july august 2007

Friday, August 31, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
"The great question is now at issue, whether man shall henceforth start forwards
with accelerated velocity toward illimitable, and hitherto unconceived improvement,
or be condemned to a perpetual oscillation between happiness and misery?"
Thomas Malthus

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/30/07 -
5.5 SERAM, INDONESIA
5.3 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.0 OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 WESTERN INDIAN-ANTARCTIC RIDGE
5.4 SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS

BRITAIN - The sixth tremor in a month shook the city of Manchester. Seismologists declared that Manchester and its environs were officially at the centre of an “earthquake swarm”. The latest quake struck at 5:45am and measured 2.4 on the Richter scale – a minor tremor but one that caused houses to shake and residents to think that they were being burgled. The swarm - a succession of quakes that do not have a clear distinction between main shocks and after-shocks - is likely to be caused by the same movements of the Earth’s crust that led to 70 tremors in 2002. Manchester lies on top of four large faults – the Pendleton fault, the east and west Manchester faults and the Ardwick fault. The current quakes were likely to be a knock-on effect of friction between the Eurasian plate and either the African plate or the North American plate. “The crust is full of faults because of our turbulent geological past. At the moment we are quite fortunate in that we are far away from any major plate boundaries, but [430 million years ago] Scotland and England were on two separate continents. You’ve got these old faults within the crust that are points of weakness. We are still subject to tectonic stress, and these stresses build up on those points of weakness. The fault slips and we get an earthquake. The origin of the stresses is likely to be a long way away.” Manchester could be hit by further shocks before the swarm subsides. Seismologists are uncertain whether the tremors were caused by a single fault or a cluster. The faults beneath the city have caused swarms of tremors for centuries, including one in 1753 which caused church bells to ring. A previous sequence of quakes caused minor damage between October 2002 and January 2003, when shocks reached a magnitude of 3.9 on the Richter scale. Mancunians have little to fear from the current swarm, however. “It will rumble on for a period of months or weeks, but a volcano rising in the centre of Manchester is completely out of the question." British earthquakes have killed 11 people since 1580. Six were killed by falling stones, two fell from upper floors, two died of shock and one committed suicide. The largest earthquake recorded in Britain had a magnitude of 6.1 and struck offshore in the North Sea on June 7, 1931. The last big British earthquake was in 1990, when a 5.1 tremor hit Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire. The most damaging quake to date was the magnitude 4.6 Colchester earthquake of 1884. It shattered walls and brought down a church spire. A magnitude 5 earthquake occurs on average every ten years. A magnitude 4 earthquake occurs on average every two to three years

PERU - Relief groups say Peru still badly needs aid after quake. Survivors are living on the streets in cardboard shelters under desperate, unhygienic conditions, two weeks after the quake struck.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Typhoon FITOW was 955 nmi ESE of Tokyo, Japan.
Tropical depression 11E was 236 nmi SE of Acapulco, Mexico.
Tropical storm GIL was 330 nmi SW of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (forecast to become a hurricane in about 72 hours.)

Typhoon Fitow, expected to gain strength in the western Pacific Ocean, could threaten the Tokyo area around the middle part of next week. Shifts in its track remain possible but computer models put Typhoon Fitow on a path toward mainland Japan. At 3 p.m. Thursday, the Category 1 storm was a minimal typhoon with sustained winds of 74 mph and gusts to 92 mph. It was moving north at 10 mph but forecast to turn due west by Monday. Intensification is expected as Fitow approaches Tokyo. By Tuesday, it could reach super typhoon status with 150 mph sustained winds — gusting to above 180 mph — as it again tracks north off the central Japan coast.

HEAVY RAINS -
GEORGIA - showers brought 2.40 inches of rain to the area, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD for the date of 2.37 inches set in 1981. Yet that will do little to ease a 21-inch rainfall deficit for the year in Floyd County.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
Map of global HOT spots.

SOUTHERN EUROPE - Satellite sensors detected far more fire-generated “hot spots” in southern European countries in August than they have even during previous spikes in fire activity over the past 10 years. The Greek wildfires, visible from space, SHATTERED RECORDS. Data is beginning to show how immense the burns really were. Greece “has experienced more wildfire activity this August than other European countries have over the last decade.” August was also the worst month for fires in Greece in the past 10 years by a factor of four. There remains the threat of more fires in the next few days. Another major heat wave is expected this weekend, making natural and human-ignited blazes all the more likely.

GREECE - A distinctly better day dawned across fire-ravaged southern Greece on Thursday, with most wildfires either extinguished or under control, as only four spots - two in the Peloponnese and two on the large island of Evia - were still identified as "problems". Of the four, the worst wildfire was in the verdant Karytaina district of western Arcadia prefecture, in the central Peloponnese. The death toll, meanwhile, of all wildfire-related deaths remained at 64. The week of wildfires in Greece has caused at least $1.7 billion in damage.

MACEDONIA - Wildfires continue to blaze in five sites in Macedonia on Thursday. According to the latest reports, the Galicica mountain fire is still burning in the hamlets of Tumba and Diva Jasika. The blaze scorched dry grass, juniper-trees and beech-trees. The blaze consumed 3.5 hectares of woodland. The fire near the village of Oreska Cuka is still blazing. The firefighters have averted the blaze from spreading onto the village. The wildfire between the villages of Bezikovo and Preseka, Kocani area, is still active. It scorched 50-60 hectares of woodland. Also burning are wildfires in Zajas-Bukojcani, Kicevo area, and on the mountainside in Straza area near Kicevo. The inaccessible terrain hampers the firefighting efforts. Several wildfires have been put under control, including the blaze just outside the Village of Banista, near the border with Albania. The blaze consumed roughly 500 square meters of woodland. Firefighters contained the wildfire just outside the village of Vaksince, Kumanovo area, which consumed 60-70 hectares of pine forest.

ALGERIA is facing an UNPRECEDENTED heat wave resulting in forest fires that are being felt across the entire northern regions. In the Tizi Ouzou province in the central northeast of the country at least four people died from severe burns. The temperature in Algiers reached the 110 Fahrenheit or 42 Celsius, pushing power consumption to peak levels on August 28th. Firefighters are battling fires on 28 fronts; a battle that appears difficult to win. 36 fires are currently destroying forests in Annaba, Guelma and El Tarf. In all, 74 fires have been active over the past couple of days in 19 provinces, affecting 21,000 hectares of land (52,000 acres). Since the beginning of summer, 1,204 fires have been registered, making 2007 the busiest season for Algerian firefighters.

U.S. - RECORD HEAT continues to plague parts of the U.S. - This summer is setting records for heat and drought in the west, southwest and southeastern United States. Charlotte, North Carolina, is about to set a record for most consecutive days in one year with high temperatures over 90 degrees. The west has seen severe heat for months. In California, Palm Springs has seen brutal temperatures hovering near 115-degrees, while in Arizona it's been 110-degrees or hotter for 29 straight days, a new record. Severe drought conditions are drying up lakes, lawns and fields. Farmers are fighting to save crops and cattle in some of the driest areas. In North Carolina there is a "hay emergency," continuing what has been a rough go for several seasons now. "We've had a late freeze that damaged crops in North Carolina, and then we've had a drought that has been very severe, but then couple that with probably the hottest August temperatures that have ever been recorded on record. We've had our three strikes but we're still fighting." Smaller crops and the extra cost for farmers to deal with the conditions will surely mean higher market prices in the fall.

CANADA - Climate change could be causing cougar attacks - A combination of warm winters and Alberta's population boom is causing a recent jump in cougar attacks.

CROP FAILURE / FOOD SHORTAGES -
LOOMING FOOD CRISIS - the surge in demand for agrofuels such as ethanol is hitting the poor and the environment. A "perfect storm" of ecological and social factors appears to be gathering force, threatening vast numbers of people with food shortages and price rises. The era of cheap food is over. World commodity prices of sugar, milk and cocoa have all surged, prompting the BIGGEST INCREASE IN RETAIL FOOD PRICES IN THREE DECADES in some countries. "Meat, too, will cost more because chicken and pigs are fed largely on grain." The world price [of maize] has doubled. 850m people around the world are already undernourished. There will soon be more because the price of food aid has increased 20% in just a year. In the US, where nearly 40 million people are below the official poverty line, the Department of Agriculture recently predicted a 10% rise in the price of chicken. The prices of bread, beef, eggs and milk rose 7.5 % in July, the HIGHEST MONTHLY RISE IN 25 YEARS. Reports suggest that one-third of ocean fisheries are in collapse, two-thirds will be in collapse by 2025, and all major ocean fisheries may be virtually gone by 2048. 15% of the world's present food supplies, on which 160 million people depend, are being grown with water drawn from rapidly depleting underground sources or from rivers that are drying up. In large areas of China and India, the water table has fallen catastrophically. In Britain, the recent floods will result in a shortage of vegetables such as potatoes and peas, and cereals such as wheat. This comes on top of a 4.9% rise in food prices in the year to May and a 9.6% hike in vegetable prices. Rain-dependent agriculture could be cut in half by 2020 as a result of climate change. "Anything even close to a 50% reduction in yields would obviously pose huge problems." "The competition for grain between the world's 800 million motorists, who want to maintain their mobility, and its two billion poorest people, who are simply trying to survive, is emerging as an epic issue." It is not going to get any better. The UN's World Food Organisation predicts that demand for biofuels will grow by 170% in the next three years. A separate report from the OECD, the club of the world's 30 richest countries, suggested food-price rises of between 20% and 50% over the next decade. This time last year, there were fewer than 100 ethanol plants in the whole United States, with a combined production capacity of 5bn gallons. There are now at least 50 more new plants being built and over 300 more are planned. If even half of them are finished, they will help to rewrite the politics of global food.

With the world population growth outpacing food supply, say goodbye to the era of unlimited improvement. The last time a British summer was this rain-soaked was in 1789. The consequences of excessive rainfall in the late 18th century were predictable. Crops would fail, the harvest would be dismal, food prices would rise and some people would starve. It was no coincidence that the French Revolution broke out the same year. The question is whether we could now be approaching a new era of misery. The United Nations expects the world's population to pass the 9 billion mark by 2050. But can world food production keep pace? Plant physiologists have estimated that "we must reach an average yield of 4 tons per hectare to support a population of 8 billion." Yields now are just 3 tons per hectare, and a world of 8 billion people may be less than 20 years away. Meanwhile, forces are conspiring to put a ceiling on food production. Global warming and the resulting climate change may well be increasing the incidence of extreme weather events, as well as inflicting permanent damage on some farming regions. At the same time, our effort to slow global warming by switching from fossil fuels to biofuels is taking large tracts of land out of food production. World per capita cereal production has already passed its peak - in the mid-1980s - not least because of collapsing production in the former Soviet Union and sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, rising incomes in Asia are causing a worldwide surge in food demand. The International Monetary Fund recorded a 23% rise in world food prices during the last 18 months. Of course, we're not supposed to notice that prices are going up. In the U.S., the monetary authorities insist that we should focus on the "core" consumer price index, which excludes the cost of food and fuel, and has the annual U.S. inflation rate at just 2.2%. But food inflation is roughly double that.

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WHEAT - Traders are paying RECORD PRICES for wheat on world markets, thanks in part to shortages caused by a mix of drought and flooding. Canada, the second-biggest wheat producer after the U.S., looks set to harvest its SMALLEST CROP IN FIVE YEARS, due to an unusually dry July, while production in the European Union may be down nearly 40% from last year after flooding rains followed long droughts. Growing global demand for biofuels is also eating up grain production, and boosting prices. Global inventories of wheat — which makes up one-fifth of the world's food intake — are expected to fall to THEIR LOWEST LEVEL IN 26 YEARS. And, if the world warms as expected over the coming decades, the terrible farming year of 2007 may be just the beginning. As temperatures rise, many studies predict that crop yields will decline, as the extreme droughts and floods that damaged this year's wheat crops become more common. The temperature increase that occurred between 1981 and 2002 reduced major cereal crop yields by an annual average of 40 million metric tons — losses worth $5 billion a year. Those losses are sobering, but nothing compared to what might be in store: A recent study forecast a 51% decline in India's wheat-growing land, potentially leaving hundreds of millions hungry. And, last week, China's top meteorological official warned that global warming could cut the nation's grain harvest by 5 to 10% by 2030. The effects of prolonged drought can already be seen in Australia, where consistently dry weather ravaged last year's wheat crop, and threatens to do the same this year. Flooding can destroy entire fields in a single day, and over time can lead to soil erosion and loss, permanently crippling once fertile land.

MEAT & WHEAT - Meat prices are set to increase as farmers pass on the burden of surging costs. With wheat prices rising, animal feed costs have almost doubled for farmers. Price rises are vital for an industry at "breaking point" after the recent foot-and-mouth scare and floods had taken their toll. The warning comes days after consumers were told to prepare for rising BREAD prices as WHEAT COSTS HIT RECORDS. Bad weather in key grain growing areas such as Canada and parts of Europe has limited supplies as demand has risen, sparking fears of a grain shortfall.

LIVESTOCK - Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are changing the pastoral landscape around the world, turning grasslands into shrublands unsuitable as grazing grounds for domestic livestock.

CORN - NORTH CAROLINA - drought has reduced the 2007 crop in North Carolina to a third fewer bushels an acre than in the 2006 harvest.
CORN - MICHIGAN - drought is hurting corn farmers as ground conditions range from abnormally dry to extreme drought, with virtually no region unaffected.

OLIVES - GREECE - Wildfires have devastated Greek olive groves.

GRAPES - ITALY - growers are rushing to harvest the grapes which have ripened a month early.
WINE - EUROPE - the unusual position of the jet stream, which caused last month's freak weather, has devastated some of Europe's best-known wine regions.
GRAPES - INDIA - Grape cultivation dwindles in Coimbatore. Unexpected drought and unseasonal rains hit the area damaging this expensive cultivation and entrapping farmers in debt.

ONIONS - INDIA - standing crops on 3,000 acres were reported damaged due to the rain that lashed Kurnool city and surrounding areas on Wednesday night. Onion farmers in Orvakal suffered huge losses as the crop was about to be harvested in a few days.

PALM OIL - MALAYSIA - the world's top producer of palm oil, said that heavy flooding will cause 2007 output to fall.

STRAWBERRIES - AUSTRALIA - Heavy rain has severely damaged some fields.

SUGAR CANE - AUSTRALIA - Extreme weather conditions on the New South Wales north coast during the past six weeks have made it one of the worst crushing seasons for local cane.

COTTON - TURKEY - Severe drought has hit Turkey and water shortage has hit cotton cultivation.

PEANUTS - SOUTH GEORGIA - the peanut crop is threatened by record heat wwhich could be baking the crop in the ground.

PEACHES are in rare supply in the southern U.S. as the budding fruits became vulnerable to cold weather when they bloomed too early during an unusually warm March.

COAL is at record price as supply dips, rain hinders output in Indonesia, Chinese exports drop and Japan's demand increases.

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CANADA - BERRY shortage in Northern Ontario sends bear encounters soaring as bears come looking for food. Reports of nuisance bears normally drop off in June when natural food sources flourish.

WASHINGTON - HUCKLEBERRY shortage may force bears into campgrounds - A shortage of berries forces bears to look for new berry patches or other food sources.

UTAH - 24 counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas. To receive a primary disaster declaration, a county must have incurred a production loss of at least 30 percent. The state's remaining five counties have been declared contiguous disaster areas. Contiguous areas must be surrounded by impacted counties. In addition to record wildfires and severe drought, the 24 counties have suffered from insect infestations, killing frosts, hot dry winds and flash flooding. Most ranchers said in a recent survey that they expected little help after record wildfires that have blackened more than 700,000 acres. They reported destroyed water systems, fences and outbuildings, and problems with finding money to buy hay for thousands of displaced cattle.
UTAH - a mercurial weather pattern has wreaked havoc on the state's crops this season. It has been a topsy-turvy season for the berry crop in Utah.

MINNESOTA - The effects of flooding in southeastern Minnesota are reaching far beyond the flooded area into urban areas where people contract with farmers for their supply of vegetables through community-supported agriculture programs. The programs have been billed as a way to save the family farm by linking farmers and customers who pay in advance in the spring to get vegetables each week during the growing season. The flooding provides a stark reminder that the customers share the risks of farming. Their weekly boxes of produce swell with the farm's fortunes or can get washed away. More than 1,200 U.S. farms participate in the programs, including many farms in Minnesota and Wisconsin where recent flooding has hurt crops.
Several recent thunderstorms have eased the drought conditions being faced by area farmers, but they have caused another problem - knocked-down corn.

WISCONSIN - Flooding has devastated organic farms.

TENNESSEE - While most of the South is in a period of prolonged drought, that drought has hit "extreme" levels in middle and western Tennessee, destroying crops and closing farmer's markets.

KENTUCKY - The current drought has taken a toll on Kentucky's projected crop yields.

OHIO - "This is absolutely the worst drought I've ever seen." All kinds of crops,including corn and beans, are suffering.

INDIANA - The Indiana State Beekeepers Association is alerting residents to the possibility of a honey shortage because of the nationwide bee die-off. The honeybee shorage is impacting the food supply.

TEXAS - Too much rain is hurting Texas crops, slowing harvests.

FLORIDA - Drought has caused $100 million in crop damage and economic losses to Florida and the figure could rise tenfold.

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SOUTHEAST ASIA has been hit by floods and landslides affecting more than 28 million people, who face "serious" threats of food shortage.

INDONESIA - Elephant rage claims dozens of lives in Indonesian villages - "The deforestation has reduced their habitat and, as a result, they've suffered a food shortage." They have come hunting for food in the villages.

VIETNAM - About one million people face food shortages in central Vietnam until the rice harvest early next year after the worst floods in decades.

CAMBODIA - More than 19000 hectares of rice paddies in the north-east of Cambodia have been submerged under flood waters for over a week.

BANGLADESH - Rice crops and vegetables on an area of about 100,000 hectares have been totally damaged by the onrushing flood waters.

CHINA - drought has hit about 11 million hectares of arable land and crops in China so far this year, 1.7 million hectares more than last year. Floods have damaged or destroyed more crops.
CHINA - Typhoon Sepat inundated 5920 hectares of crops.
Chinese farming experts are considering planting potatoes instead of rice and wheat as a way to beat crippling drought each year.

TAIWAN - High vegetable and fruit prices in Taipei City caused by Typhoon Sepat's heavy rain are expected to continue for three weeks.

PHILIPPINES - Drought causes heavy crop loss - Two municipalities suffered damage to corn crops estimated at P67 million as a result of the drought.

NEPAL - Food shortage has affected the remote VDCs of Baglung district including Rajkut, Devisthan, Darling and Nisi for the past two months due to recent flash floods and landslides. 42 of the country's 75 districts are threatened by food deficits.

PAKISTAN - an unexpected heavy spell of rain resulted in an acute shortage of vegetables, propelling its prices to increase.

TURKEY - In western Turkey, where the lakes are drying up and the blazing sun burns the crops, a 10-month-long drought has ravaged farming.

BULGARIA is seeking to import up to 1 million tons of corn after heat waves and floods sharply cut the country's annual grain crop.

EGYPT - Now that the country is facing a wheat shortage, parliamentarians are worried that cheap bread for the poor may become even more scarce.

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Freak weather across Europe has already pushed up the cost of wheat and hence staples like bread and pasta. Cheese and milk prices also soared last month. Indeed, there has been talk of milk riots on the Continent, particularly in Germany, where the price is to rise by 50 per cent because of a global shortage.

BRITAIN - Heavy rain has helped sclerotinia to germinate two weeks earlier. Overall the risk to main crop carrots from this disease is high this year.
BRITAIN - Experts believe the unpredictable weather may lead to the shortest summer on record for fruit growers - 'confused' fruit thinks it's already autumn.
BRITAIN - Farmers' livelihoods have been devastated across the UK by the June and July deluges. The effect on flooded farms was "phenomenal in terms of productivity". The public will feel the pinch and see gaps on their supermarket shelves until at least next April. "I don't want to exaggerate the problem we've got, but if I say it's a crisis, I'll be telling it exactly like it is. We're only cropping 15 to 20% of what we should be." Among the crops worst hit are potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and peas.

RUSSIA - A state of emergency was introduced in the Rostov region due to crop failure resulting from drought.

PERU - The Peru Earthquake will cut agricultural & textile exports in August.

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SOUTHERN AFRICA - severe natural disasters in Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique have worsened the food shortage crises in Southern Africa.

LESOTHO - drought will further worsen the already precarious situation of acute poverty and food security in Lesotho.

ZIMBABWE is suffering nationwide food shortages because of drought and what critics say are years of misguided government policies.
ZIMBABWE - was warning of a bad wheat crop. An electricity shortage prevented farmers from irrigating the crop.

UGANDA - Food shortage is fueling prostitution in IDP camps - Lack of food has exposed internally displaced people and refugees in camps, especially women and children, to high risk of contracting HIV/Aids.

GAMBIA - Kuntaur, in the Central River Region, which is one of the villages known for its rice production, has been hit by a serious water shortage for two weeks.

NAMIBIA - Small stock farmers in southern Namibia fear losing their animals due to lack of water as most earth dams have run dry.

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NEW ZEALAND - Overall, food prices have risen 1.2% in over the month - a 3.4% increase on last year. Driving the increase is a worldwide milk shortage.

AUSTRALIA - Drought catastrophe stalks Australia's food bowl - "It's on a knife edge and if it doesn't rain in the next couple of weeks it's going to be very ugly. People will be walking off the land, going broke." Australia's Murray-Darling river basin is a vast plain bigger than France and Germany, home to 2 million people and in good times the source of almost half the nation's fruit and cereal crop. But years of drought, which some blame on global warming, have savagely depleted the huge dams built 60 years ago to hold the snow melt from the Australian alps and push it hundreds of kilometres inland to the parched west for farm irrigation. The Murray-Darling normally provides 90 percent of Australia's irrigated crops and $18.1 billion worth of agricultural exports to Asia and the Middle East. But with some crops now just 10 days from failure, farmers are to receive no water at all for irrigation through the summer, while others will get a fraction of their regular entitlement to keep alive vital plantings like citrus trees and grapevines. Thousands of oranges lie rotting under rows of trees stretching to the horizon under relentless blue skies. The drought and a new sense of the importance of water in the driest inhabited continent, with prices having gone from A$30 a megalitre to hover near A$800, will change Australian farming forever and make some irrigation unviable. "It's going to be a massive change...I spent the first half of my life developing irrigation and I'll spend the second half pulling it down...We are now in something that is beyond probabilities."
AUSTRALIA - Fish catches are down due to a lack of river run off during the drought leading to a sense of hopelessness and depression, alcoholism and family breakdown among some fishermen.
AUSTRALIA - Geelong residents were facing a vegetable shortage not seen since World War II as whacky weather across the nation destroyed crops in Australia's salad bowls.
AUSTRALIA - South Australian dairy farmers who rely on water from the River Murray are deciding to sell off their entire herds, worried their stock will not survive.
AUSTRALIA - The water shortage means there is very little water for general irrigators in the Murray or Murrumbidgee valleys and the rice industry is facing a challenge.

ODD -
Giant spider web - Entomologists are debating the origins of a massive spider web, which runs more than 180 metres and covers several trees and shrubs, found in Texas. The web has been formed in the park over the past several weeks. Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park, near Willis Point, find the web both amazing and somewhat creepy. "It's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs." Experts are debating whether the web is the work of social cobweb spiders working together, or a mass dispersal where the arachnids spin webs to move away from one another. (photo)

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

About 140 million people, mainly in developing countries, are being poisoned by arsenic in their drinking water. This will lead to higher rates of cancer in the future. South and East Asia account for more than half of the known cases globally. Eating large amounts of rice grown in affected areas could also be a health risk. It's a global problem, present in 70 countries, probably more. Arsenic consumption leads to higher rates of some cancers, including tumours of the lung, bladder and skin, and other lung conditions. Some of these effects show up decades after the first exposure. "In the long term, one in every 10 people with high concentrations of arsenic in their water will die from it. This is the highest known increase in mortality from any environmental exposure." The metal is present naturally in soil, and leaches into groundwater, with bacteria thought to play a role.

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Thursday, August 30, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
"I can't believe it," said the tourist. "I've been here an entire week
and it's done nothing but rain. When do you have summer here?"
"Well, that's hard to say," replied the local.
"Last year, it was on a Wednesday."

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/29/07 -
5.5 GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR
5.5 POTOSI, BOLIVIA
5.7 TAIWAN REGION
5.2 TAIWAN REGION

COLUMBIA - False rumors of an earthquake on Tuesday led to the collapse of emergency phone lines and forced thousands of office workers to evacuate high-rise buildings in Bogota. Colombian media reported that a man identifying himself as an engineer from Colombia's geological institute, Ingeominas, sparked the rumor by calling several businesses and government offices and warning an earthquake would strike the Colombian capital at 5 p.m. local time. For hours in the afternoon, office workers rushed to evacuate hospitals and high-rise office buildings downtown, and a city-run emergency telephone line temporarily collapsed under the weight of 50,000 calls from concerned citizens. The hoax comes less than two weeks after a magnitude-8 earthquake in neighboring Peru killed more than 500 people.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
CANADA - A mountain-sized meteorite appears to have created Sudbury's gigantic crater and sent a tsunami racing though ancient oceans, say scientists who have uncovered a thick layer of debris the extraterrestrial interloper hurled all the way into Michigan. The two-to-four-metre-thick layer of "ejecta," which they found south of Lake Superior, bears the clear signature of a meteorite. Perhaps even more intriguing, they say the "ejecta" appears to have been stirred up by a "mega-tsunami," possibly two, that swept through the ancient oceans after the space rock hit. "The material blown out of the crater was reworked during deposition by a tsunami." Shock waves generated by the impact of the meteorite, believed to have been about the size of Mt. Everest, would have been powerful enough to generate giant waves in near-by oceans. "We also get beautiful rock preserved in tear drops just as you'd expect if you had molten rock flying through the atmosphere and it cooled." The Sudbury crater, the second largest ever found, was formed 1.85 billion years ago and is much bigger than the one linked to the demise of the dinosaurs. Some have suggested a comet carved out the crater, which originally measured up to 280 kilometres in diameter. But the material uncovered in northern Michigan points to a meteorite, since it contains an unusually high concentration of iridium, which occurs in low amounts in icy comets but in high levels in space rocks. The "ejecta layer," which the geologists found buried a kilometre underground south of Lake Superior, builds on similar evidence uncovered near Thunder Bay, Ontario, a few years ago. The newly found material not only contains high levels of iridium and "melt drops" but also "shocked" crystals deformed by the intense energy, and evidence of reworking by a tsunami, the team reports. The impact of the meteorite would have been felt globally but most of the evidence has eroded away over time. The huge cloud of gas and molten rock hurled into the atmosphere would have put photosynthesis on hold for an extended period and may be linked to a "long lull" in the evolution of early life.

VOLCANOES -
GALAPAGOS ISLAND - Darwin volcano has erupted on uninhabited Fernandina Island, at the far west of Ecuador's Galapagos Island chain. The eruption began at 4:50 p.m. on Tuesday following a 5.2 earthquake in the Beagle sector of Isabella island on the western flank of the volcano Darwin. The authorities planned a flight over the island to see if the eruption is a crack or comes from the crater. The Galapagos has experienced explosive eruptions, with lava flow lasting around a week. Fernandina is the tallest island in the archipelago. The last eruption happened in May 2005, leaving a large amount of lava down its southeastern flank.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Typhoon FITOW was 821 nmi NE of Saipan, N. Mariana Islands.
Tropical storm GIL was 196 nmi S of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Fitow, this year's ninth named storm in the western Pacific, came into being yesterday afternoon at a location about 1,500 km northeast of Guam. Fitow, still 3,000 km from Taiwan, was moving north at 13 kph, and chances of the storm hitting Taiwan are very slim. The storm has a 100-km radius, with maximum center winds of 18 meters per second and gusts of up to 25 meters per second. From Aug. 31, Fitow will likely change direction from north to northwest, and increase its speed slightly from 13 kph to 14 kph, according to meteorologists. They predict that the tropical storm could head toward Japan.

ATLANTIC - Three areas of disturbed weather are being tracked by the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A tropical wave located about 900 miles east of the Windward Islands is producing showers and thunderstorms. Although this activity is currently disorganized, environmental conditions are expected to gradually become more favorable for development as the system moves westward at 15 to 20 mph.
An area of disturbed weather over the western Atlantic is primarily associated with a non-tropical low centered about 260 miles southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. Upper-level winds could become a little more favorable for development during the next few days. The low is expected to drift southward. This system off the Carolinas may become a player in Florida's weather. "It's dropping southward and it is possible the system will spin-up."
Showers and thunderstorms primarily located over the Yucatan Peninsula are associated with a tropical wave. This activity is expected to move over the Bay of Campeche during the next day or so and will be monitored for any signs of development. (satellite photos)

BELIZE - Aid workers in Belize are calling for international support after the effects of Hurricane Dean have put thousands at risk for contracting deadly diseases. The country is now a breeding ground for potentially life-threatening cases of diarrhea, stomach cramps, and fever. "The scarcity of drinking water and water for sanitation has led many people to use poor quality water from previously abandoned wells and being exposed to an increased risk of water-borne diseases." Over 10 percent of the country is still without electricity, leaving an estimated 30,000 people without power. Further estimates say about 275 homes were destroyed, and about 2,000 people have been displaced as a result of the storm. Crops and fields have been ruined, leaving over 20,000 people unemployed.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
Climate change may carry a higher risk of flooding than was previously thought. Researchers say efforts to calculate flooding risk from climate change do not take into account the effect carbon dioxide (CO2) has on vegetation. Higher atmospheric levels of this greenhouse gas reduce the ability of plants to suck water out of the ground and "breathe" out the excess. Plants expel excess water through tiny pores in their leaves. Their reduced ability to release water back into the atmosphere will result in the ground becoming saturated. Areas with higher predicted rainfall have a greater risk of flooding. But this effect also reduces the severity of droughts. The findings suggest computer models of future climate change may need to be revised in order to plan for coming decades. "It's a double-edged sword. It means that increases in drought due to climate change could be less severe as plants lose less water. "On the other hand, if the land is saturated more often, you might expect that intense rainfall events are more likely to cause flooding."

SINGAPORE - In the Bukit Timah area yesterday, more rain fell than the average monthly rainfall for August for the whole of Singapore in the past 25 years. By 4pm, the highest rainfall recorded was 150.8mm at the Bukit Panjang Telecom weather station. This is higher than Singapore's average total rainfall for the month of August between 1982 and 2006, which is 143.4mm. Some areas were hit by flash floods.

COSTA RICA - Intense rain that destroyed roofs, walls and a dike in the Central Valley and Southern Zone Monday also BROKE NATIONAL RECORDS. In the northern suburb of Tibás, about 80 millimeters of rain fell in one hour, at least 10 centimeters more than the national record. The rest of the San José area as well as the Southern Zone also experienced rain so intense it turned some roads into muddy rivers, damaging homes and infrastructure. In the Southern Zone canton of Corredores, a dike broke, flooding neighborhoods in nearby Ciudad Neilly. Three bridges were also washed away near Ciudad Neilly. About 27 families had to evacuate their homes in the Corazón de Jesús neighborhood of the northwestern San José district of La Uruca. In Tibás, a vehicle was nearly swallowed by a hole in the road as it attempted to make it through thigh-deep water, and residents of one condo in the western suburb of Escazú saw a chunk of their ceiling cave in from the pressure of accumulated water. “The intensity was extremely high, and we also saw a lot of electric activity” in the form of thunder and lightning. There's lots more rain and possibly tropical storms to come in September and October, typically the wettest months of the rainy season.

INDIA - Road links that are the life-line to the northeastern states of Tripura, Mizoram and parts of Assam and Manipur remained cut off from the rest of India for the fourth consecutive day Wednesday following massive landslides. A stretch on National Highway No 44 at Sonarpur in Meghalaya has remained blocked since Sunday after heavy rains triggered landsides with huge boulders and trees covering the road. Communication services in the land-locked region have been badly hit with rail links snapped for the past two months after a bridge collapsed in the Assam sector. Thousands of trucks carrying essentials have been stranded on both sides of the landslide-hit area as about 300 metres of the road now remains covered by the debris.

WISCONSIN - Areas of Vernon County received between 6.5 and 11 inches of rain on Aug. 18 and Aug. 19. They call it a “1,000-YEAR FLOOD.” It’s the standard to which they built the 20-plus flood-control dams in Vernon County. That standard is to withstand a flood that statistically may happen only once every 1,000 years. Those who built the county’s dams in the 1950s and 1960s did a pretty good job, because after dealing with the rain they received on Aug. 18 and Aug. 19, the dams in some cases withstood pressure two times greater than that for which they were designed. There have been bad floods in Vernon County stretching through history, but as far as recorded history, they only know of two other floods, the flood of 1951 and the flood of 1978, that rival the flood of 2007. And in places like Chaseburg and Gays Mills, the flood of 2007 takes the cake. Perhaps overall, countywide, it does as well. The magnitude of the Aug. 18-Aug. 19 flood waters might be something a meteorologist deals with, “only two or three times over their entire career,” and that’s covering an area of thousands of square miles. Seven people in Minnesota died because of the flooding. While there was no loss of life in Wisconsin, the damage totals are not yet fully tallied and are already at unbelievable levels. Vernon County’s totals are $24.8 million for public property and $8 million for agriculture. That’s $32.8 million and private property hasn’t even been totalled yet.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
LAKE SUPERIOR is headed for a record low water level for August, with more record lows likely in September and October, environment officials from Canada and the U.S. said Tuesday. "We would need a hurricane" to avoid a record. Water levels on the largest of the Great Lakes have been below the long-term average since 1998 - the LONGEST PERIOD OF BELOW-AVERAGE WATER LEVELS IN HISTORY. Portions of the Lake Superior watershed have been drier or in moderate drought conditions since May 2006, and extreme drought conditions now affect most of the watershed. Lake Superior's water level on Aug. 27 was 182.98 metres above sea level, below the August record low of 183.02 metres set in 1926. The all-time record low was 182.72 metres above sea level in April 1926. With the lower water levels, surface temperature has increased by fractions of a degree, but it's enough to increase evaporation, which adds to the problem.

ALGERIA - Massive fires have raged in forests in different provinces in Algeria. In Cherea mountains (23 km west of Algiers), local authorities ordered to evacuate several families living next to the fires. A temperature of 43 degrees has been recorded in coastal cities such as Algiers, Annaba, Tizi Ouzou, Bejaia and Boumerdes. In the wilaya (province) of Tlemcen (west of Algiers), a large number of families had to leave their houses because of fires that raged mountains. In the east, RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES were recorded. At Algiers’ hospitals, emergency departments have received people with respiratory diseases and allergy, especially children and old people, all day long.

AUSTRALIA - THE EARLIEST TOTAL FIRE BANS IN SOUTH AUSTRALIAN HISTORY are in force days before the end of winter, as the state prepares for a dangerously hot and windy day today. Bans came into force at midnight for the West Coast, Eastern Eyre Peninsula, Lower Eyre Peninsula and Mt Lofty Ranges, just four months after last summer's fire bans were lifted in April. The bans are in force until midnight tonight, when much of the state will have baked in unseasonal temperatures up to 30C and been lashed by winds gusting up to 120km/h. The previous earliest ban was October last year. "It's not the highest risk conditions I've seen, but it's certainly the highest (fire risk) I can remember at this time of the year. That's in 20-plus years. The number one issue we've got is the ground is so dry on the West Coast and the Mt Lofty Ranges." Predictions of hot winds also have the state's farmers on edge and such conditions have the potential to financially "devastate" some. "It will ruin crops if it is of the nature we're told (with) strong winds, high temperatures and a very, very drying and crop-destroying day. It's giving rise to many, many concerns...(it will be) absolutely devastating to some and to the economy of the state as well. Who would have predicted two days like this (in one week), and this is going to be worse than the one we had a couple of days ago and we're not even into spring yet." "The stress of a long, dry period on our trees means we're getting a significant number of trees down. This weather pattern, this whole thing is something we expected in summer, certainly not winter. We get storms all year round, we can't dispute that, (but) the weather patterns certainly appear to us to have changed because we don't seem to get as many winter storms now."

ARIZONA - Broiling hot temperatures are gripping the Phoenix area. The heat is shoe-melting, spirit-crushing and now, RECORD-BREAKING. Phoenix hit its 29th day of 110 degree-plus temperatures Wednesday, breaking the record of 28 days set in 1970 and 2002. The average number of days that top 110 degrees in a given year is 10. The weather service is forecasting temperatures of 105 degrees for the rest of the week.

CALIFORNIA - This summer’s outbreak of oakworms is THE MOST SEVERE IN YEARS. Mature worm larvae are found on the Central Coast from May to June and adults emerge June to July. The worms quickly go to work feeding on oak trees. They have a hefty appetite for leaves, and in no time a healthy oak tree can be left practically naked. The worms don’t kill trees, but defoliation can leave them looking sickly. Lack of rain in the winter and spring created ideal conditions for an eruption in the oakworm population. Normally, this area sees two life cycles of oakworms, but the warm dry weather has spawned a recent third generation, which is EXTREMELY RARE, according to arborists.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALLED - Metz Fresh is voluntarily recalling bagged spinach as a result of a positive test for Salmonella found during routine company testing. It was distributed in the continental United States and Canada.

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Wednesday, August 29, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
What did the tornado say to the sports car?
Let's go for a spin!

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/28/07 -
5.1 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.1 GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.6 KURIL ISLANDS

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical storm FITOW was 706 nmi NE of Saipan, N. Mariana Islands.

ATLANTIC - There's a new area of showers and thunderstorms associated with a tropical wave that is in the same general area where Hurricane Dean was formed three weeks ago. In other words, this tropical wave is nearer to Africa than to the Americas. And while this area of storms is being watched by hurricane forecasters in Miami, it is described as "limited and disorganized." Development into a tropical system "if any, is expected to be slow to occur." Three months remain in the 2007 hurricane season, and only five tropical storms have been named thus far. That's half the normal number of named storms at this time of summer. None of the five named storms in 2007 has impacted Florida, a repeat - so far - of the quiet, 2006 hurricane season for Floridians. Overall, the tropics are clear of tropical storms in the final week of August.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
ROMANIA - After a heat wave that hit Romania in recent days, the country is now struggling with flooding that left two people dead and hundreds of homes damaged. About 500 households were affected by the floods that destroyed property with logs, rocks and dislocated trees swept up by the high water. Heavy weekend rains created the flooding that has affected almost two-thirds of the Balkan country’s territory, especially in the northern and central regions. Authorities warned that more Romanian counties are in danger. Weather forecasters predict heavy rain, lightning and wind gusts will hit areas spreading from southern Romania to the country’s north.

LIBERIA - Hundreds of people living in parts of Bushrod Island, just outside of Monrovia, on Monday were badly hit by floods created by an upsurge of water, which overflowed the banks of the St. Paul River; leaving residents strangulated in their homes as well as being deprived of tangible properties and personal belongings. The St. Paul River overflowed its banks Sunday night due to the heavy downpour of rain. The ravaging waters besieged approximately ten communities on the Bushrod Island. Residents were seen trying to salvage what was left of most of the damaged domiciles; transporting their effects in canoes and makeshift rafts, while others were seen carrying their belongings on their heads in almost shoulder-deep water. Major vicinities affected by flood include the St. Paul Bridge, Jamaica Road, Logan Town, Samuel K. Doe, Caldwell, New Georgia communities among others. The situation compelled many residents to abandon their homes while others who apparently had nowhere to go, chose to remain in their water-engulfed homes despite the appalling situation. The flood has affected the country's main water treatment plant, located in White Plains, outside Monrovia. Residents living in some of the affected communities said that this is the FIRST TIME THAT THEY HAVE EVER BEEN AFFECTED BY FLOOD. The situation was described as "grave." "We are finding it difficult to do anything in our houses because the water has entered and destroyed nearly everything." Due to the gravity of the situation, the Liberian National Red Cross has quickly moved in to swiftly bring relief to the incapacitated localities so as to provide material and other essential assistance to the victims. Additional actual causes of the overflow of the river's banks are not known, but some environmentalists and residents of the affected areas point directly to the massive illicit mining of sand and rocks for commercial purposes by some individuals.

CYPRUS - An out-of-season downpour in the Troodos area on Sunday provoked floods in Saittas, emphasising the damages caused by last June’s fire. Despite the government’s efforts to deal with the land erosion provoked by the June 29 blaze in the Pelendri-Kato Amiandos-Saittas region, one of the biggest fires the island has suffered in recent years, the area was still nowhere near equipped to deal with the weekend’s sudden storm. As a result, works to deal with the erosion were being sped up, aiming at being complete by the end of September. “Nobody was expecting rain at this time of year.”

MINNESOTA - First, high and dry... now, wet and wild. What's up with the weather? A couple of weeks ago lawns were brown and Minnehaha Creek was running dry. Then on Tuesday the Twin Cities BROKE THE RAINFALL RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST. Less than three weeks ago, fish were dying in what was left of metro rivers and creeks. The recent rains were fueled by an UNUSUAL channel of moisture coming from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, plus the customary summer moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that was stalled by an east-west flow of air about 12,000 feet above the ground. A weather front that hasn't moved out of the Midwest - the same one that caused the major flooding across southeastern Minnesota, southwestern Wisconsin and parts of Illinois and Ohio - has poured 5.39 inches of rain on the Twin Cities over the past two weeks through Tuesday afternoon. That's more than fell in June and July together. Throw in the 3.93 inches that fell in the first half of the month and you get 9.32 inches, exactly .01 more than the monthly record set in 1977. The storms also brought damage from heavy rains, high winds and hail. Many locations from the Twin Cities across southern Minnesota are now above average for yearly rainfall. North of the metro area, most of Minnesota is still struggling through drought for the second straight summer. Alexandria may wind up with only about an inch of rain for July and August together. Duluth has been well below average since May 1. Even after recent rains, many of the state's rivers are still running low. The rain hasn't improved the state's crop outlook, either. On Monday, the Minnesota Agricultural Statistics Service rated 40 percent of the state's corn crop as good or excellent. Soybeans were 59 percent good or excellent Monday. Rains are also not likely to revive much of the state's forests. Healthy trees across much of Minnesota have pulled into crouch as a defense against drought, dropping leaves early and signaling a drab fall. Some roadside pines and spruce that struggled to find moisture last winter have already died after a second drought season, while weakened oaks are under attack from beetles.

