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Earth Watch Report – Wednesay July 11th, 2012

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July 11, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk	Source	Details
11.07.2012 03:10:29	3.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Port Lions		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 02:40:29	5.3		Solomon Islands		Gizo		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 02:25:25	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Kütahya	Simav		EMSC
11.07.2012 02:25:46	3.2	Asia	Turkey	Kütahya	Saphane		EMSC
11.07.2012 01:35:36	2.3	Middle America	Mexico	Baja California	Alberto Oviedo Mota		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 02:26:05	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Bal?kesir	Sindirgi		EMSC
11.07.2012 02:26:26	5.3	Indonesian Archipelago	Papua New Guinea	Bougainville	Arawa		EMSC
11.07.2012 01:50:59	4.7	Indonesian archipelago	Papua New Guinea	Bougainville	Panguna		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 02:26:26	2.4	Asia	Turkey	Kütahya	Simav		EMSC
11.07.2012 01:10:39	2.0	North America	United States	California	Cobb		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 00:45:34	2.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Nikiski		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 01:25:20	4.0	South-America	Argentina	Salta	San Antonio de los Cobres		EMSC
11.07.2012 00:25:41	2.8	Europe	Greece	Peloponnese	Pylos		EMSC
11.07.2012 00:26:00	2.9	South-America	Chile	Libertador General Bernardo O?Higgins	Santa Cruz		EMSC
11.07.2012 00:45:59	2.1	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Princeton		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 22:35:41	2.3	North America	United States	California	Fort Irwin		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 01:25:43	2.7	Europe	Spain	Canary Islands	La Restinga		EMSC
10.07.2012 22:15:26	3.7	Europe	Greece	South Aegean	Adamas		EMSC
10.07.2012 22:05:29	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Petersville		USGS-RSOE
11.07.2012 01:26:01	3.1	Middle-East	Lebanon	Beyrouth	Beirut		EMSC
10.07.2012 21:55:39	2.1	North America	United States	Utah	Copperton		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 22:15:43	2.6	Europe	Greece	Ionian Islands	Lixourion		EMSC
10.07.2012 22:16:02	2.2	Asia	Turkey	?zmir	Candarli		EMSC
10.07.2012 21:20:35	2.1	North America	United States	California	Aguanga		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 21:25:40	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Larsen Bay		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 22:05:48	2.9	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	La Altagracia	Otra Banda		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 22:16:23	2.6	Europe	Spain	Canary Islands	La Restinga		EMSC
10.07.2012 21:10:27	5.0	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga	Tongatapu	Vaini		EMSC
10.07.2012 20:30:39	5.1	Pacific Ocean	Tonga	Tongatapu	Vaini		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 21:10:47	4.4	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia	South Sumatra	Pagaralam		EMSC
10.07.2012 22:55:28	4.5	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia	South Sumatra	Pagaralam		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 21:11:05	2.7	Europe	Greece	South Aegean	Karpathos		EMSC
10.07.2012 21:11:24	2.7	Europe	Spain	Canary Islands	La Restinga		EMSC
10.07.2012 20:05:25	3.3	Europe	Portugal	Faro	Sagres		EMSC
10.07.2012 21:11:44	3.5	Middle-East	Lebanon	Nabatîyé	Habbouch		EMSC
10.07.2012 20:05:42	2.2	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	San Prospero		EMSC
10.07.2012 18:55:33	2.3	North America	United States	California	Malibu		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 20:06:21	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Isparta	Anamas		EMSC
10.07.2012 19:00:26	2.2	Asia	Turkey	Ankara	Gudul		EMSC
10.07.2012 20:00:42	2.5	North America	United States	Alaska	Adak		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 19:01:07	2.8	Asia	Turkey	Van	Toyga		EMSC
10.07.2012 18:31:08	2.0	North America	United States	California	Anza		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 19:01:27	2.2	Europe	Greece	Peloponnese	Methoni		EMSC
10.07.2012 19:01:53	2.3	Asia	Turkey	Sakarya	Geyve		EMSC
10.07.2012 17:46:07	2.7	Middle America	Mexico	Baja California	Delta		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 19:02:20	2.1	Asia	Turkey	?anl?urfa	Taslica		EMSC
10.07.2012 17:30:32	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Salcha		USGS-RSOE
10.07.2012 17:55:25	2.3	Asia	Turkey	Mu?la	Yatagan		EMSC
10.07.2012 19:02:43	3.8	South-America	Bolivia	Potosí	Culpina		EMSC
10.07.2012 17:55:42	2.3	Asia	Turkey	Edirne	Lalapasa		EMSC

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather / Forest Fires / Drought

Excessive Heat Warning

PHOENIX AZ
LAS VEGAS NV
LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
SAN DIEGO CA

Heat Advisory

RENO NV
PENDLETON OR

09.07.2012

Heat Wave

USA

MultiStates, [States of Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Missouri, Indiana, New York, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Tennessee, Ohio, Virginia, South Dakota and Kentucky]

Heat Wave in USA on Sunday, 08 July, 2012 at 11:40 (11:40 AM) UTC.

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Updated:	Monday, 09 July, 2012 at 05:01 UTC
Description
The Cook County medical examiner’s today determined eight more people died from heat-related causes following the heat wave that ended Saturday. That brings the total number of confirmed heat-related deaths to 18 in Cook County. Lucille Griffith, 100, of the 7300 block of South Peoria, Street, died from heart disease, with heat stress as a secondary cause. Griffith was declared dead a little before 10 a.m. at St. Bernard Hospital, after being found and home with a body temperature of more than 107 degrees, according to the medical examiner’s office. Irene Moriarty, 89, of West 60th Place in Summit died from heart disease, with heat stress as a secondardy cause. Moriary was found Saturday in her apartment, where investigators measured the temperature at 100 degrees. Mary Williams, 56, of East 122nd Place, was declared dead at 1:07 p.m. Saturday at Roseland Community Hospital. Williams died from heart disease, with secondary causes of obesity and heat stress. Sherry Garrett, 53, of the 1400 block of South Hamlin Avenue, was declared dead at 4:28 p.m. Saturday at her home. She also died from heart disease, with secondary causes of diabets, obesity and heat stress. Investigators measured the temperature in her apartment at 110 degrees when she was found. Ann Narcisse, 78, of the 9200 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue, was found dead Saturday. She died of heart disease, with heat stress a secondary cause.John Stacey, 81, of the 1800 block of South Cuyler, was declared dead on the scene at 5:45 p.m. Saturday. He died from heart disease, with heat stress and obesity secondary causes. Levon Calhoun, 54, of the 8100 block of South Saginaw Avenue, was found dead at home Saturday. He died from heart disease, with obesity and heat stress as secondary causes. Anthony Thomas, 48, also died from heart disease, with heat stress as a secondary cause. Details about where and when he was declared dead were not immediately available. Those confirmed to have died from heat-related causes were among at least seven people whose deaths the medical examiner’s office was investigating as possibly heat-related. In one case, that of a 43-year-old man found dead Saturday at his home in the 2800 block of North Maplewood Avenue, the medical examiner’s office did not determine a cause of death, pending further studies. In another case, that of a 67-year-old woman who lvied in the 6200 block of South St. Louis Avenue, the medical examiner’s office determined the woman died solely from heart disease and not from any heat-related causes.

Finally some relief! Temperatures cool after record breaking heatwave leaves 46 dead in scorching weather that saw planes MELT into the tarmac

Monday’s temperatures in central and east states dropping to the early 90s and 80s
More than 4,500 record highs broken in one week
3-month-old girl died and another baby hospitalised in Indianapolis after being left in baking car on Saturday
100 degree heat caused jet-plane at Washington airport to melt into runway
Drought conditions present in 56 per cent of the country
Farmers struggling to maintain crops as fields battered by dry conditions

By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press

The heat that blanketed much of the U.S. will begin easing up this week as temperatures approach normal from the Midwest to the East Coast.

Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Md., said Sunday night that a cold front through the South and the mid-Atlantic will bring thunderstorms and showers.

It ‘will break the heat wave we’ve had,’ he said, dropping temperatures there to a more normal range of mid- to upper-80s. The Southeast and Tennessee Valley will be in the low 90s, ‘still fairly warm,’ Orrison said, but not as hot as it has been.

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Melting hot: 100 degree temperatures in Washington caused this plane to sink into the runway at the Reagan National Airport on Friday evening; the flight was delayed by three hours after getting stuck in the ground

The Midwest can expect cooler weather, as well, with temperatures in the 80s.

The cooler air began sweeping southward Sunday in the eastern half of the country, bringing down some temperatures by 15 or more degrees from Saturday’s highs, which topped 100 in cities including Philadelphia, Washington, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky.

The heat of the past several days has been blamed for at least 46 deaths across the country.

The welcome relief from the blistering heat comes after a weekend during which an airliner in Washington sank onto a melted runway on Friday evening.

Sweet Relief: Felix John Fowler, age 5, plays at a fountain outside Public School 20 in the Lower East Side neighborhood of New York

The scorching 100 degree temperature caused the tarmac runway at the Reagan National Airport to melt – delaying the flight to Charleston for three hours after the plane became stuck in the ground.

Thankfully the record-breaking hot weather across the central and eastern states is cooling off slightly today, after already claiming the lives of 36 people.

Yet for many, Sunday’s cooler temperatures won’t exactly be comfortable, falling only into the 90s.

Cooler air is sweeping southward in the eastern half of the country, bringing down some temperatures by 15 or more degrees from Saturday’s record-breaking highs.

Cooling down: The relief from the triple-digit heatwave continues on Monday with cooler temperatures in the 80s and 90s; the recent record-breaking heat has claimed the lives of more than 30 people

Maryland and Virginia each reported 10 deaths so far, there have been six deaths in Chicago, three in Wisconsin, two in Tennessee and three in Pennsylvania. In St. Louis three people have died and six other deaths were still under investigation.

A 3-month-old girl died and a 16-month-old girl was hospitalized Saturday in separate incidents in suburban Indianapolis when both were found trapped in cars during near-record 105-degree heat.

In St. Louis, the 13-degree drop from Saturday’s high still will leave residents baking in 93-degree weather — the high Saturday was a record 106.

Temperatures in Philadelphia, Washington, and Indianapolis will fall to the low 90s or upper 80s on Sunday after crossing the 100 mark on Saturday.

The top temperature in Manhattan’s Central Park was expected to be 91, according to the National Weather Service. That’s down several degrees from Saturday, when it came close to hitting 100 degrees, capping several days of heat hovering around triple digits that drew warnings from the weather service.

Catching some rays: The top temperature in Manhattan’s Central Park was expected to be 91 on Sunday; the weather in New York is forecast to drop to the 80s this week

Sunday was likely to be the last day in the 90s for now in New York. Relief was on the way, with the weather service forecasting a week of daytime temperatures in the low 80s.

Weather service meteorologist John Cristantello said the extreme heat was due to what was happening thousands of feet up in the atmosphere. He said high pressure building up there ‘translates to the surface, warming it up.’

The quick shift to a week of temperatures plummeting by almost 20 degrees is nothing unusual, he said.

Residents in Louisville, Ky., can expect a high of 95 today, one day after 105-degree temperatures.

For many areas, the cooler temperatures were ushered in by thunderstorms that knocked out power to thousands.

In New Jersey, a line of strong, fast-moving storms knocked out power to nearly 70,000 in Ocean and Monmouth counties on Saturday night. By Sunday morning, Jersey Central Power & Light’s website reports that more than 23,000 customers were still without electricity.

Record highs: A clock shows a temperature of 102 degrees Fahrenheit in Washington on Saturday

Record highs: A clock shows a temperature of 102 degrees Fahrenheit in Washington yesterday

Staying cool: A boy plays in a fountain at the Yards Park in Washington on Saturday to beat the heat

Cooling off: Children play in a fountain in Silver Spring, Maryland as temperatures soar above 100 F

He can’t bear this heat: Hudson, a polar bear at Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Illinois, enjoys a swim

Residents from Iowa to New Jersey spent the trying to stay cool. They dipped into the water, went to the movies and rode the subway just to be in air conditioning.

If people ventured outside to do anything, they did it early. But even then, the heat was stifling.

‘It was baking on the 18th green,’ said golfer Zeb Rogerson, who teed off at 6 a.m. at an Alexandria, Va., golf course but was sweltering by the end of his round.

Officials said the heat caused highways to buckle in Illinois and Wisconsin. In Maryland, investigators said heat likely caused rails to kink and led a Metro train to partially derail in Prince George’s County on Friday afternoon. No one was injured, and 55 passengers were safely evacuated.

Micah Straight, 36, brought his three daughters to dance in jets of water spurting from a ‘sprayground’ near Philadelphia’s Logan Square fountain to cool off.

‘We got here early, because I don’t think we’ll be out this afternoon — we’ll be in the air conditioning,’ he said. ‘So I wanted to get them out, get some sunshine, get tired.’

In South Bend, Ind., serious kayakers took to the East Race Waterway, a 1,900-foot long manmade whitewater course near downtown.

‘A lot of times I’ll roll over just to cool off,’ said Robert Henry of Carmel, just north of Indianapolis. ‘The biggest challenge is walking coming back up carrying a kayak three-eighths of a mile in this heat.’

In Manhattan, customers who stepped in to see ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’ at an IFC movie theater were there for more than entertainment.

‘Of course we came to cool off!’ said John Villanova, a writer who was on his second sweaty T-shirt of the day — expecting to change again by evening.

He said that earlier, he rode a Manhattan subway back and forth for a half an hour, with no destination in mind, ‘because it really keeps you cool.

Struggle: Women wipe their brows by the crowded swimming pool in lower Manhattan, New York City

Making a splash: More than 4,500 temperature records have been broken this week in the heat

Bearly making it: A bear reacts to triple-digit temperatures at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha today; temperatures rose to 103F Friday

Water for horses: A horse gets a cooling shower from a rancher following competition in the Ranch Sorting Championship at a State Fair in Oklahoma City

One man figured out a way to beat the heat: stay in the car.

That was the plan for 60-year-old Roger Sinclair of Batavia, Ill., who was headed home Saturday from Detroit, where he’d spent a few days visiting an old friend and catching Friday night’s Tigers game.

While he enjoyed the game, a 4-2 Tigers win, the conditions were less than ideal.

‘It was 97 at the first pitch and still in the 80s at the time of the last out,’ he said. ‘It was tough. There was no breeze.’

Before heading home, though, Sinclair wanted to see a Great Lakes ore carrier make its way through the city’s waterways. So, he tracked one down the Detroit River, driving ahead of it and parking on Belle Isle, which sits in the middle of the river between the city and Windsor, Ontario.

Wyatt Young, 5, cools off in a fountain set up outside Busch Stadium before a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins Friday, July 6, 2012, in St. Louis.

Feeling the heat: Wyatt Young, 5, cools off in a fountain set up outside Busch Stadium in St. Louis,

A boy cools off under a sprinkler at the National Zoo in Washington on July 6, 2012 as temperatures soar to 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius)

Sweltering: A boy cools off under a sprinkler at the National Zoo in Washington, left, and World War II veteran James Wakefield, 89, sips water in the shade during his first visit to the National World War II Memorial

Safe: Ryan Abbott, 6, left, and his brother Hayden Abbott, 7, try on their newly purchased umbrella shade hats from Lee Shinn, right, who sells the hats at the intersection of Jackson and Springdale in Memphis, Tenn. Friday, July 6, 2012

Sinclair, standing along the riverbank and shielding his eyes from the sun, watched the Algomarine slowly head west.

‘You just don’t see this in Chicago,’ said Sinclair, a dispatcher at a plumbing company’s call center.

As the vessel traveled out of sight, he walked to his car.

‘This is how I’ve dealt with it the last couple of days,’ he said. ‘A lot of time in the car.’

The expected rain should help dry spells in many places. Much of Arkansas is enduring brown grass and seeing trees lose their green, and farmers in Ohio are growing concerned about the dry conditions, considered among the worst of the past decade.

In Chicago, perspiration beaded on the face of street magician Jeremy Pitt-Payne, whose black top hat and Union Jack leather vest weighed heavily as he waited to board a Chicago River water taxi that would take him to his sidewalk stage downtown.

Keeping New York hydrated: A man pushes a cart of bottled water down Broadway during a blistering heat wave

‘This is part of the character. I’m a magician from Britain,’ Pitt-Payne said in a British accent. ‘I may lose the vest by the end of the day.’

Pitt-Payne worked throughout Chicago’s three-day stretch of triple-digit temperatures. His shows have been shorter and crowds have dwindled from his usual of 50 to about 20 people.

His trick for beating the heat? He starts his shows at about 2 p.m. ‘when the Trump Tower is gracious enough to block out the sun’ along his stretch of sidewalk. ‘That’s when I start.’

According to the national Drought Monitor, a staggering 56 per cent of the entire country matches the qualifying factors and is considered to be in a drought.

This is the highest percentage in the 12 years that the data have been compiled, topping the previous record of 55 per cent from August 26, 2003.

It also smashed data from the previous week by a massive five percentage points.

Dried up: The national Drought Monitor, 56 per cent of the entire country matches the qualifying factors and is considered to be in a drought, including this area in Noblesville, Indiana

Contributing factors: Long periods of record-high temperatures have lead to such drastic conditionsBrad Rippey, a meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told msnbc.com that unique conditions have allowed 2012 to nearly level the extremely dry 1988.

‘This year the high temperatures have certainly played into this drought,’ he said. ‘There’s a lot more evaporation and crop demands for water.’

The Drought Monitor added that the weather is starting to ‘take a significant toll’ on food supplies as the area of abnormally dry and drought conditions expands across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri.

‘In the primary growing states for corn and soybeans, 22 per cent of the crop is in poor or very poor condition, as are 43 per cent of the nation’s pastures and rangelands and 24 percent of the sorghum crop,’ it noted.

As the heat scorched crops across the country, corn and soybean prices jumped to new highs in the week.

Struggle: Firefighter Michael Mullins tries to cool off after battling a house fire in Huntsville, Alabama

Dead corn stalks lay in the fields in northern Vigo County Thursday July 5, 2012. The current drought has scorched thousands of acres of cropland in Indiana.

The bones of a fish, one of hundreds, lies in the dried lake bed south of Dewey Point in the Wabashiki Fish and Wildlife area. Nearly a quarter of Indiana has experienced an extreme drought.

Dried out: In Indiana where the drought has scorched thousands of acres of cropland, dead corn stalks lay in fields (left) and fish bones lie in the dried lake bed south of Dewey Point (right)

Burnt out: Firefighter Ken Bachelder drags charred remains of a tree away from apartments in Evansville, Indiana. The drought and the high temperatures have left the area with numerous field fires

‘It’s not only abnormally dry, but now you have 100 degree heat combined with the ongoing drought and it’s too much for the crop,’ Accuweather.com senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

In Tennessee, county farm agents have reported the extreme conditions to the National Agricultural Statistics Service office in Nashville.

‘Crops have really begun to suffer and go backwards this week. Rain is needed yesterday,’ wrote agent Richard Buntin in Crockett County.

Crops and pastureland are ‘burnt to a crispy crunch,’ wrote Kim Frady of Bradley County.

‘Need rain,’ in Loudon County, added John Goddard. ‘Saw a farmer digging a waterline about 4-5′ deep. Nothing but powder!’

The weather service added that although some areas can expect cooler temperatures in mid-July, ‘drought is likely to develop, persist or intensify’ across the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, the Corn Belt region, the Mississippi Valley and much of the Great Plains.

In Alabama, abnormally dry conditions and droughts are parching 91 per cent of the state, with many city areas more than a foot below normal rainfall totals for the year.

‘It’s a long-term drought, in that they never came out of it from last year. It’s going to take not just one hurricane but three months of above-average rainfall to end that,’ said John Christy, from the University of Alabama.

Forestry officials in the state said there’s an increased threat of wildfires because of the dry conditions, and farmers are relying on irrigation to sustain crops in some areas.

‘We’re really needing water right now,’ Brandon Dillard, an agronomist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, told the AP.

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10.07.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of California, [Mendocino National Forest ]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 03:08 (03:08 AM) UTC.

