Earth ChangesS


Nuke

Plan to Flood Fukushima Reactor Could Cause New Blast, Experts Warn

Justin McCurry
The Guardian, UK
Fri, 13 May 2011 10:20 UTC
Plant operator Tepco reveals meltdown and breach of pressure vessel, with Greenpeace warning against pumping water in

A worker inside the No 1 reactor building
© APA worker inside the No 1 reactor building at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Experts have warned of a potentially dangerous radiation leak if Japan proceeds with plans to flood a damaged reactor containment vessel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The facility's operator has admitted uranium fuel rods in the No 1 reactor partially melted after being fully exposed because of the 11 March tsunami.

Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said water levels had fallen to at least one metre below four-metre-long fuel rods inside the reactor core and melted fuel had slumped to the bottom of the reactor's containment vessel.

The damage is more severe than Tepco had previously reported and is almost certain to frustrate its quest to bring the plant under control within six to nine months. Officials said the leaked fuel was being kept cool and there was no risk of an explosion of the kind that blew the roof off the reactor in March.
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Nuke

Fukushima - One Step Forward and Four Steps Back as Each Unit Challenged by New Problems


Fairewinds Associates
Fri, 13 May 2011 09:53 UTC
Gundersen says Fukushima's gaseous and liquid releases continue unabated. With a meltdown at Unit 1, Unit 4 leaning and facing possible collapse, several units contaminating ground water, and area school children outside the exclusion zone receiving adult occupational radiation doses, the situation continues to worsen. TEPCO needs a cohesive plan and international support to protect against world-wide contamination.

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Bizarro Earth

Multiple vortex forming over Northern America


Crisis Boom
Fri, 13 May 2011 09:35 UTC
There is an upper level low pressure system vortex storm forming of East Coast of US. It's an occluded front with a low pressure of 29.29hg or 992mb. The winds are rotating the system counterclockwise. In previous post we gave some possible explanation of the situation and we gave some notes about polar cyclones, arctic storms, nor'eastern storms and explanation of Coriolis effect.

Image
© Unknown
The upper level low pressure systems are important to forecasting and can dramatically alter one's forecast. Upper level lows can occur in association with a mid-latitude cyclone or may begin without the aid of a mid-latitude cyclone. Upper level lows without the aid of a surface low can develop when air flows over a mountain range, in association with an upper level short wave, or in association with a jet streak.

Image
© Unknown
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Evil Rays

Japan Reactor-Core Damage Worse Than Thought

Joe Carroll and Michio Nakayama
Bloomberg
Thu, 12 May 2011 08:13 UTC
Image
The No. 1 reactor at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. Source: Air Photo Service via Bloomberg

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said one of the reactor cores at its stricken Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant is more seriously damaged than previously thought, setting back the utility's plan to resolve the crisis.

Fuel rods in the core of the No. 1 reactor are fully exposed, with the water level 1 meter (3.3 feet) below the base of the fuel assembly, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility known as Tepco, told reporters at a briefing in Tokyo. Melted fuel has dropped to the bottom of the pressure vessel and is still being cooled, Matsumoto said.

Japan is trying to contain the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl after a quake and tsunami two months ago knocked out power and cooling systems at the Fukushima station. While authorities have previously suspected a partial meltdown at unit 1, high radiation levels had prevented workers from entering the building to check the damage until last week.
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Bizarro Earth

Made In Taiwan: Footage Of Taipei Tornado

Fergal Tierney
Irish Weather Online
Thu, 12 May 2011 23:39 UTC
This is a video shot by a Taipei resident as a tornado affected part of the Taiwanese capital on May 12th. The twister lasted around two minutes, flipping an SUV on top of some motorcycles, though there were no reports of casualties.


There was a stationary front lying over the area at the time, with an extremely humid airmass to its south. The 00Z Taipei sounding shows enhanced low-level moisture and some windshear, which both contributed to vigorous convection and updraft rotation.

The event, however, will not be recorded on Central Weather Bureau's list of natural disasters as it was not recorded by their weather station. This may have implications for the owners of the vehicles, as the local insurance industry normally relies on the CWB record for claims purposes.
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Fish

U.S.: Thousands of fish dead along I-210 beach

Kristian Claus and Brandon Richards
KPLC
Wed, 11 May 2011 22:17 UTC
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Lake Charles, Louisiana - Thousands of dead fish were discovered Wednesday, lining the shore of the I-210 beach.

