Earth ChangesS


Fish

U.S.: Alarming 'dead zone' grows in the Chesapeake

Darryl Fears
The Washington Post
Sun, 24 Jul 2011 09:42 UTC
Chesapeake bay
© Ricky Carioti/The Washington PostMike Kirschner and his son Zachary, 10, of Bel Air, Md., fish below the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in Annapolis, Md.

A giant underwater "dead zone" in the Chesapeake Bay is growing at an alarming rate because of unusually high nutrient pollution levels this year, according to Virginia and Maryland officials. They said the expanding area of oxygen-starved water is on track to become the bay's largest ever.

This year's Chesapeake Bay dead zone covers a third of the bay, stretching from the Baltimore Harbor to the bay's mid-channel region in the Potomac River, about 83 miles, when it was last measured in late June. It has since expanded beyond the Potomac into Virginia, officials said.

Especially heavy flows of tainted water from the Susquehanna River brought as much nutrient pollution into the bay by May as normally comes in an entire average year, a Maryland Department of Natural Resources researcher said. As a result, "in Maryland we saw the worst June" ever for nutrient pollution, said Bruce Michael, director of the DNR's resource assessment service.
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Bizarro Earth

New Zealand: Wintry Blast Brings Worst Snow in Decade


ONE News
Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:23 UTC
Image
© Oliver StedingDovedale, looking towards Mt Arthur
The worst snow in at least 16 years brought parts of the country to a standstill today.

Heavy snow, sleet and high winds made conditions treacherous throughout the country and motorists were urged to avoid all but urgent travel.

The South Island was hardest hit with many roads closed, flights cancelled and people told to stay home.

A number of state highways around the country were closed, however many are now re-opening and will be reassessed in the morning.

For the full list of closures visit NZTA .

Wellington also recorded its lowest temperature ever and the polar storm is taking another swipe at the North Island tonight.
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Arrow Up

Heatwave Breaks Records in Parts of US and Canada


BBC News
Fri, 22 Jul 2011 22:11 UTC
Image
© BBCOne New Yorker says being outside is like "sitting in a sauna all day long"
A heatwave has baked eastern parts of the US and Canada, as temperatures surged to record-breaking highs in some parts.

The mercury in Newark, New Jersey, reached 108F (42C) on Friday, the highest ever recorded in the city.

In Canada, an extreme heat alert remained in effect, a day after two dozen cities and towns broke their previous single-day heat records.

At least 22 deaths have been blamed on the heat.

Across the US alone, where nearly half of the population was under a heat advisory, more than 220 heat records have tumbled.
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Binoculars

US: Teens Mauled by Grizzly in Alaska

Rachel D'Oro
The Associated Press
Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:43 UTC
Image
© Photodisc
The teenage outdoor education students, having progressed to the point of being on their own in the vast Alaska wilderness, were lined up single file for a river crossing when the grizzly burst with fury into the front of the line, badly mauling two in the group and injuring two more.

Those in the front screamed of the bear's presence. The bear was with her cub when she attacked, according to state troopers.

The teens were in a group of seven participating in a 30-day backcountry course conducted by the National Outdoor Leadership School when the attack occurred Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains north of Anchorage. They were rescued early Sunday after activating their emergency locator beacon and tending to their most seriously wounded.

Those in the back of the line heard the warning, with the two at the front of the line taking the brunt of the attack, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Another group of seven students and three instructors was waiting about six miles away for a helicopter hired by the Lander, Wyo.-based NOLS, said Bruce Palmer, a spokesman for the organization, which leads many such excursions in Alaska and elsewhere.
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Radar

Strong 6.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes off Papua New Guinea


The Sacramento Bee
Mon, 25 Jul 2011 04:44 UTC
A strong earthquake has struck off the coast of the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea. There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries and no tsunami alert was issued.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude-6.2 quake struck Monday 46 miles (73 kilometers) south of the town of Kavieng on the island of New Ireland. The earthquake struck at a depth of 21 miles (34 kilometers).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert.

The Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea lies on the "Ring of Fire" - an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim and where about 90 percent of the world's quakes occur.

Source: The Associated Press
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Stop

US, Idaho: Giant Hole Closes Hwy 55 Near Marsing


Idaho Press Tribune
Sun, 24 Jul 2011 05:14 UTC
Image
© Jessie L. Bonner/The Associated Press
The Idaho Transportation Department closed a section of Highway 55 east of Homedale Sunday evening after a culvert failed and irrigation waters ate a 20-foot wide hole into the side of the road.

Until it is repaired, drivers must take detours along Pershall, Edison and Thompson roads.

A Department of Transportation spokesman listed two probable causes for the culvert's failure: holes in the pipe allowed water to seep through or debris plugged the pipe so pooling water undermined surrounding earth.
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No Entry

US, Illinois: Sinkhole Causes Hicks Lane Closures

Brian Slupski
Palatine Patch
Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Jennifer Mondy
A 20-foot sinkhole has appeared under Hicks Road near Dundee Avenue. Residents are encouraged to avoid the intersection if possible.

A 20-foot sinkhole has opened along and under Hicks Road near Dundee Road, Palatine police said.

The sinkhole forced the closure of all northbound lanes on Hicks. Traffic has been shifted to the southbound lanes, reducing Hicks to one lane of traffic in each direction, Palatine Fire Department Battalion Chief William Gabrenya said.

Gabrenya said the sinkhole opened because of a sewer line collapsed beneath the street following the Saturday, July 23 rain that caused flooding throughout Palatine.

Motorists are advised to avoid the Hicks and Dundee intersection if at all possible.
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Arrow Down

US, Connecticut: SUV Lands in Sinkhole

Jeff Saperstone
NBC News, Connecticut
Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:59 UTC
Sinkhole on West Raymond Street caused by water main break
Image
© unknown
A water main break on West Raymond Street in Hartford not only closed down the street but it also caused some problems for an SUV and its driver.

Willena Hardie's husband was backing out of their driveway when one of the front tires fell into a sinkhole.

"He was banged around and so frazzled, so he called me and that's what I found when I got here," she said.
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Attention

US, Florida: Sinkhole Eats Local Business

Millard K. Ives
Daily Commercial
Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© unknownThe roof of Main Street Hair & Beauty Supply has caved in on Friday, July 22, 2011, in Leesburg.
The roof of a Leesburg business building has collapsed, weeks after a sinkhole gulped part of it.

As the roof of the Main Street Hair and Beauty Supply of Saaraa Corner Store crumpled, more debris, including a Dumpster, trees, boxes and beauty products, was pushed into the sinkhole.

However, city officials are adamant that the sinkhole is not growing, and attribute the collapse instead to the building's wooden trusses that gave way.

"There's no indication that it's growing," said Robert Sargent, a spokesman for the city of Leesburg, adding that soil around the edges of the hole also has fallen in.

The discovery of the sinkhole came on the early morning of June 27, when Rafeek Mohamid, owner of the property, received a call from his alarm company that something was wrong.
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Nuke

Threat to Japan's Food Chain Multiplies as Radiation Spreads

Aya Takada
Bloomberg
Sun, 24 Jul 2011 00:10 UTC
Packs of beef
© Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergPacks of beef are displayed for sale in a supermarket in Fukushima prefecture, Japan.
Radiation threats to Japan's food chain are multiplying as cesium emissions from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant spread more widely, moving from hay to cattle to beef.

Hay contaminated with as much as 690,000 becquerels a kilogram, compared with a government safety standard of 300 becquerels, has been fed to cattle. Beef with unsafe levels of the radioactive element was detected in four prefectures, the health ministry said July 23.

Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano has said officials were unaware of the risk that rice farmers might ship tainted hay to cattle growers. That highlights the government's inability to think ahead and to act, said Mariko Sano, secretary general for Shufuren, a housewives organization in Tokyo.

"The government is so slow to move," Sano said. "They've done little to ensure food safety."
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