Description

A wildfire in the Mendocino National Forest has led to the closure of campgrounds and the evacuation of a handful of homes. The fire was estimated at around 2,500 acres on Monday morning, two days after it began. It was 10 percent contained. Fire information officer Adrienne Freeman says it is burning in steep terrain and has been aided by high temperatures and dry conditions. More than 300 firefighters are working on the blaze. The cause has not been determined. Crews are also battling a separate blaze several miles to the east in Colusa County.

10.07.2012

Drought

USA

State of Wisconsin, [Wisconsin-wide (42 counties)]

Drought in USA on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 03:06 (03:06 AM) UTC.

Description

With raindrops in southern Wisconsin as rare and precious as diamonds, Gov. Scott Walker on Monday declared a state of emergency in 42 bone-dry counties. The state of emergency will streamline farmers’ efforts to temporarily use stream or lake water to irrigate arid fields. Most farmers with crops in the ground, whether it’s corn, soybeans or alfalfa, are looking glumly at the weather forecast, which shows unrelenting sunshine and warm weather for at least a week and a slim chance for precipitation next week in Wisconsin’s breadbasket. That’s great for sunbathers, Little League teams and picnickers. But it could be devastating to much of Wisconsin’s corn crop, which is now in its make-or-break stage. Plants need moisture in the next seven to 10 days to pollinate. “Rain would be priceless for us right now,” said George Koepp, University of Wisconsin Extension agriculture agent in Columbia County. Weeks of way-below average rainfall plus recent triple-digit temperatures that baked much of the state have stressed farmers, their crops and animals. The U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook shows the drought in southern Wisconsin is expected to persist or intensify throughout the rest of the summer. Madison has received only 0.31 of an inch of rain since June 1, almost 5.5 inches below normal, while a scant 0.97 of an inch has fallen in Milwaukee during the same time period, almost 4 inches below average, according to the National Weather Service.Officially, the southern third of Wisconsin is in a moderate drought while a broad swath across the central part of the state is considered abnormally dry. The affected area is roughly south of a line from Jackson County in western Wisconsin to Oshkosh. But no rain has fallen since the U.S. Drought Monitor issued that report July 3, and conditions are expected to worsen when the next drought report is issued Thursday. But farmers don’t need meteorologists to tell them that. “We’re at a critical juncture with tasseling and pollination. If the silks of the ear are not pollinated, the corn kernels won’t develop,” said Matt Hanson, UW-Extension southern regional director. “If we don’t have rain within two weeks, it’s about over.” Koepp’s phone has been ringing off the hook at his UW Extension office in Portage. It’s the same for other agriculture agents in counties in southern Wisconsin. Farmers are worried and nervous because their corn looks like tiny pineapples. “What they want to know is what do they do with this corn if they don’t get any ears,” Koepp said. “Some talk about chopping it up and feeding it to their cattle right away or putting it in a silo. But it has to dry down before it can be put in a silo.” Columbia County has 1,500 farmers plus 125,000 acres of corn, 46,000 acres of soybeans, 26,000 acres of alfalfa and 17,000 acres of corn silage.

“I just got off the phone with a dairy farmer who is looking for an idea on what to do to salvage some feed value out of his corn crop. That’s all he’s looking for – salvage value,” said David Laatsch, UW Extension agriculture agent in Dodge County. Parched conditions also have affected hay crops. Farmers will get fewer cuttings of alfalfa, and that will mean either buying hay or selling some animals to avoid feeding them, or both. “It might put livestock farmers in the southern part of the state in a bind if they can’t get adequate amounts of hay this year,” said Casey Langan, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation spokesman. A Dodge County dairy farmer told Laatsch that he recently harvested his hay fields where he expected to get 600 big bales, weighing 800 to 900 pounds each. He got only 60 large bales. “So now he’s looking at his corn crop, seeing it’s only 3 to 4 feet tall, and asking where can I maximize my feed value? He’s got 300 dairy cows,” said Laatsch, adding that some farmers in Dodge County – where more than 220,000 acres are farmed – have contracted to buy hay from out-of-state. Soybeans are stunted from the lack of rain, but the outlook isn’t as bleak compared with corn because soybeans flower longer, Hanson said.

The problem, meteorologically speaking, is that the weather has been too stable. A high pressure system locked above Wisconsin is acting as a stabling influence, preventing rain from forming. “It suppresses vertical motion in the atmosphere, which you need for rainfall. It doesn’t lend itself to a lot of good chances for rain,” said Paul Collar, a National Weather Service meteorologist based in Sullivan. The forecast for southeastern Wisconsin calls for sunny skies this week with gradually increasing high temperatures from 82 on Tuesday, 86 on Wednesday and 89 on Thursday before highs expected in the low to mid-90s Friday through Monday. The governor’s state of emergency declaration means the state Department of Natural Resources can expedite requests from farmers to divert water from streams and lakes for irrigation. The DNR must inspect the water bodies within 72 hours of the request, instead of the normal 30 days, to ensure fish and aquatic wildlife would not be harmed. But relatively few farmers have the irrigation equipment to divert water from lakes and streams. The last time the state allowed that – in August 2009 – only five applications were received, said Donna Gilson, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Walker encouraged farmers to report crop conditions to their local U.S. Farm Service Agency office, which compiles information that could be used by the governor to request a federal disaster declaration. That could pave the way for Wisconsin farmers to get low-cost emergency loans and other assistance.

U.S. Corn Growers Farming in Hell as Midwest Heat Spreads

Jeff Wilson
Business Week

The worst U.S. drought since Ronald Reagan was president is withering the world’s largest corn crop, and the speed of the damage may spur the government to make a record cut in its July estimate for domestic inventories.Tumbling yields will combine with the greatest-ever global demand to leave U.S. stockpiles on Sept. 1, 2013, at 1.216 billion bushels (30.89 million metric tons), according to the average of 31 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That’s 35 percent below the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s June 12 forecast, implying the biggest reduction since at least 1973. The USDA updates its harvest and inventory estimates July 11.

Crops on July 1 were in the worst condition since 1988, and a Midwest heat wave last week set or tied 1,067 temperature records, government data show. Prices surged 37 percent in three weeks, and Rabobank International said June 28 that corn may rise 9.9 percent more by December to near a record $8 a bushel. The gain is threatening to boost food costs the United Nations says fell 15 percent from a record in February 2011 and feed prices for meat producers including Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD)

“The drought is much worse than last year and approaching the 1988 disaster,” said John Cory, the chief executive officer of Rochester, Indiana-based grain processor Prairie Mills Products LLC. “There are crops that won’t make it. The dairy and livestock industries are going to get hit very hard. People are just beginning to realize the depth of the problem.”

Top Commodities

Corn rallied 18 percent in the month through July 6 on the Chicago Board of Trade to $6.93, trailing only wheat among 24 commodities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index, which rose 2 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities advanced 4 percent, and the dollar gained 1.3 percent against a basket of six currencies in the period. Treasuries returned 0.5 percent, a Bank of America Corp. index shows. Corn for December delivery in Chicago extended the rally today, jumping 5.3 percent to settle at $7.30.

About 53 percent of the Midwest, where farmers harvested 60 percent of last year’s U.S. crop, had moderate to extreme drought conditions as of July 3, the highest since the government-funded U.S. Drought Monitor in Lincoln, Nebraska, began tracking the data in 2000. In the seven days ended July 6, temperatures in the region averaged as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Soil moisture in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri and Kentucky is so low that it ranks in the 10th percentile among all other years since 1895.

Fields are parched just as corn plants began to pollinate, a critical period for determining kernel development and final yields. About 48 percent of the crop in the U.S., the world’s largest grower and exporter, was in good or excellent condition as of July 1, the lowest for that date since 1988 and down from 77 percent on May 18, government data show.

Yield Losses

The USDA may cut its production forecast by 8.5 percent, the biggest July reduction since a drought in 1988 led the government to cut its estimate by 29 percent, a separate Bloomberg survey of 14 analysts showed. Farmers probably will collect 13.534 billion bushels, compared with the USDA’s June forecast for a record 14.79 billion, based on the average of estimates in the survey.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said July 2 that yields will reach 153.5 bushels an acre, below the USDA estimate for an all-time high of 166.

“Corn yields were falling five bushels a day during the past week” in the driest parts of the Midwest, said Fred Below, a plant biologist at the University of Illinois in Urbana. “You couldn’t choreograph worse weather conditions for pollination. It’s like farming in hell.”

Record Crop

Even with the drought, U.S. production in 2012 is expected to rise 9.5 percent from last year to a record after farmers sowed the most acres since 1937, the survey showed. Higher output would help boost inventories before next year’s harvest, up from what analysts said will be a 16-year low on Sept. 1 of 837 million bushels.

Futures fell 2.2 percent on July 6, the most in two weeks, after the USDA reported a 90 percent drop in export sales in the week ended June 28. U.S. refiners curbed output of corn-based ethanol last week to the lowest since September as gasoline demand weakened, government data show.

Corn’s rally also may stall if Europe’s widening debt crisis and a faltering global economy erode record demand for the grain. The International Monetary Fund will reduce its estimate for growth this year because of weakness in investment, employment and manufacturing in Europe, the U.S., Brazil, India and China, Managing Director Christine Lagarde said July 6.

US Drought Could Trigger Higher Food Prices

Steve Baragona
Voice of America

© AP
The ground is cracked at the edge of a corn field near England, Arkansas, where oppressive heat is affecting the crop.

World food prices are likely to rise in the coming months in the wake of record-breaking temperatures and drought in the major maize and soybean producing regions of the United States, economists say.

It would be the third spike in food prices in the past five years.

Previous hikes – during 2007 and 2008, and again in 2010 and 2011 – triggered riots and social instability in dozens of countries around the world.

Whether rising food prices will again trigger unrest is unclear, especially since different crops are affected.

Crops shrinking

Despite early predictions of a record maize crop, estimates have plummeted after a string of record-high temperature days and dry conditions stretching across the farm states of the U.S. Midwest.

“We need rain, and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get it,” says Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes.

As the world’s leading exporter of maize and a top soybean exporter, what happens in the U.S. affects global prices, according to Hayes.Mexico and Central America, where maize is a key staple, will be affected directly, but Hayes expects others to be affected indirectly as well.

“Bread prices in North Africa will go up, and chicken prices in China, pork prices in China, et cetera,” he says. “And there are going to be some very unhappy people.”

Bread will go up in North Africa because wheat prices follow maize prices.

Meat prices to rise

Pork and chicken prices will go up, as well as beef, milk and eggs, because maize and soybeans are key ingredients in animal feed.

Countries that import substantial amounts of animal feed will feel the impacts the most, according to economist Maximo Torero with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

“That’s China, India, and most of the Latin American countries, which are growing a lot and are starting to consume a lot more meat,” Torero says. “So it could affect them substantially.”

However, Torero expects the world’s poor to be hit less severely than in the previous two price spikes.

“I don’t see the issue of meat and milk as a huge problem for the poorest countries,” where consumption of animal products is much lower than in industrialized nations, he says.

“A different kind of maize”

Cornell University economist Chris Barrett agrees. “The poor who consume maize in large quantities are disproportionately in areas where they consume either a different kind of maize, or they’re in relatively remote regions where they are likewise buffered from the global markets.”

In much of sub-Saharan Africa, Barrett notes, consumers prefer white maize over the yellow varieties grown in the United States.

Also, the fact that the most-affected crops are primarily used as animal feed and not crops such as rice or wheat, which are consumed directly, mitigates the impact on the poor, says IFPRI’s Maximo Torero.

“If the case was rice, like what we had in 2007-2008, then the situation would be different because those commodities are really imported in most of sub-Saharan Africa. And also in the case of wheat that happened in 2010, it affected Northern Africa – Cairo and so on – because they are net importers.”

Lower standard of living

But while rising prices may threaten food security for the poor, experts note they can create unrest among consumers whose standard of living had been rising.

Iowa State University’s Dermot Hayes says it could be an irritant in China, a country with a growing middle class but significant social inequality.

“It’s a tinderbox over there,” he says. “It’s not a real homogenous or pleasant society the way it’s structured right now. So there could be some issues.”

But Cornell University’s Chris Barrett says Beijing would keep a lid on prices for the sake of stability.

“The Chinese government isn’t going to be the least bit shy about buffering its own domestic markets,” he says. And with $3 trillion in foreign currency reserves, he adds, “they have the wherewithal to do that.”

But other countries without China’s fiscal wherewithal may feel the impacts more strongly.

Demand outstripping supply

The fundamental problem is that world production has not been keeping up with growing demand for food corps, says IFPRI’s Maximo Torero.

“There is a lot of talk about what to do and how to improve, but nothing is happening and we have not been able to change the scenario.”

Torero cautions the world will continue under the same scenario until serious efforts are made to meet the growing demands.

Midwest drought affecting national food production

by KHOU.com Staff and Dan Bewley

khou.com

HOUSTON—The extreme heat and drought conditions in the Midwest is going to affect the price of food here in Houston.

From corn flakes to corn syrup—even corn-fed chicken, pork and beef—grocery prices are expected to rise.

J.D. Denton has raised cattle in southeast Oklahoma since the 1960s. Now, his part of the state is in the middle of a drought.

Normally, 16 inches of rain falls in the spring. This year, there have been four inches.

Denton’s ranch in Corrine shows the fallout—a brown pasture would typically be a lush green, trees are slowly dying and ponds hold barely six inches of water.

“Well, I’m glad they have that much,” said Denton.

Denton says the drought has forced him to use feeding troughs in the summer, something he’s hardly had to do in the past and that’s just the beginning.

“It means that have had to sell part of my capital assets to stay in business. I don’t like to do that. It’s either that or watch the animals die,” said Denton.

“It hurts everybody in this area. With less beef, beef prices are going to be higher,” said Tom Smith with the OSU extension office in Pushmataha County.

He says the drought is taking its toll on farmers and ranchers.

“That means less forage production, thinner cows, less grass for them to eat, lower reproduction from those cows, less hay produced in this area,” said Smith.

This is the driest southeast Oklahoma has been since they started keeping records in 1921 and Smith says the closer you get to Texas and Arkansas the worse it gets.

Smith says ranchers like Denton have tried everything and all that’s left to do now is hope for rain.

“They’re predicting rain for early next week. We’re praying it comes. Just as simple as that, hoping and hanging on and praying for rain,” said Smith.

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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
Daniel (04E)	Pacific Ocean – East	04.07.2012	10.07.2012	Tropical Storm	270 °	102 km/h	120 km/h	5.49 m	NHC

Tropical Storm data

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Storm name:	Daniel (04E)
Area:	Pacific Ocean – East
Start up location:	N 12° 18.000, W 105° 30.000
Start up:	04th July 2012
Status:	01st January 1970
Track long:	2,209.50 km
Top category.:
Report by:	NHC

Useful links:

Past track
Date	Time	Position	Speed km/h	Wind km/h	Gust km/h	Category	Course	Wave	Pressure	Source
05th Jul 2012	04:07:06	N 13° 36.000, W 108° 54.000	19	56	74	Tropical Depression	290	15	1005 MB	NHC
06th Jul 2012	04:07:49	N 14° 24.000, W 113° 6.000	20	102	120	Tropical Storm	280	16	995 MB	NHC
07th Jul 2012	05:07:56	N 14° 30.000, W 117° 6.000	19	120	148	Hurricane I.	270	10	988 MB	NHC
08th Jul 2012	05:07:11	N 14° 54.000, W 121° 12.000	22	167	204	Hurricane II.	280	13	969 MB	NHC
09th Jul 2012	05:07:17	N 15° 18.000, W 126° 18.000	24	157	194	Hurricane II.	275	16	974 MB	NHC
10th Jul 2012	04:07:56	N 15° 24.000, W 132° 12.000	28	120	148	Hurricane I.	270	15	992 MB	NHC

Current position
Date	Time	Position	Speed km/h	Wind km/h	Gust km/h	Category	Course	Wave feet	Pressure	Source
11th Jul 2012	05:07:28	N 15° 24.000, W 138° 18.000	28	65	83	Tropical Storm	270 °	15	1003 MB	NHC

Forecast track
Date	Time	Position	Category	Wind km/h	Gust km/h	Source
12th Jul 2012	12:00:00	N 15° 30.000, W 146° 36.000	Tropical Depression	46	65	NHC
12th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 15° 30.000, W 143° 36.000	Tropical Depression	46	65	NHC
13th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 15° 30.000, W 149° 36.000	Tropical Depression	46	65	NHC
14th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 15° 0.000, W 156° 0.000	Tropical Depression	46	65	NHC

Emilia (05E)

Pacific Ocean – East

07.07.2012

10.07.2012

Hurricane IV.

285 °

213 km/h

259 km/h

4.88 m

NHC

Tropical Storm data

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Storm name:	Emilia (05E)
Area:	Pacific Ocean – East
Start up location:	N 9° 54.000, W 101° 36.000
Start up:	07th July 2012
Status:	01st January 1970
Track long:	994.53 km
Top category.:
Report by:	NHC

Useful links:

Past track
Date	Time	Position	Speed km/h	Wind km/h	Gust km/h	Category	Course	Wave	Pressure	Source
08th Jul 2012	05:07:03	N 10° 42.000, W 103° 12.000	26	65	83	Tropical Storm	285	14	1003 MB	NHC
09th Jul 2012	05:07:15	N 11° 36.000, W 108° 24.000	22	111	139	Tropical Storm	285	16	995 MB	NHC
10th Jul 2012	04:07:19	N 13° 18.000, W 112° 12.000	22	194	241	Hurricane III.	290	16	959 MB	NHC

Current position
Date	Time	Position	Speed km/h	Wind km/h	Gust km/h	Category	Course	Wave feet	Pressure	Source
11th Jul 2012	05:07:53	N 14° 24.000, W 115° 36.000	19	176	213	Hurricane II.	290 °	15	967 MB	NHC

Forecast track
Date	Time	Position	Category	Wind km/h	Gust km/h	Source
12th Jul 2012	12:00:00	N 15° 36.000, W 120° 30.000	Hurricane I.	139	167	NHC
12th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 15° 6.000, W 118° 36.000	Hurricane I.	148	185	NHC
13th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 16° 0.000, W 122° 24.000	Hurricane I.	120	148	NHC
14th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 17° 0.000, W 126° 54.000	Tropical Storm	93	111	NHC
15th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 17° 42.000, W 132° 0.000	Tropical Storm	74	93	NHC
16th Jul 2012	00:00:00	N 18° 0.000, W 137° 0.000	Tropical Depression	56	74	NHC

Hurricane Emilia follows Daniel, strengthens in Pacific Ocean

Seattle PI

Emilia has strengthened to a Category Two hurricane in the Pacific far off the coast of Mexico but is not posing a threat to land.

The hurricane’s maximum sustained winds Monday were near 100 mph (160 kph) with additional strengthening expected.

Emilia is centered about 710 miles (1,145 kilometers) south of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California and is moving west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).

Meanwhile, farther west over the Pacific, Hurricane Daniel had maximum sustained winds near 85 mph (140 kph). The hurricane is expected to weaken slowly during the next 48 hours and was moving west at 15 mph (24 kph).

Flash Flood Warning

HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
RALEIGH NC

Flash Flood Watch

HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX

10.07.2012

Flash Flood

China

Province of Shandong, [Cangshan County]

Flash Flood in China on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 04:34 (04:34 AM) UTC.

Description

Torrential rains since last Saturday have lashed east and northwest China, drenching towns, causing landslides and halting traffics. Another round of heavy rainfall following the previous one ended last Friday has struck most regions of east China’s Shandong Province. Rainfall caused severe flood in Cangshan County of the province, drenching residences and halting local traffics. Flood has immersed many streets of the county, including one of the major roads, which has been inundated completely. A nearby residential quarter has also been flooded. A resident said usually he spent three to five minutes to get home. But now it takes him 20 minutes to stumble in water. Waterlogging is a long-time issue that troubling the residential quarter due to its obsolete sewage system. Local authority dispatched workers to drain the floodwater of the waterlogged area on Sunday. So far they are making progresses gradually, but it still needs time to dry the streets completely. The flood also caused severe losses to the mink farmers in rural areas. In Jinling Township of the Canshan County, rainfall has accumulated to 282 millimeters, immersing dozens of local mink farms. At one of the biggest farms, which raises 1,100 minks and sables, piles of drowned animals can be seen lying on ground. “At that time the water was about this high. When my fellow-townsmen learned my situation, they came to help me lifting the cages up above the water. But it was too late. The water rose too fast and many minks were drowned,” said Guo Defeng, owner of the farm. Although lots of villagers came to help Guo to hang up the cages, which was the only way to save the animal, floodwater still inundated the cages and half of Guo’s 700 minks were dead. Compared with the loss in mink, Guo’s loss in sable is even more worse, only 60 out of 400 sables survived. Guo said the flood has caused him 200,000 yuan (31,000 U.S. dollars) of losses.

