A swarm of jellyfish is threatening a power plant in Israel.
The facility in Hadera uses sea water for cooling off purposes but huge numbers of jellyfish have been sucked into the cooling system.
Earth Changes
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Residents in Japan are being forced to take radioactive cleanup into their own hands in the absence of a plan from the government to remediate the problem of the nuclear radioactive fallout that is blanketing the nation. According to a report from Reuters, residents are shoveling radioactive topsoil from their lawns and dumping it into forests, parks and streams in an attempt to protect themselves from high levels of radiation. Reuters quotes one resident as saying a Geiger counter measured radiation levels of 10 microsieverts per hour being emitted from the topsoil in her lawn.
An indication of the severity of the radiation exposure can be derived from a Kyodo news article which reports that Japan has finally released the results of a radiation survey conducted over 2 months ago by the central government and several local government located within the Fukushima Prefecture. According to the article, the study revelead that 45% of the children surveyed in the Fukushima prefecture had already suffered thyroid radiation exposure by the time the survey was completed at the end of March. The survey found levels up to an equivalent of a 50 millisieverts per year of thyriod radiation exposure for 1 year olds. To put that in perspective, the US has an annual radiation exposure limit of 4 millisieverts per year in drinking water for adults.
© Roberto Rosales / Albuquerque Journal via AP
The Las Conchas fire near the town of Los Alamos, N.M. is still smoldering in the distance on Monday afternoon, July 4.
The Las Conchas fire near the town of Los Alamos, N.M. is still smoldering in the distance on Monday afternoon, July 4.
The fast-burning Las Conchas fire exploded on the scene a week ago, triggering the temporary evacuation of the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory. It has since charred more than 123,500 acres, the biggest torching of the state's lands in history.
But forecasters say seasonal rains are finally showing up across the tinder-dry Southwest, moving toward New Mexico.
"We've gone straight from fire danger to flood danger, so it's one thing after another," said a frustrated Jason Lott, superintendent of the Bandelier National Monument, a revered ancestral home of New Mexico's pueblo Indian natives.
© Rich Sugg
"Ooh, man. Ooh." Schaeffer followed and looked down in disbelief. A riot of water roiled where he'd spent a lifetime of lazy fishing.
"I've never seen anything like it," he said. "Nothing even close."
Eight years out of 10, the 14 flood gates, 40 feet wide, spill not so much as a bucket of the brown water into the Missouri River.
Now enough is barreling out of Lewis & Clark Lake to cover a football field 3½ feet deep every second. Water will race through the dam at that record rate, ultimately swamping farms and towns for hundreds of miles downstream, through August.
"When your bathtub is full, you just can't put any more water in it," said Dave Becker, the operations manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Gavins Point. "Water is going to spill over."
But how did the bathtub get so full? Why did the six huge Missouri River reservoirs - Gavins Point is the farthest downstream - fill to the brim and force the months-long release of floodwater?
The short answer: The corps could have prevented or drastically held down flooding by opening flood gates sooner. The reasons it didn't - reasons putting government water managers on the spot this summer - rest in a tangle of history, physics, meteorology and politics.
A massive haboob moved through the Valley Tuesday night, reducing visibility and kicking up dangerous high winds.
According to ABC15 meteorologist Rich Dahlquist, the wall of dust boasted sustained winds of around 60 miles per hour, close to hurricane force winds.
The powerful gusts knocked down power poles in parts of the East Valley, including Mesa, and led to outages affecting thousands of customers.
The thick dust reduced visibility in parts of the Valley to zero even before the sun set.
Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Scott Walker said they received 720 emergency phone calls between 5 and 7 p.m. and the storm kept crews busy across the city well into the night.
Communities across the Valley remain under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11 p.m.
© Unknown
The powerful gusts knocked down power poles in parts of the East Valley, including Mesa, and led to outages affecting thousands of customers.
The thick dust reduced visibility in parts of the Valley to zero even before the sun set.
Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Scott Walker said they received 720 emergency phone calls between 5 and 7 p.m. and the storm kept crews busy across the city well into the night.
Communities across the Valley remain under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11 p.m.
