Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.1 Earthquake hits the Nicobar Islands off India.

5.1 Earthquake hits the southern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Philippine Islands.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Tropical depression Three is located approximately 308 nm south-southeast of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

NewsBytes:

Fiji - Fiji has been hit by heavy rains and flooding as the latest tropical depression approaches the country. Fiji will likely be spared the worst of a tropical depression that's formed over the country. Heavy rain over the past two days has brought flooding to several parts of the main island of Viti Levu, including the capital Suva.

India - At least four people have been killed when heavy rains accompanied by a hailstorm and winds hit several parts of Marathwada, India.

Environment

Toxic Chinese Smog Making Capital Unfit for Life: Study

China’s frequent outbreaks of toxic air pollution have become so bad that a report by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences says Beijing is “barely suitable for life.”

Other scientists warn that the smog’s sun-dimming effects resemble those that would occur during a “nuclear winter.”

Li Guixin, a resident of the capital of northeast China’s Hebei province, has become the first person to sue the communist government for failing to rein in air pollution.

Despite late February’s extremely hazardous pollution levels, officials still didn’t feel the smog was bad enough to curb the use of cars and trucks.

But they did ban barbecues, fireworks and demolition work.

A new report by the China Agricultural University warns that the country’s growers will suffer conditions “somewhat similar to a nuclear winter” if something isn’t done to combat air pollution.

It says the smog is impeding photosynthesis, especially in greenhouses that are becoming covered with airborne pollutants.

The coating can cut the amount of light from the sun by about 50 percent, the report says.

A tree losing its leaves in an outbreak of Beijing smog:

Wildlife

Whales Moving Into Thawed Arctic Ocean

Microphones submerged in the waters of the Bering Strait recorded an increasing number of whale calls from 2009 to 2012, including some from whales that normally live further south. The whales may have expanded north as the Arctic warmed and the animals’ populations recovered from hunting.

The increase in whale numbers coincided with more ship traffic in the region. More shipping could lead to whales being injured or killed in collisions and interfere with whale communications.

Along with native Arctic whales including belugas and bowheads, the microphones recorded the songs of sub-Arctic whales, such as humpbacks, minkes, fins and orcas.

The microphones recorded humpbacks’ melodious songs into late autumn. And oceanographers observed fin and minke whales from July to September, and their vocalizations were recorded into early November.

The northern seas provide more hospitable habitat for southern species, as the far north warms quicker than the rest of the planet and sea ice retreats.

4 000 penguins threatened after diesel spill - South Africa

A fishing trawler that spilled 10 000 liters of diesel fuel after it collided with rocks near the Stony Point Penguin colony has placed the lives of 4 000 penguins in jeopardy.

The collision occurred 5km away from the colony and resulted in the death of one crew member.

CapeNature’s seabird and animal rescue team has been stationed near the accident epicentre to determine the extent of the diesel contamination on the wildlife.

Conservationists are trying to rescue as many penguins and seabirds as possible by creating a perimeter around the colony, in the hopes of isolating the birds away from the spill site.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit (43.0 degrees Celsius) at Vredendal, South Africa.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 70.1 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.7 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.

Drought

Drought in Thailand

According to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, 15 provinces in Thailand have been declared drought disaster zones.

Wildfires

Forest Fires in China

Forest fires have been reported around Caiyun in Lufeng County in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture in China.

More than 1,270 people have been mobilized to put out the fire.

Disease

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update

On 23 and 24 February 2014, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of five additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.

On 25 February 2014, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of an additional laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.1 Earthquake hits the Fox Islands in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska.

5.3 Earthquake hits the Drake Passage.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

No current tropical storms.

The tropics are heating up across the Pacific Basin with three areas of concern being monitored. One of these areas could yield the year's first typhoon in the western Pacific.

Most of the Pacific has been void of organized tropical systems so far this month, but that will change as February gives way to March.

Tropical development is imminent southeast of Guam, while a tropical cyclone is expected to soon take shape near Fiji. This weekend through early next week, yet another tropical cyclone may form south of the Solomon Islands.

NewsBytes:

Mozambique- Last week's flooding in Namacurra and Maganja da Costa districts in the central Mozambican province of Zambezia destroyed 1,340 houses. Torrential rains caused the Licungo river to burst its banks, submerging over 7,000 hectares of crops, 6,500 of which are regarded as lost. The floods had inundated 5,000 houses, 450 classrooms and seven health units. Roads in the two districts had become impassable.

USA - A Landslide near Damascus, Oregon has shut down the Oregon 224 highway in both directions.

Wildlife

International Polar Bear Day

Today is International Polar Bear Day. Here are some facts about the furry beasts.

An adult male polar bear typically weighs between 775 and 1,200 pounds (351 to 544 kilograms), or the weight of about five to seven men. The largest polar bear ever recorded was a male weighing 2,209 pounds (1,000 kg), according to Polar Bear International. By contrast, adult females weigh only half as much as males, or 330 to 650 pounds (50 to 295 kg). But the bears are tiny when they're born, weighing only about 1 pound (0.5 kg). Males reach their adult size between ages 8 and 14, while females reach full size between ages 5 and 6.

If a polar bear doesn't eat for seven to 10 days, it can slow its metabolism until it finds its next meal. They survive off of fat reserves from their diet, which consists mostly of ringed and bearded seals. (But climate change is making food more scarce and driving some bears to cannibalism.) The bears don't hibernate, but mother bears live in dens while they raise their cubs. While mothers are in their dens (generally between January and March), they don't eat, drink or defecate.

Although polar bears appear white, their fur is actually transparent. It only appears white because it reflects visible light. Under their fur, polar bear skin is actually black. To humans and other animals that can only see in visible light, the bears appear to blend in with their snowy surroundings. But reindeer, which polar bears sometimes prey on, can see in ultraviolet light, which makes polar bears stand out from their snowy environment.

Polar bears have a keen sense of smell, which they use to find prey. A polar bear can sniff out a seal on the ice 20 miles (32 kilometres) away, and can smell a seal's breathing hole in the ice more than half a mile away, according to the National Zoo.

Polar bears rely on sea ice to hunt, and studies predict that global warming could melt enough sea ice to make two-thirds of polar bears disappear by 2050. The decline in sea ice has forced the bears to swim longer distances, consuming energy they cannot afford to use.

Global Warming

Global warming is behind disturbing retreat of Peruvian glaciers: Study

Stretching across a vast volcanic plain in Peru, the Quelccaya Ice Cap is the tropics’ largest sheet of ice—for now. Climate shifts are taking their toll, according to scientists who note that the glacier has been not only losing ice over the last few decades but doing so over an accelerating rate. And following a study recently published in the journal Geology, many scientists are now more certain than ever that the ice loss is due to rising temperatures.

It may hardly sound like a surprise that a glacier’s retreat would be due to warming climate, but researchers monitoring the Quelccaya and other shrinking glaciers in the tropics have had their honest doubts. Some have hitherto suggested that decreased snowfall might be the culprit, for example.

The Geology study, however, identifies temperature as the first and foremost driving factor. Led by Justin Stroup, a Dartmouth College doctoral candidate in Earth sciences; and Meredith Kelly, a Dartmouth assistant professor of Earth sciences; the study’s research team compiled extensive data on the Qori Kalis, a valley glacier that is a major outlet for the Quelccaya Ice Cap, and constructed a timeline of this glacier’s waxing and waning across the past 500 years.

Next, they compared the glacier’s movements to records of ice accumulation on the Quelccaya plateau. Long cylinders of ice previously drilled and extracted by Lonnie Thompson, an Ohio State University geologist, were the source of these records.

If snowfall is the main factor behind the ice gain or loss, then the valley glacier should gain ice when more ice accumulates on the Quelccaya, and lose ice when the Quelccaya’s ice accumulation hits a dry spell. Stroup, Kelly, and their team found the opposite: The valley glacier lost ice during some periods of high accumulation and gained ice during some periods when the Quelccaya’s ice accumulation was low.

Temperature, not snowfall, is evidently the chief driver, according to the researchers. They have the backing of Thompson, who has long argued that the glacier could be thought of as a large thermometer.

Their conclusion is a troubling one as far as this glacier is concerned. Thompson’s analyses indicate that in the last 25 years, the glacier has lost a volume of ice that took 1,600 years to build up.

