MARCH & APRIL 2008

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings,
and all beings in his own Self,
and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

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

This morning there has been a 5.2 quake in NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/29/08 -
5.9 BANDA SEA
5.3 MICHOACAN, MEXICO
5.8 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION

CALIFORNIA - A magnitude 5.2 earthquake shook a rural part of northern California on Tuesday evening. The moderate quake hit shortly after 8 p.m. (11 p.m. ET) about 11 miles east-southeast of Willow Creek, which is about 190 miles northwest of Sacramento. Officials had received no reports of injuries or damage.
‘Sonic boom’ preceded the 5.2 quake - The Unites States Geological Survey termed it a level VI temblor with a strong shake and light damage. A magnitude-2.0 aftershock hit five minutes later, 16 miles to the east of Willow Creek. “It was sort of like a sonic boom. It was a very loud noise before the house started shaking. It was pretty scary, the biggest thing I’ve ever felt here. (It) lasted 10 seconds max. I didn’t feel the aftershock.” “We felt it good. It was a short one with a heavy shake. We’ve got a free-floating ceiling fan and it was rocking and rolling.” “Everyone had time to go outside and come back and the glass shelf was still shaking. It was a hard jolt, but things kept swaying for a couple minutes afterwards. We had a few things fall off the shelf. Nothing major. It wasn’t as bad as the big one in Ferndale a few years ago. That knocked me off my feet.” “I’ve felt earthquakes before, but NEVER HEARD THAT LOUD OF A NOISE BEFORE.”

NEVADA - Residents in Reno are being shaken, literally, by an ongoing series of earthquakes, which experts warn could be a precursor to a major seismic event. Since late February, hundreds of earthquakes have rattled parts of west Reno. The strongest quake — with a magnitude of 4.7 — hit shortly before midnight last Friday, cracking walls and breaking windows. More than 200 additional small quakes have followed, including two Monday evening and some small earthquakes Tuesday. "My nerves are shot. I can't do it anymore," said a woman who has moved to a relative's house in the southern part of Reno, away from where the quakes have clustered. She plans to stay away "as long as it takes." The Reno earthquake swarm is UNUSUAL. That's because a primary earthquake usually is followed by aftershocks diminishing in strength. These quakes started out small and the general trend shows them building in strength. Previously a California resident said she's accustomed to earthquakes, and has experienced bigger ones than are occurring in Reno. "But not swarms of them. Not day after day after day. It's getting very tiresome."

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Cyclone NARGIS was 495 nmi S of Calcutta, India.

NARGIS - As has been forecast already, the Bay of Bengal has thrown up a major tropical cyclone, Nargis, on Tuesday. Nargis is threatening to whip up speed and intensity, if forecasts by the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre are any indication. The JTWC observed that the powerful storm-in-the-making had brought its huge belly to bear down on the open waters 290 nautical miles (537 km) east of Chennai on Tuesday. The massive system seems to have stopped on its tracks at this position, but was rustling up the attributes that would transform it to a system of significant intensity over the next 36 hours. Nargis would then recurve along a path back to the high seas, move away from the southeast Indian coast and head north-east towards the Myanmar coast over the next four days. The JTWC assessed that the storm would pack maximum sustained wind speeds clocking 95 knots (175 kmph) gusting up to 115 knots (213 kmph) over the next 36 hours. This would make it powerful storm. Nargis is now a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (Category 4). The storm already features an eye, around which it would build its destructive strength thanks to the favourable environment provided by the warmth of the seas, low vertical wind shear, and good ventilation effect at the top of the towering formation rising to 10 to 12 km in height.

PHILIPPINES are bracing for a typhoon-intensive year as around 20 tropical cyclones are expected to hit the archipelago in the coming rainy season. As the month of May is about to arrive, the government has started making preemptive preparations for the "typhoon season." The disaster preparedness skills include water and urban search and rescue, hazard mapping and ensuring enough stocks of food and other necessities.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
PHILIPPINES - North Cotabato officials have declared a state of calamity in the province after floods last Saturday caused millions worth of damage to crops and infrastructure. The floods severely affected the towns of Pigkawayan, Libungan, Midsayap, Aleosan, Alamada, Pikit and Matalam. Millions worth of palay and corn as well as infrastructure were reported to have been damaged. No fatalities were reported in the floods.

SRI LANKA - Floods, landslides hit several areas - Torrential rains have sent several areas in Ratnapura, Kalutara and Galle under water forcing the education authorities to close down schools. Several rivers in Ratnapura, Kuluganga, Weganga, Kuruganga and Hangamu Ganga were at spill level. Hundreds of families in Pelmadulla and Devalegama areas were evacuated because of floods. An earthslip occurred in Ratmalgoda when a house was crushed and buried under tons of mud around 6.30 p.m. on Sunday. 6 people were killed. The Meteorology Department warned that a tropical storm that had developed in the Bay of Bengal would bring heavy showers and landslides. The tropical storm was 700 km away from Jaffna and rain would continue in the south-western parts of the island. “There will be intermittent showers or thundershowers accompanied by fairly strong winds." The Met Department also warned that there would be landslides with loosening of soil due to heavy downpours.

AUSTRALIA - Flooding causes major damage to NSW dairy region - Dairy farmers in the Manning Valley on the NSW mid-north coast have begun assessing flood damage after 400 millimetres of rain fell in just eight days. Milk tankers haven't been able to get to a number of properties and farmers have had to dump milk. An estimated 500 hectares of recently sown pastures have been lost, and will cost up to $400,000 to re-sow in time for winter. A lack of feed will lead to less milk production. "I think it'll be down probably by anywhere up to 20%. The cows have just had to be take off pastures and hand-fed in a lot of areas."

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
TEXAS - A RECORD LOW temperature of 42 was set for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Tuesday morning. A cold front on Sunday brought unseasonal lows for the end of the month.

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Hunger makes bats 'act strangely' - Bats found lying on the ground and being mobbed by birds flying in daylight could be linked to extreme hunger, an expert has said. The handful of incidents may be related to last year's poor summer and autumn in Britain. It is too early to tell if the problem is more widespread. Last year, adult bats were reported abandoning their young as they struggled to cope with bad weather. The first bats of the season are emerging from hibernation. "Down here in the central belt people have found grounded bats which were very weak and very hungry. This may be a reflection of last summer and juveniles not getting enough food to build up fat to survive through hibernation..."Someone visiting Mull reported seeing a bat flying during daylight and mobbed by birds. For bats to be flying in daylight is something strange and you don't normally see and could mean the bat was really hungry." In day time bats run the risk of falling prey to other animals and it has been known for them to be mobbed and eaten by crows.

FOOD / WATER-
100 million people have already been pushed into poverty over the last two years due to a man-made food crisis, while as many as two billion are on the verge of disaster. “This is not a natural disaster,” said the president of the World Bank. “Make no mistake; there is nothing natural about this. But for millions of people it is a disaster.” He noted that hunger and malnutrition were already the underlying causes of death of over 3.5 million children every year, robbing the future potential of many millions more. In Washington, a US government commission is investigating claims that big investors who buy large quantities for future trading are largely responsible for the current UNPRECEDENTED hike in food prices across the world. The use of corn and soyabean as bio-fuel also contributed to this crisis by moving farmers away from food to cash crops and by driving food prices beyond the reach of common people. After an annual meeting in Washington earlier this month, the bank warned that the world is facing an UNPRECEDENTED food crisis which may cause riots and wars if not checked. "The next few weeks are critical for addressing the food crisis. For 2 billion people, high food prices are now a matter of daily struggle, sacrifice and for too many, even survival.”

Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, faces no shortage rice even as global prices are soaring. Thailand isn’t suffering a rice shortage and will continue to export the grain. Thailand has not imposed any export restrictions so far. But if exports cross 11-12 million tonnes, a restriction might be imposed. Thailand has seen its overseas sales of rice jump 67% in the first four months of 2008 partly due to export restrictions in India and Vietnam. Rice Exporters Association of Thailand said that limits imposed on rice purchases in US stores spread panic among consumers. This has led to people stocking rice. Instead of buying two bags, they buy 10. Prices of Thai rice for export - considered a regional benchmark - have tripled since December to about $1,000 a ton. White rice exports have soared 184% while high end jasmine rice is up almost 23% as Indian exports stopped.

India’s food grains production (rice and corn) is all set for a RECORD HIGH in 2007-08 at 227.3 mn tonnes. The total foodgrains production is slated to reach an all-time high at 227.3 million tonnes, recording an increase of 4.6 per cent over the previous year (217.3 million tonnes). The production during 2007-08 would exceed the target set earlier (221.5 million tonnes) by 5.8 million tonnes. The bumper crop of rice followed in the wake of above-average monsoon rains during the June-September monsoon.

Wheat crop failures could be total, experts warn - On top of record-breaking rice prices and corn through the roof on ethanol demand, wheat is now rusting in the fields across Africa. Officials fear near total crop losses, and the fungus, known as Ug99, is spreading. Wheat prices have been soaring this week on top of already high prices, and futures contracts spiked, too, on panic buying. Experts fear the cost of bread could soon follow the path of rice, the price of which has triggered riots in some countries and prompted countries to cut off exports. The deadly fungus, Puccinia graminis, is now spreading through some areas of the globe where "crop losses are expected to reach 100%.” Losses in Africa are already at 70% of the crop. "The ramifications are serious. Food rioting continues to expand around the world. We saw the most recent in Johannesburg. So far this unrest has been directed at rising prices. ACTUAL SHORTAGES ARE STILL TO COME.” The fungus has spread from its initial outbreak site in Africa to Asia, including Iran and Pakistan. Spores of the fungus spread with the winds. Approximately a quarter of the world’s global wheat harvest is currently threatened by the fungus. Scientists fear that the spores could spread on the wind and reach the U.S. and Canada or Europe. "It will take five to eight years to genetically engineer a resistance. In the interim, U.S. agriculture faces higher risk.” Meanwhile, global wheat stocks are at lows not seen in half a century.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
"To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first.
And whatever you hit, call it the target."
Ashleigh Brilliant

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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/28/08 -
5.8 LOYALTY ISLANDS
6.7 VANUATU
5.6 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
5.7 GUERRERO, MEXICO

NEVADA - In just 16 hours, 35 earthquakes rocked the Reno area on Monday. And that has a lot of people, including seismologists, asking what about Las Vegas? UNLV professors who study earthquakes in Nevada say the Reno area has a higher risk of an earthquake, but Las Vegas faces more of a hazard from an earthquake. Reno earthquakes shake side to side. Earthquakes in Las Vegas are more violent because they shake up and down. In fact, some say it is not a matter of if but when. There's a 30% chance there could be a magnitude 7 within the next 50 years. People in Reno are cleaning up from not just one but 10 earthquakes over magnitude 3.3 since Friday. The strongest earthquake in that area happened Friday night, measuring magnitude 4.7. But just Monday morning, another one almost as strong rocked Reno. The shake, rattle, and roll has geologists in Las Vegas watching the measuring equipment closely. Quakes in Reno can trigger quakes in Vegas. "We don't know how close our faults in the Las Vegas basin are going." There are two schools of thought - one, that Reno is seeing an earthquake swarm of hundreds of smaller quakes. Or that these may be the foreshocks to a really big one.
At least 52 earthquakes were recorded in Northern Nevada between midnight Sunday and 8 p.m. Monday. The strongest was magnitude 4.2 recorded at 4:33 a.m. Most of the earthquakes registered below a 2.0. A 2.5 was recorded at 5:12 a.m. and a 2.0 was recorded at 2:34 p.m. Most of the earthquakes were centered near Verdi-Mogul or Reno. A 1.9 was recorded near Silver Springs at 7:41 p.m.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Cyclone NARGIS was 564 nmi SSW of Calcutta, India.

