Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.4 Earthquake hits Jilin, China.

5.2 Earthquake hits Sumba region, Indonesia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Krosa is approaching the northern Philippines with its heavy rain and flood/mudslide threat and strong, gusty winds. Still looks like a track thereafter toward a position over or near Hainan Island of extreme southern China.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Raymond is finally done but mid-upper level moisture from what's left of it continues flowing into the system affecting the central U.S.

A new system is organising southeast of Raymond's remnants and could become a tropical depression or storm during the next few days and eventually head toward Mexico rather than out to sea ... or at least be another system to send some moisture northeastward, a little of which is already happening.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.8 Earthquake hits offshore Maule, Chile.

5.6 Earthquake hits offshore Maule, Chile.

5.2 Earthquake hits Kepulauan Talaud, Indonesia.

5.1 Earthquake hits Eastern Russia - North-eastern China border region.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Fox Islands in the Aleutian Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Tropical depression Krosa is located approximately 585 nm east of Manila, Philippines. Tropical depression Krosa is forecast to strike the Philippines as a tropical storm at about 03:00 GMT on 31 October.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical storm Raymond is located about 530 mi (850 km) SW of the southern tip of Baja California.

NewsBytes

Three people were killed and at least 12 injured after a dust storm led to multiple crashes Tuesday on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson.

Heavy showers, flash floods hit eastern Singapore.

Fresh floods wreak havoc in coastal West Bengal, India.

Environment

Heat Wave Hits Moscow

A warm spell in Moscow broke a record on tuesday as temperatures climbed to 14.9 degrees celsius – the highest since 1895. Until tuesday, the highest temperature ever recorded on october 29 was 14.8 degrees.

Unusually high temperatures hit Moscow this week, exceeding the norm by 5-8 degrees. Cooler weather is expected by the weekend, with highs around 7-12 degrees, but that is also above average. This year's fall weather had already broken records, with September getting three times the average amount of rainfall, more than ever recorded in 130 years of record-keeping.

Space Events

Asteroid Passes Close By

Trailer Truck-Size Asteroid buzzed Earth inside Moon's orbit Tuesday. A space rock the size of a tractor-trailer flew harmlessly by Earth (Oct. 29), zipping between our planet and the moon.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

WHO has been informed of an additional laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Qatar.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

A new eruption started this week at the Zhupanovsky volcano, about 70 km northeast of the capital of Kamchatka, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.0 Earthquake hits the Balleny Islands region.

5.3 Earthquake hits the Svalbard region.

5.3 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

5.1 Earthquake hits Fiji.

5.0 Earthquake hits southern Peru.

5.0 Earthquake hits Coquimbo, Chile.

5.0 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

5.0 Earthquake hits south of Fiji.

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

5.0 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical storm Raymond is located about 645 mi (1035 km) SW of the southern tip of Baja California. Raymond is quickly weakening.

Atlantic Gale Batters Europe

Hurricane-strength wind gusts, waves up to 25 feet high, and driving rains are battering northern Europe. As of 2 am local time Monday, the peak wind gust from the storm in the UK was 92 mph, at the Isle of Wight in the English Channel. Powerful winds have also swept the north coast of France; winds in Brest, France hit 41 mph, gusting to 67 mph at 2 am local time Monday, and gusted as high as 65 mph at Caen. With the trees still in leaf, winds this strong have the potential to cause heavy tree damage and large scale power outages.

Emergency services in Denmark and Sweden have issued storm warnings, as Scandinavia faces winds gusting at about 100mph (162km/h). The storm system deepened as it crossed the North Sea. One site in eastern Denmark, Kegnaes, reported a gust of 115mph mid-afternoon. Along Germany's North Sea coast many ferries were confined to port and shipping on the Elbe was also disrupted.

Thirteen people have dies as the storm crosses north-western Europe - six were killed in Germany. The major Atlantic storm packing hurricane-force winds pummelled England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands early Monday, knocking out power to 220,000 homes in England and blocking roads and railways with fallen trees.

 

NewsBytes

At least six people have been injured as wild weather hit New South Wales, Australia, Tuesday afternoon.

Chile has been hit by the worst frost in 84 years, decimating the country’s fruit industry from Coquimbo to Bio-Bio.

Disease

Polio in Syria - Update

Following reports of a cluster of 22 acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases on 17 October 2013 in the Syrian Arab Republic, wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has been isolated from ten of the cases under investigation. Final genetic sequencing results are pending to determine the origin of the isolated viruses.

Cholera in Mexico - Update

The Ministry of Health in Mexico has reported an additional five cases of infection with Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa toxigenic.

The five cases occurred in the geographic zone of la Huasteca, an area where urbanisation, availability of drinking water and basic sanitation services are limited.

From 9 September to date, a total of 176 confirmed cases, including one death, of infection with Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa toxigenic has been reported in the country

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

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

5.1 Earthquake hits the Santa Cruz Islands.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Panama - Costa Rica border.

5.1 Earthquake hts Taiwan.

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

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Eastern Pacific:

Hurricane Raymond is located about 690 mi (1115 km) SW of the southern tip of Baja California. No threat to land.

NewsBytes

Southern Britain was battered Monday by a powerful storm with hurricane-force winds that caused widespread delays on the nation's roads and trains, and threatened severe disruptions to airports.

Disease

Typhoid outbreak looms in Harare, Zimbabwe

There are fears of an imminent outbreak of the deadly typhoid disease, following widespread incidences of dysentery in Harare’s densely populated suburbs where people are drinking water from unprotected sources.

Health officials last week said perennial water shortages, coupled with discontinuation of water supplies to defaulters had forced residents to get water from unprotected sources, while the residents blame the city fathers for failing to supply running water for domestic purposes, forcing many of them to use water from unorthodox sources.

For the week ending October 10, 14 deaths were recorded in one week and of that number, six were children under the age of five years.

An infected person will pass on the bacteria in their stools when they go to the toilet, and can infect their surroundings and if it is a communal toilet, many will most likely get the disease.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): The volcano had at least 6 vulcanian explosions yesterday. The largest (at 08:09 local time this morning) sent an ash plume to 15,000 ft (4.5 km) altitude.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

No Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes so far today.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

Atlantic hurricane season quietest in 45 years, experts say. Apart from Tropical Storm Andrea, which soaked Florida after moving ashore in the Panhandle in June, none of this year's cyclones has made a U.S. landfall.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical storm Raymond is located about 730 mi (1175 km) SSW of the southern tip of Baja California. Raymond is strengthening and is expected to become a hurricane today.

NewsBytes

Massive landslide has blocked Denali National Park road in Alaska at Mile 37 where the road leads up to Sable Pass. According to USA Today, about 30,000 yards of rock and soil fell from a point 500 feet above the road piling the debris in depths of up to 35 feet.

Torrential rains have claimed as many as 48 lives in eastern India. The downpour has seen rivers spill their banks in India’s eastern coastal states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, forcing thousands to flee their homes and seek refuge in shelters, two weeks after India’s most severe cyclone in 14 years lashed the coastline. The Press Trust of India national news agency said that the rains had killed up to 45 people in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, with hundreds of villages submerged in nearly 30 districts and road and rail links disrupted. Another three people were killed in heavy rains in the eastern state of West Bengal, the news agency said.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Tremor has remained elevated and the New SE crater continued to produce weak strombolian activity and aliment the lava flow during much of the night. At the moment (Sunday morning), it is not clear if this activity is continuing.

The paroxysm yesterday ended around noon, after about 12 hours total of activity from the New SE crater which consisted in gradually increasing strombolian activity that merged into lava fountains after midnight. The lava fountaining reached its peak in the early morning hours (6-8 am local time) with heights of 4-600 m above the crater.

Strong ash and steam emissions continued to produce an impressive plume rising about 10 km above the volcano, i.e. to an altitude of 13 km (30,000 ft) and drifting SW. A relatively small lava flow was erupted from the saddle vent between the old and new SE crater, traveled south and then east into the upper Valle del Bove, reaching a length of approx. 0.5 km.

Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): A new explosion occurred yesterday evening (17:40 local time), producing an ash plume rising 2-3 km above the crater and causing ash fall in nearby villages.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

7.1 Earthquake off the east coast of Honshu, Japan.

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

5.3 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.2 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Carlsberg ridge.

5.1 Earthquake hits of the east coast of Honshu, Japan.

A small tsunami triggered by the 7.1 quake has hit Japan's eastern coast - where the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is located

.

The 30cm (1ft) waves reached the region after the 7.1 magnitude tremor struck at a depth of 10km (six miles), about 320km off the coast.

A tsunami alert issued for several areas was later lifted.

Workers at the Fukushima power station had been told to leave waterfront areas for higher ground. But a Fukushima spokesman later said there was no damage or change in readings at radiation monitoring posts around the plant.

Japan's Nuclear Disaster Contamination Skyrockets

Radiation levels have soared in the groundwater beneath Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the wake of torrential typhoon downpours and the forced release of radioactive water being stored around the plant.

