Serbia and Bosnia : More than 20 people have been killed in the worst floods in more than a century.

• NBC News

Balkans Submerged by Historic Floods Threatening Thousands

More than 20 people have been killed in the worst floods in more than a century in Serbia and Bosnia.

• 
  Alexa Stankovic / AFP – Getty Images

  1

  A group is evacuated on an amphibious vehicle over flooded streets in the town of Obrenovac, Serbia, on May 17, 2014.

  Landslides triggered by unprecedented rains in Bosnia have left hundreds of people homeless, while thousands more have fled their homes in neighboring Croatia and Serbia as Balkan countries battle the region’s worst flooding since modern records began.

• 
  Marko Djurica / Reuters

  2

  Children sit in a bus after being evacuated from the flooded town of Obrenovac, Serbia, on May 17.

• 
  Kemal Zorlak / Anadolu via Getty Images

  3

  Homes sit submerged due to overflowinh rivers in Doboj, a northern city of Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 16.

  More than two dozen people have died, said authorities, who warned the death toll could rise.

• 
  Marko Djurica / Reuters

  4

  Serbian army soldiers evacuate people from a flooded house in the town of Obrenovac, Serbia, on May 16. Rapidly rising rivers surged into homes, sometimes reaching up to the second floors, sending people climbing to rooftops for rescue.

• 
  Marko Djurica / Reuters

  5

  People stand in their apartments as they wait to be evacuated in the flooded town of Obrenovac, Serbia, on May 17. Authorities said 25 people have died but warned the death toll could rise.

• 
  Alexa Stankovic / AFP – Getty Images

  6

  A group is evacuated on a boat over flooded streets in the town of Obrenovac, Serbia, on May 17.

• 
  Marko Djurica / Reuters

  7

  Serbian army soldiers evacuate a boy from a flooded house in the town of Obrenovac, Serbia, on May 17.

• 
  Ismail Duru / Anadolu via Getty Images

  8

  Houses sit damaged from heavy rains in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on May 17. Throughout hilly Bosnia, floods are triggering landslides covering roads, homes and whole villages. About 300 landslides have been reported, and stranded villagers often are being rescued by helicopter.

   

  Read More and View Additional Photos Here

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More than 20 dead, thousands evacuated in Bosnia, Serbia floods

By Marko Djurica

OBRENOVAC, Serbia Sat May 17, 2014 2:14pm EDT

 

1 of 11. People stand in their apartments as they wait to be evacuated in the flooded town of Obrenovac, southwest of Belgrade, Serbia May 17, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Marko Djurica

(Reuters) – More than 20 people have been killed in the worst floods in more than a century in Serbia and Bosnia, authorities said on Saturday, with thousands evacuated from towns still under threat from rising rivers.

The death toll in Bosnia alone reached 19, including nine found on Saturday when waters receded from the northeastern town of Doboj.

Thousands of volunteers joined soldiers, police and fire-fighters in building flood barriers made of sandbags in the Serbian capital Belgrade and the western town of Sabac.

The River Sava hit its highest-recorded level in Serbia, the army said, rising at a rate of three centimeters (one inch) per hour after several days of the heaviest rainfall in almost 120 years.

Three people were confirmed dead in Serbia by Friday, and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said there were more fatalities in the town of Obrenovac, 30 km (18 miles) southwest of Belgrade, where soldiers deployed huge amphibious vehicles to rescue hundreds of people crammed into a primary school.

Authorities in Serbia said they would not give a death toll for Obrenovac, a town of some 30,000 people, until the waters had receded and the extent of the damage was clear.

A Reuters photographer said the entire town center was submerged under two to three meters (seven to 10 feet) of water.

Tens of thousands of homes in Serbia were cut off from electricity and around 150,000 in Bosnia, where Doboj suffered the most.

 

Read More Here

 

Related Video

“It’s wet, cold, there’s no electricity, no running water” – Serbian flood victim

 

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• satine: More than 20 dead, thousands evacuated in Bosnia, Serbia floods | Reuters
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Sauce For The Goose? …….The West’s acceptance of Kosovo’s declaration of statehood in 2008 is Vladimir Putin’s key argument justifying Crimea’s secession from Ukraine.

 

News

A Ukrainian border guard looks through binoculars at a checkpoint outside the village of Chongar in the Kherson region, adjacent to Crimea, on Wednesday. | REUTERS

How alike are Crimea and Kosovo?

AP

• Mar 20, 2014

BELGRADE – Vladimir Putin’s key argument justifying Crimea’s secession from Ukraine and annexation by Russia following Sunday’s referendum is the West’s acceptance of Kosovo’s declaration of statehood in 2008.

With the strong support of the United States, the ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo seceded from Serbia despite Serbia’s strong objections. At the time, Russia argued that the Kosovo declaration was a serious breach of international law.

Here’s a look at Crimea and Kosovo:

How are Crimea and Kosovo similar?

Both Kosovo and Crimea have a majority who belong to an ethnic minority. Just as Kosovo Albanians feared Serbian repression during the autocratic rule of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Russians living in Crimea feared the Ukrainian nationalists who came to power in Kiev in February.

Both the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and the ethnic Russians in Crimea voted overwhelmingly in favor of secession, while the Serbian minority in Kosovo and the Ukrainian and Tatar minorities in Crimea mostly boycotted the votes.

There was foreign military intervention in both regions with NATO intervening in Kosovo and pro-Russian troops seizing control of Crimea ahead of the vote.

What are their main differences?

NATO intervened in Kosovo in 1999 only after significant evidence of Serbian abuses against ethnic Albanians, including mass killings and deportations. Pro-Russian forces intervened in Crimea with no major abuses or violence reported against ethnic Russians.

The West didn’t annex Kosovo after driving Milosevic’s forces out of the former Serbian province, but sent in peacekeepers. Russian troops, meanwhile, took control of Crimea before its referendum was held.

 

Read More Here

Extreme Weather – Serbia, Municipality of Zitiste : High winds described as a tornado struck the village of Torda in the Zitiste municipality over the weekend, causing damages on over 100 structures.

Earth Watch Report  –  Extreme Weather

Images  derived by Desert Rose from  video  by  mangajoca

                                                                                              
…

02.04.2013

Extreme Weather

Serbia

Municipality of Zitiste , [Zitiste -wide]

…

Extreme Weather in Serbia on Tuesday, 02 April, 2013 at 10:53 (10:53 AM) UTC.

Description

High winds described as a tornado struck the village of Torda in the Zitiste municipality over the weekend, causing damages on over 100 structures. Belgrade-based daily Blic is writing that there have been no casualties, but that the material damage is “enormous”. The storm ripped off roofs from houses, turned over vehicles, and ripped out trees. Police, firefighters, electric grid maintenance workers, and those from utilities companies of the municipality of Žitište, where the village is located, were all at the scene. Janos Dobai, head of the Local Community Office (MZ), told reporters that 80 households so far reported damage, while some 100 structures in all were affected. According to him, the village suffered damages worth “millions”. Zitiste Municipality President Dusan Micev said that the local authorities were organizing assistance to the village, but appealed on the provincial and state authorities to help. Torda is an ethnic Hungarian village that has some 1,400 residents who were celebrating Easter when the storm struck on Sunday.

…

Images  derived by Desert Rose from  video  by  mangajoca

                  

                     

…

Tornado in Serbia damages more than 100 buildings

Tornado in Serbia has damaged more than 100 buildings. Tornado hit the Torda village in the Žitište municipality of Serbia, B92 mentions.

Tornado in Serbia ripped off roofs and knocked down trees. Tornado damage is estimated in the millions of dollars.

Related post: Serbia snow storm claims 4

Police and firefighters with disaster management team are working on the site.

Below is a you tube video of tornado in Serbian village Torda.

 

Read Full Article  and Watch Video Here

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Related articles

• Extreme Weather – Europe – Serbia (hisz.rsoe.hu)
• Flash Flood – Kosovo, Multiple area, [Izbica River areas] (familysurvivalprotocol.com)

Flash Flood – Kosovo, Multiple area, [Izbica River areas]

Earth Watch Report  –  Flooding

Image Source

…

18.03.2013

Flash Flood

Kosovo

Multiple area, [Izbica River areas]

…

Flash Flood in Kosovo on Monday, 18 March, 2013 at 11:17 (11:17 AM) UTC.

Description

Kosovo An 11-year-old ethnic Albanian girl drowned in the Izbica River in the village of Srbica near Kosovska Mitrovica. The Ibar River overtopped its banks and caused a bridge to collapse. The bridge connects the village of Kutnje with Leposavic and around 50 households are now cut off from the world. Children and adults were unable to go to school and work on Friday morning. The situation in Leposavic is improving and water is slowly withdrawing. Several villages are left without electricity and Leposavic Mayor DragiSa Vasic has visited the citizens in the flooded area. Civilian protection teams and local residents are struggling to prevent water from reaching houses in the villages of Vuca, JoSanica, Tvrden, Krnjin, LeSak and Vracevo. The situation is improving in the Zvecan municipality. Several households in the village of Doljane have been completely flooded. Returnees’ homes in the villages of Berkovo and Dragoljevac have been flooded and local roads are under water. The most difficult situation in the Istok municipality is in the returnee village of Zac. Downtown Pec is completely flooded. Serbian police (MUP) Emergency Situations Sector Chief Predrag Maric says that the situation in Serbia is stabilizing and that water levels are stagnating. He added that the situation was much more dramatic on Thursday. The situation in central Serbia is critical in NiS, Kraljevo, Sabac, Novi Pazar and Prijepolje. The Emergency Situations Sector gas sent specialized teams, 20 members and six boats to the flooded areas, the Serbian police released on Friday. The water levels increased due to heavy rain and snow. Emergency flood defense has been declared on the RaSka River in southwestern Serbia. Regular flood defense has been declared on the Sava River near Sabac and Sremska Mitrovica, on the Veliko SrediSte Dam near VrSac and on Lim, MiloSevka and Seljasnica Rivers in the town of Prijepolje.

…

Kosovo: Flash Floods DREF Operation Bulletin (MDRKV006)

Report

from IFRC

Published on 18 Mar 2013 — View Original

Download PDF (492.87 KB)

CHF 147,193 has been allocated from the Federation’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support the National Society in delivering immediate assistance to some 600 families (3,000 beneficiaries). Unearmarked funds to repay DREF are encouraged.

Summary: Due to heavy rainfall in Kosovo that started on 14th March 2013 and lasted for more than 24 hours many villages in several municipalities have been flooded. Majority of these affected areas are situated in the rural and poorer part of Kosovo. Some villages were isolated as well due to the damaged and/or not accessible bridges. Rivers that flooded were Drini I Bardhe, Klina, Bistrica, and Lushta. The sudden cold wave with low temperatures and strong winds all over Kosovo has worsened the situation of the affected population. According to the information received from the Red Cross branches and emergency departments in the affected municipalities, an estimated 890 households have been affected by the flooding.

The most affected municipalities are Klina/ Klina, Skenderaj/Srbica, Peja/Pec, Istog/ Istok, Kamenice/Kamenica, Gjakova/Djakovica, and Mitrovice/Mitrovica. There are shortages of food and other essential goods, as the population was not prepared for such a heavy rain especially since there was not such a harsh winter. The situation is complicated also by the fact that many families have also been evacuated and cannot return to their homes as those are still under water. The flooding has caused damage to houses and personal belongings, causalities in livestock, damages in agricultural land and equipment.

 

Read Full Report Here

…

Related articles

• Flash Flood – Europe – Kosovo (hisz.rsoe.hu)

Half-million-year-old human jawbone found

Tia Ghose
LiveScience
Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:00 CST

© Mirjana Roksandic
An ancient hominin jawbone unearthed in a Serbian cave may be more than half a million years old.

Scientists have unearthed a jawbone from an ancient human ancestor in a cave in Serbia.

The jawbone, which may have come from an ancient Homo erectus or a primitive-looking Neanderthal precursor, is more than 397,000 years old, and possibly more than 525,000 years old. The fossil, described today (Feb. 6) in the journal PLOS ONE, is the oldest hominin fossil found in this region of Europe, and may change the view that Neanderthals, our closest extinct human relatives, evolved throughout Europe around that time.

“It comes from an area where we basically don’t have anything that is known and well- published,” said study co-author Mirjana Roksandic, a bioarchaeologist from the University of Winnipeg in Canada. “Now we have something to start constructing a picture of what’s happening in this part of Europe at that time.”

Read Full Article Here

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• Half-million-year-old human jawbone found in Serbian cave (science.nbcnews.com)
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• Features of southeast European human ancestors influenced by lack of episodic glaciations (eurekalert.org)
• Neanderthals ‘unlikely to have interbred with human ancestors’ (guardian.co.uk)
• Features of southeast European human ancestors influenced by lack of episodic glaciations (phys.org)
• Neanderthals Went Extinct Much Earlier Than Previously Thought, Fossil Study Suggests (huffingtonpost.com)
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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

………………………..

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.

Back

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 

Enlarge

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.

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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

……………………………………

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 – Sunday August 19th, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
19.08.2012 18:50:22	3.0	Europe	Romania		Lopatari				EMSC
19.08.2012 18:50:52	3.1	Europe	Greece	Peloponnese	Limnai				EMSC
19.08.2012 18:41:01	2.8	Caribbean	Puerto Rico	Isabela	Isabela				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 19:05:33	2.4	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		Road Town				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 17:45:43	2.5	Europe	France	Rhône-Alpes	Le Pouzin				EMSC
19.08.2012 16:45:25	3.1	Europe	Romania		Marasheshty				EMSC
19.08.2012 18:10:31	4.6	Indonesian archipelago	Papua New Guinea	East Sepik	Angoram				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 18:51:11	4.6	Indonesian Archipelago	Papua New Guinea	East Sepik	Angoram				EMSC
19.08.2012 16:20:35	2.0	North America	United States	California	Potter Valley				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 16:10:30	2.3	North America	United States	Washington	Black Diamond				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 16:45:46	2.0	Asia	Turkey	Denizli	Bozkurt				EMSC
19.08.2012 15:50:41	2.5	Middle America	Mexico	Baja California	Alberto Oviedo Mota				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 15:35:27	2.7	North America	United States	Washington	Entiat				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 15:45:24	3.2	Asia	Turkey	Antalya	Beykonak				EMSC
19.08.2012 15:45:44	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
19.08.2012 15:46:05	4.5	North-America	United States	Alaska	King Cove				EMSC
19.08.2012 15:15:28	4.6	North America	United States	Alaska	King Cove				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 14:40:51	4.2	Middle-East	Iran	East Azarbaijan	Ahar				EMSC
19.08.2012 14:05:39	4.1	Middle East	Iran	East Azarbaijan	Ahar				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 13:35:26	2.2	Europe	Italy	Sicily	Rodi				EMSC
19.08.2012 13:35:52	2.3	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	Predappio Alta				EMSC
19.08.2012 13:15:26	2.5	North America	United States	Arkansas	Greenbrier				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 16:25:57	2.5	North America	United States	Arkansas	Greenbrier				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 13:36:15	2.7	Asia	Turkey	Bal?kesir	Ivrindi				EMSC
19.08.2012 12:31:29	2.4	North America	United States	California	Mount Laguna				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 12:15:28	3.6	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 12:31:55	4.5	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Tofino				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 12:30:20	4.5	North-America	Canada	British Columbia	Tofino				EMSC
19.08.2012 11:50:35	4.8	Asia	India	Assam	Dhekiajuli				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 12:31:05	5.0	Asia	India	Assam	Dhekiajuli				EMSC
19.08.2012 12:10:25	3.1	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Tofino				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 11:30:26	2.3	Asia	Turkey	Van	Toyga				EMSC
19.08.2012 11:30:52	2.0	Asia	Turkey	Manisa	Golmarmara				EMSC
19.08.2012 10:40:29	3.3	North America	United States	Arkansas	Greenbrier				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 10:45:30	3.3	North America	United States	Arkansas	Greenbrier				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 10:25:25	5.6	North-America	Canada	British Columbia	Tofino				EMSC
19.08.2012 10:26:45	5.6	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Tofino				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 10:25:46	5.0	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia	Central Sulawesi	Luwuk				EMSC
19.08.2012 09:45:34	4.7	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia	Central Sulawesi	Luwuk				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 10:26:05	2.4	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
19.08.2012 09:25:21	2.3	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	San Prospero				EMSC
19.08.2012 09:15:32	2.0	North America	United States	California	Ojai				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 09:10:33	2.0	North America	United States	California	Santa Paula				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 08:55:24	2.2	North America	United States	California	Pearsonville				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 09:25:43	2.7	Europe	Serbia		Sumulice				EMSC
19.08.2012 08:25:19	2.7	South-America	Chile	Libertador General Bernardo O?Higgins	Machali				EMSC
19.08.2012 07:22:20	4.5	Asia	Russia	Kamtsjatka	Nikol’skoye				USGS-RSOE
19.08.2012 07:20:26	4.5	Europe	Russia	Kamtsjatka	Nikol’skoye				EMSC
19.08.2012 07:20:54	2.6	Asia	Turkey	Bal?kesir	Sindirgi				EMSC
19.08.2012 08:25:45	2.3	Asia	Turkey	Bal?kesir	Sindirgi				EMSC

……………………………………………..

Strong quake hits northern Indonesian island

Associated Press

Posted:   08/18/2012 06:35:25 AM PDT

Updated:   08/18/2012 06:35:26 AM PDT

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An earthquake registering magnitude 6.3 rocked a northern Indonesian island on Saturday as residents were ending their fast on the final day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, officials said. There were reports of at least two injuries but no tsunami warning was issued.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the late-afternoon quake struck 56 kilometers (35 miles) southeast of Palu city on Sulawesi Island at a depth of 19.9 kilometers (12.4 miles).

Sudirman, an officer at the Disaster Management Agency who uses one name, said there were reports from the province that at least two people were injured by falling debris and of damage to houses in Parigi Mountong, the district closest to the epicenter.

He said the full extent of the injuries and damage was not yet known.

The earthquake struck as people in the province were ending their fast on the last day of Ramadan, causing many to rush out into the streets in panic, local news reports said.

The USGS initially measured the quake at magnitude 6.6 but later adjusted it to 6.3.

Indonesia is prone to earthquakes because it is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A giant quake off the country on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh.

Magnitude 5.6 quake hits off coast of Washington state: USGS

(Reuters) – A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck off the coast of the West Coast state of Washington on Sunday, the United States Geological Survey said.

The depth was reported at 6.3 miles and the quake was located 190 miles west of Neah Bay, the USGS said. There was no immediate statement from the U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center based in Hawaii on the quake.

(Reporting by Ed Lane; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Volcanic Activity

Tungurahua Volcano, Ecuador: possible lava flow

BY: T

Volcano Discovery

Thermal images taken of the lava flow and mobilized incandescent blocks tumbling down from a notch in the crater wall on the northwestern flank of the volcano Tungurahua. (S. Vallejo / IGEPN)

Current seismic signal (RETU station) with saturated tremor visible on the spectrogram (IG)

At 19h36 (local time) on 18 August, a possible lava flow from the summit crater and incandescent lava blocks continuously tumbling down were observed using thermal imagery.
The lava flow which some observers also reported seeing by naked eye is emerges from a breach in the sidewall of the crater on the upper NW flank and directed towards the Cusu gorge.
Apparently the lava flow stopped after nearly 4 hours of motion, but bad weather conditions make detailed observations difficult.
Preceding the effusion of the new flow, there had been a strong increase of activity since 16 August including seismic tremor, steam and ash emissions and loud explosions audible in nearby towns such as Ambato.

• All news about: Tungurahua volcano
• Information about: Tungurahua volcano

—
Links / Sources:

• Volcán Tungurahua: Descenso de un posible flujo de lava por la parte alta de Cusúa (IG)

Today

Volcano Activity

Mexico

State of Puebla, [Popocatepetl Volcano]

Volcano Activity in Mexico on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 13:22 (01:22 PM) UTC.

Description

A sharp increase in activity has been observed at Popocatépetl since yesterday. During 17-18 August, 176 mostly small explosions were observed (compared to values of 10-20 for the previous week), and 74 alone during the following 9 hours, i.e. about 1 every 8 minutes. The largest eruption occurred at 20:41 h local time yesterday and threw incandescent bombs to 800 m distance, which landed on the rim of the lower crater. Glow from the summit was visible during clear weather at night. After 19:00 h local time yesterday, a constant steam plume with small amounts of ash was being erupted and formed a plume rising about 2 km above the crater. No reports of ash fall have been given in the latest CENAPRED summary.

19.08.2012

Volcano Eruption

Indonesia

Lesser Sunda Strait, [Batu Tara volcano]

Volcano Eruption in Indonesia on Saturday, 18 August, 2012 at 04:10 (04:10 AM) UTC.

Description

On Aug. 15, NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite caught a crystal-clear image of a small ash plume emanating from a tiny volcanic Indonesian island. The volcano, called Batu Tara, is located on the island of Pulau Komba, and has been experiencing frequent, mild eruptions since mid-2006, according to a NASA release. While much of the island appears green thanks to tropical vegetation, one side of the island is noticeably free of plants and appears grayish. This barren area is a scarp that drops from the summit of the volcano to the ocean, a distance of 2,454 feet (748 meters). The scarp is created by the frequent eruptions, which send rocks and ash barreling down the slope.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather / Drought

Today

Heat Wave

Bulgaria

[Statewide]

Heat Wave in Bulgaria on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 14:20 (02:20 PM) UTC.

Description

The late summer heat wave that has gripped western Europe has started to arrive in Bulgaria, with highs set to rise over the week. Until the end of next weeks, temperatures in parts of Bulgaria, especially the south-west and north-east, are expected to reach around and above 40 degrees Centigrade. Highs Monday are expected to be in the range of 29-34 C, announced the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Light clouds are expected all over the week, but no precipitation is to be awaited. Weather in Bulgaria’s mountains and along the Black Sea coast is also expected to be clear and sunny. Air temperatures at the Black Sea will be around 25-27 C Monday, with almost the same expected for the water, 24-26 C.

19.08.2012

Heat Wave

France

MultiPrefectures, [Central and southern France]

Heat Wave in France on Saturday, 18 August, 2012 at 04:13 (04:13 AM) UTC.

Description

French authorities are fighting wildfires, keeping an eye on isolated elderly populations and advising people to drink fluids as temperatures soar in the country. Heatwave warnings were issued for a swath of central and southern France, from Burgundy to the Pyrenees. Temperatures are expected to reach up to 40C in some areas. The government is determined to avoid a repeat of the summer of 2003, when about 15,000 people died during a heatwave. Wildfires raged around Lacanau in the south-west on Thursday. Patrick Stefanini, prefect for the Aquitaine region, said on French television that they were brought under control on Friday. French television is airing public service announcements with recommendations to drink water and wear hats.

Today

Extreme Weather

USA

State of Minnesota, Duluth [Lake Superior]

Extreme Weather in USA on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 15:52 (03:52 PM) UTC.

Description

One person was killed and several others were injured by lightning in what is the third mass U.S. lightning-related incident to occur in recent weeks. The Duluth News Tribune reports a 9-year-old boy died from his injuries and seven other were injured when lightning struck a private sailboat on Lake Superior off Minnesota Point late Saturday afternoon. The call came in around 5:30 p.m. CDT, Active Asst. Chief Jarry Keppers said. He says four people were critically injured including a 9-year-old boy, who was found face down in the water without a pulse shortly after the lightning strike. Only after repeated CPR attempts were crews able to regain it. The St. Louis County, Minn. Sheriff’s Office later reported that the boy died after being airlifted to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center. The group was believed to be on shore but near the sailboat when the lightning hit. The boat had been brought to shore, seeking refuge from the storm moving through the area. The area was said to be so remote that initial emergency responders had to get there by boat. This is the third mass lightning-related incident in recent weeks. On August 5, one person was killed and nine others injured when a cloud-to-ground lightning strike hit after a NASCAR race in Pennsylvania. On Aug. 14, 10 soldiers were injured at Fort Drum in New York after lightning struck their tent. August along with June are historically the second most dangerous months for lightning strikes. July is number one. Twenty-four people have now been killed by lightning strikes so far this year including the unborn child of a woman who was nine months pregnant when she was struck and killed.

Today

Forest / Wild Fire

Italy

Province of Grosseto, [Il Sole, Marina di Grosseto, and Maremma camping areas, Tuscany]

Forest / Wild Fire in Italy on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 17:15 (05:15 PM) UTC.

Description

More than 1,000 tourists were evacuated from three campgrounds in Italy’s Tuscany region as forest fires threatened the area, officials said. Campers were evacuated late Saturday from the Il Sole, Marina di Grosseto, and Maremma camping areas as fires blazed in the coastal region. Emergency accommodations were set up in a local shopping center and other places where the displaced campers spent the night. Firefighters are still working to put out the fire, which had consumed 296 acres. Italy was hit by a total of 31 fires Friday and Saturday as temperatures reached triple digits.

19.08.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

Greece

North Aegean, [Island of Chios]

Forest / Wild Fire in Greece on Saturday, 18 August, 2012 at 18:51 (06:51 PM) UTC.

Description

A forest fire is raging on the island of Chios in the Greek archipelago and villagers and tourists are fleeing to the beach to escape the flames. Over 200 fire-fighters, soldiers and volunteers are involved in the operation and have been joined by eight aircrafts and two helicopters. At least three villages and tourist resorts have been evacuated and residents can only watch from the beach as fire consume the island. Rescue forces report that strong winds are making it difficult to control the fire which is thought to have broken out in the early hours of Friday morning. It is threatening ten villages on Chios and has moved very close to the Greek army base “PAP” near the Vessas village. Local media reports that the smoke can be seen from the island of Crete, over 60 miles south of Chios. The island is the fifth largest in the Greek archipelago and is a popular tourist destination with many tourists drawn to its scenery and medieval villages, which are now at risk. It is not clear if the 11th century monastery of ‘Nea Moni’, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be saved from the flames but local media reports that the fire is likely to have caused substantial damage to the islands tourism industry.

