Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.0 Earthquake hits southeast of the Loyalty Islands.

5.1 Earthquake hits southeast of the Loyalty Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits south of Africa.

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone 10p (Ola), forms approximately 354 nm northwest of Noumea, New Caledonia, and is tracking southeastward at 04 knots.

Tropical cyclone (tc) 09s (Eunice), forms in the southern Indian Ocean, is located approximately 710 nm east-northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius and is tracking south-southeastward at 09 knots.

NewsBytes:

China - A coal mine flooding in east China's Anhui Province has claimed the lives of seven people. Thirty four miners were working underground when flooding happened. Twenty-seven miners managed to escape while seven others were trapped, according to the Huaibei Mining (Group) Co. Ltd., the owner of the coal mine.

Borneo - Heavy rainfall starting and strong winds caused flash floods in the city centre of Miri slowing traffic and flooding buildings.

Wildlife

Tanzanian Villagers Fear Lion 'Revenge'

The killing of six lions near northern Tanzania’s Olasiti village has residents living in fear of “revenge” attacks by the predators. Six lions were killed by Tanzanian villagers who say they lost livestock to the protected predators.

The Arusha Times reports the lions were killed by young warriors “proving their manhood,” while also eliminating the threat of future attacks on the village’s livestock.

People now venturing outside their homes are staying in groups, armed with traditional weapons such as sticks, machetes and spears.

Five of the warriors who were injured while slaughtering the lions later fled into the bush out of fear of being arrested once they were treated for their wounds.

Villagers complained to the daily that the government doesn’t react when humans or livestock are killed by wild animals, but said it does respond quickly and decisively when any wildlife is killed.

A resident of Olasiti, Saning'o Ole Nigi, said that communities surrounding wildlife areas have always been guardians of the animals by preventing poaching. However, it does not seem that the villagers took any steps to protect their livestock from the predators - choosing rather to kill the lions.

Drought

Taps May Soon Run Dry in Drought-Plagued Brazil

Brazil’s worst drought in 80 years is causing an acute water shortage in the country’s three most highly populated states.

The company that provides São Paulo’s water warned that taps could run dry except for just two days a week if the level of the main reservoir continues to drop.

“If the rains insist on not falling, we’ll have to start rationing in a very burdensome way to save the water we need (and) to keep the dam levels from continuing to drop the way they are,” said the firm’s director, Paulo Massato.

The Cantareira reservoir, which serves Brazil’s largest city, has dwindled to about 5 percent of storage capacity following two consecutive dry years.

In an odd twist of fate, lightning from severe thunderstorms on Jan. 23 knocked out two pumping stations, halting delivery of what little water remains available to São Paulo.

A view of what’s left of southeastern Brazil’s Rio Jacarei following two consecutive years of drought.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Several homes have been destroyed by a bushfire south of Perth after strong easterly winds pushed the blaze into Waroona town.

The fire was sparked by lightning and began in the steep terrain of the Darling range to the town’s east.

About 325 hectares have been burnt by the fire, which remains out of control and unpredictable.

Disease

Norway reports 1st case of ‘mad cow disease’

For the first time, Norway has reported a case of Bovine spongiform encephalitis (BSE) in a cow on a Nord-Trøndelag county farm. Dre Kristina Landsverk, Chief Veterinary Officer, Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Brumunddal, Norway notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Thursday.

The farm is a beef cattle farm with a herd of 27 Scottish Highland cattle, according to the report. The affected cow’s carcass has been completely destroyed.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Bardarbunga (Central Iceland): A small earthquake swarm at 1 km below the eastern rim of the Bardarbunga caldera occurred yesterday evening at 21:22 local time, accompanied by a rise in tremor. John Friman who closely follows the events in Iceland suspects on his blog that a minor subglacial eruption could have taken place. If so, a meltwater flood should be expected in the course of the day.

Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): The volcano's activity today consisted of continuing mild to moderate strombolian activity. Probably the lava flow on its upper flank is still active, but seems to have decreased. Frequent incandescent avalanches occurred, accompanied by mild ash emissions. VAAC Tokyo issued a warning about a possible ash plume rising to 34,000 ft (10 km) altitude at 02:57 UTC, although it stated that no ash was visible on satellite imagery, and no such plume is visible on webcam imagery, only a rather diluted ash plume at much lower altitude.i

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

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

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the southern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 09s (Eunice), forms in the southern Indian Ocean, is located approximately 608 nm east-northeast of port Louis, Mauritius and is tracking south-southeastward at 08 knots.

NewsBytes:

Fiji - Parts of Labasa experienced flash flooding yesterday as heavy rain pelted parts of the Northern Division.

Malawi Update - Malawian floods have killed at least 79 people, forced over 170,000 from their homes and cost about 160,000 people their livelihoods. A state of emergency has been declared in 15 of Malawi’s 28 districts, and 63,000 hectares of land are under water.

Wildlife

England's First Wild Beavers in Centuries Can Stay

England’s first beavers to live in the wild for more than 400 years will not be evicted from a Devon river and taken to a zoo, thanks to the efforts of locals, tourists and wildlife campaigners.

But Natural England says that the approximately nine beavers living in the River Otter must be proven to be of Eurasian origin and free of disease.

The nongovernmental public body also licensed the Devon Wildlife Trust to conduct a five-year study on the returning beavers' impact on the environment.

Results of the study could eventually lead to the reintroduction of the toothy dam builders in other waterways across England.

Beavers were hunted to extinction during the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century.

But last January, night-vision footage revealed that a few had set up home along the river.

Plans to remove them prompted a public outcry. If the small group of wild beavers being studied in the River Otter doesn't pose environmental risks, the animals could later be reintroduced elsewhere in England.

Rare Red Fox Reappears in Yosemite Park

The elusive and rare Sierra Nevada red fox has been spotted in Yosemite National Park for the first time in nearly a century, park officials said yesterday.

Camera traps caught the sleek animal in a remote northern corner of the park on Dec. 13, 2014, and again on Jan. 4 of this year.

here hasn't been a verified sighting of the Sierra Nevada red fox inside Yosemite National Park since 1916, said Ben Sacks, director of the University of California, Davis Veterinary School's Mammalian Ecology and Conservation Unit. That year, two animals were killed in Yosemite's Big Meadows, northeast of El Portal, for the University of California, Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.

Until recently, only a handful of Sierra Nevada red foxes were thought to still exist in the wild, in a remnant population near Lassen Volcanic National Park in northeastern California. The subspecies, which is genetically distinct from other red foxes, once ranged more widely, across the snowy high mountains from Oregon to California.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 112.1 degrees Fahrenheit (44.5 degrees Celsius) at Nyang, Western Australia.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 64.3 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 53.5 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Siberian community of Verkhoyansk.

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

Bird Flu in Nigeria

The Ogun state branch of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PANOG) has destroyed over 2, 500 birds suspected to have been infected with the avian influential virus, popularly called the bird flu, across the state.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Two bushfires across Western Australia are continuing to test the mettle of the state's firefighters and volunteers.

Bushland is burning in Waroona in Perth's south. Twenty volunteer firefighters are pitched against the blaze near Lyons road in Waroona. It is moving north at 300 metres an hour. While the fire is moving away from the township and not threatening homes, some roads are closed in the area and drivers have been advised to avoid the area or reduce speed and drive carefully.

In the state's northwest a deliberately lit fire at a rubbish tip in Gap Ridge, near Karratha, was burning out of control overnight. Thirty Fire and Rescue volunteers were on the scene between Exploration Drive and Madigan Road fighting the outbreak that was slowly moving east. There is no threat to homes or lives overnight but residents are advised to stay alert, keep headlights on and be careful when driving through the area.

Meanwhile firefighters north of Perth continue to mop up a blaze which has burned more than 1300 hectares in the Pinjar pine plantation in the city of Wanneroo.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Kilauea (Hawai'i): The June 27th lava flow remains active, but its advance is slow. The leading edge is currently stalled roughly 500 meters from Highway 130 at Pahoa. Breakouts remain active a short distance upslope of the leading tip of the flow, and continue to slowly widen the flow.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (Tonga, Tonga Islands): (29 Jan) An exceptional satellite image taken by the European Pléiades satellite from 19 January shows the new island that formed during the eruption near Hunga Ha’apai island (left in images) earlier this month and joined it by forming a new peninsula, composed of a broad, flat ash cone with a water-filled crater. The image also shows that activity seems to have already stopped by 19 Jan when the image was taken. Most likely, the new land addition will be eroded within months, because it seems mainly to be composed of loose materials, as opposed to more resistant solid lava flows.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.7 Earthquake hits offshore northern California.

5.2 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.2 Earthquake hits off the west coast of South Island, New Zealand.

