Life in Small Bites Environment Blog

Guatemala volcano spits lava and ash

Guatemala's Fuego volcano belched burning lava and black ash into the sky early Saturday, leading the government to issue an airplane advisory and close sections of highway.

The volcano, about 25 miles southwest of the capital, erupted about 2:45 a.m. (0745 GMT), spewing a column of ash up to 16,400 feet above the crater and launching burning red lava nearly 1,300 feet high.

The national emergency commission issued an advisory, warning planes not to fly within a 25-mile (40 kilometer) radius of the volcano. The La Aurora international airport in Guatemala City remained open.

The commission also closed two stretches of highway threatened by lava flows that reached the base of the mountain.

Guatemala's four active volcanoes have a history of causing shut downs. In 2010, an explosion at the Pacaya volcano about 25 miles south of Guatemala City coated the city in a thick layer of black ash and rock, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate and closing the international airport.

Source:
Reuters,"Guatemala volcano spits lava and ash", accessed May 20, 2012
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Season's first Atlantic tropical storm forms off South Carolina

Tropical Storm Alberto formed off the South Carolina coast on Saturday, bringing an early start to the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Although the storm was likely to remain offshore, forecasters issued a tropical storm warning for the South Carolina coast late on Saturday, saying there was "too little margin for error" not to issue the warning.

Alberto was in the Atlantic about 110 miles southeast of Charleston with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour, with higher gusts, the hurricane center said. "Little change in strength is forecast during the next 48 hours," the forecast added.

It was moving slowly southwest and forecasters said dangerous surf conditions were possible along the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina through Monday.

Alberto was forecast to make a slow loop during the next few days and then turn northeast, making its way along the U.S. mid-Atlantic seaboard before dissipating in about five days.

That would keep it well away from the Gulf of Mexico, where U.S. oil and gas operations are clustered, but could bring squalls and rough surf to the Carolina coast.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, but storms outside that time frame are not uncommon. Alberto was the earliest-forming Atlantic storm since 2003, when Tropical Storm Ana formed more than five weeks before the official start of the season, the hurricane center said.

By Sunday Tropical Storm Alberto churned off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina and heavy rain and dangerous surf were expected even though forecasters said it had lost strength.

Bringing an early start to the Atlantic hurricane season, Alberto reached tropical storm strength on Saturday. By Sunday evening it was about 85 miles south-east of St Augustine, Florida, according to the hurricane center in Miami.

Its maximum sustained winds had dropped to 40 miles per hour, down from 50 mph on Saturday, and a tropical storm warning was lifted for the South Carolina coast.

Alberto was moving slowly west-southwest with tropical storm force winds extending about 70 miles from the center. The hurricane center expected little change in strength for the next 48 hours and its center was expected to stay offshore.

Winds on Sunday afternoon were 17 miles per hour in Charleston and 23 miles per hour in Savannah, he said. Callers from the beaches have reported waves at three to four feet, Cimbora added, and rip current risk was high.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30, but storms outside that time frame are not uncommon. Alberto was the earliest-forming Atlantic storm since 2003, when Tropical Storm Ana formed more than five weeks before the official start of the season, the hurricane center said.



Source:
Reuters,"Season's first Atlantic tropical storm forms off South Carolina", accessed May 20, 2012
WSAV, "Tropical Storm Alberto Making Waves On Tybee Island", accessed May 21, 2012
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From the Inbox - Stop the horrific practice of mountaintop removal mining - fight back!

Mountaintop removal mining is destroying our majestic mountains, valleys, streams, and wildlife. And with more than 100 new mining permits pending, we need your support now more than ever to put a stop to this horrific practice. Help us fight back in court and on Capitol Hill against mountaintop removal mining with an emergency gift today!

Our mountains, streams, and wildlife are being permanently destroyed! Photo © OVEC Stop mountaintop removal mining with an emergency gift today. Dear Supporter, Every day, coal companies driven by quick profits are blowing up our mountains, burying valleys, killing wildlife, and contaminating waters—forever altering our nation’s landscapes and communities. Help us fight to protect mountains and wildlife by putting a stop to the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining. Make an emergency gift today. Throughout Appalachia, mountaintop removal mining has permanently flattened more than 500,000 acres of lush forests and filled thousands of valleys, eradicating wildlife habitat and burying more than 2,000 miles of streams. As the campaign manager working to stop mountaintop removal mining, I see firsthand the devastating effect it has on wildlife, Appalachian communities, and our country’s unique and majestic landscapes. And it’s truly heartbreaking! Earthjustice is fighting back in court, on Capitol Hill, and at the state level, but we need your support today to see these difficult challenges through. Please make an emergency gift today. Currently, more than 100 mountaintop removal mining permits are up for review. Earthjustice is fighting to stop these permits and close the loopholes that allow this destructive mining to continue with little oversight. And on June 1, our attorneys go to court to wage the next battle in our fight to stop mountaintop removal mining. If we win, we can stop hundreds of mountains and valleys from being destroyed—but we can’t win without you! For decades, coal companies have placed profits over people and our environment, but with your help we will fight back to stop this abominable practice from continuing. Your emergency gift will be put to use immediately to defend our mountains and to protect the wildlife that call them home. Please give today. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Liz Judge Campaign Manager Earthjustice P.S. Earthjustice is fighting in court, on Capitol Hill, and at the state level to stop the devastating practice of mountaintop removal mining. Please make an emergency gift today to support these critical efforts. We can’t win without you!

