The Changing Planet

[Yomomma]

Topics to be discussed are the daily changes of the planet.

 

Far North Pole shaken by moderate quake

 

March 4, 2011 – NORTH POLE – A 4.8 earthquake rattles the far North Pole at a depth of 10 km at NORTH OF SEVERNAYA ZEMLYA (number 5 grid in Yellow) on the map of the Arctic Pole. The peculiar nature of the location of this quake leads us to conclude that since the magnetic north pole is now racing towards Russia and the Earth has been under constant bombardment from the rabid sheer of the solar winds over the last 48 hours, that this is a trembling effect in magnetic field generation- perhaps one more tangible sign that planet’s magnetic field dexterity is insidiously eroding. We’ve been watching seismic anomalies under Greenland and strain starting to show across Antarctica from the recent bout of planetary tremors that have occurred over the last 4 months. Below are the latest telemetry seismic data readings from (left) Antarctica and Greenland (right).

 

 

U.S. officials puzzled by high number of deaths of dolphins and manatees

 

March 4, 2011 – MIAMI - Near-record numbers of manatees have died in Florida waters in early 2011, the second straight year of above-average deaths, alarming officials who are also puzzled by a surge in dolphin fatalities along the US Gulf Coast. Of the 163 manatee deaths recorded from January 1 to February 25, 91 of them have been blamed on cold water temperatures off the southern US state, where normally temperate weather draws the protected sea creatures during winter months, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Manatees live near the coastline, and when weather turns cold they often shelter near springs or in warmer discharge canals at power plants to avoid the condition known as “cold stress,” which can weaken and eventually kill the aquatic mammals. A record 185 manatees died in Florida during the same period last year, according to the commission. Authorities at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are also investigating the huge increase in baby dolphins found washed up dead along the US Gulf Coast, in the first birthing season since the BP oil spill disaster.

 

LINK: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/High_manatee_dolphin_deaths_puzzle_US_officials_999.html

 

Earth trembles again in Southwest Iceland

 

March 4, 2011 – ICELAND – An earthquake measuring 3.7 in magnitude on the Richter scale hit one kilometer northeast of Krýsuvík on Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland yesterday and the tremor could clearly be felt in the capital region. The earthquake, which hit at a depth of 3.8 kilometers, was smaller than those measured in the area last weekend. There was constant seismic activity around Krýsuvík yesterday but no other quakes were stronger than three points on the Richter scale, Morgunbladid reports. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, there is no reason to conclude that this is anything else than a conventional series of earthquakes while the tremors are all at the same depth—so far, all quakes hit at a depth of three to five kilometers.

 

LINK: http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/Earth_Trembles_again_in_Southwest_Iceland_0_374783.news.aspx

 

Thousand cankers disease killing walnut trees in 8 U.S. states

 

March 3, 2011 - OREGON – Eugene’s urban forest is facing a very serious threat from a new disease called Thousand Cankers Disease that is killing black walnut trees in eight western states. Laboratory analysis at the Plant Clinic at Oregon State University (OSU) confirmed the large walnut on Madison Street next to Gray’s Garden Center to be the first known case in Eugene found to have the disease. The disease has probably been present in Eugene for the last few years, and it has already been found in every county in the Willamette Valley, according to Dr. Jay Pscheidt, OSU Extension Plant Pathology Specialist. Thousand Cankers Disease is caused by a newly-discovered fungus (Geosmithia morbida) that is carried to trees by the tiny walnut twig beetle. The fungus kills areas of bark throughout the tree. Cankers eventually grow together and girdle limbs and the trunk so nutrients can no longer move in the tree. Trees in the Willamette Valley typically die within two to five years after showing their first symptoms of summer leaf yellowing and branch dieback. Currently, there are no known insecticides or fungicides that control the beetle or disease. “The City is working with Oregon State University, Lane County Extension Farms, and Gardens Program, and local arborists and governmental agencies to figure out the best way for us to act responsibly in limiting the spread of this disease when we handle affected trees,” says Mark Snyder, City of Eugene urban forester. “Since there is no known cure at this time, community members should work with their tree care professional to determine whether or not a tree they are concerned about is a black walnut tree and if it is infected (many Oregon walnuts are hybrids and are less susceptible, as is the English walnut).

