Earth ChangesS


Alarm Clock

Flying foxes fall prey to Earth's rising temperature

Lewis Smith
Times online
Fri, 30 Nov 2007 07:29 UTC
Flying foxes have been dropping off trees and dying in droves because of the effects of climate change, researchers say.

More than 30,000 of the fruit bats are estimated to have died since 1994 in heat waves associated with global warming.

Mass deaths from heat stress have occurred at least 19 times since 1994, as opposed to only three anecdotal reports of similar flying fox deaths before then.

Comment: Reader comments from the original article:
That's 107.6 degree Farenheit! Enough to denature the proteins of most mammals after an extended period of exposure.

I'm extremely dubious that these temperatures have any cause comnected with so called "Global Warming." Sounds more like some scientists plugged in some local heat lamps to cook their data (and the bats).

Is it possible that scientists were not paying any attention prior to 1994 and that there may have been many episodes which were overlooked and never recorded? The phrase "anecdotal evidence" suggest that no rigorous studies had been conducted before that time. So, it's possible (probable?) that this is a case of skewed data, i.e. finding only the data to support the conclusion you wish to reach. Is this supposed to be peer-reviewed science?!

Scott, Durham, NC, USA

The bats in Lewis Smith's belfry would die too if he was exposed to temperatures of 42 degrees for a relatively short time.

This typical global warming alarmist report gives no indication of where the "mass deaths" took place In Australia.

For example, here in Adelaide temperatures of 42 are not uncommon and I must say that watching bats falling out of trees is as much a rarity as seeing kangaroos hopping down the main street.

Gordon Hastings, Adelaide, South Australia


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Bell

Strong quake 7.4 hits Martinique: monitors


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 30 Nov 2007 06:03 UTC
FORT DE FRANCE - A strong earthquake measuring 7.4 magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey, struck near the French Caribbean island of Martinique Thursday.

The quake caused at least two injuries and led to the collapse of a pair of buildings, officials said.

It struck at a depth of 143 kilometres (90 miles) and was centered 41 kilometres (25 miles) north-northwest of Martinique's capital Fort-de-France, the USGS said, updating its earlier estimate of 7.3 magnitude.

Comment: There has been a lot of seismic activity lately. This is just another big one in an area that don't commonly have such big ones.

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Fish

Levee Repair Leads to Calif. Fish Kill

Juliet Williams
Associated Press
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:46 UTC
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - State and federal officials said Monday they were investigating the death of thousands of game fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta after a federal agency drained the water around a protected island during a levee repair.
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Cloud Lightning

Typhoon kills eight in Philippines


RIA Novosti
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:25 UTC
Eight people died and two others are missing after Typhoon Mitag slammed into the Philippines, local media said on Monday.

All the dead were from the central region of Bicol, where the typhoon flooded about 1,000 hectares of rice fields, destroying roads and houses. Over 290,000 people were evacuated from the storm-hit region.
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Evil Rays

Three killed in earthquake in Indonesia


RIA Novosti
Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:20 UTC
At least three people have been killed and 45 injured in an earthquake in eastern Indonesia, the head of the republic's emergencies center said on Monday.

"Early Monday morning the Sumbawa island was hit by a series of quakes, the most powerful of them, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale occurred at 2.53 local time (19.53 GMT)," Rustam Pakaya said, adding that the earthquake had killed three people and damaged hundreds of buildings.
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Better Earth

Marine Scientists Warn Human Safety, Prosperity Depend On Better Ocean Observing System


terradaily.com
Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:51 UTC
Speedy diagnosis of the temper and vital signs of the oceans matters increasingly to the well being of humanity, says a distinguished partnership of international scientists urging support to complete a world marine monitoring system within 10 years. The Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) says warming seas, over-fishing and pollution are among profound concerns that must be better measured to help society respond in a well-informed, timely and cost-effective way.

"A system for ocean observing and forecasting that covers the world's oceans and their major uses can reduce growing risks, protect human interests and monitor the health of our precious oceans," says Dr. Tony Haymet, Director, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, USA, and Chair of POGO's Executive Committee.

"The world community resolved to construct a comprehensive, integrated ocean observing system two decades ago. The good news is we have demonstrated that a global ocean observing system can be built, deployed and operated with available technologies. Now we must move from experiment and proof-of-concept to routine use. We have progressed less than halfway to our initial goals. Let's complete the task before we are struck by more tsunamis or comparable calamities."

©unknown
"Oceans cover a majority of our planet - 71% - yet are vastly under-sampled," says Dr. Tony Haymet. "We have an urgent need and new technological marvels available today to complete a system by which marine scientists could authoritatively diagnose and anticipate changing global ocean conditions - something akin to the system that enables meteorologists to predict weather."
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Chess

USGS: Arctic Russia Sea Holds 9.3B BBL, 32TCF Unfound Oil, Gas

Ian Talley
rigzone.com
Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:45 UTC
The Laptev Sea shelf underneath Russia's Arctic waters holds an estimated 9.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent and 32.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in undiscovered resources, the U.S. Geological Survey said Friday.

The USGS is currently reassessing its estimation of the petroleum resource base in the Arctic circle based on new data, region by region.

Based on USGS's last assessment in 2000, the entire Arctic region was previously thought to contain almost 25% of the world's undiscovered oil and natural gas, but harsh conditions have thus far prevented mass development.

Of the 9.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent estimated, the USGS believes 3.07 billion barrels could be crude.
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Bizarro Earth

6.4 quake hits Indonesia


disasternews.net
Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:39 UTC
An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck shortly after midnight Monday (local time) off the Indonesian coast, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake, initially reported as magnitude 6.7, occurred at 12:02 a.m. (11:02 a.m. Sunday EST). It hit 25 miles west-northwest of Raba on Sumbawa island and 810 miles east of Jakarta.
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Umbrella

Weather disasters 'quadruple in 20 years'

Megan Levy and agencies
Daily Telegraph
Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:34 UTC
The number of weather-related disasters has quadrupled in the past 20 years and more should be done to prepare for them, according to Oxfam.

©Reuters
Severe flooding ravaged Mexico this month
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X

Tiger eats tiger in NE China zoo


Xinhua
Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:09 UTC
A Siberian tiger in a zoo in northeast China was killed and eaten by four tigers it had lived with for five years over the weekend.

The desperate tigers, which are supposed to be under the highest level of state protection in China, turned on the 12-year-old, 330-pound tiger and tore off its left leg on Saturday afternoon at the privately-owned Shenyang Glacier Zoo in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province.

©China News
A Siberian tiger is killed on Nov. 18 by three fellow tigers in the Glacier Zoo in Shenyang, Liaoning Province due to severe lack of food this winter.
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