EARTH CHANGES 2011 DAILY UPDATES

New Term "Atmospheric Rivers" Tells of Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents
By Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media
Jan 16, 2011

A recent article published January 15th by NOAA speaks of a super-storm threat to California. Scientists say a plausible super-storm that could devastate California would be fed by an "atmospheric river" moving water at the same rate as 50 Mississippi rivers discharging water into the Gulf of Mexico.

But what is a "atmospheric river"?



Atmospheric Rivers are narrow corridors driven by jet-stream winds which have a direct affect on ocean currents. When these streams have a high level of concentrated moisture, the newly termed "atmospheric rivers" may strike land. When this occurs, they produce flooding rains that can disrupt travel, induce mudslides, and cause catastrophic damage to life and property.

The fact is - there is nothing "new" about such events. The question which should be asked - is what drives such phenomena? The answer is "charged particles" such as solar flares, cme's, coronal holes, gamma ray burst, and galactic cosmic rays.

Equation:
Sunspots => Solar Flares (charged particles) => Magnetic Field Shift => Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents => Extreme Weather and Human Disruption (mitch battros 1998)

Atmospheric Rivers are narrow corridors driven by jet-stream winds which have a direct affect on ocean currents. When these streams have a high level of concentrated moisture, the newly termed "atmospheric rivers" may strike land. When this occurs, they produce flooding rains that can disrupt travel, induce mudslides, and cause catastrophic damage to life and property.

The fact is - there is nothing "new" about such events. The question which should be asked - is what drives such phenomena? The answer is "charged particles" such as solar flares, cme's, coronal holes, gamma ray burst, and galactic cosmic rays.

Equation:
Sunspots => Solar Flares (charged particles) => Magnetic Field Shift => Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents => Extreme Weather and Human Disruption (mitch battros 1998)

Solar Flares (charged particles) => Magnetic Field Shift => Shifting Ocean and Jet Stream Currents => Extreme Weather and Human Disruption (mitch battros 1998)" alt=""/>

A large coronal hole on the Sun has opened up releasing large amounts of charged particles sometimes referred to as 'solar winds'. Then this flow of particles hits the Earth's magnetic field, it has a direct effect on ocean and jet stream currents.

Watch for an increase in extreme weather over the next 72 - 96 hours. On the North American continent, the most vulnerable areas would be the Pacific North West, and yes, California.



Scientists who study historic storms to understand the risks modern California faces discussed on Friday a developing scaling system to measure the intensity of an atmospheric river. A storm scenario released by the USGS this week says such a storm has the potential to cause flood damage to a quarter of the houses in the state.

The report based on computer models analyzing the impacts of two storms that soaked the state in 1969 and 1986, describes a storm lasting more than 40 days and dumping up to 10 feet of rain.

http://www.earthchangesmedia.com/publish/article-9162529919.php


Love Always
mudra

Pakistan: Strong earthquake hits south-west 7.2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12222081


thought the area was interesting ?
silver*

Indeed it is silver. Thank you


Thousands of dead octopuses wash up on Portugal beach
Thousands of dead octopuses have washed up on a beach in northern Portugal, in what is being called an environmental disaster.
They cover a 5-mile stretch of Vila Nova de Gaia beach - no reason has yet been found for their appearance. The authorities have warned the public not to eat them.
video at link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8438477.stm

Hundreds of whales die in New Zealand
Conservation workers in New Zealand have attempted to coax pilot whales back into the sea, after they got stranded on a beach. Hundreds of volunteers tried to keep the mammals wet throughout the day. Around 125 whales died, whilst 43 others managed to swim free from Colville Beach on the North Island's Coromandel peninsula.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8432339.stm

Beijing - Rescue workers evacuated thousands of rural residents from parts of northwestern China after extreme cold and blizzard conditions killed four people and left half a million snowed under, meteorologists said Monday.

In neighboring Mongolia, an official appealed for help from the international community as his country battles the most severe winter it has seen in three decades.