 

LINK: http://www.kval.com/news/117254873.html

 

Christchurch hit by huge dust storm- quake fatalities rise to 160

 

March 3, 2011 - CHRISTCHURCH - Strong winds whipped up huge dust clouds in earthquake-hit Christchurch Wednesday, as officials defended the devastated city’s building standards. Gusts of 70 kilometres per hour (44 mph) buffeted emergency crews in the ruins of New Zealand’s second largest city, hampering the search for bodies amid fears of masonry dislodging and trees toppling. “In some places it was difficult to stand up, you’d look across the city and see these enormous clouds of dust blowing down the main avenues — it’s been a terrible day,” mayor Bob Parker said. The winds stirred an estimated 200,000 tonnes of silt and sand pushed up from the ground after the power of the February 22 quake loosened the bond between soil particles in a process called liquefaction. Search and rescue teams donned respirators and dodged flying sheets of corrugated iron as they raked through the wreckage, while supplies of facemasks were rushed to Christchurch for residents.

 

LINK: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Massive_dust_storm_hits_quake-hit_Christchurch_999.html

 

Scientists warn Earth on the brink of 6th Extinction

 

March 3, 2011 – With the steep decline in populations of many animal species, from frogs and fish to tigers, some scientists have warned that Earth is on the brink of a mass extinction like those that occurred only five times before during the past 540 million years. Each of these ‘Big Five’ saw three-quarters or more of all animal species go extinct. In a study to be published in the March 3 issue of the journal Nature, University of California, Berkeley, paleobiologists assess where mammals and other species stand today in terms of possible extinction, compared with the past 540 million years, and they find cause for hope as well as alarm. “If you look only at the critically endangered mammals – those where the risk of extinction is at least 50 percent within three of their generations – and assume that their time will run out, and they will be extinct in 1,000 years, that puts us clearly outside any range of normal, and tells us that we are moving into the mass extinction realm,” said principal author Anthony D. Barnosky, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology, a curator in the Museum of Paleontology and a research paleontologist in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. “If currently threatened species – those officially classed as critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable – actually went extinct, and that rate of extinction continued, the sixth mass extinction could arrive within as little as 3 to 22 centuries,” he said. Nevertheless, Barnosky added, it’s not too late to save these critically endangered mammals and other such species and stop short of the tipping point. That would require dealing with a perfect storm of threats, including habitat fragmentation, invasive species, disease and global warming. Coauthor Charles Marshall, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology and director of the campus’s Museum of Paleontology, emphasized that the small number of recorded extinctions to date does not mean we are not in a crisis. “Just because the magnitude is low compared to the biggest mass extinctions we’ve seen in a half a billion years doesn’t mean to say that they aren’t significant,” he said. “Even though the magnitude is fairly low, present rates are higher than during most past mass extinctions.”

 

LINK: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-earth-sixth-mass-extinction.html

 

Scientists find Arctic blooms are occurring earlier each year

 

March 3, 2011 - ARCTIC – Warming temperatures and melting ice in the Arctic may be behind a progressively earlier bloom of a crucial annual marine event, and the shift could hold consequences for the entire food chain and carbon cycling in the region. Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, along with colleagues in Portugal and Mexico, plotted the yearly spring bloom of phytoplankton — tiny plants at the base of the ocean food chain — in the Arctic Ocean and found the peak timing of the event has been progressing earlier each year for more than a decade. The researchers analyzed satellite data depicting ocean color and phytoplankton production to determine that the spring bloom has come up to 50 days earlier in some areas in that time span. The earlier Arctic blooms have roughly occurred in areas where ice concentrations have dwindled and created gaps that make early blooms possible, say the researchers, who publish their findings in the March 9 edition of the journal Global Change Biology. During the one- to two-week spring bloom, which occurs in warm as well as cold regions, a major influx of new organic carbon enters the marine ecosystem through a massive peak in phytoplankton photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide into organic matter as part of the global carbon cycle. Phytoplankton blooms stimulate production of zooplankton, microscopic marine animals, which become a food.

