Earth Watch Report – Tuesday July 31st , 2012

July 31, 2012 by desertrose 

Earthquakes

RSOE EDIS

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
31.07.2012 01:40:27	3.0	South-America	Chile	Valparaíso	La Ligua				EMSC
31.07.2012 01:40:51	3.6	South-America	Chile	Maule	Constitucion				EMSC
31.07.2012 01:41:09	2.2	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	San Prospero				EMSC
31.07.2012 00:45:33	5.0	Asia	Russia	Altay	Ust’-Ulagan				USGS-RSOE
31.07.2012 01:41:29	5.0	Europe	Russia	Altay	Ust’-Ulagan				EMSC
31.07.2012 01:41:48	2.1	Europe	Italy	Emilia-Romagna	San Prospero				EMSC
31.07.2012 00:20:29	2.5	North America	United States	California	Olancha				USGS-RSOE
31.07.2012 00:45:51	4.7	Indonesian archipelago	Papua New Guinea	Sandaun	Aitape				USGS-RSOE
31.07.2012 01:42:08	4.7	Indonesian Archipelago	Papua New Guinea	Sandaun	Aitape				EMSC
31.07.2012 00:40:21	3.9	South-America	Bolivia	Potosí	Villa Alota				EMSC
30.07.2012 23:20:37	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Healy				USGS-RSOE
31.07.2012 00:40:49	2.0	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
31.07.2012 00:41:08	2.7	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Agios Dimitrios				EMSC
31.07.2012 00:15:33	2.8	Caribbean	Puerto Rico	Vieques	Esperanza				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 23:05:28	2.9	North America	United States	Washington	Winthrop				USGS-RSOE
31.07.2012 00:41:28	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Malatya	Arguvan				EMSC
30.07.2012 23:40:20	2.8	Europe	Spain	Canary Islands	La Restinga				EMSC
30.07.2012 23:40:51	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
30.07.2012 22:40:21	3.0	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
31.07.2012 00:41:49	2.4	Asia	Turkey	Kütahya	Saphane				EMSC
30.07.2012 22:40:40	3.0	Europe	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina	Kakanj				EMSC
30.07.2012 21:41:49	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 22:50:31	3.1	North America	United States	Oklahoma	Meeker				USGS-RSOE
31.07.2012 01:42:29	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Adana	Kadirli				EMSC
30.07.2012 21:40:27	4.2	South-America	Chile	Bío-Bío	Talcahuano				EMSC
30.07.2012 20:40:30	2.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Adak				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 19:50:35	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Point MacKenzie				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 19:51:03	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Salamatof				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 20:35:26	3.7	South-America	Chile	Coquimbo	Coquimbo				EMSC
30.07.2012 20:35:52	3.7	South-America	Chile	Antofagasta	San Pedro de Atacama				EMSC
30.07.2012 21:41:21	4.6	Asia	Japan	Miyagi	Ishinomaki				EMSC
30.07.2012 19:35:21	2.9	Asia	Turkey	Van	Yuvacik				EMSC
30.07.2012 19:35:51	2.0	Asia	Turkey	Ardahan	Merdinik				EMSC
30.07.2012 18:50:49	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Anderson				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 18:45:48	2.0	North America	United States	California	Newport Beach				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 19:36:11	2.9	South-America	Chile	Antofagasta	Tocopilla				EMSC
30.07.2012 19:36:31	2.3	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Agios Dimitrios				EMSC
30.07.2012 18:10:36	2.7	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 19:25:42	4.4	Pacific Ocean – West	Philippines	Cordillera Administrative Region	Calaba				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 19:36:50	4.6	Pacific Ocean – West	Philippines	Ilocos	Padong				EMSC
30.07.2012 17:45:22	2.3	North America	United States	California	Pearsonville				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 16:56:01	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	False Pass				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 17:30:21	2.1	Asia	Turkey	Gaziantep	Kayakent				EMSC
30.07.2012 16:25:26	3.6	South-America	Bolivia	Potosí	Villa Alota				EMSC
30.07.2012 16:25:54	2.4	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Agios Dimitrios				EMSC
30.07.2012 16:26:18	3.5	South-America	Chile	Antofagasta	San Pedro de Atacama				EMSC
30.07.2012 15:20:33	3.2	Europe	Greece	North Aegean	Agios Dimitrios				EMSC
30.07.2012 23:41:44	3.6	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Manawatu-Wanganui	Wanganui				GEONET
30.07.2012 17:05:37	3.0	Caribbean	Puerto Rico	Corozal	Corozal				USGS-RSOE
30.07.2012 15:20:57	2.4	Europe	Italy	Lombardy	Ospitaletto				EMSC

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Volcanic Activity

Kirishima volcano in Kyushu, Japan on high alert level

BY: T

As our colleague Marc Szlegat reported on Vulkane.Net, the alert level of the Japanese Kirishima volcano (Kirishimayama) was raised last month”orange”. This is the third out of 4 warning levels and means that an eruption could occur any time.
Last year in March, the Shinmoedake crater of the complex volcano Kirishima had a violent eruption that make the headlines. The volcano is located close to the other volcano currently on orange alert in Kyushu, Sakura-jima, which last week had a stronger explosion that caused ashfall in the nearby city of Kagoshima.

• All news about: Kirishima volcano
• Information about: Kirishima volcano

—
Links / Sources:

• Japan Meteorological Agency

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather / Drought

Excessive Heat Warning

TULSA OK
JACKSON MS
SHREVEPORT LA
JACKSON MS
NORMAN OK
MEMPHIS TN
SHREVEPORT LA
SPRINGFIELD MO
WICHITA KS
AMARILLO TX
ST LOUIS MO
FORT WORTH TX
LITTLE ROCK AR

Record high of 111 degrees for Little Rock

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Triple-digit heat intensified across Arkansas on Monday, setting records in at least two cities and increasing the danger for wildfires.
Temperatures exceeded 100 in some areas, and are expected to stick around for much of the week. Low humidity also is settling in, increasing the threat for wildfires.
The daytime high reached 111 degrees in Little Rock, which not only broke the date’s record but marked the third-highest temperature ever recorded in the state’s capital city. The previous record for July 30 was 108 degrees in 1986.
Little Rock reached 114 degrees last year on Aug. 3, the city’s hottest day in 132 years of records. The city’s second-highest temperature on record occurred July 31, 1986, when it hit 112 degrees.
Also Monday, a record was set in Jonesboro, where the mercury peaked at 104, a degree higher than the record set in 1986.
National Weather Service senior forecaster Joe Goudsward warned that little relief from the high temperatures is expected soon.

“There will be some scattered thunderstorms pop up in the heat of the day but as far as anything organized or widespread, it’s not expected,” Goudsward said.

An upper-level ridge of high pressure is parked over the region. It’s expected to shift a bit to the west, but it may only shave five or six degrees off daytime highs, Goudsward said. After a brief cool-down, the ridge is forecast to rebuild, he said.
Arkansas’ all-time high is 120 degrees, set in Ozark on Aug. 10, 1936.
(Story distributed by The Associated Press)

Heat record broken Monday

The mercury rose to over 30 degrees Celsius for the first time this summer in eastern Finland as meteorologists warned of severe thunderstorms later in the day.

