Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.0 Earthquake hits Tajikistan.

5.0 Earthquake hits La Paz, Bolivia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storm Gorio [Rumbia]

Tropical Storm Gorio made landfall at 8 am on Saturday, June 29, in Hernani, Eastern Samar, Philippines. Packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kph and gusts of up to 85 kph, Gorio was moving northwest at 19 kph.

On Sunday, Tropical Storm Gorio was located approximately 64 nm westward of Manila, Philippines.

Floods in Northern China/Mongolia

Heavy rainfall and floods have collapsed more than 272 houses in Huanan since Monday.

A landslide caused by a heavy rainstorm has claimed the lives of at least two people.

Similarly, hail and flooding have affected more than 290,000 people in Mongolia. A total of 97,500 hectares of cropland have been flooded, more than 247 houses have been totally destroyed causing damage of 430 million yuan, the regional civil affairs department said.

Environment

Trade Winds Declining in Hawaii

Experts say trade winds are declining, a drop that’s slowly changing life across the islands. Part of what makes living in Hawaii so pleasant is the gentle breeze. Arriving from the northeast, it’s light enough that it is barely noticeable but strong enough to chase away the humidity.

The effects of the decline in the trade winds can be seen from the relatively minor - such as residents unaccustomed to the humidity complaining about the weather and having to use their fans and air conditioning more often - to the more consequential - including winds being too weak to blow away volcanic smog. The winds also help bring the rains, and their decline means less water. It’s one reason officials are moving to restore the health of the mountainous forests that hold the state’s water supply and encourage water conservation. Scholars are studying ways for farmers to plant crops differently.

It’s not clear what’s behind the shift in the winds. A study has shown a decades-long decline, including a 28 per cent drop in northeast trade wind days at Honolulu’s airport since the early 1970s.

These days there are fewer waves to surf because the winds are arriving less often. Sometimes the winds are too weak to blow away the volcanic smog, or vog, created by sulfur dioxide erupting from Kilauea volcano on the Big Island, leaving a white or brownish haze hanging over Honolulu. This aggravates asthma and other respiratory problems.

For now, the most important consequence will be declining rainfall and a drop in the water supply, particularly as Hawaii’s population grows and uses more water. Trade winds deliver rain to Hawaii when clouds carried from the northeast hit mountainous islands built by millions of years of volcanic eruptions. These rains, together with rainfall from winter storms, are the state’s primary sources of water. On Oahu, the rain feeds ground aquifers that supply water to about 950,000 people in Honolulu and surrounding towns. Residents are reporting streams near their homes are flowing lower than before. Scientists don't know if this is a downward trend or just the lower leg of a long-term cycle.

Disease

Swine Flu at County Fairs Is Back

A relatively new strain of the swine flu virus that sickened more than 300 people last year is back again this summer, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The strain, called H3N2 variant virus, infected four people who visited a county agricultural fair in Indiana this month. None of the infected individuals were hospitalized, and none died.

Because this virus is typically transmitted from pigs to people, the CDC officials are urging people at high risk for flu complications — such as young children, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions — to avoid pigs at county fairs.

Meningitis in Russia

An outbreak of meningitis in Russia, which occurred nearly a month ago, has failed to subside yet, contrary to doctors’ forecast. The first cases of the disease were registered in Rostov-on-Don. It has spread to other cities - Astrakhan, Lipetsk and its region, Nizhni Novgorod and Moscow.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms.

The most common symptoms of meningitis are headache and neck stiffness associated with fever, confusion or altered consciousness, vomiting, and an inability to tolerate light (photophobia) or loud noises (phonophobia). Treatment must be started without delay, Otherwise grave complications or even a lethal outcome are likely.

Chikungunya Disease in the Philippines

The Department of Health (DoH) in the Philippines confirmed yesterday an outbreak of chikungunya disease in Patnongon, Antique, with 313 cases as of April, this year.

The symptoms of chikunguya include fever, rashes, and severe joint pains.

There is no known cure for chikungunya but it is rarely fatal.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Fuego (Guatemala): Explosions have become more violent, the latest special bulletin of INSIVUMEH indicates. Mild strombolian eruptions have turned into more powerful vulcanian-type explosions, which eject dense ash plumes rising to 800 m and produce numerous avalanches of blocks around the crater, especially on the southern flank. Shock waves from the explosions could be felt in areas up to 15 km distance, and rattled windows and doors in houses of Panimaché, Panimaché II, Morelia, Santa Sofía, Sangre de Cristo and were sometimes heard as far as Yepocapa and Alotenango. Fine ash fall occurred in Panimaché, Morelia and Sangre de Cristo.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.4 Earthquake hits Taiwan.

5.1 Earthquake hits the southeast Indian ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

Storms and Floods

Flash Floods in Bangladesh

A tidal surge and torrential rains have been hitting the Noakhali region in Bangladesh since Wednesday.

At least 25,000 Bengalis have been affected by flash floods in Hatiya, Subarnachar and Companiganj upazilas of Noakhali with more than 11,500 hectares of paddy washed away.

Wildfires

New Mexico Wildfires - USA

A blustering blaze burning in southern New Mexico's Gila National Forest has swelled to 158 square miles as more than 700 firefighters work to keep up amid a record heat wave.

Fire officials said Friday that the Silver Fire continued to advance primarily on the northwestern edge of the blaze. Eastern winds fueled flames on the west flank and pushed smoked over nearby towns.

The inferno is still only 20 percent contained and burning 20 miles northeast of Silver City.

No new evacuations have been ordered, however, some area roads and highways remained closed.

Meanwhile, crews in northern New Mexico continued to battle Friday a nearly 16-square-mile wildfire in the Pecos Wilderness. Officials say that blaze was moving closer to the headwaters of the Pecos River.

Wildfires Continue In Southwest Alaska

The Lime Hills Fire received much some needed rain over the past couple days, up to 6 tenths of an inch. The fire shrank 46 thousand acres over 24 hours, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. It now stands at about 220 thousand acres.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Except for a small swarm of earthquakes on 20 June, Etna continues to be calm.

Ambrym (Vanuatu): The lava lakes in Benbow and Ambrym craters have been very active during the recent weeks. A large SO2 plume is visible today on NOAA satellite data.

Pagan (Mariana Islands): The volcano continues to emit a strong steam and ash plume visible on satellite images. This activity has been typical of Pagan in the recent months, but no ash emissions could be detected.

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): Volcanic tremor and small explosions continue to be detected in seismic data indicating that the eruption of lava and minor amounts of ash and steam continues. Satellite images obtained over the past 24 hours show elevated surface temperatures at the intracaldera cone. Web camera images from Perryville show a small light-coloured plume rising above the intracaldera cone to just above the rim of the caldera to about 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level and night time images showed a persistent incandescent glow at the cone.

Pavlov (Alaska Peninsula, USA): Eruptive activity is continuing, but at a much lower level than earlier this week. The level of seismicity over the past 24 hours has continued to decline and now consists primarily of low level continuous tremor. Periods of continuous tremor are likely associated with lava fountaining and minor ash production, but at this level, emission rates are probably very low. Satellite data over the past 24 hours has shown strong thermal signals at the summit. Pilot reports from last evening have indicated that plumes are rising to levels not much above the summit of the volcano. AVO has received no reports of ash fall on nearby communities today.

Telica (Nicaragua): A new earthquake swarm started this morning, visible on INETER's seismograms.

San Cristobal (Nicaragua): Seismic activity has been at normal, low levels during the recent days.

Masaya (Nicaragua): Seismic activity remains low.

Galeras (Colombia): Weak ash emissions occurred on Wednesday (26 June). Seismic activity otherwise has remained at low levels.

Cumbal (Colombia): INGEOMINAS reports a decrease in seismic activity during the past week, but maintains "yellow" alert level for the volcano.

Reventador (Ecuador): Weak eruptive activity continues with occasional steam and ash emissions during small explosions that create plumes reaching about 1 km.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.5 Earthquake hits Atacama, Chile.

5.1 Earthquake hits the southwest Indian ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits Potosi, Bolivia.

5.0 Earthquake hits Nepal.

5.0 Earthquake hits Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

Tropical Storm Cosme weakens over cold Pacific waters. Cosme, which was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm earlier in the day, was about 545 miles west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and should become a remnant low in a day or so.

Other News:

A Landslide occurred on Jiugong Mountain in Hubei province in China. The landslide hit road maintenance workers claiming the life of one and leaving two others missing.

Elvira in Finland has been hit by Finland's biggest storm in a century combined with more than 28,000 lightning strikes. No serious damage has been reported.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 119.3 degrees Fahrenheit (48.5 degrees Celsius) at In Salah, Algeria.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 91.3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 69.5 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Vostok Antarctic research station.