Officials estimate that 400 tons of radioactive groundwater are now flowing into the Pacific each day. That’s in addition to any runoff of water from rain on the surface.

The level of radiation in a drainage ditch at the facility has also risen exponentially, according to the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).

Water contaminated with radioactive materials flowed into the ditch when Typhoon Wipha hit the area on Oct. 2.

TEPCO says much of the water evaporated, leading to the surge in the density of beta particle-emitting materials in the remaining water.

The nuclear complex suffered meltdowns and hydrogen explosions following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

TEPCO and Japan’s nuclear regulatory agency has been unable to keep the resulting nuclear disaster from cascading out of control in recent months.

Officials say they are now looking for help from abroad on how best to scrap the ruined reactors at Fukushima Daiichi.

“We will set up a website in both Japanese and English to notify interested parties at home and abroad of our calls for decommissioning ideas so that we can offer more useful and practical proposals to the government,” the official said.

The process of decommissioning the reactors is expected to take decades.

Reactor damage is clearly visible from the hydrogen explosions that occurred shortly after the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

The NHC downgraded Lorenzo to a remnant low.

The American GFS model in its latest run shows a strong hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico on November 9 heading toward the U.S. coast. The development and movement of the hurricane up from the southwest Caribbean coincides with the change in the resolution the model uses in its forecasts beyond 8 days.

Howling winds aloft across the Gulf of Mexico into the central Atlantic will prevent any development for at least the next few days.

In the Western Pacific

Heavy rain continues being produced by Francisco (now downgraded wind-wise from a typhoon to a tropical storm) and its circulation/moisture interacting with a stationary front to its northwest (details were different but there was a similar setup recently with Wipha). Ikegawa in southern Japan has measured 17" of rain in the past 24 hours and nearby Torigatayama has measured 16.5".

Moisture from Lekima is going to start getting involved too, as the triumvirate of it, Francisco, and the non-tropical system all interact with each other and the storms weaken and become non-tropical, but also that front is going to accelerate eastward as a cold front, and the whole conglomeration is going to exit, and the duration of heavy rain is not expected to be as long in northern Japan as it has been in the southern part.

Lekima is no longer a super typhoon and will continue to weaken.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Raymond is heading west, taking its rain with it, and much weaker than it had been. For a while there was even some question whether Raymond's surface circulation still had a well-defined centre or had opened up to a tropical wave; it now appears to be reorganising and recent satellite-derived wind estimates suggest Raymond still has a "closed" (fully circular) circulation. Raymond has strengthened, but it's no longer a direct threat to land.

Models differ as to whether a bit of its moisture might eventually get picked up by the flow aloft and reach the U.S.

Space Events

Sun Fires Off Another Monster Solar Flare

Things are really starting to heat up on the sun. Our star blasted out yet another strong flare late Friday morning, continuing a pattern of high and intensifying solar activity over the past few days.

The most recent flare, which erupted at 11:03 a.m. EDT (1503 GMT) Friday, registered as an X-class event, the most powerful type. It clocked in at X2.1 on the space weather scale, beating out the X1.7 flare that the sun fired off just seven hours earlier. (Astronomers classify solar flares into three categories — C, M and X — with C being the weakest and X the strongest.)

Friday's two monster flares came closely on the heels of a moderate M-class eruption and another one that nearly reached X-class status, peaking at M9.4. The Wednesday night (Oct. 23) eruption that produced the M9.4 flare also generated a huge cloud of super-hot plasma known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), which can streak through space at millions of miles per hour.

Three other CMEs erupted between Sunday and Tuesday (Oct. 20 to Oct. 22), and they merged into a single cloud of material as they headed toward Earth. None of this activity is expected to cause major problems here on Earth, experts say, though both of Friday's flares caused temporary radio blackouts in some regions.

It's not surprising to see so much action on the sun. Our star is in the peak year of its current 11-year activity cycle, which is known as Solar Cycle 24. Increased numbers of flares and CMEs are common during solar maximum.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Etna (Sicily, Italy): Following a slow gradual build-up of increasing strombolian activity at Etna's New SE crater since yesterday, a new paroxysm is now in the progress, with high lava fountains, lava flows, and a tall ash plume.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.6 Earthquake hits east of the South Sandwich Islands.

5.8 Earthquake hits south of Fiji.

5.7 Earthquake hits the North Pacific Ocean.

5.5 Earthquake hits the Andaman Islands off India.

5.0 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Banda Sea.

5.0 Earthquake hits near the west coast of Colombia.

The deadly 7.2 earthquake that struck the Central Visayas in the Philippines last week created a spectacular rocky wall that stretches for kilometres through farmlands, astounding geologists.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

Tropical Storm Lorenzo has died in the Middle Atlantic, done in by high wind shear. None of the reliable computer models for tropical cyclone genesis are predicting any new storms developing in the coming five days.

In the Western Pacific

Tropical storm Francisco is located approximately 659 nm southwest of Ykosuka, Japan.

Typhoon Francisco has weakened to a tropical storm, and is bringing heavy rains to Japan as it stays offshore and heads northeast, parallel to the coast.

Typhoon Lekima is located approximately 194 nm east-southeast of Iwo To, Japan.

Super Typhoon Lekima, which stayed at Category 5 status for a day and a half, has now weakened to a Category 4 storm with 150 mph winds.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical storm Raymond is located about 335 mi (535 km) SSW of Manzanillo, Mexico.

Tropical Storm Raymond continues to move away from the coast of Mexico, and will no longer bring heavy rains to the country.

Global Warming

Antarctic Ozone Hole Shrinks This Year

The hole above Antarctica in Earth’s protective ozone layer reached its greatest extent of the year on Sept. 26, but was smaller than in recent years, according to scientists who monitor the phenomenon.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that this year’s hole covered about 7.3 million square miles on that date, compared to more than 8 million square miles last year and more than 10 million square miles during the record year of 2006.

This year's maximum coverage was about the size of the United States and Canada combined.

But NOAA points out that ozone concentrations at an altitude strongly influenced by man-made ozone-depleting chemicals only dropped to about 25 Dobson Units, compared to the less than 10 Dobson Units in recent years.

“We cannot say that this represents recovery, but it is certainly good news to see this year on the higher side of the average ozone range,” said NOAA’s Bryan Johnson.

The phasing out of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons through an international agreement is expected to see the ozone hole slowly disappear over the next few decades.

Since ozone absorbs ultraviolet light, which can cause skin cancer, cataracts and damage to plants and plankton, scientists are monitoring the recovery of the ozone layer very carefully.

During February, they announced that the ozone hole had shrunk so much that it was smaller than it had been at any time over the past decade.

The Antarctic ozone hold began appearing each year during the early 1980s due to manmade CFC’s effects on the stratospheric gas. But under the Montreal Protocol of 1987, countries have agreed to phase out most of those chemicals, typically used in refrigerants, foams, solvents and various sprays.

NOAA says its effects on the stratospheric ozone peaked at the beginning of the 21st century and are now in decline.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 111.2 degrees Fahrenheit (44.0 degrees Celsius) at Matam, Senegal.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 78.9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 61.6 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.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Firefighters are working to strengthen containment lines around three blazes burning uncontained in the Blue Mountains as the bushfire emergency in NSW eases. As the state's bushfire crisis enters its ninth day, there are 57 bushfires burning across the state, with 23 uncontained, the Rural Fire Service says.There are three "Watch and Act" alerts current for blazes burning at Springwood, Mt Victoria and Lithgow that have now burnt through almost 60,000 hectares of bush since sparking late last week.

Forecasted cooler weather for the Blue Mountains would assist firefighters through Friday, but low humidity was also expected and would add to the fire risk. Winds were expected to be from the northeast and northwest at up to 30km/hr. More than 120,000 hectares of bush has so far been burnt across NSW since the crisis began last Thursday.

Disease

Bird Flu - China - Update

The National Health and Family Planning Commission, China notified WHO of a new laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus.

Bird Flu - New South Wales - Australia

The NSW Department of Primary Industries has confirmed chickens on a second farm near Young have been infected with avian influenza. It's prompted fear among egg farmers that the first outbreak last week hasn't been properly contained. But some are pointing the finger at free range eggs farms, saying they increase the risk of outbreaks.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): Activity has picked up during the past week. During a visit yesterday afternoon and evening, we observed frequent and often strong strombolian eruptions from the NW vent (Ginostra side), which had enlarged a lot since early this year. Explosions occurred at 5-10 minutes intervals and produced spatter-rich jets to heights to 200-300 m. Glow from the vent and weak spattering indicates that the magma column inside the western vent has risen high.

Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): A new phase of explosive eruptions began Wednesday afternoon at around 16:20 local time and intensified yesterday morning between 6 and 8 am. An ash plume rose about 3 km from the volcano.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.6 Earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands off New Zealand.

5.1 Earthquake hits Oaxaca, Mexico.

5.1 Earthquake hits southwestern Sakha, Russia.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the central Mid-Atlantic ridge.

