SIO15: Natural Disasters

Hurricane Ida weakened rapidly before drenching the southern United States. It had earlier brought torrential rainfall to parts of Central America, including El Salvador, where floods and mudslides killed at least 175 people.

A Sinking Threat:
A giant man-made cavern beneath Carlsbad, N.M., threatens to cave in, swallowing parts of the city that include businesses, a trailer park and a stretch of a main U.S. highway. Three decades of pumping freshwater into a salt layer about 300 feet below the surface, followed by its extraction to help with oil well drilling, already caused two nearby sinkholes to open up last year. State officials now say the ground around the city is heaving in some areas, while other parts are sinking. The city is about 26,000 residents has declared an emergency and says government-installed sensors should give several hours of warning before any cave-in occurs. That should be enough time to evacuate the population, but such a collapse would also swallow up nearby farmland, causing $100 million in damage.

Python Possess:
Florida officials area grappling with a slithering invasion that threatens to kill wildlife and even humans--giant nonnative snakes such as pythons and boa constrictors. The reptiles are escaped pets or their descendants, and biologists estimate there are now tens of thousands of them crawling across the Everglades and other parts of South Florida, thanks to the region's temperate climate. A 2-year old girl from the Tampa Bay area was found asphyxiated by a Burmese python that measured more than 8 feet in length. That prompted the state's first-ever python hunt, in which 39 Burmese were captured by early November. One measured more than 9 feet. But the majority were less than 4 feet long, prompting wildlife experts to point out that the relatively small size means the snakes are now breeding in the wild. Most were found to have empty bellies, meaning they're also hungry.

Bali Rumblings:
A volcano on the Indonesian resort island of Bali has produced an increase in volcanic tremors significant enough for officials to issue a special alert for tourists and nearby residents. Mount Batur has also spewed columns of black smoke in conjunction with the rumbling tremors over the past few weeks. People are now banned from climbing the mountain, a popular tourist spot. The summit is considered holy by the Balinese, with some climbing the mountain regularly to make offerings.

Messing with Nature:
Unusually early and heavy snowfall over Beijing attributed to China's ongoing weather modification projects has caused capital residents to question whether it's right to mess with Mother Nature. The earliest snowfall to blanket Beijing in 22 years fell on Nov. 1, followed 10 days later by another period of frozen precipitation. Beyond the typical wintry inconveniences such snowfall can cause, the China Daily reports that nearly half of the city's annual allotment of snow-removal chemicals has already been used. The paper cited an unnamed official who said the Beijing Weather Modification Office had artificially induced both storms by seeding clouds with chemicals. Such methods have been used for years to alleviate a protracted drought across North China.

Black Fever Outbreak:
A deadly tropical disease is spreading across southern Sudan, where lack of adequate medical care and interethnic conflict are preventing many of those infected from getting the treatment that could save their lives. The bite of the sand fly has been spreading the parasite that causes the disease known as kala azar, or black fever. It is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world after malaria. ALmost all of those who go untreated die after suffering enlarged organs and other symptoms. But prompt treatment produces a 95 percent survival rate.

Extreme temperatures: -54 deg C in Vostok, Antarctica; 43 deg C in N'Guigmi, Niger

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November 02, 2009 (for week ending Oct. 30th)

Earthquakes:

Southeastern Indonesia and northern Australia were jolted strongly by a 6.9 magnitude quake that also prompted a regional tsunami alert. Shaking was said tot have lasted five minutes in some areas. Earth movements were also felt in Southern Philippines (5.6), northern Colombia (5.3), southeastern Pennsylvania (2.8), Mexico's Gulf Coast (5.4) and along the Afghan Pakistan Border (5.6).

Tropical Cyclones:
Thousands of people in the northern Philippines who were evacuated in anticipation of the arrival of Typhoon Lupit were able to return home as the storm weakened well offshore and turned toward Japan. Parts of Luzon Island had already been devastated by floods and mudslides unleashed by two successive storms over the previous three weeks. And yet another storm, Mirinae, was taking aim on the northern Philippines late in the week.

Coral Ark:
Scientists are proposing a last-ditch scheme to save the world's coral from disappearing due to climate change--freezing samples so that reefs can be re-seeded if and when the climate is stabilized. Many marine biologists have warned that the world's coral reefs, and the biodiversity they support, will disappear by the end of the century if the predicted rise in temperatures occurs. "Unless something very remarkable happens during December's climate talks, the world's reefs will be reduced to slime-covered rubble by 2050," Alex Rogers, of the London-based Institute of Zoology, told The Observer. Collecting coral specimens and preserving them in cryogenic vaults was one of the ways to cope with climate change discussed at a meeting in Copenhagen by the group Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment. Most attending the gathering agreed that there is little change that the world's governments will agree to a plan stringent enough to prevent the predicted rise in temperatures this century.

Wineries Head South:
A leading economic consulting firm says that some of Chile's leading wine producers may have to move their vineyards farther south as climate change makes their current locations too dry and warm. A Pricewaterhouse Coopers study warns that ideal climatic conditions needed for grape growing will shift to higher latitudes due to a 30 percent reduction in rainfall and an expected temperature rise of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit across established production area. The Santiago Times reports that famed brands such as Vina Morande have already begun planting vines around Lake Llanquihue, about 500 miles south of the country's primary grape-growing region.

A choking Comeback:
Smog levels in Hong Kong have returned to the same record high level registered in 2000, prompting warnings from the city's Environmental Protection Department for people with heart or respiratory illnesses. Air pollution from a cluster of factories in southern China had dipped over the past year due to the global economic slowdown. But the smog has returned to Hong Kong over the past two months as those factories in neighboring Guangdong province ramped up production to match an increased demand for goods.

Earthquake Sentinal:
An official on Indonesia's island of Sumatra says that an endangered bird in the quake-prone region has the ability to predict major earthquakes up to two days before they actually strike. Coordinator of the West Sumatra relief aid coordinating agency Ade Edwar told the Antara news agency that a type of pheasant known as a Kuwau can be heard for more than a half-mile as it "sings" before the shaking from a quake arrives. "This bird will be acting rather unusual and sings very often, which is a sign that a major earthquake is coming," Edwar said. He pointed to reports from residents in one community who said the Kuwau was sounding an alarm before the devastating Sumatra quake on Sept. 30.

Twin Peeps:
A British farmer was started to witness the birth of two ducklings from the same egg, an event said to be unprecedented in the country's history. The twin ducklings were dubbed Romulus and Remus, and are believed to be the first pair ever to survive after hatching. A shall-shocked Roger Oliver of the Cornish Duck Company in St. Austell videotaped the births after noticing the egg had two embryos as he was checking for the birth viability of the egg. He soon saw two beaks pecking their way out from both ends. With a little help getting out of the shell from his partner Tanya Dalton, the two chicks were soon peeping their way into history. A similar twin hatching occurred in Canada, but the ducklings were said to have not survived.