 

LINK: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110302171320.htm

 

Earthquake seismic waves can trigger other seismic events across the planet

 

March 2, 2011 – LOS ANGELES – By studying seismographs from the earthquake that hit Chile last February, earth scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found a statistically significant increase of microearthquakes in central California in the first few hours after the main shock. The observation provides an additional support that seismic waves from distant earthquakes could also trigger seismic events on the other side of Earth. The results may be found online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. It has been well known that microearthquakes can be triggered instantaneously by distant earthquakes. However, sometimes the triggered events could occur long after the passage of the direct surface waves that take the shortest path on Earth’s surface. There are several other explanations out there about how such delayed triggering occurs. Some involve the redistribution of pore fluids and triggered aseismic creep, while others simply consider them as aftershocks of the directly triggered events. But the group from Georgia Tech found something different. “From our research, we’ve concluded the delayed triggering that occurs in the first few hours after an earthquake could be caused by multiple surface waves traveling back and forth around the Earth multiple times,” said Zhigang Peng, assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech. In a previous paper, also published in Geophysical Research Letters last December, Peng’s research group found that the direct surface waves of the Chilean earthquake triggered seismic activity in central California. In this new study, Peng’s group looked beyond the direct surface waves and focused on secondary and tertiary waves that return after traveling across the globe multiple times. In addition, they went beyond earthquake information published in the U.S. Geological Survey catalog and instead studied the seismographs.

 

LINK: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110225082930.htm

 

Scientists warn of more intense future snowstorms as climate unravels

 

March 2, 2011 – JAPAN – Climate change is not only making the planet warmer, it is also making snowstorms stronger and more frequent, US scientists said on Tuesday. “Heavy snowstorms are not inconsistent with a warming planet,” said scientist Jeff Masters, as part of a conference call with reporters and colleagues convened by the Union of Concern Scientists. “In fact, as the Earth gets warmer and more moisture gets absorbed into the atmosphere, we are steadily loading the dice in favor of more extreme storms in all seasons, capable of causing greater impacts on society.” Masters said that the northeastern United States has been coated in heavy snowfall from major Category Three storms or larger three times in each of the past two winters, storms that are unparalleled since the winter of 1960-61. “If the climate continues to warm, we should expect an increase in heavy snow events for a few decades, until the climate grows so warm that we pass the point where it’s too warm for it to snow heavily.” Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, said less sea ice in the Artic translates to more moisture in the atmosphere, and could also cause an atmospheric circulation pattern in polar regions known as Arctic Oscillation. “It’s still cutting-edge research and there’s no smoking gun, but there’s evidence that with less sea ice, you put a lot of heat from the ocean into the atmosphere, and the circulation of the atmosphere responds to that,” Serreze said.

 

LINK: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.065c95c9ec87c66849736794b4625215.831&show_article=1

 

Sunburn: Solar wind from coronal hole blast planet Earth

 

March 2, 2011 - MAGNETIC STORM IN PROGRESS: A solar wind stream hit Earth’s magnetic field during the early hours of March 1st. The impact sparked a geomagnetic storm that was, at first, minor, but the storm has been intensifying throughout the day. Spotters are now reporting auroras over Northern Ireland, Scotland, Latvia, Norway, and Sweden. If trends continue, the display could spread to the high latitudes of North America after nightfall. Stay tuned! -Space Weather

Well, we said this was a nasty hole rotating towards the planet. Solar wind speeds have revved up to 638 km/sec. We’re on the watch for the eruption of flares with this present sunspot cluster. Below the planet magnetosphere is hit with a burn blast from the rabid flow of the solar wind stream.

 

LINK:

 

 

Lost Horizon: Magnetic field reversal effects increasing

 

March 1, 2011 - The Earth’s magnetic field is changing at an increasing rate, throwing off airports and altering the aurora borealis — and its effect on ordinary compasses could mean the difference between homeward bound and hopelessly lost. Earth’s northernmost magnetic point — or magnetic north — is distinct from its geographic North Pole, and scientists have long known that the magnetic poles are on the move. But the magnetic poles have been moving faster lately, sliding towards Siberia at 34 miles per year at a speed that’s accelerated 36 percent over the last 10 years, according to the United States Geological Survey, or USGS. “At Washington D.C., the compass points 10 degrees to the west of true north,” Jeffrey Love, USGS advisor for geomagnetic research, told FoxNews.com. “And this is increasing at Washington at a rate of about 1/10 of a degree per year.” But don’t touch that calibration dial just yet: The accuracy of compasses fluctuates with the field, he said, meaning compasses are more or less accurate depending on where you use them. “It’s different at different places on the earth,” Love said. The magnetic shift is costing the aviation and marine industries millions of dollars to upgrade navigational systems and charts, Florida’s Sun Sentinel reported.