A cyclonic storm called Nargis is brewing over the Bay of Bengal and may hit the India-Bangladesh coast in the next four to five days. The cyclone formed over the southern part of the Bay is likely to intensify further and move in a northerly direction and cross the coast. Maximum sustained wind speed within 54 km of the storm centre was about 62 kmph, rising to 88 kmph in gusts or squalls. The meteorological department has sent a note of warning to the Department of Agriculture Extension, asking it to advance the harvest of the standing paddy crop, which farmers have been looking forward to following the destruction of last monsoon’s crop by floods and Cyclone Sidr. Super-cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh coast Nov. 15, 2007, killing over 3,000 people and destroying about a million hectares of cultivable land. Despite international help and import of 500,000 tonnes of rice from India, Bangladesh is still battling the food shortage caused by Sidr.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
VIRGINIA - Three tornadoes ripped through Virginia on Monday, with one hop-scotching across the southeastern part of the state and leaving behind a 25-mile trail of smashed homes, tossed cars and more than 200 injured residents. The twister in Suffolk cut a fickle, zig-zagging path through neighborhoods, obliterating some homes and spraying splintered wood across lawns while leaving those standing just a few feet away untouched. The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck Suffolk, Colonial Heights and Brunswick County. Meteorologists scribed Suffolk's as a "major tornado." The tornado was estimated at 86 mph to 110 mph, and cut a 300-yard path of destruction. The first tornado touched down around 1 p.m. in Brunswick County. The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m. The third touched down multiple times, between 4:30 to 5 p.m., and is believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path from Suffolk to Norfolk. (photos)

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
AUSTRALIA - A cold snap across Victoria's alpine region dumped a heavy layer of snow over the weekend in an encouraging sign that the coming ski season could begin early. After sub-zero temperatures at Falls Creek early Sunday, resort operators hope the colder than normal weather could result in the best conditions on the slopes in several years. About 15cm of snow was dumped on Falls Creek and Mount Hotham and forecasters expected more falls in the region. "For this time of year, it's been QUITE UNUSUAL weather, but from the industry's point of view it's very encouraging." Weather experts are predicting bigger than expected snowfalls in Victoria this season.

ALASKA - A day after Anchorage endured one of the city’s HEAVIEST ONE-DAY SNOWFALLS ON RECORD, people spent what would normally be a spring Saturday digging out and slogging through nearly 2 feet of fresh snow and slush. The spring snow dump is THE HEAVIEST ON RECORD AFTER APRIL 1. The snowfall was the third-heaviest in a single day — measured midnight to midnight — since the National Weather Service started keeping records in Anchorage in 1915. Counting Saturday morning, 17 inches fell in West Anchorage and up to 22 inches in Muldoon. Between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. Friday, snow fell at the rate of nearly 2 inches per hour. Before Friday, the most snow that had ever fallen in one day after April 1 was 8.3 inches. The day’s official tally at the airport: 15.5 inches. This much snow this time of year is HIGHLY UNUSUAL. They had seen a run of blue-sky days in the 50s earlier in the week. (photo)

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

CALIFORNIA - Another April heat wave sent temperatures soaring throughout Southern California, where the mercury reached 103 in Santa Ana, 102 in Fullerton and 100 in Fillmore on Sunday. And there was no relief at the beach. Oxnard SET A RECORD with a 99 degree peak reading, it was A RECORD 95 degrees at Los Angeles International Airport, 94 in San Diego and 87 degrees at Santa Monica Pier. Two weeks ago, record temperatures were also set in a weekend heat wave.

As many as one billion people could lose their homes by 2050 because of the devastating impact of global warming, scientists and political leaders will be warned today. They will hear that the steady rise in temperatures across the planet could trigger mass migration on UNPRECEDENTED levels. Hundreds of millions could be forced to go on the move because of water shortages and crop failures in most of Africa, as well as in central and southern Asia and South America. There could also be an effect on levels of starvation and on food prices as agriculture struggles to cope with growing demand in increasingly arid conditions. Rising sea levels could also cause havoc, with coastal communities in southern Asia, the Far East, the south Pacific islands and the Caribbean seeing their homes submerged. North and west Africans could head towards Europe, while the southern border of the United States could come under renewed pressure from Central America. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees will say that the developed world should start preparing for a huge movement of people caused by climate change. "The displacement of millions of people will be one of the most dramatic ways in which climate change will affect humankind."

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Shiny lip balms and glosses may attract ultraviolet rays and increase the risk of skin cancer, warns a dermatologist.

FOOD / WATER / SUPPLIES-
Opec, the oil producing cartel, has warned that the price of crude could keep rising to reach $200 a barrel. The Opec president blamed the falling value of the US dollar, which makes other assets, including oil, more attractive for foreign investors. His comments came as oil prices hit a fresh high, just below $120 a barrel.

Monday, April 28, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care
for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.

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

This morning there has been a 5.8 quake in GUERRERO, MEXICO.

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/27/08 -
5.1 JAVA, INDONESIA
5.3 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.1 SOUTHWESTERN RYUKYU ISL., JAPAN
5.0 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.1 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.

MEXICO - A strong earthquake of magnitude 5.8 has shaken the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. The earthquake hit south of the town of Teloloapan just after 7pm (10am AEST today) at a depth of 88km. It was felt strongly in Acapulco but there were no signs of damage. The quake also shook the capital Mexico City, some 160km away.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Cyclone 01B was 606 nmi SSW of Calcutta, India.

INDIA - The US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre issued a cyclone formation alert in the Bay of Bengal even as the India Met Department announced that the prevailing low-pressure area intensified into a depression on Sunday. Formation of a significant tropical cyclone (now ‘numbered’ 95B) is possible within 390 nautical miles (722 km) off Chennai within the next 12 to 24 hours. Winds speeding to 64 kmph warrant its classification as a cyclone. Convective bands to the west of the system began wrapping into a consolidating low level circulation centre (nucleus of the system) on Sunday. Ample upper level ‘window’ effect will allow it to breathe freely and intensify in the process. The low vertical wind shear will keep the towering cloud formation in good stead, affording it just the right environment to prosper. Once it attains the class-matching attributes, it will be named ‘Nargis’. The system is currently headed north-northwest (with India’s southeast coast in sight) but is expected to recurve, head into the open Bay waters and race towards the Myanmar coast. The ADPC model captured the system initially cantering towards the southeast Indian coast, only to be coerced by a westerly steering current to send it back, packing into the central Bay. The warm waters and abundant moisture will fuel calibrated growth before the system bears down on the Myanmar coast around May 2. (satellite photo)

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - The Government has declared a state of emergency and called out the Papua New Guinea Defence Force to help reopen the Okuk Highway, cut off by a massive landslide in Chimbu Province. The PNGDF was called out to help police provide security and restore public order in Sinasina-Yongumugl where the landslide cut the highway two weeks ago. The landslide occurred 9km east of Kundiawa town which resulted in the closure of the Okuk Highway, thus also resulting a severe shortage of fuel and food supplies. The landslide has directly affected the livelihood of about 2000 people.

CALIFORNIA - Dust devil injures 14 in Montclair - Fourteen people were injured Saturday when a freak wind gust touched down during a church event. The strong circular gust picked up debris - including tents - and sent them spiraling several feet into the air before dropping them back down to the ground at Montera Elementary School. Two people were taken to a hospital - one was struck by a flying tent and the other suffered a knee injury. "It started small. It became big so quick, and then it started to move" toward the people on the black top. Witnesses described the gusts as circular and resembling a tornado. "We've never had anything like this." With Saturday's temperatures climbing into the 90s, the conditions provided perfect dust-devil weather.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

SPAIN - Hundreds of people fled wildfires on Saturday on the Spanish island of La Gomera, with some residents taking refuge on the beaches. Separate blazes broke out around the towns of Hermigua, Vallehermoso and Agulo in the northern part of the island. There were no immediate reports about the source of the fires. Amid high winds driving the wildfires, dozens of fire-fighters and volunteers were battling the flames, with aerial support from tanker planes. Spanish military troops in the Canary Islands were expected to join the effort.

CALIFORNIA - WILDFIRES - At least 1000 people were evacuated near Los Angeles and a wedding party was trapped at a campsite as a wildfire raged out of control. 400 homes were evacuated. It is the first major fire of the dreaded northern summer fire season - which since yesterday has consumed 162ha in foothills near California's Santa Anita Canyon, about 25km from downtown Los Angeles. "This is a mandatory evacuation. It could be four to five days before the fire is fully contained."