Extreme temperatures: -83 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 112 deg F in Dampier W. Australia

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October 19, 2009 (for week ending Oct. 23)

Earthquakes:

Several homes were damaged by a relatively mild earthquake centered just north of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Earth movements were also felt in central Japan (4.9), the Tonga aftershock zone (6.0), central New Zealand (4.8), the Aleutian Islands (6.2) and the San Francisco Bay Area (3.7).

Tropical Cyclones: The epic journey of Typhoon Parma entered a third week with the storm lashing southern China's Hainan Island and far northern Vietnam. The storm brought catastrophic flooding to the northern Philippines when it stalled over Luzon during the previous week. More than 300 people were killed in the Philippines and China due to Parma's heavy rain.

Tropical Storm Nepartak passed over the Western Pacific.
Parts of Baja California received wind gusts and rain as Tropical Storm Patricia skirted the southern tip of the peninsula.

Melting Toxic Legacy:
Swiss scientist say they have found that highly toxic pollutants created decades ago are being redistributed through the environment as climate change causes the Alpine glaciers that have stored them to melt. Writing in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, co-author Christian Bogdal of the Swiss Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research said that sediments from three glacier-fed lakes now contain far higher levels of many persistent pollutants, including PCBs, dioxins and DDT, than they did just 10 years ago. Most of those compounds have been banned for at least 30 years or are no longer being dispersed due to emission controls. Many of the pollutants do not easily break down, are carcinogenic and can even be absorbed through the skin. Current levels of the substances in the lakes are now comparable to when they were still in use. A nearby lake not fed by glaciers shows no increase in the level of such contaminants .

Volcano Evacuations:
Authorities in the central Philippines rushed to cope with two dangers suddenly being posed by Mayon volcano, 340 miles southeast of Manila. Initially, the mountain caused concern when it produced a nearly 350-ton increase in the amount of sulfur dioxide it was spewing. Heavy rain then unleashed a huge mudslide, panicking residents as it cascaded down the volcano's slopes. Military personnel and vehicles were dispatched to help hundreds of threatened residents evacuate to safety. The mountain has produced several violent eruptions during recorded history. It began to show signs of awakening in July.

Species Loss:
Scientists attending a U.N. conference in South Africa were warned that the world will not meet its goal of slowing biodiversity loss by next year. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity set the target in 2003. The prediction came just ahead of a meeting of the Diversitas group of global biodiversity experts in Cape Town. It says that pollution, urban sprawl and climate change are causing extinction rates to be much higher than predicted.

Dusty Spawn:
Last month's massive Outback sandstorm that obscured the skyline of Sydney and other communities has caused an explosion of microscopic ocean life. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports that the thousands of tons of red dust dumped in Sydney Harbor and beyond contained nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphate that have fed huge blooms of phytoplankton. Such fertilizing elements had been scarce in what's been called Australia's "desert" ocean waters. The tiny plants are now providing food for larger ocean creatures. The plankton has also captured about 8 million tons of carbon dioxide so far, which will be deposited on the ocean floor once the creates die and sink. That's equivalent to a month of emissions from a typical coal-fired power plant.

Seismic Bounty:
Fishermen off the Peninsular Malaysian states of Kelantan and Terenganu managed to haul in their biggest catch in 15 years after a powerful undersea earthquake apparently drove a large number of fish into their nets. Nat Zin Omar told the Bernama new agency that his usual catch is about 2,200 pounds, but the caught 11,000 pounds following a nearby quake. A local meteorological official said it is not uncommon for fish to gather in large numbers as they seek shelter from such earthquakes or tsunamis.

Extreme temperatures: -95 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 112 deg F in Akjoujt, Mauritania

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October 12, 2009 (for week ending Oct. 16)

Earthquakes:

A series of three strong quakes within minutes around Vanuatu sparked a brief tsunami alert across the Pacific. Only a small rise in sea level was detected, and there were no reports of damage or injury.
Earth movements were also felt in Mexico's Pacific resort of Puerto Valarta (5.5), south-central Alaska (4.1), Taiwan (6.1), the southern Philippines (6.6), the Samoa-Tonga aftershock zone (6.0) and California's remote Owens Valley (5.2).

Cyclone Disaster:

The United Nations made an urgent appeal for $75 million to help the Philippines recover from two devastating tropical cyclones within as many weeks. Tropical Storm Ketsana dumped a month's worth of rainfall within just nine hours, submerging parts of Manila and other cities. Nearly 300 people died in that inundation. Typhoon Parma then stalled over northern parts of the country for several days.
Former Category 5 Typhoon Melor killed two people and injured dozens of others as it became the first such storm tot make a direct hit on Japan in more than two years.
Tropical Storm Olaf drenched Mexico's Baja peninsula.
Subtropical Storm Grace formed in the North Atlantic. Tropical Storm Henri spun up briefly north of the Windward Island.

Caribbean Plumes:
Montserrat's Soufriere Hills volcano shot a plume of ash more than 2 miles above the eastern Caribbean sky twice during the mountain's first sign of activity in 10 months. The ash cloud drifted out to sea over uninhabited parts of the island, including the abandoned capital of Plymouth, which was destroyed in a 1996 eruption.

Climate Aggression:
Wildlife in East Africa have been observed becoming more violet and aggressive due to the effects of climate change, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). "Wildlife such as elephants have become bolder, frequently raiding human settlements in search of food and water, and baboons have been seen killing lambs," KWS scientist Judith Nyunja told Kenya's Business Daily. She added that hippopotamuses have been observed invading farms, where they feed on fruit. Nyunja says competition for diminishing resources is causing more human-wildlife conflicts, often resulting in the deaths of the animals. Climate change has resulted in East Africa being parched by drought about every two or three years compared with the previous long-term average of around once per decade.

Indian Flood Disaster:
Some of Southern India's worst flooding in decades has left at least 2.5 million people homeless across the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. More than 300 others are reported to have died in the flood disaster. Millions of acres of farmland, including the region's key sugarcane crop, have been submerged. National and international relief agencies and organizations were mobilized to combat the spread of disease, and to provide food, clean water and medicine to the vast affected area. The flooding is blamed on a disturbance that moved ashore from the Bay of Bengal. It came shortly after meteorologists announced that a weak summer monsoon had brought northern India its worst drought since 1972.

Hopping Invasion:
A huge invasion of rabbits around one southeastern Australian city threatens to destroy key infrastructure and wreck the livelihood of area farmers. Residents of Aberdeen say the furry marauders are burrowing beneath the foundations of their homes, as well as damaging highways and rail lines. Crops and flower beds are not safe. "You don't even bother trying to grow anything anymore because the mongrels will just go for it," farmhand Ken Smith told the Daily Telegraph.

