Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – UPDATE Apr 16

A Time to Reflect!

Much volcanic activity may occur in Iceland during the coming months: Eyjafjallajökull, perhaps Katla, Laki and others … even Jan Mayen their northerly neighbor could kick in keeping more flights grounded

Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Has Grounded Flights Across Much of Europe for a Second Day

As the eruption at Eyjafjallajökull volcano continues unabated, more smoke and ash from the glacier-filled volcano in Iceland drifts into Europe’s airspace, affecting up to a million air passengers. The disruption could continue into the weekend and beyond.

A radar image of the three craters emerging from under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier April 16, 2010. Credit: Icelandic Coast Guard

As of posting, up to 8,000 flights have been canceled since a no-fly zone was declared in northern Europe on Thursday.  The airspace from as far west as the Republic of Ireland to Finland and was Western Russia are now closed. The countries that are directly affected and whose airspace have been shut down are: Republic of Ireland, Norway, UK, Netherlands,  Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

Additionally there is a partial or planned no-fly zones currently operating in the northern airspace of three  other countries: France, Germany and Poland.

Volcanic Ash and fumes (dark yellow, mustard and various shades of brown) from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull eruption drift toward NW Europe. Copyright EUMETSAT 2010. Click image to enlarge.

How long Will the Eruption Last?

“It is likely that the production of ash will continue at a comparable level for some days or weeks. But where it disrupts travel, that depends on the weather,” Einar Kjartansson, a geophysicist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told the reporters.

The last time the subglacial volcano erupted, it went on ejecting ash for a period of two years, from 1821 to 1823.

Ash Drifting Very Slowly

In the absence of wind the ash cloud is “progressing very slowly eastwards” and has remained “very dense,” the European air traffic control, Eurocontrol, has said.

“In general, the situation cannot be said to be improving with any certainty,”  the National Air Traffic Service in the UK was quoted as saying.

The European air traffic control organisation, Eurocontrol, said a lack of wind meant the ash cloud created by the volcano underneath Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull glacier was “progressing very slowly eastwards” and remained “very dense”.

In addition to the European airlines, at least 5 other long-haul airlines have canceled flights to Europe.

Related Links:

Videos

• Video footage of the new volcanic eruption on Eyjafjallajökull glacier in south Iceland and flooding in Markarfljót river is posted here.
• Eruption Footage
• Video by MBL
• Horfa á kvikmyndir frá Hvannárgili [26 march 2010]
• Horfa á kvikmyndir frá Hrunagili [26 march 2010]
• Eruption Caught on Video by Iceland Coast Guard (WMV) – 20 March 2010
• Hrunagil (video)
• Iceland TV RUC

More Photos:

• National Geographic
• Reuters Iceland images

Technical information:

• New map of the lava flow from 21 – 24 March 2010
• Latest Map of volcanic emissions 25 March 2010 (Icelandic)
  

Webcams – Volcanoes in Iceland

• Eyjafjallajökull
  • http://mila.is/um-milu/vefmyndavelar/eyjafjallajokull-fra-hvolsvelli/
  • http://mila.is/um-milu/vefmyndavelar/eyjafjallajokull-fra-thorolfsfelli/
• Hekla: http://www.ruv.is/hekla/
• Katla: http://www.ruv.is/katla/

Latest Images (RUV): http://www.ruv.is/flokkar/hamfarir

Related Headline News

• Photo Shows Eerie Closeness to Volcano, Says Farmer Hit by Flood [April 15, 2010]

• Iceland Eruption Affects Air Traffic in Norway
• Last Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Lasted Two Years [April 14, 2010]
• Awesome Pictures of Flood in South Iceland
  
• Iceland’s PM: Important to Remain Calm
  
• Flood in South Iceland Might Be Subsiding
• Video of New Iceland Eruption and Flood
• Drinking Water Monitored in Iceland’s Westman Islands [April 14, 2010]

• Iceland: New Craters open up. “We saw the Earth open up” [April 3, 2010]
• Icelandic Volcanic Outburst goes 100 Meters into the Air [April 1, 2010]
• Toxic Fumes at Source of Iceland Eruption
• Lava Flow Heads for Idyllic Iceland Valley
• Iceland Lava Flow Changes Channels

Related Sites in Iceland (English)

