Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

2010 a bad year for natural disasters, say insurance companies

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The high number of weather-related natural disasters in 2010 has made it an "exceptional" year, the world's top reinsurer has said.

The floods in Pakistan and China and the Haiti earthquake have killed tens of thousands of people, costing USD 130 billion.

"The high number of weather-related natural catastrophes and record temperatures both globally and in different regions of the world provide further indications of advancing climate change," said Munich Re in a report.

A total of 950 natural catastrophes were recorded last year, making 2010 the second worst year since 1980.

Haiti's earthquake was by far the worst disaster in terms of human cost, killing 222,570 people; however, it cost the insurance industry very little.

But a month later, the earthquake that hit Chile was the world's most expensive natural disaster last year, with overall losses of USD 30 billion and insured losses of USD 8 billion.

Umbrella

Australia: Super-cell thunderstorm pounds Victoria

Flash Flooding 1
© ABC: Cam HookFlash flooding surrounds cars at Camberwell Junction
A super-cell thunderstorm has hit Victoria, bringing widespread flash flooding.

About a dozen people have been rescued from floodwaters in Mildura, in Melbourne's south-east near Geelong, and the State Emergency Service (SES) is responding to 1,400 calls for help.

Crews helped a woman and her two young children when their car became trapped in a flash flood at Mildura.

Firefighters have rescued a girl who was clinging to a tree branch after being swept away at Ashwood, in Melbourne's east.

And at Mulgrave, the fire brigade was called to assist a disabled man in a wheelchair who got stuck in water up to his hips.

Comment: This event appears to be closely related to the recent Cyclone Yasi in the northern parts of Queensland. Take a look at the latest satellite imagery to appreciate the size of the storm cell.

For readers outside of Australia - the state of Victoria is located in the South-East corner of the country.

Flash Flooding 4
© BOM
Flash Flooding 3
© The Weather Channel



Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: 82 Whales Stranded in Golden Bay

Stranded Whales
© Newstalk ZB

Ten of the whales which stranded at Golden Bay have died.

The Department of Conservation received a call from a member of the public about 82 pilot whales stranding at Puponga Point at around 1pm this afternoon.

Around 100 volunteers are at Puponga Point trying to keep the remaining 72 wet, however they will knock off at around half past eight as it's too dangerous in the dark.

DOC spokeswoman Trish Grant says the next high tide isn't until 11:30pm tonight so another attempt at re-floating the whales won't be able to take place until the morning.

"Initially there were about 30 stranded and about 50 DOC staff with volunteer help tried to get those that were still floating back out to sea but unfortunately they weren't able to do that with the tide," she told Newstalk ZB.

Bizarro Earth

US: After The Storm

US skies are clearing in the aftermath of this week's monster winter storm. But "clear" is not the same as "empty." Sky watchers are seeing an unusual number of sundogs. Doug Koehler photographed these yesterday in Davenport, Iowa:

Sundog_1
© Doug KoehlerBrilliant rainbow-like sun pillars in the early morning, sub-zero fog in Davenport, Iowa, just off the Mississippi river. They lasted about 20 minutes before fading away as the sun rose. Sadly, the camera doesn't do justice to how colorful they were. Taken with a GE A1251 in auto exposure mode. Image taken: Feb. 3 2011
"These brilliant sundogs appeared in the early morning sub-zero fog just off the Mississippi river," says Koehler. "They lasted about 20 minutes before fading away. The camera doesn't do justice to how colorful they were."

Sundogs and their cousins, sun pillars, are caused by ice crystals in the air. And if there's one thing North Americans have a lot of, it's icy air. Indeed, the dog and pillar show is likely to continue for at least six more weeks.

Question

US: Mysterious Odor Stinks Up Los Angeles Neighborhood

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© Getty Images
People were trying Tuesday to determine the cause of a ''widespread and mildly irritating'' odor in East Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods, a city fire spokesman said.

Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said his department had been getting 911 calls, mostly from people in the Boyle Heights area, while County firefighters were receiving the same reports in the larger area of East Los Angeles.

Igloo

Extreme Cold Blasts Arizona

Coldest Weather In Years Hits The Valley

Baby it's cold outside! Arizona is being hit with extreme cold and it's only going to get colder.

With a daytime high of just 44 degrees, Phoenix recorded its coldest daytime high in more than 25 years and set a daily and monthly record for a cold high temperature.

