Ozone Hole, Fracking and Other Issues

NY Officials Suspend Fracking

New York officials have suspended all horizontal, high-volume hydraulic fracturing until July,  awaiting safety ruling by environmental regulators.

Chesapeake Energy suspends fracking in Pennsylvania after blowout spills toxic fluid into river

The Chesapeake well spewed thousands of gallons of toxic fracking fluid into a nearby waterway immediately after the blowout on Wednesday, said the Bradford County emergency management officials.

“The company said it still did not know the cause of the blowout a day and a half after it occurred.” More…

Ozone Hole Harming Australians

Climate models developed by Columbia University indicate the impact of the Antarctic Ozone Hole is very strong over Australia.

“The ozone hole results in a southward shift of the high-latitude circulation – and the whole tropical circulation shifts southwards too,” researchers said.

The ozone hole has resulted in rainfall moving south with the winds, they said.

“In terms of the average for [the region], about a 10% [of the] change [is caused by by the ozone hole, ] but for Australia, it’s about 35%,” a researcher told BBC. More…

Related Links

• Philadelphia: Public Health Prevails Over Private Wealth
• Big Oil Hires Top Environmental Assassins
• NY sanity questioned as state plan shale gas drilling
• Kudos to Residents of Dimock, Pennsylvania

• EPA admits water contaminated near gas-drilling sites
• ‘Diarrhea water’

US Severe Weather Forecast: Missouri in Crosshairs

Present significant severe weather danger for the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio River valleys: NWS

Many rivers in the Plains and Midwest already at flood levels could receive up to 5 inches of rain by early next week, forecasters say. Flooding is forecast for  parts of the northern Plains, the Midwest, the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley.

Today’s forecast:

• Possible severe weather in the southern Plains
• Rain and thunderstorms in the Mountain West, the Four Corners area, the Southeast and the southern Atlantic Coast
• Heavy snow in western Montana, north-central Idaho and western Wyoming

“Most of Missouri is at the center of a double weather whammy, sitting in the center of severe weather forecasts for tonight and Friday and at the core of heavy rains forecast into next week.” NWS reported.

Weather Forecast Map. Click images to enlarge.

Weather Outlook (Probabilistic)

 Rainfall Forecast:The 5-day total  

Texas Wildfires

Report: Wednesday Close, April 21, 2011

• National Preparedness Level: 1
• Southern Area Preparedness Level: 3
• TFS Preparedness Level: 5

Texas Fires YTD Totals

• Fires: 6,061 [4 new fires]
• Acres Burned: 1,821,086
• Structures Destroyed: 859
• Source: Texas Forest Service (TFS)

Drought and Heat: Recipe for Deadly Fire Conditions in Texas

Image shows ground temperatures differentials for April 7 to April 14 compared to long-term average for that week.  Data for the image gathered by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. Drought and high temperatures are clearly contributing to the deadly fire conditions in Texas. Source: NASA-EO
Fatalities
Two firefighters have lost their lives, including one near Lubbock who was killed yesterday
Two sightseers were killed as their plance  circled over fires Tuesday.

Livestock
NO official figures have been released so far. However,  FIRE-EARTH estimates that up to 20,000 heads of cattle may have been killed or injured as a result of the deadly fires since beginning of the year.

Japan Quake: Strong Shock Rattles Next Target Area

M6.2 Quake Strikes 16 km East of Chiba

Strong Quakes Rattles Large Areas East of Tokyo, Japan

The strong quake, epicentered  at 140.39°E,  35.53°N struck at a depth of 28km at 13:37:02 UTC on April 21, GFZ Potsdam reported.

The quake was followed by a number of aftershocks, the largest of which measured 5.6Mw.

FIRE-EARTH forecast: The mean distance of epicenters for significant shocks striking near Boso Triple Junction (Sagami Trough), on the east coast of Honshu, are moving closer to Tokyo area, making Chiba City a highly probable target for a large quake (Magnitude > 8.4Mw).

NGDC/NOAA map of Japan Trench, with the broader location of Boso Triple Junction marked. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

SEE ALSO: JPTRMT1

Earthquake Map

Quake Details

Region: Near East Coast of Honshu, Japan
Magnitude: 6.2Mw
Time:     2011-04-21 13:37:01.9 UTC
Epicenter:     140.39°E, 35.53°N
Depth:     28 km
Source: GFZ Potsdam – Earthquake Bulletin

Japan Meteorological Agency reported the quake as a 6.0Mw, while USGS recorded a 6.1Mw shock. NO tsunami warning/advisory was issued.

Distances [USGS]

• 64 km (39 miles) E of TOKYO, Japan
• 76 km (47 miles) ENE of Yokohama, Honshu, Japan
• 82 km (50 miles) S of Mito, Honshu, Japan
• 115 km (71 miles) SSE of Utsunomiya, Honshu, Japan

Related Links

• WARNING: JPTRMT1
• Japan Earthquakes, Disasters: Recent History and FIRE-EARTH Forecasts