Earth Changes

Diesel fumes confuse honeybees when foraging

Nick Collins
The Telegraph,UK
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 14:19 UTC

Exhaust fumes from diesel could be changing the scent of flowers and making it harder for honeybees to collect pollen and nectar, according to a new study.

Pollutants found in diesel exhaust alter levels of chemicals released by flowers which honeybees use to locate and identify varieties with the largest amounts of pollen and nectar, researchers found.

Tests in a laboratory designed to mimic the effect of exhaust fumes on the smell of oilseed rape showed that the bees' ability to recognise the odour was reduced by about two thirds.

Although exhaust fumes are unlikely to be the main cause of the sharp decline in Britain's bee populations, they could be exacerbating the problem, researchers said.

Fumes which prevent honeybees recognising the smell of flowers could "have serious detrimental effects on the number of honeybee colonies" as well as reducing the pollination of vital crops and lowering honey yields, they claimed.

State emergency: Chile frost hits fruit crops and wine with damage of $1 billion

Reuters
Fri, 04 Oct 2013 14:01 UTC

Santiago - Chile declared a state of emergency on Thursday after a late frost caused an estimated $1 billion worth of damage to fruit crops, potentially hitting wine production as well.

The affected central region is the main fruit and wine producing area in Chile, the world's No.7 wine producer, and includes vineyards owned by prominent local wine label Concha y Toro.

The industry is one of Chile's most important after copper, with fruit exports worth $4.3 billion in 2012 and wine worth $1.8 billion, according to government figures.

"These frosts are the worst that agriculture has faced in 84 years, impacting the area from Coquimbo to Bio Bio," the national agricultural society said as Agriculture Minister Luis Mayol pledged aid for affected farmers.

Fruit trade association Fedefruta has given an early estimate of up to $1 billion of damage from the extensive cold snap in late September.

Mutant skate named Elvis caught by Portsmouth fishermen

The Natural History Museum
Fri, 04 Oct 2013 13:40 UTC

© National Museum History
Elvis the Thornback skate, with an extra fin resembling a quiff, will live in an open top tank in the Blue Reef Aquarium in Portsmouth.

A museum fish curator has identified a skate's unusual appendage as an extra pelvic fin, rather than a genetic throwback to its shark relative.

An unusual skate has been caught by fishermen in the Solent with an extra fin.

It was taken to the Portsmouth Blue Reef Aquarium for identification, where it is now being held for safekeeping.

Aquarium staff have nicknamed it Elvis because the fin resembles a quiff.

Skate or shark?

Aquarium staff originally thought the extra appendage was a dorsal fin from a genetic throwback to a shark. Skate are distantly related to sharks.

On closer inspection, however, they realised it was more likely a bizarre mutation.

Natural History Museum fish curator James Maclaine, who was brought in to identify the fin, realised it was something entirely new.

'Mutated skates do turn up from time to time, sometimes with fin anomalies that make them heart-shaped, but we still have never seen anything quite like this one before,' Maclaine said.

'The general consensus is that it's a mutation, and probably more likely an out of place extra pelvic fin rather than a new dorsal fin," he said.

Elusive giant squid washes up on Spanish beach

Jeanna Bryner
LIveScience
Fri, 04 Oct 2013 08:05 UTC

© El Diario Montanes, Video Screengrab
Like other giant squid, the one that washed ashore in Cantabria on Oct. 1, 2013, sported enormous eyes.

A giant squid, whose oversized eyes and gargantuan blob of a body make it look more mythical than real beast, washed ashore Tuesday (Oct. 1) at La Arena beach in the Spanish community of Cantabria.

The beast measures some 30 feet (9 meters) in length and weighs a whopping 400 pounds (180 kilograms); and according to news reports, it is a specimen of Architeuthis dux, the largest invertebrate (animals without backbones) on Earth.

The giant squid is currently at the Maritime Museum of Cantabria, according to El Diario Montanes.

Tsunemi Kubodera, a zoologist at Japan's National Science Museum in Tokyo, and his colleagues, captured the first live footage of an Architeuthis giant squid in its natural habitat in 2012. The video revealed the elusive creature off the Ogasawara Islands, about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Tokyo at a depth of around 2,066 feet (630 m); the three-man crew aboard a submersible followed the giant squid down to 2,950 feet (900 m).

Argentina - 2,200 cattle die in snowstorm

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 10:27 UTC

Cows, calves and bulls dead after the snowstorm.

In Bernasconi, General Acha, Ataliva Rock, Quehué, Colonia Santa Maria and Unanue appeared cows, calves and bulls dead after the snowstorm.

The mayor of Bernasconi, Jorge Riera, said about 200 animals were killed in department Hucal while in Utracán department, two thousand cattle were killed. (Journal Textual)

"This came from several months of poor nutrition due to lack of pasture and the cold and snow gave the coup de grace. Government aid was little, almost nothing," said producers.

Includes photo of dead cattle:
http://www.maracodigital.net/?PAG=Vernota&idcontenido=61269

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link

Deadly giant hornets kill 42 people in China, injure 1500

Madison Park. Dayu Zhang and Elizabeth Landau
CNN
Fri, 04 Oct 2013 08:40 UTC

Swarms of deadly hornets have killed more than 40 people and injured more than 1,600 in northern China

Hornets have killed dozens of people in China and injured more than 1,500 with their powerful venomous sting.

