Earth ChangesS


Attention

Humpback whale washes up dead near Pajaro Dunes, California

Stephen Baxter
The Santa Cruz Sentinel
Fri, 13 Jun 2014 05:36 UTC
Image
© Tom FarmerBeach-goers examine a dead humpback whale near Pajaro Dunes on Friday.
Researchers try to determine cause of death

An adult humpback whale was found dead on the beach near Pajaro Dunes Thursday night, and researchers are trying to determine its cause of death.

The roughly 45-foot whale was spotted after dark near the waterline at Palm Beach, said Teri Sigler, the marine mammal stranding coordinator at Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz.

"It's a rare strander," Sigler said Friday.

She said the whale appeared "moderately decomposed" and had an odor. It was not immediately clear how it died, and a necropsy was expected to be performed on the beach Friday.

Results could take a day or longer, in part because the tide has been washing the animal south and making it difficult for researchers to get to it. Friday afternoon, the whale drifted to the beach in front of the Pajaro Rivermouth, authorities said.
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Dominoes

Earthquake swarms at Hawaii's biggest volcano, Mauna Loa betray magma moving deep below

Erik Klemetti
wired.com
Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:50 UTC
Mona Loa 2013
© Erik Klemetti, taken March 2013.The broad shield of Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the largest active volcano on Earth.
We just passed the 30th anniversary of the last major eruptive period at Hawaii's biggest volcano, Mauna Loa. Since those eruptions in 1984, the volcano has been quiet, letting the continuous activity at Kilauea take the spotlight. However, by no means is Mauna Loa going to be quiet forever and over the past year, there have been increasing signs that the volcano might be preparing to jump back into action.
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Dominoes

Earthquake 'swarm' observed at remote Aleutian volcano - 5 volcanoes in Alaska are now simultaneously active

Devin Kelly
Anchorage Daily News
Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:56 UTC
Semisopochnoi Island 2012
© ROGER CLIFFORD — Alaska Volcano ObservatorySemisopochnoi Island, in November 2012.
An advisory alert has been issued for a remote volcano in the western Aleutian Islands after dozens of earthquakes were reported in the area, an early sign of volcanic unrest.

The change means that five volcanoes being monitored in Alaska are now simultaneously active, the most in recent memory, said Matt Haney, a research geophysicist at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

"We might have had four before, but we haven't had five," Haney said.

A total of 52 volcanoes in Alaska are considered by the observatory to be "historically active." All are monitored daily through satellites, and about 30 are monitored with ground-based seismometers that measure earthquake activity. On Friday, the observatory raised the color code alert level for the Semisopochnoi (pronounced Semi-so-poch-noi) volcano to "yellow," a reflection of heightened unrest.
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Cloud Precipitation

Iguazú Falls in Brazil are carrying 33 times their usual water flow rate following record-breaking rainfall

Jesus Diaz
Sploid
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 15:31 UTC
Following massive rainfalls in Misiones, Argentina, and Santa Catarina and Paraná, Brazil, the famous Iguazú Falls are now overflowing, carrying 46,300 cubic meters per second - 33 times the usual water flow rate. The images and video are unbelievable. I hope you have your arks ready, my friends.

The previous record was in 1992, when the river reached 36,000 cubic meters per second, about 10,000 cubic meters per second less than the current flow rate. Authorities have closed the area.

This is how the famous Iguazú Falls normally look, with their usual flow rate of 1500 cubic meters per second:

Iguazu Falls
Iguazu falls 1
This is how they are looking right now at 46,300 cubic meters per second:
Iguazu falls Flood

Iguazu Falls flood 1
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Sun

Anger rises as India swelters under record heatwave

Tommy Wilkes
Reuters
Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:30 UTC
India heat wave
© Reuters/Adnan AbidiA man protects himself from sun with a cloth as he sits on top of a cycle rickshaw carrying laundry on a hot summer day in the old quarters of Delhi June 11, 2014.
Swathes of north India are sweltering under the longest heat wave on record, triggering widespread breakdowns in the supply of electricity and increasingly angry protests over the government's failure to provide people with basic services.

The power crisis and heat wave, which some activists say has caused dozens of deaths, is one of the first major challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected three weeks ago partly on promises to provide reliable electricity supplies.

In Delhi, where temperatures have hit 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) for six days straight, residents marched through the streets in protests organised by opposition parties on Thursday. In the north of the city, people enraged by night-long outages clashed with police and torched a bus, media reported.
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Ice Cube

Antarctic sea ice area is 1,157,000 sq km above 'normal'

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Thu, 12 Jun 2014 10:24 UTC
Global sea ice extent is 678,000 sq km above the 1981-2010 mean.