This glacier is no anomaly, by the way. Land ice is melting across the tropics and throughout the planet, and showing marked increases in the rate of ice loss during the last three decades. Quelccaya could be a microcosm of melting trends throughout the globe, according to the researchers, who plan to conduct further studies of more glaciers elsewhere on the globe.

Wildfires

Wildfires in Norway

Record dry conditions and high winds throughout January sparked wildfires in parts of Norway, and fire danger persists in central and southern regions. According to media reports, in total, around 200 homes have been destroyed in Norway since January. One fire in the mid-Norway coastal area of Flatanger affected 139 houses in late January, according to local police. Earlier, another fire in the southern heritage village of Laerdalsoyri had destroyed 40 houses. Since these late January fires and after weeks of dry weather, rain has since fallen and mitigated the risk of fire in some places. However, in parts of central and southern Norway, fire bans are still in place as dry weather is forecast for the coming days.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Kilauea (Hawai'i): Last night a swarm of very deep earthquakes occurred in the area of Punalu`u on the SW flank of Kilauea in the Ka`u district of the Big Island!

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): The volcano's activity increased yesterday. CENAPRED counted no less than 544 small to moderate emissions during the 24 hours between 25-26 Feb. An overflight with the support of the Navy yesterday afternoon showed that the most recent lava dome (number 48) had been destroyed by this activity. At its place, a new funnel shaped pit, approx 80 m deep was seen. At the bottom of this crater, a new lava dome of 20-30 m diameter already made its appearance. The elevated activity had been preceded by volcano-tectonic earthquakes of magnitude 2.6 and 1.6 yesterday and the day before. The volcano's alert level remains unchanged at "Yellow phase 2".

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.2 Earthquake hits the Alaska Peninsula.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Drake Passage.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

Indonesia, Jakarta - The mouth of the Cisadane River was hit by landslides in two different locations as the river’s water levels kept rising due to high intensity rainfall and water flowing from Bogor. Flooding occurred again at several points in Tangerang. The landslide saw two houses, including occupants swept away by the river. The occupants remain unaccounted for.

Global Warming

Stronger Trade Winds Brought Global Warming Pause

A new and detailed study into the recent 13-year pause in the rise of global surface temperatures points to stronger trade winds in the central Pacific as a primary cause.

Scientists recently explained that the deep oceans have been absorbing the brunt of excess solar radiation due to higher greenhouse gas levels. But they didn’t know exactly how that was happening.

Research just published in Nature Climate Change shows that the strengthening of the trade winds has churned the Pacific so much that heat is being drawn from the air down to waters between about 300 and 1,000 feet in depth.

The same churning brings up cooler waters from the deep, cooling the air above the ocean surface.

Further accumulation of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere is expected to eventually overpower the factors behind the pause in global warming.

Sea-surface temperature anomaly graphic. Stronger Pacific trade winds churned excess heat from greenhouse warming into the deep oceans. The resulting currents also brought cooler waters to the surface. Both heat transfers have caused a pause in land-surface warming:

Space Events

Solar Flare

Long-lived sunspot AR1967 returned to the Earthside of the sun on Feb. 25th and promptly erupted, producing an X4.9-class solar flare. This is the strongest flare of the year so far and one of the strongest of the current solar cycle.

Earth isn't totally out of the woods yet, however. This region of the sun is set to rotate more fully into view of Earth over the next week, according to officials with the NOAA-led Space Weather Prediction Centre.

X-class solar flares are the most powerful kinds of solar storms. If directed at Earth, last night's solar flare could have caused a serious geomagnetic storm, created when charged particles slam into the planet's magnetic field. When aimed at Earth, strong solar flares can harm satellites and astronauts in orbit around Earth. A powerful solar flare delayed the launch of a private cargo ship to the International Space Station in January.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.6 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.3 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.3 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.

The Carlsberg ridge is located in the north-western Indian Ocean.

Fukushima's Radioactive Ocean Water Arrives At West Coast

Radiation from Japan's leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached waters offshore Canada, researchers said today at the annual American Geophysical Union's Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu.

Two radioactive cesium isotopes, cesium-134 and cesium-137, have been detected offshore of Vancouver, British Columbia, researchers said at a news conference. The detected concentrations are much lower than the Canadian safety limit for cesium levels in drinking water, said John Smith, a research scientist at Canada's Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Tests conducted at U.S. beaches indicate that Fukushima radioactivity has not yet reached Washington, California or Hawaii, said Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Woods Hole, Mass.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

Canada - An avalanche in Kootenay Pass area in Canada has claimed the life of one person and seriously injured a woman.

Wildlife

A Sanctuary for Manta Rays

Last month, Indonesia established the world’s largest sanctuary for manta rays — those enormous, finned fortresses that can reach nearly 30 feet across. For the first time, manta ray hunting and export is banned within the entire 2.3 million square miles of Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone.

The sanctuary is a victory for conservationists and the manta rays, as Indonesia was home to some of the largest ray fisheries in the world.

But the decree may not have been motivated solely by the plight of the rays, whose populations are dwindling in the archipelago. A study published last May in PLoS ONE calculated the measure of a manta and concluded the immense rays are worth much more alive than dead. For starters, the study reports that Indonesia earns an estimated $15 million in manta ray tourist revenues annually — compared to the ray fisheries, worth about $500,000.

Wildfires

Indonesian Forest Fires

Forest fires in Riau, Indonesia affect 20,000, while the haze drops visibility to 50 meters. At least 20,000 people in Riau province of Indonesia have suffered respiratory problems due to thick smog from the recent forest fires. The thick smog has also caused delay of flights in the Sultan Syarif Kasim airport.

Riaus disaster mitigation office has declared a state of emergency in the districts of Pelalawan, Bengkalis, Dumai city, and Meranti islands.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Marsili Seamount (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy): A recently published study shows that submarine explosive eruptions have occurred at the underwater volcano in historical times. Therefore, the volcano should be included as one of Italy's still active volcanoes.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): (24 Feb) The Kahauale`a 2 lava flow reached 7.8 km (4.8 mi) northeast of Pu`u `O`o by mid-January before stalling. Recent surface flows have been active as small scattered breakouts behind the flow front.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.3 Earthquake hits Sulawesi, Indonesia.

5.2 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits Sumbawa, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

France - Landslide in Isola, southern France has claimed the lives of two children. A giant boulder crushed a chalet in the French Alps where two families were staying. Three survivors managed to escape, while the remaining two were freed by emergency services.

Indonesia - Landslide in Jayapura, Indonesia has claimed the lives of at least 11 people and left two others missing. Three rivers burst their banks and caused flash flooding in the area. Heavy rainfall caused landslides in several parts of Jayapura. Floodwater swept away houses when the Anafri River burst its banks in Kloofkamp. The State-owned electricity company PT PLN has been asked to suspend the electricity supply in the city to avoid accidents.

Florida, USA - A heavy storm damaged several houses in Hollister in Putnam County, Florida, United States. Lightning strikes killed four cows. According to the Putnam County Emergency Management Agency, straight line winds caused the damage in the area.

Solomon Islands - Heavy rainfall has caused flooding in Choiseul and Isabel provinces in Solomon Islands. Several houses have been flooded in Gizo, the capital of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.

Indonesia, Jakarta - Incessant heavy rain since Saturday (2/22) triggered floods that inundated some areas in the capital city.

Disease

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update

On 20 and 21 February 2014, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of nine additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Activity has remained more or less unchanged. The lava flows from the fissure vents on the eastern flank of the New SE crater continue to be weakly alimented and produce overlapping smaller flows. Most of them only reach only few hundred meters length, and rarely descend into the steeper western wall of Valle del Bove. As a result, most lava accumulates in the less steep area at the foot of the cone. Weak intermittent strombolian activity continued at the summit vent. Tremor has risen a bit over the past 24 hours, but overall is low.

Nishino-shima (Volcano Islands): (21 Feb) The island continues to grow by progressing lava flows into several directions, as the latest images by the Japanese Coast Guard from 16 Feb show. Its highest peak, formed by the western of the 2 active vents, was measured at 66 m, i.e. it now reached almost twice the height of the peak of the old island. The new addition has more than doubled the size of the island so far. It also formed a black-sand beach on the NE shore of the old part, as a result of lava fragments washed up by currents and waves.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): The volcano has increasingly strong explosions. A vulcanian eruption this evening around 23:10 local time (see video) produced an ash column rising approx 3 km and was accompanied by abundant eruption lightning and ejections of lots of incandescent material. Constant ash emissions constant ash emissions (probably from deep-seated strombolian activity) has been following the explosion.