Whale-Bird Teamwork:
Scientists who attached miniature digital cameras to the backs of four albatrosses have retrieved some remarkable photos showing how the birds feed alongside whales at sea. The cameras were carried by black-browed albatrosses from breeding colonies in the British overseas territory of South Georgia, in the far southern Atlantic Ocean. From among the nearly 29,000 images taken during single foraging trips made by the birds, some show the birds diving around a killer whale, a strategy albatrosses may have developed to make catching fish easier. Richard Phillips from the British Antarctic Survey, one of the three international organizations involved in the study, says the albatrosses' teamwork with marine mammals is similar to the way tropical birds work with tuna.

Extreme temperatures: -94 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 117 deg F in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

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September 28, 2009 (for week ending Sept. 25)

Earthquakes:

At least 12 people were killed by a powerful magnitude 6.1 quake that rocked the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan and neighboring countries. Three of the victims were killed by falling boulders, while nine others died when buildings collapsed.
[Earth movements were also felt in Mindoro, Philippines (6.0), Sumatra, Indonesia (4.8), Bali, Indonesia (5.8), southeastern Australia (3.0), China's Sichuan-Gansu border (5.4), Hindu Kush, Afghanistan (5.1), and Santa Cruz Island, Baja California (5.1).]

Tropical Cyclones:

Super typhoon Choi-Wan intensified to a Category 5 storm over the Pacific between the Northern Mariana Islands and Iwo Jima.
Tropical Storm Nora formed off Mexico's Baja peninsula

Outback Armageddon:
A cloud of Outback dust shrouded the Sydney skyline in a reddish haze unlike anything residents or weather experts in Australia's largest city had ever seen before. The massive cloud of dust resulted in air pollution 1,500 times its normal level in Sydney - the highest on record. The dim, blood-colored sky was described by many as looking like "Armageddon," and health officials braced for an outbreak of respiratory illness.

Melting Respite:
The accelerated melting of the Arctic's sea ice of recent years slowed somewhat this summer, with 2009 ranking as the third-largest melt on record. The polar ice normally reaches its minimum size in mid-September before the waning summer sun allows the melted waters to refreeze. Arctic temperatures were relatively cool over he summer and wind patterns tended to disperse the ice pack over a larger region, according to the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. While the coverage of the ice is greater this year than during the last two summers, scientists at the center do not consider this to be a recovery.

Sinking Deltas:
Researchers have warned that two-thirds of the world's deltas are sinking, putting tens of millions of people at risk of flooding and crop losses. It appears human activity is at fault. A report by a team led by University of Colorado-Boulder professor James Syvitsky reveals that 24 of the world's 33 major deltas from Asia to the Americas are becoming more vulnerable to flooding from rivers and ocean storms due to sinking land and rising seas. Damming and diversion of rivers for agriculture and other uses upstream are holding back sediment that would normally build up in the deltas, replacing what is lost by erosion. And climate change due to greenhouse gases is causing sea levels to rise around the planet.

Ozone Healing:
The size of the hole in stratospheric ozone that develops over Antarctica at this time each year appears to have stabilized, according to satellite observations. Matthew Tulley from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology says the hole has begun to show signs of healing because of the international agreement to phase out the production of ozone-depleting chemicals in the 1987 Montreal Protocol.

Cold Refugees:
Kenyan wildlife experts are advising residents not to kill the snakes that are being driven into their homes due to a recent stretch of cold weather. The chill has accompanied a protracted drought across the equatorial East African nation, sending the reptiles into people's kitchens and bedrooms. "We appeal to people not to consider all snakes enemies. They are suffering from cold weather the way we are," said National Museum of Kenya Snake Park curator Rashid Kaka. He told the Daily Nation that the snakes are mostly harmless and could be kept as pets. That's not likely to become a very popular hobby due to many people's revulsion at seeing them.

Extreme temperatures: -94 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 115 deg F in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

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September 21, 2009 (for week ending Sept. 18)

Earthquakes:

Several buildings in northern Venezuela were damaged by a 6.4 magnitude quake centered just off the country's Caribbean coast. A few major injuries were reported.
Earth movements were also felt in central Italy (4.2), central Greece (4.3), Cyprus (4.4), and interior parts of the San Francisco Bay Area (3.2).

Tropical Cyclones:

Seven people were killed and four others remained missing across Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province in the wake of Typhoon Koppu.
A minimal tropical cyclone dubbed Mujigae drenched China's Hainan island and northern Vietnam.
Super Typhoon Choi-Wan became a Category-5 storm after lashing some islands of the Northern tip of Mariana chain.
Tropical storm Marty formed off the southern tip of Baja California.

Philippine Eruption:
One of the Philippines' most active volcanoes spewed ash during a brief eruption that prompted authorities to warn the public to stay away from the mountain. The country's vulcanology and seismology institute, Phivolcs, said the explosions of ash occurred at Mayon volcano, 200 miles southeast of Manila.

A New Arctic:
An exhaustive survey of the polar environment indicates that the Arctic as we know it may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists from several countries agreed with that conclusion after reviewing evidence collected during the International Polar Year, which ended in 2008. Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say that climate change threatens such species as polar bears, Arctic fox and caribou with loss of habitat or even extinction. "It seems no matter where you look -- on the ground, in the air or in the water -- we're seeing signs of rapid change," said biologist Eric Post of Penn State University. The report says that a warming of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 150 years has already caused dramatic consequences. It cautions that further changes resulting from the projected 10.8-degree warming over the next century will be difficult to predict.

Really Crazy Ants:
One of the world's most invasive and troublesome species is marching across Texas, breeding by the billions. Crazy ants were first discovered in the Houston area in 2008, where they probably arrived in a cargo shipment. They have now reached San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, and scientists don't know exactly where they originally came from. While they don't bite like their nasty fire ant cousins, they multiply at alarming rates. They also have the habit of swarming en masse and covering whatever they climb, like pets, people and wildfire. They even overwhelm and destroy fire ant colonies as they conquer new territory, advancing in all directions rather than in a straight line. The insects cause the most problems for humans due to their attraction to electronic devices. They can short out computers and household appliances, and have even knocked out control valves on pipelines, costing one company $1 million for just once incident.

Smoggy Recovery:
A resurgence of choking air pollution in Hong Kong probably signals that the worst of the economic crisis is over, according to economists and industry observers. There was a significant plunge in pollution levels during the first quarter of this year as factories curbed production or shut down entirely due to the global recession. But Goldman Sachs economist Michael Buchanan told the South China Morning Post that pollution is once again "reassuringly bad." The smog has returned due to factories in the neighboring Chinese province of Guangdong ramping up production to match an increased demand for goods. A report earlier this year said the air pollution was prompting nearly a half-million people to consider moving away.