5.0 Earthquake hits south of Fiji.

5.0 Earthquake hits Kamchatka, Russia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

Tropical storm Lorenzo is located about about 975 mi (1570 km) E of Bermuda. Expected to weaken. Tropical Storm Lorenzo continue to head eastwards into the Middle Atlantic, and will not be a threat to any land areas. The wind shear is forecast to remain in the high range through Friday, which will likely destroy the storm by then.

In the Western Pacific

Typhoon Francisco is located approximately 141 nm southeast of Kadena Air Force Base, Japan.

Typhoon Francisco continues to weaken, due to cool waters and increasing wind shear, and is now a Category 1 storm with 80 mph winds. Francisco is traversing a large cool patch of ocean left behind by the churning action of Typhoon Wipha last week.

Francisco will make its closest approach to Japan on Thursday and Friday, and will likely be a tropical storm undergoing transition to an extratropical storm.

Super Typhoon Lekima is located approximately 505 nm southeast of Iwo To, Japan. The Western Pacific has made up for a slow start to its typhoon season, and has now cranked out its third Category 5 super typhoon of the year. Super Typhoon Lekima intensified to Category 5 status about 1,500 miles southeast of Japan at 18 UTC on Tuesday.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical storm Raymond is located about 280 mi (450 km) S of Manzanillo, Mexico. Raymond weakened to a tropical storm on Wednesday and turned to the west, moving away from Mexico's Pacific Coast.

Tropical Storm Raymond continues to spin just offshore of Acapulco, Mexico, but its top winds have weakened to 65 mph. As of 8 am EDT Wednesday, Raymond was stationary, and centered about 190 miles west-southwest of Acapulco. Raymond brought 7.05" of rain Saturday through Tuesday to Acapulco. All watches and warnings have been discontinued for the coast of Mexico, but Raymond is expected to bring an additional 1 - 2" of rain to the coast.

NewsBytes

Tornadoes in the Bandung and Pandeglang regions of Indonesia have injured seven people and damaged 350 houses. There has been a marked increase in the incidence of tornadoes in Indonesia:

Environment

The oceans are dying - Update and Roundup of Ocean Events

Two rare oarfish washing up have caused many to stop and take note, as these deep sea dwellers are seldom seem. Even just one washing up could be a once in a lifetime event. Scientists and researchers are both concerned by the recent deaths and puzzled as to the cause of the rare appearances of these seldom seen creatures.

The recent discovery of the 18-foot giant oarfish found off Santa Catalina Island on Oct. 13 was among the largest oarfish reported in nearly 20 years.

Following on the heels of that discovery was another 14-foot fish which was beached in Oceanside last Friday. The oarfish was dissected and examined by scientists yesterday.

Results from the research could take years to complete, scientists said.

Between the discovery of of both oarfish another very rare sea creature also washed up on the shores of Venice Beach in California on Oct. 13. The rare 15-foot-long female Stejneger's beaked whale normally prefers frigid subarctic waters and has rarely been seen in the wild.

Combined together with the other recent mass marine die-offs and the recent release of the The State of the Ocean Report 2013 from an international panel of marine scientists, it's clear that the oceans are indeed dying and a mass extinction is underway.

The report carries ominous news: "Oxygen levels are dropping and ocean waters are acidifying at the fastest rate in at least 300 million years when the greatest marine extinction in earth's history took place."

The discovery of these rare ocean dwellers is not the only news that has scientists concerned. Other species of marine life have been rapidly disappearing, among them million of sardines off the coast of British Columbia. Commercial fisherman were shocked recently when they could not find one sardine on their recent fishing trips, indicating that a $32 million dollar fishery has collapsed. The fisherman have given up looking for sardines this year.

“They've given up looking, pulled the plug,” confirmed Lorne Clayton, executive director of the Canadian Pacific Sardine Association,“It certainly was disappointing. It’s cost them time, fuel, and crew to go out and look, with no compensation.”

In another recent report from the Canadian Press, starfish have also been dying off by the thousands, turning into mush in the ocean. The Vancouver Aquarium is ‘alarmed’ at the mass die-off of starfish that is happening on the ocean floor. “They’re gone. It’s amazing,” said Donna Gibbs, a research diver and taxonomist on the aquarium’s Howe Sound Research and Conservation group.

“Whatever hit them, it was like wildfire and just wiped them out.”

Not only are the starfish dying on the West Coast but reports have been coming in of the same things happening on the East Coast. In July, researchers at the University of Rhode Island reported that sea stars were dying in a similar way from New Jersey to Maine, and the university was working with colleagues at Brown and Roger Williams universities to figure out the cause.

The starfish die-off is also happening to other species including Chitons, Abalone, Mussels, Sun Stars and Salmon from the West Coast of California to Vancouver (see video of the mass die-off event)

Add to that recent dolphin and whale strandings, coral reef destruction and other mortality reports of marine life - and the prognosis is grim. Recent reports of yellow salmon have also been coming in. Researchers are mystified as to the cause of healthy salmon turning a ghastly yellow.

A recent review by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean is a warning: According to the IPSO, the evidence is clearer than ever that the effect of climate change is being felt most acutely by the world’s seas. Vast expanses of the ocean absorb heat and CO2 and the results are having disastrous effects on marine life.

The oceans are increasingly acidifying; warmer water holds less oxygen; and combined with overfishing and pollution from heavy metals, organochlorines and plastics, the outlook is darker than ever. Not to mention the effects that the fallout from the Fukushima Nuclear disaster present:

In a recent article by the Los Angeles Times, an estimated 60 billion becquerels of cesium-137 and strontium-90 are being discharged daily into the Pacific from the ditch at the north end of the reactors [outside of the harbor], said Michio Aoyama, senior researcher at the geochemical research department of the Meteorological Research Institute at the Japan Meteorological Agency. It has been determined that the amount of radiation coming from Fukushima is 6,500 times the normal limit. In addition to the radiation, debris from Fukushima has also littered the ocean far and wide.

Sailor Ivan Macfadyen, a frequent sailor on the ocean, was shocked and horrified on a recent voyage from Osaka Japan to San Francisco. Macfayden reports that,"After we left Japan, it felt as if the ocean itself was dead."

"We hardly saw any living things. We saw one whale, sort of rolling helplessly on the surface with what looked like a big tumor on its head. It was pretty sickening."

"I've done a lot of miles on the ocean in my life and I'm used to seeing turtles, dolphins, sharks and big flurries of feeding birds. But this time, for 3,000 nautical miles there was nothing alive to be seen."

In place of the missing life was garbage in astounding volumes.

"Part of it was the aftermath of the tsunami that hit Japan a couple of years ago. The wave came in over the land, picked up an unbelievable load of stuff and carried it out to sea. And it's still out there, everywhere you look."

There is also growing speculation that large amounts of methane gas being emitted from the ocean may be the cause of or contributing to the death of the marine life.

Methane gas, also known in some circles as "the ticking time bomb", is theorized to have caused mass extinctions in the past. Methane gas has been way above normal levels within the last few weeks, concerning scientists and researchers.

According to Sam Carana at the Arctic News Blog, this is a situation we need to be very concerned about: Carana says, "This is a very dangerous situation, since high levels of methane have been recorded over the Arctic Ocean for more than a month now. Furthermore, large amounts of methane have vented in the Laptev Sea area in previous years."

A large release of methane could have catastrophic effects to life on earth.

Although climate change was hotly debated for many years, recent polls show that people are starting to understand the serious effects of climate change, including the potential death of our oceans.

Michael E. Mann, Climate Scientist, Professor at Penn State University and author of "Dire Predictions" & "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars", had this to say recently:

"Never did I imagine, when my co-authors and I published the 'hockey stick' curve a decade and a half ago, that I would find myself at the centre of the larger debate over human-caused climate change," said Mann. "But regardless of how I ended up a prominent figure in the debate, I consider myself privileged to be in a position to inform the societal discourse over the greatest threat humans have ever faced, the threat of dangerous and potentially irreversible climate change."

Paul Beckwith, part-time professor and a PhD student with the laboratory for paleoclimatology and climatology at the University of Ottawa, recently stated that he believes we have now entered into a state of abrupt climate change and that, "We have lost our stable climate," which means that the climate can drastically change in a relatively short period of time, sometimes even within years. Read more about the "Tipping Point" here: The tipping point and its effects - the climate change warming point of no return.

Beckwith states that,"We have lost our stable climate. Likely permanently. Rates of change are greatly exceeding anything in the paleorecords. By at least 10x, and more likely >30x. We are heading to a much warmer world. The transition will be brutal for civilization."

Putting all these reports and events together, it does seem that our worst nightmare facing civilization is now playing out in real time. It does seem that we have indeed hit the "Tipping Point" and that our oceans are urgently crying out to us in death, destruction and despair.

The question is now, is there anything we can do about it?

