Earth ChangesS


Camera

Five missing after massive landslide in Georgia's Caucasus mountains


Freedom & Democracy Watch
Sat, 17 May 2014 00:00 UTC
Georgia landslide
© Iago KazalikashviliThe massive landslide may have killed three Turkish construction workers working on the Dariali hydro power project.
A landslide in Dariali Valley in northern Georgia has severed the only road across the Caucasus Mountain Range. Five people are still missing.

Locals say three Turkish construction workers died who were working on the Dariali hydro power station.

The pipeline that ships gas from Russia to Armenia is damaged. Rescue workers have now started to evacuate locals. Energy Minister Kakhi Kaladze says the top priority is to reopen the road and get the pipeline back online.

The landslide happened in Dariali Valley in northern Georgia, on the Caucasus range near the Russian border. It severed the road connecting Georgia and Russia and the rock masses that tumbled down blocked off the Tergi river and may flood Larsi border crossing, a joint Georgian-Russian checkpoint, and adjacent areas of the Russian republic North Ossetia.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Off the west coast of northern Sumatra


US Geological Survey
Sat, 17 May 2014 21:11 UTC
Sumatra Quake_180514
© USGS
Event Time
2014-05-18 01:02:29 UTC
2014-05-18 07:02:29 UTC+06:00 at epicenter

Location
4.259°N 92.747°E depth=9.8km (6.1mi)

Nearby Cities
319km (198mi) WSW of Banda Aceh, Indonesia
337km (209mi) WSW of Sabang, Indonesia
375km (233mi) W of Meulaboh, Indonesia
377km (234mi) WSW of Sigli, Indonesia
1000km (621mi) W of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Technical Details
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Stop

Raging fires continue to ravage Southern California as Governor declares state of emergency


RT.com
Fri, 16 May 2014 02:39 UTC
san diego wildfire
© AFP Photo / David McnewA house burns at the Cocos fire on May 15, 2014 in San Marcos, California.

Wildfires continued to whip through southern California on Thursday, forcing more people to evacuate their homes in the San Diego area and inspiring the governor to declare a state of emergency. Officials have opened an investigation into arson.

San Diego County officials have had no choice but to maintain existing evacuation advisories for the thousands of people who live or work in the path of the fires. Orders issued Wednesday prohibited the 9,000 students who normally attend California State University to avoid campus. More were advised to stay away from their usual places of school and employment on Thursday, as the fires showed no sign of slowing down.

"That's the number one priority, is to save life and then to save property," San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob said at a news conference on Thursday, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times. "We are not out of the woods yet

Comment: It's hardly arson if they broke out in multiple locations simultaneously across the state. Teenagers are a convenient scapegoat to keep folks believing the authorities can do anything about earth changes. Note that they acknowledge the Santa Ana winds are supposed to happen in October, not May! Did the teenagers cause that too?...

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Bizarro Earth

Scientists say Grenada's Kick'em Jenny underwater volcano poses dangerous tsunami risk to US coast


The Extinction Protocol
Sat, 17 May 2014 00:00 UTC
kick'em jenny volcano
The dangerous Kick’em Jenny volcano has erupted 10 times since 1939, with the most recent eruption in 1990.
A team of scientists from the United States have traveled to Grenada, exploring the darkest corners of a huge underwater volcano off the island's coast hoping to better understanding the mysteries of earthquakes and tsunamis, and ultimately saving lives. President of US Ocean Exploration Trust, Robert Ballard, famous for discovering the Titanic 12,000 feet below the surface of the icy North Atlantic in 1985, has set his sights on exploring the volcano, 'Kick'em Jenny', studying its eruption history and learn more about how underwater volcanoes can pose a threat.

Ballard, who is also director of the Centre for Ocean Exploration at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, said the Kick'em Jenny volcano has a history of explosive eruptions, which could have the potential to trigger tsunamis, the effects from which could be felt as far away as the northeastern United States. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Kick'em Jenny volcano has erupted 10 times since 1939, with the most recent eruption in 1990. "This is the most hazardous part of our planet, where (tectonic) plates are head-on," said Ballard, noting that the devastating 2011 Japanese earthquake and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami were both underwater earthquakes. The American television network, ABC TV, said reporters from its 'Nightline' program accompanied Ballard and his team of 40 explorers aboard their exploration vessel Nautilus during the final 48 hours of their 90-day voyage, which was documented for an upcoming National Geographic special, 'Caribbean's Deadly Underworld', which premieres Sunday on the US network, Nat Geo WILD.
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Cloud Precipitation

Balkan deluge of catastrophic proportions: Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia suffer, number of victims still rising

Translated by Sott Editors
Advance.hr
Sat, 17 May 2014 17:51 UTC
Image
© Al Jazeera BalkansMap of the affected Balkan regions.
Most of the Balkan region has been affected by floods of catastrophic proportions, which have so far claimed at least 20 lives. This figure is significantly higher according to some sources. The flooding has crippled Serbia and Bosnia, as well as Croatia as of yesterday. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated and more then 250,000 homes remain without power. Most sources suggest this is "the biggest flood ever recorded in Balkan history".

According to the latest news, floods have claimed 12 lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 8 lives in Serbia. So far there are no fatalities in Croatia, but in certain regions the situation is becoming increasingly difficult.

Some sources report more precipitation in one day than in past 4 months. This has lead to many rivers flooding cities and settlements across the region.
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Fish

Strange deep sea fish caught at Pamban, India

D. J. Walter Scott
The Hindu
Sun, 04 May 2014 14:36 UTC
Image
© L. Balachandar A fisherman holding one of the rare fish at Pamban
A day after catching deep sea lobsters, considered a 'prize catch,' country boat fishermen have caught rare fish, believed to be fully grown 'Rhinochimaera,' a deep sea fish.