Bear Starvation:
Calls by conservationists to cancel this season's grizzly bear hunt in western Canada went unheeded despite reports that the bears have been starving due to a sharp decline in salmon in British Columbia streams. The Globe and Mail reports that observations of bear deaths by conservationists, salmon-stream walkers and ecotourism guides could point to an unfolding ecological disaster not yet documented by biologists. On the British Columbia coast, salmon runs provide a crucial food supply for black and grizzly bears, which eat the fish to store up enough fat to survive the winter. The salmon have been in decline for several years, and were especially scarce last year. But Sterling Miller, a U.S. biologist who spent 21 years in Alaska studying salmon-eating bears, says that such deaths due to the decline of a single food source are very unlikely.

Extreme temperatures: -97 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 120 deg F in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

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August 31, 2009 (for week ending Aug. 28)

Earthquakes:

Another earth movement was felt in far northwestern Sumatra (4.6).

Tropical Cyclones:

Tropical storms Hilda and Ignacio churned the open waters of the eastern Pacific.
Tropical Storm Danny was taking aim at Atlantic Canada.

Right Rebound:
A species of whale once hunted to the point that only a few dozen breeding females remained has returned to the bay waters of Tasmania to give birth for the first time in well over 100 years. A just-born calf was resting on her mother's back and swimming close beside her as the pair was photographed in Great Oyster Bay during early August. About 1,000 southern rights were hunted each year around Tasmania in the early 1800s. They had become commercially extinct by 1842. According to the international Whaling Commission, the right whale was so thoroughly hunted that only 60 breeding females were left by 1920 out of an estimated original population of 160,000. The species received its name because whalers thought them the "right" whale to hunt because their slow movement made them easy targets and they tended to float after being killed. They are also rich in whale oil, once used in lamps, candles and even margarine before other products made its use obsolete.

El Nino to Linger:
The U.N. weather agency predicts that the El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon that has been strengthening in the tropical Pacific is likely to last well into next year, altering the world's weather patterns. Past El Ninos have been associated with storms in California, drought in Australia and Indonesia and extremely heavy rainfall in East Africa, all at different times of the year. But the World Meteorological Organization cautions that no two El Ninos are alike. The agency says that reliable predictions of what weather patterns are likely to do through the spring of 2010 are not yet available.

Plastic Pollution:
A new study finds that plastics, rather than being nearly indestructible, can actually decompose surprisingly fast in the ocean, leaching potentially toxic substances in the process. In a presentation at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, lead author Katsuhiko Saido said his team, "found that plastic in the ocean actually decomposes as it is exposed to the rain and sun and other environmental conditions, giving rise to yet another source of global contamination that will continue into the future." Of particular concern is a vast collection of plastic debris about the size of Texas that swirls around the North Pacific in a zone called "The Great Garbage Patch." An ocean circulation known as the North Pacific Gyre has been found to be responsible for swirling around an estimated 2.5 million-ton "island" of plastic trash about midway between Hawaii and San Francisco.

Volcanic Cluster:
Six volcanoes on Far East Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula are showing signs of activity simultaneously for the first time in 60 years, according to vulcanologists. Russia's Institute of Volcanology and Seismology says that Koryaksky, Shiveluch, Bezimyanny, Gorely, Karymsky and Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcanoes appear to threaten any populated areas, the institute says that Gorely might soon erupt for the first time in 22 years. Vostok Media reports that water in Gorely's crater lake is getting hotter, which indicates magma is rising from deep beneath the volcano.

Hopper Invasion:
Ranchers across the U.S. Great Plains and northern Rocky Mountains are battling what some are calling the worst infestation of grasshoppers in 20 years. "They've eaten everything but the cactus," South Dakota rancher Mark Tubbs told The Associated Press. He and other ranchers are planning to sell off a portion of their cattle this fall because they won't be able to harvest enough fodder to feed all of their existing herds over the winter. Some say the ravenous insects are chomping through their alfalfa crop as quickly as it is growing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health inspection Service says the infestation is a natural cycle. As with many other insects, grasshopper populations ebb and flow based on moisture, drought and other factors.

Extreme temperatures: -112 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 120 deg F in Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

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August 24, 2009 (for week ending Aug. 21)

Earthquakes:

The strongest in a series of sharp quakes off western Sumatra (6.7) injured five people when the shaking caused an escalator to collapse.
Earth movements were also felt in far southern Japan and nearby Taiwan (6.7), northern New Zealand (5.4), southern parts of Portugal and Spain (4.2), southern Mexico (5.3), south-central Alaska (5.0) and in northwestern and southeastern parts of Colorado (4.4), (3.9).

Tropical Cyclones: HUrricane Bill strengthened to a Category 4 storm after forming in the eastern Atlantic.

Tropical Storm Anna drenched Puerto Rico before dissipating. Tropical Storm Claudette doused the Florida Pan-handle.
Hurricane Guillermo passed between Mexico and Hawaii.
Typhooon Vamco and Tropical Storm Maka formed to the north of the Marshall Islands

Polar Feast:
The beleaguered polar bear population around Canada's Hudson Bay got a brief reprieve from global warming this summer. Cooler temperatures resulted in sea ice lasting longer than it has in years, allowing the bears extra time to hunt seals from the ice and raise healthier cubs. "Even just one or two weeks out on the sea ice can make a difference in how many seals they kill and how much fat they're able to store on their bodies," said polar bear specialist Andrew Derocher of the University of Alberta. But experts warn that a single summer's break from global warming in much of Arctic Canada doesn't mean that polar bears are out of danger. "The overall prognosis for bears on a worldwide basis still remains dim at best," said Robert Buchanan, head of California-based Polar Bear International. "This is an aberration," he told Canadian Press.

Missing Sockeye:
Millions of sockeye salmon expected to swim up British Columbia's Fraser River this summer have gone missing. Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans had projected that up to 11 million of the fish would return to spawn during August, but only about 600,000 have shown up so far. A record number of the young salmon were born in 2005 and then swam out to sea in 2007 after maturing upstream. They were expected to begin returning to spawn this month. First Nation tribes that depend on the salmon have expressed alarm over the missing fish. Marine biologists believe the young sockeye became infected with the sea lice as they swam past fish farms. Another possible cause of the missing fish is the near-record warmth of the river this summer.

Post-Typhoon Jellyfish:
Chinese fisherman venturing out to sea in the wake of devastating Typhoon Morakot say they encountered an unprecedented number of giant jellyfish off the coast of Zhejiang province. "There must be thousands of them, like huge mushrooms sprouting on the surface of the water. The biggest was about 7 feet in diameter," fisherman Lin Jinfu told the Xinhua news agency. Last month, Japanese marine researchers said they were also alarmed by unusually large numbers of the Nomura's jellyfish swimming from off the Chinese coast toward Japan's coastal waters. Theories for why the population of the invertebrates has spiked this year range from agricultural runoff in East China to overfishing, which reduced the populations of the young jellyfish's natural predators.

