Globe's Bottom Has A New Map

No cracks in the new map down under in the nether region, but overall it is highly interactive. British and American researchers worked together to build a map of Antarctica, known as the White Continent. orbiting 400 miles above the Earth is the Landsat 7 satellite under the joystick thumb of NASA image makers, the US Geological Survey team and the British Survey Foundation. The teams then digitally sew or "stitch" thousands of individual shots together to make a holistic map of the polar region. Now Antarctica expedition planners can zoom in to land features the size of a basketball half court to see if ground conditions are right for a camping visit.

"Being able to see where we couldn't see before will lead to new ideas for research. And these new ideas for research will in turn lead to more knowledge about the continent," said Scott Borg, who directs Antarctic science programs for the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va.

Scientists also hope the new image will help the public better understand what is at stake in the world's polar regions as temperatures rise due to human-created global warming.

The new map has high resolution which makes the previous resolutions look positively antiquated. It's the difference in going from the 1960's black and white television sets sans remotes to 21st century color high definition plasma screens in a nanosecond.



Sebastian Copeland wrote a wonderful book graced with a foreword from Mikhail Gorbachev and an afterward from Leonardo DiCaprio named Antarctica: The Global Warning.

BREAKING NEWS: Peru Suffers Major Earthquakes

Magnitude 7's and above are often killer quakes. These 7.7, 7.5 have hit the capital of Peru. The epicenter is 11 miles (18km) away in Chincha Alta. Lima has sections of buildings especially built to withstand major quakes. Poorer sections of the city do not have the same protections. Damage reports are still coming in, and power is out in sections of the city. A resident's observations:

"But in other parts of Lima, where the buildings are often of very poor quality, there will have been considerable damage, I would imagine."

CNN reports Tsunami warnings have been issued. The Tsunami warning is for Chile, Ecuador and Columbia. While dodging the wrath of Flossie, Hawaii now has a Tsunami Watch in effect until further updates from the Tsunami center.

Updates: TBD 7:32PDT Casualties are starting to be reported. 7:49PDT One Quake at a massive 7.9. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the citizens of Peru.

Dale Grant, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado, said 17 deaths were reported in Arequipa, Peru, and 14 deaths in Minocqua. The U.S. National Weather Service issued a tsunami warning for Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; a tsunami watch for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Panama; and a tsunami advisory for Hawaii.

``An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours,'' the weather service said in a statement on its Web site.

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake carries roughly as much energy as 199,000 tons of TNT, according to the USGS. That energy is spread out in waves and not in one particular spot.