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

A VIRUS OUTBREAK in an eastern Chinese city has killed 19 children and left hundreds ill, spreading panic among residents. The intestinal virus called enterovirus 71 or EV71, one trigger of hand-foot-mouth disease, began spreading in Fuyang in Anhui province from early March. The young victims went to hospitals with "fever, along with blisters, ulcers in the mouth or rashes on the hands and feet". In total, 789 were struck by the virus, mostly younger than two years old. "A kid who was just bouncing and jumping around one moment can be gone for good in two or three hours." In 2004, the city became the centre of a national scandal when at least eight babies died from drinking milk powder that investigators later found had no nutritional value. Enterovirus 71 outbreaks have occurred in past years in Taiwan, Malaysia and some East European countries. The report did not identify the source of the virus or say why Fuyang has been hit so badly. Nor did it say why the outbreak was publicly reported only now.

FOOD / WATER / SUPPLIES-
BRITAIN - GASOLINE - motorists are in a petrol-buying panic after a North Sea pipeline that supplies 40% of the country's oil and gas was shut down because of a strike at a major refinery. The start of a two-day walkout by about 1200 workers at the Grangemouth refinery, west of Edinburgh, forced the neighbouring Forties pipeline to close down. The pipeline takes more than 700,000 barrels of crude oil ashore every day and supplies Britain and international markets. The refinery could take weeks to get fully up and running again after the strike. The strike is already hitting world oil prices. Oil prices hit A NEW TRADING RECORD of just below $120. Many motorists, particularly in Scotland and northern England, were rushing to pumps to stock up, despite government reassurances there was enough in reserve to go round. Some petrol stations introduced rationing or price hikes while others had run dry.

Agflation is an innovative term conceived by economists to explain a new event being created by agricultural markets that is pushing up global food prices. From grains and edible oils to coffee and cocoa, many agricultural commodities are at multi-year highs as a result of robust global demand, climatic changes and the increased production of biofuels. The supply of grain is being affected by the freak weather conditions which have played havoc with the past year’s harvests across the globe. Australia and Canada for example have been suffering their worst drought for more than a century. In the USA, torrential rain has delayed planting, whereas flooding in Bangladesh and Indonesia has curbed world stockpiles. The recent banning of exports and hoarding by some countries are also contributing to food inflation. The breadbasket of Central Asia - Kazakhstan has suspended wheat exports followed by Ukraine and Argentina. Both Vietnam and India now restrict rice exports with the latter importing wheat to build stockpiles. This has caused the WORLDWIDE INVENTORY OF CEREALS TO FALL TO A 25 YEAR LOW. USA STOCKPILES OF WHEAT ARE AT A 62 YEAR LOW which has lead to a 28 YEAR RECORD IN PRICE. In inflation terms, the price of most basic foodstuffs is still much lower than 30 years ago. If prices were to double in the next five years they would still be equivalent to less than their historic average. Analysts believe that this bull market in agricultural commodities is still in its infancy.

Sunday, April 27, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/26/08 -
6.1 OFF W. COAST OF S. ISLAND, N.Z.
5.1 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.0 WESTERN KAZAKHSTAN
4/25/08 -
5.1 TONGA

NEVADA - Scientists urged residents of northern Nevada's largest city, Reno, to prepare for a bigger event as the area continued rumbling Saturday after THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE IN A TWO-MONTH-LONG SERIES of temblors. More than 100 aftershocks were recorded on the western edge of the city after a magnitude 4.7 quake hit Friday night, the strongest quake around Reno since one measuring 5.2 in 1953. The latest quake swept store shelves clean, cracked walls in homes and dislodged rocks on hillsides, but there were no reports of injuries or widespread major damage. Seismologists said the recent activity is UNUSUAL because the quakes started out small and continue to build in strength. The normal pattern is for a main quake followed by smaller aftershocks. "A magnitude 6 quake wouldn't be a scientific surprise. We certainly hope residents are taking the threat seriously after last night." Reno's last major quake measured 6.1 on April 24, 1914, and was felt as far away as Berkeley, California. A rockslide triggered by Friday night's quake was blamed for causing a 125-foot breach in a wooden flume that carries water to one of two water treatment plants in Reno, a city of about 210,000. A backup pump was used to divert water to the plant, and the breach was not expected to cause any water shortages. Friday night's quake was centered around Mogul, just west of Reno. The area of upscale homes along the eastern Sierra was rattled by more than 100 quakes the day before, the strongest a magnitude 4.2 that caused high-rise casinos to sway in downtown Reno. The strongest aftershock measured 3.7 and was recorded early Saturday. Hundreds of mostly minor quakes have occurred along one or possibly more faults since the sequence began Feb. 28. The quakes have occurred along an area about 2 miles long and a half-mile wide. "We can't put a number on it, but the probability of a major earthquake has increased with this sequence." It's getting a little bit frightening. I'm very concerned about this increase in not only activity, but also in magnitude." The quakes around Reno began a week after a magnitude 6 temblor in the northern Nevada town of Wells, near the Utah border. The Feb. 21 quake caused an estimated $778,000 in damage to homes, schools and historic downtown buildings. Scientists said they're unsure whether the seismic activity at opposite sides of Nevada is related.

VOLCANOES -
PERU - Residents in the district of Ubinas, one of three provinces in the southwestern region of Moquegua, are complaining about an active volcano in their district once again. The district of Ubinas is home to Peru's most active volcano, a stratovolcano also known as Ubinas. Townspeople in the area are complaining of migraines and respiratory illnesses which are being attributed to the ash, smoke and toxic gases the volcano is emitting. The gases the volcano is emitting have affected 800 people in the Ubinas valley. There is the possibility that drinking water and water used to irrigate could be contaminated the way it was in 2006. Almost exactly two years ago, on April 23, 2006 the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency in the valley when it was determined that the volcano was active. The volcanic ash being emitted by Ubinas is affecting the grass on farms, making it impossible for livestock to eat. After three volcanic explosions formed a column of ash and gas two kilometers high (6561 feet), the Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute reported on Wednesday that Ubinas' activity continues to increase. (photo)

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES / RISING SEA LEVELS -
INDIA - an Air India Express pilot flying over the Bay of Bengal noticed an "UNUSUALLY BIG WAVE" in the sea at 11:30 am on Thursday (April 24). The pilot, flying an aircraft from Singapore to Trichy, noticed the wave when the aircraft was 50 nautical miles from the Tamil Nadu coast. According to the pilot, the wave was running in a direction from north to south and parallel to the Tamil Nadu coastline. The Tamil Nadu government was alerted after its chief secretary was informed of the observation. The Tamil Nadu government is believed to be keeping a close watch on the situation in view of the devastating tsunami that struck the state over three years ago. Incidentally, the district collector of Nagapattinam has also been informed of the pilot’s observation. Nagapattinam was one of the worst affected districts in the killer tsunami which hit Tamil Nadu in December 2004. "Even when the aircraft is at an altitude of thousands of feet, it is possible for the pilot to make such an observation clearly as the ocean is usually very placid. Such an observation can also prove extremely useful in tipping off the authorities about any possible disturbances in the ocean, especially in the wake of the killer tsunami that struck Tamil Nadu four years ago." The authorities in Tamil Nadu have been on the lookout for marine disturbances ever since the earthquake in the seabed near Indonesia sparked off the killer tsunami and tidal waves, resulting in thousands of deaths in Tamil Nadu in December 2004. The tsunami caused massive destruction in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, besides Tamil Nadu, as well as in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia.

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

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
IOWA - Heavy rainfall Friday added to ground already fully saturated with moisture has led to flooding all across Eastern Iowa — and it could get worse. The Cedar River was at 10.1 feet Friday afternoon, and is forecast to crest at 18.5 feet at 7 a.m. Tuesday. "If that does happen, it will basically tie it for the sixth largest flood on record." More than an inch of rain fell here Friday, increasing the level of the Cedar River and causing problems for the sanitary sewer system.

AUSTRALIA - This month Sydney has endured its LONGEST UNBROKEN WET SPELL FOR 77 YEARS, but the rain has refused to cross the border. Just six millimetres has fallen in Melbourne so far this month, well below the average April rainfall of 57 millimetres. A high pressure zone in the Tasman Sea was preventing the rain hovering over Sydney from moving out to sea. "The weather's been anything but normal over the last six months. I've been in this game for 20 years, and I CAN'T RECALL A LONGER PERIOD OF SUSTAINED WEATHER PATTERNS, of various kinds." The La Nina cycle, in which warm areas of ocean to Australia's north and east create wetter conditions on land, has also played a part. The prospect of good rain has Victorian wheat farmers, who have endured years of drought, preparing their fields for seed planting. With global wheat stocks low and grain attracting record prices, a good wheat harvest this year could help farmers recover from years of financial hardship.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

INDIA - After heat wave, it’s water scare - Lakes drying up fast. If the scorching summer was not bad enough, Jharkhand is now on the threshold of an acute water crisis with authorities detecting a 30cm depletion over last year’s findings of the groundwater table this year. As a result, there has been a remarkable decrease of water level in three reservoirs around the state capital, one of them — Rukka Dam — witnessing a decrease of six feet over the corresponding period last year. In April last year the water level of Rukka revolved around 17ft. This year it is at less than 11ft. "Moreover, pre-monsoon groundwater level is also constantly declining as mining of groundwater through deep-borings has increased manifold.” The condition is the same with Gonda dam in the posh Kanke area, where many multi-storeyed buildings have been constructed in the past five years. “If water level decreases at this pace, supply has to be stopped within the next 15 days."
The recent spurt in captive elephant violence is being attributed to climatic changes. The change in climate brought about by the off-season rain has advanced the musth period in many elephants. (Musth is characterized by a thick, tar-like secretion from the temple area of the face. Scientific investigation of musth is greatly hindered by the fact that, once under the influence of musth, even the most otherwise placid of elephants may actively try to kill any and all humans.) Musth is an indication of robustness in elephants. Musth occurs only in healthy elephants between the age of 16 to 60 as a three-month annual cycle. The tendency to attack during musth was somewhat constant over the years. The off-season rain this year has had a devastating effect on captive tuskers. The heat and humidity caused by the intermittent rain have advanced the musth period.