BRITAIN - "What's happening to our weather?" Britain is just a few showers away from recording a record wet summer, at the climax of THE MOST REMARKABLE PERIOD OF BROKEN WEATHER RECORDS IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY. All of the smashed records have to do with temperature and rainfall - the two aspects of the climate most likely to be intensified by the advent of global warming. The pattern of increasing heat and wet weather has been visible in the same period all around the globe, with temperature and rainfall records broken in many other countries, from Australia (record drought) and India (record monsoon rains) to Greece (record forest fires). In the UK, in the past 14 months, they have experienced the hottest July, the hottest April and the wettest June since records began. They have seen the hottest autumn and the hottest spring, and the second-hottest winter. They have also seen the hottest single month, and - by a considerable margin - the hottest single 12-month period. Now they are on the brink of seeing the soggiest British summer as a whole - defined as June, July and August - since records were first kept for the United Kingdom in 1914. By Friday morning of last week, the average rainfall in Britain since the beginning of June was 356.6mm - just over 14 inches - and nudging up to the record of 358.4mm, set in 1956. It is increasingly likely a new record will be set if there is any significant rainfall between now and Saturday. Even if there is none, summer 2007 has already passed the second-wettest summer mark. And the three months from May to July have easily broken the record for rainfall for that period. In particular, April 2007 and the summer just ended produced quite unprecedented weather for Britain - with quite unprecedented effects. April was so warm (contributing to the warmest spring on record) that the natural world was put completely out of sync: swifts arrived (from Africa) a month early, as did the hawthorn flowers - known as May - which prompted suggestions they should be renamed April blossom. And summer was so wet that it produced the worst flooding Britain has ever seen - with the two catastrophic "extreme rainfall events" of 24 June and 24 and 20 July, which did the damage, each being of a severity likely only once in 200 years, or even longer.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
GREECE - The country's worst fires in living memory have killed at least 64 people since they began five days ago, ravaging olive groves, forest and orchards and incinerating homes, wild animals and livestock. Fires burned through about 184,000 hectares, or 454,000 acres, of forest, groves and scrubland between August 24th and 26th. During those three days, more land was burned in Greece than during ALL of 2000, which had been the worst year recorded by the EU's fire information service. Fires kept breaking out despite progress on some fronts, including a blaze just outside Athens in Grammatiko, located near ancient Marathon. Since yesterday 56 new fires have broken out. The worst were concentrated in the mountains of the Peloponnese in the south and on the island of Evia north of Athens. Meanwhile, a strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5 struck the fire-ravaged area in the south, panicking residents, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

AUSTRALIA - This month the minimum overnight temperature in the city of Sydney has averaged 11.2 degrees, almost 2 degrees above average. Top daytime temperatures during the month have averaged 19.4, also well above normal. The mercury soared to 27 yesterday afternoon after almost reaching 28 on Monday - 10 degrees above normal. "It is starting to get UNUSUAL."

ARIZONA - Valleywide temperatures hit 110 degrees on Tuesday and TIED AN ALL-TIME SUMMER HEAT RECORD. The "110 degree day record" will most likely fall by Thursday. And it looks as though they will be breaking the record for the most days in a year with a high temperature greater than 110. The current record is 28.

Tropical rainfall is on the rise, NASA scientists have said. Using a 27-year-long global record of rainfall assembled by the international scientific community from satellite and ground-based instruments, the scientists found that the rainiest years in the tropics between 1979 and 2005 were mainly since 2001. The rainiest year was 2005, followed by 2004, 1998, 2003 and 2002 respectively. “When we look at the whole planet over almost three decades, the total amount of rain falling has changed very little. But in the tropics, where nearly two-thirds of all rain falls, there has been an increase of five percent.” The rainfall increase was concentrated over tropical oceans, with a slight decline over land. A warming trend in Earth's atmosphere and surface temperatures would produce an accelerated recycling of water between land, sea and air.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

World 'dodged bullet' in bird flu spread - A mathematical analysis has confirmed that H5N1 avian influenza spread from person to person in Indonesia in April, US researchers reported today. They said they had developed a tool to run quick tests on disease outbreaks to see if dangerous epidemics or pandemics may be developing. Health officials around the world agree an influenza pandemic is overdue, and are most worried by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza that has been spreading through flocks from Asia to Africa. It rarely passes to humans, but since 2003 it has infected 322 people and killed 195 of them. Most have been infected directly by birds. But a few clusters of cases have been seen and officials worry most about the possibility that the virus has acquired the ability to pass easily and directly from one person to another. That would spark a pandemic. "We find statistical evidence of human-to-human transmission in Sumatra, but not in Turkey. This does not mean that no low-level human-to-human spread occurred in this outbreak, only that we lack statistical evidence of such spread." In Sumatra, one of Indonesia's islands, a 37-year-old woman appears to have infected her 10-year-old nephew, who infected his father. DNA tests confirmed that the strain the father died of was very similar to the virus found in the boy's body. "It went two generations and then just stopped, but it could have gotten out of control. The world really may have dodged a bullet with that one, and the next time, we might not be so lucky." The researchers estimated the secondary-attack rate, which is the risk that one person will infect another, was 20 per cent. This is similar to what is seen for regular, seasonal influenza A in the United States.

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Tuesday, August 28, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.
Plutarch

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/27/07 -
5.0 PAGAN REG., N. MARIANA ISLANDS
5.0 PAGAN REG., N. MARIANA ISLANDS
5.1 MOLUCCA SEA
5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
5.0 MOLUCCA SEA
5.6 SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
5.5 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS

PERU - the Natural Resources Institute has reported that since the earthquake which struck Peru's southern coast and devastated most of the Ica Region, 60 percent of the sea lion population, which lived on Paracas Bay, has disappeared. "We can only see 50 sea lions where there used to be 150." Paracas Bay is part of an ecological reserve that was near the epicenter of the magnitude-8 earthquake that destroyed most of Peru's Ica Region. Only 2 sea lions were found dead after the earthquake. Therefore the Institute does not discard the fact that the creatures could have migrated. Peruvian authorities have begun evaluating the impact the earthquake has had on Peru's fauna, researching whether it has affected other species, such as birds which live on nearby cliffs.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
Hong Kong and Macao are enormous, sprawling economic centres perched on the coast. And both stand a 10 per cent chance of being hit by a serious tsunami in the next century, warn geophysicists. The warning follows a new assessment of how earthquakes along the nearby Manila trench could radiate tsunami waves across the South China Sea. Although Chinese records of tsunamis date back to AD 171, the hazard was largely ignored until the cataclysmic Sumatra tsunami in 2004. However, the structure of the complex plate boundary on the eastern side of the South China Sea, running from Taiwan to the Manila trench, makes shallow subduction-related quakes particularly likely. This problem was highlighted by the quake in December 2006 that hobbled internet traffic in the region when it ripped through subsea data cables. Such earthquakes could also trigger tsunamis. All coastal regions, stretching north from Macao and Hong Kong to beyond Shantou - a city of 1.2 million people - have about a 1-in-10 chance of being struck by a tsumani within 100 years.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
No current tropical storms.

NIGERIA - General apprehension over the reported threat of a tropical storm still envelopes Benue state as the people are still afraid of leaving their homes since day-break yesterday, even when it became clear that the threatening bad weather had subsided. The forecast of the threatening storm was repeatedly aired over the radio, just as the state government warned the people against staying out doors past 10pm Saturday when the disaster was expected to strike. The Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs reported that the threat was coming from Chad and would sweep through Maiduguri, Yola and Taraba states where it was expected to reach Benue state by past 10 to 11pm. The weather forecasters said the storm would travel at over 70 kms per hour. The forecast threatened normal activities in Makurdi and environs as businesses were generally paralyzed, with people retiring for the night into homes as early as 7pm. The threat closed eateries and drinking joints earlier than expected and commuters became stranded with the complete absence of commercial buses and motorcycles. The storm never came as forecast by Nigerian meteorologists. Rather, the sky was clear and the moon shone bright. A rainbow, indicating an UNUSUAL weather change, was also observed at full circle around the bright moon at between 9pm and 10:30pm when the storm was expected. Throughout the night, the weather was calm as a normal breeze blew with the usual rainy season's cooling effects. Residents spoken to said they were disappointed with the forecast as the announcement dislocated their normal activities. However, they were thankful that the disaster never came after all. "Everybody was apprehensive. And let me not deceive you, we are still apprehensive because anything can happen. We can't say how or when."

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
WISCONSIN - Another round of thunderstorms brought more rain and flash-flood warnings to an already deluged southwestern Wisconsin on Monday, forcing residents below four dams to evacuate. Strong wind knocked out power to parts of Vilas and Oneida counties. With more storms expected overnight Monday, about 80 people living below the earthen Runge Hallow, Hidden Valley, Yettri-Primmer and Seas Branch dams were told to evacuate beginning at 4 p.m. A week ago, the same dams filled when torrential rains of up to 12 inches caused flooding. All the dams held, but overflow at the Hidden Valley dam caused some erosion.
Elsewhere, cleanup and recovery were underway in Ohio and the rest of the Great Lakes region hit hard by last week's storms. The electricity was back on for most of the more than 1 million customers who lost power. The weather service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in six areas of Michigan along an 80-mile line Friday, destroying at least 250 homes and businesses in the town of Fenton. The tornado's path there widened to about one-quarter mile. Another tornado struck the small town of Northwood, North Dakota, about 30 miles southwest of Grand Forks, on Sunday, destroying two small mobile home parks and damaging much of the rest of the town. One man was killed.
MINNESOTA - what does a RECORD RAINFALL do to a town? In Hokah, it altered the landscape for years to come - several landslides ripped into hills around town, scarring the landscape and devastating the city's prized Como Falls Park. Apartments and mobile homes were evacuated. Businesses were ruined, and backyards collapsed.(photos)
MICHIGAN - the Monroe County region has SET A RECORD FOR RAINFALL in August. Friday night's storm did the trick as .75 inch was recorded.
ILLINOIS - August rainfall HEAVIEST ON RECORD - Rain totals counted at Morris (11.42 inches) and Peru (8.89 inches) are the highest in more than 50 years of recording data.
INDIANA - RECORD SET FOR RAINFALL Monday - Record rainfall for the same date had previously been 1.77 inches, which fell in 1904. Record rainfall also hit several Indiana regions.
ALABAMA - Montgomery had 1.50 inches of rain on Saturday, BREAKING THE OLD RECORD of 1.26 inches.

KOREA - The weather has been fickle this month and will continue that way. Two major reasons are cited for the unexpected weather changes. A hot and humid North Pacific anticyclone collided with cold air from China and that made air above Korean peninsular unstable, causing the fickle weather. Experts also pointed to an ABNORMAL CLOUD BELT that formed in the air above the Korean Peninsula. "The most extraordinary phenomenon this summer was that the cloud belt aligned north-south instead of east-west." The reason was a massive inflow of hot and humid air from subtropical regions while the rim of North Pacific anticyclone was aligned north-south. "The fact that hot air from the equator flowed into the Korean Peninsula indicates that the climate in Korea is now becoming subtropical." In Seoul, it rained almost every day in early and mid-August, but the average temperature until Aug. 26 was counter-intuitively one degree Celsius higher than the previous year. "Another UNUSUAL weather phenomenon is that it has rained often but the precipitation in this summer was less than last year." That has also meant an increase the number of tropical nights, when the nocturnal low does not fall below 25 degrees. In Seoul, as of Sunday, there had been 11 tropical nights in August, four times more than the average number of 3.2, between 1971 and 2000. In Daegu, there were a whopping 15 tropical nights, up from the average 4.2, and in Seogwipo 23 while the average was 10.8. In addition, experts said it rained more in early August than in the actual rainy season, and the average temperature was higher in the end of August than the middle of the month. (satellite photos)

CHINA - Seventeen people were killed and three others missing as torrential rains pounded southwest China's Sichuan Province from last Wednesday. Among the 17 victims, all from southeast Sichuan's Yibin city, eleven were killed by landslide and mud-rock flows, three by lightening strike, two by flash floods and one most unlucky was hit by a rock rolling down a hill. Six people were injured as the Pingshan county saw the maximum of rainfall measured at 303 millimeters. Two two-storey buildings were toppled down by landslide. Five others are among the dead list. A total of 213,000 people were affected by the rainstorm. Experts believe the rainstorms were brought by typhoon Sepat that churned ashore in east China's Fujian Province last Sunday, leaving a trail of chaos as it stormed through the neighboring Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hunan provinces. China reported 39 death and nine people missing in floods and mud-rock flows triggered by Sepat in eastern and central parts of the country.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
GREECE - Firefighters rushed helicopters and buses Monday to evacuate more than two dozen villages threatened by towering walls of flames that had killed 63 people while ravaging swaths of forest and farmland in Greece. The evacuation was THE BIGGEST SEEN IN PEACETIME in Greece.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALL EXPANDS - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat raw oysters harvested from an additional part (growing area 5) of the southern tip of Hood Canal in Washington state due to a foodborne illness outbreak caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria. This follows an earlier outbreak and August 10 warning about oysters harvested from growing area 6 of Hood Canal. Raw oysters harvested from growing area 5 in Hood Canal from July 31 through August 20, 2007 have caused at least six people to become ill in Washington state. To date, records indicate that raw oysters from the area were distributed to Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington state, British Columbia (Canada), Bali (Indonesia), Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand.

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-----------------------------

Monday, August 27, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
What happened when the cow barn was hit by a tornado?
Udder disaster!

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/26/07 -
5.1 PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.4 KURIL ISLANDS
5.6 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
5.1 D'ENTRECASTEAUX ISLANDS REGION
6.0 TONGA

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
SOUTH AFRICA - Sweeping, foam capped waves smashing into already devastated beaches and coastal properties - that is what KwaZulu-Natal authorities are bracing themselves for with massive plans to prevent another coastal wave disaster. Coastal engineers, municipalities, together with department of agriculture and environmental affairs scientists are preparing for another onslaught from Mother Nature. Celestial conditions mimicking March's devastating equinox coupled with high tides is again expected this September, and officials are not taking any chances. Although there are two equinoxes each year (March 20 and September 22), it's the celestial events coupled with bad weather and spring high tides that could see monster waves being created. "In terms of preparedness and awareness, the department and other listed stakeholders have been working on this since March this year." Municipalities devastated by almost three days of FREAK WAVE activity in March have now warned of the financial ruin they could face if storm activity combines with the September equinox during high tides. "We are trying to stabilise the situation. We think it will be fairly quiet provided the sea behaves, but if there is a sea storm or cold front at the same time we could see more erosion." Further south the Ugu District Municipality, which had a R113-million hole knocked into its budget by the waves, says it is monitoring the situation. More erosion and damage has also been reported in the Margate and Park Rynie areas. "We are aware of the expected Equinox but at the moment we can only monitor and observe the situation. We know that the ocean is unstable and previous damage to the coastline proves that. All necessary precautions will be taken." KwaDukuza disaster management officials have adopted a wait and see attitude after private and municipal infrastructure valued at more than R1 billion was swept away in March. The head of disaster management said he hoped that the "perfect storm" conditions were not repeated in September. "Yes, we are going to get high seas and with the frontal dunes not being there the water will sweep higher. Facilities are more exposed and there is no protection. People have protected where they have had to, but thus far there has been no major construction mainly because of the environmental authorisation needed. "We will monitor it and hope it does not happen, but we say this now, and tomorrow it happens."

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
No current tropical storms.

CALIFORNIA - Sunday morning, residents of coastal Orange County were met by an UNUSUAL summer thunderstorm that moved north from the Pacific Ocean, possibly due to leftovers from Hurricane Dean. A hail storm and rain fall went through the Big Bear area Saturday. At least two bands of storms were poised to hit the Los Angeles basin. The storms are tropical moisture fed up from the tropics by the low pressure system once known as category 5 Hurricane Dean, and the system still has a center, currently 140 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The system caused a FREAK downpour in Escondido, dropping almost 2 inches of rain in barely an hour. Thunderstorms rarely flow west of the Santa Ana Mountains because the air here is typically too stable to support such systems. That wasn't the case Sunday. Unstable air rolled in off the ocean, from the west coast of Mexico, whipping up thunderheads that were about 40,000 feet high, or roughly 40 times taller than the Eiffel Tower.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
ROMANIA - At least 1,400 villagers have been stranded in northern Romania amid heavy rains that caused rivers to overflow, killing a 19-year-old man. The 17th-Century Sambata de Sus monastery was evacuated in the floods, which also cut power to 130 villages in the north and east of the country. Six of Romania's 41 counties have been affected, with authorities warning that seven more counties were in danger. The rain comes after three days of high temperatures of up to 40C. Swollen rivers also caused flooding in six towns in central Romania.

U.S. MIDWEST - Tens of thousands of people in the US Midwest remain without power following heavy storms, while floodwaters in some areas are still rising. Skies cleared over Chicago as the storms moved east and south, while tornado warnings were issued for parts of Ohio. Storms have battered US states from Minnesota down to Ohio in the last week or so, killing at least 17 people. The weather has eased but many problems still remain for residents. More than 650,000 customers in Illinois lost their power supply after a major storm on Thursday. A utility company said it had restored power to the majority of homes by Saturday, but that it might be several days before everyone had electricity.
OHIO - Mansfield ABSOLUTELY SHATTERED THEIR AUGUST RAIN RECORD with 10.32" - more than an inch-and-a-half over the old record of 8.65" set in 1995.
ILLINOIS - Floodwaters bring deluge of mosquitoes - Thankfully, the aedes vexans comprising the most recent infestation isn't the same species that carries the West Nile virus. But floodwater mosquitoes are more aggressive than their Culex cousins. "Floodwater mosquitoes tend not to carry virus. Their life-span is a very short period - two weeks. But during that period, they take a lot of blood meals and lay a lot of eggs." The dramatic increase in rainfall in August - more than 15 inches or 400 percent of normal levels in some parts of Kane County - has meant the annoyance factor is skyrocketing. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in damp spots and hope that water soon will be added. In normal circumstances, the liquid commodity isn't always forthcoming, so the eggs die. But with northern Kane County seeing between 10 and 15 inches of rain in the past three weeks, all of a sudden water and baby mosquitoes are in abundant supply. "In 17 years, you see a lot. But generally, you don't see a lot of this. I don't know if I've seen rainfall in the same spot for so long."
OKLAHOMA - On August 20th, an amateur astronomer in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was hunting for meteors using a low light video camera when instead he caught two Gigantic Jets. Gigantic Jets are lightning-like discharges that spring from the top of thunderstorms, reaching all the way from the thunderhead to the ionosphere 50+ miles overhead. They are enormous and powerful. "They were much brighter than a typical meteor - more like a fireball." To appreciate the size of these things, consider the following: "They came from a thunderstorm more than 100 miles away in Missouri. "This means the Jets were about 48 miles tall measured upward from the top of the thundercloud." "Gigantic Jets are RARE. The first one was discovered in 2001 in Puerto Rico. Since then fewer than 30 jets have been recorded - mostly over open ocean and on only two occasions over land." Because they connect thunderstorms directly to the ionosphere, Gigantic Jets play some role in the global flow of electricity around our planet, but how big is that role? "No one knows."
[Site note - These jets were sighted around the same time that Tropical storm Erin was unprecedentedly regenerating over Oklahoma - In what the National Weather Service termed "AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENT,” the storm re-intensified just south of the Red River and developed sustained winds GREATER than tropical storm magnitude. The result: 10-plus inches of rain in some areas. "To see what we saw on satellite, where the system reorganized and had the look of a very well-organized system like you'd see over the Atlantic or the gulf, that's REALLY RARE.” The storm system hardly resembled what a tropical storm, or even a hurricane, is supposed to look like [as it should weaken] three days and 450 miles after landfall.]

BANGLADESH - The death toll from flood-related incidents in Bangladesh rose to 702 by Sunday morning.

NORTH KOREA - The flood toll in North Korea is at 454 Dead, 156 Missing.

BRITAIN - A new £20 billion Thames barrier to save London from a potentially disastrous flooding threat is the centrepiece of a series of measures planned by the Government. In addition, new flood defences are being planned for all major police, fire and power stations and other vital infrastructure in a bid to avoid more disastrous flooding of the kind that hit Britain last month. During the floods, which caused up to £3 billion worth of damage, parts of Gloucestershire came within minutes of the biggest peacetime evacuation Britain has seen. It came after a crucial electricity sub-station was nearly destroyed. Flood experts say the existing Thames barrier, completed in 1983, may not be able to cope with rising tides by 2030. A second barrier, long rumoured to be in the planning, would be located farther east than the current defence system at Woolwich which has seen a dramatic increase in the number of times it has been put into use. When it first came on stream it was closed on average every couple of years - but in 2003 it was used 19 times. Asked whether they thought London would flood in the next 25 years - "It may do. The environment agency are doing a feasibility study. When the Thames Barrier was built it was built on the assumption that there was a one in 2,000 year chance that London would flood. That estimate now is one in 1,000 years. In other words from 1983 to today the probability has doubled."

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
GREECE - More international help was set arrive in Greece today to fight the DEADLIEST FOREST FIRES IN THE PAST 150 YEARS, amid growing suspicion that many of the blazes which have killed more than 60 people and destroyed hundreds of houses were arson.
Wildfires are burning in half of Greece - "This is an UNPRECEDENTED SERIES OF EVENTS that has occurred in Greece, upwards of 170 individual wildfires, mostly in the south of the country." Greece has NEVER EXPERIENCED A DISASTER ON THIS SCALE. Police say it is not clear how many people are unaccounted for and say they fear an even higher death toll. As authorities evacuated hundreds of people trapped by flames in their villages, dozens were hospitalized. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land and pastures have been scorched.
Photos

BULGARIA - The number of people who have died as a result of the wildfires in the Bulgarian municipality of Topolovgrad rose to two. The victims were from the village of Prisadets. The situation in the region remains serious. The fire has engulfed kilometers of forest and is moving towards the Municipality of Svilengrad. The villages of Filipovtsi, Prisadets and Varnik were evacuated.

MASSACHUSETTS - on Saturday, the Attleboro area endured its second day in a row of RECORD-SETTING HEAT. The temperature hit 95 degrees at 4 p.m., just breaking the previous record of 94 degrees, set in 1993.
NEW HAMPSHIRE - A strong line of thunderstorms moved across New Hampshire on Saturday night, tearing down trees and knocking out power to as many as 7,000 people. The line of storms followed a record hot summer day for the Granite State. In Concord, the temperature hit 98 degrees, BREAKING THE RECORD by one degree.
NEW YORK - Temperatures soared Saturday afternoon, SHATTERING THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH for this date by six degrees. The high of 91 degrees, measured at the airport at 2:14 p.m., broke the old record of 85, set in 1993.
GEORGIA - The 100-plus degree heat and the rainfall shortage this month has caused drought conditions so bad that they usually DON'T OCCUR MORE THAN ONCE A CENTURY. The drought in 70 of Georgia's 159 counties — almost half — has now been classified as "exceptional." In an "exceptional" drought, the affected regions experience widespread crop losses, and the water level in reservoirs, streams and wells drop so low that it creates a water emergency. These conditions are RARE. The drought has spared only four Georgia counties - all of which received plentiful rain from Tropical Storm Barry. 40 other counties are in an "extreme" drought. That happens ONCE IN 50 YEARS and also causes crop loss and water shortage, although not as severe as in an "exceptional" drought. The state's rainfall total for the year is 17.51 inches. That's almost half of normal. Add to that the temperature - August has seen nine days when the temperature climbed to 100 degrees or more in metro Atlanta, making it the HOTTEST MONTH SINCE THE WEATHER SERVICE BEGAN KEEPING RECORDS. (map)
ALABAMA - The U.S. Drought Monitor labeled 73 percent of Alabama "exceptional" for its lack of rainfall. Alabama has become significantly drier since Aug. 7, when 52 percent of the state was labeled exceptionally dry. Every county in Alabama has some degree of drought or abnormal dryness. "Not only have our farmers been suffering through the highest level of drought in the entire United States, but now we are experiencing RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES that may cause even more losses."
KENTUCKY - Baking under another RECORD-BREAKING HEAT WAVE, customers of Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities Co. were being asked for the first time this year to conserve electricity. The request for area residents to temporarily turn off their air conditioners, dishwashers and other appliances comes as near 100-degree heat continues to drive record levels of energy consumption. Thursday the mercury climbed to 99, breaking the record set in 1959 of 98 degrees. Records have been dropping like beads of sweat since the heat wave started July 30. The record string of consecutive days with 90-degree heat or more was broken last Monday when the city experienced its 22nd consecutive day. The streak ended Tuesday, the 14th, when the high was only 88. The previous record of 21 straight days had been set three times: August of 1900, July of 1901 and August of 1936.
TENNESSEE - Thursday’s 99-degree heat eclipsed the day’s Tri-Cities RECORD of 94 degrees set in 1968. Relief from the RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES isn’t expected until today, when meteorologists forecast a 40 percent chance of rain and temperatures in the upper 80s.

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Sunday, August 26, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
True luck consists not in holding the best of the cards at the table;
luckiest is he who knows just when to rise and go home.
John Hay

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/25/07 -
5.2 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.1 EASTERN TURKEY
5.0 SOUTHERN IRAN
8/24/07 -
5.0 BANDA SEA

CALIFORNIA - A California researcher says Los Angeles is in the midst of a 1,000-year seismic lull characterized by relatively small and infrequent earthquakes. The Northridge earthquake of 1994 was "a drop in the bucket" compared to the massive jolts that would strike the basin during a period of high seismic activity. "The past 1,000 years has been relatively quiet." This is based on the discovery of several clusters of intense seismic activity separated by periods of relative calm lasting about 1,500 to 2,000 years. Looking at the geological record going back 12,000 years, they found several clusters of seismic bursts, the most recent lasting 4,000 years and ending about 1,000 years ago. Earthquakes that struck Southern California over the last century killed more than 200 people and caused billions of dollars in damage. Scientists argue that when the lull ends, metropolitan Los Angeles will experience significantly bigger and more frequent temblors - up to 15 times larger than the destructive Northridge earthquake of 1994. That could be soon - or 500 years from now. Even more dramatic is the geologists' explanation - welcomed by some scientists and questioned by others - of why the lull is occurring. They theorize that two of the region's most active fault zones are essentially taking turns producing earthquakes, with faults in the Mojave Desert producing bigger and more frequent quakes, while faults under Los Angeles take a break, and vice versa. High-tech monitoring devices show that the region's earthquake faults are building up high amounts of energy, yet the historical record shows that, as an average over time, seismic activity has been much lower. Once the lull ends, the quakes experienced in the region could be significantly larger than the ones we have experienced during the last 1,000 to 1,500 years. These quakes will not only be bigger, but they will likely produce large, slow seismic waves, which can be very damaging to tall buildings and large structures like dams and bridges. Such a quake "is going to pump enormous amount of energy into the L.A. Basin, causing it to resonate. We're going to have a metropolitan area-wide disaster on our hands." Even a seismic lull period has its risks - "Even if we believe Southern California is in a lull, we still had Long Beach and Northridge and Sylmar. If it's quiet, it's not dead."

RUSSIA - more than 1,000 repeat earth tremors have occurred in Nevelsk since August 2 when the town was hit by a powerful earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richer scale. The seismic activity in the Nevelsk area is now higher than the intensity of tectonic cataclysms in the area of the Simushir Island of the Kuriles chain. A total of 798 aftershocks have been registered there since November 15, 2006 after a 7.8-point earthquake. The strong earthquake in Nevelsk was triggered by the earth crust movement in the Tatar Strait on the coast of which the town is located. The epicenter was located just four kilometers from Nevelsk. There was a tsunami wave up to two meters high here after the earthquake; it reached the Japanese Hokkaido Island. After the powerful earthquake in the Simushir Island area the tsunami wave was seven meters high and this wave, with reduced strength, reached Alaska, the Hawaii and even New Zealand. Earlier this week, regional legislators called for raising seismicity norms for a number of far eastern areas. The Kamchatka peninsula, if hit by a powerful earthquake, may lose up to 100,000 residents. More than 1,800 Kamchatka facilities need to boost their earthquake resistance. Kamchatka needs 33 billion roubles to boost the strength of all structures to withstand 7- to 9-magnitude earthquakes. Scientists predicted that such an earthquake is possible within the next five years.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
No current tropical storms.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
U.S. - Storms have continued to drench the US Midwest, which is already enduring record floods that are reported to have killed at least 25 people. States from Iowa to Texas have all been deluged. Early in the day on Friday, another band of thunderstorms dumped more rain on Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin. The National Weather Service warned that Illinois residents could expect another 2in (5cm) of rain on Friday afternoon and evening. While some areas have seen the worst of the weather, with a high pressure system expected to dry things out over the weekend, others may still have more rain to come. "This is UNPRECEDENTED."
WISCONSIN - The series of storms that has pummeled the Upper Midwest is part of a VERY UNUSUAL weather pattern. It only comes around once every 100 or 200 years. Energized by warm air and fueled by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, the storms start in Nebraska and Iowa in the afternoon, roll through southern Minnesota and then into Wisconsin and Illinois. They've been running on schedule for six days. The storms had caused more than $48 million in damage in Wisconsin by Friday.
IOWA BROKE A 135 YEAR-OLD RAIN RECORD - The heavy thunderstorms that rumbled across southern Iowa Thursday night and Friday morning helped break an August record for Iowa precipitation that covers 135 years of statewide weather reports. As of 7 a.m.Friday, Iowa has had an average of 8.62 inches of statewide average rainfall, breaking the old mark of 8.24 inches set in 1993. The all-time mark for rainfall in any month in Iowa is 10.5 inches, set in the historic flood month of July 1993. “We had some incredible rain in southern Iowa last night [Thursday]. It was the biggest that we had yet out of this episode” of heavy Iowa rainfall over the past week. The National Weather Service is forecasting a chance of thunderstorms again Tuesday and Wednesday.
MINNESOTA - The rains that triggered widespread flooding in southeastern Minnesota last weekend SMASHED A STATE RAINFALL FRCORD FOR A 24-HOUR PERIOD. It broke the old record by more than 4 inches. The town of Hokah in Houston County had 15.1 inches of rainwater when measured at 8 a.m. Sunday morning. The previous record - set in July 1972 at Fort Ripley, Minn., in the central part of the state - was 10.84 inches. The state has had only three 24-hour rainfalls of 10 inches or more in the last 200 years.

AUSTRALIA - BIGGEST WET EVER in south-east Queensland - South-east Queensland's Rainbow Beach has set a new RAINFALL RECORD. 713 mills fell there in the 24 hours to nine Friday morning. That's more than three times the previous total of 216 mm for the whole month of August, set in 1998. Other parts of the region at the northern end of the Sunshine Coast have also had good falls. The current low pressure system over south-east Queensland is a FREAK event, not seen since the 1800s. Dozens of people have been rescued from homes and cars, and more are poised to evacuate their homes as the flash-flooding caused by a one-in-100-year deluge sweeps across southeast Queensland. More than 300mm of rain and high winds have lashed the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay regions since Thursday, caused by the UNUSUAL low pressure system over the state's southeast. Such events usually occur in late autumn or early winter. "They are VERY RARE in August and the last one we can find was probably in the 1880s. We know they happen now but we haven't in the past had any of these events in August or September." At Tewantin, near Noosa, 310mm of rain fell - more than four times the previous record daily total of 72.2mm set on August 19, 1989.

NORTH KOREA - At least 600 people are dead or missing after devastating floods in North Korea this month. One million people have been affected by the downpours, with thousands injured. Some 240,000 houses were totally or partially destroyed, leaving 100,000 people homeless and 900,000 people flood-stricken. The country also suffered severe damage to its infrastructure after landslides and rain left hundreds of miles of roads and railways inundated.

POLAND - Heavy storm felled hundreds of trees, blocking roads, rail tracks and causing damage to power lines the Swietokrzyskie region, southern Poland. Firefighters have been the busiest removing obstacles from the roads and rail tracks in the Kielce, Busko and Pinczów regions. There have also been reports on damaged roofs in some other neighbouring areas.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT/ CLIMATE CHANGE-
GREECE - A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Greece, amid a rising death toll from raging forest fires. 47 people have died and many others may be trapped on the Peloponnesian peninsula. Radio stations are being inundated with calls from people in remote mountain villages saying they are surrounded by fire. Almost 200 fires have been reported - there were about 70 new blazes during Saturday, while many others continued to burn from the previous day. Strong winds have blown smoke and ash towards Athens 330km (200 miles) away, starting more fires and blocking out the sun over the capital. Fire crews said they had found at least 30 bodies in villages near Zaharo as they searched burned out cars and houses. "It's a tragedy," an eyewitness told Greek television. "I can see the burnt bodies of a mother holding her child in her arms. Further away there are more bodies. It's terrible." Emergency workers have been finding charred bodies in fields, homes, and in cars. Fire officials confirmed that three firefighters were among the dead. (photos)
Emergency services have been overwhelmed. Friday was previously the deadliest day of a terrible summer of forest fires, a war of attrition against the flames that has now been raging for two months. At least nine people are reported to have burned to death in their cars as they attempted to flee the flames in the western Peloponnese region. The victims, driving near the town of Zahero, were surrounded by a wall of fire and could not break through. A local prefect close to the scene described it as horrific. "The situation is extremely dire... The speed with which this fire has been spreading is astonishing." Scores of other people in the region have been taken to hospital with burns. The biggest fires are still raging out of control, whipped up by dry winds gusting up to gale force, which have hampered the efforts of water-dropping aircraft.
These are the WORST FOREST FIRES TO HIT GREECE IN DECADES.

WATER SHORTAGES -
TURKEY - Ankara, Turkey's capital and home to more than 4.5 million people, has been in the grips of a serious water shortage for the last three weeks. On August 1, the director general of the State Hydraulic Works announced that Ankara had enough water for just 78 days and that the water level in the city’s reservoirs had fallen to 5.5 percent of capacity, down from last year’s 23 percent. At the time of writing, the level in the reservoirs is a meagre 3.5 percent of capacity, which corresponds to a water supply of fewer than two months. “Temperatures all across Turkey will be two to four degrees higher than average in the period between August and October.” This means that evaporation of existing water stocks will continue unabated. Although not as acute as Ankara's, Istanbul has also a water shortage problem. In general, Turkey has been experiencing a dramatic decline in the level of its fresh-water supply. The newspapers are full of pictures of arid, cracked soil, accompanied by gloomy reports of the drying up of a river, lake or reservoir. Water shortages have already taken their toll on agricultural production across the country. The media is full of reports about water shortages adversely affecting the production of wheat, olives and olive oil, figs, grapes, sunflowers and sunflower oil, and cotton. As a result, food prices may increase substantially in the near future. The water shortages are also affecting the generation of electricity in the country. A massive water shortage is expected to hit Turkey after 2050.

EGYPT - Egyptians have begun mass demonstrations, demanding that the Cairo government intervene to end their critical drinking water shortage. In some areas in Cairo drinking water has been cut off for over a week and even over a month in one particular vicinity. The shortage threatens to ruin over 404 hectares (1,000 acres) of farmland.

GREECE - Water shortages have hit much of Greece, particularly the Aegean islands, at the height of the summer tourist season.

BULGARIA - There is a water shortage in about 600 small towns and villages in Bulgaria. If the dry weather continues, incidents of water shortage may reach 800.

PHILIPPINES - Extracting water from the atmosphere won't produce substantial supply to address the water shortage in Metro Cebu. Harvesting water from the atmosphere is already being practiced by other tropical countries, but the technique has not produced enough water supply.

KENYA - An acute water shortage has hit Mombasa town and its environs in the past two weeks.

AUSTRALIA - Following 10 years of drought nearly every Australian city will be forced to find new water supplies during the next decade.

BEE DIE-OFF-
One likely cause of the bee die-off are pesticides, particularly a new class of powerful chemicals called neonicotinoids (or neonics), which are an artificial form of nicotine. "My theory ...is something has broken down their immune system. The only thing that's new is the increased usage of neonicotinoids. Three years ago, you started really seeing it. Now, it's everywhere. It's the pesticide of choice in this country - and yours too. You can't get away from the stuff." This link is fuelling controversy because neonics have become widespread, mostly through their frequent use in treating genetically engineered seeds. If neonics were to blame for CCD, it would make bees the first known species to become a casualty of the biotechnology era. Last March, the Sierra Club called on the U.S. government to fund emergency research into the neonic connection and, if GM crops are found to be responsible for CCD, to ban the plants. "You look at what's new exposure, and this is the new exposure. This is big. We're talking about the food supply." Findings of the world's largest-ever field trial of GM crops, done for the British government in 2003: The three-year study, which involved 4,000 visits to fields and the counting of 1.5 million insects and birds, found that powerful chemicals used in conjunction with GM crops were highly harmful to bees, butterflies, and birds. Fields of biotech canola and sugar beets had dramatically fewer bees than conventional farms. Studies have shown neonics degrade the immune systems of bees, making them more susceptible to disease. The working group singled out neonics, because CCD made its appearance shortly after the new chemical became widespread in genetically engineered crops in 2000 and 2001. "Something is going haywire." The truth may be made of many things. "We're probably looking at multiple factors that came together in the past season in a perfect storm."

This is not the first time in history that honey bees have disappeared at alarming rates. “There have been problems like this in America on and off since the 1890s.” A particularly nasty die-off lasted from 1963-1965, putting a significant number of bee-keepers out of business. Mass hive abandonment was formerly called Disappearing Disease. In those days, the tools for investigating and finding the cause of die-offs were nonexistent. Therefore, scientists simply recorded what happened and kept their fingers crossed, hoping it would all be over soon. But today, with all modern technological advances and innovations in research strategy, the fact that a cause hasn’t been identified is frustrating to bee-keepers and experts alike. “We can’t just say, hey it went away before, it’ll go away this time.” The importance of honey bees in America can hardly be over-emphasized. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion each year in added crop value. Specialty crops such as almonds and other nuts, as well as apples, rely entirely upon the services of the nonnative species. Luckily this year there were enough bees available to meet pollination demands. But if CCD continues, will there be enough bees next year?

CANADA - The bee business is being battered by mysterious deaths that result in low honey yields. After losing unusually large numbers of their bees to unexplained deaths, beekeepers across Alberta are facing honey harvests projected to be 20 to 30 per cent below average. Alberta Agriculture and Food is conducting a study into the causes of the high bee deaths, expected to be completed in about a month. Preliminary findings have ruled out starvation and colony collapse disorder, in which a hive's adult bees disappear inexplicably, leaving larvae and pupae to die. Possible causes include the long winter and an abundance of mites, bacteria and viruses. Several diseases have become immune to conventional chemical treatment, forcing beekeepers to rethink the way they medicate their hives.

U.S. - Officials say bees are not dying as fast as they were last year, but say this fall will be a critical test. Some beekeepers have lost 90 percent of their hive populations since last fall. Experts say the bees might be dying because of diseases brought to the U.S. from other countries, or because of stress placed on the bees by being moved from farm to farm. Because of the shortage of bees, local farmers say they are now paying more for beehives to pollinate their crops.

CALIFORNIA - Are the bees dying off because they're too busy? California bee farmers who let their hives take it easy find their colonies are thriving. Canada is slightly better positioned to resist CCD, because migratory beekeepers move bees shorter distances and fewer times per season.

INDIANA has been spared from the bee disorder so far. Reports of unusual colony deaths have surfaced in at least 22 states and Indiana initially was listed as affected, but that was later changed.

BIRD DIE-OFFS -
WEST NILE VIRUS - A gene mutation that appears to be responsible for changing relatively mild forms of the West Nile virus into a highly virulent and deadly disease in American crows has been identified by U.S. government and university scientists. Studies have found that deaths of American crows due to West Nile virus are associated with higher rates of infection among mosquito populations and clusters of the disease in humans. This year to date 444 people have been stricken with West Nile virus, and 15 of them have died. "The findings from this study highlight the potential for viruses like West Nile to rapidly adapt to changing environments when introduced to new geographic regions. The study also suggests that the genetic mutations that create such adaptive changes may result in viral strains that have unexpected symptoms and patterns of transmission." West Nile virus, which is passed back and forth between birds and mosquitoes and transmitted to humans via mosquito bites, was first identified in 1937 in Uganda.
CANADA - This is ONE OF THE WORST YEARS ON RECORD FOR WEST NILE bird deaths.

PENNSYLVANIA - Updated information on the bird deaths along the Susquehanna River is that the deaths are no longer limited to insect-eating birds. The latest reports are that ducks and shorebirds have also been found dead and floating in the river. Currently, the numbers are given as "dozens" of birds, but no new information on the cause of their deaths.

NEW YORK - More than a dozen dead birds have been found in a suburban lake within the last two weeks of July and first week of August, and officials suspect a paralyzing bird disease. First it was a mallard here, a Canada goose there, even a swan. Now the toll has reached more than 20, Babylon Village officials say. The village is not sure why the birds are dying. Preliminary indications point toward avian botulism, a paralytic disease produced by decaying matter such as old bread, which many people continue to feed the ducks despite warning signs telling them not to. Certain environmental conditions, such as intense heat and lowered water levels, also increase bacteria. Argyle Lake has random waterfowl deaths throughout the year, but they have not seen so many in such a short period.

INDIA - 97% of the vulture population in India has crashed. What was once one of the most abundant large birds of prey in the world is dying out. Why? The verdict is in, a drug found in cattle and humans, but there is controversy about it for a number of reasons. The anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, similar to ibuprofen, has been used by cattle farmers as a popular cure-all to treat a variety of diseases. When vultures feed on the carcasses which are traditionally left out for them, the drug in the meat creates kidney failure in vultures if consumed. India has a population of 500 million cattle. There are 140,000 slaughter houses in India. Vultures are not particularly held in high esteem by people, but they perform a vital function in South East Asia, in Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Tibet and Sri Lanka, to keep the environment clean and fresh. Their extinction would be a massive tragedy. Controversy exists because there may be other causes for the extinction. Lead may be the culprit, as may other human debris that can be picked up by vultures and fed to their young. Scientists say it was not a virus.

