Earth Changes

Bunyangabu in Uganda faces hunger as severe hailstorms destroys 5,000 gardens

Alex Ashaba
The Monitor (Uganda)
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 11:39 UTC

Destroyed. Ms Flora Kugonza in her banana plantation that was destroyed by a hailstorm in Kyatwa village Bunyangabu district on Wednesday.

A downpour accompanied by hailstorms has ravaged several parts of Bunyangabu District destroying more than 5,000 gardens.

Among the crop gardens that were destroyed include; beans, maize, cassava, coffee, Irish potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, sorghum and onions that were ready for harvesting. Goats, too, were not spared by the rain.

Ms Jackline Chance, a mother of seven children in Kyatwa Village, Kibiito Town Council, said Bunyangabu residents depend on agriculture for a living.

Ms Chance on Monday survived death after part of her house was destroyed by wind.

(NB Video report starts at the 6.50 minute mark)

Nearly 100 species of frogs, toads and salamanders wiped out by fungus

Adam Vaughan
New Scientist
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 12:00 UTC

The extinction of 90 species of amphibians can be pinned on a deadly fungal disease, according to the most comprehensive exercise yet to map its impact.

In total, chytridiomycosis contributed to the decline of more than 500 species of frogs, toads and salamanders, or nearly 7 per cent of all amphibian species, since the disease first emerged in the 1980s.

The toll means the disease has wrought the greatest loss of biodiversity by any pathogen, on an order of magnitude greater than other wildlife diseases, such as the bat-killing white-nose syndrome.

"It's crazy what this pathogen does," says Trenton Garner from the Zoological Society of London, one of the paper's authors.

Previous work has been undertaken on the spread of the disease, and regional efforts have been made to gauge its impact on frogs and other species. But the team behind the new study say it is the best effort yet to aggregate its effects globally. "It's a smoking gun that wasn't there before," says Garner.

Comment: Outbreaks of various kinds appear to be on the rise in both humans and the animal kingdom:

Wildfires blaze across unseasonably hot, dry Portugal

Catarina Demony, Rafael Marchante
Reuters
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 15:35 UTC

© REUTERS
Flames of an approaching forest fire are seen near the small village of Gondomil, near Valenca, Portugal, Wednesday.

Hundreds of Portuguese firefighters struggled on Wednesday to contain wildfires which erupted far earlier in the season than usual because of unexpectedly hot and windy weather.

Ten fires were burning across the country, most in the north, several months before the late spring season when fire crews are normally in place. Meteorologists said global warming had made it difficult to predict where blazes would erupt.

"We are having significant fire outbreaks in areas where we didn't know the risk was high," Miguel Miranda, president of the Portuguese Institute of Meteorology (IPMA), told Portuguese radio station TSF. "We are in unexplored territory, we have never been through this."

Helicopters dropped water on flaming woodlands near the tiny village of Gondomil on Portugal's northern edge near the Spanish frontier. A firefighter there told Reuters the force was waiting at a wooded area until the weather conditions made it possible to fight the blaze.

Comment: Europe's record breaking warm winter leads to unprecedented wildfires

Mexico raises alert level after Popocatepetl volcano eruption

Daniel Uria
UPI
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 00:13 UTC

© Hilda Rios/EPA-EFE
A general view of the Popocatepetl volcano from the city of Puebla, Mexico. Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center raised its alert for the Popocatepetl volcano due to increased activity on Thursday.

Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center raised its alert for the Popocatepetl volcano due to increased activity on Thursday.

The agency raised the warning level from yellow Phase 2 to yellow Phase 3 after an eruption occurred at 6:50 a.m. sending a plume of ash more than a mile and a half into the air.

It also recorded 61 exhalations at the volcano within the past 24 hours.

"The CENAPRED urges NOT TO APPROACH the volcano and especially the crater, because of the danger involved in the fall of ballistic fragments," the agency said.

Yellow Phase 3 is the highest level of warning before the red phase, which would include an advisory for people around the volcano to evacuate.

Magnitude 6.1 earthquake hits off Russia's Kuril Islands

Sputnik International
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 23:15 UTC

The new jolts followed Wednesday's magnitude 4.6 earthquake which was registered off the coast of the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula.