 

LINK: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/25/ordinary-compasses-thrown-changes-earths-magnetic-field/

[mooeypoo]

Which one do you want to discuss, Yomomma? We can't discuss all of these. Pick one.

[Spyman]

Seems like Yomomma is reposting the NWO and doomsday stuff again, the OP looks like the front page of The Extinction Protocol.

 

Our planet is dying and this is no mere rendezvous with a date on a Mayan calendar in 2012. It’s the mass termination of life on planet Earth. Nature is under a scientific directive. It is irreversible. It is the extinction protocol.

...

Civilization is poised on the precipice of the most stupendous crisis in Earth’s history and we are running out of time to save what remains left of the human race.

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/about/

[CaptainPanic]

Since this thread has no topic, I'll just throw in a short story by one of my favorite writers: Roald Dahl.

 

It's called "Beware of the Dog".

 

If somehow, below, this thread manages to get a topic, then mods can delete this post because I never even attempted to be on any topic.

Edited March 4, 2011 by CaptainPanic

[mooeypoo]

Also, it seems Yomomma is content in just throwing away garbage threads and running from discussion.

 

That doesn't really help convincing us, Yomomma. It's also against the rules of the forum. Open a blog or something.

[PhDwannabe]

Pfft. Like any of this is going to matter after May, anyway.

[SMF]

Wannabe, I found the Febrize air freshener commercial that I got before the main feature to be almost as scary. Amazing! SM

[seismic dunedain]

I don't really know what the topic is except maybe panic, but I can reassure everyone so they can sleep tonight that this planet will survive us and it will be alive and well long after we're gone.

[Spyman]

Very reassuring, now I can sleep good because I know Earth will still be here after my death...

 

Actually, joking aside, I am optimistic and think the human race will outlive our home planet. When the Sun enters its red giant phase in about 5 billion years and torch Earth, we will since long have learnt how to master instellar space travel and already have multiple colonies spread out in several other solar systems.

[CaptainPanic]

Very reassuring, now I can sleep good because I know Earth will still be here after my death...

 

Actually, joking aside, I am optimistic and think the human race will outlive our home planet. When the Sun enters its red giant phase in about 5 billion years and torch Earth, we will since long have learnt how to master instellar space travel and already have multiple colonies spread out in several other solar systems.

Yeah, but will we still be humans? I'd be very surprised if our crappy DNA hadn't changed during the next 5 billion years. There's quite a lot of room for improvement.

[Spyman]

Yeah, but will we still be humans? I'd be very surprised if our crappy DNA hadn't changed during the next 5 billion years. There's quite a lot of room for improvement.

I agree, we will probably improve our own DNA substantional and might even complement our bodies with mechanical/electronic devices, but we will still be of the human race even if we no longer can be considered Homo Sapiens.

[CaptainPanic]

I agree, we will probably improve our own DNA substantional and might even complement our bodies with mechanical/electronic devices, but we will still be of the human race even if we no longer can be considered Homo Sapiens.

I meant to say that our DNA will change even if we don't like it to change. Humans are still part of evolution. There is still a selection going on today.

It does not require DNA improvements by microbiologists to achieve this. Nature is well-capable of doing it too, given enough time.

[Spyman]

I meant to say that our DNA will change even if we don't like it to change. Humans are still part of evolution. There is still a selection going on today.

It does not require DNA improvements by microbiologists to achieve this. Nature is well-capable of doing it too, given enough time.

I agree again, but a natural change might not be what we would consider an improvement and if we manage to take control of our DNA we will be able counter nature.

[JohnB]

I think it more likely that as we travel out around the Galaxy we will modify our DNA to suit the conditions of the planets we find.

 

It would depend on the final methods of transportation that we use. If some form of instantaneous "Stargate" type travel (or very fast Hyperspace) then there would be little change to the DNA. Communities on opposite sides of the Galaxy would be in close contact with each other and divergence would be minimised.

 

However if the hypothetical travel while much faster than light, only logs say a light year per day then the human population will diverge. Even at such speeds a trip from one side of the Galaxy to the other would take 273 years. Assuming that relativistic effects have no place in hyperspace then this is far longer than the human lifespan and direct communication becomes impossible. Even at a light year per hour it would take more than 10 years to cross the Galaxy.

