Ecology Problems

New Zealand earthquake

Troy — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:51:42 +0000

Reported that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Christchurch, New Zealand area at approximately 4:35 AM, September 4, 2010, local time. No casualties have been reported as of this writing but an unknown amount of damage has been incurred.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center declined to issue a Tsunami watch or warning.

Christchurch has a population of roughly 342,000 people.

Kevin O’Hanlon, from Mairehau in Christchurch, said: “Just unbelievable. I was awake to go to work and then just heard this massive noise and, boom, it was like the house got hit. It just started shaking. I’ve never felt anything like it,” the newspaper reported.

Global warming

Troy — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:49:11 +0000

What do you think about global warming?

To back a “new future”

Troy — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:39:28 +0000

US President Barack Obama has called on his party and supporters to back a “new future” of clean energy, BBC reports. He said his government was responding to the largest environmental disaster in US history.

Visiting areas affected by the BP oil spill, he said the full resources of government were being used, with 17,500 National Guard soldiers available. BP’s US head, Lamar McKay, is to return to Congress shortly for further questioning. Oil has been spewing into the Gulf of Mexico since a drilling rig it leased exploded and sank in April.

Katla

Troy — Sun, 30 May 2010 19:18:13 +0000

“A report from the University College London (UCL) institute for risk and disaster reduction has outlined that “An eruption in the short term is a strong possibility’. In its initial research paper it said: ‘Analysis of the seismic energy released around Katla over the last decade or so is interpreted as providing evidence of a rising … intrusive magma body on the western flank of the volcano.’ Seismic readings of the volcano indicate the tremors around the area have increased substantially. Four earthquakes were detected near Katla during a 12-hour period on May 21st, more than at any other time since the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruptions first occurred in March. Three earthquakes at the Katla Volcano were reported by the Disaster and Emergency website Hisz.rsoe.hu on Sunday evening. The tremors may have been due to ice movements within Mýrdalsjökull glacier or magma movement under the volcano. The last earthquake to take place at the volcano was recorded yesterday morning.”

Solar Panels

Troy — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:30:56 +0000

Reported that scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have successfully coated paper with a solar cell, part of a suite of research projects aimed at energy breakthroughs. Susan Hockfield, MIT’s president, and Paolo Scaroni, CEO of Italian oil company Eni, on Tuesday officially dedicated the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center.

Eni invested $5 million into the center, which is also receiving a $2 million National Science Foundation grant, said Vladimir Bulovic, the center’s director. The printed solar cells, which Bulovic showed at a press conference Tuesday, are still in the research phase and are years from being commercialized.

The paper solar cells are one of many avenues being pursued around nanoscale materials at the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center. Layers of these materials could essentially be sprayed using different manufacturing techniques to make a thin-film solar cell on a plastic, paper, or metal foils.

Silicon, the predominant material for solar cells, is durable and is made from abundant materials. Many companies sell or are developing thin-film solar cells, which are less efficient but are cheaper to manufacture.

During a tour, Bulovic showed one of the center’s labs, where researchers use a laser to blast light at nanomaterials for picoseconds. A picosecond is one trillionth of a second. The laser provides data on how the light excites electrons in the material, which will provide clues as to whether it will make a good solar cell material, he explained.

Iceland volcano eruption March 2010

Troy — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:37:13 +0000

Despite scientists have become much better at predicting volcano’s eruptions it continue to pose a terrifying threats. What is volcano, why?

About 550 volcanoes have erupted on Earth’s surface since recorded history; about 60 are active each year. Far more have erupted unobserved on the ocean floor. Most volcanoes exist at the boundaries of Earth’s crustal plates, such as the famous Ring of Fire that surrounds the Pacific Ocean plate. Fifty volcanoes have erupted in the United States since recorded history, and the United States ranks third, behind Indonesia and Japan, in the number of historically active volcanoes.

A volcano is active if it erupts lava, releases gas or shows seismic activity. It is dormant if it hasn’t erupted for a long time but could again one day. An extinct volcano will never erupt again.

The explosiveness of a volcanic eruption depends on how easily magma can flow and the amount of gas trapped in it. Large amounts of water and carbon dioxide are dissolved in magma. They behave like gas in fizzy drinks. After opening the bottle the gas expands, forming bubbles that escape. This also happens when magma rises quickly through the crust – gas bubbles form and expand up to 1000 times their original size.

Recent Earthquakes – Last 8-30 Days

Troy — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:01:49 +0000

via http://www.usgs.gov/ – Science for a Changing word is very informative site, focused on biology, geography, geology, geospatial information, and water etc.

