Earth ChangesS


Nuke

The Nuclear Disaster That Could Destroy Japan ... and the World

japan earthquake
© n/a
Translated by Doug Lummis

The nuclear power plants in Japan are ageing rapidly; like cyborgs, they are barely kept in operation by a continuous replacement of parts. And now that Japan has entered a period of earthquake activity and a major accident could happen at any time, the people live in constant state of anxiety.

Seismologists and geologists agree that, after some fifty years of seismic inactivity, with the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake), the country has entered a period of seismic activity. In 2004, the Chuetsu Earthquake hit Niigata Prefecture, doing damage to the village of Yamakoshi. Three years later, in 2007, the Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake severely damaged the nuclear reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. In 2008, there was an earthquake in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, causing a whole mountain to disappear completely. Then in 2009 the Hamaoka nuclear plant was put in a state of emergency by the Suruga Bay Earthquake. And now, in 2011, we have the 3/11 earthquake offshore from the northeast coast. But the period of seismic activity is expected to continue for decades. From the perspective of seismology, a space of 10 or 15 years is but a moment in time.

Cloud Lightning

US: 2 Dead in Arkansas, Missouri. Residents Flee Flooding

Tornado Dallas
© ABC NewsDark storm and funnel clouds form over Dallas, Texas on April 25, 2011
At least two people have been killed in Arkansas during the recent round of heavy storms and tornadoes that ripped through the midwest while Missouri residents flee from flooding, authorities said.

Arkansas authorities told the Associated Press the two people were killed following the severe storms that passed through the state.

In Missouri's Poplar Bluff, residents evacuated amid fears of the flooding, the Associated Press reported.

Water began to leak and overflow the levee holding back the Black River, officials said.

Tornadoes were forming over Dallas late Monday afternoon, as the weather there turned ominous, threatened by a storm system that has brought 200 reports of severe weather across the country over the last 24 hours.

Nuke

French System For Cleaning Fukushima Water Blamed For Leukemia, Polluted Beaches In Europe

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© Greenpeace / Gavin NewmanA diver sampling the cleaned water from the Areva nuclear processing plant outflow in the English Channel.

The process a French firm will use to clean Fukushima's radioactive water has been blamed for a leukemia cluster in France and for polluted beaches and irradiated waters from the English Channel to the Arctic Sea.

Areva SA has promised to remove up to 99.99 percent of the radioactive contaminants in 67,500 tons of water flooding the crippled Fukushima-Dai-ichi nuclear plant. It will use a co-precipitation method employed at its La Hague nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in Normandy.

That process has been documented in detail by a French nuclear expert and by the U.S. government, which has shunned France's fuel reprocessing method because of "a nonproliferation concern and environmental concerns," in the words of Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko.

Cow Skull

Drought could continue in southern U.S.

Fort Worth, Texas - The extreme drought that has gripped parts of nine states - most of them in the South - is expected to drag on for several months or intensify, posing a risk for more wildfires, agriculture problems and water restrictions, national weather experts said Monday.

Portions of Texas and a small part of eastern Louisiana are the only parts of the nation that rank in the National Weather Service's worst drought condition category, said Victor Murphy, the climate service program manager for the southern region, based in Fort Worth. The "exceptional" drought level happens once every 50 to 100 years, he said.

Much of the rest of Texas and Louisiana are in extreme drought conditions - the worst in 20 to 50 years - as are parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Florida and tiny portions of Colorado and Kansas. Other areas of those states are experiencing severe and moderate drought conditions, along with parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.

Bizarro Earth

US: Hot weather forecast for Texas as battle against wildfires continues

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© Getty Images

Hot, dry weather returns to Texas this week, whisking away the limited relief scattered thunderstorms brought to firefighters in parts of the Lone Star state over the weekend.

In a trifecta of potentially bad news for fire crews, the Texas Forest Service said a low-pressure system will push temperatures into the 90s, humidity to 10% or less and winds up to 45 mph on Monday and Tuesday.

