Italy: Submerged in Floodwaters, Sinking in Garbage

A Shrinking World Series

How Much More Floodwaters, Trash Before the Truth Sinks In?

As the Campania region in southwest italy is buried deeper in trash, the northwestern region of Piedmont, another of the country’s 20 regions, is submerged in floodwaters. The authorities declared a state of emergency in Turin and Val d’Aosta.

[Darn, I wonder what caused that!] A man surveys the damage caused by a landslide caused in Turin. (Photo: AFP) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Eyewitnesses reported a five-meter high wall of mud engulfing houses in an Alpine village near the French border. A landslide caused by heavy rainfall has killed at least three people; a 3-year old girl was reported missing.

The floods also pose a serious risk to crops in the area. “The torrential rain and the Po [Italy’s longest river] and the Dora breaking their banks have meant many wheat fields are flooded and the harvest could be lost,” the Italian Farmers Confederation said in a statement.

The Po valley, Italy’s most fertile farming area, is also its most industrially developed. “There has been too much building, concreting-over and canalization along our rivers with devastating consequences that happen as soon as rains start,” said Michele Candotti of the Environmental group WWF Italia. (Source)

Related Links:

• Naples Garbage Opera – Act II
• Seeking Toxic Asylum

Chaitén’s Fury Ending?

Chaitén Update # 3

Is Weary Chaitén Ready to Rest?

Chaitén continues to erupt, although a decline in the height of eruption column in the last two days has been reported. A decline also in its seismic activity is reducing the probability of larger explosive eruptions, though they are not entirely ruled out.

Air Lines Resume Flights Over Central and Southern Chile

Airlines resumed flights to most of southern Chile airports on Thursday after they were briefly suspended because of the high concentration of ash in the atmosphere.

Flights to Puerto Montt and Temuco remain on stand by until further notice; however, flights to Punta Arenas and Balmaceda have resumed.

Chaitén volcano started erupting May 2, after at least 9,000 years of dormancy.

Typical eruption column of Chaiten Volcano, Chile, on May 26, 2008, between stronger explosive activity. The circular caldera rim is 3 km (1.9 miles) in diameter, which was formed about 9,400 years ago. A lava dome that erupted sometime later is the knobby feature between the billowing ash and rim on the left. A new lava dome is growing in the caldera but it is out of view behind eruption column. U.S. Geological Survey photograph by J.N. Marso. Caption: Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Cerro Azul Volcano Erupts

Meanwhile the 1,700-meter high Cerro Azul volcano erupted on Thursday after 10 years of inactivity. Cerro Azul is located on Isabela, the largest of the Galapagos islands.

Cerro Azul volcano at the SW tip of Isabela Island. Photo by Tom Simkin (Smithsonian Institution). Image Maty be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

The Galápagos archipelago, a province of Ecuador, has a population of around 40,000 and is located the eastern Pacific Ocean at 525 nautical miles (972 km/604 miles) off the west coast of South America. The sparsely archipelago is home to “Galápagos,” the Spanish name for the Giant Land Tortoises that inhabit the islands.

Satellite photo of the Galápagos islands (names of the visible main islands are overlayed).

Unlike the 1998 Cerro Azul eruption in which several giant tortoise were destroyed by molten lava, despite a rescue operation by helicopters, it is thought that the current eruption poses no danger to the animals.

Related Links:

Volcanoes

• Semeru Volcano: Alert Level III

• Satellite picture by Google Maps
• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program: Semeru
• Indonesia Volcanoes and Volcanics [USGS]
• Volcanological Survey of Indonesia (VSI)

• Volcanoes
• Philippines Taal Volcano Could Erupt Anytime!

• The Power of Chaitén Volcano
• Chaitén Volcano Still Active
• Chaitén Volcano: No End Seen to Second Massive Eruption
• Chile: Volcano activity prompts mass evacuation

• Volcanoes, Santorini Eruption and Crops Failure in China
• Mt Ruapehu Eruption Alert

.>.

Naples Garbage Opera – Act II

Partenope: Naples Garbage Opera

Act II: Confusion, Rodents, Vermin, Pest [and possible disease pandemics]

There are known knowns: Things we know we know

• As per usual with Italian politics, garbage and football the facts and numbers don’t add up!
• The garbage dumps near Naples reached their limit in Mid December 2007.
• By Mid January 2008, some four weeks later, about 250, 000 tons of garbage decorated the Neapolitan streets.
• The 6million inhabitants of Campania region (Naples is the capital city of Campania) produce about 7,200 tons of garbage per day (between Mid December 2007 and end May 2008 they will have produced a total of about 1.2 million tons of garbage ).
• Germany’s Environment Ministry estimates that 52,000 tonnes of Italian waste were imported to Germany for processing in 2007. (Source)
• A one-off deal was struck with the German city of Bremen to transport 30,000 ton of Neapolitan garbage to an incinerator in Bremerhaven.
• Another deal was struck with Germany to haul 200,000 tons of the garbage by train to German Incinerators via Austria.
• EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the European Commission would take legal action against Italy unless it resolves the garbage crisis in Naples. [Wow, that really scared the pants out of the Italians!]

The ongoing nightmare scenario could only get worse in the coming weeks when the summer temperatures soar in the Campania region.

Naples’s mob, the Camorra has been illegally importing garbage from Italy’s northern cities stuffing Naple’s landfills. “The Camorra has grabbed an even larger share of the city’s garbage-hauling contracts after vetting standards were relaxed to cope with the current crisis.” WSJ said.

[Of course, no one has told EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas that “throwing out trash has become big business” in Europe. “According to a March report by the European Topic Centre on Resource and Waste Management, about 15% of the continent’s hazardous trash, or 8.6 million tons, was disposed of outside its country of origin in 2003, the latest year for which figures are available.” Wall Street Journal reported. “Plants in northern Germany charge between €150 and €250 ($237 to $394) to incinerate one ton of waste, estimates Christian Fischer, a waste-management analyst who co-authored the March report.” ]

[Why is it so difficult to live without producing waste you can’t handle?] A woman and children walk past a pile of garbage in Naples, Italy. Photo: AP Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

There are known unknowns: We know there are some things we do not know

• How much of this garbage still fills the streets of Naples?
• The estimates for the amount of garbage still covering the Neapolitan sidewalks (and elsewhere in Campania) vary from a misleading 100,000 tons to an unconvincing 200,000 tons.
• About 700,000 tons of garbage may have been stockpiled in provisional sites. (Source)
• Unless a substantial amount of the garbage, about 200 -300,000 tons, is consumed by millions of rats and other vermin, the total amount of garbage rotting on the streets of Naples and other town in Campania is closer to 400 – 500,000 tons as of end May 2008. What we know that we don’t know, is exactly how many rats are feasting on their Neapolitan diet and how many pizzas they can eat per head per day!

Unknown unknowns: The ones we don’t know we don’t know

• In case of bubonic plague outbreaks or other serious disease pandemics caused by rodents, vermin, pest infestation, how does the Italian government propose to protect the rest of Italy, or the EU authorities the rest of Europe?

Relate Links:

• Seeking Toxic Asylum (Act I)
  
• Naples Garbage: First Commercial Dividends
• Naples: The Triangle of Death

• Italy: Submerged in Floodwaters, Sinking in Garbage

[Note: The Known Unknowns …  was recited by the US bard, Donald Rumsfeld.]