Space Events

Solar Flare

Earth-facing sunspot AR1877 erupted on Oct. 24th at 00:30 UT (Oct. 23rd at 5:30 pm PDT), producing an M9-class solar flare. A flash of extreme UV radiation from the flare ionized Earth's upper atmosphere and created a brief HF radio blackout on the sunlit side of the planet.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Saudi Arabia - Update

WHO has been informed of two laboratory-confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Saudi Arabia on 18 and 19 October 2013, and three laboratory-confirmed cases in 18 September 2013.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Zhupanovsky (Kamchatka, Russia): A new explosive eruption started yesterday night (23 Oct). An ash plume was detected drifting at an estimated 16,000 ft (5 km) altitude and drifting ESE. At least 1 mm of ash have been deposited in the Nalychevo valley, a natural park between Zhupanovsky and Avachinsky volcanoes.

Zhupanovsky volcano lies about 70 km northeast of the capital of Kamchatka, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and had its last eruption in 1959.

It is a complex volcano composed of several overlapping cones aligned on a roughly east-west oriented axis. The new eruption comes from the same vent that has been also the site of all known historical eruptions, located west of the highest point of the volcanic massif.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): A phase of strong explosions during 20-21 Oct culminated with an eruption on 21 Oct that produced an ash plume rising to 18,000 ft (5.4 km) altitude (VAAC Tokyo).

Since then, the volcano has calmed down and had only smaller explosions.

Langila (New Britain, Papua New Guinea): A thermal hot spot and an SO2 plume are often visible on satellite data, indicating that the volcano is in eruption although the nature of its current activity is not known exactly.

The volcano, one of Papua New Guinea's most active, has often semi-persistent strombolian activity and sometimes lava flows.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.8 Earthquake hits south of Fiji.

5.8 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

5.2 Earthquake hits Leyte in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits Mindanao in the Philippines.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

Tropical storm Lorenzo is located about 830 mi. (1335 km) Eastt of Bermuda. Expected to weaken soon.

Tropical Storm Lorenzo, was born on Monday afternoon. Lorenzo's formation brings this year's Atlantic tally to 12 named storms, which is one more than the long term average. However, Lorenzo is going to be one of those weak, short-lived tropical storms that likely would have been missed before satellites came along in the 1960s. The storm will not be a threat to any land areas.

In the Western Pacific

Typhoon Francisco is located approximately 291 nm southeast of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan.

Typhoon Francisco has steadily weakened since becoming Earth's third Category 5 storm of 2013 on Saturday, and is now a Category 1 storm with 85 mph winds. Francisco is now traversing a large cool patch of ocean up to 2°C colder than the surrounding waters, left behind by the churning action of Typhoon Wipha last week.

By the time Francisco makes its closest approach to Japan on Thursday and Friday, it will be a tropical storm undergoing transition to an extratropical storm. However, the latest computer model guidance keeps Francisco well offshore from Japan, and the storm's heaviest rains will miss the country.

Super Typhoon Lekima is located approximately 580 nm east -northeast of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Typhoon Lekima is an impressive Category 4 typhoon with 145 mph winds, intensifying over the warm waters of the Western Pacific about 1,500 miles southeast of Japan. Satellite loops show that Lekima is another very well-organized typhoon with a prominent eye surrounded by a solid ring of eyewall clouds with very cold cloud tops. Lekima is predicted to reach Category 5 strength on Thursday, but will likely recurve to the northeast without affecting any land areas.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Hurricane Raymond is located about 140 mi (225 km) WSW of Acapulco, Mexico. Still parked off the coast of southern Mexico.

Hurricane Raymond weakens, but still drenching Mexico - Hurricane Raymond continues to spin just offshore of Acapulco, Mexico, as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds. As of 11 am EDT Tuesday, Raymond was stationary, centred about 135 miles west-southwest of Acapulco. Raymond brought 5.67" of rain Saturday through Monday to Acapulco, where a Hurricane Watch is posted.

Raymond is expected to bring heavy rains of up to 12" to the coast, and this is an area where heavy rains are definitely most unwelcome. Hurricane Manuel hit this region of Mexico with extreme torrential rains when it made landfall on September 15, triggering deadly mudslides and flooding that left 169 people dead or missing and caused $4.2 billion in damage. Raymond is in an area with weak steering currents, and is likely to show some erratic movement until today, when a ridge of high pressure is forecast to build in and force the storm west-southwestwards, away from the coast. Recent satellite loops show a weakening trend, as the southeast eyewall is now missing, and the storm's heavy thunderstorms have diminished in intensity. This weakening may be due to the colder waters from below that Raymond's winds have churned to the surface.

Drought

Drought - and Other Disasters - in Argentina

Argentina's agriculture, livestock and fishing ministry has declared four provinces to be in a state of agricultural emergency due to drought, storms, hail and frost. Argentina's drought has become “critical” in almost all of the country's northern oilseed and grain growing regions, with risks to crop forecasts for soybeans and sunflowers.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

The threat of bushfires has eased in the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands of New South Wales. But authorities expect that to change within 24 hours with updated weather forecasts labelled 'as bad as it gets'.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): According to the local mountain guides from Magmatrek, activity has increased significantly during the past 3 days, especially at the NW vent. A group of VolcanoDiscovery has arrived on the island and will report in more detail in the following days.

Etna (Sicily, Italy): After about 10 days of near complete quiet, a faint red glow was observed early on 22 Oct at the New SE crater. The origin of the glow seems to have been increased degassing from the summit vent and the at the fumaroles in the saddle between the old and New SE cone.

Karymsky (Kamchatka): An explosion yesterday produced an ash plume rising to 7,000 ft (2.1 km) and drifting SE, VAAC Tokyo reported.

Ibu (Halmahera, Indonesia): Hot spots at the summit have become larger and more frequently observed on recent MODIS satellite data. This indicates that activity has become more intense at the volcano with its active lava dome.

Dukono (Halmahera): The semi-persistent explosive activity of strombolian to vulcanian type has been at elevated levels recently. The volcano produced ash plumes rising to 9,000 ft (2.7 km) altitude yesterday as well as this morning. Our friend Aris reported from a recent visit to the volcano that bombs during this activity were ejected to up to 1.5 km distance from the active crater.

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): No new eruptive activity has been observed recently and MODIS satellite data no longer show hot spots. Seismicity remains above background levels, and AVO maintains alert level yellow.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.3 Earthquake hits northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

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

5.1 Earthquake hits Ascension Island.

5.0 Earthquake hits northeast of the Loyalty islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Solomon Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Atlantic:

Tropical storm Lorenzo has formed and is located about 650 miles (1020 km) east-southeast of Bermuda.

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Francisco is located approximately 152 nm west of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Category 2 Typhoon Francisco has steadily weakened on Sunday and Monday, after spending just over a day as Earth's third Category 5 storm of 2013 on Saturday. Satellite loops show a large, cloud-filled eye and a decaying eyewall. Since wind shear remains low, the weakening is likely in response to cooler ocean temperatures, since Francisco is now traversing a large cool patch of ocean up to 2°C colder than the surrounding waters, left behind by the churning action of Typhoon Wipha last week.

By the time Francisco makes its closest approach to Japan on Thursday and Friday, it will be undergoing transition to an extratropical storm. Francisco's interaction with a cold front over Japan during this process will bring very heavy rains to Japan, and these rains (4 - 8 inches) will pose a serious flooding threat, as the soils have not had a chance to dry out much from the record rains that Typhoon Wipha brought last week.

Typhoon Lekima is located approximately 827 nm east of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Hurricane Raymond is located about 160 mi (255 km) WSW of Acapulco, Mexico.

Hurricane Raymond roared into life on Sunday just offshore from Acapulco, Mexico, rapidly intensifying from a minimal-strength tropical storm with 40 mph winds to a major Category 3 hurricane in just 24 hours. Raymond is the first major hurricane in the Eastern Pacific in 2013, making it the first year since 1968 that both the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic had made it into October without a major hurricane.

Raymond has brought more than 3" of rain so far to Acapulco, where a Hurricane Watch is posted. Raymond is expected to bring heavy rains of up to 8" to the coast, and this is an area where heavy rains are definitely most unwelcome. Hurricane Manuel hit this region of Mexico with extreme torrential rains when it made landfall on September 15, triggering deadly mudslides and flooding that left 169 people dead or missing

NewsBytes

Tornado in France today has claimed the life of one person and injured two others, local media reported. The tornado caused heavy damage in Steent'je, near the French northern city of Bailleul.

A severe storm in Wales left parts of the capital city under several inches of water over the weekend. Police in Cardiff were forced to close roads on Saturday afternoon while shops were forced shut by unexpected flash-floods. Pentrebane, Llandaff, Roath and Cathays were hit by the heavy rainfall while witnesses described how Whitchurch village was "turned into a well" in just half an hour.

Global Warming

Global Warming Forecast for Amazon Rain Forest: Dry and Dying

The Amazon rain forest's dry season lasts three weeks longer than it did 30 years ago, and the likely culprit is global warming, a new study finds.

Rain falls year-round in the Amazon, but most of the annual deluge drops during the wet season. (The rainy season's timing varies with latitude.) Scientists think that a longer dry season will stress trees, raising the risk of wildfires and forest dieback. The forest's annual fire season became longer as the dry season lengthened.

