Earth ChangesS

Bug

Tourists warned as Asian hornets terrorise French

Asian Wasp
© Agence France-PresseAn Asian predatory wasp (vespa velutina), a predator of honey bee hives, which has installed itself in several southern regions of France

The bee-eating hornets, instantly recognisable by their yellow feet, are rapidly spreading round France and entomologists fear that they will eventually cross the Channel and arrive in Britain.

Hundreds of the insects attacked a mother on a stroll with her five-month-old baby in the Lot-et-Garonne department, southwestern France, at the weekend before turning on a neighbour who ran over to help. The baby was unharmed.

They then pursued two passers by and two Dutch tourists on bikes. The victims were treated in hospital for multiple stings, which are said to be as painful as a hot nail piercing the skin.

In the same week, a cleaner in local primary school came under attack after disturbing a hornet nest hidden in the ground.

The Vespa velutina, which grow up to an inch in length, is thought to have arrived in France from the Far East in a consignment of Chinese pottery in late 2004.

Sherlock

Peru: Global Warming freezes 20,000 alpaca

Climate change continues to wreck havoc in Peru's southern Altiplano, where the arrival of freezing temperatures since March - almost three months earlier than usual - have killed at least 20,000 alpaca, reported Peru's National Agriculture and Sanitation Service, or Senasa.

Since January, approximately 20,000 alpaca - a number that still remains within normal limits - have died, and 73,000 others have suffered from various illnesses due to the cold, said Senasa Director Reinaldo Llano Flores.

Alpacas, or vicugna pacos, is a domesticated species of South American camelid, and resembles a small llama. These animals are mostly kept in herds, and bred specifically for their high-quality fiber.

Sun

Sun Run of 41 Days Without a Spot Now Among the Top 10 Longest

Spotless Sun
© unknown

Today, Thursday, August 20th marked the 41st straight day without a sunspot, one of the longest stretches this solar minimum.

In fact it rises into 10th place among all spotless periods since 1849 (first table here). The total number of spotless days this transition from cycle 23 to 24 is now 694 rapidly approaching the approximate number leading into cycle 15 in the early 1900s (graphic below).
Solar Cycles spotless days
© unknown

Clock

Greenpeace Leader Admits Global Warming Scare Tactics Over Arctic Ice

The outgoing leader of Greenpeace has admitted his organization's recent claim that the Arctic Ice will disappear by 2030 was "a mistake."

Greenpeace made the claim in a July 15 press release entitled "Urgent Action Needed As Arctic Ice Melts," which said there will be an ice-free Arctic by 2030 because of global warming.

Under close questioning by BBC reporter Stephen Sackur on the "Hardtalk" program, Gerd Leipold, the retiring leader of Greenpeace, said the claim was wrong.

"I don't think it will be melting by 2030. ... That may have been a mistake," he said.


Binoculars

Moving Beyond The Copenhagen Global Warming Demagogue

My colleagues and I have developed and verified a multi-year, regional, hydrometeorological prediction model. Last year my article titled Likelihood of a Global Drought in 2009 - 2016 was published in the South African Civil Engineer, circulation 8,000. The drought has just started in parts of South Africa.

On 12 August our Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs announced that parts of the lower Limpopo River catchment have been declared a water supply disaster area. This is in the far northern region of South Africa. The Albasini Dam that supplies the Louis Trichardt area is only 26 percent full. The Middle Letaba Dam is only 6 percent full.

On Sunday 16 August, prayers for rain were held in George, which is in the southern coastal area of South Africa. The dams in this region are also at a very low level. These two events not only confirm my prediction but also the views of others that global climatic disturbances are on the way. How will they affect the Copenhagen discussions and beyond?