The conditions have prompted the National Weather Service to issue a red flag warning for a large portion of west Texas, urging residents to avoid the use of open flames and to avoid activities that may generate sparks.

Bizarro Earth

Quake shakes Acapulco, tourists to streets

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© Lalate
Acapulco, Mexico - A moderate earthquake shook the Mexican Pacific coast resort of Acapulco on Tuesday, forcing dozens of nervous spring vacationers into the streets. No damages or injuries were reported.

The magnitude-5.7 quake occurred at 6:07 a.m. local time (1107 GMT) and was centered about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero, the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado reported on its website. It was followed by a magnitude-4.6 replica at 6:18 a.m. (1118 GMT), the agency said.

The quake occurred at a depth of nearly 13 miles (20 kilometers).

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Extremely Dangerous Tornado Situation Today

An extremely dangerous outbreak of tornadoes will endanger many lives and property from northeastern Texas into Arkansas, northern Louisiana, northwestern Mississippi and western Tennessee this afternoon into tonight.

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These are the same areas that were just hit by tornadoes Monday afternoon and night, and today's outbreak is expected to be worse than Monday's. Large, long-track tornadoes are a major concern through tonight.

"It's a very dangerous day," said AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity. "It's the kind of day where tornadoes could cause massive destruction."

The Little Rock, Ark., area is at risk again after multiple tornadoes, including one large twister, just tore through Monday night.

Thunderstorms were starting to initiate over northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas around mid-afternoon and will continue developing and becoming more widespread and powerful into this evening.

The thunderstorms and tornado danger will reach the western Tennessee Valley by tonight, before shifting farther east through the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys Wednesday into Wednesday night.

Cloud Lightning

US: Missouri levee fails; prompting more evacuations

A compromised levee in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, failed Tuesday, forcing authorities to order more evacuations in the region.


The levee failed in at least four locations along a two-mile stretch along the Black River, City Manager Doug Bagby said.

The failure was sending flood waters from the Black River racing into a populated but rural area of Butler County, sparing the city of Poplar Bluff, said the city's deputy police chief, Jeff Rolland.

Attention

'The town's gone': Seven dead as storm slams Arkansas

50 to 60 still unaccounted for in Vilonia; trail of destruction 15 miles long, three miles wide


The National Weather Service says first light has revealed the track of a deadly tornado that flattened trees and power lines, tore the roofs from homes and left a debris-strewn path through a small central Arkansas town.

The tornado that swiped Vilonia late Monday killed at least four residents, while the severe storms sweeping much of the Midwest left at least three people dead elsewhere in the state.

Emergency crews are preparing to search for dozens of people still missing early Tuesday before more forecast storms strike the area in the afternoon.

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state of emergency Monday night. So far this month, 14 people have died in storm-related incidents in the state.

Get the latest on this story, including user photos, on breakingnews.com

The suspected tornado that hit Vilonia left a path of damage three miles wide and 15 miles long, officials said. Between 50 to 80 houses were destroyed, according to Faulkner County emergency management.

Fish

More than 40 species of fish 'at risk of extinction' in Mediterranean due to pollution

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© Associated PressAt risk: The number of bluefin tunas in the Mediterranean is decreasing and they may be wiped out from the area completely

Bluefin tuna are among more than 40 species of fish in the Mediterranean which are under threat of vanishing from the region, experts warned today.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said 43 species of marine fish were assessed as being at risk of extinction in the region, largely as a result of overfishing, damage to habitat and pollution.

The latest assessment found almost half of the sharks and rays found in the Mediterranean are at risk of extinction.

In total, 15 species were considered to be in the highest-risk category, critically endangered, 14 of which were sharks and rays including all three angel shark species found in the region.

And commercial species such as Atlantic bluefin tuna and dusky groupers are endangered, the assessment found.

Species which fall into the three most at-risk categories in the Red List assessment - critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction - are considered to be under threat of dying out.