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Friday, April 25, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Smile. Enjoy life.
Hawaiian saying

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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/24/08 -
5.1 VANUATU
5.5 VANUATU
5.4 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 BANDA SEA

The earthquake in Illinois could portend an emerging threat - the New Madrid Fault may have seen its day and the Wabash Fault is the new kid on the block. The Illinois earthquake registered 5.2 on the Richter scale and hit at 4:40 a.m. with a strong aftershock occurring at approximately 10:15 a.m. that morning, followed by lesser ones in subsequent days. The U.S. Geological Survey has counted more than 20 aftershocks following Friday's tremor. The initial earthquake was felt in parts of 16 states. "A lot of the attention has been on the New Madrid Fault, but the Wabash Valley Fault could be the more dangerous one, at least for St. Louis and Illinois...There hasn't been a magnitude 6 earthquake on the New Madrid zone in more than 100 years, yet in 20 years there have been three magnitude 5 or better earthquakes on the Wabash Valley Fault." Recent re-analysis of data by the USGS shows that the New Madrid fault risk is much less than was thought three decades ago. The three notable earthquakes that occurred at the end of 1811 and the beginning of 1812 were not magnitude 8s, but rather magnitude 7s. A magnitude 8 is 30 times more energetic than a magnitude 7. "The damage to the region by those earthquakes has been exaggerated. St. Louis was here at the time, and all that happened was some chimneys fell in East St. Louis." There are some precursory phenomena that have been observed right before some earthquakes. Radon or helium gas may leak out of the ground as the ground cracks. Sometimes water well pressure changes, or there's a change in the magnetic field. Electrical resistivity changes have been noted, too. These are changes we can measure with instruments, but we can't sense them as humans.
Odd-looking eggs laid after the earthquake - A farmer in Illinois says his chickens are reacting to the aftershocks from last week's earthquake. A strange looking egg was laid by one of his hens Monday at his farm in Greenup, Illinois the day West Salem, Illinois recorded the strongest aftershock so far from Friday's 5.2 earthquake. The same morning of the 4.1 aftershock, one of his chickens laid an egg that was twice the normal size, multi-colored and has odd looking ridges. He's convinced that it's a product of the quake, "I took it out of the nest and my wife said 'What have you got?' She couldn't believe it. I said, there it is it's different. So I waited til' yesterday to see if something was wrong with one of them and they all four laid normal eggs. So, I really think it's got something to do with the aftershock."

OREGON - Another series of earthquakes added to the geological mystery off the Oregon Coast on Monday. Four sizable quakes rumbled off the coastline in a span of four hours Monday night. The largest, a 4.1 earthquake located 115 miles west of Port Orford, occurred at 7:17 p.m. Over the past several weeks, there have been hundreds of small quakes west of the coastal towns of Bandon and Port Orford. They have varied in magnitude from 3.0 to above 5.0. Scientists have said they don't know exactly what the earthquakes mean, but they could be caused by molten rock rumbling away from the recognized faults off Oregon.

BRAZIL - An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale shook southern Brazil, scaring many but causing no significant damage nor casualties. It was THE STRONGEST TEMBLOR TO HIT THE REGION IN A CENTURY. The city of Sao Paulo felt the movement the most, with residents in high-rise apartments feeling their buildings sway.

VOLCANOES -
INDONESIA - Mount Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island in the Sunda Strait, started hurling flaming rocks from its southern crater on Thursday. The red-hot rocks shooting up from its crater have reached as high as 600 meters and are clearly visible from the nearby coast indicating that volcanic activity was set to continue. Thundering sounds have been heard within a radius of three kilometers from the crater. The volcanic tremors have increased in frequency since the Bandung geological disaster center raised the alert status to level III. There are no villages in close vicinity to the volcano, but the island is a popular tourist spot. The Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra became notorious for the devastating eruption of Mount Krakatau in August 1883, when the volcano exploded in one of the most violent eruptions in modern time. The volcanic eruption was audible up to 5,000 kilometers away, and generated a tsunami which circled the globe three times. Over 36,000 people died in the disaster. The volcano destroyed itself in the eruption, but Anak Krakatau, "the child of Krakatau," started emerging at the site in the 1930s.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES / RISING SEA LEVELS -
SCOTLAND - A MASSIVE landslide could cause a huge wave down the River Spey, fishermen have been warned. About 1,000 tons of earth has shifted on a 120ft cliff at Ordequish, Fochabers, and is threatening to crash down into the water. Anglers have been told to stay away from the area on the western side of the river. A section of a field owned by the Crown Estate has dropped over 8ft since Sunday, leaving a scar across the land. Emergency advice is being sought on how to secure the area, which has been fenced off and warning signs advising people to stay clear have been erected. There had been erosion in the area and further downstream at the Quarry Pool, but this week's latest landslip was described as "significant". It is thought the sandy soil crumbled because of dry conditions over the winter months. At one of the houses perched on top of the cliff, the garden has crept closer to the steep drop, now only a few feet from the end of the garden. (photo)

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

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
HAITI - Three children were killed and two people injured when a mudslide triggered by torrential rains knocked down a wall and crushed a house in the Haitian capital. "It was raining a lot and a lot of water was coming down from the hill and then the wall collapsed and fell down on the house. The three children killed were 3 months old, 6 years old and 14 years old and the two adults, who were wounded, were taken to the hospital." The poorest country in the Americas, Haiti is vulnerable to flash floods and mudslides because most of its trees have been chopped down to make charcoal for cooking. The majority of its nearly nine million people live in rickety slum dwellings. Haiti is one of several poor nations that has been rocked in recent weeks by violent protests over soaring world food prices.

MALAYSIA - Rain wreaked havoc in the lives of several families in Kajang and in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. In Taman Bukit, Kajang, the kitchens of two houses crumbled in a landslide after rain. Cracks appeared in three neighbouring houses. In another incident, the kitchens of two homes in Taman Bukit were washed away in a landslide at 7:30am after a thunderstorm. Cracks also developed in the back portion of three neighbouring houses. "It had been raining heavily since 3am, but I never thought something like this would happen." The incident in Ampang was no less scary as part of a boulder struck by lightning broke off from a cliff and came crashing down on a car parked at the Wangsa Heights condominium in Bukit Antarabangsa. Three other cars were also damaged. (photos)

CALIFORNIA - Four multimillion dollar homes in San Diego's upscale La Jolla area have been evacuated as a precaution after a landslide cut a 30-foot-deep crevice in a nearby canyon. City officials are investigating the cause of Wednesday's landslide on the north face of Mount Soledad. The slide appeared to have been caused by an underground leak from a private water line linking homes along Encelia Drive to city water mains. The line has been shut off. Six houses were destroyed after a large collapse on another part of the same mountain in October. At least three significant slides occurred there between 1961 and 1994.

PORTUGAL - Between last Friday and Saturday, Lisbon registered THE MOST RAINFALL EVER SINCE RECORDS WERE FIRST TAKEN 145 years ago. That day was THE THIRD HIGHEST VALUE OF THE 21ST CENTURY. The record of 62.9 millimetres registered in Lisboa/Geofísico weather station exceeded the previous maximum for the month of April. The first absolute extreme registered this century was on 30th January 2004 with 101.2mm of rainfall and the second being 118mm on 18th February 2008. “Considering the series of daily totals over the past 145 years, the value registered constitutes a new extreme for this month and this station”, smashing the previous records of 55mm on 16th April 1995 and 52.6mm on 9th April 1876.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
AUSTRALIA - More than a week of dismal weather was continuing to hold the Lithgow district and Blue Mountains in its grip yesterday. A persistent easterly influence has brought the almost constant drizzle and low temperatures, continuing an UNSEASONAL PATTERN that has been evident for much of the year. Travellers are reporting hazardous driving conditions with fog and low cloud adding to the problems throughout the Blue Mountains.

CANADA - April has been unpredictable, with COLD TEMPERATURES BREAKING RECORDS in Powell River four times and a RECORD-BREAKING HIGH temperature once. Powell River missed a freak snowstorm that brought 24 centimetres of the white stuff to Naniamo on Saturday, April 19. The city hadn't seen measurable snow on April 19 since 1947. The snow in Nanaimo BROKE AN APRIL RECORD which had been set on April 12, 1981 with 4.9 centimetres.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

INDIA - Maharashtra is experiencing a heat wave and Pune is no exception with the mercury levels touching an UNPRECEDENTED 42.1 degrees for this season on Thursday. This was THE THIRD HIGHEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED by the Met department in the city for April, the highest instance being 43.3 degrees on April 30, 1897. There will be no reprieve for the citizens in the coming days with the met officers forecasting a steady rise in temperature. The heat wave can be attributed to the northerly winds which were responsible for hot dry air advection. On Wednesday, Akola recorded 45.3 degrees, the highest in the country, followed by Nagpur recording 44.6 degrees. On Thursday, the state saw most of the districts record temperatures above 40 degrees. There is no respite of heat waves for the wild animals. With each passing day wild animals, including elephants and tigers in the Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries, are facing a shortage of water. The water crisis in many part of the state in this summer summer has been driving animals out of their habitat to quench their thirst but non-availability of waters has hit the daily life of wild animals and most of aged elephants and big cats have reportedly been suffering a lot. Meanwhile, Satkosia Tiger Reserve region, rich in bio-diversity, has been in the grip of gnawing fire for several weeks. Both flora and fauna are in a state of peril.

ISRAEL - The Israel Nature & National Parks Protection Authority is warning those traveling not to go hiking in the Judaean Desert or in the western Negev because of severe heat conditions. Due to the serious heat wave, rescue units and fire fighting units are on higher levels of readiness.

Scientists widely accept that greenhouse gases are changing the climate, and in Kansas they are already seeing some of the effects of higher temperatures and less water. The shrinking water supply will make it harder to grow corn. “Nebraska won’t be the Cornhuskers anymore. It will be the South Dakota Cornhuskers.” Disappearing surface water will make it harder for trees like sugar maples and bur oaks to survive, and birds like the red-headed woodpecker that rely on them may also disappear. The changes will make seasons unpredictable, disrupting the natural life cycles of honeybees and the flowers and fruits they pollinate. Each change will make life more difficult for humans, raising the prices of food and eliminating the state’s biodiversity. The climate change Kansas is experiencing now was similar to what happened during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. “Now we’re facing what is THE WORST PERIOD OF KANSAS HISTORY. It’s not a matter of belief. It’s a matter of scientific research.” Some food production would move north toward Canada as surface water disappeared in the west and water for irrigation was depleted. Some land could go out of production within 20 years. Wheat is the largest cash crop in Kansas, valued at $1.3 billion in 2006. With higher nighttime temperatures, some wheat will not be able to heal from extreme heat during the day and may die. Water is disappearing from the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies water for irrigation to western Kansas and seven other states, and wells will become more expensive each foot deeper they must be dug to reach the water. Some farmers have already dug their wells 100 feet deeper than they used to and they get only half the water. Bees and other insects have a difficult time adjusting to unpredictable seasons. In Lawrence, plants were usually at full bloom on April 14. Last year, that day was April 2, a full 12 days early. This year, flowers reached full bloom seven days later than the norm. Normally, the bloom days vary only by three or four days. (long article, lots more info)

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Extensive Indonesian Bird Flu Crisis Drill - A major drill initiative is taking place in Indonesia, as authorities have prepared a three-day bird flu crisis exercise. The simulation is the biggest one attempted by the country and involves about 5,000 people, from police officers and military personnel to local residents, doctors and government officials. Indonesia has the worst bird flu records in recent years, with 107 flu-related deaths out of the global 240 recorded fatalities. The country is also considered a “hot spot” for the virus, and one of the main fears refers to the mutation of the virus and the potential significant damage it could inflict on humans.

