Parts of the Pilbara have been inundated with rainfall overnight that would usually only fall during a cyclone.
The highest rainfall in the region was recorded in Karratha, where 209.2mm of rain has fallen since 9am yesterday.
The rainfall smashed Karratha's daily June record of 60mm.
Earth Changes
The Department of Environmental Protection says a biologist was sent out to Hirsch Lake in Runnemede, Camden County this morning after hundreds of fish were found dead.
The lake, which is called both Hirsch Lake and Runnemede Lake, is located along Singley Avenue.
Between 300 and 500 carp were found dead in the lake Thursday morning.
It appears that only the carp are being killed - no other plant or wildlife in or around the lake seem to be affected. Officials suspect a pathogen specifically affecting the carp may be responsible for the sudden fish kill.
Biologists are hoping to test the tissue of a living but sickly carp to determine if their speculation of a pathogen being the cause is correct.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a 6 ft wave that hit the east coast earlier this month was a rare tsunami. The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center said the source of the wave is "complex and under review," but they believe it was caused by a strong storm and perhaps even the "the slumping at the continental shelf east of New Jersey."
The weather service says that Brian Coen, who was spear fishing near Barnegat Inlet in New Jersey, saw the effect of the tsunami first hand.
He told the weather service that he noticed an outgoing tide that lasted a couple of minutes and exposed rocks that had been submerged. That was followed by a big six-foot wave.
The Asbury Park Press, which covers the Jersey coast, talked to Paul Whitmore, director of the tsunami center.
He explained the weather system that moved through the area may have changed the air pressure enough to "generate waves that act just like tsunamis." When that happens, the wave is called a "meteotsunami" - in other words a tsunami caused by meteorological conditions, not seismic activity.
He told the weather service that he noticed an outgoing tide that lasted a couple of minutes and exposed rocks that had been submerged. That was followed by a big six-foot wave.
The Asbury Park Press, which covers the Jersey coast, talked to Paul Whitmore, director of the tsunami center.
He explained the weather system that moved through the area may have changed the air pressure enough to "generate waves that act just like tsunamis." When that happens, the wave is called a "meteotsunami" - in other words a tsunami caused by meteorological conditions, not seismic activity.
© Unknown
Confirming the presence of an underwater volcano, AERB said the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has also recommended an advanced study to figure out the status of the volcano.
Confirming the presence of an underwater volcano, AERB said the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has also recommended an advanced study to figure out the status of the volcano.
Confirming the presence of an underwater volcano five weeks ago, an AERB reply to an RTI query said the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has also recommended an advanced study to figure out the status of the volcano, though initial investigations did not detect any significant geological signs.
Kills were reported on June 4 and again on Monday. The die-off has spread downstream roughly 50 river miles from the initial report near Lamont to its confluence with the main channel of the Arkansas River, which is about seven miles south of Ponca City, according to Kay County Game Warden Spencer Grace, who is investigating the kill.
There is no official estimate of the number of fish killed.
"We're looking at stretches of the river, about a mile at a time, 100 or 200 in this stretch, 50 in the next stretch. You take 100 fish times 50 miles of river, that's a lot of fish," he said.
Both Department of Wildlife Conservation and state Department of Environmental Quality officials have been to the river and taken water samples and fish samples, he said.
Grace would not speculate on the cause of the kill but said it is widespread and "catastrophic."
"I've been working on this the last three days with DEQ and it's been frustrating because so many miles of the river are dead now. There are no fish in the water, no gar, nothing. You only see the occasional turtle. You're not seeing any indicators of new fish dying so we just have to rely on the water tests now."
DEQ spokeswoman Erin Hatfield said water tests would look for a wide range of substances looked for in any fish kill, including heavy metals.
Results will be known in 10 days to two weeks, she said.
There is no official warning to prevent people from going into the water or eating fish from the river, but Grace said he would not recommend it.
Grace said the kill has hit largest fish the hardest.
"I think the smallest one I saw was about three pounds," he said.
"It's killing all aquatic life with the exception of turtles, freshwater mussels and clams. It seems to target species that live on the bottom and the big fish that hang out in those deep holes, so the catfish, buffalo, carp, some paddlefish. It is killing out fish in that system that won't be replaced in our lifetime."
