Earth Watch Report – Wednesday August 29th, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
29.08.2012 08:50:29	4.4	Middle-America	El Salvador	Usulután	Puerto El Triunfo				EMSC
29.08.2012 08:21:04	4.4	Middle America	El Salvador	Usulután	Puerto El Triunfo				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 08:50:52	3.1	Europe	Romania		Paltin				EMSC
29.08.2012 07:30:23	2.1	North America	United States	Arizona	Cibola				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 07:45:25	3.3	Europe	Cyprus		Mathikoloni				EMSC
29.08.2012 05:50:36	2.1	North America	United States	California	Pearsonville				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 07:45:52	2.4	Asia	Turkey	Elaz??	Kovancilar				EMSC
29.08.2012 05:40:19	2.2	Europe	Portugal	Faro	Olhao				EMSC
29.08.2012 07:46:14	3.2	Europe	Cyprus	Paphos	Peyia				EMSC
29.08.2012 05:41:03	2.6	Europe	Portugal	Bragança	Mogadouro				EMSC
29.08.2012 04:00:23	2.3	North America	United States	California	Calipatria				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 03:40:22	3.3	North America	United States	California	Pearsonville				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 03:37:35	2.4	North America	United States	California	Jamul				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 03:35:26	3.1	Europe	Greece	Peloponnese	Koroni				EMSC
29.08.2012 03:35:47	2.0	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	San Prospero				EMSC
29.08.2012 03:20:51	2.3	North America	United States	California	Ponderosa				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 03:36:07	3.9	Asia	China	Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu	Kuqa				EMSC
29.08.2012 07:46:36	2.6	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Agios Ilias				EMSC
29.08.2012 03:41:13	3.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 03:36:32	2.9	Europe	Greece	Peloponnese	Marathopolis				EMSC
29.08.2012 02:30:25	2.1	Middle America	Mexico	Baja California	Progreso				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 02:00:30	2.3	North America	United States	California	Brawley				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 02:35:19	2.5	Europe	Serbia		Sjenica				EMSC
29.08.2012 01:25:26	2.8	North America	United States	California	Brawley				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 01:35:26	2.7	Europe	France	Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur	Antibes				EMSC
29.08.2012 01:35:44	4.5	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Saponara Villafranca				EMSC
29.08.2012 01:36:28	4.5	Europe	Italy	Calabria	Bovalino Superiore				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 01:00:31	2.4	North America	United States	California	Brawley				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 01:36:02	3.3	Europe	Greece	South Aegean	Adamas				EMSC
29.08.2012 00:50:37	2.8	North America	United States	New Mexico	Abeytas				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 02:05:58	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Karluk				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 00:25:32	4.4	South America	Colombia	Santander	Cepita				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 00:30:25	4.4	South-America	Colombia	Santander	Cepita				EMSC
29.08.2012 00:30:48	4.6	Middle-America	El Salvador	Usulután	Puerto El Triunfo				EMSC
29.08.2012 00:20:31	4.6	Middle America	El Salvador	Usulután	Puerto El Triunfo				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 00:05:42	2.5	North America	United States	California	Brawley				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 00:06:27	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	McCarthy				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 01:55:42	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Adak				USGS-RSOE
28.08.2012 23:40:43	2.3	North America	United States	California	Brawley				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 01:50:59	4.3	Middle America	El Salvador	Usulután	Puerto El Triunfo				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 02:35:45	4.3	Middle-America	El Salvador	Usulután	Puerto El Triunfo				EMSC
28.08.2012 23:25:43	2.1	North America	United States	California	Brawley				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 03:36:52	2.5	Europe	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Lokvine				EMSC
28.08.2012 23:30:24	2.3	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	San Prospero				EMSC
29.08.2012 06:40:21	2.3	Asia	Turkey	Kahramanmara?	Pazarcik				EMSC
28.08.2012 22:35:39	2.4	North America	United States	California	Ocotillo				USGS-RSOE
28.08.2012 22:36:00	3.3	North America	United States	California	Ponderosa				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 09:25:40	3.0	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		Road Town				USGS-RSOE
29.08.2012 06:40:57	2.0	Europe	Greece	South Aegean	Paloi				EMSC
28.08.2012 22:10:35	3.4	North America	United States	California	Ocotillo				USGS-RSOE

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Unusual earthquake swarm shakes Southern California

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES

(Reuters) – An unusual swarm of hundreds of mostly small earthquakes has struck Southern California over the last three days and shaken the nerves of quake-hardy residents, but scientists say the cluster is not a sign a larger temblor is imminent.

The earthquakes, the largest of which measured magnitude 5.5, began on Saturday evening and have been centered near the town of Brawley close to the state’s inland Salton Sea, said Jeanne Hardebeck, research seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Scientists were monitoring the earthquake cluster, which continued on Tuesday, to see if it approaches the Imperial Fault, about three miles away. A destructive and deadly earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck on that fault in 1940, she said.

“We don’t have any reason to believe that the (earthquake) storm is going to trigger on the Imperial Fault, but there’s a minute possibility that it could,” Hardebeck said, adding that the swarm of quakes was not moving closer to that fault.

The Brawley quake cluster, which is caused by hot fluid moving around in the Earth’s crust, is different than a typical earthquake, in which two blocks of earth slip past each other along a tectonic fault line.

After that kind of an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or above, there is a 5 percent chance a larger quake will follow, Hardebeck said. But she added the same kinds of probability estimates were not possible with earthquake clusters caused by the movement of hot fluid.

“We understand them even less than we understand normal earthquakes,” Hardebeck said, adding that scientists do not know why a cluster of earthquakes will occur at one time rather than another.

The swarm led to jangled nerves in Brawley, a town of about 25,000 residents 170 miles southeast of Los Angeles near the border with Mexico.

“It’s pretty bad. We had to evacuate the hotel just for safety,” Rowena Rapoza, office manager of a local Best Western Hotel, said on Sunday.

There were two earthquakes on Sunday afternoon, one with a 5.5 magnitude and one measuring 5.3, Hardebeck said. Those were the largest quakes in the cluster amid hundreds of others, she said.

In the past, earthquake clusters have gone on for as long as two weeks, Hardebeck said. Before this recent cluster in Brawley, the last swarm of this size to hit the area was in 1981, she said.

Earlier this month, a pair of moderate-sized earthquakes both registering a magnitude 4.5 struck the California town of Yorba Linda within 10 hours of each other, but no damage was reported. Yorba Linda, the birthplace of the late President Richard Nixon, is 145 miles northwest of Brawley.

(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Philip Barbara)

 Geothermal Region: Gulf of California Rift Zone

The Gulf of California rift zone is a complex transition zone between the dextral (right-lateral) motion of the San Andreas transform fault system and the northwestward progressing spreading ridge complex of the Gulf of California segment of the Eastern Pacific Rise. The Gulf of California and its onshore extension, the Salton Trough (which includes Mexicali, Imperial, and Coachella Valleys), are located over a series of rifts in the Earth’s crust which are filling with sediment from above, chiefly from the Colorado River, and magmatic material from below. The Cerro Prieto geothermal field in Mexico and the Brawley Seismic zone in the U.S. are located above two of these rifts, and young volcanoes in these locations are evidence of intrusion of magma from below.

The volcanics in this exploration region are less then 5-million year old and associated with northwest folding, block- and thrust- faulting. Dacite is the most common volcanic rock, with a composition that ranges from basalt to rhyolite. The volcanic activity appears to be related to extension associated with the San Andreas fault system. The most recent volcanic activity is dated to 10,000 years ago. The heat source for the Geysers geothermal field is provided by a silicic magama chamber. Clear Lake Volcanic Field, California^[1]
Assessment of Moderate- and High-Temperature Geothermal Resources of the United States^[2]

References

1. ↑  “Clear Lake Volcanic Field, California“
2. ↑  “Assessment of Moderate- and High-Temperature Geothermal Resources of the United States“

Geothermal Region Data
State	California
Estimated Region Area (km2)	24,178
USGS Resource Estimate for this Region
Identified mean MW	3,147.2
Undiscovered mean MW	147.1
Installed Capacity
Installed Capacity (MW)
Plants included in Installed Estimate
Planned Capacity
Total Planned Capacity (MW)	710
Plants Included in Planned Estimate	7
Plants with Unknown Planned Capacity	4

Earthquake swarm puts California town on edge

(AP)—Aftershocks continue to shake the Southern California desert a day after moderate earthquakes knocked farming town trailer homes off foundations and shattered windows in a swarm that scientists say could last for days. There are no injuries. The largest quake centered near Brawley was at a magnitude-5.5 at 1:57 p.m. Sunday and it was widely felt from San Diego to Arizona. About 90 minutes earlier, a magnitude-5.3 quake shook the region. By dawn Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey website shows there have been dozens of aftershocks in Imperial County, the largest a magniutude-4.9 at 9:41 p.m. Sunday. There was also a 3.0 at 12:32 a.m. Monday. There was cosmetic damage to several 1930s buildings in downtown Brawley and 20 mobile homes were knocked off their foundations and deemed uninhabitable.

29.08.2012

Earthquake

USA

State of California, [Imperial County]

Earthquake in USA on Monday, 27 August, 2012 at 03:20 (03:20 AM) UTC.

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Updated:	Tuesday, 28 August, 2012 at 12:17 UTC
Description
Hundreds of earthquakes have rattled Imperial County since Sunday morning as an earthquake swarm continued. But experts say the swarm does not necessarily indicates a larger temblor is on the way. Certainly, the weekend’s quakes were troubling for Imperial County, which is located in one of California’s most earthquake prone regions. More than 400 earthquakes have been detected since Saturday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. One local family felt 15 quakes in 21/2 hours. But for all the ground movement, experts said there is no evidence the earthquake swarms were a precursor to much larger quakes on longer, more dangerous faults. And scientists don’t see any immediate signs of added pressure to the San Andreas fault, which is not far from the location of the earthquake swarm. That makes this weekend’s swarm different than what occurred after the 2010 Easter Sunday quake that shook up the California-Mexico border. The 7.2 quake appeared to have directed tectonic stress northward, toward populated areas in Southern California. Three months after the Mexicali quake, a 5.4 quake that centered south of Palm Springs rattled the region.Scientists said the Easter Sunday quake and its aftershocks triggered movement on at least six faults, including the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults, which run close to heavily populated areas in eastern Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire. For now, there is no evidence that this weekend’s swarm will trigger quakes elsewhere, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones said. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported from the weekend’s swarm, but the shaking was sharp enough to postpone what was to be the first day of the school year in Brawley. Local officials reported 20 mobile homes shifted from their foundations and cosmetic damage to downtown buildings in this city of 25,000. The swarming of earthquakes has occurred before in this largely agricultural, desert region near the Mexican border. The so-called Brawley seismic zone, about 100 miles east of San Diego, has endured earthquake swarms in the 1930s, ’60s, and ’70s, but was quiet between 1981 to 2000, according to a report on the Southern California Seismic Network. In fact, some swarms in the ’60s and ’70s included “many thousands” of earthquakes, but the largest quakes during those sequences topped out at a magnitude 5. “Swarms are fairly typical for this region,” U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Elizabeth Cochran said. The last significant swarm occurred in 2005, when the largest quake was a 5.1. After a few days of quakes, the shaking tapered off. Before this weekend’s swarm, in which the top magnitudes were a 5.5 and 5.3 on Sunday, the most powerful swarm to hit the region was in 1981, when the most powerful quake reached 5.8. There are a couple of reasons the Brawley seismic zone is prone to earthquake swarms. The area is at the crossroads between two different types of faults, Cochran said. To the region’s northwest is the more familiar type of fault, where the Pacific Plate grinds past the North American plate, with one plate moving northwest and the other southeast. But south of the border, the two plates are seeking to pull away from each other. (That movement is what created the Gulf of California, which separates Baja California from the rest of Mexico, Cochran said.) Sitting at the crossroads of the different types of faults makes the area particularly volatile, Cochran said. Another reason is the relative thinness of the Earth’s crust in that region, which allows naturally occurring heat from subterranean rock to rise closer to the surface, increasing instability. By Monday, the swarm appeared to be decreasing in frequency, Cochran said, although she didn’t rule out the pace picking up again. Previous earthquake swarms have gone on for days.

Earthquake in USA on Monday, 27 August, 2012 at 03:20 (03:20 AM) UTC.

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Updated:	Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 03:10 UTC
Description
An unusual swarm of hundreds of mostly small earthquakes has struck Southern California over the last three days and shaken the nerves of quake-hardy residents, but scientists say the cluster is not a sign a larger temblor is imminent. The earthquakes, the largest of which measured magnitude 5.5, began on Saturday evening and have been centered near the town of Brawley close to the state’s inland Salton Sea, said Jeanne Hardebeck, research seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. Scientists were monitoring the earthquake cluster, which continued on Tuesday, to see if it approaches the Imperial Fault, about three miles away. A destructive and deadly earthquake of magnitude 7.0 struck on that fault in 1940, she said. “We don’t have any reason to believe that the (earthquake) storm is going to trigger on the Imperial Fault, but there’s a minute possibility that it could,” Hardebeck said, adding that the swarm of quakes was not moving closer to that fault.The Brawley quake cluster, which is caused by hot fluid moving around in the Earth’s crust, is different than a typical earthquake, in which two blocks of earth slip past each other along a tectonic fault line. After that kind of an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or above, there is a 5 percent chance a larger quake will follow, Hardebeck said. But she added the same kinds of probability estimates were not possible with earthquake clusters caused by the movement of hot fluid. “We understand them even less than we understand normal earthquakes,” Hardebeck said, adding that scientists do not know why a cluster of earthquakes will occur at one time rather than another. The swarm led to jangled nerves in Brawley, a town of about 25,000 residents 170 miles southeast of Los Angeles near the border with Mexico. “It’s pretty bad. We had to evacuate the hotel just for safety,” Rowena Rapoza, office manager of a local Best Western Hotel, said on Sunday. There were two earthquakes on Sunday afternoon, one with a 5.5 magnitude and one measuring 5.3, Hardebeck said. Those were the largest quakes in the cluster amid hundreds of others, she said. In the past, earthquake clusters have gone on for as long as two weeks, Hardebeck said. Before this recent cluster in Brawley, the last swarm of this size to hit the area was in 1981, she said. Earlier this month, a pair of moderate-sized earthquakes both registering a magnitude 4.5 struck the California town of Yorba Linda within 10 hours of each other, but no damage was reported. Yorba Linda, the birthplace of the late President Richard Nixon, is 145 miles northwest of Brawley.

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Volcanic Activity

Peru’s El Misti Volcano is active, says IGP

El Misti (Photo: El Comercio/Archive)

By Manuel Vigo

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Peruvian geologists have revealed that recent activity at El Misti signal that the volcano is active.

Last Thursday researchers at the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) found that El Misti – located 17km outside the city of Arequipa – had recently recorded the highest amount of seismic activity than in the past five years.

Engineer Orlando Macedo told El Comercio that 224 earthquakes were registered at El Misti – an event known as an earthquake swarm – and which signaled that the volcano was no longer dormant.

El Misti, he said, experienced 143 volcano tectonic earthquakes, which were caused by the fracture of rock inside the volcano, due to sudden changes in pressure and temperature.

Despite the recent increase in activity, the IGP said there were still no conditions for an eruption to occur at El Misti, which last erupted sometime between 1450 and 1470.

For an eruption to happen, Macedo said, El Misti would have to experience continued earthquakes, which “would have to occur after long-term movements of magma, and causing these earthquakes known as tremors, with lava.”

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Storms / Flooding / Tornado

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Tembin (15W)	Pacific Ocean	19.08.2012	29.08.2012	Tropical Depression	10 °	83 km/h	102 km/h	5.79 m	JTWC

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 5 Storm name: Tembin (15W) Area: Pacific Ocean Start up location: N 17° 42.000, E 124° 36.000 Start up: 19th August 2012 Status: Active Track long: 698.75 km Top category.: Report by: JTWC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 19th Aug 2012 05:28:29 N 17° 42.000, E 124° 36.000 9 56 74 Tropical Depression 190 11 JTWC 19th Aug 2012 10:11:34 N 17° 30.000, E 124° 48.000 6 83 102 Tropical Storm 135 9 JTWC 20th Aug 2012 05:16:05 N 18° 0.000, E 124° 48.000 6 139 167 Typhoon I. 360 9 JTWC 21st Aug 2012 04:48:23 N 20° 12.000, E 125° 18.000 13 213 259 Typhoon IV. 360 15 JTWC 22nd Aug 2012 10:16:00 N 22° 30.000, E 124° 12.000 9 167 204 Typhoon II. 310 15 JTWC 23rd Aug 2012 04:49:56 N 22° 30.000, E 123° 36.000 4 204 232 Typhoon III. 270 9 JTWC 24th Aug 2012 05:23:44 N 22° 6.000, E 120° 30.000 19 185 232 Typhoon III. 245 19 JTWC 24th Aug 2012 10:05:02 N 22° 18.000, E 119° 48.000 13 111 139 Tropical Storm 285 17 JTWC 25th Aug 2012 05:19:01 N 22° 24.000, E 118° 6.000 13 139 167 Typhoon I. 260 17 JTWC 26th Aug 2012 05:24:20 N 21° 0.000, E 116° 54.000 7 157 194 Typhoon II. 155 14 JTWC 27th Aug 2012 04:54:48 N 20° 18.000, E 117° 36.000 11 157 194 Typhoon II. 125 19 JTWC 28th Aug 2012 04:53:36 N 23° 0.000, E 121° 54.000 28 102 130 Tropical Storm 35 19 JTWC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 29th Aug 2012 04:47:41 N 27° 48.000, E 124° 0.000 22 83 102 Tropical Depression 10 ° 19 JTWC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 30th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 38° 6.000, E 128° 18.000 Tropical Depression 65 83 JTWC 30th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 34° 36.000, E 125° 42.000 Tropical Depression 74 93 JTWC 31st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 41° 42.000, E 131° 24.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 JTWC

Isaac (AL09)

Atlantic Ocean

21.08.2012

29.08.2012

Hurricane II

310 °

130 km/h

157 km/h

5.18 m

NOAA NHC

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 19 Storm name: Isaac (AL09) Area: Atlantic Ocean Start up location: N 15° 12.000, W 51° 12.000 Start up: 21st August 2012 Status: Active Track long: 2,622.76 km Top category.: Report by: NOAA NHC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 22nd Aug 2012 04:54:04 N 15° 36.000, W 55° 36.000 30 65 83 Tropical Storm 275 16 1006 MB NOAA NHC 23rd Aug 2012 05:06:43 N 15° 48.000, W 63° 0.000 31 74 93 Tropical Storm 270 22 1003 MB NOAA NHC 24th Aug 2012 05:17:31 N 16° 42.000, W 68° 42.000 28 74 93 Tropical Storm 290 19 1001 MB NOAA NHC 25th Aug 2012 05:21:33 N 17° 42.000, W 72° 30.000 22 111 139 Tropical Storm 310 15 990 MB NOAA NHC 26th Aug 2012 06:01:20 N 22° 6.000, W 77° 12.000 28 93 111 Tropical Storm 305 19 997 MB NOAA NHC 27th Aug 2012 04:49:08 N 24° 12.000, W 82° 54.000 22 102 120 Tropical Storm 285 19 993 MB NOAA NHC 28th Aug 2012 05:00:18 N 27° 6.000, W 87° 0.000 17 111 139 Tropical Storm 310 19 310 MB NOAA NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 29th Aug 2012 04:56:03 N 29° 0.000, W 89° 42.000 13 130 157 Hurricane II 310 ° 17 968 MB NOAA NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 30th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 31° 30.000, W 92° 18.000 Tropical Depression 65 83 NOAA NHC 30th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 30° 18.000, W 91° 24.000 Hurricane I 102 120 NOAA NHC 31st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 33° 12.000, W 93° 12.000 Tropical Depression 46 65 NOAA NHC 01st Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 37° 0.000, W 94° 0.000 Tropical Depression 37 56 NOAA NHC 02nd Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 40° 0.000, W 91° 30.000 Tropical Depression 28 37 NOAA NHC 03rd Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 41° 30.000, W 86° 30.000 Tropical Depression 28 37 NOAA NHC

Ileana (EP09)

Pacific Ocean – East

28.08.2012

29.08.2012

Tropical Depression

305 °

93 km/h

111 km/h

3.35 m

NOAA NHC

 Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 3 Storm name: Ileana (EP09) Area: Pacific Ocean – East Start up location: N 15° 30.000, W 107° 42.000 Start up: 28th August 2012 Status: Active Track long: 248.14 km Top category.: Report by: NOAA NHC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 28th Aug 2012 04:45:33 N 15° 30.000, W 107° 42.000 19 74 93 Tropical Storm 290 15 1000 MB NOAA NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 29th Aug 2012 04:37:35 N 17° 0.000, W 111° 6.000 17 93 111 Tropical Depression 305 ° 11 997 MB NOAA NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 30th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 19° 36.000, W 114° 12.000 Hurricane I 120 148 NOAA NHC 30th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 18° 42.000, W 113° 12.000 Hurricane I 111 139 NOAA NHC 31st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 20° 18.000, W 115° 6.000 Hurricane I 120 148 NOAA NHC 01st Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 21° 30.000, W 117° 18.000 Hurricane I 102 120 NOAA NHC 02nd Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 22° 12.000, W 120° 18.000 Tropical Depression 65 83 NOAA NHC 03rd Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 22° 30.000, W 124° 0.000 Tropical Depression 46 65 NOAA NHC

Kirk (AL02)

Atlantic Ocean

29.08.2012

29.08.2012

Tropical Depression

280 °

74 km/h

93 km/h

4.57 m

NOAA NHC

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 1 Storm name: Kirk (AL02) Area: Atlantic Ocean Start up location: N 23° 54.000, W 45° 0.000 Start up: 29th August 2012 Status: Active Track long: 0.00 km Top category.: Report by: NOAA NHC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 29th Aug 2012 04:44:17 N 23° 54.000, W 45° 0.000 19 74 93 Tropical Depression 280 ° 15 1007 MB NOAA NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 30th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 25° 0.000, W 50° 54.000 Hurricane I 102 120 NOAA NHC 30th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 24° 30.000, W 48° 36.000 Tropical Depression 93 111 NOAA NHC 31st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 26° 0.000, W 52° 54.000 Hurricane I 102 120 NOAA NHC 01st Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 29° 0.000, W 55° 18.000 Hurricane I 102 120 NOAA NHC 02nd Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 34° 48.000, W 52° 54.000 Hurricane I 102 120 NOAA NHC 03rd Sep 2012 00:00:00 N 42° 18.000, W 44° 54.000 Hurricane I 102 120 NOAA NHC

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NASA infrared time series of Tropical Storm Isaac shows consolidation 

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NASA infrared time series of Tropical Storm Isaac shows consolidation Enlarge The AIRS instrument onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite has been monitoring Tropical Storm Isaac for several days. Shown here are AIRS data from Aug. 24 and 25 (top left and right) and Aug. 26 and 27 (bottom left and right). AIRS has been providing infrared data about cloud temperatures, and sea surface temperatures around the storm. Credit: Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument is an infrared “eye” that flies onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. AIRS has been providing the National Hurricane Center with valuable temperature data on Isaac’s clouds and the surrounding sea surface temperatures, and a time series of data shows that Isaac is consolidating. Ads by Google FLIR® Infrared Cameras – 12 Things To Know Before Buying An Infrared Camera. Read It Now! – FLIR.com/Learn-More The AIRS instrument has been monitoring Tropical Storm Isaac for several days. AIRS data from Aug. 24, 25, 26 and 27 showed Isaac’s movements through the eastern and central Caribbean Sea, across eastern Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico. On Aug. 24, Isaac’s strongest convection (rising air that forms the thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone) appeared all around the center, except in the western quadrant of the storm. On Aug. 25, when Isaac was affecting Haiti, it appeared more disorganized, and the strongest storms extended from southwestern Haiti into the central Caribbean Sea. On Aug. 26, AIRS data showed the area of strong convection had increased and the largest area was over the Florida Keys, with bands of strong thunderstorms extending over southeastern Florida and the Bahamas. On Aug. 27, Isaac’s center of circulation appeared more rounded on AIRS imagery, indicating the circulation center was becoming more organized. Southeasterly wind shear and the larger than average wind radii, and entrance of some dry air had been keeping Isaac from strengthening more quickly today, Aug. 27. That wind shear is the result of an upper-level low pressure area that lies southwest of Tropical Storm Isaac. As that low moves away and the wind shear lessens, Isaac will have more ability to strengthen. Where is Isaac on Aug. 27? NASA infrared time series of Tropical Storm Isaac shows consolidation Enlarge NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Isaac on Aug. 26 at 18:15 UTC (2:15 pm EDT) when it was over Florida and Cuba and the MODIS instrument captured this visible image of the storm. Credit: Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team At 11 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) on Monday, Aug. 27, Isaac was a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kmh). Isaac is expected to become a hurricane in the next day or two over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. When Isaac reaches maximum sustained winds of 74 mph, it will be classified as a category one hurricane. Isaac’s cloud extent is about 480 miles in diameter, as tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 240 miles (390 km) from the center. Ads by Google Doppler Weather Forecast – Upto-the-Minute Radar Maps Plus Forecasts & Advisories in Your Area – http://www.WeatherBlink.com Tropical Storm Isaac was located about 250 miles (400 km) south of Apalachicola, Fla. and about 310 miles (500 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. That puts Isaac’s center near latitude 25.7 north and longitude 84.7 west. Isaac is moving toward the west-northwest near 14 mph (22 kmh) and the tropical storm is expected to continue on that track, but slow down before turning to the northwest on Tuesday, Aug. 28. The National Hurricane Center expects Isaac to move over the eastern Gulf of Mexico later today, Aug. 27 and approach the northern Gulf coast in the hurricane warning area on Tuesday, Aug. 28. An animation of satellite observations from Aug. 25-27, 2012, shows Tropical Storm Isaac moving past Cuba and the Florida Keys and into the eastern Gulf of Mexico. This visualization was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., using observations from NOAA’s GOES-13 satellite. Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project Hurricane Warnings and Watches A Hurricane Warning is in effect from east of Morgan City, Louisiana to Destin, Fla., including metropolitan New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Intracoastal City to Morgan City, Louisiana. Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Florida Peninsula from Ocean Reef Southward on the east coast and from Tarpon Springs southward on the west coast; the Florida Keys including the Dry Tortugas and Florida Bay; east of Destin, Fla. to the Suwannee River; and Intracoastal City to Morgan City, Louisiana. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for east of Sabine Pass to west of Intracoastal City, La. Heavy rainfall, gusty winds, isolated tornadoes and dangerous surf can be expected along Isaac’s path. For updates on local effects, go the National Hurricane Center website (www.nhc.noaa.gov).

Today

Tropical Storm

USA

State of Louisiana, [Southern Region]

Tropical Storm in USA on Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 07:29 (07:29 AM) UTC.

Description

Nearly 100,000 homes and businesses lost power after Hurricane Isaac landed in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana later Tuesday, local media reported. And among the homes and businesses being left without power, near half are in Orleans Parish, the reports said. Utility companies in the southwestern U.S. state on Tuesday morning started bringing in extra crews to help restore power in case strong winds bring down power lines. New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu warned residents about the dangers of approaching downed power lines. “These are serious threats, as I have said many times, which can cause fatalities,” Landrieu said. State authorities have mobilized more than 4,100 troops, with 680 of them in Orleans Parish. A further 35,000 troops and almost 100 aircraft are available for mobilization, according to reports on the website of NOLA.com. The troops are assisting with the setting up of evacuation shelters, including a “mega-shelter” with about 2,500 cots in the inland city of Alexandria. Some 300 soldiers will work as bus drivers in Metairie, supporting the state departments of transportation and education. At a press conference on Tuesday, Luisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said the State National Guard posted 23 liaison teams with local governments, adding that 13 communications teams will deployed in the region, along with 921 security vehicles, 531 high-water vehicles, 40 aircraft and 74 boats.

………………………………………

Oil Rigs Evacuated as Isaac Heads Into Gulf

Associated Press

Watch Video Here

The yellow dots represent the location of all of the oil rigs in the northwest Gulf of Mexico.

Oil companies scrambled out of the path of Tropical Storm Isaac, withdrawing offshore workers and cutting oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

By mid-day Sunday, the U.S. government said that daily oil production in the Gulf was down 24 percent and natural gas production was off 8 percent.

Isaac, already carrying winds of more than 60 miles an hour, was expected to cross the Florida Keys by late afternoon. The storm will likely pick up strength from the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and strike somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle between late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

(MORE: Isaac’s Rain, Winds Lash South Florida)

Noting that the storm was moving west and threatening to grow more powerful, energy giant BP evacuated all its installations and temporarily halted production in the Gulf Sunday. Earlier, it had pulled workers from its massive Thunder Horse platform in the eastern Gulf.

Royal Dutch Shell is withdrawing all workers and suspending production in the eastern Gulf. It is pulling out all but essential personnel and cutting production in the central Gulf.

Apache Corp., a Houston oil services company, is withdrawing 750 workers and contractors from its installations in the eastern Gulf. It is also cutting production of oil and natural gas. Other energy companies have also been evacuating their platforms and rigs in the Gulf.

Murphy Oil Corp., based in El Dorado, Ark., said Sunday that it is pulling out all workers and suspending operations in the Gulf.

Overall, oil companies pulled workers off 39 (7 percent) of 596 production platforms and eight (11 percent) of 76 Gulf oil rigs, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported Sunday.

(MORE: Isaac Threat Looms Large for New Orleans)

Former energy trader Stephen Schork, who now edits a report on the oil industry, worries that the storm will be a repeat of Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Gustav in 208, damaging Gulf refineries and pipelines and disrupting oil tanker traffic.

But Fadel Gheit, oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., says that the explosion that rocked an oil refinery in Venezuela on Saturday, killing 26 people, will likely have a bigger impact than Isaac. It could drive up gasoline prices and “further erode consumer confidence and derail (the) economic recovery.”

29.08.2012

Tropical Storm

Haiti

[Statewide]

Tropical Storm in Haiti on Sunday, 26 August, 2012 at 08:31 (08:31 AM) UTC.

Description

Tropical Storm Isaac, back over warm ocean waters, lashed Cuba with winds and rain as it swept toward the Florida Keys, where it was expected to strike on Sunday as a minor hurricane. The storm left six dead in Haiti, still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, and at least three missing in the Dominican Republic after battering their shared island of Hispaniola on Saturday.

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NASA sees Typhoon Bolaven dwarf Typhoon Tembin

The AIRS instrument onboard NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this infrared image of Typhoon Tembin southwest of Taiwan and Typhoon Bolaven entering the Yellow Sea on Aug. 26. AIRS has been providing infrared data about cloud temperatures, and sea surface temperatures around the storm. The purple areas indicate the highest, coldest cloud top temperatures. Credit: Credit: NASA JPL, Ed Olsen NASA satellites are providing imagery and data on Typhoon Tembin southwest of Taiwan, and Typhoon Bolaven is it barrels northwest through the Yellow Sea. In a stunning image from NASA’s Aqua satellite, Bolaven appears twice as large as Tembin.

NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies onboard the Terra satellite captured a remarkable image of Typhoon Tembin being dwarfed by giant Typhoon Bolaven at 0240 UTC on Aug. 27, 2012. The visible image shows that the island of Taiwan appears to be squeezed between the two typhoons, while the northeastern arm of Typhoon Tembin’s clouds extend over the southern half of Taiwan and sweep over Luzon, the Philippines, where it is better known as Typhoon Igme. Bolaven appears to be twice as large as Typhoon Tembin and has a visible eye. Tembin’s eye appears obscured by high clouds in satellite imagery. Typhoon Bolaven recently passed over Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan as it moves northwestward into the Yellow Sea for a final landfall later this week in North Korea. Clouds from Bolaven’s northeastern quadrant were blanketing Japan’s island of Kyushu, which is the southwestern most island of the four main islands of Japan. The Yellow Sea is an arm of the North Pacific of the East China Sea, and it is situated between China and Korea. On Aug. 26, NASA’s Aqua satellite captured both storms in one infrared image. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument captured an infrared image of Typhoon Tembin southwest of Taiwan and Typhoon Bolaven entering the Yellow Sea. AIRS has been providing infrared data about cloud temperatures, and sea surface temperatures around the storm. Both storms had large areas of very cold clout top temperatures that exceeded -63F/-52C) indicating strong uplift in each storm. At the time of the image, Bolaven was moving over the Ryukyu Islands. They are a chain of islands owned by Japan that stretch southwest from Kyushu, Japan to Taiwan.

On Aug. 27, infrared imagery from NASA’s Aqua satellite showed that Bolaven maintained tightly-curved banding of thunderstorms that were wrapping into a well-defined and large low-level circulation center. The center of circulation is as large as 550 nautical miles in diameter! NASA sees Typhoon Bolaven dwarf Typhoon Tembin Enlarge NASA’s MODIS instrument that flies onboard the Terra satellite captured this remarkable image of Typhoon Tembin (lower left) being dwarfed by giant Typhoon Bolaven (top right)in the Philippine Sea at 0240 UTC on Aug. 27, 2012. Credit: Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team Typhoon Bolaven in the Yellow Sea On Aug. 27, 2012, Typhoon Bolaven was moving through the Yellow Sea. Its maximum sustained winds were down to 70 knots (80.5 mph/129.6 kmh). Bolaven was located approximately 380 nautical miles (437.3 miles/703.8 km) south-southwest of Seoul, South Korea, near 32.2 North and 125.0 East. The typhoon is moving to the north-northwestward at 16 knots (18.4 mph/29.6 kmh) and creating high seas of 43 feet (13.1 meters). Bolaven is expected to weaken as it moves into cooler waters in the Yellow Sea. It is also expected to run into stronger wind shear. Bolaven is expected to make landfall in southwestern North Korea on Aug. 28. Typhoon Tembin Ready to Move North Typhoon Tembin completed its cyclonic loop south of Taiwan, and is now poised to move northeast and pass Taiwan on its journey behind Bolaven, into the Yellow Sea. On Aug. 27 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), Tembin had maximum sustained winds near 65 knots (75 mph/120.4 kmh) making it a minimal typhoon. It was located about 240 nautical (276 miles/444.5 km) miles south-southwest of Taipei, Taiwan near 21.6 North and 120.4 East. It was moving to the east-northeast near 14 knots (16.1 mph/26 kmh). AIRS infrared data showed that Tembin showed an eye covered by central dense overcast, as correlated by the MODIS visible imagery. Tembin is expected to move north past Taiwan over the next couple of days, and track through the Yellow Sea. Tembin’s final resting place will be a landfall in southeastern China, near the North Korea border by the weekend. Provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center search and more info website

Today

Flash Flood

Pakistan

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) , [Sudhanoti district]

Flash Flood in Pakistan on Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 06:17 (06:17 AM) UTC.

Description

At least 18 people, including eight women, are feared dead, while nine others were injured, after a passenger bus was swept away in a flash flood in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Tuesday. “Nine bodies have so far been recovered, while nine people have been rescued, from the sharp currents of Nullah Sair in the mountainous Sudhanoti district of AJK”, said the district police chief Sajaad Hussain. “The bus, with at least 27 passengers on board, was on its way from Palandri town to Anjaal Kot town when it was swept away in the seasonal nullah which had overflowed its banks,” said Shoukat Tabassam, a local resident and an eyewitness. Flash floods have become more frequent following a spell of heavy late monsoon rains in the northern areas. “Nine people, including three women and a child, were rescued and rushed to district hospital Palandri,” Tabassam said, adding their condition is stated to be out of danger. The deceased, whose bodies have been recovered, are all residents of Anjaal Kot town. Search for the remaining passengers continued till the filing of this report. The wreckage of the private passenger bus could not be recovered from the nullah till late Tuesday night.

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10 killed/20.000 displaced in Nigeria flood

 

Abuja,   :  At least 10 people were killed and 20,000 displaced when waters from a dam in Cameroon flooded some parts of the Adamawa state in Nigeria over the weekend.

State Emergency Management Agency official Shadrach Daniel Baruk said the flood was made more intense by heavy rainfall.

”Farmlands numbering thousands of hectares and cattle ranches were also inundated in the region which is mostly rural,” he said, adding that many persons were still missing.

Baruk said more than 40 villages were swept away by the flooding even as some houses were also destroyed.

He said that authorities in Cameroon had warned Nigerians living near Benue River to vacate the place because of the impending flooding but they refused.

Flooding is very common in Nigeria during rainy season and this year four persons were killed after a heavy downpour in Niger state. Another flood in central city of Jos left 68
people dead.

Nigeria has two seasons; dry and rainy.

Last July, torrential rain and flooding that hit Lagos led to more than 20 deaths, even as 2,000 persons were displaced.

Then, heavy downpour in the Island city of 15 million people triggered the overflow of canals with water pouring into residential areas and major roads.

Eleven of the dead were children who drowned in the ensuing flood as the victims could not distinguish between the roads and drainage channels.

Suspected tornado hits Vero Beach, Florida

Two residents walk among the damaged houses, suspected to be caused by a tornado in Vero Beach, Florida, the United States. The suspected tornado is believed to be caused by Tropical Storm Isaac. (Xinhua/Marcus DiPaola)

Today

Tornado

USA

State of Alabama, Gainestown

Tornado in USA on Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 03:11 (03:11 AM) UTC.

Description

A tornado spawned by Hurricane Isaac touched down in the Gainestown area of Clarke County about 50 miles north of Mobile. Clarke County Sheriff Ray Norris said the small tornado touched down Tuesday afternoon. Norris said it did not cause any injuries and deputies could not find any structures that were damaged. He said the tornado knocked down some trees and power poles. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley mentioned the tornado at a news conference when he was talking about some of the early effects of Isaac on Alabama as the storm approached the Gulf coast. The governor also said there had been some flooding along coastal roads in Baldwin and Mobile counties. He said power had been lost on Dauphin Island south of Mobile.

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Epidemic Hazards / Diseases

2nd death from hantavirus in Yosemite

Erin Allday

• 

  In this photo from Sunday Oct. 23, 2011, tents are seen in Curry Village in Yosemite National Park, Calif. 2 people have died after contracting the rare rodent-borne hantavirus that might have been linked to their stay at this popular lodging area in Yosemite, officials said.

  Photo: Ben Margot / AP

Another visitor to Yosemite National Park this summer who contracted the hantavirus while staying in the popular Curry Village has died, park officials said Monday.

That makes three confirmed cases, including two deaths. A fourth case, also reported Monday, is being investigated.

All four visitors stayed in Curry Village, a collection of tents and cabins at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley, over a one-week period in mid-June. Park officials are now contacting everyone who has stayed in the tent cabins since mid-June to warn them about the virus and advise them to seek medical attention if they have any symptoms of infection.

“This is being taken very seriously,” said park spokesman Scott Gediman. “We’ve been able to isolate the cabin area, we’ve done the thorough cleaning, we’re monitoring the area, we’re trapping mice and testing them. We’re making sure the cabins are shored up. We’re being very active, and we have been since the cases came to light.”

Hantavirus is a rare viral infection carried by mice and passed to humans by the rodents’ feces or urine. Most people infected with the virus suffer flu-like symptoms first, including fever, headache and muscle pains, often in the thighs, back and hips. After two to seven days, many patients have severe difficulty breathing and can die.

No cure available

Patients may not develop symptoms until one to six weeks after exposure. There is no cure or virus-specific treatment for hantavirus.

The first victim reported was a 37-year-old Alameda County man who died in late July. The second victim was a woman from Southern California who survived the infection. The third victim is a man who lives in another state and also died in July.

No immediate information was available on the fourth victim, who is expected to survive. Public health officials are waiting for lab tests to confirm that the fourth victim has hantavirus, but given the symptoms it’s likely that patient also contracted the virus in Yosemite, Gediman said.

Difficult to diagnose

Public health officials aren’t expecting to find more cases of hantavirus, but since it’s a rare disease that can be difficult to diagnose, it’s possible other victims may still be found, Gediman said. The two newest cases were reported to California public health officials only last weekend, although both victims had been symptomatic for weeks.

All four of the victims stayed in Curry Village’s “signature tent cabins” over a one-week period in mid-June. Curry Village has 408 tent cabins with wood frames and canvas sides; 91 of those cabins are higher-end, with more insulation and other amenities.

Gediman said contractors are currently making improvements to all of the signature cabins, including replacing the insulation and checking carefully for areas where mice could get into the structures.

“They’re doing everything they can to eliminate areas where mice can get into the cabins,” Gediman said. “This was never because the cabins were dirty, it was never because we didn’t take care of them. This is just because approximately 20 percent of all deer mice are infected with hantavirus. And they’re here in Yosemite Valley.”

Spread by deer mice

Hantavirus is spread primarily via deer mice, which generally live at higher elevations and, in California, are most common in the eastern Sierra. Lab tests taken after the first two victims fell ill confirmed that the hantavirus was present in fecal matter from mice trapped near Curry Village.

These four cases are the first ever to be reported from Yosemite Valley, although the national park has had two cases in past years, both in visitors to the higher-elevation Tuolumne Meadows.

There have been about 60 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome reported in California since the virus was identified in the United States in 1993. About a third of those patients died.

Hantavirus

How it’s caught: Mice carry the viral infection and pass it to humans through their feces or urine.

Effects on patients: People infected with the virus may suffer flu-like symptoms, including fever, headache and muscle pains, often in the thighs, back and hips. After two to seven days, many patients have severe difficulty breathing. Death is possible.

To learn more: Anyone with questions about hantavirus at Yosemite National Park can call (209) 372-0822.

Erin Allday is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: eallday@sfchronicle.com

28.08.2012

Epidemic Hazard

Cuba

Multiple areas, [Manzanillo (Departmento de Granma), Capital City, Havanna]

Epidemic Hazard in Cuba on Tuesday, 03 July, 2012 at 03:06 (03:06 AM) UTC.