10.07.2012

Flash Flood

USA

State of North Carolina, Greensboro

Flash Flood in USA on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 03:27 (03:27 AM) UTC.

Description

Strong storms have brought heavy rains and flash flooding to the Triad and Charlotte regions while knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses. The News & Record of Greensboro reported Monday night ( http://bit.ly/OrD2cl) that the National Weather Service said 2.7 inches of rain had fallen in less than two hours at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The newspaper reported that Greensboro police had closed off some streets. The weather service said flash flooding had closed Interstate 40 westbound at Highway 68 in Greensboro. Forecasters warned motorists not to drive into flooded roadways. Some flights were also diverted from Piedmont Triad airport. As temperatures plunged to around 70 degrees Monday night, Greensboro and Guilford County were under a flash-flood warning until 1:45 a.m. EDT, the weather service said. At 10:45 p.m., Duke Energy was reporting 9,400 outages in the Carolinas, mostly in Guilford County, N.C., but also in Mecklenburg County, N.C. and Lancaster, S.C.. The Charlotte Observer was reporting downed trees in Mecklenburg and Union counties. The storms follow five days of record-setting heat in North Carolina. On Sunday, the Raleigh-Durham area set a record when temperatures reached 100 degrees or more for the sixth straight day. That marked the first such streak since the weather service began keeping records in 1944 and broke the record set in July of last year. The high of 105 tied the all-time record just set June 29 and tied again June 30 of this year Forecasters said a cold front will ease temperatures, with highs of mid-80s expected the rest of the week. The tradeoff is a forecast for severe storms, which could include strong lightning and damaging winds.

Flood Warning

DULUTH MN
JACKSONVILLE FL
SPOKANE, WA

Flood Advisory

HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
MIAMI FL
CORPUS CHRISTI TX
FAIRBANKS AK

Floods damage Russian grain export routes

Melissa Akin
Reuters

Floods that hit Russia’s Black Sea coast have wrought chaos on major road and rail links to its main grain export outlet, but stocks at the port of Novorossiisk are high and may delay any impact on exports, traders and analysts said on Monday.The effects were likely to be short-lived but laid bare the infrastructure risks faced by Russia as it attempts to secure and strengthen its status as a dominant global wheat exporter by exploiting its vast reserves of farmland.

Russian Railways said it had halted rail traffic to the port of Novorossiisk to repair a bridge southwest of Krymsk, the town hardest hit when floodwaters came crashing down suddenly in the early hours of Saturday, killing at least 171 people.

The state rail operator said the rail bed also was washed out in places. Later in the day it said traffic had resumed between Krymsk and Novorossiisk, but only southbound trains were moving and passenger trains had priority.

The Russian government has an ambitious target for grain exports to rise to 40 million tonnes a year. Russia emerged from a catastrophic drought in the 2010/11 crop year to export a record 28 million tonnes in the year to June 2012, IKAR analysts said on Monday.

The biggest obstacle to export growth is infrastructure. Novorossiisk, the main grain export port, has two terminals that are linked to the wheat fields north of the Caucasus mountain foothills by a single rail link and by mountain roads.

Even in good weather, rail backlogs outside the port are chronic.

On Monday, freight traffic up and down the coast was limited largely to food and petroleum products designated for the domestic market.

A trader with a Russian grain exporter said lorry traffic was held up at a mountain crossing north of Novorossiisk and cited estimates from grain forwarders that washed-out roads could take around seven days to repair.

Full elevators

An immediate reduction in the loading of grain for export is unlikely, however. Novorossiisk resumed full operation on Sunday after the weather had forced a temporary halt to loadings.

Elevators at Novorossiisk’s two grain terminals were full and stopped intake of grain last week, so they can run down their stocks to sustain current loadings, trade and port sources said.

“They just won’t be replenished quickly,” the trader said, adding that the impact on exports would emerge once port stocks are exhausted.

Transport may be functioning by then.

“As per shipments, looks like everything is going to be back to normal within the current week,” Andrei Sizov, Jr., managing director of the SovEcon agricultural consultancy, said by email.

The Novorossiisk Grain Terminal, controlled by port operator Novorossiisk Commercial Sea Port has elevator capacity of 120,000 tonnes.

It was not immediately clear how much current capacity was at the nearby terminal controlled by state-owned United Grain Co, which features a seven-storey brick elevator built in 1893.

UGC, which recently agreed to sell a stake to Russia’s largest port investor, Summa Capital, has an ambitions investment programme to facilitate an increase in exports and plans to build new elevators that can hold 100,000 tonnes.

No damage to Russia’s grain and oilseed harvest was expected, because the flooding passed by key arable regions.

“The Krymsk area has never been distinguished by grain or oilseed production,” said Dmitry Rylko, managing director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies. “They grow vegetables there.”

Sizov, citing trader estimates, said around 10,000-20,000 hectares sown with wheat, sunseeds and other crops were likely to be damaged.

“It looks like the flood hasn’t affected any significant acreage,” Sizov said.

Rylko added that he was considering a downgrade to his harvest forecast because of protracted rain in Russia’s south, which began in late May and could result in decreased yields.

Farmers in Russia’s south have faced a long spell of extreme weather, starting with an unusually warm start to the winter, during which some of the winter crop failed to go dormant, only to be hit by a fierce cold snap that caught them with no snow cover.

Spring brought a drought, which was relieved in late May by the onset of rains, which have been falling for much of the past six weeks.

Late last month, the Agriculture Ministry cut its forecast for wheat production and exports in the forthcoming 2012/13 crop season as a result of winterkill and spring drought.

For the new season, the ministry cut its wheat crop forecast to 46 million to 49 million tonnes from 57 million expected earlier, with the export forecast cut to 16 million to 18 million tonnes from 20 million. A Reuters poll in late June showed Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan’s combined wheat crop would fall 22 percent to 78.9 million tonnes this year from 2011, with the biggest impact on yields from winterkill and spring drought in Russia and Ukraine.

Updates:

* Russian Railways halts traffic on Novorossiisk line

* Rail bed, roads to grain export terminals washed away

* Port elevators full, immediate impact on loadings unlikely

* No crop damage seen but prolonged rain could hit yields (Recasts, adds estimate on damaged acreage, capacity of port elevators)

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

Epidemic Hazards / Diseases

10.07.2012

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, 10 July, 2012 at 04:35 UTC

Description

The number of cholera cases confirmed in eastern Cuba jumped from 30 to 85 over the weekend but the death toll remained at three, one government official said, although independent reports put the deaths at anywhere from five to 15. Up to five other cases of cholera also were unofficially reported in Havana and dissidents in Guantánamo near the eastern tip of the island reported a handful of cholera-like cases in Caimanera, a village on the edge of the U.S. navy base. The state-owned TV station in Granma province, where the outbreak hit hardest, suggested residents avoid travelling outside the area while trucks with loudspeakers urged them to boil water and wash their hands often, two residents said. Public Health officials in the British-run Cayman Islands, just south of Granma, issued a caution against travel to Cuba and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen warned potential travelers that visiting the island “may put them at risk of becoming ill with cholera.” The U.S. Center for Disease Control in Atlanta had not issued any special travel notices on Cuba as of Monday evening. Its Web page recommends only general vaccinations, like those for Hepatitis A and B, typhoid fever and rabies.Government epidemiologist Ana Maria Batista González told Granma’s Telecentro TV station Saturday that 30 cholera cases had been confirmed in the province, then upped the number to 85 when she appeared again on the station Sunday, said Santiago Marquez, a doctor in the Granma town of Manzanillo. A Cuban government statement July 3 – the only other official word on the outbreak – said 53 cholera cases had been confirmed and that the outbreak was “under control.” There was no explanation for the conflicting numbers, although it’s possible the 53 may have referred to cases in the southeastern region, not just Granma. Batista also noted the number of suspected cases in Granma rose from 332 to 346 and more general cases of diarrhea and vomiting rose from 3,422 to 3,998 and that 110 persons have been hospitalized, Marquez added by phone to El Nuevo Herald. Most of the cases have been recorded in Manzanillo and the provincial capital, Bayamo, as well as nearby municipalities of Niquero, Yara and Bartolome Masó, Batista added. All are along Cuba’s southern coast, about 415 miles east of Havana.

Batista said the death toll remained at three – the same number the government reported on July 3. Bayamo dissident Yoandris Montoya said he had heard reports of five deaths and Marquez put it at about 10. Havana dissident Calixto Martínez has reported about 15. Batista’s TV appearances seemed to mark the start of a government effort to step up its public information on the outbreak, and she was expected to appear on Telecentro again late Monday. But police kept up a heavy security presence at area hospitals and relatives were not allowed to visit patients with cholera, said Marquez. He was fired from his public health job after his wife, Tania de la Torre, became a human rights activist. Cholera was declared to have been eradicated in Cuba no later than the early 1900s, but an ongoing outbreak in neighboring Haiti has killed more than 7,400 people and scores of Cuban doctors have worked there. A Florida woman and others in the Dominican Republic who visited Haiti came down with cholera in 2010 but survived. Cholera is generally not fatal but can kill in a matter of hours when the diarrhea and vomiting cause dehydration, especially among the elderly. The three dead confirmed by the Cuban government were 60 or older.

Cuba once boasted one of the best and broadest public health systems in the Western Hemisphere. It remains capable, but it has been going downhill since the end of the Soviet Union’s massive subsidies in the early 1990s. The government announcement last week said the cholera was spreading through contaminated water wells, but gave no explanation of how the bacteria entered the wells or the water pipes. A Cuban television report last month noted that up to 58 percent of the water pumped nationally is wasted because of breaks in the pipes. Cuban authorities also have not commented on unofficial reports that dengue fever, which is carried by mosquitoes, is spreading rapidly through a dozen Cuban cities and has killed at least five people in Havana.

Worst TB outbreak in 20 years kept secret

State rushes closure of its only TB hospital in Lantana

Stacey Singer

Lilla Charline Burkhalter, 60, comes to the Clara White center for breakfast most mornings. It was here, in the soup kitchen, that a man with active, coughing TB was recently identified, leading to the discovery that Jacksonville was in the midst of the largest TB outbreak in the country. Burkhalter is coughing, but she says it’s her emphysema acting up. (Photo by Stacey Singer)

By Stacey Singer

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE —

The CDC officer had a serious warning for Florida health officials in April: A tuberculosis outbreak in Jacksonville was one of the worst his group had investigated in 20 years. Linked to 13 deaths and 99 illnesses, including six children, it would require concerted action to stop.

That report had been penned on April 5, exactly nine days after Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill that shrank the Department of Health and required the closure of the A.G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana, where tough tuberculosis cases have been treated for more than 60 years.

As health officials in Tallahassee turned their focus to restructuring, Dr. Robert Luo’s 25-page report describing Jacksonville’s outbreak — and the measures needed to contain it – went unseen by key decision makers around the state. At the health agency, an order went out that the TB hospital must be closed six months ahead of schedule.

Had they seen the letter, decision makers would have learned that 3,000 people in the past two years may have had close contact with contagious people at Jacksonville’s homeless shelters, an outpatient mental health clinic and area jails. Yet only 253 people had been found and evaluated for TB infection, meaning Florida’s outbreak was, and is, far from contained.

The public was not to learn anything until early June, even though the same strain was appearing in other parts of the state, including Miami.

Tuberculosis is a lung disease more associated with the 18th century than the 21st, referred to as “consumption” in Dickensian times because its victims would grow gaunt and wan as their lungs disintigrated and they slowly died. The CDC investigator described a similar fate for 10 of the 13 people who died in Jacksonville.

They wasted away before ever getting treatment, or were too far gone by the time it began. Most of the sick were poor black men.

“The high number of deaths in this outbreak emphasizes the need for vigilant active case finding, improved education about TB, and ongoing screening at all sites with outbreak cases,” Luo’s report states.

Today, three months after it was sent to Tallahassee, the CDC report still has not been widely circulated.

Backer of closing hospital didn’t know

Meanwhile the champion of the health agency consolidation, Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, said he had not been informed of the Jacksonville outbreak and the CDC’s role as of Friday.

Told the details, the chairman of the House Health Care Appropriations Committee vowed that there would be money for TB treatment.

“There is every bit of understanding that we cannot not take care of people who have a difficult case of TB,” Hudson said.

The governor’s office asked a reporter to foward a copy of the CDC letter on Saturday, but did not comment by press time.

Treatment for TB can be an ordeal. A person with an uncomplicated, active case of TB must take a cocktail of three to four antibiotics — dozens of pills a day — for six months or more. The drugs can cause serious side effects — stomach and liver problems chief among them. But failure to stay on the drugs for the entire treatment period can and often does cause drug resistance.

At that point, a disease that can cost $500 to overcome grows exponentially more costly. The average cost to treat a drug-resistant strain is more than $275,000, requiring up to two years on medications. For this reason, the state pays for public health nurses to go to the home of a person with TB every day to observe them taking their medications.

However, the itinerant homeless, drug-addicted, mentally ill people at the core of the Jacksonville TB cluster are almost impossible to keep on their medications. Last year, Duval County sent 11 patients to A.G. Holley under court order. Last week, with A.G. Holley now closed, one was sent to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. The ones who will stay put in Jacksonville are being put up in motels, to make it easier for public health nurses to find them, Duval County health officials said.

They spoke about CDC’s report Friday, only after weeks of records requests from The Palm Beach Post. The report was released late last week only after a reporter traveled to Tallahassee to demand records in person. The records should be open to inspection to anyone upon request under Florida Statute 119, known as the Government in the Sunshine law.

TB strain spreads beyond homeless

In his report, the CDC’s Luo makes it clear that other health officials throughout the state and nation have reason to be concerned: Of the fraction of the sick people’s contacts reached, one-third tested positive for TB exposure in areas like the homeless shelter.

Furthermore, only two-thirds of the active cases could be traced to people and places in Jacksonville where the homeless and mentally ill had congregated. That suggested the TB strain had spread beyond the city’s underclass and into the general population. The Palm Beach Post requested a database showing where every related case has appeared. That database has not been released.

It was early February when Duval County Health Department officials felt so overwhelmed by the sudden spike in tuberculosis that they asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to become involved. Believing the outbreak affected only their underclass, the health officials made a conscious decision not to not tell the public, repeating a decision they had made in 2008, when the same strain had appeared in an assisted living home for people with schizophrenia.

“What you don’t want is for anyone to have another reason why people should turn their backs on the homeless,” said Charles Griggs, the public information officer for the Duval County Health Department.

Even the CDC was not forthcoming about the outbreak. An agency spokesperson declined requests from The Post when asked to make an expert available to discuss a CDC-authored scholarly paper on the possible origins of the Jacksonville outbreak, offering only general fact sheets on TB.

“After checking in with the Division of TB Elimination about your specific questions, they have suggested that you reach out to your health department,” wrote Salina Cranor of the CDC’s TB prevention office. . “They are really the best source for your questions.”

“With TB it’s a judgment call,” said Duval County Health Director Dr. Bob Harmon in a telephone interview Friday, after the state’s new surgeon general referred questions back to him.

“There have been TB outbreaks where we do alert the public, such as a school or a college,” Harmon added.

For weeks, there had been a dissonant message coming from the Department of Health press office in Tallahassee. It released overall numbers of Florida tuberculosis cases showing a marked decline statewide, supporting the argument that A.G. Holley had become irrelevant. Asked whether she had been aware of the severity of Jacksonville’s outbreak while delivering that message, she did not answer.

“Florida experienced a 10 percent decrease in cases for 2011 compared to 2010. For the period 2007—2011, there was a 24 percent decrease in cases,” wrote agency spokeswoman Jessica Hammonds in an emailed response to written questions on May 18. She declined, at the time, to make agency experts available for interview.

In an article published in June’s American Journal of Psychiatry, CDC experts Dr. Joseph Cavanaugh, Dr. Kiren Mitruka and colleagues described the apparent origins of the current outbreak, when a TB strain called FL 046 came to claim two lives and sicken at least 15 mentally ill residents of one assisted living facility in 2008.

A single schizophrenic patient had circulated from hospital to jail to homeless shelter to assisted living facility, living in dorm housing in many locations. Over and over, the patient’s cough was documented in his chart, but not treated. It continued for eight months, until he finally was sent under court order to A.G. Holley. That year, 2008-2009, a total of 18 people in that community developed active tuberculosis from the strain called FL 046 and two died. The CDC sent a $275,000 grant to help pay for the staff needed to contain it.

After the money ran out, Harmon said, staff were redeployed to other needs. But in 2011, suddenly, the number of active cases of FL 046 spiked, rising 16 percent to 30 cases of a specific genotype, the one seen in 2008.

“We thought after 2008 that we had it contained,” Harmon said. “It was not contained. In retrospect, it would have been better to inform the general population then.”

Harmon said the Duval County Health Department will need more resources if it is to contain the current TB outbreak. In 2008, when the TB outbreak hit, his department employed 946 staff with revenues of $61 million. “Now we’re down to 700 staff and revenue is down to $46 million,” Harmon said. “It has affected most areas of the organization.”

If he can raise at least $300,000, he will use the money to hire teams of experts — epidemiologists, nurses, outreach workers, to look under bridges, in fields — in all the places where Jacksonville’s estimated 4,000 homeless congregate, to track down the people who may still be infected unknowingly. Fortunately, only a few of the cases have developed drug resistance so far. The vast majority respond to the first-line antibiotics.

In downtown Jacksonville, in the homeless shelters and soup kitchens, the TB strain called FL 046 continues to spread.

On a recent June morning, 60-year-old Lilla Charline Burkhalter joined about 100 other poor and homeless guests being served a free hot meal of scrambled eggs, grapes, potatoes and butterless bread by a local church youth group.

The youth group was volunteering at the Clara White Mission, where a man with active tuberculosis had been identified just three weeks earlier.

Looking weary but friendly, Burkhalter described her life of late, sleeping in grassy fields and in shelter dormitories. She lived on a small Social Security disability check, she said. It had enabled her to pay for a room in an apartment, for a while. But her roommate had kicked her out for making his girlfriend jealous, she said, and she hadn’t been able to find any other accommodations. It had been a rough few months, she acknowledged. But she had been through tough times before.

As she spoke, she coughed often. It was her emphysema acting up, she explained.

Asked if she was fearful about the TB in the community, she shrugged.

“The health department tests me for TB once a year, so I know I don’t have it,” she said. “I’m not worried.”

The Clara White Mission is now playing a key role in helping Jacksonville fight TB. Its housing case manager, Ken Covington, had spent most of his career helping bank branches assimilate after mergers. Two months ago, he joined Clara White, charged with placing homeless veterans and recently released jail inmates into homes. But the job has became much larger.

Today, Covington is the new chairman of the Duval County TB Coalition. In his hands he holds a massive binder with the intimidating title, “Core Curriculum in Tuberculosis: What the Clinician Should Know.” It was given to him by Vernard Green, the CDC’s visiting TB liaison.

Covington said he was a banker, not a clinician. But he had learned what to watch for with TB – coughing up blood, night sweats, sudden weight loss. The coalition members were looking at buying air filtration equipment, drafting intake protocols, getting to know the TB experts in the community, and educating shelter staff on what to watch for and what to do if a client appeared ill.

“We’re trying to do what we can to rein it in, and stay in front of it, and not let it get any worse,” Covington said. “I take it as a very important role for the community.”

WHAT THE POST UNCOVERED

In 2008, a schizophrenic patient contracted TB but went untreated for eight months, wandering among many places where the homeless congregate, infecting at least 17 others.

In 2012, the CDC was invited to help with a sudden spike in cases of the same rare strain the schizophrenic patient had. What they found is the worst outbreak they have investigated in 20 years, and it is not contained.

ON THE TRAIL OF TB

Hard to track: Homeless and mentally ill people and those they have come in contact with are especially hard to treat.

