on and the weather just got weirder. January was the warmest first month on record worldwide — 1.53 degrees above normal. It was the first time since record-keeping began in 1880 that the globe's average temperature has been so far above the norm for any month of the year.

And as 2007 drew to a close, it was also shaping up to be the hottest year on record in the Northern Hemisphere.

U.S. weather stations broke or tied 263 all-time high temperature records, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.S. weather data. England had the warmest April in 348 years of record-keeping there, shattering the record set in 1865 by more than 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit.

It wasn't just the temperature. There were other oddball weather events. A tornado struck New York City in August, inspiring the tabloid headline: "This ain't Kansas!"

In the Middle East, an equally rare cyclone spun up in June, hitting Oman and Iran. Major U.S. lakes shrank; Atlanta had to worry about its drinking water supply. South Africa got its first significant snowfall in 25 years. And on Reunion Island, 400 miles east of Africa, nearly 155 inches of rain fell in three days — a world record for the most rain in 72 hours.

RELATED NEWS EVENTS

Floods Wreck Havoc as Dozens are Swept Away

Breaking Earth News
Indonesia
Image: Indonesian youth crosses a river by pulling on a rope after the bridge collapsed due to floods hitting their village in Solo, Indonesia's Central Java province, December 28, 2007.

REUTERS/Stringer/indonesia: View More Images

About 40 people are missing after floods triggered by heavy rain swept away a bridge in Indonesia's East Java province.

The floods engulfed cars and motorcycles passing the bridge in Madiun district, said a local police officer.

Two people were rescued but no bodies have been found.

About 80 people are also feared dead in landslides and floods in the neighbouring Central Java province.

Villagers on Indonesia's main island of Java were just finished cleaning up a home flooded by days of torrential rain when a landslide struck. Sixty-one people were buried alive, in the worst incident of its kind in the area for a quarter of a century.

Widespread Power Outages and Travel Delays in Central US

Central USA
Image: A car is seen off the road after the driver of the vehicle lost control and ended up in the trees in Davenport, Iowa, Friday morning, Dec. 28, 2007.

CHICAGO — A storm swept across the northern half of Illinois on Friday, dumping several inches of snow that delighted winter-sports enthusiasts and caused fresh headaches for holiday travelers.

More than 450 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport by early afternoon and delays averaged 90 minutes, said aviation officials. Delays at Midway Airport were about an hour, though it did not report any cancelations.

The snow began falling in Chicago during the morning rush hour, coming down in fat, wet flakes and swirling in gentle winds off Lake Michigan. The National Weather Service issued a snow advisory for parts of northern and western Illinois through Friday night, with accumulations that could reach six inches.

Weather ups and downs set area records

New York, USA
Weather patterns took twists and turns in 2007, beginning with flowers blooming in January and including a freak June storm that killed four people in Colchester. Golfers were hitting area courses in January's 60-degree weather. A high of 64.4 degrees was recorded Jan. 2, which broke the 1890 mark of 58 degrees for the date. January averaged 4.8 degrees above normal. The normal mean temperature for January is 21.3 degrees. But by the end of January, temperatures plunged. A record-setting blizzard pushed through the area Feb. 14. More than 25 inches of snow fell in Emmons. That broke the Oneonta-area record for Valentine's Day of 20 inches, set in 1914. The average Binghamton snowfall in February is 15.9 inches, but the 2007 February total was 29.1 inches. Temperatures varied in the area but remained below average in February. The cold weather continued into March. Oneonta set a record for the lowest high temperature for the March 6, with the thermometer only reaching 5.1 degrees. The previous record was 8 degrees. Summer began tragically in the town of Colchester where four people died June 19 after an 8-foot-high wall of water rushed through two valleys. The storm that stalled along a ridge between Holiday Brook and Cat Hollow roads in the Delaware County town washed away four homes and destroyed roads and bridges. Up to 8 inches of rain fell in two hours, washing out roads and homes and slamming trees into bridges. The month of July turned out to be cooler and wetter than normal, continuing a trend that stretched through the first seven months of the year. The area's weather during September ranged from wet and warm to near normal. From June through September, the weather was fairly stable. One of the most remarkable things about September was the lack of a frost. As the year drew to an end, back-to-back snowstorms turned the area into a winter wonderland, but rain on Dec. 23 washed snow away, making for a mostly green Christmas.

