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The location of Earth’s north magnetic pole appears to be controlled from deep within Earth by 2 competing blobs in the magnetic field. One is under Canada, and the other is under Siberia. “The Siberian blob is winning,” according to scientists. You probably know that a compass doesn’t point to true north. Earth’s geographic north pole – and magnetic north pole – were first recognized as two different places in 1831. Until the early 1990s, the magnetic North Pole was known to lie some 1,000 miles south of true north, in Canada. Yet, as scientists realized, the location of magnetic...

The New York Post reports that the big, flaming ball in the sky is about to go into “lockdown� just like the rest of us. The sun is currently in a period of “solar minimum,” meaning activity on its surface has fallen dramatically.Experts believe we are about to enter the deepest period of sunshine “recession” ever recorded as sunspots have virtually disappeared.Astronomer Dr. Tony Phillips said: “Solar Minimum is underway and it’s a deep one.”“Sunspot counts suggest it is one of the deepest of the past century. The sun’s magnetic field has become weak, allowing extra cosmic rays into the...

A Brentwood man is working to keep Nashville's history alive by building furniture out of an old, massive tree that came down during the March 3rd tornadoes. The tables are made out of a 116-year-old Elm tree that fell in east Nashville. Some tables are for sale. Others will be donated to charity. "There's just too much history to let it go to landfills, so that's what we do, we repurpose the trees and turn them into hopefully an heirloom piece of furniture for future generations." The process takes about a year and a half to get the finished product,...

Vermiculite. Learn what it is, why it is used in gardening, and if it is safe to use. WATCH THE VIDEO...

A combination of heat and humidity so extreme that it’s unendurable isn’t just a problem for the future — those conditions are already here, a new study finds. Off-the-chart readings that were previously thought to be nearly nonexistent on the planet today have popped up around the globe, and unyielding temperatures are becoming more common. Extreme conditions reaching roughly 115 degrees Fahrenheit on the heat-index scale — a measurement of both heat and humidity that’s often referred to as what the temperature “feels like” — doubled between 1979 and 2017, the study found. Humidity and heat are a particularly deadly...

Mother Nature wanted to make an impression this Mother's Day weekend, in what could be a once-in-a-generation May snowstorm.Mother Nature wanted to make an impression this Mother's Day weekend, in what could be a once-in-a-generation May snowstorm poised to drop snow across portions of the Northeast and New England. Snow will begin Friday afternoon across the interior Northeast and spread into New England by Friday evening and continue overnight, when snowfall rates could be heavy at times. This will be a heavy, wet snow, so power outages are likely (especially with leaves on the trees, which will make them heavier...

A potentially record-breaking snowstorm is headed for the Northeast this weekend, and it could bring historic snowfall totals to the inner Northeast and New England. A storm system barreling into the Northeast will clash with winter cold associated with the polar vortex on Friday, bringing the potential for heavy, wet snow across the inner Northeast. At the same time, the rest of the I-95 corridor could see heavy rain. Snowfall totals could range from a dusting to more than a foot in isolated areas of the extreme north of New England. Either way, a snowstorm in May could shatter May...

Let us preface this with “yes, really.” After remaining well-behaved all winter, the mischievous polar vortex is set to thrust a lobe of frigid, wintry air south over the eastern United States, bringing snow to places in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and chilly temperatures from the Upper Midwest to New England.

Surfers ride bioluminescent waves off California coast ByBen Hooper April 30 (UPI) -- Surfers off the California coast were caught on camera taking advantage of bioluminescence in the water by riding the neon blue waves after dark. Surfers were recorded off the coast of San Diego and elsewhere in southern California riding the waves amid unusually bright bioluminescence in the ocean. The phenomenon, caused by algae in the water, made it appear as though the surfers were riding glowing blue waves. Residents said the bioluminescence has been unusually bright recently. A pod of dolphins was caught on video last week...

Wood is the resource the world is relying on for its low carbon future. It’s touted as a replacement for concrete and steel, fossil fuels, power and plastics. But is there enough of it to go around? […] According to the latest figures from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global forest production hit record levels in 2018. Up 11% on the year before. “We see an increasing demand for almost all of our products,” says Göran Örlander, strategist at Södra, Sweden’s largest association of forest owners. “The most obvious demand is for biofuels at the moment. Everybody wants...