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Storms, Flooding

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Gordon (AL08)	Atlantic Ocean	16.08.2012	19.08.2012	Hurricane III	75 °	157 km/h	194 km/h	5.49 m	NOAA NHC

  Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 7 Storm name: Gordon (AL08) Area: Atlantic Ocean Start up location: N 29° 54.000, W 55° 6.000 Start up: 16th August 2012 Status: Active Track long: 1,523.97 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 16th Aug 2012 04:16:29 N 29° 54.000, W 55° 6.000 30 56 74 Tropical Depression 355 9 1013 MB NOAA NHC 16th Aug 2012 04:55:06 N 31° 18.000, W 55° 30.000 28 56 74 Tropical Depression 345 15 1012 MB NOAA NHC 16th Aug 2012 10:46:15 N 32° 12.000, W 54° 48.000 22 65 83 Tropical Storm 15 15 1011 MB NOAA NHC 16th Aug 2012 16:45:48 N 33° 18.000, W 53° 48.000 26 83 102 Tropical Storm 45 17 1005 MB NOAA NHC 17th Aug 2012 04:47:05 N 34° 36.000, W 50° 18.000 28 111 139 Tropical Storm 85 15 995 MB NOAA NHC 17th Aug 2012 10:55:39 N 34° 36.000, W 48° 6.000 30 102 120 Tropical Storm 90 14 998 MB NOAA NHC 17th Aug 2012 16:39:57 N 34° 30.000, W 46° 18.000 30 102 120 Tropical Storm 95 19 997 MB NOAA NHC 18th Aug 2012 05:56:05 N 34° 12.000, W 42° 6.000 30 111 139 Tropical Storm 90 16 990 MB NOAA NHC 18th Aug 2012 16:23:59 N 34° 0.000, W 40° 42.000 30 120 148 Hurricane I. 90 22 988 MB NOAA NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 19th Aug 2012 16:53:31 N 35° 30.000, W 29° 42.000 335 157 194 Hurricane III 75 ° 18 973 MB NOAA NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 20th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 38° 0.000, W 23° 36.000 Hurricane I 111 139 NOAA NHC 20th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 36° 30.000, W 26° 48.000 Hurricane II 139 167 NOAA NHC 21st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 39° 12.000, W 20° 48.000 Tropical Depression 93 111 NOAA NHC 21st Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 39° 30.000, W 19° 0.000 Tropical Depression 74 93 NOAA NHC 22nd Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 39° 30.000, W 17° 0.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 NOAA NHC

Tembin (15W)

Pacific Ocean

19.08.2012

19.08.2012

Tropical Depression

120 °

83 km/h

102 km/h

2.74 m

JTWC

  Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 1 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: 0.00 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 Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 19th Aug 2012 15:55:17 N 17° 24.000, E 125° 0.000 4 83 102 Tropical Depression 120 ° 9 JTWC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 20th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 18° 48.000, E 125° 18.000 Typhoon I 120 148 JTWC 20th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 17° 54.000, E 125° 6.000 Typhoon I 102 130 JTWC 21st Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 21° 0.000, E 124° 42.000 Typhoon II 139 167 JTWC 21st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 20° 0.000, E 125° 12.000 Typhoon II 130 157 JTWC 22nd Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 22° 30.000, E 123° 18.000 Typhoon III 148 185 JTWC 23rd Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 23° 24.000, E 121° 6.000 Typhoon II 139 167 JTWC 24th Aug 2012 12:00:00 N 24° 6.000, E 118° 24.000 Typhoon I 102 130 JTWC

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Tropical Storm Helene slams Mexico; Hurricane Gordon heads for Azores

Nasa / Reuters

Tropical Storm Gordon, seen over the Atlantic Ocean in this NASA handout satellite image Thursday, became a hurricane Saturday.

By NBC News staff and wire services

Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET: Tropical Storm Helene made landfall off the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday and weakened into a tropical depression as it plowed up Mexico’s east coast, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The depression was about 15 miles south-southwest of Tampico and had maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour, the NHC said.

As Helene weakened, tropical storm warnings were discontinued on the Mexican coast, although it was expected to produce three to six inches of rain in the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas.

Helene was predicted to continue weakening and dissipate within 48 hours, the NHC said.

There were no reports that Helene had affected the Gulf of Mexico’s oil installations, which are built to resist much more powerful hurricanes.

Earlier, Portugal posted warnings for the central and eastern Azores islands as Tropical Storm Gordon moved eastward across the Atlantic and later turned into a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center said Gordon had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph and was headed east at 18 mph.

In the northern part of Veracruz, a lush coastal state with hundreds of towns and villages sitting along streams and rivers that can swell dangerously in heavy rain many were evacuated as Ernesto approached last week, and flood damage made some 10,000 people homeless.

State of emergency
Mexico’s government declared a state of emergency in more than 100 population centers in Veracruz and was providing them with emergency aid. The country’s national weather service warned of intense rains and winds along the Veracruz and Tamaulipas coasts, with heavy rain, hail and lightning possible.

A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 1 to 2 feet above normal along the immediate coast and to the north of where landfall is made.

Heavy rain was expected in the city of Tampico, an oil-refining center and important port in the southernmost part of Tamaulipas state. The Tampico metropolitan area has roughly 790,000 inhabitants, sits just above sea level and is surrounded by lakes and lagoons that are already full and could easily flood in the event of heavy rains.

Civil protection authorities in Veracruz issued a yellow alert, one level below the highest warning, for population centers in the north and center of the state, warning residents to familiarize themselves with the locations of emergency shelters, avoid crossing swollen streams and rivers, and keep listening to radio and TV for storm updates.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Typhoon Kai-Tak kills nine in Vietnam

by Staff Writers
Hanoi (AFP)

Typhoon kills four, causes flooding in Vietnam Hanoi (AFP) Aug 18, 2012 – At least four people died as Typhoon Kai-Tak barrelled across northern Vietnam bringing high winds and floods to several areas including the capital Hanoi, authorities and a report said Saturday.The typhoon, which made landfall late Friday, was downgraded to a tropical depression Saturday but continued to dump water on already flooded parts of the country.A taxi driver was killed when high winds caused a tree to fall on his car in Hanoi, while two others died from electric shock after a cable was felled in northern Son La city, according to an update from the national flood and storm central committee. In Bac Giang province a 46-year-old woman died after soil from a partially collapsed hill buried her house in the middle of the night, VNExpress news site reported. Earlier more than 11,000 boats, including several hundred used by tourists at the UNESCO world heritage site Halong Bay, were ordered to stay close to the shore. The Vietnamese army put 20,000 soldiers backed by helicopters, rescue boats and canoes on standby to handle any incidents. Kai-Tak swept across the Philippines’ main island of Luzon, dumping heavy rain on the Cagayan basin and other areas in the north, killing four people.

At least nine people were killed, thousands of homes damaged and swathes of farmland flooded as Typhoon Kai-Tak swept across northern Vietnam, authorities said Sunday.

The storm, which made landfall late Friday, brought strong winds and heavy rains that inundated several densely populated communities including part of the capital Hanoi.

Five people were swept away by floodwaters while one woman died when a landslide buried her house while she was sleeping in Bac Giang province, according to the government’s central committee on flood and storm control.

A taxi driver was killed by a toppled tree while two people were electrocuted by a falling electricity cable, it said.

Nearly 12,000 houses were damaged and 23,000 hectares (56,800 acres) of cropland were flooded, according to the committee.

In Hanoi, about 200 large trees were uprooted and part of the city remained under water early Sunday.

The Vietnamese army had put 20,000 soldiers backed by helicopters, rescue boats and canoes on standby for rescue operations, but only a small number of them were deployed.

More than 11,000 boats, including several hundred used by tourists at the UNESCO world heritage site Halong Bay, were ordered to stay close to the shore.

The storm, which earlier killed four people in the Philippines, was packing winds of about 100 kilometres (62 miles) per hour when it slammed into Vietnam, but it was downgraded to a tropical depression on Saturday.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

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Radiation / Nuclear

Today

Nuclear Event

South Korea

Province of North Gyeongsang, [Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant]

Nuclear Event in South Korea on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 15:48 (03:48 PM) UTC.

Description

A nuclear reactor automatically shut down Sunday due to problems of power supply, only 19 days after beginning its commercial operation, triggering concerns over power shortage in the season of high electricity demand. The accident took place at the New Wolsong 1 reactor in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province at around 11:00 a.m. as its power supply system did not work properly, the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) said. Officials said an investigation was underway to learn the exact cause of the malfunction but claimed that there is no danger of a radiation leak. “The shutdown is the level zero, according to the nuclear and radiological event scale by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” a KHNP official said. “It has nothing to do with the safety of the nuclear plant or radiation risks.” But he said that the operation of the reactor will resume only after two phases ― the KHNP completes its investigation, which may take two or three days, and the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission approves its resumption. The 1 million kilowatt nuclear reactor went into full operation on July 31, but as it was sidelined, worries sprout up that power shortage might hit the nation at a time when electricity reserves have fallen to an alert level several times of late. The Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) has already issued an alert several times as the demand for electricity may be increasing due to hot summer weather after the peak vacation season ends at the end of August. Midway through last September, the nation suffered unprecedented rolling blackouts due to unseasonable heat waves, which ended up inconveniencing households and causing industrial damage across the country. In order to prevent recurrence of the disaster, the Seoul administration has pulled out all the stops to jack up its capacity of providing electricity while trying to deter rising energy demand. Currently, Korea operates 20 nuclear reactors out of total 23, which supply about 30 percent of its overall electricity consumption. But due to fears of a power shortage, the government considered resuming operation of reactors earlier than originally scheduled.

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Epidemic Hazards / Diseases

Deadly Ebola outbreak: Nine killed in DR Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo, KAMPUNGU : This picture released by the World Health organization 01 October 2007 taken 29 September 2007 at the Doctors without borders (MSF) isolation ward of Kampungu shows MSF nurse Isabel Grovas (L) and Dr Hilde Declerck (R) taking care of a 43 year old patient who has been laboratory confirmed to have Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF). (AFP Photo/WHO/Christofer Black)

Nine people have died from an outbreak of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, only weeks after the virulent disease was declared “under control” in neighboring Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.

The new cases of the Ebola virus were detected near the country’s northwestern town of Isiro, the Congolese health minister said.

A group of specialists from various international organizations – the WHO, Doctors Without Borders and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – are working in the country alongside local doctors. They are conducting a detailed epidemiological investigation, and are attempting to quarantine people who may have been in contact with those infected.

The new outbreak comes just weeks after another Ebola epidemic in neighboring Uganda – roughly 30 miles from its border with DR Congo – was declared to be over. The Ugandan outbreak killed 16 people in July. The two epidemics are not believed to be linked, since the strain found in DR Congo is different from the one identified in Uganda, Doctors Without Borders reported.

Ebola is a rare hemorrhagic virus, first discovered in 1976 in Zaire (now known as DR Congo). The disease was named after a small river in the country. Symptoms of Ebola infection include a sudden onset of fever, weakness, headaches, vomiting and kidney failure.

The virus is reportedly fatal in 50-90 percent of cases. In the most severe infections, victims bleed from bodily orifices before dying. There is no treatment and no vaccine for Ebola, which is transmitted by close personal contact. It can also be transmitted to humans through the handling of infected animal carcasses, including monkeys and birds.

Congo’s last major Ebola epidemic in 1995 killed 245 people. Recent Ebola outbreaks were recorded in Uganda, when 37 people were killed in the western part of the country in 2007, and when at least 170 died in the nation’s northern region in 2000.

19.08.2012

Epidemic Hazard

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Province of Orientale, [Haut Uele District]

Epidemic Hazard in Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday, 17 August, 2012 at 03:03 (03:03 AM) UTC.

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Updated:	Saturday, 18 August, 2012 at 10:49 UTC
Description
An outbreak of Ebola has killed one person and is believed to have infected three others over the last week in northeastern Congo, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said today. The outbreak is in Isiro, a busy town in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Oriental province, which shares a border with Uganda, but the strain of the deadly disease is different to the one that killed 16 there last month, MSF said. Ebola is transmitted to humans from monkeys and birds and causes massive bleeding in victims, with mortality rates as high as 90 per cent. Anja de Weggheleire, the medical coordinator for MSF in the area, said blood samples from one victim had confirmed Ebola in Isiro and there were at least three other suspected cases being treated in an MSF-supported local hospital. “We cannot speak of a direct link between the two epidemics, I think unfortunately it’s just pure coincidence,” Ms de Weggheleire told Reuters. MSF was helping track and isolate people who may have come in contact with the disease, she added. Authorities in Uganda said this week that the outbreak there was under control after they imposed strict measures to prevent Ebola from spreading in the west of the country. However, Congo’s health system is permanently stretched and MSF warned that preventing the spread of the disease from the town, a provincial transit point, could be a challenge. “(The situation) is quite serious already … Isiro is quite a busy place, quite well connected, that could make it quite complex to contain (the fever),” Ms de Weggheleire added.

Epidemic Hazard in Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday, 17 August, 2012 at 03:03 (03:03 AM) UTC.

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Updated:	Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 04:21 UTC
Description
Just days ago, MSF reported the Uganda outbreak was under control with the last confirmed fatality 17 days ago. The GAR reports that a National Task Force convened by the Congolese Ministry of Health, is working with several partners including WHO, MSF and CDC. A joint MoH, WHO and MSF emergency response team are in the field to conduct a detailed epidemiological investigation and case management. Ebola hemorrhagic fever (HF) was first recognized in 1976 and was named after a river in the Congo. It received a lot of popular attention thanks to the best-seller, “The Hot Zone”. Infections with Ebola virus are acute. There is no carrier state. Because the natural reservoir of the virus is unknown, the manner in which the virus first appears in a human at the start of an outbreak has not been determined. People can be exposed to Ebola virus from direct contact with the blood and/or secretions of an infected person. Thus, the virus is often spread through families and friends because they come in close contact with such secretions when caring for infected persons. People can also be exposed to Ebola virus through contact with objects, such as needles, that have been contaminated with infected secretions. The incubation period for Ebola HF ranges from 2 to 21 days. The onset of illness is abrupt and is characterized by fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, sore throat, and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. A rash, red eyes, hiccups and internal and external bleeding may be seen in some patients. The death rate for Ebola HF can be up to 90%. There is no standard treatment for Ebola HF. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to DRC.

Epidemic Hazard in Democratic Republic of the Congo on Friday, 17 August, 2012 at 03:03 (03:03 AM) UTC.

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Updated:	Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 14:58 UTC
Description
On 17 August 2012, the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Democratic Republic of Congo, notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of an outbreak of Ebola Haemorrhagic fever in the Isiro and Dungu Health Zones of Province Orientale in Eastern DRC. A total of 10 suspected cases (9 in Isiro and 1 in Dungu) and 6 deaths (5 deaths in Isiro and 1 in Dungu) have been reported. Laboratory investigations conducted at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Entebbe, Uganda, confirmed Ebola virus (Bundibugyo species). Three samples taken from two patients turned out positive for Ebola. A National Task Force convened by the Congolese Ministry of Health, is working with several partners including the WHO, MSF – Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), CDC – Center for Disease Control Prevention, etc… A joint Ministry of Health, WHO and MSF emergency response team are in the field to conduct a detailed epidemiological investigation and case management. New discoveries with drug treatments that may work against the Ebola virus may be making progress as scientists have recently discovered that a protein that moves cholesterol within cells could provide a scientific link that will help in the development of a vaccine to treat the disease. To date there is no known medical treatment or drug that will work to stop the disease, which is known to kill a high percent of those infected with it. Recent outbreaks of Ebola have also recently been appearing in the Kabaale District of Western Uganda. On July 30 up to 16 persons were confirmed dead from the disease with 7 more cases diagnosed as medical teams from the International Federation of the Red Cross, the Uganda Red Cross and the National Emergency Taskforce from the Uganda Minsitry of Health went into the region to assist and survey the extent in the spread of the disease. On August 3 officials from the WHO stated that the outbreak in Uganada was under control. Spread of the disease was tempered as medical advocates noted that contagion for the disease was happening to those who were attending funerals. Proper disposal of the bodies of those who have died from the disease has helped to keep the spread of the disease down. The Ebola virus has been a disease that scientists and medical experts alike are still studying and researching. The disease is known to hibernate for years and then suddenly appear, then go into hibernation again. Animal hosts, especially bats, are suspected to be carriers. Contagion with the disease is made through blood and bodily fluids. Recent outbreaks in the African regions have been in areas where poverty levels are high and lack of proper sanitation is common. WHO is supporting the Ministry of Health in the DRC areas for coordination; surveillance; epidemiology; laboratory; case management; logistics for outbreak; public information and social mobilization. An additional team of experts from Congo, DRC and IST/Gabon comprised of an epidemiologist, logistician, anthropologist and social mobilization officers are being mobilized for possible deployment in the field. Control activities that are being carried include active case finding and contact tracing, enhanced surveillance, case management, public information and social mobilization and reinforcing infection control practices. The last outbreak of Ebola, charted by the Washington, D.C. based CDC – Center for Disease Control and Prevention, outlined for the Congo region happened near the border of Zaire in the towns of Mweka and Luebo in the Province of Kasai Occidental between December 2008 – February 2009. During the outbreak 32 people contracted Ebola as 47 percent (15 people) died from conditions that were caused by the disease. Currently the WHO – World Health Organization does not recommend that any travel or trade restrictions be applied to Democratic Republic of Congo at this time.

Today

Epidemic

Dominican Republic

Province of Santiago, [Province-wide]

Epidemic in Dominican Republic on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 17:12 (05:12 PM) UTC.

Description
The health authorities of the Dominican province of Santiago remained today the alert to the increasing number of people with symptoms of cholera in that territory, where more than 300 are reported affected. The outbreak of diarrhea in the last three days is caused by poor quality of drinking water consumed by residents of the territory, said the provincial director of Public Health, Ramon Martinez. An addition to diarrhea, patients treated at public and private hospitals, had vomiting and severe pain in the abdomen. Most of the patients were tested for diagnosis, and many of them confirmed the presence of bacterial infections without discarding cholera, said an epidemiologist quoted by local media. Cholera coming from Haiti, appeared in th Dominican Republic in November 2010, this disease caused so far more than 170 deaths, official figures indicate. Dominican former Minister of Health, Bautista Rojas, said last month that cholera has affected 0.22 percent of the Dominican population of about nine and a half million inhabitants, although concentrated in the areas of greatest social vulnerability. “We will maintain continuous monitoring the issue, including the strengthening of the various components of the strategy to combat the disease to reduce risk and achieve its elimination”, said Rojas.
Biohazard name:	Cholera
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

Today

Epidemic Hazard

USA

State of California, Los Angeles

Epidemic Hazard in USA on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 15:54 (03:54 PM) UTC.

Description
The Los Angeles County Public Health Department is investigating a possible cluster of syphilis among adult film industry performers, officials said Friday afternoon. The department has received reports of at least five possible cases in the past week, said Peter Kerndt, director of the county’s Sexually Transmitted Disease programs. The county plans to follow up with the affected individuals to ensure that they have been properly treated and to determine who else may have been infected. Public health workers are also attempting to find out the original source of the recent cluster. “Whenever there is a cluster like that it may be the tip of the iceberg,” Kerndt said. “It is a concern. It is a serious health risk to workers in this industry.” Kerndt added that it was “not a surprise that from time to time this would occur” in the industry. Between 2010 and 2011, there was an increase in syphilis cases throughout Los Angeles County, Kerndt said.
Biohazard name:	Syphilis
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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Solar Activity

2MIN News August 18. 2012: Solar Flares & 6.6 Earthquake

Published on Aug 18, 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
Drought getting worse: http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/image/2012/drought-reinforcing-drought-in-th…
Official Ice Melt Comments: http://cc.rsoe.hu/index.php?pageid=news_read&hirid=859
US Pollution falling? http://phys.org/news/2012-08-carbon-emissions.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 EC)	20th August 2012	1 day(s)	0.0815	31.7	56 m – 130 m	5.57 km/s	20052 km/h
(2006 CV)	20th August 2012	1 day(s)	0.1744	67.9	290 m – 640 m	13.24 km/s	47664 km/h
162421 (2000 ET70)	21st August 2012	2 day(s)	0.1503	58.5	670 m – 1.5 km	12.92 km/s	46512 km/h
(2007 WU3)	21st August 2012	2 day(s)	0.1954	76.0	56 m – 120 m	5.25 km/s	18900 km/h
(2012 BB14)	24th August 2012	5 day(s)	0.1234	48.0	27 m – 60 m	2.58 km/s	9288 km/h
(2012 FM52)	25th August 2012	6 day(s)	0.0599	23.3	510 m – 1.1 km	17.17 km/s	61812 km/h
66146 (1998 TU3)	25th August 2012	6 day(s)	0.1265	49.2	3.0 km – 6.8 km	16.03 km/s	57708 km/h
(2009 AV)	26th August 2012	7 day(s)	0.1615	62.8	670 m – 1.5 km	22.51 km/s	81036 km/h
331769 (2003 BQ35)	28th August 2012	9 day(s)	0.1585	61.7	240 m – 530 m	4.64 km/s	16704 km/h
(2010 SC)	28th August 2012	9 day(s)	0.1679	65.3	16 m – 36 m	9.56 km/s	34416 km/h
4769 Castalia	28th August 2012	9 day(s)	0.1135	44.2	1.4 km	12.06 km/s	43416 km/h
(2012 LU7)	02nd September 2012	14 day(s)	0.1200	46.7	440 m – 990 m	8.16 km/s	29376 km/h
(2012 FS35)	02nd September 2012	14 day(s)	0.1545	60.1	2.3 m – 5.2 m	2.87 km/s	10332 km/h
(2012 HG31)	03rd September 2012	15 day(s)	0.0716	27.9	440 m – 990 m	10.33 km/s	37188 km/h
(2012 PX)	04th September 2012	16 day(s)	0.0452	17.6	61 m – 140 m	9.94 km/s	35784 km/h
(2012 EH5)	05th September 2012	17 day(s)	0.1613	62.8	38 m – 84 m	9.75 km/s	35100 km/h
(2011 EO11)	05th September 2012	17 day(s)	0.1034	40.2	9.0 m – 20 m	8.81 km/s	31716 km/h
(2007 PS25)	06th September 2012	18 day(s)	0.0497	19.3	23 m – 52 m	8.50 km/s	30600 km/h
329520 (2002 SV)	08th September 2012	20 day(s)	0.1076	41.9	300 m – 670 m	9.17 km/s	33012 km/h
(2011 ES4)	10th September 2012	22 day(s)	0.1792	69.8	20 m – 44 m	12.96 km/s	46656 km/h
(2008 CO)	11th September 2012	23 day(s)	0.1847	71.9	74 m – 160 m	4.10 km/s	14760 km/h
(2007 PB8)	14th September 2012	26 day(s)	0.1682	65.5	150 m – 340 m	14.51 km/s	52236 km/h
226514 (2003 UX34)	14th September 2012	26 day(s)	0.1882	73.2	260 m – 590 m	25.74 km/s	92664 km/h
(1998 QC1)	14th September 2012	26 day(s)	0.1642	63.9	310 m – 700 m	17.11 km/s	61596 km/h
(2002 EM6)	15th September 2012	27 day(s)	0.1833	71.3	270 m – 590 m	18.56 km/s	66816 km/h
(2002 RP137)	16th September 2012	28 day(s)	0.1624	63.2	67 m – 150 m	7.31 km/s	26316 km/h
(2009 RX4)	16th September 2012	28 day(s)	0.1701	66.2	15 m – 35 m	8.35 km/s	30060 km/h
(2005 UC)	17th September 2012	29 day(s)	0.1992	77.5	280 m – 640 m	7.55 km/s	27180 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

..Curiosity’s ChemCam Will “Zap” First Martian Rock On Saturday Night. Aug. 18 –
Target Area – Glenelg
 

MessageToEagle.com – The scientists and engineers of NASA’s Curiosity rover mission have selected the first driving destination for their one-ton, six-wheeled mobile Mars laboratory.

The target area, named Glenelg, is a natural intersection of three kinds of terrain. The choice was described by Curiosity Principal Investigator John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology during a media teleconference on Aug. 17.

“With such a great landing spot in Gale Crater, we literally had every degree of the compass to choose from for our first drive,” Grotzinger said. “We had a bunch of strong contenders.

It is the kind of dilemma planetary scientists dream of, but you can only go one place for the first drilling for a rock sample on Mars. That first drilling will be a huge moment in the history of Mars exploration.” The trek to Glenelg will send the rover 1,300 feet (400 meters) east-southeast of its landing site. One of the three types of terrain intersecting at Glenelg is layered bedrock, which is attractive as the first drilling target. “We’re about ready to load our new destination into our GPS and head out onto the open road,” Grotzinger said.

“Our challenge is there is no GPS on Mars, so we have a roomful of rover-driver engineers providing our turn-by-turn navigation for us.”

Prior to the rover’s trip to Glenelg, the team in charge of Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera instrument, or ChemCam, is planning to give their mast-mounted, rock-zapping laser and telescope combination a thorough checkout.

 

Curiosity Rover Report – Aug. 17, 2012. Credits: JPL/NASA

On Saturday night, Aug. 18, ChemCam is expected to “zap” its first rock in the name of planetary science. It will be the first time such a powerful laser has been used on the surface of another world.

“Rock N165 looks like your typical Mars rock, about three inches wide. It’s about 10 feet away,” said Roger Wiens, principal investigator of the ChemCam instrument from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. “We are going to hit it with 14 millijoules of energy 30 times in 10 seconds. It is not only going to be an excellent test of our system, it should be pretty cool too.”

