Thursday, February 23, 2012

Yogyakarta, Indonesia


Mount Merapi is an active stratovolcano located on the island of Java.  It erupts fairly frequently, with larger eruptions happening every 10 to 15 years.  The most recent eruption was in 2010 and killed 353 people.  However, in 2006 another eruption occurred.  This eruption was less powerful but it was captured pretty well on satellite imagery.  The eruptions began around the end of April and lasted through May.  Below are before, during, and after images. 

(facts and figures from wikipedia)


May 12, 2006
Wait for it...

May 25, 2006
Kablammo!  Gasses and ash abound!


September 10, 2006
Check out those new lava flows!



You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:      07°32'41.22"S    110°26'41.90"E

Check back next week to see the town that returned from the depths.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Fort Lauderdale, Florida


This is Port Everglades, one of the three busiest cruise ports in the world (according to wikipedia).  It is also the "home" of the world's largest cruise ship, the Oasis of the Seas (check out the last image!).  Scroll down to watch the boats move in and out over the years.  They seem to get bigger over time!


January 25, 1995


December 31, 2001


November 30, 2005


January 19, 2007


March 26, 2011
That's the Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world!


You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:      26°05'15.73"N      80°07'02.16"W

Check back next week to see a volcanic ash cloud!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Muynak, Uzbekistan


The shrinking Aral Sea is one of the largest effects of environmental alteration by humans.  The sea went from an area of 68,000 square miles in the 1960s to ten percent of that size by 2007.  It first began to shrink after Soviet irrigation projects rerouted the rivers that fed into it for irrigation purposes.  The huge population depending on the sea for shipping and fishing lost their jobs when the waters receded. Efforts to bring water back to the sea have shown some improvement since 2007 but will continue to be a very long and expensive project.


December 1973


December 1986


December 1999


September 2010


You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:      45°00'19.22"N      59°42'00.23"E

Check back next week to see a busy bay of big boats!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

El Portal, California


In April of 2006, a rock slide began on Highway 140, one of a few routes route into Yosemite National Park.  From the articles I found on the slide, it sounds like it began in late April and lasted through May.  No one was injured or hurt but businesses along the highway suffered economic losses when tourists had to find other ways into the park.

While researching further, I found a blog post by Gary Hayes who runs the blog Geotripper.  He also experienced a rockslide in April 2011 while traveling on this same highway.

I'd love to be the one putting a hazard map together for this highway!

December 31, 2004


May 24, 2009
Notice the bridges across the river that re-route the highway around the landslide.


Topo


YouTube



You can find it yourself on Google Earth using these coords:     37°39'23.41"N     119°54'07.64"W

Check back next week to see the shrinking sea!