Suwanose-jima (Ryukyu Islands): Activity has declined a lot over the past weeks. Sporadic smaller explosion still occur from time to time, such as this morning at around 11am (local time).

Kelud (East Java): (21 Feb) A MODIS hot spot is visible at the crater, suggesting that a new lava dome could be forming there. This would be the effusive continuation of the recent explosion on 13 Feb, as magma with much less gas content continues to arrive at the vent. Activity at the volcano has decreased, but it is still unknown what exactly the situation at the vent is, whether or not a new lava dome is forming there. The thermal hot spot visible on satellite data could also be caused by hot gasses. A picture showing the new crater at the place of the 2007 lava dome has emerged on our friend Øystein Lund Andersen's website, but of course, it is impossible to see what the bottom of the new pit looks like.

Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): Activity remained similar to the previous days with an overall decreasing tendency. Slow lava extrusion continues to feed the viscous lava lobe, where small rockfalls occur at the sides and its front. At the summit, steaming and small to moderate ash emissions can be seen.

Dukono (Halmahera): Elevated strombolian, perhaps weak vulcanian-type activity at the volcano continues to produce frequent ash plumes at approx. 2 km altitude.

Fuego (Guatemala): Strombolian activity remains intense and can now be followed in near-real time on a new webcam. Explosions occur at rates of one every 30 minutes approx. and shower many incandescent material onto the upper slopes, where they generate avalanches up to 2 km length. No lava flows, however, is active at the moment.

San Miguel (El Salvador): (21 Feb) The situation has remained essentially unchanged and the volcano has (not yet) erupted again. Seismic activity remains high and continues to increase overall, while surface activity consists of pulsating gas emissions reaching a height of 200 m.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.6 Earthquake hits the Scotia Sea.

5.5 Earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.

5.4 Earthquake hits the Nias region, Indonesia.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Nias region, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

New Zealand - Hail storm and tornado swept through Amberley in north Christchurch damaging several houses. Lightning strikes also caused a small fire in Halswell.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.4 Earthquake hits Taiwan.

5.1 Earthquake hits the southern East Pacific Rise.

5.1 Earthquake hits offshore Falcon, Venezuela.

5.1 Earthquake hits La Rioja, Argentina.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kermedec islands.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Guito is located approximately 850 nm south-southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Gales and locally heavy rain from the storm’s spiral bands brushed Madagascar and Mozambique as the eye of the Category 1 storm remained well offshore.

Guito was mainly a threat to fishing boats and shipping in the region.

NewsBytes:

Ireland - Extreme weather has left farmers and fishermen on brink of ruin. Relentless bad weather has caused thousands of hectares of farmland to remain submerged under flood waters while hundreds of trawlers and their fishing crews have been unable to fish for several weeks.

Wildlife

Lemur Crisis Prompts Conservationist Call-to-Action

Lemurs, which are found only in Madagascar, are the most threatened mammal group on Earth. Up to 94 percent of lemur species are threatened, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Red List. The situation has only worsened for these puppy-eyed primates in the wake of the ousting of Madagascar's president in 2009 during a military-backed coup.

Humans have been destroying the lemurs' habitat for thousands of years, but the political upheaval has brought things to a head, Irwin said. International donors withdrew funding from environmental programs, and conservation laws haven't been enforced.

The Malagasy people are some of the poorest in the world, living on less than $2 per day. Following the political crisis, the lemurs' habitat has been under siege from an illegal trade in precious hardwoods, forest burning to clear space for crops and a thriving bushmeat trade.

The remaining forest habitat is an estimated 36,000 square miles (92,200 square kilometres), just 10 to 20 percent of the original forest cover, down from 41,000 square mi. (106,600, square km) in 1990, according to the article. And most of the habitat is inadequately, or not at all, protected.

Lemurs fulfil important ecological roles in maintaining the island's forests, and their loss would likely trigger extinction cascades.

The researchers called for the adoption of an emergency conservation action plan described Aug. 1, 2013, on the IUCN's website. To prevent lemur extinction, the plan calls for community-based, protected-habitat management, promotion of ecotourism and a steady researcher presence in Madagascar.

Space Events

Meteor

A meteor exploding over northern Argentina caused such a loud noise and strong shaking that many residents feared they had been hit by an earthquake.

Cloud cover prevented residents from seeing the trail left by the space debris when it entered the atmosphere above Santa Fe province on the morning of Feb. 18.

Officials said the explosion, which occurred at an altitude of about 45 miles, was heard in a nearly 200-mile radius.

Despite the loud blast, there were no reports of damage on the ground and no fragments were immediately found.

The director of the Santa Fe Astronomical Observatory, Jorge Coghlan, told the country’s Clarín daily that the object could have originally been about 20 inches in diameter.

It arrived at about the same time a large asteroid passed about 9 times the distance the moon is from Earth.

The two events were said to not have been related.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.0 Earthquake hits north of Svalbard.

5.0 Earthquake hits the south Atlantic Ocean.

Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant Springs New Leak

One hundred metric tons of highly contaminated water leaked out of a tank at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, said on Thursday.

This has been the worst incident since last August, when a series of radioactive leaks happened. But unlike in those leaks, "water is unlikely to have reached the ocean as there is no drainage in that tank area," Masayuki Ono, a spokesman for the utility, also known as Tepco, said. The water that did reach the ocean from the earlier leaks was not considered a widespread threat as it becomes diluted by the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone 15s (Guito), located approximately 795 nm southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar and is tracking southward at 17 knots.

Impressively Massive Landslide Detected in Remote Alaska

A massive landslide appears to have pummelled a remote region of southeast Alaska on Sunday (Feb. 16). If confirmed, it may be the largest natural landslide to have fallen anywhere since 2010.

Based on the data collected from the event, it is estimated that the landslide contained about 68 million metric tons of solid rock — equivalent in weight to about 40 million SUVs.

Natural landslides of this large a scale generally consist of solid rock that gets pulverized into smaller stones through the duration of the violent event. The rocks start falling when they loosen from heavy rain, snowmelt or ground-thawing, and the resulting river of rock can travel at velocity of up to 656 feet (200 meters) per second.

 

NewsBytes:

Severe storms including tornadoes struck Illinois, USA late Thursday afternoon, knocking out power, damaging buildings and spawning floods.

Environment

New Website Tracks Deforestation in Near Real-Time

Forests around the world are disappearing at an astonishing rate. But now, these trees won't fall without a sound.

A new map and website called Global Forest Watch provides the first near-real-time look at the planet's forests, using a combination of satellite data and user-generated reports. The website's developers hope that Global Forest Watch will help local governments and companies combat deforestation and save protected areas.

At globalforestwatch.org, users can scroll across the globe and zoom in on areas of loss.

Wildlife

Ants Build Raft to Escape Flood, Protect Queen

Ants may be small, but they’re certainly resourceful, as evidenced by the discovery that they build rafts to save themselves and their queen during floods.

What’s more, they construct the rafts using themselves — living ants — linked together to form a nearly waterproof buoyant vessel.

Surprisingly, baby ants were used to form the base of the raft. Worker adult ants then joined together to form the rest of the structure. The queen was always placed in the safest spot — right at the centre of the raft.

As for the fate of the rafting ants, nearly all survived!

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 113.2 degrees Fahrenheit (45.1 degrees Celsius) at Vredendal, South Africa.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 66.3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 54.6 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

Foot and Mouth Disease

Kenya - Four livestock markets in Baringo County, Kenya have been closed indefinitely following an outbreak of deadly foot-and-mouth disease.

South Korea - South Korea has stepped up disinfection of citizens returning from North Korea after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in pigs in the communist state. Pyongyang this month reported an outbreak of the highly infectious disease to the World Organisation for Animal Health.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Kelud (East Java): A MODIS hot spot is visible at the crater, suggesting that a new lava dome could be forming there. This would be the effusive continuation of the recent explosion on 13 Feb, as magma with much less gas content continues to arrive at the vent.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): (20 Feb) Summit tilt meters record inflationary tilt & the lava-lake level rises again to an estimated 35 m (115 ft) below the floor of Halema`uma`u.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.3 Earthquake hits south of the Kermedec Islands.