"The length of the dry season in the southern Amazon is the most important climate condition controlling the rain forest," Rong Fu, a climate scientist at The University of Texas at Austin's Jackson School of Geosciences, said in a statement. "If the dry season is too long, the rain forest will not survive."

With the dry season already spanning an extra week each decade since 1979, the future effects will be more severe.

During the 2005 and 2010 droughts, satellites detected decreased vegetation greenness over the southern Amazon rain forest (orange and red regions).

"The dry season over the southern Amazon is already marginal for maintaining rain forest," Fu said. "At some point, if it becomes too long, the rain forest will reach a tipping point."

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Major fires ravaging the Blue Mountains west of Sydney are threatening to merge to form a massive blaze, the state's fire commissioner said Monday.

"I don't think I've ever used the word megafire," said New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.

"But the reality is that the modelling indicates that there's every likelihood that in the forecast weather conditions that these two fires, particularly up in the back end of the mountains, will merge at some point."

Firefighters spent the night building containment lines to prevent this from happening, with heat and winds set to intensify in the coming days. It is feared the worsening conditions could push the blaze to the populated tourist centres of Leura and Katoomba. Worst wildfires in decades.

The fires took hold on Thursday claiming the life of a 63-year-old man who died of a suspected heart attack while attempting to defend his home from the flames.

An estimated 58 fires - 14 of which remain out of control - have since destroyed more than 200 homes and burned through more than 100,000 hectares of land in the most serious fire disaster in the state in almost 50 years.

Among the worst hit has been the town of Lithgow where a blaze has already ravaged almost 40,000 hectares.

On Sunday New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell declared a state of emergency, announcing that authorities were "planning for the worst but hoping for the best." "This is not an action taken lightly ... but it's important the Rural Fire Service and other emergency services have the powers and the resources they need to combat this threat," O'Farrell said.

The order gives emergency personnel the authority to force evacuations and close electricity networks.

Wildlife

"The Pacific Ocean is Broken"

The following is a report received from a sailor, Ivan MacFayden sailing the Pacific.

“After we left Japan, it felt as if the ocean itself was dead,” Australian yachtsman Ivan Macfadyen said.

“We hardly saw any living things. We saw one whale, sort of rolling helplessly on the surface with what looked like a big tumour on its head. It was pretty sickening.

I’ve done a lot of miles on the ocean in my life and I’m used to seeing turtles, dolphins, sharks and big flurries of feeding birds. But this time, for 3000 nautical miles there was nothing alive to be seen.”

In place of the missing life was garbage in astounding volumes

And something else. The boat’s vivid yellow paint job, never faded by sun or sea in years gone past, reacted with something in the water off Japan, losing its sheen in a strange and unprecedented way."

There have been several similar reports about wildlife [or lack thereof] around the Pacific.

Environment

Pollution

China's 10th-largest city shuts down because of extreme air pollution - Harbin, China, the nation's 10th most populous city with a population of 11 million, has virtually shut down today because of extreme levels of air pollution reaching up to 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter. The safe level recommended by the World Heath Organisation is just 25 micrograms per cubic meter. The dense pollution was created by stagnant air on a day when the city's heating systems kicked in for the first time this fall. With visibility less than 50 yards, the airport was forced to close, as well as most schools and some roads.

Disease

California On Alert For Yellow Fever Carrying Mosquitoes

Californians have been warned to be on lookout for yellow fever-carrying mosquitoes, which are most commonly found in hot tropics of the world, as well as southeastern states of the US.

Aedes aegypti, a type of mosquito that carries the disease, was first found in June in the city of Madera, California. The mosquito bites during the day and are capable of reproducing simply by laying eggs in less than a teaspoon of water.

Despite eradication efforts to warn people of standing water that can allow these insects to lay its eggs, more mosquitoes were soon discovered in Clovis, Fowler, as well as San Mateo County in August. This week, the pest was found in Fresno.

Yellow fever-carrying mosquitoes are also capable of harboring dengue fever; both diseases are viral that can be fatal if not treated appropriately. Yellow fever causes severe flu-like symptoms, at times jaundice as well. Dengue fever causes headaches, body pains, and a rash similar to what patients get when diagnosed with measles.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): The violent explosive phase of the eruption ended at 13:00 UTC on October 20. KVERT reported a decrease of the tremor from 150.4 mcm/s to 3.3 mcm/s and the cessation of ash emission that last reached 26,000 ft (8 km) altitude. Lava flows continue to effuse on the south-west, south-east and west volcanic flanks.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): The growth of the lava dome continues along with strong degassing/steaming and occasional explosions that produce ash plumes rising to up to 4-6 km altitude.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): No significant changes in (the currently weak) activity occurred. CENAPRED only recorded 5 weak emissions during 19-20 Oct.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): An increase in effusive activity was reported. The observatory mentioned "abundant activity" from two lava flows on the western and southern flank of the Caliente dome, which generate block avalanches. Explosive activity has remained at normal, rather weak levels with infrequent ash explosions ejecting plumes of up to about 700 m height.

Pacaya (Guatemala): Near continuous, relatively strong strombolian activity is visible from Guatemala City. A plume of fine ash from this activity rises to about 2700 m a.s.l. and drifts to the S and SE.

Fuego (Guatemala): A trend of increasing explosive activity is visible over the past days. INSIVUMEH reports weak to moderate explosions with ash plumes rising up to 800 m above the crater and producing a plume drifting 10 km to the west and northwest. Shock waves

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes - Global

5.5 Earthquake hits the Kashmir-Xinjiang border region, China.

5.4 Earthquake hits the Kashmir-Xinjiang border region, China.

5.4 Earthquake hits Tonga.

5.3 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

5.0 Earthquake hits west of the Galapagos Islands.

5.0 Earthquake hits Leyte in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits Leyte in the Philippines.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Francisco is located approximately 613 nm southeast of Kadena Air Base, Japan.

Tropical storm Lekima is located 945 nm east of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Super Typhoon Francisco has intensified to become Earth's third Category 5 storm of 2013. The other two Cat 5s were Cyclone Phailin, which hit India earlier this month at Category 3 or 4 strength, killing 44 and causing at least $1 billion in damage, and Super Typhoon Usagi, which hit China just east of Hong Kong as a Category 2 storm on September 22, killing 50 and causing at least $3.8 billion in damage.

Francisco is a spectacular, well-organized storm with an impressive area of heavy thunderstorms and a prominent eye. With warm waters that extend to great depth and low wind shear, Francisco is likely to stay at Category 5 strength until an eyewall replacement cycle begins. Francisco is headed northwest towards Japan, and will likely stay at Category 4 or stronger intensity until Tuesday, when the storm will encounter higher wind shear and cooler waters.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Hurricane Raymond is located about 165 mi (265 km) WSW of Acapulco, Mexico. The hurricane is expected to become nearly stationary late Monday and Tuesday as it approaches the coast of Mexico within the Hurricane Warning area. Additional strengthening is expected during the next day or so, and Raymond could become a major hurricane at any time.

Hurricane Raymond threatens soaked Mexico coast; Acapulco faces more rain. Tropical Storm Raymond steamed Sunday toward Mexico's southern Pacific coast, an area already devastated by rains and mudslides.

NewsBytes:

At least 100 people have been injured in tornado in Hayling Island in Hampshire.

At least six people have been injured in a hailstorm in Sherpur, Bogra on Sunday afternoon.

Floods inundated thousands of homes in Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra, on Sunday, after two of the largest rivers in the area – Bahilang and Padang - burst their banks.

Floods have affected up to eight provinces across Thailand, submerging at least 28 highways and major roads.

Disease

Polio in Syria

On 17 October 2013, WHO received reports of a cluster of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases in the Syrian Arab Republic. This cluster of ‘hot’ AFP was detected in early October 2013 in Deir Al Zour province and is currently being investigated. Initial results from the national polio laboratory in Damascus indicate that two of the cases could be positive for polio – final results are awaited from the regional reference laboratory of the Eastern Mediterranean Region of WHO.

Wild poliovirus was last reported in Syria in 1999.

Cholera in Mexico - Update

The Ministry of Health in Mexico has reported 171 confirmed cases, including one death, of infection with Vibrio cholerae O1 Ogawa toxigenic between 9 September to 18 October 2013.

Legionnaires Disease in Alabama, USA

Health officials are investigating an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease apparently centred at a northwest Alabama nursing home.

Cholera in Nigeria

At least eight people have died and 61 hospitalised in Plateau state after an outbreak of cholera in a community where people displaced by conflict in neighbouring areas, live.

Wildfires

Bushfires blaze in Australia's New South Wales

Three top-level emergency warnings are in place across New South Wales with bushfires flaring up across the state as the feared hot and gusty conditions begin to materialise. Two major NSW bushfires have flared up again as firefighters brace for the worsening conditions and try to halt the formation of a "mega-fire" if the bushfires merge.