Temperatures were tabulated from the more than 10,000 worldwide synoptic weather stations. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization sets the standards for weather observations, and provides a global telecommunications circuit for data distribution.

Wildlife

Locusts Ravaging Madagascar

Madagascar risks having two-thirds of its crops overrun by locust swarms if it fails to act now, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns. “This could very well be a last window of opportunity to avert an extended crisis,” said FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva.

The country’s worst locust infestation in 60 years had spread across a wide swath of the country by early April, and FAO says the agency has been falling short in its efforts to raise funds from Western donors to combat the plague.

“If we don’t act now, the plague could last years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars,” cautioned Graziano da Silva.

Experts say there are now more than 500 billion ravenous locusts on the island nation, chomping through about 100,000 tons of vegetation each day.

“The last (locust plague) was in the 1950s and it had a duration of 17 years. So if nothing is done, it can last for five to 10 years, depending on the conditions.”

Wildfires

Colorado Wildfires

The massive West Fork Fire burning in southwest Colorado may look daunting from the ground but the view from space makes it look even more impressive.

NASA released photos taken from the International Space Station. The series of images were taken June 19.

The images show a plume wafting from the West Fork Complex fire. To the northwest, a smaller plume from the Wild Rose fire is also visible.

Bushfires on Borneo.

Bush fires raging on in Kuala Baram, Borneo. The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) recorded 177 cases of bush fires from June 1 till 25.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcano Activity:

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): A phase of intense activity occurred last night starting at 19:10 UTC, and lasting for about 40 minutes. The activity was probably a major collapse of the dome and/or accompanied by explosions. It produced a large ash plume rising to about 10-12 km altitude (VAAC Tokyo) into the atmosphere. Due to cloud cover, no direct observations could be made. A dust veil of reddish ash (likely originating from older, altered lava, suggesting that the event was largely characterized by partial collapse of the existing dome) engulfed the villages of Lazo and Klyuchi SW of the volcano where a layer of 1 and 2 mm of ash was deposited.

Krakatau (Sunda Strait, Indonesia): The group of our current trekking tour on Java climbed the summit of Anak Krakatau on 24 June. Climbing there was very difficult, because of many hot fumarolic spots and strong degassing. The summit of Anak Krakatau is now higher than before the Sep 2012 eruption. One active vent was remaining in the west part.

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): Effusive and weak explosive activity continue. Volcanic tremor and small explosions continue to be detected in seismic data and satellite data continue to show elevated surface temperatures at the intracaldera cone. A light colored plume is rising above the cone to just above the rim of the caldera to about 8,000 to 10,000 feet above sea level and at night, a persistent glow is visible. (AVO)

Pavlov (Alaska Peninsula, USA): The eruption had increased yesterday and produced ash plumes rising up to about 8.5 km (28,000 ft), but has decreased in strength again today. Seismicity had climbed to the highest levels since the beginning of the eruption, suggesting that the magma supply was reinvigorated into a new explosive phase. Ash fall was reported in communities to the southwest of Pavlof, including King Cove, at 48 km (30 miles) distance.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Seismic activity has picked up, suggesting that the volcano could be headed for more vigorous activity soon. SO2 emissions on NOAA recent satellite data have been relatively high as well. A magnitude 3.6 volcanic quake occurred on Tuesday night 23:57 local time and was located SE of the crater at 2 km depth. Over 3 hours of low frequency and short amplitude tremor were recorded. An earthquake swarms occurred yesterday as well and another one seems to have started an hour ago.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): Activity has not changed much overall, but the viscous lava flow on the south side of the dome has become more active and now produces frequent avalanches. INSIVUMEH warns that these can now sometimes turn into pyroclastic flows. Explosions remain rare and produce maximum plumes of about 1 km height. Ash mainly drifts to the SW and produces fine ash fall in the areas of Finca La Florida and Monte Claro.

Pacaya (Guatemala): Mild, typical strombolian activity has established itself inside the Mackenney crater. "Dry" (not containing much ash) explosions occur frequently and eject incandescent scoria to about 25 m height above the crater and an intra-crater cone, now about 15 m high, is being formed inside the crater. Some of the explosions can be heard in up to 5 km distance. At night, glow can be seen from the crater.

Fuego (Guatemala): Explosions have become more frequent and stronger. Dense ash plumes rose up to 600 m above the crater. Shock waves from the explosions made windows and roof vibrate in houses of Sangre de Cristo, Panimache, Morelia and others in the area. (INSIVUMEH)

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.8 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.

5.7 Earthquake hits Halmahera, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

Tropical storm Cosme was located about 495 mi (795 km) WSW of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Large swells generated by Cosme are affecting portions of the Pacific coast of Mexico from near Acapulco to Los Mochis and the southern Baja California peninsula.

Other News:

Torrential rains slammed Illinois and other Midwest states on Wednesday, triggering flash flood warnings and causing flight cancellations, commuter train delays and road closings. Up to 5 inches of rain fell in some places and the National Weather Service warned residents in the region to brace for more downpours and possibly severe thunderstorms Wednesday night.

Landslide in Kalikot district in Nepal has claimed the lives of two people and injured one other. Another landslide at Sawadin VDC-7 in Taplejung district has claimed the life of one person.

Thousands of people have been evacuated in Paraguay after heavy rains caused flooding and the overflowing of the Parana River which rose to 6 metres above normal levels.

Heavy rainfall battered southwestern Manitoba in Canada Tuesday night and into Wednesday, with some areas seeing flash-flooding for the second time since the weekend. Parts of Brandon saw flash-flooding in streets with power outages.

Environment

El Niño, La Niña unlikely to make an appearance in 2013

The Pacific Ocean is unlikely to see either a warming El Nino climate phenomenon or its cooling La Nina opposite number through the end of the year, the UN's weather agency said Wednesday.

Disease

Uttarakhand floods: Epidemic Looms

The fear of an epidemic outbreak in flood-ravaged areas of Uttarakhand, northern India may be turning into reality as hundreds of people from local villages reported to medical camps set up by the relief forces complaining of fever, diarrhoea and vomiting.

Wildfires

Colorado and New Mexico Wildfires - Update

The massive wildfire burning in southwestern Colorado is finally slowing down a bit. The West Fork fire complex was burning on 127 square miles on Wednesday, 3 square miles more than the day before, thanks to diminished winds.

A furious wildfire torching through the mountains of Southern New Mexico’s Gila National Forest has grown to 127 square miles, forcing some ranchers to ship their cattle out of state as the blaze burns through entire grazing areas.

The Silver Fire was still about 5 miles west of the nearest community, but it has left ranchers in this drought-stricken corner of the state with few choices for feeding their cattle. State agriculture officials said the combination of drought and fire has forced some ranchers to ship what remaining cattle they have to other areas, including South Texas.

Wildfires Burning in Russian Far East

Some 49 forest fires broke out in the Russian Far East on Wednesday. There were 42 fires in Yakutia, five in the Amur region, one in Kamchatka and one in the Khabarovsk territory.

Ten wildfires were put out in Yakutia.

There remain 39 forest fires in the Russian Far East now.

More than 1,600 firemen, almost 80 fire trucks, eight planes and seven helicopters are putting out the blazes.

The Far Eastern Federal District has reported 816 forest fires of a total area exceeding 346,600 hectares in the 2013 wildfire season.

Volcanos

An aerial view of Popocatepetl volcano spewing a column of smoke and ash 4,921 ft (1500 meters) high into the sky, in the outskirts of Puebla is seen in this June 25, 2013 picture provided by Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center (CENAPRED) made available to Reuters on June 26, 2013.

The eruption at Pavlof Volcano, on the Alaska Peninsula, has picked up again disrupting local flights. The volcano is spewing ash to 28,000-feet (8,500 meters), the highest it's reached since the unrest started in early May. That's not high enough to interfere with international air traffic. The volcano has been spewing ash and lava for the past six weeks.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.3 Earthquake hits the Nicobar Islands off India.

5.0 Earthquake hits near the north coast of Papua, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

Hurricane Cosme was located about 410 mi (660 km) SSW of Cabo San Lucas Mexico. Cosme has strengthened into a Hurricane and is moving away from land. The storm's projected path will now steer the system away from Mexico, while fierce winds and extremely rough surf threaten shipping interests in the region. The storm's maximum sustained winds early Tuesday were near 65 mph (100 kph).

Cosme has claimed the lives of two people in Mexico and injured 19.

Tourists stranded on Arctic Ice

Twenty people are stranded on an ice floe in the Canadian Arctic, with the 50km long slab of ice breaking away from an island and floating several kilometres out to sea. The group, which includes foreign tourists, were stranded when the chunk of ice separated from Baffin Island sometime between Monday night and early Tuesday.