 

In such a case the development of the human creature and his morals, ethics and governmental concepts would diverge rapidly from the central systems. It would be like the spread of Europeans during the age of sail but with longer travel times and very high tech.

 

In this situation, as we spread around the Galaxy (and assuming we don't find anybody else) then in many thousands of years time, somewhere on the opposite side from Earth we will finally meet aliens, and they will be us.

[Spyman]

In this situation, as we spread around the Galaxy (and assuming we don't find anybody else) then in many thousands of years time, somewhere on the opposite side from Earth we will finally meet aliens, and they will be us.

Hopefully we will have improved on our diplomatic skills by then or otherwise our first Galactic War is about to start...

Edited March 9, 2011 by Spyman

[Yomomma]

Millions of fish float dead in California marina

 

 

March 9, 2011 – REDONDO BEACH, CA (KTLA) — Authorities say the millions of dead fish that washed up in King Harbor near Redondo Beach are not the victims of foul play. The dead fish, mostly sardines along with anchovies and mackerel, are apparently floating up to the surface from the ocean floor. KTLA’s Sky5 captured images of the fish completely coating the water’s surface in Basins 1 and 2 of the north side of King Harbor. “All evidence points to oxygen deprivation as cause of death,” says California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan. “There is no oil sheen, nor is there a chemical sheen,” Hughan said. Redondo Beach Police Sgt. Phil Keenan said authorities are confident of test results showing that oxygen deprivation caused the massive fish kill because the other part of the sardine school is alive and well in the mouth of the harbor.

 

 

LINK: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-redondo-beach-dead-fish,0,2760912.story

 

Solar activity now acclerating on the Sun

 

March 8, 2011 – HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY: Solar Cycle 24 is heating up. No fewer than three sunspots (1164, 1165, and 1166) are crackling with M-class solar flares, and each of them has a delta-class magnetic field capable of producing even more powerful X-flares. -Space Weather South Africa: “The Hermanus Space Weather Warning Centre (SWWC) on Sunday said a large solar flare was currently being experienced in South Africa. The solar flare would result in higher radiation levels from the sun. SWWC’s forecaster Kobus Olckers said people should be careful when they go outside. “People must wear high sunscreen factor at the moment or preferably go shopping,” he said. A powerful solar flare could overwhelm high-voltage transformers with electrical currents and short-circuit energy grids, with one such event in 1989 disrupting power across the Canadian province of Quebec.”

 

LINK: http://technology.iafrica.com/science/711810.html

 

Lithospheric fracturing being reported across the globe

 

March 7, 2011 - Unexplained fissures in the ground in Michigan, Bolivia, the Philippines, Peru and the most recent eruption in Gulistan Pakistan (video). Unexplained surface deformation of the planet should in itself alarm us especially when most of the events erupted with no reported accompanying episodes of seismic activity. Lithospheric fracturing of the planet’s crust is another sign terrestrial tensile integrity is degrading. This phenomenon was also reported in India in February of this year when land cracks set off a panic in Jamuria, in the Burdwan district of India.

 

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg0pMzqoe7c&feature=player_embedded

 

LINK: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/land-cracks-set-off-panic-in-burdwan/744931/

 

New scientific study finds dormant volcanoes can awaken in months

 

 

March 6, 2011 – PHILIPPINES – Until now it was thought that once a volcano’s magma chamber had cooled down it remained dormant for centuries before it could be remobilized by fresh magma. A theoretical model developed by Alain Burgisser of the Orléans Institute of Earth Sciences (Institut des Sciences de la Terre d’Orléans — CNRS/Universités d’Orléans et de Tours) together with a US researcher, was tested on two major eruptions and completely overturned this hypothesis: the reawakening of a chamber could take place in just a few months. This research should lead to a reassessment of the dangerousness of some dormant volcanoes. It is published in the journal Nature dated 3 March 2011. A magma chamber is a large reservoir of molten rock (magma) located several kilometers beneath a volcano, which it feeds with magma. But what happens to the magma chamber when the volcano is not erupting? According to volcanologists, it cools down to an extremely viscous mush until fresh magma from deep inside Earth ‘reawakens’ it, in other words fluidizes it by heating it through thermal contact. The large size of magma chambers (ranging from a few tenths to a few hundred cubic kilometers) explains why, according to this theory, it takes several hundred or even thousand years for the heat to spread to the whole reservoir, awakening the volcano from its dormant state. However, according to the mathematical model developed by Burgisser and his US colleague, reheating takes place in three stages. When fresh hot magma rises from below and arrives beneath the chamber, it melts the viscous magma at the base of the reservoir. This freshly molten magma therefore becomes less dense and starts to rise through the chamber, forcing the rest of the viscous mush to mix. It is this mixing process that enables the heat to spread through the chamber a hundred times faster than volcanologists had predicted. Depending on the size of the chamber and the viscosity of the magma it contains, a few months may be sufficient to rekindle its activity. For Pinatubo, for instance, the mathematical model predicted that 20 to 80 days were sufficient to remobilize the underlying chamber, whereas the conventional theory gave a figure of 500 years. In reality, there was a gap of two months between the tremors and the eruption of the volcano.