5.3 Earthquake hits the southern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone 15s (Guito), located approximately 575 nm southwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar and is tracking southward at 13 knots. Tropical Cyclone Guito is active in the Mozambique Channel, located between Mozambique and Madagascar. The system is not expected to impact land.

Environment

Canal to be Carved Through Nicaragua Will Destroy Rainforests, Communities and Wildlife

The Nicaraguan government has granted a concession to a mysterious Chinese company owned by Jing Wang, a little-known Hong-Kong based businessman, to build an inter-oceanic canal. This would provide an alternative to the Panama Canal that, 99 years after it first opened, is struggling to cope with shipping.

Despite being one of the most important decisions in Nicaragua’s history, the legislative bill in question appeared virtually overnight and was approved as law only three days after it was sent to the parliament, with no serious national consultation or opportunity to hear the opposition from some of the country’s leading scientists.

The company is the Hong Kong Nicaraguan Development Group (HKND), which has no experience with major construction projects. With an estimated cost of US$40 billion, the canal was slated to start in June 2014, but has been delayed to the end of the year

The Nicaraguan government claims the project will pull the country, in which 45% of the population live on less than US$2 day, out of poverty. But so far no feasibility studies have been revealed, and serious economists have expressed their concern that the canal will just be another enclave economy as it was for Panama. Because this private canal will not be a property of Nicaragua for 100 years, and since it will not be linked to the rest of the economy, it will not create wealth nor will it improve Nicaragua’s economy.

Around 300km of excavations will be required to connect the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean – three times the length of the Panama Canal. Along the route it will traverse Lake Nicaragua, the largest drinking water reservoir in the region, and cut through rainforests and ecologically valuable swamps.

Although the final route has not been announced, it is clear that all possible routes will use Lake Nicaragua (also known by its indigenous name, Cocibolca). It is the lake and adjacent waterways, together with the area’s rich biodiversity, that are the most pressing environmental concerns.

No environmental impact assessment was carried out as required by law before the canal concession was granted, and the face of the bill requires environmental assessments after the fact, at the discretion of the firm – an obvious conflict of interest.

Environmental concerns

The project threatens some of the most fragile ecosystems in the country, on land, at sea, and in the lake, causing potentially irreversible damage.

We fear that, should the plans proceed, there may be some devastating impact on the region’s ecology, such as the chemical and biological properties of the watercourses, due to the major excavation, dredging, sedimentation that construction will bring, as well as the inevitable pollution and invasive species that marine shipping brings.

This could ultimately lead to the extinction of many fish species important to surrounding fishing communities, and characteristic aquatic fauna such as freshwater bull sharks, sawfish and tarpon could also be affected.

In addition to the canal infrastructure itself, other related projects include oil pipelines, airports, and industrial zones, which will negatively affect the migration patterns and biological dynamics of terrestrial animals.

Direct and indirect damage to natural reserves such as the Indio-Maiz reserve and others will threaten Nicaragua’s endangered species. Drastic changes in land use and the displacement of indigenous communities will put even greater pressures on natural protected areas as villages are relocated and begin clearing rainforest for food and shelter.

Social and economic concerns

Dozens of villages and indigenous communities will have to be moved out of their ancestral homes, a serious concern for indigenous groups with a deep religious connection to their ancestral lands.

Communities, facing a loss of land and food insecurity, have filed lawsuits asserting that they were not consulted and that it violates their legitimate territorial rights.

The Academy of Sciences of Nicaragua along with other civil organisations has organised a series of forums to promote a better-informed debate on the possible threats posed by the canal, and alternatives. A document of all the scientific and technical forum presentations has been prepared and will be published soon (in Spanish).

The academy has called for an independent and external evaluation of the canal, in particular an environmental assessment, and is seeking help from the international community. It is surprising, given the magnitude of the project, how little attention it has been given abroad.

As it stands the project is neither environmentally sustainable nor scientifically sound, but will proceed no matter what. International action is needed to provide expert advice to local scientists to prevent the tragic destruction of biodiversity and precious ecosystems in Central America.

Wildlife

Honeybee disease infecting bumblebees

Scientists in Britain say they've found evidence that diseases found in commercially-kept honeybees are increasingly spreading into wild populations of bumblebees.

Populations of bumblebees are in steep decline around the world.

The insect is an important part of the countryside, but over the last 50 years numbers have plummeted, the BBC reports.

Scientists from Royal Holloway at the University of London believe that a virus and a fungal parasite, usually carried by honeybees have spread to bumblebees.

Space Events

Space Weather

On Feb. 17th at approximately 04:50 UT, a magnetic filament erupted from the sun's western limb. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured this high-resolution image of the blast:

Because of its location on the sun's western limb, the eruption did not send a CME toward Earth. However, there was an effect on our planet: Shortwave radio loudspeakers roared with static, an event called a Type II radio burst.

A minor geomagnetic storm was already underway when a coronal mass ejection, or CME, sent a huge cloud of solar material speeding toward Earth which impacted the planet on 19 February 2014, triggering auroras in the northerly parts of the continental United States.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): Activity at the volcano remains elevated. The lava dome extrudes currently 2 lobes of viscous lava, a larger one on the NW side and a smaller one on the SE side, which seems to have appeared around 16 Feb. The active parts of the dome suffer frequent small to moderate-sized avalanches (mainly from the NW side). Bright glow can be seen at night. A larger collapse on 18 Feb caused a pyroclastic flow that reached a length of approx. 3 km and an ash plume that rose to 23,000 ft (7 km) altitude.

Kelud (East Java): The volcano itself remains relatively calm and produces only a degassing plume. So far, no clear picture has been available about what exactly is going on at the crater itself (e.g. whether a new lava dome is forming). The biggest problem at the moment are lahars, mud flows that form when rain water mixes and remobilizes loose deposits. These mud flows can carry boulders of meter size and are extremely destructive (imagine flowing cement with mixed-in large debris of all sorts). It is estimated that approximately 50 million cubic meters of tephra deposits from the 13 Feb eruption could be remobilized by the rains in the coming days, weeks and months to come. Areas most at risk are river valleys and their river banks.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): (19 Feb) 43 earthquakes were strong enough to be located beneath Kilauea Volcano in the past 24 hours - 9 of them were on the south flank faults. The tiltmeter at Pu`u `O`o recorded the start of DI deflation tilt at 9 pm yesterday - around 14.5 hours after the summit DI deflation tilt.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.7 Earthquake hits near the coast of central Peru.

5.2 Earthquake hits Lara, Venezuela.

5.2 Earthquake hits Sakhalin, Russia.

5.1 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Philippines.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Guito forms in the southern Indian Ocean approximately 400 nm west of Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.6 Earthquake hits east of Martinique, Windward Islands.

5.6 Earthquake hits New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.

5.5 Earthquake hits Minahas, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

5.4 Earthquake hits south of the Kermedec Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits Unimak Island, Alaska.

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

Global Warming

Warming from Arctic Sea Ice Melting More Dramatic than Thought

Melting Arctic sea ice has contributed considerably more to warming at the top of the world than previously predicted by climate models, according to a new analysis of 30 years of satellite observations.

Sea ice helps cool the Arctic by reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space. Because of its light colour, sea ice has what is known as high albedo, which is the percentage of solar radiation a surface reflects back to space. Dark ocean water left behind by melting sea ice, on the other hand, has a low albedo, usually measuring less than 20 percent, whereas bare sea ice generally measures between 50 and 70 percent, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

Since as early as the 1960s, scientists have hypothesized that melting sea ice amplifies global warming by decreasing Arctic albedo. Researchers have since devised climate models to demonstrate this phenomenon but, until now, nobody had relied entirely on satellite data to confirm this effect through time.

Now, scientists based at the University of California, San Diego have analyzed Arctic satellite data from 1979 to 2011, and have found that average Arctic albedo levels have decreased from 52 percent to 48 percent since 1979 — twice as much as previous studies based on models have suggested, the team reports today (Feb. 17) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The amount of heat generated by this decrease in albedo is equivalent to roughly 25 percent of the average global warming currently occurring due to increased carbon dioxide levels, the team reports.

"Although more work is needed, a possible implication of this is that the amplifying feedback of Arctic sea ice retreat on global warming is larger than has been previously expected," study co-author Ian Eisenman told Live Science.

Previous models of Arctic albedo have suggested the reflectiveness of white cloud cover could potentially mitigate a portion of albedo loss due to melting ice; but these new observations show that cloud cover has had a negligible effect on overall Arctic reflectivity, the team says.