 

Click on image to enlargeGlenelg Intrigue

This image shows a closer view of the landing site of NASA’s Curiosity rover and a destination nearby known as Glenelg. Curiosity landed inside Gale Crater on Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT) at the blue dot. It is planning on driving to an area marked with a red dot that is nicknamed Glenelg. That area marks the intersection of three kinds of terrain.
Starting clockwise from the top of this image, scientists are interested in this brighter terrain because it may represent a kind of bedrock suitable for eventual drilling by Curiosity. The next terrain shows the marks of many small craters and intrigues scientists because it might represent an older or harder surface. The third, which is the kind of terrain Curiosity landed in, is interesting because scientists can try to determine if the same kind of rock texture at Goulburn, an area where blasts from the descent stage rocket engines scoured away some of the surface, also occurs at Glenelg.
The science team thought the name Glenelg was appropriate because, if Curiosity traveled there, it would visit the area twice — both coming and going — and the word Glenelg is a palindrome. After Glenelg, the rover will aim to drive to the base of Mount Sharp.
These annotations have been made on top of an image acquired by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Mission engineers are devoting more time to planning the first roll of Curiosity. In the coming days, the rover will exercise each of its four steerable (front and back) wheels, turning each of them side-to-side before ending up with each wheel pointing straight ahead. On a later day, the rover will drive forward about one rover-length (10 feet, or 3 meters), turn 90 degrees, and then kick into reverse for about 7 feet (2 meters).

“There will be a lot of important firsts that will be taking place for Curiosity over the next few weeks, but the first motion of its wheels, the first time our roving laboratory on Mars does some actual roving, that will be something special,” said Michael Watkins, mission manager for Curiosity from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 10:31:45 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5 (1:31:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6), which included the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light.

The audio and visuals of the teleconference are archived and available for viewing at: – here

 

© MessageToEagle.com

See also:
Curiosity’s First Week On Mars – Looking Through The Rover’s Eyes

Curiosity Delivers First Colored Image From Mars

 

 

 

A Lonely Galactic Island –
Nine Million Light-Years Away From Our Solar System 

MessageToEagle.com – The Milky Way galaxy is part of a larger cosmic neighborhood, consisting of more than 35 galaxies known as the Local Group.

One of the most prominent members of the Local group and at the same time – our neighbor is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It has two small satellite galaxies, M32 and M110.

Also prominent in the local group is the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), Leo I, and NGC 6822. There are over 30 galaxies that are considered to be in the local group, and they are spread over a diameter of nearly 10 million light years, with the center of them being somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy.

 

Both M31 and the Milky Way have dwarf galaxies associated with them. Numerous, less glamorous dwarf galaxies, keep the Milky Way company. Many other galaxies, however, are comparatively isolated, and have no close neighbors. One of them is a lonely galactic island – a dwarf irregular galaxy called DDO 190. Recently, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope with its advanced Camera for Surveys, captured a new image of this lonely galactic island. DDO 190 is relatively small and lacks clear structure.

Older, reddish stars mostly populate DDO 190’s outskirts, while some younger, bluish stars gleam in DDO 190’s more crowded interior.

Some pockets of ionised gas heated up by stars appear here and there, with the most noticeable one shining towards the bottom of DDO 190 in this picture.

 

Click on image to enlarge

DDO 190 lies around 9 million light years away from our solar system.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Meanwhile, a great number of distant galaxies with evident spiral, elliptical and less-defined shapes glow in the background.

DDO 190 lies around nine million light-years away from our Solar System. It is considered part of the loosely associated Messier 94 group of galaxies, not far from the Local Group of galaxies that includes the Milky Way.

Canadian astronomer Sidney van der Bergh was the first to record DDO 190 in 1959 as part of the DDO catalogue of dwarf galaxies. (“DDO” stands for the David Dunlap Observatory, now managed by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, where the catalogue was created).

Although within the Messier 94 group, DDO 190 is on its own. The galaxy’s nearest dwarf galaxy neighbour, DDO 187, is thought to be no closer than three million light-years away. In contrast, many of the Milky Way’s companion galaxies, such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, reside within a fifth or so of that distance, and even the giant spiral of the Andromeda Galaxy is closer to the Milky Way than DDO 190 is to its nearest neighbour.

Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys captured this image in visible and infrared light. The field of view is around 3.3 by 3.3 arcminutes

MessageToEagle.com

See also:
Extraordinary Phoenix Galaxy Cluster – One Of The Largest Objects In The Universe With Record-Breaking Star Formation

 

 

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Biological Hazards / Wildlife / Hazmat

‘Crazy’: Dozens of dead birds fall from the sky in New Jersey

By Dan Stamm, NBC10.com

Residents in a Cumberland County, N.J., community were left wondering what caused dozens of birds to drop dead from the sky earlier this week.

Residents along Peach Drive in Millville found at least 80 dead birds — mostly red-winged blackbirds — on the ground, having fallen from trees and the sky.

“Crazy — something out of a movie,” said resident Michelle Cavalieri, who saw the birds fall.

The birds caused a bloody mess on roadways in the residential neighborhood.

“They’d get up and try and fly and they were out of control so they’d crash and fall again,” said resident Jim Sinclair. “It was just strange.”

Animal control, public health officials and other emergency crews were on the scene Tuesday morning collecting dead birds to try and figure out exactly what caused so many of them to die.

Cumberland County Public Information Officer Troy Ferus said the birds’ death likely was caused by something they ate — a granular pesticide put down legally by nearby Ingraldi Farms.

One of dozens of birds that was found dead on the ground in Millville, N.J.

“Preliminary investigation gives us the impression that.. he had problems with birds,” said Ferus. “He applied for and got a permit for a product that kills birds and that’s what it seems to have been effective at doing.”

Here is the county’s press release on the incident:

The Department of Health reports that Monday evening Ingraldi Farms applied a granular pesticide intended and approved to cull birds, causing an unusually high volume of dead birds in the area of Ingraldi Farms and Whitemarsh Estates in Millville.

The material used; Avitrol Double Strength Corn Chops (EPA reg. # 11649-5) is approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and intended to be used for bird control for Blackbirds, Brewer’s Blackbirds, Cowbirds, Grackles, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Rusty Blackbird, Starlings and Yellow-Headed Blackbirds.

In the past, Ingraldi Farms has also used Avian Control (EPA reg. # 33162-1) a ready to use liquid repellent intended to be used for bird control for Geese, Gull, Pigeon, Crows, Starlings, House Sparrows, Blackbirds, Grackles and House Finches.

Ingraldi Farms is licensed through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to apply pesticides on their farms and has been working with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife to alleviate the crop damage done by large flocks of birds. Remedies include auditory shock, hunting and pesticides. Ingraldi Farms has estimated a crop loss of $15,000 so far, due to the birds eating their crops.

Bird specimens have been collected and are being sent to the NJ-Department of Environmental Protection Laboratory for testing.

No one at Ingraldi Farms would talk to NBC10’s Ted Greenberg when he went there for comment.

Officials say the dead birds are not toxic, but that any member of the public that encounters a dead bird should use gloves when picking it up and wash their hands thoroughly after handling and disposing of it in the trash.

But they put out a call to residents Tuesday afternoon that urged residents to remain inside “due to an odor and the death of several birds in the area.”

Recently, bird kills have happened in various locations around the world — possibly none more famous than the New Year’s Eve death of hundreds of blackbirds in Arkansas.

Today

Biological Hazard

Panama

Peovince of Herrera , Monagrillo

Biological Hazard in Panama on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 17:05 (05:05 PM) UTC.

Description
One possible case of [a] hantavirus [infection] was reported in Herrera province after a 32 year old patient, resident of the Monagrillo neighborhood, presented with symptoms of the disease [probably hantavirus pulmonary syndrome]. Francisco Rios, regional health director of the province, stated that tests on the patient to determine if he had this disease were negative. Despite these results, the man was moved to the capital city where the tests are being done again by the Gorgas Memorial Center. It is worth noting that 2 family members of this man are currently in hospital, having presented with the same symptoms. Because of this, authorities of the Ministry of Health have carried out an inspection of the house of the patient, where they determined that there were various risk factors for the disease within the home.
Biohazard name:	Hantavirus
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

Today

Biological Hazard

Japan

Province of Hokkaido, Sapporo

Biological Hazard in Japan on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 13:50 (01:50 PM) UTC.

Description
Seven people, most of them elderly women, died after eating pickles contaminated with E. coli in northern Japan, officials said Sunday, in the country’s deadliest mass food poisoning in 10 years. A total of 103 others have been made ill after eating the same lightly pickled Chinese cabbage produced in late July by a company in the city of Sapporo, according to health bulletins issued by the local government. Of the dead, six were elderly women who ate the pickles at nursing homes in Sapporo and in another city on Hokkaido island. A four-year-old girl died on August 11 in Sapporo. In the city of Ebetsu, a woman centenarian died early Sunday from multiple-organ failure, nine days after she was hospitalised, a Hokkaido regional health official said. “She ate the pickles served at breakfast at her nursing home on August 1,” the official, Narihiko Kawamura, told AFP by telephone. The Sapporo girl died five days after developing symptoms of E. coli poisoning, according to an official at the city’s public health centre. “She and her family used to eat the company’s cabbage pickles, which they often bought at a local supermarket. But it is not certain when she ate the contaminated product,” the official, Seiichi Miyahara, said by telephone. Two other women in their 90s died on Thursday in Ebetsu after eating the pickles at nursing homes.
Biohazard name:	E Coli Outbreak (contaminated pickles)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

19.08.2012

Biological Hazard

Vietnam

Province of Thanh Hoa, Quang Ngu Village [Sam Son District]

Biological Hazard in Vietnam on Saturday, 18 August, 2012 at 11:12 (11:12 AM) UTC.

Description
Bird flu has broken out in three districts of Thanh Hoa province and thousand of birds have been culled. The disease was discovered in Quang Ngu village, Sam Son town, said Pham Van Can, head of the communal Veterinary Centre, on August 18. Can said that after it was detected on July 24, the authorities sent blood samples for testing, which came back positive for the H5N1virus. Quang Ngu has since destroyed more than 300 birds. Bird flu outbreaks have also been reported in three villages in Hau Loc district over the period of a week and more than 13,000 birds have been culled. These localities have strengthened supervision and sent working groups to be on duty around the clock to prevent sick birds from being transported outside the area.
Biohazard name:	Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (H5N1)
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

19.08.2012

Biological Hazard

USA

State of California, [Yosemite National Park]

Biological Hazard in USA on Saturday, 18 August, 2012 at 10:43 (10:43 AM) UTC.

Description
A man died and a woman became seriously ill after contracting a rare rodent-borne disease that might have been linked to their stay at a popular lodging area in Yosemite National Park, officials said Thursday. The man was the first person to die from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome contracted in the park, though two others were stricken in a more remote area in 2000 and 2010, officials said. Testing by the Centers for Disease Control and the California Department of Public Health showed the virus was present in fecal matter from deer mice trapped near Curry Village, an historic, family friendly area of cabins. “There’s no way to tell for sure, but state health officials feel they may have contracted it here in Curry Village,” park spokesman Scott Gediman said. The woman was expected to survive. Their names weren’t released. Hantavirus develops from breathing in particles transmitted by rodent droppings, urine or saliva. Early symptoms of hantavirus can include fever and muscle aches, chills, headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and coughing. Symptoms can show up within one to six weeks after exposure. There is no specific treatment for the virus, and about one-third of people who contract it will die. Curry Village is the most popular and economical lodging area in the park, a picturesque assemblage of rustic cabins at the base of the 3,000-foot promontory Glacier Point. Earlier this summer park officials placed some of the area off limits when a geologist’s report revealed it is a rock fall hazard zone. Both victims stayed at the park on overlapping days in June in canvas tent cabins located about 100 feet apart from each other, park officials said. Tent cabins are built on wooden platforms and are impossible to completely seal. “It’s a wilderness setting and the inspections have shown that the park concessionaire has done an excellent job at keeping them clean,” Gediman said. “But there are rodents in the wilderness and some of them are infected and that’s what happens.” There have been 60 cases in California and 587 nationally since hantavirus pulmonary syndrome was first identified in 1993. These two new cases bring to four the number of people stricken in California this year. Most cases are in the eastern Sierra at higher elevations. The park’s two previous cases were contracted in Tuolumne Meadows at 8,600 feet. Yosemite Valley is 4,000 feet. Health officials say people should avoid contact with mice and other rodents. People should wear gloves and spray areas contaminated with rodent droppings and urine with a 10 percent bleach solution then wait 15 minutes before cleaning the area. State health officials said their investigation showed that park concessionaire Delaware North Co. used good cleaning practices. Company officials are telling visitors when they call to make reservations that the outbreak has occurred, said spokeswoman Lisa Cesaro. She said the company is working with the park service to come up with a plan to educate visitors about the potential danger.
Biohazard name:	Hantavirus
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

Today

HAZMAT

USA

State of California, San Francisco [Treasure Island]

HAZMAT in USA on Sunday, 19 August, 2012 at 03:42 (03:42 AM) UTC.

Description

The city of San Francisco plans to convert former Naval base ‘Treasure Island’ into a residential neighborhood, but new reports by the US Navy and public health officials suggest the island may be more radioactive than previously believed. Construction is set to begin on a planned 20,000-person high-rise community in 2013, right in the middle of scenic San Francisco Bay. Treasure Island, whose former facilities included a training center for radioactive decontamination, is already the site of multiple recreation centers and home to 2,500. But recent reports have put the city’s lofty plans for the manmade island on hold. While the past use of the island as a naval site is public knowledge, new reports compiled by civilian investigators hired by the Navy have revealed that radioactive exercises at the base were more extensive than previously revealed. The new Navy report and several emails cite numerous concerns from public health officials over the actual levels of leftover radioactivity, San Francisco-based nonprofit news publication The Bay Citizen reported. New investigations have revealed that gun sights on Navy ships containing radioactive material were routinely repaired there. Several ships from the Pacific fleet that may have been contaminated by radiation from US nuclear bomb tests also underwent refits at the island. The report showed that the Navy was so concerned about radioactive contamination on the island at one point that it built a ‘counting room,’ which would measure whether personnel had been overexposed to radiation. The Navy previously revealed that the island was home to training programs on how to decontaminate radioactive ships. A mock-up ship, the USS Pandemonium, was repeatedly doused with radioactive material and cleaned by Navy trainees. The Navy claimed that the material used on the ship was not highly radioactive, and dissipated within weeks. But a classroom spill in 1950 prompted a cleanup, and 200 barrels of contaminated material were dumped into the ocean. When the Navy cleaned up the island in 1997, they disposed of the remains of the USS Pandemonium at an undisclosed location, and declared the former training sites clear without testing them for radiation. The Navy has yet to reveal the location of the scrapped USS Pandemonium. The Navy is selling the island to the city of San Francisco for $105 million, prompting health inspectors to press the Navy for more details after discovering contaminated soil areas that had previously been declared clean. In December 2010, Navy contractors excavated and removed 16,000 yards of contaminated dirt, some with levels of radioactivity up to 400 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s limit for human exposure. In another incident in August 2011, the Health Department raised concerns that a contracted Navy cleanup crew may have accidentally exposed children on the island to radioactive dust at a Boys & Girls Club and a child development center. The Department of Toxic Substances Control, a separate agency also monitoring the cleanup, maintains that the children were never exposed to radiation. It echoed the Navy’s claim that much of the island is safe for final transfer to the city of San Francisco, citing the Navy’s 2006 report, ‘Final Treasure Island Naval Station Historical Radiological Assessment.’ Overall radiation levels on the island are only slightly higher than the exposure one would receive in a typical backyard, and do not pose a threat to the planned community, nor to the residents already living there, the Navy and the Department of Toxic Substances Control said. But health officials and activists argue that those assessments are premature, as the contractors hired to remove waste based their efforts on the 2006 report, which health officials consider erroneous in light of recent developments. Stephen Woods, an environmental cleanup manager for the public health department, wrote in a 2011 memo that “the large volume of radiological contaminated material, high number of radioactive commodities, (individual items or sources,) and high levels of radioactive contamination … have raised concerns with the CDPH (California Department of Public Health) regarding the nature and extent of the radiological contamination present at Treasure Island.” By May of that year, over 1,000 truckloads of radioactive waste had been removed from the island, with more to go, Woods wrote, concluding that such a massive cleanup operation would certainly undermine the Navy’s 2006 report. The island is therefore much more radioactive than the Navy had previously acknowledged, he said. “That amount of radium found to date cannot be explained by gauges, deck markers and decontamination activities,” he wrote.

 

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Doljevac, Serbia : “I will sell my kidney, my liver, or do anything necessary to survive,”

Black market for body parts spreads among Europe’s poor

‘When you need to put food on the table, selling a kidney doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice’

By DAN BILEFSKY

BELGRADE, Serbia — Pavle Mircov and his partner, Daniella, nervously scan their e-mail in-box every 15 minutes, desperate for economic salvation: a buyer willing to pay nearly $40,000 for one of their kidneys.The couple, the parents of two teenagers, put their organs up for sale on a local online classified site six months ago after Mr. Mircov, 50, lost his job at a meat factory here. He has not been able to find any work, he said, so he has grown desperate. When his father recently died, Mr. Mircov could not afford a tombstone. The telephone service has been cut off. One meal a day of bread and salami is the family’s only extravagance.

“When you need to put food on the table, selling a kidney doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice,” Mr. Mircov said.

Facing grinding poverty, some Europeans are seeking to sell their kidneys, lungs, bone marrow or corneas, experts say. This phenomenon is relatively new in Serbia, a nation that has been battered by war and is grappling with the financial crisis that has swept the Continent. The spread of illegal organ sales into Europe, where they are gaining momentum, has been abetted by the Internet, a global shortage of organs for transplants and, in some cases, unscrupulous traffickers ready to exploit the economic misery.

$250K for lungs
In Spain, Italy, Greece and Russia, advertisements by people peddling organs — as well as hair, sperm and breast milk — have turned up on the Internet, with asking prices for lungs as high as $250,000. In late May, the Israeli police detained 10 members of an international crime ring suspected of organ trafficking in Europe, European Union law enforcement officials said. The officials said the suspects had targeted impoverished people in Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Spain’s economic crisis turns middle-class families into squatters

“Organ trafficking is a growth industry,” said Jonathan Ratel, a European Union special prosecutor who is leading a case against seven people accused of luring poor victims from Turkey and former communist countries to Kosovo to sell their kidneys with false promises of payments of up to $20,000. “Organized criminal groups are preying upon the vulnerable on both sides of the supply chain: people suffering from chronic poverty, and desperate and wealthy patients who will do anything to survive.”

The main supply countries have traditionally been China, India, Brazil and the Philippines. But experts say Europeans are increasingly vulnerable.

An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 kidneys are illegally sold globally each year, according to Organs Watch, a human rights group in Berkeley, Calif., that tracks the illegal organ trade. The World Health Organization estimates that only 10 percent of global needs for organ transplantation are being met.

Greek bank worker plunges to death from Acropolis

Nancy Scheper-Hughes, the director of Organs Watch and a professor of medical anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, said the attempt by poor Europeans to sell their organs was reminiscent of the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when chronic joblessness created a new breed of willing sellers.

Trade in organs in Serbia is illegal and punishable by up to 10 years in prison. But that is not deterring the people of Doljevac, a poor municipality of 19,000 people in southern Serbia, where the government refused an attempt by residents to register a local agency to sell their organs and blood abroad for profit.

‘Blood group A’
Violeta Cavac, a homemaker advocating for the network, said that the unemployment rate in Doljevac was 50 percent and that more than 3,000 people had wanted to participate. Deprived of a legal channel to sell their organs, she said, residents are now trying to sell body parts in neighboring Bulgaria or in Kosovo.

“I will sell my kidney, my liver, or do anything necessary to survive,” she said.

Hunched over his computer in Kovin, about 25 miles from Belgrade, Mr. Mircov showed a reporter his kidney-for-sale advertisement, which included his blood type and phone number.

“Must sell kidney. Blood group A,” the ad said. “My financial situation is very difficult. I lost my job, and I need money for school for my two children.”

Related articles

• Black Market for Body Parts Spreads in Europe (nytimes.com)
• Organ Trafficking Increases in Europe as Crisis Spreads (valuewalk.com)
• Elswhere In The World: Black Market For Body Parts Popular Among Struggling Citizens In Europe (bossip.com)
• Max Nisen ~ The Euro Crisis Is So Bad That People Are Selling Their Kidneys Just To Get By (Thanks, Thomas) (shiftfrequency.com)
• Israelis run organ trafficking network (presstv.ir)
• Israelis arrested for human organ trafficking (jta.org)
• Illegal kidney trade booms as new organ is ‘sold every hour’ (guardian.co.uk)
• Black market in human kidneys grows to 10,000 operations a year (rawstory.com)

Earth Watch Report – Wednesday June 27th, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
27.06.2012 06:15:32	2.2	North America	United States	Hawaii	Komakawai				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 06:05:34	4.4	South America	Colombia	Departamento del Valle del Cauca	Venecia				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 05:45:29	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Happy Valley				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 06:00:28	4.6	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia	Propinsi Maluku	Yafila				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 05:20:24	3.2	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
27.06.2012 05:20:44	3.4	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:45:28	4.5	Middle East	Iran	Ostan-e Lorestan	Sohran				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 05:21:03	4.3	Middle-East	Iran		Kamar Boneh				EMSC
27.06.2012 05:21:23	2.9	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 05:21:41	2.1	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
27.06.2012 05:35:39	3.4	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		Belle Vue				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 04:20:40	2.0	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:21:00	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Bagsaray				EMSC
27.06.2012 05:22:07	3.5	South-America	Chile		Monolito				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:21:21	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Alos				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:21:42	2.0	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:21:42	3.0	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:22:03	3.7	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:22:03	2.6	Europe	Italy		Petracca				EMSC
27.06.2012 03:15:23	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Egrikonak				EMSC
27.06.2012 03:05:25	2.5	North America	United States	Nevada	Incline Village				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 03:15:45	4.5	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Gerwali				EMSC
27.06.2012 03:17:34	4.5	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Gerwali				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 04:22:25	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 03:16:07	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Alakilise				EMSC
27.06.2012 03:16:29	3.4	Europe	Spain		Echedo				EMSC
27.06.2012 03:16:50	3.0	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 04:22:44	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:15:21	2.5	Europe	Greece		Panormitis				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:15:44	3.3	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 03:17:11	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:16:07	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Suruyolu				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:35:54	2.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Sanak				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 02:16:31	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:16:50	3.0	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:17:08	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 00:10:35	3.1	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 01:10:30	3.8	Europe	Russia		Dagomys				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:17:09	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 00:10:59	3.1	South-America	Chile		Los Ranchones				EMSC
26.06.2012 23:31:08	2.9	North America	United States	Nevada	Incline Village				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 01:10:50	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 01:11:09	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 02:10:36	4.3	South America	Peru	Departamento de Ica	El Salitral				USGS-RSOE
27.06.2012 02:17:31	4.3	South-America	Peru		El Salitral				EMSC
27.06.2012 00:11:21	2.0	Europe	Italy		Monteaperti				EMSC
27.06.2012 01:11:30	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 23:10:31	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Kapikargin				EMSC
27.06.2012 01:11:50	2.9	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 01:12:13	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 00:11:41	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
27.06.2012 00:12:00	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 23:10:57	2.5	Europe	Italy		Monteaperti				EMSC
27.06.2012 00:12:01	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 23:11:17	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 23:11:35	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 22:05:35	2.0	Europe	Italy		La Balantina				EMSC
26.06.2012 23:11:56	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 23:12:18	2.4	Europe	Romania		Muncei				EMSC
26.06.2012 22:05:55	2.3	Europe	Greece		Iraion				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:10:40	2.7	North America	United States	Nevada	Incline Village				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 22:06:18	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 22:06:38	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 22:06:56	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 22:07:17	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:35:35	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Montana				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 21:05:23	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:05:49	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:15:30	2.5	North America	United States	Alaska	Kanatak				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 21:06:12	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:06:33	3.3	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:06:57	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:07:18	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:07:39	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:07:59	2.7	Europe	Spain		Taibique				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:05:27	4.7	Middle-America	Guatemala		Yalanculuz				EMSC
26.06.2012 19:35:26	5.3	Middle America	Guatemala	Departamento de Huehuetenango	El Boqueron				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 20:05:49	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Alakilise				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:06:11	3.0	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:06:31	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:06:51	4.1	South-America	Chile		Lebu				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:07:12	3.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:55:37	2.4	North America	United States	California	Barstow Heights				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 20:07:30	3.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:08:00	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 21:08:22	3.0	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 19:05:29	2.6	Middle-East	Syria		Qarah Jujuq				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:30:53	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Drift River				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 20:07:51	3.1	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:08:14	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:05:57	2.1	North America	United States	California	El Cerrito				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 19:05:52	2.2	Europe	Italy		Le Cremosine				EMSC
26.06.2012 19:06:23	4.4	Asia	Tajikistan		Kandav				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:02:22	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Chandalar				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 18:00:28	2.8	Asia	Turkey		Akcaoren				EMSC
26.06.2012 19:06:43	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:00:48	2.4	Europe	Italy		Vallacquosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:01:09	2.3	Europe	Italy		Finale Emilia				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:01:27	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:08:34	3.4	South-America	Chile		Pichi Pellahuen				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:01:48	4.2	South-America	Chile		Casa de Lata				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:00:27	3.5	Europe	Cyprus		Neokhorio				EMSC
26.06.2012 20:09:12	4.0	Europe	Cyprus	Paphos District	Neokhorio				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 16:40:51	3.2	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	Las Cabanas				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 17:00:48	2.7	Europe	Austria		Hart im Zillertal				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:01:08	2.6	Europe	Greece		Palaiochorion				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:45:45	5.2	Asia	Russia	Kamchatskaya Oblast'	Klyuchi				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 17:01:29	5.0	Europe	Russia		Klyuchi				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:01:48	3.6	Europe	Cyprus		Neokhorio				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:02:11	4.2	Europe	Cyprus		Neokhorio				EMSC
26.06.2012 18:35:36	4.1	Europe	Cyprus	Paphos District	Maa				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 15:57:54	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Port Alsworth				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 16:35:53	4.6	Asia	Japan	Miyagi-ken	Niiyamahama				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 17:02:32	4.6	Asia	Japan		Niiyamahama				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:02:52	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 15:55:28	2.3	Europe	Serbia		Popovici				EMSC
26.06.2012 15:55:49	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Soke				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:02:53	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 15:56:11	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kuzkoy				EMSC
26.06.2012 14:51:49	5.5	Pacific Ocean	Tonga		Ha`utu				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 15:56:32	5.0	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Ha`utu				EMSC
26.06.2012 15:56:54	3.3	South-America	Argentina		Nueva California				EMSC
26.06.2012 15:57:15	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 14:10:44	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Kantishna				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 13:40:39	2.1	North America	United States	California	Glenbrook				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 13:41:01	2.4	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	El Carrizo				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 13:50:31	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Yenikoy				EMSC
26.06.2012 13:50:56	3.0	Europe	Italy		Pantelleria				EMSC
26.06.2012 13:51:19	3.8	Europe	Greece		Kokkinoyio				EMSC
26.06.2012 14:50:32	2.6	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
26.06.2012 13:51:38	3.1	Europe	Greece		Vatsiana				EMSC
26.06.2012 14:50:53	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 14:51:14	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 14:51:14	3.1	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
26.06.2012 13:51:59	4.0	South-America	Chile		Laguna Verde				EMSC
26.06.2012 12:50:29	2.1	Europe	Germany		Stengelhaide				EMSC
26.06.2012 12:10:42	3.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Paxson				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 12:51:36	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Bahceyaka				EMSC
26.06.2012 11:50:29	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Osmaniye				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:26:13	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Happy Valley				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 13:52:23	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 11:50:49	4.5	Asia	Japan		Tanesashi				EMSC
26.06.2012 11:35:34	4.5	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Taneichi				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 11:51:09	3.6	Middle-East	Iran		Habash-e `Olya				EMSC
26.06.2012 13:52:45	3.0	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 12:51:57	2.8	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 12:52:36	3.0	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
26.06.2012 10:46:45	2.2	North America	United States	California	Lake View Terrace				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 12:52:55	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 11:51:31	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Koseler				EMSC
26.06.2012 11:40:45	4.4	North America	United States	Alaska	Biorka				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 11:51:51	4.4	North-America	United States		Biorka				EMSC
26.06.2012 10:50:40	3.5	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Romana	La Romana				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 12:52:56	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 11:30:42	4.2	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	Okiwi				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 11:52:29	4.2	Australia & New-Zealand	New Zealand		Okiwi				EMSC
26.06.2012 12:53:17	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 12:53:39	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 10:05:42	2.5	North America	United States	California	DeCamp				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 10:45:31	2.7	Asia	Turkey		Kinali				EMSC
26.06.2012 10:45:52	2.4	Europe	Greece		Archangelos				EMSC
26.06.2012 09:31:06	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Iniskin				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 09:40:27	4.6	South-America	Chile		Culenar				EMSC
26.06.2012 09:42:55	4.5	South America	Chile	Region del Maule	San Clemente				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 09:40:47	2.5	Europe	Italy		Buda				EMSC
26.06.2012 09:41:09	2.1	Europe	Italy		Carpi				EMSC
26.06.2012 11:52:51	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 09:41:30	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Bayir				EMSC
26.06.2012 08:45:40	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Fox River				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 11:53:11	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
26.06.2012 08:35:28	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Camlikoy				EMSC
26.06.2012 17:10:35	2.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Hospital Valley				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 08:25:32	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Hanaipoe				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 08:25:53	2.4	Caribbean	Puerto Rico		Colonia Lujan				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 08:00:42	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Iniskin				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 07:50:33	2.4	North America	United States	California	Mesquite Oasis				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 08:01:03	2.5	North America	United States	Alaska	Kaktovik				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 08:35:51	3.1	South-America	Chile		Talinay Alto				EMSC
26.06.2012 10:46:16	2.5	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:35:27	4.4	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Roworante				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:30:42	4.6	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Roworante				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 07:35:46	3.0	Europe	Greece		Tsakopiakaiika				EMSC
26.06.2012 08:36:19	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Cokertme				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:36:11	2.5	Europe	Greece		Marathias				EMSC
26.06.2012 08:36:42	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Gokbel				EMSC
26.06.2012 09:41:51	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:36:34	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Kahya				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:36:55	2.7	Asia	Turkey		Suluca				EMSC
26.06.2012 06:30:35	2.6	Europe	Poland		Chocianowiec				EMSC
26.06.2012 06:25:42	3.2	North America	United States	California	Yucca Valley				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 08:37:01	2.7	Europe	Spain		Los Llanillos				EMSC
26.06.2012 08:37:21	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:37:16	2.9	Europe	Spain		Las Casas				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:37:37	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kizilkaya				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:20:32	2.6	North America	United States	Texas	Alvarado				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 07:37:58	2.5	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:37:59	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:38:32	2.7	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:38:52	2.4	Europe	Albania		Rrushkull				EMSC
26.06.2012 06:30:54	3.3	Europe	Portugal		Ponte de Baixo				EMSC
26.06.2012 08:10:35	3.9	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	Nisibon				USGS-RSOE
26.06.2012 06:31:15	2.6	Europe	Spain		Sabinosa				EMSC
26.06.2012 06:31:36	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Mollakasim				EMSC
26.06.2012 06:31:56	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Erisen				EMSC
26.06.2012 07:39:12	2.3	Europe	Albania		Nderfushaz				EMSC
26.06.2012 08:31:10	3.5	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	Weedons				GEONET