FOOD / WATER-
Rising food prices have developed into a global crisis - Concerns about food security mounted this week as rice prices hit records in Asia and the United States warned that staples for the world's hungry were getting much more expensive. The cost of feeding the world's hungry has jumped nearly 40% amid spiralling food costs and oil prices. Anger over high food and fuel costs in recent months has sparked protests in several countries. Governments of several food-growing countries, worried about domestic shortages, have imposed export curbs, spooking markets at a time when world inventories are down sharply. "The United Nations is very much concerned as all members of the international community (are)." The international community needs to take immediate action and world leaders should discuss ways to improve food distribution systems and production.

Increased food and petrol prices, and rising interest rates, are creating a new class of "white collar battlers", welfare groups warn. The Salvation Army in Australia has seen a 58% rise in crisis clients in the past six months, many of whom don't fit the usual profile of those in need. "Now WE HAVE A WHOLE NEW CLASS WHO ARE SIMPLY NOT COPING. First-home buyers who have bought into their dream and woken up to a very harsh reality. Young families, people with secure employment who find their costs exceed their income." The number of those seeking help had grown so sharply the charity was having to turn some people away. Financial pressures are pushing some white collar workers to the brink. "We're seeing different people who are really struggling, people who have white collar jobs, people with full-time jobs. It is really concerning."

Thursday, April 24, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/23/08 -
5.0 TAIWAN REGION
5.8 TAIWAN REGION
5.2 CERAM SEA, INDONESIA
5.2 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

VOLCANOES -
HAWAII - Elevated levels of sulfur dioxide pouring from Kilauea volcano Wednesday forced the evacuation of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park for the second time this month. About 2,000 people were forced to leave the park when a lack of wind kept the noxious gas from Halemaumau Crater lingering over the Big Island volcano. The plume from the volcano's main crater was lingering over the area rather than getting blown away by trade winds the way it had been earlier in the week.

ECUADOR - The Tungurahua volcano has seen significant activity in 2008, erupting on February 6th and causing mudslides, heavy ash falls and evacuations. Since then activity has decreased. However, ash and steam plumes and Stombolian activity at the summit and lahars travelling 600m down the flanks of the mountain have been reported this week. The FCO continues to advise against all but essential travel to within six miles of the mountain. Reventador in Napo province; Sangay between Chimborazo and Morona Santiago; and Cotopaxi are other closely monitored volcanoes considered active in Ecuador. Sangay and Reventador have both showed increased seismic activity over the past year.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Cyclone DURGA was 940 nmi S of George Town, Malaysia.
Cyclone ROSIE was 935 nmi WNW of Broome, Australia.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
British butterflies 'need good summer' - Butterflies need a warm summer in order to help numbers recover from last year's washout, say conservationists. Eight species are AT AN ALL-TIME LOW as a result of an unsuccessful summer in 2007. The main reason behind the decline was an above average rainfall, which meant the insects, such as the common blue, had fewer chances to feed or breed. Early forecasts suggest this summer could be wetter than average. But forecasters said the risk of exceptional downpours on the same scale as last year is very low.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
WASHINGTON - Western Washington was hit with RECORD LOW temperatures and unseasonable lowland snowfall this past weekend. Maximum and minimum daily temperatures have been less than normal since April 1, and snowfall has been seen on at least two occasions in the past week. Cold temperatures have not been restricted to Western Washington. On the morning of April 21, the temperature in Great Falls, Montana, dropped to minus 8 degrees F, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD LOW temperature by 19 degrees. “To have set a record in that fashion this late in the month is REALLY EXTRAORDINARY." Scientists pointed to two main factors influencing the UNUSUAL weather: cooler than normal surface ocean waters in the tropical Pacific and the persistence of low pressure along the Pacific coast of North America. “The whole Northern Hemisphere has been cold. We’re really seeing the influence of the STRONGEST LA NINA SINCE 1998 and a persistent trough of low pressure over the Northwest.” People’s perceptions of 2008 as unusually cool and wet are somewhat inaccurate. Despite fallen records and lowland snow in late April, this year’s temperatures and precipitation statewide remain close to normal. “March in Seattle was 1.6 degrees F cooler than average, but still only the 18th coolest out of 65. What was UNUSUAL was the number, and certainly lateness, of the events favoring lowland snow.” The forecast for Western Washington features more of the same in the short-term, but there are signs of milder weather on the horizon.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

RUSSIA - More than 500 wildfires erupted in three Russian regions over 24 hours on Tuesday. A total of 819 wildfires have been registered, 579 of them were extinguished, 240 wildfires continue covering a total area of 18,142 hectares. In particular, there are currently 16 large wildfires in Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories. "There is no threat to populated areas, oil and gas pipelines, potentially hazardous and other industrial facilities, nor is there any danger of wildfires crossing the Russian national border."

ARCTIC sea ice is melting "significantly faster" than predicted and is approaching a point of no return, warns a new study released today. The volumes of the Greenland Ice Sheet and ice in the Arctic Ocean were estimated at 2.9 million and 4.4 million cubic metres respectively in September 2007 - the LOWEST LEVELS EVER RECORDED. The sea ice shrank to 39 per cent below its 1979-2000 mean volume. The melting of arctic sea ice and the Greenland Ice Sheet was happening so fast that experts were now questioning whether the situation is close to "tipping point," where sudden and possibly irreversible change takes place. "Our understanding of climate impacts lags behind the changes that we are already seeing in the Arctic."

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

FOOD / WATER / SUPPLIES-
RICE - The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, is restricting sales of rice at one of its chains - the latest sign of a global shortage of the staple food. Sam's Club, Wal-Mart's cash-and-carry division, says customers can buy a maximum of four bags per visit. The limit applies to jasmine, basmati and long grain white rice. The international price of rice has risen by 68% this year and Wal-Mart said the restrictions were "due to recent supply and demand trends". Wal-Mart said it was not restricting the amounts of flour or oil customers can purchase "at this time". The prices of soybeans, corn and wheat have also soared and are currently near their all-time peaks. [SITE NOTE - There are conflicting reports as to whether there is actually a world-wide shortage or whether supplies are being stock-piled, increasing the prices and profits for suppliers and commodity traders. At any rate, all that is needed is a PERCEPTION that there is a shortage for people to rush to stock-pile food and thereby create a larger shortage and drive prices even higher. Get it while you can?? It may be wise for each of us to start our own small gardens in any case.]

The end of cheap clothes is near - Food prices have shot up in response to a surge in crop prices. Now consumers should get ready for clothes prices to follow suit. Garment makers are seeing demand shrink as consumers in the US and Europe are cutting back on spending. US cotton consumption is set to fall 6.5% from last year whilst EU consumption is expected to fall 11%. At the same time, factories are hit by more expensive raw materials and by soaring oil prices, which make their factories more expensive to operate and which pushes up the cost of shipping to foreign markets. In India, the weaving industry is in crisis. In China, the textile sector is squeezed. And, yet again, the root cause of their problems can be found in America. In the US, ever more cotton farmers are switching to more lucrative crops - soybeans, corn, and wheat - whose market prices are rising even faster. As a result of the shift by farmers, "the cotton harvested area in the USA is projected to decline by a further 15%" in the year ahead. This year, global cotton prices are set to rise more than 8%, ICAC predicts. Financial market professionals think the rise could be even steeper. "I don't think we've had markets this wild since 1995, and we're in an environment where it could be with us for several years." Costly cotton is only one factor hitting clothing manufacturers. "It all comes down to energy. We are basically short of power in the world right now." Hence, it is not only a question of whether land should be used to grow crops for food or cotton. It is also a question of how much energy should be used to produce clothes in factories. Fertiliser costs are also soaring, adding to raw material costs, and the credit crunch is adding to the squeeze as low-margin clothes manufacturers are finding it harder to raise finance. In the end, they will either have to raise prices for the clothes they make, or go under - which in turn will reduce supply. For consumers in Europe and the US the outcome is certain: prepare to pay more for clothes in the years to come.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
Success is going from one failure to the next without a loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill [apparently this is also our Iraq policy]

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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/22/08 -
5.0 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.0 LOYALTY ISLANDS

INDIANA - At least 23 earthquakes have shaken the Tri-State during the past four days, including the magnitude 5.2 shocker Friday and a 4.0 aftershock early Monday that was one of the strongest yet. Monday’s aftershock was in the same area as Friday’s quake, which itself was followed by a magnitude 4.6 aftershock 5½ hours later, along with a spate of smaller quakes throughout the weekend. “I’m concerned about it. It’s the noise that worries me. The noise is just unbelievable. It’s like a freight train coming through the house. I am tired of it. I’m ready to get a good night’s rest without having to worry about the earthquake alarm instead of the alarm clock.” The quake originated in the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone, a series of faults straddling the Wabash River in Illinois and Indiana. The Wabash Valley system has been more active in producing greater-magnitude quakes in the last 40 years compared with the New Madrid, which lies just south of the Tri-State along the Mississippi River Valley. Although the New Madrid has produced catastrophic 7.0 or stronger quakes, such devastating quakes haven’t occurred in the Wabash Valley since prehistoric times. As a result, many seismologists believe activity in the New Madrid zone is waning. “All the activity since 1968 that people have felt, it is all due to the Wabash Valley." But research has continued to be directed at the New Madrid instead of the Wabash Valley.
ILLINOIS - Earthquake a possible cause of water main breaks - Tuesday marked five days and counting for a boil order affecting 1,400 Coal Valley water customers. A main broke in Crab Orchard early Friday morning, and they think the earthquake soon after that made the problem worse. "This would've drained our whole system in just a short period of time if a customer hadn't called about the pressure." The earthquake that followed likely took a further toll on the area's old infrastructure, because since Friday..."We've tracked down about four different leaks." Though the transition from winter to spring always brings some leaks, it's never been like this. "We've got more problems now than we've ever had." "I think we'll find a few more. It's just a matter of getting time to run them down."