They aren't likely to be rescued until early Wednesday morning local time. The group includes local guides as well as Canadian and foreign tourists. They have a camp, shelter and supplies. 10 hunters who were also trapped managed to cross over onto land after the ice split and their end floated close to shore Tuesday afternoon. The floe the tourists are on remains afloat.

Tsunami hits US East Coast

A tsunami was observed on June 13, 2013 on the US East Coast, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has reported.

At Newport, Rhode Island the tsunami wave reached just under 25cm above sea level.

According to the NOAA, Gages in Kiptopeke, Virginia, and Atlantic City and New Jersey also recorded similar peaks.

At least two divers were injured in Barnegat Inlet in Ocean County, New Jersey. Minor tsunami damage was reported at the yacht club to the dock and two boats.

Scientists are still trying to determine the cause of Tsunami. A so called meteotsunami has been related to a strong storm that moved through the region and offshore that day. Some believe that the continental shelf landslide, a rare event, could also have caused the Tsunami.

Other News:

Four bodies were recovered by IAF commandos near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand, India where an IAF Mi-17 helicopter carrying 20 people had crashed during a relief rescue mission and all onboard are feared killed.

Evacuation orders were issued to towns north and east of Calgary, Canada, with a flood-warning zone stretching some 250 miles (402 kilometers) north from the US Montana border.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Saudi Arabia has announced seven additional laboratory-confirmed cases and a death in a previously confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Disease Outbreak Fears in India Following Floods

The Union health ministry has deputed a high-level team which will review public health measures in Uttarakhand on Wednesday to allay concerns of disease outbreak after the widespread devastation in the flood-affected state.

The mass cremation of the bodies of hundreds of people killed in floods and landslides in Uttarakhand was delayed on Tuesday amid the fears of disease outbreak.

Environment

Weather Extremes - The Jet Stream - Unusually Hot Alaska

People swim and sunbathe at Goose Lake in Anchorage, Alaska on Monday, June 17, 2013. Alaska's largest city and other parts of the state are experiencing a long stretch of higher than normal temperatures.

Lately, the jet stream isn’t playing by the rules. Scientists say that big river of air high above Earth that dictates much of the weather for the Northern Hemisphere has been unusually erratic the past few years.

They blame it for everything from snowstorms in May to the path of Superstorm Sandy. And last week, it was responsible for downpours that led to historic floods in Alberta, Canada, as well as record-breaking heat in parts of Alaska. The town of McGrath, Alaska, hit 94. Just a few weeks earlier, the same spot was 15 degrees. The current heat wave in the Northeast is also linked.

The jet stream usually rushes rapidly from west to east in a mostly straight direction. But lately it’s been wobbling and weaving like a drunken driver, wreaking havoc as it goes. The more the jet stream undulates north and south, the more changeable and extreme the weather. It’s a relatively new phenomenon that scientists are still trying to understand. Some say it’s related to global warming; others say it’s not.

In May, there was upside-down weather: Early California wildfires fueled by heat contrasted with more than a foot of snow in Minnesota. Seattle was the hottest spot in the nation one day, and Maine and Edmonton, Canada, were warmer than Miami and Phoenix. Consider these unusual occurrences over the past few years:

— The winter of 2011-12 seemed to disappear, with little snow and record warmth in March. That was followed by the winter of 2012-13 when nor'easters seemed to queue up to strike the same coastal areas repeatedly.

— Superstorm Sandy took an odd left turn in October from the Atlantic straight into New Jersey, something that happens once every 700 years or so.

— One 12-month period had a record number of tornadoes. That was followed by 12 months that set a record for lack of tornadoes.

And here is what federal weather officials call a ‘‘spring paradox’’: The U.S. had both an unusually large area of snow cover in March and April and a near-record low area of snow cover in May. The entire Northern Hemisphere had record snow coverage area in December but the third lowest snow extent for May.

The jet stream, or more precisely the polar jet stream, is the one that affects the Northern Hemisphere. It dips down from Alaska, across the United States or Canada, then across the Atlantic and over Europe and has everything to do with the weather we experience. It all starts with the difference between cold temperatures in the Arctic and warmer temperatures in the mid-latitudes. The bigger the temperature difference, the stronger the jet stream, the faster it moves and the straighter it flows. But as the northern polar regions warm two to three times faster than the rest of the world, augmented by unprecedented melting of Arctic sea ice and loss in snow cover, the temperature difference shrinks. Then the jet stream slows and undulates more.

The jet stream is about 14 percent slower in the fall now than in the 1990s. And when it slows, it moves north-south instead of east-west, bringing more unusual weather, creating blocking patterns and cutoff lows that are associated with weird weather. Recently the jet stream seems to create weather patterns that get stuck, making dry spells into droughts and hot days into heat waves.

Take the past two winters. They were as different as can be, but both had unusual jet stream activity. Normally, the jet stream plunges southwest from western Washington state, sloping across to Alabama. Then it curves slightly out to sea around the Outer Banks, a swoop that’s generally straight without dramatic bends. During the mostly snowless winter of 2011-12 and the record warm March 2012, the jet stream instead formed a giant upside-down U, curving dramatically in the opposite direction. That trapped warm air over much of the Eastern U.S.

A year later the jet stream was again unusual, this time with a sharp U-turn north. This trapped colder and snowier weather in places like Chicago and caused nor'easters in New England. But for true extremes, nothing beats tornadoes.

In 2011, the United States was hit over and over by killer twisters. From June 2010 to May 2011 the U.S. had a record number of substantial tornadoes, totaling 1,050. Then just a year later came a record tornado drought. From May 2012 to April 2013 there were only 217 tornadoes - 30 fewer than the old record. Both examples were related to unusual jet stream patterns.

Last fall, a dip in the jet stream over the United States and northward bulge of high pressure combined to pull Superstorm Sandy almost due west into New Jersey. That track is so rare and nearly unprecedented that computer models indicate it would happen only once every 714 years, according to a new study by NASA.

Wildfires

Crews battle wildfires across Alaska

More than 70 firefighters were battling the state's largest wildfire on Monday, the 154,000-acre Lime Hills Fire that had moved to within one-half mile of the small community of Lime Village on the upper Stony River southwest of Fairbanks, Alaska.

Global Warming

What Is the Greenhouse Effect? - Reference Article

While other planets in Earth's solar system are either scorching hot or bitterly cold, Earth's surface has relatively mild and stable temperatures.

Earth enjoys these temperatures because of its atmosphere — the thin layer of gases that cloak and protect the planet. But humans have changed Earth's atmosphere in dramatic ways over the past two centuries, resulting in global warming.

And to understand global warming, it's first necessary to become familiar with the greenhouse effect.

Energy in, energy out

There's a delicate balancing act occurring every day all across the Earth, involving the radiation the planet receives from space and the radiation that's reflected back out to space.

Earth is constantly bombarded with enormous amounts of radiation, primarily from the sun. This solar radiation strikes the Earth's atmosphere in the form of visible light, plus ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR) and other types of radiation that are invisible to the human eye.

UV radiation has a shorter wavelength and a higher energy level than visible light, while IR radiation has a longer wavelength and a weaker energy level.

About 30 percent of the radiation striking Earth's atmosphere is immediately reflected back out to space by clouds, ice, snow, sand and other reflective surfaces, according to NASA.

The remaining 70 percent of incoming solar radiation is absorbed by the oceans, the land and the atmosphere. As they heat up, the oceans, land and atmosphere release heat in the form of IR thermal radiation, which passes out of the atmosphere and into space.

It's this equilibrium of incoming and outgoing radiation that makes the Earth habitable, with an average temperature of about 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius), according to NASA. Without this atmospheric equilibrium, Earth would be as cold and lifeless as its moon, or as blazing hot as Venus.

The moon, which has almost no atmosphere, is about minus 243 degrees F (minus 153 degrees C) on its dark side. Venus, on the other hand, has a very dense atmosphere that traps solar radiation; the average temperature on Venus is about 864 degrees F (462 degrees C).

The greenhouse effect

The exchange of incoming and outgoing radiation that warms the Earth is often referred to as the greenhouse effect because a greenhouse works in much the same way.

Incoming UV radiation easily passes through the glass walls of a greenhouse and is absorbed by the plants and hard surfaces inside. Weaker IR radiation, however, has difficulty passing through the glass walls and is trapped inside, thus warming the greenhouse. This effect lets tropical plants thrive inside a greenhouse, even during a cold winter.

A similar phenomenon takes place in a car parked outside on a cold, sunny day. Incoming solar radiation warms the car's interior, but outgoing thermal radiation is trapped inside the car's closed windows.

Greenhouse gases and global warming

The gases in the atmosphere that absorb radiation are known as greenhouse gases because they're largely responsible for the greenhouse effect.

