Past Posts

Cargo Vessels Waiting to Pass the Suez Canal Doubled in 24 Hours
By Fengchi Hsu Ever Given, one of the largest cargo vessels in operation, was stuck in the Suez Canal for days. This incident blocks the two-way traffic of the canal, which causes the number of cargo vessels waiting to pass the canal doubled in 24 hours from March...

Weeks Long Fire Contained in Similipal National Park
By Elijah Mt. Castle Similipal National Park has been aflame since February 24th 2021, and is now contained according to government officials. The associated tiger sanctuary also caught fire. The park, located in Odisha India, is an important biosphere for the...

Mt. Etna Erupts 4 Times in Four Days
by Elijah Mt. Castle Mt. Etna, in the Sicilian province of Catania, has been intermediately erupting for four days now. The eruptions began on February 16th 2021. At this time the volcano is no danger to any of the surrounding villages and the lava is flowing into the...

Power Outage in Texas Due to Extreme Weather
By Feng Chi, (David) Hsu Download full resolution image here Texas was hit by snow and freezing temperatures in mid-February 2021. Numerous areas experienced power outages as power plants and renewable energy sources shutdown and have been slow to restart. The outages...

Gravity Wave over United States
By Elijah Mt. Castle The propagation of a gravity wave has been detected in cloud cover over the Eastern United States. A gravity wave is a wave generated in a fluid by the force of gravity or buoyancy attempting to restore equilibrium in the medium, i.e. the waves...

Hawaiian Volcano Becomes Active Once More
By Elijah Mt. Castle The Hawaiian volcano Kīlauea has become active. Kīlauea has been erupting since December 30th 2020. All lava flows are currently in the uninhabited lava lake and pose no threat. Kīlauea last erupted in 2018, when it erupted for 3 months straight....

Country Wide Power Outage in Pakistan
By Elijah Mt. Castle and Feng Chi, Hsu Pakistan's national power grid experienced a blackout lasting 18 hours in most areas. The power failure was caused by "an engineering fault" in southern Pakistan. The fault engaged safety systems across the grid and shut down the...

Mount Etna Erupts
By Elijah Mt. Castle The Sicilian volcano of Etna erupted on Dec 13th in the night. Etna is the most active volcano in Europe. The eruption does not threaten the surrounding city of Catania. The eruption produced a jet of lava an estimated 100m into the air and an ash...

A Million Hectares Burned in Bolivia
By Elijah Mt. Castle Fire season has been devastating across the world. Bolivia has reported that 1.4 million hectares of land have been burned from forest fires this year. As of October 8th there are 57 active wildfires in the country. Bolivian officials have opened...

Creek Fire containment Date Pushed Back
The California fire season is well underway. The Creek Fire has been burning since September 4th. The fire is now the largest single fire in California history. Over 900 structures have been damaged or destroyed and the fire has caused 45,000 people to be evacuated...