CALIFORNIA - A series of earthquakes - the first and largest measuring magnitude 3.7 - rocked the Eureka area Monday afternoon, causing some surprise but no reports of damage. The initial jolt occurred at 3 p.m., just 2 miles west of Eureka at a depth of 13 miles. The second magnitude 2.9 occurred at the same depth exactly 16 minutes later, 7 miles west of Eureka. Over nearly three hours, a total of four earthquakes were recorded near Eureka - the 3.7 followed by two 2.9s and a 2.1. One magnitude 2.8 hit off the coast of Petrolia. The 3.7 quake occurred in the Gorda Plate, which lies 7 to 8 miles below the surface of the North American plate that Eureka sits on. The Gorda Plate is filled with faults and is subject to enormous geological forces. It is essentially in a vice between the Juan de Fuca Plate to the north and the Pacific Plate to the south. ”Basically, the Gorda Plate is stuck between a rock and a hard place.” The Gorda Plate has produced big earthquakes in the past. It produced the 7.2-magnitude quake that was part of a series of quakes in 1992 that shook homes off foundations in Ferndale and caused a fire that burned down the Scotia shopping center. It also produced a strong quake in 1932 that did significant damage.

VOLCANOES -
RUSSIA - Shiveluch Volcano is erupting in Kamchatka. It may become dangerous for aircraft to fly near the Volcano due to ash emissions. Shiveluch explosive activity may increase at any time and it will be accompanied by emissions of gas and ash about ten kilometers high. The ash may fall on the nearby settlements. The eruption will continue for a week. The Karymskiy Volcano may also emit ash that will probably rise up to six kilometers above sea level. It may become dangerous for local aircraft to fly near the Volcano. (The Ministry of Emergency of the Kamchatka Territory is also forecasting a magnitude 6.5 - 7.5 earthquake in the south of Kamchatka before the end of 2008.)

INDONESIA has raised the alert level for two volcanoes in the Sunda Strait and Mollucas island chain to the second highest following increased volcanic activities. The alert status for Anak Krakatau (a volcano which formed in the Sunda Strait after the legendary explosion of Mount Krakatau in 1883) and Ibu volcano on Halmahera island in the Mollucas was raised on Monday after rumbling to life about a week ago. "Anak Krakatau's explosions are strong, so we urge people not to get close to it as it is throwing out flaming rocks." Scientists monitoring Anak Krakatau said the volcano was not especially dangerous and was likely to continue to rumble for some time. The alert for Anak Krakatau will not be raised to the highest because nobody lives close to the mountain, which lies near Java island. Anak Krakatau roared to life last November when it blasted massive clouds of smoke and flaming red rocks hundreds of metres into the sky. The ashes from Ibu volcano had reached as high as 700 metres (2,297 ft), but had not disturbed flights. In the past two years, at least two other volcanoes in Indonesia - Mount Merapi and Kelud - have shown signs of activity, but they are quiet now.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Cyclone 29S was 927 nmi SSW of George Town, Malaysia.
Cyclone ROSIE was 988 nmi S of Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.

Oppressive heat wave conditions manifested themselves across the Indian landmass even as two tropical cyclones reared their heads from within the fertile Inter Tropical Convergence Zone straddling the equator. On Tuesday, these cyclones hovered off the Australian and the Indonesian coasts causing large chunks of the moisture packing the ITCZ, the global band of low pressure area, to get redirected. This may temporarily affect the normal wind flow pattern when the ITCZ moves north of the equator relative to the Sun’s position and goes to prop up what, in a month’s time, may transpire as the year 2008’s Indian monsoon. As if this was not enough, there is a third cyclonic storm threatening to spin out from the ITCZ to the south of the Bay of Bengal and has been forecast to move in a north-northeast direction to the Thailand-Myanmar coasts. The landfall is likely to be around April 29.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
AUSTRALIA - Sydney's run of rainy days in a row - 11 - is THE MOST IN APRIL FOR 77 YEARS. The run of consecutive rainy days began on April 14 and there have been 15 rainy days in total so far this month. Sydney has received 134mm of rain so far this month, tipping the total past the average April monthly average of 130mm. "The longest spell of continuous rainy days in April was 24 days from April 7 to 30 in 1893."

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
Forget global warming, prepare for Ice Age? - Sunspot activity has not resumed after hitting an 11-year low in March last year, raising fears that - far from warming - the globe is about to return to an Ice Age. An astronaut and geophysicist says the world cooled quickly between January last year and January this year, by about 0.7C. "This is THE FASTEST TEMPERATURE CHANGE IN THE INSTRUMENTAL RECORD, and it puts us back to where we were in 1930. If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over...My guess is that the odds are now at least 50:50 that we will see significant cooling rather than warming in coming decades." The Bureau of Meteorology says temperatures in Australia have been warmer than the 1960-90 average since the late 1970s, barring a couple of cooler years, and are now 0.3C higher than the long-term average. Some scientists believe a strong solar magnetic field, when there is plenty of sunspot activity, protects the earth from cosmic rays, cutting cloud formation, but that when the field is weak - during low sunspot activity - the rays can penetrate into the lower atmosphere and cloud cover increases, cooling the surface. But scientists from the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Bolder, Colorado published a report in 2006 that showed the sun had a negligible effect on climate change. The researchers wrote that the sun's brightness varied by only 0.07per cent over 11-year sunspot cycles, and that that was far too little to account for the rise in temperatures since the Industrial Revolution.

AUSTRIA - A large avalanche has buried a street near a popular Austrian ski resort under four metres of snow, with authorities warning of a "substantial" risk that more may follow. Rescue workers searching the road in Imst, in the province of Tyrol, do not believe anyone was buried in the avalanche. Authorities said heavy rainfall across the region in the hours before the avalanche may have triggered the slide. Austria's avalanche monitoring agency today warned that the risk of snow slides above 1,800m was "substantial". The alert level has been raised to three on a five-point scale. Dozens of avalanches occur in Austria each year, often in spring, when thawing snow and ice makes slopes unstable. Many slides prove fatal. In January, five people were killed on a single weekend. Last year, 102 fatal avalanches were recorded across the Alps. (map)

AFGHANISTAN - Freak winter weather linked to global warming is expected to decimate parts of the country's opium harvest. The fierce cold – which claimed hundreds of lives across Afghanistan – is thought to have stopped millions of poppy seeds from germinating, while late rains and a meagre snow melt following an unusually low snowfall have stunted many of the plants that survived. Some farmers could suffer up to 50 per cent losses. Poppy is a winter crop. It is normally planted before the frosts and the seeds germinate before the cold weather. They sit dormant through the winter, then shoot up in the spring. Poppy is more resistant to drought than food crops, but a water shortage at a key stage in the plant's life cycle is expected to stunt the size of the seed pods. Afghanistan's dry climate is especially susceptible to climate change. This winter was so cold there was less snow than usual. Most of the country's rivers are fed by meltwater from the Hindu Kush mountain range. Meanwhile, the spring rains, which usually come in late February, arrived in April, long after the poppy seedlings started a key growth spurt. The drop in poppy yields is unlikely to affect heroin supply on Britain's streets. Experts estimate there is at least seven years' supply in transit from the fields to the users.

CALIFORNIA - Sacramento Valley farmers are calculating the damage from the UNUSUALLY cold spring weather. Freezing temperatures this weekend destroyed peaches that were just beginning to bud. Sutter County farmers are reporting losses in walnuts, canning tomatoes and tree fruits. Yuba County prune orchards lost between 10 percent and all of their fruit. Pear farmers reported 30 percent of their fruit destroyed. The full extent of crop losses may not be known until harvests begin this summer.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

INDIA - Orissa on Monday declared an early summer vacation for schools due to an UNPRECEDENTED HEAT WAVE in the state that has reportedly caused death of at least 22 people. "Usually the summer vacation starts from May every year but we have asked the school authorities to declare it early this year because temperature has crossed 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of the state.”

NORTH DAKOTA - The past six months have been THE DRIEST ON RECORD in North Dakota, with the parched western part of the state suffering the most. Through Monday, the statewide average precipitation for the past 180 days was only 1.59 inches, or 38 percent of normal, and the driest since record keeping began 113 years ago. Fifty-five percent of the state is listed as having extreme drought, and 22 percent is in the severe drought category. No areas in the state are listed in the exceptional category, the worst of the rankings. "It's so dusty out west, that there is concern among cattle farmers that pneumonia may be an issue for cattle. Livestock farmers are thinking about buying hay, moving cattle, hauling water, or moving their cattle out of the state." Besides North Dakota, the other parts of the country experiencing extreme drought are western Nebraska, southwestern Texas, and parts of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. The extreme southwest part of Texas is the only area in the nation listed as having exceptional drought on the federal drought map.

The shrinking expanse of Arctic sea ice is increasingly vulnerable to summer sunshine. New research finds that unusually sunny weather contributed to last summer’s record loss of Arctic ice, while similar weather conditions in past summers did not have comparable impacts. "In a warmer world, the thinner sea ice is becoming increasingly sensitive to year-to-year variations in weather and cloud patterns. A single unusually clear summer can now have a dramatic impact." Summer sunshine produces more pronounced melting than in the past, largely because there is now less ice to reflect solar radiation back into space. As a result, the presence or absence of clouds now has greater implications for sea ice loss. Last summer's loss of Arctic sea ice set a modern-day record, with the ice extent shrinking to a minimum of about 1.6 million square miles (4.1 million square kilometers) in September. That was 43% less ice coverage than in 1979, when accurate satellite observations began. In addition to solar radiation, other factors such as changes in wind patterns and possibly shifts in ocean circulation patterns also influence sea ice loss. In particular, strong winds along regions of sea ice retreat were important to last year's loss of ice.