These greenhouse gases include water vapour, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide (NO) and other gases, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s, the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gasoline have greatly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, especially CO2, according to NASA.

CO2 and other greenhouse gases act like a blanket, absorbing IR radiation and preventing it from escaping into outer space. The net effect is the gradual heating of Earth's atmosphere and surface, a process known as global warming.

Atmospheric CO2 levels have increased by more than 40 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, from about 280 parts per million (ppm) in the 1800s to 400 ppm today. The last time Earth's atmospheric levels of CO2 reached 400 ppm was during the Pliocene Epoch, between 5 million and 3 million years ago, according to the University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The greenhouse effect, combined with increasing levels of greenhouse gases and the resulting global warming, is expected to have profound implications, according to the near-universal consensus of scientists.

If global warming continues unchecked, it will cause significant climate change, a rise in sea levels, increasing ocean acidification, extreme weather events and other severe natural and societal impacts, according to NASA, the EPA and other scientific and governmental bodies.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

6.5 Earthquake hits the northern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

Tropical storm Cosme was located about 335 mi (535 km) SW of Manzanillo, Mexico. Cosme is expected to become a hurricane on Tuesday. Heading away from land, swells generated by Cosme are affecting portions of the Pacific coast of Mexico from near Manzanillo through Cabo Corrientes. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Tropical Storm Bebinca made landfall in the coastal regions in south China, bringing heavy rainfall that will likely last through Tuesday, forecasters said. Tropical storm Bebinca will continue to bring gales and downpours and was the first tropical storm to make landfall in China this year. Bebinca made landfall in the city of Qionghai in South China's Hainan province. Bebinca disrupted 147 flights and left more than 8,000 passengers stranded in the airport.

Central African Republic Gold Mine Collapse

Heavy rainfall triggered Central African Republic gold mine collapse. The disaster area is located in Ndassima, about 440km east of Bangui.

Three days of national mourning have been declared after 37 people died in the gold mine collapse. 10 miners have been rescued and a still unknown number of bodies remain trapped.

Severe Storms in Minnesota, USA

A series of destructive storms have lashed Minnesota leaving homeowners and businesses powerless as the outage extended into a third day of candlelight and dripping freezers on Sunday.

Streets blocked by downed trees were so common in some Minneapolis neighborhoods that emergency vehicles and buses were forced to hunt for routes through the wreckage left by the storms that began Friday morning and continued through the weekend.

Damage was widespread with more than 505,000 homes without power in the Twin Cities, St. Cloud and across the state. By Saturday evening, over 112,000 were still without power as storm clouds continued to brew across the state. It may be Wednesday before all customers have power again.

Canadian Floods - Update

The massive floods that devastated Calgary, Canada late last week have raced downstream, and are now bringing the highest flood waters ever recorded to Medicine Hat, Alberta's 5th largest city (population 67,000.) The flood peaked early Monday morning in Medicine Hat, which had evacuated 10,000 residents in anticipation of the flood. The homes of nearly all of the residents evacuated have received flood damage.

The meteorological set-up for the flood began when the jet stream got "blocked" into a high-amplitude pattern that brought record heat to Alaska, but forced heavy rainfall to fall across the Bow River Basin on Wednesday night, with up to 190 mm (7.51”) falling in some areas over just a 24-hour period. Widespread heavy rains of 50.8 mm (2”) blanketed the entire river basin, sending the Bow River to near-record flood levels. At the peak of the flooding, the Bow and Elbow rivers were flowing through Calgary at three times their peak levels from the 2005 flood.

Calgary, Canada's 5th largest city (population 1.2 million), was forced to evacuate 100,000 people, and the downtown area was submerged by the flood waters. Three people died. Over the weekend, 65,000 people were allowed to return to their homes, but the city remains under a state of emergency.

Other News:

Heavy rainfall has caused flash flooding in Odisha's Kalahandi district, India, affecting nearly 15,000 people.

Heavy flooding has been reported in the Pilbara region, Australia.

The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia is warning of extreme weather, dangerous surf conditions and a king tide is expected for the New South Wales coast. Winds of up to 100 km/h and heavy rain is expected to hit Sydney, as well as the mid-north coast, Hunter region, central tablelands, southern tablelands and Snowy Mountains.

Environment

Man-made Particles Lower Hurricane Frequency

Higher levels of air pollution reduced the frequency of North Atlantic hurricanes and other tropical storms for most of the 20th century, a study said Sunday.

Adding to evidence for mankind's impact on the weather system, the probe found a link between these powerful storms and aerosols, the scientific term for specks of matter suspended in a gas.

Aerosols can occur in natural form -- as dusty volcanic plumes, clouds or fog -- but are also man-made, such as sooty particles from burning coal or oil.

The study focused on particles from North America and Europe that were generated mainly from burning fossil fuels.

Researchers from the UK Met Office created weather simulations covering the period 1860 to 2050.

They found that tropical storms were much less frequent during periods when emissions of man-made aerosols increased over the North Atlantic.

Aerosols reflect solar rays and change the brightness of clouds, which affects how much of the Sun's heat is projected onto the surface of the sea.

Ocean warmth provides the raw energy for tropical storms, which in extreme conditions can brew into destructive hurricanes.

Conversely, the study found that measures since the 1980s to tackle pollution and improve air quality reduced levels of aerosols -- have in turn ramped up hurricane activity.

The clean-up of industrial aerosols in the last 20 years, while being beneficial for human health and linked to a recovery of African Sahel rains since the 1980s droughts, may have contributed to increases in Atlantic hurricane activity.

The research team postulates that in the future, it will be Earth-warming greenhouse gases, much longer-lasting than aerosols, that will exert the most influence on tropical storm frequency.

Space Events

3 Super-Earth Planets That Could Support Alien Life

Three "super Earth" planets have been found orbiting a nearby star at a distance where life in theory could exist, according to a record-breaking tally announced on Tuesday by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

An international team of scientists found three potentially habitable planets around the star Gliese 667C, a star 22 light-years from Earth that is orbited by at least six planets, and possibly as many as seven, researchers said. The three planet contenders for alien life are in the star's "habitable zone" — the temperature region around the star where liquid water could exist. Gliese 667C is part of a three-star system, so the planets could see three suns in their daytime skies.

The three potentially rocky planets in Gliese 667C's habitable zone are known as super-Earths — exoplanets that are less massive than Neptune but more massive than Earth. Their orbits make them possible candidates for hosting life.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Colorado, USA

A trio of wind-driven wildfires have combined and roared unchecked across 76,000 acres (30,756 hectares) of national forest in southwest Colorado on Monday and firefighters held the line against flames threatening the mountain town of South Fork. Officials say a spruce bark beetle infestation is partly to blame - together with the dry, hot and windy conditions.

Disease

Bird Flu in Taiwan

Health authorities in Taiwan announced the first known human infection with H6N1 avian influenza, in a 20-year-old woman who was sick with pneumonia in May and has since recovered.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Kizimen (Kamchatka): The lava dome remained active and produced hot avalanches on the western and eastern volcanic flanks. Moderate seismic activity and strong and moderate gas-steam activity accompany this process. Satellite data showed a thermal anomaly over the volcano. (KVERT)

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): Seismic activity has decreased, classified as weak by KVERT. This suggests the active dome is in a phase of relative calm.

Tolbachik (Kamchatka): No end of the eruption is in sight. Lava continues to be erupted from the southern fissure. KVERT reports no significant changes and tremor levels have remained stable over the past 2 weeks.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): The volcano is back to about 1-2 explosions of moderate size per day.

Manam (Papua New Guinea): Ash plumes at 8,000 ft (2.4 km) altitude and extending to the NW were observed on satellite images (VAAC Darwin).

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): Activity has continued over the past days with little changes. Direct observations are difficult, but for the first time, some incandescence from the central cone was observed on the webcams yesterday. This is likely due to the presence of a lava flow and/or spattering from a vent.

Pavlov (Alaska Peninsula, USA): The eruption continues at low levels. Seismic tremor and occasional explosions are being detected in seismic data and indicate that minor ash emission is likely occurring, although no ash plumes were detected on satellite data over the past day. Elevated surface temperatures at the volcano have been observed in satellite data over the past 24 hours indicating lava at or near the surface. (AVO)

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): The volcano has remained at moderate levels with frequent but mostly smaller gas-steam-ash emissions at a rate of approx. 3 per hour. Plumes reached about 1 km above the crater. According to a local press article, some US airlines (United, AA) decided to temporarily use alternative airports instead of Mexico's International Airport (AICM) as a precaution against encountering ash. AICM itself reports that so far no ash so far has been detected at/near the airport.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.5 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

5.2 Earthquake hits Costa Rica.

5.2 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits the northern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storm Barry

Tropical storm Barry makes landfall in Veracruz, Mexico causing heavy rainfall from northern Nicaragua to South-Central Mexico. Barry has claimed the lives of at least three people in Mexico and left one missing in El Salvador.