Australian coast set for weekend of big weather

Australia
Image: Brian Harvey surveys a storm brewing over the highway between Dubbo and Wellington in central NSW. Picture: Amos Aikman

Residents along the Queensland coast are bracing for a fierce and volatile weather system this weekend with the bureau warning of gale-force winds, dangerous surf and abnormally high tides. The Bureau of Meteorology has advised coastal communities from Bowen in north Queensland to the Gold Coast to prepare for the intense low-pressure system. Severe thunderstorms hit NSW yesterday afternoon, with heavy rains and flash flooding in the Hunter and Central Tablelands, Illawarra and western parts of Sydney. Three people were rescued yesterday after they abandoned their 10m yacht in heavy seas north of Fraser Island. Huge waves whipped up by the system will coincide with king tides and are likely to cause the biggest tides this year. The bureau is also closely watching a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Carpentaria that has the potential to develop into a cyclone early next week. Meanwhile, South Australian fire fighters are on standby over the coming days with the bureau forecasting extreme heatwave conditions throughout the state.

Weather odds could become the norm

Soaring temperatures, shrivelling lakes and prolonged drought could be the new norm thanks to climate change.
(CBC)

(AP) Meteorologists have chronicled strange weather years for more than a decade, but NOTHING LIKE 2007. Get used to it, scientists say. As man-made climate change continues, the world will experience more extreme weather, bursts of heat, torrential rain and prolonged drought. "We're having an increasing trend of odd years. Pretty soon, odd years are going to become the norm." The decade of 1998-2007 has been THE WARMEST DECADE ON RECORD. With temperatures 0.85 degrees Celsius above normal, January of this year was the first time since record-keeping began in 1880 that the globe's average temperature has been so far above the norm for any month of the year. As the year progressed, American weather stations broke or tied 263 all-time high temperature records. England had the warmest April in 348 years of record-keeping, shattering the record set in 1865 by more than 0.6 C. "For the first time in recorded history, the disappearance of ice across parts of the Arctic opened the Canadian Northwest Passage for about five weeks starting 11 August." The Arctic dramatically warmed in 2007, shattering records for the amount of melting ice. Sea ice melted not just to record levels, but far beyond the previous melt record. There were "devastating floods, drought and storms in many places around the world." And there were other oddball weather events. A tornado struck New York City in August. In the Middle East, an equally rare cyclone spun up in June, hitting Oman and Iran. Major U.S. lakes shrank; Atlanta had to worry about its drinking water supply. South Africa got its first significant snowfall in 25 years. And on Reunion Island, 640 kilometres east of Africa, nearly 394 centimetres of rain fell in three days — a world record for the most rain in 72 hours.

RELATED NEWS
The United Nations sent a RECORD NUMBER OF DISASTER ASSESSMENT TEAMS TO EMERGENCIES IN THE AMERICAS in 2007, offering a potential glimpse at the future of climate change. Nine of the 14 teams dispatched this year by the U.N. went to Central and South America, the highest number in history, including the FIRST EVER TO MEXICO. Previously, the highest number of missions to the Americas was eight, after Hurricanes Mitch and Georges in 1998. This year, U.N. teams were sent to Mexico, Uruguay and Bolivia twice to deal with severe floods. Teams were also dispatched to the Dominican Republic following Tropical Storm Noel, Honduras after Hurricane Felix, Belize and Jamaica after Hurricane Dean, and Peru following an earthquake in August. The five other U.N. teams went to Madagascar, Pakistan, and Ghana in response to floods, the Solomon Islands following an earthquake and tsunami in April, and Laos to help the country's disaster preparedness efforts. 10 out of the 14 missions, or 70 percent of the total, were in response to hurricanes and floods.