Document

Study: Ocean net heat flow is connected with climate shifts - CO2 not correlated - no "warming in the pipeline"

PDO Index
© unknownMonthly Values for the PDO Index, January 1900 to September 2008. Positive (red) index values indicate a warm phase PDO; negative (blue) index values indicate a cool phase PDO. While short-term flips in PDO phases do occur, evaluation of 20th century instrumental records has shown that PDO phases generally persist for 20-30 years, as indicated in this figure. To download the data, see Nate Mantuaโ€™s PDO page.
Press release from the University of Rochester:

Changes in Net Flow of Ocean Heat Correlate with Past Climate Anomalies

Physicists at the University of Rochester have combed through data from satellites and ocean buoys and found evidence that in the last 50 years, the net flow of heat into and out of the oceans has changed direction three times.

These shifts in the balance of heat absorbed from the sun and radiated from the oceans correlate well with past anomalies that have been associated with abrupt shifts in the earth's climate, say the researchers. These anomalies include changes in normal storm intensities, unusual land temperatures, and a large drop in salmon populations along the western United States.

The physicists also say these changes in ocean heat-flow direction should be taken into account when predicting global climate because the oceans represent 90 percent of the total heat in the earth's climate system.

The study, which will appear in an upcoming issue of Physics Letters A, differs from most previous studies in two ways, the researchers say. First, the physicists look at the overall heat content of the Earth's climate system, measuring the net balance of radiation from both the sun and Earth. And second, it analyzes more completely the data sets the researchers believe are of the highest quality, and not those that are less robust.

"These shifts happened relatively abruptly," says David Douglass, professor of physics at the University of Rochester, and co-author of the paper. "One, for example, happened between 1976 and 1977, right when a number of other climate-related phenomenona were happening, such as significant changes in U. S. precipitation."

Nuke

Plastics In Oceans Decompose, Release Hazardous Chemicals, Surprising New Study Says

Image
© Katsuhiko SaidoA boy in Japan points out Styrofoam debris from the ocean.
In the first study to look at what happens over the years to the billions of pounds of plastic waste floating in the world's oceans, scientists are reporting that plastics - reputed to be virtually indestructible - decompose with surprising speed and release potentially toxic substances into the water.

Reporting at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the researchers termed the discovery "surprising." Scientists always believed that plastics in the oceans were unsightly, but a hazard mainly to marine animals that eat or become ensnared in plastic objects.

Better Earth

Even chimps can close a deal

The art of the deal has been on display in recent days. On 4 August former US president Bill Clinton sealed the release of two journalists held in North Korea, and last week Senator Jim Webb persuaded Burma's rulers to free a US citizen held in prison. However, a knack for negotiation may not be unique to power brokers like these.

Lower-ranking chimpanzees, new research suggests, know how to bargain with their superiors to achieve a fairer split of food. These findings suggest that an aptitude for deal-making may have existed millions of years before phrases like "you've got a deal."

"It looks like you can have a quite successful way of dealing with conflicting interests without any language or any very sophisticated communication," says Alicia Melis, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who led the study.

Chimpanzees in the wild show flickers of this ability. Some populations appear to cooperate on hunts, while others seem to exchange back scratches. Deciding where to travel and forage for food could require arbitration, Melis says.

Fish

Deep-sea worms fire glowing bombs

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean, newly discovered species of free-swimming worms have a unique method of distracting predators. They deploy "bombs" that burst in a flare of green light.


Cloud Lightning

Hurricane Bill churns closer to Bermuda

Hurricane Bill1
© BBCHurricane Bill is expected to pass between Bermuda and the eastern coast of the United States.
Miami, Florida -- While Hurricane Bill looked less organized early Friday, a tropical storm warning remains in effect for Bermuda.

Tropical storm conditions, including winds of at least 39 mph (63 kph), are expected on the island within 24 hours. A hurricane watch was also in effect, meaning hurricane conditions, including winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph), are possible within 36 hours.

As of 5 a.m. ET Friday, Bill's center was about 425 miles (680 kilometers) south of Bermuda, and about 865 miles (1,390 kilometers) southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, the hurricane center said.

The storm was moving northwest at near 17 mph (28 kph), and is expected to continue that motion overnight, with a gradual turn to the north-northwest on Friday followed by a turn toward the north on Saturday.

"The core of the hurricane is expected to pass between Bermuda and the east coast of the United States on Saturday," forecasters said.