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Indonesia: Weather Blamed for Caterpillar Plague

Fidelis E. Satriastanti & Elisabeth Oktofani
Jakarta Globe
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© JG Photo/Safir MakkiA boy eyeing a caterpillar in Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, where thousands of the prickly insects have infested pine trees.
Unpredictable weather coupled with a decline in natural predators is responsible for a recent plague of caterpillars in parts of the country.

Though the phenomenon is centered largely in Probolinggo, East Java, smaller reported outbreaks in Central Java, West Java, Bali and, most recently, Jakarta have prompted fears of a widespread infestation.

But Aunu Rauf, an entomologist at the Bogor Institute of Agricultural (IPB), says there is no connection between the outbreaks in Probolinggo and those in the other areas.

"There are at least 120,000 types of caterpillars in the world, so those found in Bekasi [West Java] and Probolinggo would be different from each other," he told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

"I'm sure the ones in Tanjung Duren [West Jakarta], where people have claimed to have been 'attacked' by caterpillars, are also a different type."

Since March, millions of hairy caterpillars have cropped up in at least five subdistricts in Probolinggo, invading fields and homes. They have also caused itchy rashes among residents.
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Nuke

Fukushima Prepares for Heavy Rain


NHK (Japan Broadcasting Co)
Sun, 29 May 2011 14:50 UTC
Fukushima
© n/a
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is preparing for an approaching severe tropical storm by piling up sandbags and moving cranes to a safe place.

Japan's Meteorological Agency says heavy rain is expected in the area around the power plant beginning on Sunday night. In some areas, torrential rain and strong wind are expected from Monday to Tuesday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company is piling up sandbags around electric facility buildings and sealing the doors to keep rainwater out.

The company says if rain and wind become intense, all operations except for patrolling will stop.

The level of contaminated water in the turbine buildings of the Number 2 and 3 reactors and tunnels has been rising.

The company says it will closely monitor the level to prevent contaminated water from overflowing and seeping into ground water and the sea.

The utility is also studying ways to stop radioactive substances deposited on debris and buildings from being washed away by rain and flowing into the sea via gutters.
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Attention

Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake Strikes off Sumatra Island, Indonesia


The Economic Times
Sun, 29 May 2011 01:09 UTC
A shallow-undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 jolted Sumatra island earlier Sunday, however, suggested no potential danger of a tsunami, Xinhua quoted the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency as saying.

The quake, which struck at 00.07 a.m. (Jakarta time) Sunday (1707 GMT Saturday), had its epicentre at 119 km southwest Krui of Lampung province and a depth at 10 km under sea bed, an official of the agency stated.
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Radar

US: 1.7 Magnitude Quake Caused Rumbling In Philadelphia Area


My Fox
Sun, 29 May 2011 11:35 UTC
Philadelphia residents who were shocked to feel their homes shake from what they thought was an explosion learned Saturday that a minor earthquake had struck the area.

An earthquake registering magnitude 1.7 struck the Philadelphia area Friday night, the US Geological Service (USGS) said Saturday.

The quake struck at 9:33pm local time Friday in northeastern Philadelphia at a shallow depth of 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometers).

The USGS initially said it had no seismological evidence of an earthquake or tremor as officials had no explanation earlier Saturday for residents who felt their homes rumble, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Police, firefighters and other emergency responders were dispatched to the area after hundreds of residents reported feeling the ground shake shortly before 10:00pm.
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Fish

More Than 800 Tons of Fish Die and Rot on Fish Farms South of Philippine Capital

Bullit Marquez
The Associated Press
Sun, 29 May 2011 04:56 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press / Bullit MarquezA fish pond worker scoops up dead milkfish locally known as Bangus after thousands of them were found floating on Taal Lake in Batangas province, south of Manila, Philippines, Sunday May 29, 2011. The Government Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are still investigating the cause of the fish kill. The damage of the fish, the most in-demand fishes in the country, is estimated at least 50 tons.
More than 800 tons of fish have died and rotted on fish farms in a lake near Taal volcano south of Manila, with authorities blaming it on a sudden temperature drop.

The massive fish deaths started late last week but have eased. Officials have banned the sale of the rotting fish, which are being buried by the truckload in Talisay and four other towns in Batangas province, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources official Rose del Mundo said Sunday.

The deaths are unrelated to recent signs of restiveness in Taal volcano, which is surrounded by the lake where many villagers have grown milkfish and tilapia - staple food for many Filipinos, officials said. The volcano and lake are a popular tourist draw.

Talisay agricultural officer Zenaida Mendoza said an initial investigation showed the deaths may have been caused by the temperature change as the rainy season set in last week after a scorching summer, which also depleted the lake's oxygen levels.
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Bizarro Earth

Typhoon Songda


Earth Observatory, NASA
Sun, 29 May 2011 13:12 UTC
Songda
© Earth Observatory, NASANASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Land Atmosphere Near real time Capability for EOS (LANCE) archive. Acquired May 27, 2011.
Super Typhoon Songda swirled off the coast of Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippine Islands, on the afternoon of May 27, 2011. Peak winds were around 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour at 06:00 Universal Time (2 p.m. local time), according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

This photo-like image shows Songda roughly an hour prior to the JTWC wind speed measurement. The data were collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite at 1:10 p.m. local time (5:10 UTC) on May 27. The distinct, but cloud-filled eye of the super typhoon was well offshore from the major islands of Luzon and Taiwan, though spiral arms of the storm extended for hundreds of kilometers from the center, bringing severe weather to both places.

