Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Uganda: Hailstorm destroys villages in Wakiso

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© chaseday.com
A big hailstorm has destroyed property worth millions of shillings in Nakabugo and Bulaga villages in Wakiso district.

Reports from Bulaga indicates that over 20 houses have had their roofs blown off and plantations destroyed.

The hailstorm hit Nakabugo and Bulaga for about an hour killing four cows and a number of goats. No human life was lost.

By the time journalists arrived in Nakabugo some hailstones were still visible on the ground.

The destructive hailstorm has hit Wakiso when the country is experiencing famine. The Area LC5 councilor Mariam Kaliga urges the government to extend relief items to the people affected.

Frog

Biodiversity On Earth Plummets, Despite Growth in Protected Habitats

frog
© thinkstockA new study suggests that the conservation strategy of creating protected areas is insufficient for preventing a steady loss of planetary biodiversity.
Despite rapid and substantial growth in the amount of land and sea designated as protected habitat over the last four decades, the diversity of species the world over is plummeting, a new study has found.

Over 100,000 so-called "protected areas" representing some 7 million square miles of land and nearly 1 million square miles of ocean have been established since the 1960's, noted the analysis, published Thursday in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series.

And yet, according to a widely cited index used to track planetary biodiversity, the wealth of terrestrial and marine species has seen steady decline over roughly the same period, suggesting that simply protecting swaths of land and sea -- a common conservation strategy worldwide -- is inadequate for preventing the steady disappearance of earth's creatures.

Comment: The "sixth extinction" is well advanced it would seem. The reader may enjoy reading The Golden Age, Psychopathy and the Sixth Extinction.


Bizarro Earth

Japan - Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 - Near the East Coast of Honshu

Honshu Quake_300711
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 18:53:52 UTC

Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 03:53:52 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
36.966°N, 141.058°E

Depth:
43.5 km (27.0 miles)

Region:
NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Distances:
18 km (11 miles) ESE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan

77 km (47 miles) SE of Koriyama, Honshu, Japan

84 km (52 miles) NE of Mito, Honshu, Japan

184 km (114 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan

Cloud Lightning

Best of the Web: U.S. Government Unprepared for Extreme Weather Events: Senator

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© Photo: Twicpic @JewishReporterChicago: Over 340 Flights are canceled from O'hare International ariport due to a Tornado Warning
The United States government is not ready to deal with "catastrophic" weather and climate incidents, according to a Democratic Senator.

Majority whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said that the federal government needs to focus strategically on the long-term budget consequences of extreme weather events, which are increasing in severity and frequency.

"We are not prepared," Durbin said in a statement.

"Our weather events are getting worse, catastrophic in fact. The private sector is prepared, but the federal government is ignoring the obvious. We need to do more to protect federal assets and respond to growing demands for disaster assistance on an increasing frequency."

Cloud Lightning

About 190,000 people evacuated as tropical storm hits south China

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© AFP/ Charism SayatPhilippines
More than 189,000 residents of Chinese southern island province of Hainan have been evacuated as tropical storm Nock-Ten hit the coastal region, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

The storm came to the island on Friday and brought heavy rains and strong winds of up to 28 meters per second. One person has been injured while 148 houses have been damaged along coastal villages in Hainan's Guangcun Town, the agency quoted the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters as saying.

Cloud Lightning

U.S.: Severe storm downs trees, 11,000 without power in Westchester New York

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© Xavier Mascareñas/ The Journal NewsConsolidated Edison crews examine a fallen line near tree debris on Cedar Lane at Stormytown Road in Ossining
A violent storm passed through the Hudson Valley Friday evening, downing trees and leaving thousands without power.

Though heavy rain and high winds blanketed Rockland and Putnam counties, the areas near Croton-on-Hudson and Ossining in Westchester appeared to have taken the brunt of the storm.

According to Consolidated Edison Inc.'s website, more than 11,250 homes and businesses were without power across Westchester County about 8:45 p.m. Friday.

In Ossining village, about 2,300 customers were affected along with nearly 1,500 in Ossining town and another 1,800 in Croton. In Mount Vernon, more than 3,000 customers experienced outages.

Bizarro Earth

Landslide in western Indonesia kills 4 children

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Palembang, Indonesia - A landslide triggered by torrential rain has killed four children who were playing under a cliff in western Indonesia.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the government's Disaster Management Agency says the children were buried when mud gushed down from surrounding hills Friday in Kembahang Lama village on Sumatra island. The victims ranged in age from 7 to 10.

Nugroho says their bodies were found late Friday and early Saturday beneath tons of mud and rocks. Two other children were brought to a hospital with injuries.

Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, a vast chain of 17,000 islands where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile flood plains.

Cloud Lightning

At least 15,000 hectares of North Korean farmland flooded

Heavy rains have affected western areas of North Korea. Serious damage was caused to agricultural areas.

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Bizarro Earth

Bangkok: Lurking danger of earthquakes

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© Unknown
Few buildings constructed to withstand temblors

High-rise buildings in Bangkok could fall like dominoes if the capital is shaken by a major earthquake, even from a distant fault line, a group of seismic experts has warned.

And they urged authorities to better educate people on how to handle the situation if and when a quake occurs.

Because Bangkok is not located within the Pacific's so-called "Ring of Fire", many tall buildings are particularly vulnerable to jolts as most of them were not built to withstand major tremors.

"There is a likelihood an earthquake outside Bangkok could affect the city," said Pran Siamwalla, an independent academic on environment.

"These quakes could be caused by two fault lines - one in the Andaman Sea, about 700km west of Bangkok, and the Si Sawat line 200km away in Kanchanaburi province."

Mr Pran and his team held a workshop last week about the possibilities of the capital being hit by distant large earthquakes. He hoped it would be a driver for the authorities to identify strategic action and implementation of risk reduction systems.

Bizarro Earth

Video Captures Terrifying Power of South Korea Landslide

Korean Landslide
© YouTube / ILiveLeakA still from the amateur video.
In rain-soaked South Korea, residents are still digging through the aftermath of two days of torrential downpours, which brought floods and landslides to Seoul and surrounding towns, killing dozens of people, stranding countless others, and destroying property and homes.

The terrifying speed and power of a landslide was caught on video from a high-rise apartment building overlooking one of the collapsing slopes in the capital city.


The death toll from both flooding and landslides now stands at 57, The Los Angeles Times reported.