VolcanoWatch Weekly [13 August 2009]

Volcanic Activity Report:  5  – 11 August 2009

VoW: Kilauea

Since the vent collapse in late June, Kilauea’s summit plume had been wispy, translucent and low in SO2 content, resulting in improved air quality in Kona and Ka‘u. However, the summit vent has picked up in activity again this week. (Photo courtesy of Hawaiian Volcano Observatory). Source: Click Here.

New activity/unrest:

Source: Global Volcanism Program (GVP) – SI/USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report

• Ibu, Halmahera
• Mayon, Luzon

Ongoing Activity:

• Bagana, Bougainville
• Batu Tara, Komba Island (Indonesia)
• Dukono, Halmahera
• Kilauea, Hawaii
• Rabaul, New Britain
• Sakura-jima, Kyushu
• Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia)
• Slamet, Central Java (Indonesia)
• Suwanose-jima, Ryukyu Islands (Japan)

Related Links:

• U.S. Volcano Status Map
• Elevated Activity Page
• U.S. Volcano Webcams

FEWW Links:

• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes

Exxon Pays Peanuts to the Monkeys

Exxon Killing Fields in 5 States

ExxonMobil Corp pays $600,000 for killing migratory birds in five states

Exxon Mobil  Corp killed some 85 protected birds, including hawks, owls and waterfowl at Exxon drilling and production facilities in Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Texas.

ExxonMobil Corporation CEO, Rex W. Tillerson, shows how Exxon is planning on pushing the birds away before they could come into contact with the corporation’s filthy facilities in the five states in the US. Image may be subject to copyright.

The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that “Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil and gas company, had agreed to pay $400,000 in fines and $200,000 in community service payments as part of the plea deal.” Reuters reported.

Exxon reportedly pleaded guilty in Denver federal court to violating a federal law designed to protect migratory birds.

“According to court documents, most of the birds died after exposure to hydrocarbons in uncovered natural gas well reserve pits and waste water storage facilities.”

Tailing Ponds are responsible for killing thousands of birds, including endangeerd species each year. Source of the photo. Image may be subject to copyright.

Texas-based Exxon must now protect the birds by preventing them  from coming into contact with tailing ponds in the five states, DOJ said.

Related Links:

• 4m liters of crude spill into French nature reserve
• Old MacDonald Had a Fleet
• Shell Leaks in Shabby Style!
• Exxon Mobile Court Orders Only Fraction of Damages
• Another Day, Another Oil Spill in Alaska

• Chevron should pay $27 billion in compensation
• US Govt Sues BP America
• Australia hit by another man-made disaster
• Large spill at Canada’s oil sands terminal

Planet Earth 2009

Images of the Week: Coping with Human Abuse!

This is what Earth looked like in 2009—just a few years before she…

As of August 14, 2009 some 116 people confirmed dead in Taiwan with hundreds more uncounted for, feared to have been buried alive by mudslides…

Roads, bridges, riverbanks, homes, hotels and business all demolished and swept away by floods and mudslides in Shaolin Village, southern Taiwan. Photo: AFP. Image may be subject to copyrights.

Southern Taiwan after Morakot. More than 2,500mm of rain, the entire year’s quota,  fell in just 2 days. Photo AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.

Collapse: A bridge collapses on the Maruyama River, Asago city, Northern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. To the Northeast of Taiwan, typhoon Etau killed 13 people in western Japan, when local rivers burst their banks, destroying houses and drowning people in their vehicles. Etau, with winds approaching 130km per hour,  dumped as much as 640mm of rain on Hyōgo and Okayama prefectures and the island of Shikoku. Photo; The Kobe Shimbun/EPA. Image may be subject to copyright.

Related Links:

• Morakot: An Early Dividend of Climate Change
• Typhoon Morakot Churns Over China
• Typhoon Etau Wreaks Havoc Along Coast of Honshu, Japan

Must Read Links:

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Nuking Earth for Lifestyle
• Giga Trends
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• A few sobering shocks may be around the corner

• US Impacts of Global Climate Change
• Index of Human Impact on Nature (HIoN) March 2008
• Marsification of Earth
• Earth’s Collapsing Life Support Systems 286W
• The Root Cause Matrix

• Fat Chance
• Failing Ecosystems
• Drought and Deluge
• CO2e Links Page
• The Economy

• Collapsing Ecosystems
• World CO2 Emissions
• Carbon Footprint of Your Dollar
• New York Cognitive Dissonance
• World Problems: The Root Cause Matrix

• Giga Trends
• Look me straight in the eye & tell me you can’t
• Protect Economy from Climate??!
• Blind scientists examining the economic elephant
• How Much Carbon Dioxide Does Your Money Make?

• Cosmic Scale Evil
• Index of Human Impact on Nature
• The Billionaires’ contribution to CO2 pollution
• Stop Burning Earth
• World cannot survive without a revolution

• 500 Weather-Related Disasters A Year [and counting]
• Could Food and Fuel Riots Break Out Across the U.S.?
• Is a Future Possible?