Storms in China's far western Xinjiang flattened or damaged about 100,000 homes and more than 15,000 head of livestock were killed by the cold front that set in Sunday night.

Herders moved thousands of others to safer pastures at lower altitudes ahead of the latest storm front, which is expected to last through Wednesday.

Temperatures in parts of Xinjiang are set to plunge to minus 45 degrees by midweek, according to Xinjiang Meteorological Station forecaster Wei Rongqing.

Wei said snow was falling in the region's Altay district, where accumulations had already risen to 3 feet (94 centimeters). Altay lies in China's extreme northwestern corner, 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) northwest of Beijing, the capital.

"Livestock raising has been hit hard. Both wild animals and livestock haven't been able to find food, but now forage has been allocated by the central government," Wei said. Some 500,000 people in total were affected by the harsh weather, he said. The figure includes those who suffered property damage and supply shortages or were isolated by snow drifts and icy roads.

Direct economic losses were being estimated at 300 million yuan ($44 million) as of Thursday and were expected to continue rising, Wei said.

"We're taking emergency measures, including evacuating remote areas," Wei said. Calls to Xinjiang government spokesmen rang unanswered.

Parts of northern China are seeing their harshest winter in decades, with Beijing this month receiving its heaviest one-day snowfall in 59 years. Temperatures in the capital were set to rise above freezing this week.

Also Monday, Mongolia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Zandanshatar Gombojav said most rural provinces in the poor, landlocked country sandwiched between China and Russia were covered by up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of snow. He said nearly 800,000 animals had been lost while many transport routes were blocked by heavy snow.

read more at link http://www.sott.net/articles/show/221705-Extreme-cold-snow-kills-4-in-northwest-China


Severe winter in Mongolia - 800,000 animals lost
17 Jan 11 - Most severe winter in three decades. Most rural provinces covered by up to 20 inches (50 cm) of snow17 Jan 11 - Mongolia is battling its most severe winter in three decades. On Monday, Mongolia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Zandanshatar Gombojav said most rural provinces in the poor, landlocked country sandwiched between China and Russia were covered by up to 20 inches (50 cm) of snow. Gombojav said nearly 800,000 animals had been lost while many transport routes were blocked by heavy snow
http://www.iceagenow.com/Severe_winter_in_Mongolia-800000_animals_lost.htm


Cold kills 9,248 head of cattle in Vietnam
17 Jan 11 - Vietnam's Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) announced huge losses in cattle caused by the cold in recent days.
http://www.iceagenow.com/Cold_kills_9248_head_of_cattle_in_Vietnam.htm


Eight new record lows in Florida

Seven in the teens

17 Jan 11 - "We have teens in Florida again this January," says reader Kenneth Lund. "When you get lows in the teens anywhere in Florida, it makes it pretty clear that land areas are getting colder, especially following the coldest EVER December for South and East Florida ! (And it's only half way thru winter.)"

QUINCY 3 SSW, FL 18.0°F Jan 3rd

CRESTVIEW BOB SIKES AP, FL 15.0°F Jan 14th

CROSS CITY AIRPORT, FL 18.0°F Jan 14th

TALLAHASSEE WSO AP, FL 18.0°F Jan14th

PERRY, FL 18.0°F Jan14th

MAYO, FL 19.0°F Jan 14th

HIGH SPRINGS, FL 19.0°F Jan14th

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records.php?ts=daily&elem=mint&month=1&day=1 4&year=2011&sts%5B%5D=FL&submitted=Get+Records

Record lows in the teens for Florida in December 2010:

Crestview, FL 18F Dec 9th

Crestview, FL 19F Dec10th

Cross City Airport 19F Dec 15th

Crestview, FL 16F Dec 28th

Tallahassee, FL 18F Dec 28th

Cross City Arpt, FL 18F Dec 28th

Perry, FL 18F Dec 28th

Cross City WNW,FL 19F Dec 28th

High Springs, FL 19F Dec 28th

Live Oak, FL 19F Dec 28th

Ft Drum, FL 18F Dec 30th


http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records.php?ts=daily&elem=mint&month=12&day= 0&year=2010&sts%5B%5D=FL&submitted=Get+Records