 

LINK: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110304114856.htm

 

Seismic activity increases again at Iceland’s Krýsuvík volcano

 

March 6, 2011 - ICELAND – It appears that Krýsuvík volcano earthquake activity is increasing again. This time around it appears that the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano has moved more to the west then last weeks earthquake activity. The biggest earthquake so far is a ML2.1 earthquake with the depth of 6.9 according to automatic data on Icelandic Met Office web page. The new earthquake area in Krýsuvík volcano. It is more to the west then the earthquake area that was making earthquakes last week.

 

LINK: http://www.jonfr.com/volcano/

 

 

Hawaii: A look at the new fissure eruptions near Pu`u `O`o and Napau Crater

 

March 6, 2011 – HAWAII – The geologists with the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory have released a first look at the new fissure eruption that just started today between Pu`u `O`o and Napau Crater. According to geologists, the first portion of the video was shot from the air looking southwest at the fissure eruption between Pu`u `O`o and Napau Crater. The fissure segment in the tephra in the foreground opened seconds earlier, and only about 10 minutes after the eruption as a whole started. The cracks through the tephra are in the process of opening, though this can’t be picked out at this distance. Meanwhile, the current Volcano Alert Level for Kilauea on Hawaii Island has been upgraded from Watch to Warning, and the current aviation color code has been upgraded from “orange” to “red. –

 

LINK: http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2011/03/05/video-first-look-at-new-volcano-fissure-erupting-in-hawaii/

 

We now declare an H5N1 avian bird flu pandemic is underway in animals

 

March 5, 2011 - PALESTINE, JENIN (Ma’an) — A flock of 2,000 turkeys has been diagnosed with the H5N1 “bird flu” virus in the northern West Bank village of Silat Al-Harithiya near Jenin, government officials said. The veterinary department of the Palestinian Authority Agriculture Ministry said it had managed to prevent an epidemic. Director of the department in Jenin Jamil Makhamra told Ma’an that government and private vets examined the flock on Feb. 27 after many of the birds died. Samples were examined at the veterinary medicine center in Ramallah, where it was confirmed that the birds had influenza A subtype of H5N1, also known as “bird flu.” Makhamra said further samples were sent to a veterinary lab in Israel on March 2, but that even before the results were received, vets buried the dead birds, and killed and buried the rest of the flock according to international regulations. The whole farm was sterilized, Makhamra added. Results from the Israeli lab confirmed that the turkeys had bird flu. The ministry official said all necessary procedures were carried out according to international standards. All farms within three kilometers were examined once every 48 hours, and a quarantine was imposed on a 10-kilometer radius for three days preventing the exit or entry of any farm birds, he said. –

 

LINK: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=365697

 

More evidence of spread to Hong Kong: BEIJING – A goose carcass found on a Chinese beach has tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu virus, officials in Hong Kong said. The decomposed carcass was found at a beach near Sham Shek Tsuen Lantau, said Xinhua, China’s official news agency. Hong Kong’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said Friday there were no poultry farms within 3 miles of where the dead bird was discovered. A spokesman for the department said officials should remain on the lookout for sick birds and that it would work to prevent the illegal importation of poultry and birds into the city. -

 

LINK: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/03/05/Dead-goose-carried-bird-flu-virus/UPI-10841299353262/

 