Twas cool comfort at Christmas

Breaking Earth News
Australia
Christmas 2007 will go down in the record books as ONE OF THE MOST UNSEASONAL IN YEARS in weather terms. A south easterly change that moved in late on Christmas Eve sent temperatures plunging and brought a return to drizzling rain. And it stayed that way right through Christmas Day with the conditions disappointing those planning outdoor celebrations on the big occasion. It was the same right across the Blue Mountains with day-long fog and intermittent rain greeting visitors. In Sydney it was also unseasonally cool and overcast — far from the image of a sun bleached Santa. Yesterday, although the sun was shining, the temperatures were still well below normal for this time of the year

More Weather Observations
City wakes up to really cold day
The city of Bangalore woke up shivering on the 26th, with temperature plummeting to 11.8 degrees Celsius — the THIRD COLDEST DECEMBER DAY IN 124 YEARS. The lowest December temperature ever was 8.9 degrees Celsius recorded in December 1883. The second lowest was in December 2000 when the temperature dipped to 11.5 degrees Celsius. "During winter, parts of south-interior Karnataka, including Bangalore, experience sudden fall in temperature particularly between December 15 and January 15." The city is susceptible to cold temperature due to the presence of clouds with moisture just a km from the ground level. "These clouds have cold breeze, particularly in the winter, during which the cold breeze and surface wind mix with each other and reduce the temperature."

Heavy storms to keep ships in harbors

Breaking Earth News
Indonesia
The government has renewed calls for ships and boats not to set sail in the next few days following warnings of extreme weather and high waves from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. The no-sail warnings were valid throughout this week and could be renewed. The ministry issued its first warnings two weeks ago. In bad-weather warnings issued on Tuesday, they said three- to five-meter-high waves could hit several parts of Indonesia because of seasonal monsoon winds expected to last until the end of this year. "Ships and boats should not set sail in the next two days because they might be swept away by high tides," a meteorology and geophysics expert said on Wednesday. He said the Java Sea would be hit by waves as high as three and five meters, while the Makassar Strait and Bali Sea might see waves with heights between 0.5 and 3.5 meters. Waters in the southern part of Sumatra and in the south of Nusa Tenggara could be hit by up to four-meter-high waves, while the waters to the south of East Java might see 0.5 to 2.5-meter waves. The agency said the predicted waves would likely be caused by the West Monsoon wind, a seasonal wind that occurs when atmospheric pressure is high across the Asian continent and low across Australia. Mariners should also stay alert for severely low tides, which might hamper ships from harboring and loading. Waters in Surabaya's Tanjung Perak harbor receded to minus-170 centimeters on Wednesday and were predicted to rise only by 10 centimeters today. On Dec. 23, a tugboat pulling a coal barge was overturned near Bali as it sailed from South Kalimantan to Cilacap, Central Java. In September, the BMG also warned vessels against sailing in the Indian Ocean, including waters around the Mentawai islands and the coastal areas of West Sumatra, due to extreme weather. Passenger ferries plying the Mentawai-Padang route continue to operate despite the warning, but no accidents have been reported. One of the most noted sea tragedies was the sinking of the Senopati Nusantara ferry in the Java Sea on Dec. 30, 2006, after it was reportedly hit by dangerous waves. This accident claimed the lives of more than 300 passengers.

Strong winds, large waves forecast for Queensland

Breaking Earth News
Australia
A low pressure system off Queensland's central coast is forecast to intensify overnight, whipping up large seas and gale-force winds. The system is expected to be around 500 kilometres off the coast of Yeppoon by tomorrow. The combined winds and waves will cause ABNORMALLY HIGH TIDES along the southern and central coasts. "The south-east coastal area will start to feel the effects, a gradual increase in the winds through the early part of the weekend, and at this stage I think the worst part of the coast should be up around the Sunshine Coast up toward the Fraser Island area. Nonetheless the Gold Coast area will still experience the strong winds." Fraser Island, the Cooloola coast and northern parts of the Sunshine Coast are likely to be the first affected by the large waves. Conditions will be dangerous and unstable over the weekend. "Over the next few days, the further south you come towards the New South Wales border, things are going to get increasingly worse sort of leading to the weekend and over the weekend."

Indonesians feared dead after torrential rains trigger landslides

Breaking Earth News
Indonesia
Image: Rescue workers search for victims as a truck is seen crushed by landslide in Tawangmangu, Central Java, Indonesia. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Rescuers dug for survivors Wednesday after landslides and floods triggered by days of torrential rain killed dozens of people in western Indonesia.