Seeking Toxic Asylum

submitted by a reader

Partenope: Naples Garbage Opera

Protagonists:

• Queen Partenope: Played by the entire population of Naples and Campania [and the estimated 1.2 million tons of rotting garbage]
• Prince Armindo of Rhodes: played by Il Duce [the leader] of Italy Silvio Berlusconi and his gang.
• Prince Arsace of Corinth: The garbage incinerators in Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere
• Prince Emilio of Cumae [who is at war with Naples and with Queen Partenope] : Played by the Camorra mafia

Full List of Actors:

• Il Duce [the leader] of Italy Silvio Berlusconi
• Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo
• Camorra mafia
• Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, head of the influential Italian Bishops Conference
• The corrupt regional governor, Antonio Bassolino, and 27 others under house arrest.
• City’s chief officer and special commissioner Alessandro Pansa (one of the 27)
• Rosanna Laraia, head of waste management in Italy’s Ministry for the Environment

• Billions of missing, misappropriated, or unaccounted for euros [ € billions ]

• Environmental campaigner Francesco Pascale
• Sergio Sedia and his wife Giulia
• President Giorgio Napolitano
• Just over 1 million Neapolitans (and a further 5 million people living in Campania region and the province of Naples.)
• Hundreds of police officers in riot gears
• Probably as many as 10 million “super-charged” rats and 100 million cockroaches living in the garbage piles throughout the city of Naples

Composer:

• Germany’s George Frideric Handel

Act I – Seeking Toxic Asylum

In Act I of the famous Naples Garbage Opera, Partenope, Sergio Sedia and his wife Giulia request “toxic asylum” in Switzerland.

Sergio and his wife Giulia live in the “Triangle of Death” near Naples where the mafia has illegally dumped tons of toxic waste. British medical journal, The Lancet, reported in 2004 on “considerably higher cancer and deformity rates” in the area compared with other parts of the Campania region near Naples.

[Other than rats and cockroaches, what sort of vermin would transform its place of habitat to this?] A woman wearing a filtered mask walks past piles of trash thrown into a street intersection in protest in Naples May 16, 2008. REUTERS/Ciro Messere/Agnfoto. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

“The (Italian) government has not protected my right to health, and in this area people are dying of cancers caused by tonnes of chemical and toxic waste illegally dumped here for more than 20 years,” said Sergio.

Camorra mafia has been secretly dumping thousands of tonnes of industrial waste since the 1980s in what is “the heart of some of Italy’s best farm land,” environmental groups said.

“This area is nearly entirely agricultural, there are no factories, but has mortality rates for cancers linked to pollution higher than the national average. Here one doesn’t die of a heart attack or an accident, but from tumors,” said Sedia, 34, who works in the finance industry.

Silvio Berlusconi Prime Minister of Italy (President of the Council of Ministers of Italy). Born 29 September 1936, he is an entrepreneur, media proprietor and Head of the

“What I eat and breathe every day makes me afraid because of the products — the asbestos, the lead, the dioxins that are there in the air, the soil, the ground water,” he told AFP.

Fearing also for the health of their unborn child, said Sedia, “we decided to demand protection abroad and our choice fell on Switzerland.”

“We want to save ourselves, and only another country can help us, because if waste is one enemy, the Italian state is another in continuing to deny there is a problem in this area.”

“The Italian authorities are trying to act as if the problem of contamination doesn’t exist,” he said.

“I am not very confident when I see the authorities test mozzarella (over dioxin poisoning) because it is a valuable product, but doesn’t conduct tests on us citizens because we don’t have any commercial value.”

Earlier this year samples of mozzarella cheese, made from buffalo milk, were found to have highlevels of the toxic compound dioxin. As a result, buffalo farms in the Campania region were quarantined.

Japan, Singapore and South Korea banned the import of Italian mozzarella, earlier this year. (Source)

continued …

Related Links:

• Naples Garbage Opera – Act II
• Naples Garbage: First Commercial Dividends
• Naples: The Triangle of Death

Why Didn’t China Prevent the Loss of 86,000 Lives?

China Regime: As Evil as Evil Comes!

Are Earthquake Predictions in China Political?

The following excerpts are from an article written by Wu Weilin, Epoch Times Staff [ May 28, 2008 ] Full Article

Was the recent devastating earthquake in Sichuan, China predicted before it struck? Did the Chinese regime ignore earthquake warnings and thereby caused the loss of more than 86,000 lives?

“On July 28, 2006, the Director of the China Earthquake Administration, Chen Jianmin, was speaking on a program of the regime’s mouth piece, China’s Central TV station. He stated with certainty that earthquakes were predictable. But immediately after the recent devastation in Sichuan, Chinese officials claimed that the prediction of earthquakes was a tough task worldwide. Another commentator said that earthquake prediction in China is a political issue.” Said Wu Weilin of Epoch Times.

[Wrapping it up!] Soldiers march to scatter disinfectant in Yingxiu town of Wenchuan county, the epicentre of the earthquake, Sichuan province May 26, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer The image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

What Happened to the Predictions?

“According to Chen, China has been predicting earthquakes since the Xingtai earthquake back in 1966, which killed 8,064 people. ‘Through continuous scientific research and information gained from many actual cases, we can make a prediction on a certain type of earthquake.’ However, after the earthquake in Sichuan took place, Zhang Ziaodong from the China Earthquake Networks Center held a press conference at China’s State Department on May 13. At the conference Zhang denied the quake in Sichuan was predictable and said that predicting earthquakes was a ‘difficult task worldwide.'”

Why did the Chinese media stay quiet about this important issue? “A frontline reporter disclosed that Beijing had sent out rules on reporting the earthquake, ‘To propagate positive, constructive news and forbidding criticism and introspective articles.’ Recently, according to our source, Beijing has officially banned discussing the subject of earthquake prediction in public.”

“However, more and more information has indicated accurate prediction on the quake had been presented to Beijing on many occasions. The communist military had also taken preventative measures based on the predictions.”

Predictions Had Saved Lives Before, Why Not This Time?

“Chen also said during an interview with CCTV two years ago, that following an accurate prediction, a quake that took place in China on February 4, 1975, only took 1,300 lives instead of 100,000. Chen also gave examples from overseas, how predicting earthquakes had cut down the number of deaths – only three died in California in 2003 and 40 in Japan in 2004, two countries where earthquake prediction was released before the event.

“By May 24, 2008, the Sichuan quake was estimated to have killed 60,560, injured 352,290, and 26,221 people were still missing, according to information released from China’s State Department. A Chinese social economist, He Qinglian, commented about the difference in speeches coming out of Beijing about quake prediction before and after Sichuan, ‘In China, earthquake prediction is pure science and earthquake forecasting announcement is pure politics. This is how it works in China, whether in the past or present.‘” [emphasis added.]

Related Links:

• The Anguished Cries of China Quake Nurse
• Chinese paratroopers rescuing survivors or preventing plague?
• How Many More Survivors?
• Heavy Death Toll, Corruption, Criminal Incompetence
• Why Was the Girl Removed from Family?

• Chinese Leaders Incapable of Handling Quake Aftermath
• Bigger China Disaster Unfolds

• China’s grieving quake parents start to voice anger
• Beijing’s quick response to disaster won’t cover cracks of corruption
• Almost five million left homeless, China says
• Corruption blamed for rising death toll in China
• Parents’ grief turns to anger at shoddily built deathtrap schools

• Earthquake Predictions In China Are Also Political

./.