An NBC affiliate station in Minnesota confirmed Friday that it has parted ways with a staff meteorologist, citing “continued violations” of the station’s “news ethics” and other policies. KARE-TV of Minneapolis did not specify exactly why Sven Sundgaard was dismissed but he recently drew reaction from the public after reposting a local rabbi’s online message regarding crowds protesting against coronavirus lockdowns. That message, attributed to Rabbi Michael Adam Latz, had described groups protesting against lockdown measures as “white nationalist Nazi sympathizer gun fetishist miscreants,” according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Within two hours of KARE confirming Sundgaard’s firing on...

Owl stuck in power line in SolvangThe Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded to an owl stuck in a high voltage line in Solvang on Tuesday. On Tuesday afternoon, Santa Barbara County Fire assisted PG&E after reports of an owl stuck in their power lines. Firefighters arrived to see an owl tangled in high voltage lines on Mission Drive in Solvang. Firefighters worked with PG&E crews along with Santa Barbara County Animal Control to help safely remove the owl from the lines. The owl was safely removed and taken to the Ojai Raptor Center in Ventura County for treatment.

The world must “keep a close eye on climate protection” as it faces the economic fallout of the pandemic, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday, speaking remotely for the Petersberg Climate Dialogue. “We need a financial market that provides cheap capital for climate-friendly investments,” said Merkel, during an address for the annual event usually held in Berlin. Merkel also called for climate action to be included as part of economic reconstruction plans following the pandemic, including investments in future-oriented technologies such as renewable energy. In a video address following Merkel, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the pandemic had “exposed...

Germany could be facing its second drought in just two years, a leading meteorologist has said, just as farmers struggle with strict measures imposed to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. “The past two years were unusually dry. The ground now needs rain,” forecaster and oceanographer Mojib Latif told German regional newspaper Rhein Neckar Zeitung (RNZ) on Saturday. Latif said the country’s network of reservoirs is only partly full, adding that if there is no heavy rain in the next two to three weeks then a failed harvest could threaten the agriculture industry. […] Rain is forecast in the coming weeks, according...

‘It’s a tragically teachable moment. I don’t say this in a partisan way. But the parallels [between COVID-19 and climate change] are screaming at us, both positive and negative. Just think about it. This moment in life is inseparable from this moment on earth.’That’s the take this Earth Day from former Secretary of State and onetime presidential contender John Kerry, who was a participant in the inaugural Earth Day 50 years ago. He described that Nixon-era march, well before social-media sharing but timed to the launch of the Environmental Protection Agency and other initiatives, as his first moment of activism...

Saturday marks 114 years since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck the Bay Area and beyond. The 7.9-magnitude earthquake killed more than 3,000 people and destroyed 28,000 buildings. The earthquake was felt just after 5 a.m. throughout the Bay Area. The earthquake broke loose less than 30 seconds later, with an epicenter near San Francisco. Strong shocks lasted from 45 to 60 seconds. The great earthquake was felt from southern Oregon to south of Los Angeles and even as far as central Nevada. The earthquake marks as one of the most significant earthquakes of all time.

Opening windows in buildings, including our homes, may prevent the spread of the coronavirus, scientists believe Experts in health, the built environment and microbiology at the University of Oregon and the University of California, Davis, made the recommendations by reviewing existing studies on germs including SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes COVID-19 disease). They also looked at data on other members of the large coronavirus family of bugs which trigger severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). They published their findings in the journal mSystems

An Easter tornado wreaks havoc across parts of Alabama, but there’s one thing it didn’t touch -- a wooden cross.

Every year, 150 climate scientists fly far into the wilderness and bore deep into Greenland’s largest glacier. Their work is complicated and important. The EastGRIP project is trying to understand how ice streams underneath the glacier are pushing vast amounts of ice into the ocean, and how this contributes to rising sea levels. But this year the drills will be silent. The ice streams will go unmeasured. The reason is the coronavirus. The fallout from measures to contain the outbreak have made the research impossible. Greenland is closed to foreigners. Its government is worried any outbreak could be particularly dangerous...

Millions of Americans in the Southeast are at risk as a powerful storm system mars the Easter holiday, bringing heavy rain, tornadoes and hail. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center said severe thunderstorms are likely into Sunday night, with the greatest threat in Louisiana through the Tennessee Valley. The storm center said some 95 million people may be impacted by the storms. More than 5.8 million people live in the area where the most dangerous weather was most likely, including Birmingham, Ala., and Jackson, Miss.