Canadian Sinkhole: Family of Four Found Dead in Quebec – The bodies of Richard Prefontaine, his wife Lynne Charbonneau and their two daughters Anais, 9-years-old, and Amelie, about 11-years-old, were found in the rubble of their home that had been swallowed up into a sinkhole in the town of Saint-Jude, Quebec. The town of about 1,000 is near the Yamaska River just northeast of Montreal.

Authorities are reporting that it appears the family were in their basement watching the Montreal Canadians play the Pittsburg Penguins in a playoff ice-hockey game for the Stanley Cup. A massive landslide hit on Monday night creating the sinkhole that claimed the lives of the entire family of four.

“After digging and going through the rubble we found the four victims,” Michael Dore, Quebec’s emergency management co-ordinator, said Tuesday night. “They were found very close to one another, some of them lying on the couch in the family room in the basement.”

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An Iceland volcano erupts with little warning in the early morning hours of March 21, 2010. The volcano erupted next to the Eyjafallajoekull glacier and had been dormant since 1821. The eruption has caused over 500 residents of the area to flee their homes and there are concerns as to how the eruption will affect weather patterns.

iceland map

Iceland Map

Roads have been closed in the area of the Eyjafallajoekull glacier, the fifth largest in Iceland, as authorities warn of severe danger in traveling anywhere near the area of the volcanic activity. The volcano has been continuously spewing ash and molten lava. The molten lava and heat from the volcano is causes the glacier to melt which is flooding the area.

There is also a great deal of concern that an 800-yard fissure caused by the eruption could get larger and closer to the Myrdalsjokull glacier which is on top of the Katla volcano. Historically, when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupts, the Katla volcano erupts soon after. That event would be catastrophic.

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The Alaska Volcano Observatory is reporting the Mount Redoubt volcano is erupting. Read about it and see photos, a map and a video below. There are also live volcano cams available.

Mount Redoubt

Mount Redoubt

The Alaska Volcano Observatory is reporting that Mt. Redoubt has erupted three times in the last few hours. So far the Mt. Redoubt eruption has spit out 50,000 foot plumes leading to the National Weather Service issuing ash-cloud warnings for nearby Talkeetna, Willow and other Susitna Valley communities.

VOLCANIC ASH IS FALLING AND IS EXPECTED TO REACH THE SURFACE ACROSS THE SUSITNA VALLEY. PRELIMINARY INDICATIONS ARE THAT ASHFALL WILL BE VERY LIGHT. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… AN ASHFALL ADVISORY MEANS THAT ASH WILL BE DEPOSITED IN THE ADVISORY AREA. PEOPLE IN AREAS OF ASHFALL SHOULD SEAL WINDOWS AND DOORS. PROTECT ELECTRONICS AND COVER AIR INTAKES AND OPEN WATER SUPPLIES. MINIMIZE DRIVING. LISTEN TO YOUR RADIO STATION FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has raised the alert level to WARNING and the aviation color code to RED.

There have been rumblings that the Alaskan volcano would erupt for the last couple of months. The volcano is in Southeast Alaska, not far from Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. It is a 10,197-foot peak and stands about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It started shaking on Saturday, March 21st and then began erupting on Sunday night, March 22nd.

You can watch the volcano live on live volcano cams here and here.

Mount Redoubt

Mount Redoubt Map

Photos and Video

 

I have some videos of the fires that are sweeping across Southern California right now. The videos are below. These are very worrisome to me as my daughter lives in that area. It seems there has been one fire after the next since she has lived in California.

Southern California Fires

Southern California Fires

Right now, people are watching the Yorba Linda Fire, Brea Fire, Sylmar Fire, Anaheim Hills Fire and the Corona Fire. I’m sure there are more, but those are the ones I’m aware of at the moment.

The fire burst through the foothills of the Angeles National Forest overnight and burned through the San Fernando Valley. It has burned over 6,500 acres and over 10,000 residents under mandatory evacuation orders.

Los Angele Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said that this fire has destroyed more homes than any fire in the area over the past decade. Its not just the multi-million dollar homes that are being talked about on television there are also mobile home parks and everything in between being destroyed by the fire. The heat is so intense that the police and firemen have not been able to do any searches. They will have to wait for the ground to cool.

The Santa Ana winds have kicked up the Orange County fires and there are several separate fires that are having to be dealt with.

Videos of the fires are below the jump.

Videos of the fires

 

We all should be using compact flourescent lightbulbs, right? They will help reduce man made global warming, right? Michelle Malkin noticed this the other day

You know the energy bill that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law today? Tucked into the legislation is a provision that mandates the phase-out of the 125-year-old incandescent bulb in the next four to 12 years in favor of a new generation of trendy, supposedly energy-efficient Gorebulbs.

Isn’t that wonderful? the Feds are going to require their usage. Sure, you will save some money, as long as you do not break them. (note: I actually used CFL’s in most of my lamps at home)

My point here is not run down CFLs. If you want to use them, go for it. Just do not think you are really accomplishing “doing your part to solve man made global warming.” Cause you aren’t.

