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While you were at Thanksgiving, the electricity battle in Puerto Rico waged on.

Over the weekend, Indonesia raised the alert on Mount Agung to level IV — its highest level — as a huge plume of ash and steam began to pour from the volcano’s summit in eastern Bali.

One U.S. geologist already labeled it a “full eruption.” About 100,000 people have been asked to evacuate the area nearest the volcano, where more than 1,000 people were killed during an explosive eruption in 1963.

Local aid organizations have begun distributing gas masks and goggles to residents, reports the BBC, as well as solar-powered televisions for emergency announcements. The island’s airport has shut down and hundreds of flights have been cancelled.

Should the eruption escalate, it could have worldwide climate implications, including temporarily cooler temperatures. In 1815, the eruption of nearby Mount Tambora altered weather patterns worldwide, leading to crop failures in Europe and the infamous 1816 “year without a summer” believed to be the inspiration for Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein.

Agung very likely won’t become a Tambora-scale disaster, but its ash and gas emissions could still block some of the sun’s rays for the next year or two. After that, however, the global climate will continue to behave as if the eruption had never happened.

You can watch live video of the eruption here.

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While you were at Thanksgiving, the electricity battle in Puerto Rico waged on.

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There’s worrying volcano news. But could that be good climate news?

There’s worrying volcano news. But could that be good climate news?

By on May 11, 2016Share

If you, like me, have Google alerts for the terms “volcano,” “earthquake,” “end of days,” and “survivalist cult now accepting applications,” the recent news that both Mount St. Helens and Yellowstone’s supervolcano are showing signs of activity may have had you reaching for your bug-out bag. Then again, if you’re more afraid of climate change than natural disasters, massive volcanic explosions might actually sound like a good thing, right? After all, a huge plume of ash could block sunlight and lower global temperatures.

Here’s what’s up in volcano news: Over the past two months, Mount St. Helens in Washington state, located a scant 174 miles from this author’s house, has been experiencing an “earthquake swarm.” More than 130 small quakes have rumbled beneath the mountain, indicating that magma is on the move. But while this sounds terrifying, it’s actually nothing to worry about, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, which wrote on Facebook that “there are no signs of an imminent eruption.” Whew.

But what about Yellowstone? Yellowstone National Park is located on top of a supervolcano, and scientists discovered a few years ago that the massive magma reservoir beneath it is two and a half times larger than previously believed, measuring 55 miles across. An eruption there could be 2,000 times larger than the blast at St. Helens in 1980 that killed 57 people, and, Tech Insider reports, such an event could cover much of the Midwest in ash, wipe out food and water supplies, and render vast swaths of land uninhabitable for at least a decade.

Scientists have long thought that Yellowstone wasn’t due to erupt for at least another 10,000 years. However, a recently posted YouTube video alleging to show unusual seismic activity at the park has had some people speculating that eruption is imminent. It also, naturally, has inspired quite a few headlines that might have you stockpiling food and water.

But pause a moment before you head for the hills. I asked Bill Steele of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network if I should add the Yellowstone supervolcano to my (lengthy) list of anxieties. He said, quite simply, “No.” Then he laughed.

The recent “unusual” seismic activity at Yellowstone isn’t actually unusual, Steele told me. “Yes, there are earthquakes there and it is a volcanic hotspot, but this is normal.”

As for Mount St. Helen’s, Steele said that even if it blew today, it just wouldn’t be that big a deal. The major eruption in 1980 let off all the mountain’s gas, and so, at worst, the next time St. Helen’s blows, it’ll be mostly steam.

But let’s just pretend for a moment that Steele is totally wrong and both Yellowstone and St. Helen’s go today — and go big. Is it possible that large volcanic eruptions could actually be good for the environment? After all, one thing that definitely is happening right now is global climate change, so wouldn’t it be good to have an ashy reprieve from soaring temperatures, helping us keep the ice caps intact at least a little while longer?

Yes, Steele tells me, if a volcano threw enough material into the stratosphere, it would cool the planet for a while. In fact, big eruptions have led to ice ages in the past. On the other hand, volcanic emissions include carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and other greenhouse gases, which worsen climate change (though volcanos are a minuscule source of warming gases compared to fossil fuel burning by humans). So a big eruption would be kind of a mixed bag for the climate.

Ultimately, the planet will be alright if and when both volcanos blow. “The Earth can handle volcanos,” Steele says. “It’s having a lot more difficulty with human activity.”

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There’s worrying volcano news. But could that be good climate news?

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This Video of the Moment the Avalanche Hit Everest Basecamp Is Terrifying

Mother Jones

“The ground is shaking,” a man’s voice says, sounding incredulous. “Shit,” he says, amid giggles of disbelief from others. Then, seconds later, the camera swings around to see something truly horrifying: a wall of snow and debris descending from all directions, about to engulf a collection of tents.

The video was uploaded to a YouTube channel operated by Jost Kobusch, a German mountaineer attempting to climb Everest, on Sunday. The title suggests that the footage captures one of the avalanches that struck Mount Everest during the massive quake that hit Nepal on Saturday, killing more than 2,400 people and injuring about 5,900. Kobusch also posted the video to his Twitter account—though it’s still unclear if he took the footage himself; Mother Jones has reached out to him for confirmation. Nepalese officials say that multiple avalanches triggered by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed at least 17 climbers and injured at least 37 others, with many still unaccounted for.

Warning: this video contains repeated explicit language, and is simply very scary, as it documents the climbers sheltering in a tent, and the intense panic in the immediate aftermath of the avalanche:

Originally posted here: 

This Video of the Moment the Avalanche Hit Everest Basecamp Is Terrifying

Posted in Anchor, FF, G & F, GE, LG, ONA, Radius, Uncategorized, Venta | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on This Video of the Moment the Avalanche Hit Everest Basecamp Is Terrifying