Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Algal bloom proves persistent in New Zealand

The algal bloom that tarnished Virginia Lake earlier this year refuses to go away.

Scientists expected the blue-green algae would die out in the chill winter, but not so.

Barry Gilliland, Horizons Regional Council's water quality leader, said latest sampling from the lake had shown a rapid increase in the algal cell count in the lake.

Question

Nine cows die after drinking from Delmoe Lake in Montana, algae suspected...

Nine cows died after drinking from Delmoe Lake, a popular recreational lake east of Butte.

A witness reported watching two of the cows drink water from the lake, then walk just a few feet before falling over dead. This has prompted a warning for people to stay out of Delmoe Lake.

Bizarro Earth

Dry summer, disease proving deadly for deer in Illinois

The first reports filtered in late last month, about the time deer hunters began trimming shooting lanes and servicing tree stands for the upcoming season.

Hunters and farmers in Southern Illinois began finding dead deer on their property. Others observed sickly looking whitetails with bloodshot eyes, drooling excessively and walking around emaciated in a shocklike state.

Tom Micetich knew exactly what the culprit was: Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease, or EHD, an often-fatal disease that hits deer herds hard during excessively dry summers with limited rainfall, like the one the region is just completing.

Bizarro Earth

Virus may have killed over 1,000 deer in Pennsylvania

An insect-borne virus may have killed more than 1,000 deer in southwestern Pennsylvania this year, and officials said it appears to have struck earlier and wider than previously.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission said Tuesday that epizootic hemorrhagic disease has been confirmed in a third Pennsylvania county, Beaver, and tests are being performed to see if it has reached Allegheny, Cambria or Westmoreland counties.

Cloud Lightning

Thousands of wild salmon in Scotland are infected with 'bleeding' parasite

Thousands of wild Atlantic salmon returning to Scotland's rivers have been infected by a mysterious parasite which has left them with bleeding wounds.

The Fisheries Research Service (FRS) in Scotland has revealed that evidence of the infection has been found in salmon in more than 50 rivers across the country.

The unprecedented infection is also widespread in England, Wales and Ireland.

Magnify

Mysterious Blobs At Lake Grapevine



©CBS

Texas - Many people in Grapevine are wondering what to make of strange blobs at Lake Grapevine.

The Vineyards Camp Grounds have been closed due to recent heavy rains, but now Lake Grapevine has visitors popping and oozing up all over the place.


Cloud Lightning

Waning storm drags on across Louisiana

A tropical storm dragged across Louisiana Thursday, leaving a trail of damage and warnings of floods after Hurricane Humberto battered Texas, authorities said, as one man was reported killed.

The storm moved east into in Louisiana, passing the city of Lake Charles where strong winds "took the roof off a trailer, knocked down some trees, some power lines," John Butterick of the local county emergency preparedeness department told AFP.

"We have a couple of areas that are without power but crews are already on the scene restoring that," he said. Weather authorities had warned of possible flooding but none was reported so far, he added.

Attention

Paraguay battles its worst-ever forest fires

Paraguay's government declared a national state of emergency on Wednesday as it battles the worst forest fires ever to hit the poor South American country.

The flames have devoured more than 100,000 hectares (nearly 250,000 acres) of forest, crops and grazing pasture and burned down dozens of rural homes in three northeastern provinces, where a regional state of emergency was already in place.

Cloud Lightning

Humberto grows into hurricane, hits Texas

Humberto made landfall on the Texas coast early Thursday shortly after strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

The center of the storm crossed the Texas coast just east of High Island at about 2 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) with maximum winds of 85 mph (135 kmh). Humberto -- a slow mover -- is primarily going to be a rainmaker, CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers said.

Attention

Over 500 scientists published studies countering global warming fears

A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals that more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming is linked strongly to variations in the sun's irradiance. "This data and the list of scientists make a mockery of recent claims that a scientific consensus blames humans as the primary cause of global temperature increases since 1850," said Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery.