On June 6, 1944, during World War II, nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy, France, on D-Day as they launched Operation Overlord to liberate German-occupied Western Europe. More than 4,400 Allied troops were killed on D-Day, including 2,501 Americans.
A volcano in southwestern Iceland has erupted for the third time since December and sent jets of lava into the sky. The eruption on Thursday morning triggered the evacuation the Blue Lagoon spa which is one of the island nation's biggest tourist attractions. Several communities on the Reykjanes Peninsula were cut off from heat and hot water as a river of lava engulfed a supply pipe. The Icelandic Meteorological Office says the eruption has opened a 3-kilometer or nearly 2-mile fissure northeast of Mount Sýlingarfell. The eruption is about 4 kilometers or 2½ miles northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people that was evacuated before a previous eruption on Dec. 18.
Scientists have been anticipating the eruption of a volcano in southwestern Iceland for several weeks and in November, authorities evacuated the fishing town of Grindavik as a precaution. Then, when the eruption happened on Monday night, it wasn't a surprise. Though the area, known broadly as Fagradalsfjall volcano, had been dormant for some 6,000 years, it flared to life in March 2021. The latest eruption appears to be larger and more powerful than those in recent years, but experts say it's unlikely to impact air travel. They say the location and features of this eruption mean it isn't expected to produce much ash.
Rescuers searching the hazardous slopes of Indonesia's Mount Marapi volcano have found 11 more bodies of climbers who were caught by a surprise weekend eruption, raising the number of confirmed dead to 22. Officials say one person remains missing. More than 50 climbers were rescued after the initial eruption Sunday. New eruptions on Monday and Tuesday spewed more hot ash into the air, reducing visibility and temporarily halting search and recovery operations. Officials say the missing climber was very close to the eruption site and is presumed dead. The rescuers are contending with bad weather and difficult terrain.
With last year's undersea volcano injecting massive amounts of water high into the atmosphere, scientists were bracing for a big Antarctica ozone hole this fall. But it didn't happen. Instead this year's ozone hole is about average size for the last 20 years, even a bit smaller than 2022's, according to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. From September to mid October, the ozone hole this year averaged 8.9 million square miles, which is the 16th largest since satellites started tracking it in 1979. It peaked this year at 10 million square miles, about the size of North America.
Scientists are trying to understand how some ancient buildings have lasted for centuries in hopes of making modern buildings more durable. Materials like Roman concrete and Maya plaster have held up structures for thousands of years. Meanwhile, the concrete that makes up our modern world only lasts about a century. Researchers have found that Roman engineers used methods and materials that gave their concrete the power to heal itself over time. And Maya masons added tree extracts to strengthen the lime plasters that coated their temples. Some researchers think uncovering this lost knowledge could help us build more sustainably for the future.
The alert level has been downgraded for a Hawaiian volcano that ranks as one of the world's most active. No infrastructure is being threatened and there's no threat of significant ash emission into the atmosphere outside a limited area within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The downgrade by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory comes one day after Kilauea began erupting again. In June, it erupted for several weeks, displaying fountains of red lava without threatening any communities or structures. Crowds flocked to the national park on the Big Island for safe views of the lava. The current eruption was confined to Kilauea caldera within the park. The observatory says it expects the eruption to remain confined to the summit region.
Today is Thursday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2023. There are 129 days left in the year.
A gentle eruption of the Philippines' most active volcano has forced nearly 18,000 people to flee to emergency shelters and may create a protracted crisis that could last for months. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. flew to northeastern Albay province on Wednesday to reassure villagers who were forced to evacuate from mostly poor farming communities within a 3.7-mile radius of the Mayon volcano's crater. The lava that started flowing from the volcano on Sunday night is the latest natural calamity to test the administration of Marcos, About 20 typhoons and storms last the Philipinees each year. The Southeast Asian nation also has 24 active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
The Philippines is evacuating residents near Mayon Volcano as its increasing unrest indicated a violent eruption is possible in weeks or days. The area within 3.7 miles of Mayon's crater is supposed to be off-limits, but people have built houses and tended farms in Mayon's danger zone anyway. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said an evacuation of residents from the permanent danger zone was underway. The number of people who were leaving wasn't immediately available. Authorities raised the alert level for the volcano Thursday after streams of gas, debris and rocks cascaded down its slope. Marcos said the volcanic activity had advanced a bit more Friday, although lava wasn't yet flowing.
