Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Deadly Typhoon Dianmu cuts across Japan


Agence France-Presse
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:41 UTC
Image
© AFPGraphic showing the path of Typhoon Dianmu, packing winds of more than 80 kilometres per hour
Typhoon Dianmu cut across northern Japan into the Pacific Thursday after leaving five dead in its wake in South Korea, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

With winds of up to 72 kilometres (45 miles) an hour, it moved across the northern tip of Honshu island for some three hours until around 8:00 pm (1100 GMT), after travelling northeast over the Sea of Japan, the agency said.

The storm's arrival on Honshu coincided with Japan's mid-August holiday break, when many people were visiting their hometowns and offering prayers to their ancestors.

The weather agency warned heavy rain could trigger floods and mudslides, and waves as tall as five metres (16 feet).

Rainfall could reach 20 centimetres (eight inches) in northeastern Japan in the 24 hours to midday Friday, according to the agency.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Oil blowout in Louisiana causes evacuations

Nate Monroe
Houmatoday.com
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:10 UTC
Oil spews
© Assumption Parish SheriffOil spews out of a well Wednesday in Assumption Parish near Paincourtville.

Paincourtville - A blown-out well in Assumption Parish was spewing oil and gas nearly 200 feet into the air Wednesday, and it could be 10 days before crews can cap it, officials said.

Assumption Parish sheriff's deputies responded to a 3:30 a.m. complaint Wednesday of oil and gas spewing onto the road, said Assumption Sheriff Mike Waguespack.

Waguespack said no one was injured in the blowout, and State Police are investigating.
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Bizarro Earth

More Rains Threaten China Mudslide Disaster Zone


Agence France-Presse
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:09 UTC
Image
© AFPMilitary personnel on clean-up operations work beside a demolished building amid the rubble of landslide devastation in Zhouqu on August 11, 2010 in northwest China's Gansu province.
Zhouqu - Rescuers racing against a potential new deluge on Wednesday hurried to drain an unstable lake formed by China's worst mudslides in decades, as the death toll surged past 1,100.

More than 10,000 soldiers and rescuers combed through the mountains of mud that buried a remote area of the northwest province of Gansu at the weekend, killing 1,117 people by the latest count and leaving more than 600 others missing.

But the window of survival was fast closing, with only two survivors found on Wednesday, so authorities have focused on averting further devastation in the form of new floods and possible disease outbreaks.

With days of heavy rains forecast from Wednesday -- sparked in part by Typhoon Dianmu, which ravaged South Korea -- troops were using excavators and explosives to clear debris blocking the Bailong river that runs through Zhouqu.
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Bizarro Earth

Ecuador: Earthquake Magnitude 7.1


US Geological Survey
Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:00 UTC
Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 11:54:16 UTC

Thursday, August 12, 2010 at 06:54:16 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
1.260°S, 77.312°W

Depth:
211 km (131.1 miles) set by location program

Region:
ECUADOR

Distances:
145 km (90 miles) E of Ambato, Ecuador

155 km (95 miles) ENE of Riobamba, Ecuador

155 km (95 miles) SSW of Nueva Loja, Ecuador

175 km (110 miles) SE of QUITO, Ecuador
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Igloo

Cold Wave Kills 6 Million Fish in Eastern Bolivia


Latin American Herald Tribune
Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:26 UTC
La Paz - Authorities in the eastern Bolivian province of Santa Cruz declared an alert following the death of 6 million fish from the unusually cold weather gripping the country in recent weeks.

The provincial government said the fish died in the Grande, Pirai and Ichilo rivers that run through the tropical region.

This is an "environmental catastrophe" brought on by the lowest temperatures registered in Santa Cruz in nearly half a century, Gov. Ruben Costas told reporters.

He said that environmental personnel who visited the disaster areas found that the three rivers are highly polluted by dead fish, and he warned locals not to use those waters.
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Alarm Clock

US: Fish Kill Mystery On New Jersey's Delaware Bay Beaches


Associated Press
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:45 UTC
fish
Video Link

Middle Township - Tens of thousands of dead fish have washed ashore along the Delaware Bay in southern New Jersey.

State environmental and wildlife officials say it's not yet clear what killed the fish, which appear to exclusively small menhaden, also known as peanut bunker.

The wash-up, discovered Wednesday morning, encompassed a large stretch of the shoreline just north of Cape May. The heaviest amounts were in an area of Middle Township known as Pierce's Point.
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Bizarro Earth

Deadly Russian heat wave gravest over millennium


RIA Novosti
Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:31 UTC
Image
© © AFP/ Martin Bernetti
Russia has recently seen the longest unprecedented heat wave for at least one thousand years, the head of the Russian Meteorological Center said on Monday.

Wildfires continue to rage across much of the central part of European Russia as the country experiences a heat wave, with temperatures of up to and above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

"We have an 'archive' of abnormal weather situations stretching over a thousand years. It is possible to say there was nothing similar to this on the territory of Russia during the last one thousand years in regard to the heat," Alexander Frolov said.

He said scientists received information on ancient weather conditions by exploring lake deposits.
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Bizarro Earth

Australia: Wild weather whips Victoria


Weekly Times Now
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:27 UTC
Image
© BradThe tornado passes Michaels Moama JCB dealership on the Cobb Hwy.
Northern and western Victoria has been hit by severe winds and heavy rain, and eastern Victoria is set to follow.

And the Victorian SES has urged people to avoid flood waters as wild weather, including the tornado, hits the state.

Wind as strong as 139km/h and rain as high as 92 millimetres had already affected the Western and Wimmera districts, Weatherzone said in a statement.

Mt William in the Grampians was the windiest spot so far and Weeaproinah near the coast was the wettest.

Weeaproinah's 92mm was their highest 24-hour total in nearly three years and highest for August in 57 years.

Flash flooding had also occurred in other parts of the Western, Wimmera, Northern Country and Northeast, a result of the heaviest rain this winter, the heaviest in years for some.

It was the biggest rain since December 2008 for Mt William, Stawell, Warrnambool and Port Fairy, where 30mm to 60mm fell.
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Umbrella

In the eye of the storm: The moment Mother Nature unleashes fury on Finland, injuring 40 people


Mail Online
Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:48 UTC
These dramatic images were taken in the moments before a powerful thunderstorm struck parts of Finland.

The bad weather front is clearly visible as it approaches the skies above the capital Finland, moments before strong winds, heavy rain and lightning battered the city.

Forty people were injured in the storm, two of them seriously, as they enjoyed a heavy metal festival in the town of Pori.

storm, Helsinki
Eye of the storm: This picture shows the moments before a powerful storm hit Helsinki
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Nuke

Radioactive Boar on the Rise in Germany

Charles Hawley
Spiegel Online
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:55 UTC
boar
© DPA
As Germany's wild boar population has skyrocketed in recent years, so too has the number of animals contaminated by radioactivity left over from the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Government payments compensating hunters for lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007.

It's no secret that Germany has a wild boar problem. Stories of marauding pigs hit the headlines with startling regularity: Ten days ago, a wild boar attacked a wheelchair-bound man in a park in Berlin; in early July, a pack of almost two dozen of the animals repeatedly marched into the eastern German town of Eisenach, frightening residents and keeping police busy; and on Friday morning, a German highway was closed for hours after 10 wild boar broke through a fence and waltzed onto the road.

Even worse, though, almost a quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in Ukraine, a good chunk of Germany's wild boar population remains slightly radioactive -- and the phenomenon has been costing the German government an increasing amount of money in recent years.

According to the Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost €425,000 ($555,000) was paid out to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was too contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007.
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