5.1 Earthquake hits the west Chile rise.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.

5.0 Earthquake hits west of the Galapagos Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the southern east Pacific rise.

5.0 Earthquake hits Crete.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone 08s (Diamondra), located approximately 936 nm south-southeast of Diego Garcia, is tracking south=southeastward at 05 knots.

Tropical cyclone (tc) 09s (Eunice), forms in the southern Indian Ocean, is located approximately 637 nm south-southwest of Diego Garcia, and is tracking south-southeastward at knots.

Disease

Measles Outbreak in Beijing

A measles outbreak has hit a major office building in the capital, with at least 23 people infected, according to the city's health authorities.

The Beijing Centre for Disease Control and Prevention said it had ordered quarantine and emergency vaccinations in Beijing's downtown Chaoyangmen neighbourhood since receiving reports of infections last Thursday.

The centre did not name the building but it has been identified as the "Kaiheng Centre", which houses the Beijing branch of Bank of China.

"To prevent the epidemic from spreading, [we have] already vaccinated the 3,462 workers in the building," the disease control centre said yesterday.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Bardarbunga (Central Iceland): The visible intensity of the eruption continues to decrease gradually. The Icelandic Met office conducted air-borne measurements of the lava field last week, showing that it has significantly thickened (rather than expanded laterally) during the past weeks, and is now estimated to contain approx. 1.4 cubic kilometers of lava. Effusion rates, although decreasing, are still close to an impressive 100 m³ per second.

Fogo (Cape Verde): The eruption still continues although most of the time visible activity is very low and restricted to degassing. Minor lava effusion and sporadic flares of strombolian activity of mild to moderate size occur from time to time. Scientists from the Cabo Verde volcano observatory (OVCV) who climbed the volcano on 25 January observed small ash emissions, and published a detailed report about the most recent significant activity during 20-23 January, when explosions produced a short-lived ash plume that rose up to 1200 meters on the morning of 20 Jan, as well as a small lava flow on the following day.

Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): The eruption continues and a lava flow is active on the southeastern upper flank. A collapse of lava from the flow and violent snow-lava interaction produced a pyroclastic flow that descended to the base of the steep mountain yesterday afternoon around 17:40 local time. From webcam images, it can be estimated that the flow traveled approx 2000 meters in about 2 minutes, resulting in a mean velocity of around 16 meters per second.

Karymsky (Kamchatka): Moderate explosive activity continues. Ash plumes from strombolian to vulcanian eruptions were reported by KVERT, reaching approx. 14,000 ft (4.2 km) altitude and drifting north and later east from the volcano. Aviation color code remains "orange".

Shishaldin (United States, Aleutian Islands): A faint thermal signal remains visible on satellite imagery. According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory, weak eruptive activity likely continues in the summit crater.

San Miguel (El Salvador): A small explosion occurred last Monday at 06:43 morning. Probably phreatic in nature, it was the first eruptive activity since minor ash emissions past July. According to MARN, falling blocks from the eruption could be heard from people in the vicinity of the volcano. No further eruptions have followed so far, and no significant temperature signal can be detected at the summit, only constant degassing reaching 150-250 m height. Seismic activity remains relatively low, but sudden explosions of small to moderate size remain a possibility.

Sangay (Ecuador): Eruptive activity of some sort is likely in progress at the volcano. Along with pilot reports of spotted plumes relayed through the Washington VAAC, thermal signals detectable on satellite data have been more and more frequent since early January, Culture Volcan points out in his blog. It is unknown what kind of activity is occurring, but the most likely scenario is mild to moderate strombolian activity, which is typical for Sangay,- an extremely remote, but at the same time very active, that often has this type of activity. In many ways it is similar to its Kamchatka counterpart Klyuchevskoy currently in eruption as well.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.1 Earthquake hits Fiji.

5.3 Earthquake hits the north Pacific Ocean.

5.3 Earthquake hits Fiji.

5.0 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone 08s (Diamondra), located approximately 827 nm south-southeast of Diego Garcia, is tracking southeastward at 09 knots.

Tropical cyclone (tc) 09s (Eunice), forms in the southern Indian Ocean, is located approximately 626 nm southwest of Diego Garcia, and is tracking southeastward at 08 knots.

NewsBytes:

USA - The blizzard across the north-east USA began to loosen its grip on New England late Tuesday, after dumping more than two feet of snow in parts of the region and flooding coastal areas. Providence, Rhode Island, had well over a foot of snow. Sixteen inches had piled up in Portland, Maine, and 23 inches in Waterford, Connecticut. At least 30,000 homes and businesses were without power in the Boston-Cape Cod area, including the entire island of Nantucket. By mid-morning Tuesday, roads in New York and New Jersey were opened and bus and train service, suspended overnight, had resumed. The snowstorm affected air traffic across the US. FlightAware reported that about 5,200 flights were canceled due to the storm, and more than 2,500 were delayed.

Nature - Images

Interesting Images:

North Indian Landslide Creates New Dam

Recent satellite images taken by the Indian Space Research Organization's CartoSat-2 have shown a gigantic landslide in Northern India.

The landslide believed to have occurred sometime around December 31 last year in Northern India has sent enough debris into the Tsarap River, creating an obstruction about 2,000 feet (600 meters) long, and a brand new 300-acre lake.

As of January 20, 2015, that dam was about 600 meters (2,000 feet) long, according to an analysis of satellite imagery. The artificial lake that formed behind the dam was nearly 8 kilometres (5 miles) long and covered about 55 hectares (300 acres).

After surveying the situation on January 18, a team of civilian and military engineers recommended that people who live downstream move to higher ground. They also discouraged authorities from using explosives to clear the blockage as doing so could trigger additional landslides.

Disease

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

On 23 January 2015, the Department of Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region notified WHO of 1 additional laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.

California measles outbreak grows

California has reported more measles cases. The number of cases has increased to 73, with 50 of those cases linked to an outbreak at Disneyland, the California Department of Public Health reported Monday.

Last week, public health officials reported 59 cases since December; 42 with a Disney connection.

In addition, 13 cases linked to the outbreak have been reported in six other U.S. states: five in Arizona, three in Utah, two in Washington, and one each in Nevada, Oregon and Colorado. Also, one case linked to it has been reported in Mexico.

The disease outbreak apparently surfaced when visitors reported coming down with measles after visiting the park from December 15 to December 20. At least five Disney employees have been diagnosed with measles, Disney said.

Measles is a highly communicable respiratory disease caused by a virus and spread through the air, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles starts with a fever, runny nose, cough, red eyes and sore throat, the CDC said.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Firefighters are battling 10-metre high flames as two bushfires tear through suburbs in Perth's south.

An alert for a bushfire that was burning out of control on Tuesday in Kwinana and Rockingham, in Perth's south, has been downgraded.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) issued a watch and act for people in the area as more than 200 firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control.

The Kwinana Freeway northbound between Safety Bay Road and Mortimer Road remained closed.

Earlier, flames from a bushfire that threatened homes in the southern Perth suburbs of Baldivis and Wellard reached 10 metres in height, and a fire in Pinjar in the city's north was downgraded.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.6 Earthquake hits the Nias region, Indonesia.

5.5 Earthquake hits the MacQuarie islands.

5.3 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Nias region, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone 08s (Eight), forms in the southern Indian Ocean and is located approximately 732 nm south-southeast of Diego Garcia, and is tracking south-southeastward at 06 knots.

NewsBytes:

Mozambique - The death toll from flooding in parts of Mozambique has risen to 117, with more than 157 000 people affected, official figures showed on Monday. The deaths in the centre and north of the southern African nation were caused by drowning, lightning strikes, or construction collapses caused by the floods.

USA - A blizzard dropped more than a foot (30 cm) of snow across the northeastern United States on Tuesday, falling short of the massive predicted snowfall that prompted officials across the region to close schools and order travel bans. High winds and heavy snow were set to persist throughout the day, with another foot forecast to fall in parts of Boston. Wind-driven seas caused flooding along some low-lying roadways in coastal Massachusetts, state police said.

Space Events

Asteroid flyby yields startling discovery

The asteroid that flew close to Earth Monday didn't come alone.

NASA images released Monday reveal the asteroid, officially known as 2004 BL86, has its own small moon. The grainy, black and white photos show the asteroid, about a third of a mile in size, spinning through space, with its 230-foot-wide moon trailing behind.

Disease

Plague in Madagascar - Update

The head of the World Health Organization is warning about an “alarming” plague outbreak in Madagascar that could worsen, particularly as fleas that transmit the disease to humans have developed immunity to insecticide.

Plague is “endemic in Madagascar,” where seasonal outbreaks can be exacerbated by poverty and an increasing number of people living in close urban settings. Plague responds well to treatment when detected early, which is possible with a “cheap and reliable” diagnostic test that provides results within 15 minutes.