DISEASE THREATS -

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALLED - Mars Petcare US, based in Franklin, Tennessee, is voluntarily recalling five-pound bags of Krasdale Gravy dry dog food sold in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and 50-pound bags of Red Flannel Large Breed Adult Formula dry food sold in Pennsylvania because of the potential contamination with Salmonella Schwarzengrund.

AUSTRALIA - racing in all mainland states has been shut down as a result of the equine influenza scare which has halted all horse movement in NSW. 16 horses have now been confirmed as initially testing positive for equine influenza at two Sydney locations and another six are showing signs of the virus. All harness racing tracks in NSW have been closed and the sport's trials, gymkhanas and race meetings cancelled until further notice in the wake of the equine influenza scare. 5000 thoroughbreds are currently in training around NSW and 40,000 more are also at risk of the disease. Also under threat are horses under the command of NSW Police Force. People who have come in contact with the horses are not at risk of infection but can easily spread the disease. "In a lot of cases these people have gone into multiple places. Its a massive problem for the horse industry." It is highly likely the current restrictions would last at least two weeks and the effect would be substantial as the racing industry approaches its high season.

Norovirus outbreaks in the United States appear to have increased sharply since the beginning of last year, probably fueled by two new strains of the gastrointestinal pathogen.

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Friday, August 24, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
What did the cloud say when the lightning bolt exposed itself?
Your behavior is shocking.

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/23/07 -
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.4 FIJI REGION
5.0 GUAM REGION
5.0 BURYATIYA, RUSSIA

PERU - Historic churches and colonial-era haciendas along Peru's southern coast suffered serious damage in last week's earthquake, which also halted boat trips to an offshore wildlife reserve. Launches that normally ferry sightseers to the rugged, guano-coated Ballestas Islands — home to sea lions and myriad bird species — sit idle at port after authorities closed the Paracas National Reserve. The Aug. 15 quake chipped rocks off coastal bluffs, and most of the arched rock formation known as "The Cathedral" came tumbling down. The luxury Paracas Hotel near the reserve was closed indefinitely, damaged by a 1.5-meter (5-foot feet) ocean surge that flooded the 114-room hotel. In the port city of Pisco — hit hardest by last week's quake that killed at least 540 people — the five-story Embassy Hotel accordioned onto its ground floor, killing 15. The Nazca lines, world-famous desert geoglyphs, suffered no damage. Nor did the Inca ruins of Tambo Colorado inland along the Pisco river, although a huge boulder partially blocked the highway leading to it.
The giant quake that wrecked the Pacific coastal town of Pisco last week has set off a wave of refugees, driving up to 40 percent of its people to quit their ruined homes and move away. Pisco formerly had a population of 130,000 people. The quake destroyed around 85 percent of Pisco, leaving residents camping amid the ruins as the threat of disease and the stench of bodies under the rubble grew. Most buildings were built with unreinforced adobe in Pisco.

VOLCANOES -
ALASKA - officials say Pavlof volcano is continuing to erupt vigorously into its second week. Earthquake activity in the area, about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, is steady and above normal. A webcam that was installed last weekend should be running soon, but technical problems with it are still being worked out.

HAWAII - Some in the Big Island community are concerned Kilauea's lava flows could start pouring into residential areas. The volcano's lava has headed safely to sea for most of the past 15 years. But since July 21, the volcano has been active in an inland area several miles uphill from homes and businesses. The flows pose no immediate danger, but it's hard to predict what might happen over the long term. Hawaii County's mayor says it's like a hurricane system developing 2,000 miles away - any scenario is possible.

MONTSERRAT - Two dozen Montserrat residents have been allowed to return to their homes near the Soufriere Hills volcano, six months after they were forced to evacuate by a growing lava dome. The last homeowners in the community of Old Towne are being allowed return to their properties for the first time since February, when the Caribbean island's exclusion zone had been extended north. But "should there be an increase in volcanic activity ... they must be prepared to move north at short notice." The announcement, which affected about 25 people, came shortly after reports that the risk from the volcano had lessened. Scientists had feared a lava dome on its northeast side could crumble, spewing hot gases, ash and rocks and threatening nearby towns. Roughly 50 other homeowners in a different section of Old Towne were allowed to return on July 20. The Soufriere Hills volcano sprang to life in 1995, killing 19 people, chasing away more than half the island's population and burying much of its southern half.

ICELAND - Geologists believe Mt. Hekla is going to erupt again in the next year or two; the last eruption was in 2000. Mt. Hekla is a faithful volcano, meaning it has erupted regularly, every ten years or so for over 1,000 years. Snow did not cling to its peak this winter, which indicates the mountain is heating up. Minor earthquakes, caused by volcanic activity inside Hekla, were measured this summer. They are expecting a small harmless spurt with minor lava and toxic gasses. Some of the prior eruptions were so extreme that they could be seen from Europe.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
No current tropical storms.

Hurricane Dean saved some of its worst for last, killing eight people after shrinking to a rainy tropical depression over central Mexico. In the state of Puebla, a family of four died when a mudslide hit a highway overpass Thursday and crushed their car. Wednesday, a government official died in a car wreck while checking for damage during the storm, and a 76-year-old man was killed when part of his house fell on him. A 35-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl died after a roof collapsed Wednesday in the state of Hidalgo. Another man died trying to ford a rain-swollen river in Veracruz state on Wednesday, but because he ignored warnings from rescue personnel, state officials said they would not count his death in the storm total. The same held for a man who was reported electrocuted by power lines while trying to secure his roof before the storm hit Wednesday morning. The storm toll in Mexico brought the total number of fatalities associated with Dean to 28. The hurricane had reached its full strength, Category 5, when it struck a relatively isolated stretch of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday. So far no deaths have been reported there, although property damage was extensive. About 90,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in Mexico , with an estimated 60,000 people in shelters overnight Wednesday. The Yucatan lost nearly 400 square miles of crops. After Dean landed on the Veracruz coastline Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane, it quickly began to lose strength. Within hours it was downgraded to a tropical depression. But its arrival near the end of central Mexico's rainy season caused some landslides and flooding.
Heavy rains from Hurricane Dean pounded western Mexico today after the storm killed at least nine people in a three-day rampage across the breadth of the country. Dean, which has weakened to a tropical depression, caused two rivers and a reservoir to overflow in the mountains of Hidalgo state and dumped rain as far away as Jalisco, which lies on the Pacific coast. Dean damaged Mayan villages and beach resorts in a run across the Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, then churned through the Gulf of Mexico yesterday and slammed into Mexico's eastern coastline.

FLORIDA's Gulf Coast continues to feel the aftermath of what was Hurricane Dean. The Category 5 storm which struck Mexico earlier this week has resulted in extremely dangerous rip-tides from Apalachicola Bay to Pensacola. Red-flags and double red-flags have been flying along Panama City Beach. Word of four-to-seven foot surf swells has brought out surfers from across the country. The normally tranquil Gulf waters appear more like the Pacific Ocean. In several cases, surfers have helped save the lives of people who have gotten caught in the rip-tide. Surfers say it should calm down sometime today.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
AUSTRALIA - Residents were rescued from homes and cars overnight as floodwaters and torrential rain caused widespread havoc on the Sunshine Coast and the Wide Bay regions north of Brisbane.
The State Emergency Service says flood boats have rescued a number of people on the Sunshine Coast from cars as RECORD RAIN fell in the region in the last 24 hours. Trees and powerlines, blown over in the windy conditions, have blocked the Bruce Highway between Tiaro and Maryborough. Since 9am yesterday Noosa Heads has recorded 377 millimetres of rain, 559mm fell at Coops Corner near Inskip Point and Tewantin has experienced RECORD rainfall of 263mm. The rainfall figures are unseasonal. "These are incredible totals, especially for the month of August. A new upper trough has come into play and it's currently situated inland to the Fraser Coast and that has interacted with a surface low just off the Fraser Island area."

Floods, heat wave batter U.S. - Mudslides and murky floodwaters hampered recovery efforts in Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio and Wisconsin where at least 23 people were killed after a week of heavy rains that prompted dramatic roof-top rescues. A fresh round of thunderstorms battered parts of the central United States for a fifth day on Thursday. Three people were killed in Madison, Wisconsin, yesterday when lightning struck a utility pole and knocked a live wire into a deep puddle at a bus stop. Meanwhile, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama continued to wither under a RECORD-BREAKING HEAT WAVE blamed for the death of at least 25 people. Recovery workers in Oklahoma were searching yesterday for the body of a high school student who was sucked into floodwaters while running with his cross country team. Six other people were confirmed dead in the state after the remnants of tropical storm Erin dumped heavy rain there and triggered flooding over the weekend that continued to wreak havoc on the state. It was the third major flood the state has faced this summer and the deadliest so far because of the intensity of the storm. "What made this one so amazingly intense is we had an eye of a hurricane form over our state. We haven't seen it flood so fast and so high in recent memory." Texas was spared the brunt of hurricane Dean's wrath but was still cleaning up from the damage wrought by tropical storm Erin and months of endless rain which caused six deaths last week. This brought the state's flash-flood deaths to 40 so far this year, tying the record set in 1989. "We've had persistent, ongoing, relentless precipitation pretty much all year. It's our WETTEST YEAR ON RECORD so far... dating back to 1895."
Flood photos
Meanwhile, a crippling heat wave brought death and drought to the south eastern states of Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. Thirteen deaths were reported in Memphis, Tennessee and a dozen were reported in Alabama. "These are a HUNDRED-YEAR-PLUS RECORDS THAT ARE BEING SHATTERED." One such RECORD was in Athens, Georgia which has had 13 days this month with temperatures at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to an average of one day a year in August. "That's a TREMENDOUS CLIMATOLOGICALLY EXTREME EVENT." Birmingham, Alabama BROKE RECORDS with 10 consecutive days of temperatures at or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius), up from the previous record of eight days in the deadly heat wave of 1980.

CANADA - the Saskatchewan Department of Highways and Transportation said a portion of Highway 16 may have to be relocated because of flood damage. Severe thunderstorms earlier in the week caused part of Highway 16, known as the Yellowhead, to cave in. The side slope of the roadbed on part of the highway has dropped approximately two metres. "It has formed a large depression on the highway. We've also got deep cracks that have formed on the highway surface, and there's a three-metre-diameter sinkhole near the shoulder."

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALLED - Los Angeles Salad Company, located in City of Industry, CA is recalling its "Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots" ("Trader Joe's Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots" and "Los Angeles Salad Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots") because the product may be contaminated with the bacteria Shigella. The same product sold in Canada was discovered to be contaminated with Shigella earlier this week.

WEST NILE - The number of West Nile virus cases in the Canadian Prairies has exploded, and some experts warn the worst is yet to come. The latest figures show at least 386 Canadians have been infected.

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Thursday, August 23, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
A newcomer to Seattle arrives on a rainy day.
He gets up the next day and it's raining.
It also rains the day after that, and the day after that.
He goes out to lunch and sees a young kid and asks out of despair,
"Hey kid, does it ever stop raining around here?"
The kid says, "How do I know? I'm only 8."

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/22/07 -
5.1 FIJI REGION
5.0 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.4 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical depression DEAN was 134 nmi SE of Tampico, Mexico.

Dean is now a tropical storm inland over Mexico. Maximum sustained winds had decreased to near 70 mph, 110 km/hr, with higher gusts. However, stronger winds, especially in gusts, were likely over elevated terrain. Continued weakening was expected until Dean dissipated over the mountains of central Mexico last night or early today. Tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 275 miles, 445 km, mainly to the northeast of the center. Dean is expected to produce storm total rainfall of 5 to 10 inches over parts of southern and central Mexico, with maximum amounts of up to 20 inches. These rains could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides. (satellite photos)

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
MIDWESTERN U.S. - Already soaked from days of rain, a broad region from Minnesota to Ohio endured more flooding on Wednesday, as RAINFALL SHATTERED RECORDS and weather forecasts called for more flood watches and additional rain. After the latest storms, the governors of Iowa and Ohio declared emergencies in several counties on Wednesday. Similar steps were taken earlier in the week in Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. In Iowa, where saturated ground resulted in flash floods and basements filled with water, officials were keeping a close watch on an extensive levee system on the Des Moines River in the north-central part of the state, the area hardest hit by the storms. Though the levees appeared to be stable after being shored up on Wednesday, “the telltale point will be how much more rain we get.” In Ohio, heavy rain that began on Monday and continued through Wednesday morning caused widespread flooding in the northern part of the state, submerging cars and putting entire downtown areas under water. The rain and flooding affected 21 counties. Though at least seven deaths in Minnesota have been attributed to the storms, the Wednesday flooding did not appear to have caused any additional fatalities. Minnesota and Wisconsin, where residents have been battling rising waters since the weekend, got more rain late Tuesday and into Wednesday. In southeastern Minnesota, an additional inch of rain fell Tuesday night, and a lot more was in the forecast. In southwestern Wisconsin, where initial damage estimates topped $35 million, another band of storms brought rain and winds up to 60 miles an hour Tuesday night, damaging homes and farm buildings and downing power lines and trees. An additional one to three inches of rain were expected through Thursday. In La Crosse, Wisconsin, August was already the WETTEST MONTH IN THE CITY'S HISTORY, with 12.22 inches of rain so far, breaking a record set in 1900.

IOWA - Humboldt County received 12.5 inches of rain over a five-day period, bringing the total for August to 15.2 inches, BREAKING THE COUNTY'S PRECIPITATION RECORD FOR ANY SINGLE MONTH. The old record for the county was 13.3 inches, set in September 1965. Humboldt’s weather records go back 106 years.

SOUTH DAKOTA - Hail pelted southeast South Dakota counties mostly along the Missouri River on Tuesday night. Dante in eastern Charles Mix County received hail larger than 4.25 inches in diameter. The softball-plus size hail broke car windows in town. That size of hail is QUITE RARE, occurring when a lot of moisture is in the atmosphere. "These stones have a chance to grow in size because we have so much moisture. If they're falling down the size of baseballs, they're probably big ice chunks up at the top part of storms." Hail as big as 2.5 inches fell in Wagner. Quarter-size or 1-inch hail littered yards near Vermillion, Gayville and Delmont. Smaller hail was reported near Lake Andes, Armour and in Yankton.

NEW YORK - Long Island residents have been contending with rising groundwater problems for decades, but the situation has become worse since heavy rains in October 2005, which have kept the water table in the area at RECORD HIGHS. Residents say they are pumping 24 hours a day in order to keep the water out of their basements. "We have been experiencing a lot of recharge and above-normal precipitation and it's really causing a rise in the water table." The flooding in some of these areas is so severe that some homes have cracked foundations, basements have stagnant water.

BRITAIN - A pensioner died battling floods during a FREAK storm in which a month’s worth of rain fell in less than five hours. He suffered a heart attack as he struggled to pile sandbags around his home. Paramedics had to wade through knee-deep water in Brixham, Devon, to reach the body of the retired civil servant. His death came after 30mm to 40mm of rain fell in five hours across south Devon on Monday.

FRANCE - Cold summer forces EARLIEST FRENCH WINE HARVEST ON RECORD. The first bunches of grapes for the manufacture of champagne were to be snipped in north-eastern France Wednesday - one of the earliest wine harvests ever recorded. Despite miserable weather across much of France in June, July and August - which will greatly reduce the amount of wine produced - the 2007 vendanges, or grape-picking, will be two to three weeks ahead of the normal timetable in most of the country. The mild winter and the hot weather in April and May gave the grapes a flying start. The wet summer, which produced savage attacks of mildew in some vineyards, has not prevented an early harvest. Even the reduction in yields - likely to be down 5 to 6 per cent on an average year - is good news, for producers. Vineyards growing the cheapest table wines, in huge surplus worldwide, have been worst affected by the mildew and the wet, cold summer. French production of low-quality wines is expected to fall by almost one quarter at a time when the world market is still swamped by unsold cheap barrels and bottles from last year and from 2005. There were also poor harvests last winter (the southern hemisphere summer) in Australia, South Africa and Argentina. French growers - and the French government - hope that the combined effect will be an easing of the overproduction "crisis" and an increase in the wholesale prices of table wines for the first time in a decade. In some parts of Languedoc, the first grapes were picked three weeks ago. In Champagne, which always starts ahead of some more southerly areas, the vendanges are said to be THE EARLIEST FOR A CENTURY, apart from the heat-wave year of 2003. The date of the vendanges in France has been creeping forward for decades: a symptom, according to some meteorologists, of climate change. Widespread attacks by vine mildew, a form of fungal infection, appeared to threaten the 2007 harvest in some areas in early July. Regular treatment and a slackening of the rain has saved the crops of most middle-rank and better vineyards. Some lower quality producers have been devastated. Wine producers insist that the quality of the 2007 vintage will be good or excellent.

AUSTRALIA - So far this week, Brisbane has received more rain in a few days than the city normally does for the whole month. The August average is 45 mm, but as of this morning, the city had enjoyed 47 mm. Yesterday, a second day of wild, windy weather destroyed a house and caravan, cut power to more than 100,000 people and played havoc with transport. Despite the extreme conditions, in which a whopping 242mm was dumped on parts of the Gold Coast hinterland, little rain fell over the southeast's main dams. The only winners were hardcore surfers who tackled huge waves whipped up by winds which topped 120km/h.
The North Shore received more than its usual entire monthly rainfall in one night this week, with Lane Cove recording its WETTEST AUGUST DAY FOR 40 YEARS. Sydney had 106mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am Monday, drowning the average August rainfall figure of 81mm. And Riverview and Lane Cove had the WETTEST AUGUST DAY SINCE 1963, with 126mm of rain recorded, the highest score in the Sydney metropolitan area. August is usually the third driest month of the year due to prevailing westerly winds. But this week the weather is coming from the south-east with an upper air disturbance also contributing to Sydney's soaking.

UGANDA - severe flooding in the eastern part of the country resulted from UNUSUALLY INTENSE rainfall over the past month - the HEAVIEST IN 35 YEARS. Many parts of eastern Uganda have witnessed significant flooding since the rains began in late July. In addition to forcing thousands from their homes and causing substantial damage to crops, the floods have damaged roads and bridges, making it difficult to reach the affected populations.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
SICILY - Dozens of Italians were forced to leave their homes in Sicily this week as regional wildfires damaged homes and threatened communities.

JAPAN faces electricity shortages as a sustained heat wave pushes demand to RECORD LEVELS, straining a supply grid compromised by the forced shutdown of the world’s largest nuclear plant. Tokyo Electric Power, the world’s biggest private utility, on Wednesday asked about two dozen industrial customers to cut electricity use after temperatures in the capital reached 36 degrees.
"The high temperatures stretch into the night and so odd is the heat that even a huge downpour did nothing to change the conditions. Indeed the heat and late evening shower were simultaneous! Strange but true."

MISSOURI - This year's heat wave TIED A RECORD FOR LONGEST HEAT WAVE IN HISTORY Wednesday morning when the mercury climbed above 90 at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport on its way to a predicted high of 99. It marks the 28th consecutive day with a temperature above 90, tieing the record set in August-September 1983. Since July 26, when a high of 90 was recorded, the heat has set four records for daily high temperatures and the airport reading has reached 100 or above four times as well. On 18 days, the temperature has exceeded 95, including a 17-day stretch from Aug. 2 through Saturday. The heat wave has claimed one fatality in Cape Girardeau County. The heat doesn't appear ready to release its grip on the region.

TENNESSEE - LONGEST HEAT WAVE IN HISTORY - The heat wave, with temperatures of 95 and above, has lasted 19 days including Wednesday. The previous record is 18 back on August 15th through September 1st of 1993. Wedensday was the 7th day of 100 or above. The record is 15 in 1952. The hottest summer average, June-August is 82.0 in 1993. This summer so far: 81.0 (could break this). The hottest year in Chattanooga: 1938 with an average of 63.1. So far this year: 61.6 (including the freeze in April).
A periodic disease that is likely the cause of dead deer in Tennessee and surrounding states is being made more severe by the drought and the heat wave.

FLORIDA - RECORD HEAT.

COLORADO - RECORD HEAT - This summer Denver recorded 50 days where the mercury has hit or surpassed 90-degrees Fahrenheit, with a rainfall deficit of nearly three and a half inches.

SOLAR WEATHER -
Solar waves make earth ring like a bell - Sounds generated deep in the fiery depths of the Sun make Earth, its atmosphere, and even its magnetic field ring like many cosmic bells. There are distinct tones that are thought to be generated by energy and pressure waves in the Sun. Now, researchers have identified these same tones in the Earth's seismic data, and even in induced voltages in ocean cabling. The vibrations in the Sun have two causes: pressure waves and gravity waves, which are referred to as p-mode and g-mode, respectively. Scientists hope to use the g-mode waves to study the interior of the Sun, in the same way that seismic data can provide an insight into the inner workings of Earth. Data from the Ulysses mission provides clues as to how the sounds reach Earth.The vibrations are picked up by the magnetic field at the Sun's surface. The solar wind then carries the field into interplanetary space, where space probes like Ulysses can pick up the signal. The solar wind also interacts with the Earth's magnetic field, causing it to vibrate in sympathy. From our magnetic field, the signal is picked up by our many technological systems, as well as the planet itself. The tones are far beyond the edge of human hearing, some 12 octaves below the lowest detectable note. While orchestras tune up to the A above middle C, at around 440 Hertz, the Earth rings at a much more stately 100-5000microHz. That is one vibration every 278 hours, or 11.5 days.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
- RECALLED - Mars Petcare US, Inc. announced a recall of select five pound bags of Krasdale Gravy dry dog food sold in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The pet food is being recalled because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.
- RECALLED - Acme Smoked Fish Corporation is recalling Smoked Salmon. This product was distributed to retail stores in the South Florida Region. The potential for contamination with Listeria monocytogenes was noted after routine testing.

Tests on two brands of dog treats sold at Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. have shown the pet food contains traces of melamine, the same industrial chemical that caused an earlier recall of pet food products across North America in March.

LEAD IN TOYS - About 66,000 spinning tops and 4,700 tin pails featuring Thomas and Friends and Curious George characters are being recalled from the marketplace because they contain high levels of lead.

Blankets made in China are being withdrawn from the marketplace in Australia and New Zealand after tests showed they contained high levels of formaldehyde, a chemical preservative.

Infectious diseases are spreading faster than ever before, the World Health Organization annual report says. With about 2.1 billion airline passengers flying each year, there is a high risk of another major epidemic such as Aids, Sars or Ebola fever. The WHO urges increased efforts to combat disease outbreaks, and sharing of virus data to help develop vaccines. Without this, it says, there could be devastating impacts on the global economy and international security. In the report, the WHO says NEW DISEASES ARE EMERGING AT THE "HISTORICALLY UNPRECEDENTED" RATE OF ONE PER YEAR. Since the 1970s, 39 new diseases have developed, and in the last five years alone, the WHO has identified more than 1,100 epidemics including cholera, polio and bird flu. Not only are diseases emerging more quickly around the globe and spreading faster, they are also becoming increasingly difficult to treat. Global efforts to control infectious diseases have already been "seriously jeopardised" by widespread drug resistance, a consequence of poor medical treatment and misuse of antibiotics. Although the H5N1 bird flu virus has not mutated into a form that passes easily between humans as many scientists had feared, the next influenza pandemic is "likely to be of an avian variety" and could affect some 1.5 billion people. "The question of a pandemic of influenza from this virus or another avian influenza virus is still a matter of when, not if."

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Wednesday, August 22, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Today's global weather forecast calls for variable conditions.
And here is the extended forecast: "Foooorrrcaaaaaaaaasssstt".

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/21/07 -
5.1 OFF COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.0 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
5.2 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
PERU - Approximately 150 fishermen in the districts of Chucuito and La Punta, located in the Province of Callao, were affected by a tidal wave that struck the shores of the province west of Lima. The tidal wave occurred on Thursday August 16, one day after the magnitude-8 earthquake hit Peru. Fishermen were extremely affected by the tidal wave after it destroyed most of their boats which were sunk or completely destroyed. The fishermen's nets were damaged and are useless. In addition, most of the tools which they used to fish were dragged away into the ocean when it returned to its normal level. The wharf, which had been used by the fishermen for 15 years, also was completely destroyed. They are requesting that loans be approved so that the fishermen can purchase new boats and tools to begin working again. Presently the ocean is calm and would be adequate for fishing, which can not be done because of the lack of equipment.(photo)

VOLCANOES -
INDONESIA - Lava and hot gas clouds from Mount Karangetang volcano in eastern Indonesia are threatening more villages. Lava has already spread more than 1.5 kilometres down Mount Karangetang's western and southeastern slopes, where more than a dozen villages are located. "We've recorded volcanic tremors that indicates more lava will climb to the crater's surface. At least four more villages on the western slope are at risk of being swallowed by lava." Another hundred people have left their homes to join nearly 600 people who have already sought refuge in the nearest town. The alert status was raised to maximum at the weekend after hot clouds started moving eastwards, posing a threat to hundreds of people. Another volcano 175km south of Mount Karangetang has also been spewing ash and sending debris down its slopes. But Mount Soputan, which lies on the northern tip of the Sulawesi island, is not yet seen as a threat to nearby villages.

TRINIDAD - On Monday, delegates from several organisations journeyed to Mayaro to discuss with the residents the possible dangers of eruption from the off-shore mud volcano. The mud volcano began rising about three months ago, but residents say they had been calling on the authorities for some time to investigate a gas bubble spotted at sea, but no one did anything until an article appeared in the newspaper. When it was first seen it was an oil bubble that grew quickly, and it has been growing ever since. Officials said there was no danger to residents on shore.

ETHIOPIA - A volcano that erupted earlier this month in remote northern Ethiopia killed five people and drove more than 2,000 from their homes. The volcano, which rocked the arid Afar region bordering Eritrea and Djibouti for three days from August 12, also killed about 1,370 camels and goats. The eruption also opened a 10km crack in the ground and spewed lava 300m in the air. The Afar region is dotted with ancient salt mines and is for the most part inhabited by nomadic herders.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Hurricane DEAN was 119 nmi NNE of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. (Dean is now a category one hurricane with a large ragged eye. It is rapidly running out of time to strengthen again before making landfall again over Mexico late today.)

Hurricane Dean has crossed offshore after lashing Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Belize, toppling trees and houses and bringing torrential rain. Major tourist resorts were not directly hit, but indigenous Mayan villages were exposed to its full force. There are no reports of deaths in Mexico so far. The eye of the storm came ashore about 170 miles (270km) south of Cancun, early on Tuesday in a sparsely populated area near the town of Majahual, where hundreds of homes were destroyed. It lashed low-lying Mayan communities, and rain, poor communications and impassable roads made it hard to establish how they had fared in the storm. Dean was a Category Five hurricane, the highest level, when it made landfall, but later weakened to Category One. Andrea Montalvo, of the US-based Spanish-language Telemundo television network, said the storm was wreaking havoc in the town of Chetumal, to the east of Majahual. "Inside the hotel it is really bad, every 10 or 15 minutes you can hear windows shattering and people are coming out of their rooms in panic. If this is how it is here in this hotel, which is pretty solid, I don't want to think about how it is there." Further south, most of Belize was without power. Officials in Belize City closed hospitals and urged people to head inland, saying the town's shelters were not strong enough. Dean is thought to have been less damaging than the Category Five Hurricane Wilma in 2005, which lingered over the Yucatan for a day, killing 10 people and wrecking large areas of Cancun. It is the third strongest Atlantic hurricane to make landfall since records began in the 1850s. Dean is expected to hit Mexico again at about 1300 (1800 GMT) today between Veracruz and Tampico.
Hundreds of homes in the Caribbean town of Majahual collapsed as Dean crumpled steel girders, splintered wooden structures and washed away about half of the immense concrete dock that transformed the sleepy fishing village into Mexico's second-busiest cruise ship destination. The storm surge covered almost the entire town in waist-deep sea water. "It wasn't minutes of terror. It was hours. The walls felt like they were going to explode." Dean's projected path is 645 kilometres south of Texas, where only heavy surf is expected.
List of hurricane damage by country.
The landfall of Hurricane Dean, the strongest hurricane of the year and ONE OF THE MOST INTENSE ATLANTIC STORMS EVER MEASURED, is bound to provoke yet another round of climate change arguments. "If you look at the official records, Dean now fits into a staggering hurricane decade. That’s highly suggestive, if not definitive. And this staggering decade has occurred in part because of anomalously warm ocean temperatures in the hurricane-prone regions. Many scientists question whether you can explain these warm anomalies without invoking global warming as at least part of the cause. So once again, even though Dean was not “caused” by global warming, when considered in its Atlantic context the storm is certainly consistent with the argument that there’s something going on out there that’s new — and more than a little scary."

A tropical disturbance in the western Atlantic should bring rain and thunderstorms to South Florida today and Thursday, but it likely won't develop into a tropical depression or storm. The system, actually a tropical wave, should produce about a half an inch of rain over most of South Florida, with some areas possibly seeing more. On Tuesday evening, it was about 450 miles east of the Bahamas, moving west at 15-20 mph. On Monday, the hurricane center said the disturbance had potential to develop. On Tuesday, the center said system showed no signs of organization and that upper-level winds are unfavorable for it to strengthen.

OREGON - Blame the rainy weather in Oregon on a typhoon near the Philippines. Long-range weather models predicted some rain in the Pacific Northwest from that distant storm in the Pacific Ocean. Despite the recent precipitation, summer has been normal in Oregon, except that July's average temperature was up 3 degrees from normal. Pacific storms half a world away can be the source of all sorts of oddball local weather. In 1962, typhoon remnants caused the state's biggest windstorm on Columbus Day that killed 23 people in Oregon and caused $170 million in damage.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
MINNESOTA - A preliminary survey by the American Red Cross identified about 4200 homes affected by the flood. Officials say that includes 256 complete losses, 338 with major damage and 475 that are still inaccessible. Winona County Roads alone sustained more than three million dollars in damage.

OHIO - The residents of Carey are the latest victims of storms that have buffeted the Midwest and Plains since the weekend, leaving roads flooded, schools canceled and sending rescuers out on boats. The death toll from two storm systems — one in the Upper Midwest and the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin in Texas and Oklahoma — reached 22 on Tuesday when searchers found the body of a man tangled in a tree near Lewiston, Minn. Preliminary damage reports in Wisconsin topped $38 million.
In Cleveland, Ohio Monday's steady and sometimes surging rain - the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin - pushed August 2007 into the RECORD books. More than 2 inches of rain had fallen at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport by 5 p.m. Monday, pushing the month's total well over the 8-inch mark, drowning the previous mark of 6.36 inches set in 1919.

MICHIGAN - A day of RECORD RAINFALL Monday in Metro Detroit caused havoc for motorists and residents who endured power outages and severe flooding and turned some streets into muddy swamps that left 100 homes in Dearborn inundated. Through 7 p.m. Monday 1.62 inches was reported at Detroit Metro Airport, passing the one-day record of 1.5 inches set in 1904.

SOUTH DAKOTA - Mobridge, in Walworth County, has set a RECORD FOR RAIN in a one-day period. From midnight Friday to midnight Saturday, Mobridge got 4.43 inches of rain. The previous record was 3.66 inches set on July 11, 1997. Two heavy storm systems hit the area, one on Friday and one on Saturday.

INDIA - The overall flood situation in Orissa remained alarming Tuesday as a school boy was washed away in Mayurbhanj district while rising rivers caused by heavy rain, inundated 881 villages in neighbouring Balasore.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
NORTH CAROLINA - Sure, it's supposed to be hot. It's August. But not this hot. Not record-setting hot. Not for a whole month. But it could happen. Greensboro could smash the mark for the hottest August on the books. On top of that, the area could set the record for the driest August ever. "This really has been an exceptional month for heat and dryness." NEW RECORD HIGHS have been set on five days this August in Greensboro. The combination of hot, dry weather has taken a significant toll on crops and livestock, lawns and gardens, lakes and streams, and pets and people. Eighteen of the 20 days this month have seen the temperature hit 90 or above. A typical month might have eight or nine such days. Through Sunday, Greensboro has recorded an average temperature of 83.4 for the month. The previous record for August is 80 degrees, set in 1975. Record highs were set on six days this month and record minimums on another five. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the state has experienced 471 wildfires this month; that's more than double the average for August. "We're SMASHING RECORDS ALL OVER THE PLACE."

SOUTH CAROLINA - Some areas of South Carolina are approaching the DRIEST AUGUST ON RECORD, which could upgrade the state's drought status to severe.

IDAHO - The relentless spread of large wildfires has prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency and fire managers in three national forests to give up on trying to extinguish the blazes, focusing instead on protecting homes and other structures. Fire managers on some large wildfire complexes said they would need to wait for a different kind of help to fight back the flames: snow. "With the resources we have and the conditions on the ground, we're not going to be able to go in there and put them all out. It's physically impossible to do so. Unless things really change weatherwise, we expect them to burn until the winter snow hits the mountains."

MONTANA, CALIFORNIA - More than 300 homes were evacuated as a wildfire destroyed two houses and cut off the main entrance to a Billings, Montana, subdivision. At some of the surviving homes, firefighters were battling flames "right up to the back door". Gusty winds and low humidity helped spread flames elsewhere in western Montana, prompting more evacuations near several blazes. Southeast of Missoula, Granite County authorities evacuated 213 cabins and homes in the path of a complex of fires that had charred at least 44,000 acres, or 69 square miles, in three national forests. Dozens of ranch properties in California were put on alert Monday as the third-largest wildfire in modern state history raged through Los Padres National Forest backcountry. The blaze had blackened 214,725 acres, or 336 square miles, since starting on July 4. It was 75 percent contained. The firefighters, more than 3,000 strong, faced rugged terrain, temperatures in the 90s and extremely low humidity in an area that hadn't burned in 75 to 100 years.

------------------------------------------

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
What's worse than raining cats and dogs?
Hailing taxis.

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/20/07 -
5.9 PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.0 CELEBES SEA
6.4 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.4 POTOSI, BOLIVIA
6.5 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
5.6 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.2 TANZANIA

TANZANIA - A strong earthquake hit Tanzania on Monday morning, sending tremors hundreds of kilometres away in Nairobi. Residential and high-rise buildings shook for several minutes in the capital, causing renewed panic. The earthquake was the second to hit the region in less than three days. Another quake hit the region on Saturday morning. The 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck northern Tanzania, 85 km northwest of Arusha at 5.56am on Monday. The Saturday quake also measured 5.2 on the Richter scale. Residents along the Kenya/Tanzania border said Mt Oldonyo Lengai, an active volcano near Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, has been spewing out lava since Thursday last week. The magma from the mountain has forced people living in surrounding areas to flee. The volcano erupted last month, causing a series of earthquakes in the region. The quakes saw workers evacuate high-rise buildings in Nairobi and geologists blamed the movements on stirring underneath the mountain. Kenya and Tanzania lie along the geologically active Great Rift Valley.
KENYA - The 5.2 quake that hit on Monday was just the latest in a swarm. Since early last month the region has been receiving earth tremors of a magnitude between 4 and 6 on the Richter scale. The first tremor to hit Nairobi last month was on July 15 and it is believed to have originated from Lake Natron to the North of Tanzania on the Eastern arm of the Rift Valley. The USGS attributed the string of earth tremors that have affected the East African region as a seismic swarm. Their report suggested that the series of tremors could not lead to a major earthquake.

CALIFORNIA - First they handed out EMPTY bottles of water that read: "Try living on this for three days." They parked mobile billboards in San Francisco that made it look as if a major earthquake had just rocked downtown. They even posted housing ads on craigslist for heavily damaged flats near the Presidio that exclaimed "Available immediately!" And now the American Red Cross - frustrated with its findings that a whopping 83% of Bay Area residents remain unprepared for the Big One - is unveiling its latest guerrilla marketing tactic: the Supercrack. It is a simulated 60-foot gash on Union Square's patterned pavement, revealing chunks of concrete, twisted wires and mangled cars in the parking garage below. "It looks like Union Square has been broken. It's pretty wild." Emergency preparedness officials hope shocked shoppers will wake up, stockpile some food and water, and while they're at it, take some courses in first aid and CPR. Since the Red Cross started its guerrilla advertising, 17% of Bay Area residents are now considered prepared for a major disaster, up from 6% just one year before. There is a 62% chance at least one quake of magnitude 6.7 or greater will strike the Bay Area by 2032.
Ideally, every family should: Make a plan. Establish where to evacuate to, or where to meet with family members if you're separated during a disaster. Determine an out-of-state contact you can call in case local phones are overwhelmed. Get a kit. Have enough food and water to last three days - about 12 gallons of water for a family of four. Stockpile flashlights, extra batteries and a battery-operated portable radio, as well as a first aid kit. Be informed. Learn CPR. Know first aid. Understand how and when to turn off the utilities at your home. If there is one thing that public health and safety officials say they have learned from Hurricane Katrina, it is that people need to be able to help themselves for at least three days after a disaster. Police and firefighters will be overwhelmed. So, anyone who thinks that stashing an old flashlight or two in the garage is sufficient could be in for a big wake-up call.

VOLCANOES -
ALASKA - The eruption of Pavlof volcano along the Alaska Peninsula southwest of Anchorage continues to dribble molten rock down its slopes, trigger steaming lahars and spit small ash clouds into the air. The volcano awoke last week with a dramatic explosion that appears to have legs. The Alaska Volcano Observatory continues to rate the volcano's aviation hazard at the Orange level, meaning that the eruption isn't currently sending ash into flight zones but could at any time. Volcanic ash can damage or shutdown jet aircraft. Pavlof has erupted 10 (and possibly 13 times) in the past three decades, most recently in 1996. A surge in earthquakes beneath Pavlof on Aug 14 alerted scientists that it had awoken again. By Aug. 15, the volcano had begun erupting with lava, ash and steam. Cleveland Volcano - an Aleutian cone without its own seismic network - has also been sending ash into the sky. Korovin is stirring too. (photos)
Alaskan Volcano Observatory - activity is monitored in real time at 31 volcanoes in Alaska.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Hurricane Dean was 102 nmi SW of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. (Dean is expected to maintain hurricane status during its entire stay over the Yucatan and it could still regain major hurricane status over the Bay of Campeche before final landfall in about 30 hours.)

Hurricane Dean - Mexican authorities have evacuated tourist resorts and shut down offshore oil facilities ahead of the potentially catastrophic arrival of Hurricane Dean. The storm has reached Category Five - the highest strength - as it rushes towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula with winds of up to 160mph (255km/h). Thousands of tourists attempted to leave the resort of Cancun, but some were unable to get a flight. Neighbouring Belize is also bracing itself for the hurricane, which has already claimed at least 11 lives in the eastern Caribbean, but largely spared the Cayman Islands earlier on Monday. The US National Hurricane Centre said Dean has reached "potentially catastrophic" Category Five strength, with sustained winds of 160mph (255km/h) and a storm surge 18ft (5.5m) above normal tide levels. It looks like the biggest threat is going to be for portions of northern Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula coast of Mexico." Category Five storms are RARE - only three have hit the United States since record-keeping began.

As Hurricane Dean bears down on Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, hurricane watchers are keeping an eye on a new tropical wave in the Atlantic Ocean. The band of showers and thunderstorms is located a few hundred miles northeast of the Northern Leeward Islands. The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center states, "Upper-level winds are expected to gradually become more favorable for development during the next couple of days as this system moves westward or west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph." At the Weather Underground Web site, two of three computer forecast models that show the system, with current winds of about 25 mph, heading towards the east coast of Florida. But those models can change as the system develops. The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Norfolk issued a “tropical cyclone formation alert” around noon on Monday.

Thunderstorms caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin are being blamed for the torrential rain in Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas. Erin dropped up to 1ft (30cm) of rain in southern parts of Minnesota, causing rivers to burst their banks and forcing hundreds of people from their homes. The floods have killed at least six people in Oklahoma, six in Minnesota and one in Texas.
MISSOURI - Remnants of Tropical Storm Erin dumped heavy rain in southwest Missouri on Monday, leaving one town temporarily cut off. Some of the worst damage was in Pleasant Hope, a town of 700 residents near Springfield. Dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed. Some parts of the town got 15 inches of rain in a four-hour period. For a time, all roads into the town were cut off. "We've never had this kind of water."
PENNSYLVANIA - Heavy rains and strong storms were prompting numerous flood watches and warnings throughout Western Pennsylvania Monday afternoon, as moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin interact with an upper level wave.

AUSTRALIA - Cyclonic conditions are expected to hit the southeast corner of Queensland later today, with damaging wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres an hour, and big seas. Already strong winds are buffeting the Byron Bay lighthouse, and are due to arrive in Brisbane by early afternoon. Conditions out to sea would be the equivalent of a category two cyclone and closer to land they would be similar to a category one. “They will continue overnight and tomorrow, before slowly easing off during the day." The weather bureau has issued a severe weather warning for the state's south-east and Granite belt with large seas and damaging wind gusts expected, as a result of a deep low pressure system. The system was similar to the one that caused havoc in Newcastle in June, grounding freighter ship the Pasha Bulker. Power outages are likely because of branches falling onto wires. "And there's already big seas developing on the Gold Coast. They'll extend north to the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Island later today. Hopefully all the bulk carriers know about it, and will stay well offshore." Some rain was expected but nothing significant.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the strong winds expected to hit Fraser Island this evening and tomorrow are VERY RARE. Winds up to 50 knots could batter the east of Fraser Island. "We've actually got a storm force wind warning for offshore Fraser Island waters, that is winds getting up above 48 knots by this evening, overnight into tomorrow, so that's QUITE RARE of course to have winds that strong."

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
WISCONSIN - Janesville has gotten a RECORD 14.7 inches of rain this month so far.

OKLAHOMA - Oklahoma City set a RECORD FOR DAILY RAINFALL amount and for calendar day rainfall for the month of August. The 3.82 inches of rain record at Will Rogers World Airport beat a daily record for Aug. 19 of .87 set in 1977. The 3.82 inches also set a record for any calendar day in the month of August in Oklahoma City. The previous mark was 3.17, set Aug. 22, 1934. Weather records for Oklahoma City date back to November 1891.