Lions in Decline:
The Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) warned that the country's lion population has been dropping by an average of 100 animals each year this decade in a trend that could cause the big cats to disappear in the wild there within 20 years. Many of the fatalities have been due to cattle herders who kill the lions after their livestock have been attacked. KWS spokesman Paul Udoto told reporters that the lions are dying "due to a combination of factors, including human wildlife conflict, destruction of habitats, climate change, disease and increase in the human population."

Climate Survivors:
It's long been touted that the ubiquitous cockroach would likely be one of the few creatures left alive in the wake of a nuclear Armageddon. New research indicates that the pests are going to have a far easier time surviving global warming due to their ability to hold their breath for as long as 40 minutes at a time. Natalie Schimpf and colleagues at the University of Queensland placed speckled cockroaches (Nauphoeta cinerea) in chambers with dry and humid atmosphere, atmosphere with oxygen levels ranging from 5 to 40 percent and atmospheres with carbon dioxide levels ranging from 0.3 to 6 percent for five weeks running. The insects demonstrated an amazing ability to adjust their breathing patterns to adapt to each radically changed climate.

Extreme temperatures: -106 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 119 deg F in Adrar, Algeria

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July 20, 2009 (for week ending July 17)

Earthquakes:

At least one person was killed and more than 10,000 houses collapsed during a magnitude 5.7 quake on July 9 in southwest China's Yunnan province. About 76,000 buildings were wrecked.
One of the year's most powerful quakes (magnitude 7.6) brought down power likes in the far southern New Zealand city of Invercargill. It also toppled objects and cracked walls in Queenstown and several other communities.
Earth movements were also felt in Taiwan (6.3), southern Peru (6.1) and southern California (4.0).

Tropical Cyclones:

Tropical Storm Souderlor brought locally heavy rain and strong winds to China's Hainan and Guangdong provinces before dissipating over far northern Vietnam.
Tropical Storm Carlos briefly attained hurricane force off Mexico's Pacific coast.
Tropical Storm Dolores formed in its wake.

Philippine Rumblings:
The Philippines' most active volcano began spewing steam and rumbling due to what vulcanologists say is rising magma within the cone-shaped mountain. The country's seismological agency, PHIVOLCS, said it recorded five brief tremors and observed glowing in the evenings at Mayon volcano's crater, which it says indicates a sustained amount of lava rising to the top of the volcano. Despite stern warnings from officials to stay away from Mayon, foreign and local tourists were rushing to areas near it that had been declared danger zones.

Irregular Monsoon:
The late and weak arrival of this summer's monsoon rains across northern India has forced the country to divert much of its limited hydroelectric power to farmers so they can pump water into their fields at a critical point in the growing season. Hydro[electric]-generation is running at only 40% of capacity due to depleted reservoirs. A month-long delay in the arrival of the monsoon in neighboring Nepal is causing fears of food shortages there as well. Despite the drought fears in the north of India, the commercial capital of Mumbai was swamped by downpours while flash floods drowned a dozen people in the eastern state of Orissa.

Perpetual Drought:
A new Australian government report says that global warming appears to be occurring faster than thought likely, and the country's protracted drought is probably here to stay. Climate Change 2009: Faster Change and More Serious Risks draws on findings made since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 fourth Assessment Report. Author Will Steffen writes that critical risks for Australia due to climate change also include sea-level rise, the drying trends in major parts of Australia and the likely increase in extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods and bush fires. "Climate change is with us now, and unless we act now, it will only get worse in the life of our children," Australian Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong said in response to the report.

Quake Squid:
First came a rumble of an offshore tremor, then came the calamari. Very big calamari. Residents if San Diego's seaside community of La Jolla who were awakened by a magnitude 4.0 quake on July 11 got a further shock if they went to the beach - dozens of giant squid littering the beach. "It;s like their equilibrium is all messed up and they don't know what they're doing and they can't back out there," Bill Baumann told The San Diego Union-Tribune. Soon seagulls began swooping down to feed on the Humboldt squid, 2 to 4 feet in length and weighing nearly 40 pounds. Some beachgoers tried to carry the slimy creatures back into the water, but the squid kept washing back to shore. NOAA marine biologist John Hyde said that it was unlikely the quid were driven to the shore by the earthquake. One possible cause is that the cephalopods chased small fish too close to shore, then became disoriented in the surf.

Swine Flu 'Unstoppable':
The World Health Organization announced that the new H1N1 strain of swine flu is "unstoppable" and every country should vaccinate its citizens against the virus. The statement came as New Zealand researchers announced that H1N1 has replaced seasonal influenza as the dominant strain during that country's current wintertime flu season. Sue Huang, head of New Zealand's influenza center, said it's the most contagious bug she has ever seen. Recent reports point to older people having a relative immunity to H1N1 due to exposure to similar strains when they were younger. But the virus's effect on younger people can sometimes be life-threatening. Several companies are currently rushing to produce vaccines in time for the Northern Hemisphere's winter flu season.

Extreme temperatures: -96 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 121 deg F in Death Valley, California

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July 13, 2009 (for week ending Jul. 10)

Earthquakes:

A relatively strong earthquake caused a brief panic across much of Panama (6.0) and caused cracks to appear in two high-rise buildings.
Earth movements were also felt in Nicaragua (5.0), central Chile (5.4), northwestern Mexico (6.0), and in eastern Afghanistan and neighboring parts of Pakistan and India (4.9).

Tropical Cyclones: Tropical Storm Blanca formed from an area of disturbed weather about 200 miles south of the lower tip of Baja California, far from any significant land areas. The second named storm of the eastern Pacific hurricane season brought pounding surf and gales to Isla Socorro as it passed just to the south of the remote Mexican outpost, but no damage was reported there.

El Nino Strengthens:
Australia's weather agency cautioned that the El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon is likely to develop further over the remainder of the year, affecting weather patterns around the world. Bureau of Meteorology senior climatologist Andrew Watkins said the tropical Pacifica between South America and INdonesia is "warming reasonably rapidly." Other weather agencies have said that the recent warming could soon reverse back to normal, or "neutral," conditions later this year. But Watkins says there now are strong indications that the warming will persist and become even stronger. The last severe El Nino in 1998 caused billions of dollars of damage to agriculture and other industries, and was blamed for over 2,000 deaths. It typically brings drought to Australia, Indonesia and southeast Africa. It has also produced heavy storms in California and the Pacific coast of South America. Warmer-than-normal wintertime conditions may also develop across many parts of North America.

Steaming Surprise:
Observers monitoring a unique geothermal area in Russia's Far East were startled by the sudden emergence of a new geyser that has been dubbed "Prikolny" or peculiar in Russian. The new geyser is the first to appear on the Kamchatka Peninsula since the 1960s. A ranger at the Kronotsky Nature Reserve was the first person to spot the column of boiling water, which shoots up to 10 feet into the air. Shortly after that sighting, another observer exclaimed "Prikolny!" leading to the geyser's official name. Prikolny emerged about nine miles from teh world-renonwned Valley of Geysers.