• Institute of Earth Sciences, Iceland
• Geophysical research at the Icelandic Meteorological Office
• Continuous tremor plots at the Icelandic Meteorological Office
• Earthquake location maps at the Icelandic Meteorological Office

Fire-Earth Links:

• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – 2nd Update Apr 15

• Eyjafjallajökull eruption melts glacier [April 15]
• Eyjafjöll Eruption Update – April 3
• Eyjafjöll Still Erupting
• Eyjafjöll Eruption – Images of the Day

• Eyjafjöll Eruption – LATEST
• Icelandic Volcano Erupts – UPDATE
• Volcano erupts near Eyjafjallajoekull, Iceland
• Icelandic Volcano Erupts – VIDEO UPDATE

• Volcanoes
• FEWW Volcano Links
• FEWW Earthquake Links

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Obama’s Abattoirs: Afghanistan

Submitted by a reader

Image of the Day:

Obama’s Death Factories Claim Many More Lives

An Afghan fire-fighter washes the site of a blast in Kandahar April 15, 2010. A huge explosion took place in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan late Thursday, killing at least 11 people and injuring 18 others.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo). Image may be subject to copyright.

Today’s Special Offer from Obama’s Abattoirs

Afghanistan

• At least 11 fresh corpses killed by a bomb in Kandahar, south Afghanistan, believed to be British workers.
  
• Seven fresh corpses including four German soldiers killed in the northern province of Baghlan.
• Dozens more have been wounded, some critically
• Corpse of the Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan no longer on the menu, as he had been returned home.
• Young corpse: “A seventeen-year-old Afghan girl was shot and killed in the city of Kandahar.  She was on her way home from work at a United States managed facility when she was fatally struck by a sniper.”

• Army Paratrooper with Ties to Glenoma Killed in Afghanistan
• Soldier from Tacoma killed in Afghanistan
• Funeral for County Durham soldier killed in Afghanistan
• Canada probing allegations troops shot Afghan teen
• Contractor Deaths Accelerating in Afghanistan as They Outnumber Soldiers

• Military employee says Canadian soldiers deliberately transferred Afghan prisoners to torture

• NATO soldier killed in southern Afghanistan

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Strong Earthquake Hits Utah

Quake Measuring 5.1Mw Strike 8km ENE Randolph Utah

The quake was epicentered at 41.79°N,111.04°W and struck at a depth of about 1 km on Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 23:59:38 UTC. The shallow depth at which the quake struck could mean that some building close to the epicenter may have sustained some structural damage.

GFZ Potsdam – Earthquake Bulletin

• Region: Utah
• Time: 2010-04-15 23:59:41.8 UTC
• Magnitude: 5.1
• Epicenter: 111.04°W 41.79°N
• Depth: 1 km [Fire Earth estimate]
• Status: automatic
• Distances [USGS/EHP]
  • 8 km (5 miles) ENE (57°) from Randolph, UT
  • 21 km (13 miles) NNE (13°) from Woodruff, UT
  • 23 km (14 miles) SE (127°) from Laketown, UT
  • 124 km (77 miles) NNE (32°) from Salt Lake City, UT

The quake occurred about 57 miles (92km) east of a magnitude 4.0event which struck the area also at a shallow depth on June 4, 2009.

Fire-Earth Moderators believe both of these quakes were caused by gas drilling activities.

Seismic Hazard Map

State boundaries in blue; county boundaries in green.  Sourec: USGS/EHP

Estimated Population Exposed to Earthquake Shaking. Sourec: USGS/EHP

Related Links:

• Magnitude 4.0 quake hits Utah near gas fields
• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

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This Post Has Been Withdrawn

April 16, 2010 at 2:00 am

This Post Has Ben Withdrawn by the Blog Moderators.

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NCAR Report: Thou Shalt NOT Bullshit the Citizens

Submitted by a member

Half the Energy Entering Earth System is Missing [sic]

What Happened to Basic Physics: A Bullshit Report by National Center for Atmospheric Research

Really? Could you permanently trap heat, as if by black magic? Is this trick cumulative too?

If this is good science, there is just one thing  left for the National Center for Atmospheric Research to do! Only one guess allowed.