India Floods - Update

According to the disaster management minister Yashpal Arya, at least 5,000 people have been killed by flash floods in Uttarakhand.

About 19,000 people are still stranded in the disaster areas.

The meteorological department has predicted more rains in the region from Monday.

Nature - Images

Interesting Images:

A plane passes in front of the haze obscured 'Supermoon' over Singapore on June 23, 2013 in Singapore.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Colorado, USA

Firefighters continue to battle blazes across Northwestern Colorado as high winds hamper efforts to contain the spreading flames.

The Wild Rose Fire southwest of Texas Mountain in Rio Blanco County has grown to 1,065 acres. Burning since Wednesday, the 360-person fire crew on the scene has contained 10 percent of the fire.

The Brush Creek Fire about 10 miles north of Rifle has been burning since Thursday, and has grown to 400 acres with the help of 20 mph winds. There are no structures in the area.

The previously active Ryan, Rope and Lime fires have been contained and are in “mop-up mode,”.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Saudi Arabia has announced six additional laboratory-confirmed cases and a death in a previously confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Wildfires

Wildfires - New Mexico, USA

A blaze burning in southern New Mexico was expected to grow again Sunday, a day after it made a run that consumed nearly 19 square miles of rugged terrain in the Gila National Forest.

The Silver Fire has charred more than 88 square miles since being sparked by lightning on June 7. Almost 500 firefighters and support personnel were assigned to the fire.

Crews braced for a hot, dry and windy day as weather forecasters issued another red flag warning for the area on Sunday. Humidity levels were extremely low and winds were likely to gust to 30 mph.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.0 Earthquake hits Guatemala.

5.0 Earthquake hits Fiji.

Yesterday's Earthquake in Lombok, Indonesia injured at least 24 people, three of them in critical condition. The quake seriously damaged more than 1,700 houses and 25 temples. The Earthquake was reasonably shallow at 6.2 miles.

Storms and Floods

NewsBytes:

Lightning has claimed the lives of three children in Kalaiya, Nepal.

Severe hailstorms have caused heavy damage to agricultural crops in eight villages in Akhmeta in the Kakheti region of eastern Georgia. The hailstorms which lasted for 20 minutes and damaged 80 percent of the vineyards in Akhmeta.

Heavy rainfall has caused flash flooding in parts of southwestern Wisconsin, USA.

Space Events

Space Weather

The Sun emitted an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME) one day before the summer solstice, which is when the Sun reaches its northernmost point in the sky. This particular solar phenomenon ejects billions of tons of particles into outer space that can impact our planet several day later.

The CME exited the Sun at speeds of approximately 1350 miles per second, which NASA says is very fast for CMEs.

These particles cannot pass through the Earth’s atmosphere to affect humans, but they can impact communication systems. Magnetic storms can disrupt communication signals and lead to surprising electrical surges in power grids.

Skywatchers in northern latitudes can expect spectacular northern lights in the coming days.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.3 Earthquake hits Guam.

5.2 Earthquake hits Lombok, Indonesia.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Alamagan region in the North Mariana Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Solomon Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits Guam.

Storms and Floods

Flooding in Calgary, Canada

A state of local emergency has been declared in Calgary because of the significant flooding in the area.

Much of Calgary is still awash in muddy floodwaters today in the morning sun as empty office towers stood in an eerily quiet downtown after the evacuations. The city is expected to remain without power for several days.

Tropical Storm Bebinca makes landfall in China

At least four fishermen are missing as tropical storm Bebinca makes landfall in South China. Train and shipping services across the Qiongzhou Strait have been suspended.

Floods in Northern India - Update

Relief teams were racing against time Saturday to rescue tens of thousands of stranded people in rain-ravaged northern India as the death toll from flash floods and landslides neared 600.

Wildlife

Pesticides for Agriculture Killing Aquatic Insects in the Wild

New research has found that the use of common pesticides in Europe and Australia has killed up to 42 percent of invertebrates, which make up about 95 percent of all animal species.

A team of German and Australian researchers studied the impact of the chemicals on the biodiversity of invertebrates in flowing waters of Germany, France and the Australian state of Victoria.

The study examined the effects of insecticides and fungicides that have been deemed “safe” for widespread use.

Writing in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists report considerable losses in the biodiversity of aquatic insects and other freshwater invertebrates because of the use of the chemicals, as compared to the species in non-contaminated areas.

They warn that some of the insects being killed, like mayflies, caddisflies and dragonflies, are important food sources for other animals.

This means their losses affect animals up the food chain to birds and fish. Companies that manufacture the pesticides are required to prove that they break down quickly and have only limited effects on the ecosystem.

But researchers point out that those tests are mostly conducted in laboratory conditions that don’t always accurately reflect what happens in the wild.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Colorado, USA

Three wildfires sparked by lightning raged out of control in rugged Colorado mountain terrain on Friday, prompting the evacuation of two towns and menacing a third.

The West Fork Fire Complex - consisting of two separate fires in Rio Grande County in southern Colorado - forced 600 residents of South Fork to flee as high winds helped the blazes grow from 12,000 acres to 30,000 acres overnight.

Farther east in Huerfano County, a wind-driven blaze forced the evacuation of about 800 residents of the town of La Veta. The fire was bearing down on Walsenburg, a community of 3,000.

Another Huerfano County fire that forced about 200 people to flee a Boy Scout camp this week has grown to 9,100 acres and destroyed nine structures and four outbuildings.

Environment

World's Population Projected to Be Nearly 10 Billion by 2100

The world’s population has grown from only 5 million in 8000 B.C. to the current level of about 7 billion.

The world’s population is likely to increase from 7.2 billion people to 8.1 billion by 2025, and to 9.6 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations.

While the statistician who authored the UN report says more needs to be done to address imbalances in population growth between poorer and wealthier countries, the new upward estimates should not be cause for panic.

John Wilmoth says the world was able to more than double its food production as the population doubled between 1960 and 2000.

But others say that energy supplies and those of other natural resources may not be able to keep up with the demands of a growing global population.

"These new findings show that we need to renew policies, such as increasing access to family planning and expanding education for girls, to address rapid population growth in Africa," said Adrian Raftery, a co-author of the report and a statistician from the University of Washington.

The vast majority of the report’s projected population increase is estimated to take place in developing countries, with over half anticipated in Africa alone.

In contrast, in many developed countries in Europe and East Asia, fertility rates have fallen to the point where the number of people who die each year is roughly equal to the number of babies that are born. This can lead to its own unique set of problems, says Wilmoth.

“These populations are aging rapidly and face challenges in providing care and support to their growing ranks of older persons," he said.

Wilmoth went on to stress that the projects are based on certain assumptions about birthrates, mortality rates, and migration patterns, and therefore carry with them “enormous uncertainty.”

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.3 Earthquake hits northern Italy.

New Fault Line Discovered

Scientists have discovered a new fault system forming off the coast of Portugal, that will bring the US and Europe together and close up the Atlantic Ocean. The new research suggests that in 220 million years North America and continental Europe will be joined.

Storms and Floods

Heavy Flooding in Western Canada

The City of Calgary issued mandatory evacuation orders for 18 communities after massive flooding in the city and across southern Alberta. More than 100,000 Calgarians are expected to be evacuated by morning.

Mudslides forced the closure of the Trans-Canada Highway. It is the most extreme flooding situation residents have seen in 40 years.

More than 20 homes have been lost in the mountain community of Canmore, 100 km west of Calgary.

Other News:

Severe Storm in Wellington, New Zealand. 30 000 homes with out power. All flights, train and ferry services have been suspended. Winds of up to 200 km/h were reported at Mount Kaukau. The storm has been described as the worst in 37 years.

Tropical Storm Barry made landfall near Veracruz in Mexico, Thursday, bringing the risk of flash flooding and mudslides. Up to 10 inches of rain is expected to fall across the region.

A total of 556 bodies have been recovered in flood-hit Uttarakhand, India, with more than 50 000 still stranded. Authorities expect the death toll to rise. The government has abounded a three day period of mourning for the victims.

Environment

Global High and Low Temperatures

The week's hottest temperature was 117.5 degrees Fahrenheit (47.5 degrees Celsius) at Adrar, Algeria.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 97.2 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 71.8 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Vostok Antarctic research station.

Temperatures were tabulated from the more than 10,000 worldwide synoptic weather stations. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization sets the standards for weather observations, and provides a global telecommunications circuit for data distribution.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

Saudi Arabia announced that four women have recovered from previously unreported cases of MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus), while another four people have died of MERS infections that were announced earlier.