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Volcanic Activity

Shiveluch eruption continues

The Shiveluch Volcano. © Photo: ru.wikipedia.org/NASA/JSC

The Shiveluch Volcano, which is currently erupting in Kamchatka, threw up two pillars of ash, to a height of 6.5 km.

It has been assigned an aviation hazard level of code orange according to the Geological Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The ash particles can damage to aircraft engines and mechanisms and caused an aviation disaster.

Seismic activity is above the norm but there is no danger to human settlements.

Shiveluch has seen increased since May 2009.

IF

Stromboli volcano (Italy): moderately strong activity

Volcano Discovery

BY: T

Powerful eruption of Stromboli’s east crater, showering its flanks with incandescent bombs (photo: Marc Szlegat)

Our colleague Marc Szlegat just returned from a visit to Stromboli volcano whose activity has recently been increasing. Marc observed that there were 5 active glowing vents within the crater terrace. The most spectacular explosions took place from the eastern vent, the cone that had been building since 2009. They occurred roughly every 20 minutes, with sometime powerful explosions ejecting lava bombs up to 300 m height, many of which falling onto the Sciara del Fuoco.
Frequent eruptions also occurred from the western vent, with typical ejection heights of 50-100 m, and occasionally up to about 200 m. A third vent in the central crater and rarely a vent at the extreme western end of the crater erupted occasionally as well.

El Hierro volcano (Canary Islands): continuing earthquakes, volcanic tremor and eruption warning

Volcano Discovery

BY: T

Reappearing volcanic tremor signal (IGN) at about 16h10 on 26 June

While the unusually strong earthquake swarm under El Hierro Island continues, harmonic volcanic tremor has reappeared short time ago at about 16h10 UTC.
The tremor, a low-frequency ground vibration, is thought to be caused by moving magma. It had been strong yesterday and correlated well with a southward propagation of earthquake locations, suggesting that magma at about 20 km depth flew from underneath the El Golfo area towards the EL Julan (south) coast, in a similar way as before the Oct 2011 eruption, but became blocked there, and did not reach the southern rift zone near La Restinga.
After the cease of tremor in the afternoon, earthquakes still continued at high rate, marking a record figure with over 180 quakes larger than M2 yesterday alone, and more than 150 quakes larger than M1.5 so far today.
In other words, pressure continued to cause wide-spread rock fracturing underground and cause small intrusions of fluids. Now, the re-appearance of tremor could mean that magma is moving again somewhere underneath the island. Where to and whether or not it might reach the surface and initiate a new eruption is difficult to know at the moment. It is essential to continue to monitor location and magnitude of earthquakes.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather / Drought

Excessive Heat Warning

WICHITA KS
KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
TOPEKA KS

Excessive Heat Watch

MOUNT HOLLY NJ
PHOENIX AZ
QUAD CITIES IA IL

Gale Warning

CAPE FEAR TO 31N OUT TO 32N 73W TO 31N 74W

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

RIVERTON WY
DODGE CITY KS
PUEBLO CO
SALT LAKE CITY UT
CHEYENNE WY
ELKO NV

Fire Weather Watch

JACKSON KY
WILMINGTON OH
LOUISVILLE KY
INDIANAPOLIS IN
PADUCAH KY
HASTINGS NE
GOODLAND KS
NORTHERN INDIANA

WALDO CANYON FIRE: As fire rages, pets flood Humane Society

CAROL MCGRAW

THE GAZETTE

Kitay and Pizi-Quah (left to right) meet up while many people wait to drop off their pets at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region. The owners were coming from the evacuted areas of the the Waldo Canyon fire on Sunday, June 24.

THE GAZETTE/JERILEE BENNETT

View Full Slideshow

 

The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region was like an ark in a sea of evacuee worry and tears.

Beloved pets came Sunday, not just two by two, but in every possible family configuration — three dogs here, two cats and a dog there, and  even Snoopy the ferret accompanied by three canine companions.

For hours, the driveway was filled with cars lined up to deliver their precious cargoes to the safe haven. At times there was hardly any space inside the intake office, filled with cages of glaring cats and barking dogs, and distraught owners hugging and kissing their animals and saying a temporary goodbye.

In the back rooms and basement there were cages of animals as far as the eye could see. Cats reached out with dainty paws to get attention. Some dogs cocked their heads questioningly. Other exhausted animals were asleep, oblivious to all the excitement.

There are so many pets housed there temporarily that by early evening, Erica Meyer, shelter spokeswoman, had lost count of how many they were housing. ‘Hundreds,” she said. ‘We are at capacity.”

On a normal day, there are 40 to 60 intakes a day. To ease the crowding, the Humane Society was offering shelter cats for free with no adoption fee. (Not those evacuated, of course.)

Officials plan to  open another temporary shelter sometime Monday in Colorado Springs. They have not yet revealed the location because they want to complete work first. In the meantime,  several other places are offering  temporary shelter. For information call  the Humane Society at  473-1741.

There have been more than 60 volunteers and staff members at work, many trained in disaster response. “It’s a good system and it’s working,” Meyer said.

Volunteers Sean Kinoff, 16, and his sister Sydney, 12, were busily cleaning cages .

“This is fun,” Sydney said.

Sean was impressed by the Humane Society’s altruism. “I think it is good of them to do this for people.”

In the parking lot, Henry Hess of Cascade had similar thoughts. “This place is a lifesaver,” he said.  He had his hands full with his own caged cats and a leashed dog who was very interested in the bushes outside the intake center. Hess and his wife are staying with relatives. But he was worried about two cats who had to be left behind because they hid somewhere in his house.

Dawn Minto, who lives in Manitou Springs near Williams Canyon, arrived with Shirley, a calico cat, and three kittens. She had already farmed out two dogs with friends. She, too, was worried about a cat who had disappeared.

“Our pets are our babies. Our kids are grown,” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks.

Pam Koontz arrived with several children, three dogs and the ferret Snoopy in tow. Daughter Zoe was trying to make Snoopy stay in his carrier.

“He doesn’t like it,” Zoe said. The ferret  kept peeking out to watch the goings on.

How did Koontz get all the animals rounded up?  “It wasn’t easy,” she said with a sigh.

Eight-five-year old Lucy Dell, who walks with a cane, arrived with her cat Sugary. “I hate to leave her,” she said.

Dell has lived in a cottage in Manitou for more than 23 years but was more concerned about the cat than her personal belongings. “I’ve had him for a  year and a half,” she said.

She was accompanied by her landlord, Firuz Labib, “Lucy has lived there for  years before we bought the place,” he said. We don’t call her a tenant. She is our good friend and we wanted to help her with her cat.”

Those not bringing in animals came bearing gifts of food, blankets and empty cages. Kristine Ballou brought sodas and munches for the volunteers.

“I have three cats and a dog that I got them here,” she said. “They do wonderful work.”

Karen McDonough unloaded  several empty crates she was donating to the shelter.

Her cat Mia, 9, died recently of kidney disease.

Tears welled up in her eyes. “I’m doing this for the other animals in honor of her.”
—
Contact Carol McGraw: 636-0371 Twitter @mcgrawatgazette Facebook Carol McGraw

Firefighters Continue to Battle Colorado Wildfire

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The High Park Fire continues to break hearts as the number of homes it has destroyed grew to nearly 250 over the weekend.

Crews previously confirmed that 191 homes had been destroyed by the fire, which has grown to 130 square miles and is 45 percent contained. Friday’s destruction brings that toll up to 248 homes. No structures or homes were damaged on Saturday, incident commander Bill Hahnenberg said in a media briefing Sunday morning.

The fire, which has cost $29.6 million to battle since it began June 9 due to lightning, claimed 80 structures — 57 homes — in Glacier View Meadows subdivision and the Deer Meadows area northwest of Fort Collins alone when it ripped through the area Friday.
Residents learned the fate of their homes on Sunday during a meeting for evacuees at The Ranch in Loveland.

Sunday night, the skies above Fort Collins opened up, pouring rain — and accompanying lightning — down on the area. The squall’s effects on the fire won’t be fully known until Monday morning, when it will be easier to see where rain helped firefighters and where smoke from lightning will signal more work.

In Glacier View, officials say a dozer line firefighters built saved “hundreds of homes,” while direct structure protection measures saved 40 more. Glacier View Fire Chief Greg Niswender told evacuees Sunday when the fire jumped the Poudre River at Stevens Gulch it was a mile wide and went through the 12th filing in less than 30 minutes.

“There was not a lot anyone was going to do,” he said, his voice cracking. Minutes later he had to tell friends and neighbors their homes were gone.

“This is the worst thing (Glacier View) has ever faced, but I wouldn’t want to face it with anyone else,” he told the anxious crowd.
The danger isn’t over for Glacier View residents or anyone living in or near the fire zone, officials cautioned. And, while more evacuees are going home, many are still displaced or on orders to be ready to go if needed.

With only 45 percent containment, the fire is still a threat.
Crews will continue to battle the fire in its northwest corner near Glacier View, and also will focus containment efforts on the burn area’s southwest corner to prevent its spread toward Pingree Park.
Temperatures in the mountains are expected to be in the 90s Monday with low humidity.

Meanwhile, a separate blaze prompted the evacuation of approximately 11,000 residents Sunday and is threatening a resort area near Manitou Springs.

The Waldo Canyon Fire is burning near Waldo Canyon off of Highway 24 and is at zero percent containment. The fire is at 3,600 acres and smoke could be seen from the Denver area over the weekend.
About 450 people are working the fire, just to the west of Colorado Springs. Officials said resources include three heavy air tankers, four single-engine air tankers and at least three helicopters.

By PAT FERRIER
Fort Collins Coloradoan

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.”

……………………………………

26.06.2012

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.

Today

Extreme Weather

Sweden

Dalarna County, Borlange [Peace and Love Music Festival]

Extreme Weather in Sweden on Wednesday, 27 June, 2012 at 03:25 (03:25 AM) UTC.

Description

Seventeen people have been taken to a hospital after being struck by lightning at Sweden’s Peace and Love Music Festival. As shown in the AP photo above, festival organizers set up a makeshift care center to begin transporting people to a local health facility near Borlänge, Central Sweden. “First we saw a lightning flash and then we heard a really loud clap of thunder. The next thing we knew, the ambulances had come,” says witness Amanda Andersen to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper (quote via The Local). Lightning struck the grounds around 3PM on Tuesday, just as the summer concert series was beginning. Rihanna, Mumford and Sons, Regina Spektor, Skrillex, Bloc Party and Billy Idol are just a few of the big-name performers. The people involved have reportedly received only minor injuries, with most “up and walking.” We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.

…………………………………

Corn Crisis Possible from Building Drought, Heat

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

Building drought and waves of heat continue to raise concerns about the corn crop and other agriculture in the Midwest to the central Plains.

In most areas, the drought is not as bad as 1988, but the situation has the potential to reach crisis level in part of the Corn Belt with typically the hottest part of the summer ahead.

According to Long Range and Agricultural Meteorologist Jason Nicholls, “Rainfall will be spotty and stingy as waves of heat expand from the central Plains to the Tennessee and Ohio valley states into July.”

The combination of drought and now heat is hitting the corn during the start of its pollination period, which is ahead of schedule by up to several weeks this year, due to warm weather in the spring.

“Essentially, if significant rain does not fall on the corn areas in severe drought over the next couple of weeks, yields could be severely impacted,” Nicholls said.

Part of the drought area includes a large part of the corn belt.

According to the “Hoosier Ag Today,” in Indiana, for example, as pasture conditions deteriorate, more operations were switching to feed hay and grain.

As the temperature climbs to extreme levels as it has already done over the Plains and will be doing over the Ohio Valley states in the coming days and weeks, more livestock will be under stress.

Temperatures surged to over 100 degrees Monday from Montana to Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas and reached the century mark in at least 19 states.

Near-100-degree heat is forecast to nose into the Ohio Valley for a several-day stint later this week into the weekend.

There will be a few clusters of thunderstorms rolling from west to east from the northern Plains into the Northeast through next week. Occasionally, a brief thunderstorm can visit part of the drought and heat area. However, it is not likely to be enough to bring lasting relief.

If the drought persists through July and into August, other crops, such as soybeans, could be seriously impacted.

Most of the rainfall will occur on the northern fringe of the drought area. For example, areas from northern Illinois to northern Ohio are more likely to have a brief downpour on one or two occasions, while areas in Arkansas may receive no rain at all during much of the next two weeks.

Fortunately, much of the northern part of the Corn Belt has been receiving rainfall on a more regular basis and temperatures have been much less extreme.

Evaporation rates of soil moisture in weather patterns like this, during late June and early July are on the order of 1/2 of an inch per day.

While we have not yet reached “cornmaggedon,” the situation is likely to get worse over the next couple of weeks over much of the drought area and a large part of the Corn Belt, rather than better.

Interestingly, money saved by consumers during the warm weather this past winter could be gobbled up by rising cooling costs this summer over the Plains and Midwest.

Potentially higher food prices could occur should the drought expand or worsen and corn yields end up being significantly lower than original expectations.

Many food, feed and fuel-related items utilize corn.

Pray for rain.

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Storms, Flooding, Landslides

Civil Emergency Message

JACKSONVILLE FL
TALLAHASSEE FL

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	27.06.2012	Tropical Depression	125 °	56 km/h	74 km/h	4.88 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: 342.70 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 26th Jun 2012 04:06:16 N 29° 12.000, W 85° 6.000 4 74 93 Tropical Storm 40 8 992 MB NHC 26th Jun 2012 07:06:22 N 29° 0.000, W 84° 36.000 7 83 102 Tropical Storm 90 11 992 MB NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 27th Jun 2012 05:06:55 N 29° 0.000, W 82° 48.000 11 56 74 Tropical Depression 125 ° 16 1000 MB NHC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 28th Jun 2012 12:00:00 N 30° 18.000, W 77° 48.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 NHC 28th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 29° 42.000, W 80° 0.000 Tropical Depression 56 74 NHC 29th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 30° 42.000, W 75° 36.000 Tropical Storm 65 83 NHC 30th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 32° 0.000, W 72° 30.000 Tropical Storm 74 93 NHC 01st Jul 2012 00:00:00 N 35° 0.000, W 69° 0.000 Tropical Storm 83 102 NHC 02nd Jul 2012 00:00:00 N 39° 0.000, W 62° 0.000 Tropical Storm 83 102 NHC

Doksuri (07W)

Pacific Ocean

26.06.2012

27.06.2012

Tropical Storm

285 °

65 km/h

83 km/h

4.27 m

JTWC

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 0 Storm name: Doksuri (07W) Area: Pacific Ocean Start up location: N 14° 36.000, E 130° 18.000 Start up: 26th June 2012 Status: Active Track long: 218.98 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 Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 27th Jun 2012 05:06:22 N 15° 18.000, E 127° 6.000 26 65 83 Tropical Storm 285 ° 14 JTWC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 28th Jun 2012 12:00:00 N 19° 0.000, E 120° 18.000 Tropical Storm 93 120 JTWC 28th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 17° 42.000, E 122° 42.000 Tropical Storm 102 130 JTWC 29th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 20° 0.000, E 118° 6.000 Tropical Storm 111 139 JTWC 30th Jun 2012 00:00:00 N 21° 48.000, E 114° 0.000 Tropical Storm 83 102 JTWC

26.06.2012

Tropical Storm

USA

State of Florida, [Western Coastal Region]

Tropical Storm in USA on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 05:35 (05:35 AM) UTC.

Description

Higher than normal waves with spray and some flooding along coastal roads are expected due to the on-shore winds associated with Tropical Storm Debby. Lee County Emergency Operations Center is advising residents and visitors to use extreme caution during the high-tide cycle tonight from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and the high-tide cycle tomorrow morning from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., when driving on coastal roads, and crossing bridges, including the Sanibel Causeway.

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Tropical Storm Debby Breaks Record with Early Debut

Andrea Mustain, OurAmazingPlanet Staff Writer

A ghostly Tropical Storm Debby is drenching Florida and surrounding regions. CREDIT: NOAA. View full size image

An unusually early spate of tropical storms has been keeping forecasters busy this year, and now Tropical Storm Debby, the fourth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, has set a record — this season marks the first time in more than 150 years that so many storms have showed up so early.

“This is first time we’ve had four tropical storms develop in the Atlantic basin before July 1,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla.

U.S. records for tropical storms and hurricanes stretch back to 1851, Feltgen told OurAmazingPlanet. And although Tropical Storm Debby has broken the century-and-a-half-long record, there is certainly a chance that four storms may have formed this early in the past, yet escaped notice simply because forecasters didn’t have the tools to see them.

“We figure that back in the day there could have been several storms per season that could have been missed,” Feltgen said. “We didn’t have satellites.” Forecasters relied largely on ship reports and on firsthand observations when a storm hit land.

Historic storms

Tropical Storm Debby roared to life over the Gulf of Mexico and attained tropical storm status late in the afternoon on Saturday, June 23.

The first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Alberto, appeared on May 19, the earliest debut for a named storm since 2003; Tropical Storm Beryl and Hurricane Chris followed. [Infographic: Storm Season! How, When & Where Hurricanes Form]

Storms are christened only once they reach tropical storm strength — meaning an organized, rotating storms with maximum wind speeds of at least 39 mph (63 kph).

Because tropical storms and hurricanes are fueled by warm ocean waters, the areas that have the ingredients required to feed a storm’s fury are more limited earlier in the season, Feltgen said.

The area that is the most favored area of development is pretty narrow, he said, and typically limited to areas of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and warmer, southern regions of the Atlantic.

“In the grand scheme of the Atlantic basin that’s a relatively small area,” Feltgen said.

However, unusually warm waters didn’t contribute to this year’s early storms — they were generated when storm systems that formed over land moved out over the ocean, said Gerry Bell, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s lead seasonal hurricane forecaster.

“Unless the water is sufficiently warm you’re not going to get a tropical storm, but warm water wasn’t the main ingredient allowing these things to form,” Bell told OurAmazingPlanet. He pointed to disturbances in the jet stream and storm fronts moving out over the water as the main culprits.

“There’s nothing special about that, that’s how storms typically form this time of year,” Bell said.

During the peak of hurricane season, in August, September and October, patches of rough weather that originate in Africa spark the bulk of the storms, Bell said. In addition, tropical waters that have had time to warm up, along with favorable winds, allow more storms to form at that time of the year.

The unusual onslaught of named storms has not altered the outlook for the rest of the season, Bell said, which is forecast to be a near-normal one. Projections for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season call for a total of nine to 15 named storms, with four to eight of those storms becoming hurricanes.

Dangerous conditions

Tropical Storm Debby is lashing Florida with punishing rains, and is producing dangerous storm surges between 4 and 7 feet (1.2 and 2 meters) along the state’s panhandle. The storm spawned 20 reported tornadoes yesterday (June 24), one of which killed a Florida woman in her home.

Debby has remained parked over the Gulf of Mexico, with much of the severe weather hitting to the east of the center of the storm.

Although the storm has weakened slightly, it is still packing winds of 45 mph (75 kph), and is expected to move only very slowly toward the northeast over the next two days, meaning there is little relief in sight for Florida and Georgia residents.

Reach Andrea Mustain at amustain@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter @AndreaMustain. Follow OurAmazingPlanet for the latest in Earth science and exploration news on Twitter @OAPlanet. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.

Live Update: Debby Makes Landfall, Weakens to Tropical Depression

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Debby has been downgraded to a tropical depression at 8 p.m. after making landfall earlier this evening near Steinhatchee, Fla. The storm will continue to unleash torrential rainfall across northern Florida and southern Georgia as it pushes across the northern counties of the Peninsula overnight.

Maximum sustained winds have weakened to 35 miles per hour. (The latest reports can be found below.)

Major flooding is occurring across portions of Florida as unrelenting rain continues. One to two feet of rain has already poured down across portions of northern and central Florida. Sanborn, Fla., received 20.10 inches of rain in 24 hours alone.

For a larger version of this map (with times in CDT), please visit the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center.

Emergency management officials issued a voluntary evacuation notice late Monday evening for residents in low-lying areas of Wakulla County, Fla., due to dangerous flooding.

The Florida Highway patrol closed a portion of I-10, the main interstate highway through northern Florida, early Tuesday morning.

Unfortunately, up to another foot of rain will be unleashed across north-central Florida.

The storm has also spawned nearly two dozen tornadoes, which downed power lines, damaged homes and businesses and flipped semi trucks. More damaging winds from thunderstorms and tornadoes are possible as Debby churns in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Central Florida has the greatest risk of severe weather.

According to the National Weather Service, Debby has already claimed the lives of two people.

LATEST UPDATES:

8:15 p.m. Tuesday EDT: Bridge in danger of failing due to high water from the Steinhatchee River on South Canal Road, just east of Highway 51 in Southern Lafayette County, reported emergency manager.

6:25 p.m. Tuesday EDT : Yards and roads are flooded in Orange Park, Fla. Emergency management reported several ongoing water rescues in Jacksonville, Fla.