The Salt Fork, which forms the Great Salt Plains Lake where it is dammed in Alfalfa County, has natural salinity but levels measured this week are "astronomical," Grace said.
© West Sussex County Times
The object, which appears to fit descriptions of a rare phenomenon called 'ball lightning', was seen in the village on the afternoon of June 7.
Roger Spinks told the County Times he was working at The Village Store, Pound Lane, when he saw it shoot past, heading south-west along the course of Golding Lane and Church Road.
He was standing at the counter talking to a customer when he saw it out of the window, going past very quickly with a strange motion 'like a bouncing bomb'.
Mr Spinks said it reminded him of the mysterious balloon-like entity from cult TV series The Prisoner.
© USGS
2013-06-24 22:04:13 UTC
2013-06-24 19:04:13 UTC-03:00 at epicenter
Location
10.726°N 42.616°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)
Nearby Cities
1242km (772mi) ENE of Remire-Montjoly, French Guiana
1248km (775mi) ENE of Cayenne, French Guiana
1252km (778mi) ENE of Matoury, French Guiana
1265km (786mi) ENE of Kourou, French Guiana
1359km (844mi) NNE of Salinopolis, Brazil
Technical Details
Four waterspots form off Italy's Adriatic coast today, June 24th 2013
Exactly as expected in recent days, the Riviera of Romagna and Marche in Italy are the areas most affected by the weather this afternoon: a real "water bomb" is affecting the area on the border between Marche and Emilia Romagna. In Riccione 81mm of rain has already fallen, with 73mm in Rimini and 33mm in Ancona. There are reports of flooding and blackouts, with traffic mayhem. Check out the images below that depict this rather apocalyptic scene. Up to 12cms of rain fell in one hour in some areas.
Heavy rainfall has caused flooding in the Emilia-Romagna and Marche areas of Eastern Italy. Streets have been turned into rivers and highways have been closed
Floods in Rimini and Ancona on the Italian East coast have inundated towns and cities
Heavy rainfall has caused flooding in the Emilia-Romagna and Marche areas of Eastern Italy. Streets have been turned into rivers and highways have been closed
Floods in Rimini and Ancona on the Italian East coast have inundated towns and cities
Elmwood - Local beekeepers are finding millions of their bees dead just after corn was planted here in the last few weeks. Dave Schuit, who has a honey operation in Elmwood, lost 600 hives, a total of 37 million bees.
"Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions," Schuit said. He and many others, including the European Union, are pointing the finger at a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc. used in planting corn and some other crops. The European Union just recently voted to ban these insecticides for two years, beginning December 1, 2013, to be able to study how it relates to the large bee kill they are experiencing there also.
Local grower Nathan Carey from the Neustadt, and National Farmers Union Local 344 member, says he noticed this spring the lack of bees and bumblebees on his farm. He believes that there is a strong connection between the insecticide use and the death of pollinators.
"I feel like we all have something at stake with this issue," he said. He is organizing a public workshop and panel discussion about this problem at his farm June 22 at 10 a.m. He hopes that all interested parties can get together and talk about the reason bees, the prime pollinators of so any different plant species, are dying.
At the farm of Gary Kenny, south west of Hanover, eight of the 10 hives he kept for a beekeeper out of Kincardine, died this spring just after corn was planted in neighbouring fields.
What seems to be deadly to bees is that the neonicotinoid pesticides are coating corn seed and with the use of new air seeders, are blowing the pesticide dust into the air when planted. The death of millions of pollinators was looked at by American Purdue University. They found that, "Bees exhibited neurotoxic symptoms, analysis of dead bees revealed traces of thiamethoxam/clothianidin in each case. Seed treatments of field crops (primarily corn) are the only major source of these compounds.
Local investigations near Guelph, led to the same conclusion. A Pest Management Regulatory Agency investigation confirmed that corn seeds treated with clothianidin or thiamethoxam "contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities" last spring.
"The air seeders are the problem," said Ontario Federation of Agriculture director Paul Wettlaufer, who farms near Neustadt. This was after this reporter called John Gillespie, OFA Bruce County president, who told me to call Wettlaufer. Unfortunately, Wettlaufer said it was, "not a local OFA issue," and that it was an issue for the Grain Farmers of Ontario and representative, Hennry Vanakum should be notified. Vanakum could not be rached for comment.
Yet Guelph University entomologist Peter Kevan, disagreed with the EU ban.
