2 waterspouts in Porto, Portugal / 2008-01-20

in Fórum Meteopt

Sky Diving

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Earth's Magnetic Field Changes Climate

Jan. 13, 2009 -- The Earth's climate has been significantly affected by the planet's magnetic field, according to a Danish study published Monday that is unlikely to challenge the notion that human emissions are largely responsible for global warming.

"Our results show a strong correlation between the strength of the Earth's magnetic field and the amount of precipitation in the tropics," one of the two Danish geophysicists behind the study, Mads Faurschou Knudsen of the geology department at Aarhus University in western Denmark, told the Videnskab journal.

Svensmark's theory, which pitted him against today's mainstream theorists who claim carbon dioxide (CO2) is responsible for global warming, involved a link between the earth's magnetic field and climate, since that field helps regulate the number of GCR particles that reach the earth's atmosphere.

"The only way we can explain the (geomagnetic-climate) connection is through the exact same physical mechanisms that were present in Henrik Svensmark's theory," Knudsen said.

"If changes in the magnetic field, which occur independently of the Earth's climate, can be linked to changes in precipitation, then it can only be explained through the magnetic field's blocking of the cosmetic rays," he said.

The two scientists acknowledged that CO2 plays an important role in the changing climate, "but the climate is an incredibly complex system, and it is unlikely we have a full overview over which factors play a part and how important each is in a given circumstance," Riisager told Videnskab.

Catastrophic Coincidence: Second Ever Example Of Contemporaneous Meteorite Impact And Flood Volcanism Discovered

ScienceDaily (Jan. 7, 2009) — Scientists have discovered only the second example of a meteorite impact that occurred at the same time as massive volcanic activity, in research published in the Journal of the Geological Society the week of Jan 12. The first time such a coincidence was observed, at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, was the catastrophic event thought to be responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.

Did Earth's Twin Cores Spark Plate Tectonics?

Michael Reilly, Discovery News

Jan. 6, 2009 -- It's a classic image from every youngster's science textbook: a cutaway image of Earth's interior. The brown crust is paper-thin; the warm mantle orange, the seething liquid of the outer core yellow, and at the center the core, a ball of solid, red-hot iron.

Now a new theory aims to rewrite it all by proposing the seemingly impossible: Earth has not one but two inner cores.

The idea stems from an ancient, cataclysmic collision that scientists believe occurred when a Mars-sized object hit Earth about 4.45 billion years ago. The young Earth was still so hot that it was mostly molten, and debris flung from the impact is thought to have formed the moon.

Haluk Cetin and Fugen Ozkirim of Murray State University think the core of the Mars-sized object may have been left behind inside Earth, and that it sank down near the original inner core. There the two may still remain, either separate or as conjoined twins, locked in a tight orbit.

Sondagem sobre o concelho de Sintra

Sondagem de estudo sobre a população residente no concelho de Sintra para fins estatísticos de Geografia.
Obrigado

Município de Sintra - inquérito

Three Gorges Dam tested as water rises

BEIJING (Reuters) - Rising water levels in China's giant Three Gorges Dam have triggered dozens of landslides in recent months, damaging houses, land and infrastructure worth millions of dollars, state media said on Thursday.

In July, China finished evacuating residents from the last town to be submerged by the massive 660-km (400-mile) long reservoir on the Yangtze River, ending an exodus of some 1.4 million people that began four years ago.

The 2,309-meter-long dam, the world's largest, aims to tame the river and provide cheap, clean energy for the country's rapid development.

But critics say rising water levels in the reservoir are eroding already fragile slopes and triggering landslides which could worsen as levels reach their maximum height next year.

The reservoir's administration began withholding water outflows in September to push the reservoir's water level up to 175 meters.

But since then, the rising water level had "further induced geological harm including landslides and collapsing of the reservoirs' banks," the Xinhua news agency quoted Chongqing government spokesman Wen Tianping as saying.

"(These) have caused damage or created a latent threat to ... infrastructure, land and housing in dam areas above the evacuation line," Wen said.

Earthquake 4.8 Southern Sweden on 12/16/2008

Discovery Of Warm Plasma Cloak Surrounding Earth, New Region Of Magnetosphere

ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2008) — A detailed analysis of the measurements of five different satellites has revealed the existence of the warm plasma cloak, a new region of the magnetosphere, which is the invisible shield of magnetic fields and electrically charged particles that surround and protect Earth from the onslaught of the solar wind.

"Although it is invisible, the magnetosphere has an impact on our everyday lives," Chappell said. "For example, solar storms agitate the magnetosphere in ways that can induce power surges in the electrical grid that trigger black outs, interfere with radio transmissions and mess up GPS signals. Charged particles in the magnetosphere can also damage the electronics in satellites and affect the temperature and motion of the upper atmosphere."

Team sets records in simulating seismic wave propagation across the Earth

To learn more about the inner sanctum of the earth’s core, seismologists take advantage of one of nature’s most destructive forces: earthquakes. Somewhat like the way a CAT scan images the brain, seismologists track seismic wave patterns from earthquakes to model the structure of the earth’s core. One of the great challenges is to capture the propagation of high-frequency waves, with periods of 1 to 2 seconds, as they travel across the globe. To simulate this activity, seismologists employ a spectral-element application called SPECFEM3D_GLOBE that uses a fine mesh of hexahedral finite elements, pictured here, and high-performance computers. Credit: D. Komatitsch, Université de Pau; L. Carrington, San Diego Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego

Electronic heat trap grips deep Earth

(PhysOrg.com) -- The key to understanding Earth's evolution, including how our atmosphere gained oxygen and how volcanoes and earthquakes form, is to look deep, really deep, into the lower mantle—a region some 400 to 1,800 miles (660 to 2,900 kilometers) below the surface.

India launches first lunar probe

SRIHARIKOTA (India), October 22 (RIA Novosti) - India launched its first unmanned mission to the moon on Wednesday, becoming the third Asian country to do so after Japan and China.

Chandrayaan-1 was carried into space by the Indian-built PSLV-C11 rocket, and will take 15 days to reach the moon. Chandrayaan means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit.

The lunar mission signifies India's breakthrough into the club of leading space powers, and the liftoff was broadcast live on television across the country.

"This is a historic moment for India," said Madhavan Nair, the head of the Indian Space Research Organization.

The 1,304-kg spacecraft is equipped with 10 scientific instruments to study the moon from a 100-km orbit, and one probe that will slam into the lunar surface hoping to uncover signs of Helium 3, an isotope that may fuel energy generation from nuclear fusion in the future.

Five of the instruments were built in India, while the other six were the result of cooperation with Europe and the United States.

The remote-sensing satellite will create a detailed three-dimensional map of the lunar surface and investigate its chemical composition. The primary goal is the discovery of water, along with magnesium, aluminum, silicon and titanium, and the radioactive elements radon, uranium and thorium.

Earth News

Climate scientists say Arctic ice melt in 2008 has been ‘fascinating’ and ‘alarming’

Explosive weekend eruptions rock Kilauea volcano

Simultaneous Alaska volcano eruptions puzzle researchers

Scientist Warns Climate Change Happening Faster Than Predicted

Volcanoes function in a far more complex way than previously thought

Eruption of 3 volcanoes has scientists asking questions

Deep magma matters in volcanic eruption cycle

Russians Suggest New Approach to Earthquake Prediction

Volcano Nevado del Huila in Columbia shows prolonged seismic activity, fears of eruption rise