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles.
Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you.


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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/21/08 -
5.5 KEPULAUAN BABAR, INDONESIA
5.0 SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA

ILLINOIS - A 4.5 magnitude aftershock shook the surrounding area again early Monday morning, just days after the 5.2 magnitude earthquake based in Illinois. Monday's aftershock is the second large-scale rumbling since Friday morning's earthquake, but there officially have been more than a dozen. Monday's shaking did not last as long as Friday's earthquake or the aftershock that hit a few hours after. There were no reports of injuries or damage. Monday's aftershock was centered near Mount Carmel, Illinois. That is very close to where Friday's movement was on the Illinois-Indiana state line. (map)

U.S. - Earthquakes remain a serious threat in 46 of the United States. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey have released an updated version of the USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps. For some areas, such as western Oregon and Washington, the new maps contain higher estimates for how hard the ground will shake compared to earlier versions of the maps released in 1996 and 2002. But for most of the United States, the ground shaking estimates are lower.
The USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps

Seven Steps to Earthquake Safety

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES / RISING SEA LEVELS -
In the Himalayas, warming could spur a ‘tsunami from the sky’ - Rising temperatures have resulted in dangerously high water levels in a lake above a valley in central Bhutan. No one knows how long it can hold. The lake is swollen dangerously past normal levels, thanks to the global warming that is causing the glaciers to retreat at record speed. But no one knows when the tipping point will come and the lake can take no more, bursting its banks and sending torrents of water crashing into the valley below. Such floods from above have hit Punakha before, most recently in 1994, a calamity that killed about two dozen people and wiped out livelihoods and homes without warning. But scientists say a new flood could unleash more than twice as much water and be far more catastrophic. Because of Earth’s rising temperatures, at least 25 glacial lakes in Bhutan are at risk of overflowing and dumping their contents into the narrow valleys where much of the country’s population lives. The bitter irony here is that Bhutan probably has done more to safeguard its environment than almost any other country. Sustainable development is the official mantra. By law, the country’s forest cover must never drop below 60 percent. National parks and wildlife reserves account for one-quarter of Bhutan’s territory. A sanctuary in the east is famous as the only one in the world set aside for the yeti - or “migoi” - the mythical Abominable Snowman. Some shifting weather patterns already are being felt. “The winters are not so cold. The hot season is arriving much earlier. Even fruit trees that would not fruit in Thimphu, that people just planted as ornamental flowers, are now starting to fruit.” Less benign are diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, common in the lower-lying, warmer south, which now are appearing at higher altitudes. Officials are also worried that any changes to Bhutan’s monsoon season could deal a major blow to agriculture. Experts estimate that Bhutan’s glaciers are retreating by as much as 100 feet annually. “In the short run, we’ll have increased summer flows, but after 40 years, it’ll dry up.” Fed by a melting glacier the Thorthormi lake has bulked up to alarming size and is in danger of swamping another body of water, the Raphstreng. In a nightmare scenario, the two lakes could merge, punch through the natural but unstable moraine dams holding them back and go cascading into the valley, picking up debris as they thunder downhill.

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Cyclone 28S was 921 nmi S of Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia.

A cyclone watch has been issued for Christmas Island as a tropical low heads towards the Indian Ocean outcrop. At 5.45am today the Bureau of Meteorology said a developing tropical low was 160km north west of Christmas Island and 850km east of Cocos Islands, moving east southeast at 25kmh. The tropical low may develop into a tropical cyclone during the day with periods of heavy rain possible. Gales with gusts to 100kmh may develop at Christmas Island during the day. Tides will be higher than expected with large swell likely to develop later today or tomorrow. (satellite photo)

HONG KONG - At least 50 flights out of Hong Kong were delayed on Sunday as tropical storm Neoguri caused a weekend of travel chaos in the former British colony. A huge backlog of flights was being dealt with Sunday after the delay of 100 cancelled flights on Saturday when heavy rains and high winds whipped the city of 6.9 million as Neoguri passed by. Hong Kong raised ITS EARLIEST TYPHOON ALERT FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY as localised flooding incidents were reported across the city when the storm hit southern China Saturday evening. Neoguri, which began as a typhoon, was downgraded to the status of tropical depression Sunday as it weakened during its passage over southern China.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
CHINA - Sandstorms and plunging temperatures brought by a severe cold snap in northwest China have damaged crops, killed livestock and affected five million people. Freezing weather since Thursday in northwestern Xinjiang had "wreaked havoc", causing an economic loss of about 5 billion yuan ($714 million). The disaster affected 473,733 hectares of crops, or 69% of the total in the region, and 411,466 hectares of fruit trees." About 103,500 livestock were killed, and another 3.25 million "injured or lost." The cold snap coincided with the early arrival of China's typhoon season. Typhoon Neoguri slammed into China's southern island province of Hainan at the weekend, causing power cuts and leaving 18 fishermen missing.

SOUTH AFRICA - Two men have died apparently as a result of UNUSUAL freezing weather in South Africa's Eastern Cape province. "The bodies of the two men, aged 30 and 50, were found on the side of the road yesterday (Sunday) morning in Sigubudwinini locality in Mthatha. We suspect they died because of the very cold weather." South Africa's weather service issued a warning on Monday of "widespread severe frost" in seven provinces. Thirteen people died in the Eastern Cape from the cold weather last year. Temperatures in Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city, went down to two degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday. Colder temperatures were registered in upland areas.

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

"The reality is that people are dying already." Food riots in several poor nations during the past month have UN and other officials arguing that the growing diversion of grain harvest from food to ethanol fuel is causing a global food crisis. Global food prices have jumped 83% over the past three years as the world's main agricultural producers shifted their focus to biofuels. India's Finance Minister has called on industrial nations to cut off all subsidies for such alternative energy production, and to focus on providing food to the developing world. A growing number of government ministers have labeled the impact of biofuels as a "crisis of humanity." UN statistics say that the amount of corn it takes to produce 40 litres of ethanol can feed a child for an entire year.
According to the World Food Program, at least 850 million people are desperately hungry. "The world's misery index is rising. (It is) a silent tsunami that respects no borders - most don't know what hit them." For weeks, tens of thousands of hungry people have been lining up for U.N. food handouts all around the world, from Latin America to Africa and Asia. For most people in the West, who spend about 10 percent of their income on food, the increasing prices are just an inconvenience. But in poor countries people spend 80 percent of their money to feed themselves. This kind of desperation in much of the world could threaten the United States, terrorism experts say. "Anti-American groups such as al Qaeda will be able to mobilize marginalized, frustrated populations that are especially affected by the food crisis." The food price crisis has been made even worse by private traders who are hoarding huge stockpiles of food because the price keeps going higher. The perfect storm is continuing to grow.

INDIA - Peacocks abandoning habitat near Pune - Residents of Morachi Chincholi Village near Pune are deeply upset since the peafowl, who are viewed as part of the family by them, have started deserting their village following an acute water shortage. Morachi Chincholi Village, located just 65 kilometers from Pune city, had a scanty rainfall this year and is presently facing water shortage. The village has been known as a natural habitat for the Indian National bird. It is believed this village is home to over 2,000 magnificent winged beauties. The villagers have pleaded with the government to convert the village into a tourist destination to preserve and save these avian beauties. “They have been here for 50 years now, but due to the acute water shortage these peacocks are leaving."

BRITAIN - Climate change threat to Kent's birds - For years, the mass of wintering birds at Kent’s RSPB marshes have attracted thousands of visitors during the colder months. But now the effects of climate change are causing bird numbers to plummet rapidly and are putting the marshes at risk of becoming miserably barren. Flocks of wintering water fowl and other species from the arctic region are noticeable by their absence at marshes in North Kent and Dungeness, as mild winters across the continent mean migrating birds do not need to travel as far as the UK’s south east for the climate they need. On top of this, the results of the Big Garden Watch in January showed that the average number of birds seen in people’s gardens has declined by a fifth since 2004.

Climate change is upon us, and it has arrived well ahead of schedule. Scientists’ projections that seemed dire a decade ago turn out to have been unduly optimistic: the warming and the melting is occurring much faster than the models predicted. Now truly terrifying feedback loops threaten to boost the rate of change exponentially, as the shift from white ice to blue water in the Arctic absorbs more sunlight and warming soils everywhere become more biologically active, causing them to release their vast stores of carbon into the air...The climate-change crisis is at its very bottom a crisis of lifestyle - of character, even. The Big Problem is nothing more or less than the sum total of countless little everyday choices...“Once our personal connection to what is wrong becomes clear, then we have to choose: we can go on as before, recognizing our dishonesty and living with it the best we can, or we can begin the effort to change the way we think and live.”

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Monday, April 21, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
There's one great advantage to living to 105 - no peer pressure.

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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/20/08 -
5.6 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.1 TONGA
5.2 DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
5.1 SAMAR, PHILIPPINES

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES / RISING SEA LEVELS -
MEDITERRANEAN - The week-long search for a Briton who disappeared off a new luxury yacht in the Mediterranean has been called off. He was a technician from the shipyard that built the vessel. He was helping the owner take the boat from France to the Costa Brava resort of Estartit. A major air and sea search was launched when the yacht failed to arrive. Last week the owner's body was found floating off the Spanish coast and the £680,000 yacht was later found drifting off the island of Menorca. Smashed windows and other damage indicate the it had been hit by a FREAK WAVE and police think both men were knocked overboard. The yacht then continued on auto-pilot until it ran out of fuel.