However, the current outbreak has managed to establish a foothold in the capital Antananarivo, and could spread easily through the city’s densely populated slums. Earlier this month, the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) issued a statement to say that the plague epidemic had reached Madagascar’s capital with 10 suspected cases.

A recent tropical storm has exacerbated the threat of the disease spreading from “untold numbers of rats” that have been displaced by flooding.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.2 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

5.1 Earthquake hits Negros in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Izu Islands off Japan.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Loyalty Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits southern Peru.

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

5.0 Earthquake hits the Russia-Xinjiang border region.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

Australia - A tornado hit Bombala town of south-eastern New South Wales, Australia on Saturday afternoon, leaving considerable damage in its wake. The tornado mainly caused damage to roofs and sheds.

France - An avalanche in the Queyras mountain range in the French Alps has claimed the lives of six skiers.

USA - Winter Storm Juno will be a major snowstorm for the Northeast Monday and Tuesday. Parts of the region could see blizzard conditions and more than a foot of snow.

Philippines - The town of Kabacan on Friday was placed under a state of calamity due to the extent of damage brought by flash floods that submerged low-lying villages and displaced thousands of residents last week.

Global Warming

Warm ocean melting East Antarctica's largest glacier

The largest glacier in East Antarctica, containing ice equivalent to a six-metre (20-foot) rise in global sea levels, is melting due to warm ocean water, Australian scientists said on Monday.

The 120-kilometre (74.4 mile) long Totten Glacier, which is more than 30 kilometres wide, had been thought to be in an area untouched by warmer currents. But a just-returned voyage to the frozen region found the waters around the glacier were warmer than expected and likely melting the ice from below. “We knew that the glacier was thinning from the satellite data, and we didn't know why,” the voyage's chief scientist Steve Rintoul told AFP.

He said that up until recently the East Antarctica ice sheet had been thought surrounded by cold waters and therefore very stable and unlikely to change much. But the voyage found that waters around the glacier were some 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than other areas visited on the same trip during the southern hemisphere summer. “We made it to the front of the glacier and we measured temperatures that were warm enough to drive significant melt,” Rintoul said. “And so the fact that warm water can reach this glacier is a sign that East Antarctica is potentially more vulnerable to changes in the ocean driven by climate change than we used to think.”

Previous expeditions had been unable to get close to the glacier due to heavy ice, but Rintoul said the weather had held for the Aurora Australis icebreaker and a team of scientists and technicians from the Australian Antarctic Division and other bodies.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): The eruptive activity has weakened a bit, but remains near-continuous. Small ash emissions from strombolian activity occurred yesterday and bright glow from this activity illuminates the volcano's summit at night.

No lava flow seems to be active at the moment.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): A strong vulcanian-type explosion occurred this morning. An ash plume rose to approx. 25,000 ft (7.5 km) altitude and a pyroclastic flow seems to have descended to the SE.

Zhupanovsky (Kamchatka, Russia): Intermittent ash emissions continue. A plume at 10,000 ft (3 km) altitude was detected extending SSE on satellite imagery this morning (Tokyo VAAC).

Suwanose-jima (Ryukyu Islands): Occasional strombolian eruptions occur from time to time. An explosion was reported yesterday (Tokyo VAAC).

Dukono (Halmahera): Significant ash emissions were observed again this morning. Tokyo VAAC reported a plume extending 20 nautical miles to the SW, at estimated 10,000 ft (3 km) altitude.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.1 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

Florida, USA - A tornado touched down in Sarasota County, Florida around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, The National Weather Service confirmed. The tornado touched down in Myakka State Park and destroyed a camper. The camper was lifted from its original position and thrown several yard away. Luckily, no one was in the camper at the time The tornado’s winds were between 70 and 100 miles per hour, making it an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Environment

Humans Send Planetary Boundaries into "Danger Zones"

An international team of 18 researchers warns that a potent combination of human activities has pushed four of the planet’s nine ecological boundaries into “danger zones,” threatening life on Earth.

The four boundaries that have been crossed are climate change, loss of biodiversity, improvident land use and an altered nitrogen cycle due in part to fertilizer use.

“For the first time in human history, we need to relate to the risk of destabilizing the entire planet,” study author Johan Rockström of Stockholm University told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The five other boundaries not yet pushed into the danger zone are ozone depletion, ocean acidification, freshwater use, microscopic particles in the atmosphere and chemical pollution, the study concludes in a report published in the journal Science.

The findings should be a wake-up call to policymakers that “we’re running up to and beyond the biophysical boundaries that enable human civilization as we know it to exist,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Steve Carpenter.

Just because we are not seeing a collapse today doesn’t mean we are not subjecting humanity to a process that could lead to catastrophic outcomes over the next century.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): Moderate to strong strombolian activity continues at the summit crater, producing a sustained plume that rises approx. 1500 m above the summit and drifts eastwards. Incandescent avalanches descent the southwestern and western flanks. From webcam and MODIS thermal images, it seems, however, that no (or only a shorter) sustained lava flow is currently active.

Colima (Western Mexico): Eruptive activity continues at moderate levels with effusion of viscous lava at the summit, producing frequent smaller and sometimes larger rockfalls and avalanches. Small to moderate explosions occur a few times per day.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): An unusually strong explosion occurred yesterday at 20:36 local time. VAAC Tokyo reported an ash plume to 16,000 ft (5 km) altitude. Today, the volcano has been much calmer with only a few smaller eruptions and phases of ash emissions.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.1 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

5.1 Earthquake hits the southwest Indian ridge.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 07p (Niko), located approximately 608 nm south-southeast of Papeete, Tahiti, is tracking south-southeastward at 11 knots.

Space Events

Massive sized asteroid will zoom past Earth on Monday

By Monday, January 26th, a mountain-sized asteroid will be zooming past earth at a near distance of 745,000 miles or 1.2 million kilometres to our planet. This short distance is almost three times the distance between Earth and the moon – but it won’t pose any threat to Earth.

The next time such a large space rock will fly past Earth will be 2027, but until then, NASA officials are determined to get a good look at this 1,800 feet or 550 meters-wide space rock to study its features and behaviours.

It is agreed that the flyby of Asteroid 2004 BL86 poses no threat whatsoever to Earth, but researchers would still want to know enough about it to determine its orbit and future motions.

Space watchers will be able to see the Asteroid 2004 BL86 in visible light online on Monday through the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy.

Disease

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Oman

On 17 January 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of Oman notified WHO of 1 additional case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection.

Ebola - West Africa

The number of people falling victim to the Ebola virus in West Africa has dropped to the lowest level in months, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but dwindling funds and a looming rainy season threaten to hamper efforts to control the disease.

More than 8,668 people have died in the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which first surfaced in Guinea more than a year ago. But the three worst-affected countries — Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone — have now recorded falling numbers of new cases for four successive weeks, Dr. Bruce Aylward, the health organization’s assistant director general, told reporters in Geneva.

Liberia, which was struggling with more than 300 new cases a week in August and September, recorded only eight new cases in the week to Jan. 18, the organization reported. In Sierra Leone, where the infection rate is now highest, there were 118 new cases reported in that week, compared with 184 in the previous week and 248 in the week before that.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Hawaii

Firefighters are battling a fire that has burned 350 acres of acres of rare native forest on Oahu.

The fire is burning ohia and koa forest on steep mountain ridges. The fire has burned part of the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge. The forest provides habitat for at least four species of endangered pupu kani oe (O'ahu tree snails), native birds and threatened and endangered plants.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Bardarbunga (Central Iceland): No significant changes in seismic and volcanic activity have occurred recently at the ongoing Holuhraun eruption, but overall, a slowly decreasing trend of the activity is becoming evident. Still, magma effusion remains quite impressive, especially the large lava lake inside Baugur crater on the main part of the fissure. Although still elevated, the average number of larger earthquakes under the caldera is decreasing slowly.

Shishaldin (United States, Aleutian Islands): The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported "strongly elevated" temperatures in the summit crater on satellite data from yesterday. This could indicate lava is present there, possibly strombolian activity. What seems to be light ash fall deposits on the upper snowy flanks was visible on webcam images. Seismic activity has been slightly above background, a phase of elevated activity occurred today. Aviation color code remains orange.

Sabancaya (Peru): A small magmatic intrusion has been taking place under the volcano recently, a report of the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP) concludes. Activity at the volcano could increase over the next few days, but no violent explosive activity is currently expected. An increase in shallow earthquake activity with both characteristics of rock fracturing and disturbance of the hydrothermal system was noted last week. Most quakes occurred at shallow depth in an area few NNE of the volcano and south of the villages Pinchollo and Maca. The strongest quake of magnitude 3.8 on the evening of 19 Jan was felt by the local population. Intermittent steam and bluish gas (SO2) emissions rose to a maximum of 1300 m above the crater. This and other monitored parameters showed no significant changes compared to the previous weeks.