At least 78 people were feared dead - most of them killed in a single landslide in the Karanganyar district that buried a late-night dinner party, a rescue official said. The victims had just cleaned up a mud-covered home.

Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers struggled to get heavy-lifting equipment to villages on the main island of Java, but roads blocked by the mud and flooding were hampering the rescue efforts, Prayitno said.

Lacking the equipment, some rescuers tried searching for survivors by digging into the mountains of mud with their bare hands.

Continue Article

The year that changed everything for climate change

PARIS: When the history of climate change is written, 2007 will deserve a chapter all to itself. In just 12 months, global warming has been elevated to the great challenge of our time, a cause for public and celebrities alike, a Nobel-winning issue and a headache for politicians of every rank.

Source: earthfrenzyradio.blogspot.com via steve468

In a vast report, the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), issued its grimmest scientific assessment yet. Its prose lacked varnish, was riddled with jargon impenetrable to the outsider and admitted to areas of doubt or uncertainty – but this honesty made the findings all the more terrifying.

Its verdict: global warming is a fact. Humans bear inescapable responsibility for it, thanks to the uncontrolled burning of fossil fuels.

Signs are all around

Climate change is already visible, in the form of shrinking glaciers and snow cover, and misery for millions lies just decades away. On current trends, said the IPCC, drought, floods, rising sea levels and more violent storms will lead to hunger, disease and homelessness. No country will escape damage.[/q]

NowPublic

Archbishop of Canterbury warns greed could wreck the Earth

LONDON (AFP) - The leader of the world's Anglicans slammed "human greed" in his Christmas sermon, saying it threatened the Earth's fragile environmental balance.

Doctor Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told worshippers at Canterbury Cathedral in south-east England, that humanity needed to protect the world created by God.

People should treat each other and nature with "reverence", the Church of England leader said.

"More and more (is) clearly required of us as we grow in awareness of how fragile is the balance of species and environments in the world and just how our greed distorts it.

"When we threaten the balance of things, we don't just put our material survival at risk; more profoundly we put our spiritual sensitivity at risk -- the possibility of being opened up to endless wonder by the world around us."

Image Above: Doctor Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury,

Sri Lanka floods subside, 40,000 in temporary shelters

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's monsoon floods were subsiding but just over 40,000 people remained in temporary shelters, the disaster management centre said Tuesday. More than 210,000 people were initially affected by the floods, with 40,225 of them remaining in schools, temples and other public buildings, and receiving food from state agencies, the centre said.

The authorities began restoring supplies to several hospitals which were affected by the floods, officials said.

Sri Lanka relies on monsoon rains for irrigation and power generation but the seasonal downpours frequently cause loss of life and damage to property in low-lying areas.

No deaths have been reported in the latest rains.

The island's two main monsoon seasons run from May to September and December to February.

Earth Frenzy Radio Holiday Broadcast

Holiday Special Broadcast

The Earth Frenzy Radio Show

Live From Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 20, 2007

Thoughts for the New Year

Another year is about to pass, but not without some final comments for this year and a few thoughts for the coming year. At the end of my comments be sure to stay tuned for a holiday surprise, my gift to all of you.

With Warmest Wishes For A Blessed Holiday Season.

Steven Shaman
Skywatch-Media News

Creator of the Earth Frenzy Radio Show/BTR


STAY INFORMED ON THE EARTH FRENZY RADIO SHOW



© Skywatch-Media: All Rights Reserved

Near-Earth Asteroid Flyby to Occur Jan. 29

Asteroid 2007-TU24
An asteroid will fly past our own planet on January 29, 2008. At closest approach, 2007 TU24 will be 1.4 lunar distances from Earth. There's no danger of a collision, but the 400m-wide space rock will be close enough to photograph through backyard telescopes as it speeds through the constellation Cassiopeia glowing like a 10th magnitude star.

Orbit Diagram

CHRISTMAS PROMS: "The promenences on the sun's limb today have a real Christmas feel to them!" reports Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland. Here is the view taken by Greg

Solar prominences are clouds of hydrogen twisted and held aloft by solar magnetic fields. They're common enough, but how often do they twist into the shape of reindeer? It must be Christmas...