Newcastle Poultry Disease Outbreak in Cyprus

Thousands of birds are facing slaughter on three farms in the Mamari area because of an outbreak of Newcastle disease. Around 150,000 will be destroyed. All vehicles passing through the area will be sprayed with decontaminants.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Paluweh (off Flores Island, Indonesia): Activity from the lava dome continues with occasional explosions and / or collapse events, but has been decreasing over the past weeks. An ash plume at about 8,000 ft (2.4 km) altitude was observed on satellite data yesterday (VAAC Darwin).

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Activity has decreased to about 2 weak emissions of steam and gas, sometimes some ash per hour.

Pacaya (Guatemala): Weak strombolian activity has resumed, with small explosions about every 10 minutes that produce small ash puffs. Some of the explosions are audible, but most are only inferred from the seismic signal. Volcanic tremor accompanies this process.

Fuego (Guatemala): Activity both effusive and explosive has remained relatively unchanged and weak. Ash plumes rose 200-500 m above the crater and eject incandescent material to up to 100 m. The lava flow towards the Ceniza drainage was 250 m long this morning and produced occasional small avalanches.

Machin (Colombia): INGEOMINAS reports no significant changes - weak seismic activity continues SE of the principal dome at depths between 6-7.5 km and maintains alert level yellow.

Galeras (Colombia): Seismic activity has been lower during the past week. No recent ash explosions have occurred. The other volcano at yellow alert monitored by Pasto Observatory, Cumbal, continued to show fluctuating, weakly elevated seismic activity.

Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia): Activity over the past days has been characterized by continuing strong degassing (elevated SO2 emissions), at times creating a steam and gas plume rising up to 1600 m. Seismic activity has remained elevated and dominated by shallow volcano-tectonic quakes in areas SW, NW and N of the Arenas crater.

Sotará (Colombia): INGEOMINAS - Popayan volcano observatory reports no significant changes. Occasional small earthquakes continue to show the volcano is at unrest. Nevado del Huila's degassing and seismic activity have remained stable at low levels.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.7 Earthquake hits Mendoza, Argentina.

5.2 Earthquake hits Halmahera, Indonesia.

5.0 Earthquake hits near the east coast of Honshu, Japan.

Over 500 homes have been damaged in the village of Bachatsky as a result of the 5.4 earthquake that struck the Kemerovo on Wednesday. It was the strongest earthquake to have struck the region in over 100 years. The earthquake also halted underground coal production in the region's coal mines.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storm Barry

Tropical Storm Barry formed off Mexico's Gulf Coast on Wednesday and is located about 40 mi (60 km) NE of Veracruz, Mexico.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the Atlantic hurricane season’s second tropical storm was drenching areas in its path with up to 10 inches of rain in some places, raising the threat of flash floods.

Barry was expected strengthen slightly before making landfall but would weaken soon after. In Veracruz state 2,000 shelters had been readied with mattresses, blankets, water and canned food. Shelters at schools and recreation centres could house up to 306,000 people. The port of Veracruz was closed to small vessels because of the strong winds.

Tropical storm Leepi was located about 132 nm west-northwestward of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.

Other News:

Flooding and landslides in Xinjiang's Uygur Autonomous Region in China have claimed the lives of at least two people and affected 45,000 others. Heavy rainfall has damaged or destroyed 1,305 houses.

A tornado touched down for 10 minutes in Waikato, New Zealand. The tornado was at the lowest end of the scale and didn't cause any serious damage.

Landslide in Palpa, Nepal has claimed the lives of three people.

Wildlife

Ocean Feast Lures Whales to California Coast

A large number of hungry blue and humpback whales, dolphins and orcas have appeared offshore of Central California this week. The visitors gorged on krill and squid. The pods of whales were drawn in by an upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich ocean bottom water, which spawned a boom in small marine life such as krill. The krill was so thick in parts of Monterey Bay yesterday (June 18) the water appeared red, according to the Monterey Bay Whale Watch Centre.

Blue whales are the biggest animals on Earth. About 2,800 blue whales spend June through October feeding on krill offshore of California near the Channel Islands, Monterey Bay and the Farallon Islands.

Environment

The Bering Strait Under Siege

People living in Savoonga, Alaska, like to call their village the "Walrus Capital of the World." The village sits at the mouth of the Bering Strait, and roughly 80 percent of all North Pacific walruses migrate through those narrow waters every year. They are joined by hundreds of thousands of whales, dolphins and other marine mammals and an estimated 12 million seabirds. These animals gather in the Bering Strait for one of the largest wildlife migrations in the world.

Arctic coastlines have been compared to the Serengeti because of their abundant wildlife corridors, but what many people don't realize is that deep beneath the water's surface, another vast migration unfolds every spring and fall. The Bering Strait becomes the Serengeti of the oceans during those seasons, and the abundance of animal life has fed Yup'ik people and cultural traditions for millennia.

Now, climate change has begun to threaten those traditions. Native Alaskan leaders tell me that melting sea ice has made subsistence hunting far more difficult. And warming temperatures introduced another threat to native customs and the marine mammals they depend upon: industrial shipping.

The Northern Sea route — connecting Asia and Europe by skirting along Russia's far north — has been frozen for much of human history, but climate change has caused the ice to shrink to record-breaking lows, and shipping companies are swooping in. The amount of cargo sent along the Northern Sea route is still relatively small, but it increased ten times since 2010, and Reuters recently reported that traffic along the route could expand thirtyfold in the next several years.

Most of those ships will cut through the pristine waters of the Bering Strait. Funneling traffic through these vibrant waters is like building a heavy-truck corridor through the bison, wolf and grizzly habitat of Yellowstone National Park, or carving a shipping lane through the Great Barrier Reef.

Marine mammals will be among the first to suffer. The Bering Strait is only about 50 miles wide. It is home to one of the largest marine mammal migration paths in the world, and those creatures swim through the same ice-free pathways the ships will travel. Collisions between the two will increase and could prove deadly for the animals as it has in other oceans, including in the North Atlantic, where ship strikes are the key source of mortality for endangered right whales.

Spills are another hazard. Russian companies have already sent huge tankers of liquefied natural gas to ports in China and Japan. The route had to be cleared by three Russian ice breakers, and no technology has been proven to clean up oil in sea ice.

Yet one of the biggest threats comes from ocean noise pollution. Whales and other marine mammals depend on hearing for life's most basic functions. They use sound to locate food, find a mate, avoid predators, connect with friends and family and navigate their way through the world. Walrus and seal hearing can be so keen that native hunters learn to walk on ice in ways that don't make any noise.

Giant cargo ships and nuclear-powered icebreakers take no such precautions. Their booming sounds carry great distances underwater and can scare marine mammals from feeding spots, silence them, drown out the sounds they rely upon and prevent them from feeding and breeding. This is especially a concern in the Arctic. Sound travels more readily through acidic waters, and the cold seas of the North have turned more acidic as more carbon pollution gets pumped into the atmosphere. In other words, climate change is hitting marine mammals with a triple whammy: warming temperatures are making it possible for shipping traffic to increase, and at the same time, ocean acidification threatens important food sources and makes ship traffic even more destructive for sound-guided animals.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Indonesia

Smog in Singapore has reached hazardous levels and is set to persist as forest fires rage on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with the nations’ governments bickering over responsibility for the haze.

Activists have suggested that Malaysia and Singapore should pressure both the Indonesian government and palm-oil companies that are burning forests to clear the way for plantations to halt the destructive practice.

Wildfires USA - Update

The massive Black Forest wildfire in Colorado is a lot closer to being contained but a new one in Arizona is getting bigger by the hour. The fire is burning near the town of Prescott in northern Arizona and is forcing homeowners there to evacuated.

Two lightning-sparked fires in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado have grown to 3,280 acres, forcing emergency crews to rescue 13 backcountry campers by helicopter and deploy crews to protect the Wolf Creek Ski Area.

Wildfires have also flared up in northern Alaska.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

The mysterious new respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East spreads easily between people and appears more deadly than SARS, doctors report.

More than 60 cases of what is now called MERS, including 38 deaths, have been recorded by the World Health Organisation in the past year, mostly in Saudi Arabia.

An international team of doctors who investigated nearly two dozen cases in eastern Saudi Arabia found the new coronavirus has some striking similarities to SARS.

In a worrying finding, the team said on Wednesday, MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) not only spreads easily between people, but within hospitals. That was also the case with SARS, a distant relative of the new virus. They couldn't nail down how it was spread in every case - through droplets from sneezing or coughing, or a more indirect route. Some of the hospital patients weren't close to the infected person, but somehow picked up the virus.

"In the right circumstances, the spread could be explosive," the Doctors said.