Back

Updated:	Tuesday, 28 August, 2012 at 14:23 UTC
Description
Cuba says a cholera outbreak on the island has run its course with more than 10 days since the last confirmed case of the infectious disease. A notice from the Health Ministry gives a final toll of 417 people sickened and three dead. It blames heavy rains and high temperatures this year for raising the risk of diarrheic diseases. The notice says the outbreak originated in contaminated water systems in the eastern city of Manzanillo, Granma province. Cases elsewhere in Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Havana were detected in people who had traveled from Manzanillo. The Health Ministry’s bulletin says ‘‘the outbreak is over,’’ but authorities remain vigilant.

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Climate Change

Arctic Sea Ice Drops below 2007 Record

acquired August 26, 2012

On August 26, 2012, the extent of Arctic water covered by sea ice fell below 4.17 million square kilometers (1.61 million square miles), the record minimum set in 2007. Arctic sea ice stood at 4.10 million square kilometers (1.58 million square miles), the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and NASA reported on August 27.

This image was made from observations collected by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) on the satellites of the U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. Sea ice appears in shades of white and light blue, with white indicating the greatest concentrations of ice. Open ocean water is blue, and land is gray. The yellow outline shows the median minimum ice extent for 1979-2000—in other words, areas that were at least 15 percent ice-covered in at least half the years between 1979 and 2000—on August 26.

In April 2012, Arctic sea ice reached a near-average extent, but periods of intense ice loss in June and August 2012 helped push Arctic sea ice below the previous record from 2007. In 2007, high pressure over the Beaufort Sea and low pressure over northeastern Eurasia pulled in warm winds, which melted the ice and pushed it away from the Siberian and Alaskan coastlines. Although these pressure patterns also occurred in 2012, they were much less persistent. Nonetheless sea ice melt rates still reached up to 150,000 square kilometers (57,900 square miles) per day in 2012, more that twice the long-term rate.

By early July, Arctic sea ice melting was three weeks ahead of schedule, but then slowed somewhat. Ice loss rates picked up again in early August, “probably the highest in the record for that period,” according to NSIDC staff scientist Walt Meier. Because the old record has been passed in August 2012—and Arctic sea ice generally reaches its lowest annual extent in September—it is likely that the amount of ice cover may continue to shrink. NSIDC provides an overview of melt rates in its Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis blog.

Arctic sea ice reached previous record lows in 2002, 2005, and 2007. (The 2007 record low was previously recorded as 4.13 million square kilometers, or 1.59 million square miles. Slightly different processing and quality-control procedures used by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center led to revised estimates of sea ice extent.) Over the past decade, sea ice extent in the Arctic has been well below the 1979–2000 average.

The loss of so much sea ice means that when ice reforms over the winter, it is “first-year ice,” which is much thinner than sea ice that has persisted over multiple years. Joey Comiso, senior research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, explained that the loss of this multiyear ice contributed to record low ice extent in 2012. Another possible factor at work in the summer of 2012, Comiso suggested, may have been a strong summer cyclone, which broke up ice in the Central Arctic and dispersed it into warmer waters.

NSIDC director Mark Serreze differed with Comiso somewhat on the role of the storm. “The ice was already so thin it was ready to go,” said Serreze. “2012 likely would have set a new record without the storm.”

Once sea ice loss gets underway, it can become a self-reinforcing process. Because there is less light-colored ice to reflect the Sun’s energy back into space, more energy is absorbed by darker ocean water.

A new record for sea ice was not the only unusual event in the Arctic in the summer of 2012. July 2012 saw widespread melt on the Greenland Ice Sheet and the calving of a new iceberg from Greenland’s Petermann Glacier. By early August, rapid sea ice retreat left the Northwest Passage nearly open, although ice moved back into parts of the passage later in the month.

The new record low for sea ice in 2012 fits into a larger pattern of a changing Arctic. Regarding the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, Serreze remarks, “What is perhaps most surprising is that we are no longer surprised.”

1. References

2. NSIDC. (2012, August 27) Arctic sea ice breaks lowest extent on record. Accessed August 27, 2012.
3. NSIDC. (2012, August 27) Arctic Sea Ice News and Analysis. Accessed August 27, 2012.
4. NSIDC. (2012, May 21) State of the Cryosphere: Sea Ice. Accessed August 27, 2012.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument: 

DMSP – SSM/I

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Solar Activity

2MIN News August 28. 2012: Record Arctic Melt

Published on Aug 28, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

TODAY’S LINKS
Arctic Ice melt Record: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78994 & http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/science/earth/sea-ice-in-arctic-measured-at…
Nigeria Flooding: http://www.indiatvnews.com/news/world/-killed-displaced-in-nigeria-flood-8736…
Venezuela Refinery Fire: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-08/28/c_131812102.htm
Isaac’s Tornado in Florida: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-08/28/c_131812592.htm
Oil RIgs Evacuated: http://www.weather.com/news/oil-companies-pull-back-isaac-20120826
Butterfly Anomaly: http://phys.org/news/2012-08-southern-butterflies-north.html

REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos – as seen from earth]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT – as seen from earth]

Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI – as seen from the side]

SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it… trust me]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]

NASA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=…
NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/

NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can’t figure out what this one is for?]

BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]

EL DORADO WORLD WEATHER MAP: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/satellite/ssec/world/world-composite-ir-…

PRESSURE MAP: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=us&MENU=0000000000&…

HURRICANE TRACKER: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker

INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]

NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/

PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]

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Space

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
(2012 LU7)	02nd September 2012	4 day(s)	0.1200	46.7	440 m – 990 m	8.16 km/s	29376 km/h
(2012 FS35)	02nd September 2012	4 day(s)	0.1545	60.1	2.3 m – 5.2 m	2.87 km/s	10332 km/h
(2012 HG31)	03rd September 2012	5 day(s)	0.0716	27.9	440 m – 990 m	10.33 km/s	37188 km/h
(2012 PX)	04th September 2012	6 day(s)	0.0452	17.6	61 m – 140 m	9.94 km/s	35784 km/h
(2012 EH5)	05th September 2012	7 day(s)	0.1613	62.8	38 m – 84 m	9.75 km/s	35100 km/h
(2011 EO11)	05th September 2012	7 day(s)	0.1034	40.2	9.0 m – 20 m	8.81 km/s	31716 km/h
(2007 PS25)	06th September 2012	8 day(s)	0.0497	19.3	23 m – 52 m	8.50 km/s	30600 km/h
329520 (2002 SV)	08th September 2012	10 day(s)	0.1076	41.9	300 m – 670 m	9.17 km/s	33012 km/h
(2011 ES4)	10th September 2012	12 day(s)	0.1792	69.8	20 m – 44 m	12.96 km/s	46656 km/h
(2008 CO)	11th September 2012	13 day(s)	0.1847	71.9	74 m – 160 m	4.10 km/s	14760 km/h
(2007 PB8)	14th September 2012	16 day(s)	0.1682	65.5	150 m – 340 m	14.51 km/s	52236 km/h
226514 (2003 UX34)	14th September 2012	16 day(s)	0.1882	73.2	260 m – 590 m	25.74 km/s	92664 km/h
(1998 QC1)	14th September 2012	16 day(s)	0.1642	63.9	310 m – 700 m	17.11 km/s	61596 km/h
(2002 EM6)	15th September 2012	17 day(s)	0.1833	71.3	270 m – 590 m	18.56 km/s	66816 km/h
(2002 RP137)	16th September 2012	18 day(s)	0.1624	63.2	67 m – 150 m	7.31 km/s	26316 km/h
(2009 RX4)	16th September 2012	18 day(s)	0.1701	66.2	15 m – 35 m	8.35 km/s	30060 km/h
(2005 UC)	17th September 2012	19 day(s)	0.1992	77.5	280 m – 640 m	7.55 km/s	27180 km/h
(2012 FC71)	18th September 2012	20 day(s)	0.1074	41.8	24 m – 53 m	3.51 km/s	12636 km/h
(1998 FF14)	19th September 2012	21 day(s)	0.0928	36.1	210 m – 480 m	21.40 km/s	77040 km/h
331990 (2005 FD)	19th September 2012	21 day(s)	0.1914	74.5	320 m – 710 m	15.92 km/s	57312 km/h
(2009 SH2)	24th September 2012	26 day(s)	0.1462	56.9	28 m – 62 m	7.52 km/s	27072 km/h
333578 (2006 KM103)	25th September 2012	27 day(s)	0.0626	24.4	250 m – 560 m	8.54 km/s	30744 km/h
(2002 EZ2)	26th September 2012	28 day(s)	0.1922	74.8	270 m – 610 m	6.76 km/s	24336 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

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28.08.2012

Event into space

United Kingdom

Wales, Cwmbran

Event into space in United Kingdom on Tuesday, 28 August, 2012 at 08:07 (08:07 AM) UTC.

Description

A meteorite the size of a golf ball exploded over South Wales last night, according to reports. At around 11.10pm, people across the UK reported seeing a bright light travelling across the skies which allegedly exploded near Cwmbran. Police said they were not aware of the incident, but dozens of Twitter users and people on meteor forum Meteorite News said the bright light stayed within view for between three and eight seconds as it travelled. Nathan Jones from St Athan, writing on Meteorite News, said: “After about eight seconds I lost line of sight due to houses. “I saw an object, I can’t specify what, with a heat trail behind. It was orange and white and very bright, and also seemed very close, not that I could see. “Never seen something so amazing in my life. It looked like it was skimming through the atmosphere due to the curved path it was taking.” Hannah Sabido said it looked like a “bright white ball with a long bright tail and possibly a green hue”. She said: “It became more orange towards the North East, giving off orange sparks before bursting out. “There was no sound distinguishable above background. It began brighter than the moon. It was first noticed as a very bright glowing light behind cloud, ravelling very fast.” T Doran, of New Brighton, Wirral, Merseyside, wrote: “We were on the beach walking towards the sea wall, facing the South East and it travelled from right to left across the sky. “It just appeared in the sky, then the view was obscured by the sea wall. “It was silent, a large orange and white globe with a long straight green tail.”

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Biological / Wildlife / Hazmat

Today

Biological Hazard

El Salvador

[Coastal areas]

Biological Hazard in El Salvador on Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 03:15 (03:15 AM) UTC.

Description
Wildlife authorities say a strong earthquake in the Pacific Ocean late Sunday destroyed more than 45,000 endangered sea turtle eggs on the coast of El Salvador. The director of the turtle conservation program for the El Salvador Zoological Foundation says the 7.4-magnitude undersea quake sent at least three waves at least 30 feet high up the beach and destroyed thousands of nests and just-hatched turtles. It also washed up on about 150 people collecting eggs in order to protect them in special pens hundreds of feet up the beach. The waves injured three. Program director Emilio Leon said that in the last year and a half the foundation has successfully hatched and released 700,000 turtles from four species at risk of extinction.
Biohazard name:	Mass. Die-off (sea turtle)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

Today

Biological Hazard

India

State of Rajasthan, Jaipur

Biological Hazard in India on Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 03:13 (03:13 AM) UTC.

Description
Hundreds of rats have died in the water-logged Walled City over the past few days. Not willing to take a chance, the district administration has sent the dead mice to a lab in Bangalore for testing. Nobody is willing to mention the plague word, yet, but residents fear the death of rodents is an ominous sign. Dr BR Meena, director of public health department, says his field unit is monitoring the situation on daily basis. “We have sent samples of the dead rodents for an autopsy to the animal husbandry department,” he said. “Samples have also been dispatched to a testing laboratory in Bangalore for interpreting the situation,” he said. Officials are wary of pronouncing a health scare due to the dead mice, but are on their toes after residents brought to their notice carcasses of pigs and stray dogs also floating in the rainwater that has flowed into the man-made lake. Local ward commissioner Kailash Mahawat says he has written to the Jaipur Municipal Corporation on the issue, but help has not yet arrived. “I have informed the CEO Loknath Soni on fears of plague in the area due to mass death of rats, but the JMC has not taken any initiative to clean up the lake or remove the bodies from it,” Mahawat adds. Talkatora Lake has around 1500 to 2000 people living around it. Water level in the lake is now eight feet high after recent spell of heavy rains. But, the lake has become a curse for the locals. “The dried-up lake was better on hindsight. Now we are worrying over the health risk it poses to our families,” Ramdas Agrawal, a sixty-year-old resident of Talkatora colony told us. “The odour coming of the dead animals floating in water is making our lives a hell; My wife lives in constant terror of our children falling to some water-borne disease,” says Rakesh Meena, another resident. Health director, BR Meena refuses a plague in the making, but admits the lake is breeding ground for seasonal diseases, particularly malaria and dengue. He says, “We are taking measures to ensure the dirty water in lake does not lead to spread of diseases in the area.”
Biohazard name:	Mass. Die-off (rats)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

28.08.2012

Biological Hazard

Australia

State of Western Australia, [ Quobba Station, north of Carnarvon]

Biological Hazard in Australia on Tuesday, 28 August, 2012 at 18:42 (06:42 PM) UTC.

Description
A man has been attacked by a shark off Western Australia’s Gascoyne coast on Tuesday afternoon. The attack occurred while he was surfing at Red Bluff near Quobba Station, 70 kilometres north of Carnarvon. The break is about 1,000 kilometres north of Perth. The 34-year-old man received serious injuries but was conscious when he was brought ashore. The Department of Fisheries says the shark bit the surfer on the abdomen and as he tried to fend it off he was then mauled on the arm. Rebecca Caldwell’s children were in the water when they noticed the man was injured, but she says they did not see the shark. “The water was full of blood,” she said. “He was conscious the whole way back though he was OK, he was good. “He’s in good spirits, as well as he could be.” Carnarvon Shire chief executive Maurice Battilana says the beach has since been closed. He has said it is in a remote area that is very popular with tourists. “Extremely popular surfing and camping spot and we’re probably in the peak season, very popular surfing spot,” he said. Police and the St John Ambulance were sent to the location and the man has been taken to Carnarvon Hospital. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is flying its crew from Meekatharra to Carnarvon and they will then fly the man to Perth for treatment. The RFDS says the man has serious injuries to his right arm and is in a stable condition. There have been five fatal shark attacks in less than a year off WA’s coast.
Biohazard name:	Shark attack (Non-Fatal)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

……………………………….

Today

HAZMAT

Bolivia

Capital City, La Paz

HAZMAT in Bolivia on Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 07:09 (07:09 AM) UTC.

Description

Bolivian police on Tuesday confiscated two tons of uranium that was being stored at a building in central La Paz located near the U.S. and Spanish embassies. Four people, all of them Bolivian nationals, were arrested while they were transferring the uranium from one vehicle to another, Deputy Interior Minister Jorge Perez said. The radioactive material was in sacks of jute and nylon, he said. Since Bolivia does not produce uranium, Perez said, authorities assume the consignment originated in either of two neighboring countries that do: Brazil or Chile. The commander of the elite police unit that carried out the operation, Col. Eddy Torrez, said the seizure was the fruit of a six-week investigation. Police pounced when they learned the people in possession of the uranium planned to meet Tuesday with a potential buyer, the colonel said. Perez said one of the people arrested is an engineer who told police he was holding the uranium for other people, but provided no information on the owners of the cache.

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Articles of Interest

In pictures: storage tank on fire at refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela

Photo taken on Aug. 27, 2012, shows a storage tank on fire at the Amuay refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela. According to the local press, after two days of Paraguana Refining Complex’s blast, the fire remains confined in two storage tanks. The Paraguana Refining Complex’s blast at Amuay refinery caused the death of at least 48 people and left dozens injured on Saturday. (Xinhua/AVN) Related: Fire spreads to third fuel tank at Venezuelan refinery CARACAS,   (Xinhua) — Fire from an explosion at Venezuela’s Amuay refinery over the weekend, which has left 48 deaths, spread to a third fuel tank Monday, local media reported. “We must announce that a third tank… is on fire,” said Oil and Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez, who is also head of the state-run Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) oil company, which operates the country’s biggest Amuay refinery in Falcon state. Full story Death toll of Venezuelan refinery blast rises to 48 CARACAS,  (Xinhua) — The number of people killed in a blast over the weekend at Venezuela’s Amuay oil refiner has climbed to 48, an official source said on Monday. Stella Lugo, governor of northwestern Falcon state, where the blast occurred, told local Union Radio station that the number of fatalities rose from 41 to 48 over the past few hours. Seven people badly burnt by the explosion are in stable condition and receiving treatment at a hospital in neighboring Zulia state, she said, dismissing earlier rumors that they died.

Death toll of Venezuelan refinery blast rises to 48

CARACAS,   (Xinhua) — The number of people killed in a blast over the weekend at Venezuela’s Amuay oil refiner has climbed to 48, an official source said on Monday.

Stella Lugo, governor of northwestern Falcon state, where the blast occurred, told local Union Radio station that the number of fatalities rose from 41 to 48 over the past few hours.

Seven people badly burnt by the explosion are in stable condition and receiving treatment at a hospital in neighboring Zulia state, she said, dismissing earlier rumors that they died.

“We have been serious, transparent and honest in releasing the figures, we don’t release figures we have not confirmed,” Lugo said. State officials were monitoring the progress of the injured at clinics and hospitals, said Lugo, adding they would be transported to Zulia if needed.

A total of 33 families have been evacuated from their homes in the immediate vicinity of the refinery and relocated at Falcon’s Punto Fijo Naval Base as a preventive measure, since fires continued to rage Monday.

State inspectors have assessed the damage to some 520 homes so far, and found some to be totally destroyed, while others sustained only minor damages, said Lugo.

Medical reports said some of the victims suffered burns to 90 percent of their bodies, as well as multiple other injuries.

The explosion is one of the worst industrial disasters in Venezuela’s history and one of the worst to have occurred in recent years worldwide. It leveled 209 nearby homes and 11 businesses, and caused the largest number of fatalities at a National Guard post.

The Amuay refinery, 350 km from the capital Caracas, is part of the Paraguana Refinery Complex, which is the second largest oil refinery in the world and capable of producing 955,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Venezuela is South America’s biggest oil producer and the world ‘s fifth biggest oil exporter.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Earth Watch Report – Wednesday August 15th, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
15.08.2012 11:25:45	3.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Ninilchik				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 11:00:28	2.5	Europe	Switzerland	Valais	Champery				EMSC
15.08.2012 10:45:25	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Pedro Bay				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 11:02:05	2.9	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	La Altagracia	Boca de Yuma				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 10:20:33	2.1	North America	United States	Hawaii	Na’alehu				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 11:01:08	2.4	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Panarea				EMSC
15.08.2012 10:05:55	2.1	North America	United States	California	Brawley				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 11:01:31	4.8	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga	Vava`u	Hihifo				EMSC
15.08.2012 10:15:30	4.7	Pacific Ocean	Tonga	Vava`u	Hihifo				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 11:30:37	2.9	Caribbean	Puerto Rico	Rincon	Stella				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 09:55:24	2.6	Europe	Greece	Central Greece	Lidorikion				EMSC
15.08.2012 09:55:46	2.2	Asia	Turkey	Diyarbak?r	Hazro				EMSC
15.08.2012 09:52:01	3.5	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Marlborough	Seddon				GEONET
15.08.2012 09:56:05	3.5	Middle-East	Iran	East Azarbaijan	Ahar				EMSC
15.08.2012 09:56:27	2.5	Europe	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Republika Srpska	Sipovo				EMSC
15.08.2012 08:05:32	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Pahala				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 10:15:55	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Adak				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 06:54:44	2.2	North America	United States	Nevada	Beatty				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 06:50:20	3.6	Asia	Taiwan	Taiwan	Daxi				EMSC
15.08.2012 06:50:43	2.1	Europe	Portugal	Faro	Sagres				EMSC
15.08.2012 06:51:05	4.6	Asia	Japan	Aomori	Kizukuri				EMSC
15.08.2012 07:00:29	4.5	Asia	Japan	Aomori	Kizukuri				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 06:51:27	3.5	Asia	Taiwan		Taitung City				EMSC
15.08.2012 06:51:53	3.1	Europe	Albania	Elbasan	Librazhd-Qender				EMSC
15.08.2012 04:45:20	2.1	Europe	Italy	Calabria	Nicastro				EMSC
15.08.2012 05:45:28	3.0	Asia	Turkey	Amasya	Dedekoy				EMSC
15.08.2012 03:25:27	2.6	North America	United States	Nevada	Schurz				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 05:55:28	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Adak				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 05:45:52	2.1	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Agios Dimitrios				EMSC
15.08.2012 02:40:29	2.4	North America	United States	Nevada	Schurz				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 02:30:29	2.4	North America	United States	California	Soledad				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 02:45:25	4.1	Asia	Taiwan	Taiwan	Buli				EMSC
15.08.2012 05:46:21	2.0	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Livadaki				EMSC
15.08.2012 08:50:26	4.2	Atlantic Ocean – North	Greenland	Kujalleq	Prins Christians Sund				EMSC
15.08.2012 05:55:53	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Chignik Lake				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 03:50:26	4.6	Asia	Japan	Miyagi	Ishinomaki				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 04:45:47	4.6	Asia	Japan	Miyagi	Ishinomaki				EMSC
15.08.2012 01:30:26	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Chenega				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 01:45:19	2.1	Europe	Italy	Abruzzo	Fagnano Alto				EMSC
15.08.2012 01:45:48	2.5	Asia	Turkey	Bal?kesir	Marmara				EMSC
15.08.2012 00:25:24	3.6	North America	United States	Nevada	Sutcliffe				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 06:52:15	2.0	Asia	Turkey	Ayd?n	Kuyucak				EMSC
15.08.2012 00:40:26	2.9	Europe	Greece	South Aegean	Apollonia				EMSC
15.08.2012 06:52:35	2.4	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Agios Ilias				EMSC
14.08.2012 23:40:54	2.4	North America	United States	Alaska	Nanwalek				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 06:52:56	2.8	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
14.08.2012 23:55:24	2.3	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Princeton				USGS-RSOE
15.08.2012 06:53:17	2.4	Asia	Turkey	Kütahya	Pazarlar				EMSC
15.08.2012 03:45:20	3.2	Asia	Kyrgyzstan	Ysyk-Köl	Balykchy				EMSC
14.08.2012 23:40:26	4.4	Asia	China	Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu	Hotan				EMSC

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Nearly 1,000 earthquakes recorded in Arizona over 3 years

  Nearly 1,000 earthquakes recorded in Arizona over 3 years Enlarge Nearly 60 USArray stations were installed in Arizona from 2006 to 2009 as part of the EarthScope project. Station 118A, seen in this photo, recorded ground motion north of Wilcox in southeastern Arizona from April 6, 2007 to Jan. 21, 2009. Credit: Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (funded by NSF EarthScope) Arizona State University researchers use EarthScope data to build the first comprehensive earthquake catalog for Arizona. Ads by Google Emergency Mgmt. Degree – Earn an emergency management degree online at AMU. Enroll now. – http://www.AMU.APUS.edu/EmergencyMgmt Earthquakes are among the most destructive and common of geologic phenomena. Several million earthquakes are estimated to occur worldwide each year (the vast majority are too small to feel, but their motions can be measured by arrays of seismometers). Historically, most of Arizona has experienced low levels of recorded seismicity, with infrequent moderate and large earthquakes in the state. Comprehensive analyses of seismicity within Arizona have not been previously possible due to a lack of seismic stations in most regions, contributing to the perception that widespread earthquakes in Arizona are rare. Debunking that myth, a new study published by Arizona State University researchers found nearly 1,000 earthquakes rattling the state over a three-year period. Jeffrey Lockridge, a graduate student in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and the project’s lead researcher, used new seismic data collected as part of the EarthScope project to develop methods to detect and locate small-magnitude earthquakes across the entire state of Arizona. EarthScope’s USArray Transportable Array was deployed within Arizona from April 2006 to March 2009 and provided the first opportunity to examine seismicity on a statewide scale. Its increased sensitivity allowed Lockridge to find almost 1,000 earthquakes during the three-year period, including many in regions of Arizona that were previously thought to be seismically inactive. “It is significant that we found events in areas where none had been detected before, but not necessarily surprising given the fact that many parts of the state had never been sampled by seismometers prior to the deployment of the EarthScope USArray,” says Lockridge. “I expected to find some earthquakes outside of north-central Arizona, where the most and largest events had previously been recorded, just not quite so many in other areas of the state.” Ads by Google ITT Tech – Official Site – Convenient Schedules, Over 130 Locations. Browse New Programs. – http://www.ITT-Tech.edu One-thousand earthquakes over three years may sound alarmingly high, but the large number of earthquakes detected in the study is a direct result of the improved volume and quality of seismic data provided by EarthScope. Ninety-one percent of the earthquakes Lockridge detected in Arizona were “microquakes” with a magnitude of 2.0 or smaller, which are not usually felt by humans. Detecting small-magnitude earthquakes is not only important because some regions experiencing small earthquakes may produce larger earthquakes, but also because geologists use small magnitude earthquakes to map otherwise hidden faults beneath the surface. Historically, the largest earthquakes and the majority of seismicity recorded within Arizona have been located in an area of north–central Arizona. More recently, a pair of magnitude 4.9 and 5.3 earthquakes occurred in the Cataract Creek area outside of Flagstaff. Earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or larger also have occurred in other areas of the state, including a magnitude 4.2 earthquake in December 2003 in eastern Arizona and a magnitude 4.9 earthquake near Chino Valley in 1976. “The wealth of data provided by the EarthScope project is an unprecedented opportunity to detect and locate small-magnitude earthquakes in regions where seismic monitoring (i.e. seismic stations) has historically been sparse,” explains Lockridge. “Our study is the first to use EarthScope data to build a regional catalog that detects all earthquakes magnitude 1.2 or larger.” His results appear in a paper titled, “Seismicity within Arizona during the Deployment of the EarthScope USArray Transportable Array,” published in the August 2012 issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. Ramon Arrowsmith and Matt Fouch, professors in ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, are Lockridge’s dissertation advisors and coauthors on the paper. Fouch is also a geophysicist at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, DC. “The most surprising result was the degree to which the EarthScope data were able to improve upon existing catalogs generated by regional and national networks. From April 2007 through November 2008, other networks detected only 80 earthquakes within the state, yet over that same time we found 884 earthquakes, or 11 times as many, which is really quite staggering,” says Lockridge. “It’s one of countless examples of how powerful the EarthScope project is and how much it is improving our ability to study Earth.” Lockridge is also lead author on a study that focuses on a cluster of earthquakes located east of Phoenix, near Theodore Roosevelt Lake. The results from this study will be published in Seismological Research Letters later this year. In his current studies as doctoral student, Lockridge is using the same methods used for Arizona to develop a comprehensive earthquake catalog for the Great Basin region in Nevada and western Utah. Provided by Arizona State University search and more info website

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Volcanic Activity

Volcanic activity world-wide 13 Aug 2012: new activity at Tofua (Tonga Islands), Popocatépetl, Fuego, Santiaguito, Costa Rica, Nevado del Ruiz, Reventador, Tungurahua, Sakurajima, Tongariro, White Island

BY: T

Volcano Discovery

Possibly volcanic SO2 plumes over Costa Rica on 11 Aug (NOAA)

Activity has decreased at White Island. Ash emissions have been lower than in the previous days. Gas measurements showed that all volcanic gases were at levels lower than the previous measurement on August 1.

Tongariro volcano has stayed calm with and GNS scientists think that the most likely scenario is that the 6 Aug eruption was a single event and will not be followed by new eruptions in the near to medium future.

A “new” volcano just entered the watch list:
Out in the Pacific, a pilot observed an ash cloud rising from Tofua volcano to 3,000 ft (ca. 1 km) in the Tonga Islands at 04:42 GMT, VAAC Wellington reports.

El Hierro volcano: A total of 5 earthquakes (between M1.3-2.4) at 10-19 km depth has occurred today so far. This is the highest number in many days.

Activity remains weak at Popocatépetl in Mexico. About 1 weak eruption per hour has been observed during the past day by CENAPRED. SO2 emissions remain high (which is typical for Popo during phases of activity).

An elevated SO2 plume was visible above Costa Rica’s Central valley on NOAA’s SO2 monitoring images. It could have been caused by stronger degassing activity of the volcanoes Poas or Turrialba, both of which have been showing increased activity in 2011-12, but seem to have calmed down in the past months. Another SO2 signal is visible about 100 km east of Rincon de la Vieja and could have originated there. The Costa Rican volcano observatory doesn’t mention any unusual activity.

Santiaguito / Santa Maria (Guatemala): An explosion at 05:49 local tie ejected an 800 m high ash plume and caused ash fall at Finca la Florida and around San Marcos Palajunoj. Only few and weak rock avalanches were reported since yesterday.

For Fuego volcano, INSIVUMEH reports 8 weak explosions during the past day, generating ash columns of 200-500 m height.
The lava flow in direction of Taniluya canyon has further advances and is now 300 m long and generates constant rock avalanches. Avalanches, too, have been observed towards the “Ash” (Ceniza) canyon.

In Colombia, sporadic gas and ash emissions continue to occur at Galeras and tremor signals are sometimes visible on the seismograms.
Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia): Steam and ash emissions continue at Nevado del Ruiz at fluctuating intensity. This morning a fresh ash deposit was found at the volcano observatory.
The seimic recordings show tremor and a seismic swarm with 30 quakes since 22:27 local time last night, located NE of the Arenas crater between 3-5 km, in the same area as the previous swarm on 12 August.

Reventador volcano in Ecuador ejects a 1.5 km high steam plume, but IG mentions no explosions or ash.
Tungurahua volcano continues to emit a steam plume with small amounts of ash, and has occasional small to moderate explosions accompanied by gunshot sounds heard around the volcano.

Jumping to the far north, there is little new activity to be reported from volcanoes in Kamchatka, the Kuriles, Aleutians and in Alaska. It is rather surprising that this normally very area has stayed quite calm over the past week.

Satellite observations show again plumes at 7,000 ft (2.1 km) originating from Batu Tara (Sunda Islands, Indonesia).

Sakurajima volcano has had 2 weak – moderate explosions during the past 30 hours.

 

 

 

NASA Satellites Pinpoint Volcanic Eruption In New Zealand

acquired July 19, 2012 download large image (1 MB, JPEG, 2048×1592)

acquired July 19, 2012 download large image (2 MB, JPEG, 2048×1592)

acquired July 19, 2012 download Google Earth file (KMZ)

View Image Comparison

Midway on its 800-kilometer (500-mile) voyage from Auckland to Raoul Island, New Zealand, the HMNZS Canterbury received an intriguing report: a maritime patrol aircraft had spotted a vast area of open ocean covered with floating pumice. Soon after, the ship was sailing through a mass of buoyant volcanic rocks. Up to two feet thick, the pumice raft was about half a nautical mile (1 kilometer) wide, and “extended sideways as far as the eye could see,” wrote Rebecca Priestley, a science writer aboard the ship. Although the lightweight, gas-filled pumice posed no threat to the Canterbury, enough got stuck in the water filters to provide samples for analysis.

Though the pumice was spread over a vast area of the South Pacific, the origin was a mystery to the crew of the ship. An undersea volcano several hundred kilometers to the north of the pumice—Monowai—had erupted on August 3, but an airline pilot reported seeing pumice as early as August 1. Two data sources provided clues to pinpoint the volcano: earthquake records and satellite imagery. After reports of the pumice rafts surfaced, scientists from Tahiti and New Zealand’s GNS Science connected the eruption with a cluster of earthquakes in the Kermadec Islands on July 17 and 18.

Working independently of GNS, volcanologist Erik Klemetti and NASA visualizer Robert Simmon examined a month’s worth of satellite imagery from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). They discovered the first signs of the eruption—ash-stained water, gray pumice, and a volcanic plume—in imagery from 9:50 a.m. and 2:10 p.m. (local time) on July 19, 2012. (Although the Kermadec Islands are east of the International Date Line, they follow New Zealand time.)

Hidden by clouds in the morning image (above, top), the site of the eruption is clearly visible in the afternoon image (lower). Klemetti matched the satellite imagery with ocean floor bathymetry to identify Havre Seamount as the likely source. The eruption was strong enough to breach the ocean surface from a depth of 1,100 meters (3,600 feet).

Alain Bernard of the Laboratoire de Volcanologie, Université Libre de Bruxelles analyzed nighttime imagery from MODIS and found heat from the eruption at 10:50 p.m. on July 18, 2012, the earliest evidence of the Havre Seamount eruption reaching the ocean surface.

By July 21, the eruption appeared to have waned, leaving behind the dense rafts of pumice. Winds and currents spread the pumice into a series of twisted filaments, spread over an area about 450 by 250 kilometers (280 by 160 miles) as of August 13.

1. References

2. Bernard, Alain. (2012, August). Hot Spots from the July 18 Eruption in Kermadec volcanic arc. Accessed August 13, 2012.
3. Klemetti, Erik. (2012, August 13). Havre Seamount: The Source of Kermadec Island Pumice Raft? Accessed August 13, 2012.
4. New Zealand Defence Force (2012, August 10). Defence Force Locates 7500Sq Miles of Pumice From Underwater Volcano Accessed August 13, 2012.
5. Priestley, Rebecca. (2012, August 8–11). Kermadecs voyage #2: The Mystery of the Floating Pumice. Accessed August 13, 2012.
6. Radio New Zealand. (2012, August 13). Origin of Pumice Raft Found. Accessed August 13, 2012.
7. Université Libre de Bruxelles. (2012, August). Hot Spots from the July 18 Eruption in Kermadec Volcanic Arc. Accessed August 13, 2012.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Robert Simmon. Detective work by Erik Klemetti.

Instrument: 

Terra – MODIS

***********************************************************************************************************

Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Excessive Heat Watch

SEATTLE WA
PORTLAND OR

…………………….

Today

Extreme Weather

Canada

Province of Alberta, Calgary

Extreme Weather in Canada on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 05:58 (05:58 AM) UTC.

Description

A severe storm swept through Calgary and area this afternoon, bringing hail, torrential downpours and wind gusts reaching more than 100 kilometres per hour that left broken windows and fallen trees in its wake. The worst of the storm has passed Calgary, says CBC meteorologist Danielle Savoni. “At this point it’s starting to change over into just the rain and some embedded thunderstorms, but those embedded thunderstorms are nowhere near as severe as what we’ve seen.” Some window washers got caught on a platform on the 22nd floor on an office building on 5th Avenue S.W. Tara Sukut was in her office a floor below. “You could hear the window washers outside yelling, get us off here, get us out of here,” says Sukut. “And a couple minutes later we just heard glass smashing. And you could see it was banging on the window down on our floor. They broke the windows to get inside the building.” The Calgary Fire Department’s high-angle rescue unit was called in to help the three window washers. Sukut’s interview with the CBC’s Elizabeth Snaddon can be heard in the player below.

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

GOODLAND KS
CORPUS CHRISTI TX
NORTH PLATTE NE
CHEYENNE WY
DENVER CO
POCATELLO ID
RIVERTON WY
PORTLAND OR

Extreme Fire Danger

HASTINGS NE
RAPID CITY SD
ABERDEEN SD

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Wildfires blaze through Western states

By the CNN Wire Staff

California flames scorch dry earth

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Washington blaze has grown to 28,000 acres
• NEW: National Guard activated in Washington, will provide air support
• An Idaho firefighter is killed battling a blaze; two others are hurt in Oregon and California
• In all, 62 fires are burning

Are wildfires blazing near you? Send in your photos and videos to CNN iReport, but please stay safe.

(CNN) — Whipped by high winds, wildfires in central Washington state have scorched 28,000 acres and destroyed at least 60 buildings, officials said Tuesday.

Gov. Chris Gregoire declared Kittitas and Yakima counties to be in states of emergency, according to a written statement from her office. The Washington National Guard will provide air support to the Department of Natural Resources, which is in charge of statewide firefighting efforts.

The fire raging near Cle Elum is one of several Western fires burning this week.

Colorado paid the price earlier this summer. Now, new wildfires are burning through sagebrush, grass and beetle-killed lodgepole pines in California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington and Idaho.

In all, 62 fires, including 16 new large fires, were burning as of Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service reported. They have destroyed dozens of homes and are threatening many more.

Tearful wildfire victim: ‘Nothing left’

Wildfires destroy homes in Oklahoma

Washington’s Taylor Bridge Fire began as a brush fire Monday afternoon. By Tuesday afternoon more than 20,000 acres, or 31 square miles, were burned.

Authorities have already evacuated between 900 people near the Taylor Bridge Fire, the governor’s office said. There was no report of any injuries.

“The fire behavior I would classify as extreme,” Rex Reed, the incident commander, earlier Tuesday. “Extreme fire conditions. We expect a very busy day. Very rapid rates of spread. There are multiple heads on this fire.”

He said authorities were working to activate National Guard troops to assist in the operation in Kittitas County.

In Idaho, a blaze has killed a 20-year-old firefighter. Two other firefighters have been injured in Oregon and California.

Anne Veseth died Sunday while fighting the Steep Canyon Fire near Orofino, said Phil Sammon of the Forest Service. He said the death was accidental but could not confirm how it happened.

However, CNN affiliate KTVB said Veseth was killed by a falling tree.

Residents of Veseth’s hometown, Moscow, remembered the young college student as someone who always gave back to community.

“This is a stark reminder of how dangerous the business is that we are in,” Sammon said. “We are extremely saddened by this loss.”

Residents evacuate as hundreds of firefighters battle California wildfires

On Tuesday, the fire danger spiked with searing temperatures and single-digit humidity across Western states. In some places, winds were gusting up to 40 miles per hour.

More than 750 firefighters and support personnel were working in Oregon and Nevada to corral the 418,235-acre Holloway Fire, the largest of the Western wildfires ignited by a lightning strike on August 5.

“We saw huge fire whorls all night,” said Fred Kaninski, fire behavior analyst for the Holloway Fire. “It was burning like daytime.”

On Monday, firefighters battled flames that measured 2 to 8 feet high. On occasion, they reported seeing 15-foot flames.

The northeast flank of the fire burned into Oregon Canyon, where a firefighter suffered burns to the leg and forearm and minor smoke inhalation, the Bureau of Land Management said.

The injured firefighter was rushed by helicopter to a hospital in Winnemucca, Nevada, and was released Sunday night. She is being sent to a burn center in Salt Lake City for further evaluation, the bureau said.

In California, a pair of fires north of San Francisco in Lake County burned 7,000 acres and were 30% contained Tuesday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Two buildings were destroyed and one was damaged, CNN affiliate KGO reported. An additional 480 homes are threatened, and a firefighter was injured while battling the flames, said Julie Hutchinson of the state’s forestry and fire department. She did not have information on the status of the injured firefighter.

Meteorologists predict the dry heat will last into next week — not good news for firefighters. Any thunderstorms that pop up could present more bad news than good, since lightning strikes could spark more flames.

However, rain doused the killer Waldo Canyon Fire that blazed out of control through parts of Colorado for many weeks this summer. On Tuesday, Colorado was not on the national map for large fires.

Neighbors vs. nature as wildfires rage in Oklahoma

CNN’s Moni Basu and John Fricke contributed to this report.

 

 

Western Wildfires

acquired August 13, 2012 download large image (3 MB, JPEG, 4800×3800)

acquired August 13, 2012 download large image (3 MB, JPEG, 4800×3800)

acquired August 13, 2012 download GeoTIFF file (33 MB, TIFF)

acquired August 13, 2012 download Google Earth file (KMZ)

Wildfires raged across Colorado earlier this summer. Now California, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon are feeling the heat. On August 14, 2012, numerous fires blazed across the four western states, burning through everything from sagebrush to grass to beetle-killed lodgepole pine forests.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of the fires on Aug 11, 2012. Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fires.

Three large fires burned through coniferous forests in northern California: the Reading fire in Lassen Volcanic National Park, the Chips fire in Plumas National Forest, and the Fort Complex fire in Klamath National Forest. The largest of the three (Chips) had consumed 57 square miles (148 square kilometers) and was 12 percent contained by August 14. The Reading fire had consumed 37 square miles and was 15 percent contained, whereas the Fort Complex Fire had burned 3 square miles and was 10 percent contained. All three were ignited by lightning. In Oregon, lightning also sparked the Barry Point fire, which had burned 68 square miles.

In northern Nevada, the Holloway, Hansen, and Willow fires burned through grass, brush, and sagebrush. The Holloway fire was the largest and had burned 676 square miles by August 14. The Willow and Hanson fires had burned 67 square miles and 20 square miles respectively. All three were ignited by lightning on August 5.

In Idaho, the Halstead fire burned through stands of beetle-killed lodgepole pines in Salmon-Challis National Forest. It had consumed 81 square miles. To the south, the Trinity Ridge fire had burned about 58 square miles. Lightning ignited the Halstead fire on July 27, whereas human activity started the Trinity Ridge fire.

According to statistics compiled by the National Interagency Fire Center, a total of 9,400 square miles had burned in the United States through August 14. That was above the ten-year average for that date, which was 7,750 square miles.

• References

• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Barry Point Fire. Accessed August 14, 2012.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Chips Fire. Accessed August 14, 2012.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Fort Complex. Accessed August 14, 2012.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Halstead Fire. Accessed August 13, 2014.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Hanson Fire. Accessed August 14, 2012.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Holloway Fire. Accessed August 14, 2012.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Trinity Ridge Fire. Accessed August 13, 2012.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Reading Fire. Accessed August 13, 2012.
• Inciweb. (2012, August 14). Willow Fire. Accessed August 14, 2012.
• NIFC. (2012, August 14). Wildfire Statistics. Accessed August 14, 2012.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Adam Voiland.

Instrument: 

Aqua – MODIS

Today

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of California, Aguanga [Riverside County (San Jacinto foothills)]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 07:24 (07:24 AM) UTC.