Farmers told to watch the weather closely

Indonesia
Climate Warning
The government has warned farmers of extreme weather events in regards to climate change. The government has told farmers to be more "creative" to grasp weather patterns that are predicted to become more extreme. "The toughest work for our farmers now is how to adapt to unpredictable weather changes. Long-standing traditional crop cycle systems may no longer be practicable." In the short term - over the next year, until 2009 - the adaptation effort is focused on gathering data on areas vulnerable to droughts or floods, including information on dry and wet seasons. The information is to be distributed to farmers as a guideline to help in re-mapping weather patterns, agricultural seasons and crop cycles. In the medium-term - through 2012 - the plan will see the government create and evaluate an early warning system for drought. In the long term, the government is set to analyze weather anomalies and be able to better predict planting seasons and adjust crop cycles. Just exactly what farmers should expect - of course - the government can't say. However changes in rainfall and drought, they are told, will seriously impact agriculture. In the 1990s, the ministry of agriculture reported an average harvest failure of 100,000 tons per regency across the country due to drought. The failure rate has been around 300,000 tons per regency since 2000. Farmers have repeatedly ben urged to plant crops other than rice - such as corn and soybeans - especially in the dry season, due to the water-intensive nature of rice farming. Currently, most farmers plant rice in both dry and wet seasons.

Rain lost to sea as Lake Okeechobee shrivels

BREAKING EARTH NEWS
FLORIDA, USA
Image: Stranded near Slim’s Fish Camp on Torry Island in Belle Glade, Fla.

Even amid a record-breaking drought, water managers' floodgates from Fort Pierce to Boca Raton dumped roughly 250 billion gallons of coastal runoff out to sea during this year's hurricane season. Water managers say they had no choice. The region's decades-old drainage network left them no place else to put so much runoff without flooding the densely developed coast, they say. And they had no practical way to move the water to drought-shriveled Lake Okeechobee. "It breaks my heart. I get frustrated like everybody else. You know you're going to need that water." The squandered quarter-trillion gallons would be enough to fill Dolphin Stadium more than 500 times, supply Palm Beach County's water customers for more than a decade or submerge the city of Stuart about 100 feet deep. It includes rain that sloshed off roofs, streets and parking lots from June 1 to Nov. 30, into drains and canals that aim for the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic. The lost runoff is also equivalent to about 2 feet of water in the shrunken lake, the region's main backup reservoir. The lake hit an all-time low in July, and water managers say it COULD PLUNGE TO LEVELS NEVER BEFORE RECORDED in the next few months. To meet the shortfall, the district is taking the UNPRECEDENTED step of limiting lawn and landscape watering to one day a week throughout almost all of its 16 counties. The limits take effect Jan. 15. "The only answer is to be able to store more water." But efforts to do that have been slow, despite a $10.9 billion Everglades restoration plan that includes proposals to capture wasted runoff. Since Jan. 1, Palm Beach International Airport has received more than 63 inches of rain - about 70 percent more than notoriously drizzly Seattle. Some rain has arrived in blinding downpours, including one day in October when almost 7 inches fell at a coastal gauge just south of West Palm Beach. When rain falls so heavily, the district's priorities shift to flood control. Its canals flow downhill, and most lack pumps that could send water inland. Most also have no direct link to the lake. The district is keeping water in its canals higher than usual. But that increases the risk of floods in a freak downpour.


RELATED NEWS

Severe cold wave disrupts normal life in Sirajganj

Breaking Earth News
Bangladesh
Severe cold wave disrupts normal life in Sirajganj - An UNPRECEDENTED COLD WAVE over the last few days has almost halted normal life in this district town. The severe cold wave coming from the Himalayas has made the lives of the dwellers, specially the homeless people of this small town, miserable. At least 12 people have been attacked with various cold related diseases, the intensity of cold worsens after mid-day and turns extremely unbearable in the evening. Every day, fog covers the town until 8 to 9 AM and vehicles ply in the streets with their headlights on. Although the sun appears for a while around 10 AM, it soon disappears. Last Monday morning drizzles made things even worse. Destitutes are trying to combat this bitter wave through heat generated from burning heaps of straw and old rubber tyres. On the other hand, second hand warm clothes sellers are making best use of this situation and earning handsomely by raising the prices two and even three times. Diseases like fever, cough, cold and dysentery have also increased alarmingly. Severeness of cold in this small district town situated near the Jamuna river is usually more bitter than other areas of the country, which usually deteriorates in December and January. Observers feel that this cold will worsen further during next few weeks. Cultivation of winter crops, particularly the potato is facing damage from this unnatural cold. Authoritative sources believe unless the government and the well-to-do section of the country come forward with necessary arrangements for distribution of sufficient warm clothes for the homeless people in this area, the possibility of loss of life from this bitter and severe cold may not be ignored.

