Potential Super Typhoon Headed for the Philippines

Tropical Storm HAIYAN Could Become a Super Typhoon

HAIYAN, the 30th tropical storm of the NW Pacific Basin so far this year, could develop into a super typhoon over the next few days before striking the Philippines.

Tropical Storm HAIYAN Chasing Tropical Depression WILMA (formerly TD Thirty) –  IR/WV DIFF Satellite Image recorded at 12:30UTC on November 4, 2013.  Image enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.  Source of the original image: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC.

Meantime, Tropical Depression WILMA weakened into a low pressure area (LPA) after making landfall earlier on Monday, reported the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

Visayas and the regions of Zamboanga Peninsula, northern Mindanao and Caraga will have moderate to heavy rains and thunderstorms that may trigger flash floods and landslides, said PAGASA.

Typhoon List 2013 – Stats for NW Pacific Basin

• The 60 year average (1951-2010) No of Typhoons by 4 November: 23
• No of typhoons so far this year: 30
• Percent Increase: 30.4 [Calculated by FIRE-EARTH blog]

Related Links

• Typhoon KROSA Destroys or Damages 19,000 Homes in Philippines November 2, 2013
• FEWW New Hurricane Scale
• Satellite Imagery

No Talks with Japan Unless They Apologize for Atrocities

Japan’s war time atrocities and baseless claim to Dokdo leave “no purpose” for talks: SK President

As the rift between South Korea and Japan deepens, the region struggles to reach agreement concerning control of North Korea’s growing nuclear capability.

“The fact is there are certain issues that complicate [any relationship with Japan,]” said South Korean President  Park Geun-hye.

“One example is the issue of the comfort women. These are women who have spent their blossoming years in hardship and suffering, and spent the rest of their life in ruins.” She told Bbc.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

“And none of these cases have been resolved or addressed; the Japanese have not changed any of their positions with regard to this. If Japan continues to stick to the same historical perceptions and repeat its past comments, then what purpose would a summit serve? Perhaps it would be better not to have one.”

Japan’s war-time atrocities against Korea, including the use of Korean woman as military sex slaves, or “comfort women,” as well as its illegitimate claim to Dokdo, a group of small islets in the Sea of Japan (known as Takeshima in Japan), draws great public anger in South Korea.

Park Geun-hye, who took office in February, is the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee. She has promised to redistribute wealth, reform big conglomerates and seek greater engagement with North Korea.

Panoramic View of Dokdo, Photo dated 2008/06/28. Permission: CCL 2.0by-sa-kr

Much to her credit, Ms Park has refused to meet with the Japanese Prime Minster, and correctly asserts any talk of a summit would be premature, until the long-standing issues between the two country have been resolved.

Japan Continues to Deny its WWII Atrocities: Former “Comfort women” seek Japan’s apology for WWII rapes

SURVIVING WWII ‘COMFORT WOMAN’ – Downloaded under Creative Commons License – Source: http://flickr.com/photos/keithpr/772549382/sizes/o/

Former Filipino “comfort woman” Piedad Nobleza, 86, holds slogans during a demonstration outside the Japanese Embassy in suburban Manila on Friday Aug. 15, 2008. Elderly Filipino women and their supporters demanded Tokyo’s clear-cut apology and compensation for wartime sexual slavery by Japanese troops. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila). Image may be subject to copyright.

Rangoon, Burma. August 8, 1945. An ethnic Chinese woman who was in one of the Imperial Japanese Army’s “comfort battalions” is interviewed by an Allied officer. Source: Comfort Women

Former “comfort woman” Lee Yong-Soo (L) stands beside her supporters holding portraits of Chinese, Philippine, South Korean and Taiwanese comfort women who were sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II, at a protest held in front of the Japanese parliament in Tokyo, in this 14 June 2007 file photo. Japan on 27 June 2007 brushed aside calls from US lawmakers for a fresh apology to wartime sex slaves, even as the former “comfort women” renewed their demands for Tokyo to acknowledge their plight. Japan said the US move to pass a resolution calling for an “unambiguous” apology from Japan for the coercion of women into army brothels during World War II would not damage relations between the two allies. Photo from Getty Images by AFP/Getty Images. Caption Daily life. Image may be subject to copyright.

SURVIVING WWII ‘COMFORT WOMAN’ awaiting justice! Source: Survivor_1. Creative commons license. Some rights reserved.

Related Links

• ‘NO!’ To Resurgence of Japanese Militarism

Mass Die-off of Wild Shrimp Off SE Atlantic Coast

Parasite decimates wild shrimp hauls off Georgia and South Carolina coasts

Black gill disease, caused by a tiny single-celled parasite called a ciliate, triggered a die-off of white shrimp during the August and October prime catch season off the U.S. southeast Atlantic coast, experts said.

The August haul plunged by about 75 percent from the same month last year, said Mel Bell, director of South Carolina’s Office of Fisheries Management.

In South Carolina the September catch was 44,000 pounds, less than 6 percent of the September, 2012 when shrimpers hauled in more than 750,000 pounds, said Bell.

White Shrimp – Black Gill Disease

A change in water salinity stresses the shrimp making them susceptible to being infected by the disease. The infection  lowers the shrimp endurance and makes them more vulnerable to predators, said Bell.

“It’s like the shrimp are smoking three packs of cigarettes a day, and now they’re having to go run a marathon,” he said.

“Shrimpers are reporting to us that they dump the bag on the deck, and the shrimp are just dead.”

Many shrimpers fear that Georgia’s current black gill problem came from shrimp ponds in South Carolina, said Pat Mathews, owner of Lazaretto Packing Co.

“All the pond-raised shrimp have had problems with diseases and viruses,” he said. “Therefore, we need federal legislation preventing discharging these ponds into the ecosystem to prevent the spread to wild shrimp in the future.”

Georgia shrimpers are reportedly planning to petition the state for disaster status.

Shrimp are America’s most valuable and probably most popular seafood. Whole cultures and maritime communities are based solely on these crustaceans. South Carolina has two important penaeid shrimp species, brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) and white shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus). A third species, the pink shrimp (Farfantepenaeus duorarum), is relatively scarce. Methods of harvest range from large commercial shrimp trawlers to cast nets and drop nets. South Carolina Department of Natural Resources- Marine Resource Division

White shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus). The most valuable fishery in the southeastern United States is the harvest of penaeid shrimp. In South Carolina and Georgia, this fishery is comprised of two species, the white (Litopeneausset-iferus) and brown (Farfantepenaeus aztecus) shrimps, with white shrimp dominating catches. Source: DNR

Asian Farmed Shrimp

The production of Asian farmed shrimp also plunged this year after a bacterial infection decimated stock in Thailand’s ponds, said a report, resulting in shortage of imports which in turn drove prices up.