5:00 p.m. Tuesday EDT: Debby has made landfall near Steinhatchee, FL. Maximum sustained winds are at 40 mph. Coastal and inland flooding threats remain. Storm should downgrade to a tropical depression this evening and move off the coast near St. Augustine by tomorrow morning.

2:10 p.m. Tuesday EDT: Debby is picking up forward speed. The storm should now make landfall this evening near Cedar Key, Fla.

1:00 p.m. Tuesday EDT: AccuWeather Meteorologists discussed Debby’s landfall. It is anticipated near Cedar Key, Fla., around sunrise Wednesday. Stay tuned for the latest information. Join a live chat with Expert Senior Meteorologist at 6-7 p.m. ET this evening on Twitter by using the hashtag #Accuchat or join a live discussion on Facebook.

11:21 a.m. Tuesday EDT: Meteorologists made a change to rain map to show that Jacksonville, Fla., will be in the core of rain later today and tonight. Watch for flash flooding.

11:0 a.m. Tuesday EDT: Debby has weakened further with 40 mph winds. Flooding remains a threat across northern Florida and southern Georgia.

7:54 a.m. Tuesday EDT: A house was surrounded by water near Woodbine, Ga.

7:38 a.m. Tuesday EDT: U.S> Highway 90 is flooded and closed in downtwon Live Oak, Fla. Several vehicles are reported to be in parking lots with water up to the top of wheelwells about 1.5 feet deep.

6:50 a.m. Tuesday EDT: AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Bill Deger reports that several rivers and waterways in northern Florida are experiencing major flooding or near-record flooding. They include the North Fork Black Creek near Middleburg, the Anclote River at Elfers and the Litle Manatee River at Wimauma.

5:40 a.m. Tuesday EDT: The heaviest rain from Debby is now pushing into southeastern Georgia. Rain will continue to fall at a rate of more than an inch an hour this morning in cities such as Brunswick.

3:00 a.m. Tuesday EDT: AccuWeather.com meteorologists report that the center of Debby appears to be barely moving, while the storm is showing some signs of weakening. However, heavy rains will continue to batter Florida and southern Georgia.

12:45 a.m. Tuesday EDT: 20.10 inches of rain has fallen over the last 24 hours in Sanborn, Fla.

Midnight Tuesday EDT: Doppler radar is indicating wind gusts to near 60 mph are occurring along the coast and inland from Apalachicola to the western Big Bend of Florida.

9:30 p.m. Monday EDT: Emergency management officials have issued a voluntary evacuation notice for residents in low-lying areas of Wakulla County, Fla., an area battered by flooding.

8:00 p.m. Monday EDT: Unconfirmed report of a brief funnel cloud in Lake County, Fla.

7:55 p.m. Monday EDT: Storm total of 11.50 inches of rain in Monticello (Jefferson County), Fla.

6:54 p.m. Monday EDT: 16.26 inches of rain has fallen since midnight in parts of Wakulla County, Fla.

6:02 p.m. Monday EDT: 10 inches of rain has fallen in Woodville (Leon County), Fla. since 1 p.m. today.

5:00 p.m. Monday EDT: Thunderstorm wind gusts measured up to 56 mph in Brevard County, Florida.

2:00 p.m. Monday EDT: The top 72-hour rainfall totals include 12.24″ in Hernando County, 10.34″ in St. Petersburg and 9.97″ in Tampa, Fla.

12:12 p.m. Monday EDT: Water is beginning to approach low-lying homes in eastern and central Wakulla County, Fla.

12:12 p.m. Monday EDT: Knee-deep water reported near Sochoppy, Fla.

12:48 p.m. Monday EDT: According to CNN, the governor of Florida declares a state of emergency due to the severe impact of Debby.

12:00 p.m. Monday EDT: “Winds on radar continue to come down. I expect we will have a depression by the end of the day if not Tuesday AM,” Expert Meteorologist Henry Margusity said. In addition, as a storm moves slowly or stays nearly stationary-as Debby is-upwelling occurs. This means cooler water is pulled to the surface of the ocean. Since tropical systems are fueled by warm water, upwelling can lead to weakening.

 

Radar’s to Track Debby:
Key West, FL	Tampa, FL	Miami, FL	Melbourne, FL
Tallahassee, FL	Valparaiso, FL	Mobile, AL	New Orleans, LA

Expert Meteorologists Discuss Debby:

This NOAA satellite image of Debby was taken Tuesday morning.

Thumbnail image tweeted by Chuck B.

Photos of Communities Under Water in Florida

By Grace Muller, AccuWeather.com Staff Writer

1. #siestakey #storm #nofilter #sarasota

   Cecelia VanSant

   a day ago

2. 

   My husband captured this as the storms moved …

   Facebook

   a day ago

3. 

   From BN9.com: Just another day to lounge by the Bay on #Bayshore for this guy in #Tampa? — PHOTO: pic.twitter.com/U9lHJS1w

   Bay News 9

   a day ago

    

4. 

   #sarasota #boat #florida #tropicalstormdebby

   bucksrq

   a day ago

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   #tampa #flooded #bayshore #blvd #813 #florida #weather #crazy #instatits #porno #lol

   Charles

   19 hours ago

6. 

   #sarasota #florida #sailboat #tropicalstormdebby

   bucksrq

   a day ago

7. 

   #mikeguevin #florida #sarasota #mikeguevinphotography #tropicalstormdebby

   Mike Guevin

   19 hours ago

8. 

   RT @WXChic327: I wouldn’t recommend driving down #PalmAvenue in downtown #Sarasota … thanks @mysuncoast viewer Mike Guevin

   Jason Caterina Fox23

   17 hours ago

    

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   @SamChampion Crossing bridge in Tampa pic.twitter.com/5pqODRVS

   Elliot Santiago

   17 hours ago

    

10. 

    Welcome to Florida. Where water covers our roads when it rains. �� #thanksdebby #debby #rain #florida

    karrr��

    a day ago

11. 

    #Beach is open for #swimming ������ // #flood #tropical #storm #debby #stpete #dtdp #force of #nature #florida #igdaily #photooftheday #instagram #instagood #ocean #waves #brutal #damage #enough #water

    L B

    a day ago

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    More Debbie flooding! pic.twitter.com/zOZpgvqB

    Chuck Boyer

    19 hours ago

     

13. 

    home sweet home #debbie

    kackattack

    18 hours ago

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    #tropicalstorm #debbie # trinityoaks

    acervantes1

    a day ago

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    The morning surf report coming straight from North Shore Park slight chop with 1 to 2 foot breaks

    Kurtis M

    17 hours ago

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    #debby #tropicalstorm #flood

    Cora

    a day ago

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    Play ball! Bright house Field under water #flooded #florida #summer #debby #tropicalstorm

Debby Eyes Atlantic, Drowns Deep South

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

Debby will continue its legacy of flooding rainfall in part of the Deep South before heading eastward into the Atlantic by the end of the week.

Debby was downgraded to a tropical depression this evening after making landfall near Steinhatchee, Fla. The storm now has maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour, but will likely intensify once again after it moves off the coast and re-enters the Atlantic by tomorrow morning, according to the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center.

This is certainly good news as there is now an end in sight to the flooding rainfall. However, coastal and inland flooding threats remain as Debby continues to unleash heavy rain, gusty thunderstorms and rough surf conditions through Wednesday.

Since its start, Debby has produced tremendous rainfall in part of the Deep South. Indications are the storm will continue its flooding legacy until the very end.

While central and northern Florida and southern Georgia residents were in need of rain, the storm has been producing too much of a good thing in many areas.

Over a foot of rain has fallen in portions of Florida the past couple of days. There have been unofficial amounts up to two feet in the Curtis Mill, Fla. area. Sanborn, Fla., received 20.10 inches of rain in 24 hours.

During Sunday into Monday, north-central Florida was clobbered by torrential rain. During Monday into Tuesday, northern Florida, including part of the panhandle, was inundated.

During the middle of the week, the heaviest rainfall is switching to northeastern Florida and the Georgia coast. It is within this area where the greatest danger of new urban and low lying area flooding can occur.

However, additional flooding problems are possible from part of the Florida Panhandle to the central counties of the Sunshine State, due to potential re-firing bands of heavy rainfall.

South of Debby’s track, the risk of locally severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes will continue through Wednesday over central and south Florida.

As Debby exits to the east, look for dry air to sweep in from the north and rain to diminish over Florida and coastal Georgia from northwest to southeast Wednesday into Thursday.

There appears to be a little less danger of Debby rapidly strengthening upon reaching the Atlantic coast. However, some regain of strength will occur as the storm moves out to sea.

How quickly the ramp-up occurs will determine how rough surf conditions will get for a time along the southern Atlantic Seaboard from West Palm Beach to Cape Hatteras late in the week into the first part of the weekend.

If only the rain could be spread out, more of the interior South and needy areas such as central and western Georgia, southeastern Alabama and central South Carolina could benefit from the storm. However, it appears Debby’s rain is destined to hug the southeast corner of the United States, due to a large area of high pressure and drought building over the middle of the nation.

As Debby heads out to sea, heat will expand from the middle of the nation reaching much of the East Coast.

A piece of Debby’s moisture did find its way well to the north, in Maine of all places. As a scoop of air high in the atmosphere dipped southward into the Eastern states, it was able to briefly shear off some moisture in the form of drenching rain.

That rain is contributing to flooding problems in the Pine Tree State through Wednesday.

 

 

26.06.2012

Flash Flood

Canada

Province of British Columbia, Sicamous

Flash Flood in Canada on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 09:48 (09:48 AM) UTC.

Description

An elderly man has drowned and almost 700 people have been evacuated from their homes after devastating flash floods hit British Columbia Interior over the weekend. A raging river swept away and drowned Edward Posnifkoff, 72, on Saturday evening. He died after a bridge he was standing on collapsed due to the force of the river. Flooding and mudslides have meant almost 700 people in the province have been forced to flee their homes while more than 1,000 are on evacuation alert. A weekend of thunderstorms was the tipping point – causing many of the rivers to burst their banks which then swept away at least one home. Many homes and dozens of cars in Sicamous, situated 480km west of Calgary, were damaged as 350 residents evacuated on Sunday. And the town’s Mayor, Darrell Trouton, warned the worst may be yet to come due to water at higher elevations. ‘We had snowmobilers that were up above indicating that we had continuous rain in the upper levels, and there were ravines with water flow that they’ve never seen before,’ he said. On Monday residents and emergency officials across the region began their clean-up mission as well as filling sandbags to try and protect their properties from any further damage. One resident Judy Latosky, 65, saw Sicamous Creek burst its banks before she fled her home with her twin five-year-old granddaughters. ‘We lost all of our backyard and now it’s just boulders. I looked in this morning and the basement is half full of mud and water. It’s a total loss,’ the grandmother told the news agency. In Central Kootenay, where Posnifkoff died, 30 homes were evacuated. Posnifkoff was identified on Sunday after his body was found in Goose Creek, a short distance from where he was swept away.

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.

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Flooding in northern Afghanistan kills at least 37

June 23, 2012|Rahim Faiez, Associated Press

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.

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.

Flood Warning

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

Flood Advisory

SPOKANE WA
JUNEAU AK

Flood Watch

CARIBOU ME
PUEBLO CO
TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
MISSOULA MT

Coastal Flood Advisory/Warning

TAMPA BAY RUSKIN FL

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Uganda abandons landslide rescue bid for buried

Red Cross official Michael Nataka says the area is known to be a landslide risk

Rescue workers in Uganda have abandoned efforts to find an estimated 70 people believed to be buried in a landslide.

Eighteen people have been confirmed dead after three villages were swept away on the slopes of Mount Elgon.

Uganda’s Red Cross told the BBC efforts were now concentrating on looking after the injured and displaced.

In March 2010, thousands were forced to flee after after a landslide killed more than 350 people in Uganda’s eastern Bududa district.

‘Many cracks’

Ken Kiggundu, director of disaster management for Uganda’s Red Cross, told the BBC that 72 people were still missing.

He added that 480 had been displaced and were now living with relatives and friends following Monday’s landslide, which occurred after a number of days of heavy rain.

“At 2pm, the ground trembled, followed by heavy rumbling of soil and stones which covered our home,” Rachael Namwono, a villager in Bududa district, told Uganda’s private Monitor newspaper.

The Red Cross’s Michael Nataka told the Reuters news agency that there was a need to force people to move from the mountain sides as they tended not to heed the advice that the area was dangerous.

“The Mount Elgon area has had so many places with cracks, so each time there is rainfall for a while, this water just seeps into these cracks and then eventually the landslide happens,” Mr Nataka said.

“There is need for some level of enforcement.”

Steven Malinga, Uganda’s minister for disaster relief, said moving people to safer areas was a priority, but many people refused to move as the villages near Mount Elgon had fertile ground and fewer instances of malaria.

“Eventually we have to pass a law to move people from the top and the sides of the mountain, and find alternative communities where we can relocate them,” the minister told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.

He urged people to move to camps lower down the mountain, where they would be given food, containers for water and utensils.

Last August, at least 24 people were killed when mud washed away homes in the Bulambuli district of eastern Uganda.

26.06.2012

Landslide

Uganda

Eastern Region, [Villages of Namaga and Bunakasala, Bududa district]

Landslide in Uganda on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 05:30 (05:30 AM) UTC.

Description

A mudslide buried at least 15 houses Monday when it tore through two hamlets in eastern Uganda following heavy rains, the Red Cross said. “We know that at least 15 houses have been buried but we do not know how many people were inside them,” Red Cross spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde said. She said emergency teams were trawling the site to try to establish the number of people killed in the slide but that local authorities estimate around 80 people live in each hamlet. Nine people have been taken to a nearby hospital with injuries, Ntabadde said. The landslide ripped through the villages of Namaga and Bunakasala in the mountainous Bududa district close to the border with Kenya early on Monday afternoon. After that incident the Ugandan authorities said they would resettle around half a million people living in mountainous areas to lessen the risk of mudslides.

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Radiation / Nuclear

26.06.2012

Nuclear Event

USA

State of Michigan, Frenchtown Charter Township [Enrico Fermi Nuclear Power Plant]

Nuclear Event in USA on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 05:33 (05:33 AM) UTC.

Description

The reactor of the Fermi 2 nuclear plant in Monroe County has been shut down due to an equipment problem. The Monroe Evening News reports crews idled the plant around 1:30 p.m. Monday when its steam condenser lost the vacuum that pulls steam across a series of cooling tubes. The condenser turns steam back into water after it’s used to spin the plant’s turbines. Plant spokesman Guy Cerullo says Fermi 2 “is in a safe, stable condition.” Cerullo says plant operator DTE Energy is investigating the reason for the pressure loss, and he didn’t know when Fermi 2 would be back in operation. He tells The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, that DTE “will operate once” it’s “sure everything is in good shape” and it “can safely operate the plant.”

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Epidemic Hazards / Diseases

Today

Epidemic Hazard

Canada

Province of Northwest Territories, [Tlicho and Behchoko regions]

Epidemic Hazard in Canada on Wednesday, 27 June, 2012 at 03:31 (03:31 AM) UTC.

Description
Drug-resistant bacteria have come up in some N.W.T. communities. The N.W.T. health department says there have been 86 cases of MRSA, which is also known as a ‘superbug’, this year. Half of them are in the Tlicho region and, in Behchoko, which is the largest community. MRSA is a common skin bacteria but a certain strain of it is now resistant to many antibiotics. The symptoms are similar to a staph infection and can cause sore skin and swelling. The infection can spread quickly. “If you have swelling on the skin that doesn’t heal quickly, that gets bigger and hot and painful go see the health centre. The sooner you’re diagnosed, the sooner we can figure it out and get the right treatment for it,” said Dr. Andre Corriveau, the territory’s chief public health officer. Corriveau said people should wash their sheets and clothing often to prevent the bacteria from spreading. Overcrowded housing can also help the bacteria spread. The bacteria were traditionally found in hospitals because of the high use of antibiotics. “But over past decade all over the world it’s starting to spread in communities, and the fact that you haven’t been to a hospital is no guarantee you won’t catch it,” he said. The bacteria have been found in the N.W.T. before. In 2008, health officials warned it was becoming a large problem. Health officials also dealt with an outbreak of the bacteria in 2010. The 2010 outbreak was also concentrated in the Tlicho region.
Biohazard name:	MRSA
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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Solar Activity

2MIN News June 26, 2012 Canary Islands Awaken

Published on Jun 26, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

TODAYS LINKS
Cyprus Needs Money: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-eurozone-idUSBRE85O0CS20120625
Greek Finance Minister Resigns: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/25/us-greece-idUSBRE85M0AW20120625
BP Spill Wasn’t the Start: http://phys.org/news/2012-06-bp-deepwater-horizon-oil-exacerbated.html
Magnetism and Superconductivity: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120625125954.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
(2010 NY65)	27th June 2012	0 day(s)	0.1023	39.8	120 m – 270 m	15.09 km/s	54324 km/h
(2008 WM64)	28th June 2012	1 day(s)	0.1449	56.4	200 m – 440 m	17.31 km/s	62316 km/h
(2010 CD55)	28th June 2012	1 day(s)	0.1975	76.8	64 m – 140 m	6.33 km/s	22788 km/h
(2004 CL)	30th June 2012	3 day(s)	0.1113	43.3	220 m – 480 m	20.75 km/s	74700 km/h
(2008 YQ2)	03rd July 2012	6 day(s)	0.1057	41.1	29 m – 65 m	15.60 km/s	56160 km/h
(2005 QQ30)	06th July 2012	9 day(s)	0.1765	68.7	280 m – 620 m	13.13 km/s	47268 km/h
(2011 YJ28)	06th July 2012	9 day(s)	0.1383	53.8	150 m – 330 m	14.19 km/s	51084 km/h
276392 (2002 XH4)	07th July 2012	10 day(s)	0.1851	72.0	370 m – 840 m	7.76 km/s	27936 km/h
(2003 MK4)	08th July 2012	11 day(s)	0.1673	65.1	180 m – 410 m	14.35 km/s	51660 km/h
(1999 NW2)	08th July 2012	11 day(s)	0.0853	33.2	62 m – 140 m	6.66 km/s	23976 km/h
189P/NEAT	09th July 2012	12 day(s)	0.1720	66.9	n/a	12.47 km/s	44892 km/h
(2000 JB6)	10th July 2012	13 day(s)	0.1780	69.3	490 m – 1.1 km	6.42 km/s	23112 km/h
(2010 MJ1)	10th July 2012	13 day(s)	0.1533	59.7	52 m – 120 m	10.35 km/s	37260 km/h
(2008 NP3)	12th July 2012	15 day(s)	0.1572	61.2	57 m – 130 m	6.08 km/s	21888 km/h
(2006 BV39)	12th July 2012	15 day(s)	0.1132	44.1	4.2 m – 9.5 m	11.11 km/s	39996 km/h
(2005 NE21)	15th July 2012	18 day(s)	0.1555	60.5	140 m – 320 m	10.77 km/s	38772 km/h
(2003 KU2)	15th July 2012	18 day(s)	0.1034	40.2	770 m – 1.7 km	17.12 km/s	61632 km/h
(2007 TN74)	16th July 2012	19 day(s)	0.1718	66.9	20 m – 45 m	7.36 km/s	26496 km/h
(2007 DD)	16th July 2012	19 day(s)	0.1101	42.8	19 m – 42 m	6.47 km/s	23292 km/h
(2006 BC8)	16th July 2012	19 day(s)	0.1584	61.6	25 m – 56 m	17.71 km/s	63756 km/h
144411 (2004 EW9)	16th July 2012	19 day(s)	0.1202	46.8	1.3 km – 2.9 km	10.90 km/s	39240 km/h
(2012 BV26)	18th July 2012	21 day(s)	0.1759	68.4	94 m – 210 m	10.88 km/s	39168 km/h
(2010 OB101)	19th July 2012	22 day(s)	0.1196	46.6	200 m – 450 m	13.34 km/s	48024 km/h
(2008 OX1)	20th July 2012	23 day(s)	0.1873	72.9	130 m – 300 m	15.35 km/s	55260 km/h
(2010 GK65)	21st July 2012	24 day(s)	0.1696	66.0	34 m – 75 m	17.80 km/s	64080 km/h
(2011 OJ45)	21st July 2012	24 day(s)	0.1367	53.2	18 m – 39 m	3.79 km/s	13644 km/h
153958 (2002 AM31)	22nd July 2012	25 day(s)	0.0351	13.7	630 m – 1.4 km	9.55 km/s	34380 km/h
(2011 CA7)	23rd July 2012	26 day(s)	0.1492	58.1	2.3 m – 5.1 m	5.43 km/s	19548 km/h
(2012 BB124)	24th July 2012	27 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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Biological Hazards / Wildlife / Environmental Hazards

Today

Biological Hazard

USA

State of Hawaii, Kahana [Hololani Resort]

Biological Hazard in USA on Wednesday, 27 June, 2012 at 03:27 (03:27 AM) UTC.

Description
A 16-year-old California girl was the reported victim of a shark attack at the beach fronting the Hololani Resort in Kahana this morning. The victim from Livermore had a 4-to-5 inch avulsion to her left calf. Fire crews responded to the 9:52 a.m. call at 4401 Lower Honoapiilani Highway. Fire personnel provided medical treatment and dressed the wound. Family members took the teenager for treatment in their own vehicle. County ocean safety and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources are treating this incident as a shark attack. The beach has been closed until 6:45 this evening. State officials will reassess the situation at that time to determine whether to keep the beach closed or reopen it to the public.
Biohazard name:	Shark attack (Non-Fatal)
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

………………………………………………

Tests reveal high-path H7N3 in Mexican poultry farm outbreaks

Lisa Schnirring  Staff Writer

Jun 26, 2012 (CIDRAP News) – Mexican veterinary authorities are intensifying avian influenza control efforts in a region that houses several large commercial farms after further tests determined that the strain responsible for more than 200,000 bird deaths at three farms is the highly pathogenic H7N3 subtype.

The events represent the first highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in Mexican flocks since the country battled H5N2 in the mid 1990s.

In a follow-up report submitted today to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), Mexican animal health officials said intravenous pathogenicity tests revealed the highly pathogenic H7N3 subtype. The initial report on Jun 21 said preliminary tests suggested a low-pathogenic H7 subtype.

The outbreaks began at three large commercial farms in Jalisco state on Jun 13, causing clinical signs in the layer flocks that included gasping, lethargy, fever, and death. The disease sickened 587,160 of more than 1 million susceptible birds, killing 211,424 of them. About 60,000 have been culled so far to curb the spread of the virus.

Today’s update said that, based on the latest test results, authorities are sampling birds at about 60 poultry farms near the outbreak area, and quarantine measures are under way in the region, which has about 500 production units. Full gene sequencing and an epidemiologic investigation to determine the source of the virus are also in progress.

Jalisco state, in western Mexico, is the country’s top egg producer.

Officials have also limited poultry movements near the outbreak area and are testing birds at commercial farms, backyard flocks, and poultry markets. They are also assessing biosecurity practices and overseeing depopulation efforts at the affected farms, according to the OIE report.

David A. Halvorson, DVM, an avian health expert at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, told CIDRAP News that Mexico’s last high pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks occurred in 1994 and 1995 and involved H5N2. He added that low-pathogenic H5N2 circulated in the country for several years.

He said that in some parts of Mexico, large populations of backyard poultry, live poultry markets, and commercial farms exist without adequate separation between them.

Halvorson said US poultry producers, especially those in Texas, are always cautious about the potential for disease introduction from indirect contact with Mexican poultry. Halvorson added Mexican workers support poultry farmers in the West and Midwest, which presents another reason for caution.

John Glisson, DVM, PhD, director of research programs for the US Poultry and Egg Association, said in an e-mail statement to CIDRAP News, “The US poultry industry would strongly agree with the idea that the disease should be dealt with quickly and that quarantine of these farms and elimination of infected flocks would be a prudent measure.”

According to background information from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), poultry imported from all countries except Canada must be quarantined for at least 30 days at a USDA Animal Import Center and be accompanied by import permits and veterinary health certificates. Canadian poultry entering the United States must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued within 30 days of import date.

In 2004, highly pathogenic H7N3 outbreaks in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley led to the culling of 19 million birds, and two related human infections were confirmed.

The patients, both men who had been exposed to infected poultry on the farms, were the first known H7N3 infections in humans. Both had conjunctivitis with mild flulike symptoms, according to a December 2004 report on the cases in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Neither patient mounted an H7 antibody response, which led researchers to suggest that the men had highly localized, rather than systemic, infections.

See also:

Jun 26 OIE report

Jun 21 OIE report

Dec 2004 Emerg Infect Dis report

USDA background on poultry imports

CIDRAP avian flu overview on agriculture and wildlife considerations

 

 

An Entire Species Dies with Lonesome George

Nadine Bells
Daily Brew

Lonesome George

One turtle dies, an entire species becomes extinct. That’s the story of 100-year-old giant tortoise Lonesome George. His death on at Galapagos National Park’s breeding centre marked the end of his kind.

Lonesome George was discovered on Pinta Island in 1972, at a time when giant tortoises of his kind – known as Geochelone nigra abingdoni – were already believed to be extinct. Instead, it appeared that he was the last one.

All attempts to breed the tortoise failed.

“The plight of Lonesome George provided a catalyst for an extraordinary effort by the government of Ecuador to restore not only tortoise populations throughout the archipelago but also improve the status of other endangered and threatened species,” the park said.

© Agence France-Presse

There are 20,000 giant tortoises remaining in the Galapagos. They are believed to have a lifespan of up to 200 years.

Lonesome George’s death is a wake-up call. Species at risk of extinction can, in fact, become extinct, despite the best efforts of scientists to protect and repopulate the species.

Here’s a list of species we’ve lost in the last 40 years.

Currently at risk of meeting the same fate is the greater bamboo lemur. Like Lonesome George, this lemur was rediscovered in 1972 long after it was believed to be extinct. Less than 250 remain, with a captive breeding programme in Madagascar hoping to help the critically endangered bamboo-eating primates thrive.

The New Zealand greater short-tailed bat might be extinct already, with the last population estimate coming in at fewer than 50.