Remember when Australia decreed that all incandescent bulbs were to be gone by 2010, replaced with CFLs? And that by doing that, it was like removing 800,000 metric tons of CO2 from the air. Sounds like quite a bit? Nope. It equates to a savings of 0.21% of all Australian emission. 0.0003 percent for the entire world.

In other words, as the climahysterics push these kinds of measures, they are basically pushing feel good measures that accomplish nothing. So go buy some carbon offsets! Oh, wait, they do not really do anything, either.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.-Nev.) told Cybercast News Service Thursday that a provision in the new energy law that will effectively ban the use of the incandescent light bulb in the United States by 2020 was an appropriate exercise of federal power.

“Do you think it is the appropriate role of the federal government to effectively bar incandescent light bulbs in 2020 from American homes?” Cybercast News Service asked Reid. “Yes,” he said.

Isn’t the power of the federal government wonderful?

 

Happy Friday to all! It’s that time of the week again! Do you have an interesting post you want to share with everyone? The official Surrender Monkey of the Democratic Party says to do what the Lefties don’t, since they all have the same talking points: link it!

Surrender Monkey-the 400

Surrendie is confused today. As a good liberal, he loves anthropogenic global warming, as its primary purpose as a policy issue is to reallocate money for little reason, not to mention harming business, especially that dreaded Big Oil. But, he also likes a good surrender, and he is wondering if he is going to have to surrender to the inevitable, to whit, that man made global warming is pretty much a hoax

Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called “consensus” on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.

The new report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s office of the GOP Ranking Member details the views of the scientists, the overwhelming majority of whom spoke out in 2007.

Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists. In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics “appear to be expanding rather than shrinking.” Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears ‘bite the dust.’ In addition, many scientists who are also progressive environmentalists believe climate fear promotion has “co-opted” the green movement.

This blockbuster Senate report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation. It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007. This new “consensus busters” report is poised to redefine the debate.

Well, I’m sure they are all in the pay of Big Oil, Big Coal, or the vast neocon conspiracy.

Check the rest of the story. Names are named, quotes are quoted. Climahysterics are getting their ad absurdem comments ready.

Gribbit is covering this story as well, over at Stop The ACLU and his site.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove.

Send a trackback to this post, but don’t forget to link it. Otherwise, Surrendie might pick your pocket and buy some trees.

 

It’s always interesting when reports are based on facts. It should be more interesting when the climahysterics respond with conjecture, reports from non-scientists at the United Nations, and fun invective

Global warming stopped? Surely not. What heresy is this? Haven’t we been told that the science of global warming is settled beyond doubt and that all that’s left to the so-called sceptics is the odd errant glacier that refuses to melt?

Aren’t we told that if we don’t act now rising temperatures will render most of the surface of the Earth uninhabitable within our lifetimes? But as we digest these apocalyptic comments, read the recent IPCC’s Synthesis report that says climate change could become irreversible. Witness the drama at Bali as news emerges that something is not quite right in the global warming camp.

With only few days remaining in 2007, the indications are the global temperature for this year is the same as that for 2006 – there has been no warming over the 12 months.

The hell you say!

The period 1980-98 was one of rapid warming – a temperature increase of about 0.5 degrees C (CO2 rose from 340ppm to 370ppm). But since then the global temperature has been flat (whilst the CO2 has relentlessly risen from 370ppm to 380ppm). This means that the global temperature today is about 0.3 deg less than it would have been had the rapid increase continued.

For the past decade the world has not warmed. Global warming has stopped. It’s not a viewpoint or a sceptic’s inaccuracy. It’s an observational fact. Clearly the world of the past 30 years is warmer than the previous decades and there is abundant evidence (in the northern hemisphere at least) that the world is responding to those elevated temperatures. But the evidence shows that global warming as such has ceased.

This, despite the fact that emissions from Kyoto signaturies increasing by an average of 21%. There has got to be another explanation. Of course, climahysterics will just say it is changing weather. Only when it gets warmer is it climate.

It couldn’t be because of natural processes, I’m sure, as the Earth and Sun just do not have the power of Man’s SUVs.

In all seriousness, I am glad that the author of the first article, David Whitehouse (who happens to have a PhD in Astrophysics, which is more then Al Gore has), says “I’m not sure. Research needs to be done.” Which, is also more then the climahysterics do, too.

OK, climahypocrites, deflect away! (Beth is probably going to make me pay for that picture :) )

 

For the life of me, I can’t understand why the Bush Administration would make a cyclone hit Australia’s coast.I can see why he would make it flood in Texas. Maybe. I think there are poor people in the area where it’s flooding. So that would be part of his conspiracy to get rid of the poor people of America.

But in Australia the cyclone hit a resort area and no one was killed. He did manage to break a dam there. It was a huge cyclone, but only did property damage. So that was really a wasted effort on the Shrub’s part.

He may need to revamp his advisory staff so he can do a better job with managing the storm systems around the world.

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