UPDATE:

Snow storms in US claim 14 lives

Snow storms in the central US have left at least 14 people dead and tens of thousands without electricity, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Hundreds of accidents were reported as far south as Texas, where there was a 50-vehicle motorway pile-up.

The storm has also felled trees and power lines and caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

More heavy snow has been forecast as the storms move into the Great Lakes region bordering Canada.

Series of tremors hit Kenya

Breaking Earth News
Kenya, Africa

A series of earth tremors rocked the country Sunday afternoon causing panic among Kenyans.

The Kenya Meteorological Department could not immediately tell the magnitude due to lack of a seismograph.

“There has been a slight tremor, but we are yet to establish the magnitude,” said an official with the department.

He said that they would liaise with the department of geology at the University of Nairobi, which has a seismograph.

Degree of intensity

All the tremors lasted about five seconds and were felt in different parts of the country between 4pm and 4:45pm.

In Nairobi, the tremors were felt in different places, including Nation Centre, between 4 and 4.45pm with varying degrees of intensity.

At Westlands, for instance, a tremor that lasted about four seconds was felt at about 4pm with a similar shake experienced in the city centre at 4.45pm.

Related News
Nicaraguans Fear another Earthquake

Managua, Dec 23 (Prensa Latina) Few hours before another anniversary of the earthquake that devastated this city 35 years ago, scientists warned that the tragedy that killed more than 10,00 Nicaraguans could happen again.

The CIEGO (Center for Geophysics Research of the National University of Managua) said the conditions that originated the catastrophe are latent.

City's warmest Christmas in years

Amazing Skyline Photo of monsoon arriving in Mumbai

Record Setting Temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere

Mumbai's WARMEST CHRISTMAS IN YEARS - In an UNUSUAL fluctuation after a cool spell through the second half of November and the first couple of weeks in December, temperatures have now begun to surge. On Friday morning, Colaba recorded a minimum temperature of 24 degrees C, distinctly up from the 17-20 degrees C range in which the weather had remained during the nights in preceding weeks. Weather bureau officials expect this heat to persist through Christmas, which is traditionally known for cool weather in the city. The city is experiencing hot days and nights in the last weeks of December due to the circulation of westerly winds over Mumbai. "The city is receiving westerly winds which are hotter than the northerly winds that cool the atmosphere." The change has affected Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra as well as Goa. "The changing climatic system has resulted in moisture in the atmosphere, which in turn has increased the humidity." The humidity has crept in after the first fortnight of the month. On December 10, the minimum temperature was 18.2 degrees C; on December 15, it fell to 17.2 degrees C; on the 16th, it rose to 19.5 degrees C; thereafter the mercury has climbed steadily, touching 24 degrees C on Friday. In fact, Friday's recording was just three degrees less than the minimum temperature recorded on a summer day - May 21, 2007. December is otherwise known to be pleasant in the city. For the last four years, the city has been cold in December with night temperatures dropping to 13-16 degrees.

Perth turns up the heat for Christmas

Australia

As the eastern states are pummelled by raging storms and flash floods, Perth is set to swelter through a Christmas-week heatwave. And the rest of summer is expected to be warmer than usual. January to March is expected to make up for the late onset of warmer weather this year. There is more than a 50 per cent chance that this summer will exceed the average median temperature. Perth had endured seven days above 40C in 2007, compared to the average of three days a year. If the temperature again exceeds 40C in the next week, this year will set the record for the most number of very hot days. This heatwave follows several weeks of UNUSUALLY cool weather. In fact, Perth is set to record only its 10th year, since records began in 1897, in which November has been warmer than December. The average temperature so far this month was 24.9C, compared with the December average of 28.8C. November this year was Perth's WARMEST AND SUNNIEST ON RECORD, due primarily to an absence of cold fronts. The average maximum was 28.5C, compared with the historical average of 26.2C. Perth's sunshine stands in stark contrast to the wild weather ravaging Australia's eastern seaboard.