Thanks to widespread hunting – and habitat destruction – lowland gorillas are now also considered critically endangered. Conservation areas now exist in numerous national parks in Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo and Gabon. These efforts also aim to protect the species from the deadly Ebola virus.

Fortunately, just as we have tragic tales of species lost, we have a history of species saved. Prairie dogs, whooping cranes, grizzly bears and bald eagles are on the list of species that have been rebounded from risk of extinction.

Human intervention isn’t always successful. But since we’re often at fault for a species’ demise in the first place, shouldn’t it be our responsibility to at least try to protect what’s left?

26.06.2012

Environment Pollution

USA

State of Louisiana, Baton Rouge [Exxon T1 Tower]

Environment Pollution in USA on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 05:32 (05:32 AM) UTC.

Description

Exxon Mobil Corp reported a leak in a supply line on the T1 tower at its 502,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that led to a release of benzene, according to a filing with the National Response Center. The incident happened around 7:56 a.m local time on Monday. The line was isolated to stop the leak and the leak should be secured within an hour, the filing said. The Baton Rouge refinery is the third largest in the United States

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Articles of Interest

Antarctic Ice Shelves Not Melting at All, New Field Data Show

Lewis Page
UK Register

© IceAgeNow

Twenty-year-old models which have suggested serious ice loss in the eastern Antarctic have been compared with reality for the first time – and found to be wrong, so much so that it now appears that no ice is being lost at all.

“Previous ocean models … have predicted temperatures and melt rates that are too high, suggesting a significant mass loss in this region that is actually not taking place,” says Tore Hattermann of the Norwegian Polar Institute, member of a team which has obtained two years’ worth of direct measurements below the massive Fimbul Ice Shelf in eastern Antarctica – the first ever to be taken.

According to a statement from the American Geophysical Union, announcing the new research:

It turns out that past studies, which were based on computer models without any direct data for comparison or guidance, overestimate the water temperatures and extent of melting beneath the Fimbul Ice Shelf. This has led to the misconception, Hattermann said, that the ice shelf is losing mass at a faster rate than it is gaining mass, leading to an overall loss of mass.

The team’s results show that water temperatures are far lower than computer models predicted …

Hatterman and his colleagues, using 12 tons of hot-water drilling equipment, bored three holes more than 200m deep through the Fimbul Shelf, which spans an area roughly twice the size of New Jersey. The location of each hole was cunningly chosen so that the various pathways by which water moves beneath the ice shelf could be observed, and instruments were lowered down.

The boffins also supplemented their data craftily by harvesting info from a biology project, the Marine Mammal Exploration of the Oceans Pole to Pole (MEOP) effort, which had seen sensor packages attached to elephant seals.

“Nobody was expecting that the MEOP seals from Bouvetoya would swim straight to the Antarctic and stay along the Fimbul Ice Shelf for the entire winter,” Hattermann says. “But this behaviour certainly provided an impressive and unique data set.”

Normally, getting sea temperature readings along the shelf in winter would be dangerous if not impossible due to shifting pack ice – but the seals were perfectly at home among the grinding floes.

Overall, according to the team, their field data shows “steady state mass balance” on the eastern Antarctic coasts – ie, that no ice is being lost from the massive shelves there. The research is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

This is good news indeed, as some had thought that huge amounts of ice were melting from the region, which might mean accelerated rates of sea level rise in future.

Research: Gulf Shrimp Widely Contaminated With Carcinogens

Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo

© GreenMedInfo

Conservative estimates indicate that the 2010 BP oil disaster released over 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf, followed by at least 1.8 million gallons of dispersants. While the use of dispersants helped mitigate the public relations disaster by preventing the persistent formation of surface oil, as well as keeping many beaches visibly untouched, they also drove the oil deeper into the water column (and food chain) rendering a 2-dimensional problem (surface oil) into a 3-dimensional one. Additionally, research indicates that dispersants prevent the biodegradation of toxic oil components, as well as increasing dispersant absorption into fish from between 6 to 1100 fold higher levels.

Since the event, both the mainstream media and the government have acted as if the oil disappeared, and that no significant health risks remain for the millions still consuming contaminated seafood from the Gulf.*

Now, a new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives has revealed that the 2010 BP Gulf oil disaster resulted in widespread contamination of Gulf Coast seafood with toxic components from crude oil.¹ In fact, levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in shrimp were found to exceed the FDA’s established thresholds for allowable levels [levels of concern (LOCs)] for pregnant women in up to 53% of Gulf shrimp sampled.

PAHs are well-known carcinogens and developmental toxicants, which is why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is obligated to set risk criteria and thresholds for allowable levels of exposure to them.**

In the new study the authors set out to evaluate the degree to which the FDA’s procedures for determining the safety of Gulf seafood after the BP disaster reflect the current risk assessment guidelines and practices, as produced by other authoritative entities, including the National Research Council (NRC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California EPA. The authors focused on cancer risk associated with shellfish consumption, looking at whether or not the FDA’s guidelines protect the most vulnerable populations, e.g. pregnant women, infants.

The authors discovered a glaring discrepancy between the FDA Gulf seafood risk assessment (FDA 2010a) and the FDA’s own prior practice with risk assessment guidelines produced by other authoritative entities.

The FDA’s risk assessment was found to be seriously flawed because of the following six questionable assumptions:

The questionable assumptions include six main issues: a) high consumer body weight, b) low estimates of seafood consumption, c) failure to include a cancer risk assessment for naphthalene, d) failure to adjust for early-life susceptibility to PAHs, e) short exposure duration, and f) high cancer risk benchmarks. Taken together, these flaws illustrate a failure to incorporate the substantial body of evidence on the increased vulnerability of subpopulations to contaminants, such as PAHs, in seafood.

Their final conclusion was as follows

Environmental risk assessment requires the use of scientifically founded assumptions and appropriate default estimates about the exposed population, the intensity and duration of exposure, and the dose – response relationship. The risk assessment methods used by the FDA to set safe exposure levels for Gulf Coast seafood after the oil spill do not incorporate current best practices and do not protect vulnerable populations. The FDA’s conclusions about risks from Gulf seafood should be interpreted with caution in coastal populations with higher rates of seafood consumption and in vulnerable populations such as children, small adults, and pregnant women. Our analysis demonstrates that a revised approach, using standard risk assessment methods, results in significantly lower acceptable levels of PAHs in seafood and identifies populations that could be at risk from contaminants in Gulf Coast seafood. Health advisories targeted at high-end consumers would better protect vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, and children. Our approach did not address infant exposure to PAHs via maternal seafood consumption and lactational transfer. The NRC (2008) found up to 50-fold interindividual variability in cancer risk and recommends incorporation of estimates of uncertainty, as well as population risk distributions, into future risk assessments. Improved public health protection from contaminants in food will require reforming FDA risk assessment practices.

Taken together, these findings demonstrate that the FDA’s conclusion that there are no significant risks to Gulf populations from oil spill – related contaminants in seafood are incorrect, and reckless when it comes to the health of the most vulnerable populations.

With reports now surfacing in mainstream media outlets on the appearance of eyeless shrimp and mutant fish, this latest finding probably only scratches the surface of a health problem in the Gulf titanic in proportions.

Reference/Notes:

¹ Seafood contamination after the BP Gulf oil spill and risks to vulnerable populations: a critique of the FDA risk assessment. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Feb ;120(2):157-61. Epub 2011 Oct 3. PMID: 21990339

*Sixty percent of domestic shrimp and 70% of domestic oysters are sourced from the Gulf.

**The inherent absurdity of determining “an acceptable level of harm” is often overlooked

26.06.2012

Power Outage

USA

State of Virginia, [Richmond and Tri-Cities area]

Power Outage in USA on Tuesday, 26 June, 2012 at 13:20 (01:20 PM) UTC.

Description

In the Richmond and Tri-Cities area, as of 8:20 a.m., Tuesday, there are 67,548 without power, according to Dominion Virginia Power. These numbers will fluctuate and we will update them as often as possible.

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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 – Saturday May 26th, 2012

Earthquakes

 

RSOE EDIS

 

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
26.05.2012 07:25:23	2.7	Europe	Italy		Ponte Trevisani				EMSC
26.05.2012 07:25:49	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Cukurgol Yaylasi				EMSC
26.05.2012 07:26:11	4.4	Asia	China		Kuqa Chang				EMSC
26.05.2012 07:26:32	2.1	Europe	Italy		La Fruttarola				EMSC
26.05.2012 06:20:33	4.4	Asia	Afghanistan		Razer				EMSC
26.05.2012 06:22:21	4.4	Asia	Afghanistan	Velayat-e Badakhshan	Razer				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 06:20:59	2.0	Europe	Italy		Masseria Salituri				EMSC
26.05.2012 06:21:19	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Cinarli				EMSC
26.05.2012 05:50:35	5.0	Asia	Russia	Taymyrskiy (Dolgano-Nenetskiy) Avtonomnyy Okrug	Khantayskoye Ozero				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 06:21:39	5.1	Europe	Russia		Khantayskoye Ozero				EMSC
26.05.2012 05:51:01	4.6	Asia	Russia	Taymyrskiy (Dolgano-Nenetskiy) Avtonomnyy Okrug	Khantayskoye Ozero				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 06:21:58	4.9	Europe	Russia		Khantayskoye Ozero				EMSC
26.05.2012 05:20:48	2.0	Europe	Italy		Ponte di San Pellegrino				EMSC
26.05.2012 05:21:10	2.3	Europe	Italy		La Massara				EMSC
26.05.2012 05:21:29	4.0	Europe	Romania		Tipau				EMSC
26.05.2012 05:21:50	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kizlaralani				EMSC
26.05.2012 05:22:12	2.2	Europe	Italy		La Pettenella				EMSC
26.05.2012 03:45:42	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Iniskin				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 04:20:26	2.8	Asia	Turkey		Karakisla				EMSC
26.05.2012 04:20:48	2.3	Europe	Italy		Cancelli				EMSC
26.05.2012 04:21:09	4.8	Middle-America	Guatemala		Churirin				EMSC
26.05.2012 03:40:41	4.8	Middle America	Guatemala	Departamento de Suchitepequez	Churirin				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 04:21:30	2.3	Europe	Italy		San Biagio				EMSC
26.05.2012 04:21:52	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Killik				EMSC
26.05.2012 04:22:15	2.5	Europe	Italy		Palata Pepoli				EMSC
26.05.2012 04:22:36	2.4	Europe	Italy		Il Motto				EMSC
26.05.2012 04:22:58	3.2	Europe	Portugal		Pontinha				EMSC
26.05.2012 03:15:35	5.1	Pacific Ocean – West	New Caledonia		Wakone				EMSC
26.05.2012 03:17:12	5.1	Pacific Ocean – West	New Caledonia	Territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies	Wakone				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 03:15:57	3.3	Europe	Greece		Mikhoion				EMSC
26.05.2012 03:16:20	3.1	Europe	Greece		Rovianitis				EMSC
26.05.2012 02:00:27	2.3	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	Cerro Prieto				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 02:15:24	2.1	Europe	Italy		La Massara				EMSC
26.05.2012 02:35:56	2.9	Caribbean	Puerto Rico		El Combate				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 02:15:44	2.9	Europe	Greece		Sougia				EMSC
26.05.2012 02:30:37	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Happy Valley				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 02:16:05	3.3	Europe	Greece		Rodhakinon				EMSC
26.05.2012 02:16:29	3.0	Europe	Greece		Kaleryiana				EMSC
26.05.2012 01:13:17	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Golden				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 01:10:36	2.0	Europe	Italy		Alberica				EMSC
26.05.2012 01:10:56	2.5	Europe	Greece		Ayioi Pandes				EMSC
26.05.2012 01:11:17	2.1	Europe	Italy		San Biagio				EMSC
26.05.2012 01:11:38	2.4	Europe	Italy		Torre Tre Ponti				EMSC
26.05.2012 01:11:58	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Sogut				EMSC
26.05.2012 01:12:22	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Sogut				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:05:34	2.3	Europe	Italy		Sant’Agostino				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:05:56	2.6	Europe	Greece		Sotaina				EMSC
26.05.2012 01:12:22	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Sogut				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:40:39	4.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Amchitka				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 01:12:44	4.0	North-America	United States		Amchitka				EMSC
25.05.2012 23:55:38	3.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Amchitka				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 00:06:25	2.0	Europe	Italy		Ponte Trevisani				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:06:45	2.2	Europe	Italy		Le Cremosine				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:07:07	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kalkan				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:07:29	2.4	Europe	Italy		La Collevata				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:30:39	3.0	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		The Settlement				USGS-RSOE
26.05.2012 00:07:51	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Sogut				EMSC
26.05.2012 00:08:14	3.4	Asia	Turkey		Sogut				EMSC
26.05.2012 03:16:42	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Dorumlar				EMSC
25.05.2012 23:05:54	2.1	Europe	Italy		Villa Magri				EMSC
25.05.2012 23:06:20	2.5	Europe	Greece		Kalamakion				EMSC
25.05.2012 23:06:42	3.0	Asia	Turkey		Suruguden				EMSC
25.05.2012 22:05:30	2.2	Europe	Italy		Gavello				EMSC
25.05.2012 23:07:05	4.5	South-America	Ecuador		Santo Tomas				EMSC
25.05.2012 22:05:51	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Bekdemir				EMSC
25.05.2012 22:36:24	2.7	North America	United States	Alaska	Happy Valley				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 21:15:40	4.6	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Aneyoshi				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 22:06:14	4.6	Asia	Japan		Aneyoshi				EMSC
25.05.2012 21:05:31	3.0	Asia	Turkey		Ortakaracik				EMSC
25.05.2012 21:05:52	2.1	Europe	Italy		Ponte Trevisani				EMSC
25.05.2012 21:06:15	2.6	Europe	Greece		Tsoukalaiika				EMSC
25.05.2012 22:06:39	4.0	Europe	Russia		Karaus				EMSC
25.05.2012 21:06:36	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Inlice				EMSC
25.05.2012 20:00:41	2.5	Europe	Italy		Mirandola				EMSC
25.05.2012 19:40:38	2.1	North America	United States	Washington	Grisdale				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 20:01:02	2.4	Europe	Italy		La Pettenella				EMSC
25.05.2012 20:01:21	2.0	Europe	Greece		Koumaria				EMSC
25.05.2012 20:01:40	2.0	Europe	Greece		Ambeloi				EMSC
25.05.2012 20:01:59	4.7	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Simatorkis				EMSC
25.05.2012 18:55:33	3.1	Caribbean	Puerto Rico		Vinet				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 18:00:29	2.1	Europe	Italy		Gavello				EMSC
25.05.2012 17:25:40	2.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Boswell Bay				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 18:00:54	2.3	Europe	Italy		La Pettenella				EMSC
25.05.2012 17:10:41	2.2	North America	United States	California	Mercuryville				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 18:01:14	2.0	Europe	Macedonia		Dabile				EMSC
25.05.2012 23:21:21	3.0	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	New Brighton				GEONET
25.05.2012 18:01:36	4.4	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Silabuhan				EMSC
25.05.2012 18:01:57	3.0	Asia	Turkey		Tepecik				EMSC
25.05.2012 18:02:18	2.2	Europe	Albania		Himare				EMSC
25.05.2012 18:02:40	2.4	Europe	Italy		Sala Bolognese				EMSC
25.05.2012 17:00:35	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Cokene				EMSC
25.05.2012 16:30:41	2.5	North America	United States	Hawaii	Pähala				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 17:00:56	2.0	Asia	Turkey		Kandilli				EMSC
25.05.2012 17:00:56	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kandilli				EMSC
25.05.2012 17:01:15	3.2	Europe	Italy		San Giacomo Roncole				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:50:33	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Port William				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 15:55:30	3.5	Asia	Turkey		Kirim				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:55:54	4.0	Europe	Italy		La Pettenella				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:58:59	4.2	Europe	Italy		Ponte di San Pellegrino				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 15:20:35	2.1	North America	United States	California	Sepulveda				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 15:56:16	2.5	Europe	Italy		Finale Emilia				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:56:37	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Kozagac				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:25:46	4.5	Europe	Sweden	(( Skaraborgs Lan ))	Vastbacken				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 15:56:56	4.5	Europe	Sweden		Vastbacken				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:57:16	3.2	Europe	France		Saint-Andre				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:57:37	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Yenikoy				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:55:34	3.1	Europe	Italy		La Massara				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:55:55	3.4	Asia	Turkey		Kadidagi Koyu see Kadidagi				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:56:16	2.6	Europe	Italy		La Pettenella				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:56:37	2.0	Europe	Greece		Vasilitsion				EMSC
25.05.2012 15:58:21	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Irsadiye				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:56:58	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Tuncbilek				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:30:41	4.8	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	Horoera				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 14:57:20	4.8	Australia & New-Zealand	New Zealand		Horoera				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:57:41	2.9	Europe	Italy		Le Cremosine				EMSC
25.05.2012 17:01:36	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Kirim				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:58:02	2.3	Europe	Greece		Alexandreia				EMSC
25.05.2012 17:01:58	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Karacaviran				EMSC
25.05.2012 13:55:25	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Bayindir Yaylasi				EMSC
25.05.2012 14:05:47	4.3	Asia	Turkey	Malatya Ili	Sogutlu				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 13:55:50	4.6	Asia	Turkey		Kirim				EMSC
25.05.2012 13:56:13	2.0	Europe	Italy		Finale Emilia				EMSC
25.05.2012 13:56:33	2.0	Europe	Italy		L’Orlanda				EMSC
25.05.2012 13:56:58	2.2	Europe	Greece		Kamariotissa				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:55:24	2.1	Europe	Spain		Moalde				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:55:49	2.8	Asia	Turkey		Nize				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:56:12	3.9	Europe	Italy		La Fruttarola				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:56:33	2.0	Europe	Czech Republic		Prostredni Dvur				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:56:53	3.2	Asia	Turkey		Aslankent				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:57:15	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Cayhisar				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:57:36	2.7	Europe	Italy		Finale Emilia				EMSC
25.05.2012 16:31:03	3.4	North America	United States	Alaska	Hospital Valley				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 12:57:57	2.8	Europe	Greece		Akrotirion				EMSC
25.05.2012 11:50:35	2.7	North America	United States	Alaska	Tanana				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 11:50:59	2.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Kantishna				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 11:55:21	3.5	Europe	Greece		Tsaflaiika				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:25:40	3.1	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	Cabo Engano				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 11:55:47	2.1	Asia	Turkey		Isiktepe				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:15:45	3.8	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	Cabo Engano				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 11:05:34	2.4	North America	United States	California	Solromar				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 11:56:54	2.7	Europe	France		Port-Cros				EMSC
25.05.2012 11:01:14	3.4	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	New Brighton				GEONET
25.05.2012 11:57:15	2.7	Asia	Turkey		Sarkoy				EMSC
25.05.2012 11:57:36	2.5	Europe	Italy		Santa Bianca				EMSC
25.05.2012 10:50:55	2.9	Europe	Italy		L’Orlanda				EMSC
25.05.2012 10:51:16	3.6	Europe	Greece		Kattavia				EMSC
25.05.2012 10:51:35	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Haciomerli				EMSC
25.05.2012 09:52:38	2.0	North America	United States	California	Caldwell Pines				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 10:30:41	4.1	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Port Alice				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 10:51:56	4.1	North-America	Canada		Port Alice				EMSC
25.05.2012 16:15:40	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 09:50:56	2.8	Europe	Bulgaria		Vitanovtsi				EMSC
25.05.2012 12:01:26	3.0	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	New Brighton				GEONET
25.05.2012 09:05:41	2.5	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	El Centinela				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 12:58:20	2.5	Europe	Greece		Kattavia				EMSC
25.05.2012 09:00:34	4.4	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 09:51:17	4.4	North-America	United States		Atka				EMSC
25.05.2012 08:52:51	4.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 09:51:38	3.1	Europe	Greece		Khamaitoulon				EMSC
25.05.2012 08:50:33	2.5	Asia	Turkey		Colpan				EMSC
25.05.2012 08:50:54	3.2	Asia	Turkey		Uzumlu				EMSC
25.05.2012 08:51:16	2.4	Europe	Italy		Le Cremosine				EMSC
25.05.2012 08:51:34	3.6	Asia	Azerbaijan		Neft Daslari				EMSC
25.05.2012 08:51:56	4.6	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Haatua				EMSC
25.05.2012 11:01:44	3.4	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	New Brighton				GEONET
25.05.2012 21:11:06	2.0	North America	United States	Utah	Circleville				USGS-RSOE
25.05.2012 11:57:56	2.2	Europe	Sweden		Vastbacken				EMSC
25.05.2012 11:58:17	2.5	Europe	Sweden		Vastbacken				EMSC
25.05.2012 11:58:39	2.8	Europe	Sweden		Vastbacken				EMSC

 

 

 

……….

Western Bulgaria Earthquake Strongest for Sofia since 1858

A file photo shows destruction from the 1928 earthquake in Chirpan; the small Bulgarian town was hit by another quake in 1942. Photo from Lost Bulgaria

The earthquake that the Bulgarian capital Sofia experienced at 3 am on Tuesday has been the strongest in its history since 1858, i.e. in 154 years, historical records indicate.

On Tuesday, Bulgaria’s territory saw over 60 weak aftershocks after the 5.8-5.9-magnitude it experienced early Tuesday morning, according to the Geophysics Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

All of the 60 aftershocks had magnitudes of over 1 on the Richter scale, and their epicenters were around the western Bulgarian city of Pernik, where the initial earthquake hit at about 2:58 am on Tuesday. Some of the major aftershocks had a magnitude of 4.2-4.7, and were felt in Pernik and Sofia.

On September 30, 1858, when the future Bulgarian capital was still only a provincial town in the Ottoman Empire, it suffered an earthquake that had an estimated magnitude of 6.6-7.0 on the Richter Scale, damaging some 80% of its buildings.

As a result of the earthquake, 19 out of the 24 then mosques in Sofia saw their minarets collapse, while only two out of the seven churches remained operational. The 1858 earthquake claimed 4 lives in Sofia, and created huge cracks in the ground outside of the town.

The May 22, 2012, earthquake in Sofia, Pernik, and other parts of Western and Southern Bulgaria luckily, also pales in comparison with the strongest earthquake in the country ever – the March 17, 1942, earthquake in the southeastern town of Chirpan

Another strong earthquake in Bulgaria was the 1977 quake with its epicenter in Vrancea, Romania, which killed between 100 and 250 people in the Bulgarian Danube town of Svishtov, according to various estimates.

The latest earthquake in Sofia is comparable to the December 7, 1986 earthquake in Northeastern Bulgaria, which killed two people, and destroyed 150 buildings in the town of Strazhitsa.

After 2000, Bulgaria has seen a total of seven earthquakes with a magnitude beyond 4 on the Richter scale. The strongest one was in 2009 in the Black Sea near the town of Shabla, with a magnitude of 4.8.

New quake shakes nervous Christchurch

• From: AFP

NERVOUS shoppers fled into the streets when a 4.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the New Zealand city of Christchurch, halting rebuilding work following last year’s tremor that killed 185.

These were no immediate reports of damage or injuries and police and ambulance services said they had received no calls for assistance.

The quake struck at 12.44pm (AEST) at a shallow depth of eight kilometres about 25 kilometres east of New Zealand’s second largest city, the US Geological Survey said.

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority, which is overseeing reconstruction after the deadly 6.3 tremor in February last year, said it suspended demolition work in the city centre as a precaution.

Christchurch has experienced thousands of aftershocks in the past 18 months, delaying efforts to rebuild and further unsettling residents.

AFP

Seismic Hazard: Faults Discovered Near Lake Tahoe Could Generate Earthquakes Ranging from 6.3 to 6.9

ScienceDaily  :  Results of a new U.S. Geological Survey study conclude that faults west of Lake Tahoe, Calif., referred to as the Tahoe-Sierra frontal fault zone, pose a substantial increase in the seismic hazard assessment for the Lake Tahoe region of California and Nevada, and could potentially generate earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 6.3 to 6.9. A close association of landslide deposits and active faults also suggests that there is an earthquake-induced landslide hazard along the steep fault-formed range front west of Lake Tahoe.

---

Lake Tahoe Faults, Shaded Relief Map. Shaded relief map of western part of the Lake Tahoe basin, California. Faults lines are dashed where approximately located, dotted where concealed, bar and ball on downthrown side. Heavier line weight shows principal range-front fault strands of the Tahoe-Sierra frontal fault zone (TSFFZ). Opaque white boxes indicate approximate segment boundaries and right steps in range front separating principal fault strands. EB— Emerald Bay; ELP—Ellis Peak; EP—Echo Peak; MT—Mt. Tallac; RP—Rubicon Peak; TW—Twin Peaks (Credit: James Howle , U.S. Geological Survey)

Using a new high-resolution imaging technology, known as bare-earth airborne LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging), combined with field observations and modern geochronology, USGS scientists, and their colleagues from the University of Nevada, Reno; the University of California, Berkeley; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have confirmed the existence of previously suspected faults. LiDAR imagery allows scientists to “see” through dense forest cover and recognize earthquake faults that are not detectable with conventional aerial photography.

“This study is yet one more stunning example of how the availability of LiDAR information to precisely and accurately map the shape of the solid Earth surface beneath vegetation is revolutionizing the geosciences,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “From investigations of geologic hazards to calculations of carbon stored in the forest canopy to simply making the most accurate maps possible, LiDAR returns its investment many times over.”

Motion on the faults has offset linear moraines (the boulders, cobbles, gravel, and sand deposited by an advancing glacier) providing a record of tectonic deformation since the moraines were deposited. The authors developed new three-dimensional techniques to measure the amount of tectonic displacement of moraine crests caused by repeated earthquakes. Dating of the moraines from the last two glaciations in the Tahoe basin, around 21 thousand and 70 thousand years ago, allowed the study authors to calculate the rates of tectonic displacement.

