eruption

The third episode of the GoodSchist PodClast has been published today. This episode features Chris Town, Ron Schott, Brian Romans and Ralph Harrington.

Show notes for Episode 3 are available on Chris’ webpage and relevant links have been posted on the newly created PodClast del.icio.us account.

I really think the PodClast is starting to come into its own and has done a great job featuring various personalities in the Geoblogosphere and discussing a wide range of topics. Bravo to Chris and the gang. You can subscribe to the PodClast via iTunes here.

[Via GoodSchist]

The recently created vent on the Big Island of Hawaii has seen a lot of activity and has forced the closure of the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park multiple times over the past few months. The Volcanism Blog has had some excellent posts about Hawaii and the new activity as well.

An article out today, written by the Associated Press, talks about the issues facing farmers and residents of the Big Island and their struggles dealing with the volcanic smog (called vog) created by the new vent. The increased levels of sulphur dioxide and a change in wind direction have forced evacuations and killed various crops.

Big Island crops are shriveling as sulfur dioxide from Kilauea wafts over them and envelops them in “vog,” or volcanic smog. People are wheezing, and schoolchildren are being kept indoors during recess. High gas levels led Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to close several days this month, forcing the evacuation of thousands of visitors.

Residents of this volcanic island are used to toxic gas. But this haze is so bad that farmers are thinking about growing different crops, and many people are worrying about their health.

Kirk Brewer, 33, an electrician who moved to the Big Island in 2006 from Southern California, blames his headaches and wife Tracy’s itchy skin, sore throat and runny nose on the vog.

“It’s a bummer when you go to the other islands and see how clear and blue it is, but we’ll just deal with it,” Brewer said.

Image Credit: brandilnm on flickr.

Browsing through some random links on StumbleUpon (for those interested, my StumbleUpon profile is located here), I found this page on the Mexican volcano Parícutin.

Parícutin is famous for its unexpected and sudden birth in a cornfield on February 20, 1943. It began as a large fissure that opened in Dionisio Pulido’s field and quickly grew to a height of 336 meters within one year, burying nearby villages under cinder blocks and lava flows.

Source: Unknown.

Parícutin last erupted in 1952.

The walls of a church are all that remain in the town of Parícutin.

Image Credit: desizuto on flickr.

I was browsing through random pictures of volcanic eruptions and found this photo uploaded today. It is the volcano Tavurvura, in Papua New Guinea.

Image Credit: tarotastic on flickr.

I wasn’t aware of this, but the USGS has a podcast! Called CoreCast, they publish new episodes at least once every few weeks (and sometimes more often). The latest episode (#35), is titled Dramatic Developments at Kilauea Volcano and was posted this morning. This podcast coincides with a recent press release about increased activity on the volcano. Check it out!

I’ve linked to a copy of the latest podcast below.

I’ve actually thought of trying to put together a geology podcast featuring a panel of various folks throughout the geoblogosphere and talking about recent developments in the earth sciences (similar to This Week in Tech podcasts). It could be interesting, though I’m not sure how much demand there would be for it.

Interestingly enough, there is a podcast named “The Geologic Podcast,” though as far as I can tell, it has very little to do with geology, or even science for that matter.