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

CHINA - Three persons were killed due to strong winds and mud flow triggered by typhoon Neoguri in South China's Guangdong province. Two persons died when mud flow buried a section of road under construction in Shenzen city, while another was fatally hit by an aluminium sheet blown-off a stadium by strong gales in Zhuhai city. In Yangjiang city, Neoguri's landing point, about 274,000 people were affected and 7,000 hectares of farmland inundated.
In Macau, at 1.30pm the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau raised the warning signal from 3 to 8, which prompted a surge of phone calls which appeared to temporarily bring down the mobile phone network. Coming two months before the official start of the season, it was the EARLIEST TYPHOON WARNING THE BUREAU HAD ISSUED IN AT LEAST 40 YEARS. Cranes swayed, trees were uprooted and scaffolding damaged in the following five hours of gale force winds which reached up to 109 kilometres an hour. Waters rose and waves battered the coast while the bridges connecting Taipa with the peninsula were closed at 3pm. The La Niña effect was blamed for the early typhoon and history shows the periodic cooling of surface ocean waters in the eastern tropical Pacific is likely to bring about more typhoons in the coming months.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
CHINA - Massive mudslide traps 200 in Three Gorges area - Emergency workers are trying to rescue almost 200 people from a village that was almost inundated by a massive landslide in central China on Saturday. Continuous rain triggered a landslide of 60,000 cubic meters of mud, which swept into a schoolyard and a village of 37 homes at the Three Gorges Dam area in Hubei Province on Saturday afternoon. The rain had washed away 20,000 cubic meters of the mud in Xiaohe Village of Gaoyang Township. The mud flow still threatens to inundate a school building and the homes of 179 people in the village. Rainstorms have slammed the geographically vulnerable reservoir area since Friday. Up to 106 millimeters of rain have fallen so far. Weather forecasters say the rain would continue in coming days, which would continue to swell exuding underground water at the landslide site. The disaster relief staff expect that the landslide area will worsen due to the bad weather. Gaoyang is to be the last town to be relocated to make way for the raising of the reservoir level to 175 meters in 2009 from the current level of 156 meters. A total of 2,000 villagers are expected to be relocated.

OHIO - More about Bellevue, the Ohio town enduring a four-week flood - Dozens of homeowners have been draining their basements around the clock for four straight weeks. Others have given up because the water just keeps flowing. What's unusual is where the water is coming from — it's seeping up from the ground through cracks in the limestone buried beneath this northern Ohio town. A mix of heavy rains and melting snow in recent months has left the ground saturated and the water has nowhere to go but up. It has buckled concrete basement floors, cracked foundations and closed several streets and roads, including a busy state highway. How much all of the repairs will cost isn't known yet. Much of the damage is centered on the north and east sides of the city and its surrounding townships. But most of the city is completely dry. (photo)

CANADA - Civil Security officials are predicting serious spring flooding in many municipalities within the next week. They are warning people living on the north shore of the west island, Laval, and some municipalities to the west of the city of Montreal, that they could be experiencing full-fledged flooding by next Tuesday. That's all due to the unseasonably warm temperatures they've been experiencing over the past few days, and the rapidly rising water levels.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
WASHINGTON - On Saturday, snow fell throughout Western Washington. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was 1 degree short of breaking its record low of 34 degrees. Snow HAS NOT FALLEN THIS LATE IN THE YEAR SINCE APRIL 1972. The unseasonably cold weather of the past few days has spelled disaster for some of the ornamental cherry trees around Seattle. Their vibrant, cotton-candy-pink blossoms have been replaced by a brownish goo on the sidewalks below. In Wenatchee Valley, cherry farmers are worried about the unusually cold weather, too. "It's too early to tell how much damage the cold weather has done."

EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE-

INDIA - Intense heat wave conditions killed 10 people in Orissa as the temperatures crossed the 42 degrees Celsius mark in the state.

PENNSYLVANIA - Erie capped off a week of sunny weather with a RECORD TEMPERATURE of 84 degrees. It beat the old record of 83 degrees, set in 1941.
NEW YORK - Saturday's 87-degree heat BROKE THE OLD RECORD of 80 degrees set in 1977 in Buffalo. They've had a total of 1.53 inches of rain so far this month, which is below normal, and the bulk of that fell on just two days - April 4 and April 11.

HEALTH THREATS -
Latest bird flu news from the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy.
Global Bird Flu Breaking News - updated every 10 minutes.

Sunday, April 20, 2008 -

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -
The law is hard on the man
Who steals the goose from off the land,
But leaves the greater felon loose
That steals the land from the goose.
Old English rhyme

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

Largest quakes yesterday -
4/19/08 -
5.0 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.2 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.0 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.3 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
6.0 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.9 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.0 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
5.0 EAST TIMOR REGION
6.4 LOYALTY ISLANDS
5.0 FIJI REGION
4/18/08 -
5.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
6.4 FIJI REGION
5.2 SOUTH OF AFRICA
5.0 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.0 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.2 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.5 KURIL ISLANDS
5.2 ILLINOIS

The 5.4 earthquake that started out in eastern Illinois was felt by residents in southern Ontario early Friday morning. “For us it’s a fairly large event.” In southern Ontario, particularly in the Kitchener area, residents felt shaking for several seconds, which is significant considering the quake originated in an area which is several hundred kilometres from southern Ontario.
The last major earthquake to hit Illinois (6/10/1987) had an epicenter close to Friday's. "It's amazing how on schedule this is. We have earthquakes there every 20 years." The biggest earthquake to hit Illinois in the last century was a a 5.5 earthquake near Broughton on Nov. 9, 1968. Scientists are not sure what causes the quakes in that area, but there are old faults in the earth's crust in that zone. The relationship between these new quakes and those old faults is not clear. "It's almost like there is a weakness in the earth's crust, in the Wabash Valley zone. It's like an old scar being torn off." The New Madrid Zone further south in Illinois produces very powerful quakes, but it is not clear if there's any connection between the New Madrid zone and the Wabash Valley zone. There have been more than 160 earthquakes in Illinois since records began in 1795, 80% of them in the southern half of the state.
ILLINOIS - June 10, 1987 - A strong 5.0 earthquake rattled through Iowa and 14 other states from Missouri to South Carolina and parts of Canada at 6:49 p.m. CDT, shaking skyscrapers in Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit and causing minor damage and at least one minor injury. The tremor, centered near Lawrenceville, Illinois, 55 miles north of Evansville, Indiana, triggered alarms at a nuclear plant in Minnesota, caved in a roof and cut telephone service in Illinois, and shook patients in hospital beds in Iowa and West Virginia.

CALIFORNIA - Around 350 people showed up Friday morning to commemorate the great earthquake of 1906, which happened at 5:12 a.m. 102 years ago. (photo)

INDONESIA - An undersea earthquake rocked East Timor's coastal capital Saturday, shaking buildings and sending screaming residents running into the streets. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the magnitude 6.4 tremor.

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES / RISING SEA LEVELS -
OREGON - In order to prepare for the next big tsunami, Seaside City Councilors on Monday unanimously approved the purchase of 120 cache barrels that will be used to store food on higher ground in case of emergency. The 55-gallon barrels will be placed in people’s homes in the city’s five tsunami evacuation zones in the city. “We had a taste test of the food, and although none of it is spectacularly tasty, we got the best.”

NEW ZEALAND - A freak wave in Rotorua has lifted and wrecked a road, destroyed a 1.8m high fence, churned cobblestones out of driveways and shunted a car into a garage wall. The 2m wall of water swept down an Otonga hillside Tuesday as Rotorua was swamped with 111mm of rain in 24 hours - close to the 115mm average for the entire month of April. In 24 years, residents said they hadn't seen anything like it. "Never before." The deluge caused several floods. (photos)

TROPICAL STORMS -
Map.
Projected storm paths .
Tropical storm NEOGURI was 72 nmi W of Hong Kong.

Typhoon Neoguri swept through Macau in the afternoon on Saturday, after it struck Hainan island south of mainland China the night before, forcing flight cancellations and the evacuation of 210,000 people. Macau closed its three cross-sea bridges linking the Macau peninsula to a neighbouring island. No casualties have been reported, and by the time the typhoon hit Hainan, packing winds of 108km/h, it had weakened to a severe tropical storm. The storm affected 1.3 million people in Hainan, or one in six of the island's population. In addition, 550 houses had been damaged, and the direct financial losses came to 337 million yuan ($51.25 million). Authorities in Hainan said a rescue ship had found 38 fishermen who swam to a reef area after their three boats were damaged. Another 18 fishermen remain missing.

The jet stream — America's stormy weather maker — is creeping northward and weakening, new research shows. That potentially means less rain in the already dry South and Southwest and more storms in the North. And it could also translate into more and stronger hurricanes since the jet stream suppresses their formation. The study's authors said they have to do more research to pinpoint specific consequences. From 1979 to 2001, the Northern Hemisphere's jet stream moved northward on average at a rate of about 1.25 miles a year. The authors suspect global warming is the cause, but have yet to prove it. Two other jet streams in the Southern Hemisphere are also shifting poleward. The study's authors and other scientists suggest that the widening of the Earth's tropical belt — a development documented last year — is pushing the three jet streams toward the poles.

HEAVY RAINS / FLOODING / LANDSLIDES / UNUSUAL & OUT-OF-SEASON WEATHER -
OHIO - Bizarre flooding continues - Beautiful weather, no river, no stream and yet hundreds of residents are flooded in Bellevue. No sudden thunderstorms or drenching rains can explain it. For some reason, the earth in Bellevue continues to heave up millions of gallons of water to the surface. Against gravity and against logic, the flooding continues day after day. Homes and barns suddenly turned into islands trapped in muddy water. No one knows why it began or when it will end. It is a disaster for every homeowner for miles around Bellevue. The residents north of town on state route 269 have especially been hit hard. Neighbors have volunteered the use of heavy equipment to try and dig a channel in the backyard fields that have become muddy lakes. So far, nothing has worked. Because there are no lakes, rivers or streams nearby, none of the residents have flood insurance. Scientists believe that the cause is underground artesian springs in the area that normally drain toward Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie. There are large artesian springs at Miller's Pond, Green Spring, and Castalia, Ohio. (photo & video)

GERMANY - German island's 'white cliffs' collapsing into the sea - The towering chalk cliffs that form the spectacular coastline of the Baltic holiday island of Rügen are Germany's equivalent of the white cliffs of Dover – but now they are collapsing into the sea due to heavy rain. Officials on Germany's largest island were Friday forced to shut down a harbour on Rügen's north east coast and close kilometre-long stretches of beach because of fears that large swathes of its legendary cliffs would disintegrate and tumble into the Baltic Sea. A 100-metre long section of cliff near the island port of Sassnitz fell into the sea on Wednesday, sending 20,000 cubic metres of chalk crashing several hundred feet on to the beach below. The landslide posed a serious threat to tourists, who visit Rügen in large numbers. UNUSUALLY high rainfall and RECORD WATER TABLE LEVELS had caused the cliffs to become completely waterlogged, which made them particularly susceptible to disintegration and collapse. Every second measuring device installed along one section showed that water content levels had topped last year's all-