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Garbage Islands Threaten China's Three Gorges Dam

Huang Yan and Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:00 UTC
Garbage_1
© Reuters/Stringer
A worker clears floating garbage washed down by recent torrential rain on the Yangtze River in Wuhu, Anhui province, August 2, 2010.
Thousands of tons of garbage washed down by recent torrential rain are threatening to jam the locks of China's massive Three Gorges Dam, and is in places so thick people can stand on it, state media said on Monday.

Chen Lei, a senior official at the China Three Gorges Corporation, told the China Daily that 3,000 tons of rubbish was being collected at the dam every day, but there was still not enough manpower to clean it all up.

"The large amount of waste in the dam area could jam the miter gate of the Three Gorges Dam," Chen said, referring to the gates of the locks which allow shipping to pass through the Yangtze River.

The river is a crucial commercial artery for the upstream city of Chongqing and other areas in China's less-developed western interior provinces.

Pictures showed a huge swathe of the waters by the dam crammed full of debris, with cranes brought in to fish out a tangled mess, including shoes, bottles, branches and Styrofoam.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Papua New Guinea: Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 - Eastern New Guinea Reg


USGS
Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:24 UTC
PNG Quake_040810
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Date-Time:
Wednesday, August 04, 2010 at 07:15:33 UTC

Wednesday, August 04, 2010 at 05:15:33 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
5.521°S, 146.793°E

Depth:
213.6 km (132.7 miles) set by location program

Region:
EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Distances:
115 km (70 miles) ESE of Madang, New Guinea, PNG

135 km (85 miles) N of Lae, New Guinea, PNG

440 km (270 miles) N of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea

2520 km (1560 miles) NNW of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia
      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Ireland: Bucketing trend with wettest July in 60 years

Breda Heffernan
Irish Independent
Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:05 UTC
It all seemed promising enough when we got a bit of sunshine in May and June. But the recent glut of rain has ensured it was the wettest July in 60 years in some parts of the country. In a depressingly familiar trend, the sun proved elusive, the rain rolled in with abandon and continental heatwaves stubbornly refused to head our way.

According to Met Eireann's monthly weather summary for July, the only saving grace was that it was preceded by a run of dry months, thereby sparing us the devastating floods seen in previous years.

Soggiest

Rainfall totals for July were above normal everywhere and were more than twice the average at some weather stations. Meterologists said it was the fourth successive July when rainfall totals were far in excess of normal over most of Ireland.
      Read More...
Fish

Marine Pied Piper Leads Nemo astray


PhysOrg
Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:22 UTC
Image
© Steve Simpson
A damselfish swims around a coral reef.
The growing amount of human noise pollution in the ocean could lead fish away from good habitat and off to their death, according to new research from a UK-led team working on the Great Barrier Reef.

After developing for weeks at sea, baby tropical fish rely on natural noises to find the coral reefs where they can survive and thrive. However, the researchers found that short exposure to artificial noise makes fish become attracted to inappropriate sounds.

In earlier research, Dr Steve Simpson, Senior Researcher in the University of Bristol's School of Biological Sciences discovered that baby reef fish use sounds made by fish, shrimps and sea urchins as a cue to find coral reefs. With human noise pollution from ships, wind farms and oil prospecting on the increase, he is now concerned that this crucial behaviour is coming under threat.

He said: "When only a few weeks old, baby reef fish face a monumental challenge in locating and choosing suitable habitat. Reef noise gives them vital information, but if they can learn, remember and become attracted towards the wrong sounds, we might be leading them in all the wrong directions."
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Earthquake Magnitude 6.3 - Molucca Sea


USGS
Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:42 UTC
Indonesia Quake_030810
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Date-Time:
Tuesday, August 03, 2010 at 12:08:26 UTC

Tuesday, August 03, 2010 at 08:08:26 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
1.243°N, 126.277°E

Depth:
42.8 km (26.6 miles)

Region:
MOLUCCA SEA

Distances:
135 km (85 miles) WNW of Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia

160 km (100 miles) E of Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia

1590 km (990 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines

2310 km (1430 miles) ENE of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
      Read More...
Phoenix

Russia on Fire: No air to breath, no home to return to


Russia Today
Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:22 UTC
Intense temperatures and the worst dry spell for generations continue to pound parts of Russia, with at least forty lives now claimed by wildfires. Hundreds have been injured. Seven of the hardest-hit regions are now in a state of emergency. One of them is the greater Moscow area. RT's Natalya Novikova gives us a picture from the center of the capital, which has been gripped by smog. While outside the city, Peter Oliver says the situation remains severe.

