Earthbytes

The Sun Flares with Activity : Image of the Day

The images above show a solar flare as observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) at 03:27, 03:42, and 04:12 Universal Time (Greenwich Time) on January 23. Note the brightening of the solar surface as gas was superheated and magnetically supercharged. By the third (right) image, a stream of solar material is seen flowing off into space above the hot spot, likely solar protons and a coronal mass ejection. Click on the enlarged images and movies for a wider view.

Read the whole article at earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Greenland’s Ice Is Growing Darker

The Earth Observatory newsletter yesterday had several great stories and photos. Here are some photos, excerpts and links to the one on Greenland's dark ice:

In the past, the bright surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet reflected well over half of the sunlight that fell on it. This reflectiveness helped keep the ice sheet stable, as less absorbed sunlight meant less heating and melting. In the past decade, however, satellites have observed a decrease in Greenland’s reflectiveness. This darker surface now absorbs more sunlight, which accelerates melting.

The map above shows the difference between the amount of sunlight Greenland reflected in the summer of 2011 versus the average percent it reflected between 2000 to 2006. Virtually the entire ice sheet shows some change, with some areas reflecting close to 20 percent less light than a decade ago. The map is based on observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites. It was produced as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Arctic Report Card.

 

Ohio State University scientist Jason Box says the darkening is due to changes in the shape and size of the ice crystals in the snowpack. The grains of snow clump together and reflect less light than the many-faceted, smaller crystals. Sharp crystal edges become rounded when exposed to more heat. These absorb more sunlight than jagged snow crystals:

Read mora via earthobservatory.nasa.gov

 

 

Michael T Klare: Danger Waters

This article from Michael T Klare is good reminder of the energy-economy-infrastructure nexus of the world's shrinking, nonrenewable fossil fuel resources:

Welcome to an edgy world where a single incident at an energy “chokepoint” could set a region aflame, provoking bloody encounters, boosting oil prices, and putting the global economy at risk.  With energy demand on the rise and sources of supply dwindling, we are, in fact, entering a new epoch -- the Geo-Energy Era -- in which disputes over vital resources will dominate world affairs.  In 2012 and beyond, energy and conflict will be bound ever more tightly together, lending increasing importance to the key geographical flashpoints in our resource-constrained world.

Read the whole article at aep.typepad.com

Tell Obama: No fastracking for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline permit!

Wow, NRDC couldn't have found a better celebrity to help stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The Closer herself! Take a look:

 

Now -- if you haven't already done so -- please ask President Obama to close the valve for good on some of the dirtiest oil on planet Earth!

For a few precious moments, it seemed the Keystone XL pipeline permit would get a second look after Obama stood up to the oil industry and delayed a decision pending further environmental review. But Big Oil's Congressional lapdogs have now forced a 60-day review that is way too short for adequate analysis, let alone an informed decision from the President.

In the past few days, industry claims that the pipeline would be safe has been challenged by whistleblower Mike Klink, an engineer who says he was fired by Bechtel after he called them out for shoddy materials and poor craftsmanship during construction of the original Keystone pipeline.

Klink himself wrote an awesome article in December 2011 that called safety of Keystone XL into question.

 

New Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Communities Found in the Southern Ocean - PLoS Biology

Interesting (open access) study of organisms found in hydrothermal vent areas of the Southern Ocean...important discovery relative to biodiversity of species in this underexplored region of Earth's oceans.

Authors Summary:

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are mainly associated with seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges and in basins near volcanic island arcs. They host animals found nowhere else that derive their energy not from the sun but from bacterial oxidation of chemicals in the vent fluids, particularly hydrogen sulphide. Hydrothermal vents and their communities of organisms have become important models for understanding the origins and limits of life as well as evolution of island-like communities in the deep ocean. We describe the fauna associated with high-temperature hydrothermal vents on the East Scotia Ridge, Southern Ocean, to our knowledge the first to be discovered in Antarctic waters. These communities are dominated by a new species of yeti crab, stalked barnacles, limpets and snails, sea anemones, and a predatory seven-armed starfish. Animals commonly found in hydrothermal vents of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including giant Riftia tubeworms, annelid worms, vent mussels, vent crabs, and vent shrimps, were not present at the Southern Ocean vents. These discoveries suggest that the environmental conditions of the Southern Ocean may act as a barrier to some vent animals and that the East Scotia Ridge communities form a new biogeographic province with a unique species composition and structure.

via www.plosbiology.org

Volcanic Earth-building in the Red Sea

Very exciting undersea volcano activity the past couple of months! Today's Earth Observatory email had great photos and news about what appears to be a new island in the Zubair Islands group in the Red Sea off the west coast of Yemen, and a possible island in the making off the coast of El Hierro near the fishing village of La Restinga (Canary Islands).

This image captured on October 24, 2007 shows Rugged Island with its closest neighbor, Haycock Island:

[NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team.]

On December 19, 2011, people in the area saw lava fountains as tall as 90 feet coming up out of the sea and on December 23, 2011, NASA acquired this image:

[NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team.]

Before the recent Zubair Island activity started, citizens and scientists had been watching another undersea volcano off the coast of Morocco in the Canary Islands. Check out photos and stories tagged "Hierro" at WIRED Science blogs to read more about the sequence of events there.

So far, new crust is building but is still underwater. This image acquired on December 16, 2011 shows a debris plume that's drifting north and west from the vents that are about 2km south of La Restinga:

[NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team.]

While I was researching this volcano, I found the totally awesome Earthquake Report blog, which has many photos, videos and reports from a resident on El Hierro.

As soon as I get this posted, I'll add links to Erik Klemetti's Eruptions Blog at Wired Science and Earthquake Report in my Earthbytes blogroll.