The Asian giant hornet, known scientifically as Vespa mandarinia, carries a venom that destroys red blood cells, which can result in kidney failure and death, said Justin O. Schmidt, an entomologist at the Southwest Biological Institute in Tucson, Arizona.

But perhaps a bigger problem than the toxicity of the venom is allergy, Schmidt says. Some people are naturally more allergic to stinging insects than others; a sting can trigger a deadly anaphylactic reaction, which may involve airway closure or cardiac arrest.

Since July, hornet attacks have killed 42 people and injured 1,675 people in three cities in Shaanxi province, according to the local government. Among those attacked, 206 are receiving treatment in hospitals.

Scientists to IPCC: YES, solar quiet spells like the one now looming CAN mean ICE AGES

Lewis Page
ClimateChangeDispatch
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 00:37 UTC

There's been criticism for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) over its latest AR5 report from many quarters for many reasons. But today there's new research focusing on one particular aspect of that criticism.

The particular part of the IPCC's science in question is its accounting for the effects of changes in the Sun on the climate of planet Earth. Many climatologists have long sought to suggest that the effects of solar variability are minor, certainly when compared to those of human-driven CO₂ emissions. Others, however, while admitting that the Sun changes only a very little over human timescales, think that it might be an important factor.

This matters because solar physicists think that the Sun is about to enter a "grand minimum", a prolonged period of low activity.

The current 11-year peak in solar action is the weakest seen for a long time, and it may presage a lengthy quiet period. Previously, historical records suggest that such periods have been accompanied by chilly conditions on Earth - perhaps to the point where a coming minimum might counteract or even render irrelevant humanity's carbon emissions. The "Little Ice Age" seen from the 15th to the 19th centuries is often mentioned in this context.

There are certainly plenty of scientists to say, along with the IPCC, that this isn't so. For instance climate physicist Joanna Haigh has this to say, in tinned quotes offered alongside the AR5 release by the UK's Science Media Centre:

Corbett Report: The IPCC exposed again

The Corbett Report
Sat, 28 Sep 2013 00:00 UTC

The IPCC has released its latest assessment of the state of climate science, and this time it's even more dire than their 2007 assessment. Global warming is "unequivocal" and humans are the "dominant cause" to a certainty of 95%. But how are these uncertainties calculated? And how does the IPCC process work anyway? Join us this week on The Corbett Report as we dissect the latest IPCC hype and examine the organizations processes and conclusions.

Snakes alive! Countless reports of snakes turning up in weird places

Julian Friese
Sott.net
Thu, 03 Oct 2013 06:06 UTC

As a SOTT editor, I like to keep an eye on what's going on in the animal kingdom. The big news in recent years on that score has, of course, been the high number of mass animal deaths. But has anyone else noticed the extraordinary number of stories about snakes in the news lately? I first noticed a spate of snake stories at the beginning of the summer, and over the last couple of months snakes have been turning up in close proximity to people, and in some highly unusual settings, at an alarming rate. There have also been some particularly horrifying reports of attacks and resulting fatalities by escaped pet pythons - on both children and domesticated animals alike.

It seems appropriate that 2013, according to the Chinese zodiac tradition, is the Year of the Snake!

The following is a quick run-down of some incidents worth highlighting, starting in May, which initially show a slow build-up of such stories, leading fairly rapidly to 'spikes' in reports, some of which we've carried on SOTT.

Die-off of thousands of Oregon swallows blamed on weather

kgw.com
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 13:25 UTC

Oregon scientists say thousands of swallows died during recent Willamette Valley rains, likely of starvation because the birds feed on insects while flying and they couldn't get out in the weather to feed.

Veterinarians said four days of steady rain and wind helped make September the wettest on record in the Valley. They came at a time when birds would have been feeding in preparation for winter migration to Central and South America.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife says it got calls about dead and dying birds from residents ranging from the Port of Saint Helens on the Columbia River to Junction City north of Eugene.

Groups of 10 to 200 barn and violet-green swallows were reported dead or dying in barns and other structures where they perch.

Source: Associated Press

Wonder who created those vaccines and funded the research.

Searcher109

You can tell this is an MSM article, and on reading it, I could actually hear in my head the phony concern in the voice of a tv announcer, how...

ReRan

"she has been and continues to be an advocate for vaccination" really ? wonder how enthusiastic she is to get the 2nd jab ?

life

British intelligence knows that France ( Rothschild ), payed for the lab. The story issued provides the information that Chinese and Americans...

Orwik

.. .. stop, hey, what's that sound, everybody look what's going down or, "Cat booty?" "Tune-in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat station" [Link]

Jibrish

Earth Changes

Diesel fumes confuse honeybees when foraging

State emergency: Chile frost hits fruit crops and wine with damage of $1 billion

Mutant skate named Elvis caught by Portsmouth fishermen

Elusive giant squid washes up on Spanish beach

Argentina - 2,200 cattle die in snowstorm

Deadly giant hornets kill 42 people in China, injure 1500

Scientists to IPCC: YES, solar quiet spells like the one now looming CAN mean ICE AGES

Corbett Report: The IPCC exposed again

Snakes alive! Countless reports of snakes turning up in weird places

Die-off of thousands of Oregon swallows blamed on weather

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