From the Inbox - NRDC and RFK ask How is this still legal?

		Dear Supporter, The real cost of a polar bear rug Every year, hunters kill hundreds of polar bears and then sell their parts legally in the international market. Urge the Obama Administration to pursue a worldwide ban on the commercial trade in polar bear parts. I find it truly shocking that in this day and age, hunters are still gunning down polar bears to peddle their skins, teeth, claws and skulls on the international market. If you agree that the world doesn’t have polar bears to spare -- certainly not to end up as rugs -- then please help NRDC end this gruesome trade once and for all. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to propose a ban on the trafficking of polar bears for profit. This is a make or break moment. The Obama Administration is deciding whether or not to propose such a ban at the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This is no time for our government to be on the fence about polar bear protection. Polar bears are already struggling for survival. They are mortally threatened by climate change, toxic pollution and oil development. Scientists predict that rising temperatures alone will cause two-thirds of the world’s polar bears to go extinct by 2050. We simply can’t afford to let commercial hunting and trafficking kill off hundreds of them every year. In 2010, at the last meeting of CITES, the United States led the way and sponsored a ban -- but that effort fell short of the votes needed. Since then, the polar bear’s plight has only grown more dire. Please ask the Obama Administration to lead the way again by proposing a ban, in advance of the next meeting of CITES in March 2013, and to build a winning coalition with like-minded range states, such as Russia, to pass it. Polar bears need our help more than ever. In the face of the climate change that is ravaging their habitat, we must do everything we can to bolster their populations for the sake of polar bear survival. I hope you’ll stand with me and NRDC in defense of polar bears by sending a message to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today. And thank you for responding to their plight. Sincerely, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. NRDC Senior Attorney

Sierra Nevada range is getting higher

The Sierra Nevada range continues to grow about a half-inch in elevation every 10 years, and scientists say new technology that allows them to detect from space the relatively fast rate of uplift in the crust is helping shed new light on the origin of the mountains.

Using cutting-edge measurement technology, researchers at the University of Nevada's geodetic laboratory in Reno and the University of Glasgow in the UK have concluded that the range, which stretches for 400 miles between California and Nevada, is rising at a relatively fast rate of one to two millimeters each year. The team’s data suggests that long-term trends in crustal uplift could have formed the modern Sierra in less than three million years.

The research team, led by Professor Bill Hammond in the United States collaborating with Dr Zhenhong Li in Glasgow, used satellite-based GPS data and InSAR (space-based radar) data to calculate the movements of the range with an unprecedented degree of accuracy. The calculations show that the crust moves upward compared to Earth’s center of mass and compared to relatively stable eastern Nevada.

Dr Li, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, said: “We have access to data from the GPS network going back 11 years, and from InSAR back 18 years, which gives us a rich data set to work from. Using an advanced time series algorithm developed in Glasgow, we can analyze the satellite-based radar data to recover the evolution of surface movements since the early 1990s over a region of 250 kilometers by 100 kilometers. The satellite radar images provide measurements every 20 meters, which allows tremendous detail in our results.

“We can further combine the information from both GPS and InSAR datasets to build an extraordinarily detailed picture of how the Sierra Nevada range has developed over time. We can measure the changes in the range with accuracy better than one millimeter per year.”

The data may help resolve an active debate regarding the age of the modern Sierra Nevada of California and Nevada in the western United States. The history of elevation is complex, exhibiting features of both ancient (40–60 million years) and relatively young (less than 3 million years) elevation. The ‘young’ elevation is the uplift the team have tracked.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and NASA, along with the UK's Natural Environment Research Council.

Project leader, Bill Hammond, said the findings would be published in July in the journal Geology and may help resolve an active debate regarding the age of the modern Sierra in California and Nevada. The name of their paper is ‘Contemporary uplift of the Sierra Nevada, western United States, from GPS and InSAR measurements’.

The Sierra Nevada stretches from 10,000-foot peaks in the north around Lake Tahoe to the highest peak in the continental US 400 miles south – Mt Whitney at about 14,500 feet.

"Combined with more GPS stations, and more radar data, detecting motions in the Earth is becoming more precise and ubiquitous," he said. "We can see the steady and constant motion of the Sierra in addition to episodic events such as earthquakes."

Hammond said the history of the Sierra's elevation is complex and the uplift process "fairly unique on Earth." It exhibits features of both ancient elevation – as old as 40 million years – and relatively young elevation dating to less than 3 million years ago.

"Our data indicate that uplift is … active and could have generated the entire range in less than 3 million years, which is young compared to estimates based on some other techniques," he said. "It basically means that the latest pulse of uplift is still ongoing."

Source:
The Guardian,"Sierra Nevada range is getting higher", accessed May 16, 2012
Las Vegas Review-Journal, "Sierra Nevada growing ever so slowly", accessed May 16, 2012
University of Glasgow, "Geoscientists watch Sierra Nevada grow in real time", accessed May 16, 2012
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