Since midnight Friday, a RECORD 171 millimetres of rain has fallen at Coonamble in New South Wales' north-west. There a large number of rural property owners isolated because their roads are washed away or impassable because of heavy rain. Image: A storm cloud passes over a property in Newstead, Victoria.

1,200 evacuated after increased activity at Ecuadorean volcano

Breaking Earth News
Ecuador, S.A.
Image: This Volcano looms over the city of Arequipa.

Increased seismic activity at an Andean volcano has prompted the evacuation of 1,200 Ecuadorean villagers, who venture home only to tend crops during the day, a local official said Sunday.

Ten villages have been evacuated to sleep in shelters "to avoid people from being near the volcano," said Juan Salazar, mayor of Penipe, one of the highland hamlets near the base of the volcano, 135 kilometers south of the Ecuadorean capital of Quito.

The Tungurahua volcano was registering near-constant seismic activity after seven hours of tremors rattled windows Saturday morning, showing an intense glow in its crater and spewing a fine coat of ash, the country's Geophysics Institute said in a statement posted on its Web site.

"We can't rule out at this moment that the volcano may evolve in coming weeks from the current situation to a much more explosive level," the Geophysics Institute warned.

Snowstorm blamed for 9 deaths, outages

Image: Vic Johnson makes his way through the snow on English Street, Saturday, Dec. 22

MILWAUKEE - Highways were hazardous for holiday travelers Sunday and thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity in the Midwest as a storm blustered through the region with heavy snow and howling wind.

Winter storm warnings were posted for parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan on Sunday as the core of the storm headed north across the Great Lakes. Parts of Wisconsin already had a foot of snow, and up to a foot was forecast Sunday in northeastern Minnesota, the National Weather Service said.

Radar showed snow falling across much of Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota on Sunday and moving into parts of Michigan and Indiana.

"Everything is just an ice rink out there," Rock County Sheriff's Sergeant Steve Selby said Sunday morning.

The weather system also spread locally heavy rain on Sunday from the Southeast to the lower Great Lakes.

The storm rolled through Colorado and Wyoming on Friday, then spread snow and ice on Saturday from the Texas Panhandle to Minnesota. Multi-car pileups closed parts of several major highways Saturday in the Plains states.

RELATED NEWS

We're one degree hotter

Malaysia
The recent onset of King Tides into coastal towns is an indicator of change taking place. Given that warmer sea water also expands, melting polar caps would accentuate the swell in sea level with potential havoc on key coastal economic and financial centres. Longer, deeper and bigger floods should come as no surprise as a sister of global warming. Rising global temperatures essentially throw an originally stable water cycle into "chaos" and disequilibrium. Higher temperatures stretch and "overcrowd" even the storage capacity of rain clouds in the sky which result in more frequent and high intensity rainfalls. Such super rainfalls also greatly out-gun the absorption capacity of the soil resulting extreme amounts of water surface water staying essentially above ground. The most disastrous consequences happen when the storage capacity of solid water in the polar caps and mountain ranges collapses, discharging melted ice into the oceans. Sipadan - one of the most famous dive sites in the world, may disappear for this reason.

Caribbean is Shaking

Dominican Republic

SANTO DOMINGO.- Another medium intensity quake rattled the eastern part of the Dominican Republic yesterday dawn, the fourth in the last five days, and one of 11 registered in different parts of the world, said the United States Geodetic Survey.

Yesterday’s tremor is the fifth registered in the island in 11 days and on which the Dominican authorities have yet to issue information. It occurred at 3:21 a.m. at 19.1 North Latitude and 68.2 West Longitude, with its epicenter 129 kilometers beneath the surface, in the East region, 74 kilometers from Higüey and 89 from El Seibo.

Gale forces hit NSW's west

Australia

Winds up to 120km/h have lashed parts of western NSW, leaving a trail of destruction with the State Emergency Service (SES) reporting many homes damaged in the mining city of Broken Hill.

