The Watchers team and our contributors bring the latest on extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, space weather, and all things science. We're all about making sense of the natural world and keeping you informed on what’s happening. Got a tip or a question? Hit us up using the form at newstips!
Icelandic Met Office has detected a strong and shallow M4.2 earthquake in the center of Katla caldera on January 26, 2017. The quake was followed by M3.0 and a series of smaller earthquakes. In total, 28 earthquakes were registered under Katla since late Wednesday,…
A team at the University of Michigan has developed a new space weather model called EEGGL, short for the Eruptive Event Generator (Gibson and Low), in an effort to help researchers better understand how the Sun will affect near-Earth space, and potentially improve…
Earth is currently in what climatologists call an interglacial period, a warm pulse between long, cold ice ages when glaciers dominate our planet's higher latitudes. For the past million years, these glacial-interglacial cycles have repeated roughly on a…
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New activity/unrest was reported for 3 volcanoes between January 18 and 24, 2017. During the same period, ongoing activity was reported for 11 volcanoes. New activity/unrest: Bogoslof, Fox Islands (USA) | Ebeko, Paramushir Island (Russia) | Takawangha, Andreanof…
Mild Strombolian activity accompanied by frequent small ash emissions is occurring at Etna's Southeast Crater (SEC) over the past couple of days, INGV reports. This new eruptive activity marks the return of magma to the surface after almost 8 months of eruptive…
As of January 26, 2017, forest fires burning across central and southern Chile over the last couple of weeks have consumed an area of 238 600 hectares (589 600 acres / 981 mi2 / 2 386 km2) and killed 6 people. Red Alert for forest fires is in effect in the regions…
Severe weather outbreak in the southeastern United States on Saturday and Sunday, January 21 and 22, produced destructive tornadoes which killed 19 people, 15 in southern Georgia and 4 in Mississippi. In total, this round of severe weather is responsible for 20…
A bright meteor streaked through the sky over the eastern United States around 09:08 UTC (04:08 local time) on January 25, 2017. The event lasted a couple of seconds and was caught on security camera in Huntsville, North Carolina. By 17:27 UTC, the American Meteor…
A massive sinkhole has opened between two homes in Glenside, Pennsylvania on January 25, 2017, prompting an evacuation of both homes. The hole opened on Brook Road, in Cheltenham Township, near the North Hills Country Club, and nearly swallowed a pickup truck….
A new earth fissure, about 3.2 km (2 miles) long, was discovered 16 km (10 miles) SSW of Picacho Peak State Park of Arizona Trust Land in southern Pinal County, Arizona this month. The new fissure is oriented roughly north-south, and it parallels other fissures in…