Fuel Protests Flare in Europe

Truckers and fishermen across Europe protest rising oil prices

Truckers and fishermen across Europe held protests against rising world oil prices on Wednesday, demanding government action to prevent the price hikes. Protests were held across Britain, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Netherlands and Spain.

Trucks are driven along a section of the A40 highway during a demonstration, in London on May 27, 2008. REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

In Britain a convoy of truckers converged on London on Tuesday, closing a busy main road and causing traffic backlogs. Similar protests took place in Wales, were Welsh hauliers threatened to blockade ports and refineries. Refinery blockades in 2000 caused shortages in many areas. The drivers demanded a rebate because they said fuel bills had risen by 50 percent in one year. Britain has the highest fuel taxes in the European Union.

In Bulgaria hundreds of truckers launched protests in the capital Sofia, the Black Sea port city of Varna and the Danube port city of Russe on Wednesday, demanding lower taxes on fuels and calling for price ceilings on fuels.

In France the fishermen continued their ongoing protest against high diesel prices on Wednesday with truckers and farmers adding their voice demanding action from the government. Fishermen demanded to buy diesel at discounted rate at half the market prices, which have increased by 30 percent in 2008. They staged similar protests last year asking government to cushion the effects of surging marine fuel prices that have eroded their profit margins. Farmers blocked access to an oil depot operated by Total near the city of Toulouse and demanded the government exempt them from a special petrol tax called TIPP.

French truckers group OTRE also threatened to take action across France if the government failed to respond to their demands by Thursday evening.

In Italy fishermen in the Adriatic will strike commencing Friday.

In Netherlands truckers are planning a national day of action for Thursday to protest against rising diesel prices.

In Spain the Fishermen’s Confederation is arranging a protest in Madrid for Friday and the main truckers’ association has called a strike for June 8 concerning high fuel prices. Farmers in Catalonia are expected to announce protests.
(Original report by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit, Reuters. Copyright Thomson Reuters). Partially edited by FEWW

Related Links:

• Stop the Oil Speculators
• Pinheads in the House: Fanning Oil Chaos

bcd

Mother Nature 3 – NZ 0

Electricity Shortages in New Zealand

New Zealand is facing electricity shortages unless sufficient rain recharges its hydro catchments, the government [sic] said.

“Unless we have some increased inflows in the South Island hydro catchments in the next three weeks, further conservation measures will have to be looked at,” the Energy Minister [sic] said.

South Island hydro power facilities provide about two thirds of New Zealand’s electricity. According to a wholesale electricity market operator, storage in hydro-electric lakes is about 40 percent below average. As a result the price of electricity jumped by 30.6 percent to $215.26 per megawatt hour.

Location map of Taupo, New Zealand

In the 2003 power crisis, the government had planned to cut residential hot water supplies, followed by rolling power cuts for residential users, and blackouts.

Rio Tinto’s Tiwai Point aluminum smelter, located in New Zealand’s South Island, consumes about 15 percent of the country’s electricity.

Farm Produce

Earlier this month Bloomberg reported that the prolonged drought in New Zealand, the worst in 20 years, had cut farm production and more than doubled the power prices this year. New Zealand’s energy demand peaks June through August during the hemisphere winter months due to heating use. Hydro-power lakes have been below average since November 2007.

In April 2008, lake Taupo was 18 percent below average. Lake Pukaki was 40 percent below average. Lake Manapouri, which is used to supply Rio Tinto’s Tiwai Point aluminum smelter, was 45 percent below its usual levels.

Continuing drought in New Zealand and Australia, as well as a falling production in the UK and a weak dollar, are raising the prices of milk and dairy products globally. In the past 12 months the price of milk has increased by 32 percent, eggs by 40 percent and wholewheat bread by 26 percent.

Earthquake hit south of Macquarie Island

Meanwhile, in a triple whammy, a 5.9-magnitude quake hit 2100 km (1300 miles) S of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, earlier today close to a major fault line. Recent increased seismic activities N, NW and SE of New Zealand do not bode well for the country. The earthquakes may result in a period intense volcanic activity in New Zealand in the coming weeks.

Related links:

• NZ govt eyes power-saving measures after dry spell
• New Zealand Rain Fails to Ease Risk of Power Shortage (Update1)
• Volcanoes, Santorini Eruption and Crops Failure in China
• Mt Ruapehu Eruption Alert

santorini

Wind Energy in Norway, Nuclear in F*nland

Are the Norwegians More Intelligent Than the Finns?

Top 10 Reasons why the Norwegians May Be More Intelligent that the Finns [then again …]:

10. Finland with an estimated population of 5.32million, most of whom are intoxicated most of the time [no offense intended, just citing a matter of fact relayed to us by a Finnish colleague,] wants more nuclear energy despite the fact … well read it for yourself: More nuclear power and How Do You Say ‘Duck-n-Cover’ in Finnish?

As for our Norwegian [distant] cousins, the North Sea gas pipeline operator Gassco has just awarded [Aug 20, 2008] Sweden’s Marine Matteknikk AB “a contract to survey 636 km of seabed for potential pipelines to carry carbon dioxide to offshore burial sites.” (Source)

Let’s hope there’ll never be an earthquake on the Norwegian Continental shelf.

Continued …

Deadly Storms Hit US Midsection

A Shrinking World Series

Powerful storms kill 8 in Iowa and Minnesota

Tornadoes Wreak Havoc in Oklahoma

Severe thunderstorms accompanied by large hail and tornadoes struck the US midsection Sunday, killing eight people and destroying tens of homes, authorities said.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver issued a disaster proclamation for Black Hawk, Buchanan and Butler counties, hundreds of homes were evacuated. At least 20 people were unaccounted for in Minnesota.

The latest toll bring the total number of dead to about 113 in U.S. tornadoes so far this year. Tornado season intensifies in the spring and early summer, and again in the late fall. (Source)

Dennis Schipper looks over his flattened home after a powerful storm ripped through the town of Parkersburg, Iowa, Sunday, May 25, 2008. (AP Photo/The Waterloo Courier, Matthew Putney). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Debris covers the site of several homes after a powerful storm swept through Hugo, Minn. on Sunday, May 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Jim Mone). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

A tornado touches down. Supercell storms plowed across northern Oklahoma state Saturday spawning several tornadoes that crushed structures and sent debris flying miles away, US media reported. (AFP/NOAA/File)

People evacuate their homes after a severe storm hit the town of Parkersburg, Iowa on Sunday, May 25, 2008. (AP Photo/The Waterloo Courier, Matthew Putney) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Lightning strikes during a storm that produced multiple tornadoes east of Marshall, Okla., Saturday, May 24, 2008. Several tornadoes touched down Saturday in northwestern Oklahoma. A twister destroyed three barns at a hog farm near Lacey in Kingfisher County, about 75 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Department. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Matt Strasen). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Related Links:

• Powerful storms kill 8 in Iowa and Minnesota
• Will 2008 be year of the tornadoes, too?
• 2008: Year of the Fire

• Midwest tornadoes (video)

Slideshow: Storms hit Iowa, Minn.

