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

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