While Arctic sea ice will not likely return to 1979 values in the near future, the ice does change from year to year and might still experience some comeback this century, though the extent to which this might happen remains unclear, Eisenman said.

"There are a lot of questions right now as to why the ice is retreating as fast as it is, and why it has the structure that it has is a little hard to say," said Eisenman. "The cause and effects get subtle — ocean currents respond to sea ice and sea ice responds to currents."

The team is now following up this work by studying how the deposition of black carbon — a component of soot — on Arctic ice and snow may be darkening these reflective surfaces and contributing to the decrease in albedo. If this does turn out to be a significant factor in albedo, it could explain the underestimations of previous models that didn't account for black carbon, Eisenman said.

Disease

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update

On 14, 15 and 16 February 2014, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of nine additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, including one death.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Kelud (East Java): Activity has calmed down at the volcano. The new VSI webcam shows the outer crater area covered with heavy ash deposits and only a small steam plume from the crater. The SO2 aerosol plume from the eruption is still well visible in the atmosphere on satellite data.

Fuego (Guatemala): Activity has been elevated yesterday, with more frequent moderate and strong explosions accompanied by rumbling degassing sounds and shock waves that could be noticed in up to 20-25 km distance. Ash plumes rose to 500-700 m. The observatory warns that another stronger eruptive phase could occur in the next days or weeks. The current seismic signal suggests, however, that the activity has been decreasing again.

Tungurahua (Ecuador): After the major eruptions on 1 Feb, the volcano continued to produce frequent (comparably) smaller explosions of strombolian to vulcanian type, sometime causing small pyroclastic flows. Ash falls have been mainly affecting areas in Penipe, south of the volcano. During the past days, activity has been decreasing overall. IGP reports an earthquake swarm on 10 Feb, when a series of volcanic-tectonic quakes occurred under the northwestern flank of the volcano between Pondoa and Juive Grande. The earthquakes were at depths between 10 and 11 km below the crater and measured up to magnitude of 3.0 on the Richter scale. The largest were widely felt in villages around the volcano.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.7 Earthquake hits northern Colombia.

5.6 Earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands off New Zealand.

5.3 Earthquake hits Luzon in the Philippines.

5.2 Earthquake hits offshore Coquimbo, Chile.

5.2 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.1 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

Wildlife

Squirrel Poaching

A new Russian fad of nabbing squirrels out of parks to keep them as pets has officials threatening large fines for those who continue to squirrel away the animals.

Some nature lovers say they are outraged by the poaching, which has led to Moscow’s Ecological Control unit beefing up surveillance in the city’s parks to protect the wildlife.

People who collect the bushy-tailed animals can resell them as pets for about 5,000 rubles ($144).

Despite Russian websites selling squirrels that say the animals are a "friendly and gentle" to keep around the house, they actually can bite and are not domesticated.

Disease

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update

On 12 February 2014, The Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia reported a human case of avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.

On 13 February 2014, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of seven additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Popocatépetl (Mexico): No significant changes in the currently low activity of the volcano have occurred recently. The volcano produces a small number (less than 10 usually) weak explosive emissions of steam, gas and sometimes ash on a daily basis, and magma continues to rise slowly to the summit where a lava dome forms. This is evidenced by glow at night, and was confirmed during a recent overfly with the support of the Mexican Navy.On the images obtained, one could see that a dome is slowly growing within the inner crater, partially filling it. Its diameter was estimated to about 200 m and it is about 50 meters below the average level of the floor of the main crater.The alert level of the volcano remains unchanged at Yellow phase 2

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

UK - Flood levels are expected to remain "very high" and in some areas will continue to rise despite an improved weather forecast. Of the more than 1 million properties without power, only 30 000 remain in the dark. The Met Office has a yellow severe weather warning - meaning "be aware" - for ice for most of the UK until 10:00 GMT. The Environment Agency has 16 severe flood warnings - meaning "danger to life" - in south-east and south-west England. After sunshine and light winds on Sunday, next week would be unsettled with further spells of rain but not as stormy as recently.

Japan - he second heavy snowfall in a week to hit Japan killed up to a dozen people and injured hundreds over the weekend, while paralysing traffic and causing power outages. In Yamanashi, in central Japan, a record 114 centimetres (45 inches) of snow fell. About 27 centimetres (10 inches) of snow was enough to paralyse Tokyo, which usually sees only a few light dustings each winter. Media reports said as many as 12 people died and 1,500 were injured nationwide since Friday in snow-related accidents.

Environment

Altering jet stream 'may drive weather shift'

New research suggests that the main system that helps determine the weather over Northern Europe and North America may be changing. The study shows that the so-called jet stream has increasingly taken a longer, meandering path. This has resulted in weather remaining the same for more prolonged periods.

The meandering jet stream has accounted for the recent stormy weather over the UK and the bitter winter weather in the US Mid-West remaining longer than it otherwise would have. We can expect more of the same and we can expect it to happen more frequently. The jet stream, as its name suggests, is a high-speed air current in the atmosphere that brings with it the weather. It is fuelled partly by the temperature differential between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Kelud (East Java, Indonesia) The volcano continues to emit a dense steam plume and some ash, but has not produced new explosions. Apart from that the 2007 lava dome has been removed by the explosion, it is not very clear (nor easy to find out) what is currently happening in the crater. A constant stream of analysis and interesting details about the eruption has been appearing. Among them the observation that in terms of SO2 output, impressive as it was, it was only a moderate event. The injected amount of SO2 is not sufficient to cause any noticeable (short-term) climate changes. Satellite data have shown that the eruption column reached a maximum of 27 km altitude originally, before falling back and producing beautiful gravity waves at approx. 19 km altitude where it spread into an umbrella cloud.

Ecuadoran Eruption Destroying Crops

Ash from powerful blasts at Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano has damaged crops around the towering mountain, causing a produce shortage and higher prices for residents.

Thousands of acres of farmland have been damaged by the volcanic debris, including pasture lands that were the main source of food for 110,000 head of livestock.

Panicked farmers were forced to harvest tomatoes, potatoes and corn before the crops reached maturity.

The volcano roared to life on Feb. 2, sending a giant plume of ash soaring 8 miles above the Andes and pyroclastic clouds cascading down Tungurahua’s slopes.

Weaker and less frequent blasts have occurred since then.

Tungurahua has been intermittently active since it roared back to life in 1999 after remaining dormant for more than 80 years.

An explosion from the 16,480-foot volcano last July was heard across a wide stretch of the country, including in the southwestern port of Guayaquil.

An eruption in 2006 left four people dead, two missing and large tracts of farmland destroyed.

In December 2012, a fiery eruption sent people rushing from their homes and caused chunks of molten lava to shoot high above the summit crater.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.0 Earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

No current tropical storms.

A Stormier-Hotter World Linked to Climate Change

Britain’s national weather service says there is no longer any doubt that recent larger and more damaging storms are connected to a warming global climate.

Much of the U.K. is suffering from the worst in a series of inundations that have submerged vast tracts of the nation during the past three years.

A barrage of winter storms in recent months has seen some flood-weary communities swamped more than once.

While the Met Office's chief scientist, Dame Julia Slingo, says it is not possible to blame any specific storm on global warming, she said a trend toward more volatile weather patterns due to climate change is clear.

“We have records going back to 1766 and we have nothing like this,” she said at a press conference in London.

Slingo’s comments came just before Australian researchers announced that human greenhouse gas emissions were the likely cause of last year’s record-breaking heat in the country.

The previous Australian summer was the hottest on record and the year 2013 brought the highest average annual temperature in over 100 years of observations.

Climate experts Sophie Lewis and David Karoly told the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society’s annual conference that human activities, particularly emissions of carbon dioxide, are clearly to blame for the record heat.

NewsBytes:

UK - Floods in southwest England and elsewhere have submerged crops and destroyed cattle bedding and feed, with the consequences likely to be felt for months, or even years, in terms of lower production of both crops and meat. Britain’s Environment Agency had issued 416 flood warnings and alerts, as of early Thursday, including 16 under its most serious category, indicating danger to life. Thousands of acres of farmland in Britain are under water, with some submerged for weeks.

Wildlife

Giant Unnamed Jellyfish Found on Australian Beach

A huge specimen of an unnamed species of jellyfish washed up on a beach south of Hobart, Australia, last month.