“Although the Tahoe-Sierra frontal fault zone has long been recognized as forming the tectonic boundary between the Sierra Nevada to the west, and the Basin and Range Province to the east, its level of activity and hence seismic hazard was not fully recognized because dense vegetation obscured the surface expressions of the faults,” said USGS scientist and lead author, James Howle. “Using the new LiDAR technology has improved and clarified previous field mapping, has provided visualization of the surface expressions of the faults, and has allowed for accurate measurement of the amount of motion that has occurred on the faults. The results of the study demonstrate that the Tahoe-Sierra frontal fault zone is an important seismic source for the region.”

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

 

 

High Wind Warning

 

SALT LAKE CITY UT
SAN DIEGO CA
GRAND JUNCTION CO
FLAGSTAFF AZ
ALBUQUERQUE NM

Dust Storm Warning

 

FLAGSTAFF AZ

Gale Warning

 

LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
POINT CONCEPTION TO GUADALUPE ISLAND
POINT ARENA TO POINT CONCEPTION
HONOLULU HI
ANCHORAGE ALASKA

Fire Weather Watch

 

EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM
ALBUQUERQUE NM
TALLAHASSEE FL

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Storms, Flooding,Landslides

 

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details

 

 

 

 

Bud

Pacific Ocean – East

21.05.2012

26.05.2012

Tropical Storm

360 °

93 km/h

111 km/h

3.66 m

NHC

 

 

 

 Tropical Storm data

Storm name: Bud Area: Pacific Ocean – East Start up location: N 9° 18.000, W 99° 36.000 Start up: 21st May 2012 Status: 01st January 1970 Track long: 800.22 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 22nd May 2012 07:05:36 N 9° 48.000, W 101° 48.000 15 56 74 Tropical Depression 290 12 1005 MB NHC 23rd May 2012 08:05:27 N 12° 54.000, W 105° 54.000 22 65 83 Tropical Storm 315 12 1004 MB NHC 24th May 2012 06:05:39 N 14° 12.000, W 107° 54.000 9 111 139 Tropical Storm 350 12 991 MB NHC 25th May 2012 06:05:32 N 17° 6.000, W 105° 54.000 17 185 222 Hurricane III. 30 12 960 MB NHC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 26th May 2012 07:05:26 N 19° 42.000, W 105° 36.000 11 93 111 Tropical Storm 360 ° 12 1000 MB NHC

 

Sanvu

Pacific Ocean

21.05.2012

26.05.2012

Typhoon I.

50 °

139 km/h

167 km/h

3.66 m

JTWC

 

 

 Tropical Storm data

Storm name: Sanvu Area: Pacific Ocean Start up location: N 10° 48.000, E 145° 54.000 Start up: 21st May 2012 Status: 01st January 1970 Track long: 1,006.04 km Top category.: Report by: TSRC 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 May 2012 07:05:29 N 13° 24.000, E 144° 6.000 17 74 93 Tropical Storm 340 12 TSRC 23rd May 2012 08:05:09 N 16° 24.000, E 140° 54.000 20 93 120 Tropical Storm 315 12 TSRC 24th May 2012 06:05:36 N 18° 42.000, E 139° 12.000 15 120 148 Typhoon I. 340 12 TSRC 25th May 2012 06:05:35 N 22° 12.000, E 139° 12.000 17 148 185 Typhoon I. 25 12 TSRC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 26th May 2012 07:05:07 N 24° 42.000, E 141° 18.000 17 139 167 Typhoon I. 50 ° 12 TSRC

 

 

Beryl

Atlantic Ocean

26.05.2012

01.01.1970

ER

°

0 km/h

0 km/h

0.00 m

 

 

 

Tropical Storm data

Storm name: Beryl Area: Atlantic Ocean Start up location: N 32° 30.000, W 74° 48.000 Start up: 26th May 2012 Status: Active Track long: 0.00 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

………………………………………

Tornado damages 15 homes in North Port, Florida

Herald Tribune

A possible tornado damaged 15 homes in North Port on Thursday evening, leaving one family homeless,

According to a news release from the City of North Port:

At about 6:30 pm Firefighters received a call of structural damage to a home from a tornado. When firefighters arrived on scene they discovered roof damage to a mobile home in the Holiday Park community. A flurry of calls came in from the Highland Ridge community nearby, and that is where several more homes received damage.

Three fire engines, three ambulances and three command cars responded to assess the damage to the neighborhood. While firefighters conducted a ground survey, the Sarasota Sheriff’s helicopter surveyed from the air.

“The damage was relatively minor and there were no injuries to citizens or first responders,” said Battalion Chief James Woods, “that’s the outcome we want”.

Only one family was displaced for the night, with enough damage to the house that the power had to be disconnected.

James and Elsie Hudson’s home at the corner of Talbrook and Gable lost its roof in the storm.

“I didn’t know what it was,” Elsie Hudson told SNN. “When I ran to the back to the lanai, everything was gone.”

The winds had taken off part of the home’s roof, and rain water was flowing into the living room, she said. The power was disconnected and the couple decided to stay with relatives.

The Red Cross was on scene to help storm victims, SNN Local News 6 was reporting.

The storm struck suddenly, and although the National Weather Service had been monitoring throughout the evening, inclement weather was not evident on the radar.

Today

Tornado

USA

State of Florida, North Port

Tornado in USA on Saturday, 26 May, 2012 at 05:21 (05:21 AM) UTC.

Description

Although Jimmy Jones’ home was damaged in Thursday evening’s tornado, he called a roofing company to secure his neighbor’s roof after parts of it flew off. The two families had only a few moments’ warning before the twister ripped through their Highland Ridge neighborhood near South Biscayne Drive and North Port Boulevard, damaging 17 homes.Around 6:30 p.m., Jones called 911 to say it looked like a funnel cloud was forming down the street from his home.“I got off the phone and the funnel came toward my home. I told my wife and daughter to get in the tub,” he said Thursday night. “It was so loud it sounded like a freight train was rushing through the neighborhood. It was very scary.”Seconds later, parts of his fence became projectiles, embedded in the exterior wall of his home.According to city Emergency Management Coordinator Richard Berman, a EF0 tornado with winds of 80 mph, about 150 yards wide, touched down in Holiday Park, hit a four-block radius around Gabo Road, then passed through the area by the Gene Matthews Boys & Girls Club.Within two minutes, the tornado had damaged roofs and ripped apart pool cages, fences, tree limbs and sheds, then burst through Highland Ridge Park, knocking over wooden benches, toppling a tree behind the Boys & Girls Club and twisting metal bleachers at the North Port Bike Park. The roof of a manufactured home at Holiday Park also reportedly was damaged.“The Sarasota (County) Sheriff’s Office sent (the) Air One (helicopter) up to do an aerial view of the damage,” said North Port Fire Marshal Mike Frantz. “Thankfully, no one was injured, including our first responders. The Red Cross came to help any of the (families) whose homes were damaged, and to help if firefighters needed them.”Overall damage was estimated at $50,000, according to the National Weather Service in Ruskin, near Tampa.On Friday, a man in a Lowe’s store vest drove near Elroy Hall’s Talbrook Road home. He said he was sorry about the damage to his roof and left a case of bottled water.“I’m very appreciative of the help,” said Hall, who, along with his parents Elsie, 86, and James, 96, now is staying with his brother, who also has a home in North Port. “My neighbor Jimmy called Suncoast Roofing and they came over and put tarps and wood on the roof.”Hall said he was at Winn-Dixie when the tornado struck the home with his parents inside. He said they were scared, but were all right.Richard Edwards, who lives on Gabo, retrieved Hall’s rain gutter across North Port Boulevard near the tennis courts at Highland Ridge Park.“I was in my backyard when I saw the funnel form above my head,” Edwards said. “I ran to get my camcorder, but realized it was serious. I ran inside and told my wife the tornado was in the backyard. As I said it, it moved to the front yard and jumped across the road. It was so loud and scary. My house only has minor damage. I think it may have started in (nearby) Holiday Park and reformed in my backyard.”Lou Sperduto, city Property Maintenance manager, said the two sets of bike park bleachers probably would have to be replaced. They cost about $2,500 each. Gianni Tsiogas, 13, and two of his friends were riding their bikes along Talbrook when the tornado came toward them.“We rode as fast as we could and then dropped our bikes and ran to someone’s front porch,” Gianni said. “It reminded me of when I lived in Port Charlotte during Hurricane Charley (in 2004). It was scary.”Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/05/25/4053481/tornado-damages-17-homes-in-north.html#storylink=cpy

Tornado Confirmed on Ground near Wausau, Wisconsin

nbc15.com

Weather officials have confirmed a tornado touched down about two miles south of Marathon City in Marathon County, and was on the ground intermittently for about five minutes.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or major structural damage.

Jeff Last is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He says that at about 7 p.m. Thursday, a Wisconsin State Patrol officer saw the tornado touch down. It was on the ground off and on for several miles as it moved northeast.

Last says the tornado lifted off the ground about two miles northwest of Rib Mountain State Park.

He says the storm was fast-moving.

Local authorities are surveying the area. So far, they have seen several downed trees.

Streamline winds also downed trees as storms moved across the state.

Source: The Associated Press

Hurricane Bud heading for area near Puerto Vallarta

MSNBC

Hurricane Bud lost some strength as it moved closer to Mexico’s Pacific Coast and was forecast to hit land south of the popular tourist town of Puerto Vallarta Friday night, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Bud weakened overnight from a powerful Category 3 storm, but it’s dangerous as a Category 2 with 110 mph winds. And it’s expected to dump heavy rains in several states in western Mexico, threatening floods and landslides.The government of Jalisco state prepared hundreds of cots and dozens of heavy vehicles like bulldozers that could be needed to move debris.

Officials in Puerto Vallarta said they were in close contact with managers of the hundreds of hotels in the city in case tourists needed to move to eight emergency shelters. It said the sea along the city’s famous beachfront was calm, but swimming had been temporarily banned as a precaution.

At Mexico’s largest Pacific port of Manzanillo, skies were overcast and rainy before the forecast landfall.

The hurricane is the Pacific’s first of the 2012 season.

“Hurricane conditions are expected to reach the coast within the hurricane warning area this afternoon,” the center said in an advisory.

Located about 105 miles southwest of Manzanillo, the hurricane was moving north-northeast at around 8 mph and Mexico’s government issued a hurricane watch along the coast from Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes.

Bud is expected to soak the states of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco and southern Nayarit with around 6 to 8 inches of rain.

In some places, the storm could dump as much as 15 inches of rain.

“These rainfall amounts could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides,” the center said. “Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion.”

Most of Mexico’s oil platforms and exporting ports are in the Gulf of Mexico and affected by storms in the Atlantic, where forecasters are expecting a “near normal” hurricane season this year with up to 15 tropical storms and four to eight hurricanes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640

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Late-season storm could bring summer snow to Sierra, California

Cathy Locke
Sacramento Bee

© Randy Pench
A skier walks toward the lift at Alpine Meadows where green grass contrasts with snow. While the valley bakes under an unrelenting sun, some head up the hill for a ski weekend on the Fourth of July. Sunday, July 3, 2011.

The advice this Memorial Day weekend, particularly for folks heading into the Sierra, is “Be prepared.”

National Weather Service and state transportation officials say travelers can expect everything from snow showers and accumulations of up to 6 inches in the high country today and Saturday to temperatures in the 80s in the Sacramento Valley on Sunday and Monday.

“We have a cool-weather system dropping down from British Columbia and washing over Northern California,” said Karl Swanberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

A high of 69 degrees is forecast for the Sacramento area today, 15 degrees below the average high of 84 for this time of year. The drop in temperature will be accompanied by a 30 percent chance of rain and a slight chance of afternoon thunder-showers.

In the mountains, a winter weather advisory is in effect from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, and snow levels are expected to drop to about the 5,500-foot elevation, with some accumulation above 6,000 feet.

“The road surface is warm this time of year,” Swanberg said, which should help keep snow from accumulating on the roadway. “But there could be enough to cause slippery conditions.”

California Department of Transportation officials say motorists should be prepared for winter driving conditions and warn that chain controls could be in effect at times today.

High temperatures today in the Sierra are expected to range from the mid-30s to about 50 degrees. Southwesterly winds of 15 to 30 mph also are forecast, with gusts to 45 mph.

Although storms this late in the spring are somewhat unusual, it’s still May, the tail end of the potentially active period of the season, Swanberg said, and people should plan accordingly.

“Bring along the coat, the gloves and the long pants, and expect a brief period of winter driving conditions,” he said.

Although snow showers will continue at higher elevations through much of Saturday, the Valley will begin to dry out. Highs in the Sacramento area are expected to be in the low to mid-70s Saturday and in the low 80s Sunday and Monday.

A high around 48 degrees is forecast for South Lake Tahoe on Saturday, but temperatures are expected to reach the low 60s on Sunday and Monday.

 

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

SIOUX FALLS SD

Hurricane Statement

 

JACKSONVILLE FL
MELBOURNE FL

Tropical Storm Watch

 

JACKSONVILLE FL
CHARLESTON SC
CHARLESTON SC
CHARLESTON SC

Winter Storm Warning

 

BILLINGS MT
GREAT FALLS MT
MISSOULA MT

Flood Warning

 

WICHITA KS
DULUTH MN
SIOUX FALLS SD

Flood Advisory

 

KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
FAIRBANKS AK
DULUTH MN

 

 

 

25.05.2012

Flood

Serbia

Osečina

 

 

Flood in Serbia on Friday, 25 May, 2012 at 18:33 (06:33 PM) UTC.

Description

200 households in the western Serbian town of Osečina are threatened by floods and traffic has been interrupted in the area of Valjevo.MUP Emergency Sector chief Predrag Marić says that one elderly person has been evacuated and that nobody is currently in immediate danger.He added that there was a danger of torrential floods on many rivers in eastern Serbia.More rainfall is expected this weekend.According to him, water levels of the Sava and Danube Rivers in Belgrade are dropping and there is no danger that they could overflow.Marić said that all regional rescue teams would be on standby over the weekend and be sent to potential flood sights.He noted that around 140 municipalities out of 170 had drafted a flood protection operation plan, adding that the new government would have to address the issue.The Tamnava River overflowed its banks in the Koceljeva municipality and flooded between 1,500 and 2,000 hectares of arable land.The Koceljeva-Donje Crniljevo road has been closed due to the flood.Koceljeva Mayor Milutin Cvejić stressed that residential areas are not threatened by the flood.Several roads near the western town of Valjevo have been closed due to heavy rainfall, floods and mudslides, Roads of Serbia public company has stated.The Loznica-Osečina road in the village of Komirić is completely closed due to floods caused by the Jadar River.The Zavlaka-Krupanj road in the village of Mojković is also closed.Roads of Serbia public company teams are working on clearing the roads.

 

 

25.05.2012

Landslide

Indonesia

West Java, [Bogor]

 

 

Landslide in Indonesia on Friday, 25 May, 2012 at 18:36 (06:36 PM) UTC.

Description

An official says a landslide on Indonesia’s main island of Java has killed at least six gold miners.Six other workers at the illegal mine are still missing after the landslide in West Java’s district of Bogor.Disaster management agency official Budi Aksomo said Friday several days of rain caused the landslide at the mountainous site Thursday.He added that eight miners were found alive.Rescuers are still evacuating the bodies from the scene and searching for the missing miners. Seasonal downpours often cause landslides and flash floods in Indonesia, an archipelego nation where millions of people live on mountains or near fertile flood plains.

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Radiation

Utility Says It Underestimated Radiation Released in Japan

By REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) — The amount of radioactive materials released in the first days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster was almost two and a half times the initial estimate by Japanese safety regulators, the operator of the crippled plant said in a report released on Thursday.

The operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, said the meltdowns it believes took place at three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant released about 900,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances into the air during March 2011. The accident, which followed an earthquake and a tsunami, occurred on March 11.

The latest estimate was based on measurements suggesting the amount of iodine-131 released by the nuclear accident was much larger than previous estimates, the utility said in the report. Iodine-131 is a fast-decaying radioactive substance produced by fission that takes place inside a nuclear reactor. It has a half-life of eight days and can cause thyroid cancer.

It is difficult to judge the health effects of the larger-than-reported release, since even the latest number is an estimate, and it does not clarify how much exposure people received or continue to receive from contaminated soil and food. Experts have been divided on the health impacts since the disaster because the studies of assessing radiation risks are based mainly on a different type of exposure — the large doses delivered quickly by the atomic bombs in Japan in 1945.

Although people who lived closest to the plant were evacuated, many people remain in areas with significantly higher radiation levels than normal.

Tokyo Electric said it had initially been unable to accurately judge the amount of radioactive materials released soon after the accident because radiation sensors closest to the plant were disabled in the disaster.

“If this information had been available at the time, we could have used it in planning evacuations,” a spokesman for Tokyo Electric, Junichi Matsumoto, said at a news conference.

More than 99 percent of the radiation released by the accident came in the first three weeks, the utility company added.

The newly released information is likely to add to concerns among many Japanese that they were never told the extent of the accident or the risks it posed.

A terabecquerel is a trillion becquerels, a commonly used measure of the radiation emitted by a radioactive material.

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Climate Change

Pollution teams with thunderclouds to warm atmosphere

by Staff Writers
Richland WA (SPX)

Inside a thunderstorm cloud, warm air rises in updrafts, pushing tiny aerosols from pollution or other particles upwards. Higher up, water vapor cools and condenses onto the aerosols to form droplets, building the cloud. At the same time, cold air falls, creating a convective cycle. Generally, the top of the cloud spreads out like an anvil.

Pollution is warming the atmosphere through summer thunderstorm clouds, according to a computational study published May 10 in Geophysical Research Letters. How much the warming effect of these clouds offsets the cooling that other clouds provide is not yet clear. To find out, researchers need to incorporate this new-found warming into global climate models.

Pollution strengthens thunderstorm clouds, causing their anvil-shaped tops to spread out high in the atmosphere and capture heat – especially at night, said lead author and climate researcher Jiwen Fan of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

“Global climate models don’t see this effect because thunderstorm clouds simulated in those models do not include enough detail,” said Fan. “The large amount of heat trapped by the pollution-enhanced clouds could potentially impact regional circulation and modify weather systems.”

Clouds are one of the most poorly understood components of Earth’s climate system. Called deep convective clouds, thunderstorm clouds reflect a lot of the sun’s energy back into space, trap heat that rises from the surface, and return evaporated water back to the surface as rain, making them an important part of the climate cycle.

To more realistically model clouds on a small scale, such as in this study, researchers use the physics of temperature, water, gases and aerosols – tiny particles in the air such as pollution, salt or dust on which cloud droplets form.

In large-scale models that look at regions or the entire globe, researchers substitute a stand-in called a parameterization to account for deep convective clouds. The size of the grid in global models can be a hundred times bigger than an actual thunderhead, making a substitute necessary.

However, thunderheads are complicated, dynamic clouds. Coming up with an accurate parameterization is important but has been difficult due to their dynamic nature.

Inside a thunderstorm cloud, warm air rises in updrafts, pushing tiny aerosols from pollution or other particles upwards. Higher up, water vapor cools and condenses onto the aerosols to form droplets, building the cloud. At the same time, cold air falls, creating a convective cycle. Generally, the top of the cloud spreads out like an anvil.

Previous work showed that when it’s not too windy, pollution leads to bigger clouds . This occurs because more pollution particles divide up the available water for droplets, leading to a higher number of smaller droplets that are too small to rain. Instead of raining, the small droplets ride the updrafts higher, where they freeze and absorb more water vapor. Collectively, these events lead to bigger, more vigorous convective clouds that live longer.

Now, researchers from PNNL, Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the University of Maryland took to high-performance computing to study the invigoration effect on a regional scale.

To find out which factors contribute the most to the invigoration, Fan and colleagues set up computer simulations for two different types of storm systems: warm summer thunderstorms in southeastern China and cool, windy frontal systems on the Great Plains of Oklahoma. The data used for the study was collected by different DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement facilities.

The simulations had a resolution that was high enough to allow the team to see the clouds develop. The researchers then varied conditions such as wind speed and air pollution.

Fan and colleagues found that for the warm summer thunderstorms, pollution led to stronger storms with larger anvils. Compared to the cloud anvils that developed in clean air, the larger anvils both warmed more – by trapping more heat – and cooled more – by reflecting additional sunlight back to space. On average, however, the warming effect dominated.

The springtime frontal clouds did not have a similarly significant warming effect. Also, increasing the wind speed in the summer clouds dampened the invigoration by aerosols and led to less warming.

This is the first time researchers showed that pollution increased warming by enlarging thunderstorm clouds. The warming was surprisingly strong at the top of the atmosphere during the day when the storms occurred. The pollution-enhanced anvils also trapped more heat at night, leading to warmer nights.

“Those numbers for the warming are very big,” said Fan, “but they are calculated only for the exact day when the thunderstorms occur. Over a longer time-scale such as a month or a season, the average amount of warming would be less because those clouds would not appear everyday.”

Next, the researchers will look into these effects on longer time scales. They will also try to incorporate the invigoration effect in global climate models.

Reference: Jiwen Fan, Daniel Rosenfeld, Yanni Ding, L. Ruby Leung, and Zhanqing Li, 2012. Potential Aerosol Indirect Effects on Atmospheric Circulation and Radiative Forcing through Deep Convection, Geophys. Res. Lett. May 10, DOI 10.1029/2012GL051851.

Related Links
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
The Air We Breathe at TerraDaily.com

‘Scientific experts’ confounded by increasing snow cover on Mount Kilimanjaro

Apolinari Tairo
eTN Tanzania

© worldtopjourneys.com

Constituting the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro is slowly building up its snow cover, allaying the fears of prominent scientists who had predicted witnessing the eminence lose its famous white hat. The drifts are slowly thickening on the top point of this summit, giving new hopes to Mount Kilimanjaro environmental watchdogs and tourists that the peak may not lose its beautiful snowy cap, as scientific experts have long been warning.

Covered in mist for most of the day, Mount Kilimanjaro is the most tourist-attractive site in Tanzania, pulling in tens of thousands of foreigners and locals each year. The snow, which once had disappeared on some parts of the mountain, is piling up again gradually, making a beautiful picture out of the Kibo peak.

Sources from Kilimanjaro environmental groups said this precipitation could rise to cover most areas of the mountain, but the effects of climate change and global warming could still affect the peak’s snow layers, which have been becoming thinner and thinner.

Environmentalists had warned that this highest peak in Africa could lose its ice cover and glaciers between 2018 and 2020 unless global campaigns to save the mountain’s ecology were taken and a stop put to rampant tree-felling and unchecked agricultural activity on its slopes.

The writer of this article observed during this week’s flight closer to the mountain, recovering snow piled up, covering the whole mountain peak.

Despite several warnings by scientists over disappearing snow, new hopes are rising to see this highest peak in Africa regain its face through stringent environmental protection campaigns.

Kilimanjaro Area Governor Mr. Leonidas Gama said environmental degradation has to be checked by all possible means lest Kilimanjaro residents live to regret it, adding that after inspecting the natural plants and plantation forests on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro aboard a hired helicopter, he found people harvesting timber, and livestock grazing in different areas, with total impunity.

“The situation has become alarming and has to be arrested now, to restore the former glories of the mountain, the highest peak in Africa, one of the World Heritage sites and an absolute destination choice of foreign visitors to our country,” Gama said.

He said residents should be sensitized to the need to lend their hands to reforestation practices, so as to ensure that the region becomes once again a choice place to live in, with all its natural resources intact. He expressed the need to deploy security organizations to curb the ever-worsening scourge of timber-harvesting from natural and reserved forest areas.

This reporter observed with enthusiasm during the recent flight around the mountain’s peak that there was a deepening of the snow, which had once practically disappeared.

Standing freely and majestically with its frozen cover gleaming in the sun, our beloved Kilimanjaro has been in great danger of losing its eye-catching glaciers. The mountain is located some 330 kilometers and 3 degrees south of the equator.

Mount Kilimanjaro is an awesome and magnificent peak, one of the prides of Africa, and one of the chief free-standing mountains in the world. It is composed of three independent peaks – Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira – covering a total area of 4,000 kilometers.

The snow-capped Kibo, with permanent glaciers covering its entire tip, is the highest at 5,895 meters altitude and is the most attractive sight, pulling in over 40,000 foreign and local tourists per year.

This peak is indeed considered one of the leading tourist attractions in Tanzania, due to its beautiful appearance and its strange geological characteristics.

Global warming effects are being felt in most parts of Africa with important impacts indeed on tourist sites, included in which are Tanzanian wildlife parks and Mount Kilimanjaro’s unique ecosystem.

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Epidemic Hazards/Diseases

 

Today

Epidemic Hazard

Ireland

West Cork,

 

 

Epidemic Hazard in Ireland on Saturday, 26 May, 2012 at 05:27 (05:27 AM) UTC.

Description
Seventeen new case of measles have been reported during the last six days in an outbreak in southern Ireland.The total number of confirmed cases in West Cork, Ireland, stands at 42. Public health officials are urging parents to make certain their children are fully protected against the highly infectious illness, according to CorkIndependent.com.“At the moment, the best way to ensure safety is to ensure that babies are not exposed to older children who may not be vaccinated and who are incubating the disease,” Dr. Fiona Ryan, a consultant in public health medicine, said, CorkIndependent.com reports. “Some cases have unvaccinated brothers and sisters, so they are very likely to become infected. Unfortunately the symptoms are very non-specific before they get the rash.”Two doses of the MMR vaccine are recommended, with the first dose to be given at 12 months of age and the second between the ages of four and five.Children or teenagers who have not received both doses of the vaccine can have it administered by a general practitioner free of charge. Those affected in the outbreak have mainly been teenagers, but children under the age of 12 months are considered especially at risk.“We have a worry that it will spread to other children,” Ryan said, according to CorkIndependent.com. “We are expecting more cases.“In West Cork, we have quite a number of children that haven’t been vaccinated. There are so many unvaccinated that you are getting a lot of spread. It’s a very, very infectious disease.”The nationwide MMR vaccination rate in Ireland for children aged 24 months is 92 percent, but in West Cork 14 percent of children at that age remain unvaccinated.
Biohazard name:	measles
Biohazard level:	1/4 Low
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses including Bacillus subtilis, canine hepatitis, Escherichia coli, varicella (chicken pox), as well as some cell cultures and non-infectious bacteria. At this level precautions against the biohazardous materials in question are minimal, most likely involving gloves and some sort of facial protection. Usually, contaminated materials are left in open (but separately indicated) waste receptacles. Decontamination procedures for this level are similar in most respects to modern precautions against everyday viruses (i.e.: washing one’s hands with anti-bacterial soap, washing all exposed surfaces of the lab with disinfectants, etc). In a lab environment, all materials used for cell and/or bacteria cultures are decontaminated via autoclave.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

 

Today

Epidemic Hazard

Pakistan

[Bajaur Agency]

 

 

Epidemic Hazard in Pakistan on Saturday, 26 May, 2012 at 05:19 (05:19 AM) UTC.