MINNESOTA - Minnesota weather? Call it variable. Massive rainstorms soak one part of the state. Extreme drought grips another. And in the middle, the Twin Cities swings between the extremes. Weekend storms left southern Minnesota aghast at up to 17 inches of rain. Weather experts were amazed by the scale of the deluge, which covered a quarter of the state. "It's a very large area of heavy rain, so this is a UNIQUE EVENT in its geographic extent and also in its intensity. Five inches or greater fell over thousands of square miles - hundreds of square miles would be much more common for such an intense rainfall." The state's official rainfall record for a single day is 10.84 inches, set on July 22, 1972. Several Minnesota sites had much higher rainfall totals [over 17 inches] Sunday. But those weren't official weather stations, so they won't officially count. Meanwhile, northern Minnesota has pined for rain, yet received almost none. Drought indexes are as bad as they've been in 30 years. Only a lack of strong winds tempers the worry. Otherwise, "We've NEVER HAD CONDITIONS BEING THIS PRIMED for forest fires before." Weather experts see Minnesota's extremes as unrelated - and UNUSUAL. The weekend rains were fueled by several factors, including a stationary front stuck over the Iowa-Minnesota border, plus warm and moist air pouring north from the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin and from the Pacific Ocean. Together, it formed these thunderstorm complexes over and over that kept falling on the same terrain, so there was a conveyor belt. "(Tuesday), the rain machine will start again, and it will be affecting the same area. There are some areas that can expect an inch or two," and in scattered spots, 3 or 4 inches are forecast. Across vast parts of southern Minnesota, the sheer size of the crops helped protect the topsoil from the heavy rains. "You have a complete canopy with the corn and the soybeans, so you don't get as much erosion." But in central Minnesota, the hay crop is gone and dairy farmers are scrambling. "We've got farmers that are buying hay in August, and that's MOSTLY UNHEARD OF." Last week, the town of Pierz got some rain - and a 22-minute hailstorm that damaged thousands of acres of crops and laid waste to a mobile home park. "Here we are in the middle of a drought, and you see this storm damage, and you're like, what the heck is going on?" In east central Minnesota, Mille Lacs Lake is roughly 20 inches below its normal level. So as one part of the state prays for rain, another prays for it to stop.

BRITAIN is facing a flooding timebomb this autumn and winter, with huge amounts of underground water stored up by incessant summer rain ready to burst out as floods the next time heavy rains return. The summer of rain has left saturated ground, which means any more downpours could cause huge volumes of water underground to burst out. Forecasters are predicting a wet autumn across much of Britain. If the soil dries out this autumn the danger could subside, but time is already running out — evaporation slows down as sunshine becomes weaker and trees and plants take less water from the ground. Aquifers in Britain hold at least 20 times more water than the reservoirs and provide about a third of the drinking water supplies, with a far higher proportion in South East England. The aquifers were recharged fully during the summer, safeguarding water supplies well into next year. But the saturated ground also means that parts of the country could be on flood alert throughout autumn and winter, with no chance for the ground to dry out until the spring. Rainfall for May-July was the WETTEST ON RECORD, dating back to 1767, across England and Wales. Soils are at their WETTEST ON RECORD for the summer, many rivers broke RECORDS FOR WATER FLOW in July. This summer’s floods, caused by heavy and broad bands of rain, were widespread. “This summer was UNPRECEDENTED. The wetness of the soils and the river flows in the lowlands of England are more typical of winter than summer. I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Usually the ground dries out during the summer as trees and plants soak up huge amounts of water. This summer the rains have been so heavy that the ground has been supersaturated, rivers have burst their banks and aquifers have been recharged. “The really strange thing is that the recharge happened in summer, when there is usually no recharge after April. All boreholes are at peak levels, which is INCREDIBLY UNUSUAL.” After a fraught summer, this could be a nerve-racking autumn and winter.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
ARCTIC - Previously unknown islands are appearing as Arctic summer sea ice shrinks to record lows, raising questions about whether global warming is outpacing UN projections. Polar bears and seals have also suffered this year on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard because the sea ice they rely on for hunts melted far earlier than normal. "Reductions of snow and ice are happening at an alarming rate. This acceleration may be faster than predicted" by the UN climate panel this year. The thaw of glaciers that stretch out to sea around Svalbard has revealed several islands that are not on any maps. "Islands are appearing just over the fjord here" as glaciers recede...I know of two islands that appeared in the north of Svalbard this summer. They haven't been claimed yet." Islands have also appeared in recent years off Greenland and Canada. The US National Snow and Ice Data Centre said on Friday that Arctic sea ice had "fallen below the 2005 record low absolute minimum and is still melting". Arctic sea ice reaches an annual minimum in September before freezing again.

KOREA has had six days of rain so far this month, an average of one every three days. The showers are so frequent that some people believe Korea's climate is becoming like that of subtropical regions of Southeast Asia. Many people were caught in a sudden rain shower in Seoul's Jongno district around 10 a.m. Monday. At the same time there were also downpours of 0.5 to 4 mm in Seodaemun-gu, Dongdaemun-gu and Jungrang-gu. The Korea Meteorological Administration, however, hadn't forecast any rain for those areas that day. There were tropical nights with nighttime temperatures above 25 degrees once every two nights. That's another reason some people believe in the subtropical climate theory. There is more evidence to support this hypothesis - In Jeju Island, Busan, and some cities in Southern Gyeongsang Province including Masan, Tongyeong, Geoje, and some in South Jeolla Province including Mokpo, Yeosu, Wando Island, features of a subtropical climate began appearing several years ago.

Unpredictable savanna rains may have led to cooperation among birds, a study finds. Delaying having kids to help raise the offspring of others seems like a bad choice if you want to reproduce, but many African starlings have adopted this strategy to deal with the unpredictable climate of their savanna habitats. This behavior, called cooperative breeding, is typical of many animals, from insects and shrimp to birds and even humans, but the reasons underlying its evolution and distribution among such a wide array of species have been unclear. All of the cooperative breeders among the starlings live in savannas - highly seasonal habitats with great variation in rainfall, and thus food, from one year to the next. The species that do not engage in cooperative breeding are found mostly in forests, which have more reliable annual food resources. "Faced with an uncertain and unpredictable environment, it pays evolutionarily to live and breed in social groups that will help you weather the bad times and make the most of the good times." Helping relatives feed their kids increases the chances of passing on some of your genes, since siblings share a large proportion of their DNA. The first humans also lived in the savannas of East Africa. With global warming, weather patterns are expected to become more variable worldwide and could possibly drive social behavior more toward cooperative breeding among temperate species that don't normally live in family groups.

U.S. - A two-week heatwave in the southern and Midwestern US has resulted in the deaths of at least 43 people, many of whom were elderly. On Sunday, temperatures dropped to 94F (34C) in Memphis, Tennessee - the first time in 10 days they did not top 100F. In Memphis, the "heat index", a measure that factors in humidity to describe how hot the weather feels, has risen above 100F every day since 27 June. The heatwave has been responsible for 12 deaths in Tennessee, nine in Missouri, eight in Alabama, four in Arkansas, four in Georgia, three in Illinois, two in South Carolina and one in Mississippi.

ARIZONA - The Phoenix area is approaching a record that most would likely not want to see. It's the record for the number of days in a year the Phoenix area has reached at least 110 degrees. The current record is 28 and the Phoenix area is at 26 and counting. The chances are very good the Phoenix area will break the record soon because of forecasts of above-average temperatures throughout the week. The latest the Phoenix area has hit 110 degrees was Sept. 15, 2000. That means the area has about a month to smash the record.

SOUTH CAROLINA - August has been an UNUSUALLY FIERY MONTH according to experts at the South Carolina Forestry Commission. Fire numbers are up. Wildfire behavior has been more aggressive in recent weeks, due in part to the drought conditions that persist across the state. "We usually don't see flame heights extending beyond tree tops in August."

CALIFORNIA - A massive fire in the Los Padres National Forest grew an additional 11500 acres Sunday, making it ONE OF THE LARGEST WILDFIRES IN MODERN CALIFORNIA HISTORY. "It's growing, and it may become the granddaddy of them all before this is over with." The fire has burned 199,588 acres of wilderness, or 312 square miles. It was 75% contained, with more than 3,000 personnel working on it. Authorities closed a highway and encouraged residents of about two dozen rural Ventura County homes to evacuate. A 45-mile stretch on Highway 33, between Ventucopa and Wheeler Gorge, was closed to all traffic, including residents.

------------------------------------------

Monday, August 20, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
There's a technical term for a sunny, warm day
which follows two rainy days. It's called Monday.

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/19/07 -
5.5 PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.5 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
5.7 VANUATU
5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.6 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.8 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.0 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.0 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.2 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.2 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION

CHILE - Daily tremors shake a corner of Chile. The shaking has slowed for now, the sense of panic eased, the search for the missing ebbed. But six months of tremors, including one major earthquake, have left many in this remote corner of Patagonia unhinged. "The scariest prospect is a giant tsunami inundating the town while the mountains come tumbling down on top of us. Some people just can't get over that thought." The daily tremors began in late January and numbered more than 7,000 as of last week. The shakes culminated in a 6.2-magnitude earthquake April 21 beneath nearby Aisen Fjord that sent chunks of hillside plunging into the inland waterway, generating waves that swept away fishermen, salmon farm workers and others, killing at least three and perhaps as many as 10. The killer waves dissipated short of the town of Puerto Aisen, but the ground here trembled mightily, cracks opened in the earth, debris tumbled from mountains, and the town's signature suspension bridge swayed like a Slinky. As much as 15 percent of the population of 30,000 here and in the nearby port of Puerto Chacabuco had left by late last week. "This emergency is not over: We don't even know if the worst is over." The mystery about what exactly is going on has drawn experts from across the globe. Meanwhile, people here have gotten used to sleeping in their clothes, drawing the curtains and keeping their kids home from school. They report broken marriages, increased alcoholism and depression, and a sense of impending doom. "We noticed the children are more aggressive, fighting all the time." A government flier distributed before the April 21 quake assured residents of two comforting scenarios: The shuddering would "gradually" wane, or an underwater volcano would erupt "without consequence for people." From the mayor's standpoint, the fjord should have been declared off limits before April 21. Scientists had identified it as the epicenter of the earlier tremors. "The earthquake was inevitable, but the loss of life was not." People traveling in the fjord before the quake had reported strange phenomena: erratic tides, lightning emanating from the nearby Maca volcano, sulfurous gases belching from the waters. As the tremors mounted, apocryphal tales swirled of crabs and other shellfish emerging cooked from the cool Pacific. "No one should have been in the water that day."

FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
SRI LANKA - Caught in surging waves in rough sea amid a fresh low over the Bay of Bengal, two ships with cargo capsized off the Chittagong seaport while another ran aground in Barisal Saturday. Twelve crewmen were rescued by trawlers and boats. “Port’s two tugboats tried to locate the sunken ship several times, but failed due to stormy weather.” A Dhaka-bound oil tanker, carrying 13,000 tonnes of fuel oil, also sank in the Sandwip Channel at noon as the calamitous weather conditions continued to prevail. Port tugboats rescued all the 12 crew. Meanwhile, another oil tanker got caught in strong wind and ran aground at Ramdaspur in southern Barisal district early in the morning. It got stranded on a shoal at about 5am. The lighter ship could not be salvaged until evening. Thirteen crewmen of the ship were rescued by a port rescue team.

VOLCANOES -
INDONESIA - Lava and hot gas clouds have begun erupting from Mount Karangetang volcano, threatening hundreds of people living in nearby villages. The alert status for Mount Karangetang was raised to maximum at the weekend after hot clouds started moving eastwards, posing a threat to hundreds of people. Mount Karangetang, on the diving resort island of Siau off Sulawesi and 2325km northeast of the capital Jakarta, is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes. "At least hundreds of the 30,000 people living on the island are at grave risk. We have recommended evacuation for entire districts and we are pushing for the complete evacuation of at least two villages located 5km from the volcano's crater." Lava had already spread more than 1km down the volcano's slopes. Another volcano, 175km south of Mount Karangetang, has also been spewing ash and sending debris down its slopes. But Mount Soputan, which lies on the northern tip of the Sulawesi island, is no threat to nearby villages.

HAWAII - A major lava bench along the coastline of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park collapsed into the ocean this week, possibly shaken loose by several earthquakes. The East Laeapuki delta, an unsteady feature built by lava from the Kilauea volcano flowing into the ocean, has disappeared. Nearly 44 acres of the bench vanished, perhaps because of a 5.4-magnitude earthquake or high surf caused by Hurricane Flossie. "We had a report from a tour pilot that East Laeapuki bench had collapsed. It's totally gone."

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Hurricane DEAN was 166 nmi W of Kingston, Jamaica.
Tropical depression ERIN was 406 nmi NNW of Galveston, Texas.

Hurricane Dean - Trees have been uprooted and roofs ripped off houses in southern Jamaica, as Hurricane Dean's devastating journey through the Caribbean continues. The Prime Minister has declared a month-long state of emergency. The storm, with winds of up to 230km/h (145mph), careered along the country's south coast, its eye passing some miles away out to sea. Dean has already claimed at least six lives in the eastern Caribbean. Haiti and the Dominican Republic were spared the worst as Dean passed to the south overnight on Saturday - damage was limited to flooding in coastal areas, but Jamaica felt its full force. As heavy rain began to fall, there were reports of mudslides north of Kingston and the St Mary area on the island's north-east coast. Areas of the Cayman Islands and Mexican coast are being evacuated, amid meteorological reports the storm could intensify into a Category Five hurricane after it leaves Jamaica.
Hurricane Dean roared past Jamaica yesterday with 145-mph winds and left at least eight dead in its wake, slashing toward Mexico and building toward Category 5 strength. It ripped off roofs, triggered mud slides and threw trees and power poles across the flooded streets of the capital, Kingston. One man was missing Dean's eye passed just south of Jamaica last night. It was expected to continue south of the Cayman Islands this morning on its way toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. (map)

Typhoon Sepat - At least 15 people were killed as Typhoon Sepat battered China's south-eastern coast, spinning off a tornado that left a trail of devastation inland. The tornado cut a corridor of destruction 800 metres wide in eastern Zhejiang province, destroying 156 houses yesterday around Wenzhou City, leaving 13 dead and more than 60 injured, six seriously. In south-eastern Fujian province, two people were confirmed dead and another reported missing after Typhoon Sepat triggered flooding and mudslides. Authorities had evacuated nearly one million people from the province and neighbouring areas before Sepat landed in Fujian early today packing winds of 119km/h. Sepat brought rainfall of 40mm per hour to Wencheng County, disrupting power supply in eight townships and villages. The typhoon left a trail of damage, flooding roads, lifting roofs off houses and uprooting trees and billboards. The typhoon dumped 300mm of rain over 24 hours in some parts of the province, damaging homes, crops and downing power lines. More damage was expected in Hui'an county as weathermen reported heavy rain in a number of cities in Fujian. Rainstorms in the province will continue for two days.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
MINNESOTA - Torrential rain triggered flooding, killing at least six and prompting dramatic rescues of those trapped on their roofs and in cars by fast rising waters. More than one car plunged into a 30-feet-deep pit after rain washed away a road overnight in the small town of Witoka. Railroad bridges, houses and buildings were all swept away in the flooding with six to eight inches - and up to a foot of rain - falling overnight in some areas. The Minnesota town of Stockton was completely evacuated by authorities, who used boats to rescue about 75 people, including some who had to climb to their rooftops. Several other farm towns along the Whitewater River, and the larger city of Winona along the Mississippi River, were evacuated or partially evacuated. In the St. Charles area, farmers said they could not recall such large-scale flooding since the early 1970s. But even that flooding was not as bad as this. "North of town, it's HITTING THE HUNDRED-YEAR FLOOD MARK." The towns of Stockton and Elba were hit hardest as the Whitewater River burst its banks and flooded a wide area. Houses slid off their foundations and floated away. One witness told a local television station that he saw three people on top of a house, screaming, as it was washed away. [They survived, as their home got hung up on railroad tracks, partially intact, after floating for several blocks. They remained on the roof overnight, in the rain, until rescurers with an air-boat arrived. More rain hit the area last night and is likely again on Monday and Wednesday.]
The flood swept through Stockton with such force and devastation that it uprooted trees, knocked down fences, left mud slicks everywhere and lifted a home off its foundation and deposited it 200 yards away. Vehicles were abandoned on Highway 14. A railroad trestle was left twisted and gnarled. One of the roads in Stockton collapsed where rushing waters ran through a culvert. At least 12 inches of rain was dumped on the area. It happened between 11:12 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. - Stockton residents all cited the same short space of time when they became aware of the rapidly rising flood waters. (video)
Additional stories, photos, video.

WISCONSIN - A seventh Vernon County dam is being monitored in the wake of torrential rain that has prompted the Governor to declare a state of emergency in three southwestern Wisconsin counties. The surrounding areas were already evacuated earlier today. Crawford and Vernon counties got ten to 12 inches of rain Saturday night. So has Richland County, which has suffered an estimated three million dollars in damages so far. That's a preliminary estimate that's expected to rise.
Thunderstorms dropped up to 12 inches of rain Saturday and Sunday in southwestern Wisconsin, washing out roads and bridges and triggering a mudslide that pushed a house onto a highway. About 75 homes were under water in downtown Gays Mills. An additional 1 to 3 inches of rain was forecast in southwestern Wisconsin.

OKLAHOMA - heavy rain and powerful winds developed as the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin pushed across the state. The death toll from heavy flooding rose to five on Sunday. At the peak of the storm early Sunday, about 25,000 customers of Oklahoma Gas and Electric, mostly in the Oklahoma City area, were without power. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes in Apache, Fort Cobb and Carnegie after the Washita River flooded its banks. The interstate was shut down for several hours, and several people were rescued from vehicles swept off the roadway.
"The radar screen confirmed what the torrential rain was suggesting Sunday morning: Tropical Storm Erin had confused Oklahoma for the Gulf Coast. In what the National Weather Service termed "AN EXTRAORDINARY EVENT,” the storm re-intensified just south of the Red River and developed sustained winds GRETER than tropical storm magnitude. The result: Numerous towns and cities received 5 inches or more of rain, and several volunteer observers for the Oklahoma Climatological Survey reported 10-plus inches...To see what we saw on satellite, where the system reorganized and had the look of a very well-organized system like you'd see over the Atlantic or the gulf, that's REALLY RARE.” The storm system hardly resembled what a tropical storm, or even a hurricane, is supposed to look like three days and 450 miles after landfall. "If you removed the map and took that satellite image and put it out in the Gulf of Mexico somewhere, you couldn't tell the difference from a tropical storm.” (image)

SOUTH ASIA - Heavy rain triggered by storms caused fresh flooding in India and Bangladesh on Sunday, as authorities battled bad weather to supply food and medicines to victims of some of the worst floods in South Asia in years. Thousands of people have been marooned over the last two days across densely populated India's east and northeast and neighbouring Bangladesh after rivers, swollen by days of heavy monsoon rain, broke through mud embankments, swamped villages and destroyed crops. Around 1,000 people have died, mostly due to drowning or house collapses but also because of snakebite and diarrhoea, in the region and hundreds of thousands are still homeless in the latest flooding, which began about a month ago. Fresh flooding over the weekend brought misery to another 100,000 people in India's northeastern state of Assam, who were displaced after their houses were inundated. Traffic on a main highway in the state's Barpeta district was stopped and people evacuated after two children drowned overnight in the area. In the state of West Bengal, rivers swollen by heavy rain for a fifth day burst embankments and flooded dozens of villages in four districts.

SNOW / COLD -
MINNESOTA - Saturday's high temperature in St. Cloud reached only 59 degrees, making it the COLDEST HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR AUGUST 18 SINCE AT LEAST 1885. The previous coldest high for the date was 62, set in 1924. Saturday's high temperature would be normal for mid-October, according to weather records.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
Have instances of extreme weather conditions increased over the last few years? There were 26 “major flood disasters” worldwide in the 1990s, compared to 18 in the 1980s, eight in the 1970s, seven in the 1960s and 6 in the 1950s. As per a recent study by U.S. scientists, the proportion of tropical cyclones reaching categories 4 or 5 has risen from 20% in the 1970s to 35% in the 1990s over the globe. In the last 50 years, cold days, cold nights and frost have become less frequent, while hot days, hot nights, and heat waves have become more frequent.

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Sunday, August 19, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
What do a tornado, a hurricane, and a redneck marriage have in common?
By the time they're over, someone will have lost a house trailer.

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/18/07 -
5.2 NEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.1 SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
5.4 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
6.0 VANUATU REGION
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 TANZANIA
6.1 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU

8/17/07 -
5.0 SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
5.9 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.5 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.0 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
6.1 BANDA SEA
5.8 BANDA SEA
5.3 ROTA REGION, N. MARIANA ISLANDS

PERU - Scientists said the 8/15 8.0 quake was a "megathrust", a type of earthquake similar to the catastrophic Indian Ocean temblor in 2004 that generated deadly tsunami waves. "Megathrusts produce the largest earthquakes on the planet." The temblor occurred in one of the most seismically active regions in the world at the boundary where the Nazca and South American tectonic plates meet. The plates are moving together at a rate of 3 inches a year. The last time a quake of magnitude 7.0 or larger struck Peru was in September 2005, when a 7.5-magnitude earthquake rocked the country's northern jungle, killing four people. In 2001, a 7.9-magnitude quake struck near the southern Andean city of Arequipa, killing 71. In 1970 an 8-magnitude quake left at least 60,000 dead, in one of the country’s worst tragedies.
Extreme winter temperatures are endangering the lives of thousands of children and their families whose homes have been destroyed by the Peru earthquake, warns children's charity Save the Children. 80-100% of housing in the worst affected areas around Pisco and Chincha Alta has been demolished by the quake. Up to one million people live in the area, and may have been affected. As temperatures drop to near zero at night, families are struggling to survive with no shelter and few blankets. Thousands are sleeping in the open air, forced to scavenge for firewood in an attempt to keep warm. Lack of food, clean water and medical supplies is posing a major threat. Severe damage to roads and to landline and mobile networks is still hampering rescue efforts, with little reliable information available from a large part of the affected region as to the extent of the devastation. In Pisco, continuing tremors are still traumatising children. In addition to having to sleep in the cold, many have also been separated from their families during the chaos, and are extremely vulnerable to abuse due to growing disorder in the city. In the rural areas around Ica, highly toxic chemicals such as cyanide, used by families working in small silver and limestone mines, may have contaminated water supplies. Save the Children is accepting donations for Peru via its website www.savethechildren.org.uk.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
HAWAII - A small tsunami from the Peru quake hit Hilo on Thursday, 8/16. Had it come in daylight, the mini-tsunami that hit the Hawaiian Islands might have been noticeable at Hilo and Kahului. But the biggest local wave, generated Wednesday by the earthquake in Peru, was only 27 inches high when it hit Hilo at 2:20 a.m. Thursday. Hilo had the largest wave at 27 inches. Additional tsunamis continued every 17 minutes for a day, though by noon Thursday the wave size had dropped to 7 inches. Kahului's largest wave was about 23 inches. Honolulu Harbor's largest wave was only 3 to 4 inches.

The impact of the 2004 Asian tsunami was so far reaching it sent sea swells and waves crashing ashore along the east coast of Canada, says a new study that calls for a better tsunami warning system in the Atlantic. In what the scientists describe as a REMARKABLE PHENOMENON NEVER SEEN BEFORE, the giant sea wave generated by the earthquake under the Indian Ocean raced through two oceans and added considerable force to a storm pounding the eastern seaboard more than a day later. The two combined to create waves more than a metre high that hit the coast of Maine and Nova Scotia. The storm and tsunami were each responsible for waves which combined creating "strongly amplified waves" of more than a metre that caused major flooding in the Halifax area. The tsunami was felt on Canada's east and west coast at almost the same time, 30 hours after the earthquake. The impact was greater in the Maritimes because it amplified the impact of the fierce storm. The findings suggest the tsunami threat is more serious than previously believed in the Atlantic, and that a better warning system is needed to warn quickly of incoming tsunamis.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Hurricane DEAN was 126 nmi SSW of Barahona, Dom. Republic.
Tropical storm SEPAT was 169 nmi W of Taipei, Taiwan.

Hurricane Dean is sweeping past Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as people in the two countries face a battering by heavy rains and flooding. An 11-year-old boy died in the Dominican Republic, bringing the hurricane's death toll so far to four. Rough waves damaged buildings on the coast of the Dominican Republic, and several people were injured in the capital Santo Domingo. Jamaica is now bracing itself for a direct hit from the storm today. Experts warned that the hurricane would be made worse by exceptional rainfall and coastal storm surges. "It has the potential to be almost catastrophic." The hurricane is due to reach the Gulf of Mexico, where the US has much of its domestic oil and gas supplies, on Monday.
Category 5 hurricanes are RARE. Until the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, records showed only two years - 1960 and 1961 - with more than one Category 5 storm. But in 2005, four hurricanes reached that strength - Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma - triggering debate about the impact of global warming on tropical cyclones. Dean could become a Category 5 storm after roaring by the Caymans in two days, with winds of over 155 mph (250 kph).

TAIWAN - The powerful typhoon slammed into Taiwan on Saturday, washing out roads, uprooting trees and killing at least one person. Authorities ordered the evacuation of thousands of people around the island as electricity supplies faltered and rains battered already saturated rivers valleys, mountainsides and urban landscapes. Typhoon Sepat - by far the most powerful storm to hit the island this year - made landfall at 5:40 am (2140 GMT Friday) near the eastern city of Hualien, packing sustained winds of 173 kph (109 mph). The storm - the third major tropical system to hit Taiwan in the past two weeks - cut an east-west swathe, leaving overturned cars, disrupted electricity grids and deserted streets in its wake.
CHINA - More than 900,000 people were evacuated along China's southeast coast as typhoon Sepat roared toward the mainland Saturday. The typhoon slammed into China's eastern coastline early Sunday, spawning a tornado that toppled more than 150 homes and killed at least nine people. Typhoon Sepat made landfall in southern Fujian province, but the storm is believed to have caused the formation of the tornado in Zhejiang province to the north. More than 60 people were injured in Cangnan county, including eight seriously. Torrential rains were reported in the coastal cities of Wenzhou, Pingyang and Taishun. Sepat had been approaching the Chinese coastline with sustained winds of 90 mph, ahead of the highest-level storm alert. Sepat is THE STRONGEST TROPICAL STORM EVER TO HIT THE CHINESE MAINLAND.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
A huge rainstorm swamped parts of southeast Minnesota overnight, forcing evacuations throughout the area. Early reports said people were missing in the high water and mudslides. People were standing on rooftops, waiting to be rescued. The statewide 24-HOUR RAIN RECORD appears to be broken with 11 inches already and it is still raining. This is the third heavy storm in a week. Roads and highways throughout the area are closed due to flooding.
La Crosse seems to have gotten the worst of it, with reports of more than 7 inches of rain in less than 4 hours. Cars were stranded intersections. A mudslide on Highway 35 took down power lines and damaged nearby vehicles.
Winona County Emergency Management is evacuating the cities of Stockton, Elba, and the White Water Valley area. Area residents of Stockton are asked to move to higher ground toward the city of Winona. Mudslides have occurred around Lewiston blocking that evacuation route. There are reports of homes washed off their foundation in Stockton, and of people stranded in their homes.

CHINA - Floodwaters engulfed a mine in the city of Xintai in Shandong Province on Friday in the latest tragedy to strike China's mining industry, which has one of the poorest safety records in the world. Scuffles broke out between relatives and security forces at the coal mine in eastern China as hopes faded for the rescue of 172 miners trapped underground by flash floods. Torrential rains triggered flooding on Friday which breached a river levee and sent water cascading down an old shaft into the mine. More than 750 miners were underground when the water swept in and many managed to escape, but some 172 remained trapped. Another nine were trapped in a nearby mine after similar flooding. Armed police and miners had closed most of the breach in the Wen River levee, but flood waters in the area had risen to two metres. Officials said there was little hope for the trapped men.

INDIA - The Met office today again warned of very heavy rain in south Bengal in the next 48 hours. A low pressure, formed in the north Bay of Bengal this morning, intensified into a “well marked” low pressure in the afternoon, triggering the possibility of torrential rain. A cyclonic circulation (anti-clockwise movement of air) over the Bengal coast has made matters worse. “Under their combined influence, we expect heavy to very heavy rain (which could exceed 250mm) till Monday afternoon." The low pressure, intensifying steadily, could mean trouble. The government has alerted the coastal districts and asked them to ready relief.

VIRGINIA - severe thunderstorms overnight dropped a RECORD AMOUNT OF RAIN FOR AUGUST 16 in Richmond. The storms - several moved through the area - dropped 3.1 inches of rain at Richmond International Airport before midnight. That shattered the 24-hour record for the date of 1.52 inches, set in 1936. "We doubled the record."

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
U.S. - Nearly three dozen wildfires were burning Friday in Montana and Idaho, fueled by tinder-dry conditions and windy weather. The fires were among 55 large active fires reported from Hawaii to Virginia. In California, the Zaca fire burning in Santa Barbara County since July 4 had jumped to 183,408 acres – 287 square miles. Smoke and ash from the fire continued to fill the air in Santa Barbara and other coastal communities, prompting health officials to issue a health advisory. (photos)

WEST VIRGINIA - People and plants suffered as the temperature rose to 104 degrees Thursday at Yeager Airport, the HOTTEST DAY IN CHARLESTON IN 18 YEARS. The heat BROKE THE ALL-TIME RECORD FOR AUGUST 16, topping the previous high of 98 degrees set in 1998. Records have been kept since 1901. This was the 12th day this month when the temperature hit 90 or more and the 28th day this year. Just half an inch of rain has fallen in Charleston in August, leaving the area with rainfall for the year at 20.91 inches, eight inches short of average for this date. Although more than 5 inches of rain fell in July, greening up the grass, it provided only temporary relief to a prolonged dry spell that began in mid-April. On Thursday, federal officials declared most of West Virginia a disaster area. The summer’s drought has hurt West Virginia’s crops and livestock so badly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared farmers in 49 counties immediately eligible for emergency loans.

JAPAN - The recent heat wave continued in western Japan on Saturday. At least 56 people have died this month in the heat wave, caused by high air pressure from the hot Pacific Ocean. In the west of the Tokai region, the mercury soared to 39C in Takahashi, a RECORD HIGH.
Japan sizzled through its HOTTEST DAY ON RECORD Thursday as a heat wave claimed at least 13 lives and threatened power supplies.

KOREA - A heat wave swept Korea on Thursday and a heat wave warning was issued for the first time for Seoul and other central regions.

UNITED KINGDOM - Climate change is disrupting the habits of birds which normally migrate to and from Britain in winter. With its relatively mild climate and ice-free conditions, Britain attracts over five million birds each winter from cooler climes such as Greenland, northern Europe and Siberia - but the number is falling. Warmer winters mean that some yearly visitors, including mallards, shelducks and turnstones, are choosing not to fly as far as Britain because they can find suitable conditions closer to home. "The UK has had both the perfect climate and perfect habitats for these birds, but the evidence is growing that climate change impacts are starting to bite. Sea level rise and warmer winters are reducing their numbers, undermining our importance for birds." Other birds are now staying in Britain over the winter instead of migrating to warmer climates. The number of waterfowl species wintering in Britain has doubled in the past three decades as migration patterns change.
SCOTLAND - Climate change has caused a decline in the number of birds migrating to the Lothians in winter. There has been a sharp fall in numbers of dunlin and turnstone, of which there are internationally important populations in the Firth of Forth. They believe that birds which are traditionally attracted by the relatively mild winters are no longer forced to fly as far as Scotland to find suitable conditions. A lack of food availability has been blamed for the "worst breeding season on record" for guillemots on the east coast. "If we do get the predicted three to four degree rise in temperature, then many bird species in Scotland could face a precarious future." "Climate change has definitely affected seabirds. We have noticed this year that gannets are having to travel much further to find food, as far as Norway, because of the changes in fish stocks. "The puffin population has also declined as a result of the growth in tree mallow."

KENYA - Climate change is to blame for increasing conflicts between humans and wildlife across East Africa, and is heightening the risk that animal diseases will spread. Climate change is to blame for rivers drying up and species migrating to new habitats, causing changes in ecosystems. This has led to animals, such as lions, killing domestic animals like sheep and goats in villages near the animal parks. Villagers have also complained of elephants, rhinos and buffalo destroying food crops as they wander away from the parks in search of food and water. Kenya's 66 animal parks are all experiencing changes in animal disease patterns.

CANADA - Expanding forests in the Canadian Rocky Mountains are slowly isolating groups of alpine butterflies from each other, which may lead to the extinction of the colourful insects in some areas. A rising tree line in the Rockies is due to global warming. The alpine Apollo butterfly (Parnassius) inhabits open meadows because they, like other types of butterflies, need sunlight to generate enough body heat in order to fly, and forests are generally too shady for them and inhibit their ability to move. However, expanding forests are pinching off the Parnassius from their neighbors in nearby meadows. "The risk of local extinction and inbreeding depression will increase as meadows shrink, the population sizes decrease and the populations become more isolated." One particularly cold winter or summer season may be enough to wipe out an entire meadow of Parnassius.
CANADA - In the York region of Ontario, hot temperatures coupled with a lack of rainfall, have produced RECORD DRY CONDITIONS. "It's almost as if the clouds have forgotten how to rain." The combined rainfall for June, July and August is currently at 82 mm at Buttonville airport and 71 mm in Aurora. 1978 and 1988 are tied as the region's driest on record with about 93 mm of combined rainfall for June, July and August. "We are dealing with 35 or 40 per cent of what rainfall should be." In southwestern Ontario, although extreme conditions often occur, there is usually a balance, so an extremely dry period will be followed by a period with more rain. However, that is not the case this summer with month after month of dry conditions. "What surprises me most is the persistence of the dry. Usually, it balances out." In addition to ponds drying up, farmers are losing crops due to the drought or suffering financially by having to irrigate. And in many ways, the damage the environment suffers due to a drought-like conditions can be worse than an extreme weather event, such as a tornado, because trees and plants suffer long-term damage, leaving them susceptible to disease. "It's going to get worse before it gets better."

An amateur meteorologist from Toronto has embarrassed NASA scientists by catching an error in recent climate-change data. The resulting flap has led to accusations and finger-pointing over whether NASA's error was genuine.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

People in Canada are being warned not to eat a brand of baby carrots from Mexico because the product may be contaminated with shigella bacteria. The item, Los Angeles Salad Company Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots, was sold in 672-gram plastic bags in Costco stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.

AUSTRALIA - the influenza outbreak sweeping Australia has now claimed nine victims, including a 33-year-old Queensland woman who died just two days after showing the first symptoms. Her symptoms were of the deadly strain of influenza A - fever, lethargy and coughing. The other flu victims include a 48-year-old South Australian woman who died early on Tuesday within hours of being admitted to hospital.

SAUDI ARABIA - Hundreds of camels have died in Saudi Arabia this week from a mystery ailment. 232 camels died in the space of four days in the Dawasir Valley, 400km south of Riyadh. Owners say the real number of deaths is far higher. Agriculture ministry officials have denied an infectious disease caused the deaths and blamed them on animal feed supplied by food storage authorities. Camels are big business in the desert kingdom and are traded by Bedouin tribes for thousands of dollars each. The animals are used for racing and their meat is also prized. Authorities have been on the lookout for signs of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu over the last year. The virus was found in birds in two instances, in March and last year.

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Friday, August 17, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Why is hurricane season like Christmas?
You know you're going to have a tree in your house at some point.

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Quakes this morning -
6.1 BANDA SEA
5.8 BANDA SEA
5.7 BANDA SEA
5.9 BANDA SEA
5.0 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.3 ROTA REGION, N. MARIANA ISLANDS

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/16/07 -
5.1 SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
5.2 NORTH OF ASCENSION ISLAND
6.7 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.2 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.8 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.3 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
6.2 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.1 CENTRAL PERU
5.0 OFF COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.6 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.1 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.0 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.4 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.9 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.9 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.8 CENTRAL PERU
5.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.

PERU - The powerful earthquake that shook Peru Wednesday night killed at least 437 people. Another 1,350 were injured. The earthquake, whose magnitude was variously estimated at 7.7 to 7.9, was centered off Peru’s Pacific shore near Ica. More than 16,500 people have been displaced or otherwise affected by the quake. The city of Ica was blacked out, as were smaller towns along the coast south of Lima, and many of the areas hit lost telephone service. Rescue workers reported difficulty getting to Ica and the coastal towns because of cracks in highways and downed power lines. Office workers in Lima fled tall buildings that shook in two waves that lasted around 20 seconds each and cut power lines. “We’re used to earthquakes,” said a woman who is from California. “But it just didn’t stop; it kept going and going, and it kept getting stronger and stronger.” Her belongings in the apartment went flying and the glass windows appeared to be bending in. “People really thought they were going to die.” She added that she counted about 70 aftershocks: “It’s just been nonstop.” The tremor brought heavy waves down on homes in the port of Callao, near the capital, Lima. (photos / slideshow)
The quake is now being called ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S WORST NATURAL DISASTERS IN THE LAST 100 YEARS.

UTAH - A seismic "bump" in a Utah mine blasted coal from the walls late Thursday, causing a new cave-in that killed two rescue workers trying to free a group of miners already trapped underground. At least seven other rescuers were hurt in the accident while trying to make their way toward six miners who became trapped 11 days ago by a previous mine collapse. It was not immediately clear how serious the injuries were, but at least three members of the rescue team were rushed to hospital. The bump, which commonly refers to pressure inside the mine that shoots coal from the walls with great force, reportedly occurred at about 8:30 p.m. ET at the Crandall Canyon mine. The same kind of bump caused the earlier cave-in. It was a shocking setback on the 11th day of the effort to find the six trapped miners. It's unknown whether the men are still alive, or whether they even survived the initial collapse. Rescuers have said they are disheartened by the pace of their efforts. Seismic activity in the mine, located on a mountain near Huntington, caused landslides and forced rescuers to stop their work Wednesday night because of fears for their safety. Seismic activity struck again Thursday morning, delaying plans to drill a fourth bore hole into the mine by at least several hours. If seismic activity lets up, rescuers might be able to dig the hole at a rate two or three times faster than what they've managed thus far.

CALIFORNIA - San Andreas Fault may be rare quake "superhighway" - Some faults can send earthquakes zooming along the ground faster than the speed of sound, scientists say — and California's San Andreas Fault may be one of them. Most earthquake faults "unzip" at around 2 miles (3 kilometers) a second. But evidence is growing that some faults can send quakes zooming much faster — up to 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) a second. "They are moving faster than the speed of sound, like a sonic boom." These hasty earthquakes cause much more damage on the ground and are more likely to topple buildings, crumple bridges, and buckle highways than regular upheavals. San Francisco is at risk, and further down the San Andreas Fault, another section of "freeway" exists underneath the Carrizo Plain. "As an earthquake moves along this section it is likely to send out shock waves in front, which may focus on cities like Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, some of the most highly populated parts of California."

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
JAPAN - Small tsunami waves reached Japan on Friday following the deadly earthquake in Peru, resulting in the closure of beaches along Japan's Pacific coast. Japan's Meteorological Agency said waves of up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) reached parts of the coast Friday morning, hours after a tsunami advisory was issued covering Hokkaido in the north to the southern island of Okinawa. Japan is about halfway across the globe from Peru. The agency lifted the advisory Friday afternoon but advised surfers and swimmers to stay away from the sea. Japan issues tsunami warnings even when only tiny waves are expected, and the country's most heavily populated coastlines are fitted with loudspeakers to order evacuations. The quake in Peru's southern desert on Wednesday killed at least 510 people and injured more than 1,500.

VOLCANOES -
ALASKA - One of the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc could be working toward a massive, explosive eruption that could affect air travel, scientists said Thursday. Satellite images of Pavlof Volcano taken Thursday showed strong thermal readings, consistent with what the Alaska Volcano Observatory is calling a "vigorous eruption of lava" at the volcano about 590 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska Peninsula. The volcano lies directly in the path of hundreds of daily international flight paths, and an explosive eruption could severely interrupt those operations. Seismic activity is high at the volcano, with about one tremor recorded every minute. Mudslides — called lahars — caused when lava melts snow on the peak, have triggered some seismic activity as well. The mudslides took place on the southeast side of the volcano, an area inhabited by few, if any, people. Pavlof is about nine miles from Pavlof Bay, a popular fishing ground, but at the moment it isn't posing an immediate threat. Hazards the volcano could present include light ash fall on nearby communities, mud flows, lava flows and hot debris avalanching on the volcano's flanks. Several small towns are in the area, including King Cove, about 35 miles to the southwest, with a population of roughly 800, and Cold Bay, nearly 40 miles southwest, with a population of about 90. The ash plume was visible from King Cove, but none was falling on it yet. "What we think we're in for is several months of low-level eruptions punctuated by a few large and explosive events." A string of eruptions took place during the 1970s and 1980s, but the last one took place in 1996, making this 11-year period the longest it has gone without an event. A series of ash explosions and lava eruptions took place for several months after the last eruption. During past eruptions, sporadic lava flow has gurgled out for several months.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Hurricane DEAN was 311 nmi E of Bridgetown, Barbados.
Tropical depression ERIN was 176 nmi W of Galveston, Texas.
Tropical depression FLOSSIE was 347 nmi SW of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Typhoon SEPAT was 363 nmi NE of Manila, Philippines.

The remnants of Erin continue to move northwestward around 14 mph and are expected to be located in west Texas by this afternoon. Total rain accumulations of 3-6 inches are expected across portions of central and southern Texas, with possible isolated maximum amounts of 10 inches.
TEXAS - The thunderstorms from Erin brought 7 inches of rain to parts of San Antonio and Houston, where one person died and another was injured. Summer storms have poured RECORD RAINFALL across Texas and parts of Oklahoma and Kansas, with floods killing 21 people since mid-June.