Calm before the storm. Image: Eelis Pulkkinen

The temperature exceeded the 30-degree mark in Tohmajärvi, Lieksa and Juuka in North Karelia, close to the Russian border.  But the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) says that a cooler weather front has already arrived in western Finland and will start moving eastwards soon, making the current heatwave quite short-lived. More storms thunder in Severe thunderstorms are expected to whip up very strong wind gusts on Monday, warns the FMI. Winds may reach speeds of 25 metres per second in North Ostrobothnia and western Finland, and elsewhere in the country gusts of some 15 m/s are expected. Additionally, heavy rainfall is forecast for various parts of Finland on Monday. Thunderstorms left thousands without electricity in different parts of Finland on Sunday. Most of them had been fixed by Monday afternoon. At 1pm, some 200 Fortum customers were still without power. Elenia (formerly known as Vattenfall) had about 1,200 customers without service at that time.

Sources    Yle

Related items

  Record lightning strikes on Sunday 30.7.

 The summer’s worst thunderstorm hits Finland  29.7. 



Italy’s Cows Produce Less Milk Even With Cooling Fans, Showers
 By Rudy Ruitenberg

Italian dairy cattle are producing 10 percent less milk because of a heat wave, even as 

farmers take steps to cool the animals including showers and fans, Coldiretti said.

Corn, tomato, beet and sunflower crops have been damaged across the country and some areas 

have received no rain for months, the Rome-based agricultural union said in an e-mailed statement today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.ne



Heat wave keeps on in Bucharest, 19 counties in South, East on Monday
The National Weather Forecaster has extended a Code Yellow warning of heat till Monday for southern and 
eastern Romania, Bucharest included, while downpours and thunderstorms are expected in the country's 
West, Center and North starting Sunday night.According to a weather warning issued by the Forecaster 
on Sunday, the high temperatures at between 35 and 37 degrees Celsius will keep on in southern and 
eastern Romania and will even hit 38 C in some cities.

Drought and wild fires destroy Russian harvest

Eugene Nikitenko

Photo: RIA Novosti

Russia is currently in the grips of an extremely strong heat wave. City and town residents are suffocating from the sweltering heat. For example, it is about 30 degrees in Moscow with prospects of the thermometer going up in the next few days. The heat wave situation is aggravated by wild fires producing clods of poisonous smoke. The wood rich Siberian taiga near Krasnoyarsk is fighting 83 fires on the territory of 12.130 hectares. As for rural Russia, that only last year was the world’s third-biggest grain producer, it suffers colossal damages. It threats to destroy a significant part of the crops. If last year’s harvest amounted to 94 million tons, this year it is a predicted at 80 to 85 million. Given the situation, earlier in July the Agriculture Ministry had to revise its harvest predictions.
As Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes, the hardest hit are the important grain-producing areas including Kuban, Stavropol, Volgograd, Volga, Rostov-on-Don, Lipetsk, Penza, Ulyanovsk, Kurgan and Altai. Nevertheless, Arkady Zlochevsky, president of the Russian Grain Union thinks that “The risks are there, but then there is a chance to avoid them.” Zlochevksy added that there will be 85 million tons of crops and the size of the harvest would depend on the weather. With the leftover stocks from previous harvests, the export potential will then be about 18-20 million tons. Although this is less than last year, when the country exported more than 26 million tons, it is still better than 2010, when the droughts and wild fires in Russia ruined about a third of all the grain harvested and the country had to impose an embargo on grain exports. The area of Russia’s irrigated fields is about 2.5 million hectares, and Russia has 44 million hectares of land under spring crops this year. “The biggest losses are not caused by the weather, it is rather the failure to comply with production rules in bad weather,” said Zlochevsky.
On the other hand Oleg Sukhanov, head of the market analysis unit at the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies, thinks that Russia may gather in only 77 million tons of grain. And, Sukhanov said, “that is not the worst-case scenario.”
His forecast is worrisome as Russia’s annual domestic consumption amounts to 67 million to 72 million tons. As is expected this year Russia may consume up to 68.5 million tons of grain and so, considering the remaining stocks from previous years, Sukhanov’s institute colleagues are putting the Russian grain export potential this year at a mere 13.5 million tons.
If so, that would be all we will be able to sell to our traditional buyers of grain in the Middle East and North Africa, and some Southeast Asian countries that joined them last year. “But this is not a long-term trend. Next season, Russia might have a good crop and again become a leader among world grain exporters,” Sukhanov said.
Despite the poor forecast for this year, Russia has ambitious plans for increasing its grain exports. The new edition of the national program for development of agriculture for 2013-2020, adopted in early July, set a target of a 115-million-ton grain harvest by 2020, which should bring Russia within reach of the United States, the traditional leader on the global grain market.
The current Russian predicament begins to tell on the world prices. Although there is no acute grain shortage in the world, other major grain producers, including the United States, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and China, are experiencing some problems. Forecasts in these countries account for the current high grain prices, about $330 per ton of food wheat. Sukhanov believes global grain prices could rise by another 10 percent before the year is out.
However, our experts do not believe that this will make a big difference in the prices of bread, meat and other staples because the share of grain in the end product is small. For example, in Russia, grain accounts for only 23 percent of a loaf of white bread.
So, as the saying in Russia went some 20 years ago, “the fight for the harvest is going on.”

30.07.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Idaho, [Salmon/Challis Forest]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 18:42 (06:42 PM) UTC.

Description

A fire north of Stanley in the Salmon/Challis Forest on the border of the Frank Church Wilderness of No Return continues to grow after it sparked Friday. U.S. Forest Service officials say the Halstead Fire is now threatening several campgrounds, as well as a local boy scout camp. The exact location of the fire is about 15 miles north of Stanley, between Beaver Creek and Marsh Creek near Seafoam Lake. Officials say lightning started the fire on Friday, and it has now grown to at least 60 acres. Several nearby campgrounds have been evacuated. The Bradley Boy Scout Camp is also in the area. Two-hundred scouts have been evacuated and the camp has been shut down for around 200 more scouts who were set to go to the camp this week. Officials from the U.S. Forest Service Regional Office in Salmon, Idaho, say one heavy-attack firefighting helicopter is currently battling the flames. Several fire crews, including two USFS hotshot crews, two USFS hand crews, and several smoke jumpers are standing-by to protect nearby camp-grounds and homes.

30.07.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

Canada

Province of British Columbia, [Wilson's Landing]

Forest / Wild Fire in Canada on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 16:53 (04:53 PM) UTC.

Description

An evacuation alert has been issued for approximately 50 properties in the Wilson’s Landing area of West Kelowna, B.C., after a wildfire jumped a fireguard late Sunday night. The fire was sparked by lightning on Friday and was declared contained by noon on Sunday. However, on Sunday night winds in the area picked up and fanned the flames and on Monday morning officials said what was a fire of 4.4 hectares had grown to 30 hectares, and was only 20 per cent contained. “Crews have been on site overnight working hard to re-establish containment lines where it was safe to do so. The fire spread is southward and towards Westside Road. At this time Westside Road is closed for the safety of the public,” said a statement issued by the Forest Service. Early Monday morning, officials with the Regional District of Central Okanagan issued an evacuation alert for 40 to 50 homes in the Jenny Creek subdivision — and those along Blue Grouse Road, Browse Road and parts of Westside Road, all in the Wilson’s Landing area of West Kelowna. Residents are being urged to be ready to leave their homes on short notice. The fire has also closed a 14-kilometre section of Westside Road from Bear Creek Road to Browse Road, as fire crews carry out a controlled burn. “It’s right adjacent the road right now. Our crews are currently actively burning the fuels between the road and that fire, and they’re using Westside Road as a natural fire guard,” said fire information officer Michaela Swan. There’s no word when Westside Road will re-open. Residents are being asked to detour north through Vernon to get to Kelowna. About 25 firefighters, two helicopters and two air tankers are fighting the flames.

