Earthweek: a diary of the planet
Groundwater CO2
Using water from underground aquifers faster than it is being replenished is releasing large amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Though small when compared to the burning of fossil fuels, this groundwater depletion in the United States alone could be responsible for 1.7 million metric tons of atmospheric CO2 pollution each year, scientists from Michigan State University estimate. That would rank among the top 20 sources of carbon pollution outlined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
‘Lobzilla’
A Welsh marine biologist who runs his own oyster and mussel farm found a huge lobster claw that probably came from a crustacean between 2 and 3 feet in length. Shaun Krijnen said that’s about three times the size of an average lobster, and that the 8-inch-long pincer would be powerful enough to
break a person’s wrist. Krijnen believes the owner of the claw is more than 50 years old and had just molted to allow it to grow even larger. “It is nice to think it is still out there and may return at some point in the future,” Krijnen told Newsweek.
Nuclear incident
Russian authorities deny that a cloud of radioactive ruthenium-106 (Ru-106) detected this fall across a wide stretch of Europe was caused by any activities or accidents at their processing facilities. The nuclide is created in nuclear reactors and used in some
medical treatments. But Russia’s weather service said that a monitoring station near the Mayak nuclear facility had detected “extremely high pollution” of Ru-106 at nearly 1,000 times greater than normal levels. Russia’s state nuclear corporation said the contamination had nothing to do with its activities at Mayak.
Indonesian ash
Bali’s restive Mount Agung volcano erupted, spewing ash 2,300 feet into the sky near the island’s tourist center of Kuta. Since August, Agung has been threatening its first major eruption since 1963. Seismic spike
A new study suggests that Earth will experience a surge in destructive earthquake activity through 2018 due to minuscule changes in the planet’s rotation. Geologists from the University of ColoradoBoulder and the University of Montana documented how the annual number of earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater since 1900 has spiked every 25 to 30 years. They believe those spikes occurred five to six years after the mean rotational velocity of the Earth temporarily increased the length of days by as much as several milliseconds. The most recent deceleration of Earth’s rotation started in 2011. The scientists believe the occasional small changes in rotation can result in vast amounts of underground energy being released, triggering strong quakes.
Earthquakes
The French Pacific territory of New Caledonia and neighboring Vanuatu were jolted by a powerful undersea tremor that produced a small tsunami. No significant damage was reported. A magnitude 5.2 earthquake damaged several buildings near the Ecuadorean port of Guayaquil. Earth movements also were felt in western India and eastern Tibet.
Tropical cyclones
Central Vietnam was drenched when tropical storm Typhoon Kirogi moved ashore from the South China Sea. The sixth named storm to impact the country so far this year dumped more than 7 inches of rain in some areas already left soggy by earlier storms.
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