Long, tough treatment: Several pills a day of several virulent antibiotics for a minimum of six months, often up to two years.

What’s at stake: If treatment regimen isn’t strictly followed, antibiotic resistent strains emerge.

TB Basics

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal.

How TB Spreads

TB is spread through the air from one person to another. The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks, or sings. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected. TB is NOT spread by

shaking someone’s hand
sharing food or drink
touching bed linens or toilet seats
sharing toothbrushes
kissing

TB Symptoms

Symptoms of TB disease include:

a bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or longer
pain in the chest
coughing up blood or sputum
weakness or fatigue
weight loss
no appetite
chills
fever
sweating at night

TB Risk Factors

Once a person is infected with TB bacteria, the chance of developing TB disease is higher if the person:

Has HIV infection;
Has been recently infected with TB bacteria (in the last 2 years);
Has other health problems, like diabetes, that make it hard for the body to fight bacteria;
Abuses alcohol or uses illegal drugs; or
Was not treated correctly for TB infection in the past

Source: CDC

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Rogue Waves

Rogue waves sweep teen kayakers into Pacific Ocean

By Greg Morrison, CNN

(CNN) — A day of kayaking and backpacking on Hawaii’s Big Island changed in an instant as the might of the Pacific Ocean swept six teenagers into the surf.

One remains missing.

The group of 12 students and their guides, who were on their way to a waterfall, were taking a break at a tide pool 15 feet above the swirling ocean and 50 feet inland when rogue waves hit.

“(T)he waves were totally unexpected,” Abbott Wallis, founder and executive director of tour operator Bold Earth Teen Adventures, said Sunday.

Parents: We’ll carry you in our hearts

The surf sucked two of the teenagers into the sea Wednesday and left four others clinging for their lives along the cliff and rocky shoals.

Kayak guides “immediately dived into the water at risk to their own lives” and rescued five of the teens, said Bari Sims of Hawaii Pack and Paddle. The sixth, 15-year-old Tyler Madoff of White Plains, New York, has not been found. Authorities suspended search operations for his rescue Thursday evening.

The other student swept out to sea remains hospitalized after his rescue, but is expected to recover. One of the kayak guides resuscitated him at the scene.

“I can’t convey my shock and sorrow,” Wallis said. “We’re doing all we can to support the families and students. As a parent myself, I can only imagine what the families are feeling right now.”

Tyler’s father, Michael Madoff, strongly criticized Bold Earth, but said the family would not seek legal action against the tour operator.

“People of Bold Earth Expeditions have shown poor judgment and extremely poor character,” Madoff said Sunday. “None of the Bold Earth people stayed on site to continue the search for our son Tyler.”

“We’re devastated by this,” Wallis said in response. “There’s nothing Mr. Madoff can say that we disagree with.”

A statement from the company says Bold Earth has served nearly 12,000 students on six continents since it was founded in 1976. Wallis said last week’s accident was the first significant incident in the company’s history.

Watch Video Here

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Sinkholes

Sinkhole nearly swallows car on Manchester, New Hampshire street

WMUR9

Manchester, N.H. – Manchester police said a sinkhole has shut down a section of Langdon Street between Elm Street and Canal Street.Police said the sinkhole opened up late Sunday night, nearly swallowing a car that was parked nearby. They said the sinkhole was caused by a water leak.

Crews were able to fix the leak early Monday morning, but they are still working to repair the road. Officials said Langdon Street will be shut down all day Monday.

Watch Video Here

45-foot deep sinkhole closes US 24 north of Leadville, Colorado

Randy Wyrick
Vail Daily

A 45-foot hole under the highway between Red Cliff and Leadville will keep road closed indefinitely

Leadville – A 20-by-30-foot round sinkhole that is at least 45 feet deep is keeping U.S. Highway 24 north of Leadville closed indefinitely.

Forty-five feet is as deep as Colorado Department of Transportation crews could measure Monday afternoon before engineers and geologists arrived, said Ashley Mohr, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.

After about 45 feet deep, the hole starts to curl back under the highway, sort of like an asphalt-eating serpent. They’re not entirely certain how far it curls under the highway, Mohr said, they’re just certain that it does.

The hole puts the highway, and motorists, in danger. CDOT closed the highway Monday afternoon to traffic in both directions.

It’ll stay closed until they can figure out what happened and how they might fix it.

“Safety is our first concern. We know this is an inconvenience for people,” Mohr said.

Motorists should use state Highway 91 as an alternative route, she said.

“Our engineers determined it would be unsafe to allow motor vehicles on the road,” Mohr said.

That means Leadville commuters – many of whom drive from Leadville to work places in Eagle County – get a yellow flag for the foreseeable future because the road is wrecked.

The sinkhole is almost exactly halfway between Red Cliff and Leadville, on the north side of Tennessee Pass. It’s south of Homestake Lake and Blodgett campground.

Geologists rolled in Monday afternoon from Denver to take a look, Mohr said.

“Our engineering crews are having a look at it,” Mohr said.

Sinkholes are caused by fragile land. That land moves around and hollows out at a faster pace in some places than in others, Mohr said.

Heavy rains over the past few days, after months of dry weather, could have triggered the land, Mohr said.

“It could be caused by running water, and we’ve had some of that. It could be a mine under there. It could be just about anything,” Mohr said.

For those curious about this sort of thing, it’s our second swing at a sinkhole in recent years.

In June 2003, a huge sinkhole collapsed the westbound lane of Interstate 70 above East Vail. Hundreds were evacuated from their homes overnight.

That one was caused by pretty much the same thing this one was: lots of water rushing into a small space. Heavy runoff washed out a culvert and opened a 20-foot-wide sinkhole.

It shut down a 24-mile stretch of I-70 between Copper Mountain and Vail.

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Solar Activity

2MIN News July 10, 2012: Records Falling

Published on Jul 10, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

TODAYS LINKS
Warmest on Record: http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/09/us/extreme-heat/index.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]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Space

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)

Object Name

Apporach Date

Left

AU Distance

LD Distance

Estimated Diameter*

Relative Velocity

(2008 NP3)

12th July 2012

1 day(s)

0.1572

61.2

57 m – 130 m

6.08 km/s

21888 km/h

(2006 BV39)

12th July 2012

1 day(s)

0.1132

44.1

4.2 m – 9.5 m

11.11 km/s

39996 km/h

(2005 NE21)

15th July 2012

4 day(s)

0.1555

60.5

140 m – 320 m

10.77 km/s

38772 km/h

(2003 KU2)

15th July 2012

4 day(s)

0.1034

40.2

770 m – 1.7 km

17.12 km/s

61632 km/h

(2007 TN74)

16th July 2012

5 day(s)

0.1718

66.9

20 m – 45 m

7.36 km/s

26496 km/h

(2007 DD)

16th July 2012

5 day(s)

0.1101

42.8

19 m – 42 m

6.47 km/s

23292 km/h

(2006 BC8)

16th July 2012

5 day(s)

0.1584

61.6

25 m – 56 m

17.71 km/s

63756 km/h

144411 (2004 EW9)

16th July 2012

5 day(s)

0.1202

46.8

1.3 km – 2.9 km

10.90 km/s

39240 km/h

(2012 BV26)

18th July 2012

7 day(s)

0.1759

68.4

94 m – 210 m

10.88 km/s

39168 km/h

(2010 OB101)

19th July 2012

8 day(s)

0.1196

46.6

200 m – 450 m

13.34 km/s

48024 km/h

(2008 OX1)

20th July 2012

9 day(s)

0.1873

72.9

130 m – 300 m

15.35 km/s

55260 km/h

(2010 GK65)

21st July 2012

10 day(s)

0.1696

66.0

34 m – 75 m

17.80 km/s

64080 km/h

(2011 OJ45)

21st July 2012

10 day(s)

0.1367

53.2

18 m – 39 m

3.79 km/s

13644 km/h

153958 (2002 AM31)

22nd July 2012

11 day(s)

0.0351

13.7

630 m – 1.4 km

9.55 km/s

34380 km/h

(2011 CA7)

23rd July 2012

12 day(s)

0.1492

58.1

2.3 m – 5.1 m

5.43 km/s

19548 km/h

(2012 BB124)

24th July 2012

13 day(s)

0.1610

62.7

170 m – 380 m

8.78 km/s

31608 km/h

(2009 PC)

28th July 2012

17 day(s)

0.1772

68.9

61 m – 140 m

7.34 km/s

26424 km/h

217013 (2001 AA50)

31st July 2012

20 day(s)

0.1355

52.7

580 m – 1.3 km

22.15 km/s

79740 km/h

(2012 DS30)

02nd August 2012

22 day(s)

0.1224

47.6

18 m – 39 m

5.39 km/s

19404 km/h

(2000 RN77)

03rd August 2012

23 day(s)

0.1955

76.1

410 m – 920 m

9.87 km/s

35532 km/h

(2004 SB56)

04th August 2012

24 day(s)

0.1393

54.2

380 m – 840 m

13.72 km/s

49392 km/h

(2000 SD8)

04th August 2012

24 day(s)

0.1675

65.2

180 m – 400 m

5.82 km/s

20952 km/h

(2006 EC)

06th August 2012

26 day(s)

0.0932

36.3

13 m – 28 m

6.13 km/s

22068 km/h

(2006 MV1)

07th August 2012

27 day(s)

0.0612

23.8

12 m – 28 m

4.79 km/s

17244 km/h

(2005 RK3)

08th August 2012

28 day(s)

0.1843

71.7

52 m – 120 m

8.27 km/s

29772 km/h

(2009 BW2)

09th August 2012

29 day(s)

0.0337

13.1

25 m – 56 m

5.27 km/s

18972 km/h

277475 (2005 WK4)

09th August 2012

29 day(s)

0.1283

49.9

260 m – 580 m

6.18 km/s

22248 km/h

(2004 SC56)

09th August 2012

29 day(s)

0.0811

31.6

74 m – 170 m

10.57 km/s

38052 km/h

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

Source: NASA-NEO

Meteor Lights Up Beach Night Sky in Photo

Tariq Malik
SPACE.com

© Jack Fusco
Photographer Jack Fusco captured this serene view of a Bootid meteor over Cape May, N.J., at 2 a.m. ET on June 28, 2012. The Bootid meteor shower is an annual, but faint, display in late June.

A fleeting meteor streaks across the night sky over a New Jersey beach in serene view captured by a local photographer.Night sky photographer Jack Fusco captured the meteor as it flared up over Cape May, N.J., beach in the wee hours of June 28, just after the peak of the annual Bootid meteor shower.

“The shower peaked about an hour after the moon had set, at about 2 a.m. EDT,” Fusco told SPACE.com in an email. “Overall, it was a beautiful night for stargazing.”

June’s Bootid meteor shower is created by the remains of the Comet 7P/Pons Winnecke, according to the International Meteor Organisation.

The Bootid shower is classified as a variable meteor shower by the American Meteor Society because its annual displays are often dim, but can sometimes be impressive to lucky stargazers. Variable meteor showers typically only “produce strong activity on rare occasions,” the society explains in an overview. “Most of the time, only a few scattered remnants of these showers are observered with rates of one shower member per night.”

The Bootid meteor shower is one of several meteor showers to light up the night skies in the next few months.

The annual Delta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to hit its peak on July 29, but will likely be washed out by the nearly full moon, according to a NASA alert.

Next up is the annual Perseid meteor shower, which will peak on Aug. 12 and is typically one of the year’s dependable shooting star displays. At its peak, the 2012 Perseid meteor shower could produce up to 100 meteors per hour for stargazers observing the night sky from a dark location, well away from city lights, between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. local time, NASA officials said.

Aurora Surprise Over Canada

SpaceWeather

July 9th began with a brief but beautiful display of auroras over North America. “I had gone out to search for noctilucent clouds, but instead I found these Northern Lights,” says Robert Snache of Rama First Nation, Ontario:

The source of the display was not an explosion on the sun, but rather a fluctuation in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The IMF near Earth tipped south, briefly opening a crack in our planet’s magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in and ignited the lights.

More auroras could be in the offing. A CME that left the sun on July 6th might deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on July 9-10. NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% to 30% chance of polar geomagnetic storms if and when the cloud arrives.

Nova Sagittarii 2012 No. 4

E. Guido, N. Howes, M. Jenkins, J. Hodge & G. Sostero
Remanzacco Observatory

Cbet 3166, issued on 2012 July 07, reports the discovery by Koichi Nishiyama and Fujio Kabashima (Japan) of a possible nova (mag 7.8) on two 40-s unfiltered CCD frames (limiting magnitude 13.7) taken around July 7.4986 UT using a 105-mm f/4 camera lens (+ SBIG STL6303E camera). The variable was designated PNV J18202726-2744263 when it was posted at the Central Bureau’s TOCP webpage.

The nova has been designated NOVA SAGITTARII 2012 No. 4.

We performed some follow-up of this object remotely through the 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD of “Faulkes Telescope South” (MPC Code – E10). On our images taken on July 09.4, 2012 we can confirm the presence of an optical counterpart with R-filtered CCD magnitude 8.7 at coordinates:

R.A. = 18 20 27.20, Decl.= -27 44 26.2

(equinox 2000.0; CMC-14 catalogue reference stars).

Our annotated confirmation image.

An animation showing a comparison between our confirmation image and the archive POSS2/UKSTU plate (R Filter – 1996) can be viewed here.

Spectra obtained by different observers (M. Fujii; K. Imamura; C. Buil) indicate that the variable is a “Fe II”-class nova.

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Biological Hazards / Wildlife / Hazmat

10.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Gibraltar

[Catalan Bay]

Biological Hazard in Gibraltar on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 11:11 (11:11 AM) UTC.

Description
Hundreds of jellyfish have hauled up the red flag at Gibraltar’s beaches and provided Tara Bossano-Anes a bit of shoreline fishing activity. Hundreds of jellyfish have accumulated in Catalan Bay and nearby areas, over the weekend. Red flags flew at both Eastern Beach and Catalan Bay on Saturday, however, only Catalan Bay had the red flag flying yesterday. Unable to swim in amongst the jellyfish, children collected the jellyfish into their nets and proceeded to pile them on the beach, where they will dry out and break down quickly as they are mostly water. Caution needs to still be taken around jellyfish on the beach, in or out of water, any jellyfish you see has the potential to sting if touched. The species of jellyfish that have arrived have the Latin name Pelagia Noctiluca, commonly called luminous jellyfish or mauve stinger. Known for their colour, they can change from pale red to mauve-brown, they may grow up to 10cm in diameter and the exumbrella surface (the outer, convex surface of the umbrella of jellyfishes), is covered in pink or mauve nematocyst bearing warts.Shaped like a mushroom, it has 16 marginal lobes, eight marginal sense organs and eight, hair-like marginal tentacles. Jellyfish are widely known for their sting, and very much like a bee, it leaves its stinger embedded in the person. Treatment of a sting is done in two stages, the first step is to deactivate any stingers, remove stingers by applying shaving foam to the sting area and scraping the skin closely with a razor, knife blade, or credit card, or rub sand over it to dislodge the stingers. The second step is to remove the stingers from the person’s skin, you can do this by blotting or pouring 3-10% percent acetic acid solution (white vinegar) on the sting with a clean cloth. Protective clothing needs to be worn by the person removing the stings. If the sting occurred in salt water, using fresh water can cause the stingers to inject more venom, and therefore become more painful. Urinating on it does not help, that is an urban legend. Arriving into Gibraltar via the tides it is uncertain at present as to when they will leave. The annual Argus endurance swim that was due to take place on Sunday, July 8, was postponed due to the presence of the jellyfish in the reclamation area. The swim is now provisionally due to take place this Sunday, July 15, weather and jellyfish permitting. Registration for the event takes place at the far end of eastern beach next to the lifeguard post and starts at 2.15pm till 2.45pm.
Biohazard name:	Jellyfish invasion
Biohazard level:	0/4 —
Biohazard desc.:	This does not included biological hazard category.
Symptoms:
Status:

10.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Denmark

Capital City, Copenhagen

Biological Hazard in Denmark on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 03:17 (03:17 AM) UTC.

Description
Danish authorities say an intravenous drug user who injected heroin and died has tested positive for anthrax. The Health Ministry suspects the drug was contaminated with the bacillus anthracis strain of anthrax. The 55-year-old addict died Sunday. Terrorism is not suspected, and the health ministry says there is no risk of contagion because the bacteria cannot be passed from person to person. Anthrax is a deadly disease that can be treated with antibiotics if caught early. Officials said Monday they will compare the case to two similar deaths in Germany in June. Last week, German officials said there may be a link between contaminated heroin found in Germany and an anthrax outbreak in Scotland in 2009 and 2010, which left 10 people dead.
Biohazard name:	Anthrax contained heroin
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

10.07.2012

HAZMAT

United Kingdom

England, Highwoods [The Crescent, Essex]

HAZMAT in United Kingdom on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 03:15 (03:15 AM) UTC.

Description

Fire crews investigating the cause of a suspected chemical leak at a council office that left nine people needing medical treatment have found no trace of any chemicals that could have caused the problem. The Essex County Council building in The Crescent, Colchester, was evacuated this morning after reports of around a dozen people feeling ill. It is the second time in less than a fortnight that the building has had a suspected chemical leak – it was first cleared by authorities on June 29 after reports of people falling unwell and reporting a strange smell. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said that shortly after the incident this morning nine people were given oxygen therapy and all other persons were accounted for. Crews entered the building this afternoon to try and find the reason for the problem but have said there is no definitive cause. A statement from the Fire Service said: “Crews have now conducted their final tests inside the building with the air-conditioning system running and found no sign of any chemical which could have caused the problem. “The building remains empty and staff will not return for at least 48 hours. “Fire officers are now leaving the scene in the hands of the Health Protection Agency.”A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said the building would now be closed until it was found to be safe and a review would be carried out. She said: “Essex County Fire & Rescue Service has confirmed there is no indication of what the cause of today’s incident might have been. “Despite the building being handed back to us we see the health and safety of our staff as paramount and have taken the decision to close the building until we can reassure our staff that it is a safe place to work. “A complete and independent review will now be undertaken. “To minimise disruption to our customer’s telephone calls, and as part of our business continuity plans, an alternative contact centre will be in place tomorrow from 9am to 5pm. “Residents should check our website for up to date information about the contact centre opening times.” A specialist Detection Identification and Monitoring (Dim) vehicle from Epping – on its first emergency incident – was sent to the scene to assist in identifying the chemical involved. Ambulance crews, specialist officers and the trusts hazardous area response team (Hart) were sent to the council office to deal with the incident after being alerted to a report of several people taken unwell at 10.40am, the East of England Ambulance Service said.

Assistant Divisional Officer Steve Foster said earlier: “Our crews treated nine people, all of whom were complaining of a bad smell, a feeling of nausea and metallic taste in their mouth. We gave all of them oxygen therapy.” A spokeswoman for Essex County Council said the cause of the incident last month was unknown and the building was declared safe 48 hours after it happened. She said: “We can confirm that Essex House has been evacuated today following reports of employees feeling unwell. “Emergency services are on the scene and responsible for leading initial investigations into this incident. We are aware of 11 members of staff currently being assessed. “We are committed to making sure that our staff work in a safe and healthy environment and when emergency services dealt with the last incident, along with a specialist detection team, there was no indication of what the cause might have been – the building was handed back to Essex County Council by the emergency services 48 hours later, and was declared safe for employees to enter. “We recognise this is the second incident that has occurred at Essex House in the last month and would like to reiterate that the health and safety of our staff is paramount at all times. “We are taking necessary measures to ensure minimal disruption to our customers’ telephone calls, with business continuity procedures currently in place. “We would ask that emergency services as well as our own ECC teams are allowed to assess the situation and we will, of course update with further information and advice as soon as it is available.”

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Articles of Interest

10.07.2012

Power Outage

USA

State of Virginia, [Virginia-wide]

Power Outage in USA on Tuesday, 10 July, 2012 at 03:04 (03:04 AM) UTC.

