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Heatwave fuels massive algae bloom in Baltic Sea


The Local
Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:50 UTC
Image
© Unknown
A blue-green algae bloom the size of Germany has formed in the Baltic Sea, threatening marine life and even posing a danger to humans, authorities warned this week.

The prolonged heat and lack of wind or storms has given the cyanobacteria the chance to form the largest carpet since 2005, covering about 377,000 square kilometres of the sea's surface - roughly Germany's entire land area.

The Office for Environment, Nature and Geology in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania dispatched an observation ship on Thursday to take water measurements. The results were expected to be released Friday.

But early indications were that the algae consisted of the types Anabaena and Nodularia.

"The types are potentially toxic and can cause skin inflammtion," said Karin Stein, head of the environmental analysis departments.
      Read More...
Umbrella

Pakistan: Torrential rains unleash death, destruction across country


Dunya News
Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:18 UTC
pakistan, flood
Heavy rains are continued across the country unleashing death and disturbing the normal routine, Dunya News reported on Thursday.

The number of those died in the rain-related incidents in various parts of the country has been risen to 39 with fear of more causalities. Heavy rains lashed Lahore for the third consecutive day paralyzing life and deluging the low-lying areas, which resulted into long snarl-ups. Met office recorded 61mm rain in the metropolis today.

A 24-year-old cyclist electrocuted to death in Lahore, while 5 hurt as roof caved in in Ravi Road. Five people including two women and as many children injured as a wall collapsed due to incessant rain in Jalal Pur Bhattian. Two labourers died in Okara due to electric shocks; a couple died in Gujranwala as the roof of their house caved in. Three people trapped under debris of a roof in Gujrat; 8 hurt in Faisalabad wall collapse. Four people have been killed while 15 others injured in rain-related incidents in Dera Ismail Khan (DIK) and Tank.
      Read More...
Umbrella

Kenya: Mombasa hit by freak rainstorm

Wolfgang H. Thome
eTurboNews.com
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:50 UTC
Image
© ETN/Image via blogspot.com
A downpour of biblical proportions hit Mombasa, Kenya's coastal city, last weekend, flooding sections of the city - a phenomenon, considering that the city actually is built on an island connected to the mainland by the Makupa causeway and is supposed to drain the water straight into the Indian Ocean.

Some parts of the city were knee-deep under water, gradually even displacing parked cars. The ensuing floods caused havoc for businesses at level ground, with hawkers and street vendors scrambling to rescue their wares from being swept away.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Vanuatu: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2


USGS
Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:28 UTC
Vanuatu_220710
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Date-Time:
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 05:04:01 UTC

Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 04:04:01 PM at epicenter

Location:
15.153°S, 168.185°E

Depth:
35.2 km (21.9 miles)

Region:
VANUATU

Distances:
121 km (75 miles) ENE (70°) from Santo (Luganville), Vanuatu

289 km (180 miles) N (358°) from PORT-VILA, Vanuatu

2084 km (1295 miles) NE (52°) from Brisbane, Australia
      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Work on oil leak stopped by developing storm; cap may have to be opened


Al.com
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:12 UTC
oil leak cap
© AP Photo/BP PLC
This image taken from video provided by BP PLC at 15:13 CDT shows that oil has stopped flowing from the new 75-ton cap atop the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday, July 15, 2010. A developing storm has brought a stop to work on plugging the well fueling the Gulf oil spill.

New Orleans, Lousiana -- A storm brewing in the Caribbean brought the deep-sea effort to plug the ruptured oil well to a near standstill Wednesday just as BP was getting tantalizingly close to going in for the kill.

Work on the relief well -- now just days from completion -- was suspended, and the cap that has been keeping the oil bottled up since last week may have to be reopened, allowing crude to gush into the sea again for days, said retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man on the crisis.
      Read More...
Heart - Black

Poachers Kill Last Female Rhino in South African Park for Prized Horn

Alex Duval Smith
The Observer
Sun, 18 Jul 2010 07:00 UTC
The last rhinoceros
© Reuters
The last rhinoceros cow in Krugersdorp park, South Africa, bled to death on Wednesday after poachers hacked off her horn.
Record levels of poaching are endangering survival of rhinoceros in South Africa

South African wildlife experts are calling for urgent action against poachers after the last female rhinoceros in a popular game reserve near Johannesburg bled to death after having its horn hacked off.

