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Trees Cocooned in Spider Webs After Flood


National Geographic
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:01 UTC
Image
© Russell Watkins, U.K. Department for International DevelopmentWebbed Trees
The giant spider webs in Sindh, Pakistan, sometimes stretched from tree to tree, as seen above in December 2010.

"Any kind of vegetation that was above ground was affected, literally every kind of tree and bush," Watkins said of the widespread spider webs.

While unusual, trees cocooned in spider webs are not unprecedented. Scientists have reported similar webs in other parts of the world, the tropics in particular. In 2007, for instance, a superintendent at Lake Tawokoni State Park in Texas discovered a giant spider web among the trees.

Watkins said he didn't know which type of spider was responsible for the tree cocoons in Sindh. But in the case of Lake Tawokoni, scientists determined that dozens of spider species were spinning the communal webs.
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Question

Mysterious equine illness spreads in Australia: Increasing numbers of horses displaying unusual neurological symptoms

Emma Pritchard
The Daily Examiner
Sat, 02 Apr 2011 06:06 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Hold your horses. It hasn't arrived in the Clarence Valley - yet but increasing numbers of horses displaying unusual neurological symptoms across three states have prompted the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) to caution all owners.

In NSW alone there have been 87 confirmed cases of the unidentified illness.

While tests conducted by the NSW Department of Industry and Investment have ruled out Hendra virus, AVA president Dr Barry Smyth believes the illness may be the result of a mosquito-borne disease.

"Diseases associated with mosquitoes are very uncommon in normal years," he said.
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Bizarro Earth

Unseasonal Heavy Rain Floods Thailand


Earth Observatory
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 20:37 UTC
Thailand Floods
© Earth Observatory, NASANASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, using near-real-time data provided courtesy of TRMM Science Data and Information System at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Normally the end of March brings dry weather to tropical Thailand. In 2011, however, a powerful storm settled over the Malay Peninsula, bringing up to 1,270 millimeters (50 inches) of rain in little over a week. The intense rain flooded 8 provinces, killing 13 and affecting 842,324 people as of April 1, said the government of Thailand.

This image, made from the Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis based on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, shows rainfall for March 23 - 30, 2011. Rainfall totals range from 200 millimeters (8 inches) to more than 1,200 millimeters (47 inches) across the Malay Peninsula. TRMM measured the most rain immediately south of the city of Surat Thani.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Collapsing Roads Lead to Emergency Declaration


KRCRTV
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:17 UTC
Collapsing Road
© KRCRTV
Oroville, California -- Butte County has declared a local emergency after saturated soil caused the ground to literally slide out from under two of the county's roads.

Oro Quincy Highway and Bardees Bar Road have been closed since Tuesday when public works crews discovered sections of the road had developed cracks and started to drop.

Once the declaration is approved by state and federal officials the county will be eligible to receive funding for the repairs which could total more than half a million dollars.

Nobody has been stranded by the closure of the roads.
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Cloud Lightning

Thirteen Dead in Vietnam Rockslide


AFP
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:16 UTC
Image
© AFP/Vietnam News AgencyA victim is seen buried in rubble after a rockslide at a stone quarry in Yen Thanh district, north-central province of Nghe An, Vietnam, on April 1. At least 13 people were killed and several others trapped beneath large boulders after the rockslide.
At least 13 people were killed and several others trapped beneath large boulders after a rockslide at a quarry in Vietnam, an official said Friday.

Troops were helping the rescue efforts but the chances of survival for the five missing "is very low," said Ho Duc Phuoc, chairman of the provincial People's Committee, the local government.

"The search is very difficult because there are several huge rocks and we have had to mobilise soldiers to help," Phuoc said.

The accident happened when hundreds of tonnes of rock fell onto workers at Len Co quarry in Nghe An province, north central Vietnam, a district policeman told AFP, refusing to be named.

"Continuous rains over the past few days might have been the reason for the rockslide," he said, adding that hundreds of rescuers had joined the search for the remaining victims.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Tornadoes, Storms Bruise Tampa Bay Area

Neil Johnson and Ray Reyes
The Tampa Tribune
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:12 UTC
Image
About 40 planes were damaged at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.
Small planes in St. Petersburg and Lakeland were flipped and scattered like toys.