A photo taken of the nearly 5-foot-wide creature by Josie Lim after her family came across it caught the attention of experts at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), who are in the process of naming the new type of lion’s mane jelly.

These jellyfish “look like a dinner plate with a mop hanging underneath … they have a really raggedy look to them,” said CSIRO expert Lisa-ann Gershwin. She called the find a "truly magnificent animal.”

Recent years have seen huge blooms of jellyfish in Tasmanian waters, and Gershwin says scientists are not sure why.

She told reporters that such a population explosion is likely to be having a significant impact on the marine ecosystem off southeastern Australia.

Global Warming

Arctic Sea Ice Melt Season Getting Longer

The summer melt season for Arctic sea ice has lengthened by a month or more since 1979, a new study finds.

The primary culprit is a delayed fall freeze-up — the autumn chill when sea water freezes into ice — but the fallout remains the same: the Arctic ice cap is stuck in a vicious feedback loop betwixt its warming environment and melting ice, researchers reported Feb. 4 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The Arctic is one of the fastest warming places on Earth. Temperatures here are rising twice as fast as the global average. As the atmosphere warms, the Arctic ice cap has shrunk by 12 percent per decade since 1978, when scientists started tracking ice with satellites, according to NASA. The seven lowest September ice extents (a measure of the total ice cover) have been in past 10 years, including 2013.

As the ice cover gets smaller, the amount of heat absorbed by the Arctic Ocean rises. Bright, white ice reflects most of the sun's energy, but the darker ocean water soaks it up.

"The ocean has gained so much heat it takes a while to release it," said lead study author Julienne Stroeve, a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colo. "That's delaying the autumn freeze-up."

In the past decade, the additional heat stored in the upper ocean has increased Arctic sea surface temperatures by 0.9 degrees to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (0.5 to 1.5 degrees Celsius), Stroeve and her colleagues report. These warmer ocean temperatures prolong the summer melt season because the ocean must fall below about 29 F (minus 1.9 C) before new sea ice forms.

 

In the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi and Beaufort seas, the fall freeze now comes between six and 11 days later each decade since 1979. The researchers found a similar trend in the East Greenland and Barents seas, where the fall freeze may now be delayed by as much as 40 days per decade.

Oil and gas companies are already exploiting this delay by pushing for drilling leases that allow extraction and exploration well into autumn, Stroeve said. But year-to-year ice conditions can still vary dramatically.

Stroeve notes that while the overall trend is for less sea ice and a longer summer melt season, within the Arctic, ocean and weather conditions can influence how much ice is present. For instance, ice cover in the Bering Sea has increased by 20 percent in recent years, the study finds. Winds pushing sea ice south into the Bering Sea may be the cause, though scientists are still debating the reasons for the added ice cover here.

Stroeve plans further work to investigate whether the spring warming is caused by an increase in atmospheric moisture, which means more clouds and solar radiation absorption, or whether warm air coming from the south plays a role. She also hopes to track ice thickness. In the 1980s, 70 percent of the Arctic ice cap was thick, multiyear ice, which survives the summer melting. By the end of 2012, less than 20 percent of the ice cap was multiyear ice — most of the ice cover was seasonal ice, only a year old. The thinner seasonal ice melts faster.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.7 Earthquake hits Easter Island.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg Ridge.

5.1 Earthquake hits Kepulauan Aru, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Fobane is located approximately 649 nm south-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. The weak storm churns the central Indian Ocean, far from any land areas, but shipping lanes are threatened.

NewsBytes:

Britain - River Thames breaks records for water flows in January. The amount of water flowing through the Thames this January was the highest recorded for January since records began in 1883. New data from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology shows that the rate of water flow has now exceeded 275 metres per second for more than 50 days. Southern Britain is likely to have the wettest winter ever recorded.

Tens of thousands of homes are still without power as Britain prepares for yet ANOTHER devastating storm. A month’s worth of rain is expected in just two days as experts warn of more hellish downpours this weekend. A weather system over the Atlantic will send yet another violent storm - the eighth this winter - crashing into Britain from Thursday night.

Environment

Extreme Weather Hits Hard Worldwide

From unprecedented storms and flooding in the UK to severe drought in California and Brazil, 2014 has kicked off with some exceptional and weird weather events.

The UK is experiencing its most exceptional period of rainfall in 248 years, with hundreds of flood alert warnings covering much of the country and hundreds of home left inundated. The prolonged storms have played havoc across the country since December, with more than 130 severe flood risk warnings — meaning a potential threat to life — issued and more than 5,000 homes flooded. This week fourteen severe warnings remain in place, with no let up of the rain in sight.

Across the globe in Brazil, residents in Sao Paulo — South America’s largest city — are facing the opposite problem, as record heat and drought have sparked fears of water shortages. The city is on alert following warnings the system that provides half the its drinking water could run dry in the next 40 days. Like cities across Brazil, Sao Paulo is experiencing its worst drought in 50 years, with last month the hottest January on record. The combination of low precipitation and extreme heat right across the country are not only sparking fears of water shortages but also of crop damage and higher energy prices.

The Western U.S. is facing similar problems, as the state of California is in the grips of what is likely to be the region’s worst drought in 500 years. Low snowpack in the mountains are leaving the state’s creeks, rivers and reservoirs — which provide essential water and hydroelectric power for cities and the agricultural industry — dry, putting food prices at risk. Meanwhile, wildfires continue to plague the region at increased rates. Brazil and California aren’t the only places experiencing record drought and heat.

In Alaska, record high temperatures have triggered a series of extremely large avalanches, with debris piles more than 30-metres thick blocking off towns from highway access.

Stifling heat in Australia is also causing havoc, after the country suffered through its hottest January in 13 years — the fourth hottest on record. The dry and hot conditions have left scores of wildfires raging across southeast Australia, and are threatening the country’s agriculture production, as farmers struggle to provide water for their cattle and crops.

A slew of deadly flooding events are also hitting communities around the world. In Bolivia flooding and landslides have so far claimed 42 lives this year, while flooding in northern Indonesia has killed 13 people and driven tens of thousands more from their homes, and in Mozambique 11 people have been killed in flooding.

Extreme rainfall is also hitting countries across mainland Europe. Large parts of France and Italy are under flood alert, with hundreds of people being forced out of their homes. The heavy rain and flooding have also claimed three lives in Italy and two in France.

In Romania heavy snowfall has been the problem, blocking roads and railways across the country and leaving schools closed and thousands stranded both in their homes and on the roads. Cold weather has also been playing havoc in Slovenia, where trees, buildings and cars have been encased in thick ice, causing perilous conditions as power lines and tress tumbling to the ground. The government estimates that around 40 percent of the country’s forests have been damaged by the cold snap.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 113.7 degrees Fahrenheit (45.4 degrees Celsius) at Port Augusta, South Australia.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 70.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 57.0 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Siberian community of Selagoncy.

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

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update

The National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China and the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), Hong Kong, SAR, China has notified WHO of a total of eight additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, including one death.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Kelud (East Java): BNPB (Civil protection) confirmed 3 fatalities (indirectly or directly) caused by the eruption: two as result of breathing difficulties caused by the ash, one as a road accident during evacuation. All of the victims were in Pandasari village less than 7 km from the volcano where 20 cm of ash has fallen. So far, 76,388 people are confirmed evacuated into 293 shelters so far, while evacuation efforts within the 10 km exclusion zone continue. Preliminary estimations are that the eruption produced 80 million cubic meters of tephra. At the moment, the volcano continues to emit ash and steam, accompanied by tremors. The government of East Java has declared the state of emergency for the affected area. 350,000 dust masks are being distributed. The ash plume from last night's major eruption (possibly sub-plinian or even plinian in size) of Kelut is drifting rapidly to the west above the Indian Ocean. It is estimated to be as high as 55,000 ft (16 km) and extends several hundred kilometres in both N-S and W-E directions. An important warning for aircraft using routes in this part of SE Asia was issued by VAAC Darwin.

