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A major eruption occurred yesterday evening. Starting at 17:45 (local time), the top part of the Caliente lava dome collapsed and produced a series of relatively large pyroclastic flows and explosions. Ash plumes rose more than 2 km to elevations of 4 km altitude. The cause of the eruption was likely the accumulation of pressurized magma and gas under the dome composed of viscous (solid) lava. The pyroclastic flows affected mainly the south, southeast and NNE sides. Bombs from explosive activity were ejected to distances of 500 m. - Volcano Discovery
© n/a Ville de Marseille
A study for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said that the 136 leading coastal cities could face losses of a trillion dollars a year - €750billion a year - as they had been designed to cope with past sea levels.
They were built to cope with expected 100-year storm surges but were not built to face the expected 0.4metre rise caused by climate change over the next 40 years and the more devastating floods that will be produced.
World Bank economist Stephane Hallegatte led the study, called "Future Flood Losses in Major Coastal Cities" and published in Nature Climate Change, and said: "Inaction is not an option. Coastal cities will have to improve their flood management, including better defences, at a cost estimated around €37.5 billion per year for the 136 cities."
© France24A girl babysits her brother inside a temporary shelter at a basketball gym in Calumpit, north of Manila, on August 22, 2013. An estimated 600,000 people remain in shelters or are living with relatives after days of heavy rain.
A day after floods ebbed in the capital Manila, stagnant pools of water and high tides in coastal areas prolonged the misery in the central Luzon plains to the north, civil defence official Josefina Timoteo told AFP.
"These are mainly farmers and fisher folk who still cannot return to their homes or resume work. We are still supplying their needs," said Timoteo, the civil defence chief for the region.
"These are low-lying regions and this happens every year. It is a way of life for many of them and the local governments are well-organised to provide relief."
Seasonal monsoons dumped more than a month's rain in Manila and surrounding provinces between Sunday and Wednesday, the state weather service said, submerging about half the capital in floodwaters.
© Renata Brito/Associated Press
Environmental officials are investigating the fish kill. Biologists say it was likely caused by raw sewage making its way into the water, as has happened before.
Rio has many problems with water pollution. Many of the waterways near where Olympic events are to be held have been found to be polluted.
Rio's Cedae sewage company says in a Thursday statement that all of its treatment plants are operating normally in the region where the dead fish were found. But it says it's sending out teams to see if any pipes are leaking.
Source: Associated Press
© Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesMount Rokatenda volcano, shown here on Aug. 12, killed six people on Palue island two days earlier. Authorities are now watching two other volcanoes, subsea Mount Hobalt and and Mount Ili Werung, in the same eastern province.
"The people around the areas should continue to practice caution" despite there not having been fresh volcanic activity on Wednesday, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.
The agency reported on Tuesday two volcanoes in the East Nusa Tenggara Province have shown "increasing activities." The volcanoes are subsea Mount Hobalt and and Mount Ili Werung.
It noted Mount Hobalt erupted Tuesday morning, spewing cloud as high as 6,560 feet above the sea level for around two minutes.
© Reuters Photo/Karolus NagaA view of Mount Rokatenda in Palue Island, as it spews hot ash into the air, is pictured from Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara province on August 11, 2013.
"It seems like the central government is not paying enough attention. Is it because it has received low media coverage and so the government has not been that serious in helping?" said Saleh Husin, a legislator from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura).
Saleh, who comes from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), said the central government should play a key role in the management of evacuees.
Tini Thadeus, head of the local disaster mitigation agency, said up to 560 people have fallen ill with acute respiratory tract infections as of Wednesday.
Tini noted that local medical teams on the field have been supported by medical teams from the Army and several nongovernmental organizations offering free medication at three evacuation points.
The Sikka district had received plenty of aid, he said, but evacuees in Ropa in the district of Ende and Mbay in the Nagekeo district still require treatment.
© Linda ThomasThese odd clouds observed over the Seattle-area late Tuesday were not from a jet contrail or aliens.
It's not a contrail, nor is it related to aliens.
The correct explanation comes from University of Washington Professor of Atmospheric Science, Cliff Mass.
"This a line of cirrus clouds that were precipitating ice crystals," he explains. "These appendages with falling ice crystals are known as fall streaks or mare's tails."
White jackal caught by camera trap
July 2013. An (probably) albino jackal, a medium-sized canid which is widespread in western Asia, has been caught on camera in south-eastern Iran during a research project into the population survey of the Asiatic cheetah in the Ravar Wildlife Refuge.
Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. Albinism results from inheritance of recessive gene alleles and is known to affect all vertebrates, including humans. Albinism has not been common among golden jackals but there are few cases from west Asia dating back to 1970s. In contrast, recently melanistic golden jackal has been also reported from Turkey.
A 'true' albino has no colouring at all, and many features such as eyes and ears, appear pink. This jackal does have a hint of colouring around the eyes and nose, so it may be 'leucistic', or more probably, this is just a trick of the light as the image is taken at night.
Leucism (or Leukism)
Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.
July 2013. An (probably) albino jackal, a medium-sized canid which is widespread in western Asia, has been caught on camera in south-eastern Iran during a research project into the population survey of the Asiatic cheetah in the Ravar Wildlife Refuge.
© Iranian Cheetah SocietyA white, probably albino, jackal, spotted in Iran by the Iranian Cheetah Society
A 'true' albino has no colouring at all, and many features such as eyes and ears, appear pink. This jackal does have a hint of colouring around the eyes and nose, so it may be 'leucistic', or more probably, this is just a trick of the light as the image is taken at night.
Leucism (or Leukism)
Leucism is a very unusual condition whereby the pigmentation cells in an animal or bird fail to develop properly. This can result in unusual white patches appearing on the animal, or, more rarely, completely white creatures.
© Iranian Cheetah Society
© Scripps MediaA fin whale like this one died Monday.
Stinson Beach fire officials said Tuesday that the Marin County beach will be closed to the public for five days after several Monday sightings of the 10-15 foot white shark.
Also Monday, the 42-foot whale calf died a day after it was discovered alive with bloody scratches on its underside.
Once large whales beach, they have trouble breathing due to organ compression.
Whale experts tell the San Francisco Chronicle that the cause of its stranding could be fishing gear entanglement, a boat strike or separation from its mother.
© Robert Charles/Fairfax NZALL MESSED UP: A deformed calf still-born on Neil Davy's Urenui farm had one head, four ears, 2 torsos and 8 legs.
When Urenui sharemilker Neil Davy went to help one of his cows having problems calving on Monday night, he quickly realised something was not quite right.
"All I could see was two feet, so I put my hand in and felt a short nose. Then I realised the head was the wrong size compared to the rest of the body."
He pulled out an extra leg, but thinking it was twins he tried to push it back in, he said.
"It was hard going. I was up to my elbows in lube and calf goo, sweat coming off my forehead. It's not nice to see a cow in distress."
If he hadn't been there, the cow would have died.