The powerful typhoon "Egay" (international codename: Sepat) was heading for Taiwan Thursday after paralyzing Metro Manila in the Philippines for the third day. Classes in all levels in Metro Manila and several Luzon provinces remained suspended Friday due to bad weather brought by "super typhoon" Egay and the southwest monsoon. PAGASA forecast the typhoon to be 140 km northeast of Basco by Friday night and in the vicinity of western Taiwan by Saturday evening. The weather bureau added that over the next two days, rains can become enhanced over these areas including Metro Manila, when the southwest monsoon is expected to be at its peak in relation to the typhoon's location.
Officials in the Philippines are warning of possible landslides as the powerful typhoon building over the western Pacific passes close to the country. Typhoon Sepat was passing close to the country on Thursday, building strength as it heads north towards Taiwan which is bracing for a possible direct hit. Forecasters said the storm was generating sustained winds of 185kph and gusts of up to 220kph, making it the strongest typhoon in the region so far this year. Sepat has become a super typhoon. "It can wash out everything not made of cement or steel with that wind." (photos)

CHINA - Zhejiang Meteorological Bureau issued a super typhoon alert for Sepat Thursday morning. The storm is expected to bring heavy winds and rainstorms to east China on Saturday. Under the influence of Sepat, the ninth tropical storm this year, wind will whip the coast of Zhejiang at speeds up to 88 kilometer per hour tonight and accelerate to 117 kilometers per hour on Saturday. Zhejiang is directly south of Shanghai. Sepat originated in the Philippines on Monday and became a super typhoon Wednesday night, the National Meteorological Center said. The winds near the center of the storm gusted up to 216 km/h. The alert is the highest level for typhoons.

Category 2 Hurricane Dean strengthened and threatened to become a dangerously powerful storm as it plowed toward the Caribbean and aimed for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula or the Gulf of Mexico beyond, forecasters said on Thursday. More immediately in the path of the 2007 Atlantic storm season's first hurricane were the Lesser Antilles, in particular the islands of Dominica and St. Lucia and the French territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe. The hurricane's top sustained winds had reached 100 miles per hour (160 km per hour) by 8 p.m. Thursday. Computer models showed the hurricane could become an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm as it passed south of Jamaica early next week. Category 3 to 5 hurricanes, such as Katrina, Rita and Wilma in the devastating 2005 Atlantic storm season, are potentially the most destructive storms but a Category 2 hurricane can still damage buildings and create a 6- to 8-foot (1.8 metre to 2.4 metre) storm surge. A tropical storm watch, meaning tropical storm conditions could be expected within 36 hours, was issued for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
INDIA - Flood victims fought off hungry animals and battled waterborne diseases in South Asia on Thursday as unrelenting monsoon rains caused fresh flooding in the region, already battered by weeks of bad weather. The death toll in eastern India alone rose by over 100 in the past week with thousands more marooned or made homeless as bloated rivers burst mud embankments. Authorities across South Asia - where around 850 people have drowned, been crushed by landslides or died from snakebite and waterborne infections since mid-July - said they were struggling to help millions of victims. For some in Bihar, it is a struggle for survival as jackals and monkeys have attacked dozens of villagers over the past few days. "Wild animals like jackals and monkeys are biting our wives and children and snatching bread from their hands. They are on a looting spree and are killing our goats and small rabbits." The wild animals face a shortage of prey since huge areas of the state are under water. Authorities are rushing anti-rabies vaccines to every district.
In neighbouring West Bengal, heavy rains flooded villages in three districts this week, forcing more than 25,000 people out of their homes. A bridge collapsed in the state's Birbhum district, and many trains were cancelled or diverted across the region. A weather official said more rains were forecast for eastern India because of a storm over West Bengal.
Further north, in Himachal Pradesh, around 60 people are believed to have died after a cloudburst caused a landslide that buried an entire village on Tuesday.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, the toll from floods rose to 516 with 35 fatalities reported overnight. More than half the low-lying and riverine nation has been affected by the flooding, and officials said typhoid, hepatitis and diarrhoea had broken out in most flood-hit areas.

KOREA - A serious flood has damaged more than 11 percent of farmland and left over 300,000 victims in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Heavy rains, which started from Aug. 4, have stormed the DPRK's capital city and six of nine provinces across the country. "In Pyongyang, the water level of the Taedong and Pothong Rivers has hit the HIGHEST SINCE 1967." By Aug. 14, more than 46,580 houses had been destroyed totally or partially. The heavy rains have thrown "a shadow over the prospect of the agricultural production." The heavy rains also caused a huge damage to the DPRK's communication systems and industrial infrastructure. "Some 55,000 square meters of railway roadbeds were washed away and over 400 industrial establishments submerged under water."

CHINA - Lightning has killed 499 people in China so far this year, nearly 200 more than in the same period last year. Lightning strikes killed 306 Chinese in the past three weeks from July 25 to August 16.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
BRITAIN - A magnolia has flowered for the third time in a year, possibly due to climate change and the unpredictable weather. The pink New Zealand-bred Apollo hybrid normally only blossomed once a year, in spring. It previously blossomed in late November and in April. A gardener for 25 years said, "I'm not a scientist so I can't comment about global warming but I have seen for myself how the seasons are changing, and the past year has been a particularly unusual one. We had a wet but mild autumn and winter, a hot spring and now a wet summer. It's not surprising nature is confused...Ten years ago it would have flowered once a year, then it became twice, and now there is the very real possibility that it will become four."

Historical accounts have drawn attention to the years AD 1315 to 1318 as a period of climatically induced famine often referred to as having been associated with the "Great Rains". Many believe the whole of north-western Europe may have been affected when it rained, in a manner similar to the present, throughout three successive summers, autumns and winters. It was a period without parallel in recent history and coincided with a time of severe food shortages, military raids for food, as well as death due to famine. Irish Annals describe the summer of AD 1315 as " ugly with foul weather, intolerably damagingly and tempestuous ". The year AD 1316 coincided with a "general failure of all fruits of the earth by excessive rains and unseasonable weather leading to famine", while AD 1317 includes accounts of famine-induced cannibalism. "The episodes of exceptional rainfall associated with the famines of AD 1315 to 1318 coincide with ice core measurements that indicate the occurrence of abnormally high Atlantic sea surface temperatures. It is inferred that such ocean surface overheating led to increased evaporation and hence an increased supply of moisture ultimately delivered as summer rains and winter storms.Whatever the causes of such an abrupt change in climate, we would be well served to learn the lessons of history."

ITALY - Wine before its time alarms Italy - Global warming, or perhaps just a hot summer, puts the nation's grape harvest on a fast track. This is AN EARLY HARVEST UNLIKE ANYTHING ITALY HAS EXPERIENCED IN MEMORY. The grapes in the Lazio region, around Rome, are ripening at least 20 days early. In the northern regions of Veneto and Trentino, the home of refreshing Prosecco and other sparkling wines, the grapes were ready to pick in early August, three to four weeks early. In Sicily, there is a rush on now to find seasonal workers; red grapes are primed to ripen in early September, a month early. "I'm a bit scared. I've never picked grapes this early in the season. We're used to picking grapes in October. That's when the grape festivals are. Even my father is saying: What the hell has gone wrong with the world?" The summer heat will improve this year's vintage but it is also a wake-up call to consider how or whether the business is changing. "But it is all very strange. To have two harvests like this in four years. It's never happened before. My father, who's 72, and his father were in the business. They've never seen it before. We see this as global warming. I mean, once is exceptional. But to happen again so fast, something must be happening." If the pattern continues, "this will likely change the variety of grapes in Europe. Growers will have to find grapes that fit the weather cycle."

Unrelenting heat that has baked the U.S. Midwest and South for the past 10 days has killed at least 37 people. In Memphis, Tennesse, the mercury topped out at 105 degrees Thursday, a RECORD and the seventh consecutive day of triple-digit temperatures. There were also eight confirmed deaths in Illinois, four each in Arkansas and Georgia, two in South Carolina and one in Mississippi.
TENNESSEE - Nine people have died in Tennessee from heat-related causes since the wave of RECORD-SETTING triple-digit temperatures washed over the state last week.
SOUTH CAROLINA - The temperature in Columbia hit 100 again Wednesday, marking the ninth time in 11 days the mercury rose at least that high. While it’s difficult to rank heat waves, this one certainly is AMONG THE TOPS SINCE MODERN RECORD-KEEPING BEGAN in Columbia in 1887.
ALABAMA - Another record was reached Wednesday when the temperature reached 107 degrees in the Shoals. Not only was it the HOTTEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED FOR THE DATE, the 107-degree reading marked the second-hottest day on record in the Shoals. Wednesday was the ninth consecutive day of the temperature reaching 100 degrees or hotter in the Shoals. No August on record in the Shoals has seen more consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures. Lately, it has been another day and another high temperature record in the Shoals. Some unofficial weather stations around the Shoals recorded high temperatures as hot as 110 degrees Wednesday. Compounding the problem of the record-setting hot weather is the lack of rain. The last rain recorded at the Muscle Shoals airport was July 31. "It has been as hot and dry in August as anyone can remember."
INDIANA - southern Indiana is sweltering under RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES. It hit 104 degrees in Evansville Wednesday, a record high for the date, which was set in 1896 at 100 degrees. It was the hottest day since 1966. Wednesday also marked the 13th consecutive day of temperatures 95 degrees or higher in the city and was the fourth day in August above 100 degrees.
MISSOURI - On Tuesday in Neosho, the highs reached 103, BREAKING A LONG-STANDING RECORD set in 1902 of 99 degrees. The average for August has been a ghastly 97.1 degrees. “It's probably not your typical summer, because there are some summers where you won't even reach 100 degrees.” Part of the reason why these extended triple-digit temperatures seem so brutal is due to the abnormal amount of rainfall Southwest Missouri received in June and July, which led to flooding situations in both Joplin and Coffeyville, Kansas. All in all, 2007 has been an EXTREMELY ODD YEAR as far as weather's concerned. “I think we've all seen these types of (weather) situations occur before, maybe except for that April freeze, but it's certainly UNUSUAL that we've had several extremes.”
ARIZONA - A RECORD HIGH temperature of 114 degrees was set at Phoenix Sky Harbor on Sunday. That broke the old record of 113 degrees set in 1933.
PENNSYLVANIA - Usually, according to the water-resources extension specialist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, thunderstorms are random events that pop up in different places and over time, the precipitation they deliver covers the landscape more or less evenly - even in dry summers. But that has not been the case this year. And that is a big reason why the state Department of Environmental Protection declared a drought watch for 58 counties on Aug. 6. "The thing that is most striking to me - what makes this summer different from any other I can remember - is that it seems like the same places are getting hit by thunderstorms and others keep getting missed by the rain. This year it is just incredible how it has been happening...You drive down the road and one agricultural field looks really good and it is obvious it has gotten enough precipitation, but you go a mile or two farther and you see brown fields and stunted crops that are dying from the lack of rain. From what I have seen and heard, it's that way all over the state. The real problem this summer is that the weather systems have been diving deep into the South into places such as Texas - where they have been getting too much rain - and then sliding to our north up into New England, where they have gotten plenty of rain." It's well known that thunderstorms often lose their punch coming down off the Allegheny Plateau, moving east. "But for some reason, the storms this summer are really dying out coming off the plateau, and that has resulted in the central part of the state being the driest." "Ground water levels are declining across the state and some areas have even recorded RECORD LOW LEVELS already, so we need substantial amounts of rain."

MYSTERY BOOMS / METEORS -
CALIFORNIA - 8/11/07 - 12:09 am - Representatives with the Sonora Police Department and both the Tuolumne and Calaveras County Sheriff's Departments say they fielded numerous calls early in the morning in regards to a "loud boom," and "structures shaking." There were several calls from residents who reported seeing "a blue light," just before the "loud boom." The incident reportedly occurred at 12:09am. The Police Department notes that it also received a call from a resident in Tuolumne, in which a female reported seeing what she thought was fireworks, and then something spiraling over her house. Early indication from the law enforcement agencies is that the loud boom was somehow the result of a meteor shower.

INDIA - August 1, 2007 - 8:45 pm - Hotipur (Sangrur) village near Khanauri hit the headlines when a meteorite fell in the fields on Wednesday night, leaving many villagers baffled. The police have taken possession of the 8-cm meteorite to hand it over to a three-member team of Geological Survey of India. Curious villagers queued up in the fields to see the "heavenly object", while the farmer, who was the only witness to the fall of the "fireball", said, "I got scared of the big fireball that was coming my way at 8:45 pm on Wednesday night. I ran for cover as I felt that it will fall on me." I rushed home and decided not to tell anyone about it. Yesterday morning, I gathered some courage and went to see the spot and found a rock-like object lying in the mud. It was then that I informed the villagers about it, who felt that it was a heavenly object." There was no crater at the spot where the fireball fell. [ This event may be a hoax as the object, weighing 235 gms, which has small holes in it, appears to be a mud scrubber used for cleaning the feet; no crater has been formed at the spot where it was reported to have fallen; and the crop sown in the field has not suffered any damage.]

IOWA - July 26, 2007 - 5:30AM - A Dubuque woman said she is lucky to be alive after a 50 pound chunk of white ice crashed through the roof of her home, landing about 15 feet away from where she was standing. She said it sounded like a bomb exploded when the massive ball of ice hit her roof. It's unclear where the ice came from. Airport officials said it is possible the ball of ice fell from an airplane flying over Dubuque, but that ice is usually blue. (photo)
Other large chunks of ice fell from the sky in this northeast Iowa city, tearing through nearby trees. Authorities were unsure of the ice's origin but have theorized the chunks either fell from an airplane or naturally accumulated high in the atmosphere - both RARE occurrences. Residents, who live a block away from where the chunk crashed through the roof, heard a loud "whoosh" coming through the trees. They discovered several large chunks of ice in front of their home and some smaller ones in the yard and in the street. "I could see where branches were shredded, which told me it was definitely coming out of the sky." They estimated the original chunk of ice was the size of a basketball. "It was pure white. The main parts I picked up were very smooth." Airplanes sometimes accumulate ice on their edges in certain atmospheric conditions, including high altitude and extreme moisture. The moisture involved in such a scenario could have come from the tops of strong thunderstorms, however, Dubuque had clear skies at the time the ice fell. "There was nothing unusual going on." A professor of geography and geology has studied the phenomenon of large chunks of ice falling from a clear sky. He said it's possible the ice could have been a megacryometeor - "similar to a hailstone, but without the thunderstorm." A research team has documented more than 50 possible megacryometeor cases during the past five years. Some involve ice chunks the size of microwave ovens. Most megacryometeor sightings have occurred in coastal areas, where atmospheric turbulence helps keep ice suspended long enough to grow into large chunks. The research team speculates the phenomenon could be linked to global warming, suggesting that climate change might make the tropopause portion of the atmosphere colder, moister and more turbulent. "But those don't typically happen in the summer time. It seems like they are mostly associated with the passage of passing cold fronts."
Last January, a 200-pound chunk of ice streaked through the clear Florida sky and landed in the back seat of a really nice red Ford Mustang. The car was totaled and when a local television station tried to interview the Hillsborough County owner, he said he didn’t want to talk about it. On June 26, 1985, in Hartford, Conn., a 1,500-pound slab of ice, six feet long and eight inches thick flattened a picket fence. The ground shook with the impact. A 13-year-old boy and his friend were standing 10 feet away when it happened. Meteorologists speculate that these chunks of ice form naturally like hail or fall off airplanes as they prepare to land. But nobody really knows where the stuff comes from. "There you are, minding your own business when something comes down on you from out of the sky like Judgement Day. And there’s nothing you can do about it."

COLUMBIA - July 6, 2007 - the sky really was falling over South America, when an incoming object broke apart in the lower atmosphere with a trio of ferocious explosions that shattered windows and shook the ground violently. Moments later, stones rained from the sky and pelted homes in the poor barrios surrounding the city of Cali, Colombia. After a few days of searching, meteor hunters rounded up and purchased several small pieces — some of which had smashed through the roofs of homes — totaling about 270 grams (10 ounces). The hunters estimate that the Cali event must have dropped fragments far more massive than what they were able to collect. Unfortunately, it all ended up in dense cane fields and will never be found. And although the recovered “hammer stones” turned out to be a rather common type of chondritic (rocky) meteorite, they’re already fetching thousands of dollars per gram among meteoritic aficionados. (photo)

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALLED - Ocean King Enterprises Inc. of Philadelphia, PA is recalling Ready-to-Eat Seafood Dip, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The brand name is Regal King Gourmet Seafood. The flavors are Premium Krab Dip, Cajun Krab Dip, Shrimp Dip, and Smoked Salmon Dip.

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
We must believe in luck.
For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?
Jean Cocteau

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Quakes today:
in Peru -
4.7
4.5
4.9
6.2
5.1
5.0
5.6
5.0
5.0
5.4
5.9
5.9
5.8
5.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
6.7 SOLOMON ISLANDS

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/15/07 -
7.9 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.4 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
6.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
5.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.3 ROTA REGION, N. MARIANA ISLANDS
8/14/07 -
5.1 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
5.0 VANUATU
5.6 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
5.4 SAKHALIN, RUSSIA

PERU - A massive 7.9 earthquake hit Peru on Wednesday evening and officials said more than 330 people were dead in the rubble of collapsed homes and a church as rescuers searched for victims. 827 were injured. Emergency workers said the coastal province of Ica south of Lima was the hardest-hit region. Rescuers struggled to move south toward Ica as portions of the Pan-American Highway, a key coastal route, were impassable and thieves assaulted stranded travellers. Office workers ran onto the streets in fear as tall buildings in Lima shook in two waves that lasted about 20 seconds each and cut power lines. It was followed by nine aftershocks ranging in magnitude from six to the upper 4's.
The extremely powerful 7.9 earthquake lasted about two minutes when it shook Peru Wednesday night, destroying adobe houses, knocking out power and downing telephone lines. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning for Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia, but stressed there was no confirmation of a tsunami. The warning was later canceled. The quake was felt as far away as Colombia. It was Peru's LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN MORE THAN THREE DECADES.

JAPAN - A series of moderate undersea earthquakes shook the Tokyo region early Thursday, including one with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3, causing delays to train services. The earthquake that struck at 4:15 a.m. registered 4 on the 7-point Japanese scale and 3 in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Ibaraki prefectures. It was estimated to be 5.3 on the open-ended Richter scale. A few other smaller aftershocks struck in the Kanto region later on Thursday morning. The quake swayed buildings in Tokyo for about 20 seconds.

HAWAII - At least one minor landslide was caused Monday night by a 5.4-magnitude earthquake that shook Big Island residents. The 7:38 p.m. quake, beneath the southern flank of Kilauea Volcano, was felt islandwide and set off the rockslide in the Laupahoehoe Gulch area. Residents in Hilo and Volcano reported feeling the shock. "It went on way longer than is comfortable." Several aftershocks, including one of magnitude 3.2, followed.

In 2004, the 9.2 Indonesia earthquake shifted southern Indian cities - The Andaman and Nicobar belt moved horizontally by 3 metres to 6 metres, Chennai by 2 cm, Bangalore by 1.5 cm and Hyderabad by 11 mm following the undersea Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in 2004. In the normal course such a tectonic shift would have taken hundreds of years to occur but it happened in less than 10 minutes during the earthquake. While a 3-m movement was found in the middle of Andamans, it was 6-m between Car Nicobar and Great Nicobar. The entire island also subsided by 1 m to 2 m vertically. Interestingly, it began to rise again but at a slow speed, and 30 per cent of the land has ‘re-emerged’. The uplift of the subsided land mass is occurring in a non-linear manner, and it might take up to a couple of hundred years for it to return to the pre-2004 position. Before the earthquake, the Indian and Burmese plates were moving together as they were locked and there was no relative movement between the two. After the earthquake, they got disengaged and the Burmese plate is moving in a southwest direction with respect to the Indian plate at a rate which is faster than the normal plate motion but less than the speed which occurred during the massive temblor.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
Although the northern Atlantic Ocean has low tsunami hazards, tsunamis from distant seismic events could threaten coastal infrastructure and habitat when the waves coincide with winter storm waves. During the 2004 tsunami, which propagated throughout the world's oceans, the arrival of the tsunami along the shores of Maine and Nova Scotia coincided with the presence of tsunami-like waves generated by a major storm tracking northward along the U.S. eastern seaboard. The combined waves reached heights in excess of 1 meter (3.3 feet).

INDONESIA - Geologists fear an undersea mud mountain may trigger a tsunami. A giant mountain of mud found under the Indian Ocean's Nicobar Islands is being closely monitored by geologists who fear a tsunami could be triggered by a massive landslide. Geologists from India recently discovered the giant mud mountain and some parts of it measure more than seven kilometres high. There was little information on the mud formation but it is widely believed it was formed over a thousand years by sediment transported by rivers accumulating under the sea. The mud mountain is only 400 km from Phuket. Geologists found four smaller mud mountains only 200 km from Phuket island during a survey last year. Those finds are less scary, compared to the one near the Nicobar Islands. Mud-triggered tsunamis have occurred before in Canada and Australia.

VOLCANOES -
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - Dangerous gas is bubbling out of the mud volcano. The Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Marine Affairs has warned fishermen and other boaters to stay away from the mud volcano off the east coast of Trinidad as it is emitting methane, a flammable gas. This situation could be hazardous if the gas was ignited. The volcano has grown 45 feet over the past four months and is now within four feet of breaking the sea surface.

ALASKA - Pavlof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula is erupting. Eyewitnesses on several ships reported seeing incandescent blocks falling down the east-southeast flank of the volcano Tuesday night. The observatory had already raised its aviation alert code for the volcano from yellow to orange, and the alert level from advisory to watch, based on heat readings by weather satellites and an escalating swarm of earthquake signals from sensors on the mountain. A pilot reported a weak ash plume extending five miles southwest of the summit at about 8,400 feet elevation. Scientists said the eruption could become stronger at any time. Immediate hazards around the volcano include light ashfall on nearby communities, mud flows in local drainages, and lava flows and avalanching of hot debris on the upper reaches of the volcano. Attention was first drawn to the volcano, 37 miles northeast of Cold Bay, when earthquake activity increased abruptly on Tuesday. Similar patterns of seismicity occurred before eruptions in 1996, 1986, 1983 and 1981.

ETHIOPIA - A volcano in north-east Ethiopia's Afar region erupted over the weekend, leaving two people missing and forcing hundreds to flee. The volcano spewed lava on Sunday, forcing mainly salt-mining Afar nomads living around the mountain's range to escape. "The volcano at Alama'ari locality in the Afar regional state forced residents of the nearby villages of Dayulu and Gomoyta to flee for their lives, two among them are still missing. People living in nearby mountain ranges were also forced to retreat." The volcano's name was not given, and it was not immediately clear if it was Mount Arteale, the only active volcano in Ethiopia, which erupted some two years ago. Arteale had been largely dormant for the previous six decades, but started to spew molten lava after a series of earthquakes rattled the region in September 2005.

INDONESIA - A volcano on Indonesia's Sulawesi island has shot smoke into the sky and heat clouds down its slopes. A column of smoke soared 1,500 metres above Mount Soputan and clouds of gas shot down its western slope. The activity isn't considered dangerous, as no volcanic earthquakes were registered and the mountain is sparsely populated.
Another volcano, Mount Karangetang, only 175 km north of Mount Soputan has shown increased activity since last week, prompting officials to raise its alert status one notch on Saturday.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Hurricane DEAN was 427 nmi E of Bridgetown, Barbados.
Tropical storm ERIN was 94 nmi NNE of Brownsville, Texas.
Tropical depression FLOSSIE was 299 nmi SSW of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Typhoon SEPAT was 356 nmi NE of Manila, Philippines.

TEXAS - Tropical storm Erin approached the Texas coast Wednesday evening, as it churned through the Gulf. Texas, already suffering from one of its rainiest summers on record, is expected to be hit by Erin, with 40 mph winds, this morning north of Corpus Christi. The tropical storm is not expected to gain hurricane strength before reaching the shore. The National Hurricane Center in Miami has forecast up to 8 inches of rain and a storm surge of up to 3 feet for coastal areas of Texas. As of 10 p.m. Wednesday in Texas (11 p.m. ET), the center of Erin was about 140 miles southeast of Corpus Christi and 200 miles south-southwest of Galveston. A tropical storm warning was in effect for the coast from San Luis Pass southward to Port Mansfield. Erin's threshold for tropical storm status is 39 mph. The tropical storm is moving toward the west-northwest at around 14 mph and was expected to continue following that track for at least 24 hours. The centre also warns of isolated tornadoes along the middle Texas Gulf Coast today.

Tropical Storm Dean intensified Wednesday night and has become the season's first hurricane as it rolled toward the Caribbean islands. Hurricane watches were posted in St. Lucia, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saba and Saint Eustatius. Dean was expected to reach the outer Caribbean islands by Friday morning and continue heading west or west-northwest, possibly endangering the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba this weekend. It was expected to become a major Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 130 mph by Monday night, possibly as it approaches Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Dean is also the first Cape Verde hurricane of the season. Cape Verde hurricanes usually develop into very intense cyclones.
Forecasters are growing more confident that a high-pressure area north of Dean's forward track would keep the storm on a westerly course and prevent a northward turn toward Florida. The system was expected to move through the Windward Islands on Friday, south of the Dominican Republic and Haiti on Saturday and just south of Jamaica on Sunday. From there, Dean was expected to bulk up to Category 4 strength and aim toward Mexico's Yucatan or into the Gulf of Mexico. If it makes it into the Gulf, it could pose a threat to any of the Gulf states, including Florida's western coast and Panhandle. It could grow to Category 5, with sustained winds of at least 155 mph. Initially, long-range forecasts had pointed Dean in the general direction of South Florida.

Typhoon Sepat is at Category 4 and is likely to reach Taiwan on the weekend if it does not change course.

PHILIPPINES - Pounding rain from Typhoon Sepat flooded parts of the Philippine capital Wednesday. Classes in all levels in Metro Manila and provinces nearby have been suspended Thursday, August 16, because of rains and flooding brought by typhoon Egay (international codename: Sepat) and the southwest monsoon in Luzon on Wednesday. Late Wednesday night the typhoon gained strength as it moved west northwest of the Philippines.

Hurricane Flossie skirted Hawaii on Tuesday, passing 100 miles south of the Big Island, but sending 25-foot waves pounding the coast. Category 2 Flossie's glancing blow brought winds in excess of 40 mph and more than 10 inches of rain.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
NORTH KOREA on Wednesday detailed the devastation caused by some of the country's HEAVIEST-EVER RAINS, saying more than one-tenth of the impoverished country's farmland had been wiped out during peak growing season. 300,000 people have been left homeless.

INDIA - Five people are confirmed dead and 55 are missing believed dead after heavy rain triggered a landslide that buried Dharla village in the Indian Himalayas. "Huge boulders 20 to 25-feet high have completely crushed the houses. There is so much debris that has fallen on the houses that nothing except [a] few lanterns are visible." RECORD RAINFALL across Himachal Pradesh state in the past several days has led to the deaths of 40 other people. The landslide follows massive flooding in large parts of India and Nepal and in Bangladesh where there are serious outbreaks of water-borne diseases. Figures for the death toll from the floods vary widely from 1,000 to 3,000. At least 20 million people across South Asia have been affected by the floods.

NIGER - A flooding disaster has affected over 1,000 people in Niger including about 405 who have been rendered homeless, following heavy rains that have pounded Maradi, east central Niger. The effects of the torrential rains, which have been pounding the area since Monday, have mostly been felt in Zaria and Soura- Buldi neighborhoods where drainage is particularly poor. Other than Maradi, several other towns and villages across the country have been hit by torrential rains, which have left a number of people and animals dead besides causing significant material losses.

SENEGAL - Heavy rains are reportedly flooding towns in the centre and north of the country causing damage to homes and crops. "After a slow start to the [rainy] season in Senegal, rainfall has become torrential, especially in a narrow band across the northern portion of the country. Localized flooding is possible during the next week as rivers are likely swollen and soils saturated." Since early August heavy rains have caused scattered flooding from Ethiopia to Senegal.

NORWAY - Damage claims from weekend flooding in southern Oppland County were expected to amount to tens of millions of kroner. Evacuation orders remained in place Tuesday morning, and more rain was on the way. Geologists were testing whether saturated grounds were stable enough to ensure residents' safety, while some access roads were washed out. The damage done by flooding from pouring rain and a broken dam included homes that were damaged and several holiday cabins destroyed by landslides and the torrents of water that swept through the area. Officials blame the UNUSUALLY heavy rain that pounded the area all day Saturday and most of Sunday, especially the area around Odnes at the northern end of the Randsfjord. A local mayor said on national television Monday evening that he HADN'T SEEN SUCH RAIN SINCE 1959. (photos)

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
JAPAN sizzled through its HOTTEST DAY ON RECORD Thursday (8/16), as a heat wave claimed at least six lives across the country and spurred fears of an electricity shortage. The mercury hit 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.62 degrees Fahrenheit) in the western city of Tajimi on Thursday afternoon, breaking a previous national record of 40.8 degrees Celsius set in 1933. Temperatures also soared to NEW RECORDS in Tokyo and across the country, spurring holiday makers to take cover indoors. Rail tracks were bent out of shape in the sun, and firefighters struggled to deal with fire alarms set off erroneously by rising temperatures. The heat also got the best of sumo wrestler Takamisakari, who smashed into his practice room window as he nearly collapsed following practice.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.
Vietnam and France have reported more H5N1 in their birds.
An analysis of historical records in 43 U.S. cities indicates that the early use of nonpharmaceutical measures, such as isolating the sick and banning public gatherings, saved lives in the influenza pandemic of 1918-19.
A recently published survey of Europeans and Asians showed that, when faced with an influenza pandemic, most would avoid mass transit and limit shopping to essentials, and many would avoid other public places, including restaurants, theaters, and the workplace.
The US Department of Health and Human Services said it has stockpiled enough H5N1 avian influenza vaccine to protect about 6 million people and that federal and state supplies contain enough antiviral medication to treat more than 48 million.

A Mayo Clinic study indicates that many hospitalized influenza patients shed flu virus for at least 7 days after they fall ill, suggesting that the current recommendation to use infection control precautions for 5 days may be inadequate.

TEXAS - Dengue fever is gaining a firmer foothold in southern Texas, putting residents at risk for the most dangerous form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever.

The number of West Nile virus cases reported so far this season has dramatically outpaced the number reported at about this time last summer.

------------------------------------------

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 -

No update due to storm-related power failure.

-----------------------------

Tuesday, August 14, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
First cave man to second cave man: "I don't care what you say.
We never had such unusual weather patterns BEFORE we started using bows and arrows."

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/13/07 -
5.1 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
5.5 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.7 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND

HAWAII - As the Category 3 Hurricane Flossie closes in on the Big Island of Hawaii, a moderate earthquake has struck the Puna District Monday night at 7:38 PM HST. Centered 25 miles south of Hilo and 5.8 miles below the surface of the Earth, the 5.3 magnitude quake knocked items off shelves in at least one Hilo home and caused a flurry of activity briefly overloading cell phone lines. From a vantage point above Hilo, electricity appears to remain on throughout the town. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reports that no tsunami has been generated. The epicenter of the earthquake is located on the flanks of Kilauea, an active volcano erupting for over 20 years non-stop. No change in eruption activity is immediately visible from the Puu Oo vent, but it is obscured by dark rain clouds.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
INDIA - At least 13 houses were washed away and three more houses damaged under the impact of high tidal waves in Podampeta, a sea-side village in Ganjam district. The powerful waves lashed the village inhabited mostly by fishermen during the last two days. Alarmed over another depression formed over the Bay of Bengal, the district administration asked the fishermen families residing very close to the sea to shift to the nearby cyclone shelter.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical depression 04 was 1336 nmi E of Bridgetown, Barbados.
Hurricane FLOSSIE was 470 nmi SE of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Cyclone SEPAT was 524 nmi NE of Cebu City, Philippines.

The island of Hawaii has declared a state of emergency, closing schools and setting up shelters as Hurricane Flossie approaches from the southeast. Flossie weakened from a Category Four to a Category Three at noon today, but remains a "dangerous hurricane with a clear, well-defined eye." The last recorded hurricane to hit the island of Hawaii was the Kohala Cyclone in 1871. Flossie will come within 140 km of the Big Island around 2pm local time tomorrow (1100 AEST). Winds of 65-80km and 5m-plus surf would be accompanied by 25cm of torrential rain along the southeast shore. (photo)

The Atlantic tropical depression may become a tropical storm today as it moves westward toward the Caribbean. It will be named Dean if it becomes a storm. The system was about 1,659 miles (2,670 kilometers) east of the Lesser Antilles by 5 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time today. It may strengthen into a hurricane by the end of the week as it approaches the Caribbean. The disturbance is the first noteworthy system to be born this year in what forecasters call the “deep tropics,” where conditions are growing ripe for development and storms have plenty of time to strengthen before they reach land. Similar systems are lining up behind it, ready to roll off Africa and into the Atlantic, suggesting that a worrisome few weeks are ahead for residents of the hurricane zone. Another tropical storm may form today in the Gulf of Mexico, where thunderstorms are developing near an area of low pressure north of the Yucatan Peninsula.

PHILIPPINES - Tropical storm "Egay" (international codename: "Sepat") entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) yesterday. Egay is the fifth tropical cyclone in the country this year and the third for this month. Egay was spotted 1,090 kilometers (kms) east of Northern Luzon at 2 p.m., packing winds of 65 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 80 kph. It was moving west at 15 kph. Egay is forecast to be 900 kms east of Northern Luzon this morning and 690 kms east of Northern Luzon by tomorrow morning. By Thursday morning, it is expected to be 440 kms east of Northern Luzon. Egay is expected to bring rains over Mindanao today and Luzon and Visayas by tomorrow or Thursday.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
NORTH KOREA - Flooding caused by heavy rain has left hundreds of people dead or missing in North Korea. The rain has flooded tens of thousands of hectares of farmland and destroyed more than 30,000 homes. Worst hit was Kangwon province, where 20,000 homes were damaged. North Korea was devastated by seasonal floods in August last year. Storms since 7 August have led to "huge human and material damage." "The torrential rain left hundreds of persons dead or missing and destroyed more than 30,000 houses for over 63,300 families." At least 800 public buildings, more than 540 bridges and sections of railway were reportedly destroyed by the rain. "This unceasing heavy rain destroyed the nation's major railways, roads and bridges, suspended power supply and cut off the communications network." North Korea is secretive about releasing full details of accidents or natural disasters, making any confirmation of the extent of the flooding difficult. North Korea is a food insecure country, it produces less food than required, so to lose any of the harvest will be a long-term concern.

BRITAIN - The sun may already have set on Britain's brief summer as forecasters predict much of the country will suffer torrential rain and gale-force winds this week. The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for the whole of Britain, as the northern and Midlands towns which have only just recovered from devastating floods in June and July brace themselves for further misery. Experts predict as much as 2in (5cm) of rain could fall in some areas today, bringing with it the threat of flash flooding, while the entire south coast is expected to be battered by gusts of up to 50mph which could whip up waves to dangerous levels. Thunderstorms are likely tomorrow and colder temperatures are forecast for the end of the week with no quick return to summer in sight. "The winds will be UNUSUALLY strong for this time of year - we're looking at gusts of up to 50mph along the coasts and maybe 45mph inland."

SWITZERLAND - Billions needed for flood-control measures - As water levels slowly recede across Switzerland, calls for improved anti-flood measures continue to grow. The question of finance however remains unclear. On Sunday the water of Lake Biel and Lake Thun receded below the danger level, but authorities say they have to wait for Lake Biel to go down even more before they can begin pumping out all the flooded houses. Interrupted railway lines and roads were gradually being re-opened, although the line between Bern and Fribourg remained closed. Authorities say that although the situation has eased, a lot remains to be done, adding that the clean-up operation will take weeks.

NORWAY - Rain that pounded much of southern Norway over the weekend caused new flooding that forced more people out of their homes on Monday. The relentless rains hit southern Oppland County especially hard, and residents in and around the town of Dokka suffered. Several homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, and cars swept away, not least after a dam broke at the lake known as Store Kaldingen. That sent torrents of water rushing down the Nordraak River (Nordraakselva), which in turn unleashed rocks and earth along the way. Landslides followed, and the region around the northern end of the otherwise scenic Randsfjord was declared a disaster area. By Monday morning, mud and rocks ended up plugging the Nordraak River and setting off more flooding as water built up behind it. County officials were considering whether to blast through the masses of dirt and rocks to unblock the river. Scores of local residents remained under evacuation order and it was unclear when they'd be allowed to return to their homes. More bad weather is expected Wednesday. Southern Norway has been suffering through its WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD. (photos)

PAKISTAN - Lightning strikes and flooding in the district of Kohistan has killed at least seventeen persons. Thirteen people were swept away by floodwaters after lightning struck a mountain in the area of Manikhel Bela Ranolia last night. The floodwater destroyed about 200 mud houses and dozens of small bridges in the area, while dozens of head of cattle were swept away by the water.

BANGLADESH - The toll in the floods in Bangladesh climbed to 298 on Monday with reports of 30 more deaths reaching the capital from various parts of the country. Officials in the Food and Disaster Management Ministry said more than 10 million people have lost their homes to the floods. The monsoon flood situation had showed an improvement in the last few days with the retreat of waters in major rivers. But the heavy downpour from Sunday again inundated as many as 39 out of the country's 64 districts. The downpour was triggered by a depression that formed over West Bengal and the adjoining area in Bangladesh and has worsened the flood situation across the country, particularly in the capital. The water levels of five rivers surrounding Dhaka had gone up further and were above their danger marks.

BURKINA FASO - A humanitarian crisis may be emerging in the African country of Burkina Faso with rains destroying people's homes and farmland in several areas across the country. "We are making a cry from the heart for help. The situation is chaotic as in some areas we have NEVER SEEN SUCH HEAVY RAINS BEFORE. Many people have lost everything." One of the worst-affected areas is the north province of Loroum, where flooding has washed away houses, schools and other infrastructure in 14 villages. On 5 August two-thirds of all houses in the village of Banh were washed away after rain fell non-stop for 13 hours. The situation is likely to deteriorate in the coming days as the forecast is for more rain.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALLED - Gilchrist & Soames, a provider of toiletry products for the hotel industry, has initiated a worldwide voluntary recall of its Gilchrist & Soames 0.65oz/18ml toothpaste manufactured in China after independent tests showed some samples of the toothpaste contained diethylene glycol, or DEG. Hotel guests, who may have received the recalled toothpaste from hotels in any of these countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados, Dominican Republic, Turks & Caicos, the U.K., Ireland, Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland - should safely dispose of it.
-RECALLED - Krasniy Oktyabr Inc., located in New York is recalling packages of Herring of the Special Ambassador "7 Uzlov" because the product may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum. It is a product of Russia.

BALI - Bird flu has killed its first human victim on the Indonesian island of Bali.

------------------------------------------

Monday, August 13, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
What’s the difference between weather and climate?
You can't weather a tree, but you can climate.

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/12/07 -
5.1 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
6.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

SPAIN - 5.1 earthquake felt by many across Spain - Spain was hit by the quake at 9:47am on Sunday morning. Centred on Ciudad Real, it saw as many as 15 after-shocks. Experts say that the centre of the tremor had been very near the surface, and for this reason the tremor was felt across nearly all of the country. For the same reason no reports of serious damage or personal injury have been noted.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
TASMANIA - Retreating floodwaters have revealed a massive clean-up challenge for towns. The tiny North-East town of Branxholm was one of the hardest hit, with the State Emergency Service reporting 40 homes had to be evacuated. Of those, 26 were inundated, causing damage. Four families at nearby Derby had to take refuge with friends and family. At Forth, in the North-West, eight houses were evacuated. Businesses in Huonville in the South began mopping out their shopfronts after FREAK TIDES and the rising Huon River inundated the town on Friday. As the threat eased, many returned home to a sea of water. Others saw bizarre sights, with broccoli washing up on Turners Beach from a vegetable farm at Forth. In some regions, the floods reached one-in-100-year levels.

ALGERIA - Ten days after the sinking of 12 vacationers in Mostaganem, local authorities have not lifted a finger to unveil the facts, and media are promoting a “micro-tsunami” whose reasons are still unknown. The Civil Protection Regional Department made it clear that “dead in the incident taking place last Friday, August 3rd 2007 are estimated at 12; and 126 have been rescued from a genuine death danger who swam in uncontrolled beaches.” This mere clarification, ten days after the incident that took 12 lives, has not dissipated widespread rumors that mention a seven-to-ten-meter wave that washed away many people. The odd thing is that the “Huge” wave has chosen to affect only people, not anything else, as civil protection services have recorded no property damages.

UNITED KINGDOM - An island community in Orkney could be split in two, unless urgent repairs are made to damaged sea defences. That's the warning from islanders in Sanday where there's growing concern about the time it's taking to sort out the problem. It's a dismal sight - saturated farm land lies under water, fences are strewn with rotting seaweed and a farm road is left all but impassable by the flooding. And it's been like this for many months now. Earlier this year a big tide and a severe storm combined to blast away the sea defences that once stood here. The community's been calling for action ever since and says repairs are now urgently needed. At some points the island is less than a mile wide and the big concern is the potential impact if there's a repeat of the conditions that wrecked the sea defences. "If you look back far enough in history you'll find that Sanday was originally several islands that have become joined together over the centuries by the gaps between them silting up with sand. What seems to be happening now is that the reverse is taking place and the sand is being washed out again." Back in the 1950s that almost happened. "It came a heavy northerly gale and an extremely high tide, and it breached the foreshore at the black wall and broke through, cut the island very nearly in two." (photo)

VOLCANOES -
RUSSIA - The Shiveluch volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East is emitting ash to the height of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet). In the past twenty-four hours, about 170 local tremors have been registered around Mount Shiveluch. The volcano began erupting in December 2006. Satellite photos show that clouds of volcanic ash are spreading to the distance of 90 km (56 miles) southeast of the volcano, posing a threat to air flights.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Hurricane FLOSSIE was 800 nmi ESE of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Tropical storm SEPAT was 630 nmi WNW of Agana, Guam.

HAWAII - Moving westward into the central Pacific, Hurricane Flossie, some 1000 miles east-southeast of the Big Island of Hawaii, is a major hurricane. Winds remain at 135 mph, which makes this a Category 4 Hurricane. Flossie is forecast to maintain hurricane status into Tuesday. The forecast then calls for it to weaken back to a tropical storm as it encounters cooler waters, and more stable conditions. The system is also forecast to head more to the west-northwest, which would cause it to pass only a few hundred miles south of Hawaii. This would be close enough to generate some high surf and waves, as well as increase showers for the Islands. Also the trade winds north of Flossie would be strengthened. (photo & map)

PACIFIC - The Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued the first warning for the ninth numbered storm of the tropical cyclone season at 6 p.m. Sunday — the third in less than two weeks. It quickly turned into a tropical storm and at midnight swirled 770 miles southeast of Okinawa and remained almost stationary with sustained 46-mph winds and 58-mph gusts. Initial forecasts called for Sepat to track slowly west toward Taiwan. “But it’s moving so slowly. It’s too early to say where specifically it will end up.” The closest point of approach for Okinawa was forecast for 420 miles southwest of Kadena at 9 p.m. Friday, packing sustained 98-mph winds and 121-mph gusts at its center. The new storm began developing as another tropical disturbance that ravaged Okinawa for two days subsided. By mid-afternoon Sunday, the rain halted. From Friday to Sunday morning, wind gusts of up to 40 mph pounded the island. They recorded almost 14 inches of rain in less than 48 hours.