Walls of Water 10ft High in a Month-Long Mega Hurricane: California Told to Prepare for Biblical 'ARkStorm' Sun, 16 Jan 2011 22:15 CST
Scientists are now warning Californians that the long-awaited 'big one' earthquake could be the least of their environmental concerns. Another more deadly threat awaits the West coast of America - in the form of a biblical 'ARkStorm', which could bring death and destruction on a scale never before seen. Walls of water 10ft high, rain falling in feet instead of inches, and nine million people's homes flooded during a hurricane-like megastorm that could last more than month. The every-other-century event last happened in 1861 and left the central valley of California impassable.

http://www.sott.net/

Carol wrote:

Thousands of dead octopuses wash up on Portugal beach
Thousands of dead octopuses have washed up on a beach in northern Portugal, in what is being called an environmental disaster.
They cover a 5-mile stretch of Vila Nova de Gaia beach - no reason has yet been found for their appearance. The authorities have warned the public not to eat them.
video at link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8438477.stm

Hundreds of whales die in New Zealand
Conservation workers in New Zealand have attempted to coax pilot whales back into the sea, after they got stranded on a beach. Hundreds of volunteers tried to keep the mammals wet throughout the day. Around 125 whales died, whilst 43 others managed to swim free from Colville Beach on the North Island's Coromandel peninsula.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8432339.stm

These go back to 2009 and early 2010 Carol .

Love from me
mudra

Meteorite explosion USA 1/15/11 Moon Moved yr.2030 Greenland Rising

http://www.themistsofavalon.net/t1582-shaman-healers-a-must-see


Love Always
mudra

Increasing dead zones threaten fish populations. - 3 Jan 2011


A recent study by US scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has found that species such as Atlantic tuna and billfish are more vulnerable to human fishing activities as they are driven out of oxygen-poor regions in the ocean.

In monitoring fish populations off the coast of West Africa, where a very large hypoxic zone exists, the scientists concluded that this growing region is encroaching on the fishes' deep water habitats. As the fish are forced to move to more shallow waters, they face the hazards of reduced habitat areas and are far more likely to perish due to human slaughter.

With more than 400 dead zones already observed worldwide, several of which are directly caused by global warming, the scientists warn that continued climate change will only aggravate the alarming scope of this situation.

Dr. Eric D. Prince, who led the NOAA study stated, “The hypoxic zone off West Africa… is roughly the size of the continental United States, and it's growing. With the current cycle of climate change and accelerated global warming, we expect the size of this zone to increase, further reducing the available habitat for these fish.”

Our thanks, Dr. Prince and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration colleagues, for highlighting this grave disturbance to marine life and ecology. May we hasten in concerted steps to protect our essential oceans and the unique life forms they support. During a May 2009 videoconference in Togo, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke of the devastating effect of oceanic dead zones while reminding of the restorative solution available to us all.

Supreme Master Ching Hai : Dead zones are the areas of the ocean that are unable to support any more life, which arise mostly from livestock feed agricultural pollution, as well as livestock manure running into the ocean, or some other kind of imbalance.

Scientists are now concerned that, without a restoration of the ecological balance, dead zones like this will just continue to be more and more, get bigger and bigger, which of course is lethal for all life. So, this is a small but very good example of why we need to be vegan, to renew the rightful balance of life.

