Earth ChangesS


Life Preserver

Gulf storm sputters off Louisiana

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© unknownSatellite pictures of the storm at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday.
A closely watched weather system in the northern Gulf of Mexico swept ashore without becoming a tropical storm Monday evening but was expected to dump heavy rain onto southern Louisiana, according to the National Hurricane Center.

"Now that the system is over land and will move farther inland tonight, tropical cyclone development is no longer expected,

Hurricane Center forecasters reported Monday night.

The system's chances rebounded from a "near 0 percent" prospect of becoming a tropical storm earlier Monday, but forecasters said the storm's proximity to shore made it unlikely to develop further. The main threat it will pose to the region will be heavy rain, they said.

Fish

Tar balls hit Lake Pontchartrain shores

boat, tar
© N/ATar balls are picked up from Rigolets Pass, which connects Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain with Mississippi Sound.

Tar balls believed to be from the undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico have reached the shores of Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain, a foundation that monitors the watershed reported Monday.

The affected area covers a stretch of up to five miles near the city of Slidell, northeast of New Orleans, said Anne Rheams, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. She estimated the amount of oil that has reached the lake at less than 100 barrels, with no hydrocarbon smell.

"They are about the size of a silver dollar, maybe a little bigger, kind of dispersed in long intervals. It's not as dense as it could be, so we're thankful for that," Rheams said.

Ambulance

BP oil disaster at 75 days

For 75 days now, crude oil has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the wreck of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. While BP and the US government have done everything possible to downplay and obscure the amount of oil that has spilled out, estimates range as high as 150,000,000 to 200,000,000 gallons. The consequences will be incalculable.

The BP spill is one of the worst ecological catastrophes in history, and yet now it barely makes the front pages of the newspapers in the US or rates prominent coverage on television news programs. There is a natural nervousness in the media and the political establishment, as the ongoing horror story indicts a huge conglomerate and the political interests in Washington that protect it.

It seems clear that the announcement June 16 that BP would create a $20 billion fund, followed the next day by Chief Executive Tony Hayward's appearance before Congress, was meant to signal the end of the officially-sponsored chastisement of the company, and the US media has responded accordingly. As Reuters commented July 1: "The British energy giant drew harsh criticism earlier in the crisis, but some of the political heat has cooled since President Barack Obama pressured the company to set up a $20 billion fund for damages and lawmakers hammered BP executives at congressional hearings."

Bomb

Study: Oil Spills Boost Arsenic Levels in Ocean

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© AFP/Getty Images/File/Spencer PlattOil is seen in Bay Jimmy, Grand Isle, Louisiana, June 16, 2010
Paris - Oil spills can boost levels of arsenic in seawater by suppressing a natural filter mechanism on the sea bed, according to a study published on Friday in a specialist journal.

The research was conducted in a laboratory before the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, but its authors say the findings highlight the worrying long-term impact from such disasters.

Scientists at Imperial College London found that sea floor sediment bonds with arsenic. The captured toxic element is then covered by subsequent layers of sediment, which helps explain why concentrations of arsenic in the ocean are low.

But, the researchers found, crude oil acts rather like a sticky blanket, clogging the sediment and preventing it from bonding to arsenic.

Umbrella

Saskatoon, Canada expected to seek provincial disaster assistance after deluge swamped city

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© Gord Waldner, The StarPhoenixAlana Wasylenko found a quiet moment with her dog in a Hampton Village park, after the area was hit hard by Tuesday's storm
Saskatoon residents are continuing the cleanup from the torrents of water that rolled through the city early Wednesday morning, leaving hundreds of basements flooded, dozens of vehicles destroyed and a multitude of businesses mopping up in the aftermath of the worst flooding in decades.

Among the wild events: A manhole cover shot through the bottom of a moving city bus; small vehicles and garbage containers were reportedly floating down streets in Confederation Park, where flood water submerged cars; and nearly one metre of storm water rushed down streets and into businesses and offices in the city centre.