30.07.2012

Forest / Wild Fire

USA

State of Oklahoma, [Pottawatomie County]

Forest / Wild Fire in USA on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 04:58 (04:58 AM) UTC.

Description

Wildfires burned across the state Sunday, with one blaze threatening about100 homes in Pottawatomie County. The fire, which started Sunday afternoon about two miles northwest of Earlsboro, was encroaching upon structures, and a mandatory evacuation order was put into effect, state emergency management spokeswoman Keli Cain said. The Pottawatomie County sheriff’s office said about 30 homes were evacuated in the town about 50 miles east of Oklahoma City. By 9:30 p.m., people were allowed to return to their homes and some firefighters were being allowed to leave the scene, Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said. “The fire is contained, but not out,” Booth said. There were no reports of injuries or homes lost to the fire on Sunday. The fire had scorched across about 1,300 acres before being contained, Cain said. Firefighting resources were brought in from Cleveland County, and an Oklahoma National Guard helicopter made water drops, she said.

………………………

Worsening Illinois drought points to increasingly ominous signs for crops

Dry spell, which could becomes state’s worst on record, may lead to higher food prices

View Video Here

• Related
• Drought statistics

By Michelle Manchir, Chicago Tribune reporterJuly 27, 2012

More than 95 percent of Illinois is in a severe drought or worse, according to a national report Thursday that increased concerns about how the hot, dry summer is affecting farming.Most of Cook County is in a moderate drought, and other parts of the Chicago area are suffering through severe drought. But the central and southern portions of Illinois are experiencing even worse conditions that are classified as extreme or exceptional, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center.Surrounding states, especially Missouri and Indiana, have also been hit hard, with 55.5 percent of the Midwest experiencing at least a severe drought, compared with 45.6 percent of the country.The drought center’s new report doesn’t take into account the bit of rain the Chicago area received this week — about 0.55 inch fell at O’Hare International Airport on Tuesday and Wednesday — but it would take 3 inches or more to have made any significant improvement, said drought center climatologist Brian Fuchs.”In a lot of places in Illinois, this is the worst they remember,” said Emerson Nafziger, a professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois.
About 66 percent of the state’s corn crop is in poor to very poor condition, according to a report his week from the Illinois Department of Agriculture. In states that are major producers of corn nationwide, about 45 percent of the corn is poor or worse, though the total produced this year won’t be known until after September, when harvesting begins, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During the same time last year, only 14 percent of corn crops nationwide were considered poor.
“We’re sitting here, watching the sky; it looks like it could rain,” Nafziger said in by telephone from near Vandalia. “People are kind of pessimistic.”
Nationally, almost 40 percent of agricultural land is experiencing at least a severe drought, which makes the 2012 drought more extensive than any other since the 1950s, according to the USDA.
Illinois Climatologist Jim Angel said July’s heat and lack of rain could make this drought its worst on record, especially because all across the state, farmers’ soil is showing signs of having very little moisture, something essential for plant health.
“In a normal season we rely on soil moisture to get you through August, but we don’t have that,” Angel said.
Less corn production usually means higher food prices, according to the USDA, though the full effect of a sparse corn harvest wouldn’t move through to grocery stores until at least 10 months from now. But grocery shoppers could see the price of chicken or eggs and other meats increase sooner than that, since farmers often scale back on their livestock when the cost of corn feed is high, which can happen when corn production is low, Nafziger said.
Still, some say there’s room for optimism. Angel said long-term forecasts show an increased chance of above-normal precipitation and more normal temperatures over the next two weeks. The heat and dry weather looks to be shifting to the west, maybe making the Midwest a little wetter and milder, Angel said.
“That’s good news if it pans out,” Angel said.
mmanchir@tribune.com

Western North America Faces 2st Century ‘Mega-drought’

CORVALLIS, Oregon, July 30, 2012 (ENS) – The climate’s “new normal” for most of the coming century will parallel the long-term drought that hit western North America from 2000 to 2004 – the most severe drought in 800 years – scientists report in a study published Sunday.
“The severity and incidence of climatic extremes, including drought, have increased as a result of climate warming,” the researchers said, adding that these long-term trends are consistent with a 21st century “megadrought.”
Crops and forests died and river basins dried, but as bad as conditions were during the 2000-04 drought, in the future they may be seen as the good old days, a group of 10 researchers warned Sunday in the journal “Nature Geoscience.”

Pinyon pine forests near Los Alamos, New Mexico, had begun to turn brown from drought stress in 2002, left. Another photo taken in 2004 from the same vantage point, right, show them grey and dead. (Photo by Craig Allen, U.S. Geological Survey)

Climate models and precipitation projections indicate this period will be closer to the “wet end” of a drier hydroclimate during the last half of the 21st century, the scientists said.
“Climatic extremes such as this will cause more large-scale droughts and forest mortality, and the ability of vegetation to sequester carbon is going to decline,” said Beverly Law, a co-author of the study, professor of global change biology and terrestrial systems science at Oregon State University, and former science director of AmeriFlux, an ecosystem observation network.
The 2000-04 drought had the effect of amplifying climate change as vegetation withered and could no longer take up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
This drought cut carbon sequestration by an average of 51 percent in the western United States, Canada and Mexico, the scientists calculate, although some areas were hit much harder than others. As the plants died, they released more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, with the effect of amplifying global warming.
“During this drought, carbon sequestration from this region was reduced by half,” Law said. “That’s a huge drop. And if global carbon emissions don’t come down, the future will be even worse.”
The effects are driven by human-caused increases in temperature, with associated lower soil moisture and decreased runoff in all major water basins of the western United States, researchers said in the study.

Drought has affected Colorado farm lands near Strasburg, Colorado, July 21, 2012. (Photo by Lance Cheung, USDA)

It is not clear whether or not the current drought in the West and Midwest, now being called one of the worst since the Dust Bowl, is related to these same forces, Law said. This study did not address that, and there are some climate mechanisms in western North America that affect that region more than other parts of the country.
But in the West, this multi-year drought was unlike anything seen in many centuries, based on tree ring data. The last two periods with drought events of similar severity were in the Middle Ages, from 977-981 and 1146-1151. The 2000-04 drought affected precipitation, soil moisture, river levels, crops, forests and grasslands.