The eruption plume is well visible on satellite data. According to VSI, the eruption started at 21:15 local time, following a rapid build-up in seismic activity during the same day. Monitoring staff were forced to evacuate their observation post as the eruption began to increase and a heavy rain of gravel-sized lapilli set in. It is still unclear how large exactly the eruption was and what type exactly is was. An important question is whether fresh magma was involved (which seems rather likely) or whether it was phreatic (no new magma involved) and simply the result of a brutal release of pressure that had accumulated beneath the 2007 lava dome. In the first scenario, there would be a significant amount of fresh, viscous magma that has come to explosion. In this case, the eruption might still continue for a while, possibly with new violent explosions, until the portion of the new gas-rich magma that is able to erupt has been vented. It could then end with the emplacement of a new lava dome at the end of the eruption, corresponding to the last, relatively degassed magma that is able to reach the surface.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.5 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

5.4 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

5.2 Earthquake hits Libertador O’Higgins, Chile.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Scotia Sea.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Fobane is located approximately 702 nm southeast of St. Denis, La Reunion.

NewsBytes:

Ireland - More than a quarter of a million homes and businesses in Ireland have been hit by power cuts as hurricane force winds swept in from the Atlantic. Roofs were blown off buildings and dozens of trees flattened cars up and down the country while a major emergency was declared in the heritage city of Kilkenny after more than two dozen weather-related incidents.

USA - A winter storm of "historical proportions" is bringing large quantities of snow to the US north-east, after gridlocking traffic and causing power cuts across the South. Storm affecting the US east coast as havoc persists in SouthTraffic in areas of North Carolina ground to a halt and many had to abandon their cars for the night. The huge winter storm is now affecting the densely populated US north-east. Across the typically mild South, more than half a million homes and businesses lack power, and thousands of flights have been cancelled. The mammoth storm has affected people in about 22 states from Texas to Maine and caused at least 12 deaths.

Great Lakes - One effect of the persistently cold winter of 2013-2014 is showing up on the world's largest group of freshwater lakes. According to an analysis by NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, ice covered 78.7 percent of the Great Lakes on February 6. Not since early 1996 has ice been so widespread on the Great Lakes. This is an abrupt turn around from the past four winters, during which the peak ice coverage remained around 40 percent or less. The 40-year average is just over 51 percent. Dating to 1973, the two years with the largest ice coverage were 1979 (94.7 percent peak) and 1994 (90.7 percent).

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

San Miguel (Chaparrastique) volcano (El Salvador): increasing volcanic unrest, small explosions. A small ash explosion occurred yesterday afternoon at the volcano, at 16:44 (local time). It only lasted about 10 minutes and produced a small ash plume rising approx. 500 m. It is the first eruptive activity since the larger explosion on 29 Dec past year, and is likely only a precursor of more violent activity to come. Seismic activity has been increasing constantly over the past weeks, and clusters of earthquakes have been taking place at shallow (1 km) depth beneath the northern flank, MARN scientists measured. Tremor, indication of internal fluid (magma) movements and/or pressure, has been rising in intensity. As well, increasing values of sulphur dioxide (SO2) degassing suggest that new magma is rising within the volcanic edifice.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.9 Earthquake hits southern Xinjiang, China.

The powerful earthquake struck a sparsely populated area of China's far western region of Xinjiang on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if it caused casualties or significant damage.

5.5 Earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile.

5.2 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Fobane is located approximately 596 nm southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius.

NewsBytes:

UK floods - Parts of the UK face further flooding with stormy weather - and winds that could exceed 100 mph forecast.

USA - A state of emergency has been declared for all of Alabama, Northern Georgia, Northern Mississippi, and Northern Louisiana as the South's second serious winter storm of 2014 spreads snow, sleet, and freezing rain across the region on Tuesday and Wednesday. Freezing rain at a temperature of 29° was falling at 9 am EST Tuesday morning in northern Mississippi in Columbus, and in Birmingham, Alabama, where it was 32°. The storm, called Winter Storm Pax, begins its most dangerous phase Tuesday night into Wednesday, when rain changes to freezing rain from Eastern Georgia through Central South Carolina. As much as 1" of freezing rain is expected in Augusta, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina, and widespread power outages would result if these ice amounts materialize.

Burundi - Burundi is counting the cost of a flood that has devastated many parts of the capital, Bujumbura. At least 50 people are believed to have been killed as water and mud flooding down from the hills washed away hundreds of homes.

Philippines - A tornado in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines has injured one person and destroyed a warehouse late Monday afternoon.

Colorado - An avalanche near Mount Crested Butte in Colorado has claimed life of a snowmobiler and partially buried one other. The avalanche about 500 feet wide occurred close to Kebler Pass on Monday.

Wildlife

Oldest Known Bird Hatches a New Chick

The world's oldest known wild bird just became a mother again.

The 63-year-old Laysan albatross named Wisdom was spotted taking care of her newborn earlier this month on the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Biologists banded Wisdom in 1956 as she incubated an egg and have been following her ever since. The tough old bird has hatched a new chick for the past seven years in a row and has likely raised more than 30 chicks in her lifetime. She also survived a 2011 tsunami, which claimed 2,000 of her fellow adult albatrosses and about 110,000 chicks in the Midway wildlife refuge, an island habitat in the middle of the North Pacific.

Baby River Turtles Hatch by the Thousands in Brazil

More than 200,000 baby turtles recently crawled out of their shells and swarmed sandy riverbanks in the interior of Brazil.

The mass hatching is an annual event for Great South American river turtles. Every time the dry season rolls around in the the Purus River basin in western Brazil, thousands of newborns emerge in one of the largest known mass hatchings for the species (Podocnemis expansa), according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Scientists with WCS and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation were on hand for the recent mass hatching in November 2013 in Brazil's Abufari Biological Reserve. The team counted about 210,000 baby river turtles in total and rounded up 15,000 of those young creatures for a "mark and recapture" program.

By keeping tabs on marked turtles, scientists can estimate their population, monitor their travel and track their survival rates in the years to come.

Disease

Two H5N1 bird flu outbreaks reported in Vietnam

Central Vietnam's province of Thanh Hoa and central highlands province of Kon Tum have reported bird flu outbreaks in poultry, local media reported Tuesday.

A chief veterinary officer was reported to be hospitalized with symptoms of fever, fatigue and loss of appetite after coming into contact with outbreaks of H5N1 bird flu in Kon Tum and Thanh Hoa provinces.

The patient was now quarantined for follow-up treatment with the suspected H5N1 bird flu on human, said VNA.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Mammoth Mountain (California, USA): An small earthquake swarm at shallow depths (around 5 km) occurred east of Mammoth Mountain during the past week. The largest quake was a magnitude 3.0 event on 5 Feb. This latest (of many in the past years) seismic swarm is weak in terms of number and energy of earthquakes compared to long-term averages of seismic activity at the Long Valley caldera, an active volcanic system that is capable to erupt (probably not in a near future, though) and is being closely monitored by very experienced staff from USGS. It could be related to a small intrusion of magma, but is unlikely to be a precursor of a new eruption in any near future. USGS has not changed the status code of the volcanic system (at green=normal).

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Around eighteen bushfires continue to burn across southeast Australia. The worst affected states are Victoria and New South Wales.

Parched farms and weary firefighters across Australia can expect at least temporary relief in coming days, with the remnants of a deep monsoonal low bringing cooler weather and some moisture.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.5 Earthquake hits Kepulauan Alor, Indonesia.

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

5.3 Earthquake hits the Xizang-Qinghai border region, China.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Xinjiang-Xizang border region, China.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Banda Sea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Fobane is located approximately 646 nm east-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius.

NewsBytes:

UK floods - Flooded homes along the River Thames are being evacuated and thousands more are at risk, with water levels expected to keep rising for the next 24 hours. Residents in one Berkshire village say the scenes are from a "horror movie". Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire and Surrey, while two remain in Somerset.

Australia - Major flooding forecast for the Pilbara. The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting that a tropical low will cause moderate to major flooding in Nullagine, Newman and Marble Bar, in the Pilbara. The tropical low was expected to form into a cyclone after crossing the Kimberley and causing flooding in Kununurra. But the system took a more southerly track, staying over land and not reaching cyclone intensity. Now the tropical low is expected to produce falls of up to 200 millimetres in the upper areas of the De Grey River catchment. The Pilbara has already received widespread rainfall this wet season, which increases the risk of flooding.

Global Warming

Global-Warming Slowdown Due to Pacific Winds

Stronger Pacific Ocean winds may help explain the slowdown in the rate of global warming since the turn of the century, scientists said.

More powerful winds in the past 20 years may be forcing warmer seas deeper and bringing cooler water to the surface, 10 researchers from the U.S. and Australia said yesterday in the journal Nature. That has cooled the average global temperature by as much as 0.2 degree Celsius (0.36 Fahrenheit) since 2001.