"There's very little evidence to say that neonicotinoids, in a very general sense, in a broad scale sense, have been a major component in the demise of honeybees or any other pollinators, anywhere in the world," said Kevan.
But research is showing that honeybee disorders and high colony losses have become a global phenomena. An international team of scientists led by Holland's Utrecht University concluded that, "Large scale prophylaxic use in agriculture, their high persistence in soil and water, and their uptake by plants and translocation to flowers, neonicotinoids put pollinator services at risk." This research and others resulted in the Eurpean Union ban.
The United Church is also concerned about the death of so many pollinators and has prepared a "Take Action" paper it's sending out to all its members. The church is basing its action on local research. The Take Action paper states among other things, "Scientific information gathered suggests that the planting of corn seeds treated with neonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities that occurred in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec in Spring 2012."
Meanwhile Schuit is replacing his queen bees every few months now instead of years, as they are dying so frequently. "OMAFRA tells me to have faith. Well, I think it's criminal what is happening, and it's hard to have faith if it doesn't look like they are going to do anything anyway," Schuit says.
"Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions," Schuit said. He and many others, including the European Union, are pointing the finger at a class of insecticides known as neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer CropScience Inc. used in planting corn and some other crops. The European Union just recently voted to ban these insecticides for two years, beginning December 1, 2013, to be able to study how it relates to the large bee kill they are experiencing there also.
Local grower Nathan Carey from the Neustadt, and National Farmers Union Local 344 member, says he noticed this spring the lack of bees and bumblebees on his farm. He believes that there is a strong connection between the insecticide use and the death of pollinators.
"I feel like we all have something at stake with this issue," he said. He is organizing a public workshop and panel discussion about this problem at his farm June 22 at 10 a.m. He hopes that all interested parties can get together and talk about the reason bees, the prime pollinators of so any different plant species, are dying.
At the farm of Gary Kenny, south west of Hanover, eight of the 10 hives he kept for a beekeeper out of Kincardine, died this spring just after corn was planted in neighbouring fields.
What seems to be deadly to bees is that the neonicotinoid pesticides are coating corn seed and with the use of new air seeders, are blowing the pesticide dust into the air when planted. The death of millions of pollinators was looked at by American Purdue University. They found that, "Bees exhibited neurotoxic symptoms, analysis of dead bees revealed traces of thiamethoxam/clothianidin in each case. Seed treatments of field crops (primarily corn) are the only major source of these compounds.
Local investigations near Guelph, led to the same conclusion. A Pest Management Regulatory Agency investigation confirmed that corn seeds treated with clothianidin or thiamethoxam "contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities" last spring.
"The air seeders are the problem," said Ontario Federation of Agriculture director Paul Wettlaufer, who farms near Neustadt. This was after this reporter called John Gillespie, OFA Bruce County president, who told me to call Wettlaufer. Unfortunately, Wettlaufer said it was, "not a local OFA issue," and that it was an issue for the Grain Farmers of Ontario and representative, Hennry Vanakum should be notified. Vanakum could not be rached for comment.
Yet Guelph University entomologist Peter Kevan, disagreed with the EU ban.
"There's very little evidence to say that neonicotinoids, in a very general sense, in a broad scale sense, have been a major component in the demise of honeybees or any other pollinators, anywhere in the world," said Kevan.
But research is showing that honeybee disorders and high colony losses have become a global phenomena. An international team of scientists led by Holland's Utrecht University concluded that, "Large scale prophylaxic use in agriculture, their high persistence in soil and water, and their uptake by plants and translocation to flowers, neonicotinoids put pollinator services at risk." This research and others resulted in the Eurpean Union ban.
The United Church is also concerned about the death of so many pollinators and has prepared a "Take Action" paper it's sending out to all its members. The church is basing its action on local research. The Take Action paper states among other things, "Scientific information gathered suggests that the planting of corn seeds treated with neonicotinoids contributed to the majority of the bee mortalities that occurred in corn growing regions of Ontario and Quebec in Spring 2012."
Meanwhile Schuit is replacing his queen bees every few months now instead of years, as they are dying so frequently. "OMAFRA tells me to have faith. Well, I think it's criminal what is happening, and it's hard to have faith if it doesn't look like they are going to do anything anyway," Schuit says.