Most of the fish washed ashore on the southwest corner of the beach.

Officials with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries identified the fish as Shad, which are known to travel in huge schools and are more common in creeks.

Biologists collected samples of the fish to send off for testing. Though no official results are back, biologists said the fish kill was most likely caused by low oxygen levels. Low oxygen levels are usually caused by low tides and high temperatures and usually affect one species.

Fish kills are common along the Gulf Coast, especially during the summer months.

Since officials don't believe the fish pose any threat to humans or animals, the I-210 beach remains open.
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Bug

US: Cicadas Invade South After 13-Year Sleep


SkyNews
Thu, 12 May 2011 16:20 UTC
cicada
© UnknownThe last cicada swarm in the US was in Virginia in 2004
Another natural phenomenon has hit the Southern States as swarms of cicadas return after 13 years hibernating underground.

Every 13 years the inch-long insects emerge from their underground lairs to plague America's Deep South in a feeding and breeding frenzy.

It adds to the natural phenomena the region has battled with after tornadoes last month and floods in Mississippi this week.

Apart from their intense 120-decibel mating racket and the frustration of finding them in hair, clothes and lunch-boxes, they're completely harmless to humans.
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Bizarro Earth

Namibia: Residents Face The Fury of Raging Floods

Charles Tjtindi
African Review
Sat, 07 May 2011 10:54 UTC
Namibia Floods
© UNICEF / Africa ReviewA settlement in North-Central Namibia totally cut off by flood waters .
The waters of the raging floods in North-Central and North-Eastern Namibia might have subsided drastically over the last couple of weeks, but it would seemingly take more to restore the lives of an about 220 000 people estimated to have been affected by the floods.

According to the United Nation's Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Namibia, Kari Egge, the figure is based on the assumption that about 15 per cent of residents of the country's seven flood hit regions would carry the consequences of the disaster.

The floods resulted in the loss of lives and severe damage to properties and infrastructure; led to the closure of school and clinics, and disrupted the daily routines of those it affected. Over 100,000 learners in 324 schools were affected by flooding, of which 163 were closed, and 22 health clinics were either submerged or completely surrounded by water.

The fact that the areas prone to the annual flooding hosts more than half of Namibia's total population did not ease the burden on government. Preliminary assessments showed that the priority requirements were food, shelter, transport and education.
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Control Panel

France heat wave could rival deadly '03 crisis

Vidya Root
SFGate
Thu, 12 May 2011 12:05 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Joseph Menard, a dairy farmer in Brittany, says the country's driest spring in half a century has left him with just two weeks of animal fodder in stock.

"There hasn't been enough water for the grass to grow," Menard, who is also president of the agricultural office for Brittany's Ille-et-Vilaine region, said. "We get one or two hours of sporadic rain, but that's not enough to grow enough feed for both daily use and stock for the summer."

Unseasonably high temperatures that resulted in the second-warmest April since 1900 and the driest spring in about 50 years have prompted France to restrict water use in some areas.

The weather is raising prospects for a repeat of the 2003 heat wave, which resulted in more than 14,000 deaths in France and left Europe's agricultural and forest industries with about $18.5 billion in losses. Adverse global weather, ranging from the flooding of the Mississippi River to droughts in Kansas, Oklahoma and parts of Europe, is damaging farms and crops.

While the growing season is early in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, corn futures almost doubled in the past year as U.S. stockpiles headed for a 15-year low. Wheat prices rose about 64 percent in the same period.
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X

US: Second Wave of Mystery Pelican Deaths Hits Topsail Beach, North Carolina


Salem News
Wed, 11 May 2011 11:43 UTC
Image
© WWAY YV
A second wave of mysterious pelican injuries and deaths has occurred in the past several weeks at Topsail Island in North Carolina following earlier incidents about six months ago in which about 250 pelicans died as a result of still undetermined causes.

Necropsies in the fall of 2010 performed at the University of Georgia on the first group of Brown Pelicans were inconclusive as to cause of injury though there was no evidence of toxicological causes such as poisons. The newly found birds have also been sent to the university for analysis.

This recent incident involves about 30 pelicans that washed up on the shores either dead or so badly injured that they had to be euthanized. In an interview with WNCT-TV, Toni O'Neil of the Possumwood Acres Wildlife Sanctuary commented on the injuries to one bird "... [it] looks like a bomb has gone off in the wing. It's that shattered and smashed so completely".
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