Description

A fast-moving wildfire stoked by triple-digit temperatures burned 3,000 acres Tuesday in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains, creeping perilously close to tinder-dry areas of the San Bernardino National Forest, officials said. At least four structures, including one home, were destroyed by the blaze, which spread rapidly through dry brush and grasslands in a sparsely populated area south of Hemet and east of Temecula. The fire, just 5% contained as of Tuesday evening, was spreading rapidly through the rocky hills and desert scrub, and was within a mile of forest lands west of Anza, where drought has heightened fire danger all summer. “Of course we’re concerned,” said John Miller, spokesman for the San Bernardino National Forest. “This year our big concern is the fact that rainfall and that includes snow for our forest was somewhere between 50% to 70% of normal.” Mandatory evacuations were ordered in the sparsely populated area near Aguanga, and more than 30 homes have been evacuated, according to Jody Hagemann of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries and were taken to a hospital, according to radio dispatch reports. One man who lived in a trailer was seriously burned and taken by helicopter to a local hospital. Authorities said the man, whose home was in a remote area, apparently had not received a notice to evacuate.South of the Riverside County fire, fast-moving blazes, some started by lightning strikes from heat-born thunderstorms, have burned more than 2,300 acres in northeast San Diego County, leading to evacuations in the rural communities of Ranchita and the San Felipe area off California 78. The four San Diego County fires are being fought by more than 500 firefighters, along with air tankers and water-dropping helicopters. No structures have yet been reported damaged. “We have very dry vegetation, brush and grass and things like that. Now we have multiple days of very high temperatures,” said Chief Julie Hutchinson, spokeswoman for the state fire agency. “It’s like lighting your fireplace with a blowtorch.” The fire in Riverside County was reported just before 1 p.m. in the community of Aguanga. More than 210 firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze, and six water-carrying helicopters and six water-tender aircraft as well as a DC-10 were assisting, state fire officials said. Crews from the Sierra Nevada mountains areas are being dispatched to assist firefighters. “That’s one thing that’s unique about California. We have a state fire agency, and we’re able to move resources up and down the state,” said Hutchinson, adding that crews from the U.S. Forest Service, local departments and the California National Guard are playing a role in the statewide firefighting efforts. Although flames are more than 14 miles away from Idyllwild, residents and fire officials in the artsy mountain community have been nervously watching television news reports.

Today

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Arizona, [Tonto National Forest]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 03:34 (03:34 AM) UTC.

Description

Crews are monitoring a fire in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest that has charred an estimated 1,200 acres. The so-called Queen Fire was reported Monday night and forest officials say its cause is under investigation. The blaze is burning about 2 miles northeast of Superior in rocky, inaccessible terrain and crews are attacking the flames by air. Officials say the fire is burning grass and brush. There was immediate timetable Tuesday for containment of the blaze. Meanwhile, the forest is temporarily closing several areas because of the Mistake Peak fire 11 miles east of Basin. That fire began Aug. 8 and is 10% contained after burning about 3,400 acres by Tuesday. Tonto officials chose to temporarily close areas of the forest to protect the public and crews fighting the fire.

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Storms / Tornado / Flooding / Sinkholes

 

 

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Hector (EP08)	Pacific Ocean – East	11.08.2012	15.08.2012	Tropical Depression	20 °	65 km/h	83 km/h	2.74 m	NOAA NHC

  Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 0 Storm name: Hector (EP08) Area: Pacific Ocean – East Start up location: N 17° 30.000, W 106° 0.000 Start up: 11th August 2012 Status: 12th August 2012 Track long: 606.97 km Top category.: Report by: NOAA NHC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 12th Aug 2012 05:40:34 N 18° 30.000, W 108° 6.000 20 65 83 Tropical Storm 290 11 999 MB NOAA NHC 13th Aug 2012 04:46:16 N 18° 6.000, W 110° 42.000 9 74 93 Tropical Storm 270 10 993 MB NOAA NHC 13th Aug 2012 10:38:02 N 18° 6.000, W 111° 24.000 11 65 83 Tropical Storm 270 16 994 MB NOAA NHC 14th Aug 2012 04:58:09 N 18° 0.000, W 113° 12.000 9 74 93 Tropical Storm 270 10 993 MB NOAA NHC 14th Aug 2012 10:50:22 N 17° 54.000, W 114° 0.000 9 74 93 Tropical Storm 265 10 997 MB NOAA NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 15th Aug 2012 11:18:06 N 17° 12.000, W 115° 12.000 4 65 83 Tropical Depression 20 ° 9 1002 MB NOAA NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 16th Aug 2012 18:00:00 N 19° 36.000, W 116° 30.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 NOAA NHC 16th Aug 2012 06:00:00 N 18° 42.000, W 116° 0.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 NOAA NHC 17th Aug 2012 06:00:00 N 20° 36.000, W 117° 0.000 Tropical Depression 46 65 NOAA NHC 18th Aug 2012 06:00:00 N 22° 30.000, W 118° 30.000 Tropical Depression 37 56 NOAA NHC 19th Aug 2012 06:00:00 N 23° 0.000, W 120° 0.000 Tropical Depression 28 37 NOAA NHC

Kai-tak (14W)

Pacific Ocean

12.08.2012

15.08.2012

Typhoon I

305 °

102 km/h

130 km/h

5.18 m

JTWC

 Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 2 Storm name: Kai-tak (14W) Area: Pacific Ocean Start up location: N 16° 36.000, E 128° 30.000 Start up: 12th August 2012 Status: Active Track long: 440.90 km Top category.: Report by: JTWC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 13th Aug 2012 04:30:32 N 16° 30.000, E 127° 48.000 19 56 74 Tropical Depression 265 15 JTWC 13th Aug 2012 10:04:19 N 16° 36.000, E 126° 36.000 24 65 83 Tropical Storm 275 17 JTWC 14th Aug 2012 04:58:47 N 17° 30.000, E 125° 36.000 20 83 102 Tropical Storm 275 11 JTWC 14th Aug 2012 10:49:50 N 18° 0.000, E 124° 18.000 22 83 102 Tropical Storm 265 15 JTWC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 15th Aug 2012 11:18:34 N 18° 54.000, E 120° 42.000 28 102 130 Typhoon I 305 ° 17 JTWC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 16th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 21° 42.000, E 116° 24.000 Typhoon II 139 167 JTWC 16th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 20° 24.000, E 118° 36.000 Typhoon II 130 157 JTWC 17th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 22° 54.000, E 114° 18.000 Typhoon I 111 139 JTWC 18th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 24° 12.000, E 111° 18.000 Tropical Depression 74 93 JTWC 19th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 24° 30.000, E 108° 6.000 Tropical Depression 37 56 JTWC

………………….

Today

Tropical Storm

Philippines

Multiple areas, [Northern Philippines]

Tropical Storm in Philippines on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 03:25 (03:25 AM) UTC.

Description

A second tropical storm in as many weeks battered the northern Philippines after making landfall Wednesday, killing at least two people, as forecasters warned that the still-reeling capital could see more flooding. Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino III scrambled to avert another crisis when hundreds of state weather agency employees protested over their pay and warned that forecasting services could deteriorate. Tropical Storm Kai-Tak slammed ashore in northeastern Isabela province with maximum winds of 100 kilometers (60 miles) per hour and higher gusts. It is expected to traverse northern farming provinces and exit along Luzon Island’s western seaboard possibly as a powerful typhoon heading toward southern China in the direction of Hong Kong. The head of the disaster-relief agency, Benito Ramos, reported two deaths, including a man who drowned while swimming in Ilocos Norte province. He said some roads were flooded knee-deep, and government forecasters warned of intense rains that may drench the sprawling capital, Manila, which is still reeling from last week’s monsoon deluge. On Tuesday, an alarmed Aquino rushed to assure the protesting weather agency employees that steps were being taken to resume payment of the cash benefits that had been suspended in March. “I just reminded that since the weather is bad and we have a weather disturbance, we should not add to the worries of those who were hit by the floods,” Aquino told reporters after a hasty meeting with the restive employees.Forecasters and other employees of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration wore black arm bands and hoisted streamers urging the government to resume hazard pay and other allowances. While the workers did not plan any work stoppage, protest leader Ramon Agustin said some hard-up employees had failed to report for work due to lack of money. “The only reason why we remain strong in performing our tasks is our pure love for the country, but this will eventually weaken,” Agustin said in a news conference at the weather agency, which buzzed with activity as forecasters tracked the second storm. The archipelago located in the tropical far western Pacific serves like a welcome mat for about 20 tropical storms and typhoons that develop in the open ocean and blow toward Asia every year. Heavy rain from those storms and the annual monsoon often cause flooding and landslides and leave a trail of death and destruction. Relentless rains for nearly two weeks culminated in last week’s two-day deluge that submerged Manila and outlying farming provinces, killing nearly 100 people and displacing more than 400,000. Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said payment of the hazard pay and other cash benefits had been suspended to correct past irregularities, but added the workers would get back the benefits soon. Agustin said the employees have lost an average of 10,000 pesos ($238) monthly since the benefits were suspended by officials in March.

……………………………….

Waterspout reaches land to become Duluth, Minn.’s first tornado on record

• Duluth tornado
• By: Johnny Kelly

6 photosView the full slideshow »

The National Weather Service confirms what is said to be the first tornado to touchdown in Duluth, Minn. on record.

The NWS says a waterspout developed at approximately 11 a.m. CDT Thursday, two miles offshore from Duluth’s Sky Harbor Airport over Superior Bay.

The waterspout then turned into a tornado as it tracked briefly onshore at Minnesota Point across from Sky Harbor Airport.

View slideshow: Waterspout reaches land to become Duluth, Minn.’s first tornado on record (August 9, 2012)

The tornado then went back into the bay as a waterspout before briefly turning into a tornado for a second time as it came onshore at Barker’s Island, where it finally dissipated around 11:20 a.m. CDT.

The tornado was rated an EF-0 on the enhanced fujita scale, with winds from 65 to 85 mph. No damage was reported.

Nonetheless, the tornado is the first confirmed on record to touchdown in Duluth.

Thursday’s waterspout in Duluth, Minnesota is the city’s first tornado on record. (August 9, 2012)

Photo credit:

(NWS)

According to Carol Christenson, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS, there hasn’t been a tornado in our city limits in recorded history, Northland NewsCenter reports.

“There was one outside of city limits back in 1986,” Christenson said.

The NWS says it appears the waterspout turned tornado developed near an inflection point along the leading edge of a strong surge of northeast winds and or small scale frontal boundary, which were enhanced by the very warm Lake Superior water temperatures.

 

 

Flash Flood Warning

NEW ORLEANS LA
FORT WORTH TX

Flood Warning

FORT WORTH TX
TALLAHASSEE FL
TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX

Flood Advisory

FORT WORTH TX
TAUNTON MA
NEW YORK NY
TALLAHASSEE FL
ALBANY NY

Flood Watch

FAIRBANKS AK

Today

Flood

Canada

Province of Saskatchewan, [James Smith First Nation]

Flood in Canada on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 07:22 (07:22 AM) UTC.

Description

A state of emergency has been declared by the James Smith Cree Nation following continued high rainfall and flooding. Local officials are calling for increased assistance from the federal and provincial governments. The drinking water of nine homes has been contaminated due to the high water levels and some roads have flooded over, says a news release issued Tuesday by James Smith. The continued rainfall is adding to the problems caused by last year’s flooding, said the release. “The high rains are destroying what’s left of our roads and water systems, and this is creating dangerous health conditions for our people, especially very young children and our elders,” said James Smith Chief Wally Burns. “We’ve been trying to get assistance since the 2011 flood, but have so far received minimal support.” Last month officials with the provincial disaster assistance program met with band leadership. The program provided $110,000 to repair damage from previous years of flooding, but the band estimates $3.2 million is needed. James Smith is located about 180 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

…………………………………

Mysterious Louisiana Sinkhole Raises Concerns of Explosions and Radiation

By CHRISTINA NG | ABC News  

• View GalleryMysterious Louisiana Sinkhole Raises Concerns of Explosions and Radiation (ABC News)

A nearly 400-foot deep sinkhole in Louisiana has swallowed all of the trees in its area and enacted a mandatory evacuation order for about 150 residences for fear of potential radiation and explosions.

The 400-square-foot gaping hole is in Assumption Parish, La., about 50 miles south of Baton Rouge.

The sinkhole sits in the middle of a heavily wooded space where it has consumed all of the soaring cypress trees that had been there. Flyover photos show some of the treetops still visible through the mud.

Authorities enacted a mandatory evacuation for between 100 and150 homes in the area, but most people have chosen to stay, according to the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Preparedness. If any of the dangers seem to become more imminent, the order will be escalated to a forced evacuation.

While officials are not certain what caused the massive sinkhole, they believe it may be have ben caused by a nearby salt cavern owned by the Texas Brine Company.

After being used for nearly 30 years, the cavern was plugged in 2011 and officials believe the integrity of the cavern may have somehow been compromised, leading to the sinkhole.

[Slideshow: Massive sinkholes wreak havoc around the world]

On Thursday, Louisiana’s Department of Natural Resources required that Texas Brine drill a well to investigate the salt cavern as soon as possible, obtain samples from the cavern and provide daily reports on their findings. It could take up to 10 days to set up the drilling process, even with an expedited process.

“We have to arrange for the driller. We have to pick a location. We have to be very careful to not be in a point that’s too close to the sinkhole because of the weight of the rig,” Texas Brine Company spokesman Sonny Cranch told ABCNews.com today. “We don’t want to aggravate the situation.”

The sinkhole is on the outside edge of the salt dome where this particular brine well is located.

“There are some indications that it very well may have been connected, but there’s just indications,” Cranch said. “There’s nothing concrete that has connected the sinkhole to the cavern.”

There was bubbling in the water and the sinkhole is near areas where there has been exploration for oil and gas in the past, which would make the presence of low levels of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) possible.

The state’s Department of Environmental Quality said water samples from the sinkhole showed oil and diesel on its surface, but initial readings did not detect radiation.

In the days after the sinkhole opened up on Aug. 3, nearby Highway 70 was closed down because officials discovered that the sinkhole caused a 36-inch natural gas pipeline to bend and feared the possibility of an explosion, according to ABC News’ Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ.

“That’s why the mandatory evacuation is going to stay on, because there is a risk for explosion,” John Boudreaux of from Assumption Parish Emergency Preparedness said at a meeting with residents on Tuesday, WBRZ reported.

“We are determined to do everything we can to find the answer,” president of Texas Brine Mark Cartwright told the residents.

Some community members were visibly frustrated with the situation and lack of answers.

“You can give us a straight answer because that’s all we want,” one woman said at the meeting. “We want to know when we can come home and be safe. Because you all go home after a days work. You’re safe, but we’re not.”

Gov. Bobby Jindal issued a declaration of emergency allowing the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security to assist in the efforts if necessary.

“This is extremely serious and it’s been going on for too long to still be at this point,” Kim Torres, spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Preparedness, told ABCNews.com today. “The people are very aware of how serious this is.”

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Radiation / Nuclear

Today

Nuclear Event

USA

State of Minnesota, Red Wing [Prairie Island Nuclear Power Plant]

Nuclear Event in USA on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 03:28 (03:28 AM) UTC.

Description

Prairie Island nuclear plant shut down Unit 1 after operators declared its two backup diesel generators inoperable Tuesday. Staff determined during routine testing that both generators had exhaust leaks, Xcel Energy media relations spokeswoman Mary Sandok confirmed. That deemed them inoperable, and the plant filed an incident report of the safe shutdown with the Nuclear Regulatory Plant. Prairie Island has other backup protection, including diesel generators and turbine-driven and portable pumps, the company said in the statement issued at 2:30 p.m. There was no radiation leak or danger to the public. Prairie Island Tribal Council President Johnny Johnson called the loss of both generators “not acceptable.” “A failure of the back-up diesel generators can affect all other safety features that rely on the electricity that they generate,” he said. The plant has had more than 30 reported incidents of failing equipment, security breaches, human performance problems and operating errors in recent years, he said. The emergency diesel generators did not fail, Sandok said. Plant workers test equipment regularly, and during this week’s test they determined both generators had defects. “When it comes to important equipment, the nuclear industry has no tolerance for any imperfections, so operators shut the unit down to repair the generators,” she said. As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, one diesel was operable and the other one was repaired and awaiting testing. “Despite these assurances, today’s unplanned shutdown – and the unusual white steam clouds released throughout the day during the reactor shutdown – are ominous reminders of the fact that the 40-year-old Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant operating a half-mile from our homes relies on aging technology,” Johnson said. An unrelated outage also occurred Tuesday at the Monticello plant to repair a gasket on a pipe flange. The plant had been operating at 10 percent power since the weekend as workers investigated leakage to a collection point inside the plant’s containment structure.

 

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Solar Activity

3MIN News August 14, 2012: 7.7 Earthquake

Published on Aug 14, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

Earthquake/Solar Flare Watch: http://youtu.be/zd7Z6dmABf8 [August 12-18, 2012]
[EXPLANATION Video For Earthquake Watches] Last Quake Watch: http://youtu.be/SMiHsOYwdCs

TODAY’S LINKS
Pumice in Pacific: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=78849
East Severe Weather: http://www.weather.com/news/weather-severe/severe-weather-tracker
MrMBB333 Cosmic Ray Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EemuRabDxGQ

REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos – as seen from earth]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT – as seen from earth]

Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI – as seen from the side]

SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it… trust me]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]

ENLIL SPIRAL: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=…

NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can’t figure out what this one is for?]

BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]

EL DORADO WORLD WEATHER MAP: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/satellite/ssec/world/world-composite-ir-…

PRESSURE MAP: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=us&MENU=0000000000&…

HURRICANE TRACKER: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker

INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]

NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/

PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]

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Space

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
4581 Asclepius	16th August 2012	1 day(s)	0.1079	42.0	220 m – 490 m	13.48 km/s	48528 km/h
(2008 TC4)	18th August 2012	3 day(s)	0.1937	75.4	140 m – 300 m	17.34 km/s	62424 km/h
(2012 OP4)	18th August 2012	3 day(s)	0.1039	40.4	300 m – 670 m	22.54 km/s	81144 km/h
(2012 EC)	20th August 2012	5 day(s)	0.0815	31.7	56 m – 130 m	5.57 km/s	20052 km/h
(2006 CV)	20th August 2012	5 day(s)	0.1744	67.9	290 m – 640 m	13.24 km/s	47664 km/h
162421 (2000 ET70)	21st August 2012	6 day(s)	0.1503	58.5	670 m – 1.5 km	12.92 km/s	46512 km/h
(2007 WU3)	21st August 2012	6 day(s)	0.1954	76.0	56 m – 120 m	5.25 km/s	18900 km/h
(2012 BB14)	24th August 2012	9 day(s)	0.1234	48.0	27 m – 60 m	2.58 km/s	9288 km/h
(2012 FM52)	25th August 2012	10 day(s)	0.0599	23.3	510 m – 1.1 km	17.17 km/s	61812 km/h
66146 (1998 TU3)	25th August 2012	10 day(s)	0.1265	49.2	3.0 km – 6.8 km	16.03 km/s	57708 km/h
(2009 AV)	26th August 2012	11 day(s)	0.1615	62.8	670 m – 1.5 km	22.51 km/s	81036 km/h
331769 (2003 BQ35)	28th August 2012	13 day(s)	0.1585	61.7	240 m – 530 m	4.64 km/s	16704 km/h
(2010 SC)	28th August 2012	13 day(s)	0.1679	65.3	16 m – 36 m	9.56 km/s	34416 km/h
4769 Castalia	28th August 2012	13 day(s)	0.1135	44.2	1.4 km	12.06 km/s	43416 km/h
(2012 LU7)	02nd September 2012	18 day(s)	0.1200	46.7	440 m – 990 m	8.16 km/s	29376 km/h
(2012 FS35)	02nd September 2012	18 day(s)	0.1545	60.1	2.3 m – 5.2 m	2.87 km/s	10332 km/h
(2012 HG31)	03rd September 2012	19 day(s)	0.0716	27.9	440 m – 990 m	10.33 km/s	37188 km/h
(2012 PX)	04th September 2012	20 day(s)	0.0452	17.6	61 m – 140 m	9.94 km/s	35784 km/h
(2012 EH5)	05th September 2012	21 day(s)	0.1613	62.8	38 m – 84 m	9.75 km/s	35100 km/h
(2011 EO11)	05th September 2012	21 day(s)	0.1034	40.2	9.0 m – 20 m	8.81 km/s	31716 km/h
(2007 PS25)	06th September 2012	22 day(s)	0.0497	19.3	23 m – 52 m	8.50 km/s	30600 km/h
329520 (2002 SV)	08th September 2012	24 day(s)	0.1076	41.9	300 m – 670 m	9.17 km/s	33012 km/h
(2011 ES4)	10th September 2012	26 day(s)	0.1792	69.8	20 m – 44 m	12.96 km/s	46656 km/h
(2008 CO)	11th September 2012	27 day(s)	0.1847	71.9	74 m – 160 m	4.10 km/s	14760 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

…………………………………

Gamma-Ray Photons Seen Emanating From The Center Of The Milky Way
Could Be Evidence of Dark Matter 

 

MessageToEagle.com – Gamma-ray photons seen emanating from the center of the Milky Way galaxy could be evidence of dark matter.

Dark-matter particles are annihilating each other in space, according to UC Irvine astrophysicists, who found more gamma-ray photons coming from the Milky Way galactic center than they had expected, based on previous scientific models.

Kevork Abazajian, assistant professor, and Manoj Kaplinghat, associate professor, of the Department of Physics & Astronomy analyzed data collected between August 2008 and June 2012 from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope orbiting Earth.

The gamma-rays Fermi detectsare billions of times more energetic, from 20 million to more than 300 billion electron volts.These gamma-ray photons are so energetic, they cannot be guided by the mirrors and lenses found in ordinary telescopes. Instead Fermi uses a sensor that is more like a Geiger counter than a telescope. If we could wear Fermi’s gamma ray “glasses,” we’d witness powerful bullets of energy – individual gamma rays – from cosmic phenomena such as supermassive black holes and hypernova explosions.

According to Abazajian, “this is the first time this new source has been observed with such high statistical significance, and the most striking part is how the shape, spectrum and rate of the observed gamma rays are very consistent with the leading theories for dark matter.”

In this illustration, one photon (purple) carries a million times the energy of another (yellow). Some theorists predict travel delays for higher-energy photons, which interact more strongly with the proposed frothy nature of space-time. Yet Fermi data on two photons from a gamma-ray burst fail to show this effect, eliminating some approaches to a new theory of gravity. The animation link below shows the delay scientists had expected to observe. Credit: NASA/Sonoma State University/Aurore Simonnet
“Future observations of regions with less astrophysical emission, such as dwarf galaxies, will be able to conclusively determine if this is actually from the dark matter.”

Nonluminous and not directly detectable, dark matter is thought to account for 85 percent of the universe’s mass. Its existence can only be inferred from its gravitational effects on other, visible matter. The UCI researchers’ findings could support its presumed presence at the center of galaxies.

The prevailing hypothesis is that dark matter is composed of weakly interacting massive particles, or WIMPs. When two WIMPs meet, they annihilate each other to produce more familiar particles – including gamma rays.

Although the data interpretation seems to be consistent with dark-matter theory, the gamma rays could be coming from a source other than WIMP destruction, Kaplinghat noted.

“The signal we see is also consistent with photons emitted by pulsars,” he said, “or from high-energy particles interacting with gas in the galactic center.”

UC Irvine astrophysicists submitted their research to the American Physical Society journal Physical Review D.

MessageToEagle.com

See also:
Venus And Jupiter Show With Special Guests Aurora Borealis And The Moon

 

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Biological Hazards / Wildlife

Today

Biological Hazard

Australia

State of Victoria, Tooradin

Biological Hazard in Australia on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 05:00 (05:00 AM) UTC.

Description
Casey Council will not install warning signs after a man reported being stung by a box jellyfish at Tooradin. Devon Meadows’ Tony Jenner said he was swimming when stung by a jellyfish with “six-foot long” tentacles. “It felt like I got bitten by two or three bees,” Mr Jenner said. “I came home and put vinegar on it and I didn’t feel too bad then but through the night I could feel my throat getting tight and it was hard to breathe.” In April, Cr Geoff Ablett called for an investigation into the “life-threatening situation” and whether warning signs should be posted to notify swimmers of the risks. However, in her report to councillors last week, community safety manager Caroline Bell said the incident was isolated and signs were not required. Joanna Browne, of Museums Victoria, said there was a species of box jellyfish in Victoria, but it was smaller and less harmful than those in the tropics.
Biohazard name:	Jellyfish Invasion (Box)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

Today

Biological Hazard

USA

State of Texas, [Dallas County]

Biological Hazard in USA on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 03:14 (03:14 AM) UTC.

Description
Nine people have died from a West Nile virus outbreak that infected 175 people in Dallas County, Texas, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency. The emergency was declared on Friday by Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins, the county’s director of homeland security and emergency management. “This declaration will expand our avenues DisasterNew assistance in our ongoing battle with West Nile virus,” Jenkins said. “While we are busy doing everything we can to keep residents well informed and as protected as possible, we need your help.” Jenkins also said that planes would be spraying insecticide over areas most effected by the virus, which is spread by mosquitoes. He assured citizens that the insecticide is safe and that the planes will be precise in their spraying. Tarrant County has also received 146 reported cases of West Nile in the last few weeks. The county has not declared a state of emergency, though. Houston officials are warning residents of an increased threat of the virus. “Houston can definitely expect an increase in West Nile disease,” said Kristy Murray, an infectious disease specialist at the Baylor College of Medicine’s National School of Tropical Medicine, DisasterNews reports. “From mid-August through September is the big season here.”
Biohazard name:	West Nile virus outbreak
Biohazard level:	2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. “Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures”, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

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Articles of Interest

Today

Explosion

USA

State of New York, Brentwood [Long Island]

Explosion in USA on Wednesday, 15 August, 2012 at 03:11 (03:11 AM) UTC.

Description

A baby was killed and 14 other people were injured when a Long Island house was reduced to rubble in an explosion Tuesday morning. Six people, including the 18-month-old boy, were inside the Brentwood home when it exploded shortly before noon, said John Meehan, deputy chief of the Suffolk County Police. The five surviving adults were transported to local hospitals, three with serious injuries, he said. Five police officers responding to the scene suffered respiratory problems, one firefighter suffered chest pains and another firefighter suffered a sprained ankle, Meehan said, while a neighbor and a pedestrian were also injured. Authorities have declined to identify any victims and are not saying how many were residents of the home. Investigators are trying to determine if gas caused the explosion, said Robert Kuehn, an inspector for the Brentwood Fire Department. The house was not heated by natural gas, but there were two, 200-pound propane tanks on the property, Meehan said. The explosion leveled the home on Prospect Avenue, leaving no walls standing and covering the small yard in debris. On Tuesday afternoon, firefighters were digging through piles of lumber and sheetrock where the house stood on the wooded suburban street. Clothing was strewn in nearby trees, and adjacent houses sustained broken windows and other damage, authorities said. Neighbors described hearing a loud noise and then walking outside to see only clouds of dust and piles of debris where the house stood moments earlier. “The mother of the baby that came out, she was bloody, crying,” said Anthony Acevedo, 16 year old, who lives across the street. “She kept screaming, ‘My baby’s in there, my baby’s in there.’ They finally got the baby out, but the baby wasn’t moving.”

…………………………….

Saharan Dust Reaches the Americas

acquired July 15, 2012 download large image (400 KB, JPEG, 1440×960)

acquired July 7, 1994 download large image (688 KB, JPEG, 1000×1016)

Weather satellites frequently document dust palls blowing westward from Africa’s Sahara Desert across the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Astronauts see these Saharan dust masses as widespread atmospheric haze. The dust can be transported right across the Atlantic Ocean, taking about a week to reach North America (in northern hemisphere summer) or South America (in northern hemisphere winter). This puts the Caribbean Sea on the receiving end of many of these events.

In the top image, the margin of hazy air reaches the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) and the Turks and Caicos Islands, though the eastern tip of Cuba (foreground) remains clear. This image—taken by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) in July 2012—attracted the interest of scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center because the margin between dust haze and clear atmosphere lies in almost the same location as it appeared in another astronaut image in July 1994. When astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia captured the lower image (rotated from the 2012 view), few scientists had considered the possibility of trans-Atlantic dust transport.

The Columbia image also shows the brilliant blues of the shallow banks surrounding the Caicos Island in the Bahamas. The mountainous spine of Haiti lies further away, partly obscured by dust. Closer to the foreground—about 26 degrees north latitude—the skies are clear.

The dust in the images is almost 8,000 kilometers from its likely source in northern Mali, although data from sensors such as the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer and Ozone Monitoring Instrument have suggested that some dust traveling across the Atlantic may originate even further east in Chad or Sudan. Once airborne, Saharan dust has been known to travel west all the way into the Pacific Ocean, crossing Mexico at the narrow Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

We now know that African dust reaches the western hemisphere every month of the year, though not necessarily in as visible a form as in these images. Researchers have linked Saharan dust to coral disease, allergies in humans, and harmful algal blooms (“red tides”). There is also evidence that some of this African dust serves as a source of airborne nutrients for Amazon rainforest vegetation.

Astronaut photograph ISS032-E-8976 was acquired on July 15, 2012, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using a 28 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 32 crew. Astronaut photograph STS065-75-47 was acquired on July 7, 1994, with a Hasselblad Camera using a 100 mm lens and Kodak Lumiere film. Both images have been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by M. Justin Wilkinson, Jacobs/ESCG at NASA-JSC.

Instrument: 

ISS – Digital Camera

Sea Ice Retreats in the Northwest Passage

acquired July 17, 2012 download large image (5 MB, JPEG, 6000×4000)

acquired August 3, 2012 download large image (5 MB, JPEG, 6000×4000)

View Image Comparison

Ice retreated rapidly in the Parry Channel—part of the famous and elusive Northwest Passage—between mid-July and early August 2012.

These images, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, show significant changes over two weeks. The top image shows Parry Channel on July 17, 2012, when ice filled the channel. The bottom image shows the same region on August 3, when some ice was still clinging to the shores of Victoria and Melville Islands but open water otherwise dominated the region.

The Canadian Ice Service reported that ice cover in Parry Channel began to fall below the 1981–2010 median after July 16, 2012, and the loss accelerated over the following two weeks. On July 23, the percentage of ice cover in the channel was roughly 67 percent, compared to the median of 80 percent. On July 30, ice cover was roughly 33 percent, compared a median of 79 percent.

These photo-like images show widespread open water in early August, though patches of ice linger south of Melville Island. Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center cautioned, however, that while the Parry Channel appeared almost entirely free of ice, it was not necessarily open for navigational purposes. Sea ice can be thin enough to avoid detection by satellite sensors such as MODIS yet still thick enough to impede ships.

Whether or not ships can easily pass, recent studies have suggested that certain organisms have begun to take advantage of the open water. The Northwest Passage opened in 2007, a year when there was record-low sea ice in the Arctic. A 2007 study on Neodenticula seminae—a type of plankton historically found in the Pacific Ocean—concluded that the species had turned up in the North Atlantic. The research suggested that the plankton’s route included the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. A 2012 study on bowhead whales, which tracked individuals with satellite transmitters, indicated that Pacific and Atlantic populations had begun to overlap in the Northwest Passage in August 2010.

Attempts to identify a shortcut between Europe and Asia across the Arctic date back to the late fifteenth century, just several years after Columbus journeyed to the Americas. For centuries, attempts to find the route were stymied by unfamiliar geography and unforgiving ice. The Northwest Passage was first successfully navigated by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen between 1903 and 1906. He used the southern route through the Northwest Passage; Parry Channel is part of the northern or “preferred” route.

Wider views of the Northwest Passage, acquired on August 2, 2012, are available from the NASA Ocean Color Web and the Earth Observatory.

1. References

2. Canadian Ice Service. (2012, August 6) Animated map of the last 10 days and Weekly ice coverage for the season 2012: Northwest Passage, Parry Channel. Accessed August 6, 2012.
3. Heide-Jørgensen, M.P., Laidre, K.L., Quakenbush, L.T., Citta, J.J. (2012) The Northwest Passage opens for bowhead whales. Biology Letters, 8(2), 270–273.
4. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Ocean Color Web. Accessed August 7, 2012.
5. Princeton University Library. Of Maps and Men: In Pursuit of a Northwest Passage. Accessed August 6, 2012.
6. Reid, P.C., Johns, D.G., Edwards, M., Starr, M., Poulin, M., Snoeijs, P. (2007) A biological consequence of reducing Arctic ice cover: arrival of the Pacific diatom Neodenticula seminae in the North Atlantic for the first time in 800 000 years. Global Change Biology, 13(9), 1910–1921.
7. Roach, J. (2007, September 17) Arctic melt opens Northwest Passage. Accessed August 6, 2012.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Jesse Allen, using data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). Caption by Michon Scott, with information from Walt Meier, National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Instrument: 

Terra – MODIS

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Earth Watch Report – Friday July 27th, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
27.07.2012 08:40:30	4.4	Atlantic Ocean	Argentina	Salta	San Antonio de los Cobres				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 09:30:25	4.4	South-America	Argentina	Salta	San Antonio de los Cobres				EMSC
27.07.2012 08:05:32	2.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Kokhanok				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 09:25:35	2.8	Caribbean	Puerto Rico	Rincon	Rincon				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 07:40:39	3.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Valdez				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 07:00:32	2.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Petersville				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 07:30:21	3.7	South-America	Bolivia	Potosí	Villa Alota				EMSC
27.07.2012 06:25:32	2.8	Europe	Greece	Peloponnese	Pragmateftis				EMSC
27.07.2012 06:10:45	2.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Pedro Bay				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 06:20:27	4.7	Asia	Russia	Tyva	Saryg-Sep				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 06:25:55	4.7	Europe	Russia	Tyva	Saryg-Sep				EMSC
27.07.2012 06:26:17	2.0	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Rodi				EMSC
27.07.2012 06:00:39	5.4	Pacific Ocean	Northern Mariana Islands	Northern Islands Municipality	Agrihan Village				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 06:26:38	5.4	Pacific Ocean – East	Northern Mariana Islands	Northern Islands Municipality	Agrihan Village				EMSC
27.07.2012 05:29:34	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Chase				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 05:25:02	3.4	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Rodi				EMSC
27.07.2012 05:26:35	4.4	Middle-America	Mexico	Oaxaca	Santiago Pinotepa Nacional				EMSC
27.07.2012 04:45:25	4.4	Middle America	Mexico	Oaxaca	Santiago Pinotepa Nacional				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 05:27:43	4.7	Middle-America	Guatemala	Guatemala	Mixco				EMSC
27.07.2012 04:30:29	4.7	Middle America	Guatemala	Guatemala	Mixco				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 04:20:29	2.0	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Rodi				EMSC
27.07.2012 04:20:53	2.3	Asia	Turkey	Tunceli	Pulumer				EMSC
27.07.2012 03:40:37	2.0	North America	United States	California	Saratoga				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 03:41:05	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Yakutat				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 03:17:21	2.2	North America	United States	California	Cobb				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 04:21:32	2.5	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Rodi				EMSC
27.07.2012 02:55:26	2.0	North America	United States	California	Montara				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 03:15:21	2.5	Europe	Greece	Central Greece	Roviai				EMSC
27.07.2012 03:00:32	2.4	Caribbean	Puerto Rico	Rincon	Stella				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 02:40:31	3.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Petersville				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 03:15:45	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Tunceli	Hozat				EMSC
27.07.2012 02:11:26	2.0	North America	United States	California	Redlands				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 02:20:29	4.9	Indonesian archipelago	Papua New Guinea	East New Britain	Rabaul				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 03:16:07	4.9	Indonesian Archipelago	Papua New Guinea	East New Britain	Rabaul				EMSC
27.07.2012 02:35:29	3.3	Caribbean	Puerto Rico	San Juan	San Juan				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 01:50:31	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Petersville				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 01:15:27	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Petersville				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 02:10:32	2.7	Asia	Turkey	Van	Toyga				EMSC
27.07.2012 00:50:30	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Pedro Bay				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 00:50:52	3.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Nanwalek				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 01:10:27	4.4	Pacific Ocean – West	Philippines	Cagayan Valley	Namuac				EMSC
27.07.2012 00:25:34	4.4	Pacific Ocean – West	Philippines	Cagayan Valley	Namuac				USGS-RSOE
27.07.2012 01:10:55	3.5	South-America	Chile	Coquimbo	Coquimbo				EMSC
27.07.2012 00:10:26	4.0	South-America	Chile	Antofagasta	Tocopilla				EMSC
27.07.2012 00:10:55	3.5	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Panarea				EMSC
27.07.2012 03:16:34	2.0	Asia	Turkey	Siirt	Uzyum				EMSC
27.07.2012 00:11:18	4.5	Indonesian Archipelago	East Timor		Gunung Dilarini				EMSC
26.07.2012 22:00:23	2.9	Asia	Turkey	??rnak	Birlikkoy				EMSC
26.07.2012 22:00:51	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Denizli	Civril				EMSC
26.07.2012 21:10:36	2.4	North America	United States	Hawaii	Pahala				USGS-RSOE

………………………….

Strong quake hits off Mauritius

SINGAPORE

(Reuters) – A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck off the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius on Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said.

The quake was centered 212 miles northeast of Rodrigues island and at a depth of 20.5 miles. The USGS initially put the magnitude at 6.7.

(Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Ron Popeski)

8.6 Quake Possible in Southern California? Caltech Suggests New ‘Mega-Earthquake’

By Dennis Romero

LA Weekly

Ben+Sam / Flickr

See also:
*3.8 Magnitude Earthquake ‘Jolts’ Marina Del Rey, Causes No Damage Whatsoever.

In recent years, scientists, first responders and utilities have been preparing for “The Big One,” that inevitable quake that will rock Southern California to its core. It’s coming. For sure. They just don’t know when.

But the U.S. Geological Survey and Caltech have been on the ball, working from a likely scenario, a simulated “Shakeout” (see video after the jump) that would have a 7.8 quake hitting greater L.A. It would be deadly, destructive and put us in the dark for days, if not weeks.

Unfortunately, a 7.8 might now be too low of an estimate for The Big One:

Caltech researchers looked at Sumatra’s April 11 8.6 earthquake and concluded — maybe — that a similar temblor could happen along the same San Andreas fault that will produce our Big One.

Make that a possible Bigger One.

Uploaded by ShakeOut2008 on Aug 5, 2008

Simulations for the magnitude 7.8 “ShakeOut” earthquake on the southern San Andreas fault, developed by the Southern California Earthquake Center ShakeOut Simulation workgroup. Simulation by Rob Graves, URS/SCEC. Visualization by Geoff Ely, USC/SCEC.

Scientists said the Indonesian rocker was larger than they ever thought such a quake “could be,” according to Caltech. It was a “intraplate strike-slip quake,” similar to what would happen at San Andreas, where much of California, from Baja to San Francisco, is moving north as the rest of America moves south.

In Sumatra, scientists found that this was not only the biggest strike-slip fault temblor ever, but that it set of a series of right-angle ruptures that amplified the shaking, like a block of ice cracking up in the heat.

And yes, it could happen here. The research, published last week in the journal Science Express, argues:

The new details provide fresh insights into the possibility of ruptures involving multiple faults occurring elsewhere–something that could be important for earthquake-hazard assessment along California’s San Andreas fault, which itself is made up of many different segments and is intersected by a number of other faults at right angles.

Lingsen Meng, lead author of the Caltech research:

If other earthquake ruptures are able to go this deep or to connect as many fault segments as this earthquake did, they might also be very large and cause significant damage.

The USGS, of course, is begging Southern Californians to prepare for our “mega-earthquake,” as academics called the Indonesian shaker. You know, flashlights, batteries, radios, water, nonperishable food. All that good stuff.

But 8.6? Be prepared to kiss your ass goodbye.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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Volcanic Activity

27.07.2012

Volcano Eruption

Japan

Prefecture of Kagoshima, [Volcano Sakura-jima]

Volcano Eruption in Japan on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 02:59 (02:59 AM) UTC.

Description

A volcano in Sakurajima in southern Japan has erupted, spewing volcanic ash onto Kagoshima City. The eruption at one of Japan’s most active volcanoes caused ash to cover roads. Residents of Kagoshima donned face masks to protect themselves while sweeping away the ash. The volcano has erupted over 600 times this year and is expected to continue its intermittent eruptions. Currently, the volcano warning there is at level three out of a possible five levels. A level five would mean that the residents living near the crater would have to be evacuated, while level three warns people not to approach the volcano.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Excessive Heat Warning

ST LOUIS MO
MOUNT HOLLY NJ
NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
WAKEFIELD VA

Heat Advisory

ST LOUIS MO
TULSA OK
PEACHTREE CITY GA
MOUNT HOLLY NJ
CHARLESTON SC
GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
WILMINGTON NC
NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
JACKSONVILLE FL
WAKEFIELD VA
BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
RALEIGH NC

27.07.2012

Heat Wave

Japan

[Statewide]

Heat Wave in Japan on Wednesday, 25 July, 2012 at 03:36 (03:36 AM) UTC.

Description

The number of people taken to hospitals by ambulance due to heatstroke in the week through Sunday more than doubled from the preceding week to 5,467, preliminary data showed Tuesday. The figure, up from 2,622 in the week to July 15, hit the highest for a single week this summer, according to the data released by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency. Deaths caused by heatstroke increased to 13 from five in the preceding week. Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture had the most victims, with ambulances called for 388 people each. They were followed by 382 in Aichi Prefecture and 372 in Osaka Prefecture. People aged 65 or older accounted for 45.9 percent of the total. Since the agency started this year’s survey on May 28, 11,116 people were taken to hospitals as of Sunday. Twenty-three people have died. The rise in heatstroke cases reflects the smothering heat wave, with temperatures of 35 degrees or higher observed in many places for the four days from July 16, agency officials said. In Tatebayashi, Gunma Prefecture, the mercury shot up to 37.6 on July 16 and to 39.2 the following day, according to the Meteorological Agency.

Weather Extremes Leave Parts of U.S. Grid Buckling

Travis Long/The News & Observer, via Associated Press

Emergency repairs on a highway that buckled in triple-digit temperatures last month near Cary, N.C.

By MATTHEW L. WALD and JOHN SCHWARTZ

WASHINGTON — From highways in Texas to nuclear power plants in Illinois, the concrete, steel and sophisticated engineering that undergird the nation’s infrastructure are being taxed to worrisome degrees by heat, drought and vicious storms.

Enlarge This Image

On a single day this month here, a US Airways regional jet became stuck in asphalt that had softened in 100-degree temperatures, and a subway train derailed after the heat stretched the track so far that it kinked — inserting a sharp angle into a stretch that was supposed to be straight. In East Texas, heat and drought have had a startling effect on the clay-rich soils under highways, which “just shrink like crazy,” leading to “horrendous cracking,” said Tom Scullion, senior research engineer with the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. In Northeastern and Midwestern states, he said, unusually high heat is causing highway sections to expand beyond their design limits, press against each other and “pop up,” creating jarring and even hazardous speed bumps.