Description

Nearly 17,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers lost electricity after an afternoon thunderstorm swept through the region. The largest outage was in South Norfolk, where more than 3,800 customers were in the dark, according to the Dominion website. About 2,000 customers north of Norfolk State University also lost power. Shortly after 10 p.m. there were still about 1,000 customers without electricity. The company said on its website restoration should be completed overnight. Calls to the media representative and a media line were not returned. The storm moved into the region shortly before 3 p.m. with winds of about 40 mph and lightning strikes throughout the area, said John Billet, a National Weather Service meteorologist. As much as 2.5 inches of rain reportedly fell in the Deep Creek area of Chesapeake. More storms moved through northeastern North Carolina, prompting severe thunderstorm warnings in Chowan, Gates, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties. Those warnings expired, but a new batch of short-lived warnings came shortly before 9 p.m. Suffolk, Franklin and Isle of Wight in Virginia, as well as Gates County in North Carolina had severe thunderstorm warnings in effect until 9:15 p.m. A severe thunderstorm watch in effect for most of South Hampton Roads and northeastern North Carolina until 10 p.m., also expired. A watch means conditions are favorable for severe thunderstorms. Thunderstorms that do develop are capable of producing wind gusts as high as 70 mph, hail as large as 1.5 inches in diameter and brief, heavy rainfalls, according to the National Weather Service. A weak, slow-moving cold front was moving into the area today before stalling over the border with North Carolina. The cold front was bringing some relief from last week’s record-setting high temperatures. Temperatures should stay in the mid-80s the rest of this week.

Sounds of Northern Lights Are Born Close to Ground

ScienceDaily

For the first time, researchers at Aalto University in Finland have located where the sounds associated with the northern lights are created. The auroral sounds that have been described in folktales and by wilderness wanderers are formed about 70 meters above the ground level in the measured case.

Researchers located the sound sources by installing three separate microphones in an observation site where the auroral sounds were recorded. They then compared sounds captured by the microphones and determined the location of the sound source. The aurora borealis was seen at the observation site. The simultaneous measurements of the geomagnetic disturbances, made by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, showed a typical pattern of the northern lights episodes.

“Our research proved that, during the occurrence of the northern lights, people can hear natural auroral sounds related to what they see. In the past, researchers thought that the aurora borealis was too far away for people to hear the sounds it made. This is true. However, our research proves that the source of the sounds that are associated with the aurora borealis we see is likely caused by the same energetic particles from the sun that create the northern lights far away in the sky. These particles or the geomagnetic disturbance produced by them seem to create sound much closer to the ground,” said Professor Unto K. Laine from Aalto University.

Details about how the auroral sounds are created are still a mystery. The sounds do not occur regularly when the northern lights are seen. The recorded, unamplified sounds can be similar to crackles or muffled bangs which last for only a short period of time. Other people who have heard the auroral sounds have described them as distant noise and sputter.

Because of these different descriptions, researchers suspect that there are several mechanisms behind the formation of these auroral sounds. These sounds are so soft that one has to listen very carefully to hear them and to distinguish them from the ambient noise.

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Comment

Earth Watch Report – Sunday May 20th, 2012

Filed under: Climate Change, Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, Solar Activity, Space, Storms, Volcanic Events — 1 Comment

May 20, 2012

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk	Source	Details
20.05.2012 05:17:31	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Willow		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 05:26:43	5.1	Europe	Italy		Case Oratorio		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 05:22:25	5.0	Europe	Italy		Le Cremosine		EMSC
20.05.2012 05:22:50	4.0	Europe	Italy		Cortile		EMSC
20.05.2012 05:23:30	3.8	Europe	Italy		Pieve di Cento		EMSC
20.05.2012 05:24:04	3.7	Europe	Italy		Stuffione		EMSC
20.05.2012 05:24:53	4.4	Europe	Italy		Dosso		EMSC
20.05.2012 05:25:59	4.1	Europe	Italy		Palazzo Vana		EMSC
20.05.2012 05:26:42	4.5	Europe	Italy		Villa Magri		EMSC
20.05.2012 04:25:44	5.9	Europe	Italy		Dogaro		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 04:18:17	5.9	Europe	Italy		Vallacquosa		EMSC
20.05.2012 05:27:13	2.7	Asia	Turkey		Sarnickoy		EMSC
20.05.2012 04:18:38	5.3	Pacific Ocean – East	Northern Mariana Islands		Shomushon		EMSC
20.05.2012 04:15:24	5.1	Pacific Ocean	Northern Mariana Islands		Shomushon		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 03:05:53	2.6	North America	United States	Washington	Desert Aire		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 02:30:33	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Susitna		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 05:28:52	2.4	Asia	Turkey		Bekirler		EMSC
20.05.2012 01:30:47	4.2	Europe	Italy		Corte Motta		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 02:00:30	4.0	Europe	Italy		Redena		EMSC
20.05.2012 01:00:32	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Susitna		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 00:55:29	2.6	Europe	Greece		Flokas		EMSC
20.05.2012 00:45:41	2.1	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	El Puerto		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 00:46:02	2.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Iniskin		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 00:55:48	5.1	North-America	United States		Atka		EMSC
20.05.2012 00:30:37	5.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 00:46:25	5.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 01:15:56	4.5	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Aneyoshi		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 02:00:51	4.5	Asia	Japan		Aneyoshi		EMSC
20.05.2012 00:56:45	4.8	Pacific Ocean	Northern Mariana Islands		Shomushon		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 00:56:15	5.0	Pacific Ocean – East	Northern Mariana Islands		Shomushon		EMSC
20.05.2012 00:35:36	2.1	Caribbean	Puerto Rico		Campamento Susua		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 00:25:25	2.5	Caribbean	Puerto Rico		Campamento Susua		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 00:00:57	4.1	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	Weedons		GEONET
19.05.2012 23:55:24	4.5	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Dabra		EMSC
19.05.2012 23:56:17	4.5	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Dabra		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 01:55:42	2.3	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Princeton		USGS-RSOE
20.05.2012 04:15:45	3.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Amchitka		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:26:24	4.4	Atlantic Ocean	Argentina	Provincia de Salta	Agua Blanca		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:50:33	4.4	South-America	Argentina		Agua Blanca		EMSC
19.05.2012 22:20:40	2.4	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	San Antonio		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 23:55:49	5.0	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Padangi		EMSC
19.05.2012 23:10:40	5.0	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Padangi		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:50:52	3.1	Europe	Greece		Lioprason		EMSC
19.05.2012 22:26:46	4.1	South America	Chile	Region de Coquimbo	Lengua de Vaca		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:51:14	4.1	South-America	Chile		Lengua de Vaca		EMSC
19.05.2012 21:30:40	2.9	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	El Puerto		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 21:30:59	2.9	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	El Puerto		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:51:35	5.1	Asia	Japan		Aneyoshi		EMSC
19.05.2012 22:55:34	4.7	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Aneyoshi		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 21:50:33	5.2	Asia	Japan		Aneyoshi		EMSC
19.05.2012 21:22:46	5.8	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Aneyoshi		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 21:50:54	5.6	Asia	Japan		Tadakoshi		EMSC
19.05.2012 20:55:42	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Komakawai		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 20:35:38	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Sunrise		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:40:38	4.5	Middle East	Iraq	Muhafazat Maysan	Manziliyah		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:51:56	4.5	Middle-East	Iraq		Qal`at Nahr Shumaysh		EMSC
19.05.2012 20:25:40	2.0	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	El Puerto		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:35:36	4.8	Pacific Ocean – West	Vanuatu	(( Malakula ))	Hounnbank		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 22:52:18	4.8	Pacific Ocean – West	Vanuatu		Hounnbank		EMSC
19.05.2012 19:20:35	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Iniskin		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 19:45:34	4.8	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Ha`atafu		EMSC
19.05.2012 17:40:28	2.7	Europe	Greece		Galini		EMSC
19.05.2012 17:40:52	2.8	Europe	Greece		(( Galpaki ))		EMSC
19.05.2012 16:25:36	2.1	North America	United States	Alaska	Rampart		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 16:20:47	3.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Rampart		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 16:15:36	2.5	North America	United States	Alaska	Eureka		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 16:40:35	3.0	Europe	Greece		Metokhion Zografou		EMSC
19.05.2012 16:40:53	4.9	Asia	China		Co Nyi		EMSC
19.05.2012 16:41:13	2.2	Asia	Turkey		Ismetpasa		EMSC
19.05.2012 15:45:48	2.0	North America	United States	California	Watermans Corner		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 14:55:33	2.2	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 14:40:33	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Valdez		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 15:41:04	3.2	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		The Settlement		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 14:50:39	4.8	Pacific Ocean	Tonga		Haatua		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 15:40:30	4.8	Pacific Ocean – East	Tonga		Haatua		EMSC
19.05.2012 14:35:36	4.8	Asia	Turkey		Cukurgol Yaylasi		EMSC
19.05.2012 14:40:56	4.2	Asia	Turkey	Mugla Ili	Cukurgol Yaylasi		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 13:30:34	2.7	Europe	Greece		Sarti		EMSC
19.05.2012 13:20:44	2.0	North America	United States	California	South Landing		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 13:47:04	3.6	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		The Settlement		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 13:50:45	3.7	Caribbean	British Virgin Islands		The Settlement		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 12:26:08	2.4	North America	United States	Hawaii	Hanaipoe		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 12:20:48	4.0	Asia	China	Tibet Autonomous Region	Co Nyi		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 12:25:29	4.0	Asia	China		Co Nyi		EMSC
19.05.2012 11:25:39	2.7	Asia	Turkey		Lutfiye		EMSC
19.05.2012 11:41:07	3.3	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	Cabo Engano		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 10:46:28	2.2	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	Dos A		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 10:55:48	6.2	South America	Chile	Region de Antofagasta	Cifuncho		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 11:26:00	5.8	South-America	Chile		Posada de los Hidalgos		EMSC
19.05.2012 11:26:22	2.6	Europe	Greece		Metokhion Zografou		EMSC
19.05.2012 11:26:42	2.6	Europe	Greece		Thivais		EMSC
19.05.2012 09:40:48	2.3	North America	United States	California	Junction Ranch		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 10:20:28	3.1	Asia	Turkey		Alakilise		EMSC
19.05.2012 09:15:39	2.5	Europe	Greece		Tzamalaiika		EMSC
19.05.2012 08:50:39	2.3	North America	United States	Hawaii	Papaloa		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 07:45:36	2.2	North America	United States	California	Watermans Corner		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 08:16:04	3.2	Asia	Turkey		Isikli		EMSC
19.05.2012 08:12:53	4.3	Asia	Russia	Kamchatskaya Oblast'	Nikol’skoye		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 08:16:30	4.3	Europe	Russia		Nikol’skoye		EMSC
19.05.2012 08:16:51	4.9	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Uyuod		EMSC
19.05.2012 07:35:34	4.9	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia	North Sulawesi	Uyuod		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 06:45:39	2.1	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 18:45:33	2.5	Europe	Greece		Lakhania		EMSC
19.05.2012 06:20:37	3.4	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	El Coco		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 08:17:13	3.1	Asia	Azerbaijan		Qimir		EMSC
19.05.2012 06:05:25	4.1	Pacific Ocean – East	Fiji		Vuluna		EMSC
19.05.2012 18:31:10	3.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka		USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 06:05:46	3.7	Asia	Azerbaijan		Azgilli		EMSC
19.05.2012 07:10:35	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Bakir		EMSC
19.05.2012 13:30:54	2.9	Europe	Albania		Vajkal-Bulqize		EMSC

……….

Moderate 5.9 strikes coastal region of Chile: tension is rising along the Nazca tectonic plate

” data-mce-href=”http://theextinctionprotocol.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/01.png?w=640″>May 19, 2012 – CHILE – A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Antofagasta, Chile. The depth of the earthquake was 25 km (15.5 m) and was downgraded from a 6.2 magnitude quake by the USGS. The epicenter of the earthquake was 54 km (33 miles) SW of Taltal, Antofagasta, Chile and 849 km (527 miles) N of Santiago, Chile. This is the third moderate earthquake to strike along the Chilean coastline in five days. A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coastal region of Aisen, Chile on May 18. A 6.2 earthquake also struck near Tarapaca on May 14. Tension continues to mount on the very dangerous Nazca plate which is violently diving or undergoing subduction under the South American plate. The absolute motion of the Nazca Plate has been calibrated at 3.7 cm/yr east motion (88°), some of the fastest absolute motion of any tectonic plate. The subducting Nazca Plate, which exhibits unusual flat-slab subduction, is tearing as well as deforming as it is subducted under the land mass. No tsunami warnings were issued with today’s 5.9 earthquake and there have been no reports of damage or injuries. Today’s earthquake, however, is one more indication tension along the Nazca tectonic plate is building. This region should remain alert for the potential occurrence of a stress-break or sizable release of seismic tension that could be manifested in a major earthquake. –The Extinction Protocol

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Volcanic Activity

Mount Marapi Volcano Erupts Again

Submitted by Pierrot Durand

A report, published in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, has unveiled recently that a volcano, namely Indonesia’s Mount Marapi, erupted early Friday at 7:15 a. m. local time, lasting for nearly ten minutes.

It has been found that the volcano has had several such eruptions since when its alert status was updated last August. Also, the same has erupted for a total of around 454 times since the late eighteenth century till 2008.

While a majority of these were minor eruptions, fifty of them were significant, last in the year 2005, found the team of researchers from Oregon State University.

The erupted volcano is located in the province of West Sumatra, near the cities and town of Bukittinggi, Padang Panjang and Batusangkar in West Sumatra. As per the findings, the volcano is the most active one.

It is being said that its eruptions had killed 300 people between October and November and had caused around 300,000 people to relocate as well. “Our study found some of the first evidence that the region has a much more explosive history than perhaps has been appreciated”, said Morgan Salisbury, lead author.

Guatemala volcano spits lava and ash

GUATEMALA CITY | Sat May 19, 2012 1:16pm EDT

May 19 (Reuters) – Guatemala’s Fuego volcano belched burning lava and black ash into the sky early Saturday, leading the government to issue an airplane advisory and close sections of highway.

The volcano, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, erupted about 2:45 a.m. (0745 GMT), spewing a column of ash up to 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above the crater and launching burning red lava nearly 1,300 feet (400 meters) high.

The national emergency commission issued an advisory, warning planes not to fly within a 25-mile (40 kilometer) radius of the volcano. The La Aurora international airport in Guatemala City remained open.

The commission also closed two stretches of highway threatened by lava flows that reached the base of the mountain.

Guatemala’s four active volcanoes have a history of causing shut downs. In 2010, an explosion at the Pacaya volcano about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Guatemala City coated the city in a thick layer of black ash and rock, forcing hundreds of families to evacuate and closing the international airport. (Reporting By Mike McDonald; Editing by Bill Trott)

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Gale Warning

ANCHORAGE ALASKA

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

TALLAHASSEE FL
FAIRBANKS AK

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Storms, Flooding

Forecasters eye low pressure off Carolinas’ coast

The Associated Press

MIAMI — The National Hurricane Center is keeping an eye on a low pressure system off the South Carolina coast to see if it will develop into a tropical depression or storm.

An advisory issued Saturday said satellite and radar images shows the system about 120 miles southeast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., has begun to acquire more tropical characteristics as showers and thunderstorms increased near the circulation center.

Forecasters say additional development of the system is possible, meaning it could become a tropical depression or a tropical storm over the next day or so. The hurricane center says the system has a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone, and could move either to the south or west during the next 48 hours.

Tropical Storm Warning

CAPE FEAR TO 31N OUT TO 32N 73W TO 31N 74W
ATLANTIC FROM 27N TO 31N W OF 77W-

Tropical Storm Watch

CHARLESTON SC

Active tropical storm system(s)

Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Aletta	Pacific Ocean – East	14.05.2012	19.05.2012	Tropical Depression	90 °	46 km/h	65 km/h	3.66 m	NHC

Tropical Storm data


Storm name:	Aletta
Area:	Pacific Ocean – East
Start up location:	N 9° 48.000, W 105° 54.000
Start up:	14th May 2012
Status:	01st January 1970
Track long:	405.18 km
Top category.:
Report by:	TSRC

Useful links:

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 May 2012	11:05:35	N 14° 36.000, W 112° 48.000	4	46	65	Tropical Depression	90 °	12	1006

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

NORMAN OK

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

WICHITA KS
NORMAN OK
DES MOINES IA

Flash Flood Warning

SIOUX FALLS SD

Flood Warning.

AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
CORPUS CHRISTI TX
WILMINGTON NC

Flood Watch

FAIRBANKS AK

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Climate Change

“Warming Hole” In The Sky Appears Over US

MessageToEagle.com – Scientists are still unable to determine what is causing the “warming hole” over United States.

Some have suggested natural variations in sea surface temperatures could be responsible, but recent studies indicate the hole has been created due to air pollution.

Temperatures are increasing on global scale, but in the central and eastern United States warming has not kept pace with other parts of the world over much of the last century.

As shown in the lower map, which is based on data from NASA’s Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP), parts of the United States even cooled between 1930 and 1990. Areas of the greatest cooling are blue; those that warmed are red.

Climate scientists have taken to calling the large area of cooling a “warming hole” because the areas surrounding it have warmed at a faster rate.

While working at Harvard University, Eric Leibensperger used global climate models to estimate the cooling effect sulfates have had on the climate of the United States since 1950.As seen in the top map, they found that between 1970 and 1990-the period when sulfates were at their highest levels-average temperatures were nearly 1°Celsius (1.8°Fahrenheit) cooler in a core area centered on Arkansas and Missouri and about 0.7°Celsius cooler in a larger tear-drop region throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.

The cooling effect extended into the North Atlantic Ocean as well; sulfate pollution lowered sea surface temperatures there by 0.3°Celsius.

Image credit: NASA

Leibensperger’s research also shows that the cooling effect from sulfates is diminishing.

The amount of the pollutant in the atmosphere has declined significantly in the last few decades due to the Clean Air Act.

According to Environmental Protection Agency estimates, the amount of sulfur dioxide (a precursor to sulfates) released into the atmosphere fell by 58 percent between 1980 and 2010. Satellites have confirmed the decrease; the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite observed a sharp decline in sulfates over the eastern United States between 2005 and 2010.

As a response to the declining sulfate levels, Leibensperger’s modeling shows temperatures over the central and eastern United States have increased by 0.3°Celsius between 1980 and 2010. How much more warming can we expect as sulfate concentrations continue to decline? Not much, according to Leibensperger.

Sulfate concentrations have declined so much already that the impact of future decreases won’t be nearly as substantial.

MessageToEagle.com based on material provided by NASA.

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Solar Activity

2MIN News May19: Extinctions, Preppers, Supervolcano, Solar/Planetary Update

Published on May 19, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/05/16/can-we-retain-privacy-in-the…
http://www.astrobio.net/pressrelease/4764/collecting-solar-power-in-space
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/05/supervolcano-drilling-plan-…
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120518132706.htm
http://www.weather.com/news/doomsday-preppers-20120517

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]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT]

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

NOAA: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/ [For more advanced solar watchers]

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

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/

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

SOLAR ECLIPSE THIS WEEKEND:

SpaceWeather.com

On Sunday, May 20th, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun, producing an annular solar eclipse visible across the Pacific side of Earth. The path of annularity, where the sun will appear to be a “ring of fire,” stretches from China and Japan to the middle of North America:

Image credits (left to right): Hans Coeckelberghs, Fred Espenak, Dennis Mammana

An animated eclipse map prepared by Larry Koehn of ShadowandSubstance.com shows the best times to look. In the United States, the eclipse begins at 5:30 pm PDT and lasts for two hours. Around 6:30 pm PDT, the afternoon sun will become a luminous ring in places such as Medford, Oregon; Chico, California; Reno, Nevada; St. George, Utah; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas. Outside the narrow center line, the eclipse will be partial. Observers almost everywhere west of the Mississippi will see a crescent-shaped sun as the Moon passes by off-center.

Because this is not a total eclipse, some portion of the sun will always be exposed. To prevent eye damage, use eclipse glasses, a safely-filtered telescope, or a solar projector to observe the eclipse. You can make a handy solar projector by criss-crossing your fingers waffle-style. Rays of light beaming through the gaps will have the same shape as the eclipsed sun. Or look on the ground beneath leafy trees for crescent-shaped sunbeams and rings of light.