Ubinas (Peru): No ash emissions or explosions have occurred recently at the volcano. While overall seismicity has decreased during the past weeks, tremor and long-period earthquakes, indicators of internal fluid movements, along with degassing activity have increased again since 6 January. Although the general tendency seems to be that the volcano is progressively calming down, the current crisis is not yet over, IGP warns. Explosions could occur again with little or no warning and it is recommended not to approach the summit crater.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.9 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

5.3 Earthquake hits the central east Pacific rise.

5.0 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Babuyan Islands in the Philippines.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 07p (Niko), located approximately 390 nm southeast of Papeete, Tahiti, is tracking south-southeastward at 08 knots.

NewsBytes:

Australia - Dozens of roads were closed around Brisbane and south-east Queensland from flooding due to heavy rain, which has also caused rock slides. Heavy weather warning have been issued for the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast hinterland.

Philippines - About 10,000 people have been affected by flash floods in North Cotabato's low lying villages Thursday.

Marshall Islands - A king tide Wednesday caused widespread flooding here and on at least four remote outer islands and Marshall Islanders were warned there could be more flooding over the next several days.

Wildlife

Air Drop of Poison Kills Endangered Birds

New Zealand conservation groups slammed the government’s use of a pesticide, which the campaigners say may have virtually wiped out a group of endangered birds.

The Department of Conservation dropped more than 900 tons of toxic sodium fluoroacetate late last year across parts of the South Island, including Kahurangi National Park.

The pesticide, known commercially as 1080, was intended to wipe out invasive pests such as possums, stoats and rats that threaten native species.

Anti-1080 campaigners say the drop “exterminated” part of a rare population of rock wrens, which are the country’s only true alpine birds.

The Department of Conservation claims heavy snowfall could be behind the disappearance of the birds.

Environmentalists called that claim “ludicrous,” pointing out the alpine birds frequently encounter such snowfall.

"The use of 1080 is inhumane and is an indiscriminate poison banned in most of the world,” said NZ First's outdoor recreation spokesman Richard Prosser.

New Zealand is the world’s leading user of the poison.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 117.5 degrees Fahrenheit (47.5 degrees Celsius) at Paynes Find, Western Australia.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 53.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 47.5 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Far East Siberian city of Seymchan.

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.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Fogo (Cape Verde): Mild explosive activity continues from the vent, at least intermittently, but there is no longer significant lava effusion. According to local observers, the eruption continues to decline overall and might be ending in a near future. Works have started to reopen the road into the caldera to reach Ilheu de Losna and Portela/Bangaeira.

Karymsky (Kamchatka): Another small ash plume was detected by Tokyo VAAC this morning. The volcano's activity has been characterized by intermittent strombolian to small vulcanian explosions for years. Clear weather over the past days allowed the detection of more emissions than normally (when most events unless very large go unnoticed due to cloud cover).

Kilauea (Hawai'i): The June 27th lava flow remains active, but its advance has been mainly in form small and slow breakouts along its margins, widening it. The most advanced flow front is still 600 m upslope from Highway 130 near the Pāhoa police and fire stations.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.7 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Greenland Sea.

5.0 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 07p (Niko), located approximately 120 nm east-southeast of Papeete, Tahiti, is tracking southeastward at 12 knots.

Over the next two days, Niko is expected to pass east of Tahiti, which is located within the Society Islands in French Polynesia. The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre forecast calls for Niko to strengthen into a hurricane after passing Tahiti on its way south into the open waters of the South Pacific Ocean.

Disease

Bird Flu Outbreak in Nigeria

The Government of Rivers State has confirmed an outbreak of the avian influenza, aka bird flu on a farm in the state. The farm was quarantined and the affected birds destroyed.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has also confirmed cases of the disease in Lagos and Kano.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.3 Earthquake hits the Pagan region in the North Mariana Islands.

5.2 Earthquake hits Mindanao in the Philippines.

5.1 Earthquake hits offshore Antofagasta, Chile.

5.0 Earthquake hits southern Sumatra, Indonesia.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 07p (Niko), located approximately 151 nm north of Papeete, Tahiti, is tracking south-southeastward at 07 knots.

NewsBytes:

Southern Africa - The number of people affected by severe flooding in southern Africa continues to rise, and more rain is predicted. Malawi has reported 50 deaths and 153 missing, Mozambique 84 fatalities and Madagascar - which has been battered by Tropical Storm Chedza. The overall number of people affected in these countries stands at 638,000 in Malawi (121,000 of whom have been displaced from their homes), 90,000 in Mozambique and 100,000 in Madagascar.

Nature - Images

Interesting Images:

Lightning illuminates the centre of Cyclone Bansi, giving us a look into the eye of the storm:

Disease

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia

Between 6 and 9 January 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) notified WHO of 5 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Karymsky (Kamchatka): More explosions have occurred at the volcano. Tokyo VAAC reported ash plumes to 7-12,000 ft (2.1-3.6 km) elevation drifting SE.

Zhupanovsky (Kamchatka, Russia): Mild ash emissions are visible on latest satellite images. Today's clear weather over Kamchatka allowed MODIS satellites to take a shot with all 4 currently active volcanoes: Zhupanovsky, Karymsky (ash emissions from explosions), Klyuchevskoy (lava flow and ash plumes), and Shiveluch north of the latter, also with ash emissions.

Suwanose-jima (Ryukyu Islands): Intermittent, probably strombolian activity persists at the On-take crater. JMA reported a small explosion from the volcano yesterday, but bad weather conditions don't allow clear webcam images.

Bagana (Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea): A volcanic ash plume to estimated 12,000 ft extending 20 nautical miles to the NE was detected by Darwin VAAC this morning.

Soputan (North Sulawesi, Indonesia): The eruption of the volcano continues. The new lava flow seems to have descended almost to the base of the summit cone, accompanied by abundant glowing rockfalls. Intermittent explosions, although decreasing in intensity during the past 2 days, still produce ash emissions that reach 3-4 km altitude. The volcano remains at level 3 (out of 4, "Siaga") and the Aviation Color Code at Red. So far, the impact of the eruption has been limited to light ash fall in some nearby villages, mainly Silian and Lobu. No evacuations have been ordered.

Dukono (Halmahera): Abundant ash emissions occur from the volcano. A plume stretching 50 km to the SW was seen on MTSAT imagery by Darwin VAAC this morning.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.6 Earthquake hits Guatemala.

5.5 Earthquake hits the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines.

5.4 Earthquake hits the Greenland Sea.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Saipan region in the North Mariana Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Greenland Sea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

Madagascar - Tropical storm Chedza has claimed the lives of at least 14 people in Madagascar. Chedza has further displaced more than 36,000 Madagascans. Most of the fatalities are as a result of landslides caused by heavy rain and buildings collapsing as strong winds tore roofs from houses.

Japan - A series of avalanches over the weekend in Nagano and Niigata prefectures in Japan have claimed the lives of four people.

Bolivia - At least 15 people died and about 10,400 families have suffered property damage after heavy rains caused floods in Bolivia.

Wildfires

Wildfires - USA

Two wildfires near Guthrie in Logan County in central Oklahoma burned more than 2,100 acres over the weekend. A house and several buildings were damaged and evacuations ordered by local firefighting authorities.

22 wildfires burning more than 600 acres were reported in Arkansas over weekend

Disease

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

On 13 January 2015, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China notified WHO of 15 additional laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus, including 3 deaths.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Bardarbunga (Central Iceland): According to Icelandic volcanologist Haraldur Sigurðsson, it is reasonable to predict that the eruption might be ending in March this year. This audacious prediction is based on extrapolating the observed ongoing slow subsidence ("collapse") of the central volcano's caldera floor, located under 800 m of ice, and assuming that it is a direct indicator of the magma erupted at the Holuhraun fissure.

Karymsky (Kamchatka): A small volcanic ash plume was reported this morning extending ESE from the volcano. Karymsky has intermittent strombolian to vulcanian explosions.

Zhupanovsky (Kamchatka, Russia): Intermittent ash emissions continue from the volcano. This morning Tokyo VAAC reported a small plume at flight level 120 (12,000 ft / 3.6 km altitude) extending SE.

Soputan (North Sulawesi, Indonesia): A viscous lava flow lobe is active on the western flank of the summit cone. Spectacular incandescent rockfalls accompany this effusive activity. According to volcano chaser John Seach on twitter, an explosion occurred earlier today, producing a 20,000 ft ash plume and pyroclastic flows. Although this information has not been confirmed by other sources, the eruption, similar to Sinabung's still ongoing one, is entering a potentially very dangerous phase. A safety radius of 6.5 km around the volcano's summit is in place.