Fishermen, who ventured into the south sea for fishing in a motorised 'vallam' (country boat) on Friday morning and returned on Saturday morning, caught the fish while fishing about 40 nautical miles south of Pamban.

I. Litisan, who owned the 'vallam,' said the fishermen had gone to the deep sea looking for a better catch when they caught the rare fish. Each fish weighed about six to seven kg. As the fish were not consumed, they were cut into pieces for drying, he said.

Sources in the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) said the fish belonged to the Rhinochimaera genus and Chimaera family. The exact species could be confirmed only after a detailed study, they said. These fish could have migrated from the deep sea, they added.

Mr. Litisan said fishermen in his boat also caught about 50 deep sea lobsters, totally weighing about five kg. They were sold at Rs. 1,000 a kg, he said.
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Rose

One quarter of the US honeybee population died over the winter - soon will affect the country's food supply


rt.com
Fri, 16 May 2014 20:11 UTC
Bee on a Dandelion
Nearly one quarter of the US honeybee population died over the winter, according to an annual survey.
Nearly one quarter of the US honeybee population died over the winter, according to an annual survey. Beekeepers report the losses remain higher than they consider sustainable, and the death rate could soon affect the country's food supply.

"More than three-fourths of the world's flowering plants rely on pollinators, such as bees, to reproduce, meaning pollinators help produce one out of every three bites of food Americans eat,"the US Department of Agriculture said in a statement about the survey. Bees' pollinating role adds $15 billion to the value of U.S. crops, including apples, almonds, watermelons and beans, according to government reports.

The study, produced by a partnership between the USDA, the Apiary Inspectors of America and the Bee Informed Partnership, found that 23.2 percent of honeybee colonies died over the winter, which is higher than the "acceptable winter mortality rate" of 18.9 percent.

Comment: For more information on Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and the disappearing bees:

Northern Europe hit by most bee deaths - EU study
Japanese fruit farmers stung badly by bee shortage
Again and again: 37 million bees found dead
A new suspect in bee deaths: the U.S. government
Bee deaths wane, cause unknown in Minnesota
Scientists discover what's killing the bees and it's worse than you thought
Cell Phones Caused Mysterious Worldwide Bee Deaths, Study Finds
Bumblebees: Gone with the Wind? A Major Disappearance

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Fish

Rare Sturgeon washes up along Connecticut River

Joseph Wenzel IV and Kevin Hogan
wibw.com
Thu, 01 May 2014 11:59 UTC
Image
© Carleen Gerber
The rare nearly 7-foot-long Atlantic sturgeon that weighs about 100 pounds was found Saturday near Elys Ferry Road.

"It had been here a while, it started to decay...started to smell," said eyewitness Gary Weed.

This fish is labeled an endangered species by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

State experts are taking a closer look at the big discovery at the DEEP Marine headquarters in nearby Old Lyme.

"We had seen a few wash up in Long Island Sound the last couple of years, the same size or pretty close, but this is the largest we've seen in the river so far," said Tom Savoy, who is a DEEP fisheries biologist.

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Cloud Lightning

Bodies pulled from submerged homes, thousands evacuated in Balkans 'worst ever' flooding

Marko Djurica
Reuters
Sat, 17 May 2014 10:13 UTC
Balkan floods
© Reuters/Marko DjuricaA Serbian army soldier throws candy bars to people as they are evacuated a boat in the flooded town of Obrenovac, east from Belgrade, May 17, 2014
Seven bodies were pulled from flooded homes in Bosnia and the army rushed to free hundreds of people stranded in a school in Serbia on Saturday during the worst floods to hit the Balkans in over a century.

Soldiers steered huge amphibious vehicles through streets under 2-3 meters of water in the town of Obrenovac, 30 km (18 miles) southwest of the Serbian capital Belgrade, trying to rescue an estimated 700 people crammed into the top floors of the Jefimija primary school.

"The whole town is under water," a Reuters photographer at the scene said. Up to 70 people at a time scrambled onto the vehicles, mainly women and frightened children.

Others, stranded in flooded homes, climbed from roofs and balconies into small boats to be taken to safety.

Comment: Europe has particularly been flooded since the beginning of the year, as the map below shows:




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Fish

Winterkill strikes Grand Lake near Duluth; thousands of fish found dead

Sam Cook
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Fri, 16 May 2014 08:35 UTC
Image
© Dan Wilfond/Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Dead fish of several species are washed up along the shore of Grand Lake on Monday. Thousands of fish in the lake north of Duluth were lost to winterkill, a condition in which dissolved oxygen levels are too low for fish to survive.
The fish began piling up along the western shore of Grand Lake near Duluth on Monday, not long after the ice had gone out. Pushed by a strong east wind, thousands of dead fish washed up in reed beds and the front yards of lakeshore residents.

Perhaps as many as 35,000 fish died, said Dan Wilfond, fisheries specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources at French River, although he cautioned that that was a rough estimate.

The fish, victims of winterkill -- low oxygen levels -- included sunfish, crappies, walleyes, northern pike and largemouth bass, Wilfond said.

Grand Lake, a 1,600-acre lake between Saginaw and Twig, is popular with anglers.

"It was disheartening," Wilfond said. "It was a pretty severe kill."

Tim Goeman, DNR regional fisheries supervisor at Grand Rapids, said he was not aware of other lakes across northeastern Minnesota that have suffered winterkill.
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