And, of course, we also need to be organic vegan because so many of these dead zones are caused and made worse by chemical fertilizers that are primarily used for livestock feed. So, yes, be organic vegan.

http://suprememastertv.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=sos&wr_id=2365

Love Always
mudra

We are all OK here in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brasil ,despite, altough the rrain.
Mais de 3 mil pessoas deixam suas casas após chuvas em SC in R7
"More than 3000 people leave their homes after heavy rains in Santa Catarina"

Sobe para 15 o número de cidades atingidas pelas chuvas em SC in Último Segundo - IG
"Increases to 15 the number of cities hit by the rains in Santa Catarina"



But we are sad whit the consequences of the rain in RIO, to much deads. Now we have these rains and slidings every\each year, in summer. It is no longer unusual activity of the earth or weather - it is normal now in Brasil. As normal are the assaults of politicians to the public money, because and in name of human misery when the rains are strong. The strange thing is that in RIO we have landslides in areas of forest that has not suffered erosion because of the construction of residences. This is a little bit new. The soil gliding whit the native forest without reason beyond strong rain. (attached photo from GLOBO).
Monique.

I remember you telling us about the land slides last year.
Good to know you are safe dear Monique .
I find it so precious to get news first hand like yours .

Much Love for You
Be well

mudra

I am glad Monique you are safe.

19 January 2011
Australia floods: Victoria town residents told to flee

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12222998

People in the south-eastern Australian town of Kerang have been told to leave their homes, as rising river levels threatened another community in the worst flood crisis in decades.

More than 1,000 Kerang residents have moved to a nearby evacuation centre, as the Loddon River continues to swell.

The alert comes a day after a boy drowned in another area of Victoria.

Further north in Queensland, floods have killed more than 30 people since the tropical storms began in November.

The evacuation warning was issued by the State Emergency Service (SES) after water from the Loddon River began to seep through a levee, raising fears that Kerang could be inundated.

Officials warned that the town could be isolated for five days, and advised residents to pack ample supplies.

Go now
"You should ensure you have left your property immediately," the SES said in text message alerts sent about 0520 local time on Wednesday (1920 GMT on Tuesday) to the town's 2,500 residents.

Spreading waters were surging across the north and east of state, and more than 3,500 people have evacuated their homes.

At least 58 towns across Victoria have now been hit by floods and 22 relief centres are in operation. Power cuts are in force as electricity stations have been submerged.

Floodwaters split the Victorian town of Horsham in two on Tuesday, as the body of a young boy was found in another flood-hit town, Shepparton.

The flooding in Victoria follows weeks of massive flooding in Queensland, which has swamped two-thirds of the state, crippling its lucrative mining industry.

A 13-year-old boy was buried with his mother on Wednesday. He became a national hero for insisting that rescuers save his younger brother first, when their family car was caught in the powerful floodwaters.

More than 7,000 lightning strikes were recorded, while falling trees damaged homes and created new fears in an area already badly hit by floods.

Residents there have been warned that more heavy rain is to come.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said she will form a panel of corporate leaders to help rebuild devastated infrastructure.

The floods are said to be Australia's most expensive natural disaster.

Love Always
mudra

Hello All,

This may be the dropping of the hammer. Please be alert to information that cannot be hidden, and conveniently explained coincidences.

TWO SUNS BY 2012?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/two-suns-twin-stars_n_811864.html

Violent seismic activity tearing Africa in two

Jan 20 2011

By Axel Bojanowski

SNIP
"The fissures began appearing years ago. But in recent months, seismic activity has accelerated in northeastern Africa as the continent breaks apart in slow motion. Researchers say that lava in the region is consistent with magma normally seen on the sea floor -- and that water will ultimately cover the desert.

Cynthia Ebinger, a geologist from the University of Rochester in New York, could hardly believe what the caller from the deserts of Ethiopia was saying. It was an employee at a mineralogy company -- and he reported that the famous Erta Ale volcano in northeastern Ethiopia was erupting. Ebinger, who has studied the volcano for years, was taken aback. The volcano's crater had always been filled with a bubbling soup of silver-black lava, but it had been decades since its last eruption.
END SNIP

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/367/739/Violent_Seismic_Activity_Tearing_Africa_in_Two.html

Read more at link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/8271643/The-World-is-sinking-Dubai-islands-falling-into-the-sea.html


Michio Kaku warns the world citizens of potential mega earthquakes
http://coupmedia.org/earthquakes/michio-kaku-warns-the-world-citizens-of-potential-mega-earthquake-1901


Yellowstone Magma Pockets Swell
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110119-yellowstone-park-supervolcano-eruption-magma-science/

Explained Floods & Mega Earthquakes USA 2011
believersunderground

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWMF-Wv8kaw


Love Always
mudra

gscraig wrote:Hello All,

This may be the dropping of the hammer. Please be alert to information that cannot be hidden, and conveniently explained coincidences.