More Disasters Hit China

A Shrinking World Series

China aftershock destroys 71,000 homes, kills 6

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer

CHENGDU, China – A powerful 6-magnitude aftershock destroyed tens of thousands of homes in central China on Sunday, killing six people and straining recovery efforts from the country’s worst earthquake in three decades. More than 500 others were injured. (Source)

Quake Data:

• Magnitude: 6.0
• Date-Time: Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 08:21:49 UTC
  Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 04:21:49 PM at epicen
• Location: 32.587°N, 105.424°E
• Depth: 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
• Region: SICHUAN-GANSU BORDER REGION, CHINA
• Distances: 40 km (25 miles) WNW of Guangyuan, Sichuan, China
  140 km (85 miles) NNE of Mianyang, Sichuan, China
  350 km (220 miles) NNW of Chongqing, Chongqing, China
  1275 km (790 miles) SW of BEIJING, Beijing, China

People walk on a collapsed bridge. A powerful aftershock on May 25, 2008 hit quake-ravaged central China damaging thousands of homes, killing 6 people and injuring dozens more. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Related Links:

• Powerful quake rocks central China
• Swelling China lakes a danger 2 weeks after quake

Related Videos:

• Fears for China quake dams
• China evacuee camp

Colombian Town Hit by Earthquake

A Shrinking World Series

Is it Safe?

At least 11 people died and 54 were injured when a 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck about 50 km East Southeast of Colombian capital, Bogota. About 5,000 people have been affected by damaged structures, Red Cross said.

Panicked residents in the rural town of Quetame, the most seriously hit area, spent the night in the town’s football field. The quake damaged water supplies destroying houses and the local church.

A 6.2-magnitude quake, which struck Colombia in 1999, killed about 1,500 and left more than a quarter of a million people homeless.

A man walks past the wreckages of cars damaged in a landslide near Quetame May 25, 2008. Dozens of families evacuated the middle town after a shallow earthquake measuring 5.6 magnitude hit central Colombia on Saturday. REUTERS/Carlos Duran [Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!]

Quake Data [USGS]

• Magnitude: 5.6
• Date-Time: Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 19:20:47 UTC
  Saturday, May 24, 2008 at 02:20:47 PM at epicenter
• Location: 4.447°N, 73.670°W
• Depth: 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
• Region: COLOMBIA
• Distances: 35 km (20 miles) N of Villavicencio, Colombia
  50 km (30 miles) ESE of BOGOTA, Colombia
  125 km (75 miles) SSW of Tunja, Colombia
  125 km (80 miles) E of Girardot, Colombia
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 4.8 km (3.0 miles);

Related Links:

• Colombia quake victims huddle in shelters, 11 dead

cqd

Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part IV

Wild Facts Series: Just when you thought the oceans were dying painlessly!

Carbon Emissions Make Oceans Corrosive!

‘Acidified’ Water Threatens Marine Life on the Continental Shelf from Canada to Mexico: NOAA

Researchers found evidence of corrosive water about 20 miles off the west coast of North America from Canada to Mexico last summer. The ocean water on the western North American continental shelf was previously thought not to be “acidified.”

“Ocean acidification” is caused by the ocean’s absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, a process which makes water corrosive.

Effects of increasing carbon dioxide and temperature on coral reefs. (NOAA Coral Reef Watch)

“Acidification of the Earth’s ocean water could have far-reaching impacts on the health of our near-shore environment, and on the sustainability of ecosystems that support human populations through nourishment and jobs,” said Richard W. Spinrad, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research. “This research is vital to understanding the processes within the ocean, as well as the consequences of a carbon-rich atmosphere.”

“Our findings represent the first evidence that a large section of the North American continental shelf is seasonally impacted by ocean acidification,” said Feely. “This means that ocean acidification may be seriously impacting marine life on our continental shelf right now.”

“While this absorption provides a great service to humans by significantly reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and decreasing the effects of global warming, the change in the ocean chemistry affects marine life, particularly organisms with calcium carbonate shells, such as corals, mussels, mollusks, and small creatures in the early stages of the food chain,” said Feely.

NOAA said: “Previous studies found ocean acidification at deeper depths farther from shore. The researchers said that the movement of the corrosive water appears to happen during the upwhelling season during the spring and summer, when winds bring CO2 -rich water up from depths of about 400-600 feet onto the continental shelf. The water that upwells off of the North American Pacific coast has been away from the surface for about 50 years.

Typical coral-reef community observed in the U.S. Virgin Islands. [Species lables: the image to view labels: Ma, boulder star coral (Montastrea annularis); Dc, knobby brain coral (Diploria clivosa); Pa, mustard hill coral (Porites astreoides); Pp, finger coral (Porites porites); D, dead coral (probably Porites astreoides); O, octocoral (soft coral); S, sponge.] Photograph by Nathan Smiley, USGS.

“The field study collected samples from Queen Charlotte Sound, Canada, to San Gregorio Baja California Sur, Mexico. The closest they found corrosive water was about four miles off of the northern California coast.”

“We did not expect to see this extent of ocean acidification until the middle to the end of the century,” said Sabine. “Because of this effort, we have a baseline for future observations as we continue to study and monitor the relationship of biological and physical processes and their ability to respond to ocean acidification.”

“We did not expect to see this extent of ocean acidification until the middle to the end of the century,” said Sabine. “Because of this effort, we have a baseline for future observations as we continue to study and monitor the relationship of biological and physical processes and their ability to respond to ocean acidification.”

“When the upwelled water was last at the surface, it was exposed to an atmosphere with much less CO2 than today and future upwelled waters will probably be more acidic than today’s because of increasing atmospheric CO2,” said Hales, a professor of chemical oceanography, who is also funded by NASA.

“We don’t know how this will affect species living in the zone below the level of the lowest tides, out to the edge of the continental shelf,” said Ianson, an oceanographer. “We do know that organisms like corals or pteropods are affected by water saturated with CO2. The impacts on other species, such as shellfish and other juvenile fish that have economic significance, are not yet fully understood.”

“In Baja California, we have several Mediterranean-climate coastal lagoons where the main external physical and biogeochemical forcing is from the neighboring coastal ocean, strongly influenced by upwelling,” said Hernandez-Ayon, a coastal oceanographer. “We are concerned about these areas because they play an important role as nurseries and feeding grounds of juvenile fish populations but are also are ideal sites for shellfish aquaculture.” More …

What is Bleaching?

Corals are very sensitive to temperature change: a 1–2º C change in local temperature above their normal summer maximum can lead to a phenomenon called ‘bleaching’, whereby the corals expel their vital algal symbionts (algae which live in the cells of the coral), leaving the coral tissues translucent.

Bleached Coral (Pocillopora) NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

In 1998, a single bleaching event led to the loss of almost 20% of the world’s living coral. Corals can recover from these events but repeated episodes are likely to weaken the coral ecosystem, making them more susceptible to disease and causing a loss of biodiversity. (Source)

How will ocean acidification affect marine life?

Corals, calcareous phytoplankton, mussels, snails, sea urchins and other marine organisms use calcium (Ca) and carbonate (CO3) in seawater to construct their calcium carbonate (CaCO3) shells or skeletons. As the pH decreases, carbonate becomes less available, which makes it more difficult for organisms to secrete CaCO3 to form their skeletal material. For animals in general, including invertebrates and some fish, CO2 accumulation and lowered pH may result in acidosis, or a build up of carbonic acid in the organism’s body fluids. This can lead to lowered immune response, metabolic depression, behavioral depression affecting physical activity and reproduction, and asphyxiation. Since the oceans have never experienced such a rapid acidification, it is not clear if ecosystems have the ability to adapt to these changes (1,2). Effects of ocean acidification on organisms and ecosystems are still poorly understood. Over the last few years, research has intensified significantly to fill the many knowledge gaps. (Source)

Related Links:

• International Scientists Find ‘Acidified’ Water on the Continental Shelf from Canada to Mexico
• How will ocean acidification affect marine life ?
• Ocean Acidification
• Integrated Coral Observing Network

• The Eight Steps that Help Kill More of Our Fish
• Global warming could starve oceans of oxygen: study
• The Floating Toxic Garbage Island
  
• Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part III
• Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part II
• Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part I

Will 2008 be year of the tornadoes, too?