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Storms, Flooding

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

JACKSONVILLE FL
PUEBLO CO
GREEN BAY WI
GOODLAND KS
MEMPHIS TN
FLAGSTAFF AZ
MOBILE AL
LAS VEGAS NV

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

NORMAN OK

Flash Flood Warning

PUEBLO CO
PHOENIX AZ
BIRMINGHAM AL

Flash Flood Watch

SAN JUAN PR
PHOENIX AZ
SAN DIEGO CA
SALT LAKE CITY UT
LAS VEGAS NV

Flood Advisory

GRAND JUNCTION CO
PHOENIX AZ
TALLAHASSEE FL
MOUNT HOLLY NJ
BIRMINGHAM AL
JUNEAU AK
NORTH PLATTE NE

Coastal Flood Advisory

BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Saola (10W)	Pacific Ocean	28.07.2012	30.07.2012	Typhoon I.	340 °	120 km/h	148 km/h	3.35 m	JTWC

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 3 Storm name: Saola (10W) Area: Pacific Ocean Start up location: N 14° 24.000, E 127° 6.000 Start up: 28th July 2012 Status: 01st January 1970 Track long: 415.49 km Top category.: Report by: JTWC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 30th Jul 2012 15:07:32 N 20° 36.000, E 124° 36.000 9 120 148 Typhoon I. 340 ° 11 JTWC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 01st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 23° 18.000, E 123° 42.000 Typhoon II. 167 204 JTWC 02nd Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 25° 30.000, E 122° 42.000 Typhoon III. 185 232 JTWC 03rd Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 27° 54.000, E 120° 36.000 Typhoon II. 157 194 JTWC 04th Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 29° 36.000, E 117° 18.000 Tropical Storm 83 102 JTWC

Damrey (11W)

Pacific Ocean

29.07.2012

30.07.2012

Tropical Storm

295 °

83 km/h

102 km/h

3.05 m

JTWC

Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 0 Storm name: Damrey (11W) Area: Pacific Ocean Start up location: N 26° 0.000, E 145° 18.000 Start up: 29th July 2012 Status: 01st January 1970 Track long: 36.71 km Top category.: Report by: JTWC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 30th Jul 2012 15:07:05 N 26° 6.000, E 144° 12.000 9 83 102 Tropical Storm 295 ° 10 JTWC Forecast track Date Time Position Category Wind km/h Gust km/h Source 01st Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 29° 6.000, E 134° 18.000 Tropical Storm 102 130 JTWC 02nd Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 31° 24.000, E 126° 12.000 Tropical Storm 74 93 JTWC 03rd Aug 2012 00:00:00 N 31° 54.000, E 117° 48.000 Tropical Depression 37 56 JTWC

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30.07.2012

Tropical Storm

Philippines

Multiple Regions, [Northern and central provinces]

Tropical Storm in Philippines on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 04:57 (04:57 AM) UTC.

Description

One person has died in flooding caused by tropical storm Saola in the central Philippines. Torrential rain brought on by the storm and the south-west monsoon have caused more flooding and landslides in the central and northern Philippines. Landslides have been reported in the mountainous Cordillera region while flood waters have swamped communities in the capital Manila and several nearby provinces. Hundreds of families have been evacuated, with rain on Sunday night causing three major dams to spill over. In the country’s northern and central provinces, five ships have run aground with rescue operations ongoing to bring passengers ashore. Over the weekend, rain blanketed most of the Philippines, forcing the cancellation of at least 13 domestic flights. Tropical storm Saola is now moving northwest towards China.

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Haboob in Phoenix, Arizona July 2012 at Mission Community Church

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Phoenix covered in blanket of dust for second time in a week as massive cloud rolls in from desert

By James Nye and Snejana Farberov
A second cloud of yellow in less than a week overwhelmed suburban Phoenix on Sunday, mixing with torrential rains and gusty winds that wreaked havoc on midday traffic in the area.
The thick wall of dust, known as a haboob, which is Arabic for ‘strong wind,’ was seen making its way through the town of Laveen about eight miles southwest of downtown Phoenix.
The greater Phoenix area and northwest and north central Pinal County were under a dust storm warning that expired at 7pm on Sunday.

Second coming: A large dust cloud was seen making its way through the Phoenix suburb of Laveen on Sunday

This comes just days after an enormous dust cloud measuring around 2,000 feet tall and almost 100km wide swept over the city, traveling at 35mph. The dust cut power to some 9,000 homes and caused disruptions at the local airport.
Caused by Arizona’s monsoon season which begins in early June and runs through till the end of September, haboob’s only occur in Africa, the Middle East, Australia and Phoenix, Arizona.
Known as the granddaddy of dust storms, the haboob is a rare event and is caused by loose dust being blown upwards in the absence of rain and collecting skywards where it is then propelled by another more distant thunderstorm brewing behind it.
Despite some of the 1.5 million residents of Phoenix objecting to the term haboob being used, meteorologists in the city confirmed that they have been using the Arabic word to describe the massive dust storms for over 30 years.
‘I think what’s going on is that we’ve had a higher frequency of stronger dust storms over the last couple of years and the term has been in play much more because of that,’ said Ken Waters of the Phoenix National Weather Service office to KPHO.
Blowing gusts of up to 50 mph at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, the haboob is destructive because of the fine dust particles that manage to permeate everywhere during the storm.

The 2,000 foot tall haboob cloud covers the city of Phoenix, Arizona cutting power to 9,000 homes

The haboob phenomenon affects Phoenix during the months of June through September which is Arizona’s monsoon season

Read  Full Article Here

30.07.2012

Flash Flood

USA

State of Arizona, Fountain Hills

Flash Flood in USA on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 10:45 (10:45 AM) UTC.

Description

The monsoon is here as the weather caused damage and traffic delays due to flooding all over the Valley. Washes in Queen Creek were raging Sunday while deputies tried to manage all the road closures. Part of Hunt Highway was shut down between Gary and Ellsworth roads as the water washed out debris from an abandoned storehouse. Crews cleaned up layers of mud off of Elliot near Ellsworth Sunday night. That road opened up just before 10 p.m. Even the little kids had it all figured out in Fountain Hills, as one 4-year-old told us, “They are cutting the tree so cars can move.” Near Calaveras and Yerba Buena roads, crews worked to clean up a tree that just barely missed hitting cars or houses. “All of a sudden we looked out the front and the tree just went crashing,” said Katherine Gratz. “It is kind of sad. It’s probably been here 70 years, the neighbors say,” said another neighbor, Hayden Bronte. We’re told four other households had to evacuate just around the corner from where the tree fell after the winds toppled some power poles. “It was as if the storm moved over the top of like this street and sat and it was like almost tornado force winds. It was insane,” said Ruth Woody, who evacuated her home Sunday afternoon. Another pine tree in the same area completely uprooted. Two palm trees were holding up the top of the pine while its roots stood more than five feet out of the ground.

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30.07.2012

Flood

Costa Rica

Multiple areas, [Central and eastern regions]

Flood in Costa Rica on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 03:00 (03:00 AM) UTC.

Description

Heavy rains in central and eastern Costa Rica have triggered floods that have forced evacuations and may be responsible for at least one death, relief workers said Sunday. Four people are missing, down from eight earlier, according to Freddy Roman, a spokesman for the local Red Cross. The government has declared a “yellow alert” in various parts of Cartago, a central province where one person was reported dead, said Roman. The person was rescued after a landslide, but died on the way to the hospital from injuries and heart failure, he said. A yellow alert is also in effect for parts of Limon, an eastern province. More than 1,500 people have taken refuge at shelters and others are waiting to be rescued, according to the Red Cross. “We have reports of people trapped in their houses that have been flooded by overflow from the Chirripo River, also of several communities that are isolated in other parts of Limon,” said Guillermo Arroyo, director of operations of the Costa Rican Red Cross. Heavy rain is typical this time of year in Costa Rica, where the rainy season runs roughly from May-November.

Floods force evacuations in Costa Rica

From Djenane Villanueva, for CNN

(CNN) — Heavy rains in central and eastern Costa Rica have triggered floods that have forced evacuations and may be responsible for at least one death, relief workers said Sunday.
Four people are missing, down from eight earlier, according to Freddy Roman, a spokesman for the local Red Cross.
The government has declared a “yellow alert” in various parts of Cartago, a central province where one person was reported dead, said Roman. The person was rescued after a landslide, but died on the way to the hospital from injuries and heart failure, he said.
A yellow alert is also in effect for parts of Limon, an eastern province.
More than 1,500 people have taken refuge at shelters and others are waiting to be rescued, according to the Red Cross.
“We have reports of people trapped in their houses that have been flooded by overflow from the Chirripo River, also of several communities that are isolated in other parts of Limon,” said Guillermo Arroyo, director of operations of the Costa Rican Red Cross.
Heavy rain is typical this time of year in Costa Rica, where the rainy season runs roughly from May-November.