Solar eclipse resources:

Annular eclipse photo gallery — from spaceweather.com
NASA feature story and video
Live webcasts: #1, #2 (submit more links here)
Animated Eclipse Map — from shadowandsubstance.com

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Space

VENUS TRANSFORMED:

SpaceWeather.com

Something special is happening to Venus in the evening sky. The second planet is diving toward the sun for a much-anticipated transit on June 5-6. As Venus turns its night side toward Earth, the planet is transforming into a beautifully slender and colorful crescent:

John Chumack of Dayton, Ohio, took the picture on May 14th using a 10-inch telescope. “I was blown away by the sight of Venus,” he says. “The planet was 14% illuminated, 47 arcseconds in diameter, and blazing at -4.43 magnitude.”

The crescent shape of Venus is easy to see in good binoculars or small telescopes. No special observing experience is required. Just find Venus in the western sky after sunset (you can’t miss it), point and look. A good tripod to hold the optics steady is recommended.

As the evening wears on and Venus sinks toward the horizon, the refractive effect of Earth’s atmosphere splits the crescent into the colors of the rainbow. Kevin R. Witman of Cochranville, Pennsylvania, observed the phenomenon on May 11th: “Earth’s atmospheric refraction of Venus’s ample light made a beautiful image through my 10-inch telescope.”

more images: from Mark Marquette of Boones Creek, Tennessee; from Philippe Vanden Doorn of Rixensart, Belgium; from Luis Argerich of Buenos Aires, Argentina; from Tomasz Gołombek of Tczew, Poland; from Francesc Pruneda of Palamós, Catalonia (Spain); from Sadegh Ghomizadeh of Tehran, Iran;

Power Of Three Telescopes Revealed
How Black Holes Are Fueled

MessageToEagle.com – A fascinating accretion phase of a supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy tens of millions of light years away, was observed by researchers using the light of three powerful infrared telescopes.

The resolution at which they were able to observe this highly luminescent active galactic nucleus (AGN) has given them direct confirmation of how mass accretes onto black holes in centres of galaxies.

The observation was led by Gerd Weigelt, a director of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany.

“This three-telescope interferometry is a major milestone toward directly imaging the growth phase of supermassive black holes,” said Sebastian Hoenig, a postdoctoral researcher at the UC Santa Barbara Department of Physics, and one of the astrophysicists who utilized this technique to observe the AGN at the centre of galaxy NGC 3783.

Hoenig described their findings as a ring of hot dust that marks the transition from a more-distant mixture of gas and dust in a toroidal (doughnut-shaped) structure, to a gaseous disk closer to the black hole.

The dusty part, he said, is interesting because it dominates the infrared emission of active galactic nuclei and can be easily observed.

However, observing the ring of hot dust in NGC 3783 was a challenge for the astrophysicists.

Not only is the ring distant and faint, but the ability of individual infrared telescopes to resolve distances between actively accreting objects is also highly limited.

Artist’s view of a dust torus surrounding the accretion disk and the central black hole in active galactic nuclei. Credit: NASA E/PO – Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnet

Even the largest optical/infrared telescopes in the world, the Keck telescopes, were not powerful enough, though they can show objects in the infrared comparable to about the size of a football field at the distance of the moon.

To achieve that angular resolution in a single telescope, it would have to be 130 meters in diameter.

“In order to spatially resolve the accretion process onto supermassive black holes in nearby galaxies, we have to be at least a factor of ten better,” said Hoenig.

However, by using the AMBER interferometry instrument to simultaneously combine the light from three 8-meter telescopes at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, the research team was able to achieve the angular resolution needed to observe the hot dust ring.

The combination of the light from the three telescopes was no small feat, as the tiny differences in the arrival of light in the individual telescopes have to undergo constant correction with an accuracy of a few micrometers ?” roughly ten times smaller than the thickness of a hair, according to Hoenig.

Very Large Telescope Interferometer at the ESO/Paranal Observatory in Chile. Credit: Sebastian Hoenig

“The ESO VLTI provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of active galactic nuclei,” said lead researcher Weigelt.

“It allows us to study fascinating physical processes with unprecedented resolution over a wide range of infrared wavelengths. This is needed to derive physical properties of these sources.”

“Our main interest is to learn how supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies are fueled, so that they grow to the enormous million to billion solar mass objects we see today,” added Sebastian Hoenig.
@ MessageToEagle.com via

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

4183 Cuno

20th May 2012

0 day(s)

0.1218

47.4

3.5 km – 7.8 km

14.40 km/s

51840 km/h

(2006 KY67)

23rd May 2012

3 day(s)

0.1499

58.3

68 m – 150 m

13.88 km/s

49968 km/h

(2011 KG4)

24th May 2012

4 day(s)

0.1216

47.3

67 m – 150 m

11.50 km/s

41400 km/h

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

Source: NASA-NEO

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Sinkholes

Huge Mystery Hole Appears In Newcastle, UK – May 17, 2012

Published on May 18, 2012 by Sheilaaliens

http://sheilaaliens.net/?p=710 “A huge hole in the road has appeared just yards from people’s homes in Newburn, near Newcastle. The 10ft deep crater appeared suddenly on the afternoon of Thursday, May 17, taking an 8ft section of brick wall with it.

Police closed off the road for a while as experts from Newcastle City Council and Northumbria Water were called in to find the cause. Workmen were later called in to fill in the hole.

A police spokesman said: “There are a lot of mine workings around here. Possibly it is a coal working. We are still trying to work out what’s happened. “

Lynsey McMeekin, 28, of Spencer Court, whose flat looks onto the hole, said: “It is just crazy.
“When I saw all the police cordons I thought there must have been an accident. “

The crater expanded from Millfield Lane into land belonging to Just Brickwork Ltd after a dividing wall dramatically collapsed into the hole. Newburn Dene and a water culvert run underneath Millfield Lane and the Spencer Court flats, which were built in 2006.

The lane is one of the main access routes to the nearby Newburn Manor Primary School and is regularly used by parents dropping off their children at school.

Robert Lowes, 41, who lives on the nearby Manor Grove estate said the area had been blighted by sink holes for years. Just a few months ago a post box collapsed into a hole that appeared overnight.

He said: “There is subsidence all around here. “We have had other big dips in the tarmac all over the place.

“I know someone who has had a huge crack in their house.” “
http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/20860

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Articles of Interest

Growing Stones
An Incredible Geological Phenomena

MessageToEagle.com – Earth is an amazing planet and our nature is full of wonders. We have previously written about incredible singing plants.

This time we would like to focus our readers’ attention on another amazing geological phenomena, namely so-called growing stones.

It is difficult to image that stones can really grow, but these stones seem to be alive!

The Romanian Trovants Museum Natural Reserve is located in Valcea County, close to the road connecting Ramnicu Valcea and Targu Jiu, 8 km far from Horezu.

Here in a small village named Costesti, there are some fascinating and mysterious stones, called trovants, which are believed to have a life in them. Trovant is a geological term used often in Romania. It means cemented sand.

Trovants are geological phenomena which consist in spherical shapes of cemented sand, appeared due to some powerful seismic activity.The earthquakes that led to the creation of the first trovants are supposed to have taken place 6 million years ago.

What makes these trovants unique and mysterious is that are reproducing after coming in contact with water.

After heavy raining the stones grow starting with 6-8 millimetres and ending with 6-10 meters.

It’s really remarkable!

Trovants in Romania are stones that grow.

One of the strangest aspects about these stones is that although they vary in size, from a couple of millimeters to even 10 m, they are very similar, taking into account a natural law that states there are no such things as identical stones.

In addition, just like the famous rocks in Death Valley, California, the trovants often move from one place to another place.

Scientists believe that the stones increase in size due to high content of various mineral salts, which are under their shell. When the surface becomes wet, these chemicals start spreading and put pressure on the sand, making the stone “grow”.

A “living” stone.

A trovant having a strange shape.Today trovants are protected.

However, despite their best efforts, scientists have failed to come up with a logical explanation why the stones have extensions that remind of roots. If they are cut, their sections have colored rings, just like trees.

These stones behave almost like some kind of unknown inorganic life-form! We cannot deny that our planet is truly amazing!

Local residents have been aware of the stones unusual properties for more than 100 years, but they have never paid the trovants any special attention. The stones were often used as building materials and tombstones.

Today, the Trovants Museum in Romania is protected by UNESCO.

@ MessageToEagle.com

19.05.2012

Explosion

Italy

Brindisi

Explosion in Italy on Saturday, 19 May, 2012 at 09:19 (09:19 AM) UTC.

Description

An explosion at a school in Italy Saturday injured killed one person and six students, two seriously, according to reports and officials.The blast happened at 7:45 a.m. at a school in Brindisi as students were waiting to go inside, NBC News reported.The school is opposite a court in the city.A Civil Protection Authority official told Reuters that one person had been killed and six injured.There were unconfirmed reports that the dead person was a student.

19.05.2012

Chemical Accident

USA

State of California, Los Angeles [Los Angeles harbor]

Chemical Accident in USA on Saturday, 19 May, 2012 at 05:40 (05:40 AM) UTC.

Description

Fire officials say a large cargo ship has been evacuated in Los Angeles harbor as firefighters work to find the source of a gas leak.The incident began early Friday afternoon. Fire spokesman Matt Spence says the type of gas is unknown and may be coming from a container at the bottom of a deep stack of containers.About 25 firefighters, wearing gas masks, are working to find the source of the gas by removing the containers piece by piece.Spence says the ship was outbound from the Port of Los Angeles, and it’s unclear what its haul is.Spence says there’s no immediate cause for alarm or immediate indication of terror threat as firefighters investigate the situation.

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Comment

Earth Watch Report – Tuesday April 17th, 2012

Filed under: Earth Watch Report, Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, meteors, Mysterious Phenomena, Solar Activity, Space, Volcanic Events — Leave a comment

April 17, 2012

Earthquakes

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 16 23:57 PM
3.2 80.6 MAP

GEOFON Mid Indian Ridge
Apr 16 23:53 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

USGS Mid-indian Ridge
Apr 16 23:53 PM
4.9 9.6 MAP

EMSC Mid-indian Ridge
Apr 16 23:53 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 23:53 PM
3.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Northern Algeria
Apr 16 23:51 PM
2.8 30.0 MAP

USGS Island Of Hawaii, Hawaii
Apr 16 23:42 PM
2.8 28.6 MAP

USGS Northern California
Apr 16 23:25 PM
2.5 28.4 MAP

USGS Nevada
Apr 16 23:15 PM
2.8 10.9 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 22:52 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 22:10 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 22:00 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 21:40 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 21:35 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 16 21:31 PM
2.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 16 21:18 PM
2.6 8.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:49 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 20:46 PM
2.6 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:45 PM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:41 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:30 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 16 20:26 PM
3.3 51.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 20:24 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Vanuatu
Apr 16 20:16 PM
4.8 87.0 MAP

GEOFON Vanuatu Islands
Apr 16 20:16 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Turkey-iran Border Region
Apr 16 19:58 PM
3.0 2.0 MAP

USGS Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Apr 16 19:46 PM
2.8 169.5 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 16 19:39 PM
2.7 55.5 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 16 19:28 PM
3.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 19:09 PM
3.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 19:05 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 18:59 PM
2.6 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 18:46 PM
3.1 8.0 MAP

GEONET Taupo
Apr 16 18:36 PM
5.0 150.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 18:03 PM
3.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Sulawesi, Indonesia
Apr 16 18:01 PM
5.2 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Sulawesi, Indonesia
Apr 16 18:01 PM
5.3 31.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 17:53 PM
2.6 14.0 MAP

EMSC Southwestern Siberia, Russia
Apr 16 17:04 PM
4.2 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Komandorskiye Ostrova Region
Apr 16 17:03 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Komandorskiye Ostrova Region
Apr 16 17:02 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:55 PM
4.4 38.6 MAP

EMSC Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:55 PM
4.4 39.0 MAP

EMSC Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:39 PM
4.5 70.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:39 PM
4.5 70.0 MAP

EMSC Romania
Apr 16 16:39 PM
3.7 149.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 16:13 PM
3.3 5.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 16:05 PM
5.1 10.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 16:05 PM
5.2 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 16:05 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:41 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 16 15:11 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:06 PM
4.7 30.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:06 PM
4.5 50.0 MAP

USGS Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:06 PM
4.8 40.7 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 16 14:39 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 14:24 PM
2.6 12.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 14:23 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 16 14:14 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC East Of Severnaya Zemlya
Apr 16 13:56 PM
4.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 13:44 PM
2.8 3.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 13:43 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 13:23 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 13:21 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 13:00 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 12:57 PM
4.5 20.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 12:57 PM
4.2 14.4 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 12:57 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 12:56 PM
2.6 9.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 12:47 PM
3.3 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:39 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 12:33 PM
2.9 107.1 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:28 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:24 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 12:23 PM
2.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 12:21 PM
3.3 7.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:19 PM
4.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:12 PM
3.3 19.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:03 PM
3.1 7.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:02 PM
4.6 60.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:02 PM
4.5 51.0 MAP

USGS Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:02 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 12:01 PM
3.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:56 AM
2.5 15.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 16 11:51 AM
2.6 132.0 MAP

EMSC Canary Islands, Spain Region
Apr 16 11:45 AM
3.1 14.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:44 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:42 AM
3.1 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:36 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:34 AM
2.8 11.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 11:32 AM
2.5 122.5 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 11:23 AM
5.5 40.0 MAP

USGS Southern Greece
Apr 16 11:23 AM
5.5 36.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Greece
Apr 16 11:23 AM
5.6 31.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:19 AM
2.6 7.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 11:15 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:50 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC France
Apr 16 10:46 AM
2.4 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:43 AM
2.9 3.0 MAP

EMSC Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 16 10:41 AM
2.9 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:40 AM
3.1 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:39 AM
3.4 7.0 MAP

GEONET Hawke’s Bay
Apr 16 10:39 AM
3.2 30.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 10:38 AM
3.1 14.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:36 AM
3.1 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:25 AM
3.3 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Gulf Of California
Apr 16 10:23 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

USGS Gulf Of California
Apr 16 10:23 AM
4.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Gulf Of California
Apr 16 10:23 AM
4.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 10:22 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:22 AM
3.5 11.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 10:19 AM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:15 AM
3.0 6.0 MAP

GEOFON Turkey
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP

USGS Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.5 9.4 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Tajikistan
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.2 1.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 09:46 AM
5.3 14.7 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 09:46 AM
5.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 09:46 AM
5.3 10.0 MAP

USGS Malay Peninsula, Thailand
Apr 16 09:44 AM
3.9 10.1 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 09:41 AM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 09:31 AM
3.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 09:21 AM
3.2 21.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 08:54 AM
3.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 08:40 AM
3.7 5.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 16 08:33 AM
3.5 56.0 MAP

GEONET Whanganui
Apr 16 08:23 AM
2.4 12.0 MAP

USGS Oklahoma
Apr 16 08:12 AM
3.9 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Java, Indonesia
Apr 16 07:37 AM
4.6 60.0 MAP

EMSC Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 16 07:37 AM
4.6 60.0 MAP

USGS Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 16 07:37 AM
4.8 36.7 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 07:27 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 16 06:56 AM
3.2 42.2 MAP

EMSC Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Apr 16 06:52 AM
3.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 06:27 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 06:25 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 06:12 AM
2.7 14.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 06:08 AM
3.4 15.1 MAP

GEOFON South Of Alaska
Apr 16 05:23 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

USGS South Of Alaska
Apr 16 05:23 AM
4.5 10.1 MAP

EMSC South Of Alaska
Apr 16 05:23 AM
4.4 2.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 04:37 AM
2.5 47.1 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 04:24 AM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Northeastern Iran
Apr 16 04:22 AM
4.0 8.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 04:16 AM
2.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 03:37 AM
2.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Gulf Of California
Apr 16 03:27 AM
5.0 40.0 MAP

USGS Gulf Of California
Apr 16 03:27 AM
5.0 10.3 MAP

GEOFON Gulf Of California
Apr 16 03:27 AM
5.0 10.0 MAP

“There is no doubt that something is seriously wrong. There have been too many strong earthquakes,” said Marmureanu.

croatiantimes.com

A leading earthquake scientist has warned that the planet could be cracking up after a series of massive quakes in just 48 hours.

Expert Gheorghe Marmureanu – from Romania’s National Institute of Earth Physics – says 39 quakes had hit the globe within two days.

The series started with two massive quakes in Indonesia measuring 8.6 and 8.2 on the Richter scale rapidly followed by three more only slightly smaller in Mexico within hours.

Read Full Article Here

Mexico quake causes ‘tsunami’ at Devil’s Hole

By Henry Brean
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Apr. 10, 2012 | 6:00 p.m.

A powerful earthquake in southern Mexico last month churned the waters of a normally tranquil spring pool west of Pahrump, and a team of researchers was there to capture the bizarre phenomenon on video.

About 10 minutes after the magnitude-7.4 quake struck in the mountains east of Acapulco, some 1,700 miles from Southern Nevada, the water in Devil’s Hole began to slosh back and forth. The inch-high waves gradually grew, eventually surging to more than 2 feet and splashing across the metal catwalks researchers use to study the warm spring pool and its tiny population of endangered Devil’s Hole pup-fish.

The National Park Service is calling the event a “tsunami in the desert.”

“To see it change that dramatically in such a short period of time was amazing,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, a Park Service bio-technician who filmed the waves.

The video has since been posted on YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 32,000 times.

Read Full Article Here

Magnitude-5.5 Quake Jolts Southern Greece, No Injuries Reported

2012-04-16 20:44:21 Xinhua Web Editor: Li

A moderate earthquake measuring 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale jolted southern Peloponnese in Greece on Monday noon, local media cited the Euro-mediterranean Seismic Institute as saying.

No injuries or major material damages have been reported by local authorities.

The epicenter of the quake was traced at a distance of some 19 kilometers off the coast of the city of Methoni at a depth of about 40 kilometers, according to seismologists. The tremor was felt in a major part of Peloponnese.

Earthquake-prone Greece is regularly hit by moderate tremors and catastrophic ones many times in recent years. The earthquake in 1999 measuring 6 degrees on the Richter scale in Athens caused many deaths and extensive damages.

M 3.9 2012/04/16 08:12 Depth 5.0 km OKLAHOMA, USA
03:12:00 AM at epicenter – Epicenter location see below in list
One of the many aftershocks in the greater Shawnee area still irritating the local people, especially when they happen in the middle of the night. Only a few seconds but long enough shaking to wake up.
Approx. 85,000 people will have felt a light shaking and nearly 2.5 million a weak shaking !
Light shaking would have been (theoretically) experienced in the vicinity of Prague, Chandler, Stroud, Boley, Shawnee and McLoud

Strong earthquake strikes Chile; no serious damage reported

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 1:24 AM EDT, Tue April 17, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

An earthquake in 2010 killed hundreds in Chile
Chile is on the so-called “Ring of Fire”
No tsunami warning has been issued
The quake has a depth of 16.1 miles

(CNN) — A strong earthquake struck coastal Chile about 26 miles (42 kilometers) from the port city of Valparaiso late Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The 6.7-magnitude quake knocked out some power and phone lines in the region, but there were no immediate reports of major damage, authorities said.

The temblor was felt in the capital city, Santiago, located 69 miles from the epicenter. A CNN en Español anchor held onto his desk as the quake rattled the studio during a newscast in Huechurba, a suburb of the capital.

No tsunami warning has been issued, according to Chile’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service, although the government did issue a “mandated preventive evacuation off the coast of Tangoy and Constitution.”

The same region of the country was hit with an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in February 2010, killing hundreds of people.

Chile is on the so-called “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Basic that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

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Volcanic Activity

Russian Volcano Spews Ash to 9,500 Meters

The 3,283-meter (10,771-foot) Shiveluch volcano increased activity in May 2009

07:16 17/04/2012

PETROPAVLOVSK KAMCHATSKY, April 17 (RIA Novosti)

Russia’s northernmost active volcano is churning out ash to a height of 9,500 meters (over 31,000 feet) in the country’s Far East, local scientists reported on Tuesday.

The 3,283-meter (10,771-foot) Shiveluch volcano increased activity in May 2009 and has been periodically spewing ash from three to ten kilometers.

“A powerful eruption of ashes took place 05.59 a.m. local time [17:59 GMT on Monday], a source at the Far Eastern Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

The official said the column of ashes could be clearly seen from a distance of 40 kilometers spreading to the east.