Eighty to 100 millimetres of rain fell on Saskatoon during a three-hour period, according to the city, bringing back memories of June 24, 1983. On that day, 93 mm of rain fell -- 75 mm during a 45-minute span. A woman died that day, after her car was submerged in a road underpass.

Ambulance

Washington Governor Requests Farm Disaster Assistance For 29 Counties Reeling From Cold and Rain

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Olympia, Washington - Gov. Chris Gregoire asked U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to designate 29 counties in Washington as farm disaster areas due to weather-related losses.

The damage was the result of extreme weather conditions throughout the spring, including severe cold, high winds and excessive rains.

"Conditions this year have been difficult for our growers across Washington, from Clark County to Okanogan," Gregoire said. "Cold temperatures have harmed our tree fruit crops, while excessive rain made it difficult for bees to pollinate strawberries and other berry crops. A declaration will help our businesses absorb a difficult year and look forward."

The request includes disaster declarations for Adams, Benton, Chelan, Clark, Columbia, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Grays Harbor, Island, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom and Yakima counties.

Cloud Lightning

New video of flood in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon as death toll from Hurricane Alex rises

In Mexico, six people have been killed in floods from tropical storms, as a result of Hurricane Alex. The northern city of Monterrey was the worst hit as a river burst its banks, washing away cars and destroying roads. More than four thousand people were evacuated from the region. The storms had earlier torn through central America, but have now dissipated.

The incredible precipitation brought major damage to Mexico's third-largest city. Apparently the Santa Catarina river, which flows through Monterrey bisecting it, isn't usually seen for most of the year.


Igloo

Sydney records coldest June temperature since 1949 as cold snap stretches across southeastern Oz

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People across south-east Australia are complaining about unusually chilly temperatures and experts say there will be no relief from the cold until Sunday at the earliest.

From Brisbane this morning, Miss7t7 wrote on Twitter "Still in bed, so dam cold.. What's going on Brisbane !!!!". While in Melbourne, lexandraKR tweeted "Waiting for frostbite to set in... Sooo cold in Melbourne! Too scared to get out of bed incase I get hypothermia".

Others are embracing the weather and urging those who are complaining to toughen up.

"I am in love with this cold weather. Melbourne reminds me of Paris at the moment. How can that be a bad thing?" wrote hannahjtoy. "Is it seriuosly newsworthy that sydney temps are in the low single digits? seriuosly? it not cold! suck it up!" FilthiAssistant tweeted.

Evil Rays

Best of the Web: New Study: Cell Phones Kill Honey Bees, Specific Frequency Located.


A recent study has found that radiation from cell phones may be killing the honey bee population.

In a recent report in the journal Current Science, scientists are claiming that mobile phones are behind the disappearance of honey bees in Europe and North America.

They say radiation from cell phones is getting in the way of honey bees' navigation senses, making them so confused they lose their way home.

This new research may explain why the bee population has declined for years in what's being called Colony Collapse Disorder.

Bizarro Earth

Best of the Web: Overwhelmed by Oil and Toxic Pollutants: The Destruction of an Entire Coastline

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"The sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours ...
For this, for everything, we are out of tune."

(William Wordsworth, 1770-1850.)
For the people of the Gulf and the region - watching some of the most toxic pollutants known to man, being sprayed to disperse one of the most toxic pollutants known to man, unleashed as a result of man's fallibility, in a near-global addiction to consumerism - it must be an environmental apocalypse now. One dispersant Corexit 9500, is four times as toxic as oil, and also disrupts the reproductive systems of organisms.

There is magic about those sun-sparkled coasts, translucent, shimmering, sapphire sea, later turning peach, apricot, deep blush, then seeming near blackberry as the sun falls and the dusk, then dark, takes over. Then the great pelicans sit sentry, on remains of old breakwaters, silhouetted against the moon's silvered light.