The storm's track was predicted to keep it offshore from Taiwan, curving eastward as it travels north. While the storm is quite intense, the fact it has stayed far offshore has kept casualties and damage light. One death in the Philippines had been ascribed to the storm, according to the Philippines disaster council. There has been some crop damage, but since the storm buffeted the islands past the date of harvest, agricultural yields have not been affected.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Severe Storms Wreak Havoc from Vermont to Georgia

John Curran
Associated Press
Fri, 27 May 2011 12:55 UTC
US weather system
© n/a
Violent weather swept across the Eastern seaboard overnight, dropping heavy rains that flooded towns from New England to Georgia, knocking out power and killing at least three people in the Atlanta area.

Intense thunderstorms stalled over central Vermont, pushing rivers over their banks and ripping up streets. About 200 people were forced from their homes.

Churning brown water from the rising Winooski River and a tributary flooded into the streets of Vermont's capital city, Montpelier, sending business owners with inundated basements scurrying to move merchandise to higher ground.

"It looked like the river was right there on my porch," said Darlene Colby, 47, who was woken up by police around 1 a.m. She gathered a bag for belongings for herself and 25-year-old son and spent the rest of the night at a shelter.
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Bizarro Earth

Largest-Ever Dead Zone 'a Disaster in the Making' for La. Fishermen

Paul Quinlan
New York Times
Thu, 26 May 2011 12:45 UTC
GoM dead zone
© NASA/NOAA
Louisiana's shrimpers expected 2010 to be a good year. Instead, they got the oil spill. Although many found temporary jobs working cleanup for BP PLC, hopes for recovery turned to 2011.

Now the swollen Mississippi River is expected to deliver another heavy blow to a seafood industry already on the ropes: a massive flush of fertilizer, animal manure, treated sewage, pesticide and urban runoff.

Scientists predict this polluted wash will give rise to the Gulf of Mexico's largest-ever "dead zone," a large swath of ocean devoid of fish, shellfish and other marine life.

"It's a disaster in the making," said Clint Guidry, a third-generation Louisiana fisherman and president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. "Everybody paid their taxes and fixed their boat up, and they were ready to go back to work this year. It's not looking good."
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Bizarro Earth

Activity Increases At Costa Rica's Poas Volcano


Inside Costa Rica
Fri, 27 May 2011 13:37 UTC
Poas Volcano
© Inside Costa RicaPoas volcano.
Activity at the Volcano Poas is increasing rapidly, while at the same time drying up the lagoon, say experts, a team of geologists and volcanologists from the seismological network of the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)

The team visited the colossus on Wednesday where the recorded 18 "phreatic eruptions" in a three hour period, when normal is 1 or 2 per day.

The temperature of the crater is also increasing, which is causing the lagoon to dry up and possibly disappear.

Experts warn that this could bring more acid rain and ash in the area around the volcano.

However, the activity of Poas is not a danger to tourists and the national park will continue open.

A phreatic eruption, also called a phreatic explosion or ultravulcanian eruption, occurs when rising magma makes contact with ground or surface water.

The extreme temperature of the magma (anywhere from 600 to 1,170 °C (1,112 to 2,138 °F)) causes near-instantaneous evaporation to steam resulting in an explosion of steam, water, ash, rock, and volcanic bombs.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Second wind: Tornado near Cressona is 2nd in Schuylkill County in 3 days

Stephen Pytak, Thomas Leskin, Kelly Monitz
Republican Herald
Sat, 28 May 2011 12:31 UTC
Cressona, Pennsylvania - For the second time this week, a tornado touched down in Schuylkill County.
cressona tornado1
© Nick Meyer/Republican HeraldA tree lies across the front lawn of the property at 1035 Woodland Drive, North Manheim Township, on Friday after a tornado tore through the area Thursday night.
Just three days after the "Lewistown Valley Tornado," a 95-mph EF-1, zoomed through Walker Township on Monday, the "Schuylkill Haven Tornado," a 110-mph EF-1, uprooted trees, knocked down power lines and damaged more than 20 homes along an 18-mile strip from Cressona to West Penn Township, according to the National Weather Service.

"Damage was pretty extensive. Four of those homes had major damage. There were a dozen barns and outbuildings that were also damaged," Greg DeVoir, a meteorologist with the NWS, State College, said Friday evening.

The tornado touched down in North Manheim Township, a half-mile west of Cressona, at 8:15 p.m. Thursday. It bobbed up and touched down numerous times as it continued east, DeVoir said. The tornado was 200 yards wide at its greatest width and its path ended at Leibeyville in West Penn Township at 8:35 p.m.
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