New outbreaks in Bangladesh: Dhaka, Mar 5 (bdnews24.com) – Around 2,000 chickens have been culled in Gazipur and Noakhali following the detection of H5N1 virus, commonly known as bird flu. Gazipur Sadar Upazila livestock officer Mohammad Shamsur Rahman on Saturday told bdnews24.com that the bird flu infection was confirmed by the Central Diseases Investigation Laboratory in Dhaka. Some 1, 137 chickens were executed around 10pm on Friday, when 205 eggs were also destroyed. Apart from this, in the last two days, over 13,000 chickens were executed in the district. –

 

LINK: http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=189009&cid=13

 

 

New outbreaks in South Korea: South Korea confirmed an additional bird flu case at a duck farm in the central part of the country on Saturday. Tests showed that the 12,400 birds at a poultry farm in Cheonan, 92 kilometers south of Seoul, were infected with the virulent H5N1 strain of the avian influenza (AI), the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service (NVRQS) said. This is the second case of the highly pathogenic avian influenza reported in the country this month as the number of AI cases has started to fall off in recent weeks. It is also the first AI confirmation in Cheonan in 33 days. All ducks on the farm will be culled with quarantine authorities asking nearby farms to be vigilant on protecting their birds. The latest case marks the 49th bird flu outbreak confirmed in the country since suspected cases were first reported on Dec. 29, the NVRQS said. The government has since culled more than 6.04 million birds in six provinces across the country. –

 

LINK: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/03/113_82526.html

 

New outbreaks in India: Fresh cases of avian influenza or bird flu have been detected in another Tripura poultry farm, and culling of birds is expected to start on Monday, an official said on Sunday. “At least 400 poultry birds have died since March 1 at the Gandhi Gram government poultry farm. Central government expe rts tested the samples of the dead birds and found them positive for the H5 strain of avian influenza,” Tripura animal resource development department Joint Director Jyotirmoy Chakraborty told IANS. According to officials, if the two reports are confirmed positive for the H5 strain of avian influenza, the culling of birds would start from Monday at the government poultry farm where more than 7,000 poultry birds are lodged. -

 

LINK: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Fresh-cases-of-bird-flu-in-Tripura/Article1-670131.aspx

 

Chickens dying in 8 districts of Sumatra, Indonesia: Residents in Padang, West Sumatra, have been warned about a possible bird flu endemic after five people were suspected of having contracted the virus. “Padang residents should take precautions,” Padang Health Agency head Afrida Aziz was quoted as saying in Padang on Saturday by Antara news agency. She said monitoring bird flu remained a top priority given the impact of the deadly disease, especially in the wake of reports of mass chicken deaths in the city’s eight districts. The eight districts are Padang Barat, Padang Utara, Padang Timur, Padang Selatan, Kuranji, Lubuk Begalung, Koto Tangah and Nanggalo. “In those eight districts, residents have reported that many fowl died suddenly,” Afrida said. She added her agency was working with the town’s agriculture, forestry and plantation agencies to monitor cases and called for chicken breeders to immediately report unusual chicken deaths to effectively roll out preventive measures to contain the virus. The five people reported to have contracted the bird flu virus have been hospitalized. “Doctors are examining their blood samples,” Afrida said. –

 

LINK: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/03/06/bird-flu-alert-heightened-padang-city.html

 

Scientists alarmed as bumblebee numbers plunge worldwide

 

March 5, 2011- Bumblebees, also known as Bombus terristris, are the pollinating cousins of wasps and hornets. They are the number one pollinator for wild growing plants as well as commercial agriculture; you may have seen them flitting around your Gran’s tomato plants on summer evenings, busy at work. However, these popular and beloved buzzing insects that help bring us all kinds of food– from coffee beans to fresh apples — bring alarming news. In the past few decades scientific studies have found that increasing numbers of bumblebee colonies are disappearing. It’s possible that Bombus affinis, one of the many bumblebee subspecies native to North America, have all but died out. Between 1976 and 2006, there was a huge loss in the number of wild bumblebee colonies; they are now almost completely gone. Not only North America is suffering from this bumblebee disappearance; in the UK, over the past 70 years 3 out of 24 native bumblebee species have gone extinct. Why are bumblebees suddenly taking leave of their duties as master pollinators? Well, it appears that no one person can agree on a single cause. Scientific evidence strongly suggests that the combination of insecticides and disease from imported bees, bred in greenhouses, are two main causes of bee deaths. One highly dangerous group of insecticides, called neonicotinoids, have been used since the 90s in North America on a wide variety of crops. The bees’ fragile internal organs and furry bodies are extremely susceptible to toxic chemicals, and as many farmers douse their crops with these chemicals, the bees and crops suffer together. Bumblebees also find it very difficult to adapt to the changing environment as the air gets hotter and hotter. Climate change, environmental stress, harmful chemicals- these are all human induced symptoms that are believed to be contributing to rapid bee extinction. Without the bees, our crops will not receive the healthy and widely spread pollination needed to continue reproducing, and the quality of our worldwide produce will be compromised. Bumblebees aren’t the only ones suffering from such causes like global warming and climate change. All species, from whales to Siberian tigers to tiny amphibians, are dying because of similar reasons.

