Photo from the Associated Press

A boat that was part of the five million tons of “stuff” thrown into the Pacific Ocean during the massive Japanese earthquake and tsunami has been spotted off the Canadian Coast. 

The Associated Press is reporting that the 65-meter long boat is moving toward land, 160 miles off the coastline of British Columbia. 

To put that in perspective, if you were driving down Interstate 39, that’s about 20 miles farther than the distance between Wausau and Madison!

The horrific earthquake and tsunami struck Japan just over one year ago on March 11, 2011.  More than 15,000 people died and it brought about one of the biggest nuclear power plant scares in years.    

According to The Toronto Star, there is no environmental concerns over the abandoned ship, but mariners in the Pacific Ocean need to take warning because “the vessel poses a potential navigational hazard.”

Photo from National Geographic

Posted under Earthquake, Environment, Flooding, Geology, Natural Disasters, Nature, Oceans, Tsunami, Uncategorized, Weather History, Weather NEws

I saw this article yesterday so I thought I would touch on it today.  There are many conspiracy theories out there about everything from government events, to natural disasters, to health related topics. 

Most people chalk up the earthquake to happening on a convergent boundary.  The Japan one happened where the Pacific plate is colliding with the North American plate at 8 cm per year this according to Rich Briggs, who explained the correlation between tides and the moon just above.

With the earthquake fresh on everyones mind I read this interesting article.  It does have some good points relatingearthquakes and supermoons.  On the other hand there is a good possibility that the statistics just happened to fall relatively close in realtions to earthqkuakes, and supermoons so that it fathers a relationship. 

Taken in Russia when last supermoon was in effect, Feb 18th

They usually happen three or four times a year with the next one happening on March 19th, this Saturday. 

The moon definitely plays a role in the tide the articles states this : “As Rich Briggs, research geologist with the U.S.G.S. stated, “The gravitational pull of the moon creates Earth tides and sea tides and causes portions of the Earth’s surface to bulge.” 

So here are the coincidental occurrences of supermoons and earthquakes tsunamis over the past few years:

~We just had a supermoon in effect Feb. 12-21.  This was followed by the earthquake that left Christchurch, New Zealand in ruins on Feb. 22, 2011.

~The apparent last extreme supermoon occurred on Jan. 30, 2010.  This was after catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010.

~ There was a super moon on January 10, 2005.  This was just after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Indonesia on Dec. 26, 2004.

Whether it is just the natural shift of plates, or a phenoemon such as supermoon, there is no doubt that Japan will be recovering for years and needs as much help as they can get. 

Meteorologist Kristen Connolly

Posted under Climate Change, Earthquake, Geology, Natural Disasters, Nature, Science, Space, Spring, Tsunami, Weather History, Weather NEws

First I want to let everyone know that I will NOT be reminding everyone to turn their clocks ahead this weekend. I don’t think it makes sense anymore (as explained in previous blog posts) so I am not going to be the one to remind you to turn your clocks ahead Saturday night or early Sunday morning. I am not sure why it is the traditional duty of meteorologists anyway.

Secondly, I was wondering if anyone saw the northern lights last night? I briefly looked to the northern sky before work this morning but I did not see anything. If they arrive tonight we will be out of luck because more clouds will be rolling through the area.

Thirdly, the big international news is the big earthquake and tsunami that Japan last night. For reference, here is a list of some of the biggest earthquake/tsunami combos  that have hit the earth during recorded history. Amazingly, the world record tsunami was over 1,000 feet! Luckily it hit a remote area of Alaska and only 2 people were killed.

The death toll in Japan will be much higher but it could be much worse. Japan is probably the most prepared country in the world when it comes to earthquakes and tsunamis. Even though it is a devastating quake, much of the country is still standing. The tall buildings all follow strict earthquake codes. Their infrastructure is also hardened against quakes. If this size earthquake hit Los Angeles or San Francisco the devastation would be an order of magnitude worse. Our cities are not as well built or prepared for “the big one”.

Another valuable thing that will be learned through this tragedy is how to deal with an environmental disaster when electronic communication is down. Our modern society is surprisingly extremelydependent on Internet and satellite communication. This morning, news outlets were reporting that cell phone service went down after the quake. Other information services were likely affected. Being that Japan is one of the most technologically advanced societies on earth, there will be important lessons to be learned about how to respond and survive without electricity or modern communication.

Have a good weekend! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Geology, Natural Disasters