Cases have continued to trickle in, and there appears to be an ongoing outbreak in Saudi Arabia. MERS cases have also been reported in Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Tunisia. Most have had a direct connection to the Middle East region. In the Saudi cluster that was investigated, certain patients infected many more people than would be expected.

Dengue Outbreak in Angola

The CDC has reported an outbreak of more than 300 cases of dengue fever in the Luanda province of Angola. One death also has been confirmed.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Tolbachik (Kamchatka): KVERT reports no changes in the ongoing eruption of the volcano. Tremor levels remain stable and lava continues to be effused from the southern fissure vent. The other currently active volcanoes in Kamchatka have not shown significant variations either. Moderate seismic activity was reported by KVERT for Shiveluch, Kizimen (dome extrusion) and Gorely (degassing), while no data were available for Bezymianny (dome extrusion) and Karymsky (intermittent mild explosions) volcanoes. Klyuchevskoy seems to be currently quiet.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): A few hours ago, another moderately strong explosions occurred at 14:48 h local time, which threw incandescent fragments at distances of 100 m from the crater and generated an ash column reaching nearly 2 km in height, which was dispersed towards the northwest. The alert level remains unchanged at Yellow Phase 2. Yesterday's strong eruption ejected bombs to distances of up to 2 km and many ignited bushfires. There were reports of ashfall in Tetela del Volcán, Ocuituco, Yecapixtla, Atlatlahucan, Cuautla, Tlayacapan, Yautepec, Jiutepec y Xochitepec in the state of Morelos, and also in Ecatzingo, Atlautla y Ozumba in the state of México.

Eruption from Popocatepétl yesterday morning:

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.4 Earthquake hits south-western Siberia, Russia.

5.3 Earthquake hits New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits west of the Galapagos Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

Storms and Floods

Floods, landslides in Northern India - Update

Massive flooding and mudslides at the Kedarnath Temple has claimed lives of at least 50 people. More than 6000 people are still reported be stranded in the Kedarnath valley. Flooding and landslides have washed away a portion of the Kedarnath shrine compound which is one of the holiest Hindu temples located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

The Kedarnath floods are believed to have been caused by the breaking of the Kedar Dome. The Kedar Dome is a glacier-like body that led to a rupture in the Charbari lake reservoir.

The massive flooding and landslides have now claimed the lives of 131 people in Uttarkhand and Himachal Pradesh with more than 500 still missing.

Other News:

At least 50 houses have been destroyed by a tornado in Cebu city in the Philippines. Winds of about 200 kph have been recorded.

Flooding in Lourdes, France has claimed the life of one person who was swept away by floodwaters in her car. More than 2 000 people have been evacuated from the flood zone.

Tropical storm Emong [Leepi] forms in the western Pacific and heads for Japan after bringing rain and floods to the Philippines. It is situated about 329 nm south-southwest of Kadena Air Base, Japan.

Space Events

Super Moon

This weekend the Moon will appear the largest and closest it will look in 2013. It won't appear this close again during a full Moon phase until August 2014.

Disease

Encephelitis in Northern India

Encephelitis, a mosquito-borne disease that preys on the young and malnourished is sweeping across poverty-riven northern India.

The disease has already killed at least 118 children this year, and authorities fear the death toll could exceed 1,000.

The children who survive often cannot communicate because of brain damage and stare listlessly, unable to recognize friends they played with just months before.

Some are so severely disabled that their impoverished parents are told to abandon them

Many families have taken out crushing loans for treatment.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Manam (Papua New Guinea): An eruption with a small ash plume was reported this morning and VAAC Darwin issued an advisory. A low level ash plume was also visible on Nasa's Aqua Modis image at 15:45 UTC.

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): The eruption continues. A lava flow is being erupted from the central intra-caldera cone, recent satellite images suggest as they show very high elevated surface temperatures in this area. Since about 10 hours ago, a seismic swarm and continuous tremor have appeared indicating probably an increase in this activity. No plumes were reported by AVO.

Pavlov (Alaska Peninsula, USA): No changes in activity were reported by the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Seismic activity continues to decrease and no elevated surface temperatures were detected in satellite images during the past 24 hours. No plumes were visible in satellite images, while web camera images show mostly cloudy conditions.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): A powerful explosion occurred yesterday at 13:23 local time, producing an eruption column rising about 4 km. This is so far one (if not the) largest single eruption in the present cycle of activity.

Fuego (Guatemala): Activity at all currently active volcanoes in Guatemala has been weaker today. The small new lava flow at Fuego was not mentioned in INSIVUMEH's daily reports, and only few weak strombolian explosions were observed since yesterday. No strombolian activity was seen or heard at Pacaya and only a small explosion is mentioned for the lava dome of Santiaguito. Seismic recordings were not available today.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.1 Earthquake hits the Bali Sea.

5.0 Earthquake hits near the coast of Nicaragua.

Storms and Floods

Floods, landslides in Northern India

At least 72 people have died in floods and landslides in northern India. More than 50 people died in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh alone over the last 24 hours.

About 22 people became landslide victims in the state of Haryana. Between 50 and 100 people are still reported to be missing.

At least 50 people have gone missing after a cloudburst in Rambada, Uttarakhand.

Landslide alerts have been issued for all districts in the Konkan region. Several people were evacuated following a landslide in Ratnagiri, a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri district in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India.

Around 180 tourists were stranded for about three hours near Hillgrove station, following a landslide on the railway track.

Deadly Landslides across Nepal

Landslide in the Baitadi district of Nepal has claimed the lives of five members of a single family.

Landslide caused by heavy rainfall swept away three children in Ram Singh Eir.

Landslide in Dailekh district has claimed the lives of at least seven people.

At least four people including three children are reported to be missing in a landslide in the Humala district.

Heavy rainfall has caused massive flooding in Darchula.

Lightning in Nepal has claimed lives of at least six people and injured two others.

Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

A wind-whipped wildfire near the main route into Yosemite National Park in the Sierra foothills in northern California forced the evacuation of at least 150 houses Monday and was threatening more, state fire officials said.

The blaze that began Sunday afternoon had burned about 2 1/2 square miles, or 1,600 acres, Monday night. It was 15 percent contained.

More than 700 firefighters, 140 engines and two helicopters were taking on the wildfire that's burning amid gusting winds in an area about six miles northeast of Mariposa off Highway 140.

The massive wildfires burning in Colorado are now 65% contained with firefighters getting the upper hand. The flames have destroyed nearly 500 homes and killed two people so far. The fires are the most destructive in Colorado's history.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has announced an additional three laboratory-confirmed cases with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): The eruption continues at low levels. Recent satellite images show very high elevated surface temperatures at the intracaldera cinder cone consistent with continued effusion of lava. No plumes have been observed in satellite images nor reported by pilots or local observers. (AVO)

Pavlov (Alaska Peninsula, USA): AVO reports no significant change in the seismicity at Pavlof in the past 24 hours: seismic tremor continues, but at lower amplitudes than previously. For the first time since May 27, no elevated surface temperatures were detected in satellite images during the past 24 hours. No plumes were visible in satellite images, and web camera images show cloudy conditions. (AVO)

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Activity has been elevated. During 15-16 June, CENAPRED recorded 3-4 emissions per hous, including a few stronger explosions. One yesterday morning threw incandescent fragments on the north side at a distance no greater than 500 m.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): Activity has remained more or less stable. Occasional explosions occur from the lava dome producing small ash plumes of a few 100 m height. The viscous lava flows on the flanks of the dome are mostly stagnant, but sometime experience small advance and collapses, mostly the flow on the southern side.

Pacaya (Guatemala): Eruptive activity has resumed. Weak incandescence and explosions could be seen and heard during the past days. Today, no direct observations were reported, but volcanic tremor increased significantly during today, which could indicate some more vigorous activity soon.

Fuego (Guatemala): Activity has increased during the past days. A new small lava flow started on 14 June on the southern flank and had a length of 300 m this morning. Explosive strombolian activity has picked up a bit as well. Glowing tephra is ejected to 75-125 m height, and ash plumes rise to 3-500 m above the crater.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.9 Earthquake hits Crete, Greece.

5.8 Earthquake hits the MacQuarie Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the MacQuarie Islands.

Storms and Floods

Severe Weather and Storm Warning - Europe

Portions of Germany, Poland, Belarus and the Ukraine will be the focus of severe weather on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday the risk for severe weather will shift to a storm over western Europe, bringing the potential for heavy showers and thunderstorms to France, Belgium and far western Germany.

Heavy downpours and large hail will be the primary threats, while damaging wind gusts will also likely be present.

Other News:

Landslide near Motueka in the Tasman district of New Zealand has claimed life of an woman. Heavy rains have also brought floods to the region.

At least one person has been killed in flooding in the Mexican city of Piedras Negras on the border with Texas, USA.