“It is the most powerful eruption this year,” the expert said.

According to scientists, the volcanic activity over the past two-three years has significantly altered the contour of the volcano with the crater increasing in size by 50% and the slopes becoming far steeper than before.

Although the current eruption poses no immediate threat to nearby settlements, the ensuing ash fallouts could be hazardous to health and the environment.

The clouds of volcanic ash could also pose threat to air traffic because the tiny particles cause problems with aircraft engine turbines.

So far, local authorities issued no warnings to air traffic in the area.

There are more than 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka, 29 of them active.

Sangay volcano (Ecuador), activity update: growing lava dome, lava flows and ash explosions

Tuesday Apr 17, 2012 02:30 AM

BY: T

View of the upper SE flank of Sangay volcano and thermal image showing the various vents at the dome emitting lava flows that form several branches and reach the base of the summit cone (Photo: P. Ramón OVT/IG)

During an overflight on 13 April, an explosion from Sangay volcano was observed at 08:25 local time. It generated an ash and steam column of 2 km above the summit crater.
A new vent was detected, both on visible and thermal images, located next to the active dome on the SE flank (Ñuñurqu). The activity in this area has intensified since October, when the last aerial survey had taken place.
Extensive lava flows are descending on the SE flank of the dome and reaching the base of the cone.
Strong fumarolic activity was seen on the SE flank of the dome and on the S flank of the central crater.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	Today	Volcano Activity	Ecuador	Northern Volcanic Zone , [Sangay Volcano]
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	USA	State of Connecticut, Rocky Hill [Connecticut State Veterans Home]
	16.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	Zimbabwe	Masvingo Province, [Masvingo-Beitbridge road]
2	17.04.2012	Vehicle Incident	United Kingdom	England (The English Channel), [About 20 miles south of the Isle of Wight]
	16.04.2012	Enviroment Pollution	Nigeria	State of River, [Obite Gas production facilities - Total]
	16.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	India	State of Assam, [Golaghat District]
1	17.04.2012	Volcano Activity	Mexico	State of Puebla, [Popocatepetl Volcano]

Gale Warning

CAPE FLATTERY TO CAPE LOOKOUT, WA
MARQUETTE MI
CHICAGO IL
GAYLORD MI
DETROIT/PONTIAC MI

Freeze Warning

 GREEN BAY WI
LA CROSSE WI
 GRAND RAPIDS MI

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Flooding

Flash Flood Watch

 NEW ORLEANS LA
 LAKE CHARLES LA

Flood Warning

EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS ND
ST LOUIS MO
LAKE CHARLES LA
KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
NEW ORLEANS BATON ROUGE LA
 LITTLE ROCK AR
SHREVEPORT LA
DES MOINES IA

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Solar Activity

LYRID METEOR SHOWER:

Earth is approaching the debris field of ancient Comet Thatcher, source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on April 21-22; a nearly-new moon on those dates will provide perfect dark-sky conditions for meteor watching. Usually the shower is mild (10-20 meteors per hour) but unmapped filaments of dust in the comet’s tail sometimes trigger outbursts 10 times stronger. [video] [Lyrid chat]

SPECTACULAR EXPLOSION (UPDATED): Magnetic fields on the sun’s northeastern limb erupted around 17:45 UT on April 16th, producing one of the most visually-spectacular explosions in years. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths:

The explosion, which registered M1.7 on the Richter Scale of solar flares, was not Earth-directed, but it did hurl a CME into space. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather have analyzed the trajectory of the cloud and found that it will hit NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft, the Spitzer space telescope, and the rover Curiosity en route to Mars. Planets Venus and Mars could also receive a glancing blow.

This event confirms suspicions that an active region of significance is rotating onto the Earth-facing side of the sun. Stay tuned for updates

Solar wind
speed: 310.3 km/sec
density: 0.4 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0206 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C8 1800 UT Apr16
24-hr: M1 1745 UT Apr16
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2359 UT

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Space

Flat Pancake-Shaped Galaxy Harbors Three Black Holes

MessageToEagle.com – Universe is still a big mystery. The bright galaxy NGC 3621 is the so-called “flat galaxy” which appears to be just a classical spiral. But it is rather unusual astronomical object

Bulgeless and therefore described as a pure-disc galaxy, NGC 3621 lies far beyond the local group of galaxies, some 22 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (The Sea Snake). The winding spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes.

It is comparatively bright and can be seen well in moderate-sized telescopes.

NGC 3621 is flat and pancake-shaped.Apparently, it hasn’t yet experienced a galactic collision with another galaxy.Merging with other galaxy would have disturbed the thin disc of stars.Over time, this should create a bulge in the galaxy’s center.

This galaxy is of further interest to astronomers because its relative proximity allows them to study a wide range of astronomical objects within it, and use some of its brighter stars as standard candles to establish important estimates of extragalactic distances and the scale of the Universe.

Previously, astronomers thought, that bulgeless galaxies should not be able to host an Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). And yet, several observations of AGN in bulgeless galaxies currently indicate that a classical bulge is not a requirement for a nuclear black hole.

Today, they know much more about NGC 3621 and other flat galaxies.

NGC 3621 – is a galaxy full of surprises. It is bulgeless but has three central black holes. Credits: ESO

Read Full Article Here

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Articles of Interest

Underground water in eastern Shasta County mysteriously disappears

Some believe quakes causing lowered levels

By Damon Arthur

Photo by Andreas Fuhrmann

Pete Amos said his pump had been submerged 40 feet the entire 24 years he has lived in Cassel. But a couple months ago he ran out of water. When the pump company measured his water level, it had fallen to 54 feet, he said.

Stephen Wolf of Cassel is a former United States Geological Survey worker who has a theory about why wells are running dry in eastern Shasta County.<br /><br />

Photo by Andreas FuhrmannStephen Wolf of Cassel is a former United States Geological Survey worker who has a theory about why wells are running dry in eastern Shasta County.

Stephen Wolf thinks something strange is happening underground in eastern Shasta County and it is draining water wells and maybe even causing sinkholes and subsiding pavement.

A retired marine geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Wolf said he has seen what is happening in eastern Shasta County before. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, water well levels in the area of the quake fell significantly, he said.

Following the 6.9 magnitude quake in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Wolf wrote a paper for the USGS about the effects the quake had on surface and groundwater.

“The correlation is there. The behavior is identical,” said Wolf, who has lived in the tiny eastern Shasta County community of Cassel since 2001.

Back in October, 131 earthquakes hit the Lassen Peak area. Most were less than 2.0 in magnitude. But since then the water table has fallen significantly, Wolf said.

“We’ve never had a water problem before. We never thought about the water table going down,” Amos said.

Terry Briggs, who owns Gallagher Pump in Fall River Mills, said what is going on in Cassel is unusual. He said the drop in the water table in eastern Shasta County is the most dramatic he has seen in the past 10 to 15 years.

“It always moves up and down a little bit, but this was way more,” Briggs said.

Since January, he has had to help homeowners whose water tables have dropped below their pumps.

Briggs said he isn’t sure why the water level is dropping. Seismic activity may be affecting wells. Rainfall levels also affect the water level, he said. And Cassel, like the rest of the north state, went through a dry winter.

Wolf said the seismic activity further fractures the rocky, volcanic soil, allowing the water to flow deeper into the Earth.

Every time a small quake rattles the area around Lassen Peak, his toilet fills with dirty, silted water, he said. That is the silt that is broken loose from the volcanic soil underground, he said.

Officials at the USGS said they are hesitant to draw a correlation between the quakes and the drop in the water level in Cassel.

Read Full Article Here

Incredible Images Show Giant Sinkhole In Sweden Keeps Expanding!

MessageToEagle.com – It looks like something taken straight from a horror movie. An enormous hole leading to hell, some would say. But this is not a movie.

This is a real and dangerous phenomenon. New shocking images clearly show the enormous pit in Sweden is expanding.

The 200 foot wide open pit is called the “Fabiangropen” (Fabian pit) and is in the Malmberget area is located at Gällivare, 75km from Kiruna, Sweden.

As you can see on the map, it is in the northern regions of Sweden.

Due to presence of many orebodies, mining at Malmberget is conducted at different levels at 600m, 815m and 1,000m.

According to the locals sometimes the tremor around here can last up to 45 minutes!

The enormous sinkhole at Malmberget is expanding. This is an image showing the giant pit from above.

Read Full Article Here

Total shuts down Nigerian gas plant after leak

ABUJA (Reuters) – French oil major Total has shut down a gas plant in Nigeria’s onshore Niger Delta, following a leak caused by a technical incident, the company said in a statement.

The leak occurred on a block that also contains crude oil in Rivers state, one of the three states that make up the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands region veined with hundreds of kilometres of labyrinthine creeks and waterways.

“On April 3rd, Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG) was alerted about some water and gas resurgence points, observed in an uninhabited area close to its onshore Obite gas production facilities, on the OML 58 license,” a statement on the company’s website said.

Read Full Article Here

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Comment

Global Disaster Watch – Friday March 2nd ,2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Environmental, Extreme Weather, Global News, Mass Animal Deaths, Mysterious Phenomena, Solar Activity, Storms, Strange diseases, Weather Phenomena — 4 Comments

March 2, 2012

Sun

Just Released Report Highlights Unusual Solar Cycle

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242285-Just-Released-Report-Highlights-Unusual-Solar-Cycle

Earthquakes

3.1 EASTERN TURKEY

5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU

3.0 EASTERN TURKEY

4.7 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.

4.9 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

4.5 CRETE, GREECE

4.1 FRANCE

5.4 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.

4.9 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.

4.9 SCOTIA SEA

4.3 SOUTHWESTERN SIBERIA, RUSSIA

4.5 SOUTHWESTERN SIBERIA, RUSSIA

4.6 SAN JUAN, ARGENTINA

4.8 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION

5.0 KURIL ISLANDS

4.9 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION

4.8 SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA

4.5 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

4.0 SOUTHWESTERN SIBERIA, RUSSIA

4.8 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA

3.4 ROMANIA

4.4 CHUKOTKA, RUSSIA

4.9 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

4.6 COLOMBIA

4.8 VANUATU

5.4 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Oklahoma sees record year for number of earthquakes

http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/Record_year_for_Oklahoma_earthquakes_140983543.html?ref=543

Island off west coast of Scotland shaken by five tremors

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-17203613

Volcanoes

Mount Marapi in Indonesia’s West Sumatra briefly erupts

http://channel6newsonline.com/2012/02/mount-marapi-in-indonesias-west-sumatra-briefly-erupts/

Volcanic activity increasing at Indonesia’s Semeru volcano

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/7745177.htm

Slight rise of magma at Boliva’s potential super-volcano, Uturuncu but no signs of an immediate eruption

March 2, 2012 – BOLIVIA – The San Calixto Observatory director of La Paz, Estela Minaya confirmed that there is a small rise of magma (molten rock in the form of lava and gases) from the volcano Uturuncu, however, but immediately rule out a possible eruption. Minaya told the Red Erbol said now one of the purposes of the Observatory is to trace the progression of the volcano and to determine how high and fast magma is rising inside the volcano. “Then, (known) that the molten material begins to rise and generates what is seen as a strain at the surface. Studying this method indicates what kind of deformation and “growth,” the volcano is experiencing. Right now, indication there is a slight rise but the magma is rising at a very low speed. Now that this ‘growth’ isn’t very large and can’t generate a volcanic eruption,” he said. He noted that this work takes place two years ago with the interferometer system and the last eruption in Uturuncu would have registered more than 1.6 million years or so. A week ago, was reported in boliviaprensa.com international scientists are studying the changes introduced Uturuncu volcano, since satellite measurements show that the mountain has been growing at a rate of 1.3 centimeters per year over the past two decades. -Erbol translated

http://www.erbol.com.bo/noticia.php?identificador=2147483955962

Sinkholes

Cave-ins create hundreds of sinkholes in China town

Ice Age

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242215-Why-Britain-Could-Face-Years-of-Artic-Winters-Because-of-Dramatic-Decline-in-Arctic-Sea-Ice

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242232-Arctic-Melt-Could-Fuel-Deep-Freezes-Big-Snows

Dying Seas

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242250-Dozens-of-dead-marine-mammals-turtles-in-Gulf-this-year-NOAA-says

Mutations

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242255-Mutated-Two-Headed-Trout-Found-in-Idaho-US

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242268-New-Flu-Virus-is-Found-in-Bats

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/outbreak-of-asf-reported-in-republic-of-karelia/

Epidemics

32 pet dogs euthanized in New Mexico rabies outbreak

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/29/10543496-32-pet-dogs-euthanized-in-new-mexico-rabies-outbreak

Winter Twisters

13 killed as tornadoes rake Midwest states

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242287-US-13-killed-as-tornadoes-rake-Midwest-states

Flooding

Record rains force evacuations in NSW, but Victorians are staying put

http://www.news.com.au/national/record-rains-force-evacuations-in-nsw/story-e6frfkvr-1226285665120?sv=e872c3a9278b2add90fa44f9a7a47fe5

Mysteries

Residents searching for answers to intensifying mystery force shaking North Carolina coast?

http://www.wwaytv3.com/2012/02/28/residents-booming-big-bang-theories

Mysterious submarine plume discharge cloudy waters at Hawaii harbor

http://www.khon2.com/content/news/editorschoice/story/Mysterious-plume-blankets-Kewalo-Basin/Mu64XdFs1UGEaHge54jAaw.cspx

NEWS SCAN: H5N1 case in Bangladesh, H5N1 outbreak in Bhutan, H1N1 hospitalization rate, H1N1 immune response in seniors, raw milk outbreak total

Mar 1, 2012

Bangladesh reports its fourth human H5N1 case
Bangladesh has reported its fourth human case of H5N1 avian flu infection, involving a 40-year-old man who works in a live bird market in Dhaka, the capital. After the man sought medical care for a cough, polymerase chain reaction testing of respiratory samples identified the infection, according to a Feb 27 statement from the Bangladesh Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control, and Research (IEDCR). The patient is now symptom-free, the statement said. Bangladesh’s first human H5N1 case was reported in 2008, and two more cases were identified last year. None of the cases have been fatal. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet recognized the case. The WHO’s current global H5N1 count stands at 589 cases with 348 deaths.
Feb 27 IEDCR statement
Feb 28 WHO cumulative H5N1 case count

H5N1 hits backyard poultry in Bhutan
Bhutan has reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu affecting backyard poultry, according to a report from the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) today. The outbreak, in Chakha district, killed 35 birds in January, and 86 additional poultry were culled to prevent disease spread. A national laboratory confirmed the disease via real-time polymerase chain reaction on Jan 10. The report did not specify why officials delayed reporting the outbreak to the OIE. Chakha is in southwestern Bhutan and borders the West Bengal district of India. Bhutan last experienced an H5N1 outbreak in December, according to the OIE.
Mar 1 OIE report

Report: H1N1 hitting harder than H3N2 in 4 European countries
Although pandemic 2009 H1N1 (pH1N1) has made up only 1% of flu viruses circulating in France, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom this flu season, it has accounted for 10% of hospital cases and a high percentage of severe cases, according to a report today in Eurosurveillance. Of 1,432 sentinel specimens analyzed from the four countries, 14 (1%) were pH1N1 and 1,219 (85%) were H3N2. But of 199 lab-confirmed hospitalized cases, 20 (10%) were caused by pH1N1, compared with 108 (54%) caused by H3N2. And of the hospitalized pH1N1 patients, 19 (95%) were admitted to intensive care, compared with 33 (30%) for H3N2. In the previous flu season (2010-11), the share of hospitalized pH1N1 cases was only 1.5-fold higher than the share of cases in the community, according to the report.
Mar 1 Eurosurveillance report

Study details better 2009 H1N1 immune response in seniors
An in-depth study in the Journal of Virology on antibody response shed more light on why fewer older people got sick during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Researchers with the US Food and Drug Administration and the University of Pittsburgh used a host of advanced antibody testing methods to analyze extra serum samples from a wide age range of patients that were collected at two Pittsburgh hospitals and pediatric outpatient clinics during the second wave of the pandemic before vaccination began. They also conducted similar tests on ferrets that were infected with the virus to gauge the development of antibodies. Infection with pH1N1 in adults older than 70 induced antibodies with broader epitope recognition in internal genes and hemagglutinin 1 (HA1) receptor binding domain compared with younger age-groups. The findings support the hypothesis that older people have long-term memory B cells and possibly long-lived plasma cells that cross-reacted with the novel virus and were rapidly recruited and activated following infection. They wrote that the cells could have undergone somatic hypermutation during earlier exposure to H1N1 viruses that circulated until the 1957-58 flu season or that exposure to or vaccination against 1976 swine flu could have generated long-term memory B cells that cross-reacted with the pH1N1 virus.
Feb 29 J Virol abstract

Raw milk Campylobacter outbreak total reaches 80 cases
An outbreak of Cambylobacter illness associated with raw milk from a Pennsylvania dairy has grown to 80 cases, according to Food Safety News (FSN) today. The total represents an increase of 3 cases since CIDRAP News last reported on the outbreak Feb 16. Case totals by state are now: Pennsylvania, 70; Maryland, 5; West Virginia, 3; and New Jersey, 2. At least nine patients have been hospitalized, and the last known illness onset date is Feb 1. The outbreak has been traced to Your Family Cow dairy in Chambersburg, which halted sales of raw milk products Jan 27 but was allowed to resume production Feb 6 after passing inspections.
Mar 1 FSN story
Feb 16 CIDRAP News Scan on outbreak

Comment

Global Disaster Watch: Sunday, February 19, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Flooding, Freak Natural Phenomena, Global Disasters, Volcanic Events, Weather Phenomena — 6 Comments

February 20, 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

http://globaldisasterwatch.blogspot.com/2012/02/sunday-february-19-2012.html

Mt Fuji volcano (Japan): signs of volcanic unrest reported – Reports are appearing about unrest and signs of a possible awakening of Mt Fuji volcano in Japan. According to a report which includes an unclear photo of the area, a row of new craters, the largest 50 m in diameter, has appeared on the eastern flank of the volcano at 2200 m elevation. Steam was observed erupting from these vents.
The observation joins other signs suggesting a gradual reawakening: A swarm of earthquakes including 4 of magnitude 5 have occurred northeast of Mt Fuji on and after 28 January. An earlier 6.4M quake occurred under the volcano on 15 March 2011. The report also mentions increased activity from a fumarole vent at 1500 m elevation and hot spring areas at the eastern flank observed since 2003. These locations seem to be aligned geographically, and are probably connected. A spokesman from Ryukyu University is quoted to admit that there is an increased risk of and eruption on the eastern flank and that the status of the volcano should be closely monitored.

**A light heart lives long.**
William Shakespeare

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Yesterday -
2/18/12 -
5.0 MOLUCCA SEA
5.2 TONGA
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.3 OFFSHORE OAXACA, MEXICO

2/17/12 -
5.5 WESTERN XIZANG
5.1 VANUATU
5.1 VANUATU

Philippines – Negros quake death toll now 51; over 1700 aftershocks recorded. The death toll from a magnitude-6.9 quake that rattled Negros last Feb. 6 went up to 51 Saturday morning. At least 112 were hurt while 62 were missing, including 26 from Guihulngan City and 36 from La Libertad town. As of 8 p.m. Friday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology had detected 1,719 aftershocks, 104 of which were felt. The quake had affected 63,697 families or 319,155 people in 180 villages in nine towns and two cities in two provinces. Of these, 4,790 families or 23,490 people are being served in 74 evacuation centers. Damage to infrastructure such as roads and bridges amoutned to P383.059 million. At least 6,306 houses were destroyed and 9,177 damaged. At least four quakes hit the Visayas area between midnight Friday and noon Saturday, with state seismologists warning of possible aftershocks from at
least one of the quakes.
Sinkhole stirs village still nervous on quake – Residents of a village expressed alarm over a sinkhole that formed after an explosion, reviving tension in a community that is still nervous following an intensity 6.9 earthquake recently. The hole was first discovered by a farm caretaker in Barangay Cambuang on Friday. It was initially the size of a frying pan. The caretaker didn’t pay much attention to the hole at first, but when he returned to look at it after having breakfast, he noticed the soil moving and cracks forming around the hole. An hour later, an explosion shattered the early morning silence of the village. He checked again and saw a hole with a diameter of about 10 meters. By noon, it grew to 12 meters. The next day, the hole had grown to about 20 meters in diameter and it appeared to be further increasing in size. Residents expressed alarm at the hole and speculated on how deep it was.
Some residents threw a coconut into the hole to check how deep it was judging from the sound of the coconut hitting bottom. They heard no sound. Its depth could be estimated by a 14-foot wooden electric post that the hole swallowed. “All my life, this is the first time I encountered this kind of unusual event.” The area has been cordoned off while two policemen and two village watchmen tried to prevent people from getting near as the hole continued to expand. A spokesperson of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Central Visayas, said the occurrence was not unusual, saying sinkholes could also be found in Alcoy town and other parts of Cebu because of limestone formation. “It is just part of the natural depression of surface topography.’ Sinkholes are common where the earth underneath is made of limestone, carbonate rock, salt beds or rocks that can be dissolved by ground water circulating through them. Spaces and caverns develop underground when the rock dissolves. If there is not enough support for the earth above the spaces, a sudden collapse of the land surface can occur. The intensity 6.9 quake last Feb. 6 caused ground tension cracks. Prolonged rains made the cracks bigger. Geologists will go back to the area on Monday to check.

