Disease Emergence and Resurgence of Infectious Diseases‎

2011 Disaster Calendar – July 3 Entry

[July 3, 2011]  Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.  SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,718 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History

• Delaware and Virginia, USA. Late blight, the historic disease responsible for the great Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s, has been found in Delaware and on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, a report said.

Symptoms of potato late blight. Source: Plant pathology, MSU

• Ireland. A baby boom has pushed Ireland’s population to its highest level in more than 150 years, despite massive emigration that followed the collapse of the economy in 2008, a report said.
• “The population of Ireland hit an all-time high of 8.2 million in 1841, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom. It fell to 5.1 million 10 years later after a devastating famine that forced millions to leave.”
• The island of Ireland’s total population is now over 6 million [including 1.8 million people who live in Northern Ireland.]

• England. About half a million children (aged 4 to 14) in England may be at risk of developing life-threatening”fatty liver disease” because they are overweight, reports said.
• The Maldives. The gov has drafted the National Defense Force to help fight an outbreak of dengue fever that has escalated to “an epidemic,” a report said.
• “The Maldives has been battling a growing number of dengue fever cases in 2011, with 300 cases and five deaths reported in just the first two months of the year. There has been a reported spike in the number of cases of the virus reported in Male’; cases that were linked earlier this year by one health expert to a construction boom in the capital. However, most of the fatalities have been islanders who died in transit to regional hospitals, with many of the most serious cases having affected children.”
• Auckland, New Zealand. A measles outbreak has infected dozens [possibly hundreds] of people in Auckland, and is expected to spread beyond the region, health officials have warned. The highly contagious disease, spread by air travelers, have also infected many in dozens of other countries including the U.S. and Canada.

• NSW and QLD. Australia. Hendra outbreak is threatening eastern Australia. “Authorities are battling to prevent a serious outbreak of Hendra virus in eastern states, with four horses already dead and dozens of people possibly exposed to the lethal bat-borne illness,” a report said.
• “Hendra virus was first detected in September 1994 at a property in the Brisbane suburb of hendra in an outbreak which killed 20 horses and one person.
• “There have been 14 outbreaks of the virus since. Four of the seven people ever diagnosed with the virus have died.” (source)
• South Africa. At least 23,000 ostriches have been culled since April when an outbreak of avian flu was first reported.

Related Links

• Mass Die-offs
• “Flesh Eating Bacteria” Linked to NSAIDs
• Climate Change Spreads “Deadly Dozen” Diseases
• First Came the Rains …

Mega Disasters:

• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• FEWW DISASTER FORECAST 2011
• 2011 Much More Disastrous
• 2011 SIX TIMES MORE DISASTROUS THAN 2010
• Megadisasters Loom

• 2010 Disasters
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• 2010 Disaster Calendar
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs

Members Messages – 3 July 2011 UPDATE

To CASF Members:

As of today, certain messages/Forecasts will be delivered directly to your local PCGL. Stay tuned!

To CJ Members:

NO change in the UDCC, or voting procedure.

FIRE-EARTH

Indonesia’s Soputan Volcano Erupts

Mount Soputan, one of Sulawesi island’s most active volcanoes, erupted again on Sunday

North Sulawesi’s Soputan volcano erupted on Sunday at about 6:00 am local time, ejecting a column of volcanic gases about 6km into the air.

However, no evacuation order was issued as the volcano did not pose an immediate danger, officials said.

“They nearest residents live some eight kilometers from the mountain and so evacuation is not yet necessary [since the current evacuation zone was set at a 6km radius around the volcano, a forested area that is uninhabited,]” spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said.

“Last night, at around 11 pm, the mountain entered its eruption phase,” he said.

Mt Soputan is located about 2,160 km (1,340 miles) northeast of Indonesian capital Jakarta. The volcano  had previously erupted in 2008.

Soputan volcano spews thick smoke and heat clouds in Minahasa on October 7, 2008. Source: AFP. Image may be subject to copyright.

Indonesia, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, is home to 150 listed volcanoes, some 109 to 130 of which are regarded as active, according to various sources.

A Map of Listed Volcanoes of Indonesia.

Summary of Volcano Details

Country: Indonesia
Region Name: Sulawesi Island
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Last Known Eruption: 2008
Summit Elevation: 1,784 m    
Location:     1.108°N, 124.73°E

Soputan on a restful day!

The small Soputan stratovolcano, seen here from the west, was constructed on the southern rim of the Quaternary Tondano caldera in northern Sulawesi Island. The youthful, largely unvegetated Soputan volcano is one of Sulawesi’s most active volcanoes. During historical time the locus of eruptions has included both the summit crater and Aeseput, a prominent NE flank vent that formed in 1906 and was the source of intermittent major lava flows until 1924. Photo (undated) by Agus Solihin (Volcanological Survey of Indonesia). Image and caption: GVP.

Pacific Ring of Fire

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area of frequent siesmic activity and volcanic eruptions caused by plate tectonic movements. Encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean, which contains oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic belts, the 40,000 km Ring of Fire is home to 452 volcanoes. About ninety percent of the world’s earthquakes including 80% of the world’s major earthquakes occur along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Volcanic arcs and oceanic trenches partly encircling the Pacific Basin form the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The trenches are shown in blue-green. The volcanic island arcs, although not labeled, are parallel to, and always landward of, the trenches. For example, the island arc associated with the Aleutian Trench is represented by the long chain of volcanoes that make up the Aleutian Islands. (Source: USGS.)

Other Volcanic Activity/ Unrest

•  Ambrym, Vanuatu (SW Pacific)
• Kirishima, Kyushu
• Nabro, Eritrea
• Puyehue-Cordón Caulle, Central Chile

[Source: Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for June 22 – 28]

Related Links

• Mount Soputan volcano erupts again! [October 7, 2008]

• Messages From Earth’s Powerhouse
• Weekly Volcano Watch: 19 March 2009
• A New Era of Intense Volcanic Unrest May Have Begun

• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

ExxonMobil pipeline leak into Yellowstone River forces evacuations

Crude oil spill from an ExxonMobil pipeline into Montana’s Yellowstone River forces evacuations of nearby residents: Report

The spill came from a crude oil pipeline that runs from Silver Tip to Billings, Montana, according to the ExxonMobil Pipeline Company.

Nearby residents in Laurel, Montana, were evacuated in the early hours the morning but were allowed to return to their homes later in the morning, according to Laurel City Fire and Ambulance services.

“Evacuation orders for all of Yellowstone County have been lifted,” the emergency services spokesman said.

The Yellowstone Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Yellowstone River, a major tributary of the Missouri River, is about 1,120km (~700  miles) long and runs in the western United States. The river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains across  southern Montana and northern Wyoming. Photo credit: Scott Catron, GNU license. Click image to enlarge.

Cause of Rupture, Size of Rupture UNKNOWN!!

“Exxon said the cause of the rupture was not yet known and it was unclear how much oil had been released,” a report quoted the company as saying.

“We recognize the seriousness of this incident and are working hard to address it,” the company said.

Related Links

• Disasters Caused by Oil and Gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Polluting Land, Water and Air
• “No lesson” from the BP disaster