Excessive warmth and dryness are threatening other parts of the grid as well. In the Chicago area, a twin-unit nuclear plant had to get special permission to keep operating this month because the pond it uses for cooling water rose to 102 degrees; its license to operate allows it to go only to 100. According to the Midwest Independent System Operator, the grid operator for the region, a different power plant had had to shut because the body of water from which it draws its cooling water had dropped so low that the intake pipe became high and dry; another had to cut back generation because cooling water was too warm.

The frequency of extreme weather is up over the past few years, and people who deal with infrastructure expect that to continue. Leading climate models suggest that weather-sensitive parts of the infrastructure will be seeing many more extreme episodes, along with shifts in weather patterns and rising maximum (and minimum) temperatures.

“We’ve got the ‘storm of the century’ every year now,” said Bill Gausman, a senior vice president and a 38-year veteran at the Potomac Electric Power Company, which took eight days to recover from the June 29 “derecho” storm that raced from the Midwest to the Eastern Seaboard and knocked out power for 4.3 million people in 10 states and the District of Columbia.

In general, nobody in charge of anything made of steel and concrete can plan based on past trends, said Vicki Arroyo, who heads the Georgetown Climate Center at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, a clearinghouse on climate-change adaptation strategies.

Highways, Mr. Scullion noted, are designed for the local climate, taking into account things like temperature and rainfall. “When you get outside of those things, man, all bets are off.” As weather patterns shift, he said, “we could have some very dramatic failures of highway systems.”

Adaptation efforts are taking place nationwide. Some are as huge as the multibillion-dollar effort to increase the height of levees and flood walls in New Orleans because of projections of rising sea levels and stronger storms to come; others as mundane as resizing drainage culverts in Vermont, where Hurricane Irene damaged about 2,000 culverts. “They just got blown out,” said Sue Minter, the Irene recovery officer for the state.

In Washington, the subway system, which opened in 1976, has revised its operating procedures. Authorities will now watch the rail temperature and order trains to slow down if it gets too hot. When railroads install tracks in cold weather, they heat the metal to a “neutral” temperature so it reaches a moderate length, and will withstand the shrinkage and growth typical for that climate. But if the heat historically seen in the South becomes normal farther north, the rails will be too long for that weather, and will have an increased tendency to kink. So railroad officials say they will begin to undertake much more frequent inspection.

Some utilities are re-examining long-held views on the economics of protecting against the weather. Pepco, the utility serving the area around Washington, has repeatedly studied the idea of burying more power lines, and the company and its regulators have always decided that the cost outweighed the benefit. But the company has had five storms in the last two and a half years for which recovery took at least five days, and after the derecho last month, the consensus has changed. Both the District of Columbia and Montgomery County, Md., have held hearings to discuss the option — though in the District alone, the cost would be $1.1 billion to $5.8 billion, depending on how many of the power lines were put underground.

Even without storms, heat waves are changing the pattern of electricity use, raising peak demand higher than ever. That implies the need for new investment in generating stations, transmission lines and local distribution lines that will be used at full capacity for only a few hundred hours a year. “We build the system for the 10 percent of the time we need it,” said Mark Gabriel, a senior vice president of Black & Veatch, an engineering firm. And that 10 percent is “getting more extreme.”

Even as the effects of weather extremes become more evident, precisely how to react is still largely an open question, said David Behar, the climate program director for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. “We’re living in an era of assessment, not yet in an area of adaptation,” he said.

He says that violent storms and forest fires can be expected to affect water quality and water use: runoff from major storms and falling ash could temporarily shut down reservoirs. Deciding how to address such issues is the work of groups like the Water Utility Climate Alliance, of which he is a member. “In some ways, the science is still catching up with the need of water managers for high-quality projection,” he said.

Some needs are already known. San Francisco will spend as much as $40 million to modify discharge pipes for treated wastewater to prevent bay water from flowing back into the system.

Even when state and local officials know what they want to do, they say they do not always get the cooperation they would like from the federal government. Many agencies have officially expressed a commitment to plan for climate change, but sometimes the results on the ground can be frustrating, said Ms. Minter of Vermont. For instance, she said, Vermont officials want to replace the old culverts with bigger ones. “We think it’s an opportunity to build back in a more robust way,” she said. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency wants to reuse the old culverts that washed out, or replace them with similar ones, she said.

Ms. Arroyo of Georgetown said the federal government must do more. “They are not acknowledging that the future will look different from the past,” she said, “and so we keep putting people and infrastructure in harm’s way.”

Matthew L. Wald reported from Washington, and John Schwartz from New York.

Fire Weather Watch

BOISE ID
POCATELLO ID

Extreme Fire Danger

RAPID CITY SD

Today

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Montana, [Southeast of Columbus]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 04:46 (04:46 AM) UTC.

Description

Residents were asked to evacuate from a rural area in southern Montana Thursday as a 5-square-mile wildfire approached the edge of a spread-out subdivision. County workers and firefighters were going door to door asking people to leave along a five-mile stretch of Shane Creek Road south of Columbus, officials said. The voluntary evacuation covered roughly 10 houses in Stillwater County, according to a hotline set up by the county. Shane Creek resident Shane Fouhy said he was packing some belongings, setting out sprinklers to water down his house and yard and heading into Columbus to stay with relatives. “I’ve been out all morning watering and the wind is kind of whirling,” he said. “It’s burning in all directions.” Paula Short with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation said the Skibstad Fire was burning in grass and timber and had approached within two miles of houses along Shane Creek Road. Residents of more than 100 houses were put on notice that they, too, might have to go. Firefighters were trying to hold the fire along a nearby ridge top to keep it from reaching the houses, Short said. But they were braced for the blaze to spread amid hot, dry conditions and winds of 5 to 10 miles per hour. Columbus High School was set up as a shelter for evacuees. Some structures were confirmed burned; how many and whether any were houses remained unclear. The fire started Wednesday evening in a secondary building on Skibstad Road and quickly spread across the surrounding landscape. It was pushed to the south by the wind, eventually reaching into areas of Carbon County. A heavy air tanker and several smaller aircraft were providing support to at least 60 firefighters with more personnel en route, Short said.

27.07.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Nebraska, [Fairfield Creek]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 03:10 (03:10 AM) UTC.

Description

More federal firefighters were being deployed to bone-dry Nebraska, where a huge wildfire is threatening more structures and two smaller fires are still out of control. The handful of people living in Sparks, a gateway to canoeing and tubing on the Niobrara River, were on alert for possible evacuation. A 14-mile stretch of the valley already has been evacuated. While a cold front is expected to provide some relief, highs Wednesday will still be in the mid-90s. The front may also bring some rain, but major storms aren’t likely to develop near the fire. Plus, storms could also bring lightning and spark new fires. Hot, windy weather on Monday helped the main Fairfield Creek Fire expand to 58,000 acres, or nearly 92 square miles. Two other smaller fires about 20 miles east of the main fire had burned more than six square miles. And Tuesday’s high temperature again topped Officials estimate the fires, which have already destroyed at least 10 homes, are about 25 percent contained. Some 200 federal firefighters were being sent to join the more than 300 crews already on the front lines. Four helicopters are also fighting the fires, and three firefighters have been injured. Much of the fire-swept land near the river is rugged, forested and populated with cabins, so only 17 residences had been evacuated as of Tuesday morning.

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Storms / Flooding / Landslides

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

PEACHTREE CITY GA

26.07.2012

Complex Emergency

China

Capital City, Beijing

Complex Emergency in China on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 08:01 (08:01 AM) UTC.

Description

A much expected downpour bypassed Beijing Wednesday but battered the neighboring city of Tianjin, flooding many downtown streets and vehicles. As of 11 a.m. Thursday, the maximum precipitation had exceeded 300 millimeters, Tianjin’s meteorological center said in a press release. It said the city proper received an average rainfall of 147 mm, while the outer Xiqing district, one of the worst-battered areas, received 309.8 mm. The local fire prevention bureau sent 190 fire engines and 1,140 rescuers to help rescue flood stranded vehicles and pedestrians. The rain had largely stopped by midday, but the center issued another orange alarm at 11:10 a.m., warning residents of a further rainstorm. The downpour has paralyzed traffic in downtown Tianjin, drowning many roads. Dozens of vehicles were stranded on Baidi road in Nankai district after their engines died in the flood. Many pedestrians complained they had to trek in knee-deep water. In some sections of Xianyang Street, flood water was waist deep. On the badly flooded Friendship Road in Hexi district, five workers kept watch next to sewage wells whose manholes had been removed for faster drainage.The rain disrupted air traffic at Tianjin’s airport, where 20 flights were canceled and 34 delayed.8 The first flight, an incoming flight from Shanghai, landed in Tianjin after the rain subsided at 11:32 a.m., and the first departing flight took off at 12:08 p.m., according to the airport’s official website. Railway transportation, however, was largely unaffected, including the express rail link to Beijing, the city’s railway authorities confirmed. Vegetable prices were up at the city’s major wholesale markets Thursday. “Each kilo is at least 0.4 yuan — about 30 percent — more expensive than yesterday,” said Cui Hongqing, a wholesaler at Hongqi Market. Cui predicted further price hikes Friday as the rain devastated crops and increased transportation costs. China’s capital Beijing was on guard against heavy rain Wednesday, fearing a repeat of Saturday’s mayhem. Saturday’s downpour, which the local weather bureau described as the “heaviest in 61 years,” killed at least 37 people — some were drowned in private cars. Many office workers were allowed to go home early Wednesday for safety considerations, and city authorities bombarded mobile phone subscribers with text message warnings of an imminent downpour. The much expected rain, however, did not fall in Beijing. The capital was still overcast Thursday, as the central weather bureau has forecast rain in seven northern China provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, over the coming three days.

……………….

Summer Storms to Create New Ozone Holes as Earth Warms?

More storms may trigger ozone depletion in populated areas far from the Poles.

A thunderstorm rumbles through Kansas (file picture).

Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic

John Roach

for National Geographic News

Summer storms may create new holes in our protective ozone layer as Earth heats up—bringing increased solar ultraviolet radiation to densely populated areas, a new study says.

What’s more, if more sunlight reaches Earth, skin cancer could become the new marquee risk of global warming.

As the planet warms, some studies have suggested summer storms may become more frequent and intense. This would send more water vapor—a potent greenhouse gas—into the stratosphere, the middle layer of Earth’s atmosphere, which sits between 9 and 22 miles (14 and 35 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.

In a recent series of research flights over the United States, Harvard University atmospheric chemist James Anderson and colleagues found that summer storms often loft water vapor into the stratosphere.

“It was an unequivocal observation,” he said. “We had a number of flights, and this was an abiding feature” of the storms.

Under the right conditions, this water vapor could trigger chemical reactions that deplete the ozone layer, which prevents harmful ultraviolet rays from reaching Earth’s surface, the study says.

Even small reductions in the ozone layer can make people more susceptible to skin cancer and eye damage, experts say.

(See “Whatever Happened to the Ozone Hole?”)

Ozone-Attacking Conditions Occur in U.S.?

The finding concerned Anderson, whose research in the 1980s and ’90s played a pivotal role in establishing the Montreal Protocol. The international treaty phased out the production of ozone-depleting chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were found in a variety of products, including hairsprays and refrigerators.

CFCs produce a form of chlorine that degrades ozone particles in the stratosphere, most signifcantly over the Arctic and Antarctic.

Subsequent studies in the Arctic and in the laboratory revealed that both temperature and water vapor concentrations are crucial in a chemical reaction that makes chlorine attack ozone.

Now, the new observations over the United States suggest summer storms create the same combination of temperature and water vapor conditions at mid-latitudes. (Interactive Map: Global Warming Effects.)

“We essentially have the chemistry that’s present in the Arctic that is clearly very potent for destroying ozone,” Anderson said.

The findings, published today in the journal Science, calculate ozone loss at a rate between 4 and 6 percent per day in water vapor-rich areas of the stratosphere. The effect could persist for several weeks after a storm, he added.

What worries Anderson most is where and when this phenomenon appears to occur.

“It is not ozone loss in Antarctica and the Arctic under winter conditions. It is an attack on the ozone layer in the summer over populated regions of the Northern Hemisphere,” he said.

(See “Rocket Launches Damage Ozone Layer, Study Says.”)

Ozone Loss Not Yet Confirmed

Simone Tilmes, an atmospheric chemist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, views the new findings with caution.

Research does indicate that more water vapor in the stratosphere will lead to greater ozone loss under the right conditions, said Tilmes, who was not involved with the current research.

But the study found no direct evidence of a simultaneous observation of water vapor and the presence of destructive chlorine, she said.

“This raises attention,” she said, emphasizing that more research is needed to determine if such ozone depletion will occur.

Study leader Anderson and colleagues acknowledged that they haven’t yet measured the ozone-destroying chlorine in the North American stratosphere.

However, he noted that, though chlorofluorocarbons are no longer released into the atmosphere, the compounds already there can persist for decades.

(Related: “Old Fridges, Cars Slow Ozone Hole Recovery, Scientists Say.”)

Cancer Risk May Spur People to Action

If there’s a silver lining to the research, it’s that the results could have a tangible impact on people’s behavior, Anderson said.

Unlike with the “out of sight, out of mind” nature of melting glaciers and carbon dioxide and methane emissions, he said, “most people know that skin cancer is highly prevalent and increasing its frequency.”

If the new findings are confirmed, people may see a direct link between climate change and their health.

That, he said, “might spur them to “step up and take responsibility for what is actually occurring.”

 

 

Flash Flood Warning

WILMINGTON OH
CHARLESTON WV

Flood Warning

CHARLESTON WV
PITTSBURGH PA
TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL

Flood Advisory

CORPUS CHRISTI TX

Today

Tornado

USA

State of New York, Elmira

Tornado in USA on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:21 (03:21 AM) UTC.

Description

A possible tornado touched down in Elmira, N.Y., late Thursday, damaging buildings, toppling trees and bringing down power lines. The authorities said some people were trapped in their cars when the storm struck around 4 p.m. There were no reports of serious injuries. Emergency officials in Chemung County said there was “significant damage” in Elmira. The National Weather Service said that there were unconfirmed reports that a tornado had touched down. Severe weather moved across Ohio and Pennsylvania on Thursday afternoon, and into New York and New England, bringing heavy rain and in some cases, strong winds and hail. In the New York metropolitan area, weather officials said that the storm moved in shortly after 7 p.m. The hardest hit areas were northwest of the city in Westchester County and in parts of Connecticut, where there were multiple reports of downed trees and power lines. The highest measured wind gusts in the area were 60 miles per hour, near the Tappan Zee Bridge, officials said. Around 8 p.m., wind gusts of up to 54 miles per hour were reported at Kennedy International Airport, weather officials said. Hundreds of flights were delayed because of the storm. Amtrak also reported delays. Late Thursday, tens of thousands of people in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut were without power.

Today

Landslide

Vietnam

MultiProvinces, [Provinces of Tuyen Quang and Ha Giang]

Landslide in Vietnam on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:39 (03:39 AM) UTC.

Description

Disaster officials and state media in Vietnam say landslides and flash floods triggered by Typhoon Vicente have killed seven people, including three in a single family, and left three others missing. Official Lai Thanh Huyen of Tuyen Quang province in northern Vietnam said Friday that landslides following heavy rains buried a 28-year-old woman, her five-year-old daughter and four-month-old son early Thursday while they were sleeping in their home. The Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that landslides killed four people in the neighboring province of Ha Giang. It says flash floods have left three other people missing elsewhere in the region. Vicente injured dozens and grounded planes in Hong Kong earlier in the week.

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Epidemic Hazards  / Diseases

Today

Epidemic

Malaysia

State of Sarawak, [Bintulu Region]

Epidemic in Malaysia on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:17 (03:17 AM) UTC.

Description
Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh yesterday confirmed that there is a cholera outbreak in Bintulu. Speaking to reporters after a briefing by officers from the state Health Department at his office here yesterday, he said the department detected the outbreak on July 14 after a case was confirmed positive with Vibrio Cholerae. “Since July 14, the state Health Department declared there is an outbreak detected in Bintulu. Since then, the state Health Department initiated its investigation to trace all the suspected symptomatic cases. Anyone coming down with diarrhoea and vomiting will be investigated to check whether it is cholera or not,” he added. Based on investigation by the department, the outbreak was believed to have started when three groups of regatta participants from Rumah Gawan, Kampung Jepak and Kampung Hilir in Sebauh, Bintulu used water from Kemena River to wash plates, fish and their hands. “The bacteria from the river had contaminated the food and the hands of the people during the regatta and then continuously spread from person to person and contaminated food and drinks. Now the state Health Department is also suspecting that it is spread from Ramadan Bazaar due to contaminated food and drinks,” he added. He noted that as of yesterday, the department had received 140 cases – 33 positive for cholera, 55 negative and 52 cases still pending result. The youngest patient was one year 11 months old while the oldest was 84 years old. The department also detected nine cases with Vibrio Cholerae but without any symptom. As of yesterday, 177 people had been screened for signs and symptoms of acute gastroenteritis and were given doxycycline, an antibiotic.On the outbreak, Wong said it was still spreading in Bintulu with 11 localities declared positive for cholera; Rumah Panjang Gawan at Sungai Sebauh, Kampung Jepak, Kampung Sebauh Hilir in Sebauh, Rumah Usah in Sungai Segan, Setinggan Mozako, Kampung Assyikirin, Kampung Sinong in Jalan Masjid, Setinggan Hock Peng Tanjung Kidurong, Batu 10, Jalan Bintulu/Miri, Kampung Baru and Kirana Palm Oil/Brightwood Quarters, Kemena Industrial Estate. “The state Health Department will continue to take all samples from Sungai Kemena and its tributaries as well as food sampling from Ramadan Bazaar and houses. Besides that, the state Health Department will intensify diarrhoea and vomiting surveillance in all health facilities in Bintulu and issue cholera alert to all government, private health facilities in the state whereby when there is increase in number of admission, the state Health Department will investigate whether it is cholera or not,” he said. Wong said attention would also be given to all food handlers in the Ramadan Bazaar in Bintulu to ensure that they meet the department’s health standards, which also requires them to go for cholera screening. “Once they are cleared from the disease, they will be issued health cards and they must bring the health cards with them when they operate the stalls. If they refuse to go for screening, they will be asked to close down their stalls,” he added. For the convenience of the public, a screening centre is opened at the old Bintulu health clinic from 8am to 10pm every day. The department is also using Bintulu Hospital for isolation of severe cases while mild cases and asymptomatic cases would be treated at the national service camp in Samalaju in Bintulu. Wong appealed to the public to give their fullest cooperation to the department to ensure that the outbreak could be contained.
Biohazard name:	Vibrio Cholera Outbreak
Biohazard level:	2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. “Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures”, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

26.07.2012

Epidemic Hazard

Uganda

Western Uganda, [Kibaale District]

Epidemic Hazard in Uganda on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 15:57 (03:57 PM) UTC.

Description
Sixteen people are reported dead in Uganda from a mystery illness. The Uganda publication UG Pulse reports that a strange illness, cause unknown, is spreading in the Kibaale district in western Uganda. The District Health Officer, Dr. Dan Kyamanwa, stated that 11 of the deaths were from the same family in the Nyamarunda Sub County. A twelfth death was a health officer. There are also reports of the illness appearing in the clinical officer who treated the family from Nyamarunda and a driver who transported the deceased. Kyamanwa says that symptoms of the illness include high fever, vomiting, diarrhea and systems failure. Death occurs within four to seven days.The Ugandan government is reportedly sending a team of experts to investigate the outbreak.
Biohazard name:	Unidentified fatal disease
Biohazard level:	4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.:	Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status:	suspected

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Solar Activity

2MIN News July 26, 2012

Published on Jul 26, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

EARTHQUAKE WATCH: http://youtu.be/SMiHsOYwdCs

TODAY’S LINKS
Nuclear Expansion: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/us-nuclear-uranium-report-idUSBRE86…
Antarctic Ice Rift: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-hidden-rift-valley-beneath-west.html
Fracking Study Fraud: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/07/update-university-of-texas-…
Crazy Weather Images: http://www.weather.com/news/landsat-earth-images-20120725

REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos – as seen from earth]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT – as seen from earth]

Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI – as seen from the side]

SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it… trust me]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]

NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/ [CME Evolution]

NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can’t figure out what this one is for?]

BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]

INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]

NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/

PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]

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Space

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
(2009 PC)	28th July 2012	1 day(s)	0.1772	68.9	61 m – 140 m	7.34 km/s	26424 km/h
217013 (2001 AA50)	31st July 2012	4 day(s)	0.1355	52.7	580 m – 1.3 km	22.15 km/s	79740 km/h
(2012 DS30)	02nd August 2012	6 day(s)	0.1224	47.6	18 m – 39 m	5.39 km/s	19404 km/h
(2000 RN77)	03rd August 2012	7 day(s)	0.1955	76.1	410 m – 920 m	9.87 km/s	35532 km/h
(2004 SB56)	04th August 2012	8 day(s)	0.1393	54.2	380 m – 840 m	13.72 km/s	49392 km/h
(2000 SD8)	04th August 2012	8 day(s)	0.1675	65.2	180 m – 400 m	5.82 km/s	20952 km/h
(2006 EC)	06th August 2012	10 day(s)	0.0932	36.3	13 m – 28 m	6.13 km/s	22068 km/h
(2006 MV1)	07th August 2012	11 day(s)	0.0612	23.8	12 m – 28 m	4.79 km/s	17244 km/h
(2005 RK3)	08th August 2012	12 day(s)	0.1843	71.7	52 m – 120 m	8.27 km/s	29772 km/h
(2009 BW2)	09th August 2012	13 day(s)	0.0337	13.1	25 m – 56 m	5.27 km/s	18972 km/h
277475 (2005 WK4)	09th August 2012	13 day(s)	0.1283	49.9	260 m – 580 m	6.18 km/s	22248 km/h
(2004 SC56)	09th August 2012	13 day(s)	0.0811	31.6	74 m – 170 m	10.57 km/s	38052 km/h
(2008 AF4)	10th August 2012	14 day(s)	0.1936	75.3	310 m – 690 m	16.05 km/s	57780 km/h
37655 Illapa	12th August 2012	16 day(s)	0.0951	37.0	770 m – 1.7 km	28.73 km/s	103428 km/h
(2012 HS15)	14th August 2012	18 day(s)	0.1803	70.2	220 m – 490 m	11.54 km/s	41544 km/h
4581 Asclepius	16th August 2012	20 day(s)	0.1079	42.0	220 m – 490 m	13.48 km/s	48528 km/h
(2008 TC4)	18th August 2012	22 day(s)	0.1937	75.4	140 m – 300 m	17.34 km/s	62424 km/h
(2006 CV)	20th August 2012	24 day(s)	0.1744	67.9	290 m – 640 m	13.24 km/s	47664 km/h
(2012 EC)	20th August 2012	24 day(s)	0.0815	31.7	56 m – 130 m	5.57 km/s	20052 km/h
162421 (2000 ET70)	21st August 2012	25 day(s)	0.1503	58.5	640 m – 1.4 km	12.92 km/s	46512 km/h
(2007 WU3)	21st August 2012	25 day(s)	0.1954	76.0	56 m – 120 m	5.25 km/s	18900 km/h
(2012 BB14)	24th August 2012	28 day(s)	0.1234	48.0	27 m – 60 m	2.58 km/s	9288 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

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Rogue Waves

Today

Giant Wave Impact

India

State of Goa, [About 200 metres of Benaulim coastal area]

Giant Wave Impact in India on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:15 (03:15 AM) UTC.

Description

Lifeguard services provided by the department of tourism were called upon to carry out a multiple rescue operation on Thursday at Benaulim after a fishing boat with 12 crew members ventured out to the sea and capsized. The incident report stated that lifeguards were continuously observing the boat that had left at 7.20am when they saw it suddenly capsize when it was hit by a huge wave about 200m from the shore. Nine crew members were secured by the lifeguards on jet-ski boats and brought to shore while three managed to swim to safety. No injuries were reported. But as two victims Santan Fernandes and Menino Fernandes had shallow breathing, they were shifted to Hospicio hospital, Margao.

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Biological Hazards / Wildlife

 

Today

Biological Hazard

Australia

State of Western Australia, [Swan River from Bassendean to West Swan]

Biological Hazard in Australia on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 07:32 (07:32 AM) UTC.

Description
Hundreds of fish have gone belly-up in the Swan River and others are slowly dying as the latest toxic algal bloom to hit the river takes it toll. The Swan River Trust is responding to sightings of the dead and sluggish fish near the Ascot Waters marina. Elevated levels of the microalgae Karlodinium veneficum, which is potentially toxic to fish, have been detected in the area over the past few weeks. A similar outbreak in June killed more than 2,500 fish in a 13km stretch of the river from Bassendean to West Swan. Principal scientist with the trust Kerry Trayler said the free-floating microalgae were known to affect the capacity of fish to extract oxygen from the water. She said while the algae was not toxic to humans precautions should be taken in relation to the dead or dying fish. “The Department of Health advises that people should not swim in, or fish in, water with dead and decomposing fish. They should also keep pets and other animals away from the fish because they may contain high levels of bacteria,” she said. “Sluggish and dead fish should also not be collected and used for bait or consumption because of the risk of high levels of bacteria.”
Biohazard name:	Karlodinium veneficum (HAB)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

Today

Biological Hazard

USA

State of Kansas, Overland Park [South Lake Park, 7601 W. 86th St]

Biological Hazard in USA on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:25 (03:25 AM) UTC.

Description
Kansas health officials have strengthened their alert about toxic blue-green algae in the pond at South Lake Park, 7601 W. 86th St. City officials said an earlier “advisory” has been upgraded to a “warning,” so people and pets should not drink the water. Any fish caught there should be rinsed with clean water, and only the filet portion should be eaten. Pets should not eat dried algae, and people and animals should be rinsed with clean water if they come in contact with lake water.
Biohazard name:	Blue-Green (cyanobacteria) Algae bloom
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

Today

Biological Hazard

USA

State of Washington, Bremerton [Kitsap Lake]

Biological Hazard in USA on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:23 (03:23 AM) UTC.

Description
Health authorities are warning residents and visitors to Kitsap Lake in West Bremerton that high levels of a toxic blue-green algae have been discovered in the water. If ingested in sufficient quantities, a toxin produced by the algae can make people sick and potentially kill pets, fish, waterfowl and livestock, said Jim Zimny, water quality specialist with the Kitsap Public Health District. Water samples taken Tuesday from Kitsap Lake showed levels of the toxic compound to be 6.7 micrograms per liter. Warnings are posted when the level exceeds 6.0. Signs have gone up at public access areas and on roads around the lake, Zimny said. Weekly tests will be conducted until the algae blooms subside. People are advised to avoid drinking the water or swimming in the lake, especially in areas where the algae have concentrated. Avoid eating any fish caught during the bloom. Pets should be kept back from the water. Zimny asks people to call the health district if they see large numbers of dead fish, unexplained illness in a dog or cat or if someone entering the water suffers a physical reaction, such as a rash or illness.
Biohazard name:	Blue-Green (cyanobacteria) Algae bloom
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

Today

Biological Hazard

Malaysia

State of Preak, loc:Kampung Sg Dua [Sungai Bentong River]

Biological Hazard in Malaysia on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:13 (03:13 AM) UTC.

Description
Residents in Kampung Sg Dua near here are worried after finding dozens of fish in Sungai Bentong dead. Village chief Wong Fan Chong said they believed it was due to pollution and hazardous waste from an industrial estate nearby. “We are not alleging that the factories are dumping their waste into the river but surely, there is a reason why the fish are dead,” he said. He urged the authorities to conduct an investigation into the matter, adding that if test results showed it was due to waste pollution, guilty parties must be punished. Wong said there were previously cases of fish dying in the river but of late, the number had increased. “For the time being, I have told all villagers to stop fishing or swimming in Sungai Bentong which flows into Sungai Dua near our village. “We are not sure whether the fishes are safe to eat,” he added. State Health, Environment and Local Government Committee chairman Datuk Hoh Khai Mun said he had instructed officers from the Environment Department to investigate the issue. “We will reveal the findings of the probe in due course,” he said, adding that the state government would not compromise on the safety of the people.
Biohazard name:	Mass. Die-off (fishes)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

Today

Biological Hazard

Spain

Province of Malaga, [Coastal areas]

Biological Hazard in Spain on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:07 (03:07 AM) UTC.

Description
Dozens of beaches in Malaga province have played host to swarms or ‘blooms’ of jellyfish this summer, closing several beaches in Marbella and Estepona and administering more than 1,000 stings within a three-day period. Many bathers have been on the wrong end of the gelatinous varmint, whose sting causes a painful rash that can last for up to three days. According to Spain’s tourist office, the marine stingers are the venomous purple striped jellyfish. Their stings, although almost never fatal, have been known to cause severe allergic reactions. Here, the Olive Press looks at the different types of stingers in the Mediterranean, why they are becoming such a problem for bathers on the Costa del Sol and what can be done to protect yourself from eye-watering stings. Purple-striped jellyfish- aka mauve stingers: These increasingly common creatures have wreaked havoc on the Costa del Sol, causing the closure of a number of beaches. They are usually small but pack a powerful punch. Portuguese man o’ war – aka blue bottle: Although not technically jellyfish, these critters can deliver an agonising sting causing vomiting and fainting in some cases. They are usually found floating at the surface of the water with long, thin tendrils extending 10 metres. Fried egg jellyfish: A small but beautiful jellyfish which gets its name from its fried-egg shaped body. Its sting has little effect on humans. Moon jellyfish: One of the most common jellyfish in the world, these translucent creatures are often sold commercially as pets. The sting is harmless to humans. Compass jellyfish: With brown spots and a saucer-shaped bell, this jellyfish can often be found drifting on the sea surface. It can deliver a nasty sting.
Biohazard name:	Jellyfish invasion
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

26.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Zimbabwe

Province of Manicaland, [Buhera District]

Biological Hazard in Zimbabwe on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 11:16 (11:16 AM) UTC.

Description
Blackleg normally kills livestock within 12 to 48 hours and is caused by the spore foaming, rod shaped and gas producing bacteria Clostridium chauvoei, which can live in soil for many years. The bacteria gains entrance to the animal through small punctures in the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. Animals begin showing signs of lameness, rapid breathing, loss of appetite and high fever. Shingairai Gudyanga said the spread of the disease has been fuelled by lack of adequate grazing caused by poor rainfall. This caused cattle to eat the roots of plants, a haven for the bacteria. “Most farmers in this area are reluctant to bring their livestock for vaccination and they do not report disease outbreaks,” she added. Blackleg is almost entirely preventable by vaccination. The department’s efforts to control disease are hampered because people eat the animals before tests can be done. “We fail to take smear samples because by the time we find out about deaths, only the bones of the dead animal are left, with the rest of the meat either sold or dried for consumption,” she said. “Our office is almost sure that two of the cattle died due to anthrax because when we examined the carcases, there was blood in the openings of the cattle, the mouth, ears and nose and they decayed faster than the others,” she said. “The community did not consume one of the cattle that I am referring to because it was in a terrible state, but ate the other one before it had rotted.” The District Head for Veterinary Services for Buhera South, Mr Mavhima, could not confirm nor deny the anthrax outbreak and said he would visit Mutiusinazita this week -end. “If it is anthrax, we will look into it and act on it swiftly,” he said.
Biohazard name:	Anthrax
Biohazard level:	4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.:	Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status:	suspected

26.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Canada

Province of Ontario, [Algonquin Park]

Biological Hazard in Canada on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 16:02 (04:02 PM) UTC.

Description
They may seem like furry little friends, those little squirrels, as they skitter through the forests, but researches have discovered otherwise. A bacterium known to cause ‘Q-Fever’ in humans has been detected in a high percentage rodents in Algonquin Park. A team of Laurentian University biology researchers, led by Canada Research Chair Dr. Albrecht Schulte-Hostedde have found evidence of the spread of the zoonotic bacterium Coxiella bernetii in wildlife in the park and say their findings suggest that some visitors to the park could be at risk of infection. According to a Laurentian University press release the bacterium was “detected in six out of seven species of wild rodents tested within the boundaries of Algonquin Park, including red squirrels, flying squirrels and deer mice. It was also found in flying squirrels in the Peterborough area, indicating that the bacteria may be widespread among these animal populations in Ontario.” The bacterium is a cause of Query fever, also known as Q-Fever, in humans.According to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) website, “Human Q fever is primarily an occupational disease of farmers, abattoir workers, veterinarians, and laboratory workers.” The disease is a flu-like illness that often remains undiagnosed. In a minority of cases it can cause a clinical atypical pneumonia or hepatitis. If the disease becomes chronic, endocarditis and chronic hepatitis can develop. Chronic Q fever can be fatal, and is more likely to develop in immuno-compromised individuals and pregnant women. The OMAFRA website states, “In Ontario, Q-fever has occasionally been diagnosed as a cause of abortion in sheep and goats. Reported human cases have been associated with exposure to abortions in sheep and goats, and drinking unpasteurised goat’s milk.” “It can be transmitted reasonably easily among wildlife,” he said. “The suggestion is that people can get it from, like the Hantavirus, inhaling feces. Let’s say you have a cottage or a camp and sweep the corners. Any fecal material will dry and aerosolize, it goes up in the air and you inhale some of it.” In 2007, an outbreak in the Netherlands resulted in the infection of more than 2,000 people.Thousands of goats were culled. “There is a lot of interest in Europe now on how this pathogen is transmitted in the natural environment,” said Schulte-Hostedde. He says there is a hypothesis that ticks may be a cause of the spread of this pathogen. Schulte-Hostedde says he has spoken intensively to an Algonquin Park biologist who has indicted there have been no reports of people becoming ill with Q-Fever. “In terms of mortality I don’t think it’s going to kill anybody. There are no huge numbers of people reporting being ill,” he said. “We put the press release out not to alarm people but so that the public health authorities know that this bug is out there.” He says this might be quite large spread, and there are different strains of the infection, some that may be more dangerous than others. “We don’t know anything about the strain that we found versus what might be found on farms,” he said. He says after discussions with Public Health Ontario and the Public Health Agency of Canada, they are aware that it is out there and it is reportable at some levels. “They are aware that it happens on farms but there is no real work that is being done on Coxiella bernetii in the natural environment,” he said. “My point with the whole thing… it is just providing an awareness that there is a microbrobe that can make you sick so you should take some precautions.” Schulte-Hostedde says he is in the process of returning to his initial studies and a zoonotics expert at the University of Guelph is hoping to attain OMAFRA funding to study this bacterium in a natural environment because there are still many questions to be answered, including whether this is being transferred from farm to the natural environment or vice versa; and whether the strains are the same. “It has an interesting history because it has been the subject of weaponization research in the United States,” he said. “That’s part of the sexy thing about this thing. It actually can infect people relatively easily, which is part of the history of human relationships with this bacteria.” He says in order to get the real story beyond the initial findings and the hundreds of animals tested, there is much more work to be done.
Biohazard name:	Q Fever (squirrels)
Biohazard level:	3/4 Hight
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that can cause severe to fatal disease in humans, but for which vaccines or other treatments exist, such as anthrax, West Nile virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, SARS virus, variola virus (smallpox), tuberculosis, typhus, Rift Valley fever, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, yellow fever, and malaria. Among parasites Plasmodium falciparum, which causes Malaria, and Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes trypanosomiasis, also come under this level.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

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Articles of Interest

Today

Power Outage

USA

State of New York, [Sullivan County]

Power Outage in USA on Friday, 27 July, 2012 at 03:11 (03:11 AM) UTC. 

Description

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is meeting with utility officials and state regulators as a wave of severe storms cross the state. The National Weather Service gave Cuomo a pre-emptive warning about the possibility that severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. Cuomo says he will meet Thursday with the leadership of Con Edison, the New York Power Authority, and the state Public Service Commission to make sure the New York City area is prepared. About 10,000 utility customers in western New York and Sullivan County northwest of New York City have lost power as New Yorkers are being warned of the possibility of severe weather. The power losses Thursday morning came as thunderstorms move eastward across the state. Most of the outages are in the Rochester area and in Cattaraugus County, south of Buffalo.

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Earth Watch Report – Sunday July 15th,2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
15.07.2012 03:55:30	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Nikiski				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 03:40:39	3.4	North America	United States	Alaska	Happy Valley				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 03:45:28	4.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Unalaska				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 03:10:35	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Valdez				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 02:05:36	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Y				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 01:45:52	2.5	North America	United States	Montana	West Yellowstone				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 01:30:21	3.2	Europe	Poland	Lower Silesian Voivodeship	Bystrzyca				EMSC
15.07.2012 01:30:45	2.1	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Saponara Villafranca				EMSC
15.07.2012 01:31:04	2.7	Europe	Spain	Canary Islands	La Restinga				EMSC
15.07.2012 01:06:00	4.8	South America	Chile	Maule	Linares				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 01:31:23	4.8	South-America	Chile	Maule	Linares				EMSC
15.07.2012 01:31:40	2.8	Europe	Italy	Lombardy	Ospitaletto				EMSC
15.07.2012 00:30:34	2.6	Middle America	Mexico	Baja California	Alberto Oviedo Mota				USGS-RSOE
15.07.2012 00:25:25	3.0	South-America	Argentina	San Juan	Calingasta				EMSC
14.07.2012 23:05:36	2.4	North America	United States	Alaska	Manley Hot Springs				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 22:25:26	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
14.07.2012 23:25:19	4.9	Pacific Ocean – West	Philippines	Central Luzon	San Nicolas				EMSC
14.07.2012 22:35:32	4.9	Pacific Ocean – West	Philippines	Central Luzon	San Nicolas				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 22:25:44	5.5	Asia	India	Manipur	Phek				EMSC
14.07.2012 22:10:43	5.6	Asia	India	Manipur	Phek				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 22:26:02	4.5	Atlantic Ocean – North	Greenland		Ittoqqortoormiit				EMSC
14.07.2012 22:26:23	3.4	Europe	Spain	Canary Islands	La Restinga				EMSC
14.07.2012 22:26:44	2.8	South-America	Chile	Antofagasta	Tocopilla				EMSC
14.07.2012 22:27:05	4.6	Indian Ocean	Mauritius		Cargados Carajos				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:23:41	2.1	North America	United States	California	Pollock Pines				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 21:20:29	5.1	Europe	Russia		Kuril’sk				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:40:40	4.8	Asia	Russia		Kuril’sk				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 21:24:23	2.2	North America	United States	California	Maricopa				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 21:25:01	2.4	North America	United States	California	Tahoma				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 21:20:50	2.0	Europe	Italy	Lombardy	Ospitaletto				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:21:09	2.9	South-America	Bolivia	Potosí	Villa Alota				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:21:29	2.7	Asia	Turkey	Van	Toyga				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:26:01	5.0	Asia	Russia		Kuril’sk				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 21:21:47	5.2	Europe	Russia		Kuril’sk				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:26:23	2.9	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		Road Town				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 21:22:07	2.2	Europe	Italy	Friuli Venezia Giulia	Prato Carnico				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:22:27	2.5	Asia	Turkey	Van	Toyga				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:27:02	2.9	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		Road Town				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 21:22:45	3.4	South-America	Chile	Antofagasta	Calama				EMSC
14.07.2012 21:40:57	3.1	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		Road Town				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 18:45:39	2.1	North America	United States	California	Darwin				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 18:15:42	3.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Lake Minchumina				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 19:00:28	2.4	Asia	Turkey	Mu?la	OEluedeniz				EMSC
14.07.2012 19:00:48	3.1	Europe	Greece	Peloponnese	Asopos				EMSC
14.07.2012 17:40:37	2.7	Middle America	Mexico	Baja California	Maneadero				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 17:55:25	2.6	Asia	Turkey	??rnak	Yogurtcular				EMSC
14.07.2012 17:20:40	2.0	North America	United States	California	Pearsonville				USGS-RSOE
14.07.2012 17:55:44	2.4	Asia	Turkey	Mu?la	Yatagan				EMSC
14.07.2012 17:56:02	2.5	Europe	Greece	Central Macedonia	Sarti				EMSC
14.07.2012 17:56:22	2.4	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	San Prospero				EMSC

…………………………………

Bulgaria New Tremor Aftershock of May Strong Quake – Expert

Photo by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

The relatively strong tremor that threw into panic people in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia and nearby Pernik is an aftershock of the 5.8-magnitude quake at the end of May, according to experts.

“What we experienced on Saturday is an aftershock of the earthquake of May 22 this year and has the same epicenter,” Professor Nikolay Miloshev, director of the National Institute of Geography, Geophysics and Geodesy, Sofia, explained.

In his words it is not unusual that today’s earthquake is related to the May tremor because it was very strong and even then seismologists predicted aftershocks may continue for months.

Saturday’s earthquake was estimated as 4.5 on the Richter scale by the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre and as 4.2 on the Richter scale by the Geophysical Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS).

The jolt struck at 3.52 p.m. and was felt in Pernik, Sofia, Samokov, Montana and Plovdiv.

The quake occurred at a depth of 10 km and was epicentered 7 km southeast of Pernik and 19 kilometers west of Sofia, very near to the epicenter of the 5.8-magnitude jolt which hit the region in the small hours of May 22.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather / Drought

 

 

Dry Conditions Continue, Drought Forecast To Deepen

KIWA Radio.com

Sheldon, Iowa — The dry conditions continue. But the past year has been a roller coaster into and out of drought.

We started 2011 wet, but by the end of the year, it was quite dry, and we were concerned about spring planting. We were in what the US Drought monitor calls “severe drought”. But by the time it was time to plant, we were pretty close to where we should be in the moisture profile, and the forecast was for improvement. Now it looks like the pendulum may be swinging back the other way.

The latest information from the US Drought Monitor indicates that our area is in moderate drought. The forecast isn’t any better news. The US Seasonal drought outlook for northwest Iowa is that development of greater drought is likely.