VOLCANOES -

Alaska – Cleveland Volcano’s lava dome is growing, could blow soon. Satellite images show that dome has grown in the last week. A lava dome is growing at Cleveland Volcano as its current slow eruption continues, a sign that the restless Aleutian volcano could pop at any moment, the Alaska Volcano Observatory says. Satellite images show the lava dome has expanded from about 50 meters to 60 meters across in the past week. The hardening lava still only occupies a small part of the roughly 200-meter crater.
The volcano makes up the western half of Chuginadak Island about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage. If Cleveland’s eruption turns explosive – perhaps blasting ash up thousands of feet, into trans-Pacific flight paths – it could disable the engines of airplanes that fly through it. The explosiveness is characteristic of Alaska volcanoes. Lava extruding inside Cleveland Volcano is thick and pasty, “like peanut butter. The lava’s so viscous, it doesn’t flow like you’re used to seeing in pictures of Hawaii, where it’s fluid and runny. So it piles up and makes a round, dome-like lava flow.” The molten rock flows out of vents inside the volcano’s crater and piles up. When the dome grows so big that it covers those vents, gas builds up behind it. Then, when the pressure is high enough: ka-boom.
A similar explosive event in December mostly cleared a lava dome that had been growing since October. The brief explosion sent ash up to about 15,000 feet. The difficulty of monitoring Cleveland Volcano comes from its remoteness. Unlike many other Alaska volcanos, Cleveland has no seismometers on its flanks, so scientists cannot hear its inner rumblings. Instead, they rely on seismometers farther away, satellites that can sometimes be blocked by clouds, and lightning detectors that sense lightning in volcanic ash plumes already high in the air. Plans are in the works to maybe put sensors on Cleveland Volcano but “that’s just in the talking stage now.” Until then, the volcano could disrupt air travel with little warning. “There’s a half-dozen major flight paths that go from Asia to North America and Europe that fly over Alaska airspace. So it does depend on which way the wind is blowing but there are a number of paths that are near it.”

Indonesia – Climbers Warned as Indonesia Volcano Erupts Ash. Nature-loving tourists have been warned not to climb Mount Gamalama in North Maluku after the frequently active volcano started emitting ash again over the past week. The volcano, which covers the entire island of Ternate, is still very dangerous for anyone climbing its upper reaches. It was impossible to say whether the mini-eruptions would become more intense or subside. A severe eruption in early December destroyed more than 100 houses and left farmers devastated after ash smothered fruit trees and crops. The cost of that eruption was estimated at Rp 15 billion ($ 1.6 million).

Indonesia – Merapi volcano (Central Java): increased seismic activity could indicate the start of a new lava dome growth. Seismic activity has increased beneath Mount Merapi volcano in Central Java, Indonesia, in the last few days. The increase in so-called multiphase earthquakes is thought to indicate the beginning of the formation of a new lava dome.
A volcanologist from the Selo observation post on the north side of the volcano is quoted “there is movement in the magma chamber in the form of a new lava dome formation. But we do not know the emission point because from Selo it is not visible”. It is planned to check the situation at the summit in the near future. “The status of Merapi still active normal.”
Starting around 11 February, Mount Merapi showed increased seismic activity, especially in multi-phase (MP) earthquakes, which are believed to correspond to movements in the magma chamber and conduits. During the week of 29 January and 4 Feb 29, 18 such quakes were recorded, but that figure rose sharply during the following week, when about 100 were recorded. The peak occurred on 12 February, when 63 MP as well as 6 shallow volcanic earthquakes were recorded. On 13 February earthquake activity decreased to 34 MP quakes, 3 avalanche, and 9 shallow volcanic and tectonic quakes. On 14 February, there were 25 MP and 14 shallow volcanic quakes.
The increased activity of Mount Merapi is a normal phenomenon frequently seen at the volcano, and still within the range of normal fluctuations. The official alert level remains at 1 out of 4 (normal activity). People living on the slopes of Mount Merapi, particularly those living higher up the slopes and near the major drainage valley were encouraged to remain vigilant. A major hazard for these areas are floods and mud flows, particularly now in the rainy season.

Tinakula volcano (Solomon Islands) – new satellite image shows strong steaming and possible eruption. Tinakula volcano is probably erupting a recent satellite image published by NASA’s Earth observatory shows. Tinakula is a small, volcanic, South Pacific island located about 2,300 kilometers (1,400 miles) northeast of Brisbane, Australia. The natural-color satellite image shows a plume of volcanic gas, possibly mixed with a little ash, rising above the island’s summit. On February 13th and 14th, 2012, NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer detected heat signatures on Tinakula, and a small plume was apparent in visible imagery. Over the past decade satellites have detected intermittent “thermal anomalies” that suggest eruptions have taken place, but eyewitness observations are infrequent.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Indian Ocean -
-Tropical cyclone 12s (Giovanna) was located approximately 430 nm south of Antananarivo, Madagascar.
-Tropical cyclone 13s was located approximately 1105 nm east of La Reunion.

Tropical depression One is forecast to strike Vietnam as a tropical storm at about 06:00 GMT on 19 February. The tropical depression is moving with winds of 39-61 kph in the East Sea near Vietnam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands and is likely to develop into a tropical storm.

Cyclone Giovanna killed 17 in Madagascar – Giovanna ‘has affected 200,000 people’ in Madagascar. Transport activities have also suffered in the deadly aftermath of the cyclone.
Rain-soaked Madagascar again threatened by Cyclone Giovanna – Rainfall data from NASA’s TRMM satellite revealed that parts of Madagascar’s east coast received over a foot (30 cm) of rainfall from Cyclone Giovanna’s passage, and new satellite data shows Cyclone Giovanna re-strengthening and turning back toward southeastern Madagascar. Cyclone Giovanna’s rainfallfell from February 8-15. The highest rainfall totals of over 250mm (~10 inches) fell in the coastal area east of Madagascar’s capitol of Antananarivo. In that area people were flooded out of their homes and deaths have been reported. Giovanna then tracked across central Madagascar and entered the Mozambique Channel where the warm waters re-energized the storm. The forecasters at the Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect Giovanna to track over southern Madagascar over the weekend with gusty winds and heavy rainfall. Giovanna is expected to then dissipate over the southeastern part of the island by February 20.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Italy – Extreme Weather in Rome Damages Colosseum. Severe snow and cold in Rome have taken a toll on one of its architectural wonders, the Colosseum. The Colosseum had to shut its doors to tourists after bits of the massive structure crumbled and fell. The loosening of plaster masonry and stone was attributed to ice forming on the walls. The damage is a result of what is known as the “freeze-thaw cycle.” The cold wave was called EXCEPTIONAL. “Maybe every 30 years it gets this cold, but it’s VERY RARE.” Most nights this month have been subfreezing in the city. Moreover, there have been two outbursts of snow that have left an accumulation of wet snow on parts of the Colosseum.

Lebanon hit by extreme weather conditions. Lebanon was hit with heavy snow and torrential rains across the country Friday, closing roads in Tannourine, Zahle and the Bekaa as the storm was expected to last throughout the weekend. Snow 1.5 meters deep covered Tannourine and Batroun, causing the Tannourine-Laqlouq road to be blocked. Two meters of snow also blocked the Tannourine-Hadath al-Gibbe road, leaving only the road connecting upper Tannourine to lower Tannourine open. Heavy rains Friday morning disrupted the local telecommunications networks and power lines in Tannourine.
In Zahle, east Lebanon, snowplows worked hard to clear the Dahr al-Baidar road, part of the main Beirut-Damascus road, while snow also blocked the main Zahle-Tarshish road. Meanwhile in the Bekaa, stormy weather hit Hasbaya and Arkoub, with snow covering Jabal al-Sheikh and the hills around Shebaa and Kfar Shouba. Heavy rains caused water levels to rise in the Hasbani and Wazzani rivers, damaging irrigation systems. Snow also blocked the main Shebaa-Bekaa road through the village of Ain Ata.
Wind speeds of around 100 kilometers per hour pounded the Lebanese coastal regions. A delegation of the country’s Higher Relief Committee visited Beit Younes in the Akkar district, following landslides in the village the previous day. A team of engineers and experts assessed the damage, and examined houses affected by the landslides. The Internal Security Forces issued a warning to citizens of potentially dangerous levels of ice, particularly in areas in Mount Lebanon.
In the capital, temperatures are expected to fall this weekend with a high of 11 degrees Celsius and low of 7 degrees Saturday. Sunday should see temperatures with a high of 13 degrees Celsius and a low of 5 degrees across the country. Winds are expected to stay strong over the weekend, with highs of 100 kilometers an hour during the day Sunday. Poor weather conditions have dominated since January with repeated spells of heavy rain blocking roads and destroying crops in various parts of the country.

SPACE WEATHER -

QUIET SUN – Considering the fact that Solar Maximum is only about one year away, the sun is experiencing some remarkable spells of quiet. One of them is underway right now. There have been no significant flares for more than five days, and the sun’s X-ray output has flatlined. What’s going on? In fact, solar activity IS on the rise. For instance, an X-class solar flare on Jan. 27th triggered the strongest solar radiation storm since 2005. Also, auroras have been sighted recently as far south as Virginia and Oklahoma. The quiet interregnums are a sign that the current solar cycle, while active, is not quite as strong as other solar cycles that preceded it – like a mild hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico. According to this point of view, temporary spells of low activity are to be expected.
On the other hand, some researchers believe the quiet holds greater significance; it could foreshadow a major drop in solar activity. This is controversial, however, because forecasting the 11-year solar cycle is still an infant science. Indeed, surprises may be in the offing.

Tags: drought, earthqiakes, Environmental disasters, freak weather, Global, Global disasters, Japan, natural disasters, Sea quakes, sinkholes, solar activity, storms, strange weather patterns, sun, survival, volcanc eruptopns, volcano, weather, weather pehnomena

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Global Disaster Watch 2/17/2012

Filed under: Disaster Preparation and Survival, Earthquakes, Flooding, Global Disasters, Sustainability2, Volcanic Events, Weather Phenomena — 2 Comments

February 20, 2012

I have decided to expand this blog to include the information of disasters and events throughout the globe to help put things in perspective. It is imperative that we understand all that is happening around the world . Simply because it is not happening here in the US does not mean that it is not pertinent to the survival aspect . We do not exist in a vacuum and we must be aware of all that happens around us in order to prepare in the event that it happens here. One would be foolish to believe that we are immune to any of these disasters. My philosophy is there but for the grave of God go I……It is also imperative that we stay abreast of all the changes taking place. For example : Last year the rumblings in the ring of for for most of the area were in the 2.3 to 3.9 range with the exception of Japan and New Zealand. Now the rumblings are in the 5.0 and higher ranges. Something that one would not be aware of had they not been watching.*********************************************************************http://globaldisasterwatch.blogspot.com/2012/02/friday-february-17-2012.html**Love has the power of making you believe
what you would normally treat with the deepest suspicion.**
Mirabeau

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.1 VANUATU

Yesterday -
2/16/12 -
5.8 MAURITIUS – REUNION REGION

India - Delhi quake drill turns into comedy of errors. Wednesday’s first-ever citywide earthquake drill turned into a comedy of errors with volunteers helping dummy dead patients over the truly injured, a building actually catching fire and the Delhi Police simply refusing to acknowledge the fake tremor altogether. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority and the National Disaster Management Authority drill kicked off with a call of an earthquake of intensity 7.9 on the Richter scale at 11.30 am. The epicenter was meant to be 275km east of Delhi, near Moradabad – and the La Nina effect was supposed to add in freezing cold and several days of rain. As soon as the call spread on wireless sets, officials swung into action and people were alerted across the city covering more than 1,000 sites, including bridges, flyovers, malls, schools, the airport and Metro stations.
Within minutes, though, things started to go wrong. Important locations such as ITO and Daryaganj didn’t even get to see an ambulance, while others were ‘mock rescued’ too late. At the AIIMS Metro station, an ambulance was 30 minutes late, whereas V3S mall saw its vehicle show up 40 minutes past time. Clueless civil defence volunteers were of little help to school students pretending to be either hurt or killed by the quake. “First, they carried the ‘dead’ leaving the ‘injured’ outside. They should have done the opposite.” At Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital, volunteers began to transfer real patients from one place to the other – not part of the original plan. At a number of hospitals, there was no firefighting equipment, crucial during an earthquake.
To make things worse, a building named Scope Minar in Laxmi Nagar actually caught fire with no response from the authorities. In Palika Bazar, fire personnel forced shopkeepers to shut shops at 11.22am though the ‘mock quake’ struck at 11.30am. “It was kind of funny. No one seemed serious.”

VOLCANOES -

STEAM AND ASH PLUME OVER TINAKULA ISLAND - Satellites detected a hotspot on Tinakula, a tiny island in the South Pacific, with a high-resolution image confirming volcanic activity.

Etna volcano (Italy), activity update: new ash emissions. New ash eruptions have started from Etna’s New SE crater. Weak ash emissions were first seen Thursday morning on a webcam and were occurring at a frequency of a few minutes of each other, originating from the summit crater.

Alaska - Mount Cleveland Lava Dome Grows 25%. The lava dome covering Mt. Cleveland volcano in Alaska has grown by 25 percent since last week. The dome was reported to be 40 meters across on Monday Feb. 6., and has now increased to 50 meters in size.

Hawaii’s volcanic gases spur renewed disaster declaration for the agriculture industry. The U.S. department of Agriculture has renewed a disaster claim for Hawaii regarding lingering volcanic gasses that are causing damage to agriculture. The state is well known for its many volcanoes, which have become an attraction for tourists around the world. While the volcanoes are famously beautiful and awe inspiring, they are also the source of dangerous emissions that can kill plant life and cause serious health problems. The renewed disaster declaration concerns gasses coming from Kilauea Volcano, which began spewing fumes late last year.
The declaration will allow farmers to access emergency loans and financial support from the federal government that will help mitigate the financial damages they face from the volcano emissions. The money will also help farmers replace equipment that is being eroded by the harmful gases, such as fencing and other metal infrastructure. The disaster puts crop insurance into the limelight yet again. Crop insurance is expected to be a major issue this year for federal lawmakers. Farmers are anxious to see how the nation’s crop insurance regulations will change and how those changes will affect their business and ability to generate profit. Some legislators are looking to abolish the regulation that ensures that farmers continue to make money regardless of whether their crops yield anything useful. Others have plans to ensure that this regulation stays in place.

Ancient Massive Volcanic Eruption Still Mystifies - The largest volcanic event of the last 300 million years may not have been triggered by a meteor, researchers now say. About 120 million years ago, as much as 1 percent of the Earth’s surface may have been covered with volcanic eruptions. The origin of these massive 7-million-year-long eruptions in the Pacific Ocean, known as the Greater Ontong Java Event, has long been unclear, but some have suggested a cosmic impact as the trigger, smashing into the crust and causing lava to burst forth.
To see whether or not a meteor might have caused the Greater Ontong Java Event, scientists analyzed rocks from Gorgo a Cerbara in central Italy. This area was connected to the Pacific Ocean during the eruptions.
The researchers focused on platinum group elements, metals that include platinum, iridium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium and osmium, which all have similar physical and chemical properties. Platinum group elements are far more abundant in meteors than in Earth’s crust, and their presence can therefore serve as signals of an extraterrestrial collision. The scientists analyzed how abundant these rocks were in platinum group elements. They also investigated how abundant they were in relation to each other. Their findings suggest there is no support for a meteor impact as the cause of the Greater Ontong Java Event.
“The results so far indicate that this event was brought about by internal processes inside the Earth.” Earth has seen many eruptions that are apparently caused solely by internal activity. Further work analyzing other rocks from this period, such as from the Pacific Ocean or North America, are needed to solve the mystery of this event’s cause. “Many models are proposed and they all need to be tested as more evidence becomes available in the future.”

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Indian Ocean -
-Tropical cyclone 12s (Giovanna) was located approximately 465 nm south-southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar.
-Tropical cyclone 13s was located approximately 685 nm southeast of Diego Garcia.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Europe continues to do battle against extreme weather, as plunging temperatures and heavy snowfall sweep through large parts of the continent. The cold snap that has killed 480 people to date – about a quarter in eastern Europe, and many of them homeless – shows no signs of stopping, while hundreds of Eastern European villages remain cut off because of cold and snow.
The Serbian government declared a state of emergency on Feb. 5, due to heavy snowfall and very low temperatures. Before the declaration, 37 municipalities in Serbia had declared emergencies due to impassable roads and challenges in providing food supplies, medicine and electricity to remote areas.
Heavy snowfall and extremely low temperatures (-28 degrees Centigrade in some parts) led to 13 deaths, with an estimated 70,000 people in remote villages severely affected. The government advised to keep all schools closed until February 17. The energy suppliers issued a public appeal to conserve energy to prevent any restrictions as extremely low temperatures are seriously jeopardizing the energy system and supply of energy and fuel. The power company announced that it can meet the present level of demand for a week longer. Freezing weather is expected to continue until the end of February, and the government is already preparing for the big melt and possible floods.
Starting from Jan. 23, Moldova has experienced extremely cold weather conditions, with temperatures averaging between -12 and -16°С. The recent forecast issued by the national hydro-meteorological service indicates that the cold temperature will stay at low levels, reaching possibly -27°С. Assisting severely affected localities in the northern part of the country is difficult because snow measures are so high; at least 12 villages do not have electricity. The most affected are people living alone, especially the elderly and families with many children. The Ministry of Education reports that 248 schools are closed in the country due to cold conditions and high levels of snow, most of which are located in northern cities. The government has mobilized and has been providing assistance to the most vulnerable people in the country; 17 tents have been installed by Civil Protection and Emergency Situations Service around the country for heating, provision of snacks and hot drinks, which serve about 2,200 to 2,400 persons daily. There is a lack of warm clothing to distribute to the most vulnerable, and lack of fuel to ensure functioning of the support tents for the coming two weeks.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -

North Dakota - Mild winter weather continues to break records. Thursday’s temperatures approached 40. It feels like spring is already here. NDSU Climatologists say NOTHING ABOUT THIS WINTER HAS BEEN ORDINARY. “Currently we are experiencing THE WARMEST SEPTEMBER THROUGH TODAY PERIOD IN [their] HISTORY.”
With the record breaking winter there is just one more record to beat. They are just 3 days away from having the most winter days above freezing ever. In the last 4 winters combined there were only 34 days above freezing, and they have had 41 days so far this winter.

Tags: drought, earthqiakes, Environmental disasters, freak weather, Global, Global disasters, natural disasters, Sea quakes, sinkholes, solar activity, storms, strange weather patterns, sun, survival, volcanic eriptions, volvano, weather, weather pehnomena

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Earthquakes

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Rogue Waves

Rogue waves sweep teen kayakers into Pacific Ocean

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USGS Central Alaska Apr 16 23:57 PM 3.2 80.6 MAP

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Mexico quake causes ‘tsunami’ at Devil’s Hole

Volcanic Activity

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USGS Central Alaska
Apr 16 23:57 PM
3.2 80.6 MAP