TWO SUNS BY 2012?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/two-suns-twin-stars_n_811864.html

This was my thoughts exactly!

Earthquakes a Sign Of Pending Doom and Magnetic Reversal

Written by Aleko Konstantine

Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:08

In his book, “Not by Fire but by Ice” the foremost authority on ice ages and magnetic reversals, Robert W. Felix, quoted Peter Vogt of the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office who warned that, “Almost all tectonic movement can be linked to magnetic reversals. Seafloor spreading, sea level changes, mountain growth, earthquakes, and volcanism all seem to speed up whenever the frequency of reversals speeds up.”


Magnetic reversals are part of the cycles scientists have determined existed over the 4.5 billion years of the Earth’s existence. They range from the most ancient, the Devonian, to the Holocene, from 10,000 years ago to the present. “At least twelve (magnetic) reversals can be linked to extinctions and climatic deterioration during the last three million years alone,” says Felix.

Significantly, the aftermath of magnetic reversals are linked to the emergence of new species in ways that Charles Darwin never knew or dreamed of. What we call “evolution” is far more likely the result of magnetic reversals.

“Mass extinctions have been the rule, rather than the exception, for the 3.5 billion years that life has existed on this planet,” says Felix.

More...

http://coupmedia.org/magnetic-field/earthquakes-a-sign-of-pending-doom-and-magnetic-reversal-13

Thousands of seals beached at Pictou Island
JAN 19, 2011
+
Pictou - Global News reports that 3,000 to 4,000 seals have beached themselves on the shores of Pictou Island just off the shores of Nova Scotia, giving birth to pups.
The explanation for this is unclear, but it is an unusual occurrence to see such large numbers in this area. This also happened in 2006, but a tidal surge killed most of them.
According to Global News, one explanation is poor ice conditions on the Northumberland Strait. Fisheries and Oceans Canada have not confirmed this.
Another explanation is that there has been an increasing number of seals, and they need new places to spread out to.
The 13 residents of Pictou Island are taking this in stride, but some are worried that this will endanger the lobster industry.
With the height of the birthing season still a week away, no seals have been spotted in PEI yet.
The Chronicle Herald reports that according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada , there are over 300,000 seals off the Atlantic coast. At this rate it will hurt the fish stock. Methods of reducing the seal population have been discussed. Two potential meth ods suggested in the study are a cull or a contraceptive vaccine for seals. To date, the department has not acted on either recommenda tion.


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/302743#ixzz1BlcaGtBa

Love Always
mudra

Australian 'inland sea' flood threatens towns
AFP JANUARY 22, 2011

Residents and emergency crews sandbagged properties and evacuations have been ordered in the town experiencing the worst flooding in over 200 years. A relief centre has been set-up in at Horsham Town Hall and emergency crews are on-site as the Wimmera River water level reaches it's peak. The Victorian floods have so far claimed one life, with the body of a missing seven-year-old boy believed to be found earlier today.
Photograph by: Richard Kendall/Getty Images
MELBOURNE, Australia - Australia's flood crisis deepened Saturday with a giant "inland sea" threatening more communities in the southeast, as officials continued the grim search for bodies in worst-hit Queensland.

Sandbagging was underway in some villages in Victoria, where weeks of floods have affected as much as one-third of the state, with swollen rivers overflowing in 75 towns and flooding some 1,770 properties.

"We know that this is the most significant flooding in the north west of Victoria since records began . . . about 130 years ago," a spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service told AFP.

"We are still on alert for towns in the north of the state."

