• News
    • Tech News
    • AI
  • Gadgets
    • Apple
    • iPhone
  • Gaming
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
  • Science
    • News
    • Space
  • Streaming
    • Netflix
  • Vehicles
    • Car News
  • Social Media
    • WhatsApp
    • YouTube
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
TikTok
Snapchat
WhatsApp
Submit Your Content
Scientists amazed after man makes shocking Google Earth discovery in the Australian outback

Home> News> Tech News

Published 11:51 22 Nov 2024 GMT

Scientists amazed after man makes shocking Google Earth discovery in the Australian outback

It's the last place you'd expect to find one of those

Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman

A Google Maps discovery has blown researchers away.

It's sometimes easy to forget how big the Australian outback is, but with it covering 70% of the Australian continent, and working out at 5.6 million square kilometers, it's over half the size of the entire United States.

Despite boasting a diverse ecosystem including red kangaroos, dingoes, and galahs, most of the outback gets little rain and finds its main source of income through the likes of tourism, agriculture, and mining. Still, fewer than 5% of Australia's population actually lives there.

As you can imagine, there are whole swathes of the outback that look pretty empty on Google Earth, which has made one man's discovery even more baffling.

Advert

In early 2024, a caver was looking at Google Earth images of Australia's Nullarbor Plain and was shocked to see a massive scar carved into the landscape.

It's not every day you see a tornado in the Australian outback (Severe Thunderstorm Archive/Australian Bureau of Meteorology)
It's not every day you see a tornado in the Australian outback (Severe Thunderstorm Archive/Australian Bureau of Meteorology)

Scientists were equally confused by what they saw, but eventually, decided a ferocious tornado had torn a hole in the outback without anyone knowing.

New research shared in the Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth Systems Science explains how this weather phenomenon would've likely gone unnoticed if not for the eagle-eyed caver, with scientists now able to use data to examine how tornadoes work and might move in the future.

Advert

Matej Lipar from the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University says that he and his colleagues mapped the scar which lies 20 km north of the Trans-Australian Railway and 90 km east-north-east of a former railway settlement known as Forrest. Comparing satellite imagery over several years, Lipar and the team deduced that the tornado occurred in 2022 between November 16 and November 18.

They then visited the area to take a closer look, determining the tornado scar is 11 km long and somewhere between 160 and 250 metres wide. It boasts the typical 'cycloidal marks' you'd expect from tornado suction vortexes, while it looks like it was a strong F2 or F3 category tornado that reached up to 200 km/h.

Australia is hit by up to 80 tornadoes a year (Abstract Aerial Art /Getty)
Australia is hit by up to 80 tornadoes a year (Abstract Aerial Art /Getty)

Adding that research like this gives researchers valuable insights into tornadoes in remote regions, Lipar says it emphasizes the importance of satellite imagery when looking at weather phenomena. He concluded: "And finally, the results are a stark reminder that extreme weather can strike anywhere, anytime."

Advert

Although tornadoes are typically associated with the Great Plains of America, they've been reported on every continent except Antarctica. This is far from the first tornado to strike Australia, with the first being reported all the way back in the Sydney suburbs in 1795. More recently, seven tornadoes were reported during a storm in September 2016, while a dangerous EF2 tornado claimed one person's life on the Gold Coast in 2023. It's actually predicted that Australia is hit by between 30 and 80 tornadoes every year, so keep your eyes out.

Featured Image Credit: Severe Thunderstorm Archive/Australian Bureau of Meteorology / Abstract Aerial Art /Getty
Science
Geography

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

7 hours ago
8 hours ago
  • 7 hours ago

    US deals with security breach as AI scammer impersonates Secretary of State Marco Rubio to foreign ministers

    The scammer was sending AI-generated voicemails

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Investor who sold revolutionary tech for 300 Bitcoin is worth a small fortune decade later

    He's been all in on Bitcoin since he was 12

    News
  • 7 hours ago

    Tragic story of once bustling California town left 90% destroyed by one small piece of metal

    The fire tragically claimed the lives of 85 people

    News
  • 8 hours ago

    Man branded 'dishonest and deceitful' fired after company discovered he was faking over 100 hours of work at home

    A warning to others who think they can slack off when working from home

    News
  • Scientists make stunning discovery at Easter Island thought to be one of the most isolated places on Earth
  • Man makes potentially 'major' discovery after noticing suspicious pit on Google Earth
  • Scientists warn hundreds of dormant volcanoes could be on the brink of violent eruption
  • People mind blown after seeing what 'the most crowded island on Earth’ looks like on Google Earth