Much of the Corn Belt continues to experience increasing dryness and drought, with departure from normal precip over the past 30 days on the order of 3 to 5 inches below normal across central and eastern Iowa and much of Illinois and Indiana.

So the good news (if you can look at it that way) is that we’re not alone, it’s dry everywhere. In fact, over a thousand counties in 26 states are being named natural-disaster areas, the biggest such declaration ever by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It covers a third of farmers nationwide, and makes them eligible for low-interest loans.

The data cutoff for Drought Monitor maps is Tuesday at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. The maps, which are based on analysis of the data, are released each Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

 

14.07.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Wyoming, [Yellowstone National Park]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Saturday, 14 July, 2012 at 13:57 (01:57 PM) UTC.

Description

Firefighters aided by aircraft immediately attacked the first lightning-caused fire in Yellowstone National Park this season, but a park spokesman said Friday there’s been no talk of suppressing every blaze. “Our bottom line has always been if we believe that there is a threat to people and property, our goal is to protect people and property,” spokesman Al Nash said. “But not every fire in Yellowstone poses a threat.” The fire was reported Thursday near the park’s northern border in northwest Wyoming. Initially reported at 5 acres, the fire grew to 29 acres by Friday afternoon.

Gale Warning

KODIAK AK
MEDFORD, OR
ANCHORAGE ALASKA
EUREKA CA
CAPE FLATTERY TO CAPE LOOKOUT
POINT ST GEORGE TO POINT ARENA
MEDFORD OR

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

ABERDEEN SD
SPOKANE WA
PENDLETON OR
RAPID CITY SD
BOISE ID

Fire Weather Watch

GOODLAND KS

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Storms / Flooding / Landslides

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

BOISE ID
NORMAN OK

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Fabio (06E)	Pacific Ocean – East	12.07.2012	14.07.2012	Hurricane I.	285 °	148 km/h	185 km/h	5.79 m	NHC

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 1 Storm name: Fabio (06E) Area: Pacific Ocean – East Start up location: N 13° 36.000, W 106° 24.000 Start up: 12th July 2012 Status: 01st January 1970 Track long: 432.66 km Top category.: Report by: JTWC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 13th Jul 2012 05:07:51 N 13° 54.000, W 109° 0.000 17 93 111 Tropical Storm 280 16 998 MB JTWC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 14th Jul 2012 15:07:57 N 16° 0.000, W 113° 24.000 17 148 185 Hurricane I. 285 ° 19 982 MB JTWC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 16th Jul 2012 00:00:00 N 17° 24.000, W 118° 30.000 Tropical Storm 111 139 JTWC 17th Jul 2012 00:00:00 N 19° 30.000, W 120° 30.000 Tropical Storm 74 93 JTWC 18th Jul 2012 00:00:00 N 21° 48.000, W 121° 18.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 JTWC 19th Jul 2012 00:00:00 N 23° 30.000, W 121° 30.000 Tropical Depression 46 65 JTWC

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Torretial Rains Kill More Than 20 in China

Torretial Rains Kill More Than 20 in China

© REUTERS/ China Daily

BEIJING,  (RIA Novosti)

Torrential rains have killed more than 20 people in China and destroyed about one million homes, local media reported on Saturday.

Heavy rains have been battering a number of Chinese provinces for several weeks, triggering mudslides and flooding.

Eleven people were killed in the southern province of Guangdong and ten in the central province of Hubei, where more than 2 million people were affected by the disaster.

The damage caused by the rain has exceeded $156 million.

 

 

Sharp increase in rainfall allays drought fears

* Monsoon covers entire country four days ahead of usual date

* Deficit from June 1-July 11 narrows to 22 percent (Adds details, quotes, background)

By Ratnajyoti Dutta

NEW DELHI, July 12 (Reuters) – India’s monsoon rains were above average in the past week for the first time in the current season, the weather office said, as the downpours resumed after a worrying fortnight-long pause over the central part of the country.

The annual rains are crucial for farm output and economic growth as about 55 percent of the South Asian nation’s arable land is rain-fed. The farm sector accounts for about 15 percent of a nearly $2-trillion economy, Asia’s third-biggest.

Rains were 1 percent above average for the week ended July 11, a sharp improvement from 49 percent below average in the previous week – allaying fears of a drought, which would hit output of food crops in the major consumer and producer.

Rapid progress of monsoon rains over the grain bowl of northwest India helped cover the entire country four days ahead of the usual date of July 15 although weather officials have cautioned it could remain weak until next week.

“The monsoon scenario is not as bad as has been painted,” Food Minister K.V. Thomas told Reuters.

Farm Minister Sharad Pawar had already said on Wednesday the rains had improved, speeding the sowing of major summer crops such as rice and cotton.

Rains had been 30 percent below average from June 1 to July 4 and now that deficit has narrowed to 22 percent below average.

Weather officials said the monsoon rains would be above average over the hilly regions of the north and northeast over the next three days, helping to fill reservoirs, but would decrease over northern states such as Punjab and Haryana in the grain bowl of India early next week.

CROP SCENE

The revival of rains over central India increased the pace of soybean planting, which is now almost 80 percent complete in Madhya Pradesh, the main producing state for the oilseed, an industry official said.

“Rains are needed even in the next week to complete the sowing operations,” said Rajesh Agrawal, spokesman for the Soybean Processors’ Association of India said.

Soybean is the main oilseed crop for India, the world’s biggest importer of cooking oils and also a major supplier of soymeal to nations such as Iran, South Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand.

By July 6, soybean had been planted in 1.9 million hectares, more than the normal area, according to preliminary farm ministry data. A further update will be issued on Friday.

Thomas said the planting scenario for rice and cane was also “good.” India also has huge stockpiles of rice after three years of bumper harvests. By July 1, government rice stocks were 30.7 million tonnes, much higher than the 9.8 million tonnes targeted for the quarter to end-September.

But concerns remain for cereals in some rain-fed areas of the western state of Maharashtra and southern Karnataka. Cereals had been planted on 2.19 million hectares by July 6 compared with normal acreage of 5.66 million hectares.

 

Flash Flood Warning

 

LAS VEGAS NV
FLAGSTAFF AZ

Flash Flood Watch

FLAGSTAFF AZ
LAS VEGAS NV

14.07.2012

Flash Flood

Japan

MultiProvinces, [Provinces of Kumamoto and Oita]

Flash Flood in Japan on Thursday, 12 July, 2012 at 11:46 (11:46 AM) UTC.

Back

Updated:	Saturday, 14 July, 2012 at 18:52 UTC
Description
Severe flooding in Japan has forced the evacuation of some 400,000 people today. The country’s meteorological agency today warned that more landslides and flooding is expected to hit the deluged island of Kyushu, where severe weather has killed up to 20 people in the last several days. Rain pounded the southern island today, with over four inches of water coming down per hour, according to the weather unit, said SAPA news agency. At least nine people have gone missing. Weather officials said that over 30 inches of rain hit the southern city of Aso in the last three days. Hundreds of thousands of people on the island and the surrounding southern provinces have been advised to leave the region or go to storm shelters. The nation has deployed self-defense units to the area to assist with recovery efforts.

Flood Warning

HOUSTON/GALVESTON, TX
LAKE CHARLES LA
CORPUS CHRISTI TX
DULUTH MN
HOUSTON/GALVESTON, TX

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5-mile-long landslide in Alaska national park; warming eyed as possible culprit

FlyDrake.com via Glacier Bay National Park

Rock and debris from a landslide lie along five miles of what had been an ice-white glacier inside Glacier Bay National Park.

By Miguel Llanos, msnbc.com

A massive landslide sent tons of rock and debris tumbling more than five miles down a glacier in Alaska, the National Park Service reported in an event that could be yet another sign of a warming world.

Located in a remote area of Glacier Bay National Park, the slide was so big it registered on earthquake monitors as a magnitude 3.4 event.

Officials noticed the monitor blip on June 11 but it wasn’t until July 2 that a pilot passing over the site took photos that showed just how large it was, Glacier Bay National Park announced on its Facebook page.

“It’s certainly the largest that we’re aware of” inside the park, Glacier Bay ecologist Lewis Sharman told msnbc.com.

Larger landslides have happened over geologic time, Marten Geertsema, a natural hazards researcher for the Forest Service in nearby British Columbia, told msnbc.com, but it definitely was “one of the longest runout landslides on a glacier in Alaska and Canada in recent times.”

Moreover, the force was enormous, Geertsema said. No one was present, but had anyone been there they probably “would be blown over by the air blast,” he told the Associated Press.

Officials ruled out an earthquake as the trigger that caused part of the nearly 12,000-foot Lituya Mountain to give way, smothering the ice-white Johns Hopkins Glacier with dark rock and debris over an area a half-mile wide and 5.5 miles long.

Drake Olson / FlyDrake.com via AP

The landslide is viewed from above the Johns Hopkins Glacier.

One possibility is that thawing permafrost, which is ground that stays frozen for two more our years, caused the slide.

“We are seeing an increase in rock slides in mountain areas throughout the world because of permafrost degradation,” said Geertsema.

“I don’t know whether permafrost degradation played a role here, but we can be almost certain that permafrost exists on Lituya Mountain,” said Geertsema, who reviewed aerial photos of the mountain and slide area. “Certainly this type of event could happen from permafrost degradation.”

Many areas of mountain permafrost have been thawing in recent decades as temperatures warm, and some experts are becoming convinced that thawing is a factor in the frequency of rock slides, Geertsema said, pointing to data by Swiss scientists studying the Alps.

Marten Geertsema and Drake Olson

The section of rock and ice that slid off Lituya Mountain is seen here. Marten Geertsema estimates it was 200 meters, or about 600 feet, wide.

“It plays an important role,” Geertsema said of climate change. “I think we have been underestimating the role it might play.”

Sharman, the park ecologist, echoed that sentiment, saying he’s heard from experts that “they would not be surprised” to see more such landslides inside the national park if temperatures continue to warm.

“Certainly we are seeing an increase in large landslides over the past decades,” Geertsema said, citing his 2006 study that found between 1973 and 2003 the average in northern British Columbia increased from 1.3 large landslides per year to 2.3.

Moreover, he said, most of the slides in northern British Columbia are happening in the warmest years.

Landslides like this one can also be triggered by other factors, Geertsema added, such as a combination of large snowpack and a cold spring that results in a delayed and then rapid melt.

The slide itself was miles from areas used by park visitors, most of whom see Glacier Bay by cruise ship.

“You can’t see it from a boat or the bay. You’ve got to be up flying. And it’s not on a typical flying route,” park service spokesman John Quinley told Reuters. “It would have been pretty horrific if you’d been camped on the glacier.”

And it won’t reach the bay for a long time.

The frozen ground that covers the top of the world has been thawing rapidly over the last three decades. But there is cause for concern beyond the far north, because the carbon released from thawing permafrost could raise global temeratures even higher. NBC’s Anne Thompson reports for “Changing Planet,” produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the National Science Foundation.

“The landslide is approximately 12-14 miles up the glacier,” the park said on its Facebook page, and the glacier itself moves material towards the bay only about 10-15 feet a day. “So this debris may not reach the face of the glacier for many years,” it added.

Officials are currently trying to estimate the volume of material that fell in the slide.

In 1958, a nearby landslide, this one above Lituya Bay and triggered by a 7.7 earthquake, created a wave hundreds of feet high that washed 1,720 feet up a narrow inlet. Two people on a fishing boat vanished and three others on land were killed.

One fishing vessel was able to ride out the wave, Geertsema noted.

“They looked below them and they could see the tops of the Sitka spruce trees way below,” he said. “The other boat disappeared.”

Last month’s slide covered more land area than the 1958 incident, but even so it probably won’t go down as the biggest one by volume in North America.

“We do not know the volume of the recent landslide on the Johns Hopkins Glacier yet, but it is unlikely to break the volume record,” Rex Baum, a U.S. Geological Survey expert, told msnbc.com.

What is the record? That, said Baum, would be the 2.8 cubic kilometer rock slide avalanche from the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state.

 

 

Search resumes for 4 missing in B.C. landslide

Unstable search area remains hazardous for rescue workers

CBC News

B.C. landslide rescue3:25

The search for four people assumed caught in Thursday’s landslide in southeastern B.C. resumed Friday afternoon and was to continue until dark, and then resume at first light Saturday morning, officials say.

More landslides earlier Friday had delayed the ground search for a father, his two adult daughters and a German woman believed to be trapped by a landslide that roared down a mountainside in southeastern B.C.

RCMP said there had been further slides in the area, and because of that searchers had to wait for geotechnicians to assess the safety of the terrain before they went in.

Bill Macpherson, spokesman for the Central Kootenay Regional District, said engineers gave the go-ahead, although there was no certainty the danger had passed.

“In spite of ongoing debris movement and continued slope instability, the search of the landslide at Johnsons Landing has resumed this afternoon at approximately14:15 hours [PT],” Macpherson said in a statement Friday afternoon.

About 40 rescue workers are now in Johnsons Landing, with 13 on top of the debris pile at any one time, trying to burrow in strategically to locate possible survivors, Vancouver Fire Department spokesman Les Sziklai told CBC News on Friday night. The department has a number of personnel assisting at the landslide scene, Sziklai said.

The earlier search delay had frustrated family members and local residents.

“It’s taken them a long time to get in there. In the old days we would’ve just gone in by ourselves, and it may have been dangerous, but this place is full of independent people,” said resident Susan Grimble.

The girls’ mother, Lynn Migdal, who is in Florida, told CBC News that Diana Webber, 22, and Rachel Webber, 17, and her ex-husband, Valentine Webber, were about to sit down for breakfast moments before the slide hit.

Now she believes they are trapped under the debris that destroyed the home.

“There is three people buried deep down in my house right now and there is not one rescue person on the property. Something fast has to be done,” Lynn Migdal said just after 7 a.m. PT.

Three homes in the small community of Johnsons Landing, located just north of Kaslo on the east side of Kootenay Lake, were hit by the landslide on Thursday.

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Three homes were damaged by the landslide on Thursday. (Bob Keating/CBC)

Aerial reconnaissance of the site was conducted by 10 a.m., but ground crews were not allowed in to search the site because of stability concerns, according to Macpherson.

“My family has been buried under the ground since 11 o’clock yesterday. I know that the conditions were not good enough. They had to evacuate, but I was promised that by 4:30 yesterday afternoon, as soon as there was light, that there would be dogs and people digging,” said Migdal.

Diana Webber, 22, is believed to have been in a home hit by the landslide. (Facebook)

“All we need is some shovels to dig out my 17-year-old daughter, my 22-year-old daughter and my ex-husband.”

The other missing person is believed to be Petra Frehse, a German woman who has been a part-time resident of the area for several years.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said multiple helicopters, two search-dog teams, underwater recovery divers, a landslide expert and a geotechnician were dispatched to the scene in the tiny community of Johnsons Landing to help in the search and recovery effort.

The efforts were called off Thursday evening because the area was deemed too volatile to search in the dark.

Rachel Webber, 17, is also believed to have been in the house struck by the landslide. (Facebook)

“I think everybody is realistic that the odds of survivability for the individuals that were in the direct path [of the landslide] …are not that great,” said Moskaluk.

“So realistically, we are looking at possibly a recovery operation. But again, we never lose hope.”

Four members of Vancouver’s Heavy Urban Search and Rescue team arrived to help with the search on Thursday night, and more arrived on Friday morning.

 

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Epidemic Hazards / Diseases

‘Unknown disease’ kills 60 children in Cambodia – Could vaccines have been the cause?

By Ethan A. Huff,
(NaturalNews) Dozens of young children in Cambodia have died in recent months of what health authorities are claiming is some kind of mystery disease. But based on the nature of the afflicted children’s symptoms prior to their deaths, it seems a likely possibility that they may have been victims of vaccine injuries, and that the disease explanation is the media’s attempt to cover up the truth. According to Dr. Nima Asgari, a public health specialist at the United Nations (UN) body in Cambodia, as many as 60 children have died in Cambodia since April, all after experiencing similar symptoms. Prior to their deaths, many of the children had reportedly been suffering high fever, severe chest disease symptoms, and/or signs of neurological damage, symptoms which are all strangely associated with vaccine injury.

The so-called “disease,” which authorities insisted from the beginning they could not identify, has actually afflicted 61 children thus far, only one of which obviously survived. But all the children who were admitted to hospitals in both Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s largest and capital city, and a popular tourist area known as Siem Reap, were seven years of age or younger at their times of death.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is worried about the fact that the “condition” leads to a very high mortality rate in such a short period of time. But at the same time, the international body claims the disease is not contagious, as neither hospital staff nor nearby patients that have come into contact with the now-deceased children have developed similar symptoms.

Mysterious deaths wreak of deliberate experimentation on humans via vaccines

Since the mystery condition does not appear to be contagious in any way, and only seems to occur in young children of vaccine age, it is not that far of a stretch to hypothesize that vaccines may have something to do with these mysterious deaths. It would not be the first time, after all, that vaccine experimentation has led to the unusually rapid spread of “disease” in just a few weeks or months.

The AIDS epidemic, for instance, appears to have been triggered by a vaccine campaign for smallpox in Africa back in the late 1970s. (http://www.infowars.com) According to some reports, the 13-year campaign launched by WHO to vaccinate Africans living in Central Africa was directly responsible for inducing HIV and AIDS, which quickly spread around the world. (http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net)

Interestingly, Cambodia has recently launched its own vaccination campaigns, including one for measles that began back in 2011. (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2011-02/10/c_13725980.htm) But neither health authorities nor the mainstream media have even entertained the thought that vaccines might the cause of the mystery deaths.

Some official reports are now blaming the deaths of Enterovirus Type 71 (EV71), also known as “hand, foot and mouth disease.” (http://news.blogs.cnn.com) But this explanation does not make any sense, as EV71 is highly contagious, while the “mystery condition” does not appear to be contagious.

Sources for this article include:

http://news.yahoo.com

http://www.cambodiaschildren.org

 

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Solar Activity

2MIN News July 14, 2012: Geomagnetic Storms Coming, Earthquake Watch

Published on Jul 14, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

TODAYS LINKS
Dead Penguns: http://phys.org/news/2012-07-penguins-dead-brazil-beaches.html
Britain Rain Record: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9398090/Britain-on-course-for-wette…
Corn Drought: http://www.inquisitr.com/275084/usda-declares-biggest-disaster-in-agencys-his…

REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos – as seen from earth]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT – as seen from earth]

Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI – as seen from the side]

SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it… trust me]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]

NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/ [CME Evolution]

NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can’t figure out what this one is for?]

BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]

INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]

NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/

PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]

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Space

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
(2005 NE21)	15th July 2012	0 day(s)	0.1555	60.5	140 m – 320 m	10.77 km/s	38772 km/h
(2003 KU2)	15th July 2012	0 day(s)	0.1034	40.2	770 m – 1.7 km	17.12 km/s	61632 km/h
(2007 TN74)	16th July 2012	1 day(s)	0.1718	66.9	20 m – 45 m	7.36 km/s	26496 km/h
(2007 DD)	16th July 2012	1 day(s)	0.1101	42.8	19 m – 42 m	6.47 km/s	23292 km/h
(2006 BC8)	16th July 2012	1 day(s)	0.1584	61.6	25 m – 56 m	17.71 km/s	63756 km/h
144411 (2004 EW9)	16th July 2012	1 day(s)	0.1202	46.8	1.3 km – 2.9 km	10.90 km/s	39240 km/h
(2012 BV26)	18th July 2012	3 day(s)	0.1759	68.4	94 m – 210 m	10.88 km/s	39168 km/h
(2010 OB101)	19th July 2012	4 day(s)	0.1196	46.6	200 m – 450 m	13.34 km/s	48024 km/h
(2008 OX1)	20th July 2012	5 day(s)	0.1873	72.9	130 m – 300 m	15.35 km/s	55260 km/h
(2010 GK65)	21st July 2012	6 day(s)	0.1696	66.0	34 m – 75 m	17.80 km/s	64080 km/h
(2011 OJ45)	21st July 2012	6 day(s)	0.1367	53.2	18 m – 39 m	3.79 km/s	13644 km/h
153958 (2002 AM31)	22nd July 2012	7 day(s)	0.0351	13.7	630 m – 1.4 km	9.55 km/s	34380 km/h
(2011 CA7)	23rd July 2012	8 day(s)	0.1492	58.1	2.3 m – 5.1 m	5.43 km/s	19548 km/h
(2012 BB124)	24th July 2012	9 day(s)	0.1610	62.7	170 m – 380 m	8.78 km/s	31608 km/h
(2009 PC)	28th July 2012	13 day(s)	0.1772	68.9	61 m – 140 m	7.34 km/s	26424 km/h
217013 (2001 AA50)	31st July 2012	16 day(s)	0.1355	52.7	580 m – 1.3 km	22.15 km/s	79740 km/h
(2012 DS30)	02nd August 2012	18 day(s)	0.1224	47.6	18 m – 39 m	5.39 km/s	19404 km/h
(2000 RN77)	03rd August 2012	19 day(s)	0.1955	76.1	410 m – 920 m	9.87 km/s	35532 km/h
(2004 SB56)	04th August 2012	20 day(s)	0.1393	54.2	380 m – 840 m	13.72 km/s	49392 km/h
(2000 SD8)	04th August 2012	20 day(s)	0.1675	65.2	180 m – 400 m	5.82 km/s	20952 km/h
(2006 EC)	06th August 2012	22 day(s)	0.0932	36.3	13 m – 28 m	6.13 km/s	22068 km/h
(2006 MV1)	07th August 2012	23 day(s)	0.0612	23.8	12 m – 28 m	4.79 km/s	17244 km/h
(2005 RK3)	08th August 2012	24 day(s)	0.1843	71.7	52 m – 120 m	8.27 km/s	29772 km/h
(2009 BW2)	09th August 2012	25 day(s)	0.0337	13.1	25 m – 56 m	5.27 km/s	18972 km/h
277475 (2005 WK4)	09th August 2012	25 day(s)	0.1283	49.9	260 m – 580 m	6.18 km/s	22248 km/h
(2004 SC56)	09th August 2012	25 day(s)	0.0811	31.6	74 m – 170 m	10.57 km/s	38052 km/h
(2008 AF4)	10th August 2012	26 day(s)	0.1936	75.3	310 m – 690 m	16.05 km/s	57780 km/h
37655 Illapa	12th August 2012	28 day(s)	0.0951	37.0	770 m – 1.7 km	28.73 km/s	103428 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

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Mysterious Blood Rain

Strange Red Rain Falls in India (13th July 2012)

Weird red rain in India panics people . . . ‘blood red’ rain falls

• mysterious red rain

• Why are people panicking as their courtyards fill with “mysterious blood red rain“?
• Did Nostradamus and others predict “rain like blood”?
• Has this happened before?
• What causes the red color in the mysterious rain?
• Is it caused by an unidentified life form?
• Could dust from a meteor affect an area more than a decade later?
• Is all this just coincidence?

On Thursday, July 5, 2012, around 6:50 p.m. local time, a mysterious red rain shower fell for about 15 minutes in Kannur, Kerala, India. Locales within a one kilometer area in the Indian state of Kerala experienced this phenomenon, as it filled courtyards with blood red rain and stained people’s clothes pink.

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Biological Hazards / Wildlife

14.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Brazil

Multiple areas, [Sao Paulo state coastal area]

Biological Hazard in Brazil on Saturday, 14 July, 2012 at 13:59 (01:59 PM) UTC.

Description
Wildlife experts are concerned and investigating after 512 Magellanic penguins washed up dead across 65 miles of the Brazilian coast, reports the Merco Press. Further worrying veterinarians is that the birds were all apparently in good health, well fed, and free from oil stains. Magellanic penguins are migratory, moving from southern Argentina to Sao Paolo at this time of year. It’s not a great time for penguins in general, with the population of a major colony in Antarctica plummeting 36% since 1991.
Biohazard name:	Mass. Die-off (Magellanic penguins)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

Brazil biologists investigate penguin deaths

The annual migration takes some penguins as far north as Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian biologists are investigating the deaths of more than 500 penguins found washed up on the beaches of Rio Grande do Sul state.

Autopsies are being conducted on some of the birds to determine the cause of death.

Researchers said the penguins appeared to have been well-fed, with no apparent injuries and no oil on their bodies.

Similar incidents in the past have been blamed on shifting ocean currents and colder temperatures.

Magellanic Penguins migrate to southern Brazil from Patagonia every year during the southern winter.

Last week dozens of young penguins were rescued from beaches in Rio de Janeiro after straying far beyond their normal range.

The birds delighted beach-goers, but scientists said their health was suffering in the tropical waters.

Brazil’s environment agency is preparing to fly those penguins back to the south.

Hot weather in southeastern Iowa results in death of nearly 58,000 fish

By Special to the Daily News

A section of the Des Moines River with a history of hot weather related fish kills was home to one of the longest in the state’s history with nearly 58,000 dead fish in more than 42 stream miles with a value exceeding $10.1 million.

Dead fish were found in the Des Moines River from the dam in Eldon to the Farmington Bridge on Iowa Highway 2.

This section of the Des Moines River has had sizable fish kills over the years, including 2006 and in 2008, during summer flows of 300 to 500 CFS and high water temperature.

The DNR also investigated fish kills in the Iowa River between the Hawkeye Wildlife Area and the Iowa Highway 965 bridge in Johnson County and in the main lake at Lake Odessa in Louisa County.

The section of the Iowa River has periodically experienced hot weather fish kills in the past.

Paul Sleeper, fisheries biologist at Lake Macbride, said water from the shallow Hawkeye Wildlife area with low oxygen levels and temperatures in the 90s flowed under the Iowa Highway 965 and I-380 bridges where most of the dead fish were found. Sleeper said they counted 95 walleyes at the upper end of the Coralville Reservoir, along with six channel catfish and a few common carp on Monday.

“It looks like they had been dead for several days,” Sleeper said.

At Lake Odessa, 96 percent of the 19,000 fish killed were gizzard shad that are susceptible to changes in water temperature. Chad Dolan, fisheries biologist at the DNR’s Lake Darling office, said they suspect the kill happened Saturday night after the high air temperatures. The water temperature was in the low to mid 90s.

 

Hot Weather Causes Fish Kills In Southeast Iowa

KIWA Radio.com

A section of the Des Moines River with a history of hot weather related fish kills was home to one of the longest in the state’s history with nearly 58,000 dead fish in more than 42 stream miles with a value exceeding $10.1 million.

Dead fish were found in the Des Moines River from the dam in Eldon to the Farmington Bridge on Hwy. 2.

The majority of fish killed, 37,159, were shovelnose sturgeon, with a value $116.20 per pound, according to American Fisheries Society guidelines for monetary value in fish kills. The sturgeon averaged more than two pounds each with a value of $9,865,241.85.

The investigation began around 10:30 a.m., July 7, when Lacey-Keosauqua State Park manager Justin Pedretti reported seeing “lots” of dead fish in the river to Mark Flammang, fisheries biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Flammang and fisheries aide Wes Alexander were joined by Jon Ryk and Paul Brant from the DNR’s Washington field office on the river at Eldon and for the next 11 hours they collected water samples, conducted fish counts, and took water temperature readings working their way downstream to Farmington.

“We didn’t find low levels of dissolved oxygen or high levels of ammonia which is usually indicative of some sort of spill so it comes down to water temperature,” said Flammang. “You just don’t see rivers at 97 degrees and it was 97 degrees at every site that we sampled. I’ve never seen water at that temperature in Iowa.”

The effects of high water temperature on fish were likely compounded by stream flows that had fallen from 5,000 cubic feet per second before July 4, to 1,200 CFS on July 7.

In addition to shovelnose sturgeon, Flammang found more than 12,000 channel catfish, nearly 1,900 walleye, more than 1,100 flathead catfish, 1,500 freshwater drum, 750 carpsuckers, 370 white bass, 45 shorthead redhorse and 25 goldeye.

“It looks like a lot of fish, but I don’t expect this fish kill to have a noticeable impact on the fish population in this stretch of the river. The shovelnose sturgeon is something we’re concerned about, but the river has shown time and time again that it can recover,” Flammang said.

This section of the Des Moines River has had sizable fish kills over the years, including 2006 and in 2008, during summer flows of 300 to 500 CFS and high water temperature.

The DNR also investigated fish kills in the Iowa River between the Hawkeye Wildlife Area and the Hwy. 965 Bridge in Johnson County, and in the main lake at Lake Odessa in Louisa County.

The section of the Iowa River has periodically experienced hot weather fish kills in the past.

Paul Sleeper, fisheries biologist at Lake Macbride, said water from the shallow Hawkeye Wildlife area with low oxygen levels and temperatures in the 90s flowed under the Hwy. 965 and I-380 bridges were most of the dead fish were found. Sleeper said they counted 95 walleyes at the upper end of the Coralville Reservoir, along with six channel catfish and a few common carp on Monday.

“It looks like they had been dead for several days,” Sleeper said.

At Lake Odessa, 96 percent of the 19,000 fish killed were gizzard shad that are susceptible to changes in water temperature. Chad Dolan, fisheries biologist at the DNR’s Lake Darling office, said they suspect the kill happened Saturday night after the high air temperatures. The water temperature was in the low to mid 90s.

Other species killed were bluegills, crappies, freshwater drum, northern pike, largemouth bass, yellow bass, common carp, channel catfish, goldfish and brown bullhead. Dolan said live fish were seen in the areas of the fish kill and anglers were catching fish during the Sunday

While elevated water temperature is likely the cause of these fish kills, the DNR will be submitting water samples for analysis to see if other factors were responsible. If the public sees dead or stressed fish, they are encouraged to contact the DNR at 515-281-8694.

 

 

14.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Australia

State of Western Australia, [North of Lancelin ]

Biological Hazard in Australia on Saturday, 14 July, 2012 at 13:50 (01:50 PM) UTC.

Description
A friend of the surfer who was killed in a shark attack north of Lancelin this morning is believed to have witnessed the attack. Police have revealed the victim is a 24-year-old Perth man but have not yet released his name. He is the fifth person to die from a shark attack in Western Australia since September last year. Water Police and the Department of Fisheries are now searching for the man’s body. The attack happened about 4 km south of Wedge Island about 9am. Tony Cappelluti from the Fisheries Department said the victim was with a friend when attacked by what was believed to be a great white shark. “The two people were in the water surfing or waiting for a wave when the victim was attacked by a shark,” he said. It is believed that the two men were about 40 or 50 metres off the beach at the time of attack. Mr Cappelluti said two other surfers, one on a jet ski and the other being towed came over to help when they saw a commotion in the water. He said the man’s friend and the others surfers were not in a position to help and went back to shore and contacted the police. “No body has been recovered but from eyewitness accounts we presume he has been killed.” A man who said he had been the person on the jet ski nearby told ABC that he tried to retrieve the man who had been attacked from the water. “I was towing my mate on the back of the jet ski and in front of us I just saw a guy get attacked by a shark and I just took my mate straight to the shore and went straight out and there was just blood everywhere and a massive, massive white shark circling the body,” he said. “I reached to grab the body and the shark came at me on the jet ski and tried to knock me off and I did another loop and when I came to get back to the body the shark took it.” Mr Cappelluti said the attack had taken place near a very remote section of the beach and he was not sure if anyone was on the beach at the time. He said the victim’s friend was believed to be “very distressed.” Shire of Dandaragan president Shane Love said the thoughts of the community were with the victim’s family and friends. “I think anytime this sort of thing happens it’s a shock to coastal communities who love to go in the water and enjoy it, it’s very sad,” he said. Mr Love said while there were not many people who lived in the shacks at Wedge Island, which is about 160km north of Perth, the wider community of people who visited regularly was much larger. Police from Jurien Bay are attending the incident and the beach where the incident took place is currently closed. Lancelin local, Michael Balcombe who has been fishing in the area for about 45 years said he often saw big sharks in the area including tiger sharks and bronze whalers. “You always see sharks if you’re fishing around here,” he said. Mr Balcombe said considering the attack took place 4 km south of Wedge Island, it may have been at a popular surfing area called Didi Bay. Today’s attack is the second fatal shark attack in Western Australia this year.
Biohazard name:	Shark attack (Fatal)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

14.07.2012

Biological Hazard

USA

State of Texas, McAllen

Biological Hazard in USA on Saturday, 14 July, 2012 at 04:02 (04:02 AM) UTC.

Description
A swarm of bees attacked several people Friday evening, sending five to the hospital for treatment. The bee attack took place about 6:30 p.m. Friday on the 4100 block of North 10th Street, where a construction crew was repairing the roof of a strip mall, said McAllen Fire Capt. Rene Del Bosque. Customers were ordered to stay inside the various buildings, including Hop Tung Vietnamese Chinese Restaurant and the Lucky 13 tattoo parlor. Employees at other stores looked out from their windows as firefighters worked to remove the bees, but were also stung in the process. Those not inside businesses were kept away by McAllen police and firefighters. Those who had been stung were moved across the street to North Cross Shopping Center, where first responders treated those who had been stung. About 7:45 p.m., firefighters wearing bee suits removed the beehive and cleared the area. “At first I saw some of the guys swatting in the air and didn’t know what was going on but then as they got close I saw the bees,” said Andy Wynn, one of the roofers who dropped to the ground and covered himself in insulation material in an effort to stay safe from the bees. “I was concerned that some of the guys might jump off the roof to get away from the bees … it was about 5 or 10 at a time but they came at you and tried to get in your ears or your nose.” Wynn said he’d never been attacked by bees in his eight years as a roofer.
Biohazard name:	Bees attack
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

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Articles of Interest

Power outages leave National Grid customers in the dark

by Katie Corrado

A fire at a National Grid substation in Liverpool on Friday morning sparked outages in several local communities.  / Bill Ali

SALINA — Thousands of National Grid customers were in the dark during a major power outage on Friday. The outage had the greatest affect on customers in Syracuse and Salina, and was sparked by a fire at a National Grid substation in Liverpool. The substation caught fire around 12:30am on Friday.

A National Grid spokesperson says the fire is believed to be specifically caused by bushlings, which allow energey to pass between pieces of equipment and are a vital component of substations.

National Grid has asked thousands of customers to conserve power while they are re-routing those serviced by the substation to other grids. To minimize strain on grids, customers are asked to unplug unnecessary electronics and turn up the temperatures on air conditioners to 70-72 degrees.

Those asked to conserve seem willing to comply, despite the 90 degree temperatures. “It’s hot, yeah, but there’s other ways we can keep cool,” said Salina National Grid customer Daniel Zaborskiy. “Like instead of using A/C, we can use a fan, for instance.”

Some affected by the outages are upset with National Grid. “They should provide a service and we should have confidence and know that they’re going to deliver that service to us, like they want their money on time at all times,” said Syracuse customer Taj Bey.

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

Earth Watch Report – Tuesday June 26th, 2012

Earthquakes

 

RSOE EDIS

 

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
26.06.2012 05:25:27	2.0	Europe	Italy		Bulgaria				EMSC
26.06.2012 05:25:48	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Uzunyurt				EMSC
26.06.2012 05:26:09	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 05:06:57	4.4	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Pota				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 05:26:35	4.4	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Pota				EMSC
26.06.2012 05:07:57	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Hospital Valley				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 04:25:26	2.6	Europe	Greece		Longos				EMSC
26.06.2012 05:26:56	3.5	Europe	Spain		Chipiona				EMSC
26.06.2012 05:27:17	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Esenkiyi				EMSC
26.06.2012 04:25:47	3.8	South-America	Chile		Conchi				EMSC
26.06.2012 04:26:11	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
26.06.2012 03:25:25	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
26.06.2012 03:05:33	4.4	Asia	Kyrgyzstan		Saz				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 03:25:45	4.5	Asia	Kyrgyzstan		Saz				EMSC
26.06.2012 02:50:54	3.7	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	New Brighton				GEONET
26.06.2012 03:26:07	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Kotanli				EMSC
26.06.2012 03:26:27	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 02:20:26	4.7	Atlantic Ocean – North	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands		Grytviken				EMSC
26.06.2012 02:21:37	4.7	Atlantic Ocean	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands		Grytviken				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 02:20:47	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
26.06.2012 03:26:45	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 03:26:46	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 03:27:07	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 01:15:27	2.6	Europe	Greece		Neokhorion				EMSC
26.06.2012 02:21:13	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 02:21:14	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 01:15:48	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Sogucak				EMSC
26.06.2012 01:00:51	2.7	North America	United States	Arizona	Eddy Place				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 00:15:20	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Esenkiyi				EMSC
26.06.2012 00:15:41	2.9	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 00:16:07	4.9	Europe	Russia		Chashechka				EMSC
25.06.2012 23:40:37	4.9	Asia	Russia	Kamchatskaya Oblast'	Lopatka				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 00:16:29	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Altas				EMSC
26.06.2012 01:16:30	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 23:10:27	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
25.06.2012 23:10:47	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Ilikaynak				EMSC
25.06.2012 23:11:06	2.9	Europe	Greece		Khorion				EMSC
25.06.2012 22:15:44	2.5	North America	United States	Alaska	Iniskin				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 23:11:24	4.1	Asia	Azerbaijan		Malyy Dzhunut				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:25:33	2.3	North America	United States	California	Two Harbors				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 21:36:19	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 22:10:31	2.2	Europe	Italy		La Balantina				EMSC
25.06.2012 22:10:50	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Bekdemir				EMSC
25.06.2012 22:11:09	3.1	South-America	Chile		Puchurca				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:00:38	2.7	North America	United States	Washington	Smyrna				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 21:05:27	3.1	Europe	Romania		Rominesti				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:50:32	2.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Hospital Valley				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 22:11:30	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Afsar				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:05:48	2.5	Europe	Bulgaria		Kralevdol				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:03:26	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Chelatna Lodge				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 20:00:29	2.0	Europe	Italy		Regnano				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:06:11	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:06:32	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 04:26:33	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Alatepe				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:06:53	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:00:50	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:00:51	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:01:12	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Isiklar				EMSC
25.06.2012 18:55:41	2.6	Europe	Greece		Ayios Ioannis				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:01:33	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:07:14	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:07:15	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:07:36	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:07:56	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:07:57	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 18:56:02	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Gunduzu				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:01:54	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:02:15	2.9	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 03:27:26	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Cukurgol Yaylasi				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:02:37	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:02:37	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 20:02:59	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 21:08:18	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Uzunyurt				EMSC
25.06.2012 17:10:51	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Kantishna				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 18:56:26	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Ahlatlicesme				EMSC
25.06.2012 18:56:47	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 17:50:36	3.2	South-America	Chile		Flor del Desierto				EMSC
25.06.2012 17:50:56	4.6	Middle-America	Guatemala		La Mocha				EMSC
25.06.2012 17:51:55	4.6	Middle America	Guatemala	Departamento de Jutiapa	La Mocha				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 18:56:48	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 16:45:28	3.4	Asia	Turkey		Uzunyurt				EMSC
25.06.2012 18:56:49	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 18:56:50	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 16:45:48	2.6	Europe	Greece		Kastron				EMSC
25.06.2012 18:56:51	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 16:46:08	3.2	Europe	Greece		Archangelos				EMSC
25.06.2012 17:20:32	4.6	South America	Chile	Region del Biobio	Lebu				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 17:51:17	4.6	South-America	Chile		Lebu				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:45:27	3.0	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:30:36	3.3	North America	United States	California	DeCamp				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 15:45:45	3.5	Asia	Turkey		Uzunyurt				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:46:05	5.2	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:35:30	4.8	Asia	Turkey	Mugla Ili	Uzunyurt				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 15:46:48	3.0	South-America	Chile		Oficina Bellavista				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:47:09	3.2	Europe	Greece		Khiliiadhou				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:47:31	4.0	South-America	Bolivia		Agua de Castilla				EMSC
25.06.2012 16:46:51	3.1	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 16:47:11	2.9	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 18:57:12	2.5	Europe	Greece		Ayios Astratigos				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:47:52	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:48:15	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:40:27	2.8	Europe	Greece		Poimenikon				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:25:34	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Nikolai				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 14:40:33	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 14:40:54	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 14:05:44	4.3	Pacific Ocean	Fiji		Tuvutha				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 14:41:15	4.3	Pacific Ocean – East	Fiji		Tuvutha				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:40:46	2.9	Europe	Spain		Santa Maria del Mar				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:41:07	2.1	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:41:26	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Bektaslar				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:41:47	3.1	Europe	Italy		Canicattini Bagni				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:42:08	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Bekdemir				EMSC
25.06.2012 14:41:36	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Gedik				EMSC
25.06.2012 15:48:36	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 14:41:57	2.6	Europe	Spain		Taibique				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:42:29	2.7	Asia	Turkey		Ilisilik				EMSC
25.06.2012 14:42:20	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:42:50	2.5	Europe	Cyprus		Perivolia				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:43:08	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:30:33	2.1	Europe	Czech Republic		Most				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:30:54	2.7	Europe	Greece		Selianitika				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:31:14	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Karakuyu				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:43:09	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:31:33	3.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:43:29	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Sogut				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:31:54	2.8	Europe	Greece		Kokkarion				EMSC
25.06.2012 13:43:49	2.9	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 12:35:26	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:20:41	3.4	North America	United States	California	South Coyote				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 12:35:47	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:25:41	3.0	South-America	Chile		Quilimari				EMSC
25.06.2012 12:36:09	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:26:02	2.8	South-America	Chile		Pichidangui				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:30:21	2.8	Caribbean	Puerto Rico		Tosquero (historical)				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 12:36:10	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:26:25	3.6	Europe	Greece		Dhiakofti				EMSC
25.06.2012 12:36:30	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:26:43	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Ilbadi				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:27:03	3.1	South-America	Chile		Tamentica				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:27:25	3.0	Europe	Greece		Rodhodhafni				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:27:43	2.6	Europe	Italy		Santa Bianca				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:00:35	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Lae ‘Apuki (historical)				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 09:20:29	2.6	Europe	Greece		Klima				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:32:17	2.8	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:20:48	3.6	Europe	Greece		Khiliiadhou				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:32:38	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:32:39	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:21:08	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Yanikdegirmen				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:32:40	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:28:05	3.4	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:21:27	2.9	Europe	Italy		Mirabello				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:32:41	2.8	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:32:41	3.2	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:33:02	2.7	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:15:26	3.6	Asia	Turkey		Seyhsuvar				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:15:33	2.2	North America	United States	Texas	Silver City				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 08:15:48	2.0	Europe	Italy		La Balantina				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:33:22	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:40:35	4.3	Pacific Ocean	Tonga		Petani				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 09:21:47	4.3	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Petani				EMSC
25.06.2012 11:33:41	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:16:10	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Kapibagi				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:28:26	2.8	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:28:46	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:16:30	2.8	Europe	Albania		(( Mish ))				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:10:01	3.3	Europe	Albania		(( Shermine ))				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:28:47	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 10:29:07	2.6	Europe	Spain		Tigaday				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:22:07	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:16:51	2.0	Europe	Greece		Agios Fokas				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:09	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:10	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:10	2.9	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:32	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:55:32	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Amchitka				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 23:15:39	3.7	North America	United States	Montana	Packers				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 06:10:33	3.2	North America	United States	Montana	Packers				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 23:25:58	3.1	North America	United States	Montana	Packers				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:10:41	2.9	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:11:04	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kullar				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:11:26	2.0	Europe	Italy		Le Cremosine				EMSC
25.06.2012 06:05:28	4.6	Middle America	Guatemala	Departamento de Escuintla	Tecojate				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:11:52	4.6	Middle-America	Guatemala		Tecojate				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:12:15	3.6	South-America	Chile		Refresco Seco				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:12:36	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Marmaraereglisi				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:12:58	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:13:19	3.6	South-America	Argentina		Cienaguita				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:13:43	5.3	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Haatua				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:14:03	3.4	Asia	Turkey		Rahimler				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:14:04	3.0	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:14:32	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:14:51	2.5	Europe	Greece		Kalopirgos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:15:15	2.7	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:15:39	2.3	Europe	Italy		Sannicandro Garganico				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:15:59	2.0	Europe	Italy		Casa Madonnina				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:16:24	2.9	Europe	Greece		Kokkinoyio				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:16:51	2.8	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:17:11	2.6	Europe	Spain		Tigaday				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:17:31	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Erisen				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:17:32	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:17:53	3.0	Asia	Turkey		Sarimehmet				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:18:16	3.3	Europe	Italy		Apricena				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:18:36	3.4	South-America	Chile		Chuquicamata				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:25:54	3.4	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	El Cabo				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:19:02	2.8	Asia	Turkey		Inkoy				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:19:20	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:19:41	2.9	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:58	2.4	Europe	Greece		Skala Eresou				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:20:03	4.7	Europe	Portugal		Corvo				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:20:26	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Ocakli				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:20:45	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Caglayan				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:21:06	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:21:26	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Mesarya				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:21:47	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Agzikara				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:45:38	3.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Kaktovik				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:22:09	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Baskoy				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:22:30	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:22:51	4.6	Asia	Afghanistan		Valeyj (1)				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:23:10	3.1	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:23:31	2.2	Europe	Italy		Bosellina				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:23:52	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Erisen				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:14	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Gunduzu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:34	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Gunduzu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:35	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Agzikara				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:53	3.0	Europe	Portugal		Facho				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:25:13	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Erisen				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:25:33	4.6	Europe	Portugal		Corvo				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:25:55	4.4	Europe	Portugal		Corvo				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:26:17	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:26:36	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Derebey				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:31:25	2.8	Asia	Turkey		Yukarigolalan				EMSC

 

 

 

**********************************************************************************************************

Volcanic Activity

 

 

25.06.2012

Volcano Activity

Canary-Islands (Esp.)