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Radiation /  Nuclear

30.07.2012

Nuclear Event

South Korea

Province of Jeollanam-do, [Yeonggwang Nuclear Power Plant]

Nuclear Event in South Korea on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 13:14 (01:14 PM) UTC.

Description

A South Korean nuclear reactor went into automatic shutdown on Monday apparently after a malfunction, plant operators said, while ruling out a possible radiation leak. The 1,000-megawatt reactor at Yeonggwang some 260 kilometres (156 miles) south of Seoul halted operations after warning signals around 3:00 pm (0600 GMT), the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power said. An investigation was under way to determine the cause of the shutdown, it said, adding there was no danger of a radiation leak. A warning signal and automatic shutdown can be triggered by a number of factors including malfunctions in the cooling pump, Yonhap news agency said. South Korea operates 22 reactors, which meet about 35 percent of its electricity needs. In February the country’s oldest nuclear plant at Gori, built in 1978 near the southern city of Busan, briefly lost mains power and the emergency generator failed to kick in. The incident resulted in no radioactive leaks but sparked an extensive probe amid concerns over nuclear safety following last year’s atomic crisis in Japan. In May, five engineers at Gori were charged with trying to cover up the potentially dangerous power failure and in July 32 people were charged with corruption involving the state nuclear power agency and its contracts with suppliers. A nuclear safety agency approved the restart of the Gori plant this month, but it has yet to resume operations due to protests by civic groups.

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Epidemic / Diseases

Patients flee hospital over Ebola outbreak

CLAR Ní CHONGHAILE in Nairobi
TERRIFIED PATIENTS fled from a hospital in western Uganda as soon as news broke that a mysterious illness that killed at least 14 people in the region was Ebola, one of the world’s most virulent diseases.
Ignatius Besisira, a member of parliament for Buyaga East County in the Kibaale district, said people had at first believed the unexplained deaths were related to witchcraft.
“Immediately, when there was confirmation that it was Ebola . . . patients ran out of Kagadi hospital [where some of the victims had died],” he said. “Even the medical officers are very, very frightened.”
Government officials and a World Health Organisation representative confirmed the Ebola outbreak at a news conference in Kampala on Saturday.
“Laboratory investigations done at the Uganda Virus Research Institute . . . have confirmed that the strange disease reported in Kibaale is indeed Ebola haemorrhagic fever,” they said in a joint statement.
Health officials said at least 20 people had been infected and of those 14 had died.
There is no treatment or vaccine against Ebola, which is transmitted by close personal contact and, depending on the strain, can kill up to 90 per cent of those who contract the virus.
It has a devastating history in Uganda, where in 2000 at least 425 people were infected, of whom more than half died. Ebola was previously reported in the country in May last year, when it killed a 12-year-old girl.
During an outbreak in 2007, which claimed at least 37 lives, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni advised people not to shake hands and public gatherings were also discouraged.
One of those who succumbed to the outbreak in Kibaale was a clinical officer, Mr Besisira said. The other fatalities came from a single household in Nyamarunda subdistrict, he added.
Joaquim Saweka, WHO’s representative in Uganda, said the suspected infections emerged in the region in early July but the confirmation came only on Friday.
The Ugandan government said a national emergency taskforce had been set up and urged the population to remain calm. The government, WHO and the US Centres for Disease Control have sent experts to Kibaale to tackle the outbreak.
Mr Besisira had not heard of people moving out of the region, but the Daily Nation newspaper in neighbouring Kenya said yesterday that people were leaving the area around Kagadi town, where the disease first appeared. – (Guardian service)

30.07.2012

Epidemic Hazard

Uganda

Western Uganda, [Kibaale District]

Epidemic Hazard in Uganda on Thursday, 26 July, 2012 at 15:57 (03:57 PM) UTC.

Back

Updated:	Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 18:37 UTC
Description
Ebola, one of the world’s deadliest viruses, has been confirmed in Uganda, where 14 people have already died from what health officials were calling a mysterious illness. The illness was not immediately described as Ebola because patients were not showing the typical signs of the lethal disease, the nation’s health minister told CNN on Sunday. After news of the virus broke, a team of health experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ugandan government were deployed to the area to begin emergency response measures, according to a government statement. The experts discovered the strain was Ebola Sudan, one of the most common strains of the virus. This particular strain has been associated with a 70 percent mortality rate in recent years. The virus manifests as a hemorrhagic fever. The last severe outbreak occurred in 2000, killing 224 people in Uganda. It was first reported in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the CDC. The strange disease was first reported in the area several weeks ago, according to a government statement.Ignatius Besisira, an MP for Buyaga East County in the Kibaale district, said people first believed the unexplained deaths were from witchcraft. “Immediately, when there was confirmation that it was Ebola … patients ran out of Kagadi hospital (where some of the victims had died),” Besisira told the Guardian. “Even the medical officers are very, very frightened.” Lab tests confirmed the illness was Ebola hemorrhagic fever. A baby from the village of Nyanswiga was the first confirmed death and so far 14 of some 20 that are known to have been infected have died. A clinical officer who treated the original case also fell ill and died soon afterward. Her four-month-old baby, admitted for treatment last Monday, died four days later. The clinical officer’s sister, who took care of the baby when she became ill, has been admitted for treatment with similar symptoms, but is currently in stable condition, the government statement said. There is no treatment or vaccine against Ebola, which is transmitted through close contact and, depending on the strain, can kill up to 90 percent of those who contract the virus. While Ebola outbreaks occur every few years, the virus’s delicate composition has so far impeded a significant, long-duration attack. But much about the disease remains a mystery.The CDC has a team of scientists stationed at a Ugandan laboratory who study Ebola and other deadly viruses that are often found in equatorial Africa. Ebola is among a list of viruses highlighted by the US as a potential biological-weapons threat. Officials are currently trying to determine the extent of the outbreak, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner told CNN.com on Sunday. “These outbreaks have a tendency to stamp themselves out, if you will, if we can get in and … stop the chain of transmission,” he explained. Health officials are urging area residents to report any suspected cases and avoid contact with anyone who has contracted the virus and to disinfect bedding and clothing of an infected person by using protective gloves and masks. They also advise against eating dead animals, especially monkeys, and to avoid public gatherings if at all possible. Despite the ongoing threat, the WHO said in its statement that it does not recommend travel restrictions to Uganda because of the outbreak. Besisira said officials in Kibaale had released radio broadcasts outlining the precautionary measures on Saturday. “We have assured (the people) that we have a very strong team … who are making sure the disease is controlled … I am very confident we can contain it,” he added. While there are no reports of people moving out of the region, the Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya said on Sunday that people were leaving the area around Kagadi town, where the disease first appeared. “We have to move to safer places because we can easily get infected by this disease here,” the paper quoted a resident, Omuhereza Kugonza, as saying. Ebola is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids and tissues of infected persons. It can also be transmitted by handling sick or dead infected wild animals, such as chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope and fruit bats. Symptoms include sudden fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat, followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, impaired kidney and liver function and bleeding.

30.07.2012

Epidemic Hazard

India

State of Punjab, Dasuya

Epidemic Hazard in India on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 02:56 (02:56 AM) UTC.