Tornadoes Wreak Havoc

About 105 people have been killed by tornadoes since the beginning of this year. According to the reports some 868 tornadoes have struck through May 18. The tally is on par with 2004, in which a record 1,819 tornadoes were reported, National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, Okla., said.

“It will be one of the biggest years when all is said and done,” said Harold Brooks, a meteorologist at the center. “It’s been very, very active and very unusual.” The 136 tornadoes reported in January 2008 were about 7 times higher than the January average of 19 for the 1953 to 2005 period. The February record at 232 was 11 times higher than the previous February average of 21 tornadoes.

“Our work suggests that the trend, the sign, is that conditions for severe weather will increase,” said Robert J. Trapp, an associate professor of atmospheric science at Purdue University. (Source)

A sequence of images showing the birth of a tornado. First, the rotating cloud base lowers. This lowering becomes a funnel, which continues descending while winds build near the surface, kicking up dust and other debris. Finally, the visible funnel extends to the ground, and the tornado begins causing major damage. This tornado, near Dimmitt, Texas, was one of the best-observed violent tornadoes in history.

This sequence of three photographs was taken by a member of the VORTEX project outside of Dimmit, TX on June 2, 1995. Known to some as the most studied tornado of all time, multiple movies, radar images, photographs, and damage observations were made for this tornado’s entire lifespan by members of the VORTEX team. (Source)

What about the hurricanes?

The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season will be active with up to 16 named storms, nine of which are expected to become hurricanes, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, said on Thursday.

to Up to five of the hurricanes forecast for the season starting June 1 will be major ones ranging from Category 3 to higher with winds exceeding 180 km per hour, NOAA said in its annual forecast. (Source)

Hurricane Noel. A satellite image taken November 2, 2007. REUTERS. NOAA Handout

Related Links:

• U.S. government sees active Atlantic hurricane season
• A Busy Year as Tornadoes Wreak Havoc
• 2008: Year of the Fire

2008: Year of the Fire

Raging Fire Forces Evacuation in Silicon Valley

As the wildfire consumed more than 3,000 acres with no containment, the governor issued an emergency declaration for Santa Cruz County.

About 300 people whose homes are in the path of the rapidly spreading fire have been evacuated under a mandatory order, according to officials in city of Gilroy, California.

It’s believed that the fire, which is moving southeast toward the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, could grow to 10,000 acres before it burns out.

Acording to CalFire at least 12 structures have been burned, but no injuries have been reported. Power is out in much of the area due to falling trees.

Some 600 firefighters are fighting the blaze and another 2,000 are expected to arrive soon. (Source)

Sun through the smoke! (Credit: Michael Congdon, via Mercury News.) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

The experts at Creating A Sustainable Future (CASF) believe that 2008-2010 would be the worst ever period for catastrophic wildfires throughout the United States and elsewhere on the globe!

• Fire map

• Acres burned: 3,000, including at least 15 structures. (Fire officials say it could grow to 10,000 or more.) No injuries reported.
• Evacuation information: Evacuation facilities set up at Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 East Lake Ave., Watsonville. For information, 335-6717, 335-6718, 335-6719.
• Volunteer:Volunteer Centers of Santa Cruz County, call 427-5070
• Animal Services: Santa Cruz Animal Services helping with large animal evacuations. For information, 454-7303.
• Evacuation checklist

Related Links:

• Climate-enhanced catastrophes in the US
• UPDATE 1-Wildfire near Silicon Valley forces evacuations
• California eyes another tough wildfire season
• Fire managers predict bad year for blazes

Video Links:

• California wildfire burns

Semeru Volcano: Alert Level III

Mount Semeru Volcano Restive, Alert Level III

May 22, 2008

Jakarta – Indonesian authorities on Thursday urged residents living around the slopes of Mount Semeru in Indonesia’s crowded East Java province to keep their distance from the active volcano, which appears to be heating up.

Vulcanologists upgraded the alert status of Mount Semeru volcano to level three, one level below a full state of alert, after the 3,676-metre-high volcano on Wednesday sent hot lava as much as 3,000 metres down its slopes.

Villagers and farmers were urged ‘not to conduct activity at a radius of 4 kilometres from the crater, especially around the south-east of the volcano’s slopes,’ said Surono, head of Indonesia’s Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation at the directorate general of volcanology.

Surono, who like many Indonesians goes only by one name, appealed to residents living on the riverbanks along three different rivers to be cautious of threats posed by lava streams.

However, no immediate evacuation is being considered for residents living in a number villages in the potential danger zone, he said, adding that a team of experts is intensively monitoring Mount Semeru’s activity round-the-clock.

The Mount Semeru volcano, 780 kilometres east of Jakarta, is a popular tourist destination, especially for hikers. Semeru is one of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes.

The Indonesian archipelago, straddling the seismically active ‘Ring of Fire,’ has the world’s highest density of volcanoes. Of its 500 volcanoes, 128 are active and 65 are listed as dangerous. (Source) Copyright respective author or news agency.

The climb to the summit of Semeru is a 2-3 day walk. The mountain stages minor eruptions (like in the photograph) every 20 – 40 minutes. The photo was taken in late afternoon (August 2003) and simply involved walking from the campsite at the base of the climb to the summit around to the west so that the sun was at my back, then waiting for the eruption to start. The most striking aspect of the photo is the colour caused by the almost perpendicular rays of the sun hitting the cloud of dust and steam escaping a couple of thousand metres into the sky from the crater. The photo typifies the fact that Indonesia sits in the middle of the “Ring of Fire”. The many spectacles presented by the landscapes, the festivals and the people of Indonesia never cease to truly amaze me. Photo and caption credit: Campbell Bridge (via Trek Earth at:http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Indonesia/photo109462.htm)

Semeru: The Most Active Volcano of Java

Semeru also Gunung Semeru is the highest and one of most active volcanoes of Java. Known also as Mahameru (Great Mountain), it is very steep and rises abruptly above the coastal plains of eastern Java. Maars containing crater lakes have formed along a line through the summit. Semeru lies at the south end of the Tengger Volcanic Complex. The steep-sided volcano, also referred to as Mahameru (Great Mountain), rises abruptly to 3676 m above coastal plains to the south. Semeru’s eruptive history is extensive. Since 1818, at least 55 eruptions have been recorded (10 of which resulted in fatalities) consisting of both lava flows and pyroclastic flows. More than 500 people have been killed by Semeru’s eruptions during the last 30 years. Semeru has been in almost continuous eruption since 1967. (Source 1 and 2 )

Semeru is one of many volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Graphic courtesy of Darwin VAAC.

Semeru, a stratovolcano, has erupted at least 55 times since 1818. The eruptions are commonly moderate to moderately large (VEI of 2 to 3) and explosive. This photo, taken November 4, 1982, shows a small cloud associated with a Strombolian eruption (relatively low-level volcanic eruptions) . Photo by Jack Lockwood, U.S. Geological Survey. (Source)

Strombolian eruptions are relatively low-level volcanic eruptions, named after the Italian volcano named Stromboli, where such eruptions consist of ejection of incandescent cinder, lapilli and lava bombs to altitudes of tens to hundreds of meters. They are small to medium in volume, with sporadic violence. (Source). Credit: Wolfgang Beyer GNU Free Documentation license, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

Semeru eruptions are commonly moderate to moderately large (VEI of 2 to 3). Some of the eruptions produced lahars (a type of mudflow composed of pyroclastic material and water that flows down from a volcano). Semeru’s most recent eruption began in 1967 and has continued to the present. In August of 1994, explosions occurred at 15-20 minute intervals. In February of 1995, pyroclastic avalanches traveled about 0.6 mile (1 km) from the summit.