El Hierro Island, [Underwater volcano (unnamed)]

 

Volcano Activity in Canary-Islands (Esp.) on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 14:24 (02:24 PM) UTC.

Description

It has been a few months now since the eruption at El Hierro in the Canary Islands was declared “over”. There may be some passive degassing on the seafloor from the new vent that formed at depth to the south of the island, but things had settled down. Even the people of Restinga were putting the eruption in the past, with both webcams taken offline and the guarantee of €600,000 (~$750,000) from the government to aid fishermen whose livelihoods had been altered by the closed fisheries. However, with any active volcano, it can be difficult to predict when exactly an eruptive cycle is truly done. Over the last few days, seismicity under the island has resumed and its manifestation is very similar to what we saw last summer during the lead up to the eruption of El Hierro in October 2011. Over 50 earthquakes have been recorded at El Hierro, some as large as ~M3.5 and AVCAN thinks that the new seismicity suggests that magma is moving in the same conduits as the fall 2011 activity. The earthquakes are, as of now, still deep – upwards of 15-25 km below the surface. This likely supports the idea that there is new magma entering the El Hierro system at depth. Now, last summer it took months of constant seismicity before we saw any surface manifestation (the submarine vent at ~88 meters depth), so we may not know if this new intrusion of magma will lead to new eruptions until the fall.

 

 

***********************************************************************************************************

Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

 

Outrageous Heat Denver, Dallas, Omaha and Kansas City

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

The worst heat wave of the summer so far is just starting to cook over the Plains this week.

The heat wave will eclipse the magnitude and coverage area of last week’s heat wave in the Northeast.

Actual temperatures in many cities from Houston, San Antonio and Dallas to Oklahoma City, Denver, Kansas City, Wichita and Omaha will reach triple-digit readings.

The combination of extreme actual temperatures, intense June sunshine, humidity levels and wind will contribute to AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures much, much higher.

The worst conditions will stretch from eastern and central Texas to central South Dakota during Tuesday.

For some locations, the heat will not just last a couple of days, but many days in a row.

According to Meteorologist Justin Povick, “In Denver, there have been three 100-degree days so far in the pattern, and before the extreme nature of the heat wave eases, there could be five or more days in a row with triple-digit readings.”

The record for consecutive days of 100-degree temperatures in Denver is five set in 1985 and most recently in 2005. The pattern spanning July 19 to 23 in 2005 brought temperatures as high as 105 degrees.

In Denver and in much of Colorado, the drought, heat and low humidity will continue to add to the dangers of new wildfires and the spread of existing fires.

The heat wave is being caused by a zone of high pressure at most levels of the atmosphere centered over the Plains this week. At the same time, troughs of low pressure (southward scoops of cool air at high levels of the atmosphere) were present in the Northeast and the Northwest.

Later in the week, the pattern will shift so that the Northeast and Northwest will warm, while the extreme nature of the heat eases over the northern and central Plains.

A zone of thunderstorms could also work to break the heat a bit over the central Rockies and Plains later in the week.

However, it will remain blistering hot farther south over the Plains.

Dallas, which had its first 100-degree high on Sunday, is likely to have triple-digit highs through at least Friday.

 

 

 

 

Today

Extreme Weather

China

MultiProvinces, [Provinces of Zhejiang, Guangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Anhui, Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou ]

 

 

 

Extreme Weather in China on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 02:59 (02:59 AM) UTC.

Description

Several parts of China have been hit by torrential rains over the last few days, resulting in the evacuation of millions of people and property damage. In east China’s Zhejiang province, heavy rains have forced 17,000 people to relocate and affected the lives of more than 350,000 others since June 22. A 12-year-old girl was killed when her house was buried in a landslide on Saturday in Zhejiang’s Songyang county. Rains have battered central China’s Hunan province since June 21, killing one person, leaving another missing and affecting the lives of 138,000 others. A landslide was triggered in Hunan’s city of Chenzhou, blocking roads and rivers and stranding 130 tourists, the report said. South China’s Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has been reeling under heavy downpours since June 21. In the hard-hit city of Hezhou, over 10,000 people have been evacuated and economic losses of 200 million yuan ($31.4 million) have been incurred, according to officials. One resident of Hezhou died in hospital after suffering serious injuries during a landslide, while another was crushed to death during a house collapse. More rain and storms are expected to hit Zhejiang, Fujian and Anhui provinces in south China, as well as Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces in the south-west over the next three days, the weather office said.

 

 

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

 

GRAND JUNCTION CO
RIVERTON WY
LAS VEGAS NV
ELKO NV
BILLINGS MT
CHEYENNE WY
DENVER CO
GREAT FALLS MT
PUEBLO CO
HASTINGS NE
GOODLAND KS
SALT LAKE CITY UT
RAPID CITY SD

 

 

 

 

Wood Hollow Fire burns 39,000 acres, 25-30 structures destroyed

By Sandra Yi

MT. PLEASANT, Sanpete County — All Robin Coltharp can do is wait and watch.

“We don’t even know if our property is still good or not, if it’s burned,” she said.

Coltharp’s husband used a telescope to get a closer look at the property, which Sunday was about a mile away from area burned in the Wood Hollow Fire.

The wildfire continued to rage Sunday, covering more than 39,000 acres in Sanpete County, destroying between 25 and 30 structures and forcing evacuations of more than 200 homes. At last word, only the fire was only 4 percent contained.

Roughly 360 permanent structures and more than 200 trailers or sheds are threatened, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said.

The Coltharps live in Mt. Pleasant and own 5 acres of land on Baldy Mountain. On Sunday, they couldn’t see the mountain through the thick smoke.

“We had plans of building a cabin up there,” she said, “perhaps living up there.”

It’s half my life up there. I’ve got a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of effort into that place up there.

–- Lynn Warner, resident

But the view from U.S. 89, where officers were turning cars around, wasn’t promising for those who live or own property in the area.

“It sure doesn’t look good to me right now,” said Lynn Warner, of Spanish Fork, who owns 6 acres of land in Oaker Hills.

On Saturday, the Warners were forced to leave their property, where they have trailers, a pavilion, four wheelers and a shed. The family had spent the past three days camping in Oaker Hills.

The Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office ordered mandatory evacuations for several areas, including Oaker Hills, Elk Ridge, Indian Ridge, Indianola, Panorama, Big Hollow and Hideaway Valley.

“The evacuations are because the high winds, the dry vegetation and, at this time, the fire is moving toward the homes,” deputy Eric Zeeman said.

The threatened homes are on the east and west sides of U.S. 89, between the north end of Hill Top and the county line. U.S. 89 was closed most of the day north of Fairview to the county line.

Roughly 360 homes or other permanent structures were threatened, along with about 215 trailers or sheds, according to the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office.

And with no idea how the fire will behave, evacuees can only hope for the best.

“It’s half my life up there,” Warner said. “I’ve got a lot of work, a lot of time and a lot of effort into that place up there.”

The American Red Cross opened a shelter for evacuees Sunday afternoon at North Sanpete High School.

“We are prepared to keep the shelter open as long as necessary,” said Maxine Margaritis, CEO of the American Red Cross Utah Region.

As the wind continued to howl Sunday afternoon, one of the big concerns for firefighters was the town of Indianola.

Just before noon, the sheriff’s office ordered evacuations for all residences west of U.S. 89 from Indianola north to the county line. About 2:30 p.m., evacuations that were once voluntary for residents north of Hill Top and east of U.S. 89 became mandatory.

“Flames were up to 100 feet,” said fire information officer Don Carpenter. “This fire was running uphill, and the wind was pushing it down.”

Many of the evacuated homes are second homes, and residents simply went back to their main homes.

 “We were sitting on the patio,” said David Christiansen, who owns a home in Oaker Hills. “About 4:30, my sister-in-law looked over to the west and asked, ‘Is that a cloud or is it smoke?’ It was smoke. It got big immediately. It was fairly windy where we were yesterday, about 10 to 20 mph. The fire was coming right at us. The people who lived there started talking to each other. We all agreed we better get ready to go if we had to.”

Red flag conditions were in effect again Sunday, meaning the fire danger would be extreme with high winds, high temperatures, low humidity and dry fuels, Carpenter said.

He said the fire was “probably human caused” and under investigation, but did not have any other information about a possible cause

The fire began at 4:47 p.m. Saturday, east of the town of Fountain Green, and quickly spread over the Cedar Hills to the east, cresting a high ridge above Fairview and the town of Indianola about 8 p.m.

About 64 personnel were assisting with the fire Sunday, Carpenter said, including two ground crews, one helicopter, two fire engines and five bulldozers.

A tanker plane dropped retardant over the area about 8 p.m. Saturday.

Sanpete County has gone without any measurable precipitation for about two months. Many municipalities in the county have been rationing water for lawns.

FEMA has approved a fire management assistance grant to help with the firefighting costs of the Wood Hollow Fire, according to the Utah Division of Emergency Management. Under the grant, FEMA will reimburse agencies 75 percent of eligible firefighting costs.

Contributing: Pat Reavy, Jared Page and Christian Probasco

Watch Video Here

 

 

25.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Utah, Saratoga Springs

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Friday, 22 June, 2012 at 18:05 (06:05 PM) UTC.

Description

A massive, out of control wildfire on Lake Mountain prompted evacuations Friday morning and was bearing down on an explosives factory. “It’s close enough to where we’re really worried,” BLM spokeswoman Cami Lee said of the explosives plant. An evacuation of the Benches subdivision in Saratoga Springs has now begun. Officials have begun notifying residents door to door and through reverse 911 telephone calls. The evacuation area is everything south of Pony Express Parkway, east of Smith Ranch Road and east to Redwood Road. The affected subdivisions in Eagle Mountain include Kiowa Valley, Eagle Top, Fremont Springs and SilverLake. Highway 68 also was closed south of 400 North in Saratoga Springs. A shelter is being set up at West Lake High School. Just after 11 a.m. the temperature was already 90 degrees and the wind was blowing at 15 mph with gust up to 19 mph. Authorities were scrambling around 10 a.m. to notify residents of at least 250 homes in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain that they needed to leave the area. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Teresa Rigby said that a change in wind was driving the Dump Fire east and it had come within a quarter of a mile of a neighborhood. The thick brown smoke was filling the air over much of northern Utah County and drifting east over the valley. An air tanker was flying overhead, visible only occasionally before it disappeared into the smoke. In Saratoga Springs the city’s water department has shut off irrigation wast er to all location where culinary water is being used for irrigation, according to the city’s Facebook page, so water tanks can fill and provide water and water pressure if the fire reaches homes. The city also is asking residents to turn off their irrigation systems this weekend. According to the BLM, the fire was being fought Friday morning by four hand crews, various fire engines, and a handful of helicopters. Additional hand crews were en route.

 

 

26.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Colorado, [Pike National Forest]

 

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Monday, 18 June, 2012 at 03:15 (03:15 AM) UTC.

Description

The fire burning behind Lake George in Park County is now 200 acres, and it is 0% contained. According to a park ranger for the Pike National Forest, the 11 mile canyon has been evacuated. That is between 150 and 200 homes. Everyone else in that area is under pre-evacuation orders. That means they must be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. County road 96 and 92 at Highway 24 are both shut down right now. That fire started around noon on the Indian Paintbrush Ranch. We’ve heard several reports from witnesses who say they saw someone fire shots, and that may have hit a propane tank causing an explosion. But, Park Rangers say they are still investigating what caused this fire. Among the evacuees, about 500 campers with Camp Alexander. They were at 11 mile canyon. The Camp Director tells us they are all safely out of the fire’s reach. Those campers are from all over Colorado, and out of state. They will have to stay the night at Woodland Park High School and/or Middle School. There are more than 40 firefighters fighting this fire, and witnesses say they have also seen drops from helicopters.

 

 

25.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Colorado, [Fort Collins (Paradise Park) area]

 

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Sunday, 10 June, 2012 at 07:32 (07:32 AM) UTC.

Description

Crews on Saturday battled a fast-moving wildfire in northern Colorado that has scorched about 8,000 acres and prompted several dozen evacuation orders. Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Schulz said the fire was reported just before 6 a.m. Saturday in the mountainous Paradise Park area about 25 miles northwest of Fort Collins. The blaze expanded rapidly during the late afternoon and evening and by Saturday night, residents living along several roads in the region had been ordered to evacuate and many more were warned that they might have to flee. An evacuation center has been set up at a Laporte middle school. Officials didn’t specify how many residents had evacuated but said they had sent out 800 emergency notifications alerting people to the fire and the possibility that might have to flee. “Right now we’re just trying to get these evacuations done and get people safe,” Schulz told Denver-based KMGH-TV, adding that “given the extreme heat in the area, it makes it a difficult time for (the firefighters).” Temperatures near Fort Collins reached the mid-80s Saturday afternoon with a humidity level of between 5 percent and 10 percent. Ten structures have been damaged, although authorities were unsure if they were homes or some other kind of buildings. No injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire was unknown. Aerial footage from KMGH-TV showed flames coming dangerously close to what appeared to be several outbuildings and at least one home in the area, as well as consuming trees and sending a large plume of smoke into the air. Two heavy air tankers, five single-engine air tankers and four helicopters were on the scene to help fight the blaze, which appeared to be burning on private and U.S. Forest Service land and was being fueled by sustained winds of between 20 and 25 mph. “It was just good conditions to grow,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chad Gimmestad told The Associated Press. “The conditions today were really favorable for it to take off.”

 

 

Today

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Montana, Helena

 

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 02:51 (02:51 AM) UTC.

Description

Authorities ordered evacuations Monday for 200 homes north of Helena and a dozen more in a rural community southeast of Whitehall, as scorching heat and strong winds fueled wildfires across western Montana. Gawkers blocked traffic in the Helena Valley and watched helicopters dump buckets of water on the flames burning in the Scratchgravel Hills. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton, his sport utility vehicle blocking a turnoff, told a deputy to order the bystanders to leave for their own safety _ the fire was threatening to move toward them. “You can see it right there,” Dutton said, pointing to flames visible from the roadway. “It’s spotting and it’s headed that way.” Dutton said it was not immediately clear what started the fire, how large it was or whether any structures had been damaged, but no injuries have been reported and a mandatory evacuation had been issued for about 200 homes. Fire officials from the city, East Helena and the state responded, and Dutton said he also asked for assistance from the military. Red-flag conditions caused new fires to ignite and existing fires to spread. Temperatures in the region topped 90 degrees, while the humidity was expected to drop below 15 percent, and the wind was expected to blow at 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. The National Weather Service issued the red-flag warning until 9 p.m. for southwestern Montana, stretching from the Idaho border to north of Helena. Two fires totaling more than 3,100 acres, or nearly 4 square miles, were burning about 30 miles apart from each other after igniting last weekend in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Dozens of firefighters battled the blazes as they faced temperatures that soared into the 90s and wind gusts as high as 35 mph. A fourth wildfire broke out Monday morning east of Norris near the Bear Trap area of the Madison River, forcing state officials to close two river access points. Bureau of Land Management officials closed its land along that corridor in Bear Trap Canyon. “It’s extreme fire behavior for this time of the year,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman John Hagengruber said. “We’re not anticipating that there will be much of a break in the weather pattern until tomorrow afternoon, and that’s being optimistic.” The Pony Fire in the Tobacco Root Mountains has burned approximately 2,500 acres and was encroaching upon the Mammoth area southeast of Whitehall. Madison County authorities ordered the evacuation of the area as a precautionary measure, Hagengruber said. The evacuation order was issued from near Pony to the Judson Mean Indiana University Research Station near the intersection of South Boulder and Carmichael Creek roads. Residents have been cooperative, with some booking hotel rooms in Whitehall, Hagengruber said. Madison County Sheriff Dave Schenk did not immediately return a call for comment. The Montana Standard reported the Mammoth area has about a dozen homes. The Pony fire has burned at least one structure near Carmichael Creek and firefighters were working to protect others. Officials were not certain what type of structure was damaged. At least 38 firefighters responded to the blaze burning through sage brush and timber. Two helicopters that had been used to fight the fire were grounded Monday afternoon due to strong wind. The cause of the fire, which began on Sunday, was not known. About 30 miles north of the Pony fire, the Antelope fire had spread to 682 acres Monday after it was reported Saturday. Firefighters were contending with rattlesnakes in responding to the remote fire located in hilly, forested terrain, Hagengruber said. There have been no reports of structures being threatened by that fire, he said. A Type 2 National Incident Command Team from northern Idaho took over management of the two fires Monday afternoon. There were no reliable estimates of the size of the Bear Trap fire burning on BLM land in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness southwest of Bozeman, said Rick Waldrup of the BLM’s Dillon office. The fire broke out along Bear Trap Canyon Road, where there are several campsites, and it is believed to be human-caused, he said. Jon Grassy of the state Department of Natural Resources and Development said his agency has dispatched two helicopters to drop water on the fire. Ron Aasheim of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said agency officials closed two fishing access sites, Damselfly and Black Ford.

 

 

25.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of California, [Lytle Creek Canyon]

 

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 10:00 (10:00 AM) UTC.

Description

Firefighters battled a wind-driven wildland fire in Lytle Creek Canyon on Sunday afternoon, authorities said. The fire was reported at 4:56 p.m. near Sheep Canyon Road, north of the Lytle Creek community, a part of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernardino National Forest. Two hundred firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino County Fire Department, Cal Fire and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management responded, holding the fire to 12 acres, according to a release from the U.S. Forest Service. The fire burned in heavy chaparral in rocky, steep, terrain and into a Forest Service fuels reduction project, which greatly helped slow the spread of the fire, authorities said. During the height of the firefight, five residences were temporarily evacuated in Happy Jack, a community in Lytle Creek Canyon, and Lytle Creek Road was closed north of Sheep Canyon, firefighters said. Firefighters will be improving fire lines throughout the evening with containment expected at 6 a.m. Monday and full control expected at 6 a.m. Tuesday, according to the news release. The Forest Service said investigators are working to determine the cause of the blaze. The San Bernardino National Forest comprises three ranger districts spanning 676,666 acres in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.

 

 

 

25.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of New Mexico, [Community of La Puebla, Santa Fe County ]

 

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 07:31 (07:31 AM) UTC.

Description

Two wildfires broke out in the northern Santa Fe County community of La Puebla on Sunday evening, causing electricity to be cut off to some homes and other residences to be evacuated. The first, called the Rio Vista Fire, began about 6 p.m. with a vehicle that caught fire for unknown reasons at a residence near Rio Vista Run and Santa Fe County Road 88B. The car fire quickly spread to about 3 acres in the bosque on both sides of the Rio Santa Cruz near Camino de Flores, where it reportedly was crowning in cottonwood trees. A state Forestry Division spokesman said residents in a 2-mile radius were being advised to head south and that roadways in the area were expected to be congested. John Wheeler, a public information officer for the Santa Fe County Fire Department, said five residences were evacuated. He said county animal-control officers were removing some dogs from the residences. Fifty firefighters from various jurisdictions responded and “had a good handle” on the Rio Vista Fire by 8:30 p.m., he said. About 8 p.m., however, a second fire, dubbed the Alamo Fire, was reported about two miles away near Calle Alamo, causing most of the firefighters to be shifted to the second site. The Alamo Fire’s origin is unknown, but by 9:30 p.m., it had grown to about 3 acres and was threatening five structures, Wheeler said. “We’re going to have to cut power to a few houses out here,” he said. “It looks like [electric power transmission lines] are going to catch fire.” Wheeler said he didn’t know how many residences would be without power, but he said the outage was likely to last overnight. Hot and dry conditions have made much of New Mexico a tinderbox. Calmer winds Sunday night were helping firefighters contain the La Puebla wildfires, but Wheeler cautioned New Mexicans to be “hypervigilant” of wildfires, at least until the summer rains begin.

 

Gale Warning

 

BALTIMORE CANYON TO HATTERAS CANYON OUT TO 36N 70W TO 34N 71W
HATTERAS CANYON TO CAPE FEAR OUT TO 34N 71W TO 32N 73W
CAPE FEAR TO 31N OUT TO 32N 73W TO 31N 74W

Heat Advisory

 

BISMARCK ND
DODGE CITY KS
SIOUX FALLS SD
GOODLAND KS
SHREVEPORT LA
NORTH PLATTE NE
TULSA OK
HASTINGS NE
RAPID CITY SD
ABERDEEN SD
AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX

Excessive Heat Watch

 

PHOENIX AZ

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Storms, Flooding, Landslides

 

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

 

GREAT FALLS MT
GLASGOW MT

Hurricane Statement

 

JACKSONVILLE FL

Tropical Storm Warning

 

TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
TALLAHASSEE FL
NE GULF N OF 25N E OF 87W-

 

 

 

Slow-moving Tropical Storm Debby drenches Florida, spawns tornadoes

Read Full Article Here

Hurricane Debbie!! Two foot flood waters!!

Published on Jun 24, 2012 by danielxmiller

Barely made it home tons of cars broken down from the water!

Tropical storm Debbie claims fatality

Published on Jun 24, 2012 by maytexas38

Slow-moving Tropical Storm Debby’s outer bands lashed Florida with rain and kicked up rough surf off Alabama on Sunday, prompting storm warnings for those states and causing at least one death.

The death in Florida was blamed on a tornado spawned by the storm, while a man went missing in the Gulf of Mexico at an Alabama beach.

Coastal Alabama and parts of Florida, including the Panhandle, were under tropical storm warnings. Underscoring the storm’s unpredictable nature, forecasters discontinued a tropical storm warning for Louisiana after forecast models indicated Debby wasn’t likely to turn west.

Debby already has dumped heavy rain on parts of Florida and spawned some isolated tornadoes, causing damage to homes and knocking down power lines. High winds forced the closure of an interstate bridge that spans Tampa Bay and links St. Petersburg with areas to the southeast. Residents in several counties near the crook of Florida’s elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the threat of flooding.

Debby was essentially stationary about 115 miles south-southwest of Apalachicola, Fla., on Sunday evening. While storm tracks are difficult to discern days in advance, a forecast map predicted that the storm would meander north as the week unfolds.

Debby’s top sustained winds were at about 60 mph.

6/25/2012 — Tropical Storm ‘ Debby ‘ stalls out off Florida Gulf Coast

Published on Jun 25, 2012 by dutchsinse

If you are from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida.. when the storm is gone and done with.. check for OIL on the beaches !!!!!!

Use the links here to monitor severe weather nationally and internationally:

http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/2122012-weather-monitoring-links-s…

CNN story on the stall out here:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/25/us/tropical-weather/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Tropical storm “Debby” has stalled off the north coast of Florida — dropping the severe arm that hit Florida today up to the northeast … but the center of the storm remains off the coast in the gulf of mexico.. almost looking like it wants to pull west again.. or at least hang out off the coast as it pulls west but the prevailing winds push NE.

If you live in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and even Mississippi, Louisiana, and south Texas.. be prepared for severe weather the further east you are.. and be aware of the possibility of severe in TX , LA, and MS if this storm starts to pull westward again.

Another Atlantic Tropical Record Falls

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

This NOAA satellite image captured Tropical Storm Debby as it was taking shape Saturday afternoon.

The formation of the fourth tropical storm of any Atlantic Hurricane season has never occurred in June — that was until Tropical Storm Debby took shape.

Debby developed at 5 p.m. EDT Saturday about 220 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

While there is more concern about which part of the Gulf Coast Debby will eventually threaten, the formation of Debby means another broken tropical weather record in less than a week.

“Zombie” Chris started the record-breaking week by becoming the earliest storm to be named north of a latitude parallel to the border of Virginia and North Carolina Tuesday afternoon.

Never before since record-keeping began in 1851 has the fourth tropical storm of any Atlantic Hurricane season been detected before July, a feat Debby achieved this year with a week to spare.

The above typical hurricane frequency chart is definitely not being followed this year.

Dennis came close to breaking that record in 2005, reaching tropical storm status in the eastern Caribbean on July 5.

Forming on July 7, Cindy in 1959 holds the distinction of being the second earliest fourth tropical storm in an Atlantic season. Cindy was not given a “D” name due to it being preceded by an unnamed hurricane.

It should be noted that before weather satellites–the first launched in 1960–became an important observation tool to meteorologists, some tropical storms may have gone undetected.

With an inevitable path toward a part of the Gulf Coast, the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center hopes that the system set to become Debby only breaks a record in regards to its early formation and not loss of lives or destruction.

Debby’s Positive Side: Drought Relief

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

Rain from Debby is reaching some drought-stricken areas of the southeastern United States.

Debby has delivered over a foot of rain to some areas in Florida thus far. Hernando County Airport, located north of Tampa and southwest of Ocala, Fla., has received 12.16 inches of rain as of noon Monday, June 25, 2012, from the storm.

Prior to Debby’s arrival, central and northern Florida drought issues ranged from abnormally dry to extreme drought.

Some rain reached into southwestern Georgia and southeastern Alabama as well. Both areas were experiencing exceptional drought conditions as of late last week.

This Doppler radar image shows estimated rainfall for the 24-hour period ending at noon Monday, June 25, 2012.

As Debby moves slowly to the east-northeast across the Florida Peninsula this week and/or redevelops along the Atlantic coast of Florida, additional rain will fall through the end of the week.

The bulk of the rain from Debby will continue to fall over central and northern Florida moving forward, but there are hopes that additional rain will continue to reach into more of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, in the form of slow-moving, drenching thunderstorms.

The area from the Florida Peninsula to the South mainland is home to many vegetable crops as well as citrus, peanuts and many pasture lands for cattle.

This was the drought status as of June 19, 2012, released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Things are likely to change for the better for much of Florida and neighboring southern Georgia when the new drought status is released later this week.

Unfortunately, rain is not reaching all of the hard-hit drought areas and is bringing way too much rain all at once for drainage systems to handle in some areas.

 

 

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Debby (AL04)	Gulf of Mexico	24.06.2012	26.06.2012	Tropical Storm	40 °	74 km/h	93 km/h	2.44 m	NHC

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on wordpress Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email More Sharing Services 4 Storm name: Debby (AL04) Area: Gulf of Mexico Start up location: N 26° 18.000, W 87° 30.000 Start up: 24th June 2012 Status: Active Track long: 248.28 km Top category.: Report by: NHC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 24th Jun 2012 06:06:38 N 26° 18.000, W 87° 30.000 0 83 102 Tropical Storm 0 13 998 MB NHC 25th Jun 2012 04:06:12 N 28° 18.000, W 85° 54.000 0 93 111 Tropical Storm 0 14 991 MB NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 26th Jun 2012 07:06:22 N 29° 0.000, W 84° 36.000 7 83 102 Tropical Storm 90 ° 11 992 MB NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 27th Jun 2012 12:00:00 N 29° 30.000, W 84° 12.000 Tropical Storm 74 93 NHC 27th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 29° 24.000, W 84° 36.000 Tropical Storm 74 93 NHC 28th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 29° 36.000, W 83° 36.000 Tropical Storm 74 93 NHC 29th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 29° 48.000, W 82° 18.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 NHC 30th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 30° 6.000, W 80° 42.000 Tropical Storm 65 83 NHC 01st Jul 2012 00:00:00 N 30° 48.000, W 78° 42.000 Tropical Storm 74 93 NHC

 

 

 

 

 

……………………..

25.06.2012

Tornado

South Africa

Free State, Kestell

 

 

Tornado in South Africa on Sunday, 24 June, 2012 at 16:47 (04:47 PM) UTC.

Description

Thirty homes have been damaged in an apparent tornado in Kestell, in the Free State, the provincial co-operative governance and traditional affairs department said on Sunday. “There are 30 households affected in Tlholong township, where houses have been damaged and others ruined,” spokeswoman Senne Bogatsu said in a statement. She blamed the destruction on a tornado, and WeatherSA forecaster Michael Nethavanisaid the storm did appear to have been a tornado. “According to the reports we are getting in, it was a tornado,” he said. “We are still in the dark as to where it happened,” he said, but added that it would have hit somewhere in the eastern part of the province. The extent of the damage, and the total number of people affected, still had to be established by a joint operations centre in the district, said Bogatsu. “A community hall was immediately established as an evacuation centre, however only an elderly couple accepted the offer as other affected families were seemingly catered for by the community,” she said. Five people were taken to hospital. One of them was “seriously affected”. Six households in the Eeram area were also affected by the storm, but Bogatsu did not say how they were affected. Four people were taken to hospital. The joint operations centre was assessing structural damage, establishing basic needs such as food, blankets, counselling, and injuries. It was also removing debris.

………………………….

 

Flash Flood Warning

 

CHARLESTON SC
JACKSONVILLE FL
TALLAHASSEE FL

Flash Flood Watch

 

TALLAHASSEE FL

Flood Warning

 

JACKSONVILLE FL
TALLAHASSEE FL
CARIBOU ME
TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
DULUTH MN
SPOKANE, WA

Coastal Flood Advisory

 

NEW ORLEANS LA
TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL

 

 

Deadly B.C. flooding prompts more evacuations, highway closures

SICAMOUS, B.C. — The Canadian Press

Hundreds of British Columbians are away from their homes, others are without clean drinking water and at least one person is dead as a weekend of heavy rain flooded homes and washed away roads in several areas of the province.

Hardest hit is Sicamous, a community of about 3,100 people north of Kelowna, where about 350 people have been ordered to leave their homes due to flooding along the Sicamous and Hummingbird Creeks.

At least one home has been swept away and many more have been damaged, along with dozens of cars after flash floods tore through Sicamous neighbourhoods, between Shuswap and Mara Lakes.

There have been smaller evacuations in other areas, such as in Valemount, just west of the B.C.-Alberta boundary near Jasper, Alta., and residents in a number of communities have been told to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

In the Kootenays, emergency officials say 72-year-old Edward Posnikoff was killed Saturday night after he was swept away along with a bridge over Goose Creek.

The flooding has also made travel through the province difficult or impossible in some areas, as mudslides and floods force closures on the Tr

 

 

25.06.2012

Flood

Canada

Province of British Columbia, Mission

 

 

 

Flood in Canada on Sunday, 24 June, 2012 at 16:30 (04:30 PM) UTC.

Description

As a flood watch continues around B.C., residents were urged to “evacuate when emergency officials request it” by minister of justice and attorney general Shirley Bond Saturday. “We understand how difficult it might be for families to leave their homes, but they are only asked to do that when there is an imminent potential safety risk. When an evacuation order is given, it is essential that everyone consider their safety and that of first responders and leave as requested,” Bond said in a statement. “Emergency management officials don’t want to see the forcible removal of anyone from a property – rather, we depend on individuals to heed the advice of public safety professionals, whose decisions and directions are made with the highest regard for the safety of you and your loved ones,” Bond said. Swollen by melting snow and rain, the Fraser River has reached levels not seen for 40 years and has caused flooding from the province’s interior to the Fraser Valley. Early Sunday, Environment Canada said that a slow-moving low pressure system situated off the coast of Oregon state was expected to drop between 10 to 20 mm on the Arrow Lakes, Slocan Lake and East Kootenay regions. It also forecasted potential development of severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds Sunday afternoon.

ans-Canada Highway near Revelstoke and Highway 97A south of Sicamous, and reduce traffic on other routes.

 

 

25.06.2012

Flood

Afghanistan

Province of Ghor , [Ghor-wide]

 

 

Flood in Afghanistan on Saturday, 23 June, 2012 at 17:39 (05:39 PM) UTC.

Description

Flash floods have swept northern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people, Afghan and U.N. authorities said Saturday. More than 100 homes, hundreds of hectares (acres) of farmland and farm animals were been destroyed by the floods that followed four or five days of heavy rain in the region. Abdul Hai Khateby, who is the spokesman in Ghor province, said Saturday that 24 people have been killed in four districts, including the provincial capital of Chaghcharan. “Many, many houses have been destroyed, and there are reports of lots of cattle and other animals being killed,” Khateby said. “It is cloudy and we expect more rain.” The provincial spokesman of Badakhshan, Abdul Marouf Rasekh, said 13 people were killed Friday night in Yaftal district and four other districts have been affected. The Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority said an estimated 135 houses in Badakhshan had been destroyed, forcing residents to flee. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said many of the unpaved, rutted roads in the area have been severely flooded, making aid distribution difficult. Elsewhere, a bomb exploded at a music store on Saturday in Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar in the east. Provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the shopkeeper and one of his customers were killed in the blast and two other people were wounded.

 

 

…………………………………………..

At least 18 killed in Uganda landslide

By Elias Biryabarema

Reuters

KAMPALA | Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:35pm EDT

(Reuters) – At least 18 people were killed in eastern Uganda on Monday after a landslide buried several settlements in a coffee-growing area on the slopes of Mount Elgon straddling the Kenyan border, the Uganda Red Cross said.

A local member of parliament, David Wakikona, told Reuters that up to 100 people could have been buried and local media reported that hundreds could be missing. It was not immediately possible to verify these reports.

Red Cross spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde said: “From the latest reports we have we can only confirm 18 dead but assessment of the devastation around the area is continuing.”

Wakikona said three villages had been flattened in Bumwalukani parish on the slopes of Mount Elgon “and the initial reports I have is that more than 100 have been buried.

“The areas around Bududa district have been experiencing heavy rains for days now,” he said. “I am told the landslides started around midday today and that they’re still going on and some villagers who survived the early slides are fleeing.”

Landslides caused by heavy rains are frequent in eastern Uganda, where at least 23 people were killed last year after mounds of mud buried their homes. Scores of people were buried alive in a similar disaster in March 2010.

The area affected produces coffee in what is the third biggest economy in east Africa.

Stephen Mallinga, Minister for Relief and Disaster Preparedness, said it remained unclear how many people had been killed but confirmed three Bududa villages had been inundated.

“Our response team has already left and we hope to get a clearer picture by tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. We’re also mobilizing relief items like food, tents and water containers.”

The Uganda Red Cross said it had sent a team of volunteers to assess the situation. Local authorities have said there could be about 80 people living in each village.

Ntabadde said nine people had been injured and 15 houses buried in the mudslide, while 29 houses were at risk and needed to be urgently relocated.

Rain has fallen regularly on parts of Uganda over much of the past two months, even though this is usually a dry period between the rainy seasons.

(Additional reporting by Jocelyn Edwards; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

 

 

25.06.2012

Landslide

Canada

Province of British Columbia, Village of Kaslo

 

 

 

Landslide in Canada on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 07:49 (07:49 AM) UTC.

Description

The Village of Kaslo has issued a red alert to residents after a mudslide on Josephine Creek, which empties into Kemp Creek, severely compromised water flows to the main reservoir said Chief Administrative Officer Rae Sawyer Sunday. Fact is the mudslide completely wiped out the main water dam to the village. “It’s completely gone,” Sawyer told The Nelson Daily Sunday night. “The dam on Kemp Creek Kemp Creek is gone and the reservoir is not filling up.” The slide occurred sometime around noon Sunday. A contractor working in the area of the reservoir alerted village officials, which went into damage control. “Right now we’ve switched over to emergency water supplies from the Kaslo River but we’re having a hard time keeping up with the demand,” Sawyer explained. The slide had destroyed the dam, built of concrete and steel, which holds the intake to the main reservoir so no water is draining into the system. “We don’t know yet if we can rebuild the dam at the same site . . . we’re still assessing that,” Sawyer explained. “At this time we’re running on emergency systems from the Kaslo River that drains into a small reservoir in the water treatment plant. “It’s a small reservoir that can’t handle the normal demands of the village and that’s what we’re concerned about.” Sawyer is hopeful residents comply with the village alert to conserve water. “We’re asking residents to simply use extreme water conservation,” Sawyer said. “Restrict water consumption to interior household use and set drinking water aside.” Sawyer said the staff is still assessing the situation and is hopeful a plan will be put into place to fix the problem in a few days.

 

 

 

 

************************************************************************************************************

 

Epidemic Hazards / Diseases

 

 

 

Today

Epidemic Hazard

USA

State of Michigan, Saginaw

 

 

 

Epidemic Hazard in USA on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 03:09 (03:09 AM) UTC.

Description
Family who contracted a mystery illness after a family reunion trip up north. Tonight officials have confirmed at least one person has a case of Legionnaires disease. Twenty-seven family members went to a private resort in Boyne City, but when they came back last week, four had to be hospitalized, and 10 others have become sick or are taking antibiotics. Two of them are on life support at the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor. One family member is so sick, she remains on a respirator and was diagnosed with Legionnaires. The Saginaw County Health Department worked over the weekend to interview family members in an attempt to piece together any common threads, things like where they ate, where they slept, to figure out exactly where they may have been exposed to the disease. While family members got together Monday to look at pictures of their trip, they say the most common thread is the lodge itself. TV5 called the lodge several times, but were told no one of authority could talk to us. TV5 has chosen not to identify the lodge until further investigation by authorities is completed.
Biohazard name:	Legionnaires disease
Biohazard level:	4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.:	Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

 

 

************************************************************************************************************

Solar Activity

2MIN News June 25, 2012: The Coronal Hole Approaches

Published on Jun 25, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

AMAZING: http://www.universetoday.com/95920/a-gamma-ray-burst-as-music/

TODAYS LINKS
Giant Turtle Deaths: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/mystery-turtle-deaths-stum…
South Korea Nukes: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-06/25/c_123323667.htm
Euro Tower of Babel: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-eurozone-tour-idUSBRE85O03U20120625
Oil Ruin: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-usa-refinery-motiva-idUSBRE85O02…
Hurricane tracker: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker

REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos – as seen from earth]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT – as seen from earth]

Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI – as seen from the side]

SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it… trust me]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]

NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/ [CME Evolution]

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can’t figure out what this one is for?]

BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]

INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]

NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/

PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]

************************************************************************************************************

Space

European telescope pierces into heart of massive galaxy

Different technique lifts veils of dust that obscure Centaurus A’s central band

A recent photo of the colossal Centaurus A galaxy pierces through thick clouds of cosmic dust to reveal a clear view of its bright galactic center.

The image was taken by the European Southern Observatory (ESO)’s Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, the world’s most complex collection of ground-based radio telescopes located in the Chilean Andes. To lift the veils of dust that obscure Centaurus A’s central band, astronomers observed the galaxy in longer wavelengths of radiation than optical light.

The photo, which was released on May 31, combines observations from ALMA at around one millimeter, and other views in near-infrared light from the SOFI instrument, which is attached to the ESO New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

The result is a clear look at the galaxy’s brilliant center, where a supermassive black hole with a mass 100 million times heavier than the sun resides.

Centaurus A is a sprawling elliptical galaxy that emits strong radio waves, and is the nearest and most prominent radio galaxy in the sky. The galaxy is located about 12 million light-years away from Earth in the southern constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur).

Centaurus A has been an intriguing target for astronomers, who have observed the massive galaxy using different telescopes at a variety of wavelengths. In visible light, Centaurus A’s characteristic dark central band obscures many features at its heart. This prominent lane of gas and dust is also a hotbed of young stars.

