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Igloo

New Australian continent wide low temperature record set for April

Brett Dutschke
Watts Up With That
Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:52 UTC
Charlotte Pass, Australia
© unknown
Charlotte Pass, 1,837m, Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia

A new Australian record was set early this morning, a temperature of minus 13 degrees, at Charlotte Pass on the Snowy Mountains.

This is the lowest temperature recorded anywhere in Australia in April and is 13 below the average. Nearby at Perisher it dipped to minus 11 degrees and at the top of Thredbo it dipped to minus 10.

Across the border, on the Victorian Alps April records were broken at Mt Hotham where it chilled to minus eight degrees and Mt Buller and Falls Creek where it got as low as minus seven.
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Bell

US: Bats' homes off-limits because of disease

Spencer Hunt
The Columbus Dispatch
Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:57 UTC
Affected states with white-nose syndrome
© Bat Conservation International/The Clumbus Dispatch
Thousands of caves and old mines in national forests, including the Wayne National Forest in Ohio, have been closed to people as the government tries to slow a mysterious disease that's wiping out bats.

Abandoned mines in the Wayne are well-known among biologists as winter havens for hibernating bats. Banning visitors could help keep white-nose syndrome from extending into Ohio, officials say. Discovered in New York in 2006, the disease has spread to eight other Eastern states, including Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The syndrome is named for a white fungus that grows on bats' faces, ears, wings and feet.

Nearly 500,000 bats have died.
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Arrow Down

Fifty percent of Honeybees gone in Japan

David Gutierrez
NaturalNews.com
Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:57 UTC
For the first time, Japan has been hit with a large-scale collapse of honeybee populations like that experienced in other countries around the world.

"There have been small-scale honeybee losses for many years, but a massive collapse like they had in the U.S. is very unusual," said Kiyoshi Kimura of the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science. "We must investigate the situation in Japan."
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Phoenix

Russia: Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch emissed a 7-km column of ash


Russia Info Centre
Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:49 UTC
Image
Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch has emissed a column of ash. Its height reaches 7 km above sea level. According to satellite observations an ash plum caused by last emission extendes 325 km southwestwards from the top of the mountain.

Shiveluch is one of the largest and most active Kamchatka volcanoes. It belongs to the Kliuchevskaya volcano group and is about 65,000 years old. Shiveluch is erupting during the last year being observated by Volcano logy Institute of Kamchatka. Volcano consists of two cones called Maliy and Bolshoy Shiveluch. Maliy Shiveluch is erupting now. The mountain grows constantly because of volcanic materials rising from the depths throughout crater.
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Better Earth

Why freeing Willy was the wrong thing to do

Catherine Brahic
New Scientist
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:39 UTC
Image
© Sam Barcroft/Rex Features
Keiko, star of Free Willy, in playful mood
Willy was never really free. The killer whale star of the Hollywood movie Free Willy had to be cared for by humans even after he was released and he never successfully integrated with his wild kin. Researchers now say attempts to return him to the wild were misguided.

"We believe the best option for [Willy] was the open pen he had in Norway, with care from his trainers," says Malene Simon of the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, who participated in efforts to reintegrate the cetacean in the wild and is lead author of the study. "He could swim as much as he wanted to, had plenty of frozen herring - which he was very fond of - and the people that he was attached to kept him active."

The killer whale, whose real name was Keiko, died in December 2003, at about 26 years old. Despite efforts to integrate him with wild killer whales in Iceland towards the end of his life, he proved unable to interact with them or find food.

"While we as humans might find it appealing to free a long-term captive animal," the researchers say in the paper, "the survival and well-being of the animal may be severely impacted in doing so." The only cetaceans that have successfully been returned to the wild have been young and only kept in captivity for short periods.
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Hourglass

Orchard Losses 'Threaten Species'


BBC News
Fri, 24 Apr 2009 06:06 UTC
Image

Use of few or no chemicals makes orchards good wildlife habitat
Traditional fruit orchards are vanishing from England's landscape - with serious consequences for wildlife, conservationists have warned.

The National Trust says 60% have disappeared since the 1950s, putting local varieties of apples, cherries, pears, plums and damsons under threat.

It is launching a £536,000 drive to reverse the decline of the orchards.

Their trees provide important habitats for species such as the noble chafer beetle and lesser spotted woodpecker.

The orchards - some with as few as five trees - also offer sources of pollen and nectar to bees, which are thought to be declining partly because of a lack of suitable food.

Pressure from commercial fruit growers has led many small-scale producers to develop their orchards or convert them to other uses.
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Bizarro Earth

Update: Guerrero, Mexico: Earthquake Magnitude 5.6


US Geological Survey
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:45 UTC
Image
© US Geological Survey
Date-Time

* Monday, April 27, 2009 at 16:46:28 UTC

* Monday, April 27, 2009 at 11:46:28 AM at epicenter

* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 17.069°N, 99.386°W

Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program

Distances 55 km (35 miles) SSE of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico

60 km (40 miles) ENE of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

140 km (90 miles) S of Iguala, Guerrero, Mexico

260 km (160 miles) S of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
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Einstein

Hopeless blend of hot air and hubris

Greg Melleuish
The Australian
Tue, 28 Apr 2009 04:08 UTC
The ancient Greeks invented the idea of hubris, of human beings having overweening pride and self-esteem that needed to be punished for its excess. There are perhaps those who believe that what is commonly called climate change is a punishment for hubris, for human beings having gone beyond their place in the scheme of things.

However, an equally good case can be made that the call for human beings to make far-reaching changes to their way of life in response to climate change is itself a form of hubris. To begin, it is based on the belief that human endeavours, in the shape of industrial development, have had such an impact on the Earth that they threaten to disrupt its environment on an enormous scale. Not only have humans made such an impact on the planet, they are also capable, through an act of will, of reversing that impact and setting things right.
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Phoenix

Colombia: Galeras volcano erupts again


Colombia Reports
Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:00 UTC
Image
The Galeras volcano in the south Colombia Nariño department erupted again Friday, causing authorities to raise the alert level to red.

The eruption occurred Friday night, only a few hours after authorities noticed the first seimic activity within the volcano. The population living in the vicinity of the volcano, were ordered to evactuate. Some 200 people responded to that request.
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Bizarro Earth

5.3 magnitude Earthquake rocks Eastern Indonesia


Xinhua
Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:36 UTC
An earthquake with the magnitude of 5.3 struck eastern parts of Indonesia on Monday morning, but with no report of damage or casualties, local meteorology agency said here. The quake jolted at 01:14 Jakarta time (1814 GMT Sunday) with the epicenter at 28 km southeast Melongue town of north Suawesi and at 34 km in depth, the agency said.
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