Semeru, 1985. A USGS Photo.

Related News:

• Indonesia raises alert level for Java volcano Radio Australia
• Indonesia Raises Alert For Volcano On Java Island Javno.hr
• Heat clouds raise Indonesian volcano alert AFP

Related Links:

• Satellite picture by Google Maps
• Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program: Semeru
• Indonesia Volcanoes and Volcanics [USGS]
• Volcanological Survey of Indonesia (VSI)

• Volcanoes
• Philippines Taal Volcano Could Erupt Anytime!
• The Power of Chaitén Volcano
• Volcanoes, Santorini Eruption and Crops Failure in China

• Chaitén Volcano Still Active
• Chaitén Volcano: No End Seen to Second Massive Eruption
• Chile: Volcano activity prompts mass evacuation
• Mt Ruapehu Eruption Alert

Google Gag

Haunted by Big, Bad Google

The blog moderators condemn Google Inc in the strongest possible terms for content censorship. Google search engines permanently or periodically exclude specific posts, contents or information from the blogs thereby abridging the freedom of speech.

Google Inc poses a clear and present danger to freedom of speech. To minimize this threat, we urge those of the lawmakers who still believe in the Constitution to break up Google into smaller units.

Wal-Mart, the Panther Chameleon and Josef Fritzl

Could Wal-Mart Ever Be Called “Green?”

What are the necessary conditions for pigs to fly?

One headline read: Green tech innovations save cash and planet. The text followed: “Businesses from Wal-Mart Stores Inc to Nike Inc are finding that green investments in their operations are more than just Earth-friendly – they’re boosting the bottom line, an environmental group said on Tuesday.

“The new wave of environmental investments goes beyond energy-saving lighting, buying recycled office supplies and double-side printing, the group, Environmental Defense Fund, said in a new report.” Wow!

Could Wal-Mart Ever Be Called “Green?”

Despite the obvious fallacies and the glaring oxymoron, FEWW moderators decided to put this to the test. The first reactions from an informal sounding were all too similar. The responses varied citing anything from “deception” by one kind of animal, to “rape” by another kind. Two examples follow:

Deception

• Well, it all depends on your notion of “green,” “blue” [the new advertising gimmick meaning “deep green,”] or khaki camouflage. What color is a Chamaeleo pardalis?

Panther Chameleon. Coloration varies with location, [and business objectives] the different color patterns of Panther Chameleons are commonly referred to as ‘locales’, which are named after the geographical location in which they are found. (Photo Credit: David Parks, via howstuffworks.)

And …

Rape

• If you can call Josef Fritzl a “caring” father, then you could probably call Wal-Mart “green,” or “blue” [meaning “deep green,”] because W-M’s passion for the environment is similar to Fritzl’s love for his daughter. They both got raped for quarter of a century!

An Austrian police handout picture released April 28, 2008 shows Josef Fritzl.

[Note: A “caring” father, Josef F. locked up his daughter in a windowless cell for 25 years for “her own protection” preventing her from “breaking all the rules” that might have harmed her. He repeatedly raped her to presumably express his “fatherly love,” and even kept three of the seven children which he fathered (grand-fathered?) with her, locked up in the basement to keep the “family unit” intact.]

Contorted logic?

A Wal-Mart Supercenter in Miles City, Montana. Note the obscene size of the parking lot! This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_mcmt/282000649/)

The 7 Rs for Wal-Mart

FEWW team had designed a survey covering a number of “serious” issues and at the last moment they decided to also include the question of Wal-Mart “color” on a poll of the members, colleagues, associates and supporters. The question concerning the mega corporation asked:

What are the circumstances, ever so remotely, under which Wal-Mart could conceivably claim to be “green,” or “blue,” [meaning “deep green?”]

Mushrooming in the Heart of Nature: A Wal-Mart Supercenter in Madison Heights, Virginia.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License. (Photo: Ben Schumin, via Wikimedia Commons.)

The replies, with all the “polite profanities” and snide remarks removed, were formulated as follows:

To be called “green” without a guffaw [not even a snicker] Wal-Mart should:

1. Renounce profit-making as a business model.
2. Re-establish as a customer co-operative.
3. Re-house all of their employees within a 0.6-mile (1km) radius of the stores.
4. Refuse to serve customers who
(i) Live farther than 5 miles (8km) from their stores, or
(ii) Drive to the stores.

5. Return the parking lots to nature.

6. Refrain from selling merchandise that are NOT locally produced, i.e., stop importing from China.

Or

7. Rot in the Ruins!

Related Links:

• Green tech innovations save cash and planet
• Criticism of Wal-Mart

–

Don’t Worry, it’s Only Earth

A Herculean task, significant impact on physical and biological systems globally, worst cases in 800,000 years

One species disappears every 20 minutes, UN Experts

“In my view, climate change and the loss of biodiversity are the most alarming challenges on the global agenda,” Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said at the opening of a U.N. biodiversity conference on Monday.

Some of the biodiversity of a coral reef. Reproduced under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation license, ersion 1.2 or any later version. (author: Richard Ling)

“In my view, climate change [Germany is the world’s 6th largest pollutor] and the loss of biodiversity are the most alarming challenges on the global agenda […] It will be a Herculean task to get the world community and each individual country on the right path to sustainability [still talking about ‘Tending Our Goats at the Edge of Apocalypse’] … The truth today is that we are still on the wrong track. If we follow this path we can foresee that we will fail to meet the target … Business as usual is no more an option if humanity is going to survive. Losing biodiversity is not just losing trees and species, it is an economic and security loss. [Thanks for reading our blogs, Mr Gabriel!]” (Source)

Attributing physical and biological impacts to anthropogenic climate change

Significant changes in physical and biological systems are occurring on all continents and in most oceans, with a concentration of available data in Europe and North America. Most of these changes are in the direction expected with warming temperature. Here we show that these changes in natural systems since at least 1970 are occurring in regions of observed temperature increases, and that these temperature increases at continental scales cannot be explained by natural climate variations alone. Given the conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report that most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely to be due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations, and furthermore that it is likely that there has been significant anthropogenic warming over the past 50 years averaged over each continent except Antarctica, we conclude that anthropogenic climate change is having a significant impact on physical and biological systems globally and in some continents. (Source)

Instrumental Temperature record of the last 150 years. (Author: Robert A. Rohde) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License Version 2.5

Greenhouse gases highest in 800,000 years

Atmospheric greenhouse gases are now at the highest levels in 800,000 years, according to a study of Antarctic ice, which provides additional evidence that human activity is disrupting the climate.

“Shanghai at sunset, as seen from the observation deck of the Jin Mao tower. The sun has not actually dropped below the horizon yet, rather it has reached the smog line.” This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (Photo: Suicup; via: Wikimedia Commons. )

“We can firmly say that today’s concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane are 28 and 124 percent higher respectively than at any time during the last 800,000 years,” said Thomas Stocker, a researcher at the University of Berne. (Source)

Related Links:

• Failing Ecosystems
• State of the World
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
  
• Nuking Earth for Lifestyle

• Giga Trends
• Tipping Point
• Future Scenarios
• World Problems: The Root Cause Matrix

Disgrace, Disgrace, You’re Such an Ugly Disgrace …

White House “pivotal” in Calif. Emissions Control

White House pressure may have influenced the Environmental Protection Agency to reject a bid by California to impose strict limits on emissions from new cars and trucks.

