Earth ChangesS


Sherlock

US: Dupont - New herbicide suspected in tree deaths

Jim Robbins
New York Times
Mon, 18 Jul 2011 09:33 UTC
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© Gary CrumNew growth on Norway spruce is dying due to injury from a synthetic auxin herbicide.
A recently approved herbicide called Imprelis, widely used by landscapers because it was thought to be environmentally friendly, has emerged as the leading suspect in the deaths of thousands of Norway spruce, eastern white pine and other trees on lawns and golf courses across the country.

Manufactured by DuPont and approved for sale last October by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Imprelis is used for killing broadleaf weeds like dandelion and clover and is sold to lawn care professionals only. Reports of dying trees started surfacing around Memorial Day, prompting an inquiry by DuPont scientists.

"We are investigating the reports of these unfavorable tree symptoms," said Kate Childress, a spokeswoman for DuPont. "Until this investigation is complete, it's difficult to say what variables contributed to the symptoms."

DuPont continues to sell the product, which is registered for use in all states except California and New York. The company said that there were many places where the product had been used without causing tree damage.
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Stop

Utah, US: Girl dies, father hurt in crash caused by sinkhole


The Associated Press
Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:29 UTC
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© Utah Highway PatrolAn image provided by the Utah Highway Patrol shows the wreckage of a car that ran into a sinkhole.
A 15-year-old girl died after heavy rains caused a huge sinkhole to open on a Utah highway, swallowing one vehicle and causing her father's SUV to careen off the road.

Authorities said the crash that killed Justine Barneck and injured her father, Michael Barneck, late Wednesday night happened when the road collapsed in front of them, leaving a patch of asphalt on the edge of the hole that the vehicle hit, causing the fatal accident.

At about the same time, a second car actually went into the 40-foot-wide, 30-foot-deep hole, said Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Todd Johnson. The driver of that vehicle, 37-year-old Helen Paulson, was hurt, but the extent of her injuries was not immediately clear.
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Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: Storms create 'seabird wreck'

Leighton Keith
Taranaki Daily News
Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:49 UTC
prion
© Robert CharlesCountless thousands of prions have died in a phenomenon the Department of Conservation is calling a "seabird wreck."

DOC is caring for more than a hundred weak and weary seabirds at its New Plymouth headquarters but thousands more were found washed up dead on Taranaki beaches.

Marine supervisor Bryan Williams said DOC was inundated with the disoriented and distressed birds, which are being kept in cardboard boxes, on Wednesday.

Mr Williams said DOC staff scoured beaches at low tide yesterday and found more than 3500 dead birds.

The majority of the birds are broad-billed prions with some Antarctic prions, thin-billed prions and the odd diving petrel.
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Radar

US: Small 3.0 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles North Texas


Star-Telegram
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
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A small earthquake rattled North Texas Sunday morning, but no major damage was reported.

The quake which had a magnitude of 3.0 was reported at 1:57 a.m.. Sunday about 13 miles west of Waxahachie and 12 miles east, northeast of Cleburne.

An official with the U.S. Geological Survey said Sunday that the quake was at its "most strong" near Venus in Ellis County.

"There might be some cracks in sidewalks and houses may have been shaking a little," said geophysicist Paul Caruso on Sunday. "We don't expect damage from this."

Caruso said that a quake with a magnitude of 5.5 or higher would cause major damages and casualties.

As of Sunday afternoon, the USGS had received 69 reports from residents about the quake in the North Texas area.
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Radar

Iceland: Small earthquake swarm in Katla volcano caldera

Jón Frímann
Iceland Volcano and Earthquake Blog
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
At the moment there appears to be a small earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Currently this is just a earthquake swarm. All the tremor plots are normal and show no signs of harmonic tremors and magma on the move. The largest earthquake in this earthquake swarm in inside Katla volcano caldera was a ML1.3 with the depth of 1.7 km according to reviewed data from Icelandic Met Office.
Image
© Icelandic Met Office
The ML1.3 earthquake as I did record it on my Heklubyggð geophone. Given the shape and how low period this earthquake is. I would say that it was created by magma pushing upwards in the crust inside Katla volcano caldera.
Image
© Creative Commons licence
The ML1.3 earthquake as I did record it on my Heklubyggð geophone. Given the shape and how low period this earthquake is. I would say that it was created by magma pushing upwards in the crust inside Katla volcano caldera.
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Black Cat

India: Mysterious Disease Continues to Claim Cattle in Senapati Village


The Morung Express
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:00 UTC
Five more cattle have been claimed by the 'mysterious disease' that spread in and around the Makhan village of Manipur's Senapati district even as state Veterinary Department is still has no clue about the disease.

On July 11, Newmai News Network had reported that over 50 cows and buffaloes had been killed by the mysterious disease. A team of officials of the state veterinary department led by its joint director had visited Makhan village and took stock of the situation on Wednesday (July 13).

While collecting samples require for determining the disease, the team also provided medicines apart. They also administered injection to the cattle infected by the disease as a step towards contentment of the disease.