Blinding Sandstorm:
A massive sandstorm that spread across much of Iraq and Iran sent hundreds of Iraqis to clinics with complaints of sore throats, clogged eyes and acute asthma. Local news reports said that many Iraqis considered the storm to be the worst in living memory. The massive cloud of desert sand eventually spread eastward into Iran, where officials declared a two-day public holiday because of the unhealthful air quality. Many Tehran residents were said to have taken advantage of the holiday by leaving the city for provinces that had cleaner air. The fine particles in the atmosphere acted as a color filter that actually caused a "blue moon" to appear over Tehran. While the region has long suffered blinding sandstorms, several years of drought have created conditions that resulted in this summer's near-record storm.

Solar Pause Ends:
A nearly two-year "drought" of sunspots during an unusually long pause between sunspot cycles appears to have have ended. A new dark cluster formed on the sun's surface and has grown to be nearly as wide as the solar system's largest planet, Jupiter. Dubbed sunspot 1024, it is the first big sunspot of the new Solar Cycle 24 and ends the longest absence of such features since 1913. Last month, NASA researchers said they discovered that lagging jet streams deep inside the sun were responsible for the prolonged solar pause. Sunspots are cool regions that form on the surface of the sun where magnetic energy accumulates.

Jellyfish Invasion:
Marine researchers in Japan say they are alarmed by unusually large swarms of Nomura's jellyfish now swimming in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. Once fully matured, the jellyfish is one of the largest in the world, reaching the size of an adult human. Spikes in the Nomura's population during 1958 and 1995 dealt a huge blow to Japan's fishing fleets. In addition to damaging nets, the Nomura's are blamed for killing fish with their venom and for stringing fisherman. During the peak of the massive 2005 invasion, an estimated 300 million to 500 million of the jellyfish passed through the Tsushima Strait between South Korea and Japan each day. Theories for why the population spikes occur range from agricultural runoff in East China to overfishing, which reduced the populations of the young jellyfish's natural predators.

Extreme temperatures: -89 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 120 deg F in Death Valley, California

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April 06, 2009 (for week ending April 3)

Earthquakes:

The stronger of two quakes that shook northern Nicaragua damaged 28 houses.
Earth movements were also felt in Indonesia's province of Papua (6.2), central Italy (4.0), and the San Francisco Bay Area (4.3).

Earth's 'Over Capacity': One of the United States' most influential science advisers says that the number of humans on the planet has exceeded Earth's "limits of sustainability." Speaking prior to a conference in Paris of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, State Department chief scientist Nina Fedeoroff said that famines affecting a billion people could threaten global food security this century. The world's population has already exceeded 6 billion and is predicted to rise to 9 billion within 50 years unless action is taken soon. "The planet can't support many more people," Fedoroff told the BBC. Her warning echoed comments by John Beddington, Britain's chief scientist, in which he forecast a "perfect storm" of food, water and energy shortages by 2030.

Penguin Death Mystery:
Marine experts in Chile were baffled as to what caused the deaths of about 1,200 penguins that washed up on two beaches in the south of the country over several days. The dead birds were of the Magellanic and Humboldt species, which live in extreme southern South America and migrate to northern Chile and beyond during the Southern Hemisphere winter. Penguin deaths are common, but "the strange thing is the number" of dead birds, fisheries official Bernardo Pardo told reporters.

Dust-Free Warming:
Atmospheric researchers in Wisconsin say that decreases in the amount of dust in the atmosphere over the past 30 years have contributed to rising temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean far more than global warming. Writing in the journal Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison's Amato Evan says that more than two-thirds of the regional ocean warming can be attributed to change sin the amount of dust blowing off African deserts and variations in tropical volcanic activity during the period. Evan and his colleagues had earlier shown that African dust and other airborne particles can suppress hurricane activity by reducing how much sunlight reaches the ocean. Dusty years signal mild hurricane seasons, while years with low dust activity have been linked to stronger and more frequent storms.

Solar Dreams:
An Australian researcher says he has found that nightmares and other bizarre dreams might actually have their origins somewhere in outer space rather than being triggered by watching horror films. Writing in the journal Medical Hypothesis, psychologist Darren Lipnicki says he found a correlation between the bizarreness of his dreams and the level of local geomagnetic activity influenced by solar wind. New Scientist reports that other studies have linked low geomagnetic activity to an increase in the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps set the body's circadian clock. Between 1990 and 1997, Lipnicki kept track of his dreams and assigned a value to how bizarre he felt they were. He found that when comparing those values with the daily geomagnetic activity at his home in Perth, Australia, there was a statistical correlation between dream bizarreness and geomagnetic activity. He says freakier dreams occurred on days with the least geomagnetic activity.

African Inundations:
The U.N. launched a "flash" appeal to Western donors to help six of its agencies cope with some of the worst flooding across parts of southern Africa since 1963. Namibia's government declared a state of emergency in areas where huge inundation forced more than 13,000 people from their homes. The Zambezi river, along Nambibia's northeastern Caprivi Region, rose to 25 feet this wee, its highest level in 40 years.

Alaskan Eruption:
Ash falling from a powerful eruption of Alaska's Redoubt volcano halted all flights at Anchorage's international airport for more than a day. It was the first time that any of the mountain's latest 18 eruptions have brought such a large quantity of ash to south-central Alaska. Redoubt, 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, began erupting on March 22.

Extreme temperatures: -92 deg F in South Pole, Antarctica; 111 deg F in Onslow, W. Australia.

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March 23, 2009 (for week ending March 20th)

Earthquakes:
Indonesian islands between Sulawesi and the southern Philippines were jolted by a strong tremor that appeared to be an aftershock of a 7.4 magnitude quake on Feb. 12, which injured dozens of people and wrecked hundreds of buildings. No damage was reported from the latest quake.

Earth movements were also felt in central Argentina (5.3), the Oklahoma City area (2.7), interior Alaska (4.0) and metropolitan Melbourne, Australia (4.6).

South Seas Cyclones: A second tropical cyclone to form near the Cook Islands in as many weeks was dubbed Ken as the storm gained strength to the southwest of Rarotonga.

Cyclone Izilda churned the southern Mozambique Channel just off Madagascar's southwestern coast as the ninth named storm of the region's waning cyclone season.

Nuclear Legacy:
The number of insects and other invertebrates around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site is still dramatically lower than normal nearly 22 years after the facility exploded. The finding contradicts statements from Ukraine officials that the local wildlife has rebounded. Anders Moller of the University of Paris-Sud said his team compared animal populations in radioactive areas around the nuclear power plant with those in less contaminated areas. "What we found was the same basic pattern throughout these areas - the numbers of organisms declined with increasing contamination," Moller wrote in the journal Biology Letters. He and colleague Timothy Mousseau had earlier found that brightly colored birds were some of the hardest hit animals after the plant exploded in 1986. Many surviving animals are deformed.