Sixty-two fires were burning across the state on Monday with 17 uncontained and emergency warnings for residents of the Blue Mountains townships of Bilpin, Berambing and Springwood.

Space Events

Asteroids and Fireballs

On Oct. 20, 2013, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 28 fireballs. (17 sporadics, 8 Orionids, 1 chi Taurid, 1 southern Taurid, 1 Leonis Minorid)

NASA says a big asteroid that whizzed by Earth last month unnoticed is probably nothing to worry about when it returns much closer in 19 years.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

6.5 Earthquake hits the Gulf of California.

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

5.2 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

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

5.2 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits Leyte in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical Storm Raymond has formed in the Pacific south of Mexico.

Raymond had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph) early Sunday and was located about 185 miles (300 kms) south-southwest of Acapulco, Mexico. It was moving toward the northwest near 7 mph (11 kph).

Forecasters say Raymond is expected to slowly approach the southern coast of Mexico late Monday or Tuesday and then begin to meander. Raymond is expected to become a hurricane in the coming 48 hours.

Forecasters warn heavy rainfall is possible along the south-central Mexican coast in coming days and could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. A tropical storm watch is in effect from Acapulco to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico.

Wildfires

Wildfires - Australia

Firefighters battling some of the most destructive wildfires to ever strike Australia's most populous state were focusing on a major blaze Sunday near the town of Lithgow that stretched along a 300-kilometre front.

Authorities warned that high temperatures and winds were likely to maintain heightened fire danger for days in New South Wales state.

The fires have killed one man, destroyed 208 homes and damaged another 122 since Thursday, the Rural Fire Service said.

Firefighters have taken advantage of milder conditions in recent days to reduce the number of fires threatening towns around Sydney from more than 100 on Thursday night to 61 on Sunday, Rural Fire Service spokesman Matt Sun said.

Fifteen of these fires continued to burn out of control, including the blaze near Lithgow, west of Sydney, which was given the highest danger ranking by the fire service. Authorities expect that blaze will continue to burn for days and have advised several nearby communities to consider evacuating ahead of worsening weather conditions.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.3 Earthquake hits Pakistan.

5.2 Earthquake hits D'Entrecasteaux Islands region.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Francisco has strengthened into a super typhoon (winds of at least 150 mph) over the western Pacific several hundred miles northwest of Guam. Environmental conditions will continue to support a strong typhoon through the weekend. Thereafter, cooler ocean waters and increasing winds aloft should begin to weaken Francisco as it moves toward southern Japan by the early to middle part next week.

NewsBytes

Hail, lightning and high winds hit Southeast Queensland, Australia leaving a trail of destruction. Wind gusts of 124km/h with 2cm hail stones were recorded.

Wildlife

Disappearing North American Moose Alarm Scientists

The sharp and sudden decline in moose populations across North America has researchers concerned over what’s killing the iconic members of the continent’s ecosystem.

One of Minnesota’s two distinct populations of the lumbering animals has dropped from about 4,000 to 100 since the 1990s.

The other population is down to fewer than 3,000 from 8,000 over the same period.

Wildlife experts say manmade climate change appears to be behind most of the declines.

They point to the increased number of winter ticks in New Hampshire that have thrived due to a longer fall and less snow on average.

“You can get 100,000 ticks on a moose,” state biologist Kristine Rines told The New York Times.

Brain worms and liver flukes, which thrive in moist environments, have ravaged the moose populations in Minnesota.

And the loss of forest cover in British Columbia due to an epidemic of pine bark beetles, which thrive in warmer weather, has left the moose exposed to hunters and other predators.

Since moose shape the landscape as they graze, even sometimes creating habitat for nesting birds, wildlife officials fear their loss could have a ripple effect through the environment.

Wildfires

'Catastrophic' Wildfires Hit Australia

About 100 bushfires raging in New South Wales, Australia's most populated state, forced thousands of people to flee their homes yesterday. Smoke and ash drifted into Syndey on Thursday, casting a yellow pall over the famed Sydney Opera House.

Unseasonably warm temperatures and strong winds fanned the flames, according to news reports. The extreme weather followed a dry, warm winter. There were no reports of deaths, but the extent of damage is unknown, because some fires are too intense for firefighters to safely battle the 'catastrophic' blazes, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. More than 30 fires were burning out of control on Thursday night, and several hundred homes may have been destroyed.

Disease

Novel Coronavirus - Update

WHO has been informed of an additional laboratory-confirmed case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in Qatar.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): Strong explosive and effusive activity continues. KVERT monitors the situation closely and issues alerts every few hours. Last evening, ash emissions again reached almost 30,000 ft (8-9 km) altitude. "The ash plume this morning has decreased in height to 21,300-24,600 ft (6.5-7 km) a.s.l. but by now, an ash plume dangerous for aviation is extending about 736 mi (1188 km) to the south-east and east of the volcano."

Tungurahua (Ecuador): The eruptive phase that had started on 6 Oct, after a quiet interval of 3 months, continues to increase. The volcano observatory reports ash columns rising up to 3 km above the crater and the first occurrence (so far) small pyroclastic flows. In the early days of this phase, seismic activity was characterised by an increase in the number and energy of the events related to the mobilisation of fluids into the volcano such as long-period events, tremor and explosions and emission signals of variable magnitude. Superficially, low intensity strombolian activity and ash emissions could be observed, resulting in ash fall in the areas of El Manzano, Bilbao, Chacauco , Choglontús , Mocha, Pillate and on the upper slopes of the volcano itself.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.0 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Mid-Indian ridge.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

The Atlantic is quiet - None of the reliable computer models for forecasting tropical cyclone genesis is predicting development over the next five days.

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Francisco is located approximately 152 nm west of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Category 2 Typhoon Francisco strengthening. It is steadily intensifying over the warm waters of the Western Pacific about 160 miles southwest of Guam. The typhoon is expected to make its closest approach to Guam on Friday morning (local time), bringing sustained winds of 35 - 45 mph and heavy rain, as the storm heads north-northeast at 9 mph.

Continued strengthening is likely, and Francisco is forecast to become a major Category 4 typhoon by Saturday as it turns northwest towards Japan. Models predict that Francisco will hit Japan on Wednesday or Thursday next week, though there is very high uncertainty in the storm's track that far into the future.

Francisco's formation gives the Western Pacific 27 named storms so far in 2013, which is the average number of named storms for an entire year. The last time there were more than 27 tropical storms or typhoons in the Western Pacific was in 2004, when there were 32.

Global Warming

Oppressive Heat From Global Warming to Arrive Soon

The world is barreling toward a relentless increase in global warming that, within just a few years, will be impossible to come back from, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa calculate that by approximately 2047, the coolest year from then on will be warmer than it was in 2005, which is when the world as a whole had its hottest year on record.

Writing in the journal Nature, study author Camilo Mora says that Kingston, Jamaica, will be among the first to become off-the-charts hot — within about a decade.

He says it soon will be followed by Singapore in 2028, Mexico City in 2031, Cairo in 2036 and Phoenix and Honolulu in 2043.

Mora and colleagues used weather observations, computer models and other data to calculate the point at which every year that passes will be warmer than the hottest year on record.

They found that tropical locations will arrive there first, but U.S. cities like New York and Washington will get there by 2046, soon followed by Detroit, Los Angeles, Detroit, Houston, Chicago and Seattle.

“Go back in your life to think about the hottest, most traumatic event you have experienced,” Dr. Mora told The New York Times. “What we’re saying is that very soon, that event is going to become the norm.”

But he says that the models indicated that this heat can be delayed by 20 to 25 years if greenhouse gas emissions are quickly reduced worldwide.

“This paper is both innovative and sobering,” said Jane Lubchenco, former head of the the U.S. environmental agency NOAA.

Dr. Mora is not a climate scientist, but is a specialist in using large sets of data to probe environmental issues. He and a group of graduate students analysed forecasts produced by 39 of the world’s leading climate models in arriving at their findings.

Environment

Global Temperature Extremes

The week's hottest temperature was 109.8 degrees Fahrenheit (42.9 degrees Celsius) at Nouakchott, Mauritania.

The week's coldest temperature was minus 90.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 68.1 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 Organisation sets the standards for weather observations, and provides a global telecommunications circuit for data distribution.

Wildfires

Australia

A series of major wildfires are burning in the Australian state of New South Wales, with fears that hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Fire crews are still tackling the blazes on the outskirts of Sydney, despite temperatures and winds easing. One man has died while trying to protect his home.

Around 2,000 firefighters across the state worked to try and contain the more than 100 fires but many are still burning out of control. The fires have been caused by unseasonably hot temperatures and strong winds. While these have now died down, more hot weather is forecast next week.Some of the worst affected areas are in the Blue Mountains around 70km (45 miles) west of Sydney. "It's been an awful 24 hours for the Blue Mountains [region]. We've lost possibly scores of homes."

Disease

Rift Valley Fever - Southern Sudan

An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever Disease has been reported in South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria and Upper Nile states, a government official has announced.