Floodwaters which national broadcaster ABC described as a moving "inland sea" covering an area 90 kilometres (56 miles) long and 40 kilometres wide, were threatening towns around Swan Hill, some 300 kilometres northwest of Melbourne.

"In the actual Swan Hill township itself, we are very confident that the levee system around the town is built to a very high grade and will protect the township," Mayor Greg Cruickshank told ABC radio.

But rural and outlying areas "will have significant amount of inundation through them," he said.

While thousands of people around the state have been urged to evacuate, emergency services warned that those people who choose to remain on their properties in the rural areas could be stranded by the floods.

"A number of these communities will be isolated for days as this huge amount of floodwater comes through," SES spokesman Kevin Monk said.

Eastern Australia has been lashed by torrential rains triggered by La Nina, a weather system associated with cyclones, which caused massive floods that devastated Queensland and spread south to New South Wales.

After surging torrents of dirty brown water flooded an area the size of France and Germany combined in Queensland — killing more than 30 people and leaving a massive trail of destruction — more floods developed in Victoria.

As the recovery and clean-up continues in Queensland, hundreds continued the search for the missing from violent flash floods which swept houses and cars into churning waters in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane.

Nine people are still missing after the floods which tore through towns such as Toowoomba and Grantham on January 10.

About 400 police were involved in search and clean-up efforts on Saturday and Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said the strain of the extended crisis was telling.

"I think people are tired now, they're fragile and there's a lot of issues in regards money and support," he told ABC.

The floods which shut down Brisbane, the country's third largest city, also dumped tonnes of debris — including cars, parts of buildings, and boats — into the Brisbane River which the navy was Saturday working to clear.

As the waters recede in many areas of Queensland, the 75,000-strong city of Rockhampton, which was almost entirely isolated by floods earlier this month, is expected to soon have its air link back.

Some three weeks after Rockhampton airport's runway disappeared under water, daytime flights will resume on Monday after all major repairs and fencing work has been completed, officials said.

But the floodwaters are expected to remain in much of Victoria for days.

"We are still experiencing river peaks so that's going to obviously increase the amount of time," the SES spokeswoman said. "But in low-lying areas where there is flood waters, they can hang around for weeks."

Read more: http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Australian+inland+flood+threatens+towns/4148842/story.html#ixzz1BmGRP34g

Love Always
mudra

Carol wrote:

Victoria river mysteriously turns bright green

http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/30/victoria-river-mysteriously-turns-bright-green/

VICTORIA — Horrified nature-lovers at Goldstream Provincial Park watched as the Goldstream River turned bright green late Wednesday afternoon.

The fluorescent green colouring appeared to start about 500 metres on the Victoria side of the entrance to the park and, over the course of an hour, the substance flowed down into the environmentally sensitive estuary.

Prank cited as likely cause for Goldstream River turning bright green
DECEMBER 30, 2010


http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Prank+cited+likely+cause+Goldstream+River+turning+bright+green/4038934/story.html

The water in the Goldstream River, at Goldstream Provincial Park, was bright green on Wednesday afternoon. Ministry of Environment, Langford Fire Department and parks officials are all investigating. Dec. 29, 2010
Photograph by: Jane London, submitted
Click here to see more photos

VICTORIA — A prank is probably responsible for turning water in the Goldstream River fluorescent green late Wednesday afternoon.

Horrified nature-lovers watched as water flowing past the Goldstream Park picnic area mysteriously changed colour.

While onlookers worried about the effect on fish and wildlife, water samples were collected by the Langford Fire Department and handed to teams from the provincial Environment Ministry.

“Ministry staff believe the cause of the colouring is a water-tracing dye used in the testing of sanitary water systems,” said Environment Ministry spokesman Dan Gilmore Wednesday evening.

Two samples will be reviewed Thursday and the ministry considers the incidents to be vandalism, he said.

If the green colouring is confirmed to be water-testing dye, it is not known to be harmful to fish and wildlife.