The National Weather Service in Phoenix has issued a Local dust Storm Warning for northwestern Pinal County in south central Arizona eastern Maricopa County in south central Arizona.
There is a 'Ground Stop' in effect, which means all flights coming in our going out of Sky Harbor Airport have been halted.
Video | News | Weather | Sports
There is a 'Ground Stop' in effect, which means all flights coming in our going out of Sky Harbor Airport have been halted.
Video | News | Weather | SportsTue Jul 05 19:38:24 PDT 2011
Historic dust storm moves across Phoenix metro
The National Weather Service in Phoenix issued a local dust storm warning for northwestern Pinal County in south central Arizona eastern Maricopa County in south central Arizona. view full article
© Benedikit Johsnneson
Mt Hekla.
Mt Hekla.
The movements have been recorded in five very precise meters that have been placed around Mt. Hekla in recent years. Professor Páll Einarsson says that these movements are seen in all five meters and even though the evidence is not conclusive they are thought to show magma movement under the volcano.
It has now been eleven years since Mt. Hekla, Iceland's most famous volcano, erupted. In the years since then the mountain is said to have slowly expanded because of magma buildup.
The last eruption in Hekla came on February 26 2000 and then earthquakes started an hour and a half before the outbreak of the magma.
As of now there is no cause for any activity on behalf of the Public safety commission.
© Reuters
Charred forest smolders from the Las Conchas Fire near Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Charred forest smolders from the Las Conchas Fire near Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The fast-burning Las Conchas fire exploded on the scene a week ago, triggering the temporary evacuation of the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory. It has since charred more than 123,500 acres, the biggest torching of the state's lands in history.
But forecasters say seasonal rains are finally showing up across the tinder-dry Southwest, moving toward New Mexico.
"We've gone straight from fire danger to flood danger, so it's one thing after another," said a frustrated Jason Lott, superintendent of the Bandelier National Monument, a revered ancestral home of New Mexico's pueblo Indian natives.
Lott said more than 50 percent of the park, which consists of a total of 33,750 acres, has already been scorched by the Las Conchas blaze, although the visitors center, historic lodge and the ancient Tyounyi Pueblo ruins have been spared.
Those same structures, however, may now be threatened by flash floods expected with the state's monsoon season.
"It could be tomorrow, or in a couple weeks," Lott said.
Mexico City - Mexican authorities have confirmed 11 deaths from Tropical Storm Arlene and the aftermath of floods, mudslides and overflowing rivers in central Mexico and Gulf Coast states.
State civil protection officials say five people in Hidalgo, two young children in Mexico state and a rescue worker and woman in Veracruz were killed. Most died after being buried alive in their homes by mudslides or drowning in heavy currents while trying to cross swollen streams.
State civil protection officials say five people in Hidalgo, two young children in Mexico state and a rescue worker and woman in Veracruz were killed. Most died after being buried alive in their homes by mudslides or drowning in heavy currents while trying to cross swollen streams.
Next up: Remove levees, reinforce long-term protection
At some point, record rain and snowmelt coursing down the Missouri River will taper off, and communities such as Pierre, Fort Pierre and Dakota Dunes will take down emergency levees flung up more than a month ago to protect them from floods.
And then they will ask: Now what?
But that question is only the beginning of a series of challenges leaders will be looking to address. Among other questions:
© Emily Spartz/Argus Leader
Sue Jopling and Tom Nelson help sandbag last week in Vermillion. Cities will have clean up after building up.
Sue Jopling and Tom Nelson help sandbag last week in Vermillion. Cities will have clean up after building up.
And then they will ask: Now what?
But that question is only the beginning of a series of challenges leaders will be looking to address. Among other questions:
- Who will pay for removing the levees?
- What will it cost to rehabilitate streets battered by construction vehicles and utilities shut down and sandbagged against flooding?
- Will the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers adjust its management of the river to move more water downstream earlier in the spring in unusually wet years such as this one?
- And perhaps most important, will there be another year like this one? If the record wet conditions of this year threaten to become a recurring event, does South Dakota need more permanent flood protection?
Comment: A recent similar case of jellyfish shutting down a power plant happened in Scotland.