Dukono (Halmahera): A moderately strong ash emission, possibly due to increased explosive activity, was reported this morning, reaching 9,000 ft / 2.7 km altitude. (Darwin VAAC)

Cerro Negro de Mayasquer (Colombia): Seismic activity remains high with an average of almost 1200 small quakes detected on a daily basis under the Chiles volcano. However, it has been decreasing overall compared to last year and no events were large enough to be felt recently.

Sangay (Ecuador): A hot spot was detected in satellite data (Washington VAAC), suggesting that some mild activity continues in the summit crater of this remote volcano, one of South America's most active.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.2 Earthquake hits the Izu Islands off Japan.

5.1 Earthquake hits Fiji.

5.1 Earthquake hits the southern east Pacific rise.

5.0 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 1224 nm southwest of Cocos Island, and is tracking east-southeastward at 35 knots.

Tropical depression 01w (Mekkhala), located approximately 142 nm east-southeast of Baguio, Philippines, and is tracking northward at 08 knots.

NewsBytes:

Philippines - A landslide triggered by heavy rains brought on by Tropical Storm “Mekkhala” has claimed the lives of at least 10 people. Rescue teams have saved at least 200 residents trapped by the landslide in Sitio Inang Maharang in Barangay Nagotgot, Manito, Albay.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): Mild strombolian activity continues at the summit crater, producing small ash plumes that drift one after the other from the volcano. A short lava flow might still be active on the southeast side, but this is not certain from available imagery. The alert level remains aviation orange.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): A moderately large explosion occurred this morning (evening in Kamchatka) at the volcano, producing a plume reaching approx. 6 km altitude. Continued ash emissions followed the explosions for several hours.

Aso (Kyushu): Strombolian activity with abundant ash emissions continue with little variations from the Nakadake crater.

Soputan (North Sulawesi, Indonesia): An eruption occurred today, producing an ash plume rising to 5-6 km altitude. Darwin VAAC raised the alert level to red. The event took place shortly after 11:30 am (local time) and was observed by from the volcano observatory. It had been preceded by a significant increase in seismicity during the past days since Wednesday. According to the local report, a rock avalanche (but apparently no pyroclastic flow) traveled down the western side of the dome, reaching a length of approx. 500 m.

Colima (Western Mexico): Frequent small to moderate explosions occur at the volcano's summit lava dome. Thanks to the new webcam from webcamsdemexico.com, this activity can now be followed more closely.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.8 Earthquake hits the Rat Islands in the Aleutian Islands.

5.6 Earthquake hits the Banda Sea.

5.5 Earthquake hits Salta, Argentina.

5.3 Earthquake hits Luzon in the Philippines.

5.2 Earthquake hits the southern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.

5.0 Earthquake hits Buryatiya, Russia.

5.0 Earthquake hits offshore Valparaiso, Chile.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Bonin Islands off Japan.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 1425 nm southwest of Cocos Island, and is tracking east-southeastward at 16 knots.

Tropical storm 01w (Mekkhala), located approximately 94 nm east-southeast of Manila, Philippines, and is tracking west-northwestward at 10 knots.

Tropical cyclone (tc) 06s (Chedza), located approximately 248 nm west-southwest of La Reunion, and is tracking east-southeastward at 12 knots.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Unrest continues at the summit craters. After strombolian activity from the Central Crater (Voragine) had ceased around 13 Jan, weak ash emissions occurred from the North-East crater yesterday. Tremor remains elevated.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.3 Earthquake hits Luzon in the Philippines.

5.1 Earthquake hits near the coast of Ecuador.

5.1 Earthquake hits Salta, Argentina.

5.0 Earthquake hits Taiwan.

5.0 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 661 nm east-southeast of Port Louis, Mauritius, and is tracking southeastward at 08 knots.

Typhoon 01w (Mekkhala), located approximately 316 nm east-southeast of Manila, Philippines, and is tracking northwestward at 13 knots.

Tropical cyclone (tc) 06s (Chedza), located approximately 362 nm west-southwest of St Denis, and is tracking eastward at 10 knots.

NewsBytes:

Malawi Update - The death toll from floods in Malawi has risen to 176 and made 200,000 homeless with least 153 people still missing. The government has warned of the impact the floods would have on health services, fearing the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid.

Wildlife

South Australia Wildfires Kill and Injure Many Animals

Some of South Australia’s worst wildfires in 30 years killed or injured an untold number of animals earlier this month in addition to destroying at least 32 human homes and sending 100 people to hospitals.

Many surviving animals have been left without food, water or access to shelter.

Among the more heartbreaking images to come out of the firestorms near Adelaide were photos of koalas being treated for burnt paws.

The head of one animal rescue organization said that when caught in a wildfire, koalas “get to a point where they are in so much pain … they just sit at the bottom of a tree and scream.”

A public appeal for people to make mittens for the burnt marsupials was quickly heeded.

Most of the rescued koalas are expected to recover enough to be returned to the wild.

Polar Bears Head North As Arctic Sea Ice Melts

Recent generations of polar bears have been observed moving high into the Canadian Arctic in response to climate change and the melting of Arctic sea ice.

Using DNA samples, U.S. Geological Survey researchers found that some clusters of known polar bear populations have migrated over the past 15 to 45 years to islands of the Canadian Archipelago that have more stable sea ice.

Lead researcher Elizabeth Peacock says the bears have chosen this area because it is "where the sea is more resilient to summer melt due to circulation patterns, complex geography and cooler northern latitudes.”

She and her colleagues conclude that the regions closest to the North Pole could serve as a last refuge for the bears, which need the ice to travel, forage and mate.

Arctic sea ice has declined in autumn by more than 9 percent per decade since 1979.

Climate models predict that even the northernmost parts of the Arctic will be mainly ice-free before the middle of this century.

Disease

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

Between 3 and 5 January 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) notified WHO of 3 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection.

Between 7 and 10 January 2015, the National IHR Focal Point of Oman notified WHO of 2 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death.

2 die of bird flu in China

Two people have died of the H7N9 strain of avian flu in China's eastern province of Fujian, state media said on Saturday, quoting local health officials.

Fujian has confirmed 15 cases since the start of 2015, Xinhua news agency reported. It did not say when the two patients died.

Another human infection was reported in the adjacent province of Jiangxi on Friday, Xinhua said, while both the municipality of Shanghai and neighbouring Zhejiang province have reported cases "this winter".

Cases of the virus accelerated in China in 2014, with statistics compiled by health authorities in Beijing showing 310 cases were diagnosed on the mainland from January until 10 December, including 132 deaths. Another death was recorded on 29 December.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Hunga Tonga volcano eruption creates large new island

A large new island has been formed at the eruption site between Hunga Ha’apai and Hunga Tonga, 65 km from Nuku’alofa, Tonga’s Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources said.

The volcano has been erupting from two vents, one on the uninhabited island of Hunga Ha'apai and the other underwater about 100 metres offshore. The new island is more than one kilometre wide, two kilometres long and about 100 metres high.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.1 Earthquake hits the southern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 451 nm east of Port Louis, Mauritius, and is tracking southeastward at 15 knots.

Tropical storm 01w (Mekkhala), located approximately 373 nm northwest of Koror, Palau, and is tracking westward at 14 knots.

Tropical cyclone (tc) 06s (Chedza), located approximately 736 nm west of St Denis, and is tracking east-southeastward at 04 knots.

NewsBytes:

UK - A man died after the heavy storms hit across the UK and led to more than 50 flood warnings being issued in much of southern England and Scotland. More than 100 schools have been closed in the Highlands and Islands, Perthshire and Northern Ireland due to the weather. Storm Rachel has left over 16,000 homes without power in Donegal, Cork, Killarney, Galway, Athlone, Tullow and Wexford region of Ireland. The Environment Agency has issued 32 flood warnings in England and Wales, and 149 flood alerts. While a further 21 flood warnings have been issued in Scotland.

Saudi Arabia - Rare snowstorm in Saudi Arabia has grounded planes at Turaif Domestic Airport. "Snow storms have left a layer of white snow on top of the sand", BBC reported. The bulk of the snow hit a town near the northern city of Tabuk and forced the Bedouin shepherds and their camels to stay in their tents for protection and to keep warm.

Sumatra, Indonesia - A number of regencies and cities in North Sumatra were hit by floods and landslides on Thursday due to heavy rains over the past several days.

Nature - Images

Interesting Images:

Glorious Dawn: Ice and Sun Create Rare Halos

Texas photographer Joshua Thomas captured a once-in-a-lifetime picture when he was visiting Red River, New Mexico, on the morning of Jan. 9, 2015.

