Earth ChangesS

Phoenix

Los Angeles, US: Raging fire forces evacuation of Sierra Madre homes

Heat records also are broken in Southern California as offshore winds bring in warm desert air.

A wildfire in the Sierra Madre foothills swelled to 230 to 270 acres early this morning, forcing the evacuation of at least 100 homes and drawing hundreds of firefighters from around the region.

The fire was moving southwest in remote brush at 1 a.m. today, and containment was not expected for two to three days, said Elisa Weaver, spokeswoman for the city of Sierra Madre. Warm, dry weather is predicted for the fire area this morning, with winds gusting to 15 miles to 20 miles an hour before slowing this evening, the National Weather Service reported. Crowds of residents stood on major streets normally deserted in the middle of the night, staring up at hills aglow with flames. Police had blocked off several streets nearby.

Phoenix

California: 25 acres burned in Nestor fire

A fire burned about 25 acres Saturday in the Nestor neighborhood near Tijuana River Valley Regional Park, authorities said.

The blaze began about 1:45 p.m, on Wardlow Avenue and International Road in an area of mostly grass and brush, said Maurice Luque, spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.


Better Earth

Active volcano makes hundreds sick in Ubinas, Peru

Residents in the district of Ubinas, one of three provinces in the southwestern region of Moquegua, are complaining about an active volcano in their district once again.

The district of Ubinas is home to Peru's most active volcano, a stratovolcano also known as Ubinas.

Townspeople in the area are complaining of migraines and respiratory illnesses which are being attributed to the ash, smoke and toxic gases the volcano is emitting.

Bug

Pine beetles may affect climate change - study

Mountain pine beetles that are destroying forests along much of the Rocky Mountain range are doing so much damage that they may affect climate change, Canadian researchers reported on Wednesday.

The damage is nearly equivalent to the polluting effects of forest fires, they report in the journal Nature.

"In the worst year, the impacts resulting from the beetle outbreak in British Columbia were equivalent to 75 percent of the average annual direct forest fire emissions from all of Canada during 1959-1999," Werner Kurz of the Canadian Forest Service in Victoria, British Columbia and colleagues wrote.

Better Earth

Propaganda? WWF Canada: climate change hitting arctic faster, harder than first thought

TORONTO - A study by the global conservation group World Wildlife Fund says that climate change is having a greater impact in the Arctic than was previously thought.

The report is being unveiled at the meeting of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum of Arctic nations Thursday in Norway. WWF says the new report represents the most wide-ranging view of the situation since the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment was published in 2005.

Fish

Canada: An 'oasis' of 20,000 intrigues under the sea

Newly designated marine protected area, west of Queen Charlotte Islands, is 'just full of life,' lucky diver finds

Bowie Seamount
©The Globe and Mail
Bowie Seamount called an oceanic oasis because of the variety of life around it

Snowman

'Forget global warming, prepare for Ice Age'

Sunspot activity has not resumed up after hitting an 11-year low in March last year, raising fears that - far from warming - the globe is about to return to an Ice Age.

ice age
©Reuters
Chop and change ... scientists says we should be less concerned by global warming and more worried about a new Ice Age

Propaganda

Global Warming censored: How the major networks silence the debate on Climate Change

So much for that job requirement of balance and objectivity. When it came to global warming the media clearly left out dissent in favor of hype, cute penguins and disastrous predictions.

Comment: While the above recommendations have merit, it is unlikely that they will be implemented because the Climate Change meme appears to be politically driven as part of a "deeper" agenda for control of the planet.


Cloud Lightning

Australia: Nursing home hit by lightning

A nursing home at Warwick was directly hit by lightning last night which blew out windows and sent a tree crashing through a wall.

Emergency crews were called to the Blue Care home on Law Road at about 9.20pm after the strike caused significant damage.

Frightened elderly residents were evacuated to a large room at the back of the facility, but fire crews discovered a tree had collapsed through the wall.

Residents were then taken to another safe spot while crews worked to patch up the building.

Cloud Lightning

Canada: Water levels starting to stabilize in Fredericton



Fredericton Flood
©Ryan Edwards
Flood waters cascade onto the highway near Maugerville, New Brunswick

The St. John River is expected to stabilize in Fredericton, New Brunswick on Thursday but will continue to rise outside the city, say Emergency Measures Organization officials.

The latest river watch reports the flooded river will remain at its current level of about 7.1 metres into Saturday, while it will rise in nearby Maugerville and Jemseg.