The so-called Kuril-Kamchatka Arc, which extends some 2,100 km from Hokkaido, Japan along the Kuril Islands and the Pacific coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, is one of the most seismically active regions in the world also known as the Ring of Fire.

According to the US Geological Survey, the epicenter of the quake - initially reported as a magnitude 6.5 - that struck east of the Kuril Islands on Friday morning local time, was 168 miles (270 km) east of the small town of Severo-Kurilsk. There have been no damages or casualties reported. The area is sparsely populated.

According to the Richter scale, earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0- 7.9 are considered major and can cause severe damage. Quakes with a magnitude of 5.0-5.9 are considered to be moderate.

Five different species of whale and dolphin have washed ashore recently in Donegal, Ireland

Michelle NicPhaidin
Donegal Democrat
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 14:18 UTC

Five different species of whales and dolphins have been found washed up on Donegal strands since last Monday.

A spokesperson for the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG), Gareth Doherty, said the incidents are becoming too frequent.

Sperm Whale

A large 43ft male sperm Whale was found dead on Magheroarty beach on Monday morning.

Mr Doherty said that the animal was found in bad condition and believes it to have been dead for 3 to 4 weeks.

Lightning strike at sea kills regional Brazilian surf champion

en.as.com
Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:44 UTC

23-year-old Ceará champion Luzimara Souza was training off the coast of Fortaleza when the lightning bolt struck.

The world of surfing is in mourning after the news was confirmed that Brazilian surfer Luzimara Souza was killed by lightning whilst training near the beach in Leste-oeste in Fortaleza (Ceará, Brazil) where she practised with fellow surfers.

A local businessman told local surfing outlet Waves how the lightning struck the sea exactly where Luzimara was training and despite being quickly evacuated to local the Hospital Instituto Dr. José Frota she failed to survive the impact.

Comment: Also recently 4 farmers were killed by separate lightning strikes in Bangladesh.

Hailstorm destroys 4 million avocados in under 10 minutes, Australia

Kim Honan
ABC Local
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 08:26 UTC

Aussie Orchards' managing director Colin Foyster holds three of the 4 million damaged avocados

A hail storm that ripped through an avocado orchard in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales last week has destroyed an estimated 4 million avocados.

Aussie Orchards' managing director Colin Foyster said 80 per cent of the fruit on the 12,000 trees at the Pretty Gully farm was knocked off and onto the ground.

"I wasn't here but some people have said the hail stones were up to three inches [7.6cm] in size and very jagged," he said.

"It only hailed for less than 10 minutes, but [the stones were] big enough to knock the fruit off the tree or damage the remaining fruit.

"It's three months away from harvest, so it's all immature, so it's unsalvageable."

Mr Foyster said the remaining fruit on the trees also had impact marks where the hail hit the fruit, and the trees themselves were also damaged.

"If it's around the stem, or it's severe, it will lead to a rot and that fruit will then drop off," he said.

"But most of the remaining fruit, the 20 per cent, it'll just be downgraded."

Comment: Erratic seasons and extreme weather devastating crops around the world

Cyclone Idai: Bulawayo in Zimbabwe runs out of fruits, vegetables

New Zimbabwe
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 21:30 UTC

Bulawayo runs out of bananas, vegetables

Cyclone Idai's negative effects have turned economic, with severe shortage of fruits and vegetables in Bulawayo, it has emerged.

The hostile weather phenomenon ripped through Manicaland's south eastern districts of Chimanimani and Chipinge leaving a trail of death and destruction as well as overturning livelihoods overnight.

According to vendors in Bulawayo, Chimanimani and Chipinge are the major suppliers of fruits and vegetables to the country's second largest city. The infrastructural destruction by the cyclone has left many a supplier and vendor in a lurch.

Fruits and vegetables such as bananas, onions, avocados and pineapples have run out in Bulawayo and surrounding towns.

Ice Age Farmer Report: Trump to EMP-harden Grid - Greenland Glacier grows - UN: Food scarcity looms

Ice Age Farmer
Wed, 27 Mar 2019 21:11 UTC

Trump signs XO to EMP-harden critical infrastructure. NASA study finds Greenland's Glacier adding mass. Traders "shrug" at 100m bushels lost (although institutional investors are pouring out!) -- even as the UN warns that food scarcity is looming. Christian breaks it all down and encourages you to start preparing.