Sunlight shining through ice crystals in the chilly atmosphere of dawn that day created so many different rare phenomena that it took atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley to later name them all.

Many of us have witnessed halos around the sun or moon when a high level of ice crystals were present between us and the heavenly bodies.

Seeing one often means some kind of precipitation will occur within the next 24 hours.

But the photo Thomas snapped contains nine different types of optical phenomena occurring at the same time. Each were labeled by the U.S. National Weather Service office in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and tweeted the following day.

Among the phenomena visible in the photo to the upper right (especially the enlarged version) is a 22-degree halo, which includes a sun pillar and a sun dog.

A sun dog, or parhelion, is a form of coloured spot at the same elevation angle as the sun. It typically appears about 22 degrees on either side of the sun.

A sun pillar is a column of light extending above or below the sun, and is usually seen when the sun is low in the sky.

Farther to the left and right in the enlarged version of the image is an infralateral arc, which is a halo extending 46 degrees from the sun. It is sometimes accompanied by a complimentary supralateral arc around the sun, which somewhat appears like the outer part of a double rainbow.

Sunvex Parry arcs and upper suncave Parry arcs are extremely rare and were first identified in 1820 by Arctic explorer Sir William Edward Parry during his search for the Northwest Passage.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

TThe week's hottest temperature was 109.9 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) at Nyang, Western Australia.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 62.9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 52.7 degrees Celsius) at Russia's Siberian community of Verkhoyansk.

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

Ebola Outbreak - Cases Declining

Cases of Ebola are on the decline as the three worst affected countries have recorded their lowest rates of new infections in months.

According to figures released by the UN, Sierra Leone and Guinea both recorded their lowest weekly total since August while Liberia had its lowest weekly total since June.

According to the latest report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the three countries now all have sufficient capacity to bury all the people known to have died from Ebola.

Sierra Leone is still currently the country with the most cases of the disease.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Pacaya (Guatemala): The volcano is becoming active again. In a special bulletin yesterday, INSIVUMEH reported that ash emissions occurred from the volcano.

Seismicity has been above normal and elevated temperatures were measured at the Mackenney crater, but also, surprisingly, at the older Cerro Chino cone ( north of the former one). Whether this is the precursor of a stronger eruptive phase in the near future cannot be predicted, but is a possibility and would not be surprising, given that the volcano is one of Central America's most active.

A satellite image from 8 January already indicates the presence of a thermal anomaly at the Mackenney crater, but did not show any degassing.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.2 Earthquake hits Minahasa, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

5.0 Earthquake hits Sakhalin, Russia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 230 nm east-northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius, and is tracking east-southeastward at 06 knots.

Tropical storm 01w (Mekkhala), located approximately 276 nm north-northwest of Koror, Palau, and is tracking westward at 10 knots.

NewsBytes:

Mozambique - Heavy flooding in Mozambique has killed 10 people and displaced nearly 20,000 more as the Government issues a red alert for disaster readiness for the central and northern provinces. Seven people died trying to cross the Licungo river in the Zambezia province, with four people dying when their car was swept away. Three more people died when they were struck by lightning in the northern Niassa province.

Turkey - Storms and heavy rainfall caused flooding in Turkey’s southwest on Jan. 13, killing one person in the province of Muğla. The stormy weather also disrupted daily life in the touristic province of Antalya, prompting the local authorities to close schools on Jan. 14. Winds reached 155 kilometres per hour in Kemer, causing considerable material damage. Meanwhile, floods blocked traffic between the city centre of Antalya and Kemer. Power was also cut for several hours when giant waves hit the beach of Konyaaltı, near Antalya’s city centre, damaging boats.

Global Warming

2015 Begins With CO2 Above 400 PPM Mark

The new year has only just begun, but we’ve already recorded our first days with average carbon dioxide levels above 400 parts per million, potentially leading to many months in a row above this threshold, experts say.

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography records of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels show that Jan. 1 was the first day of the new year above that concentration, followed by Jan. 3 and Jan. 7. Daily averages have continued at this level or higher through Jan. 9, though they could continue to dance up and down around that mark due to day-to-day variations caused by weather systems. But even with those fluctuations, 2015 will likely see many months above 400 ppm, possibly starting with the very first month of the year.

The 400 ppm mark was first passed on May 9, 2013. In 2014, it happened two months earlier, in March. The average CO2 concentrations for March, April and June 2014 were all above 400 ppm, the first time that has been recorded. The peak CO2 measurement of 2014 was just shy of 402 ppm in May.

While the 400 ppm mark is somewhat symbolic (as the increase in warming between 399 ppm and 400 ppm is small), it is a large increase from pre-industrial CO2 concentrations, which were around 280 ppm. The progressively earlier occurrence of these high CO2 levels — not seen in somewhere between 800,000 and 15 million years — points to the inexorable buildup of heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere as human emissions continue unabated. That increase in CO2 and other greenhouse gases has raised Earth’s average temperature by 1.6°F since the beginning of the 20th century. Some scientists say that to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, that warming needs to stay under 2°C, or 3.6°F.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Dukono (Halmahera): Ash emissions continue. A stronger phase of activity last night produced a plume at estimated 7,000 ft (2.1 km) extending 25 km to the southeast.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.3 Earthquake hits eastern Sichuan, China.

5.2 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Dominican Republic.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Bonin Islands off Japan.

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.0 Earthquake hits eastern Honshu, Japan.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Ryukyu Islands off Japan.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Tonga region.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 181 nm north-northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius, and is tracking east-northeastward at 03 knots.

Tropical depression 01w (One), located approximately 59 nm north-northeast of Yap, and is tracking westward at 14 knots.

NewsBytes:

Mozambique, Malawi - At least 48 people have been killed and around 23,000 forced from their homes by heavy flooding in Malawi, the country's leader said on Tuesday. President Peter Mutharika has declared a third of the country a disaster zone and urgently appealed for foreign aid. Reports from neighbouring Mozambique said a group of 25 schoolchildren were swept away by floodwater on Monday. Heavy regional rain began last month and forecasters say they expect it to continue over the coming days.

Nigeria - A landslide in Zaidawa Village in Jigawa state in Nigeria has claimed the lives of two brothers.

Indonesia - Five villages in Karangawen district, Demak regency, Central Java, were hit with floods on Tuesday, disrupting road access between Semarang and Grobogan, Purwodadi. The flooding was reportedly caused by the Kaligung River overflowing due to heavy rain on Monday evening.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): No strombolian activity has been observed recently, only rare emissions of hot gas and diluted ash occur from time to time at the summit vents. CO2 emissions have decreased recently, but remain well above background, indicating that new magma is rising at depth. Access to the summit area is still closed, no excursions can be offered at the moment.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): HVO reports that "the tip of the June 27th lava flow remained stalled; however, active surface breakouts up slope of the front continued. A narrow flow lobe about 2.5 km (1.6 mi) upslope of Pahoa Marketplace continued to advance toward the north-northeast. This morning, Civil Defense reported that this lobe has advanced about 14 m (15 yds) since yesterday."

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (Tonga, Tonga Islands): A pilot reported no visible eruptive activity yesterday, but strong sulphur smell at flight level 160, i.e. 16,000 ft (5 km) altitude.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.7 Earthquake hits Kepulauan Kai, Indonesia.

5.1 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits Kyushu, Japan.

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

Seismic Roundup: 2014

Twelve large earthquakes shook the globe in 2014, seven fewer than in 2013, according to a final tally of the year's temblors by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The raw numbers: At 12 quakes, the past year tied with 2008 for the number of earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher. Eleven of those 2014 quakes had magnitudes between 7.0 and 7.9, while the biggest quake of the year came in at magnitude 8.2. That shaker hit Iquique, Chile, on April 1, triggering a 7-foot-high (2.1 meters) tsunami.

However, the deadliest quake of 2014 was far smaller. On Aug. 3, a magnitude-6.1 earthquake hit Ludian Xian in the Chinese province of Yunnan. That quake killed 617 of the 664 people who died in earthquakes worldwide in 2014. Poorly constructed, unreinforced buildings were a major factor in the high fatality rate during the Yunnan quake.

The largest earthquake in the United States hit the Aleutian Islands of Alaska on June 23. It was recorded as a magnitude of 7.9, making it the second-biggest quake of the year globally. The quake generated a 6-inch-high (15 centimetres) tsunami nearby, but there was little damage in the remote, sparsely populated region.