      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

US: What's With the Weird Sky Color Sunday?

Scott Sistek
Seattle PI
Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:22 UTC
Weird Sky
© Shannon Fears / Seattlepi.com
The sun burns a strange, multi-hued glow through smoky skies Sunday afternoon as seen from Poulsbo.
Many around the Northwest noticed the sky looked a bit weird Sunday with the sunlight more of a brownish/orange akin to a sunset than midday sunshine.

It turns out, a decent plume of smoke from wildfires burning in inland British Columbia got caught up on the northerly flow and was pushed over Western Washington.

Go here to see an animation loop of the visible satellite over the area, taken between 10 a.m. and noon:

The smoke should subside by Monday morning.
      Read More...
Info

Grizzly cubs from deadly mauling were malnourished

Matthew Brown
Associated Press
Sun, 01 Aug 2010 18:30 UTC
Image
© AP Photo/Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department
This image provided by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department on Friday July 30, 2010, shows a captured grizzly sow believed to be responsible for the mauling death of one camper and injuring two others near Yellowstone National Park in Montana. The fate of the bear will be determined after DNA tests confirm whether it was responsible for the attacks.
Three grizzly bear cubs whose mother killed one person and mauled two others in a late-night attack at a Montana campground were malnourished and still in their winter coats.

The cubs have arrived at their new home at ZooMontana in Billings. Zoo executive director Jackie Worstell said Sunday the two female cubs and one male cub were underweight, possibly explaining their mother's unusually aggressive behavior.

"It may be an indication of what happened," Worstell said. "There's obvious signs of stress and malnourishment. Maybe (the sow) was desperate."

The year-old cubs each weighed only between 60 and 70 pounds, versus a normal range of 80 to 130 pounds. Wildlife officials are investigating what caused the cubs to be malnourished. Grizzlies are omnivores and eat everything from berries and ants to fish and elk.

Kevin Kammer, 48, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was killed and two people were seriously injured when the adult bear ripped into several tents Wednesday at the Soda Creek Campground near Cooke City, an old mining town just outside Yellowstone National Park.
      Read More...
Ambulance

Pakistan floods death toll rises to 1,100


UK Guardian
Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:32 UTC
Image
© KeystoneUSA-ZUMA / Rex Features
The death toll from the Pakistan floods is set to rise even further.
Access blocked to areas in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa as authorities try to rescue 27,000 people trapped after heavy rains

The death toll from floods in north-west Pakistan has risen to 1,100 people, an official said today.

Adnan Khan, a disaster management official, said the toll could rise further, as there were areas in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province that rescue workers had not been able to access.

Authorities are struggling to save more than 27,000 people still trapped by flooding after heavy monsoon rains. Khan said more than 20,000 people had been rescued so far.

Efforts have been aided by an easing of the rains, but as flood waters recede authorities are seeing the full scale of the disaster.

"Aerial monitoring is being conducted, and it has shown that whole villages have washed away, animals have drowned and grain storages have washed away," said Latifur Rehman, a spokesman for the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. "The destruction is massive and devastating."
      Read More...
Phoenix

Record Heat Wave Fans Deadly Fires in Russia

Terence Neilan
AoL News
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:25 UTC
Image
© Alex Aminev, Reuters

A security guard walks near grass, which was lit on fire by severe heat, at Khodynskoe pole aviation museum in Moscow July 29.
A record-breaking heat wave continued to send forest fires sweeping across parts of Russia today, destroying villages and leaving thousands homeless and up to 23 people dead, officials said.

More than 200,000 acres have been engulfed in the past few days, fueled by strong winds and a severe drought. Moscow's temperature hit 100 degrees on Thursday, the highest since measurements began 130 years ago. The city today faces severe thunderstorms.

In reaction to the anger expressed by villagers around the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin canceled meetings in the capital and visited Verkhnava Vereva, some 300 miles east of Moscow.
      Read More...
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