CHINA - in south China's Guangdong province, the HEAVIEST FLOOD IN 200 YEARS HIT THE PROVINCE, spawned by tropical storm Pabuk. More than 23,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes and operations on China's cross-strait railway network have been suspended. Rescuers were yesterday trying to pull about 760 residents from their flooded homes in Leizhou City of Guangdong. A woman aged in her 80s drowned as the flood entered her Yingli home. At least one person was reported missing in Leizhou as of yesterday morning. The flood has disrupted the life of about 1.2 million people in the cities of Zhanjiang, which administers Leizhou, Maoming and Meizhou and destroyed 3,665 houses. The Leizhou Peninsular on the southern tip of Guangdong bore the brunt of the rainstorm spawned by tropical storm Pabuk. Within 18 hours from Friday to early Saturday morning, a hydrologic station in the city's Tangjia township reported 728 millimeters (28.66 inches) of rain, while another in Longmen town recorded 658 millimeters. It was the HEAVIEST RAINFALL IN 200 YEARS. Across Leizhou, the flood trapped about 5,920 residents in more than 30 villages. The flood destroyed more than 980 houses, damaged 24 bridges and 127 kilometers of highway, inundated about 357,000 hectares of crops and swept away 8,400 head of poultry in Leizhou.

ATLANTIC - A low pressure area associated with a tropical wave that's closer to Africa than the Americas has developed and could become a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center reports. If the storm does develop and intensify into a depression and tropical storm, it would be named Dean. Moving toward the Americas, the low could - if conditions are right - enter the Caribbean Sea and threaten the island nations in a week or so. Also of interest to the forecasters in Miami is a large area of shows and thunderstorms in the northwestern Caribbean near the central Bahamas. No quick development is expected, the hurricane center said. This area of storms is disorganized and moving toward the southern Gulf of Mexico at about 10 mph.

MIDDLE EAST - Bahrain and other Gulf countries are dangerously unprepared for natural disasters and risk catastrophic destruction on land and at sea, according to a regional crisis centre. Ageing infrastructure would be destroyed if winds approaching the speed of Gonu entered the Gulf, something climate change is making increasingly likely to happen. "Cyclone Gonu (in June) was tracked at 160 knots - that is 320 kilometres an hour, and that's a lot. It slowed down, but when it reached Muscat it was still 120 to 130 knots. The installations in the Gulf - the oil rigs, the platforms, the life buoys and so on are only built to withstand 60 knot winds. Over Oman, the minimum wind speed of Gonu was 80 knots. They are only built to withstand that because we have never had such winds here before - the maximum wind was 50 knots at the time many of these installations were built and that was RARE. It would double the cost to install a platform able to withstand such winds. A platform here is much cheaper than those in the North Sea or in the China Sea near Vietnam because there they do have cyclones and such strong winds. "Here people have thought 'why double the price of the installation when we don't really need it?'...So the governments in the region have to change this to make things similar to that in the North Sea. It will be very costly. You are talking about billions and billions of dollars, if not trillions - a huge amount." Failure to take the threat seriously would be a mistake. There were fears that cyclone Gomu would destroy the port in the emirate of Fujairah and wreak havoc in Dubai. "We told them to prepare to get the ships out of the port and they got the big ships out. They were lucky because the cyclone moved away from Fujairah to the Iranian coast. If it had gone closer to Fujairah, the gantry cranes in the port would have been demolished..."If this were to hit a country like Bahrain, it would be an absolute mess. It would destroy everything - we are not prepared."

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
INDIA - The Khongdei landslide was the WORST IN LIVING MEMORY. It was a doomsday for the villagers of Khongdei Khuman when their paddy fields, fish, village footpath were carried away by a most fearful and deadly landslide on July 28. A woman working in the fields complained that she felt giddy and her head was spinning, not realizing that the mountain on which she was working was slowly moving down towards the river taking away all the fields located on the hillslope and above due to the unceasing downpour. As she left the field, the mountain started moving down with the sound of thunder and sending up a ball of smoke into the air as seen by neighboring villagers from Shirong. From July 28 to August 4 the nearby villagers heard the sound of the landslide, like the sound of moving vehicles, for days and nights. The Iril river that flows on the eastern side of the landslide portion has been pushed towards the western side burying most of the surrounding fields on the river banks creating three deep lakes with huge stones and mud gathered there due to the landslide. The length of the landslide was roughly about more than 1 km, and its height is 30 minutes walk. If there is rain, this whole portion of hillslope which now remains cracked will go down to its bottom and block the Iril river. “I have never seen such a kind of natural calamity in my lifetime. Now my villagers have to starve as the fields can never be cultivated again." Even the jeepable road which is the lifeline for the villagers has been cut off by the landslide.
Eleven people were killed and eight others reported missing in incidents of landslides and house collapse triggered by heavy rain in Shimla. About two dozen houses either collapsed or suffered damage and six bridges washed away as heavy rain fell over 24 hours.

------------------------------------------

Sunday, August 12, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.
Sir Philip Sidney

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/11/07 -
5.4 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.1 NEPAL
5.1 ASCENSION ISLAND REGION
5.4 MOLUCCA SEA
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
8/10/07 -
5.3 SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
5.1 GUAM REGION
5.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
5.4 KURIL ISLANDS
5.1 SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND

CALIFORNIA - Massive quake 'overdue' in California's desert resort - California's next big earthquake could take place among the golf courses and weekend resort hotels of Palm Springs, a senior government seismologist has warned, raising the prospect of thousands of dead on Los Angeles's doorstep and long-term devastation akin to the crippling of the New Orleans region following Hurricane Katrina. The area is at least 150 years overdue for a major earthquake, based on historical patterns. It isn't unreasonable to expect a quake measuring close to eight on the Richter scale, strong enough to devastate homes, rip open and ignite oil pipelines, collapse freeways and expose even those who did survive to extreme desert temperatures without the benefit of heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer. The force of a 7.8 earthquake in Palm Springs was also likely to topple buildings and create other forms of chaos in Los Angeles, whose outer suburbs begin 30 miles to the west of Palm Springs. Palm Springs and the surrounding Coachella Valley sit between two major faults - the San Andreas, which runs the length of California, and the San Jacinto. Stresses have been building up under both, raising the prospect of a quake in which the ground moves at ten feet per second. In the last major quake to hit the Los Angeles area, the Northridge earthquake of 1994, the ground moved at about six feet per second - enough to destroy and damage hundreds of homes but stopping short of a catastrophe. Major earthquakes had historically hit the Coachella Valley every 150 years, but for reasons nobody could explain it had been spared for the past 300. The Palm Springs area is far from the only part of California threatened by natural disaster. The whole Los Angeles urban area sits on a patchwork of seismic faults that threaten to shake at any moment. San Francisco is, arguably, even more at risk, not least because a powerful quake would quickly reduce parts of the city built on landfill to rubble and knock out the bridge system that is that city's transportation lifeline.

JAPAN - In the 40 years that Japan has been building nuclear plants, seismic activity was relatively quiet. Not a single nuclear facility was struck by a big quake. The government, along with the power industry and the academic community, all developed the habit of underestimating the potential risks posed by major quakes. However, since around the time of the Great Hanshin Earthquake that devastated Kobe in 1995, almost the entire Japanese archipelago has entered a period of brisk seismic activity. In the past two years, major quakes took place in close proximity of three nuclear power plants: the Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture (August 2005), the Shika plant in Ishikawa Prefecture (March 2007) and the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. In each case, the maximum ground motion caused by the quake was stronger than the seismic design criteria for the nuclear power plants. The latest temblor near Kashiwazaki generated a peak ground acceleration of 993 gal, compared with the design value of 450 gal. What happened there could have been much worse. If the focus of the quake had been a little farther southwest, toward the plant site, and the magnitude had been 7.5 - the size of a quake that hit Niigata Prefecture in 1964 - and if all seven reactors at the plant had been operating, a combination of an earthquake and a nuclear meltdown could have occurred. The period of high-level seismic activity will continue for another 40 years or more. Unless radical steps are taken now to reduce the vulnerability of nuclear power plants to earthquakes, Japan could experience a true nuclear catastrophe in the near future.

VOLCANOES -
INDONESIA - More than 500 people have been evacuated from the slopes of Mount Karangetang which has been spewing lava and hot clouds on the northern Indonesian island of Siau. Lava and hot clouds emerged from the peak of the mountain on Friday. Hotclouds - clouds of high temperatures that slide down the slope at high speed burning everything in their path - killed three when it last erupted in 1997. Five years earlier, hotclouds left seven people dead.

ALASKA - It's been a relatively quiet year for Alaska volcanoes. There have been no major eruptions, yet. But those who watch the steaming giants along Alaska's ring of fire have noticed some interesting developments. It's been more than a year since the eruptions on Alaska's most active volcano ended. But on a flight over Mount Augustine this week, the mountain continues to simmer, spewing a steady steam. Geologists say, if anything, the volcano is cooling down from its eruption last year. Currently, the observatory is more concerned about Cleveland Volcano, way out on the Aleutian Chain. Low-level eruptive activity continues there. No villages are in the immediate vicinity and the real concern is for aviation on cross-pacific flights. "Our satellite analysts began seeing evidence of increased ground temperature right at the summit of Cleveland Volcano. It's a very steep-sided cone with a steep, walled crater at the top and that prompted us to elevate our alert level because this meant that new lava might be reaching the surface, which increased the possibility of a big explosion."

ICELAND - Researchers at the University of Iceland have discovered two rift zones on the Reykjanes ridge. Upon this discovery, they have uncovered a NEW TYPE OF VOLCANO UNLIKE ANY IN THE WORLD. This may be the most significant geological discovery in the last 40 years. The University of Iceland and the University of Hawaii conducted a research expedition along the ridge, which is in the sea southwest of Iceland, in mid-June in a search for more answers about the ocean floor. With this discovery, it will be possible to trace the geological history 24 million years into the past. In addition, this finding will help geologists to understand how the hotspot under Iceland and the rift zone interact. The rift zones have been moving southwards and that movement will continue for the next millions of years.

Yellowstone volcano not ready to blow - Out of 148 American volcanoes, the U.S. Geological Survey ranks Yellowstone's as the 21st biggest threat. Last year, the park experienced 1,202 earthquakes, albeit minor ones. The park's newest safety inspector had to evacuate the park office after steam vents shot 4.5% carbon monoxide-level gas up through the floor cracks. Five bison dropped dead in 2004 from toxic gasses emitting from the surface of the park. Outbreaks of earthquakes, changes in gas emissions, ground deformations - they're all signs of a potential volcano eruption, and they've all occurred at Yellowstone National Park, but they aren't happening in a confined area nor at a rate alarming enough to predict that there's going to be a supervolcanic eruption anytime soon. Studies at the 2.2-million acre national park show that a catastrophic event like a caldera-forming volcanic eruption is the least likely to happen.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical depression 09W was 582 nmi WNW of Agana, Guam.
Hurricane FLOSSIE was 1050 nmi ESE of Honolulu, Hawaii.

VIETNAM - The death toll from a tropical storm in central Vietnam hit 60 after six more bodies were recovered, while nine others were reported still missing.

HONG KONG - A typhoon lashed Hong Kong Friday forcing the closure of the stock market and leaving the streets deserted, as the Pabuk storm changed direction and headed back towards the city. Winds of 90 kilometres (56 miles) per hour were measured in the territory, with gusts of up to 111 kph. The strong winds caused some scaffolding on buildings in the financial hub to collapse. Tropical storm Pabuk pounded Taiwan earlier in the week, disrupting traffic and power supplies, but it lost power as it approached Hong Kong and passed by without causing any damage. But the storm changed direction over the Pearl River Delta in southern China early Friday. It passed just west of Hong Kong at around 6:00 pm (1000 GMT). Hong Kong Observatory said Saturday was expected to begin with gale force winds, which would weaken later, but rain would persist throughout the weekend. Meanwhile, the eighth tropical storm of this year, Wutip, was forecast to hit Fujian Province in east China Friday with more powerful impact.

CHINA - The National Meteorological Center of China said on Friday that three more tropical storms would form in a few days to come, and two of which might hit south and southeast coastal areas of China. The seventh and the eighth tropical storms of the year - Pabuk and Wutip - were not fully developed, as the power of the two was partly offset by each other.

Flossie - The storm, swirling hundreds of miles off Mexico's Pacific coast, strengthened into a hurricane Friday. Flossie's winds increased to 75 mph and were expected to strengthen. Flossie could remain a hurricane for two days but is expected to weaken by the time it nears Hawaii, in about four days. Flossie is forecast to move south of the islands, possibly as a tropical storm. "But even a system passing to the south can bring significant rain" and surf swells.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
INDIA, PAKISTAN - Torrential monsoon rains that have killed more than 2,000 people in north-east India, Bangladesh and Nepal in recent weeks are now devastating north-west India and neighbouring Pakistan. At least 10 people have died and thousands have been left homeless and without electricity, food or clean water after more than 40in of rain fell in India's north-western state of Gujarat last week. Across the border in Pakistan, a week of storms and flooding caused buildings to collapse in the country's largest city, Karachi, killing at least 35 people. The Indian authorities, already at full stretch after thousands of square miles were inundated in the east, have had to shift resources to help the new flood victims. Helicopters have dropped food parcels in some remote areas, but people are desperate for drinking water as temperatures soar. In the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Assam further east, rescuers are still struggling to reach 20 million displaced people, despite flood waters starting to recede over the past few days. Children have been seen eating snails and rats in Bihar, and thousands of people throughout the region are still sheltering under plastic sheets while they wait for relief to arrive. In Bangladesh eight million people have been displaced. The worst threat is from water-borne diseases, since most of the water sources are contaminated or submerged, and people are drinking from puddles and pools to survive. Reports of fatal snake bites are also increasing as animals and humans battle for dry ground, and bite victims are unable to reach medical care. Many survivors of the floods fear rising debt and hunger as they contemplate the future without homes, crops or livestock.

TASMANIA - Three major valleys have been flooded in the southern island state of Tasmania, resulting in the evacuation of forty homes, with more expected. Wild weather throughout the state has cause worry with emergency crews on 24 hour alert to prevent flood damage to homes. "We've had some car accidents, a couple of fires - including a house fire - and the rock landslide on the Murchison Highway. The landslide had thousands of tonnes of debris, which include mud, rock and trees."

KENYA - At least 18 people are feared dead after two landslides hit a village in western Kenya. 56 people sustained injuries when the landslides hit Kuvasali village in Kakamega North district. Emergency teams have ordered an evacuation of the area, warning that more landslides could occur. More people are feared buried under tonnes of mud, with little chance of survivors. The first three died in a dawn landslide that buried their house as they slept, while at least 20 more were swept under a deluge of mud during rescue efforts after a second landslide struck at about midday on Saturday. Between 15 and 20 people were unaccounted for after the second landslide. The tiny village perched on the side of a steep slope, woke up to shock and disbelief after a nightlong heavy downpour triggered the first landslide. The first landslide occurred at about 4am on Saturday morning, while the second struck shortly after midday. Majority of the people buried in the mud were neighbours who were trying to rescue the victims of the first landslide.

MAURITANIA - around 10,000 people were living without shelter in the town of Titane and the region around it since Wednesday. Two people have died and parts of the town and its main market had been heavily damaged by floodwaters. Titane is about 750 kilometers (460 miles) southeast of the capital, Nouakchott, in northwest Africa.

GERMANY - Heavy rains have disrupted transport and shut down roads in parts of Switzerland and Germany. Lakes and rivers had risen to critical levels following the torrential rain. German television showed pictures of swollen rivers, and flooded roads in Aarburg, near Basel, Switzerland. In parts of Germany, heavy rains flooded streets and basements. Two people died in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia while clearing water from their basements. Water covered streets and camping grounds and invaded basements along Germany's border with Switzerland. Further north, heavy and constant rain caused the Rhine River to expand. Heavy rains have stalled Rhine River boat traffic. Europeans need to get used to extreme weather such as floodings and drought, said a climate expert. "Climate change is finally here. We find ourselves in the middle of it and the consequences are inevitable."

VIRGINIA - Lightning strikes have caused more fires and damage in Albemarle County so far this summer than during ANY OTHER IN RECENT MEMORY. Since April, there have been at least 25 fires in Albemarle caused by lightning. The total damage from the fires exceeds $2.5 million. It’s hard to pin down a scientific reason for the increase in lightning-related fires. There hasn’t been a substantial increase in the number of thunderstorms this year, which implies that there likely hasn’t been an abnormally high number of lightning strikes. In general, lightning occurs after the movement of ice crystals inside storm clouds creates electrical charges at the top and bottom of the cloud. If the difference between the negative electrical charge in the bottom of the cloud and the ground becomes great enough, a "stepped path" of electrical current extends down from the cloud and "streamers of charge" extend up from the earth. When the two currents meet - usually between 150 and 300 feet in the air - a charge shoots down from the cloud and a much stronger return charge comes from the ground, resulting in a lightning bolt. The bolt superheats the air around it to as much as 60,000 degrees, and the superheated air expands rapidly, creating the clap of thunder.

CANADA - A punishing thunderstorm pulverized areas of southern Manitoba on Thursday night, with heavy rain, baseball-sized hail and screaming winds wreaking havoc on cars, homes and trees. A major cleanup effort is underway in Dauphin, where giant hailstones fell for half an hour. In addition to the hail, about 56 millimetres of rain fell in about an hour, while winds gusted to 98 kilometres an hour. Hailstones were measuring as large as 10 centimetres in diameter (over 4 inches). The hail left fist-sized holes in countless windows at homes, stores, vehicles and even the 'golden arches' outside the local McDonald's restaurant. Severe thunderstorms also lit up the sky at Delta Beach, north of Portage la Prairie, and in Winnipeg, bringing winds blowing harder than 100 kilometres an hour. The storm forced a pilot to make an emergency landing in a canola field south of Portage la Prairie just after midnight. (photos)

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
Arctic sea ice is at its 'LOWEST EVER LEVELS. Sea ice in the Northern Hemisphere has plunged to the LOWEST RECORDED ICE AREA IN RECORDED HISTORY, the lowest levels ever measured, US polar specialists said, adding they expect the record low to be "annihilated" by summer's end. “The new record came a full month before the historic summer minimum typically occurs. There is still a month or more of melt likely this year. It is therefore almost certain that the previous 2005 record will be annihilated by the final 2007 annual minima closer to the end of this summer.” The drop in sea ice this year is more geographically sweeping than in previous low years. "The character of 2007's sea ice melt is unique in that it is dramatic and covers the entire Arctic sector. Atlantic, Pacific and even the central Arctic sectors are showing large negative sea ice area anomalies."

DEFORESTATION of the Amazon rain forest in Brazil fell by about a third in the 12 months through July to the LOWEST RATE IN AT LEAST SEVEN YEARS.

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Friday, August 10, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Rumor has it that a new Miami baseball team will be called "Humidity".
Fans in Florida will be able to say, "It's not the Heat that's so bad, it's the Humidity."

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/9/07 -
5.2 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.3 TAIWAN

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
LEBANON - A new underwater survey has revealed that Lebanon lies dangerously close to a fault that could soon generate a catastrophic tsunami. The fault, which according to the survey lies just four miles off Lebanon's coast, caused a tsunami-generating earthquake in 551 A.D. that devastated the coastal cities of Phonecia, or modern-day Lebanon. The previously unknown submarine fault is responsible for the build-up of the Mount Lebanon range that towers around 10,000 meters above sea level. The fault moves approximately every 1,500 years, meaning that a disaster of the same magnitude as the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed coastal cities on July 9, 551, could be due any day. According to historical accounts, that ancient event caused the sea to retreat up to 10,000 meters. Tripoli was reported to have "drowned," while Beirut took nearly 1,300 years to recover from the cataclysm. "It was arguably one of the most devastating historical submarine earthquakes in the eastern Mediterranean." Along the coast offshore of Mount Lebanon, the team of researchers found relatively fresh seafloor seismic breaks, indicating that an active thrust fault is responsible for major earthquakes there. Based on their research, the team estimated that the 551 disaster was caused by a rupture at least 62 miles long on the offshore Mount Lebanon thrust. The rupture caused a magnitude 7.5 quake. Part of the seafloor collapsed by 5 to 10 feet, triggering a tsunami. At least four earthquakes similar to the 551 event have occurred over the past 6,000 to 7,000 years.

VOLCANOES -
GUATEMALA'S Fire Volcano erupted Thursday, spewing lava, rock and ash near the colonial city of Antigua and some of the Central American country's most famous coffee farms. Seven families were evacuated from their homes near the volcano, about 27 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of Guatemala City. The villagers were unharmed. "Last night, the situation was quite serious, and we declared an orange alert. We will remain in the area to monitor the situation." No damage was reported to the plantations, where coffee beans are beginning to mature. Fire Volcano is part of a chain of active volcanoes along the edge of Guatemala's Maya Indian highlands.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical storm FLOSSIE was 1417 nmi WSW of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Tropical depression PABUK was 167 nmi WSW of Hong Kong.
Tropical depression WUTIP was 288 nmi ENE of Hong Kong.

ATLANTIC - high pressure is holding sway over the Atlantic breeding grounds where tropical storms are formed. That's why there's nothing scary on the horizon and why none of the reliable computer models forecast any tropical development over the next seven days. A series of small tropical waves is stretching from the Azores to the Gulf of Mexico, but they are south of 20 degrees north latitude, and storms that form that far to our south practically never get to Louisiana. "Dry, stable air" dominated most of the places where storms want to form in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf late Wednesday. On average, the first tropical storm to become a hurricane appears Aug. 14, although a paper just published by two U.S. researchers suggests that might be changing.

Tropical Storm Flossie was becoming better organised as it moved westward in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Mexico's southern Pacific coast and Hawaii. The storm, which formed on Wednesday, was expected to strengthen slightly in coming days before moving over cooler waters and weakening. By 5am EDT on Thursday, the storm's wind speeds were about 80 kph, and could reach hurricane status within a day or two, with wind speeds beyond 119 kph. The storm was located far from land and was moving rapidly west at about 21 kph. The storm's rapid forward movement and expected shift toward a more northwesterly track could bring it closer to Hawaii by early next week. However, if the storm moves further north, it would encounter cooler waters and weaken.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
SOUTH ASIA - the death toll from the worst monsoon floods to hit South Asia in decades passed 2000 Thursday even as torrents of muddy water receded from millions of hectares of farmland and rains shifted west. Thousands of villages remained under water and threatened by disease, while millions were still displaced, mainly in India and Bangladesh, where the severe floods also destroyed valuable crops. Rains appeared to be returning to western states, which were hit hard in early July, and heavy downpours in Gujarat since Monday have killed nine people. The devastation in India threatens an entire season's crops in some areas, raising fears of food shortages.

SWITZERLAND - Torrential downpours disrupted travel and transport across Switzerland as the Alpine country experienced its HEAVIEST 24-HOUR PERIOD OF RAIN ON RECORD. In canton Jura 150 litres per square metre fell over a 72-hour period – the same amount as it normally receives during the entire month of August. Zurich was also hit by its WORST RAINFALL IN A CENTURY, with 100 litres per square metre falling in 24 hours between Wednesday and Thursday. Two days of torrential rain have left large parts of northwestern Switzerland and the central plateau region under water. 74 litres of rain per square metre fell on Bern in the same period. Other badly affected areas were the Chasseral in canton Bern (90 litres), the Moléson in canton Fribourg (80 litres) and Lugano (70 litres). By Thursday evening the levels of most affected lakes and rivers appeared to have peaked, but the situation in many areas, particularly along the River Aare, remains critical. The storms led to chaos on the roads, with many closed as a result of flooding or landslides. Rail traffic was also hit. The situation in the town of Olten, a strategic crossroads of Switzerland's rail network, was particularly precarious, with parts of the town centre under water. In Basel, the River Rhine threatened to burst its banks and shipping was halted. (photos)
In Italy, rainstorms have battered northern cities including Milan and Florence where many tourist attractions had to be closed. Rail transport and roads have also been cut in Germany. In France, the authorities have issued an "orange flood alert" for three eastern departments along the Rhine.

GUATEMALA - A mudslide caused by heavy rains killed 5 children in Guatemala. Heavy rains caused a small pond at the top of a ravine to overflow, prompting an avalanche of mud, rocks and trees in Cristo Rey Village.

PENNSYLVANIA - Williamsport’s rainfall remains 5.88 inches below normal for this time of year, even though A RECORD WAS SET FOR RAINFALL on Tuesday with 2.22 inches of rain in 24 hours. The previous record daily maximum rainfall for Tuesday was 1.3 inches recorded in 1908.

NORTH DAKOTA - Wednesday's RECORD RAINFALL in the area was a double-edged sword for crops. Bismarck had 1.44 inches, which broke the daily record of 1.19 inches set in 1944. The wet weather slowed the wheat harvest, but was good for other crops. The area has exceeded its average amount of precipitation, about .54 inches, so far this month. "We've gone over the normal amount for the month so far, but we still have a quite a bit of the month to go."

AVALANCHE / COLD -
CANADA - A massive slide that hit Mount Steele could be the LARGEST IN THE RECORDED HISTORY OF THE YUKON. Mount Steele recently had two slides take place in the same area, on the northern face of the mountain. The second slide was by far the larger of the two and occurred on July 24, two days after the original slide. It was the equivalent of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake and was big enough to generate a seismic signal that could be picked up around the world. “The first one was still very impressive and terrifying, but the second slide was just massive.” Using photographs, geologists have been able to estimate the debris spanned about seven kilometres and fell some 2,500 metres to the glacier below. The debris also covered the Steele glacier, which is a kilometre and a half wide. And it carried up a 300-metre ridge at the far side of the glacier, spilling down another 700 metres onto the neighbouring Hodgson Glacier. “It was an absolutely massive amount of rock that fell.” Studies have now begun to try and determine what caused the slide. It could have been triggered by several factors, including climate change and permafrost degradation, if the bedrock underneath had become weakened by frost shatter. "We're always interested in landslides involving glaciers or glacial ice because they move so fast, and because they've caused fairly substantial disasters worldwide...Thanks to glacier melt due to global warming, mountain areas have become more susceptible to changes and stress. This is a worldwide phenomenon taking place.” The 300-metre runup at the base of the initial slide and its descent to Hodgson Glacier indicate the Mount Steele slide had a minimum velocity of 70 metres per second or 252 kilometres an hour. (The fastest lap at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix was 51 metres per second.)

JULY - If you thought the weather was a bit UNUSUAL this July, you were not alone. The U.S. had the coolest July since 2004 with 89% of the U.S. trending colder than last year along with 898 RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES set or tied during the month. Of those, 159 record low temperatures occurred during the week of July 4th with temperatures in the 30s in the Great Lakes, 40s in the Northeast and 50s as far South as Texas and California. "Nationally, the number of hot days over 85 degrees F were down 12% vs last year, hot days over 90 degrees F were down 24% vs a year ago and really hot days over 100 degrees F were down a very significant 60% for the nation as a whole." In contrast, July 2006 was the 2nd hottest in 113 years with 2,300 record high temperatures set, so the change toward colder weather in the U.S. was significant. The unusual weather was not isolated to the U.S. as the G-20 countries showed the greatest change toward colder year-over-year weather in three years, with extreme cool and wet weather around the globe. The U.K. had the coldest July in seven years but also the wettest start to Summer in at least 240 years. The cool trends were not limited to the Northern Hemisphere as Argentina showed the greatest July year-over-year change toward colder weather in over 100 years with the first snow in 89 years in Buenos Aires. France also showed the greatest year-over-year change toward colder July weather in decades. Asia and parts of Russia were the exception where the month trended slightly warmer and much drier than a year ago.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
Natural weather variations have offset the effects of global warming for the past couple of years and will continue to keep temperatures flat through 2008, a new study shows. But global warming will begin in earnest in 2009, and a couple of the years between 2009 and 2014 will eclipse 1998, the warmest year on record to date. The Earth is headed for a RECORD-SETTING HEAT WAVE after 2009, a team of U.K. climate experts said in the first such report based on observations from recent years. Scientists unveiled a 10-year climate model, predicting a rapid increase in temperatures between 2009 and 2014. Each year from 2010 through 2014 has at least a 50 percent chance of being warmer than 1998, the hottest on record. The estimate is the first stemming from data collected since 1990 on ocean temperatures, heat-trapping gases and other factors. Other forecasters used information gathered from 1960 to 1990. "Global warming is a problem that needs some action sooner rather than later." The results for years beyond 2014, which haven't been published, suggest that heat records will continue to be set after that. Cooling in the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific will forestall record annual temperatures for the next two years. After that, global heat will resume an upward climb that has also been predicted by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The UN's World Meteorological Organization bolstered those estimates with a report saying that global surface temperatures were 1.89 degrees Celsius (3.4 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than average in January and 1.37 degrees above the mean in April. Only a rare event such as the eruption of a major volcano might keep warming at bay, at least temporarily. For example, the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, on Luzon in the Philippines, cooled global annual temperatures by about half a degree Celsius during the following two years. Pinatubo spewed out an enormous cloud of gas and ashes that spread around the earth in two weeks, blocking out some of the sun's rays.

Mexico's glaciers are doomed. Glaciers that crown Mexico's tallest mountains and which inspired Aztec legends of lost love and a snake god could disappear within a few decades, with scientists pointing to global warming as a cause of their demise. “We estimate the glaciers could last another 20 or 30 years." Mexico's two remaining glacial fields hold some of the world's few tropical glaciers, which are also found in South America, Africa and Papua New Guinea but are melting fast as world temperatures rise. On Iztaccihuatl, a dormant volcano and one of two white-capped peaks that can be seen from Mexico City, glaciers have shrunk about 70 per cent since 1960.

A chunk of an Arctic glacier broke into the sea and triggered a huge wave that injured 18 people on a sightseeing boat, almost all of them British tourists. Four people were seriously hurt in the accident by Hornbreen glacier on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard. “The glacier calved (split off) and a big wave washed over the boat. The boat rocked back and forth and passengers fell on the deck.” Boats are meant to stay clear of glaciers around Svalbard, which is about 1000km from the North Pole, in case chunks fall off. But there are no fixed rules for how far is safe. Glaciers naturally break apart as they slide downhill but many are shrinking more quickly than usual because of global warming.

MONTANA - Depending upon who's talking, this year's fire season has already passed by the 2000 and 2003 seasons as the WORST SINCE 1910. That supposition is based on where the state is now with maybe one more month of fires ahead before a good rain or snow finally extinguishes the fires for good. To make matters worse, seven new lightning-caused fires were detected Tuesday in the Swan Lake area, despite a light rain. In the worst case scenario posed by some firefighters, the raging Chippy Creek Fire, which exploded across 29,000 acres on a windy Saturday and now may be the largest wildfire in Montana, could burn all the way to the Brush Creek Fire west of Whitefish - crossing U.S. Highway 2 at Marion and covering about 50 miles. Now burning about 26 miles southwest of Kalispell, predominant winds could push the fire into thousands of acres of thick dry timber north and east. The fire was reportedly 5 percent contained but was threatening 50 homes near Hubbart Reservoir. About 1,500 homes are threatened by the Jocko Lakes Fire, which has burned 15,000 acres and cost nearly $1 million to fight so far. (photo)

ALABAMA - RECORD HEAT was recorded in several cities Wednesday. It was 103 degrees in Montgomery, Anniston and Pinson. The heat wave is expected to be even worse today.

NORTH CAROLINA - RECORD-BREAKING TEMPERATURES will again scorch area residents. The morning temperature in Charlotte was the highest on record since 1896.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

The water at American beaches was unsafe for swimming a RECORD NUMBER OF DAYS last year, according to the 17th annual beach water quality report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Experts estimate that as many as 7 million Americans get sick every year from drinking or swimming in water contaminated with bacteria, viruses or parasites. Aging and poorly-designed sewage and storm-water systems hold much of the blame for beach water pollution. The problem was compounded by record rainfall, which added to the strain on already overloaded infrastructure. Beaches in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Rhode Island, and Minnesota ranked the worst for failing to meet national health standards.

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Thursday, August 9, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
"Thunder is a rich source of loudness."

QUAKES -
This morning a 4.5 quake hit near downtown Los Angeles, California, 45 km (28 miles) NW of the Los Angeles Civic Center, waking residents and knocking some items off shelves and walls.

World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/08/07 -
7.5 JAVA, INDONESIA
5.3 ROTA REGION, N. MARIANA ISLANDS
5.3 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.1 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.2 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.1 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.2 TAJIKISTAN

INDONESIA, which has been hit by three destructive tsunamis since December 2004, escaped another one after a 7.5 earthquake Wednesday struck near the island of Java. The earthquake's epicenter was about l00 kilometers (60 miles) east of Jakarta and 33 kilometers north of the coastal town of Pamanukan, at a depth of 289 kilometers at 0:04 a.m. Jakarta time. The quake sparked panic in Jakarta and across Java, sending people into the streets. Residents said tall buildings and single story homes in Jakarta shook violently. IT WAS THE WORLD'S BIGGEST EARTHQUAKE SINCE AN 8.1 STRUCK OFF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS IN MAY, producing a tsunami that killed 54 people. "There are no reports of damage or casualties. Tremors were felt as far away as Bali island," nearly 900 kilometers to the east of the epicenter. This is the second magnitude 7.5 earthquake to hit Indonesia this year. The last was in January, also under the seabed, near the islands of Maluku in eastern Indonesia. Four people were killed.

CHILE - A moderate earthquake shook the Chilean capital Santiago in the midmorning on Wednesday, causing tall buildings in the city centre to sway. The magnitude 5.0 quake occurred at 10.14am (14H14 GMT) just off the Pacific coast of Chile, 75 kilometres from the port city of Valparaiso. There were no immediate reports of damages.

UTAH - Mine officials insisted Monday‘s accident was caused by a natural disaster. The company released a statement saying the depth of the earthquake occurred in a region that was 3,500 feet deeper than where the miners were. Scientists believe the seismic waves in the area of the Crandall Canyon mine were "the signature of the collapse and that the collapse was not caused by an earthquake." Although mining activities have been shown to produce quakes, the opposite is rare. Scientists say it‘s unusual for a temblor to damage a mine unless it is a big one. In 1976, a 7.8 magnitude quake in China wreaked havoc on coal mines beneath the city of Tangshan. The Crandall Canyon mine is built into a mountain in the rugged Manti-La Sal National Forest, 140 miles south of Salt Lake City, in a sparsely populated area. The region is crisscrossed with geologic faults, and in 1988, a 5.2 magnitude temblor struck 25 miles southeast of the mine.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
ALGERIA - A giant wave described by local residents as a "mini-tsunami" claimed the lives of 12 Algerian bathers last week on Friday on a beach in the west of the Mediterranean-rim country. Algeria's civil protection agency could give no official explanation for the giant wave that struck the beach near the town of Mostaganem. A chief research scientist at Algeria's Centre for Research in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics said he thought the wave could have been the result of conventional weapons testing. The phenomenon "could have been caused by a scientific test and one could guess that it was a scientific test of conventional weapons," adding that France, Italy and Spain all conduct these sorts of tests. "It is however difficult to speak of a tsunami, because such an event is on a much larger scale, while the wave at Mostaganem affected only one beach." A tremor measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale was registered at 2108 GMT in the middle of the Mediterranean basin by an observation centre in the French city of Strasbourg, but not by the CRAAG. The failure to detect this tremor could have been down to a malfunction of the centre's instruments.

VOLCANOES -
INDONESIA - The powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake that shook Indonesia's main island of Java early Thursday could trigger activity at some of the islands many volcanoes. The undersea quake, centred about 110 kilometres (70 miles) east of the capital Jakarta and off the north coast of Java, occurred just after midnight (1700 GMT), rattling buildings and sending panicked residents onto the streets. The quake struck at a depth of about 290 kilometres, too deep to unleash a tsunami. But it was felt as far afield as North Sumatra to the west and in Bali about 880 kilometres to the east. "We are closely monitoring Mount Ceremai and Mount Slamet. If the pressure at the volcanoes is quite high, it may trigger volcanic activity." However, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the probability of such an event was low.
The Indonesian Geology Agency has predicted five volcano eruptions for the country annually as it sits on a highly vulnerable zone. An estimated 129 active volcanoes are spread across the sprawling archipelago. The country's volcanoes account for 13% of all the volcanoes worldwide. Last month, the 700-meter-high Mount Gamkonora in West Halmahera, North Maluku, unexpectedly erupted, causing thousands to temporarily flee their homes. Agency officials Sunday remained on warning as the Papandayan volcano in Garut, West Java, and Merapi volcano in Yogyakarta were registered as being in a "cautious" status. Another volcano, Soputan in North Sulawesi, is in a higher "alert" status.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical storm FLOSSIE was 1263 nmi WSW of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.(Could reach hurricane strength in a day or two.)
Tropical depression PABUK was 114 nmi WSW of Hong Kong.
Tropical depression WUTIP was 365 nmi ENE of Hong Kong.

PHILIPPINES - Big waves whipped up by storms "Chedeng" and "Dodong" briefly stranded at least 13 fishermen who were on their way from Batangas to Scarborough Shoal. For several hours late Wednesday, the fishing boat was stranded seven miles off San Agustin village in Iba town in Zambales province after being buffeted by huge waves. Three of the 16-member crew boarded a smaller boat and sought help from the Coast Guard, which rescued them. A Coast Guard team rushed to the site to attempt a rescue of the fishing boat, but failed to do so because of the strong waves. The fishermen are expected to return home safely after they managed to repair the engine of their boat.
Tropical Storm Pabuk churned across the Philippines Wednesday, triggering deadly landslides before it moved into southern Taiwan. Monsoon rains fed by Pabuk caused a landslide that buried seven houses and killed at least 10 people Monday in the southern gold mining town of Maco. Another landslide buried a house and killed a 9-year-old boy in the northern mountain resort city of Baguio at dawn Wednesday. A stronger tropical storm, Wutip, has developed east of the Philippines and is forecast to hit Fujian on Friday.
Pabuk blew out of the mountainous northern Philippines and then swirled across the southern tip of Taiwan, bringing heavy rain but causing no major damage or casualties. It cut power and forced schools and business to close. Power supplies were disrupted to 3,000 households in the southern county of Pingtung.
Pabuk was moving northwest at 15 mph and was expected to hit Shantou in southern China's Guangdong province late last night.
The death toll from floods triggered by a separate, unnamed storm in Vietnam have killed at least 44 people with 15 others missing and feared dead. The tropical storm, the worst to hit Vietnam this year, was downgraded to a depression on Monday, but heavy rains continued. "It is still raining heavily in the mountains. The death toll could rise if the weather does not improve in the next few days." "This is the worst flood I have seen in my life."
Hong Kong was bracing itself early this morning for its first tropical cyclone this year as tropical storm Pabuk moved closer to the territory. Squalls and thunderstorms lashed the territory last night following the hoisting of the No 1 standby signal early yesterday. Pabuk slowed down significantly and weakened last night under the influence of another tropical storm, Wutip, which was forming over the northwestern Pacific. Pabuk will be closest to Hong Kong this morning. The weather will be cloudy with scattered squally showers and thunderstorms. More rain is expected over the next few days.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
PAKISTAN - Five people were killed and at least 10 others injured after heavy rain and strong winds lashed different parts of Sindh on Wednesday. In Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan and Jamshoro districts, rain continued intermittently late into the night and the meteorological office predicted more moderate to heavy rain for today in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions. A vast area of Hyderabad suffered electricity breakdown after the rain and windstorm, which uprooted signboards and trees. Electricity wires also fell on roads. The storm badly affected power supply from different feeders, rendering five grid stations inoperative. Low-lying areas in Thatta, Sujawal, Chuhar Jamali, Jati and other towns were inundated after a spell of heavy rain. A gust of wind blew away roofs of several poultry farms and thatched houses. Power supply to many areas was disrupted. In the coastal towns of Shah Bunder, Keti Bunder and Jati, rain fell continually the whole day and flood water submerged settlements. About 2,000 fishermen were out in the deep sea for fishing and the administration had not been unable to establish contacts with them. On the Hyderabad-Thatta National Highway, dozens of vehicles were stranded as rainwater rendered a portion of the road near Chhatto Chand impassable. Heavy rain, accompanied by dust storm, lashed Badin and other towns of the district. The 30-minute spell inundated low-lying areas and caused disruption in power supply. Two people were killed when lightning struck a neighbourhood in Tando Bago. The district administration advised fishermen not to venture into the sea. A monsoon weather system over India has started influencing Sindh. The department forecast that the system would reach the north-eastern Arabian Sea by this evening. The system will bring widespread rain, dust storm and thunderstorm to Sindh, especially in the south and the coastal areas, including Karachi, tosday and Friday. Heavy rain is also likely in southern Balochistan, especially along the coastal areas, on Friday and Saturday.

U.S. - Torrential rain flooded New York City's subways, rail lines and roads early Wednesday, leaving one woman dead and thousands of commuters stranded. The National Weather Service was sending an investigator to Brooklyn to determine if a tornado had struck.
Elsewhere, 10 centimetres of rain fell in an hour in parts of Nebraska. Authorities in Surprise, 115 kilometres west of Omaha, reported the Big Blue River had overflowed and fish were swimming on the water flowing on state Highway 12. More flood warnings were issued Wednesday in northern Illinois, where flooding a day earlier had forced dozens to evacuate their homes. The water-logged region already had been declared a state disaster area. The rainstorms brought no relief from heat and humidity, and the U.S. weather service posted heat advisories from the plains to the East Coast. The heat index, based on a combination of temperature and humidity, could soar beyond 40 C in parts of Kansas.