The fluorescent green, which some park visitors said was so bright it hurt the eyes, apparently started at least 500 metres on the Victoria side of the park entrance.

The river, known for its chum salmon runs, eagles and other wildlife, returned to its usual colour within an hour, but green colouring then flowed into the environmentally-sensitive estuary.

Langford Fire Chief Bob Beckett said a fountain beside Veterans Memorial Parkway in Langford also ran green Wednesday morning.

“I don’t know if the two are related,” he said.

Langford Mayor Stew Young said he is aware of the dye used to test for sewage or water leaks and only a small amount is needed to change the colour of a river or lake.

“It’s a non-polluting chemical that’s really bright green. It’s probably some idiots with a bit of knowledge,” he said.

Investigators are taking the matter seriously because of the sensitive ecosystem around the river, Beckett said.

“If it is a prank I hope the ministry takes appropriate action against anyone who would do something so foolish,” he said.

Park naturalist Bre Spathamsaid she was first alerted by phone calls from drivers.

The colour was alarming, she said.

“It looked as if someone had dumped a package of bright green Kool-Aid in the river,” she said.

Jane London was in the park with her five-year-old son Miles when the colour changed.

“It looked a little like antifreeze, but there was way too much. The whole river was flowing green from the bridge right down as far as we could see,” she said.

“There was no odour. It was like some sort of chemical reaction. My son was just astounded, but we didn’t stick around for too long,” London said.

Shayne Kaye and Tyson Elder were taking wildlife photographs when the river turned green.

“It was bizarre and surreal. You’re in a wilderness area and the water turns bright, fluorescent green. It was nothing you would see in nature,” Elder said.

Kaye and Elder traced the pools of green up-river and figured the colour could have been dumped into a storm drain.

“It was a little on the weird side, but it didn’t look as if it was leaving any residue,” Kaye said.

Love Always
mudra

Ice Age in Southern Brazil
20 Jan 11 - Reader in southern Brazil says the term "ice age" is now often used to describe "the abnormal cold that we started to witness." See Ice Age in Southern Brazil



Deadly extreme cold - Snow worst in decades in northwest China - 100,000 homes flattened or damaged - 17 Jan 11
Severe winter in Mongolia - 800,000 animals lost - 17 Jan 11
Cold kills 9,248 head of cattle in Vietnam - 17 Jan 11
Snow and Cold Hit Southern China hard - 19 Jan 11
Coldest EVER in Italy: -48.3 degrees - 19 Jan 11
Record snowfall in Canada - 18 Jan 11
See What's Happening in Other Parts of the World http://www.iceagenow.com/2010_Other_Parts_of_the_World.htm

http://www.iceagenow.com/index.htm

Violent Seismic Activity Tearing Africa in Two
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-63771.html
The fissures began appearing years ago. But in recent months, seismic activity has accelerated in northeastern Africa as the continent breaks apart in slow motion. Researchers say that lava in the region is consistent with magma normally seen on the sea floor -- and that water will ultimately cover the desert.

Cynthia Ebinger, a geologist from the University of Rochester in New York, could hardly believe what the caller from the deserts of Ethiopia was saying. It was an employee at a mineralogy company -- and he reported that the famous Erta Ale volcano in northeastern Ethiopia was erupting. Ebinger, who has studied the volcano for years, was taken aback. The volcano's crater had always been filled with a bubbling soup of silver-black lava, but it had been decades since its last eruption.

The call came last November. And Ebinger immediately flew to Ethiopia with some fellow researchers. "The volcano was bubbling over; flaming-red lava was shooting up into the sky," Ebinger told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

The earth is in upheaval in northeastern Africa, and the region is changing quickly. The desert floor is quaking and splitting open, volcanoes are boiling over, and seawaters are encroaching upon the land. Africa, researchers are certain, is splitting apart at a rate rarely seen in geology.

The first fracture appeared millions of years ago, resulting in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The second fracture, stretching south from Ethiopia to Mozambique, is known as the Great Rift Valley, and it is lined with several volcanoes. Millions of years from now, it too will be filled with seawater.