This satellite map shows the amount of solar radiation (watts per square meter) reflected during September 2008. Along the equator, clouds reflected a large proportion of sunlight, while the pale sands of the Sahara caused the high reflectiveness in North Africa. Neither pole is receiving much incoming sunlight at this time of year, so they reflect little energy even though both are ice-covered. (NASA map by Robert Simmon, based on CERES data.)

How much is the sum total of the missing energy?

“The gap between what’s entering the climate system and what’s leaving is about 37 times the heat energy produced by all human activities, from driving cars and running power plants to burning wood,” Reuters reported the report co-author  John Fasullo of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research as saying.

Absorbed sunlight is balanced by heat radiated from Earth’s surface and atmosphere. This satellite map shows the distribution of thermal infrared radiation emitted by Earth in September 2008. Most heat escaped from areas just north and south of the equator, where the surface was warm, but there were few clouds. Along the equator, persistent clouds prevented heat from escaping. Likewise, the cold poles radiated little heat. (NASA map by Robert Simmon, based on CERES data.)

Energy lurking deep in the ocean?

Are the oceans evaporating? Is the air temperature rising by 20 degrees Celsius each month? Are there any signs that the heat is taking time off at a popular holiday resort in the Caribbeans? So, where’s the heck is this missing energy? Is this a spoof?

“It might lurk in deep ocean waters in areas sensors don’t reach. Some of it could be the result of imprecise measurement or processing of satellite or sensor data. But the greenhouse-caused heat gap is definitely there,” Reuters reported the authors as saying.

Half of the energy gap is unaccounted for, Fasullo and his co-author Kevin Trenberth said. “It hasn’t left the climate system but it hasn’t been detected with satellites, ocean sensors or other technology,” Reuters reported them as saying.

Try recalibrating your instruments instead of playing “silly buggers” with fundamental physics!

The surface absorbs about 48% of incoming sunlight. Three processes remove an equivalent amount of energy from the Earth’s surface: evaporation (25%), convection (5%), and thermal infrared radiation, or heat (net 17%). (NASA illustration by Robert Simmon. Photograph ©2006 Cyron.)

How much energy are we taking about?

Well, things started getting out of hand around late 1970s to early 1980s. So the authors are probably talking about a 30-year period where half of the energy arriving, stayed behind. Here’s some basic calculation:

• Total rate of solar energy received by the planet: ~ 180 prtawatts, PW [one PW is 10^15]
• [NOTE: about half of that energy, 90PW, reaches the Earth’s surface]
• 180 ÷ 2 = 90 PW retained by Earth system [according to the report authors]
• 90PW x 25 years x 31,556,926 seconds=  7.1 Exp10 PJ [71 yottajoules, or 71Exp24]  is the total rate of energy lurking in the oceans  [according to the report authors]
• Volume of water on earth:  1.3 billion cubic kilometers of water [1.3Exp21 liter]
• Definition of Mean Calorie [4.19J]:  The amount of energy required to warm one gram of air-free water by 1°C under standard atmospheric pressure.
• Energy required to raise the temperature of 1kg [~1 liter] of ocean water by one degree: ~ 4.2 kJ.
• The average rise in the ocean temperatures, if what the authors are saying were remotely plausible: ~ 13 degrees°C

On average, 340 watts per square meter of solar energy arrives at the top of the atmosphere. Earth returns an equal amount of energy back to space by reflecting some incoming light and by radiating heat (thermal infrared energy). Most solar energy is absorbed at the surface, while most heat is radiated back to space by the atmosphere. Earth’s average surface temperature is maintained by two large, opposing energy fluxes between the atmosphere and the ground (right)—the greenhouse effect. NASA illustration by Robert Simmon, adapted from Trenberth et al. 2009, using CERES flux estimates provided by Norman Loeb.)

How do we removed the last vestiges of credibility from the impact of GHG on Earth

Blame the ghost energy on the rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Then come up with dumb statement like “half of the energy coming into Earth’s climate system  is missing, but it could eventually reappear as another sign of climate change.”

The net effect of the above would work magic on rubbishing everything associated with GHG cause of climate change.

“The heat will come back to haunt us [like a ghost] sooner or later [as all nasty ghosts do,]” Trenberth said. “It is critical to track the build-up of energy in our climate system so we can understand what is happening and predict our future climate.”

Related Links:

• Earth’s Climate: A Solar Powered System
• Super-destructive events may strike anytime

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