Since the day, the number of cattle claim by the disease has been reduced but as steps to control the disease was yet to be taken up. There were still apprehensions of killing for cattle in the mind of the villagers, said Athuiliu, a villager over phone.

He also lamented that officials of the veterinary department had failed to revisit the village. "We are unhappy with attitude of the officials when they remain silent without informing us about the disease till date," he said.
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Binoculars

Largest Population of Endangered Gibbon Found in Vietnam


The Associated Press
Mon, 18 Jul 2011 04:57 UTC
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© AP Photo/Terry WhittakerAn adult female northern white-cheeked crested gibbon, right, carries its baby as an adult male sits nearby at Pu Mat National Park, Nghe An province in Vietnam.
Conservationists listening to a critically endangered primate's morning calls in central Vietnam's mountains heard a surprising response. About 455 animals were counted there based on their calls, making it the largest known population of northern white-cheeked crested gibbons.

Wildlife group Conservation International conducted the census in 2010 by recording the loud song-like vocalizations the gibbons use to mark territory and attract and keep mates.

The primates were in 130 different groups living in thick jungle of the mountains near the Laos border, the group said in a statement Monday. Earlier surveys elsewhere in Vietnam had not documented any populations larger than a dozen groups.

The primate was known to exist in China, Vietnam and Laos. It is considered functionally extinct in China, but its numbers are unclear in Laos because little research has been conducted there.
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Bizarro Earth

7,500 Earthquakes Hit Shattered New Zealand City


The Star
Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:25 UTC
Christchurch earthquake
© unknown
It's been 10 months since the first big earthquake struck New Zealand's second-largest city. It's been nearly five months since a far more devastating one killed 181 people and crippled the downtown. But it's been just a few hours since yet another aftershock startled Christchurch residents during the night.

"I stop breathing," said Sheridan Cattermole, a bartender and a mom. "I get pins and needles all over. I either freeze or run. I just want things to be back to what they were like this time last year. I had my vege garden, and my sunflowers."

Seismologists have recorded 7,500 earthquakes in Christchurch since September - an average of more than 20 a day. The rumblings are rattling the psyche of the still-battered city. They have left the land under thousands of homes unsafe to build on. Some people have left town entirely. Yet many have proven resilient, and some now see a reconstruction boom on the horizon.

Christchurch is the disaster that the world forgot. When the deadly quake toppled the iconic Cathedral spire and flattened buildings in this city of 390,000, people around the globe paid attention. But two weeks later, the massive earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 20,000 in Japan took center stage.

In New Zealand, the events in Christchurch continue to reverberate.

In a country of 4 million, the cost of the quakes - estimated at more than $12 billion - amounts to eight percent of the country's annual economic output. Compare that to Hurricane Katrina, whose costs were less than 1 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. Christchurch will likely eclipse the Japan disaster in cost per person.

And nobody knows if the worst is over. Not even the experts.
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Sun

Heat Wave in Central US Shows No Signs of Ending

Murrary Evans
The Associated Press
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:02 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
As temperatures climbed into the 90s Sunday in Steele, N.D., a small window air conditioner in Paul and Betty Smokov's ranch home just couldn't keep up.

"It's 82 in the house," Betty Smokov said. "The heat is really oppressive and sticky."

That observation could be made anywhere in the central U.S. Heat advisories and warnings were in place in 17 states, from Texas to Michigan, as temperatures and humidity combined to make being outside uncomfortable for millions. One National Weather Service forecaster called the heat wave "unrelenting" and said sweaty residents shouldn't expect any relief soon: A so-called "heat dome" over the region isn't moving much.

"The trend is not our friend right now," said Daryl Williams, a forecaster in Norman.

In Oklahoma City, forecasters expected another day of 100-degree heat Sunday, which would be the 27th day this year the city has reached 100 or above. The city is on pace to break its record for such days - 50 set in 1980 - with triple-digit heat possible through September.
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Bizarro Earth

Tropical Storm Could Form Near Northern Bahamas


Reuters
Sun, 17 Jul 2011 16:35 UTC
Image
© AP Photo
A tropical depression formed in the Atlantic Ocean near the northwest Bahamas on Sunday and forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it could strengthen into Tropical Storm Bret by Monday.

The swirling mass of thunderstorms was expected to pass near the northern islands of the Bahamas and then curve out over the open Atlantic, staying away from the U.S. coast and the energy interests in the Gulf of Mexico.

The government of the Bahamas issued a tropical storm watch for Grand Bahama Island and the Abaco islands in the northwest Bahamas, alerting residents that tropical storm conditions are possible within 48 hours.

The disturbance had top winds of 35 miles per hour (56 km per hour). If those rotating winds reach 39 miles per hour (63 km per hour), it would become Tropical Storm Bret, the second storm of the Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season that runs from June 1 to November 30.

The disturbance was drifting south and was expected to turn slowly north-northwest on Monday, dumping up to 3 inches of rain on the northwest Bahamas and roiling the surf on some the islands' beaches.
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