The Atmospheric Signature of the Japan Tsunami Could Help Develop a Space-Based Warning System
A Japanese Coastal Town After the March 11 Tsunami A space-based warning system could help ensure people aren't here when tsunamis strike. U.S. NavyThe tops of tsunamis glow red, it turns out Researchers from around the globe using data captured by a camera on a Hawaiian mountaintop, have photographically captured the dim red atmospheric glow caused by the March 11 tsunami issued by the Japan earthquake that devastated that country and traveled across the Pacific to do millions of dollars worth of damage elsewhere. The observation--the first of its kind--could be used to predict future tsunamis before they hit, saving countless lives. So how does a tsunami register in the atmosphere hundreds of miles above? On the ocean, tsunamis can move many hundreds of miles per hour, but until they get close to the shallows created by a landmass they alter the ocean very little, outwardly showing themselves as a wave just...