Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Gulf of Mexico's dead zone expands


United Press International
Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:13 UTC
U.S. researchers said heavy streamflows are sending record amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus into the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. Geological Survey said spring nutrient delivery from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin to the northern Gulf of Mexico was among the highest in the last three decades. Nutrient delivery is one of the primary factors controlling the size of the hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Oxygen levels in the zone are too low to support most life.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning claims 5 young lives in a week

Randolph E. Schmid
Associated Press
Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:55 UTC
Five young lives have been ended by lightning in less than a week, a deadly reminder of one of summer's leading hazards.

"Typically, July marks the peak in lightning activity. It's also the time when people are vacationing, so they are outside and they are vulnerable to lightning," said John Jensenius, a lightning safety expert at the National Weather Service.

But why so many young people in a few days? "I don't have an answer for that," Jensenius said, "It's all very sad."
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Better Earth

Earthquake rocks southern New Zealand, no damage


AOL
Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:54 UTC
Wellington - A government-owned agency says a moderately strong earthquake has rocked New Zealand's southern region - but there are no immediate reports of injury or damage.

Geological agency GNS Science says the magnitude 5.9 earthquake hit at about noon Saturday and was centered off the west coast of South Island.
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Arrow Up

New Zealand: Weirdly warm weather in Kaikoura - at 1am


NZ Herald
Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:00 UTC
Western areas of the country were hit overnight by heavy rain and strong winds while favourable winds pushed the temperature in Kaikoura to 21degC early this morning.
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Cow Skull

Severe Droughts Trigger Disease, Lion Die-Offs

Véronique LaCapra
Voice of America
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:32 UTC


Image
©Unknown
Located in Northeastern Tanzania, the Serengeti National Park has the greatest concentration of large mammals in the world

Wild lion populations can generally tolerate a certain level of parasites and disease. But new research shows that extreme climate conditions - such as severe droughts - can cause infection rates to skyrocket, resulting in mass die-offs. Véronique LaCapra reports.

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Hourglass

Experts size up probability of a Salt River catastrophe

Gary Nelson
Azcentral.com
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:55 UTC
With Tempe in the grip of a suffocating heat wave, flooding might be the last thing on your mind.

But as recent flooding in the Midwest proves, not only can the worst case happen, sometimes the unthinkable happens.
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Info

Scientists survey Haleakala to measure whether it's showing signs of acting up


Maui News
Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:41 UTC
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysicists have been working this week to survey a dozen Global Positioning System sites atop Haleakala as part of a routine check on what is still considered an active volcano.

Haleakala
©Maui News File Photo

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 10,000-foot volcano last erupted about 400 years ago. It was thought that the volcano last spewed lava around 1790, a date based largely on comparisons of maps made during the voyages in the late 18th century by French explorer Jean Francois de Galaup, Compte de La Perouse and British Capt. George Vancouver.

But recent carbon dating of lava flows at Haleakala put the date of the last eruption in the 1600s, according to the USGS.
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Gear

Doomed to a fatal delusion over climate change

Andrew Bolt
Herald Sun
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 15:54 UTC
Psychiatrists have detected the first case of "climate change delusion" - and they haven't even yet got to Kevin Rudd and his global warming guru.

Writing in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Joshua Wolf and Robert Salo of our Royal Children's Hospital say this delusion was a "previously unreported phenomenon".

"A 17-year-old man was referred to the inpatient psychiatric unit at Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne with an eight-month history of depressed mood . . . He also . . . had visions of apocalyptic events."

(So have Alarmist of the Year Tim Flannery, Profit of Doom Al Gore and Sir Richard Brazen, but I digress.)
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Red Flag

Great white shark reported at 'Jaws' filming site


Associated Press
Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:44 UTC
Edgartown, Mass. - The island where "Jaws" was filmed had a real-life shark scare Thursday, when an unconfirmed sighting of a great white forced the closure of two beaches.

South Beach on Martha's Vineyard was closed for a short time, and swimmers were kept out of the water at State Beach in Edgartown, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation said.
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Hourglass

Wild Orangutans Declining More Sharply In Sumatra And Borneo Than Thought


Science Daily
Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:25 UTC
Endangered wild orangutan (Pongo spp.) populations are declining more sharply in Sumatra and Borneo than previously estimated, according to new findings published this month by Great Ape Trust of Iowa scientist Dr. Serge Wich and other orangutan conservation experts in Oryx - The International Journal of Conservation.
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