Description
The number of gastro entritis cases has gone up to 132 at Dasuya in Punjab where spread of cholera and gastro enteritis cases was reported in some districts. Out of these, 86 have been discharged after treatment, a senior medical officer said today. Yesterday, the number of gastro patients admitted to the civil hospital at Dasuya was 117. Meanwhile, three serious patients were referred to Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences, Jalandhar, Dr Naresh Kansra, senior medical officer (SMO) of the Dasuya Civil Hospital said today. An increase in the number of gastro patients has been witnessed at Dasuya in the past few days. Director family welfare Punjab Karnjit Singh and state surveillance officer Deepak Bhatia inspected the areas of Dasuya town affected by gastroenteritis and also went to the hospital to meet the patients. Over 4000 chlorine tablets were distributed among the people of the area.
Biohazard name:	Cholera and gastroenteritis diseases
Biohazard level:	2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. “Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures”, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

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Solar Activity

2MIN News July 31, 2012: Data Error? Maybe not.

Published on Jul 31, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

EARTHQUAKE WATCH: http://youtu.be/SMiHsOYwdCs
TODAY’S LINKS
North Korea Flood: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-07/31/c_131749361.htm
Euro Crisis: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-eurozone-crisis-idUSBRE86S05J201…
Corn Prices: http://buzz.money.cnn.com/2012/07/30/corn-soybean-prices/
Climate Chnge: http://www.weather.com/news/noaa-state-of-climate-2011-report-20120710
REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]
HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]
SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos - as seen from earth]
SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT - as seen from earth]
Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI - as seen from the side]
SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it... trust me]
SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]
iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]
NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/ [CME Evolution]
NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]
JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/
LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php
Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can't figure out what this one is for?]
BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]
TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]
GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]
INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]
NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/
PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]




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Space

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
217013 (2001 AA50)	31st July 2012	0 day(s)	0.1355	52.7	580 m – 1.3 km	22.15 km/s	79740 km/h
(2012 DS30)	02nd August 2012	2 day(s)	0.1224	47.6	18 m – 39 m	5.39 km/s	19404 km/h
(2000 RN77)	03rd August 2012	3 day(s)	0.1955	76.1	410 m – 920 m	9.87 km/s	35532 km/h
(2004 SB56)	04th August 2012	4 day(s)	0.1393	54.2	380 m – 840 m	13.72 km/s	49392 km/h
(2000 SD8)	04th August 2012	4 day(s)	0.1675	65.2	180 m – 400 m	5.82 km/s	20952 km/h
(2006 EC)	06th August 2012	6 day(s)	0.0932	36.3	13 m – 28 m	6.13 km/s	22068 km/h
(2006 MV1)	07th August 2012	7 day(s)	0.0612	23.8	12 m – 28 m	4.79 km/s	17244 km/h
(2005 RK3)	08th August 2012	8 day(s)	0.1843	71.7	52 m – 120 m	8.27 km/s	29772 km/h
(2009 BW2)	09th August 2012	9 day(s)	0.0337	13.1	25 m – 56 m	5.27 km/s	18972 km/h
277475 (2005 WK4)	09th August 2012	9 day(s)	0.1283	49.9	260 m – 580 m	6.18 km/s	22248 km/h
(2004 SC56)	09th August 2012	9 day(s)	0.0811	31.6	74 m – 170 m	10.57 km/s	38052 km/h
(2008 AF4)	10th August 2012	10 day(s)	0.1936	75.3	310 m – 690 m	16.05 km/s	57780 km/h
37655 Illapa	12th August 2012	12 day(s)	0.0951	37.0	770 m – 1.7 km	28.73 km/s	103428 km/h
(2012 HS15)	14th August 2012	14 day(s)	0.1803	70.2	220 m – 490 m	11.54 km/s	41544 km/h
4581 Asclepius	16th August 2012	16 day(s)	0.1079	42.0	220 m – 490 m	13.48 km/s	48528 km/h
(2008 TC4)	18th August 2012	18 day(s)	0.1937	75.4	140 m – 300 m	17.34 km/s	62424 km/h
(2006 CV)	20th August 2012	20 day(s)	0.1744	67.9	290 m – 640 m	13.24 km/s	47664 km/h
(2012 EC)	20th August 2012	20 day(s)	0.0815	31.7	56 m – 130 m	5.57 km/s	20052 km/h
162421 (2000 ET70)	21st August 2012	21 day(s)	0.1503	58.5	640 m – 1.4 km	12.92 km/s	46512 km/h
(2007 WU3)	21st August 2012	21 day(s)	0.1954	76.0	56 m – 120 m	5.25 km/s	18900 km/h
(2012 BB14)	24th August 2012	24 day(s)	0.1234	48.0	27 m – 60 m	2.58 km/s	9288 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

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Biological / Wildlife / Environmental Pollution

30.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Philippines

Davao Region (Region XI), Davao City [Ateneo de Davao University]

Biological Hazard in Philippines on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 04:51 (04:51 AM) UTC.

Description
Lunchtime Sunday at the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) turned bad after at least 100 students had to be rushed to area hospitals after suffering a nasty bout of food poisoning. According to an Ateneo de Davao University press statement Sunday: “A number of students, staff and administrators were rushed to the hospital a few hours after lunch after they complained of upset stomach with bouts of vomiting. Administrators and staff were dispatched to assist students in the hospitals. Some of the students were confined, majority were sent home after they were checked by doctors and administered the appropriate medications.” The Philippine news source, Interaksyon reports Sunday, the students were attending the student leaders gathering – called Sui Generis – with ADDU President Fr. Joel Tabora. The gathering of students ate lunch at the school around 12:30 pm. The menu included chicken adobo, pancit, fish , rice and buco salad. A couple of hours later, students starting getting sick, showing food poisoning symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. Chair of the student council Samahan, Mureene Ann Villamor told Interaksyon reporters that the chicken adobo “smelled terrible.” On the Facebook page of the student paper, Atenews, there are several posts about the outbreak including a photo of the implicated food, chicken adobo (or adobong manok ) by photographer Caycee Coronel. Students were taken to Davao Doctors Hospital and San Pedro Hospital or treatment. The etiologic agent of the outbreak has yet to be determined.
Biohazard name:	Mass. Food Poisoning
Biohazard level:	2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. “Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures”, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

30.07.2012

Biological Hazard

Pakistan

[Thar Desert]

Biological Hazard in Pakistan on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 18:40 (06:40 PM) UTC.

Description
Wildlife experts are shocked at the recent mass-death of wild peacocks fearing it may be an outbreak of the highly contagious Newcastle disease. At least 60 peacocks were found perished in the Thar desert in southern Pakistan, officials have confirmed, but local media reports say hundreds of the exotic birds have died. Newcastle disease, which has nothing to do with Cheryl Cole or Brown Ale, is the deadliest of all viruses spread among birds. The Pakistani wildlife ministry said tests were being done to determine cause of death, but experts are suspecting they may have been afflicted with Newcastle disease, known locally as ‘ranikhet’. A spokesperson said the wild peacocks had been weakened by starvation, deforestation and a lack of safe drinking water blamed on delays to the annual monsoon rains. Lajpat Sharma, an official in the provincial wildlife ministry said: ‘Wild peacocks have become susceptible to bacterial and fungal attack, which further suppressed the immunity of the birds that paved the room for viral attack.
Biohazard name:	Newcastle disease
Biohazard level:	2/4 Medium
Biohazard desc.:	Bacteria and viruses that cause only mild disease to humans, or are difficult to contract via aerosol in a lab setting, such as hepatitis A, B, and C, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, measles, scrapie, dengue fever, and HIV. “Routine diagnostic work with clinical specimens can be done safely at Biosafety Level 2, using Biosafety Level 2 practices and procedures. Research work (including co-cultivation, virus replication studies, or manipulations involving concentrated virus) can be done in a BSL-2 (P2) facility, using BSL-3 practices and procedures. Virus production activities, including virus concentrations, require a BSL-3 (P3) facility and use of BSL-3 practices and procedures”, see Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents.
Symptoms:
Status:	confirmed

30.07.2012

Environment Pollution

USA

State of Wisconsin, [Wisconsin Dells, Adams County]

Environment Pollution in USA on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 16:14 (04:14 PM) UTC.