Trucks toppled over on roads, and cargo containers at the Port of Tampa fell like a child's set of wooden blocks.

Somehow, a large trampoline from a Riverview home went airborne, snagging on a tree branch and hanging there like a holiday ornament.

Everyone knew about Thursday's forecast: A swath of thunderstorms was bearing down on the Tampa Bay area and the threat of tornadoes would hover over the region for most of the day.

No one expected this.

"I was rattled out of my brains," said Karen Scheidt, who saw sycamores and oaks snap near her Temple Terrace home. "I'm all jiggly all over still."

Damage from Thursday's massive storm was spread over a wide region. No county in West Central Florida was spared from flooding, road closures, downed electrical lines, wind damage and power outages. Dozens of homes and businesses were seriously damaged, particularly along Interbay Boulevard in South Tampa and in a small neighborhood in Progress Village.
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Fish

Black Coral: 2,000 Year-Old Black Coral Found By USGS Near BP Oil Well


Batangas Today
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:23 UTC
A 2,000 year-old black coral was found by scientists in the Gulf of Mexico, near the broken BP oil well, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on Wednesday, March 30, 2011.

According to the USGS, this is the first time that they were able to determine the age of the black coral in the Mexican Gulf.

The USGS has been trying to determine the age of the ancient slow-growing corals even before the BP oil spill in April 20, 2010.

Image
© Ringlet.orgBlack Coral
The black corals, that looks like deep-sea bushes or trees and reportedly feeds on organic matter, are located about 1,000 feet below sea-level and 21 miles northeast of the BP well in the Gulf.
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Cloud Lightning

US: Winds, floods damage homes


DNN
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:51 UTC
Image
Dozens of homes were damaged Tuesday and Wednesday following a severe weather system that blasted across the central part of the Mississippi and by Thursday afternoon, residents in central Florida were also picking up the pieces of severe weather there as well.

According the the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, one Simpson County home was destroyed and at least 40 others were damaged by severe winds. In addition, at least eight homes were flooded in Scott County.

A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said winds of 110 miles per hour were reported near Old Pearl in Simpson County
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Cloud Lightning

25 dead in Thai floods; rains finally ease


The Seattle Times
Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:44 UTC
thai floods
© Associated PressA Buddhist monk paddles through a flooded temple
Bangkok- Heavy rains have finally eased in southern Thailand, where flooding and mudslides over the past week killed 25 people.

Flood relief center official Vittayen Muttamara warned Friday that residents in hillside areas must remain alert, because the flood runoff from the mountains could still inundate villages.

The government disaster agency says nearly 1 million people in eight southern provinces have been affected by the floods.

Vittayen said access to some villages by land was still difficult because of damage to roads and bridges, but rescue workers were able to reach them by helicopter. The state news agency TNA quoted Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat saying more than 1,246 schools suffered damage.
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Bizarro Earth

Philippines: Increasing Carbon Dioxide Emissions at Taal Cause Concern

Erik Klemetti
Big Think
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:16 UTC
Taal_1
© Big ThinkUndated image of the active crater at Taal in the Philippines.

Over the last year, we've been hearing about unrest at the Taal caldera in the Philippines. Last year, PHIVOLCS even raised the alert status briefly when seismicity at the volcano increased to a level that raised concerns it could erupt. The seismicity waned and the alert status was lowered, but PHIVOLCS has been keeping a close eye on the caldera that sits a mere 50 km from the capitol of the Philippines, Manila. The volcano is a case where careful monitoring and mitigation will hopefully save lives - one of the reasons it was a Decade Volcano.

As a refresher, the last eruption of Taal was over 30 years ago, in 1977, but these were mostly small phreatic (steam explosion) events. Taal is capable of producing significant explosive eruptions, including a potential VEI 6 eruption in ~3850 BC, multiple VEI 4 eruptions in 1716, 1749 and 1965, and frequent VEI 3 events. With this much potential for explosive eruptions so near a population center, the volcano must be watched closely.
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