Stephen Johnson, EPA Administrator [and former junk “scientist”] rejected California’s plan to impose a tough limits on emissions from new cars and trucks last year, despite warnings from agency experts that “rejecting the limits could prompt lawsuits that the agency would lose,” a Democratic staff said in memo after extensive investigation.

Does he pray to the same ‘God’ as Cheney?

Johnson had initially agreed, in part, with the proposed tougher emissions standards, but “reversed his position after communications with officials in the White House.”

“The record before this committee suggests that the White House played a pivotal role in the decision to reject the California petition, but it does not explain the basis for the White House intervention,” the memo said. (Source)

Should the top EPA job go to a White House “yes man” or woman?

Related Links:

• EPA official no match for Dow
• 60 Percent of EPA Staff Have ‘Personally Experienced’ ‘Political Interference
  
• Washington waste site: Recent reports confirm that the EPA needs a major cleanup

::

Philippines Taal Volcano Could Erupt Anytime!

UPDATE: Latest From TAAL and other Philippines Volcanoes

Taal May Erupt at Anytime

FEWW team believes there is a strong probability that the Taal Volcano, a Pelean-type active volcano on the island of Luzon, might erupt this month. Taal volcano is designated as one of the 16 Decade Volcanoes by International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI). Located about 50 km south of the capital, Manila, Taal is surrounded by populated areas.

Taal has erupted violently several times (the last eruption was in 1977). The current death toll caused by its activities stands at about 6,000.

More seismic activities in the region should be expected.

Taal Volcano Seen through Lake Taal (Photo: Jhun Taboga)

A cinder cone in an acidic lake on Taal Volcano (Credit: JG Moore of the US Geological Survey)

Major volcanoes of the Philippines

Pacific Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes and is home to over 75% of the world’s active and dormant volcanoes. Ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes and 80% of the world’s largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire is a direct result and consequence of plate tectonics and the movement and collisions of crustal plates. (Source)

Plate Tectonics

World’s 14 major tectonic plates plus the Scotia plate. Mapped in the second half of the 20th century to explain the observed evidence for large scale motions of the Earth’s lithosphere. The lithosphere is broken up into tectonic plates. The surface of the Earth consists of a further 38 [40] minor plates.

The largest of the major plates are

• African Plate, containing Africa – Continental plate
• Antarctic Plate, containing Antarctica – Continental plate
• Australian Plate, containing Australia (fused with Indian Plate about 50 million years ago) – Continental plate
• Eurasian Plate containing Asia and Europe – Continental plate
• North American Plate containing North America and north-east Siberia – Continental plate
• South American Plate containing South America – Continental plate
• Pacific Plate, covering the Pacific Ocean – Oceanic plate

See also

• Plates list.
• Detailed map showing the tectonic plates with their movement vectors.
• Plate motion based on Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite data from NASA JPL

Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries. The lateral movement of the plates is typically at speeds of 5 – 10 cm/yr. (Read more …)

Recent Earthquakes [Kurile through Kermadec trenches]

[Time at epicenter]

• Magnitude 4.8; Depth of 48.7 km; SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS; Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 10:03:52 PM
• Magnitude 5.6; Depth of 35 km; SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA; May 18, 2008 at 07:17:24 PM
• Magnitude 4.6; Depth of 74.1km; MINDORO, PHILIPPINES; Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 07:24:17 PM
• Magnitude 4.9; Depth of 10 km; SABAH, MALAYSIA; Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 02:26:41 PM
• Magnitude 4.9; Depth of 31.3 km; NIAS REGION, INDONESIA; Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 09:59:59 AM
• Magnitude 4.4; Depth of 242.4 km;KYUSHU, JAPAN; Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 07:15:06 AM
• Magnitude 5.2; Depth of 127.1 km, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES, Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 10:17:30 PM
• Magnitude 5.1; Depth of 151.2 km; SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS; Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 02:23:17 PM
• Magnitude 5.3; Depth of 150.4 km; NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA; Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 03:35:14 AM
• Magnitude 5.4; Depth of 35 km; SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS; Friday, May 16, 2008 at 11:06:51 PM
• Magnitude 5.3; Depth of 41 km; SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION; Friday, May 16, 2008 at 09:19:07 AM
• Magnitude 4.9; Depth of 606.3 km; FIJI REGION; Thursday, May 15, 2008 at 10:46:02 AM
• Magnitude 5.1; Depth of 35 km; TONGA; Friday, May 16, 2008 at 03:06:15 AM
• Magnitude 5.0; Depth of 25.8 km; KURIL ISLANDS; Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 08:20:43 AM
• Magnitude 5.2; Depth of 52.5 km; LUZON, PHILIPPINES; Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 05:48:32 AM
• Magnitude 5.2; Depth of 40.8 km; LUZON, PHILIPPINES; Depth of 40.8 km; Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 10:14:30 PM
• Magnitude 5.4; Depth of 35 km; NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA; Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 05:29:19 PM
• Magnitude 5.0; Depth of 36.7 km; TAIWAN REGION; Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 06:57:46 AM
• Magnitude 4.6; Depth of 509 km; SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS; Monday, May 12, 2008 at 04:34:05 AM

[Source: USGS]

Global earthquake epicentres, 1963–1998 (Image: NASA)

Philippines Other Major Volcanoes: Mayon Volcano

Mayon Volcano as viewed from Lingñon Hill in Daraga, Albay. Mayon, located between the Eurasian and the Philippine Plate, is a convergent plate boundary. It is the most active volcano in the Philippines, having erupted over 47 times in the past 400 years. Last eruption: 2006. (Copyrigh by Tam3rd via Wikimedia)

Canlaon Volcano

Canlaon, a stratovolcano, is located in the north central part of the island of Negros. Last eruption: 2006.

Weather clouds drape the sparsely vegetated summit of Kanlaon volcano (also spelled Canlaon). Kanlaon is the most active of the central Philippines and forms the highest point on the island of Negros. The massive 2435-m-high stratovolcano is dotted with fissure-controlled pyroclastic cones and craters, many of which are filled by lakes. Historical eruptions, recorded since 1866, have typically consisted of phreatic explosions of small-to-moderate size that produce minor ashfalls near the volcano. Photo courtesy of PHIVOLCS. Caption GVP

Ragang volcano

Ragang volcano (above and to the right of the center of image) is located in central Mindanao. Last eruption: 1916. Thanks mainly to the Filipino government and its education authorities, no other image of Ragnag Volcano could be found at the time of writing. NASA Space Shuttle image STS61A-40-71, 1985 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

There are 22 active volcanoes in the Philippines: Babuyan Claro, Banahaw, Bulusan, Mount Biliran, Bud Dajo, Cagua, Camiguin de Babuyanes, Didicas, Hibok-Hibok, Iraya, Mount Iriga, Mount Kanlaon, Leonard Kniaseff, Makaturing, Matutum, Mayon, Musuan, Mount Parker (Cotabato), Pinatubo, Ragang, Smith Volcano, Taal.