Description

Crews will begin Monday, July 30, to replace part of a crude oil pipeline that leaked 1,200 barrels of oil in a field north of Wisconsin Dells in Adams County. Enbridge Energy could not say what caused the spill or when the line from Superior to Chicago will start operating again. The leak happened on Friday in the town of Grand Marsh. Enbridge officials said it was discovered very quickly. They said most of it was contained to the company’s right of way. The pipeline sends about 318,000 gallons per day of light crude oil from Superior to refineries in the Chicago area. Two similar pipelines along that route resumed operations on Saturday, once it was learned that they were not affected by the spill. A third line was expected to re-open right after that. Meanwhile, repairs began Saturday on the broken pipeline. Enbridge said two Grand Marsh landowners were affected, and one family was relocated for its safety. Oil was found on two small farm ponds, but drinking water wells were not affected. Federal officials said all of the pooled oil had been cleaned up. Reuters said the impact on Chicago’s oil refiners would depend on how long the pipeline’s out and how much oil the refineries have in reserve. The spill came at a poor time for Enbridge, which had another pipeline leak in Alberta, Canada, last month. The firm was the subject of a critical government report on its handling of a ruptured pipeline in Michigan in 2010 that was not noticed for 17 hours.

Dozens of wild peacocks die in Pakistan desert

by Staff Writers
Karachi (AFP)

Dozens of wild peacocks have died suddenly in Pakistan, prompting experts to fear an outbreak of the highly contagious Newcastle disease.
Officials on Monday confirmed the deaths of at least 60 peacocks in Thar desert, part of southern Sindh province, over the last week. Local media reports say more than 100 of the exotic birds have died.
The wildlife ministry said tests were being done to diagnose the cause of death, but said the wild peacocks had been weakened by starvation, deforestation and a lack of safe drinking water blamed on delays to the annual monsoon rains.
“Wild peacocks have become susceptible to bacterial and fungal attack, which further suppressed the immunity of the birds that paved the room for viral attack,” it said.
Experts are alarmed by the number of deaths, suspecting they may have been afflicted with Newcastle disease, known locally as ranikhet.
“We are vaccinating wild peacocks protectively for suspected viral disease, as in 2003 when a few peacocks died from the same symptoms that later proved to be ranikhet,” said Lajpat Sharma, an official in the provincial wildlife ministry.
Tahir Qureshi of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) also told AFP that he suspected ranikhet was to blame.
Newcastle disease is a worldwide problem among birds and sporadic outbreaks can occur frequently. Affected birds suffer from loss of appetite, coughing, sneezing, diarrhoea, and in severe outbreaks a high proportion die.
The wildlife ministry said it was supplying fresh water to peacocks in affected areas.
Sharma said there are at least 30,000 wild peacocks in the Thar desert, but Qureshi said the numbers were declining, because of poaching and lack of effective conservation.

Related Links
Weather News at TerraDaily.com
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Articles of Interest

30.07.2012

Power Outage

India

Multiple areas, [Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir]

Power Outage in India on Monday, 30 July, 2012 at 03:26 (03:26 AM) UTC.

Description

Seven states in North India have been facing a long power cut since late Sunday night. Due to a massive breakdown in the northern grid, the main power source for the affected states, there has been a massive power outage. The affected states are Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. There is no power in Delhi and its neighbouring states since 2 am reports IBN-Live. According to the report, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said that it’ll take another one and a half hour’s time to restore power. “My officers are on the spot. The fault is found near Agra. It will be corrected in one and a half hour time,” he said. Thousands of commuters in the Delhi Metro will face a harrowing time on Monday morning as services of all the lines of the Metro have been disrupted due to tripping of power supply. Train services on the 190-km Metro network connecting length and breath of the national capital were affected due to The Northern Grid failure also caused power cuts in large parts of Delhi. “Metro service will not be available today (Monday) till the supply is restored as it is a major Northern Grid power failure,” a Delhi Metro official said. The Delhi Metro normally operates over 2,700 trips a day, covering about 70,000 km and carrying around 1.8 million passengers on week days.

……………………………..

Power cut causes major disruption in northern India

Trains were stranded after the power failure

 

A massive power cut has caused disruption across northern India, including in the capital, Delhi.

It hit a swathe of the country affecting more than 300 million people in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan states.
Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said most of the supply had been restored and the rest would be reinstated soon.
It is unclear why the supply collapsed but reports say some states may have been using more power than authorised.
Mr Shinde said he had appointed a committee to inquire into the causes of the blackout, one of the worst to hit the country in more than a decade. The committee will submit its report within 15 days, he said.
The power cut happened at 02:30 local time on Monday (2100 GMT Sunday) after India’s Northern Grid network collapsed.
Mr Shinde told the BBC that he had been informed about the problem at 05:30.

Monday’s massive power cut is reportedly the first of its kind in more than a decade, affecting nearly 30% of India’s population in nine northern states. At the root of this is the severe energy crisis facing India today.
The country is facing a huge supply shortfall this summer. A shortage of coal (most of India’s energy is thermal), loss-making state electricity boards, the theft of power, a lack of transparency in fixing electricity charges and underperforming private distribution agencies mean that vast swathes of India live without electricity for several hours a day.
PM Manmohan Singh pushed through the civilian nuclear deal with the US to help meet India’s soaring energy but plans to set up new reactors have been embroiled in controversies about safety and the acquisition of land.

“Within two hours we tried to restore the railways, airport and Delhi Metro services and power supply to essential services, including the railways and hospitals, was restored by 08:00.”

The minister said the exact reason for the collapse had not yet been pinpointed but, in the summer, “states try to take more power from the grid” and at the time of the collapse, the grid frequency was “above normal”.
“That is one of the reasons why the grid failed,” he said.
By early afternoon, 80% of the supply had been restored, Mr Shinde said.
‘Worried’
Monday morning saw travel chaos engulf the region, with thousands of passengers stranded when train services were disrupted in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
The Rajdhani train from Jammu to Delhi was more than five hours late.
“The train stopped near Panipat station [in Haryana] at about 02:30. For a long time we had no idea what was holding us up,” passenger DK Rajdan said.
“Rajdhani is air-conditioned so it was not uncomfortable. But for six or seven hours we couldn’t get anything to eat or drink and people were beginning to get worried,” he said.
Delhi Metro railway services were stalled for three hours, although the network later resumed when it received back-up power from Bhutan, one official said.
Traffic lights on the streets of the capital were not functioning as early morning commuters made their way into work, leading to gridlock.
Water treatment plants in the city also had to be shut for a few hours.
Officials said restoring services to hospitals and transport systems were a priority.
Power cuts are a common occurrence in Indian cities because of a fundamental shortage of power and an ageing grid. The chaos caused by such cuts has led to protests and unrest on the streets.
Earlier in July, crowds in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon blocked traffic and clashed with police after blackouts there.
Correspondents say that India urgently needs a huge increase in power production, as hundreds of millions of its people are not even connected to the national grid.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has long said that India must look to nuclear energy to supply power to the people.
Estimates say that nuclear energy contributes only 3% to the country’s current power supply. But the construction of some proposed nuclear power stations have been stalled by intense local opposition.

