Earth ChangesS

Bizarro Earth

5.9 earthquake rattles area near Solomon Islands

A fairly strong earthquake shook the ocean floor near the Solomon Islands at 3:24 a.m. today Hawaii time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The 5.9 magnitude temblor's epicenter was estimated to be almost 42 miles below the earth's surface.

Bizarro Earth

Central Colombia hit by 5.8 magnitude earthquake

BOGOTA - A shallow earthquake measuring 5.7 magnitude hit central Colombia on Saturday, shaking buildings in the capital, Bogota, witnesses and the U.S. Geological Survey said.


Cloud Lightning

More tornadoes strike Kansas, Oklahoma

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Emergency workers were picking through debris after tornadoes rampaged in western and central Kansas and northern Oklahoma for a second night in a row.

X

Canada: Alberta's bees dying at record rates

For the second year in a row, Alberta beekeepers are hearing less buzzing from their hives.

A pest manager with the provincial government says bee populations in over-wintered colonies are down by 25 per cent -- 10 per cent more than normal.

Honey farmer Ernie Martens, who normally runs 1,000 hives in northern Alberta, estimates he's lost 70 per cent of his insects.

"We're trying to figure out ways to rebuild, but I'm not sure how," he said from his farm in La Crete, which is about 800 kilometres north of Edmonton.

Ladybug

US: 25-Thousand Bees Invade Jersey County School

Spring has sprung and bees are buzzing. Brighton Illinois beekeeper Gene Reilley spends a lot of time hunting for swarms of bees. This week he scooped up 25 thousand bees from the 5th grade classroom at Delhi Elementary school in Jersey County.

Students weren't frightened. One said, "Cool very cool." Another, "There was a lot of bees."

Students were removed from the classroom when the bees moved inside through a crack in the wall which has since been sealed. No children were hurt.

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©KTVI
Bee Keeper

Stop

Germany Suspends Pesticide Approvals After Mass Death Of Bees

The German Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) has reportedly suspended the approval for eight pesticides after the mass death of bees in one state.

The German Research Centre for Cultivated Plants reported that 29 out of 30 dead bees it examined in Germany's Baden-Wuerttemberg state had been killed by contact with clothianidin, a product found in one of the seed treatment products.

The suspended products are: Antarc (ingredient: imidacloprid; produced by Bayer), Chinook (imidacloprid; Bayer), Cruiser (thiamethoxam; Syngenta), Elado (clothianidin; Bayer), Faibel (imidacloprid; Bayer), Mesurol (methiocarb; Bayer) and Poncho (clothianidin; Bayer).

Extinguisher

Gusty winds hinder fight against California wildfire

GILROY - Fire crews struggled on Friday to maintain fire lines around a wildfire that chewed through centuries-old redwoods and pushed hundreds out of their homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Bell

Vast cracks appear in Arctic ice

Dramatic evidence of the break-up of the Arctic ice-cap has emerged from research during an expedition by the Canadian military.

Scientists travelling with the troops found major new fractures during an assessment of the state of giant ice shelves in Canada's far north.

The team found a network of cracks that stretched for more than 10 miles (16km) on Ward Hunt, the area's largest shelf.

Cloud Lightning

Mount Semeru volcano in Indonesia's East Java heats up

Jakarta - Indonesian authorities on Thursday urged residents living around the slopes of Mount Semeru in Indonesia's crowded East Java province to keep their distance from the active volcano, which appears to be heating up.

Fish

Dramatic Impact Of Sea-Level Rise On Chesapeake Bay's Coastal Habitats

A new report, Sea-Level Rise and Coastal Habitats of the Chesapeake Bay, shows in vivid detail the dramatic effects of sea-level rise on the largest estuary in the US, which sustains more than 3,600 species of plants, fish and animals including great blue herons and sea turtles.

Habitats of the Chesapeake Bay
©National Wildlife Federation
Habitats of the Chesapeake Bay at risk from sea level rise.