A rare hard freeze warning (widespread temperatures below 28 degrees) is in effect for the Valley from late tonight into Thursday morning.

CBS 5 chief meteorologist Chris Dunn says tonight's lows could make it the coldest night in more than 20 years in Phoenix.

"Most areas will likely see overnight lows in the 20s, but Sky Harbor hasn't registered a temperature colder than 29 degrees since December 23, 1990," said Dunn. On that day the mercury dipped to just 26 degrees. Thursday morning's record low is 28 degrees last set in 1922

Expect another chilly day on Thursday with Dunn's forecast high of just 50 degrees. The normal high for early February is 70 degrees. Temperatures will warm into the 60s this weekend.

Ambulance

Major evacuation after SW China earthquake

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© unknownMap of Yunnan Province in China
An earthquake that damaged nearly 700 homes forced some 65,000 people into shelters Wednesday in China's southwestern Yunnan province.

The quake hit Yingjiang County Tuesday afternoon and had a magnitude of 4.8 on the open-ended Richter scale, county officials told the Xinhua news agency.

There was no immediate report on injuries, but officials said 229 homes had been seriously damaged and 448 others had sustained lesser damage, the report said.

The quake's center was about 6 miles deep, geologists said.

Arrow Down

Australia: Despair and relief in the wake of Cyclone Yasi

Cyclone Yasi 1
© AFP: Torsten BlackwoodScott Torrens (left) and his children look to where their roof once was in Mourilyan, south of Innisfail
Emergency crews are cutting their way into storm-shattered communities in north Queensland to assess the extent of the damage after category five Cyclone Yasi roared ashore overnight.

The towns of Tully, Mission Beach, Cardwell, Silkwood and Innisfail bore the brunt of the monster storm's 285kph winds but there are no reports of deaths or serious injuries.

Buildings were destroyed, roofs were ripped off houses, and trees were shredded as the monster storm slammed ashore about midnight. More than 180,000 homes remain without power.

The cyclone is continuing to weaken but there is now heavy rain and damaging wind gusts in excess of 90kph, which are expected to extend to the Northern Territory border including Longreach and Mount Isa overnight.

Comment: The cyclone remains active over land and is making its way further into the rural townships of northern Queensland. Have a look at the current satellite image.

Cyclone Yasi 5
© BOM



Arrow Down

Oysters Disappearing Worldwide: Study

oysters
© AFP/Getty Images/File/Chris GraythenA survey of oyster habitats around the world has found that the succulent mollusks are disappearing fast and 85% of their reefs have been lost due to disease and over-harvesting. Most of the remaining wild oysters in the world, or about 75 percent, can be found in five locations in North America, said the study published in BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
A survey of oyster habitats around the world has found that the succulent mollusks are disappearing fast and 85 percent of their reefs have been lost due to disease and over-harvesting.

Most of the remaining wild oysters in the world, or about 75 percent, can be found in five locations in North America, said the study published in BioScience, the journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences.

An international team of researchers led by Michael Beck of the Nature Conservancy and the University of California, Santa Cruz, examined the condition of native oyster reefs in 40 ecoregions, including 144 bays.

"Oyster reefs are at less than 10 percent of their prior abundance in most bays (70 percent) and ecoregions (63 percent)," said the study.

"They are functionally extinct -- in that they lack any significant ecosystem role and remain at less than one percent of prior abundances in many bays (37 percent) and ecoregions (28 percent) -- particularly in North America, Australia and Europe."

By averaging the loss among all regions, the researchers came up with an estimate that 85 percent of oyster reef ecosystems have been lost, but said that figure was likely low because some areas lacked historical records for comparison.

The study also did not include oyster reefs in parts of South Africa, China, Japan, and North and South Korea.

Info

Al Gore: Snow Storms are Caused by 'the Warming'

Al Gore
© Time MagazineFormer Vice President Al Gore in his home office in Nashville, TN.
Last week on his show Bill O'Reilly asked, "Why has southern New York turned into the tundra?" and then said he had a call into me. I appreciate the question.

As it turns out, the scientific community has been addressing this particular question for some time now and they say that increased heavy snowfalls are completely consistent with what they have been predicting as a consequence of man-made global warming:

"In fact, scientists have been warning for at least two decades that global warming could make snowstorms more severe. Snow has two simple ingredients: cold and moisture. Warmer air collects moisture like a sponge until it hits a patch of cold air. When temperatures dip below freezing, a lot of moisture creates a lot of snow."