SUDAN - authorities have said forecasts show the level of the Blue Nile River will continue to rise and the situation remains critical in many of the country's states after weeks of torrential rains and flooding that have left more than 70 people dead. The level of the river, which runs through eastern and southeastern Sudan, has been rising steadily over the past weeks, forcing hundreds of families living along its path to abandon their homes. "We expect more floods because of continuing heavy rains on the Ethiopian plateau." The rains from the Ethiopian plateau feed the Blue Nile and the River Gash, which has already burst its banks, submerging nearby villages, sweeping away roads and isolating towns. More than a dozen of Sudan's 26 states have been affected by the floods, including those in the south. The floods have destroyed at least 30,000 houses, directly affecting more than 365,000 people. "If current flooding patterns continue unabated, the situation will deteriorate considerably." The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has said the floods could affect 2.4 million people across 16 states.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
FINLAND - The RECORD TEMPERATURE FOR THIS SUMMER WAS BROKEN in various parts of Ostrobothnia on Tuesday. The highest temperatures of +29.3°C were measured in Ylistaro and Kauhava in Southern Ostrobothnia, while in Haapavesi the readings were +29.1°C at their warmest. On Tuesday, the heat wave swept across most parts of the country. The previous record temperature this year of +29°C was registered on June 9th. It was measured in Suomusjärvi in Western Finland. The warm air mass brought by a high-pressure system, settled on the western side of Finland, is dominating the weather.

SOUTH CAROLINA - Temperatures continued to break records across South Carolina on Wednesday, as residents were advised to stay in air-conditioned buildings. It has never been hotter at the Greenville airport, which recorded a high of 104 degrees. It BROKE THE RECORD for Aug. 8 by six degrees, was THE HOTTEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN AUGUST and tied the all-time highest reading, previously reached in 1952, 1954 and 1999. The previous record high for the date was 102 in 1999. Columbia, which is typically the hottest city in the state, due to its sandy soil, low elevation and distance from the ocean, climbed to 105 degrees, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD of 102 set in 1900. Columbia has recorded highs of 100 or above for four days in a row. Greenville's high Tuesday of 100 degrees BROKE A DAILY RECORD set in 1935, while both Columbia and Charleston tied previous records. Charleston was predicted to feel the hottest Wednesday because of the coastal humidity. The high reached 98 with the heat index reaching 116 degrees at 5 p.m. Thirteen of South Carolina's 15 official weather stations reported highs of 100 or above Wednesday. Excessive-heat warnings were issued for most of the state. Utility companies are urging residents to conserve energy to both save on their power bills and ensure an adequate supply. "We are seeing RECORD DEMANDS to go with these record high temperatures."

GEORGIA - Albany's high temperature reached a RECORD 106-degrees Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - temperatures at Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport SET A NEW RECORD at 102 degrees beating the previous record of 99 set in 1980.

WISCONSIN - All the talk of this summer's drought in July is suddenly being drowned out by torrential rainfalls in August in a severe swing of the weather from desert sands to sand bags. Two weeks ago, southern Wisconsin was so dry, power plants at dams on the Wisconsin River were barely operating because very little water was flowing downstream to turn the generators. Today, southern Wisconsin is under a flash flood watch because of heavy rains that have fallen every other night since Saturday, with possibly the heaviest rains still to come. Meteorologists hedged on calling the current weather roller coaster a product of global warming, but noted UNUSUAL and severe weather becoming a pattern. "Dry weather, floods, wildfires, all seem to be more amplified, and we could possibly see more of it over the next quarter- to half-century." Bizarre weather is causing worldwide calamity in 2007. Monsoons dropped 14 inches of rain in one day in the Indian subcontinent, temperatures hit the 90-degree mark in Moscow, and the driest April in 100 years was followed by the wettest May ever in Germany. A study says entire climate zones will shift toward higher latitudes - toward the North and South poles - and rise up to higher elevations in mountain ranges as the world starts to experience climates not seen before and traditional extreme climate areas such as the Arctic and Antarctic will disappear entirely.

ITALY - Suspicions that many of the hundreds of fires sweeping Italy this summer were started by organised crime were heightened when a firefighting helicopter was reportedly shot at and saboteurs attacked a communications beacon used by firefighters near Naples. "Behind these simple fires hides a business worth millions, with the Camorra aiming to create new zones for building." The infrastructure minister compared the situation to "the wild west, or worse", and called for the army to be sent in to boost security. The Amalfi coast and a national park on the foothills of Vesuvius are among the areas hit by fire in recent days in Campania, while up and down the country 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres) of woodland have burned so far this year. On Tuesday alone 197 fires were reported. Holidaymakers were trapped on the beach in the Puglia town of Peschici last month by flames which killed three people. This week a fire in the Monte Mario park in Rome forced residents from their homes and sent smoke drifting towards the dome of St Peter's. The Italian environmental group Legambiente has said more than half of all Italy's fires are started deliberately, whether by organised crime, building speculators or farmers seeking more land to cultivate. There have been similar claims that many of the fires across Greece this summer were started on purpose. Even when authorities step in to ensure burned tracts of woodland are replanted and not built on, investigators have suggested the mafia gains since it is investing in the tree-planting business.

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Wednesday, August 8, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
These are the dog days of summer.
“That’s Hot!”
Paris Hilton

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/7/07 -
5.9 NORTHWEST OF RYUKYU ISLANDS

UTAH - Seismic activity detected in Utah at the same time that a mine collapsed there, trapping six men deep underground, was probably caused by the cave-in itself and not an earthquake, U.S. geologists said on Tuesday. But a final conclusion is still several days away. The mine's owner has insisted that an earthquake was responsible for the collapse and lashed out at experts and members of the media who have said otherwise. The earthquake center detected a tremor with a 3.9 magnitude at 2:48 a.m. MDT (0848 GMT) Monday, centered about 1 mile below the surface, a shallow depth for an earthquake. The reasons to suspect that the Crandall Canyon Mine's cave-in was responsible for the seismic activity included the epicenter's proximity to the mine and shallow depth and the nature of the signal itself. "The character of the seismic signal is not really consistent with what we see in a naturally occurring event (like an earthquake)." The question of whether an earthquake triggered the collapse has become a key issue as rescuers race to reach the six men, who have not been heard from since the mine collapsed early on Monday morning.
News sites are reporting that the Crandall Canyon mine owner says "seismic activity" has "totally shut down" rescue efforts underground and erased the work done the past day to reach six trapped miners. "We are back to square one underground." He continues to insist that an earthquake caused the cave-in, and said during a news conference that he has the science to prove it. But University of Utah seismologists say the instruments indicate otherwise. They say the first motions indicated downward movement consistent with a collapse. Had it been a quake, they would have seen up and down movement on their seismograms.

MINNESOTA - The National Transportation Safety Board on Saturday formally ruled out seismic activity as a cause of the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge. NTSB officials hope to determine the most likely cause, or causes, of the collapse within a year, but the investigation could take longer. The 1,900-foot-long structure crashed into the Mississippi River in Minneapolis last Wednesday, killing at least five people and sending 98 to the hospital. Eight people are still missing. [Site note - I live 9 miles from this bridge. In college I lived 1 block away.]

VOLCANOES -
HAWAII - Kilauea lava takes UNUSUAL direction - the latest lava burst from the July 21 eruption site in the Puu Oo vent at Kilauea crater. But this one's going in a different direction - toward the northeast. It's the FIRST TIME IN 21 YEARS lava from Puu Oo has taken that route. Usually it flows to the south. "At the very front of the flow it's moving across older lava that erupted in the early days of Puu Oo between 1983 and 1986. We believe that the tip may have just started to go into the forest that is just beyond those earlier flows." The 'river' of lava has carved a channel three and half miles long. The widest point is 200 to 300 yards across. Along the way it has burned and buried some "lava islands," outcroppings of greenery growing in old lava rock. There's no telling when the lava river will stop growing or flowing, but scientists say it is showing signs of slowing down. (photo)

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
PAKISTAN - The director of the National Disaster Management Cell has warned all provincial governments of a massive tidal wave in the Arabian Sea on August 9. Addressing a press conference he warned all the provincial governments that it might affect Pakistan as well, "advising them to take precautions against any unwonted situation arising out of the situation, well in advance." Recent rains and floods in the country have affected 5000 villages, 5500 houses destroyed, 2 million population suffered, while 50,000 persons were displaced. 483 relief camps have been set up, with the death toll at 330, and 1224 persons missing. [see article below in the tropical storm category]

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical storm PABUK was 282 nmi SW of Taipei, Taiwan.
Tropical depression TROPICAL was 408 nmi SE of Taipei, Taiwan.
Tropical storm WUTIP was 289 nmi SSE of Taipei, Taiwan.

PAKISTAN - The National Disaster Management Authority has issued a warning of a cyclone expected to cross over the coastal belt of Sindh and Balochistan on August 9. “The southern parts of Sindh will receive widespread rains, while scattered rains and dust storms are expected in other parts of the province." Widespread rains were also expected in different parts of Balochistan, especially in the coastal areas including Ormara, Lasbella, Pasni, Gwadar and Jiwani. The provincial governments had been directed to take precautionary measures on an emergency basis and prevent fishermen from going into the sea in view of the rough weather conditions. A strong Monsoon Weather System (Deep Depression) has formed over the Bay of Bengal and was moving in a Westerly direction. “It is likely to cross over the Arabian Sea on August 9, where it is expected to intensify. In the subsequent two days (August 9 and 10), the weather system is expected to move towards the coastal areas of Balochistan. Fishermen must be stopped from fishing on August 9,10 and 11, as sea conditions will be rough.” The current system is identical to Cyclone Yemen that hit the coastal areas in June. “Widespread rain in Balochistan’s southern hilly areas may cause flash floods again in the areas which are already affected."

Tropical storm "Chedeng" (international code name Pabuk) has crossed the southern tip of Taiwan and continues to move westward towards southern mainland China. However, a new tropical depression is forming (Wutip, code-named 'Dodong') and heading for Taiwan. As of 4 a.m., "Chedeng" was 250 kms north-northwest of Basco, Batanes or 70 kms west of South Taiwan. It continued to pack maximum sustained winds of 110 kph and gustiness of 140 kph, and continued to move west at 22 kph. By Thursday morning, "Chedeng" was forecast to be 680 kms west-northwest of Basco, Batanes or 550 kms west of Southern Taiwan. By Friday morning, it was forecast to be 940 kms west-northwest of Basco, Batanes or 720 kms west of Southern Taiwan. Still under storm signal 1 were the Babuyan Islands in extreme Northern Luzon, Philippines. Residents in coastal areas are under signal 1 against big waves generated by this storm. An active low pressure estimated at 430 kms east of Northern Luzon will continue to enhance the southwest monsoon. This will bring rains over Luzon and Visayas particularly at the western sections. "Those living in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes are advised to take all the necessary measures against possible flashfloods and landslides."
Rainstorms hit the Philippine capital region as the country was affected by tropical storm Pabuk that passed by the northern region today, the third day in a row since flash floods started causing trouble for citizens on the street. Residents of Metro Manila found themselves stranded in flash floods in several low-lying areas of the metropolis. "The deepest flood level we monitored was neck-deep." Rescuers saved five young siblings trapped for three hours under a collapsed wall in Antipolo City.

China has relocated hundreds of thousands of people along its southeast coast as it battens down for a storm expected to hit today after brushing Taiwan. Tropical storm Pabuk lashed southern Taiwan, an island off China's southeast coast, with heavy rains, temporarily cutting power to more than 50,000 homes and causing minor flooding, officials said, but there was no widespread damage. The storm follows a summer of incessant natural disasters in China in which 936 people have died in floods, landslides and house collapses triggered by rainstorms. Fourteen hours of downpours since Monday night killed another 17 people in Ankang in the normally dry province of Shaanxi in the northwest. Thirty-three were missing as crops and roads were damaged. Pabuk will cross the coast near Shantou or Zhaoan in Fujian province later today. In Fujian, about 138,000 people have been evacuated from their sea farms in coastal waters, while more than 6,700 boats had returned to shore. Hong Kong has raised its signal No. 1 warning, which means a tropical storm or typhoon is centred within 800 km of the city and might affect it. If Pabuk maintains its current track, it will pass very close to Hong Kong, and the city might raise the alert level to a signal No. 3 strong wind warning. Downpours are forecast for large parts of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, prompting authorities to warn of floods and landslides, but the rain is also expected to ease nearly a month of scorching heat and drought in the region. A new tropical storm, Wutip, formed in Pacific waters off the Philippines today and was moving northwest towards Taiwan as it gathered strength.

VIETNAM - Tropical typhoon No 2 (Tropical) reduced to a low pressure system Monday, according to the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting. The low pressure system was about 100km east of Da Nang Monday night, with the strongest winds at the centre of the low pressure system measuring between 62-74km per hour. The low pressure system was moving in a north-westerly direction at 10km per hour. The centre forecast that the low pressure system would continue to change during the coming hours. Rough seas and strong winds from 39-61km per hour are expected. Heavy rain will continue to fall in provinces from Thua Thien-Hue to Thanh Hoa, the Tay Nguyen (the Central Highlands) region and the eastern part of the Northern Delta. The Prime Minister sent an urgent message to relevant authorities to urge them to step up efforts on ensuring safety and responding to damage caused by the low pressure system. The Prime Minister required local authorities to ensure safety for vessels and fishermen. In mountainous provinces, the Central Highlands and other areas suffering from heavy rains and floods, local authorities were instructed to take urgent measures on preventing landslides and further floods as well as actively evacuate residents to safe houses. Heavy rains and floods have taken their toll in Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Kon Tum and Lam Dong provinces. Two people were killed, 14 remained missing and 34 houses collapsed or were washed away by floods in Dak Lak Province Monday morning. The province has reported that more than 10,528ha of crops are now waterlogged and seven irrigation dams have burst. Lam Dong has reported four dead, 23 houses washed away, 786 houses collapsed and more than 1,500ha of crops seriously waterlogged. The water level in Dong Nai River was measured at about 136m, exceeding the third warning level by 0.8m and continued to rise Monday evening. Although rains temporarily stopped in Kon Tum Province, they had damaged a number of irrigation dams and dikes and blocked several roads.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
BULGARIA - 5 dead, 4 missing in Bulgaria floods. The death toll in Bulgaria's flooding rose to five Tuesday, when rescuers found another body in the flood-stricken town of Tsar Kaloyan. Another four people were still missing in the Tsar Kaloyan area that was flooded by torrential rains Monday. Local authorities declared a state of emergency as dozens of buildings were damaged and parked cars were swept away by flood waters. Heavy rains and flood waters cut off power supply when they damaged electric transformers, leaving eight villages in northeastern Bulgaria, near the town of Ruse on the Danube River, without electricity.

BRITAIN'S most remote inhabited isle was recovering on Tuesday from a seven hour deluge which redesigned the local landscape. The torrential downpour began on Foula, 12 miles west of Shetland, in the early hours of Monday morning and carried on for most of the day, flooding drains and burns across the island. While the 30 islanders were sheltering from the isolated shower of heavy rain, the rest of Shetland was shrouded in thick mist and drizzle. Locals believe two springs at the top of a hill in the north of the isle may have "burst out" making a bit of the hill give way and causing a landslide of mud to the bottom. "It was just horrendous. I don't think I have seen rain in the summer like it to tell the truth." There is no longer any way of measuring rainfall on Foula, but eyewitnesses and photographic evidence suggest it was an UNUSUALLY high amount.

INDIA - Monsoon flooding has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless or stranded in Bihar, but UNICEF says that there are only four helicopters available to deliver food and other assistance to the entire Indian state. People have been fighting for food. "Air-drops? Forget those, we have not even seen a helicopter since flooding started 15 days ago, or a government boat." This region has received 34.5 inches of rain in the last two weeks. The disaster has received scant mention in the American media. (photo)
Bihar's government on Tuesday admitted that the overall flood situation in the state was UNPRECEDENTED with rivers wreaking havoc in 19 districts. Catchment areas of many of the rivers in Bihar lie in Nepal where rainfall was higher. About three fourths of water in north Bihar rivers came from Nepal during the second fortnight of July and the catchment areas of these rivers received rainfall between 600 mm and 1100 mm. The rainfall was heavy (between two and five times the normal), incessant and widespread. Both the Nepal part as well as the north Bihar part received rainfall on this scale. The south Bihar rivers like Punpun, Phalgu, Lokahe had floods at the same time.

TEXAS - the first 7 months of the year were the WETTEST ON RECORD FOR TEXAS.

IOWA - 1.08 inches of rain fell in Waterloo during storms on Monday setting a NEW RECORD. The previous record for the day, set in 1967, stood at 1.03 inches. About 2 inches of rain has fallen the first week of August - more than double the average for this time of year. The average for the entire month of August is just over 4 inches, which may also be surpassed, according to the weather service.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
January and April 2007 recorded what was likely the HIGHEST LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURES THOSE MONTHS HAVE EVER SEEN since records began in 1880. January was a full 1.89°C (3.4°F) warmer than average and April 1.37°C (2.47°F) warmer than average. Several regions also experienced prolonged heat waves and torrential rains leading to flooding, while devastating cyclones and hurricanes made landfall in several regions, including the first ever recorded cyclone in the Arabian Sea. There has been an increasing trend in the extreme events observed during the last 50 years, particularly heavy precipitation events, hot days, hot nights and heat waves. [see link for a catalog of extreme weather events recorded across the world during the first half of 2007]

U.S. - A dangerous heat wave has settled over large areas of the country this week. Oppressive heat is scorching areas from the South through the Midwest to the East Coast. The upper 90s are expected from the western Plains to the East Coast through the weekend. High temperatures can be more than uncomfortable - they can be deadly. "People don't realize it but heat is generally the number-one killer" among weather-related causes. The hot weather has claimed the life of one elderly person in Arkansas. It is the state's second heat-related death this year. Arkansas had a heat death toll of seven last summer, and 11 died as a result of the heat in 2005. Over the weekend and Monday, Tennessee issued warnings in some parts of the state, admonishing those with heart or lung disease as well as senior citizens and children to avoid prolonged outdoor exposure. Temperatures in most of the state of Missouri are predicted to climb far into the high 90s this week, even hitting 100 degrees in many places. On the East Coast, Delaware Park cancelled its Tuesday horse races because the temperature was expected to hit the 90s with a heat index above 100, a threat to horses and jockeys. Most of Georgia and Tennessee are under a heat advisory. Officials suspect the heat in Oklahoma is responsible for one death. The Central Texas forecast calls for another day of temperatures in the upper 90s today and a heat advisory is in effect for parts of North Texas including Dallas.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALLED - Donnamax Inc. of Brooklyn, NY, has initiated a recall of DentaPro brand Toothpaste and Bright Max Toothpaste. This recall has been initiated because the products may contain diethylene glycol (DEG), also known as "diglycol". The FDA is not aware of any U.S. reports of poisoning from toothpaste containing DEG. However, the agency is concerned about potential risks from chronic exposure to DEG in certain populations, such as children and individuals with kidney or liver disease. DEG in toothpaste has a low but meaningful risk of toxicity and injury to these populations.

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Tuesday, August 7, 2007 -

Annual Shameless Self-promotion: Today is my birthday!

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
“If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?”
Steven Wright

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/6/07 -
5.0 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.0 CARLSBERG RIDGE
5.0 CARLSBERG RIDGE
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 NEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG.
5.3 NEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG.

UTAH - The collapse of a Utah coal mine that trapped six miners was so strong that seismologists initially thought it was an earthquake.

FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
SCOTLAND - Police warn risk-takers as three die in 'unpredictable' Scottish waters - Two members of the same family were swept to their deaths by a giant wave as they clambered onto rocks to take photographs. In a separate incident, another man drowned after he went swimming in Loch Lomond in early Sunday morning. "We would advise people not to take risks around the coastline as the waves and weather can be very unpredictable." The two deaths take the toll of drowning in the area to six in the space of just ten weeks.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical depression 06W was 116 nmi NNW of Da Nang, Vietnam.
Tropical storm PABUK was 292 nmi SE of Taipei, Taiwan.

PHILIPPINES - Heavy rains from tropical storm Pabuk brought tragedy to a small mining town in Compostela Valley, and hope to parched farm communities in Central and Northern Luzon. In Maco, Compostela Valley, eight people died and two went missing when a landslide triggered by heavy rains ravaged a riverside barangay yesterday. The landslide destroyed at least 10 houses. Witnesses said the earth gave way on a hillside that had been loosened by several days of rain. In Nueva Vizcaya, the downpour sparked rejoicing among farmers even if the rains were not enough to significantly raise the water level at Magat Dam in nearby Isabela province. Tropical storm “Chedeng” (international code name Pabuk) is expected to intensify into a typhoon tomorrow and bring more rains in Luzon, but based on its direction the storm would not directly affect any part of the country. The storm will enhance the southwest monsoon but would not bring enough rains to raise the water level at Angat Dam and other reservoirs. The seas are expected to be rough in central and southern Luzon and in the Visayas due to the surge of southwest monsoon induced by Chedeng. Two to three typhoons are expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility this month.
Traditionally, typhoons were cursed natural phenomenon that people pray would never hit their region. However, in the Philippines, a country hit by an average of 25 destructive typhoons annually, weather forecasters, and even the government, were praying that the typhoon which had been slated to hit the country but which has changed course, would turn back and make landfall. Tropical typhoon "Chedeng" was supposed to hit the northern Philippines this week, but after it changed course it is now headed towards Taiwan. The typhoon is still within the Philippine area of responsibility and will bring needed monsoon rains. The chief weather forecaster said the public should pray that the typhoon stays at its present course and does not head towards Japan because if that happens, no monsoon rains will be felt in the Philippines. The country is facing critical water shortage because of a lingering dry spell. The water levels in several dams were now in critical levels, forcing power utility companies to start rationing power supply to some areas. The water shortage is also being blamed for why the water companies were also rationing water supplies to its consumers. The abnormal low amount of rainfall in the Philippines is shown by the low number of typhoons to hit the country this year. Typhoon "Chedent" is only the fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines in 2007. In a normal year, the Philippines should have been hit by as many eight to nine typhoons so far.

TAIWAN issued sea and land warnings as tropical storm Pabuk headed towards the island today, threatening to lash the southeastern coast with heavy rains and strong winds. By 0000 GMT, the centre of Tropical Storm Pabuk was about 400 km east of Taiwan and was moving northwest at 21 kph, with sustained winds of up to 101 kph and maximum gusts of 126 kph. Tropical storms in the region gather intensity from the warm ocean waters and can develop into typhoons that frequently hit Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong and southern China during a season that lasts from early summer to late autumn.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
CANADA - Geologists in the Yukon want to find out what caused a massive landslide last week that made one of Canada's tallest mountains a little smaller. A piece of Mount Steele, the country's fifth-highest peak, suddenly broke away sometime last week, thundering onto the glacier below. It may have been THE SINGLE LARGEST LANDSLIDE IN LIVING MEMORY IN THE TERRITORY. "I've never seen anything this big, and I've never heard of anything this big." A 400-metre slab of ice and rock fell off the the north face of the 5,067-metre high peak and tumbled down. "The debris dropped about 2,100 metres down to the glacier, and then it travelled across that glacier a distance of about a kilometre and a half. And then it went up over a 300-metre high ridge, and some of the debris went down over the other side of that ridge and onto the Hodgson glaciers." They are still investigating what may have caused the landslide, but it may be thinning glacier ice, possibly linked to climate change. "They may start happening more frequently. We'll just have to keep monitoring them and keeping tabs and see if we can see any trends." Popular with climbers, it was simply fortunate no one was in the area at the time of the landslide.

BRITAIN - A village was evacuated Monday after heavy rain caused a landslide. Residents in Pennan on the Banff coast, many of whom live in houses built into the cliff, were taken to The Pennan Inn for safety. More than 34 people were taken from the west side of the village, made famous in the film Local Hero. The evacuation came after rain lashed the region causing flash floods and treacherous road conditions. A police spokesman said: "There is flooding all across the area - it is affecting everywhere with almost too many places to name." Fyvie Castle saw the heaviest rainfall in the UK with 43mm of rain falling overnight. Fraserburgh saw 33mm of rainfall.
Experts are probing whether the recent floods in England may be behind the foot-and-mouth outbreak as the battle to contain the disease continues. The high water levels could have helped spread the virus on the Surrey farm at the centre of the crisis. Tests are still being carried out to confirm whether the nearby Pirbright research site - where the disease was being kept in order to produce vaccine - was the source of the outbreak.

BANGLADESH - Another 11 people were reported killed in floods and mudslides triggered by heavy rains across Bangladesh, taking the death toll in the past week to 131. The Disaster Management Office said over 10 million people were living outdoors after fragile dwellings were washed away by the rushing waters. Rescue workers said the latest deaths occurred mostly from intestinal diseases which were spreading fast in hundreds of makeshift flood shelters across the devastated landscape. Mudslides in the worst affected Sirajganj district left 500 families homeless. More than 90,000 dwellings were destroyed in the floods with another half a million mud-walled homes partially damaged. Nearly 15,000km of river embankments gave in to the swirling waters while over 5,000 schools were affected by the rising rivers. Surging waters from swollen rivers submerged more towns and villages in central Bangladesh yesterday with emergency aid yet to reach remote settlements cut off. Aid workers said tens of thousands of unfed people were fighting a grim battle for survival in the country’s northern and eastern districts that were worst-hit by the latest monsoon-driven flooding. Earlier reports said millions of people were living under the open sky since torrential rains washed away homes, and rice seedlings were lost all across the country.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
FLORIDA - The official temperature hit 97 degrees in parts of South Florida on Sunday, setting a NEW RECORD and raising concerns about coping with the heat. The high temperatures are UNUSUAL in South Florida, which usually sees summer heat moderated and cooled by sea breezes. The record of 97 beat the previous record by 1 degree, and is 6 degree above normal. Some areas of South Florida were even hotter. A weather pattern keeping thunderstorms at bay has also caused caused the heat to linger, and when combined with high humidity, created conditions where it feels like it was 104 degrees or more.

MYSTERIOUS SHAKING-
AUSTRALIA - It might have felt like an earthquake to Sydney coastal residents but it wasn't, scientists say. Dozens of Sydney coastal residents reported their houses shaking this afternoon (8/7) but Geoscience Australia said it was not an earthquake. Residents reported windows shaking about 3.45pm (AEST) in the eastern beach suburbs of Maroubra, Clovelly, Bondi and Tamarama. "We're pretty happy to say that it wasn't an earthquake. At this stage Geoscience Australia has not recorded any seismic activity. It would certainly have to be very, very small for us not to register it." Radio talkback callers also reported several houses shaking on Sydney's north shore and northern beaches.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
-RECALLED - Cost Plus World Market, a leading retailer of casual home living and entertaining products, announced a recall of red, blue, green, and yellow speckleware beverage containers and glass water tank retro w/spout. These items are being recalled because the metal spigot used in these containers can leach lead into lemonade and other acidic beverages stored in them. This does not occur if water is used in the beverage containers. No illnesses have been reported to date. There were approximately 12,592 units sold at Cost Plus/World Market stores nationwide from May 2005 through July 2007.

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Monday, August 6, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
People always call it luck when you've acted more sensibly than they have.
Anne Tyler

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/5/07 -
5.0 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.2 NEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG.
5.0 NEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG.
5.0 NEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG.
5.6 VANUATU

RUSSIA - A 4-magnitude quake has hit a city off Russia's coast, leaving a woman hospitalized with concussion and another woman with fractured vertebrae. The tremor which shook Nevelsk on Sakhalin Island located north of Japan off Russia's Pacific coast on Sunday was an aftershock from a pair of quakes which struck the city last week and left 1,000 people homeless. Over 150 aftershocks have jolted the region since the Thursday temblors that measured 6.7 and 6.1 on the Richter scale.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
INDIA - The sea continued to be turbulent in Kanyakumari and Rameswaram coasts for the third day Sunday. The waves were quite high and pilgrims were not allowed to enter at Dhanushkodi point, officials said. The body of a 19-year-old engineering college student, who drowned in the sea following high waves Saturday, was washed ashore yesterday.

VOLCANOES -
INDONESIA - An Indonesian official warned tourists and villagers on Sunday to stay one kilometer (0.6 miles) back from two craters on a smoking volcano that are spewing poison gas. "We don't want fatalities in Mount Papandayan," citing an incident last month in which poisonous fumes on neighboring Salak Volcano killed six school children camping on the mountainside. Activity at the volcano, one of the country's most active, has increased in recent days, but a major eruption is not believed to be imminent.

WASHINGTON - A second Web camera aimed at Mount St. Helens is now online from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. This new high-definition camera allows visitors to get a sharper and closer view of the growing lava dome and displaced glacier within the crater. The current camera will remain and become the “classic” VolcanoCam view. You can find the old & new cameras at www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical depression 06W was 53 nmi ENE of Da Nang, Vietnam.
Tropical storm PABUK was 399 nmi SSE of Kadena AB, Okinawa.

VIETNAM - Heavy rain triggered by a tropical storm (06W) has killed at least eight people and left 14 others missing in Vietnam's central highlands area as the storm continues to head northwards along the coast. Floods have killed four people and destroyed 78 houses in Dak Lak province, 350 kilometers north of Ho Chi Minh City. "Most of the victims drowned and were washed away during the weekend and we are searching for the missing now." 14 people are still missing in the floods. The heavy rains also inundated more than 10,000 hectares of crops, mostly coffee. In neighboring Lam Dong province, heavy rain killed four people and destroyed 14 houses and inundated more than 1,000 hectares of crops. Heavy rain is forecast to continue in the central highlands and coastal provinces for the next several days. However, it was unclear if the storm would actually make landfall in Vietnam. The storm, which has not been assigned a name by the Japan Typhoon Centre, is the second tropical cyclone to hit Vietnam this year. A second storm now in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Pabuk, is expected to pass far north of Vietnam and threatens eastern China.

Pabuk - Initial warnings were issued late Sunday for the seventh storm of the northwest Pacific’s tropical cyclone season. Tropical Storm Pabuk, which formed overnight Saturday well to Okinawa’s southeast, was forecast to pass far to Okinawa’s south on Tuesday. However, officials at Kadena Air Base’s 18th Weather Flight said it was “a little too early to tell” if the new system would stay to the south or curve north toward the island. At 6 p.m. Sunday, Pabuk swirled 587 miles southeast of Okinawa, rumbling west-northwest at 13 mph, with sustained 52-mph winds and 63-mph gusts. If it remains on its JTWC track, Pabuk is forecast to churn 340 miles south of Kadena at 2 p.m. Tuesday, packing sustained 112-mph winds and gusts of up to 140 mph at its center. The forecast track shows the new storm making landfall over central Taiwan’s eastern shore around 6 p.m. Wednesday.
PHILIPPINES - The tropical storm was forecast to enter the country Sunday night and was expected to bring much-needed rainfall in the country. As of 2 p.m. Sunday, the tropical storm was 1,300 kilometers east of Northern Luzon, packing winds of up to 65 kilometers per hour near the center and gustiness of 80 kph. It was forecast to move west-northwest at 22 kph. The storm was expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility at 6 Sunday night. The weather disturbance will not directly affect any part of the country, but could enhance the southwest monsoon (habagat) and bring more rains in the country. Some parts of the country have received below normal rainfall in the past months because of the strengthened "ridge of high pressure area" and displaced inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The dry spell experienced in Metro Manila and western Luzon is expected to continue through this month. However, rains are expected to normalize in September. So far, only two typhoons have entered the Philippines Area of Responsiblity, 25 percent of the average for the period of January to July. An average of 20 tropical cyclones hit the Philippines a year. Two to three typhoons are expected to hit the country this month.
Practically the whole region of Cagayan Valley, which accounts for around 40 percent of the country’s total rice production, is now under a state of calamity as a result of the long dry spell that has hit northern Luzon during the past weeks. If it continues without letup, it may result in total damage to millions of pesos of agricultural crops and possible shortage of the staple food. According to the latest reports, more than 19,000 hectares of rice fields as well as 21,000 hectares of corn lands in the province have already been severely affected or damaged. An isolated hailstorm with ice the size of corn kernels hit a barangay in Baguio Tuesday last week and forebodes a stark reality – a dry spell ahead. Tuesday’s almost five-minute phenomenon was a result of the formation of a convective cloud due to surface heating. In fact, a super convective cloud might have caused the incident. And this phenomenon is not at all a good sign like that of bringing the much-needed rainfall in the city; on the contrary, this is a foreboding sign of a dry spell. Only 200 millimeters of accumulated monthly rainfall were recorded in Baguio City in July, which is 50 percent below the average. "And if rains do not come this month, then there will be a prolonged drought because as we enter October, it is the dry months already."

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
SOUTH ASIA - Many of the millions of people forced from their homes by floods across South Asia are desperate for food and drinking water as relief operations continue. The flooding, described as the heaviest in 30 years, has affected more than 25 million people and killed at least 1450 others in Bangladesh, India and Nepal since monsoon rains began pouring down in June. The disaster has hit India's Bihar state the worst, where some of the growing number of people (11.5 million) marooned by swirling, muddy water fought for emergency food supplies. More than 6000 villages are flooded with at least two million people living outdoors. Heavy rainfall combined with Himalayan snow melt gave rise to massive floods late July in large parts of South Asia, including southern Nepal, northern India and Bangladesh, where 40 per cent of the land has been inundated. Receding water has left a layer of silt over rice fields, meaning no crop will be possible until next year.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
CROATIA - A state of emergency has been declared in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik, whose suburbs are threatened by a major forest fire. The emergency services were ready to evacuate residents from the hillside districts above the city centre. Firefighters and water-bombing planes are struggling to contain the blaze. The fire has been burning for several days, fed by strong gusts of wind. Unexploded landmines left over from the Croatian war in the 1990s are also hampering the efforts of firefighters. Hot weather across southern Europe has led to SOME OF THE WORST FOREST FIRES ON RECORD. More than 3,000 sq km (1,200 sq miles) of forest in southern Europe has already burned this year, almost as much as in the whole of 2006. Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy have all been affected, as well as countries like the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Turkey. Spain and Portugal are also at risk in the days ahead as temperatures soar there as well.

MONTANA has declared a state of emergency following the spread of wildfires. One of them has more than tripled in size and crept to within two kilometres of some 200 homes that have been evacuated. Lighter wind and higher humidity are expected at the fire northeast of Missoula and the wind is largely blowing the blaze back onto itself. However, wind-blown embers are still sparking spot fires up to three kilometres ahead of the main blaze. The wildfire started Friday and exploded to about 20 square kilometres by late Saturday. Now it has more than tripled to about 70 square kilometres.

Lake Superior changes mystify scientists - Deep enough to hold the combined water in all the other Great Lakes and with a surface area as large as South Carolina, Lake Superior's size has lent it an aura of invulnerability. But the mighty Superior is losing water and getting warmer, worrying those who live near its shores, along with scientists and companies that rely on the lake for business. The changes to the lake could be signs of climate change, although scientists aren't sure. Superior's level is at its LOWEST POINT IN EIGHT DECADES and will set a record this fall if, as expected, it dips three more inches. Meanwhile, the average water temperature has surged 4.5 degrees since 1979, significantly above the 2.7-degree rise in the region's air temperature during the same period. That's no small deal for a freshwater sea that was created from glacial melt as the Ice Age ended and remains chilly in all seasons. A weather buoy on the western side recently recorded an "amazing" 75 degrees, "AS WARM A SURFACE TEMPERATURE AS WE'VE EVER SEEN IN THIS LAKE." Water levels also have receded on the other Great Lakes since the late 1990s. But the suddenness and severity of Superior's changes worry many in the region. As the bay heats up, the perch, walleye and smallmouth bass that have lured anglers to campgrounds and tackle shops are migrating to cooler waters in the open lake. Low water has cost the shipping industry millions of dollars, with vessels forced to carry lighter loads. Precipitation has tapered off across the upper Great Lakes since the 1970s and is nearly 6 inches below normal in the Superior watershed the past year. Water evaporation rates are up sharply because mild winters have shrunk the winter ice cap - just as climate change computer models predict for the next half-century. Yet those models also envision more precipitation as global warming sets in - instead, there's drought, suggesting other factors. "It's just not clear what the ultimate result will be as we turn the knob up. It could be great for fisheries or fisheries could crash."

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS

WASHINGTON - Two oyster-growing areas at the tip of Hood Canal have been closed after six people in California contracted an intestinal disease from oysters harvested there. The Department of Health closed shellfish beaches in Mason County from Miller Creek (north of Hoodsport) south and east to Sunset Beach and across to Stimson Creek. State officials are asking the shellfish industry to recall oysters from these growing areas. Consumers who may have purchased oysters from these areas should check with the place of purchase to see if they were harvested from the affected growing areas. The disease, called vibriosis, is caused by a naturally occurring bacterium, Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache, fever and chills, and usually appear about 12 hours after eating infected shellfish. The illness is usually mild to moderate and lasts for two to seven days, but can be life-threatening to people with immune dysfunction or chronic liver disease. Unseasonably warm temperatures and afternoon low tides are thought to be major contributors to this outbreak.

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Sunday, August 5, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
It is the province of knowledge to speak
and it is the privilege of wisdom to listen.
Oliver Wendell Holmes

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/4/07 -
5.0 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.0 SAKHALIN, RUSSIA
5.1 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
5.4 CENTRAL EAST PACIFIC RISE
5.0 CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO REGION
8/3/07 -
5.7 SOUTH OF AUSTRALIA

FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
INDIA - Seawater ingress in some parts of Marina on Friday gave anxious moments to the visitors to the beach. According to eyewitnesses, tidal waves swept beyond the shore in the afternoon, creating a scare. The tidal wave activity contributed to the pond of rainwater on the shore opposite Vivekananda Illam. The sea is usually rough during the full and new moon period. Fishermen said the sea had been rough for nearly five days and it made them jobless and kept their boats and nets idle. Fishermen along the Marina coast in Nochikuppam, Doomingkuppam, Mullaimanagar and Srinivasapuram were affected. Regional Meteorological Centre officials said no earthquake was recorded anywhere near the Indian coastal waters.
The high tidal waves were reported on Friday along Tamil Nadu's coast, but the weather office said they were "normal" as there was no significant weather phenomenon over the Bay of Bengal. As the waters were rough and the surging waves reached a height of seven feet, fishermen stayed away from the sea. In the tourist town of Kanniyakumari, boat services to the Vivekananda memorial rock and the 133-foot Tiruvallavur statue were suspended in the wake of high tidal waves. About 300 tourists stranded at both sites were safely brought ashore. Officials at the Met office said that the waves were caused by an increase in wind speed.

WASHINGTON - the captain of a whale-watching boat has seen rogue waves in his long tour-boat career, but none like the set that slammed into his boat on Thursday. Three surprise waves hit the vessel in a fog bank. The waves left four passengers slightly injured and a window broken over the bow.

VOLCANOES -
HAWAII - The formation of "perched lava ponds" at Kilauea's newest fissure is the latest phenomenon to intrigue scientists studying the long-running eruption. The ponds appeared July 21 at the fissure on the northeast side of the Pu'u 'O'o cone. It's the first time lava has surfaced in that area since 1999. Since the fissure began, at least three "perched" or elevated pools of lava have developed and overflowed to feed longer flows. The largest is 650 feet in diameter and almost 65 feet high. Perched lava ponds are somewhat uncommon because they require a fairly constant flow of lava and the right terrain. The ponds form when slow-moving lava flows into a relatively flat area and spreads outward into ponds instead of forming a channel. As the outer edges cool, levees are created, capturing newer lava. Sooner or later, the ponds overflow, and with each episode, the levees thicken and grow taller. The pools can collapse, drain or harden, creating a flat formation that resembles a frozen water pond. The ponds are extremely dangerous since the edges can break anytime and inundate surrounding areas. The eruption area is closed to visitors. Kilauea has been continuously erupting since Jan. 3, 1983. (photos / video)

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical depression 06W was 123 nmi SSE of Da Nang, Vietnam.
Tropical storm 07W was 595 nmi NNW of Yap, Caroline Islands.

CHINA - South China's Hainan Province is bracing for a new tropical storm which formed early Saturday in the South China Sea. The flood control authorities of Hainan asked local counties Saturday afternoon to keep vigilant, order fishing boats offshore back to harbor and inspect reservoirs to meet heavy rainfall the storm will bring. The eye of the storm was 450 km south of Sanya City in the South China Sea at 5 p.m. Saturday packing winds of up to 64.8 km per hour. The storm will continue to gain force as its eye moves northwest at a speed of five to ten km per hour. The tropical storm was expected to bring heavy rain or rainstorm to most parts of Hainan Saturday night and today with strong winds. It will bring showers to southern Guangdong and torrential rains to the western parts of the province in the forthcoming three days, which will help ease off the hot weather plaguing the province. Most parts of Guangdong have recently been thrown under a spell of high temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius.

VIETNAM has ordered fishing boats to shore ahead of a tropical storm forecast to hit the central coast this weekend. With wind speed of up to 74 kilometres an hour, the storm was 360 kilometres east of Binh Dinh province at 7 am (0000 GMT) Saturday and was moving northwest at 10 kilometres an hour. If it continues moving at that speed, the storm would make landfall this afternoon. This is the second tropical storm to threaten Vietnam this year. Early last month, Tropical Storm Toraji hit the country's northern province of Quang Ninh but caused minimal damage. More than 600 people were killed last year in Vietnam by storms and floods.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
CHINA - Five people were crushed to death when a two-story building collapsed after being struck by lightning in Linquan County.
Fifty-two workers were trapped 200 metres below the surface of the earth, after a torrent of mud and water engulfed a rail tunnel under construction in central China. Rescue teams managed to free 35 of the workers building the tunnel in Hubei province and the remaining 17 trapped about 200 metres below ground are expected to soon be freed. Heavy rains have triggered severe flooding and mudslides across many areas of central China in recent weeks. 78 people died and 18 are still missing after three days of downpours set off flash floods in Henan province in the past week. More than 700 people have been killed by floods, landslides and lightning this year in China, according to latest official figures that have yet to tally the past week's casualties.