Rift Valley fever is a viral disease spread primarily by mosquitoes, which can affect both humans and animals.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): After perhaps a short decrease in activity or more likely, simply the absence of direct observations due to bad weather, the volcano continues to erupt. A moderately large ash plume of approx 3 km height has been rising to about 25,000 ft (7.5 km) altitude this morning.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): As if it was jealous of Klyuchevskoy, the other volcano currently in violent eruption, Shiveluch has increased its activity recently. Dome growth has gained speed again, producing more frequent avalanches as well as explosions. Several explosions occurred during the past 24 hours sending ash plumes to 20-23,000 ft (6-7 km) altitude and drifting east. A large SO2 plume, indicator of the arrival of fresh magma, can be seen on NOAA satellite data as well.

Dukono (Halmahera): Elevated explosive activity (strombolian to vulcanian type) continues. An explosion this morning produced an ash plume rising to 7,000 ft altitude.

Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): AVO has lowered the alert level to yellow, as it appears that no new eruptive activity has occurred during the past days. The eruption is not considered over yet, but might be simply pausing and could resume any time (such as the volcano did before).

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Following a small increase in the frequency of small explosive emissions during the previous days, activity has now decreased again to averages of less than 1 emission per hour. At night, crater glow remains visible.

Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): The volcano is in its most typical state of activity. After a few days with less (recorded) activity, the volcano's lava dome has again produced a number of small to moderate explosions with ash plumes rising up to about 700 m yesterday. Glow was observed at the eastern rim of the Caliente dome, which suggests that slow lava extrusion has resumed there as well.

Pacaya (Guatemala): Strombolian activity continues at low to moderate levels with little variations over the past days. Explosions with low ash content eject incandescent lava bombs to up to about 50 m above the rim of Mackenney crater.

Fuego (Guatemala): Activity has decreased and shifted back to be mainly mildly explosive. INSIVUMEH reported a few explosions with ash plumes of about 300 m height yesterday. The lava effusion has decreased. The lava flow was still active yesterday morning, but only 150 m long.

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.4 Earthquake hits the Santa Cruz Islands.

5.4 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

5.3 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

140 people are now reported to have died in the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck the central Philippines on Tuesday. Relief efforts are continuing on the island of Bohol, which bore the brunt of the quake, and in neighbouring Cebu.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

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

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Tropical storm Francisco is located approximately 167 nms Southwest of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Tropical Storm Francisco is headed towards Japan - It's been an active October for typhoons in the Western Pacific, and there is at least one more typhoon on the way. Tropical Storm Francisco has formed in the waters east of the Philippines, and is forecast to become a major Category 4 typhoon by Sunday as it heads north-northwest towards Japan. Models predict that Francisco will come very close to Japan on Wednesday, October 23.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical depression Priscilla is located about 695 mi (1115 km) WSW of the southern tip of Baja California. Priscilla is anticipated to become a remnant low by Friday.

NewsBytes

Avalanche on Mount Everest has claimed the lives of at least four people. The avalanche hit four Australian tourists, accompanied by six Tibetans. Fatalities include three local porters and a 60-year-old Australian man.

A landslide in Dai County in northern China's Shanxi Province has claimed the lives of at least three people at the Mingli Mine.

Wildfires

Australia

Australia - Three major bushfires burning in New South Wales. A home is ablaze, a regional airport is closed and authorities are warning of a serious threat to life as bushfires burn across NSW. A total fire ban remains in place for several areas of the state on Thursday, with temperatures of 34C forecast. It was nudging 34C in Sydney at 1pm (AEDT) on Thursday, with gusty winds.

Of most concern to firefighters at 1pm were three fires. In the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, near Lithgow, more than 100 firefighters were battling a massive blaze that was skirting the village of Oaky Park and spotting into Clarence. A new fire had also broken out at Springwood. "The sky is very dark with the sun burning orange through the dark smoke." Residents who hadn't already evacuated before noon were advised to take shelter in their homes.

In the Southern Highlands, south-west of Sydney, a fire at the village of Balmoral, in Wingecarribee, was moving very quickly. "They're saying that one house is already alight, that could be because the house was alight and it's spread, or not, we don't know. It's all happened very quickly."

And at Port Stephens, north of Newcastle, Newcastle airport was closed around 12pm and all flights in and out were suspended because of a bushfire burning nearby. Passengers are advised to not come to the airport and to contact their airline for flight details. Similar conditions on Sunday saw six homes lost to fires at Port Stephens, north of Newcastle, and near Kempsey on the north coast.

Attempts to waterbomb in Lithgow were being hindered by 90km winds, which were also capable of carrying embers up to six kilometres. "The problem is when you've got aircraft over fires like that with (those) winds, a lot of the time they're just getting knocked around in the sky."

Homes at Clarence, Dargan, Doctors Gap and Hartley are expected to come under threat from the fire, which has already burnt more than 1000 hectares of bushland. Two evacuation centres have been set up. Meanwhile, more than 130 firefighters are fighting the blaze near Port Stephens. "Some of the pictures we're getting from up there, it's just incredible. It's just a mass smoke cloud over the whole town." The fire at Balmoral Village was approaching the township of Yanderra and residents were being urged to move towards Bargo.

Disease

Bird Flu - China - Update

The National Health and Family Planning Commission, China notified WHO of a new laboratory-confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus. This is the first new confirmed case of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus since 11 August 2013.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): VAAC Anchorage sent out a message shortly before midnight (UTC) that the "eruption has ended" based on the absence of ash emissions from satellite imagery and pilot observations. This followed a particularly strong explosive phase that apparently occurred last night, when seismic data suggested strong emissions and an ash plume rose to possibly 33,000 ft (10 km) altitude. Webcam images from last night showed strong glow from lava flows and summit activity, but today the volcano has been hidden in clouds and no direct views have been possible so far. It is certainly too early to be sure whether the eruption has significantly decreased, has indeed ended surprisingly suddenly, or is simply pausing and could resume any time, as the VAAC report also remarks.

Reventador (Ecuador): IGPEN reports no significant change in the currently mild, intermittent explosive activity. During the latest 24 hour observation interval, 12 ash explosions were recorded and observed ash plumes rose to about 1 km above the crater.

Tungurahua (Ecuador): Activity has been constant and slowly increasing. Strombolian explosions produce a column of gas and ash rising about 1 km, mostly drifting west and north. Light ash fall has been reported from Penipe and Choglontus, and to the north, in Runtún. Near the volcano, constant rumbling is heard.

Jebel Zubair (Red Sea): The submarine eruption continues to produce a steam plume visible on the latest satellite images. No evidence of ash is apparent, suggesting that the vent is still relatively deep.

Barren Island (Indian Ocean): Eruptive activity continues. An ash plume was spotted on satellite imagery this morning rising to 12,000 ft (3.6 km) and drifting 15 nautical miles to the NW (VAAC Darwin)

Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

7.1 Earthquake hits the Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

5.2 Earthquake hits Vanuatu.

5.1 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits Santa Cruz in Bolivia.

5.0 Earthquake hits south of Bali, Indonesia.

5.0 Earthquake hits Santa Crus in Bolivia.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Tropical depression 26 is located approximately 55 nm southeast of Navsta, Guam. Favourable sea surface temperatures will allow the system to gradually intensify, with the potential for rapid intensification.

Typhoon Wipha kills at least 13 in Japan - The powerful typhoon passed close to the Japanese capital, Tokyo. Wipha caused landslides and flooding on Izu Oshima island, south of Tokyo, with several houses destroyed. Many people died when their homes collapsed or were buried in mudslides on the island. Two were found dead near a river. In Tokyo, flights were cancelled, bullet train services suspended and schools closed.

In the Eastern Pacific:

Tropical depression Priscilla is located about 630 mi (1015 km) WSW of the of the southern tip of Baja California. Priscilla is expected to weaken to a remnant low by tonight or Thursday morning.

Tropical Storm Octave, with maximum sustained winds of up to 85kph, was expected to approach the west coast of Baja California by Tuesday morning. The storm was forecast to weaken over the next 48 hours and could be a tropical depression by the time it nears land. The Mexican government issued a tropical storm warning on Monday as Octave took aim at an already disaster-weary Mexico, while a second storm, Priscilla, swirled far out to sea. Heavy rains were already spreading across portions of the southern Baja California Peninsula, an area that could see three to 7.6-15.2cm of rain along with the central peninsula. The storm system arrives just three weeks after the country weathered the dual blast of storms Manuel and Ingrid. At least 157 people were killed in the historic downpours, including 101 in the southern Guerrero state. Dozens were left missing in the mountainous village of La Pintada after a landslide buried a third of the community.

Wildlife

Diver finds creature from the deep

A marine science instructor snorkelling off the Southern California coast spotted something out of a fantasy novel: the silvery carcass of a five-metre-long serpent-like oarfish.

Jasmine Santana of the Catalina Island Marine Institute needed more than 15 helpers to drag the giant sea creature to shore on Sunday.

Staffers at the institute are calling it the discovery of a lifetime.

Because oarfish dive more than 900m deep, sightings of the creatures are rare and they are largely unstudied, according to CIMI.