The galaxy’s dusty central band and its strong radio emissions indicate that Centaurus A is likely the product of a collision between a massive elliptical galaxy and a smaller spiral galaxy. The dusty band is likely the remains of the smaller galaxy that is being ripped apart by the gravitational pull of the more massive elliptical galaxy, ESO scientists said in a statement. [ When Galaxies Collide: Photos of Great Galactic Crashes ]

In the new photo, measurements from ALMA appear as shades of green, yellow and orange. These views map the position and motion of Centaurus A’s clouds of gas, and they are among the sharpest and most sensitive observations of these features ever made, ESO officials said.

ALMA was used to detect signals emitted by molecules of carbon monoxide gas at wavelengths around 1.3 millimeters. The motion of the gas in the galaxy causes slight changes to this wavelength, which can be seen in the slight changes of color in the image.

Gas moving toward us appears green, while the orange colors show gas moving away. Since gas to the left of the center is moving toward us, and gas to the right of the center is moving away, these clouds appear to be orbiting around the galaxy.

The image was created by overlaying ALMA’s observations on a near-infrared image of Centaurus A from the New Technology Telescope’s SOFI instrument.

ALMA is a complex of 40-foot (12-meter) radio telescopes sitting at an elevation of 16,500 feet (5,000 meters) on the Chajnantor plateau in northern Chile. These individual antennas each pick up light in the millimeter/submillimeter range — about 1,000 times longer than visible-light wavelengths.

ALMA’s early science phase began in 2011 with 19 individual telescopes, but construction on the $1.3 billion project will be complete in 2013, when all 66 high-precision antennas will be fully operational, ESO officials said.

Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook  and  Google+.

• Radio Galaxy Shown In Sharp Detail | Video
• Gallery: 65 All-Time Great Galaxy Hits
• Building ALMA: Earth’s Largest Radio Telescope 

 

 

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
(2008 YT30)	26th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.0715	27.8	370 m – 820 m	10.70 km/s	38520 km/h
(2010 NY65)	27th June 2012	1 day(s)	0.1023	39.8	120 m – 270 m	15.09 km/s	54324 km/h
(2008 WM64)	28th June 2012	2 day(s)	0.1449	56.4	200 m – 440 m	17.31 km/s	62316 km/h
(2010 CD55)	28th June 2012	2 day(s)	0.1975	76.8	64 m – 140 m	6.33 km/s	22788 km/h
(2004 CL)	30th June 2012	4 day(s)	0.1113	43.3	220 m – 480 m	20.75 km/s	74700 km/h
(2008 YQ2)	03rd July 2012	7 day(s)	0.1057	41.1	29 m – 65 m	15.60 km/s	56160 km/h
(2005 QQ30)	06th July 2012	10 day(s)	0.1765	68.7	280 m – 620 m	13.13 km/s	47268 km/h
(2011 YJ28)	06th July 2012	10 day(s)	0.1383	53.8	150 m – 330 m	14.19 km/s	51084 km/h
276392 (2002 XH4)	07th July 2012	11 day(s)	0.1851	72.0	370 m – 840 m	7.76 km/s	27936 km/h
(2003 MK4)	08th July 2012	12 day(s)	0.1673	65.1	180 m – 410 m	14.35 km/s	51660 km/h
(1999 NW2)	08th July 2012	12 day(s)	0.0853	33.2	62 m – 140 m	6.66 km/s	23976 km/h
189P/NEAT	09th July 2012	13 day(s)	0.1720	66.9	n/a	12.47 km/s	44892 km/h
(2000 JB6)	10th July 2012	14 day(s)	0.1780	69.3	490 m – 1.1 km	6.42 km/s	23112 km/h
(2010 MJ1)	10th July 2012	14 day(s)	0.1533	59.7	52 m – 120 m	10.35 km/s	37260 km/h
(2008 NP3)	12th July 2012	16 day(s)	0.1572	61.2	57 m – 130 m	6.08 km/s	21888 km/h
(2006 BV39)	12th July 2012	16 day(s)	0.1132	44.1	4.2 m – 9.5 m	11.11 km/s	39996 km/h
(2005 NE21)	15th July 2012	19 day(s)	0.1555	60.5	140 m – 320 m	10.77 km/s	38772 km/h
(2003 KU2)	15th July 2012	19 day(s)	0.1034	40.2	770 m – 1.7 km	17.12 km/s	61632 km/h
(2007 TN74)	16th July 2012	20 day(s)	0.1718	66.9	20 m – 45 m	7.36 km/s	26496 km/h
(2007 DD)	16th July 2012	20 day(s)	0.1101	42.8	19 m – 42 m	6.47 km/s	23292 km/h
(2006 BC8)	16th July 2012	20 day(s)	0.1584	61.6	25 m – 56 m	17.71 km/s	63756 km/h
144411 (2004 EW9)	16th July 2012	20 day(s)	0.1202	46.8	1.3 km – 2.9 km	10.90 km/s	39240 km/h
(2012 BV26)	18th July 2012	22 day(s)	0.1759	68.4	94 m – 210 m	10.88 km/s	39168 km/h
(2010 OB101)	19th July 2012	23 day(s)	0.1196	46.6	200 m – 450 m	13.34 km/s	48024 km/h
(2008 OX1)	20th July 2012	24 day(s)	0.1873	72.9	130 m – 300 m	15.35 km/s	55260 km/h
(2010 GK65)	21st July 2012	25 day(s)	0.1696	66.0	34 m – 75 m	17.80 km/s	64080 km/h
(2011 OJ45)	21st July 2012	25 day(s)	0.1367	53.2	18 m – 39 m	3.79 km/s	13644 km/h
153958 (2002 AM31)	22nd July 2012	26 day(s)	0.0351	13.7	630 m – 1.4 km	9.55 km/s	34380 km/h
(2011 CA7)	23rd July 2012	27 day(s)	0.1492	58.1	2.3 m – 5.1 m	5.43 km/s	19548 km/h
(2012 BB124)	24th July 2012	28 day(s)	0.1610	62.7	170 m – 380 m	8.78 km/s	31608 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

 

 

 

 

…………………………………..

The Latest Worldwide Meteor / Fireball Reports

Meteor reports of the latest worldwide meteors, fireballs and bolides worldwide. Report a Meteor/fireball/bolide worldwide and join the worldwide community of nightsky meteor fireball and bolide reporters and watchers. Owner LunarMeteorite*Hunter, Dirk Ross, Tokyo, Japan. All Rights Reserved – Copy allowed with link citation ONLY http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/ .

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Mysterious Booms / Rumblings

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Biological Hazards / Wildlife

Natural Mutation Or Technology Gone Awry? Cyanide Grass Is Not A True GMO : Tifton 85 Is A Hybrid Not Genetically Modified

Family Survival Protocol

GM grass linked to Texas cattle deaths

A cattle ranch in Elgin, Texas., where 15 head succumbed to death by cyanide poisoning after eating genetically-modified grass. (KEYE)

(CBS News) ELGIN, Texas – A mysterious mass death of a herd of cattle has prompted a federal investigation in Central Texas.

Preliminary test results are blaming the deaths on the grass the cows were eating when they got sick, reports CBS Station KEYE.

The cows dropped dead several weeks ago on an 80-acre ranch owned by Jerry Abel in Elgin, just east of Austin.

Abel says he’s been using the fields for cattle grazing and hay for 15 years. “A lot of leaf, it’s good grass, tested high for protein – it should have been perfect,” he told KEYE correspondent Lisa Leigh Kelly.

The grass is a genetically-modified form of Bermuda known as Tifton 85 which has been growing here for 15 years, feeding Abel’s 18 head of Corriente cattle. Corriente are used for team roping because of their small size and horns.

“When we opened that gate to that fresh grass, they were all very anxious to get to that,” said Abel.

Three weeks ago, the cattle had just been turned out to enjoy the fresh grass, when something went terribly wrong.

“When our trainer first heard the bellowing, he thought our pregnant heifer may be having a calf or something,” said Abel. “But when he got down here, virtually all of the steers and heifers were on the ground. Some were already dead, and the others were already in convulsions.”

Within hours, 15 of the 18 cattle were dead.

“That was very traumatic to see, because there was nothing you could do, obviously, they were dying,” said Abel.

Preliminary tests revealed the Tifton 85 grass, which has been here for years, had suddenly started producing cyanide gas, poisoning the cattle.

“Coming off the drought that we had the last two years … we’re concerned it was a combination of events that led us to this,” Dr. Gary Warner, an Elgin veterinarian and cattle specialist who conducted the 15 necropsies, told Kelly.

What is more worrisome: Other farmers have tested their Tifton 85 grass, and several in Bastrop County have found their fields are also toxic with cyanide. However, no other cattle have died.

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are dissecting the grass to determine if there might have been some strange, unexpected mutation.

Until it can be determined why this grass suddenly began producing cyanide, Abel is keep his livestock far away.

“The grasshoppers are enjoying it now,” he said.

Mysterious Mass Cattle Deaths in Texas has U.S. Department of Agriculture baffled (June 24, 2012)

A mysterious mass death of a herd of cattle has prompted a federal investigation in Central Texas.Preliminary test results are blaming the deaths on the grass the cows were eating when they got sick.The cows dropped dead several weeks ago on a ranch in Elgin, just east of Austin.Jerry Abel opens the gate on his 80-acre ranch in Elgin, walking on a field of grass he’s been using for cattle grazing and hay for 15 years.”This is it, a lot of leaf, it’s good, grass, tested high for protein – it should have been perfect,” said Abel.The grass is a genetically modified form of Bermuda known as Tifton 85 which has been growing here for 15 years, feeding Abel’s 18 head of Corriente cattle. Corriente are used for team roping because of their small size and horns.”When we opened that gate to that fresh grass, they were all very anxious to get to that,” said Abel.Three weeks ago, the cattle had just been turned out to enjoy the fresh grass, when something went terribly wrong.”When our trainer first heard the bellowing, he thought our pregnant heifer may be having a calf or something,” said Abel. “But when he got down here, virtually all of the steers and heifers were on the ground. Some were already dead, and the others were already in convulsions.”

Within hours, 15 of the 18 cattle were dead.”That was very traumatic to see, because there was nothing you could do, obviously, they were dying,” said Abel.Dr. Gary Warner, an Elgin veterinarian who specializes in cattle, conducted the 15 necropsy. Preliminary tests revealed the Tifton 85 grass, which has been here for years, had suddenly started producing cyanide gas, poisoning the cattle.”Coming off the drought that we had the last two years, we’re concerned it was a combination of events that led us to this,” said Warner. “The problem is, we don’t know, and there needs to be some caution exercised until we know more about the situation.”Until scientists can determine why this tried and true grass suddenly began producing cyanide, Abel is keep his livestock far away.”The grasshoppers are enjoying it now,” said Abel.What is even more worrisome – other farmers have tested their Tifton 85 grass, and several in Bastrop County have found their fields are also toxic with cyanide, although no other cattle have died.Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture are dissecting the grass to determine if there might have been some strange, unexpected mutation. http://www.weareaustin.com/news/top-stories/stories/vid_2393.shtml

Published on Jun 24, 2012 by adrinilinjunky

 

GMO food: Hybrid poison grass that kills Texas cattle not genetically modified

Linda Gentile

Pop Culture Examiner

Examiner.com

Reports that GMO grass suddenly started producing cyanide and killed almost an entire herd of cattle in Texas are only partially true. CBS News reported June 23, 2012 that rancher Jerry Abel of Elgin, near Austin, Texas had been growing Tifton 85, a GMO version of Bermuda grass, for 15 years when the grass suddenly started emitting poisonous cyanide. However, Tifton 85 is not GMO grass, but a hybrid.

According to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension service, Tifton 85 is a hybrid between an African Bermuda grass and Tifton 68, a different hybrid produced in Tifton, Georgia(*). Tifton 85 is highly digestible and has good protein content, something that first drew Mr. Abel to the grass. Hybridization has been practiced by farmers as long as plants have been grown, and is not the same as GMO at all. (Story continues below.)

According to local station KEYE, Abel first knew something was wrong when the cows started bellowing. He thought he was about to witness a calving but instead saw his unfortunate animals staggering around, obviously dying. Others in the area have also since tested their grass and found the same results—the grass has started venting cyanide.

• True: Cattle died after eating grass that suddenly started venting cyanide [Update: the animals died of prussic acid or hydrogen cyanide poisoning.]
• False: The grass was genetically modified

Texas is starting to recover from a long drought and this may be a factor in the sudden self-poisoning of the grass. The USDA has dispatched scientists to find out what went wrong.

According to the Animal Health Library, Bermuda grass is high in hydrocyanic acid, which may be concentrated during times of drought. Those fighting the GMO food good fight will need to find another cause, because the only thing in this story that’s been genetically modified are the facts.

Update June 24, 2012 at 6:49 p.m.:

Dr. Larry Redmon of the Texas AgriLife Extension has confirmed, by way of this blog post, that the animals in question died of prussic acid poisoning–prussic acid is also known as hydrogen cyanide (HCN).

One of these, Tifton 68, is a stargrass, a species that has potential for generating HCN, but hasn’t apparently done so since the time the University of Florida starting using it for grazing in Ona, Florida in 1972.

Several factors resulted in the cattle dying, including abnormal growth patterns after drought and the fact that stressed and hungry cattle were released straight into a pasture previously ungrazed. The most significant remains that Tifton 85 can and does produce HCN–something not previously known.

Facts confirming the status of Tifton 85 as a hybrid, not a GMO, can be found at the links below. For those with cattle grazing Tifton 85, Dr. Redmon offers several tips.

Further resources are listed below.

Sources: CBS News; CBS News; Texas AgriLife A&M Extension; Animal Health Library; Human Genome Project: Genetic modification of food; UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences: Tifton 85

(*) Corrected from Tifton, Texas on 6/24/2012.

 

 

“Cyanide Grass” is not GMO

Published on Jun 25, 2012 by corbettreport

Link: http://www.examiner.com/article/gmo-food-hybrid-poison-grass-that-kills-texas…

More on Tifton 85: http://www.tifton.uga.edu/fat/tifton85.htm

Seeds of Destruction: http://globalresearch.ca/books/SoD.html

Corbett Report on GMO: http://www.corbettreport.com/?s=gmo

 

 

 

 

Today

Biological Hazard

USA

State of Florida, Palm City

 

 

Biological Hazard in USA on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 02:50 (02:50 AM) UTC.

Description
Authorities say a central Florida woman was hospitalized and her dogs died after they were attacked by a swarm of bees. Martin County Fire Rescue reports the woman was going for a walk Monday morning when she was attacked near a vacant lot. Nearby lawn workers tried to help the woman. Fire rescue crews responded and took the woman to a nearby hospital. Officials say one of the dogs died at the scene, white the other died at a veterinary clinic. Officials say both dogs were pugs. The woman’s name wasn’t immediately released, and it wasn’t clear what her condition was. Insect experts weren’t sure how many bees attacked the woman and her pets, only guessing the number was in the thousands.
Biohazard name:	Bees attack
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

 

 

25.06.2012

Biological Hazard

India

State of Uttar Pradesh, [Gomti River]

 

 

Biological Hazard in India on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 09:58 (09:58 AM) UTC.

Description
Thousands of fish have died in the Gomti river, with officials clueless about the cause. A probe has been ordered. Jal Nigam officials here said they were in the dark about the possible cause of the fish deaths. The dead fish were first spotted Sunday by morning walkers and others who use the river bank at Tuliyaghat. On hearing the news, fishermen jumped into the river with their nets to gather the fish. Till late evening officials of the Jal Nigam’s Gomti Pollution Unit had no information about the ecological tragedy. “If true, the matter is serious and a thorough probe would be ordered into the death of the fishes” said Rajendra Kumar, chief engineer of the unit. Environmentalists say that in the past few days, the water level of the river has gone down considerably, leading to oxygen scarcity. Officials said they periodically checked the oxygen levels in the river, which invariably record 5-6 milligrams per litre, that is considered safe. Fish die if the oxygen level slips below 3 mg per litre. There has been some talk here in recent weeks of water being released into the river from the Sharda canal. Also environmentalists report a lot of silt in the Gomti forcing fish to come up, where oxygen levels are low and pollution very high. IANS learns that the Jal Nigam’s work of dredging the river for silt is pending for quite awhile.
Biohazard name:	Mass Die-off (Fish)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

 

 

25.06.2012

Biological Hazard

Australia

State of Queensland, Wunjunga [Wunjunga Beach]

 

 

Biological Hazard in Australia on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 07:35 (07:35 AM) UTC.

Description
The mysterious death of 22 green turtles, a protected species, is puzzling experts in North Queensland. The experts have not ruled out poisoning and even drowning as a cause. The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection is investigating the deaths of the turtles found at Wunjunga Beach, about 100 kilometres south of Townsville. The department’s director of threatened species, Wolf Sievers, said the vulnerable animals have been washing up on the beach for over a week. “It is very unusual for this many turtles to have stranded on one beach and we will be making every effort to establish what may have happened,” Mr Sievers said. Senior turtle expert Dr Ian Bell said that initial investigations found no injuries, no obvious signs of malnutrition or illness. “It’s a bit like turtle CSI, it’s all about ruling out possible alternatives,” Dr Bell said. “We’re ruling out starvation. It doesn’t look like it’s any infectious type of disease, and it leaves us with two possibilities. “One is potential poisoning, and we’re also looking at the possibility of a drowning. “At this stage we really don’t know.” The department hopes they will be able to establish the causes of death after performing further necropsies. The entire Great Barrier Reef is an important feeding area for green turtles, which are classified as a vulnerable species nationally under legislation. All of the green turtles, except one, have been large adult female green turtles. Adults have a shell length of about 1m and average about 130 kg, although some nesting females can weigh more than 180 kg. A loss of just one breeding size individual can have an impact on the species.
Biohazard name:	Mass Die-off (turtles)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

 

 

25.06.2012

Biological Hazard

Thailand

Province of Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai [Chedi Luang Worawihan temple]

 

 

 

Biological Hazard in Thailand on Sunday, 24 June, 2012 at 16:45 (04:45 PM) UTC.

Description
Swarms of bees attacked a group of novice monks at a Buddhist temple in northern Thailand, causing 76 of them to be hospitalised, reports said on Sunday. Naren Chotirosnimitr, director of Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying 19 of the 53 monks admitted to hospital were in serious condition. He said six of the monks arrived at the hospital in a coma, with their blood pressure at a dangerously low level. Naren said bee attacks can be fatal if patients sustain multiple stings and are allergic. Sting victims typically experience nausea, difficulty in breathing and skin rash. In serious cases blood pressure drops sharply. The monks were sweeping the grounds of the Chedi Luang Worwiharn temple in Chiang Mai province, 600km north of Bangkok, when the bees attacked. Abbot Phra Ratcha Jetyajarn said he had no idea why the bees attacked. He said the temple would continue to keep bee hives on the grounds but will warn visitors to keep their distance.
Biohazard name:	Bees attack
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

 

 

25.06.2012

Biological Hazard

Georgia

Kvemo Kartli region, [Tsalka Region]

 

 

 

Biological Hazard in Georgia on Sunday, 24 June, 2012 at 05:02 (05:02 AM) UTC.

Description
At least 30 people in Georgia have contracted anthrax this year, prompting authorities to step up safety measures, medical officials said Friday. Georgia’s Center for Infectious Diseases said that by year’s end the ex-Soviet nation is expected to roughly match last year’s total of 59 cases. That would represent a marked increase from the 28 anthrax cases the Caucasus Mountains country had in 2010. Naira Gogebashvili, a leading expert of a Tbilisi clinic treating infectious diseases, said some of the patients contracted anthrax due to violations of safety procedures regarding the burial of sick animals. “They should be buried in specially allocated ground, not in accidental places as it often happens,” she said. One of the hospital’s patients, Alexei Alaichev, a 58-year-old resident of the town of Tsalka in southern Georgia, contracted anthrax while cultivating a potato field. “I rubbed my hand and after several hours I saw that it’s covered with sores,” he said. “It turned out that a cow that died of anthrax was buried nearby. They conducted a check and found out it was buried not deeply enough.” Most of the cases this year have been registered in eastern Georgia near the border with Azerbaijan, but the infection has spread to other regions as well. Dzhemal Kaldani, 49, a resident of the village of Lemshveniera in the Gardaban region that borders Azerbaijan, said he got sick after helping a neighbor to cut a dead cow. “We had no idea that the cow had anthrax,” he said, showing his arms still covered with sores. Kaldani said that authorities quickly vaccinated all cows in the region following several anthrax cases.
Biohazard name:	Anthrax
Biohazard level:	4/4 Hazardous
Biohazard desc.:	Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

 

 

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Articles of Interest

Strange Night-Shining Clouds Captured in Space Station Photo

LiveScience

© NASA Earth Observatory
Polar mesopheric clouds captured by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station on June 13, 2012 above the Tibetan Plateau.

Delicate, shining threads of white seem alienlike against the darkness of space in a new image of a type of “night-shining” or noctilucent cloud taken from the International Space Station (ISS) and released today (June 25).

More specifically, these polar mesospheric clouds (a type of noctilucent cloud) were hovering above the Tibetan Plateau on June 13 when the photo was snapped from the ISS. The lower layers of the atmosphere are also illuminated in the new image, captured by the Expedition 31 crew, with the lowest layer, called the stratosphere, shown in dim orange and red tones near the horizon.

Polar mesospheric clouds are most visible during the respective late spring and early summer in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Astronauts frequently get views of these clouds over Canada, northern Europe and Asia during the summer, according to NASA. However, observations of these same clouds in the Southern Hemisphere are less frequent.

Normally too faint to be seen, noctilucent clouds are only visible when illuminated by the sun from just below the horizon, while the lower layers of the atmosphere are in Earth’s shadow. The strange clouds form between 47 and 53 miles (76 and 85 kilometers) above Earth’s surface where sufficient water vapor is available. But clouds also need something for these water molecules to stick to, like dust. As the water gathers onto these dust or other particles it forms droplets or ice crystals.

How noctilucent clouds get their dust particles, and thus exactly how they form, is still debated. Possible contributors include dust from meteors, global warming and rocket exhaust. However, it’s tricky to get wind-blown dust into the mesosphere where polar mesospheric clouds form. As such, scientists also speculate noctilucent clouds get their dust from outer space, as some tiny particles from meteoroids remain aloft in the atmosphere.

Recent research has suggested changes in the composition of gases in the atmosphere or temperature has caused these clouds to get brighter.

Muirhead’s Mysteries: “Strange Snakes” Invade a Namibian Town

Cryptozoology Online

Some of you may know that in August I’m speaking at the Weird Weekend on the Flying Snake of Namibia. The other day I came across a report from the Namibian (newspaper’s) web site, dated April 3rd 2012

Under the headline ‘ Strange Serpents’ plague Tubuses, a town in Namibia. This is the story, by Adam Hartman:

Since December last year, Erongo’s Tubuses settlement, north of Usakos near the foot of the Erongo Mountains,(1) has apparently been plagued by hundreds of ‘large strange snakes’.

Speculation is rife, but one particular version has it that some residents claim that they saw a helicopter flying low over the area before the New Year- soon after which there was a sharp increase in the snake population. According to one resident, the snakes are not the usual kinds (like pythons, puff adders, whip snakes and mambas) found in the area. The ‘new’ snakes were also larger and more dangerous. “Instead of staying in the bush, these snakes are coming into the houses as if the houses belong to them” said David Nuseb. One story has it that a toddler was apparently sitting on the couch watching television, when a large serpent entered the living room and made its way to the TV where it started ‘fighting’ with the images on the screen. The child called his parents, the snake was cornered and killed Nuseb said.

There is agreement among the community that there is usually an increase of snakes after a good rainy season, like that of last year, but then the snakes apparently stay in the bush, away from people. Another member of the community, Isak Naweseb said that scores of them have been killed by people over the past few months, or by vehicles driving over them on the roads. ” Just this past weekend, when a relative of mine went to a funeral nearby, he said that he drove over three large snakes,” said Naweseb.(While he was speaking to the newspaper, another resident of the area, a certain Yvonne, sent a sms to this reporter’s mobile claiming that a snake was in the generator room at the water pump.)

Mobile images of some of the dead snakes were given to The Namibian. The images are of poor quality, but a comparison to the snakes kept at the Swakopmund Snake Park did not shed much light except – considering the colours – that some of those photographed could have been Angolan or Mozambican cobras and mambas. Some of the snakes are found in that area, while others not. One argument is that the snakes could have been washed down river from another region. “Sometimes large snakes are found in Swakopmund, especially after the Swakop River has flooded. The river brings the snakes downstream from the interior. Maybe this was what had happened, an official at the snake park explained.

The owner of the Snake Park, and author of books regarding reptiles of the Namib, Stuart Hebbert, said that nothing is “impossible” anymore, but there were definitely things that were “improbable”. The story of the helicopter is improbable. Helicopters are very expensive, and it would be much easier to transport snakes by car. And why would someone drop snakes from a helicopter? he asked. Hebbert said that he did not want to shrug off the community’s stories as fables, but admitted he was a sceptic.” I’ve heard many snake stories, and once a story gets off the ground it spreads like wildfire, and with that the snakes become more in number, bigger and more dangerous” , he said. He said that the idea of good rains bringing more rodents into the area, attracting more snakes, was more probable.(2)

1. Central Namibia.
2. The Namibian April 3rd 2012 http://www.namibian.com accessed June 11th 2012

Strange snake invasion in Kiev region leads to mass killing of cattle

Translated by SOTT
Oko Planety

© Unknown

Residents of the village of Litky near Kiev in Ukraine have noticed mass deaths of horses and cows from snake bites. Until now, vipers weren’t seen in this area. Villagers claim that the snakes were thrown on the pasture from a helicopter. However, a local veterinarian, Dmitry Panchenko, calls this mere legend.

All the corpses of the fallen animals were examined by a veterinary commission of Brovary. However, in the laboratory, it wasn’t possible to determine the nature of the poison that killed the animals. Cattle was tested only for anthrax and salmonellosis.

Anti snake venom serum that could save the animals also wasn’t found in the area. Veterinarians say it is no longer available in Ukraine.

The vet advised that the cattle be grazed in strictly limited areas only, but the villagers, although afraid of snakes, still drive the cows to pasture.

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]

 

Earth Watch Report – Monday June 25th, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

 

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
25.06.2012 09:00:35	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Lae ‘Apuki (historical)				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 09:20:29	2.6	Europe	Greece		Klima				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:20:48	3.6	Europe	Greece		Khiliiadhou				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:21:08	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Yanikdegirmen				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:21:27	2.9	Europe	Italy		Mirabello				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:15:26	3.6	Asia	Turkey		Seyhsuvar				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:15:33	2.2	North America	United States	Texas	Silver City				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 08:15:48	2.0	Europe	Italy		La Balantina				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:40:35	4.3	Pacific Ocean	Tonga		Petani				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 09:21:47	4.3	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Petani				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:16:10	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Kapibagi				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:16:30	2.8	Europe	Albania		(( Mish ))				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:10:01	3.3	Europe	Albania		(( Shermine ))				EMSC
25.06.2012 09:22:07	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:16:51	2.0	Europe	Greece		Agios Fokas				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:09	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:10	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:10	2.9	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:32	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:55:32	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Amchitka				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 06:10:33	3.2	North America	United States	Montana	Packers				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:10:41	2.9	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:11:04	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kullar				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:11:26	2.0	Europe	Italy		Le Cremosine				EMSC
25.06.2012 06:05:28	4.6	Middle America	Guatemala	Departamento de Escuintla	Tecojate				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:11:52	4.6	Middle-America	Guatemala		Tecojate				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:12:15	3.6	South-America	Chile		Refresco Seco				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:12:36	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Marmaraereglisi				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:12:58	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:13:19	3.6	South-America	Argentina		Cienaguita				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:13:43	5.3	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Haatua				EMSC
25.06.2012 05:30:45	5.2	Pacific Ocean	Tonga		Haatua				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:14:03	3.4	Asia	Turkey		Rahimler				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:14:04	3.0	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:14:32	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:14:51	2.5	Europe	Greece		Kalopirgos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:15:15	2.7	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:15:39	2.3	Europe	Italy		Sannicandro Garganico				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:15:59	2.0	Europe	Italy		Casa Madonnina				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:16:24	2.9	Europe	Greece		Kokkinoyio				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:16:51	2.8	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 04:05:22	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Egegik				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:17:11	2.6	Europe	Spain		Tigaday				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:17:31	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Erisen				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:17:32	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:17:53	3.0	Asia	Turkey		Sarimehmet				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:18:16	3.3	Europe	Italy		Apricena				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:18:36	3.4	South-America	Chile		Chuquicamata				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:25:54	3.4	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	El Cabo				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 03:35:30	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Ellamar				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:19:02	2.8	Asia	Turkey		Inkoy				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:19:20	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:19:41	2.9	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:17:58	2.4	Europe	Greece		Skala Eresou				EMSC
25.06.2012 03:30:27	2.7	North America	United States	Arkansas	Gravesville				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 03:50:28	2.7	North America	United States	Arkansas	Sulphur Springs				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:20:03	4.7	Europe	Portugal		Corvo				EMSC
25.06.2012 02:35:32	4.7	Europe	Portugal	Regiao Autonoma dos Acores	Corvo				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 03:45:29	2.2	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Princeton				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:20:26	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Ocakli				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:20:45	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Caglayan				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:21:06	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:21:26	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Mesarya				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:21:47	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Agzikara				EMSC
25.06.2012 08:45:38	3.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Kaktovik				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:22:09	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Baskoy				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:22:30	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:22:51	4.6	Asia	Afghanistan		Valeyj (1)				EMSC
25.06.2012 00:45:32	4.5	Asia	Afghanistan	Velayat-e Badakhshan	Khal Khan				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:23:10	3.1	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:23:31	2.2	Europe	Italy		Bosellina				EMSC
25.06.2012 03:45:55	2.4	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Princeton				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:23:52	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Erisen				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:14	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Gunduzu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:34	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Gunduzu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:35	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Agzikara				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:24:53	3.0	Europe	Portugal		Facho				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:25:13	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Erisen				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:25:33	4.6	Europe	Portugal		Corvo				EMSC
24.06.2012 23:11:04	4.7	Europe	Portugal	Regiao Autonoma dos Acores	Corvo				USGS-RSOE
25.06.2012 07:25:55	4.4	Europe	Portugal		Corvo				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:26:17	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:26:36	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Derebey				EMSC
25.06.2012 07:31:25	2.8	Asia	Turkey		Yukarigolalan				EMSC
24.06.2012 22:25:42	4.9	Asia	Turkey	Van Ili	Suruyolu				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 21:50:37	4.9	Atlantic Ocean	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands		Grytviken				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 21:00:38	2.7	North America	United States	California	Caldwell Pines				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 20:51:01	3.2	North America	United States	California	Black Oaks				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 20:30:38	2.6	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	Hidalgo				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 19:55:53	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Kealakomo (historical)				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 20:00:35	3.5	North America	United States	Texas	Egan				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 17:55:43	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Sunshine				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 18:16:00	4.9	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Panyawungan				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 21:10:49	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Drift River				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 15:15:53	2.9	North America	United States	California	Rockwood				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 15:16:16	4.5	Asia	Japan	Fukushima-ken	Ena				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 15:05:39	4.3	Asia	China	Tibet Autonomous Region	Sogma				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 21:05:36	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 13:00:30	3.4	North America	United States	Alaska	Karluk				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 12:46:05	5.4	South America	Bolivia	Departamento de Potosi	Chilena				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 15:00:52	2.8	Caribbean	Puerto Rico		Hatillo Del Mar				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 11:10:50	2.1	North America	United States	California	Pine Grove				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 11:11:12	3.4	North America	United States	Texas	Calliham				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 10:35:40	4.7	North America	United States	Alaska	Amchitka				USGS-RSOE
24.06.2012 10:20:45	5.5	Asia	China	Sichuan Sheng	Zuosuo				USGS-RSOE

 

 

……………………………………..

M 6.1 EARTHQUAKE – NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA 06/24/12

Published on Jun 23, 2012 by EQReporter

6.1 magnitude earthquake strikes near the east coast of Kamchatka, Russia.

Magnitude
6.1
Date-Time
Sunday, June 24, 2012 at 03:15:02 UTC
Sunday, June 24, 2012 at 04:15:02 PM at epicenter
Location
57.601°N, 163.218°E
Depth
17.4 km (10.8 miles)
Region
NEAR THE EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA, RUSSIA
Distances
268 km (166 miles) SSW (192°) from Il’pyrskiy, Russia
317 km (197 miles) NNW (329°) from Nikol’skoye, Komandorskiye Ostrova, Rus.
586 km (364 miles) NNE (28°) from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
2994 km (1860 miles) NNE (28°) from TOKYO, Japan

Earthquake in Mt. Fuji

Posted by Mochizuki

Wish – Fukushima Diary

Earthquake with the epicenter in Mt. Fuji happened 6/24/2012.

A 2.8 magnitude earthquake was reported under the Mt. Fuji volcano on the 24^th of June. Mt. Fuji last erupted in 1707

The epicenter is in the lake located at North to Mt. Fuji, about 10km from the top of the mountain.

 

 

 

Volcano activity of June 24, 2012 – Colombia, Mexico and Canary Islands

Earthquake Report

Eruptive activity remains at low levels at volcanoes we have been watching in the Americas.

Nevado del Ruiz volcano (Colombia) seems to have settled into producing banded (alternating periods of higher and lower amplitude) tremor along with occasional volcanic earthquakes (station OLLE).

Low level tremor and small earthquakes have become apparent again on seismograms at nearby Galeras volcano (Colombia) (station ANGV).

Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico) continues to simmer with pulses of spasmodic tremor, small earthquakes and low level exhalations of gas and some ash.

At El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain,  a new earthquake swarm seems to have started late tonight.  The strongest earthquake being a M3.1

Popocatepetl volcano, Mexico

Sporadic earthquakes at Galeras volcano, Colombia

Start of an new earthquake swarm at El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain

Strong 3.1 earthquake (for local conditions at least) at El Hierro, Canary Islands, Spain

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

 

 

Gale Warning

 

BALTIMORE CANYON TO HATTERAS CANYON OUT TO 36N 70W TO 34N 71W
HATTERAS CANYON TO CAPE FEAR OUT TO 34N 71W TO 32N 73W
CAPE FEAR TO 31N OUT TO 32N 73W TO 31N 74W
JUNEAU AK

 

 

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

 

PUEBLO CO
BILLINGS MT
MISSOULA MT
GRAND JUNCTION CO
NORTH PLATTE NE
RIVERTON WY
GREAT FALLS MT
DENVER CO
GOODLAND KS
RENO NV
LAS VEGAS NV
SALT LAKE CITY UT
ELKO NV
BOISE ID

 

25.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Utah, Saratoga Springs

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Friday, 22 June, 2012 at 18:05 (06:05 PM) UTC.

Description

A massive, out of control wildfire on Lake Mountain prompted evacuations Friday morning and was bearing down on an explosives factory. “It’s close enough to where we’re really worried,” BLM spokeswoman Cami Lee said of the explosives plant. An evacuation of the Benches subdivision in Saratoga Springs has now begun. Officials have begun notifying residents door to door and through reverse 911 telephone calls. The evacuation area is everything south of Pony Express Parkway, east of Smith Ranch Road and east to Redwood Road. The affected subdivisions in Eagle Mountain include Kiowa Valley, Eagle Top, Fremont Springs and SilverLake. Highway 68 also was closed south of 400 North in Saratoga Springs. A shelter is being set up at West Lake High School. Just after 11 a.m. the temperature was already 90 degrees and the wind was blowing at 15 mph with gust up to 19 mph. Authorities were scrambling around 10 a.m. to notify residents of at least 250 homes in Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain that they needed to leave the area. Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Teresa Rigby said that a change in wind was driving the Dump Fire east and it had come within a quarter of a mile of a neighborhood. The thick brown smoke was filling the air over much of northern Utah County and drifting east over the valley. An air tanker was flying overhead, visible only occasionally before it disappeared into the smoke. In Saratoga Springs the city’s water department has shut off irrigation wast er to all location where culinary water is being used for irrigation, according to the city’s Facebook page, so water tanks can fill and provide water and water pressure if the fire reaches homes. The city also is asking residents to turn off their irrigation systems this weekend. According to the BLM, the fire was being fought Friday morning by four hand crews, various fire engines, and a handful of helicopters. Additional hand crews were en route.

 

 

25.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Colorado, [Pike National Forest]

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Monday, 18 June, 2012 at 03:15 (03:15 AM) UTC.

Description

The fire burning behind Lake George in Park County is now 200 acres, and it is 0% contained. According to a park ranger for the Pike National Forest, the 11 mile canyon has been evacuated. That is between 150 and 200 homes. Everyone else in that area is under pre-evacuation orders. That means they must be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. County road 96 and 92 at Highway 24 are both shut down right now. That fire started around noon on the Indian Paintbrush Ranch. We’ve heard several reports from witnesses who say they saw someone fire shots, and that may have hit a propane tank causing an explosion. But, Park Rangers say they are still investigating what caused this fire. Among the evacuees, about 500 campers with Camp Alexander. They were at 11 mile canyon. The Camp Director tells us they are all safely out of the fire’s reach. Those campers are from all over Colorado, and out of state. They will have to stay the night at Woodland Park High School and/or Middle School. There are more than 40 firefighters fighting this fire, and witnesses say they have also seen drops from helicopters.

 

 

25.06.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Colorado, [Fort Collins (Paradise Park) area]

 

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Sunday, 10 June, 2012 at 07:32 (07:32 AM) UTC.

Description

Crews on Saturday battled a fast-moving wildfire in northern Colorado that has scorched about 8,000 acres and prompted several dozen evacuation orders. Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Schulz said the fire was reported just before 6 a.m. Saturday in the mountainous Paradise Park area about 25 miles northwest of Fort Collins. The blaze expanded rapidly during the late afternoon and evening and by Saturday night, residents living along several roads in the region had been ordered to evacuate and many more were warned that they might have to flee. An evacuation center has been set up at a Laporte middle school. Officials didn’t specify how many residents had evacuated but said they had sent out 800 emergency notifications alerting people to the fire and the possibility that might have to flee. “Right now we’re just trying to get these evacuations done and get people safe,” Schulz told Denver-based KMGH-TV, adding that “given the extreme heat in the area, it makes it a difficult time for (the firefighters).” Temperatures near Fort Collins reached the mid-80s Saturday afternoon with a humidity level of between 5 percent and 10 percent. Ten structures have been damaged, although authorities were unsure if they were homes or some other kind of buildings. No injuries have been reported. The cause of the fire was unknown. Aerial footage from KMGH-TV showed flames coming dangerously close to what appeared to be several outbuildings and at least one home in the area, as well as consuming trees and sending a large plume of smoke into the air. Two heavy air tankers, five single-engine air tankers and four helicopters were on the scene to help fight the blaze, which appeared to be burning on private and U.S. Forest Service land and was being fueled by sustained winds of between 20 and 25 mph. “It was just good conditions to grow,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chad Gimmestad told The Associated Press. “The conditions today were really favorable for it to take off.”

 

 

Today

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of New Mexico, [Community of La Puebla, Santa Fe County ]

 

 

 

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 07:31 (07:31 AM) UTC.

Description

Two wildfires broke out in the northern Santa Fe County community of La Puebla on Sunday evening, causing electricity to be cut off to some homes and other residences to be evacuated. The first, called the Rio Vista Fire, began about 6 p.m. with a vehicle that caught fire for unknown reasons at a residence near Rio Vista Run and Santa Fe County Road 88B. The car fire quickly spread to about 3 acres in the bosque on both sides of the Rio Santa Cruz near Camino de Flores, where it reportedly was crowning in cottonwood trees. A state Forestry Division spokesman said residents in a 2-mile radius were being advised to head south and that roadways in the area were expected to be congested. John Wheeler, a public information officer for the Santa Fe County Fire Department, said five residences were evacuated. He said county animal-control officers were removing some dogs from the residences. Fifty firefighters from various jurisdictions responded and “had a good handle” on the Rio Vista Fire by 8:30 p.m., he said. About 8 p.m., however, a second fire, dubbed the Alamo Fire, was reported about two miles away near Calle Alamo, causing most of the firefighters to be shifted to the second site. The Alamo Fire’s origin is unknown, but by 9:30 p.m., it had grown to about 3 acres and was threatening five structures, Wheeler said. “We’re going to have to cut power to a few houses out here,” he said. “It looks like [electric power transmission lines] are going to catch fire.” Wheeler said he didn’t know how many residences would be without power, but he said the outage was likely to last overnight. Hot and dry conditions have made much of New Mexico a tinderbox. Calmer winds Sunday night were helping firefighters contain the La Puebla wildfires, but Wheeler cautioned New Mexicans to be “hypervigilant” of wildfires, at least until the summer rains begin.

 

 

 

 

***********************************************************************************************************

Storms, Flooding, Landslides

 

 

Hurricane Statement

 

JACKSONVILLE FL

 

 

 

 

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Debby (AL04)	Gulf of Mexico	24.06.2012	25.06.2012	Tropical Storm	0 °	93 km/h	111 km/h	4.27 m	NHC

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 4 Storm name: Debby (AL04) Area: Gulf of Mexico Start up location: N 26° 18.000, W 87° 30.000 Start up: 24th June 2012 Status: Active Track long: 169.50 km Top category.: Report by: NHC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 24th Jun 2012 06:06:38 N 26° 18.000, W 87° 30.000 0 83 102 Tropical Storm 0 13 998 MB NHC 24th Jun 2012 10:06:59 N 27° 18.000, W 87° 18.000 6 83 102 Tropical Storm 360 12 998 MB NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 25th Jun 2012 11:06:31 N 28° 36.000, W 85° 48.000 0 83 102 Tropical Storm 0 ° 14 993 MB NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 26th Jun 2012 18:00:00 N 29° 0.000, W 85° 30.000 Tropical Storm 93 111 NHC 26th Jun 2012 06:00:00 N 28° 54.000, W 85° 36.000 Tropical Storm 93 111 NHC 27th Jun 2012 06:00:00 N 29° 12.000, W 85° 24.000 Tropical Storm 102 120 NHC 28th Jun 2012 06:00:00 N 29° 24.000, W 85° 18.000 Tropical Storm 102 120 NHC 29th Jun 2012 06:00:00 N 29° 42.000, W 85° 12.000 Tropical Storm 83 102 NHC 30th Jun 2012 06:00:00 N 30° 12.000, W 85° 0.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 NHC

 

 

Tropical Storm Warning

 

MOBILE AL
TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL
TALLAHASSEE FL
NEW ORLEANS LA

………………………………………………

Tropical Storm Debby spawns fatal tornado in Florida, drenches coast

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) — The expansive, stalled Tropical Storm Debby lashed Florida on Sunday, spawning apparent tornadoes in the central part of the state that killed one woman, a county spokeswoman said.