Wildlife officials say poaching for the prized horns has now reached an all-time high. "Last year, 129 rhinos were killed for their horns in South Africa. This year, we have already had 136 deaths," said Japie Mostert, chief game ranger at the 1,500-hectare Krugersdorp game reserve.

The gang used tranquilliser guns and a helicopter to bring down the nine-year-old rhino cow. Her distraught calf was moved to a nearby estate where it was introduced to two other orphaned white rhinos.
      Read More...
Igloo

Baby boomer marmots fatten up with climate change

Wendy Zukerman
New Scientist
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:41 UTC
Image
© Inklein/CC 3.0
Life sure is good
The good times have been rolling for Colorado's baby-boomer marmots. They've been getting fatter and their population has been swelling - but the news is not all good. The changes seem to be caused by the warming climate.

A team led by Daniel Blumstein of the University of California, Los Angeles, have been monitoring the yellow-bellied marmots of Colorado's Upper East river for over three decades. Blumstein recently realised the population had exploded. "It's boom time in this region," he says.

Looking at records with Arpat Ozgul of Imperial College London, he saw that marmot numbers had been fairly stable since the mid-1970s, but in 2001 they suddenly began growing by an average of 14.2 marmots per year. Between 1976 and 2001 the population had gained an average of 0.56 marmots per year.

When the team analysed the body mass figures of 1190 marmots collected between 1976 and 2008, they found another trend. Again, weights were relatively stable up until around 2000, and rose sharply after that. "They're getting fatter," says Blumstein.

Comment: Perhaps the marmots read this article by Laura Knight-Jadczyk: Fire and Ice - The Day After Tomorrow

      Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Northeast Kentucky deluged by rain, flooding

Mark Morgenstein
CNN
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:24 UTC
Kentucky flooding
© Unknown
Pike County residents clean up after the flooding.
Up to half a foot of torrential rain in northeastern Kentucky has led to swift-water rescues, propelled a truck into a tree and washed away homes and businesses -- and more severe weather is on the way.

"We're trying to get a hold on this. It's just awful," said Brandon Roberts, a spokesman for the Pike County judge executive, the top elected official in the county. "It's so bad. ... It's so bad. People might not even be aware it's raining. They're a hundred yards away from where they used to be."

Roberts said Wednesday that floodwater had washed "well over 200 homes," including a brick house, off their foundations. He added that the water picked up a Ford F-350 truck and carried it into a tree.

CNN meteorologist Sean Morris said there was an even a higher chance of thunderstorms and heavy rain in the region Wednesday than there was Tuesday. Some parts of Kentucky were under flood advisories, and over the next few days, some locations could get 2 more inches of rain, he said.

Roberts said that in a twisted way, more heavy rain could help cleanup efforts by clearing roads and driveways of accumulated mud and debris.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Indonesia: Earthquake Magnitude 6.1 - North of Halmahera


USGS
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:58 UTC
Indonesia Earthquake_210710
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Date-Time:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 09:16:04 UTC

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 06:16:04 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
3.037°N, 128.214°E

Depth:
102 km (63.4 miles) set by location program

Region:
NORTH OF HALMAHERA, INDONESIA

Distances:
265 km (165 miles) NNE of Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia

410 km (255 miles) ENE of Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia

1500 km (930 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines

2580 km (1600 miles) ENE of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Aquatic Dead Zones


Terra Daily / SPX
Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:03 UTC
Image
© Unknown
The size and number of marine dead zones-areas where the deep water is so low in dissolved oxygen that sea creatures can't survive-have grown explosively in the past half-century. Red circles on this map show the location and size of many of our planet's dead zones. Black dots show where dead zones have been observed, but their size is unknown.

It's no coincidence that dead zones occur downriver of places where human population density is high (darkest brown). Some of the fertilizer we apply to crops is washed into streams and rivers. Fertilizer-laden runoff triggers explosive planktonic algae growth in coastal areas.

The algae die and rain down into deep waters, where their remains are like fertilizer for microbes. The microbes decompose the organic matter, using up the oxygen. Mass killing of fish and other sea life often results.

Satellites can observe changes in the way the ocean surface reflects and absorbs sunlight when the water holds a lot of particles of organic matter. Darker blues in this image show higher concentrations of particulate organic matter, an indication of the overly fertile waters that can culminate in dead zones.
      Read More...
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