The obscure fish apparently died of natural causes.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): Strong eruptive activity continues. VAAC Tokyo reports an ash plume rising to estimated 33,000 ft (10 km) altitude, i.e. about 5 km tall above the volcano, and drifting SW. Aircraft should avoid the airspace near as well many miles southwest and east of the volcano. VAAC Tokyo publishes regular updates about the observed and predicted extent of the ash plume.

Galeras (Colombia): Surface and seismic activity have been low recently. A 3.8 magnitude earthquake at 5.5 km depth and 7 km NE of the volcano occurred yesterday at 17:13 local time. The earthquake was felt in Pasto, and the municipalities of Nariño and La Florida. This event was preceded by 14 earthquakes of smaller magnitude (less than 2.6) recorded between 12:56 am and 16:40 pm, located as well on the NE sector of the volcano at depths 1.2 and 7 km.

Cumbal (Colombia): Seismic unrest continues at low levels with little changes over the past weeks and months. GEOMINAS keeps the volcano at yellow alert level.

Sotará (Colombia): Low-level seismic unrest continues with no significant changes to report over the past months.

Sabancaya (Peru): Seismic unrest continued through Sep-Oct including occasional swarms of volcanic-tectonic quakes (such as on 10 Oct), but overall earthquake activity has been showing a slowly decreasing trend. The volcano remains to be closely monitored.

Ubinas (Peru): Surface and seismic activity have calmed down recently and are near background levels.

Earthquakes

 Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

7.2 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

The death toll from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippine island of Bohol on Tuesday rose to 93, as rescuers struggled to reach patients in a collapsed hospital. Centuries-old stone churches crumbled and wide areas were without power. The quake struck below the island of Bohol, known for its sandy beaches. People were killed as structures collapsed in Bohol and nearby Cebu province. Several buildings and churches were damaged by the quake.

The quake struck at 08:12 (00:12GMT) on a national holiday in the country. 16 people were confirmed dead in Bohol and 15 in Cebu, considered the Philippines' second city. One was reported dead from the neighbouring island of Siquijor. Dozens of others were also being treated for injuries. At least five people died when part of a fishing port collapsed in Cebu. Two more people died and others were injured when a roof at a market fell. At least three people also died during a stampede at a sports complex in Cebu. "There was panic when the quake happened and there was a rush toward the exit."

The tremor triggered power outages in parts of Bohol, Cebu and neighbouring areas. Cebu officials have declared a state of calamity in the province. People fled to the streets in Cebu, one of the country's major cities, as buildings and homes were damaged . A city hall building was damaged on the island. Heavy damage to historic churches, some dating back to the Spanish colonial period in the 1500s and the 1600s, was also reported in Bohol and Cebu.

It was fortunate that it was a national holiday and the students were not in school. There were reports of many aftershocks following the quake.

 

 

5.9 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

5.5 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.4 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.4 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.3 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Negros-Cebu region in the Philippines.

5.1 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits Bohol in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands off New Zealand.

5.0 Earthquake hits Leyte in the Philippines.

5.0 Earthquake hits southern Sumatra, Indonesia.

5.0 Earthquake hits Fiji.

5.0 Earthquake hits Leyte in the Philippines.

Wildfires

Australia - Record Heat

Fingal Bay, Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie were host to more than a dozen out-of-control blazes last Sunday.

The mercury soared to 35 degrees, fanned by 100 km/h winds and sparked fires in the early afternoon.

Hundreds of residents whose homes were under threat in the Tilligerry Peninsula were turned away at Lemon Tree Passage, which was blocked off at Rookes Road.

By 6pm Sunday, more than 50 residents had moved to an evacuation centre at Williamtown, having been denied access to the peninsula. Strong south-easterly winds pushed the flames towards Mallabula, Bobs Farm and Tanilba Bay.

In Salt Ash, it is believed five homes were gutted by the flames.

At Fingal Bay, a fire raged out of control at Rocky Point Road, Boulder Bay Road, Amaroo Crescent and Pacific Drive for most of the day.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms

In the Western Pacific:

Typhoon Wipha is located approximately 593 nm south-southwest of Yokosuka, Japan.

Huge and powerful Category 2 Typhoon Wipha is now weakening as it heads north towards Japan. The storm peaked as a Category 4 storm with 135 mph winds on Sunday, but has weakened to 110 mph winds. Today, Wipha will encounter cooler waters and higher wind shear, which should substantially weaken the storm as it recurves to the northeast and passes just offshore from Tokyo. The coast of Japan should experience winds below hurricane force, if the core of Wipha passes offshore as expected, but heavy rains of 4 - 8" capable of causing damaging flooding will likely affect portions of the coast, including Tokyo. Heavy rains from Wipha may be a concern for the Fukushima nuclear site.

Typhoon Nari nearing landfall in Vietnam - Torrential rains are falling in Vietnam due to Category 1 Typhoon Nari, which is nearing landfall in the central part of the country. More than 180,000 people have been evacuated in advance of the storm. Nari battered the Philippines on Friday, killing thirteen people and leaving 2.1 million people without power on the main Philippine island of Luzon.

In the Eastern Pacific:

In the Eastern Pacific, we have two tropical cyclones: newly-developed Tropical Storm Priscilla, and Tropical Storm Octave. Octave is the only one that is a threat to land, and the 60-mph tropical storm is headed NNW towards Mexico's Baja Peninsula, where 3 - 6" of rain is expected over the next few days. Octave is expected to dissipate before making it to Baja, due to increasing dry air and wind shear.

Octave and Priscilla are embedded in a large plume of tropical moisture that is riding up to the northeast over Mexico and Texas. Flood watches and warnings are posted over many areas of Texas, where widespread rains of 2 - 6" have fallen over the past day. While the heavy rains have caused some moderate flooding, the precipitation is mostly welcome, as it will make a substantial dent in the multi-year drought that has gripped much of Texas. Much of the moisture generating the heavy rains in Texas is actually coming from the Gulf of Mexico, due to the clockwise flow of low-level air around a high pressure system over the Upper Midwest.

In the Indian Ocean:

Phailin is officially the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded to make landfall over India.

Flood waters have left nearly 100,000 people stranded in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts. The death toll from the cyclone has risen to 27 in Orissa, with four people killed in the floods. A flood alert has been also sounded in the neighbouring state of Bihar. There are fears of heavy rainfall in at least two dozen districts after the weakened storm changed course and moved towards northern parts of Bihar bordering Nepal.

Space Events

All Sky Fireball Network

Every night, a network of NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for fireballs - meteors brighter than Venus. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented on Spaceweather.com. On Oct. 14, the network detected 7 fireballs.

Disease

Cholera in Mexico

A cholera outbreak in central Mexico has risen to 159 confirmed cases and spread to four states as well as the capital, the country's health minister said on Monday.

One death has been attributed to the outbreak, the ministry said as it launched a nationwide public health campaign aimed at preventing further infections.

The east-central state of Hidalgo has been the worst affected with 145 confirmed cases, including the death of a 75-year-old woman. Also affected were the states of Mexico with nine, Veracruz with two, San Luis Potosi with one, and another couple in Mexico City, said Health Minister Mercedes Juan.

Eight in 10 cases have been successfully treated, the minister said, while those infected with the disease in the past several weeks range in age from three to 86.

She added that another 3,075 "probable cases" have been detected.

The source of the outbreak is believed to be the Rio Tecoluco in Hidalgo, which has tested positive for cholera and provides fresh water for local residents, said David Korenfeld, head of Mexico's national water commission.

Cholera is an infectious and sometimes fatal disease of the small intestine, often accompanied by severe nausea and diarrhoea.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:

Klyuchevskoy (Kamchatka): KVERT reported a small decrease in activity, although it seems during the past hours (after the report) to have increased again (see video below). The activity in any case can be considered high. An ash plume rises to up to 26,200 ft (8 km) a.s.l. and extends to the east-north-east of the volcano. Phreatic explosions (due to lava-snow interaction) at the south-western flanks of the volcano continue. Lava flows, fed by fountaining at the summit effuse on the south-western, western and south-eastern volcanic flanks.

Kizimen (Kamchatka): VAAC Tokyo reported an ash plume drifting at 13,000 ft (4 km) altitude from the volcano this morning at 05:28 UTC. Webcam images show a sustained steam-gas plume that might contain some ash. Glow from the summit lava dome can be seen on night-time images, indicating that lava extrusion continues.

Shiveluch (Kamchatka): The lava dome has become more active again, and frequently produces small incandescent avalanches. Strong degassing and occasional ash venting accompany this process. A weak ash plume rose today from the volcano to an altitude of about 12,000 ft.

Tangkubanparahu (West Java): No more eruptions have occurred since the series of 11 phreatic explosions between Saturday and Tuesday last week (5-8 Oct), but VSI continues to detect volcanic tremor. This suggests ongoing internal movements of pressurized fluids that could lead to new explosions any time. An exclusion zone of 1.5 radius around the crater is maintained.