SOUTH ASIA - UNUSUALLY HEAVY rains across South Asia this week left a trail of death and ruin and raised the risk of disease. FREAK RAINS, which scientists describe as a hallmark of climate change, seemed to be responsible. The devastation was all the more severe because flimsy dams and embankments collapsed under the weight of floodwaters. The mud houses of the poor were the first to wash away. In Bangladesh, perennially inundated because so much of it is low-lying delta, more than half of the districts were under water. Bangladesh received just under 29 inches of rain in July, about double the average. Bangladesh also felt the brunt of greater rain upstream in northern and northeastern India, as swollen rivers broke through their banks on their way down to the Bay of Bengal. In Nepal, unremitting rains for the last two weeks flooded swaths of the heavily populated southern plains, known as the Terai Region, on the border with India. Nepal, too, is accustomed to floods each year. But the UNUSUALLY HEAVY rains this year seem to have affected more of the country, and with rainwater pooling up and refusing to recede, fragile mud buildings are threatened, and the likelihood of an outbreak of water-borne diseases like diarrhea also increases. Aid agencies in Nepal have already nearly exhausted their supplies of food and other goods, although the monsoon season is not expected to end for at least another month. Pakistan has already had its turn with flooding. In July rains in Baluchistan and Sindh provinces, the death toll reached 329 and 90,000 families were made homeless. In India, the monsoon’s trail of destruction traveled to the north and northeast last week. (photos)
The flooding is the WORST IN THREE DECADES. "The flood situation is very, very serious, the situation we have now is UNPRECEDENTED in the past 30 years."

INDIA - The death toll from raging floods in India has neared 1,100 as more people drowned in swollen rivers that have stranded millions in their homes. In the northern state of Uttar Pradesh 2,400 villages have been cut off by the floods. "Almost all rivers are flowing above the danger mark but what worries us is the discharge of a large amount of water from nearby Nepal." Rivers burst their banks Sunday and inundated scores more villages. About 10.8 million people are marooned in their homes in Bihar.
Helicopters dropped food to almost two million hungry and frightened villagers perched on rooftops in India on Saturday. Hundreds of animals in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam were displaced after flood waters of the Brahmaputra submerged about 80 percent of the park area. A number of animals were run over by speeding vehicles when they were crossing the national highway to safer places, while several were drowned. The flood situation in the Pobitora National Park in central Assam’s Morigaon district remained critical. The entire park area and the road leading to it remain submerged since July 23. The park is the only rhinoceros habitat in the world, with the highest concentration of one-horned rhinoceros.

TRINDAD & TOBAGO - For the third time this week, rain has caused flooding. The river and the main road in Macaulay Village became a torrent of mud and debris when rainfall triggered flash floods across parts of Central Trinidad.

UNITED KINGDOM - Bad weather over the recent weeks is threatening the bat population. "We have NEVER EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE, it's horrendous." The bats cannot get enough insect food at night because it has been so wet outside and with populations decreasing rapidly, bat conservation groups are worried of the effect this will have.

SNOW / COLD -
AUSTRALIA - A RECORD COLD SNAP on June 20 across southern Queensland has triggered coral bleaching normally associated with the extremes of hot weather linked to climate change. Scientists say the bleaching has been caused by a combination of cold waters, winds and air temperatures hitting exposed reefs around the Capricorn-Bunker group of islands at the southern end of the reef. While other sections of the reef appear to have been spared by being fully submerged or far enough north to avoid the worst of the cold snaps in June and July, bleaching has also been recorded on Heron Island.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
WESTERN EUROPE has heated up more than previously thought over the past century. The average duration of heatwaves in Western Europe has doubled since 1880. The frequency of extremely hot days has nearly tripled in the past century. Heatwaves last an average of three days now, with some lasting up to 13 days. This compares with an average of about 1.5 days in 1880. The western European climate in summer is becoming more variable - the range of temperatures has increased. Many previous assessments of daily summer temperature change underestimated heatwaves in Western Europe by about 30%.

BRITAIN'S crazy summer continues as NEXT spring's daffodils bloom. Botanists believe the warm spring and chilly summer fooled the dwarf bulbs into appearing seven months early. Daffodils usually flower at the start of spring before dying off in June. The bulbs then remain dormant in the soil before coming back to life the following year. Britain saw the weather of all four seasons on a day in August! Spring daffodils were in bloom in the North, autumn conkers were ready to drop in the South and wintry storms were lashing parts of Scotland. While Aberdeenshire enjoyed its early spring, southern England is showing signs of a premature August. Apple trees are heavy with fruit in Kent, holly berries are bringing colour to Hampshire's hedgerows and conkers are ready to drop in Essex.
This year, following the mild winter, flowers appeared weeks early. In places, daffodils burst into life in February. April was the hottest for England in 348 years, but May, June and July the wettest. June saw giant hailstones splatter London and torrential floods submerge Yorkshire. And last month's deluges were the worst England has seen in 60 years. Leylandii trees are turning an ugly shade of brown as the WORST OUTBREAK OF CYPRESS APHIDS FOR 26 YEARS sees millions of the insects swarming over them.

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Friday, August 3, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
David Viscott

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/2/07 -
5.5 MOLUCCA SEA
5.6 FIJI REGION
5.7 GULF OF ADEN
5.3 SOUTHWEST OF AFRICA
5.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
6.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
5.5 SAKHALIN, RUSSIA
5.4 SAKHALIN, RUSSIA
5.9 SAKHALIN, RUSSIA
5.0 SAKHALIN, RUSSIA
6.2 TATAR STRAIT, RUSSIA
5.1 NEAR COAST OF NICARAGUA

RUSSIA - over 600 families have remained without shelter as a result of a major 6.4 quake in Russia’s Sakhalin region. According to preliminary estimates, 15 houses, in which over 600 families used to live, are uninhabitable in the town of Nevelsk. People are staying at their relatives or acquaintances, as well as at points of temporary stationing set up at local schools. All residents of Nevelsk were evacuated from their homes for safety reasons. Two people were killed and 12 were injured in the quake There have been 11 aftershocks following the quake. “Jolts are subsiding, and according to seismologists, another major quake is unlikely.” There have been no destructions in Sakhalin region cities apart from Nevelsk.

MEXICO - A vast chunk of Earth sliding under Mexico has surprisingly reversed direction, puzzling geologists and leaving them wondering whether the ground might be poised to pummel Mexico City with a devastating earthquake. The offshore tectonic plate had been sliding toward Mexico City at a rate of 1 inch per year, as recorded by Global Positioning System measuring stations near Acapulco and Guerrero. That movement was normal, as predicted by theories of how Earth's crustal plates should move. At subduction zones, like this one, an oceanic plate typically slides beneath a continental plate, and now and then major temblors occur. Suddenly, in the latter half of 2006, the plate began moving the other way and quadrupled its speed.
A reversal of tectonic plate motion between Acapulco and Mexico City in the last half of 2006 probably didn’t ease seismic strain in the region or the specter of a major earthquake anticipated there in the coming decades. Instead of creeping toward Mexico City at about one inch per year – the expected speed from plate tectonic theory – the region near Acapulco moved in the opposite direction for six months and sped up by four times. The changes in motion were detected by analyzing data from GPS satellite receivers set up in Guerrero, Mexico. “The million-dollar question is whether the event makes a major earthquake in the region less likely or more likely. So far, it does not appear to be reducing the earthquake hazard.” The question of earthquake hazard is particularly important for Guerrero, since it is located 175 miles southwest of Mexico City. “A very large earthquake in Guerrero would produce seismic waves that would travel quickly to the Mexican capital, and since Mexico City is built on water-saturated lakebed deposits that amplify seismic energy, the results would be catastrophic.” In 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake triggered by the Cocos Plate dipping under the North American Plate off the west coast of southern Mexico struck along the coast north of Guerrero and killed 10,000 people in Mexico City. Since the last major earthquake in northwest Guerrero was a 7.6 magnitude event in 1911, many scientists think the area is ripe for a much larger earthquake, likely in the range of 8.1 to 8.4. “Before GPS we thought the ground moved at a constant speed between earthquakes. The recognition of these transient events where the plate reverses direction is arguably the most important geophysical discovery that has stemmed from the introduction of GPS measurements.” The Guerrero slip events in 2006 are the LARGEST EVER REPORTED IN THE WORLD. Studies of the Guerrero Gap are helping scientists better understand other subduction zones around the world, including the Cascadia region off the coast of Washington and Oregon. Smaller but much faster backwards slip events have occurred there, as have very large earthquakes in previous centuries.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
CHINA - At least 11 people were missing after a tidal current in southeastern China swept more than 30 people out to sea. Twenty-two people were rescued after the tide rushed up the mouth of the Qiantang River on the outskirts of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. The victims had either been swimming in the river or walking along a levee when the tide hit. Rescue efforts had continued into the night. The Qiantang's trumpet-shaped mouth makes dangerously large tides as water rushes up the mouth of the river. Tourists often travel to witness the tides, and accidents are not uncommon. The deadliest accident there occurred in 1993, when a tide swept 86 people away, killing 19 and leaving 40 missing.

SOUTH AFRICA - Relentless waves battering coastal resort - Earlier this week, two swimming pools on the front lawn collapsed into the sea. They have dismantled wooden decks, pulled up trampolines and other holiday amenities, but now the sea has reached the resort's front doors. Two nights ago the waves knocked down the front wall of the bar and diningroom area and undermined the foundations of a newly refurbished block of 16 chalets. "What can I say? We are in the middle of a nightmare, and the sea just has no mercy." About two months ago, they had begun to notice that the 70m-wide strip of beach in front of the resort was getting thinner. "The March 19 storm stripped away the sandbank and now there is nothing to stop the waves. During the spring high tide about two weeks ago the waves really started to wreak havoc. The beach just got narrower and narrower and the sea started to whack us fast and furious." Contractors and staff had been working until 9pm during the past few nights to pile sandbags in front of the resort.

SCOTLAND - a man has been killed after being swept out to sea while fishing on rocks off the coast of Scotland on Monday. He had been fishing at Kilmaluag Bay near Staffin when he was swept off the rocks by a freak wave.

GEORGIA - At St. Simons Island the water is taking away sand as it washes against the shore. Erosion has slowly eaten away at the beach near the Myrtle Street access point. "There's not much of it left. Our beach time gets shorter and shorter every day (with encroaching tides)." While the beach has gotten smaller, the sandbar located slightly off shore near the King and Prince has increased in size thanks to eroded sand. "The sandbar is getting bigger, but if we get some bad weather like a hurricane, it would disappear pretty fast." "The beach is smaller now, but hopefully the sand will flow back. A year ago I could sit out on the beach (near the Myrtle Street entrance) at high tide, but now I have to stay behind the rocks (that provide a buffer between the beach and properties behind them)."

VOLCANOES -
ICELAND - A series of small earthquakes around Upptyppingar north of Vatnajökull since this February has prompted speculations from geologists that a volcanic eruption could be imminent in the area. A particularly intense sequences of quakes occurred during the nights of July 31 and August 1. Around 130 small quakes were reported during that period. Geologists believe the quakes are related to movements of magma underneath the surface and if they continue with increasing power a volcanic eruption might take place.

INDONESIA - disaster authorities on Thursday raised the alert level over Mount Papandayan in West Java province after volcanic activities were recorded in recent weeks which may be signs of imminent eruption. Continuous minor tremors were recorded near the volcano and temperatures around the volcano have shown signs of increase. "The volcano visibly spewed white thick smoke as high as 50 meters." The volcano's last eruption was on November 21, 2002.

PHILIPPINES - Bulusan volcano in Sorsogon remains active two days after it shot a column of ash high into the air, volcanologists said Thursday.

TIRNIDAD & TOBAGO - The bubbling disturbance in the sea off Point Radix is a mud volcano mount which poses no immediate threat to people, experts confirmed yesterday. They also sought to quash rumors that the disturbance could generate a tsunami which could affect the seaside villages along the east coast of Trinidad. The waves being generated pose a threat only to sea-going vessels. Officials have not recorded any changes to the sea level, the seabed or even the marine life in the immediate vicinity. More work needs to be done before proving or disproving that this volcano and the one inland at Cascadoux Village lie along the same fault.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical depression 06W was 334 nmi SE of Da Nang, Vietnam.
Tropical depression ERICK was 1364 nmi WSW of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Tropical storm USAGI was 263 nmi NNE of Kagoshima, Japan.

JAPAN - Eighteen people were injured and thousands sought shelter as Typhoon Usagi struck Japan's southern island of Kyushu. The typhoon made landfall late on Thursday, bringing winds of up to 180 km/h (110mph). It cut power to thousands of homes and felled trees. Bullet trains from the main island, Honshu, were suspended. Usagi is moving northwards, but it has weakened and meteorologists have now downgraded it to a tropical storm. Television footage showed uprooted trees and flooded rivers. Usagi is the second major storm to hit Japan this season.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
BANGLADESH - At least 38 people have been killed and over 4.5 million affected by the current flood in Bangladesh.

CHINA - Last month, fierce rainstorms swept across the nation, triggering floods, landslides and mud-rock flows. Several EXTREME WEATHER RECORDS WERE BROKEN. The Huaihe River, for example, which witnessed some 460 mm of rainfall last month, is expected to record its worst floods since 1954. They have already affected more than 30 million people. Similarly, authorities in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong Province, recorded 151 mm of rain in one hour on July 18, the most since 1958. Lightning strikes across the country claimed 141 lives last month, another record in recent history. By the end of last month, more than 6 million people had been affected by the widespread and prolonged droughts in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province and North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Four million hectares of farmland in Heilongjiang had also been severely hit. "It should be said that one of the reasons for the extreme weather this year is the UNUSUAL ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION brought about by global warming." And things are likely to get much worse in the future.

UTAH - Homes Damaged, Residents Rescued From Flood Waters in Southern Utah - A muddy mess for people in Southern Utah. Flood waters washed through homes and knocked out power. Residents across Washington County are digging out after flash floods left behind a big mess. Major flash flooding threatened the community in Virgin. Lost Creek, which flows into the Virgin River, crested its banks and really made its own path from there. Lost Creek was virtually unstoppable last night. It plowed through a road and into a family subdivision, tearing through every home it came to. "It was unbelievable to see so much water and debris coming down the road so fast." "You can tell, it's just devastation." "It was all water, rolling water. This was a river out here." (photos)

OHIO - For much of the afternoon and early evening Thursday the lakefront city of Cleveland looked much more like a lake. A strong isolated thunderstorm formed over the downtown area and brought down with it torrential rains the likes of which many lifelong Clevelanders said THEY HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE. The numbers would seem to back up those feelings. The National Weather Service estimates that as much as 3-6 inches of rain fell between 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. either in or or near the city of Cleveland. (video)

IOWA - Rainfall was UNUSUAL during the month of July - especially in terms of where it fell. Parts of northeastern and eastern Iowa had heavy flooding in July. The Clinton County town of DeWitt received over a foot of rain for the month. It was the opposite situation on the opposite side of Iowa. Some areas of western Iowa, like Sioux Center and Hawarden, had no rain at all for the month, a RECORD LOW AMOUNT and VERY UNUSUAL, as records have been kept in those areas for about 100 years. The highest official temperature during the month was 98-degrees, recorded several times in Sioux City and in a few other locations, but nowhere in Iowa had 100-degrees, which is UNUSUAL.

TEXAS - Nacogdoches received more than 9 inches of rainfall last month, approximately three times the normal amount of rainfall for July. July's heavy rainfall of 9.49 inches resulted from a number of ODD low-pressure centers that developed in Texas and remained almost stationary for long periods of time. The local average total for July is 3.03 inches. A number of stationary fronts also contributed to the increase. "Rivers in many areas of the state have flooded during the month and remain over their banks, posing problems for people, structures and animals in low or flood-prone locations." "Some farmers have experienced higher than normal occurrences of fungus in their fruit crops, particularly tomatoes."

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
CANADA - The third day of a scorching heat wave hit Peterborough hard with RECORD-SETTING TEMPERATURES and near-dangerous air quality.
This has been ONE OF THE DRIEST SUMMERS ON RECORD across Alberta.

European fires near RECORD levels - Forests fires that have ravaged southern Europe during the past month were SOME OF THE WORST ON RECORD. More than 3,000 sq km (1,200 sq miles) of forest have already burned this year, almost as much as in the whole of 2006. There are warnings of more fires in the days ahead, with Spain and Portugal, where temperatures are soaring, most at risk. Most recently, fires in the Canary Islands have forced thousands to flee. Firefighters there are continuing to battle two major fires. Experts described the fires on Tenerife and Gran Canaria as an environmental catastrophe. Some 20% of forests have been destroyed, and recovery is expected to take years. The normal fire season in Europe has only just started, but blistering heat and hot dry winds have already fanned wildfires across parts of southern Europe. July 2007 was one of the worst-ever months on record, according to figures from the European Forest Fire Information System, which date back some 20 years. Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Italy have all been affected, as well as countries like the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania and Turkey.

ODD -
BRITIAN - RARE clouds in the shape of jellyfish have caused a sensation after being spotted in British skies for THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE. The UNUSUAL clouds known as Altocumulus Castellanus have a unique shape complete with tentacles. Weather-watchers were stunned when they developed in skies above Lutterworth, Leicestershire, and bobbed along the horizon at around 17,000 ft above ground. Their presence indicates stormy weather may soon close in. The rare clouds' unique "jellyfish" shape forms when a rush of moist air comes from the Gulf Stream and gets trapped between layers of dry air. It is thought these probably developed as a result of recent tropical storms in the Atlantic. The top of the cloud rises into a jellyfish shape and long tentacles known as "trailing virga" form from rain drops that have evaporated. (amazing photo)

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

RECALLS & ALERTS:
- RECALLED - Citing a continuing threat to public health, Castleberry's Food Company is urging retailers, food service operations, food banks, charitable organizations and consumers to be diligent in identifying and discarding canned products subject to Castleberry's national recall.
- RECALLED - Lakeside Foods of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, is initiating a voluntary recall of 15,000 cases of 14.5-ounce French Style Green Beans because some cans may have been under-processed and some cans may have leaked. While no illnesses have been reported these cans have the potential to be contaminated with harmful organisms including Clostridium botulinum. The product was distributed in the following 20 states: AL, AZ CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MO, MS, NC, NY, OH, OK, TN, TX, VA, WI and Canada. The product was sold with the following labels: ALBERTSON'S, HAPPY HARVEST, BEST CHOICE, FOOD CLUB, BOGOPA, VALU TIME, HILL COUNTRY FARE, HEB, LAURA LYNN, KROGER, NO NAME, NORTH PRIDE, SCHNUCKS, SHOP N SAVE, SHOPPERS VALU, CUB FOODS, DIERBERGS, FLAVORITE, IGA, BEST CHOICE AND THRIFTY MAID.

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Thursday, August 2, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
H. L. Mencken

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Quakes this morning -
6.1 SAKHALIN, RUSSIA
6.5 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
6.2 TATAR STRAIT, RUSSIA
RUSSIA - Two earthquakes hit the island of Sakhalin in Russia’s far east this morning, killing at least two people and triggering small tsunami waves on Japan’s coast. Russian authorities declared a state of emergency in the western part of the island as aftershocks continued to shake the region, causing extensive damage to buildings. The worst-hit population centre in Sakhalin was Nevelsk, a town of 50,000 people in the western part of the island. Thousands of residents were evacuated and officials said 400 tents were to be sent to the town. “Residential homes and factories have been damaged, the power supply has been cut. The city’s cultural centre was partly destroyed. Dead and injured have been found in the ruins.” Shortly after the first earthquake struck, authorities in Japan issued a warning that a small tsunami could hit the coast of the northern island of Hokkaido, where the quake was felt. In Japan, officials on Hokkaido said they observed tsunami waves of about 20 centimetres (eight inches). Minutes after the meteorological agency lifted its warning, the second quake hit. It was not immediately clear whether the second quake caused seismic waves.

Largest quakes yesterday -
8/1/07 -
5.1 PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.1 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.4 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.4 VANUATU
7.3 VANUATU

VANUATU - A powerful earthquake rattled Vanuatu in the South Pacific early Thursday, causing cracks in roads, buildings, a bridge and a wharf and prompting brief evacuations due to tsunami fears. The 7.2 quake struck at 4:08 a.m. and was centered 30 miles southeast of the town of Luganville. The quake did not trigger a tsunami but people living alongside a river were evacuated because officials feared one. The temblor caused cracks as long as 20 feet and six-inches wide in the main street of Luganville. Some buildings and a bridge over a river also sustained cracks. The quake also knocked out power in some parts of Luganville. "It was a severe shake, but short and sharp." Vanuatu has had a lot of rain recently and the earthquake could trigger many landslips. It was the first global earthquake with a magnitude of at least 7 in 122 days.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
AUSTRALIA - Seas swamping Australian islands - Roads have been swallowed whole, buildings washed out, graveyards swamped and houses flooded in six of the most vulnerable low-lying island communities. Authorities have ordered evacuation and relocation plans for more than 2000 people who face losing their land and livelihood from the invading sea. "These islands are sinking." Scientists predict warmer sea temperatures (thermal expansion) and the melting of the ice caps will contribute to a sea-level rise of between 9cm and 88cm in the next 50 years. Some parts of the most vulnerable islands – Masig (Yorke), Poruma (Coconut), Warraber, Yam, Saibai and Boigu – are today less than 1m above sea level. "It is a big change, and it seems to be getting worse in the past two years or so." There is the possibility of more frequent extreme events, like storm surge and high tides, causing the water to come up higher on to the land.

VOLCANOES -
PHILIPPINES - Bulusan volcano fell silent on Wednesday, a day after it spewed a huge column of sulfuric ash and pebbles. 46 earthquakes have been detected in the Bulusan volcano since then. Steam and ash continue to pour from its summit. The Philippine Institute of Vulcanology and Seismology says another eruption will take place at any time, and it warned local residents to be alert for volcanic mudflows if heavy rains fall on Bulusan's slopes.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical storm ERICK was 1184 nmi WSW of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Typhoon USAGI was 134 nmi ESE of Kagoshima, Japan.

CANADA - The eastern third of Newfoundland is reeling after post-tropical storm Chantal dumped up to 150 millimetres of rain in places on Wednesday and damaged bridges and homes. It was THE WORST STORM IN AT LEAST 40 YEARS in the hard-hit town of Placentia on the southern Avalon peninsula. One driver was lucky to be alive after his car plunged into a six-metre gap in the road, created when a culvert was washed away. Bridges were out in many communities and roads were washed away or flooded in others. Several towns were cut off by floodwaters. (dramatic photos)
CANADA - Emergency crews were dealing Wednesday with what one mayor called "an impossible fight" against flooding in Newfoundland communities brought on by the remnants of tropical storm Chantal. Traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway ground to a halt for several hours, as RECORD-SETTING RAINFALLS overwhelmed a stretch of the highway near Whitbourne, about 90 kilometres west of St. John's. Across the Avalon Peninsula, most communities got about as much rain during the day as they would ordinarily receive in a month. Rainfall recorded at the St. John's airport topped 96 millimetres for the day, passing a one-day RECORD RAINFALL set in 1975 of 80.5 millimetres. Monthly averages of rainfall in the area are about 108 millimetres. (photos)

VIETNAM - A tropical low pressure over the East Sea off Vietnam is expected to bring strong winds, heavy rains, and rough seas from Quang Ngai all the way up to Ca Mau in the extreme south. The Central Hydrometeorology Center said Wednesday the southern East Sea would have winds of up to 61kph and choppy seas. There would be heavy rains from Quang Ngai to Ca Mau. The eye of the low pressure would remain almost stationery for 24 hours, making it hard to make further predictions. The tropical low pressure originated as a result of atmospheric turbulence Tuesday 700km off Vietnam caused by Typhoon Usagi which has formed off Japan. Rescue forces are on high alert. (map)

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
IRELAND - RECORD-BREAKING RAIN - More rain fell on Dublin in June and July than in any of the 170 years for which records have been kept.

TEXAS - July 2007 was THE WETTEST ON RECORD and the third coolest July on record in Tyler.
All the rain has bridges in trouble as week-after-week, high, fast-moving water in bayous and rivers erodes the soil around critical supports. On Highway 288 part of the abutment has collapsed, threatening the stability of a bridge crossed by thousands of drivers a day. The bridge across Sims Bayou at Highway 288 was known to be in good condition until all of the rains came. It raises a serious concern: There are dozens of bridges (55) around Houston that are known to be in critical condition and have been that way for years. The transportation department is not fearful of any catastrophic collapses. “They don’t go down quickly and without a fight. Typically what happens is there’ll be a dip in the roadway, and we get phone calls.”
Fresh water pouring into the Gulf of Mexico after weeks of flooding in the state has created an oxygen-depleted "dead zone" that threatens sea life. Freshwater runoff from the swollen Brazos River left a 1,750-square-mile area hypoxic, or depleted of oxygen. Sea life is threatened as far as 35 miles offshore. "This can definitely have an effect on organisms living there — fish and shrimp, crabs, clams. All these things need oxygen in order to live. If you have this phenomenon occurring, depending on the severity and how long it lasts, you can have mass mortality." It is the FIRST TIME TEXAS HAS GENERATED ITS OWN "DEAD ZONE" in coastal waters. A larger dead zone, caused by farm fertilizers, soil erosion and discharge from sewage treatment plants carried into the Gulf by the Mississippi River, forms annually off the Louisiana coast. Until this summer's heavy rainfall, Texas rivers typically were incapable of carrying enough fresh water into the Gulf to create dead zones. That changed a month ago, when a National Marine Fisheries Service boat taking fish counts also measured oxygen in the water. "I'm looking at this data and I'm astounded. We've long expected that Texas had the potential for this to occur, but it typically doesn't rain in Texas enough for this to happen." The rains of June and July have pushed the Brazos BEYOND ALL KNOWN DISCHARGE RECORDS. The rate of flow was MORE THAN TWICE THE RATE EVER MEASURED on the Brazos since 1967, when records were first kept.

SRI LANKA - A series of cracks and depressions pointing to an imminent landslide, have appeared in a terrain over 12 acres in extent at Karawagahamada in Werapitiya in Medadumbara Pradeshiya Sabha area. The cracks had damaged four houses and 12 families have been displaced by the landslide threat.

SOUTH ASIA - Dozens of people were killed on Wednesday across South Asia as surging flood waters caused by heavy monsoon rains forced millions from their homes. Twenty-eight people drowned and 12 others were missing when a boat carrying rescue workers and evacuees in sodden northern India split apart, bringing the nationwide death toll from the deluge to nearly 1,000. "The overall situation has turned critical with major breaches of embankments inundating dozens of villages." Millions of people have been forced to flee since the annual monsoon began in June in South Asia. These include five million in Assam state, where the Brahmaputra River, one of the subcontinent's longest, burst its banks. Northern Sirajganj and Kurigram districts were worst hit, with nearly all villages and towns submerged, as the mighty Brahmaputra ran well above danger levels. People sat on rooftops or used rafts made from banana trees to escape. A shortage of boats hindered attempts to reach half a million people stranded with no access to food or clean water. (photos)

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
SOUTH AFRICA - The wildfires that have been raging across South Africa have been described as the WORST THE COUNTRY HAS EXPERIENCED SINCE THE 1980s.

CANADA - Record-breaking rainfall in June led to excess moisture, which raised the humidity index during July's heat wave. It has been more than half a century since the city of Saskatoon has experienced such heat. The three hottest Julys on record were in 1936, 1937 and 1947. 2007 is the fourth hottest.

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Wednesday, August 1, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.
Wilson Mizner

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
7/31/07 -
6.2 NORTH OF ASCENSION ISLAND
5.9 NORTHWEST OF RYUKYU ISLANDS
5.3 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.4 MYANMAR
5.1 TAJIKISTAN
5.8 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION

JAPAN - After the deadly earthquake struck northwestern Japan in mid-July, the nation was stunned by widespread damage to a nuclear power plant near the quake’s center, including minor radiation leaks, ruptured pipes, flooding and a fire that belched black smoke for more than an hour on live television. But perhaps the most startling discovery occurred in the days that followed, when scientists used data from the magnitude 6.8 earthquake on July 16 to conclude that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the world’s largest by electrical output, may have unknowingly been built directly on top of an active seismic fault. That could account for the force of the tremors, which Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the plant, said were more than twice as strong as the plant’s design limits. Nuclear experts applaud the fact that all four of the Kashiwazaki plant’s seven reactors that were operating when the earthquake struck were safely shut down, despite the unexpected strength of the tremors. But Tokyo Electric’s failure to predict the size of the tremors that could strike the area, and to detect the fault line beneath the plant, left many here wondering whether regulators and plant operators could also have underestimated the potential for devastating earthquakes at Japan’s 48 other nuclear reactors. The earthquake also defied expectations by moving differently from previous quakes in the region, Tokyo Electric said. The Kashiwazaki plant was designed to withstand shorter, more intense tremors. But the recent quake struck with a broad, wrenching horizontal swaying that caused water to slosh out of storage pools. The company says the plant is still safe because the fault line appears to lie more than 12 miles beneath the plant, too deep to cause the sorts of big cracks and other surface movement that could damage the reactors’ thick concrete buildings. (photo)

VOLCANOES -
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO - residents are scared as mud volcanoes are rumbling along the coast. East coast residents living near the emerging mud volcano island in the Atlantic Ocean are very fearful. Fishermen are afraid that their boats will be sucked in if they get too close and beachfront residents in Ortoire Village are worried that a large scale eruption could trigger tsunami-like waves. In the neighboring village of Cascadoux Trace, a long dormant inland mud volcano has begun rumbling too and is rising faster than ever. Several smaller bubbling holes have emerged in the village near the coast, about eight miles from the growing mound in the sea. "We would like the experts to come here and tell us if this thing is connected to what is happening in the sea." Ponds are bubbling, part of the road leading to the village is pocked with holes, some with bubbling mud. Ten years ago in the area, the Piparo mud volcano blew out with ferocity.

PHILIPPINES - The latest explosive episode of Mt. Bulusan was "phreatic" or driven by enormous steam pressure and was the biggest since its initial eruption in June last year. Phivolcs said its constant monitoring of Mt. Bulusan failed to give warning signs of the latest eruption. The ash-laden cloud following the eruption was carried by the prevailing "habagat" or west-northwest wind towards the towns of Magallanes, Juban, Casiguran, Castilla, Bulan, Gubat and Barcelona. Officials ordered the evacuation of villages near Mt. Bulusan. The ash cloud was visible in Legazpi City, some 80 kilometers from Mt. Bulusan, and might dump ash in some parts of neighboring Albay Province in the north.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical storm CHANTAL was 228 nmi ESE of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Tropical storm ERICK was 994 nmi WSW of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Typhoon USAGI was 499 nmi E of Kadena AB, Okinawa.

JAPAN - strong typhoon Usagi in the western Pacific Ocean headed towards Japan on Tuesday and officials said the storm was likely to strike the country's southernmost island later in the week. The centre of the storm was forecast to reach Japan's southernmost island of Kyushu on Friday, hitting the area with strong winds and high waves. British-based Web site Tropical Storm Risk (www.tropicalstormrisk.com) classified Usagi as a category 2 typhoon and forecast it would strengthen to category 4 by today and Thursday before fading as it brushed past Japan's main island of Honshu. The southern island of Kyushu was hit by the powerful Typhoon Man-yi earlier in the month. The storm killed three people and injured more than 70.

The third tropical storm of the season, Chantal, formed Tuesday morning. It is rapidly moving toward the northeast near 23mph. Chantal poses no threat to any landmass. Forecasters are also closely monitoring a tropical wave located 700 miles east of the southern Windward Islands. Environmental conditions were favourable for development. Computer tracking models are keeping the system on a westward track bring it across the southern Caribbean islands on the weekend. Overnight Monday the system showed signs of becoming better organised, though on Tuesday, the trend had not been continuing.
CHANTAL was set to leave Newfoundland soaked with upwards of 70 millimetres of rain as it passed by the province and drifted out into the ocean by this morning. If the storm slows down as it passes by Newfoundland, the rainfall could top 100 millimetres by this morning. Environment Canada issued rainfall warnings for southeastern Newfoundland and gale warnings for marine areas. The storm was staying far out to sea as it passed by Nova Scotia and it likely wouldn't have much of an effect on weather in the three Maritime provinces. It is an average summer storm that is typical during hurricane season.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
INDIA - The situation in flood affected districts of Bihar is getting worse, with Darbhanga and Madhubani completely cut off from rest, with roads and railway tracks submerged. The situation is particularly bad in Darbhanga, where nearly seven lakh people are affected.

CANADA - Hydrologists with the Yukon government say floodwaters in the territory's Southern Lakes area may have reached their peak, while affected residents and emergency officials at Marsh Lake continue to keep an eye on already RECORD-HIGH WATERS. Forecasters say it will take weeks before water levels on the lakes located south of Whitehorse recede to relatively normal levels. The current level at Marsh Lake, which has seen the worst flooding, BROKE THE HISTORIC LEVEL of 656.994 metres set in 1981.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-
BRITAIN - A growing number of experts believe that this year’s unpredictable weather, which brought spring on early, then deluged Britain with record rainfall, has now taken them straight to autumn - bypassing summer altogether. Holly berries are appearing in the hedgerows, conkers and apples are falling from the trees and mushrooms are springing up in the fields. All the signs are that the briefest of brief English summers is coming to an end and autumn is already upon them. Fruiting holly has been spotted in Hampshire, conkers are appearing in Essex, blackberries are ripe in Devon and the nation’s orchards are preparing for an early harvest. Early apple varieties are already being harvested. “Autumn has definitely come earlier this year. We expect varieties like Discovery to be in the shops as soon as next week. Later varieties, like Cameo, are already showing really good colour, which is extraordinarily early. Normally we wouldn’t expect to see that until the last week of September.” Many of those working in agriculture had already noticed the signs of an early autumn. “From my office in Devon I can see ripened blackberries, which I would not have usually expected to see for several weeks yet. There is concern that seasons are becoming a lot less predictable and that will clearly have an impact on British farmers.” The early onset of autumn can be explained in part by record high temperatures in spring, when average temperatures of 48F (9C) – the highest since records began in 1914 – led to plants and trees like the Hawthorn flowering early. By mid-April, fields were filled with tulips and rhododendrons were making an early appearance. Migrating birds have also been confused by this year’s weather, with flocks of swifts arriving in April rather than May. The soaring spring temperatures were followed by the wettest summer in more than 200 years. The recent downpours and relatively cool weather tricked some plants into thinking winter was on its way. A spokesman for the Met Office’s Centre for Climate Change said it was too early to say whether this year’s conditions were evidence of global warming.

A mounting wave of invasive species migrations are being seen all around the world. From pythons in the Everglades to voracious Tilapia in Lake Victoria, plants, animals and microbes are spreading rapidly into niches in which they didn't evolve, often with disastrous results. Scientists ("invasion ecologists") are studying the spread of non-native species and the possible restoration responses to that change and are finding that not only climate change and local environmental carelessness, but larger forces as well, are driving a biological blender effect, where plants and animals from various places are scattered all over the world. Across huge swathes of the United States, climate zones have already shifted: such zones may already be marching northwards at a rate of tens of kilometers a year. And, of course, climate change has only just begun.

CANARY ISLANDS - More than 12,000 people have fled their homes on the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife, where five days of fires have burnt 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) of land. The fires are now under control, but the situation remains dangerous as more high temperatures are expected. "These are the BIGGEST FIRES IN THE LAST 10 YEARS on the archipelago. The rugged landscape of these islands makes firefighting very complicated, except from the air. But while there is a lot of wind and very high temperatures, helicopters generally cannot operate."

GREECE overnight declared a state of emergency on the Cyclades islands, including the popular holiday destinations of Mykonos and Santorini, because of water shortages caused by a drought and heatwave. The mayor of the island of Kimolos warned the island was without water and the situation was unlikely to improve any time soon. Locals and tourists in the Cyclades have complained of lengthy cuts in water supply after a year-long drought. Greece, along with other parts of southern Europe have been hit by a heatwave over the last week with temperatures reaching up to 46 degrees Celsius. In Athens alone, where nearly half the Greek population lives, water reserves have fallen by 26.4 per cent in July from the same month last year.

HEALTH THREATS -
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Gastro epidemic sweeping the globe - A gastroenteritis outbreak at a Newcastle, Australia, hospital is the latest case in an epidemic sweeping Australia and the world. So far this month, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania have experienced gastro outbreaks in hospitals, nursing homes and retirement villages. Yesterday, authorities banned family and friends from Newcastle's Calvary Mater Hospital, where 80 staff and patients have experienced complications associated with the airborne virus. The stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, fever and headaches associated with the norovirus, a virulent strain of gastroenteritis, are affecting people world-wide. Norovirus is extremely infectious but the effects usually last only 24-48 hours. The Australian outbreaks are the tip of the iceberg of the virus' prevalence in the wider community. "An international outbreak has led to an area of active research. The virus continues to migrate and mutate, it moves very efficiently all around the world. It sounds bad, but like influenza in unvaccinated people, it's likely norovirus will get us all in the end. Transmission is harder to prevent in places like hospitals and people who are frail or ill are more prone to it. But it can also come from restaurants where someone has vomited or even a hotel where someone has been previously sick." Doctors recommend good hand hygiene, isolation and the use of masks in high risk areas like hospitals and nursing homes. For the second time this year, there has been a major outbreak of the gastric illness in a Victorian nursing home. Thirty patients and 17 staff at San Carlo Home for the Aged in South Morang, north of Melbourne, have been hit by the bug since July 21, with one elderly man dying. Geelong's St John of God Hospital also isolated 35 patients and staff last week as a result of a gastroenteritis outbreak, while at Corumbene Nursing Home at New Norfolk, in Tasmania, 30 residents and 18 staff also came down with the virus over the past week.

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Tuesday, July 31, 2007 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.
James Thurber

QUAKES -
World map of the quakes in the past 7 days.
Quake list.

Largest quakes yesterday -
7/30/07 -
5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
5.2 FIJI REGION
6.0 MYANMAR

VOLCANOES -
PHILIPPINES - The Bulusan volcano in the central Philippines spewed ash early Tuesday, blanketing fields and villages as far as five kilometers (three miles) away, but there was no immediate sign of a major eruption. Mount Bulusan has been showing signs of unrest with on-and-off ash and steam explosions since March 2006. The latest burst sent ash falling five kilometers (three miles) west of the volcano, which is in Sorsogon province about 390 kilometers (240 miles) southeast of Manila. Television reports said the ash column caused panic in the surrounding area, with residents running out of their homes. Since it last ejected ash on May 12, the mountain's northeastern slope has swelled slightly and abnormally high numbers of earthquakes have been recorded.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Cyclone 01S was 1133 nmi SSW of George Town, Malaysia.
Depression 03 was 424 nmi SE of Boston, Massachusetts.
Typhoon USAGI was 520 nmi NW of Saipan, N. Mariana Islands.

Usagi mushroomed into the fourth typhoon of the northwest Pacific’s tropical cyclone season and rumbled Monday on a wobbly northwest track, placing Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni firmly in its crosshairs. At midnight Monday, Usagi swirled 288 miles south of Iwo Jima, churning northwest at 7 mph with sustained winds of 86 mph and gusts of up to 104 mph. If it continues moving on the track forecast by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Usagi will graze Iwakuni 25 miles to its east at 5 a.m. Friday, packing sustained 105-mph winds and 130-mph gusts at its center. Usagi is forecast to peak in strength at 9 p.m. Wednesday, packing 138-mph sustained winds and 160-mph gusts, equal to a Category-4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Okinawa appeared to be well out of danger, however, as Usagi was forecast to pass some 400 miles east of Okinawa at 3 a.m. Thursday. Typhoon Usagi is forecast to strike Japan at about 09:00 GMT on Thursday, August 2.

A new analysis of Atlantic hurricanes says their numbers have doubled over the last century. The study says that warmer sea surface temperatures and changes in wind patterns caused by climate change are fuelling much of the increase. Some researchers say hurricanes are cyclical and the increase is just a reflection of a natural pattern. But the authors of this study say it is not just nature - they say the frequency has risen across the century.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / WIND -
SOUTH AFRICA - Flooding in Cape Town has displaced some 38,000 people, mostly from squatter camps around the South African city. It was the HIGHEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE HIT BY FLOODING IN 5 YEARS. More rains are forecast for later in the week around Cape Town. On the other side of the country, in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, bushfires have killed at least 19 people and destroyed over 30,000 acres of land. Fires have also killed two people in neighbouring Swaziland. "We still do not know the actual cause of the fire but we suspect it might be due to the very dry weather conditions in the affected areas."

SUDAN - Officials in Sudan say several days of heavy rainfall and flooding have killed at least 59 people and displaced thousands more. On Monday more than 10,000 people were affected in southern Sudan alone. Floods also devastated homes near Sudan's capital of Khartoum, where the White and Blue Nile rivers meet. The country is bracing for more flooding, as heavy rainl continues.

SOUTH ASIA - With floodwater pouring in through their windows, thousands of people affected by South Asia's deadly deluge are being forced to share the limited high ground with venomous snakes, surrounded by filthy water. With almost half of Bangladesh submerged, and torrential rains pelting Nepal and India, more than 25 people have died as a result of the weather since Saturday. In Indian states Assam and Bihar, more than 24 people, including three children, were killed in weather-related incidents since Sunday morning, bringing the death toll to 75 in a week. "The floods situation has turned worse overnight." Bihar's residents fear an epidemic as bodies cannot be buried or cremated, with graveyards and cremation grounds under water. Torrential rains in Nepal's western Gulmi district caused a landslide that smothered seven farm workers. Snakes driven out of their usual habitat fatally bit nine people in villages in Bangladesh's flooded northern Pabna district in the last few days. The lives of millions of other people in the subcontinent are simply on hold as they sit on their roofs, high ground or in relief camps, most relying on their governments to bring food, clean water, clothes and medicine. In China, floods, landslides and mud flows triggered by torrential rains have killed 652 people so far this year, with more heavy rains forecast. Authorities in central China's Henan province were scrambling to save 69 miners trapped in an underground coal mine for more than 24 hours after flooding and landslides blocked their exit routes.

NEW ZEALAND - More than a month's worth of rain has fallen on Stewart Island in the past five days, causing flooding and widespread slips which have left some residents with no access to their homes. A RECORD 177mm has pelted the island at the South West Cape since Wednesday, while further north in Oban, 118mm has fallen. High winds and heavy seas also played havoc, pulling roads into the sea and causing landslips 30m wide. Heavy seas sank a yacht after ripping it from its moorings near Thule early yesterday morning, while a landslip near the wharf destroyed a car, which was crushed by a falling boulder and a tree.

HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

JULY & AUGUST 2007 FEATURED DISASTERS