Could Go Quickly

But in the Danakil Depression, in the northern part of the valley, the ocean could arrive much sooner. There, low, 25 meter (82 foot) hills are the only thing holding back the waters of the Red Sea. The land behind them has already dropped dozens of meters from previous levels and white salt deposits on the desert floor testify to past encroachments of the sea. But lava soon choked off its access.

For now, no one can really say when the sea will finally flood the desert. But when it does, it could go quickly. "The hills could sink in a matter of days," Tim Wright, a fellow at the University of Leeds' School of Earth and Environment, said at a recent conference hosted by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco.

In the last five years, the geologic transformation of northeastern Africa has "accelerated dramatically," says Wright. Indeed, the process is going much faster than many had anticipated. In recent years, geologists had measured just a few millimeters of movement each year. "But now the earth is opening up by the meter," says Loraine Field, a scholar at the University of Bristol who also attended the conference.

Earth tremors cause deep fissures to form in the desert floor and the ground in East Africa is shattering like broken glass. Researchers in the Gulf of Tadjoura, which juts into Djibouti from the Gulf of Aden, have recently registered a barrage of seismic shocks. "The quakes are happening on the mid-ocean ridge," Ebinger reports.

Shifting Tectonic Plates

Lava gushes out of fissures in these underwater mountain ranges to constantly create new earth crust -- when it hardens, it becomes part of the sea floor. As the magma surges upward, it spreads the ocean floor on both sides, shifting tectonic plates and causing tremors.

In recent months, the quaking in the Gulf of Tadjoura has been getting closer and closer to the coastline. As Ebinger explains, the splitting of the ocean floor will gradually extend to dry land. This is already the case along some fault lines in the Ethiopian desert, creating a geological spectacle that can otherwise only be witnessed deep below the surface of the ocean.

Even the pattern of earthquakes supports the conclusion that the desert landscape is transforming into a deep seafloor, according to a recent article in the Journal of Geophysical Research published by Zhaohui Yang and Wang-Ping Chen, two geologists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The researchers have recorded several strong earthquakes at a shallow depth in northeastern Africa similar to ones that are otherwise only seen on mid-ocean ridges far out at sea.

In recent months, researchers have also recorded an up-tick in volcanic activity. Indeed, geologists have discovered volcanic eruptions near the earth's surface at 22 places in the Afar Triangle in northeastern Africa. Magma has caused fissures up to eight meters (26 feet) wide to open up in the ground, reports Derek Keir from the University of Leeds. While most of the magma remains beneath the surface, in places like Erta Ale it has made its way above ground.

An Ocean Without Water

Scientists have also noted that the kind of magma bubbling up in the region is the type otherwise only seen spewing forth from mid-ocean ridges deep below the water's surface. One of its signature characteristics is a low proportion of silicic acid. The magma coming out of Erta Ale has the same chemical composition as the kind that emerges from deep-sea volcanoes. The entire region increasingly resembles an ocean floor -- one without water.

The new burst in activity began in 2005, when a 60-kilometer-long fissure suddenly formed in the Afar Depression. Since then, roughly 3.5 cubic kilometers of magma have gushed forth, according to Tim Wright -- enough to cover the entire area of London to an average person's height.

read more at link http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,740641,00.html

read more at link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12260724

Severe winter in Mongolia

800,000 animals lost

17 Jan 11 - Mongolia is battling its most severe winter in three decades.

On Monday, Mongolia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Zandanshatar Gombojav said most rural provinces in the poor, landlocked country sandwiched between China and Russia were covered
by up to 20 inches (50 cm) of snow.

Gombojav said nearly 800,000 animals had been lost while many transport routes were blocked by heavy snow.

"The severity and the duration of such extreme weather could overwhelm our capacity and resources," Zandanshatar said at a press conference.

See entire article:
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/221705-Extreme-cold-snow-kills-4-in-northwest-China