earth changes

Life found in the sediments of an Antarctic subglacial lake for the first time

Desert Gypsy's picture

Submitted by Desert Gypsy on

Earthsky.org - 9/19/13,

the-lake

The possibility that extreme life forms might exist in the cold and dark lakes hidden kilometres beneath the Antarctic ice sheet has fascinated scientists for decades.

This is because parts of the ice sheet are melting and retreating at unprecedented rates as the temperature rises at the poles.
The group targeted Lake Hodgson on the Antarctic Peninsula which was covered by more than 400 m of ice at the end of the last Ice Age, but is now considered to be an emerging subglacial lake, with a thin covering of just 3–4 metres of ice.

Read More

Freak hailstorm turns Cornwall town into winter scene – 24 hours after heatwave

Desert Gypsy's picture

Submitted by Desert Gypsy on

Metro.co.uk- 9/8/13

 

In another unusual weather pattern to hit the UK in recent months, the instant storm saw The Gluyas in Falmouth deluged by an inch of hail stones.

PE teacher Tommy Matthews, 52, took a short video clip of the scene at around 5pm, saying he was walking up the street when ‘suddenly it all went nuts’.

Read More

Beauty comes to a New Mexico burn area

Desert Gypsy's picture

Submitted by Desert Gypsy on

Earthsky.org - 9/5/13, Deborah Byrd

View larger. | The amazing beauty in an older burn area in the Valle Vidal Unit of the Carson National Forest, in New Mexico, this week. Photo by EarthSky Facebook friend Geraint Smith Photography. See more of Geraint's photos here.

 

We hear many stories of the renewal of natural lands after a devastating wildfire, but this photo of an older burn area in New Mexico is particularly striking. It’s from Geraint Smith Photography in Taos, New Mexico. It shows the Valle Vidal Unit of New Mexico’s Carson National Forest, which, like many parts of the U.S. west, has had its share of wildfires in recent years.

Read More

Tornadoes Tear Across Northern Japan; Dozens Injured

Desert Gypsy's picture

Submitted by Desert Gypsy on

Wunderground.com - 9/3/13

TOKYO  -- Tornadoes tore through eastern Japan on Monday, injuring dozens of people, at least one seriously, and destroying some buildings.

Police in Saitama prefecture, near Tokyo, said 63 people were reported injured. Details of their injuries were not immediately available.

Read More

Peru snow state of emergency extended to more regions

Rain's picture

Submitted by Rain on

 

BBC News - 8/31/13

A woman walks along a snowy road on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia on 25 August 2013
 
An unusual cold spell has hit Peru and its neighbour Bolivia as well as Paraguay
 

The Peruvian government has extended to nine more regions a state of emergency called to cope with unusually cold weather and heavy snowfall.

At least two people have died and 33,000 others have been affected by the cold spell, local officials say. Tens of thousands of animals have frozen to death over the past week.

More: BBC.co.uk

 

China Earthquake: At Least 5 Dead

Desert Gypsy's picture

Submitted by Desert Gypsy on

Wunderground.com - 8/31/13

 

BEIJING -- An earthquake hit a mountainous area of southwestern China on Saturday, killing at least five people, destroying hundreds of residences and forcing thousands of people to relocate, the government and state media said.

The quake, which also injured 21 people, shook a wide area, including scenic Shangri-La and Deqen counties in Yunnan province, and Derong county in Sichuan province, just to the north.

Read More

Giant Canyon Discovered Under Greenland Ice Sheet

Rain's picture

Submitted by Rain on

National Geographic - Jaclyn Skurie, 8/29/13

Summer meltwater has drained through a snow-covered channel in Greenland.

Summer meltwater has drained through a snow-covered channel in Greenland. Scientists say that the Greenland Ice Sheet sits atop a canyon twice as long as the Grand Canyon. Photograph by James Balog, National Geographic

 

Imagine if you could pick up the Greenland Ice Sheet and see what lies beneath. Surely 1.7 million square kilometers of slowly thawing ice must rest on a massive pool of melted water, right?

Not necessarily, according to a study released today in the journal Science. Unlike the ice sheet covering Antarctica that sits atop numerous lakes, the Greenland Ice Sheet blankets a giant subglacial canyon nearly twice as long as the Grand Canyon located in Arizona. (Read: "Changing Greenland" in National Geographic magazine.)

Snow Blanketing South America Kills 250,000 Alpacas, at Least 5 People Dead

Desert Gypsy's picture

Submitted by Desert Gypsy on

Natureworldnews.com -8/29/13, James A. Foley

 

A man clears snow on La Cumbre, some 30 km (18.6 miles) near La Paz, August 28, 2013. Unusually heavy snowfall has been reported on the highlands in Bolivia, according to local media

Approximately 250,000 alpacas have died as a result of the worst snowfall Peru has seen in a decade, and the unexpectedly intense blast of winter weather has claimed livestock and human life in other parts of South America as well.

A cold weather front from the Antarctic began to spread across South America earlier this week, with some regions devastated by the snowfall, and others reveling in it. Heavy snow fell upon a large swath of South America, from Peru and Bolivia in the northwest to Paraguay and Brazil in the southeast.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - earth changes