Scientists have been trying to find out why the rate of global warming has eased in the past 20 years while greenhouse-gas emissions have surged to a record. Yesterday’s paper elaborates on a theory that deep seas are absorbing more warmth by explaining how that heat could be getting there.

The net effect of these anomalous winds is a cooling in the 2012 global average surface air temperature of 0.1–0.2 degree Celsius, which can account for much of the hiatus in surface warming observed since 2001.

Disease

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update

The National Health and Family Planning Commission of China has notified WHO of seven additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, including one death.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Another new effusive vent opened up on the eastern side of the New SE crater around 04:00 this morning, erupting a new short-lived lava flow that stopped being active around 09:00. Lava emission at the established effusive vents on the lower eastern flank of the New SE crater has dropped or even ceased, the new vent that opened yesterday morning on the upper eastern flank just beneath the summit is becoming more and more active and now feeds a new lava flow. It also produces dense brown ash plumes as a result of lava pushing its way out and meeting snow and ice on its way, resulting in increased fragmentation (so-called phreatomagmatic activity). Tremor continues to fluctuate strongly at elevated levels.

Kelud (East Java): VSI raised the alert status to the second highest level 3 (out of 4), "Siaga" (meaning eruption warning). In its latest report, VSI informs that an ongoing slight deformation, suggesting magma intrusion, has been detected since September and that a strong increase in seismic activity started on 7 February. A seismic swarm occurred with hypocentres between 1.5-3.5 km depth beneath the summit area. The increased seismic activity triggered the decision to raise the status once more, after the volcano had put on alert level 2 already on 2 Feb.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): (10 Feb) 32 earthquakes were strong enough to be located beneath Kilauea Volcano in the past 24 hours, including 21 scattered broadly beneath the summit caldera.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.9 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

5.6 Earthquake hits Araucania, Chile.

5.4 Earthquake hits Azerbaijan.

5.3 Earthquake hits east of Easter Island.

5.1 Earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile.

5.1 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.1 Earthquake hits off the coast of Colima, Mexico.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Bonin Islands off Japan.

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

5.0 Earthquake hits southern Peru.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits off the east coast go Honshu, Japan. (no. 2)

5.0 Earthquake hits off the east coast of Honshu, Japan. (no. 3)

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Fobane is located approximately 715 nm south-southeast of Diego Garcia.

NewsBytes:

Japan - Heaviest snow storm in 20 years in Tokyo, Japan has claimed the lives of five people and injured more than six hundred others. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, around 25 centimetres of snow has been recorded in Tokyo by Saturday night. The Japan Meteorological Agency has also issued the first heavy snowfall warning for central Tokyo in 13 years. Tokyo is a difficult place for snow due to the high peak of Mount Fuji, just to the west of the city. It blocks a lot of the storms moving in from the west, and most storms coming in from the south and east are too warm. Snow storm in Tokyo also disrupted domestic flights and bullet trains.

UK - Britain’s flooding crisis is set to deepen this week after the Environment Agency (EA) warned that lives could be at risk from expected flooding along the River Thames. The Environment Agency has dramatically increased the number of “severe” warnings, indicating a risk to life, from two to 16 as it warns that rivers already swollen by flood water could continue rising for at least 24 hours. The 14 new severe warnings apply to a 12-mile stretch of the Thames in Berkshire and Surrey, where water levels are set to eclipse those experienced during the floods of 2003 putting thousands of homes at risk.

Drought

Australian Drought May Force Entire Town to Evacuate

Residents of a gritty cowboy and mining town in Australia’s Queensland State may have to pack up and leave because of a protracted drought that has nearly exhausted their water supply.

Cloncurry’s mayor, Andrew Daniels, told reporters the toughest water restrictions are now in place with only bathing and cooking uses allowed.

He says that after two dry years, the community may have to switch to water from bore holes, which will require people to boil it for consumption.

If those sources dry up, he says all 3,000 residents could have to hit the road.

“It's a scary thought, but I'm hoping and praying that rain comes before we have to get to that,” Daniels told the Australian Associated Press.

In 2008, Cloncurry brought water in by rail from Mount Isa, 75 miles away.

But that’s not possible this time because the outback neighbor is also considering evacuation since its dwindling water supply is nearly gone as well.

The drought parching a wide swath of Australia is typically caused by the El Niño ocean-warming phenomenon in the Pacific.

But since there is currently no El Niño in progress, meteorologists say it’s impossible to say how much longer the exceptional dry spell will continue.

Disease

Human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – update

The National Health and Family Planning Commission of China has notified WHO of 15 additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, including one death.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Tungurahua volcano (Ecuador). Activity of the volcano remains intense, but the style of the eruption has changed towards near continuous ash emissions as opposed to discrete, but potentially much more violent explosions. The ash plume still rises up to 4 km above Tungurahua's summit at times. Abundant degassing and steaming accompanies the ash emissions. Ash falls frequently occur in nearby villages

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.7 Earthquake hits the Scotia Sea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the South Indian Ocean:

Tropical cyclone Fobane is located approximately 514 nm south of Diego Garcia.

NewsBytes:

Australia - Kununurra flooded - Broome on cyclone watch. A tropical low brought record rainfall and the weather bureau says there's more bad weather to come through the Kimberley region with the possibility that a tropical cyclone will hit parts of the Kimberley and Pilbara early next week.

UK - Coastal areas in the west hit by renewed gales. Gales have continued to batter southern parts of the UK, with coastal areas hit by wind and rain. Gusts reached 80mph on the coasts of Cornwall, the Bristol Channel and west Wales and the Environment Agency says there is a risk of further floods. In Surrey, the River Thames has burst its banks at Chertsey, with homeowners warned to expect flooding. Landslips and floods mean all rail routes into south-west England are now blocked. Routes into the West Country from London via Bridgwater and Castle Cary were already blocked because of flooding. In Dawlish, where a key line between Devon and Cornwall was destroyed by waves on Tuesday, concrete has been sprayed onto the cliff behind the track to make the area safer in the face of continuing high winds and large waves. The Environment Agency has three severe flood warnings - which mean "danger to life" - in place, two in Somerset and one for Chiswell in the Isle of Portland. The agency has also issued more than 180 flood warnings and almost 300 flood alerts.

A very moist “Pineapple Express” flow of air from the Hawaiian Islands will impact California through Sunday, likely bringing enough precipitation to make a noticeable dent in the state’s dire drought conditions (though the exceptionally dry and hard soils caused by California’s driest year in its history are forcing the heavy rains to run off faster than usual, reducing the amount of moisture that can soak into the soil.)

Wildlife

Climate Change Killing Young Argentine Penguins

Penguin chicks in Argentina’s coastal Patagonia are being killed by chilling rains that climate change is bringing to the historically arid region, along with spells of unprecedented heat.

A new study published in the journal Plos One shows that chicks being born on the Punta Tombo peninsula are vulnerable to hypothermia when they grow too big for their parents to keep them warm by sitting on them, and have yet to grow their waterproof feathers.

Increasing rainstorms are drenching them to death.

This has been the leading cause of chick deaths on the peninsula during two recent years.

“Climate variability in the form of increased rainfall and temperature extremes, however, has increased in the last 50 years and kills many chicks in some years,” the authors write.

Beyond shifts in weather, the researchers point to altered fish behaviour from climate change as an increasing cause of penguin deaths as well.

Transportation

French Alps: Train Derailed by Rock

Two people were killed when a falling boulder derailed a tourist train in the southern French Alps, local officials and firefighters say.

At least nine people were injured.

The train was travelling from Nice to the town of Digne-les-Bains on a line which crosses gorges and viaducts at up to 1,000m (3,200ft) above sea level.

"A rock the size of a car came off the mountainside and slammed into the first car of the train,” according to a local report.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Scores of wildfires raging across southeast Australia in dry and windy summer conditions on Sunday destroyed homes and injured a firefighter, authorities said.

Victoria state Fire Service Commissioner Craig Lapsley said 37 blazes were burning out of control across the state, threatening rural towns and the fringes of Australia's second largest city, Melbourne.

Homes were lost in Victoria, but authorities had yet to assess the numbers, Country Fire Authority spokeswoman Anushia Sivanesan said.

Lapsley said at least one firefighter was injured. The firefighter was hit by a falling tree and received medical treatment.