On average, the USGS records 14,500 earthquakes a year of magnitude 2.5 or greater in the U.S. and magnitude 4.0 or greater internationally. Since 1900, about 18 quakes a year are magnitude 7.0 or higher, according to the agency.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Hurricane (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 169 nm north of Port Louis, Mauritius, and is tracking northeastward at 04 knots. In less than 24 hours after it formed, Bansi strengthened from a minimal tropical storm into a major hurricane (Category 3).

NewsBytes:

Syria - A snowstorm in Syria has claimed the lives of at least 11 people this week, including 7 children.

Philippines - More than 5,000 families were evacuated from their homes due to floods in the Caraga area in Mindanao over the weekend.

Global Warming

Study: Global Warming ‘Pause’ Caused By Small Volcanic Eruptions

Small volcanic eruptions have helped cause a “pause” in global warming over the last 15 years, according to a recent study from scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

When volcanoes erupt, they emit tons of sulphur dioxide into the sky, which can have a cooling effect on the atmosphere. Scientists at Livermore labs now say that a series of small volcanic eruptions during the 21st century could explain up to one-third of the so-called pause in global warming.

Scientists have been struggling to explain why global temperatures have not risen in accordance with their climate models. Dozens of explanations have been put forward to explain why global temperatures have not been rising. Such theories include natural ocean cycles, declining sunspots and even Chinese coal plant emissions.

Satellite datasets now show that global temperatures have not significantly trended upwards for the past 18 years and three months. Surface temperature data shows a global warming pause of 10 to 15 years.

Some scientists and environmentalists, however, have argued that the Earth is still warming. They point to a recent determination by the Japan Meteorological Agency that 2014 was the warmest on record globally by 0.05 degrees Celsius.

“If we wish to accurately simulate recent climate change in models, we cannot neglect the ability of these smaller eruptions to reflect sunlight away from Earth,” according to the report.

Disease

Foot and Mouth Disease in Bunyala

An outbreak of foot and mouth disease has been reported in some parts of the Bunyala subcounty, Kenya. Livestock farmers in Bunyala have expressed fear of losing animals if steps are not taken to prevent the spread of the disease.

Legionnaires' Disease: Hong Kong

Two additional cases have been reported in Hong Kong. Both cases had urine samples that tested positive for Legionella pneumophila.

Ebola Outbreak Will Continue For Some Time to Come

Even though Ebola has been snuffed out of the news cycle these days, the epidemic continues to burn in West Africa. The world is, in fact, still facing the biggest Ebola epidemic ever, mainly concentrated in West Africa. To date, there have been more than 20,000 cases and 8,000 deaths in nine countries; that's four times the combined total of every previous Ebola outbreak in history.

This epidemic has also outlasted every prior outbreak, leaving observers to wonder if and when the human-to-human chain of transmission will end.

Ebola will never, ever be eradicated. That's not only because of the outrageous scale of the current epidemic, but because Ebola is a zoonotic disease meaning it lives in animals (most scientists think fruit bats) and only seldom makes the leap into the human population. This happens when unlucky brushes between species occur. Unless those animals are completely killed off (very unlikely), the virus can't be wiped from the planet. We will always have to deal with Ebola.

But the hope is that we won't always have to deal with Ebola at the current scale. To get a sense of the view from the ground, what challenges remain, and whether the end is in sight, the views of some of the leading Ebola doctors and researchers from around the world were canvassed.

They all emphasized that while we seem to have passed peak-Ebola, this epidemic is nowhere near over and getting near zero cases will require more than pouring dollars and doctors into the region — it'll involve changing beliefs and behaviors in furthest corners of West Africa.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Chile

A total of 101 wildfires in different parts of Chile burned 14,158 hectares (34,958 acres) of woodland, brush and pastureland over the weekend while destroying 15 homes, officials said Monday.

Some of the fires had high resistance to control" and continued to blaze Monday while being fought by land and air. The most dangerous blazes were in the Maule region, some 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Santiago, particularly the one in the Canelillo Valdes sector that scorched some 12,150 hectares (30,000 acres), chiefly in reforested areas.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Fuego (Guatemala): During the past days, explosive activity has been relatively intense at the volcano. Strong strombolian-type explosions have been occurring at rates of 6-8 per hour, sometimes ejecting incandescent bombs to more than 1000 m above the crater and producing glowing avalanches. Some of these reached the vegetation and caused small fires. Ash plumes rose to 1-1.5 km above the crater and drifted 10-15 km to the west and southwest.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (Tonga, Tonga Islands): The submarine eruption has apparently breached the surface. A steam and possibly ash plume was reported to have reached up to 30,000 ft (10 km) above sea level today and yesterday, New Zealand's VAAC Wellington reported, based on pilots' observations. According to local news, the domestic Real Tonga airline cancelled some flights in the area. Unconfirmed reports mention ash fall on Ha'apai Island. An Air New Zealand flight bound to Tonga was diverted to Samoa.

Kliuchevskoi (Kamchatka): Eruptive activity, strombolian explosions from the summit vent, has picked up during the past 1-2 days. A lava flow is now active on the southeastern flank and ash plumes have been reaching 28,000 ft (8.5 km) altitude. KVERT raised the volcano's alert level to orange. Incandescent material from the explosive summit activity is ejected to several hundred meters above the crater. Relatively intense ash emissions have been causing ash fall in up to 30 km distance to the west of the volcano.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.4 Earthquake hits Chiapas, Mexico.

5.4 Earthquake hits the Svalbard region.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Mauritius-Reunion region.

Two 5.0 Earthquakes hit the southern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits near the coast of southern Peru.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Bansi), located approximately 191 nm north-northwest of Port Louis, Mauritius, and is tracking eastward at 07 knots.

NewsBytes:

Turkey - Roads to 357 villages have been closed because of heavy snow in eastern Anatolia. An avalanche in Turkey’s northeastern Trabzon region has claimed the life of a worker and trapped four others.

Australia - Motorists have been stranded and tram services suspended on the Gold Coast when flash flooding caused chaos. Heavy rain dumped more than 100mm in just two hours on parts of the Gold Coast late on Sunday evening. The weather wreaked havoc, with flash flooding forcing people to abandon their cars.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Explosions and ash emissions of moderate intensity continue from the Voragine crater.

Bardarbunga (Central Iceland): Lava effusion continues at high rates and enlarges the lava field, now covering more than 84 square kilometers. It has crossed the track Dyngjufjallaleið and stretched onto the older lava of Þorvaldshraun.

Fogo (Cape Verde): The eruption seems to be coming to an end. There are no new reports of lava effusion or explosive activity at the vents since 8 January, when small strombolian explosions could still be observed. Gas emission measurements show a clear decreasing trend as well, but it is still too early to declare the end of the eruption because the possibility of a new batch of magma rising from depth cannot be ruled out yet.

Chirpoi (Kurile Islands, Russia): A thermal anomaly remains visible on cloud-free satellite images over Snow, a volcano of Chirpoi. The Aviation Color Code remained at Yellow.

Chirinkotan (Northern Kuriles): Minor activity persists at the volcano. A thermal anomaly over Chirinkotan was detected in cloud-free satellite images on 30 December. Aviation Color Code remains at Yellow.

Slamet (Central Java): PVMBG reported that during 1 November-5 January white plumes rose at most 1.5 km above Slamet's crater. RSAM values fluctuated but decreased overall in December through 5 January. Deformation and geochemical data showed no significant changes. The Alert Level was lowered to 2 (on a scale of 1-4) on 5 January. Residents and tourists were warned to not approach the crater within a radius of 2 km.

Tangkubanparahu (West Java): The volcano was placed on higher alert level (2 on a scale 1-4) on 31 Dec, as signs of volcanic unrest have recently been increasing (deformation, seismic activity). An exclusion zone of 1.5 km radius around the crater is in place.

Shishaldin (United States, Aleutian Islands): Seismicity at the volcano remains slightly elevated, but no signs of significant activity have been noted recently, only some steam emissions were observed occasionally. AVO maintains Aviation Color Code "Orange" and Volcano Alert Level "Watch".

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.8 Earthquake hits Luzon in the Philippines.

5.5 Earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile.

5.2 Earthquake hits southern Iran.

5.0 Earthquake hits Salta, Argentina.

5.0 Earthquake hits north of the Solomon Islands.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Tropical cyclone (tc) 05s (Five), forms off the east coast of Madagascar, is located approximately 254 nm north of St Denis, and is tracking east-southeastward at 03 knots.

NewsBytes:

India - A severe hailstorm in the Senapati district of Maharashtra state has damaged at least 50 houses Friday afternoon. leaving more than 20 families homeless. Surrounding banana plantations were also damaged.

Australia - Alice Springs and Bendigo flood as South Australia braces for heavy rain. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall for the Flinders, Riverland, north east pastoral and parts of the mid north districts.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.5 Earthquake hits the Chagos Archipelago.

