Plagues
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Bizarro Earth

Two million sick from Pakistan floods

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© AFP, Rizwan TabassumA Pakistani youth carries a water pot through floodwaters in Mirpur Khas district
Two million Pakistanis have fallen ill from diseases since monsoon rains left the southern region under several feet of water, the country's disaster authority said Thursday.

More than 350 people have been killed and over eight million people have been affected this year by floods that officials say are worse in parts of Sindh province than last year, when the country saw its worst ever disaster.

Malaria, diarrhoea, skin disease and snake bites were among the health problems facing two million people across 23 Sindh districts, said Irshad Bhatti, spokesman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

"In some areas, diseases also spread out because of dead animals but there is no major break-out of any epidemic," Bhatti added, calling for the donation of mosquito nets and medicines to help the aid effort.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said there is a desperate shortage of clean drinking water in the south which has also triggered outbreaks of acute diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases.

Fish

Georgia, US: New Ogeechee Swim Advisory After Report s of "Skin Sores"

New concerns in the Ogeechee River tonight. This comes just a few months after a fish kill wiped out tens of thousands of fish.


X

US: Devastating Tree-Killing Pathogen Traced to California

A new study by UC Berkeley and Italian researchers may have solved a decades-long mystery behind the source of a tree-killing fungus that affected six of the world's seven continents.

Genetic sleuthing by an international team of researchers has fingered California as the source of the pathogen, Seiridium cardinale, which is the cause of cypress canker disease and has killed as much as 95 percent of native trees in the cypress family, including junipers and some cedars.

The findings were published Thursday in the journal Phytopathology.

"The fungus was likely introduced from California either in the South of France or in Central Italy 60 to 80 years ago, and that introduction resulted in a global pandemic that has devastated the region's iconic Italian cypress trees," Matteo Garbelotto, adjunct associate professor and cooperative extension specialist in ecosystem sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a university release.

Sun

SOTT Focus: Connecting the Dots: Cosmic Changes, Planetary Instability and Extreme Weather

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© NASA / SDOThe Solar Dynamics Observatory's view of the coronal mass ejection of June 7, 2011.
With Earth Changes now clearly happening and time pressing, the editors of Sott.net are faced with the urgency of catching up with an avalanche of significant news items and trying to make sense of things! Recent weather events have been unprecedented: both spring and early summer have been bizarre across the globe, to say the least.

You name the weather or geological type of phenomenon; someone in the world had it: volcanoes, earthquakes, torrential rain, floods, sinkholes, tornadoes, droughts, wildfires ... even summertime snow! Let's review them all as best as we can, starting from the top: the cosmic factor.

Solar Activity
© Mike BormanImage Taken: Jun 4, 2011
Location: Evansville, Indiana, USA
Cosmic Changes Are Under Way

Changes on planet Earth comprise such a wide variety of phenomena, from extreme weather anomalies to volcanoes and earthquakes, so perhaps it's a good idea to zoom back and see if we can make sense of any changes in the cosmic climate that may be affecting us. Yes, we are aware that this approach goes against the sanctioned narrative claiming that these changes are caused by carbon-burning human beings living in an isolated bubble that can only grow warmer. But the pieces of the puzzle on the table point to a different, larger picture.

A huge central piece is our sun, which is not surprising, since this ongoing explosion in space is what brings order to our corner of the universe and to life to Earth. For the last couple of years the sun was expected to go into high activity in accordance with its usual 11-year sunspot cycle. But scientists were left scratching their heads as our local star remained quiet. Now it's giving off such a display of flares that it has NASA scientists going 'ooh and ahh'.

Black Cat

India: Mysterious Disease Continues to Claim Cattle in Senapati Village

Five more cattle have been claimed by the 'mysterious disease' that spread in and around the Makhan village of Manipur's Senapati district even as state Veterinary Department is still has no clue about the disease.

On July 11, Newmai News Network had reported that over 50 cows and buffaloes had been killed by the mysterious disease. A team of officials of the state veterinary department led by its joint director had visited Makhan village and took stock of the situation on Wednesday (July 13).