See also: List of volcanoes in the Philippines

Related Links:

• The Power of Chaitén Volcano
• Volcanoes, Santorini Eruption and Crops Failure in China
• Chaitén Volcano Still Active

• Parts of pyroplastic chamber fall around Chaitén volcano
• RESIDENTS IN CHILE VOLCANO ZONE WITHOUT DRINKING WATER
• CHILE VOLCANO ZONE MAY BE PERMANENTLY UNLIVABLE

• Volcano gets active, region is evacuated
• Thousands evacuated as Chile volcano spews ash
• Will one or both of New Zealand islands break up and sink in the south-western Pacific Ocean?

• Chile: Volcano activity prompts mass evacuation
• A Shrinking World: Salmon and livestock removed from Chaiten volcano range

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Ghost towns

Philippines Taal Volcano Could Erupt Anytime!

Page Updated:

Tropical storm Halong pounds northern Philippines

Halong triggers floods and landslides

Tropical storm Halong lashes northern Philippines with 95 km per hour winds on Sunday, triggering floods and landslides.

Rescuers are seen pushing their jeep through a street submerged by floodwaters in Iloilo City, central Philippines, on May 15. Tropical storm Halong battered the northern Philippines on Sunday with powerful winds triggering floods and landslides and displacing about 6,000 people, relief officials said.
(AFP/File/Tara Yap) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Large areas of the northwestern coast of Luzon, the main Philippine island, experienced a blackout while about 6,000 people were displaced. Residents of low-lying areas and those living near mountain slopes throughout Luzon were urged to “take all the necessary precautions against possible flashfloods and landslides,” as the storm was intensifying the seasonal southwest monsoon winds. (Source)

Related Links:

• The Power of Chaitén Volcano
• Volcanoes, Santorini Eruption and Crops Failure in China
• Chaitén Volcano Still Active

• Parts of pyroplastic chamber fall around Chaitén volcano
• RESIDENTS IN CHILE VOLCANO ZONE WITHOUT DRINKING WATER
• CHILE VOLCANO ZONE MAY BE PERMANENTLY UNLIVABLE

• Volcano gets active, region is evacuated
• Thousands evacuated as Chile volcano spews ash
• Will one or both of New Zealand islands break up and sink in the south-western Pacific Ocean?

• Chile: Volcano activity prompts mass evacuation
• A Shrinking World: Salmon and livestock removed from Chaiten volcano range

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Ghost towns

The Anguished Cries of China Quake Nurse

Why was the quake nurse reduced to tears and had to beg the soldiers to rescue children?

If rescuing the children wasn’t their priority, and clearly it wasn’t, what were the soldiers ordered to do?

Anguished Chinese Nurse Serving in the Earthquake Disaster Area:

Please Rescue The Children!

Photo below was taken by Jason Lee of Reuters news agency (China). The caption reads:

“A nurse holding a general’s written order begs soldiers to rescue surviving children still buried in the ruins of another nearby school in the old city district near a mountain at the earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 15, 2008. The soldiers are not under the command of the general, whose written order reads: ‘Please arrange for rescue operations at this school as quickly as possible.'”

What were the orders soldiers own general gave them?

When did the authorities decide they couldn’t cope with too many quake survivors?

Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee (china) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

A close up of the nurse’s face. Her heartfelt agony speaks a thousand words!

[Reuters caption: A nurse cries as she begs soldiers to rescue surviving children still buried in the ruins of another nearby school in the old city district near a mountain at the earthquake-hit Beichuan county, Sichuan province, May 15, 2008. REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

The Olympics can wait; the survivors can’t!

“Although the time for the best chance of rescue, the first 72 hours after an earthquake, has passed [exactly as planned by CPC], saving lives remains the top priority of our work [believe what I say, not what I do, you ‘ignorant peasants’],” the [doublespeaking] Chinese president, Hu Jintao, told the survivors. (Source)

To the CORRUPT Chinese Government: The World is Watching YOU!

“Parents’ grief turns to anger at shoddily built deathtrap schools”

“Three days after the quake struck, troops and fire engines queued idly along the roadsides waiting for orders.”

“‘I saw a doctor walking along the lines of bloody bodies, checking pulses and looking at wounds. If he shook his head the nurses were instructed not to take the person to the operating theatre but move them to another room to die. It was like a scene from a war film,’ she said.” (Source)

Related Links:

• Chinese paratroopers rescuing survivors or preventing plague?
• Official worries over possible plague at Sichuan quake epicenter
• Chinese Leaders Incapable of Handling Quake Aftermath

• China Earthquake, Heavy Death Toll, Corruption, Criminal Incompetence

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World Disaster Update

Nargis Cyclone, Myanmar

Torrential tropical rain lashed Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta worsening the misery of an estimated 2.5 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis and further hampering the military government’s aid efforts, Reuters reported.

Monks stand beside a partially damaged Buddha statue in a storm devastated village near Kyacek tan, Myanmar, May 14, 2008, presumably wondering what if the statue was completely destroyed! (REUTERS/Stringer) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

The official toll for the dead and missing now stands at more than 133,000, but other estimates are reported the figure as high as 200,000. About 2.5 million people in the Irrawaddy delta have been severly affected and are struggling for survival. Some cases of cholera have been found in the Irawaddy delta, however, the numbers are in line with normal levels recorded in previous years. More Photos …

Videos (updated May 20, 2008 )

1. Scrambling for food
2. Death and destruction

China Quake

The earthquake in southwestern China has so far claimed about 30,000 lives. Another strong aftershock measuring 5.7 in magnitude (the 75th in the cluster since the 7.9Mw mainshock 6 days ago) struck about 80km WSW of Guangyuan, Sichuan, China early Sunday morning local time forcing thousands of the survivors to flee the Beichuan area amid fears a local lake could burst its banks.

Soldiers, relief workers and residents flee to higher ground in Beichuan, Sichuan province May 17, 2008 amid fears a local lake could burst its bank after the 75th strong aftershock struck the area. (REUTERS/Stringer) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

The authorities expect the final death toll from the earthquake to exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes. A reported 500,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. More photos . . .

Videos (updated May 20, 2008 )

1. Rescuers arrived too late!
2. Quake survivors flee fearing floods
3. Where’s the money government promised us?

Government Stats: [May 18, 11:00AM Local Time]

• Death toll : 28,881
• Still buried under the rubble: 10,600 people
• Injured : about 170,000 people
• Building damage: 15 million building in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces have been destroyed or severely damaged (AFP).
• Dams and reservoirs damaged: 391 units
• No of displaced: 4.8 million people at 2,885 locations

Photo Gallery

Chaiten volcano

Chaiten volcano (Chile) is spewing out hot ash and smoke, as it rumbles and creates tremors. Falling ash is clogging up the local Blanco and Raya rivers forcing them to overflow their banks, flooding the area in the surrounding areas.

The city of Chaiten, about 6km from the erupting volcano, almost entirely flooded, has been declared off-limits for three months by the Chilean government.

A house flooded by river Blanco in Chaiten city May 12, 2008. (REUTERS/Stringer). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

“There’s been additional volcanic activity that we’re really worried about,” regional governor Sergio Galilea said.

Chile is home to a cluster of about 2,000 volcanoes (second only to Indonesia), 500 of which are thought to be potentially active. (Source) More photos . . .

Related Links:

• Myanmar death toll soars
• Strong aftershock strikes south west China
• New rumbling from Chilean volcano worries experts

• The Anguished Cries of China Quake Nurse

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Anguished Cries of China Quake Nurse

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The Anguished Cries of China Quake Nurse