Chile Rocked 8.8-Magnitude

Troy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:52:19 +0000

According APN a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, killing at least 78 people, collapsing buildings and setting off a tsunami.

A huge wave reached a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast, said President Michele Bachelet. There were no immediate reports of major damage there, she added.

Bachelet said the death toll was at 78 and rising, but officials had no information on the number of people injured. She declared a “state of catastrophe” in central Chile.

“We have had a huge earthquake, with some aftershocks,” Bachelet said from an emergency response center. She urged Chileans not to panic.

“Despite this, the system is functioning. People should remain calm. We’re doing everything we can with all the forces we have. Any information we will share immediately,” she said.

Powerful aftershocks rattled Chile’s coast — 19 of them magnitude 5 or greater and one reaching magnitude 6.9 — the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center called for “urgent action to protect lives and property” in Hawaii, which is among 53 nations and territories subject to tsunami warnings.

Largest earthquake 2010

Magnitude 8.8 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE February 27, 2010
•Magnitude 7.0 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN February 26, 2010
•Magnitude 6.9 CHINA-RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA BORDER REGION February 18, 2010
•Magnitude 3.8 ILLINOIS February 10, 2010
•Magnitude 5.9 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA February 04, 2010
•Magnitude 6.2 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA February 01, 2010
•Magnitude 5.9 HAITI REGION January 20, 2010
•Magnitude 4.0 OKLAHOMA January 15, 2010
•Magnitude 7.0 HAITI REGION January 12, 2010
•Magnitude 6.5 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA January 10, 2010
•Magnitude 4.1 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA January 07, 2010
•Magnitude 6.8 SOLOMON ISLANDS January 05, 2010
•Magnitude 7.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS January 03, 2010
•Magnitude 6.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS January 03, 2010

Earthquake In Haiti

Troy — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:28:09 +0000

How to help Haiti earthquake victims:
ShareThis

1. Make a donation hip hop star Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Haiti charity where you can text YELE to 501501 to give $5 to help with earthquake relief efforts.

2. Donate to the Red Cross, where you can text “HAITI” to “90999″ to donate $10 to the Red Cross.

Americans have already donated $11 million through text messages, but that’s still nothing compared to the damage done by this horrible natural disaster.

If you can donate, please do so. Several organizations are even holding food and medical drives collecting non-perishable foods and over the counter medical supplies.

The biggest disaster of the 20-th century

Troy — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:41:03 +0000

Atlantic storm, Nov. 4, 1998 killed more than 11 thousand people in Central America is one of the largest natural disasters (typhoons, floods, cyclones, avalanches) of XX century
- Cyclone, September 29, 1971 in India, when were fallen more than 10 thousand people;
- Hurricane-killer in San Domingo, September 3, 1930 brought 8 thousands of flood victims and to the extinct volcano Guaskaran, which is buried beneath them 3 thousand Peruvians;
- Mud flows from the mountains and floods in Venezuela, 10 January 1962 – biggest disaster in its history killed more than 30 thousand lives, was caused by rain;

31 major earthquake happened in the XX century.
Among them, the earthquake (Jan. 24, 1939) in Chile and in India (16 August 1950 ), which claimed 30 thousand lives. 14 thousand victims – the sad result of the earthquake in Turkey, 2003, August 17, 2400 people died in Taiwan on September 21 last year.

Forty major fires and explosions occurred in the 20 century.

- A powerful fire on Nov. 28, 1942 in a night club “Coconut Grove”, when 490 people were burned;
- Explosion on Nov. 9, 1963 in the mine Disorder (Japan), which claimed 447 lives;
- Explosion of two trains due to gas leakage June 3, 1983 in Bashkortostan, which killed 583 and wounded more than 700 passengers.

56 major crashes, including:
- The fall of the Turkish DC-10 shortly after takeoff in the Paris airport, which led to the death of all 346 passengers and crew;
- An explosion of Indian Boeing 4 over the Atlantic with 329 victims;
- The biggest disaster Canaria on March 27, 1977, which killed 582 passengers in a collision of two Boeing,
- Mysterious crash of an Egyptian airliner off the coast of the United States, which targeted 217 people.

44 worst shipwrecks, including:
- Loss of commercial ferries in Japan September 26, 1954, when sunk more than 1000 people;
- The collision of the passenger ferry Dona Pass “with an oil tanker near the coast of Manila on Dec. 20, 1967 caused the death of more than 4000 passengers;
- The collapse of “Lusitania”, shot down a German submarine May 6, 1915, killing nearly 1200 people
- And, finally, the most tragic event of the American Navy – the bombing of the Japanese aircraft warship “Arizona” at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 1, 1941. The number of victims amounted to 1177 people.