While collecting samples require for determining the disease, the team also provided medicines apart. They also administered injection to the cattle infected by the disease as a step towards contentment of the disease.

Since the day, the number of cattle claim by the disease has been reduced but as steps to control the disease was yet to be taken up. There were still apprehensions of killing for cattle in the mind of the villagers, said Athuiliu, a villager over phone.

He also lamented that officials of the veterinary department had failed to revisit the village. "We are unhappy with attitude of the officials when they remain silent without informing us about the disease till date," he said.

Bug

US: Bee Swarms Plague California Neighbourhood, Killing Family Dog

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© Don Mason/CorbisThreat: Ms Bammes said the bees have built large nests on her home and an exterminator has already killed 6,000 to 8,000 of the insects
Aggressive swarms of bees tormenting a Southern California neighbourhood have killed a family dog.

Kim Bammes' chocolate Labrador mix, Reggie, died after being stung so many times in the yard of her Wildomar home the veterinarian lost count.

Residents in the southwest Riverside County community say they can hear bees buzzing during certain times of day, and are now timing their comings and goings to the insects' schedule.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise says Bammes tried but failed to get help from the county or city, and that Wildomar's code enforcement officer, Keith Ross, told her the city could not afford to exterminate the insects.

Deputy Director Keith Jones said the job would cost about $300.

County officials say there's little they can do because the hive is on a neighbour's private property.

Bug

US: Stinky Kudzu Bug Invades South

Kudzu Bug
© D. Suiter / Univ. GeorgiaKudzu bugs, which feed on the infamous vine, showed up in Georgia in 2009.
As if kudzu, the invasive "vine that ate the South," weren't trouble enough, one of its little friends from Asia has joined it in the United States.

The kudzu bug, known formally as Megacopta cribraria, is a type of stinkbug that feeds the kudzu vine in its native Asia. While the invading vine is its favorite meal, the bug also attacks soybeans, and as it spreads from Georgia to neighboring states, there are fears it will broaden its palate and target other legume crops, including peanuts.

Kudzu was brought to the East Coast more than a century ago to control erosion. Its quick growth wreaked havoc on the ecosystem: It smothers and strangles other plants, uproots trees and breaks branches with its weight. The bug appears to have hitched a ride by accident much more recently. Just how remains a mystery.

Bug

Millions of Locusts Invade Russia

Giant swarms of locusts are said to be threatening the food supply for nearly 20 million people in the region.


Bandaid

Russia Spent 120 Million Rubles to Protect Grains From Locusts


Russia spent 120 million rubles ($4.3 million) to fight locusts this year and protect crops, the Agriculture Ministry said.

The money was used to spray the insects on 760,000 hectares (1.88 million acres) of land, the ministry said today on its website. Some 8.6 million hectares were inspected and locusts were found to have landed on 2.2 million hectares.

The ministry estimated the potential damage to be as much as 50 billion rubles.

"Grains did not suffer in Russia," Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said on the department's website.

Locust incidents rose significantly in Dagestan, Kalmykia, Astrakhan, Saratov and other southern regions this year as a result of last year's drought and a relatively warm winter, Interfax cited Skrynnik as saying in Kalmykia earlier today. Locusts' peak seasons occur once every 10 years, and the last took place in 2001, Interfax cited Skrynnik as saying.

Cow Skull

Hundreds of cattle die of mysterious disease in Dadu, Pakistan

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© Unknown
Hundreds of cattle including sheep, goats, cows, buffaloes and camels have died of mysterious diseases in a month in different villages of Kachho area lying between Khirthar mountain range in the west and the plains along the river Indus on the east side.

The villagers told PPI, that animals so far included 700 goats, 300 sheep, 40 cows, 25 buffaloes and 15 camels.

The villagers said that 200 goats, 95 sheep and 3 cows died in Pat Gul Muhammad area of Kachho while 160 goats, 5 cows, 3 buffaloes and 6 camels died in village Raju Dero, Sim and Torr within 20 days.

Similarly, over 175 goats, 7 cows, 3 buffaloes and 4 camels died in village Bari, Heero Khan and surrounding areas.