Mosquito Defense:
Technology emerging from the 1980s U.S. "Star Wars" defense system research now promises to help prevent the spread of malaria by zapping mosquitoes with lasers. Dubbed a "weapon of mosquito destruction," the later fires at an individual mosquito once it detects the audio frequency created by the beating of the insect's wings. Lead scientist on the project Dr. Jordin Kare claims the laser will be able to toast millions of mosquitoes within a few minutes. The developers hope the technology might one day be used to create a laser "barrier" around a house or village by killing or blinding the insects. By fine-tuning the laser's strength, it could provide just enough killing power to smoke the mosquitoes without harming other insects or humans, the developers say. In the fight against malaria, the laser could be adjusted to kill only female mosquitoes, since they are the only ones that can spread the parasite.

Volcanic Rumblings:
A spectacular undersea eruption was clearly visible to residents on the Tongan island of Tongatapu on Wednesday morning, with steam soaring thousands of feet into the sky above the South Pacific. The eruption occurred in a cluster of 36 known undersea volcanoes.

Vulcanologists in Alaska briefly raised the alert status for the state's rumbling Redoubt volcano to orange after the mountain spewed steam and generated a swarm of tremors. That steam carried the first ash emission from Redoubt since the volcano's last series of eruptions in 1989-90.

Queensland Spill:
Nearly 40 miles of Australian beaches were blackened with oil that spilled from a cargo ship caught in stormy seas churned up by last week's Typhoon Hamish. More than 600 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer nitrate fertilizer also spilled from the Pacific Adventurer's deck, sinking to the ocean floor in one of coastal Queensland's worst-ever environmental disasters. State Premier Anna Bligh declared the stretch of polluted coast a disaster zone as a navy mine-hunting ship searched for the 31 containers of lost chemicals. The cargo of the potentially dangerous fertilizer was lost near a marine sanctuary. Some environmental experts warned that if the nutrient-rich chemical is released into the sea, it could feed a huge algae bloom that could cause a marine life catastrophe.

A Knock-Out Rescue:
Marine mammal experts rescued a North Atlantic right whale that had become snared in fishing gear by sedating it so rescuers could remove most of the entanglement. It was the first time such a method had ever been used with whales, according to those who helped develop it at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Team members on four boats, assisted by an aerial survey plane, worked for two days to free the animal. They eventually succeeded in injecting the 40-foot, 40,000 pound whale with sedatives that allowed them to cut away the gear wrapped around its head. The new sedation delivery system uses a 12-inch needle and a syringe driven by compressed air, which injects the drug into the whale's muscle.

Extreme temperatures: -82 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 108 deg F in Birni-N'Konni, Niger

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March 30, 2009 (for week ending March 27th)

Earthquakes:
A moderate earthquake centered in south-central China's Guizhou province caused farmhouses to collapse or crack near the epicenter. Officials said that there were no deaths or significant injuries resulting from the qua.

Earth movements were also felt in eastern Papua New Guinea (6.0), Southern California's Coachella Valley (4.8), northwest Wyoming (3.1) and southwest Utah (3.3).

Tropical Cyclones: Downpours from Cyclone Jasper washed out roads on the French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia and forced dozens of native villagers to evacuate their homes.

Cyclone Izilda churned the southern Mozambique Channel just off Madagascar's southwestern coast as the ninth named storm of the region's waning cyclone season.

Kenyan Wildfire:
Hundreds of thousands of flamingos and other species of wildlife across Kenya were on the run from five separate wildfires, while 3.2 million human residents faced hunger from a protracted drought. Some of the blazes blackened the Masai Mara as well as neighboring Tanzania's Serengeti Park. The drought has caused many watering holes and streams to dry up, forcing the Kenya Wildlife Service to pump water from underground bore holes into shallow pans for animals to drink. Thousands of zebras, buffalo, giraffes and antelopes fled a blaze in Longonot National Park, rushing headlong through villages and across busy roads. While many of the animals in peril have been able to outrun the fires, wildlife experts said snakes and smaller animals, such as rabbits and mongooses, may not have been able to escape.

Smaller Urban Footprint:
A new report suggests that some city dwellers actually leave a smaller carbon footprint than many of their country cousins do in contributing to global warming. The international Institute for Environment and Development says it found that per capita emissions in many of the world's largest cities are just a fraction of the national average. "The real climate change culprits are not the cities themselves but the high-consumption lifestyles of people living across these wealthy countries," said report author David Dodman. He points to well-designed and well-governed cities that can combine high living standards with much lower greenhouse gas emissions. The report says New Yorkers register footprints of 7.1 tons each - less than a third of the national average.

Beijing Shrivels:
Chinese officials may be forced to resettle some of Beijing's new arrivals over the next five to 10 years because of a population boom that accompanied a rapid economic expansion and a stretch of yearly droughts. Probe International, an independent environmental advocacy group, advised Chinese officials that Beijing faces economic collapse as it begins to run out of water during that period. The official Xinhua news agency reports that the Chinese capital and surrounding region have suffered drought every year since 1999. To deal with the changing climate, the country is building the multibillion dollar project known as the North-South Water Diversion Project. Xinhua says that once completed, the project will divert 1 billion cubic yards of water to Beijing annually, mostly from the Yangtze River.

Eruption:
Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano produced a series of eruptions that forced the state's flagship airline to cancel 35 flights and a nearby oil terminal to shut down. The 10,200-foot volcano, located about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, shot plumes of ash 9 miles into the atmosphere above the Alaska Peninsula. Mud flowing down Redoubt has uprooted hundreds of trees and clogged the Drift River Valley with debris. Redoubt las erupted in 1989-90, when it produced sporadic explosions over a five-month period.

Baboon Raid:
An unruly troop of baboons wreaked havoc among beach-goers along South Africa's Cape Peninsula over the weekend as the animals hijacked cars to get at food intended for picnics. Officials in Cape Town blamed the marauding behavior on tour operators who have "baited" the scenic destination with food to attract the primates. Municipal authorities acted swiftly to halt the practice, designed to provide opportunities for visitors to photograph the baboons. "Any tour operator caught doing so can be charged under national conservation legislation," the city's executive director for the environment, Piet van Zyl, said in a statement. He also appealed to public to exercise extreme caution while near the baboons. Cape Town's baboons are protected under South African law, but rangers are sometimes forced to kill them when they become too aggressive.