Drought

Drought in Angola and Namibia

Severe drought in Namibia and Angola, the two countries are witnessing the most significant cross-border movement since the civil war, with Angolans and their herds of livestock coming to Namibia in droves in search of grazing.

Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

The Black Forest fire in Colorado has become the most destructive fire in Colorado history. 473 homes have been destroyed as of Saturday morning. The fire has burnt 15,700 acres.

The fire is now 55 percent contained and that is expected to increase as the week continues, with a full containment date estimated for Thursday, June 20.

Several wildfires have sprung up in south-west Utah in extremely dry conditions.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia has announced an additional three laboratory-confirmed cases, including one death with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

6.5 Earthquake hits near the coast of Nicaragua.

Some reports of damage to structures. One person died of shock. Nicaragua's seismological institute declared a tsunami alert as a precaution because of the earthquake's strength, which was later withdrawn.

6.2 Earthquake hits Crete, Greece.

6.1 Earthquake hits south of the Kermedec Islands.

5.8 Earthquake hits Morelos, Mexico.

The earthquake caused landslides along several roads and collapsed walls in Jiutepec, Morelos. No injuries have been reported.

5.8 Earthquake hits the North Pacific Ocean.

5.5 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

5.1 Earthquake hits near the coast of Nicaragua.

Storms and Floods

NewsBytes:

Floods force 50 000 to flee their homes in Mindanao in the Philippines.

Flash floods have claimed the lives of at least six people including three children in Khyber Agency, Pakistan.

Disease

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Canada [Mad Cow Disease]

One person has died and two others remain gravely ill in hospital with the rare neurological disorder often linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease.

One case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a rare, degenerative brain disease has been confirmed in British Columbia's Fraser Valley, and a health official says two other cases are now suspected. The patients did not get sick from eating contaminated beef and are not linked to mad cow disease.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Sangeang Api (Indonesia): VSI decreased the alert level from 3 to 2 ("Waspada", on a scale of 4), as seismic activity has decreased recently.

Soputan (North Sulawesi, Indonesia): VSI decreased the alert level back to level 2. The volcano is currently quiet and only degassing.

Merapi (Central Java): A small ash eruption was reported yesterday at around 09:15 local time. Residents near the volcano heard an explosion sound and some fins ash fell on nearby villages.

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): The volcano began erupting on Thursday morning, June 13, following several days of increasing seismicity, AVO reported. The official Color Code/Alert Level was raised to ORANGE/WATCH. At least a small lava flow was erupted. A pilot observed an ash plume up to about 12,000 ft above sea level and a lava flow issuing from the intracaldera cinder cone. Residents in Perryville and Port Moller also reported observing the ash emissions at about 11:30 pm AKDT yesterday. Observers located west of the volcano reported that no ash was issuing from the intracaldera cinder cone this morning; however ash emission could resume abruptly at any time.

Pavlov (Alaska Peninsula, USA): Weak activity continues. Persistent elevated surface temperatures consistent with lava effusion were observed in satellite images, and minor ash plumes below 20,000 were generated through most of the week and mostly drifted to the southeast. There were no reports of ash fall on local communities. On Thursday, pilots reported observing no ash emissions. (AVO)

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Activity has picked up during the past 2 days, as the preceding earthquake swarm had suggested. CENAPRED reports emissions at a rate of 2 per hour. The more vigorous explosions have produced ash plumes of up to 3 km height. The largest was an explosion yesterday just before 17:30 (local time).

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.1 Earthquake hits south of Panama.

Environment

We Will Not Run Out of Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels are formed from the remains of plants and animals that died hundreds of millions of years ago, buried and transformed by heat and pressure. Since these fuels require millions of years to form, for human purposes, the supply of fossil fuels on Earth is effectively fixed. This has led to predictions — such as those based on the "peak oil" theory first proposed by geologist M. King Hubbert in 1956 — that the world will experience an economically damaging scarcity of fossil fuels, particularly oil.

However, new technologies for oil and gas exploration and extraction have upended the notion of fossil fuel scarcity: The limiting factor on humans' fossil fuel use will not be the exhaustion of economically recoverable fossil fuels, but the exhaustion of the Earth's capacity to withstand the harmful byproducts of fossil fuel combustion.

For decades, energy producers have continually identified new fossil fuel reserves and developed technologies that enable people to economically recover oil and gas from deposits previously deemed too difficult to access. That has enabled cumulative fuel production to greatly exceed previous estimates of reserves.

For example, the Energy Information Administration reports that in 1977, the United States had just 32 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 207 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. Between 1977 and 2010, the U.S. extracted 84 billion barrels of oil (2.6 times the 1977 reserve estimate) and 610 trillion cubic feet of gas (2.9 times the reserve estimate). And, large reserves remain. In fact, in recent years, the size of U.S. reserves has actually grown (by more than a third since 2011), primarily as a result of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technologies that enable economical access to oil and gas deposits trapped in underground rock formations.

Even if no more fossil fuels were to be discovered or deemed extractable, our nations already possess far more reserves and recoverable resources worldwide than we can burn without destroying the climate. Humanity has burned just a small portion of our fossil fuels to date.

Even if no more fossil fuels were to be discovered or deemed extractable, our nations already possess far more reserves and recoverable resources worldwide than we can burn without destroying the climate. Humanity has burned just a small portion of our fossil fuels to date.

Nature - Images

Interesting Images:

These incredible cloud formations were pristine examples of "Kelvin-Helmholtz waves," which develop when a fast-moving layer of fluid slides on top of a slower, thicker layer, dragging its surface and causing crests of the thick layer to lurch forward.

Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

Utah firefighters on Friday scrambled to control new blazes ahead of what could be a hot and dry weekend.

The Jaroso Fire burning in the Pecos Wilderness of New Mexico is growing fast and will keep on growing, as there is plenty of fuel in its path and fire officials say that right now they can do little to suppress it. Heavy smoke has thwarted air attacks.

Disease

Yellow fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is launching an emergency mass vaccination campaign against yellow fever from 20 June 2013, following laboratory confirmation of six cases in the country on 6 June 2013.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the volcano alert level from Yellow to Orange. Elevated surface temperatures observed in satellite images this morning at 13:25 UTC (05:25 AKDT) indicate that an eruption at the intracaldera cone is likely underway. Seismic tremor continues and is indicative of low-level effusive activity and small explosions. No ash plumes have been observed this morning although clouds have obscured web camera views of the summit. (AVO)

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

6.7 Earthquake hits south of Java, Indonesia.

There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.

5.6 Earthquake hits the Ryukyu Islands off Japan.

5.4 Earthquake hits south of Java, Indonesia.

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storm Yagi

Some remote Japanese islands were drenched by the spiralling bands of Tropical Storm Yagi as the disturbance passed about 200 miles to the south of Tokyo. Yagi brought locally heavy rain to a long stretch of coastline of Japan's Honshu Island.

Landslide in Uttarakhand, India

Around 15,000 tourists were stranded along Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway, following a landslide in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, India, which washed away part of Rishikesh-Gangotri highway along the Maneri Sainji village which is a highly landslide-prone area. More than 15 hours continuous rainfall also caused flooding in the Bhagirathi river.

Thousands of tourists and pilgrims in 900 different buses were stranded for over 16 hours before being rescued by Border Road Organisation personnel.

Other News:

At least two people have died and five others were injured in a storm in Penang, Malaysia. The thunderstorm also damaged more than 100 houses in Seberang Perai Utara, SP Tengah and SP Selatan areas.

A tornado touched down in Montgomery County late Thursday afternoon as a bruising storm front raced eastward through the Washington region, USA.

Environment

Oceans melt Antarctica's ice from below

The Antarctic ice sheet (shown here in a three-dimensional NASA image that exaggerates the vertical scale) is losing more ice from oceanic currents eating at it from below than from the breaking off of large blocks of ice.

They may be less dramatic than the events in which icebergs break off, but everyday interactions with warm ocean currents could cause more than half of the ice melt along Antarctica’s coastline.

Ice shelves are portions of the larger ice sheet that extend over the ocean, floating on seawater. Conventional wisdom once held that calving, the break off of large chunks of ice, was the main factor driving ice-shelf dynamics, but recent research has underscored the role of melting from below, or 'basal' melting. A team of scientists led by Eric Rignot at the University of California, Irvine, has for the first time quantified this effect for the entire continent.

The results, which appear in Science, suggest that warm ocean currents are melting ice shelves predominantly at certain locations around the continent, to an extent that accounts for 55% of the annual meltwater. The findings will help scientists to tackle larger questions about how the Antarctic ice sheet might change in future and its contribution to global sea-level rise.

Rignot suggests that the ice shelves act like stoppers, stemming the slow flow of continental ice. “If they thin and disappear, then the continental ice will accelerate its movement to the sea.”