 

LINK: http://www.earthtimes.org/nature/bumblebees-gone-wind-major-disappearance/376/

 

March 19′s bad moon rising: Will there be earthquakes and lightning?

 

March 5, 2011 – The astronomer Richard Nolle coined the term “Super Moon” which means a new or full moon at 90% or greater of its closest perigee to Earth. Well on March 19th the moon will be at perigee (its closest position in its orbit to Earth). This will be the closest perigee in 18 years. The largest effect will be on the tide which occurs at the full moon every month as the closer to the earth the moon orbits, so the effect on tides increases. A 5% increase in proximity makes about 20% difference in the power the moon exerts so those in coastal regions should anticipate stronger tides. An extreme “SuperMoon” is when the moon is full or new as well as at its 100% greater mean perigee (closest) distance to earth. By this definition, last month’s full moon, this month’s and next month’s will all be extreme “SuperMoons”. Some largely internet-based claims say such events are related to catastrophes such as extreme seismic events or extreme weather and some coincidental strong events have happened at the same time as Super Moons, however no definitive scientific research has concluded that.

 

 

LINK: http://www.ksby.com/news/super-moons-what-are-they-/

 

Super tide claims life of several swimmers in Dubai

 

March 5, 2011 – DUBAI - Two people drowned in rough seas opposite the Jumeirah Beach Residence (JBR) development in Dubai Marina yesterday (Friday). A British man on holiday was pulled from the sea near the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort at about 1.45pm. A group of beachgoers attempted to resuscitate him, and then an ambulance crew gave him further treatment on the scene. Less than two hours later a second body, believed to be a European man in his mid-40s, was pulled from the surf nearby. An official at Rashid Hospital in Dubai confirmed that it received two men dead on arrival. Dubai Police Rescue Operations and Dubai municipality officials ordered the beach to be closed to swimmers at 4pm. A Dubai Municipality official at the beach said there were several other near drownings. He added: “We are closing down the beach. We have had five cases in one day and this is due to the undercurrents that are pulling swimmers in.” “The sea was really hard core,” he said. “The waves were about five to six feet high and you would stick your feet in the water and feel the current dragging you out.” WAM, the state news agency, had earlier issued a statement warning people about strong tides.

 

LINK: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/three-drown-in-rough-seas-in-dubai

 

Sunspot activity intensifies on the solar surface

 

March 5, 2011 - BIG SUNSPOTS: Sunspots 1164 and 1166 are so large, people are noticing them at sunrise and sunset when the sun is dimmed by clouds and haze. The dark cores of these regions are many times wider than Earth, so they are conspicuous even from a distance of 93 million miles. Readers who monitor the spots using properly-filtered backyard telescopes are likely to see flares in action; sunspot 1164 in particular has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class eruptions.

AURORA WATCH: A coronal mass ejection (CME) is en route to Earth, due to arrive on March 6th. The CME is slow-moving and not especially massive. Nevertheless, its arrival could provoke geomagnetic storms around the Arctic Circle. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

 

6 quake strikes Kamchatka peninsula in 24 hours

 

March 4, 2011 – Kamchatka, Russia - Kamchatka contains about 160 volcanoes with about 29 of them currently considered as being active. Gorely, Karymsky, Kizimen, Bezymianny, and Sheveluch are volcanoes currently under various watches. The quakes which have rattled the peninsula were a 4.7, a 4.9, followed by a 5.0 and a 5.1 and a 4.7 and a 4.8 - so there seems to be a gradual increase in intensity and activity. We will continue to monitor this region for the possibility of on-going seismic activity.

[swansont]

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