Gloria Rybinski, emergency operations spokeswoman for Highland County, said two twisters destroyed four homes in the southern end of the county and damaged others.

The woman was found dead in a home in Venus, located in the middle of the state roughly between Port St. Lucie and Sarasota, Rybinski said. In addition, a child in one of the affected homes was injured and transported to a hospital for treatment.

Packing 60 mph winds, Debby’s eye was still 115 miles south-southwest of Apalachiocola, Florida (and 195 miles east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana) according to the National Hurricane Center’s 7 p.m. (8 p.m. ET) Sunday update.

Even so, it’s already made a big impact — and is likely to cause damage, flooding and worse for days to come. In fact, the heart of the storm was churning but not moving in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday evening, and forecasters still don’t know where it will end up.

“Little movement is expected during the next couple of days, but this forecast remains uncertain due to weak steering currents,” the Miami-based center said. “Some gradual strengthening is possible during the next 48 hours.”

Offshoot tornadoes, like the ones that seemed to hit Highland County, are one major concern. The National Weather Service had tornado warnings out, indicating a high likelihood of a twister strike, in spots off-and-on throughout the day Sunday, and a less severe tornado watch is in effect for much of western Florida through 5 a.m. Monday.

And even if tornadoes don’t occur, the combination of relentless rains and strong winds has proven enough to cause big problems.

The sprawling system’s tropical storm force winds of 39 mph or stronger extend out 200 miles from its center. Such sustained winds were recorded early Sunday evening in several spots on the Florida Panhandle, west of Apalachicola.

Debbie Ponceti said wind was pushing run underneath the door to her home in Madeira Beach, about 10 miles east of St. Petersburg, while her front lawn has been reduced to mush and waters in a lagoon near her house are steadily rising. There was been no let up in the powerful rain, which is forecast to continue through Tuesday.

“Typically when a thunderstorm happens, it is over in 20 minutes,” Ponceti told CNN iReport. “But this has been going on all day.”

In nearby Redington Beach, fellow iReporter Keri Ann Eversole said winds appeared to be blowing between 40 to 50 miles per hour.

“The rain was coming down sideways,” Eversole said. “(It) felt like glass.”

Fire and rescue personnel in nearby Clearwater responded to 30 calls in an hour, as of 6 p.m. Sunday, to help people stranded in their cars due to the flooding or needing urgent medical help, the city’s public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts said. Beach areas were “basically underwater,” as were many side streets and at least two major thoroughfares — U.S. Highway 19 and Gulf to Bay Boulevard.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for Alligator Point. St. George Island and other low-lying areas in Franklin County on the Florida Panhandle, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a Sunday night news release. Just to the east and also on the Gulf coast, voluntary evacuations are being encouraged in parts of Taylor and Wakulla counties.

And high winds have prompted authorities to shut down the Sunshine Skyway bridge on Interstate 275 connecting St. Petersburg and Bradenton, Florida, said Elizabeth LaRotonda with St. Petersburg police.

The hurricane center said tropical storm conditions will extend for the entire area from the Mississippi-Alabama line eastward to the Suwannee River, Florida, by night’s end.

Beyond that, the new forecast track showed Debby remaining a tropical storm as it moves northward and makes landfall, possibly Thursday, on the Florida Panhandle. However, forecasters warned Debby’s track remained uncertain and said the “new official track remains a low-confidence forecast.”

Debby should dump 10 to 15 inches of rain in the Florida Panhandle and elsewhere in northern Florida before it’s done, the hurricane center said, with as much as 25 inches possible in spots. Central Florida and southeast Georgia will likely be drenched with 5 to 10 inches, with smaller but still significant precipitation amounts in parts of coastal Alabama, southeastern Louisiana and south Florida.

“Given the recent heavy rainfall and wet soil conditions, these additional amounts will exacerbate the threat of flooding across portions of the central and eastern Gulf coast,” the weather service said.

The combination of a storm surge and the high tide could cause 4 to 6 feet of flooding at Florida’s Apalachee Bay to Waccasassa Bay, forecasters said. Parts of Florida’s west coast and coastal Mississippi could see 2 to 4 feet deep waters.

The storm has raised concerns for those working on 596 manned oil and gas production platforms throughout the Gulf, run by various companies.

One of them, Shell, said in a statement Sunday morning that it had evacuated 360 staff the previous day and was planning further evacuations. ExxonMobil said it has “evacuated nonessential personnel” from its offshore facilities and is preparing to evacuate the rest.

And BP spokesman Brett Clanton said early Sunday evening that “we’ve evacuated the majority of our offshore personnel in the Gulf of Mexico” due to Tropical Storm Debby. “Those unable to be evacuated will shelter in place for the storm,” he said.

Even though it was far from clear it would hit Louisiana, officials in that state weren’t taking any chances — with Terrebonne Parish and Lafourche Parish among those issuing precautionary states of emergency, after the governor did the same.

In Plaquemines Parish, the state’s southernmost parish, authorities were using baskets and tubes to keep Highway 23 — the parish’s main evacuation and emergency route — free of water should the 4-foot levees be topped, said Billy Nungesser, parish president. The levees were being sandbagged as an additional precaution

“We want to be ahead of that as a precautionary measure,” Nungesser said. The area is forecast to get a storm surge of 2 to 4 feet, he said — “with a direct hit, if it goes up a little bit more, we’ll have those levees topped.”

First day of summer, and the Northeast sure feels it

Minnesota, Wisconsin residents cope with deadly flooding

CNN’s Jake Carpenter, Ashley Hayes, Jareen Imam, Stephanie Gallman, Greg Botelho, Marlena Baldacci and Vivian Kuo contributed to this report.

 

 

 

Heavy rains kill at least 16 in China

HUFF POST

BEIJING — Chinese state media say torrential rains have killed at least 16 people and affected 1 1/2 million people in southern and northern parts of the country.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Monday that the heavy rains over the past three days had affected 450,000 people and wiped out crops in the southern Guangxi region. Another more than 730,000 people were affected in the southern province of Jiangxi, and 312,000 were affected in the adjacent manufacturing powerhouse province of Guangdong.

Xinhua quoted a local government official as saying the direct economic losses so far were $20.3 million, and that water levels in 10 reservoirs and several major rivers had risen above warning levels.

Xinhua said rainstorm-triggered floods have also hit areas of Inner Mongolia in the north of China.

 

 

 

Tornado Watch

 

TALLAHASSEE FL
MELBOURNE FL
NORMAN OK

 

 

Flash Flood Watch

 

MOBILE AL
TALLAHASSEE FL

 

 

Today

Flash Flood

China

Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, [Guangxi-wide]

 

 

 

Flash Flood in China on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 03:27 (03:27 AM) UTC.

Description

At least 14 people were killed and more than 11 lakh people affected after downpours triggered flash floods and mudslides in China’s southwestern regions and some parts in the north over the past three days. Floods triggered by the rainstorms have killed six people, affected the lives of more than 450,000 people, destroyed some 1,000 houses and inundated almost 17,000 hectares of cropland in southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, a spokesman with the Regional Department of Civil Affairs said. Direct economic losses were estimated at 128 million yuan (USD 20.3 million), the spokesman said, adding local authorities have launched relief operations. Local meteorological authorities forecast that more heavy rainfalls will hit parts of Guangxi tomorrow.

 

Flood Warning

 

TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
JACKSONVILLE FL
PENDLETON OR
DULUTH MN
SPOKANE, WA
JUNEAU AK
TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN

 

 

 

 

25.06.2012

Flood

Canada

Province of British Columbia, Mission

 

 

 

Flood in Canada on Sunday, 24 June, 2012 at 16:30 (04:30 PM) UTC.

Description

As a flood watch continues around B.C., residents were urged to “evacuate when emergency officials request it” by minister of justice and attorney general Shirley Bond Saturday. “We understand how difficult it might be for families to leave their homes, but they are only asked to do that when there is an imminent potential safety risk. When an evacuation order is given, it is essential that everyone consider their safety and that of first responders and leave as requested,” Bond said in a statement. “Emergency management officials don’t want to see the forcible removal of anyone from a property – rather, we depend on individuals to heed the advice of public safety professionals, whose decisions and directions are made with the highest regard for the safety of you and your loved ones,” Bond said. Swollen by melting snow and rain, the Fraser River has reached levels not seen for 40 years and has caused flooding from the province’s interior to the Fraser Valley. Early Sunday, Environment Canada said that a slow-moving low pressure system situated off the coast of Oregon state was expected to drop between 10 to 20 mm on the Arrow Lakes, Slocan Lake and East Kootenay regions. It also forecasted potential development of severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds Sunday afternoon.

 

 

Coastal Flood Warning

 

TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL

 

 

 

 

 

Today

Landslide

Canada

Province of British Columbia, Village of Kaslo

 

 

Landslide in Canada on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 07:49 (07:49 AM) UTC.

Description

The Village of Kaslo has issued a red alert to residents after a mudslide on Josephine Creek, which empties into Kemp Creek, severely compromised water flows to the main reservoir said Chief Administrative Officer Rae Sawyer Sunday. Fact is the mudslide completely wiped out the main water dam to the village. “It’s completely gone,” Sawyer told The Nelson Daily Sunday night. “The dam on Kemp Creek Kemp Creek is gone and the reservoir is not filling up.” The slide occurred sometime around noon Sunday. A contractor working in the area of the reservoir alerted village officials, which went into damage control. “Right now we’ve switched over to emergency water supplies from the Kaslo River but we’re having a hard time keeping up with the demand,” Sawyer explained. The slide had destroyed the dam, built of concrete and steel, which holds the intake to the main reservoir so no water is draining into the system. “We don’t know yet if we can rebuild the dam at the same site . . . we’re still assessing that,” Sawyer explained. “At this time we’re running on emergency systems from the Kaslo River that drains into a small reservoir in the water treatment plant. “It’s a small reservoir that can’t handle the normal demands of the village and that’s what we’re concerned about.” Sawyer is hopeful residents comply with the village alert to conserve water. “We’re asking residents to simply use extreme water conservation,” Sawyer said. “Restrict water consumption to interior household use and set drinking water aside.” Sawyer said the staff is still assessing the situation and is hopeful a plan will be put into place to fix the problem in a few days.

 

 

 

 

************************************************************************************************************

 

Climate Change

Melting Sea Ice Threatens Emperor Penguins

Terra Daily
by Staff Writers
Woods Hole MA (SPX)

A group of Emperor penguin adults make their way across sea ice in Terre Adelie in East Antarctica. In December, the adults return to the colony to provide food for the chicks. They can be observed walking in groups to the nearest open water areas where they feed. Disappearing sea ice may also affect the penguins’ food source. The birds feed primarily on fish, squid, and krill, a shrimp like animal, which in turn feeds on zooplankton and phytoplankton, tiny organisms that grow on the underside of the ice. (Stephanie Jenouvrier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution).

At nearly four feet tall, the Emperor penguin is Antarctica’s largest sea bird-and thanks to films like “March of the Penguins” and “Happy Feet,” it’s also one of the continent’s most iconic. If global temperatures continue to rise, however, the Emperor penguins in Terre Adelie, in East Antarctica may eventually disappear, according to a new study by led by researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The study was published in the June 20th edition of the journal Global Change Biology.

“Over the last century, we have already observed the disappearance of the Dion Islets penguin colony, close to the West Antarctic Peninsula,” says Stephanie Jenouvrier, WHOI biologist and lead author of the new study.

“In 1948 and the 1970s, scientists recorded more than 150 breeding pairs there. By 1999, the population was down to just 20 pairs, and in 2009, it had vanished entirely.” Like in Terre Adelie, Jenouvrier thinks the decline of those penguins might be connected to a simultaneous decline in Antarctic sea ice due to warming temperatures in the region.

Unlike other sea birds, Emperor penguins breed and raise their young almost exclusively on sea ice. If that ice breaks up and disappears early in the breeding season, massive breeding failure may occur, says Jenouvrier.

“As it is, there’s a huge mortality rate just at the breeding stages, because only 50 percent of chicks survive to the end of the breeding season, and then only half of those fledglings survive until the next year,” she says.

Disappearing sea ice may also affect the penguins’ food source. The birds feed primarily on fish, squid, and krill, a shrimplike animal, which in turn feeds on zooplankton and phytoplankton, tiny organisms that grow on the underside of the ice.

If the ice goes, Jenouvrier says, so too will the plankton, causing a ripple effect through the food web that may starve the various species that penguins rely on as prey.

To project how penguin populations may fare in the future, Jenouvrier’s team used data from several different sources, including climate models, sea ice forecasts, and a demographic model that Jenouvrier created of the Emperor penguin population at Terre Adelie, a coastal region of Antarctica where French scientists have conducted penguin observations for more than 50 years.

Combining this type of long-term population data with information on climate was key to the study, says Hal Caswell, a WHOI senior mathematical biologist and collaborator on the paper.

“If you want to study the effects of climate on a particular species, there are three pieces that you have to put together,” he says. “The first is a description of the entire life cycle of the organism, and how individuals move through that life cycle.

The second piece is how the cycle is affected by climate variables. And the crucial third piece is a prediction of what those variables may look like in the future, which involves collaboration with climate scientists.”

Marika Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research is one such scientist. She specializes in studying the relationship between sea ice and global climate, and helped the team identify climate models for use in the study.

Working with Julienne Stroeve, another sea ice specialist from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Holland ultimately recommended five distinct models. “We picked the models based on how well they calculated the sea ice cover for the 20th century,” she says.

“If a model predicted an outcome that matched what was actually observed, we felt it was likely that its projections of sea ice change in the future could be trusted.”

Jenouvrier used the output from these various climate models to determine how changes in temperature and sea ice might affect the Emperor penguin population at Terre Adelie.

She found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at levels similar to today-causing temperatures to rise and Antarctic sea ice to shrink-penguin population numbers will diminish slowly until about 2040, after which they would decline at a much steeper rate as sea ice coverage drops below a usable threshold.

“Our best projections show roughly 500 to 600 breeding pairs remaining by the year 2100. Today, the population size is around 3000 breeding pairs,” says Jenouvrier.

The effect of rising temperature in the Antarctic isn’t just a penguin problem, according to Caswell. As sea ice coverage continues to shrink, the resulting changes in the Antarctic marine environment will affect other species, and may affect humans as well.

“We rely on the functioning of those ecosystems. We eat fish that come from the Antarctic. We rely on nutrient cycles that involve species in the oceans all over the world,” he says.

“Understanding the effects of climate change on predators at the top of marine food chains-like Emperor penguins-is in our best interest, because it helps us understand ecosystems that provide important services to us.”

Also collaborating on the study were Christophe Barbraud and Henri Weimerskirch of the Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chize, in France, and Mark Serreze of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the United States.

Related Links
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Beyond the Ice Age

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Solar Activity

2MIN News June 24, 2012: Quakes, Tropical Storm, F1 Critical Frequency

Published on Jun 24, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

AMAZING: http://www.universetoday.com/95920/a-gamma-ray-burst-as-music/

TODAYS LINKS
Gulf Storm Threat: http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/local/florida-or-texas-forecast-m…
Tel Aviv Protest Violence: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/violent-arrests-of-social-protesters-in-…
Oil Workers Flee Debbie: http://www.weather.com/news/oil-workers-evacuated-20120623
China Spacedock: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-06/24/c_131672642.htm

REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos – as seen from earth]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT – as seen from earth]

Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI – as seen from the side]

SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it… trust me]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]

NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/ [CME Evolution]

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can’t figure out what this one is for?]

BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]

INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]

NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/

PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]

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Space

 

 

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
(2011 AH5)	25th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.1670	65.0	17 m – 39 m	5.84 km/s	21024 km/h
(2012 FA14)	25th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.0322	12.5	75 m – 170 m	5.28 km/s	19008 km/h
(2004 YG1)	25th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.0890	34.7	140 m – 310 m	11.34 km/s	40824 km/h
(2010 AF3)	25th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.1190	46.3	16 m – 36 m	6.54 km/s	23544 km/h
(2008 YT30)	26th June 2012	1 day(s)	0.0715	27.8	370 m – 820 m	10.70 km/s	38520 km/h
(2010 NY65)	27th June 2012	2 day(s)	0.1023	39.8	120 m – 270 m	15.09 km/s	54324 km/h
(2008 WM64)	28th June 2012	3 day(s)	0.1449	56.4	200 m – 440 m	17.31 km/s	62316 km/h
(2010 CD55)	28th June 2012	3 day(s)	0.1975	76.8	64 m – 140 m	6.33 km/s	22788 km/h
(2004 CL)	30th June 2012	5 day(s)	0.1113	43.3	220 m – 480 m	20.75 km/s	74700 km/h
(2008 YQ2)	03rd July 2012	8 day(s)	0.1057	41.1	29 m – 65 m	15.60 km/s	56160 km/h
(2005 QQ30)	06th July 2012	11 day(s)	0.1765	68.7	280 m – 620 m	13.13 km/s	47268 km/h
(2011 YJ28)	06th July 2012	11 day(s)	0.1383	53.8	150 m – 330 m	14.19 km/s	51084 km/h
276392 (2002 XH4)	07th July 2012	12 day(s)	0.1851	72.0	370 m – 840 m	7.76 km/s	27936 km/h
(2003 MK4)	08th July 2012	13 day(s)	0.1673	65.1	180 m – 410 m	14.35 km/s	51660 km/h
(1999 NW2)	08th July 2012	13 day(s)	0.0853	33.2	62 m – 140 m	6.66 km/s	23976 km/h
189P/NEAT	09th July 2012	14 day(s)	0.1720	66.9	n/a	12.47 km/s	44892 km/h
(2000 JB6)	10th July 2012	15 day(s)	0.1780	69.3	490 m – 1.1 km	6.42 km/s	23112 km/h
(2010 MJ1)	10th July 2012	15 day(s)	0.1533	59.7	52 m – 120 m	10.35 km/s	37260 km/h
(2008 NP3)	12th July 2012	17 day(s)	0.1572	61.2	57 m – 130 m	6.08 km/s	21888 km/h
(2006 BV39)	12th July 2012	17 day(s)	0.1132	44.1	4.2 m – 9.5 m	11.11 km/s	39996 km/h
(2005 NE21)	15th July 2012	20 day(s)	0.1555	60.5	140 m – 320 m	10.77 km/s	38772 km/h
(2003 KU2)	15th July 2012	20 day(s)	0.1034	40.2	770 m – 1.7 km	17.12 km/s	61632 km/h
(2007 TN74)	16th July 2012	21 day(s)	0.1718	66.9	20 m – 45 m	7.36 km/s	26496 km/h
(2007 DD)	16th July 2012	21 day(s)	0.1101	42.8	19 m – 42 m	6.47 km/s	23292 km/h
(2006 BC8)	16th July 2012	21 day(s)	0.1584	61.6	25 m – 56 m	17.71 km/s	63756 km/h
144411 (2004 EW9)	16th July 2012	21 day(s)	0.1202	46.8	1.3 km – 2.9 km	10.90 km/s	39240 km/h
(2012 BV26)	18th July 2012	23 day(s)	0.1759	68.4	94 m – 210 m	10.88 km/s	39168 km/h
(2010 OB101)	19th July 2012	24 day(s)	0.1196	46.6	200 m – 450 m	13.34 km/s	48024 km/h
(2008 OX1)	20th July 2012	25 day(s)	0.1873	72.9	130 m – 300 m	15.35 km/s	55260 km/h
(2010 GK65)	21st July 2012	26 day(s)	0.1696	66.0	34 m – 75 m	17.80 km/s	64080 km/h
(2011 OJ45)	21st July 2012	26 day(s)	0.1367	53.2	18 m – 39 m	3.79 km/s	13644 km/h
153958 (2002 AM31)	22nd July 2012	27 day(s)	0.0351	13.7	630 m – 1.4 km	9.55 km/s	34380 km/h
(2011 CA7)	23rd July 2012	28 day(s)	0.1492	58.1	2.3 m – 5.1 m	5.43 km/s	19548 km/h
(2012 BB124)	24th July 2012	29 day(s)	0.1610	62.7	170 m – 380 m	8.78 km/s	31608 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

 

 

………………………………………….

Titanium-44 Could Solve The Mystery Of Exploding Stars  MessageToEagle.com – Somewhere in the Milky Way, a massive old star is about to die a spectacular death. As its nuclear fuel runs out, the star begins to collapse under its own tremendous weight. Crushing pressure triggers new nuclear reactions, setting the stage for a terrifying blast. And then… nothing happens.

At least that’s what supercomputers have been telling astrophysicists for decades.

Many of the best computer models of supernovas fail to produce an explosion. At the end of the simulation, gravity wins the day and the star simply collapses.

Clearly, physicists are missing something.

“We don’t fully understand how supernovas of massive stars work yet,” says Fiona Harrison, an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology.

To figure out what’s going on, Harrison and colleagues would like to examine the inside of a real supernova while it’s exploding. That’s not possible, so they’re doing the next best thing.

Using a telescope named “NuSTAR” –short for Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array — they’ll be scanning the debris from supernovas as soon as possible after the blast.

Launched over the Pacific Ocean on June 13, 2012, by a Pegasus XL rocket, NuSTAR is the first space telescope that can focus very high-energy X-rays, producing images roughly 100 times sharper than those possible with previous high-energy X-ray telescopes.

When NuSTAR finishes its check-out and becomes fully operational, scientists will use it to scan supernovas for clues etched into the pattern of elements spread throughout the explosion’s debris.“The distribution of the material in a supernova remnant tells you a lot about the original explosion,” says Harrison. An element of particular interest is titanium-44. Creating this isotope of titanium through nuclear fusion requires a certain combination of energy, pressure, and raw materials. Inside the collapsing star, that combination occurs at a depth that’s very special. Everything below that depth succumbs to gravity and collapses inward to form a black hole.

Everything above that depth will be blown outward in the explosion. Titanium-44 is created right at the cusp.

So the pattern of how titanium-44 is spread throughout a supernova remnant can reveal a lot about what happened at that crucial threshold during the explosion. And with that information, scientists might be able to figure out what’s wrong with their computer simulations.

A supercomputer model of a spinning core-collapse supernova. NuSTAR observations of actual supernova remnants will provide vital data for such models. Credit: Fiona Harrison Some scientists believe the computer models are too symmetrical. Until recently, even with powerful supercomputers, scientists have only been able to simulate a one-dimensional sliver of the star. Scientists just assume that the rest of the star behaves similarly, making the simulated implosion the same in all radial directions.

But what if that assumption is wrong?

“Asymmetries could be the key,” Harrison says. In an asymmetrical collapse, outward forces could break through in some places even if the crush of gravity is overpowering in others. Indeed, more recent, two-dimensional simulations suggest that asymmetries could help solve the mystery of the “non-exploding supernova.”

If NuSTAR finds that titanium-44 is spread unevenly, it would be evidence that the explosions themselves were also asymmetrical, Harrison explains.

Cassiopeia A Light Echoes in Infrared Credit: O. Krause (Steward Obs.) et al., SSC, JPL, Caltech, NASATo detect titanium-44, NuSTAR needs to be able to focus very high energy X-rays. Titanium-44 is radioactive, and when it decays it releases photons with an energy of 68 thousand electron volts. Existing X-ray space telescopes, such as NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory, can focus X-rays only up to about 15 thousand electron volts.

Normal lenses can’t focus X-rays at all. Glass bends X-rays only a miniscule amount—not enough to form an image.

X-ray telescopes use an entirely different kind of “lens” consisting of many concentric shells. They look a bit like the layers of a cylindrical onion.

Incoming X-rays pass between these layers, which guide the X-rays to the focal surface. It’s not a lens, strictly speaking, because the X-rays reflect off the surfaces of the shells instead of passing through them, but the end result is the same.

The NuSTAR team has spent years perfecting delicate manufacturing techniques required to make high-precision X-ray optics for NuSTAR that work at energies as high as 79 thousand electron volts.

Their efforts could end up answering the question, “Why won’t the supernova explode?”

NuSTAR

Published on Apr 1, 2012 by Kowch737

Black hole, neutron stars and gamma-ray bursts. Expert Dr. Fiona Harrison talks about her latest mission at CalTech, building the first on-orbit focusing telescope. She explains how it will work and what it will be used for.

 

 

 

The Latest Worldwide Meteor / Fireball Reports

Meteor reports of the latest worldwide meteors, fireballs and bolides worldwide. Report a Meteor/fireball/bolide worldwide and join the worldwide community of nightsky meteor fireball and bolide reporters and watchers. Owner LunarMeteorite*Hunter, Dirk Ross, Tokyo, Japan. All Rights Reserved – Copy allowed with link citation ONLY http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/ .

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Biological Hazards / HAZMAT /Wildlife

 

 

 

Today

Biological Hazard

Australia

State of Queensland, Wunjunga [Wunjunga Beach]

 

 

Biological Hazard in Australia on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 07:35 (07:35 AM) UTC.

Description
The mysterious death of 22 green turtles, a protected species, is puzzling experts in North Queensland. The experts have not ruled out poisoning and even drowning as a cause. The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection is investigating the deaths of the turtles found at Wunjunga Beach, about 100 kilometres south of Townsville. The department’s director of threatened species, Wolf Sievers, said the vulnerable animals have been washing up on the beach for over a week. “It is very unusual for this many turtles to have stranded on one beach and we will be making every effort to establish what may have happened,” Mr Sievers said. Senior turtle expert Dr Ian Bell said that initial investigations found no injuries, no obvious signs of malnutrition or illness. “It’s a bit like turtle CSI, it’s all about ruling out possible alternatives,” Dr Bell said. “We’re ruling out starvation. It doesn’t look like it’s any infectious type of disease, and it leaves us with two possibilities. “One is potential poisoning, and we’re also looking at the possibility of a drowning. “At this stage we really don’t know.” The department hopes they will be able to establish the causes of death after performing further necropsies. The entire Great Barrier Reef is an important feeding area for green turtles, which are classified as a vulnerable species nationally under legislation. All of the green turtles, except one, have been large adult female green turtles. Adults have a shell length of about 1m and average about 130 kg, although some nesting females can weigh more than 180 kg. A loss of just one breeding size individual can have an impact on the species.
Biohazard name:	Mass Die-off (turtles)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

 

 

Today

HAZMAT

Chile

Provincia de Cachapoal , Codegua [Cristo del Parque school]

 

 

 

HAZMAT in Chile on Monday, 25 June, 2012 at 03:08 (03:08 AM) UTC.

Description

20 children were affected after an accidental inhalation of certain chemical compounds, and they developed symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. It is not clear how these children became intoxicated with chemicals. Apparently, some chemical substances might have been dispersed in a premise next to Cristo del Parque school in Codegua community, and these may be the causative agents of the symptoms described in affected children. More than 20 children started their usual school activities in the morning, but soon they developed symptoms such as dizziness, headache, and nausea, and some children developed vomiting. Facing this situation, authorities from Cristo del Parque school decided to call parents of affected children, and they brought the most severely affected children to the nearest local health care facility. One of the children had to be brought to the Rancagua Regional Hospital because he developed intense abdominal pain. Ms. Ana Maria Silva, Mayor of the local community, added that the local Health Commission should investigate this occurrence, since some health-related complications have been recently described in this community because of the use of pesticides, such as high numbers of cases of cancer, congenital malformations, and problems in pregnant women, and this event is not the 1st of its kind. Codegua has been one of the communities in this region that has been significantly affected because of the excessive use of pesticides, and chemical spill emergencies have also been reported. We have to remember that last January [2012], one person died after being poisoned with ammonia fumes from a local packing shed in the area.

 

 

 

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Articles of Interest

Forecasters predict second-smallest Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’

Terra Daily
by Staff Writers
Ann Arbor MI (SPX)

Less oxygen dissolved in the water is often referred to as a “dead zone” (in red above) because most marine life either dies, or, if they are mobile such as fish, leave the area. Habitats that would normally be teeming with life become, essentially, biological deserts. Image credit: NOAA.

A dry spring in portions of the Midwest is expected to result in the second-smallest Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” on record in 2012, according to a University of Michigan forecast released last week. The U-M prediction calls for a 2012 Gulf of Mexico dead zone of about 1,200 square miles, an area the size of Rhode Island. If the forecast is correct, 2012 would replace 2000 (1,696 square miles) as the year with the second-smallest Gulf dead zone.

The smallest Gulf oxygen-starved, or hypoxic, zone was recorded in 1988 (15 square miles).

“While it’s encouraging to see that this year’s Gulf forecast calls for a significant drop in the extent of the dead zone, we must keep in mind that the anticipated reduction is due mainly to decreased precipitation in the upper Midwest and a subsequent reduced water flow into the Gulf,” said aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia, professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment.

“The predicted 2012 dead-zone decline does not result from cutbacks in nitrogen use, which remains one of the key drivers of hypoxia in the Gulf.”

The U-M prediction is one of two Gulf dead zone forecasts released today by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funds the research. The other NOAA-supported team, from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University, predicts a 2012 Gulf dead zone of 6,213 square miles.

The Michigan forecast model is based solely on 2012 spring nutrient inputs from the Mississippi River, which are significantly lower than average due to drought conditions throughout much of the watershed.

The Louisiana State University forecast model takes into account last year’s above-normal nutrient load, which the Louisiana researchers say can remain in bottom sediments and can result in a “carryover effect” that increases the size of the 2012 dead zone.

Last year, the Gulf dead zone measured 6,765 square miles. The largest Gulf hypoxic zone measured to date occurred in 2002 and encompassed more than 8,400 square miles. The Gulf dead zone has averaged about 6,000 square miles over the past five years.

This year, for the first time, Scavia’s U-M team was able to forecast the volume of hypoxic water contained in the dead zone. The most likely 2012 scenario corresponds to a volume of 2.6 cubic miles, according to the U-M team.

Scavia, director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and special counsel to the U-M president for sustainability, also released his annual Chesapeake Bay dead zone forecast today. It calls for an average-size dead zone in the Bay this year, down significantly from last summer’s record-setter.

“These dead zones are ecological time bombs,” he said. “Without determined local, regional and national efforts to control nutrient loads, we are putting major fisheries at risk.”

In 2009, the dockside value of commercial fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico was $629 million. Nearly 3 million recreational anglers further contributed more than $1 billion to the Gulf economy, taking 22 million fishing trips.

Farmland runoff containing fertilizers and livestock waste-some of it from as far away as the Corn Belt-is the main source of the nitrogen and phosphorus that cause the annual Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone. Each year in late spring and summer, these nutrients flow down the Mississippi River and into the Gulf, fueling explosive algae blooms there.

When the algae die and sink, bottom-dwelling bacteria decompose the organic matter, consuming oxygen in the process. The result is an oxygen-starved region in bottom and near-bottom waters: the dead zone.

“This forecast is a good example of NOAA, USGS and university partnerships delivering ecological forecasts that quantify the linkages between the watershed and the coast,” said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.

“While the occurrence of a low-flow year following a year with major flooding will help us to evaluate any carryover effect from prior years, we should not lose sight of the ongoing need to reduce the flow of nutrients to the Mississippi River and thus the Gulf.”

According to U.S. Geological Survey estimates, the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers transported 58,100 metric tons of nitrogen (in the form of nitrite plus nitrate) to the northern Gulf in May 2012, an amount that is 56 percent lower than average May nitrogen loads estimated in the last 33 years.

“These forecasts are the product of decades of research, monitoring and modeling on how decisions we make in the vast drainage basin of the Mississippi and its tributaries translates into the health of the coastal zone of the Gulf of Mexico,” said U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt.

“Comparing the actual hypoxic zone against the predictions will help scientists better understand the multiyear memory of this complex land-sea system, and ultimately better inform options for improving ecosystem productivity.”

About a thousand miles northeast of the Gulf of Mexico in Chesapeake Bay, this year’s hypoxic zone is expected to measure about 1.5 cubic miles, Scavia said. That’s about average compared to measured volumes since 2000 but much smaller than last year’s record-setter of 2.75 cubic miles, which was due to spring storms that washed large amounts of nutrients into rivers that feed the Bay.

So far in 2012, rainfall in the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been 50-to-75 percent of normal, Scavia said.

The actual size of the 2012 Gulf hypoxic zone will be announced following a NOAA-supported monitoring survey led by the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium between July 27 and Aug. 3.

The amount of nitrogen entering the Gulf of Mexico each spring has increased about 300 percent since the 1960s, mainly due to increased agricultural runoff. The Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River Watershed Nutrient Task Force has targeted 1,900 square miles as a long-term goal for the size of the Gulf dead zone.

Related Links
University of Michigan
University of Michigan hypoxia forecasts
NOAA hypoxia pages
Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium hypoxia information and forecasts
U.S. Geological Survey Gulf of Mexico nutrient and stream flow information
Water News – Science, Technology and Politics

Synchronized probes explore Bermuda Triangle’s swirling vortices

 By Nancy Gohring

Enlarge

The profilers on deck, ready to be launched. Credit: Tom Sanford

(Phys.org) — Some might say that University of Washington oceanographers did well to only lose one of 21 underwater probes, given that they were deployed near the notorious Bermuda Triangle, where boats and airplanes have been known to disappear without a trace.

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The scientists chose the location to research its swirling whirlpools via a pioneering experiment that repeatedly sent the probes deep into the ocean and back to the surface in unison.

“Nothing like this has ever been done,” said Tom Sanford, an oceanographer at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory. “It will be the paradigm for future experiments.”

Typically, oceanographers may deploy an instrument in one place and then travel by boat to another spot to launch it again.

“You make observations that are a few kilometers apart but also a few hours apart. During that time, the tides change things and the wind blows. Yet you make measurements and treat them as if there was just a spatial change and not a temporal one,” Sanford said.

His group invented the velocity sensors that were added to commercial autonomous profilers, so called because they take measurements as they travel vertically through the water creating a profile of the water’s characteristics. They also changed the software to synchronize the path of the profilers, or underwater probes, which were programmed to dive to a specific depth and rise to the surface at scheduled intervals. When they reached the surface, they communicated their GPS positions and a small set of other data via satellites.

Enlarge

UW graduate student Nathan Lauffenburger and John Dunlap, APL principal engineer, launch one of the profilers. Credit: Tom Sanford

During the deployment, the profilers traveled within about a minute of each other.

The new velocity sensor on the profilers picked up electric current in the ocean to track the velocity of moving water. The sensors measure electric current generated when ocean water flows through the Earth’s magnetic field. The higher the voltage the faster the water is moving.

The profilers were deployed during a three-week period last summer in the Sargasso Sea, which encompasses the so-called Bermuda Triangle, and placed in arrays covering areas of around 10 kilometers in diameter, a little more than 6 miles.

While Sanford deployed the 21 profilers, researchers from UW and many other organizations used a number of other technologies at the same time to collect a vast amount of data. The other technologies included four gliders, 42 drifters, three equipment-towing boats and an airplane. The equipment gathered data about ocean characteristics such as temperature, salinity and velocity to describe flow structure and mixing.

The researchers built such a sophisticated expedition because of the subject they are studying: internal waves and whirlpools, known as vortices.

“What’s mysterious are these vortices that exist due to various processes and float around for a long life, banging into each other. They may be responsible for ocean mixing,” Sanford said.

A vortex is a swirl of water that can be created in several ways, including water being pushed between land masses and then released into the open ocean. The subsurface features are hard to measure, Sanford said, because when they pass an underwater sensor they appear to be waves. Only by locating other sensors nearby at the same moment can researchers identify that movement as a swirl and not a wave.

Scientists are interested in ocean mixing in part so they can learn more about how climate change might affect the deep ocean. Researchers know that the atmosphere, tides, sunlight, and surface and internal waves affect the temperature of the top few meters of the ocean. They also have some understanding of large-scale eddies and ocean dynamics, visible via satellite images, that cause broader ocean mixing.

“What we have difficulty doing is identifying and tracking some of the smaller-scale features, particularly well below the surface. We know they’re there but we don’t know enough about their role in maintaining the ocean structure,” Sanford said. Those features, like deep waves and vortices, mix upper water, which is warmer and has more carbon dioxide, deeper into the ocean.

Now that the expedition is complete, the researchers have started analyzing the data. Their initial graphs simply plot the raw data, with a squiggly vertical red line depicting the upward trajectory of each profiler and a blue line their downward paths. But they hope to be able to draw conclusions by more closely studying the data.

Provided by University of Washington

 

 

 

Scientists warn US east coast over accelerated sea level rise

Study says sea level is rising far faster than elsewhere, which could increase incidence of New York flooding

• Damian Carrington
• guardian.co.uk,  

A stormy Atlantic ocean hits the coast of Buxton, North Carolina. Photographer: Ted Richardson/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sea level rise is accelerating three to four times faster along the densely populated east coast of the US than other US coasts, scientists have discovered. The zone, dubbed a “hotspot” by the researchers, means the ocean from Boston to New York to North Carolina is set to experience a rise up a third greater than that seen globally.

Asbury Sallenger, at the US geological survey at St Petersburg, Florida, who led the new study, said: “That makes storm surges that much higher and the reach of the waves that crash onto the coast that much higher. In terms of people and communities preparing for these things, there are extreme regional variations and we need to keep that in mind. We can’t view sea level rise as uniform, like filling up a bath tub. Some places will rise quicker than others and the whole urban corridor of north-east US is one of these places.”

The hotspot had been predicted by computer modelling, but Sallenger said: “Our paper is the first to focus on using real data to show [the acceleration] is happening now and that we can detect it now.”

The rapid acceleration, not seen before on the Pacific of Gulf coasts of the US, may be the result of the slowing of the vast currents flowing in the Altantic, said Sallenger. These currents are driven by cold dense water sinking in the Arctic, but the warming of the oceans and the flood of less dense freshwater into the Arctic from Greenland’s melting glaciers means the water sinks less quickly. That means a “slope” from the fastest-moving water in the mid-Atlantic down to the US east coast relaxes, pushing up sea level on the coast.

“Coastal communities have less time to adapt if sea levels rise faster,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, at the Potsdam Institute Germany, who published a separate study in the same journal, Nature Climate Change, on Sunday. Rahmstorf’s team showed that even relatively mild climate change, limited to 2C, would cause global sea level to rise between 1.5 and 4 metres by the year 2300. If nations acted to cutting carbon emissions so the temperature rise was only 1.5C, the sea level rise would be halved, the researchers found.

The impacts of the rising seas are potentially devastating, said the scientists. “As an example, 1 metre of sea level rise could raise the frequency of severe flooding for New York City from once per century to once every three years,” said Rahmstorf, adding that low lying countries like Bangladesh are likely to be severely affected. His colleague Michiel Schaeffer, at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, said: “Sea level rise is a hard to quantify, yet a critical risk of climate change. Due to the long time it takes for the world’s ice and water masses to react to global warming, our emissions today determine sea levels for centuries to come.”

Sallenger’s work on the hotspot off the US east coast showed that the extreme acceleration in sea level rise could add 20-30% to the rise seen globally. “If this turns out to be a metre by 2100, it would add 20 to 30cm.” In May, North Carolina legislators drew ridicule from experts by proposing a law that would require estimates of sea level rise to be based solely on historical data and to rule out any acceleration in future rises.

Rahmstorf said: “Sallenger’s paper shows that, far from being spared accelerating sea level rise, [the coast here] has been over the past decades a hotspot of accelerating sea level rise.” But he added that the cause of the hotspot was not fully understood, meaning it was uncertain whether the acceleration would continue.

Sallenger said: “We came up with a very clear correlation between the acceleration of sea level rise and rising temperature in the hotspot area. That suggests to me that as long as temperature continues to rise the hotspot will continue to grow.”

 

 

 

 

APOCALYPTIC LIKE WEATHER PHENOMENON JUNE 2012

 

Published on Jun 24, 2012 by fidockave213

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Amazing Alien Landscape On Earth – Dry Valley, Antarctica  MessageToEagle.com – Antarctica is not entirely covered with ice. There are a few places which are cold and dry.

The Dry Valleys of Antarctica are remarkable in many ways.

A journey through this otherworldly landscape reveal incredible rock sculptures. Strangely, one of them happen to be very similar to the Easter Island statues!

Conditions here are similar to those on Mars, which is the reason why NASA did testing there for the Viking mission.

Dry Valley, Antarctica – Image credit: Peter West, National Science FoundationThe most important dry valleys include the Taylor, Wright, McKelvey, Balham, Victoria, and Barwick Valleys. Farther south along the coast of McMurdo there are some smaller similar valleys.

Lenticular clouds hover over Mount Erebus volcano – US Coast Guard photoMcMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. This area is in Victoria Valley, west of Lake Vida. Polygonal ice patterns have formed as ice fills cracks produced in the ground by the freeze-thaw cycle. The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a dry, relatively ice-free region of Antarctica. The valleys are kept mostly ice-free by natural rock barriers that reduce the influx of glacier ice, and by a lack of snowfall. Credit: Georger Steinmetz/Science photo Library

It is not correct to say that these valleys are completely ice-free, because in some areas there is actually not much but at least little ice. Still, there is almost no snowfall in these valleys.

Lake Vanda in Wright Valley, with extremely salty water underneath thick layer of incredibly clear ice.The lakes in the Dry Valleys are intriguing and so are the ventifacts, geologic formations shaped by the wind, which are scattered across the areas.

A rock sculpture in Dry Valley. Image credit: George SteinmetzCompare the above image with Easter Island Statue below.

Another rock sculpture in the Dry Valley. Image credit: Kristan HutchisonImage credit: Kristan Hutchison*************************************************************************************************************

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