but information in the hands of many.
John Naisbitt
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
6.5 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
6.6 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.5 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
Yesterday -
3/13/10 -
5.7 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
6.0 PALAU REGION
5.4 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 MENDOZA, ARGENTINA
5.6 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.1 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
3/12/10 -
5.1 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.8 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
6.1 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.1 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
TROPICAL STORMS -
Cyclone TOMAS was 1439 nmi NNE of Auckland, New Zealand.
Category 5 cyclone ULUI was 947 nmi ENE of Townsville, Australia.
Tropical cyclone warning for Solomons - Tropical Cyclone Ului intensified overnight as it moved towards Solomon Islands. The storm is packing maximum wind speeds of about 210 kilometres an hour. The storm was upgraded overnight from category three to category five. "Any areas that will be in the path of the cyclone will receive significant damage. At this stage it's moving towards the south of the Solomon Islands, near Rennell Island, that's the main island in its path." The cyclone is heading towards Queensland, Australia, and could hit the state's north coast this week.
Meanwhile, Tropical Cyclone Tomas is now expected reach Fiji by Monday afternoon. But conditions will become stormy before then.
Tropical storm Hubert leaves 14 dead in Madagascar. Nearly 38,000 were left homeless when tropical storm Hubert smashed into Madagascar this week. Hubert caused torrential rain all week on Madagascar, which only finally stopped on Friday morning. Hubert was the first cyclone to cause serious damage on the island in the current cyclone season, which began in November and ends in April. Last year 24 people were killed in the passage of two cyclones. (map)
The image of second–ever known tropical cyclone in the South Atlantic Ocean was captured by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. GOES-12 satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm 90Q at 1745 UTC (12:45 p.m. ET), March 12, when it was more than 1,350 miles east of Buenos Aires, Argentina. At 10 a.m. ET, Tropical Storm 90Q still had maximum sustained winds near 46 mph (40 knots). Tropical Storm 90Q was moving quickly in a southeasterly direction and was starting to interact with a mid-latitude frontal system. By the end of the weekend, the Southern Atlantic Ocean's SECOND TROPICAL STORM IN RECORDED HISTORY is expected to be merged with a cold front and just remain in the history books.
HEAVY RAINS, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
U.S. - A potentially deadly rain storm blew across New Jersey on Saturday, ripping off roofs, uprooting trees, causing widespread train suspension and knocking out power to about 166,000 customers. Police in Teaneck were investigating whether two people were killed by a falling tree Saturday night. The tree took down power lines as it fell. "We believe they were walking" on the sidewalk. High winds caused a crane collapse at a casino under construction in Atlantic City, leaving a city police officer injured. Large pieces of debris from the Revel casino construction site "was raining down on about a six-block area" on Saturday. The incident spurred the evacuation of two nearby condominium complexes and forced the brief closure of several area roads.The winds also caused at least two homes to collapse in that area and damaged numerous other homes and buildings. Flood warnings were issued for several rivers in northern Jersey and coastal flood and high wind warnings were in effect for the Jersey Shore through 10 p.m. Rain began falling Friday night and combined with strong winds on Saturday, with gusts reaching up to 70 mph. Winds knocked down numerous trees and power lines, causing power outages across the state. The wind was so strong, it blew SUVs off the road.
KAZAKHSTAN - 35 people died in Kyzyl-Agash in the Almaty region this week in a flood which devastated a village when a dam burst. About 1,000 villagers were evacauted. The dam failed after a build-up of floodwater from melting snow and rain. The President said if failure to carry out repair work caused the dam to burst, those guilty should be brought "to justice".
HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
GERMANY - Even sled manufacturers said that they could not meet the high demand for their product thanks to Germany's UNUSUALLY COLD winter marked by heavy snow fall and icy weather. For meteorologists, spring officially started on March 1, but there is no sign of it in central Europe. Many regions in Germany can expect at least another foot of snow this weekend. And even traditionally warm winter holiday escapes, like southern France and the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, came to a frozen standstill at the beginning of the week with up to 3.5 feet of snow.
Despite some speculation that perhaps global warming is somehow to blame for the odd weather, meteorologists have dismissed that idea. "This winter is special. It was THE COLDEST AND LONGEST GERMAN WINTER IN THE PAST 13 YEARS, with temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius [34 degrees Fahrenheit] below average." Other European countries that have enjoyed mild winters during the past 10 years have experienced even higher drops in temperatures this winter. And, traditionally warm southern countries, like France and Spain, have recently been drowning in snow this winter. At the same time, Canada, for example, which was believed to be somewhat snow safe, had to bring tons of artificial snow to the ski slopes during the Winter Olympics. "For this to be categorized as a change in the global climate trend with its steadily increasing temperatures, we would have to experience continuity in exceptionally cold winters over the next 15 years." The severe winter weather has left between 30 to 40 percent of Germany’s roads badly damaged – which is presenting a major challenge for a lot of communities with already tight budgets due to the global financial crisis. (photo of mass pile-up of more than 40 cars on the Autobahn 93 freeway near Schwandorf, Germany, on March 6.)
ODD ANIMAL BEHAVIOR -
Songbirds in the US are getting smaller, and climate change is suspected as the cause. A study of almost half a million birds, belonging to over 100 species, shows that many are gradually becoming lighter and growing shorter wings. The trend is particularly noticeable among those birds that winter in the New World tropics of the Caribbean, Central America and South America. This shrinkage has occurred within just half a century, with the birds thought to be evolving into a smaller size in response to warmer temperatures. However, there is little evidence that the change is harmful to the birds.
FIRST FATAL WOLF ATTACK IN THE US IN 50 YEARS - Wolves in Alaska are suspected of killing a teacher in an isolated village while she was out jogging.
Police said wolves in the area had been aggressive recently. The community had recently been on alert for wolves on the prowl nearby. In the last week, school children were being accompanied to school and armed snowmobile patrols had been on the lookout for the animals.
SPACE WEATHER -
A massive "current of fire" on the sun has started running at high speed, surprising researchers and challenging some models of the solar cycle. The Great Conveyor Belt is a massive circulating current of fire (hot plasma) within the sun. It has two branches, north and south, each taking about 40 years to complete one circuit. Researchers believe the turning of the belt controls the sunspot cycle. The top of the sun's Great Conveyor Belt has been running at record-high speeds for the past five years. "I believe this could explain the UNUSUALLY DEEP solar minimum we've been experiencing. The high speed of the conveyor belt challenges existing models of the solar cycle and it has forced us back to the drawing board for new ideas."
The speed-up was surprising on two levels. First, it coincided with the deepest solar minimum in nearly 100 years, contradicting models that say a fast-moving belt should boost sunspot production. Second, "while the top of the conveyor belt has been moving at RECORD-HIGH speed, the bottom seems to be moving at RECORD-LOW speed. Another contradiction." (diagrams)
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a halo Coronal Mass Ejection emerging from the vicinity of sunspot 1054. The cloud appears to be heading toward Earth and it could spark geomagnetic storms when it arrives on or about March 17th. Sunspot 1054 is growing rapidly and poses a threat for C-class solar flares. (video)
A string of doomed comets plunged into the sun on March 12th and disappeared. [Initially thought to be just one bright comet, there was actually a small comet 1 day before the bright comet and another one 1 day after the 'big one'. And the latest comet was actually a double one. So that makes four.] Fierce solar heating completely destroyed the icy visitors from the outer solar system. The comets were probably members of the Kreutz sungrazer family. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a giant comet at least 2000 years ago. Several of these fragments pass by the sun and disintegrate every day. Most are too small to see. (video & diagrams)