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AP News

Indian power failure puts 370M in dark for hours

By Ravi Nessman

NEW DELHI (AP) — A power grid failure blacked out northern India for hours Monday, halting trains, forcing hospitals and airports onto backup power and providing a dark, sweltering reminder of the nation’s inability to meet its energy needs as it strives to be an economic power.
While the midsummer outage was unique in its reach — it hit 370 million people, more than the population of the United States and Canada combined — its impact was softened by Indians’ familiarity with almost daily blackouts of varying duration. Hospitals and major businesses have backup generators that seamlessly kick in during power cuts, and upscale homes are hooked to backup systems powered by truck batteries.
Nonetheless, some small businesses were forced to shut for the day. Buildings were without water because the pumps weren’t working, and the vaunted New Delhi Metro, with 1.8 million daily riders, was paralyzed during the morning commute.
“This will obviously get worse,” said Subhash Chawla, a 65-year-old retiree who took the Metro once power was restored. “Unless the Metro has a separate power supply, it will be chaos in the future.”
The grid that failed feeds the nation’s breadbasket in Punjab, the war-wracked region of Kashmir, the burgeoning capital of New Delhi, the Dalai Lama’s Himalayan headquarters in Dharmsala, and the world’s most populous state, poverty-stricken Uttar Pradesh.
Most affected areas had power back by late morning, less than nine hours after the outage started. By evening, 15 hours after the outage began, officials said full power had been restored.
Many chafed at the inconvenience.
Amit Naik, a toy maker in New Delhi, was forced to close his workshop for the day.
“There was no water, so my machine couldn’t run. Other people had the same difficulties,” he said.
The Confederation of Indian Industry said the outage was a reminder of the urgent need for the government to fix the power sector, ensure a steady supply of coal for power plants and reform the electricity utilities.
Transmission and distribution losses in some states are as much as 50 percent because of theft and corruption by employees in the power industry. India’s Central Electricity Authority reported power deficits of about 8 percent in recent months.
Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde deflected criticism, pointing out that the United States and Brazil also had huge power failures in recent years.
“I ask you to look at the power situation in other countries as well,” he said.
The blackout, the worst to hit India in a decade, began about 2:30 a.m. when the grid covering eight northern states crashed. Officials in Uttar Pradesh, where the problem was believed to have begun, said the grid could not keep up with the huge demand for power in the hot summer.
But Shinde said he was not sure exactly what caused the collapse and had formed a committee to investigate.
The outage left millions sweltering in the summer heat. Muslim families were forced to eat their pre-dawn meals by candlelight before beginning their daytime Ramadan fast. “It was really difficult,” said farmer Mohammed Zaman.
As officials struggled to get the grid back on line, they drew power from the neighboring eastern and western grids as well as hydroelectric power from the small neighboring mountain kingdom of Bhutan.
New Delhi residents were roused from sleep when their fans and air conditioners stopped, and came out of their homes in the heat as the entire city turned dark. Temperatures in the city were in the mid-30s C (90s F) with 89 percent humidity.
Some trains across the northern region were stranded when their electric engines failed. Others were delayed by hours as they were hooked to diesel engines.
The failure was the first time since 2001 that the northern grid had collapsed. But India’s demand for electricity has soared since then as its population and economy have grown sharply.
But any connection to the grid remains a luxury for many. One-third of India’s households do not even have electricity to power a light bulb, according to last year’s census.
The power deficit was worsened by a weak monsoon that lowered hydroelectric generation and kept temperatures higher, further increasing electricity usage as people seek to cool off. Shivpal Singh Yadav, the power minister in Uttar Pradesh, home to 200 million people, said that while demand during peak hours hits 11,000 megawatts, the state can only provide 9,000 megawatts.
Uttar Pradesh Power Corp. chief Avnish Awasthi blamed the grid collapse on states drawing more than their allotted power to meet the summer demand.
____
Associated Press writer Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow and Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar contributed to this report.

Storms knock out power to tens of thousands from Plains to Northeast

By Khara Lewin, CNN

Lightning flashes across the sky Thursday, July 26, in Nyack, New York, in this dramatic photo from CNN iReporter Eric Girard. Storms ripped through the Northeast on Thursday night, unleashing strong winds and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers.

(CNN) — Hundreds of thousands lost power due to a potent storm system that extended eastward from the Plains toward the Northeast on Thursday, bringing with it high winds and destructive lightning.
Severe thunderstorm watches were in effect at one point Thursday evening for a continuous stretch from Oklahoma through New Jersey. The danger could lurk for several hours longer, with the National Weather Service issuing such warnings in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Kentucky, Virginia, Arkansas and other points in between.
Well before then, the system had already packed a punch.
In Pennsylvania, a tree crushed a woman in her car as she sought shelter at a campsite, killing her, said Glenn Dunn, the emergency management coordinator for Potter County.
A 61-year-old man in Brooklyn, New York, died after lightning struck a church sending a scaffold crashing down on him, authorities said.
Share your images of the storm with iReport.
Witnesses reported trees in the region buckling under the impact.
“The trees were bending sideways, (and) the sky just went really dark and green,” said Mark Ventrini, a photographer, of the scene around 7:30 p.m. as he headed toward Belmar, New Jersey. “Some of the storms were pretty intense.”
The weather service had received reports of possible tornadoes touching down in Elmira, New York, and Brookville, Pennsylvania.
Emergency managers in Broome County, New York, reported people trapped inside a home because of downed trees in the town of Vestal.
Strong storms also caused damage in Binghamton, New York, but the weather service said no injuries or fatalities have been reported.
Stunning pictures arise from New York storm
The residual and more widespread damage came in the form of extensive power outages. More than 100,000 First Energy customers in Pennsylvania, for instance, didn’t have electricity as of 10 p.m. ET, with other utilities like PECO and PPL reporting tens of thousands of others similarly in the dark.
An hour earlier, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a press release stating there were nearly 95,000 customers without power in that state, mostly NYSEG and Central Hudson customers.
Cuomo also declared a state of emergency for hard-hit Chemung County in the southwestern part of the state.
Many more people took in the impressive lightning storms, with daunting bolts preceding booming claps of thunder in small towns and big cities.
“The brunt of the storm itself was intense but short — there was very strong rain and wind for about 15 minutes, at which point the rain cleared and the lightning show began,” said Matthew Burke, a CNN iReporter who photographed lightning sprawling across the New York City skyline.
Several states away, tens of thousands also were in the dark, though power was being restored at a fairly fast rate. AEP Ohio, for instance, reported just over 51,000 customers lacking electricity at 6:15 p.m., yet more than 20,000 of those had the lights back on by 10 p.m.
CNN’s Greg Botelho, Lila King, Julie Cannold and Dominique Dodley contributed to this report.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Storms kill one in New York and one in Pennsylvania
• More than 200,000 in Ohio, New Jersey and other states lose power
• “Trees were bending sideways,” a man in New Jersey says
• National Weather Service reports possible tornado touchdowns in the Northeast

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