Image
Sea Ice Update June 11 2014

Thanks to Kingbum for this link
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Butterfly

Malaysia swarmed by giant moths

Heather Chen
BBC News
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 07:12 UTC
Moths_1
© Lim Wui LiangThe dark-coloured moths are one of the largest found in South East Asia.
Swarms of giant moths have descended on Malaysia, invading homes and even disrupting a national football match.

Thousands of the furry insects, with a wing span of up to 16cm (6in), interrupted a semi-finals match at the Darul Makmur Stadium last week.

Over 800 sightings were also reported in neighbouring Singapore last month, sparking intense online debate.

The Lyssa Zampa tropical moth, which is also known as the Laos brown butterfly, is native to South East Asia.

Biology lecturer N Sivasothi said that while the moth sightings appear to be "unprecedented", it is not a new phenomenon.

"The moths are actually present during other times of the year but in very small numbers, so they are usually not noticed by people," Mr Sivasothi said, adding that the creatures typically emerge between April and August every year.

Ecologist Anuj Jain said moths' use of light for navigation often causes them to head to built-up areas.

"Their tendency to emigrate in search of new uneaten host plants attracts these moths to light in urban city areas," he said.

Experts said that while people suffering from asthma may be sensitive to hairs on their wings, the nocturnal creatures do not pose any threat.
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Bulb

Australia and Canada form climate alliance: Seek to avoid carbon tax and emissions trading schemes

Mark Kennedy
Ottawa Citizen
Mon, 09 Jun 2014 00:00 UTC
Tony Abbott and Stephen Harper
© Cole Burston / GettyAustralian Prime Minister Tony Abbot, right, in Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said climate change is not the 'most important problem the world faces.'
The political leaders of Canada and Australia declared on Monday they won't take any action to battle climate change that harms their national economies and threatens jobs.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Australian counterpart, Tony Abbott, made the statements following a meeting on Parliament Hill.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper both say there is no need for carbon pricing to combat climate change.

Abbott, whose Liberal party came to power last fall on a conservative platform, publicly praised Harper for being an "exemplar" of "centre-right leadership" in the world.

Abbott's government has come under criticism for its plan to cancel Australia's carbon tax, while Harper has been criticized for failing to introduce regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada's oil and gas sector.
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Attention

Dead Humpback whale found on Buffalo beach, Western Australia

Shanelle Miller
The Advocate
Wed, 11 Jun 2014 14:31 UTC
Image
© Kirk Davies. The dead whale was spotted on Buffalo Beach on Saturday.
A humpback whale carcass has been sitting on Buffalo Beach near Australind since Saturday and the department of parks and wildlife is still weighing up options of how to deal with its removal.

A department spokeswoman urged the public to steer clear of the 10-metre long carcass because it posed health and safety issues.

"It's a dead whale so it's not very pleasant to be around - in saying that, it's in a very remote location which can only be accessed by four-wheel-drive so there's not too much chance of people going up to it," the spokeswoman said.

She said the whale had several bite marks on it and at least one shark has been spotted in the area recently.

Removal of the carcass will prove difficult as it is sitting in the shallows at the beach and the department is taking a "wait and see" approach to its removal.

The public can report any shark sightings to Water Police on 9442 8600.
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Wolf

Out of control: USDA's Wildlife Services killed 4 million animals in 2013

Darryl Fears
Washington Post
Sat, 07 Jun 2014 09:52 UTC
Image
© KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty ImagesA coyote keeps pace with a car (not seen) as it runs down the road in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
For years, the massive toll of wild animals exterminated by the federal government as a service to everything from airports to ranches has bounced up and down like a yo-yo. Last year it was up again.

The more than 4 million animals shot, poisoned, snared or trapped by the Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services in fiscal year 2013 included 75,326 coyotes, 866 bobcats, 528 river otters, 3,700 foxes, 12,186 prairie dogs, 973 red-tailed hawks, 419 black bears and at least three eagles, golden and bald.

Though there's a list of animals killed, there's little data showing the cause for each killing, the methods used and the reasons behind mistakes that lead to massive kills of animals that aren't targeted.

At least two members of Congress have called Wildlife Services secret and opaque for failing to provide more information, and there are mounting calls for an investigation into how it operates.
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