Extreme temperatures: -87 deg F in Vostok, Antarctica; 113 deg F in Renk, Sudan

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January 12, 2009 (for week ending Jan. 09)

Earthquakes:

The strongest in a series of earthquakes that rocked eastern Indonesia killed four people and injured dozens of others in buildings wrecked by the shaking. The 7.6 magnitude quake, cenetered in Papua province, was felt as far away as Australia and sent small tsunamis into southern Japan, thousands of miles away.
One woman in southwestern Greece died when a wall of the compound where she lived collapsed during a mild earthquake centered offshore from the Peloponnese..
Earth movements were also felt in eastern Afghanistan, northwest Mexico, Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park and far northern parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Light Confusion : Artificial light shining from the world's cities is leading wildlife in the wrong directions, often to their deaths, according to a new study. Writing in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, biophysics research Gabor Horvath explained that many animals are also thrown off course by light reflecting from man-made sources. The dark, smooth glass of tall buildings and other structures horizontally polarizes the light that reflects off them, indicating to wildlife that they are bodies of water. Dragonflies and other insects often lay their eggs in ponds, streams and lakes, and mistaking these objects for water can be deadly. Baby sea turtles use the direction of star- and moonlight reflections off water surfaces to help them find the ocean when they emerge from their beach nests. Many turtles turn the wrong way and migrate toward the brighter lights of nearby cities. .

Pelican Fatalities:
A large number of adult pelicans have suddenly begun to die from a mysterious malady along the coast of southern Oregon, southward to California and Baja California. Hundreds of disordered birds have turned up wandering along roads and crashing into cars or boats. Still others have been found dead. "These birds are on the freeway, getting run over," said Jay Holcomb, executive director of the International Bird Rescue Research Center in San Pedro. Some experts think a marine neurotoxin created by microscopic algae could be killing the birds. Others think affected pelicans may have ingested chemicals from fire retardants used to fight SOuthern California's firestorms last year, flushed into the ocean by recent heavy rainfall.

Smog Exodus:
Hong Kong's smog as become so severe that it is causing at least 10,000 deaths each year, according to health officials. Pollution levels rose last year to the highest since records began, prompting about 1 in 5 residents to consider moving away. A survey found that 500,000 were "seriously considering or already planning to move." The thick smog that often chokes Hong Kong, Macao and neighbroing China comes mainly from the huge number of factories in Guangdong province and other areas of southern China.

Ebola Outbreak Source:
A dead monkey found in a forest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be one of the sources behind the recent outbreak of Ebola in the country's southwestern Kasai province. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that improper handling of dead monkeys felled by the virus could have infected hunters and women who came in contact with the statistics, three cases of the hemorrhagic fever have recently been recorded, with at least another 36 suspected cases that include 12 deaths possibly linked to the disease.

Caribbean Ash:
Activity at Montserrat's Soufriere Hills volcano sent plumes of ash blowing over neighboring islands of the Caribbean during the first week of 2009. The mountain produced an explosive eruption in early December and has continually released plumes ever since. The latest explosions led to the evacuation of approximately 70 people on Montserrat and sent a considerable amount of ash blowing into nearby Antigua.

Fair Protection:
The success at using sheep-dogs as guardians for a colony of endangered fairy penguins in southern Australia may lead to the canines being recruited to keep other endangered animals from being savaged by predators. The Italian Maremma breed of sheepdog was enlisted two years ago as a last resort after the number of penguins on an island off the Victorian city of Warrnambool dwindled from 1000 to just 10 due to attacks by non-native predators. Maremmas are well known for their trait of bonding with flocks of animals and even laying down their lives to protect them. "We've had out best penguin count since we began in 2006 with over 80 birds counted in one night, and I think we have about 26 chicks on the island, too," said Middle Island Maremma Project manager Ian Fitzgibbons.

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January 01, 2009 (for week ending Dec. 26th)

Earthquakes:

A strong tremor centered in northern Italy damaged buildings around Parma.
Earth movements were also felt in Kashmir (4.6), northeastern Japan (6.5), Trinidad (4.9) and southern San Francisco Bay Area (4.1).

Holiday Cyclone: Parts of the Western Australia coast were under a cyclone warning as Christmas approached due to heavy rains and storm-force winds produced by Cyclone Billy. The storm was skirting the coast from just southwest of Darwin to the Kimberly Coast for the second week, and was expected to intensify to hurricane force as it moved into the open waters of the eastern Indian Ocean.

No White Christmas:
The odds of a white Christmas in countries that celebrate the Christian holiday in the Northern Hemisphere have begun to diminish within the last century due to global warming, climate experts said. Despite heavy snow across North America and parts of Europe this month, having a winter wonderland during late December in London and Paris could be only a freak occurrence by 2100, according to Friedrich-Wilhelm Gerstengarber, climate researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. "The conditions for cross-country skiing are also deteriorating," said Paal Prestrud, director of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo." There is now an average of 100 days (a year) with at least 10 inches snow (in Oslo). In 1900 that was 150." Oslo's streets were free of snow on Christmas Eve.

Climate Change Now:
Scientists gather in San Francisco were told that the United States could suffer the effects of abrupt climate change within decades--far sooner than warnings issued just a year ago. Using data not available to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia University and other institutions factored in faster-than-expected loss of sea ice, rising sea levels and a near-permanent drought developing in the American Southwest. "It appears this has already begun," the researchers told the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union. They pointed out that some projections of the impact of climate change issued by the IPCC in November 2007 have proven to be too conservative.

Pig of the Year:
A pig that survived China's catastrophic Sichuan earthquake on May 12 by eating charcoal and drinking rainwater while trapped under debris for 36 days has been voted the country's most inspiring animal, according to state media. The swine, known as Zhu Jianqiang, which means Strong Pig, was sold after the quake to the Jianchuan Museum, which agreed to keep him away from the butcher as a reminder of the nation's resolve to cope with the disaster. The online forum Red Net said the 2-year old pig "vividly illustrates the spirit of never giving up, and has become a model for Chinese entrepreneurs" amid the current economic downturn. But the animal apparently hasn't tightened its belt due to the tough times. "It's gotten fatter and lazier by the day," the China Daily quoted a museum staff member saying. And the pig's keepers say it "has developed a temper that many of its fans may not want to see."

Bird Flue Returns:
The re-emergence of a lethal strain of avian influenza in Hong Kong, Cambodia, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India and Egypt this month highlights the potential threat the virus poses to humans as the traditional winter flue season gets under way in the Northern Hemisphere, health experts said. One man in Cambodia reportedly became ill after handling a dead chicken in an area where the H5N1 strain of the virus head been detected. The World Health Organization confirmed that a 16-year old girl in Egypt died on Dec. 16 from exposure to the H5N1 strain in a country where the virus is now endemic. Hong Kong announced the first appearance of H5N1 in poultry for more than five years. Indonesia's agriculture ministry says it hopes to eradicate the virus in that country by 2014.

Congo Gorilla Update:
The director of the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo says the park's endangered mountain gorilla population appears to be unscathed despite the conflict between rebel fighters and the government. "We are happy to report that most of them seem to be doing well," park director Emmanuel de Merode said. Rangers were recently allowed access to the primates for the first time since rebel Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda's men forced them out 15 months ago.

Extreme temperatures: -76 deg F in Oimyakon, Siberia; 111 deg F in Nullagine, W. Australia

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