5.2 Earthquake hits Simeulue, Indonesia.

5.1 Earthquake hits southern Xinjiang, China.

5.1 Earthquake hits Tonga.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

Australia - Flooding caused by heavy rain has cut off some towns in northern South Australia as the weekend deluge continues. Facing its heaviest rainfall in 30 years, up to 200mm is expected to fall in parts of the state by Sunday.

Global Warming

Which fossil fuel companies are most responsible for climate change?

Nearly two-thirds of all man-made global warming emissions from 1751 – 2010 can be traced back to just 90 companies. And 30 percent of emissions were produced by just the top-producing 20.

For a deeper look into the big players in climate change, check out the following interactive here.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Two bushfires are threatening lives and homes in Western Australia.

A watch and act alert has been issued for people in Red Gully Road and Fynes Road in Red Gully in Western Australia’s Swan district.

The same warning has been issued for people in Irishtown Road, Miller Road and Meotti Road, in Donnybrook.

"There is a possible threat to lives and homes as a fire is approaching the area and conditions are changing," the Department of Fire and Emergency Services warns. "You need to leave or get ready to actively defend."

The Red Gully fire is burning out of control on both sides of Red Gully Road and is moving fast in a northwesterly direction. DFES warns that embers could be blown around homes.

The suspicious Donnybrook blaze is burning south of Irishtown Road and west of Hardy Place.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.5 Earthquake hits Hokkaido, Japan.

5.4 Earthquake hits the Balleny Islands.

Two 5.1 Earthquakes hit the Pacific-Antarctic ridge.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms - Roundup of Tropical Storms:

No current tropical storms.

NewsBytes:

Lebanon - A rare snowstorm in Lebanon has claimed the lives of two Syrian man and a young boy, bringing misery to thousands of Syrian refugees. The heavy snowfall cut several roads in mountainous areas. The storm also forced the closure of all Lebanese ports and briefly shut Beirut's international airport.

Wildlife

Predator at Play Amazes African Park Visitors

A South African park ranger and guests were startled to see a real-life example of the Bible verse that predicts “the leopard will lie down with the young goat.” The surprising encounter of a baby impala apparently befriending and frolicking with a leopard was videotaped for about an hour at Kruger National Park.

“In all my years of being a game ranger, I have never seen such an encounter, nor do I ever expect to see a repeat of it again,” said ranger Estiaan Houy. “I felt amazed and honored to see such a rare and unexplainable sighting.”

Houy said that at no time did the impala show any sign of distress or fear.

But wildlife experts point out that leopards often play with their prey, and that after the pair later walked into the bush together, things probably did not end well for the impala once the leopard got hungry.

Disease

Brazil reports Chagas outbreak

Health officials in Amazon Province are reporting an outbreak of Chagas disease, in which up to 18 cases may be involved. It is suspected that the parasitic outbreak may be due to the handling and consumption of acai.

According to The Ministry of Health, the number of registered cases is above normal and in a short period of time, points to oral transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi (the causative protozoan disease) via the consumption of food contaminated with feces the vector.

Outbreaks of acute Chagas disease related to ingestion of contaminated food (sugar cane juice, acai, bacaba, among others) and isolated cases by extradomiciliary vector transmission is being seen especially in the Amazon.

Legionnaires Disease in the Bronx

Wellness officials are investigating a spike in Legionnaires’ Disease in The Bronx. In December 2014, 11 circumstances of of the disease had been reported in The Bronx. wee above the typical 2 or 3.

Most persons get Legionnaires’ by inhaling bacteria, not from individual-to-individual contacts. The bacteria grows in warm environments, such as whirlpool spas, showers, faucets or industrial cooling towers.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 116.6 degrees Fahrenheit (47.0 degrees Celsius) at Nyang, Western Australia.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 66.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 54.8 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.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.1 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.

Disease

Spread of Ebola slows in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone, the country worst affected by Ebola, reported nearly 250 new confirmed cases in the past week but the spread of the virus there may be slowing, the World Health Organisation said this morning.

The death toll from Ebola has reached 8,235 out of 20,747 known cases worldwide over the past year. Overall, 838 health workers have been infected, with 495 dead.

The WHO's weekly report was based on figures reported by authorities in nine countries.

Revolutionary New Antibiotic Kills Drug-Resistant Germs

Scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics that can kill a wide range of dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria.

Moreover, in lab experiments, bacteria didn't develop resistance to the new drug, called Teixobactin, and in fact may need several decades to do so because of the drug’s special mode of action, the researchers said.

The problem of drug-resistant bacteria is a serious public health threat, and finding new antibiotics to tackle resistant bacteria is a difficult job. Existing methods for isolating promising compounds from bacterial cultures often turn up only the types of antibiotics already in use, according to the study.

In the new study, however, the researchers developed fresh methods to find antibiotics. They studied 10,000 strains of bacteria that live in the soil, and grew them in their natural habitat. The researchers then isolated compounds made by the bacteria and tested them against disease-causing bacteria.

The new antibiotic, Teixobactin, was one of those compounds. In experiments in mice, the researchers showed Teixobactin was effective in treating animals infected with bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculous (which causes tuberculosis) and Staphylococcus aureus (which can infect people's skin and other tissues). Some strains of these bacteria are already resistant to one or more of antibiotics, making infections extremely difficult to treat in people.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Firefighters have brought a number of bushfires in central and western Victoria under control, after issuing several emergency warnings on Wednesday afternoon.

The last of a number of emergency warnings for fires burning near Kyneton and around Little Desert National Park in the Wimmera was downgraded by the CFA about 9:30pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.

Residents of Edgecombe, Woodleigh Heights and Bald Hill, near Kyneton, have been advised to watch and act for changing conditions.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Soputan (North Sulawesi, Indonesia): The volcano erupted this morning at 02:45 local time with a strong explosion from the summit lava dome. It sent an 6 km tall ash column to approx. 26,000 ft (8,5 km) altitude. The eruption followed an increase in seismic activity in December, when so-called "drumbeat" earthquakes appeared - a type of volcanic tremor typically associated with movements of viscous magma at shallow depths,- in this case new lava rising beneath the existing lava dome (in place since 1991). As a consequence, the alert status of the volcano had been raised to the second highest level "Siaga" (3 on a scale of 1-4, alert). Today's explosion caused parts of the summit dome that occupies the crater, open to the western flank, to collapse and produce a glowing avalanche that traveled approx. 2000 m, remaining within the volcano's caldera. It seems that no pyroclastic flow (which could sweep over the caldera walls and into inhabited areas below) occurred. No damage to people or infrastructure was reported.

Fogo (Cape Verde): Activity continues, but overall the eruption has been decreasing and seems slowly to be coming to an end. Still, short bursts of explosive and effusive activity occur from the vents occasionally, producing ash plumes and short-lived lava flows. Yesterday, such an increase resulted in an ash plume reaching 1.5 km and a new 50 m long lava flow near the vents. Minor ash fall occurred on the city of Sao Felipe. The recently active western lava flow has apparently stopped by now, but during the past days managed to destroy the last remaining buildings in Ilhéu Losna.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): A very large vulcanian explosion occurred this morning at the volcano (at 00:41 UTC, 7:41 am local time). The explosion produced a 1.5 km wide ash column rising to approx. 27,000 ft (9 km) altitude and several pyroclastic flows from partial column collapse that traveled to the south.

Kilauea (Hawai'i): The June 27th lava flow front has stayed at approx. 1 km distance (approx. 1 km) from Pahoa, but the flow itself remains active and continues to expand laterally with several breakouts: "Surface breakouts along the distal part of the flow were scattered between 1 and 3.5 km (0.6 and 2.2 mi) upslope from the Pahoa Marketplace and posed no immediate threat. Amongst this activity, a narrow flow lobe (about 2.5 km (1.6 mi) upslope from Pahoa Marketplace) was advancing toward the north-northeast. This lobe has entered a drainage that leads to the steepest-descent path that crosses Highway 130 about 1 km (0.6 mi) south of the Makuʻu Farmer's Market, but the flow is still 3.5 km (2.2 mi) uplsope from that point and moving slowly. Small breakouts were also active in an area of persistent activity about 7 km (4 mi) upslope from Pāhoa." (HVO status update)

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai (Tonga, Tonga Islands): Activity continues, but seems not to have breached the surface (for now). Recent satellite imagery with clear views show a discolored water plume and a steam plume but no ash, suggesting that that the activity is still well below the surface. Hunga Ha'apa and Hunga Tonga islands are subaerial parts of a large caldera of about 6 km diameter. A number of cones have been built near its rim during past eruptions, including the Hunga Ha'apa and Hunga Tonga islands themselves.