Description
At least eight children have died in the past three days and dozens are sick after a measles outbreak across Bajaur Agency, senior health official Dr. Khursheed Khan told Central Asia Online.About 30 other children are sick, but their condition is good now, Khursheed said May 25.Vaccinators have been deployed to vaccinate the children. “We have also sent a mobile hospital to the affected areas to ensure that children in inaccessible areas are administered vaccine,” he said.He attributed the outbreak to a lapse in vaccinations in some insurgency-prone areas over the past three months.In North Waziristan Agency, 20 children have died from measles in the past two weeks, he said.
Biohazard name:	measles
Biohazard level:	1/4 Low
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses including Bacillus subtilis, canine hepatitis, Escherichia coli, varicella (chicken pox), as well as some cell cultures and non-infectious bacteria. At this level precautions against the biohazardous materials in question are minimal, most likely involving gloves and some sort of facial protection. Usually, contaminated materials are left in open (but separately indicated) waste receptacles. Decontamination procedures for this level are similar in most respects to modern precautions against everyday viruses (i.e.: washing one’s hands with anti-bacterial soap, washing all exposed surfaces of the lab with disinfectants, etc). In a lab environment, all materials used for cell and/or bacteria cultures are decontaminated via autoclave.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

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Solar Activity

2MIN News May25: ArticQuake, Hurricane Bud, Solar/Planetary Update

Published on May 25, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

New Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2149227/Gospel-Barnabas-cause-… Thanks Dee

http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/storms/2012/Bud
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-spacex-readies-space-station-rendezvous.html
http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/4777/nomads-of-the-galaxy

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]

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

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]

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

UPCOMING CLOSE APPROACHES TO EARTH

1 AU = ~150 million kilometers 1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers

Object Name	Close Approach Date	Miss Distance (AU)	Miss Distance (LD)	Estimated Diameter*	H (mag)	Relative Velocity (km/s)
(2012 KO11)	2012-May-25	0.0731	28.4	30 m – 66 m	24.8	8.88
(2012 HL8)	2012-May-25	0.1316	51.2	49 m – 110 m	23.7	6.64
(2012 KD6)	2012-May-25	0.0335	13.0	52 m – 120 m	23.5	10.47
(2012 KX)	2012-May-26	0.0566	22.0	59 m – 130 m	23.3	7.07
154330 (2002 VX94)	2012-May-26	0.1869	72.8	670 m – 1.5 km	18.0	13.62
(2012 KF25)	2012-May-26	0.0291	11.3	23 m – 52 m	25.3	8.61
(2002 AW)	2012-May-26	0.1924	74.9	210 m – 460 m	20.6	6.95
(2012 KB4)	2012-May-27	0.0904	35.2	22 m – 49 m	25.4	3.44
(2012 KP24)	2012-May-28	0.0004	0.1	16 m – 36 m	26.1	13.33
(2001 CQ36)	2012-May-30	0.0258	10.0	77 m – 170 m	22.7	5.62
(2002 OA22)	2012-May-31	0.1197	46.6	360 m – 820 m	19.3	7.01
(2007 LE)	2012-Jun-02	0.0478	18.6	390 m – 870 m	19.2	19.77
(2012 KO18)	2012-Jun-02	0.0827	32.2	100 m – 220 m	22.1	15.29
(2012 JW11)	2012-Jun-02	0.1309	51.0	110 m – 250 m	21.9	5.14
(2012 HK31)	2012-Jun-04	0.0336	13.1	22 m – 49 m	25.4	3.03
(2012 KN18)	2012-Jun-05	0.0424	16.5	34 m – 76 m	24.5	10.29
(2008 MG1)	2012-Jun-05	0.1268	49.3	290 m – 640 m	19.8	22.32
(2009 LE)	2012-Jun-06	0.1150	44.8	50 m – 110 m	23.6	13.61
(2006 SG7)	2012-Jun-06	0.0857	33.4	71 m – 160 m	22.9	16.47
(2001 LB)	2012-Jun-07	0.0729	28.4	210 m – 470 m	20.5	11.56
(2012 JU11)	2012-Jun-09	0.0731	28.4	27 m – 60 m	25.0	3.77
(2012 GX11)	2012-Jun-10	0.1556	60.5	170 m – 380 m	21.0	6.38
(2012 KM11)	2012-Jun-14	0.0933	36.3	30 m – 66 m	24.8	5.91
(2012 HN40)	2012-Jun-15	0.1182	46.0	240 m – 530 m	20.3	13.79
(2002 AC)	2012-Jun-16	0.1598	62.2	740 m – 1.7 km	17.8	26.71
137120 (1999 BJ8)	2012-Jun-16	0.1769	68.8	670 m – 1.5 km	18.0	14.88
(2011 KR12)	2012-Jun-19	0.1318	51.3	140 m – 310 m	21.4	10.10
(2004 HB39)	2012-Jun-20	0.1605	62.5	77 m – 170 m	22.7	8.88
(2008 CE119)	2012-Jun-21	0.1811	70.5	21 m – 46 m	25.5	3.22
308242 (2005 GO21)	2012-Jun-21	0.0440	17.1	1.4 km – 3.1 km	16.4	13.27
(2011 AH5)	2012-Jun-25	0.1670	65.0	17 m – 39 m	25.9	5.84
(2012 FA14)	2012-Jun-25	0.0322	12.5	75 m – 170 m	22.8	5.28
(2004 YG1)	2012-Jun-25	0.0890	34.7	140 m – 310 m	21.4	11.34
(2010 AF3)	2012-Jun-25	0.1190	46.3	16 m – 36 m	26.1	6.54
(2008 YT30)	2012-Jun-26	0.0715	27.8	370 m – 820 m	19.3	10.70
(2010 NY65)	2012-Jun-27	0.1023	39.8	120 m – 270 m	21.7	15.09
(2008 WM64)	2012-Jun-28	0.1449	56.4	200 m – 440 m	20.6	17.31
(2010 CD55)	2012-Jun-28	0.1975	76.8	64 m – 140 m	23.1	6.33
(2004 CL)	2012-Jun-30	0.1113	43.3	220 m – 480 m	20.5	20.75
(2008 YQ2)	2012-Jul-03	0.1057	41.1	29 m – 65 m	24.8	15.60
(2005 QQ30)	2012-Jul-06	0.1765	68.7	280 m – 620 m	19.9	13.13
(2011 YJ28)	2012-Jul-06	0.1383	53.8	150 m – 330 m	21.3	14.19
276392 (2002 XH4)	2012-Jul-07	0.1851	72.0	370 m – 840 m	19.3	7.76
(2003 MK4)	2012-Jul-08	0.1673	65.1	180 m – 410 m	20.8	14.35
(1999 NW2)	2012-Jul-08	0.0853	33.2	62 m – 140 m	23.1	6.66
189P/NEAT	2012-Jul-09	0.1720	66.9	n/a	0.0	12.47
(2000 JB6)	2012-Jul-10	0.1780	69.3	500 m – 1.1 km	18.6	6.42
(2010 MJ1)	2012-Jul-10	0.1533	59.7	52 m – 120 m	23.6	10.35
(2008 NP3)	2012-Jul-12	0.1572	61.2	57 m – 130 m	23.3	6.08
(2006 BV39)	2012-Jul-12	0.1132	44.1	4.2 m – 9.5 m	29.0	11.11
(2005 NE21)	2012-Jul-15	0.1555	60.5	140 m – 320 m	21.3	10.77
(2003 KU2)	2012-Jul-15	0.1034	40.2	780 m – 1.7 km	17.7	17.12
(2007 TN74)	2012-Jul-16	0.1718	66.9	20 m – 45 m	25.6	7.36
(2007 DD)	2012-Jul-16	0.1101	42.8	19 m – 42 m	25.8	6.47
(2006 BC8)	2012-Jul-16	0.1584	61.6	25 m – 56 m	25.1	17.71
144411 (2004 EW9)	2012-Jul-16	0.1202	46.8	1.3 km – 2.9 km	16.5	10.90
(2012 BV26)	2012-Jul-18	0.1759	68.4	94 m – 210 m	22.2	10.88
(2010 OB101)	2012-Jul-19	0.1196	46.6	200 m – 450 m	20.6	13.34
(2008 OX1)	2012-Jul-20	0.1873	72.9	130 m – 300 m	21.5	15.35
(2010 GK65)	2012-Jul-21	0.1696	66.0	34 m – 75 m	24.5	17.80
(2011 OJ45)	2012-Jul-21	0.1367	53.2	18 m – 39 m	25.9	3.79
153958 (2002 AM31)	2012-Jul-22	0.0351	13.7	630 m – 1.4 km	18.1	9.55
(2011 CA7)	2012-Jul-23	0.1492	58.1	2.3 m – 5.1 m	30.3	5.43
(2012 BB124)	2012-Jul-24	0.1610	62.7	170 m – 380 m	21.0	8.78
(2009 PC)	2012-Jul-28	0.1772	68.9	61 m – 140 m	23.2	7.34
217013 (2001 AA50)	2012-Jul-31	0.1355	52.7	580 m – 1.3 km	18.3	22.15
(2012 DS30)	2012-Aug-02	0.1224	47.6	18 m – 39 m	25.9	5.39
(2000 RN77)	2012-Aug-03	0.1955	76.1	410 m – 920 m	19.0	9.87
(2004 SB56)	2012-Aug-04	0.1393	54.2	380 m – 840 m	19.2	13.72
(2000 SD8)	2012-Aug-04	0.1675	65.2	180 m – 400 m	20.9	5.82
(2006 EC)	2012-Aug-06	0.0932	36.3	13 m – 28 m	26.6	6.13
(2006 MV1)	2012-Aug-07	0.0612	23.8	12 m – 28 m	26.7	4.79
(2005 RK3)	2012-Aug-08	0.1843	71.7	52 m – 120 m	23.6	8.27
(2009 BW2)	2012-Aug-09	0.0337	13.1	25 m – 56 m	25.1	5.27
277475 (2005 WK4)	2012-Aug-09	0.1283	49.9	260 m – 580 m	20.1	6.18
(2004 SC56)	2012-Aug-09	0.0811	31.6	74 m – 170 m	22.8	10.57
(2008 AF4)	2012-Aug-10	0.1936	75.3	310 m – 690 m	19.7	16.05
37655 Illapa	2012-Aug-12	0.0951	37.0	770 m – 1.7 km	17.7	28.73
(2012 HS15)	2012-Aug-14	0.1803	70.2	220 m – 490 m	20.4	11.54
4581 Asclepius	2012-Aug-16	0.1079	42.0	220 m – 490 m	20.4	13.48

* Diameter estimates based on the object’s absolute magnitude.

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Mysterious Sightings

Fireball, UFO, flare? US Airways Express flight crew sees mysterious object

Todd Sperry
newsnet5.com

© Associated Press Graphics Bank

A US Airways Express flight crew reported seeing what looked like a flare with a smoke trail in the vicinity of its aircraft while on approach to Philadelphia International Airport on Tuesday.

According to authorities, what the crew witnessed remains a mystery. The aircraft with 34 passengers and three crew members landed safely.

Flight 4321, originating from Elmira-Corning Regional Airport, was about 500 feet above the ground in Philadelphia when the incident took place.

After landing in Philadelphia, the aircraft taxied to the gate, according to US Airways spokesman Liz Landau. Runway 17 was closed for about 30 minutes after the incident for investigation, the FAA said. Law enforcement authorities are investigating the incident.

The aircraft involved was a Bombardier Dash 8 twin engine plane operated for US Airways by Piedmont Airlines.

CNN’s Aaron Cooper contributed to this report.

Source: 2012 Cable News Network, Inc.

Strange objects over Blue Springs, Missouri

Chris Oberholtz and Dave Jordan
KCTV

(US) Strange lights in the night sky over Blue Springs have UFO investigators interested.

Neighbors say in the past two weeks they have seen multi-colored lights in the sky, and the Missouri UFO Network is now conducting its own investigation. The video of these orbs hovering is causing quite the debate in Blue Springs and is the topic of discussion in the quiet suburb.

Robert Kover first noticed it two weeks ago and went down to get a closer look. He was confronted by a neighbor who thought he was spying on women, until he handed her his binoculars.

“I showed her the star that in the sky, just to get somebody else’s perspective on it, and they said they had never seen anything like it before,” Kover said.

Becky Neely said it was vibrating red, green and blue lights.

“It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but with binoculars we could see it fairly well, and it was off in the distance,” Neely said.

Teresa Price saw it as well, at least twice. The same night Kover and Neely did and again when she was walking her dogs the following week. However, this time, things were even more bizarre.

“It was up in the sky and then it just dropped and stayed stationary in that lower position,” Teresa Price said.

Price had seen KCTV5’s recent news report on domestic drones that are now being used by local governments and law enforcement agencies and thought that was what it was.

“It kind of made me think that there is some sort of drone out there. Why is it out at night? I don’t know,” Price said.

Kover called the KCTV5 Investigative Hotline and posted a sighting on a UFO spotters website. The night of a interview, KCTV5’s Dave Jordan spotted similar sightings.

Kover was contacted by Margie Kay with the Missouri UFO Network, who decided to investigate for herself the following night.

Kay interviewed everyone who claimed to have seen the UFOs and then set up telescopes to watch the sightings herself. Neighbors came out hoping to see similar activity that captivated the community.

As the sky darkened, one of them appeared. Kay initially dismissed it.

“I am 90 percent sure we are looking at Vega in this instance, and they’re some other planets out right now,” said Margie Kay with the Missouri UFO Network.

But she came to a different conclusion after others starting appearing. And after she put in a call to a colleague to take a look at what she thought was Vega, that person described it as Pure White.

“That is not what we are seeing. We’re seeing colors in this. I see green in this one and in the other I see red, green and blue,” Kay said. “I don’t think it’s a planet at this point. I don’t know what it is. It’s unidentified.”

KCTV5 contacted Blue Springs police, and they have said they haven’t received any calls about this. KCTV5 also contacted NORAD, and a spokesman said that he did hear about similar sighting, but he wasn’t sure if it was in Missouri because that division of NORAD monitors the entire Midwest.

Watch Video Here

Show In The Sky:
Strange, Dancing, Shape-Shifting Lights Over Milford, Pennsylvania

MessageToEagle.com – These strange lights seen dancing in the skies over Milford, Pennsylvania were filmed with an android phone.

As you can see the light, flicker, change not only color, but shape as well!

What could they be?

Youtube user lisah6083 who filmed these mysterious lights says they look like stars, but she also points out it was a crystal clear night.

“You could see every star in the sky but they are so small that my camera doesn’t even pick them up.These were large bright objects moving slowly to the left. No noise. And they had a orange, flickering type appearance. I believe some of them even disappeared in a flash. Hard to tell they are moving in the pic, but in person they were all moving in a clear path across the sky. When the seem to “squiggle” in the sky that’s just me moving my camera. The noise in the background is a motorcycle that came across…. completely oblivious to the lights in the sky, ” lisah6083 says.

The lights appear at about 0:17According to lisah6083 there was also another eyewitness who saw the dancing lights in the sky.

It was an amazing light show in the night sky.

Have you taken any interesting images or filmed something unusual? Remember you can always send the images to us so we can publish them.

MessageToEagle.com

See also:
Mysterious Object Falls From The Sky After Explosion

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Biological Hazards/Wildlife

Hundreds of endangered antelopes dying in Kazakhstan

Astana: A massive wave of deaths has been reported among the endangered saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan. Around 540 carcasses of the animal has been found in the country, RIA Novosti reported Thursday.

According to the Kazakh agriculture ministry, the carcasses were found in the Kostanai region.

“Aviation monitoring today (Thursday) discovered a new concentration of saiga deaths with the approximate number of dead animals reaching beyond 400,” the ministry said.

Last year, at least 12,000 saiga antelopes died in Kazakhstan, presumably from pasteurellosis infection and from overeating. In November 2010, Kazakhstan introduced a ban on saiga hunting.

The latest statistics put the number of saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan at 85,500. The country spends $800,000 annually to prevent the deaths.

Saiga were virtually exterminated in the 1920s but then their numbers increased in the 1950s. The animals mostly became endangered because of hunting and the high demand for their horns in traditional Chinese medicine.

Saiga are also found in Russia’s Kalmykia region and in Mongolia.

IANS

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Articles of Interest

Latest Southern Ocean research shows continuing deep ocean change

by Staff Writers
Canberra, Australia (SPX)

Deploying a mooring carrying a suite of monitoring sensors into the sea ice. Credit: Steve Rintoul.

Comparing detailed measurements taken during the Australian Antarctic program’s 2012 Southern Ocean marine science voyage to historical data dating back to 1970, scientists estimate there has been as much as a 60 per cent reduction in the volume of Antarctic Bottom Water, the cold dense water that drives global ocean currents.

In an intensive and arduous 25-day observing program, temperature and salinity samples were collected at 77 sites between Antarctica and Fremantle. Such ship transects provide the only means to detect changes in the deep ocean.

The new measurements, which have not yet been published, suggest the densest waters in the world ocean are gradually disappearing and being replaced by less dense waters.

“The amount of dense Antarctic Bottom Water has contracted each time we’ve measured it since the 1970s,” said Dr Steve Rintoul, of CSIRO and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC. “There is now only about 40 per cent as much dense water present as observed in 1970.”

The ocean profiles also show that the dense water formed around Antarctica has become less saline since 1970.

“It’s a clear signal to us that the oceans are responding rapidly to variations in climate in polar regions. The sinking of dense water around Antarctica is part of a global pattern of ocean currents that has a strong influence on climate, so evidence that these waters are changing is important,” Dr Rintoul said.

The research was carried out by more than 50 scientists on the Australian Antarctic Division’s research and resupply vessel Aurora Australis, which sailed to Commonwealth Bay, west along the Antarctic coast, and returned into Fremantle.

The Australian Antarctic Division’s Chief Scientist, Dr Nick Gales, said the findings of the oceanographic study are profoundly important.

“Not only will this research improve our understanding of ocean currents, but will also feed into our knowledge of how the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic continent drives the world’s climate processes,” Dr Gales said.

Dr Rintoul was Chief Scientist on the recent voyage and has made a dozen voyages to the Southern Ocean. “When we speak of global warming, we really mean ocean warming: more than 90 per cent of the extra heat energy stored by the earth over the last 50 years has gone into warming up the ocean.

The Southern Ocean is particularly important because it stores more heat and carbon dioxide released by human activities than any other region, and so helps to slow the rate of climate change” Dr Rintoul said. “A key goal of our work is to determine if the Southern Ocean will continue to play this role in the future.”

The causes of the observed changes in the Southern Ocean are not yet fully understood. Changes in winds, sea ice, precipitation, or melt of floating glacial ice around the edge of Antarctica may be responsible. Data collected on the latest voyage will help unravel this mystery.

A major challenge is the lack of observations at high latitude, where much of the ocean is covered by sea ice in winter. During the voyage scientists deployed nine drifting profilers, called Argo floats, which will transmit profiles of temperature and salinity every 10 days for the next five years. These ice-capable floats in the seasonal ice zone in the Australian sector of the Southern Ocean are funded through Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System.

“The Argo floats have revolutionised our ability to measure the ocean, particularly in winter when ship observations are very rare,” said Dr Rintoul. “On this voyage, we deployed a new kind of float designed to survive encounters with the sea ice. These floats will allow us to see how dense water forms in winter for the first time.”

The Aurora Australis visited Commonwealth Bay as part of a celebration of the centenary of Sir Douglas Mawson’s Australian Antarctic Expedition. Dr Rintoul’s team had the opportunity to repeat oceanographic measurements made by Mawson’s team 100 years ago, obtaining one of the few century-long records obtained anywhere in the ocean.

“Our measurements collected in 2012 are quite different to those collected by Mawson in 1912,” Dr Rintoul said. “This is an indication of a change in the ocean currents that may be related to a reduction in the amount of dense water formed near Antarctica.”

“Mawson’s expedition really marked the transition from the “Heroic Age” of Antarctic exploration to a period where science was the primary motivation for Antarctic expeditions. I think he would have gotten a real kick out of the idea that measurements made by his team a century ago are still useful and that Australian scientists are continuing his legacy by studying Antarctica and its connection to the rest of the globe.”

Related Links
CSIRO
Water News – Science, Technology and Politics

Ancient giant turtle fossil revealed

by Staff Writers
Raleigh NC (SPX)

This is a reconstruction of Carbonemys preying upon a small crocodylomorph. Credit: Artwork by Liz Bradford.

Picture a turtle the size of a Smart car, with a shell large enough to double as a kiddie pool. Paleontologists from North Carolina State University have found just such a specimen – the fossilized remains of a 60-million-year-old South American giant that lived in what is now Colombia.

The turtle in question is Carbonemys cofrinii, which means “coal turtle,” and is part of a group of side-necked turtles known as pelomedusoides. The fossil was named Carbonemys because it was discovered in 2005 in a coal mine that was part of northern Colombia’s Cerrejon formation.

The specimen’s skull measures 24 centimeters, roughly the size of a regulation NFL football. The shell which was recovered nearby – and is believed to belong to the same species – measures 172 centimeters, or about 5 feet 7 inches, long. That’s the same height as Edwin Cadena, the NC State doctoral student who discovered the fossil.

“We had recovered smaller turtle specimens from the site. But after spending about four days working on uncovering the shell, I realized that this particular turtle was the biggest anyone had found in this area for this time period – and it gave us the first evidence of giantism in freshwater turtles,” Cadena says.

Smaller relatives of Carbonemys existed alongside dinosaurs. But the giant version appeared five million years after the dinosaurs vanished, during a period when giant varieties of many different reptiles – including Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the largest snake ever discovered – lived in this part of South America.

Researchers believe that a combination of changes in the ecosystem, including fewer predators, a larger habitat area, plentiful food supply and climate changes, worked together to allow these giant species to survive. Carbonemys’ habitat would have resembled a much warmer modern-day Orinoco or Amazon River delta.

In addition to the turtle’s huge size, the fossil also shows that this particular turtle had massive, powerful jaws that would have enabled the omnivore to eat anything nearby – from mollusks to smaller turtles or even crocodiles.

Thus far, only one specimen of this size has been recovered. Dr. Dan Ksepka, NC State paleontologist and research associate at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, believes that this is because a turtle of this size would need a large territory in order to obtain enough food to survive.

“It’s like having one big snapping turtle living in the middle of a lake,” says Ksepka, co-author of the paper describing the find.

That turtle survives because it has eaten all of the major competitors for resources. We found many bite-marked shells at this site that show crocodilians preyed on side-necked turtles. None would have bothered an adult Carbonemys, though – in fact smaller crocs would have been easy prey for this behemoth.”

The paleontologists’ findings appear in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Dr. Carlos Jaramillo from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Dr. Jonathan Bloch from the Florida Museum of Natural History contributed to the work.

“New pelomedusoid turtles from the late Palaeocene Cerrejon Formation of Colombia and their implications for phylogeny and body size evolution” Authors: Edwin Cadena, Dan Ksepka, North Carolina State University; Carlos Jaramillo, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama; Jonathan Bloch, Florida Museum of Natural History Published: In the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

Related Links
North Carolina State University
Explore The Early Earth at TerraDaily.com

 

 

Today

Chemical Accident

USA

State of California, Santa Maria [C & D Zodiac Inc.]

 

 

Chemical Accident in USA on Saturday, 26 May, 2012 at 05:29 (05:29 AM) UTC.

Description

Hazardous material response crews are cleaning up about 20 gallons of industrial-strength paint that spilled this morning at C & D Zodiac Inc. in Santa Maria, sending one woman to the hospital for treatment of nausea.The spill happened just before 8 a.m., and in the wake of the incident, employees’ cars were streaming out of the lot on Airpark Drive due to a mandatory evacuation of the building. Some 800 employees were evacuated.The paint reportedly spilled after some shelving collapsed, dropping and puncturing some cans of water-based paint used to coat aircraft interiors.C & D Zodiac designs and manufactures aircraft interiors, such as overhead baggage bins. Scott Johnson, battalion chief with the Santa Maria Fire Department, said the paint had a low level of flammability and posed little hazard, but gave off some biting fumes that made several employees feel ill.“There was a nice amount of fumes in there and a big mess,” he added.Employees were expected to return to work around 11:30 a.m. after cleanup was complete, said C&D Zodiac General Manager Tony Guy.

 

 

25.05.2012

Chemical Accident

USA

State of Nebraska, [Tyson Fresh Meats Pork Plant]

 

 

 

Chemical Accident in USA on Friday, 25 May, 2012 at 08:37 (08:37 AM) UTC.

Description

About 30 workers at the Tyson Foods pork plant in Madison, Neb., were taken to the hospital Thursday night after an anhydrous ammonia leak.The employees were directly exposed to ammonia and needed medical care, a spokeswoman for Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk told KTIV-TV in Sioux City, Iowa.Ten of the injured workers were taken by ambulance to the Norfolk hospital about 8:45 p.m.“Patients were quickly assessed for severity of inhalation and potential contamination,” Kelly Driscoll, vice president of patient care services, told KTIV.“All 10 patients were found to suffer from minor chemical inhalation, were treated and then released.”The leak was at the Tyson Fresh Meats Pork Plant. The Tyson plant, with 1,200 full-time employees, is the largest employer in Madison, which has a population of 2,438.

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