The Bureau of Meteorology had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for west, south west, north west and Riverina regions and the winds hit about 4pm (AEDT).

"We've had some fairly significant demand out that way," SES spokesman Phil Campbell told AAP.

"A storm went through Broken Hill about 4pm, bringing 120km/h wind gusts.

"The SES has received 130 requests for assistance and that number is expected to rise overnight.

Large Asteroid to Impact Mars in January

News From the Solar System
Mars could be in for an asteroid hit. A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on January 30, scientists said Thursday.

"These odds are extremely unusual," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids."

The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November and is similar in size to an object that hit remote central Siberia in 1908, unleashing energy equivalent to a 15-megaton nuclear bomb and wiping out 60 million trees.

If the asteroid does smash into Mars, it will probably hit near the planet's equator, close to where the rover Opportunity has been exploring the Martian plains since 2004. The robot is not in danger because it lies outside the impact zone.

With the space rock moving at a speed of 8 miles (13 kilometers) a second, a collision would carve a hole into Mars the size of the famed Meteor Crater (see photo) in Arizona.

In 1994, fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 (see photo) smacked into Jupiter, creating a series of overlapping fireballs in space.

Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.

Image Above: This Martian crater in the planet's northern Elysium Planitia—a volcanic area—is a little more than twice the diameter of the crater that would result from an asteroid hit in January 2008.

There's currently a 1 in 75 chance the asteroid will collide with Mars.

The crater pictured here was formed by the impact and subsequent explosion of a meteorite.

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL/MSSS

Global warming causing China's glaciers to melt quickly

BREAKING EARTH NEWS
CHINA
Image: Mount Everest as seen from Rongbuk Temple, in April 2007

BEIJING (AFP) - Global warming has caused some of China's glaciers -- a source for many of Asia's greatest rivers -- to have melted by more than 18 percent over the past five years, state media reported Friday.

A survey of nearly 20,000 square kilometres (8,000 square miles) of China's glaciers showed they were on average 7.4 percent smaller than five years ago, Caijing magazine said, citing a government-funded survey.

A glacier along the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River on the Tibetan plateau had shrunk by more than 18 percent, the survey found.

Two other glacial areas in China's far northwest Xinjiang region had also melted by more than 18 percent.

"Global warming is causing grave loss to glaciers and it has become a burning need to monitor changes of glacial reserves," the researchers from the China Academy of Sciences said as they released their findings.

The survey, covering roughly one third of China's glaciers, was conducted to trace the impacts of global warming.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK AT SKYWATCH-MEDIA
Dec 21, 2007
I felt compelled to enlighten all who visit this website on a regular basis about some rather ridiculous and unsubstantiated statements being published from high profile individuals about the status of global warming. Quite frankly I am sick and tired of reading comments from self-righteous doubters about this extremely important subject. The facts are out for all to read and photos have been published which clearly show how the environment and the topography is drastically changing due to severe climate change brought on by a warming planet.


The Pope has recently commented that Global Warming is a made up word, brought on by alarmists for monetary gain.

[Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology

The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.

The German-born Pontiff said that while some concerns may be valid it was vital that the international community based its policies on science rather than the dogma of the environmentalist movement.]




OK! Wait just a minute, who is the Pope trying to fool? Maybe he should venture out of his cocoon more often and take better notice of his surroundings. Does a picture of Polar Bears on a Melting Iceberg resemble Dubious Ideology or Scare Mongering? Furthermore, I thought much of the reports concerning climate change and global warming were based on scientific data and policies? I believe the Pope is a bit confused. Maybe it is better that he keep his lips zipped and stay at the Vatican, since every time he ventures out and opens his mouth, he seems to create more controversy.

Now when it comes to the skeptics, their mission is to spread false propaganda about the actual facts being published by environmental messengers, and also to deceive the public at every turn. I have some bad news for all of them, it isn't working. Try taking your fraudulent claims to the Republicans on Capital Hill. I am sure they will accept your ideals with open arms, certainly they will not be obstructionist as they have with the Democratic Congress this past year. It all plays out in the end, but this is one game that the GW skeptics will not win.