Ukraine Launches ‘Anti-Terrorist’ Operation Against Separatists

Ukrainian Military Kills at least 4 Protesters in Attack on Airfield

Ukrainian forces have seized an airfield in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, killing at least 4 people and injuring two others, according to reports quoting separatists, as well as a confirmation by the coup-imposed acting President Aleksandr Turchinov.

“There are about 60 units of armored vehicles. They have been preparing for several days, and now they started to storm [the airfield]. The protesters blocked their way, they started shooting, there are wounded. Our people retreated. There are about 15 tanks, the other units are armored personnel vehicles,” one of the separatists told RIA Novosti.

Ukrainian troops have also attacked the city of Slavyansk, according to separatists quoted by Russian media.

“Currently there is a major attack on Slavyansk, armored personnel vehicles are entering the city… there are many troops. The men are getting ready to defend [the city],” said a separatist.

SLAVIANSK (Donetsk Region), April 15 (RIA Novosti) – At least four protesters were killed and two other wounded on Tuesday as the Ukrainian troops stormed an airfield in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kramatorsk, a spokesman for local People’s Militia told RIA Novosti.

“There are four dead and two wounded at the airfield. They are all militia,” the source said, adding that no casualties among the government troops had been reported.

“The fighting for the airfield is over as the militia has retreated and the Ukrainian side took control of the airfield,” he said.

Eastern Ukraine has been swept by pro-federalization rallies since March.

Federalization supporters in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Gorlovka, Slaviansk and Kramatorsk refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the current Ukrainian government and are urging interim authorities to hold referendums similar to the one that has been held in Crimea in March and led to its reunification with Russia.

In an effort to suppress the protesters Ukraine’s parliamentary speaker and acting President Olexander Turchynov ordered Monday a special anti-terrorist operation in the country’s east, involving the use of armed forces.

Meanwhile, the head of Ukrainian Security Service said: “[Protesters] must be warned that if they do not lay down their arms, they will be destroyed.”

FIRE-EARTH Bulletin NO. 86

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

FIRE-EARTH Bulletin NO. 86 has been released.

Related links

https://feww.wordpress.com/2-bulletin-board/

 

No. of Days left: 694

Another Round of Extra Terrestrial Weather Hits U.S.

EXTREME WEATHER & CLIMATIC EVENTS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
.

Severe thunderstorms forecast for parts of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia

Unseasonably cold across the central and eastern U.S. prompt Freeze Warning across parts of at least 22 states.

Other warnings associated with the “ET” front include Winter Storm Warning, Storm Warning, Flood Warning, Gale Warning, Hard Freeze Warning and Freeze Warning.

Widespread showers and thunderstorms are in the forecast from the Deep South to the Northeast U.S. on Tuesday as moisture from the Gulf of Mexico continues to advance northward into the region ahead of a strong cold front. —NOAA

US Weather Hazards Map (Hazmap). UPDATE Here…

 Related Links

• How Homo Ignarus Killed Spring March 21, 2013

M6.9 Strikes Bouvet Island Region

SEISMIC HAZARD
.

Strong quake occurs ENE of subantarctic volcanic island

EQ Details

Magnitude: 6.9Mw
Event Time: 2014-04-15 03:57:02 UTC
Location: 53.527°S, 8.704°E depth=11.7km (7.3mi)
Nearby Cities

• 364km (226mi) ENE of Bouvet Island
• 2,279km (1416mi) SSW of Hermanus, South Africa

 EQ Location Map

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP

FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecast

The next FIRE-EARTH Earthquake Forecast will appear in Bulletin No. 86, to be released on April 15.

China Air Pollution Affects Global Weather

ENVIRONMENTAL HOLOCAUST
TOXIC ATMOSPHERE
DEADLY AIR POLLUTION
INTENSE STORMS
GLOBAL IMPACT
.

Asian air pollution intensifies Pacific storms: Study

Air pollution in China and other Asian countries is affecting weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere, as well as other parts of the globe, especially during winter, according to a study.

The particulate matter in the air are carried towards the north Pacific where they interact with water droplets in the air, causing the formation of denser clouds that result in more intense storms above the ocean, say researchers.

“Since the Pacific storm track is an important component in the global general circulation, the impacts of Asian pollution on the storm track tend to affect the weather patterns of other parts of the world during the wintertime, especially a downstream region [of the storm track] like North America,” said Dr Yuan Wang, the lead author.

“The impacts of Asian pollution on the storm track tend to affect the weather patterns of other parts of the world […] the effects are quite dramatic. The pollution results in thicker and taller clouds and heavier precipitation,” said Wang.

The impact of pollution on the weather pattern intensifies in the winter.

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Convection depth in MMF and CAM for PD and PI over the northwest Pacific. Wang et al. PNAS

Abstract

Assessing the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on Pacific storm track using a multiscale global climate model

Atmospheric aerosols affect weather and global general circulation by modifying cloud and precipitation processes, but the magnitude of cloud adjustment by aerosols remains poorly quantified and represents the largest uncertainty in estimated forcing of climate change. Here we assess the effects of anthropogenic aerosols on the Pacific storm track, using a multiscale global aerosol–climate model (GCM). Simulations of two aerosol scenarios corresponding to the present day and preindustrial conditions reveal long-range transport of anthropogenic aerosols across the north Pacific and large resulting changes in the aerosol optical depth, cloud droplet number concentration, and cloud and ice water paths. Shortwave and longwave cloud radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere are changed by −2.5 and +1.3 W m−2, respectively, by emission changes from preindustrial to present day, and an increased cloud top height indicates invigorated midlatitude cyclones. The overall increased precipitation and poleward heat transport reflect intensification of the Pacific storm track by anthropogenic aerosols. Hence, this work provides, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge, a global perspective of the effects of Asian pollution outflows from GCMs. Furthermore, our results suggest that the multiscale modeling framework is essential in producing the aerosol invigoration effect of deep convective clouds on a global scale.

What about the US and EU Shares of Air Pollution, Dr Wang?

Interestingly, the report doesn’t say much about the air pollution created by the U.S. and EU.

Related Links

• Besotted by Beijing April 14, 2014
• Red Alert as Hazardous Smog Fills N China’s Shenyang March 27, 2014
• 7 Million People Killed by Air Pollution in 2012 March 25, 2014
• Killing Life in Beijing March 26, 2014

• EU Capitals Rivaling Beijing Air Pollution March 16, 2014
• Chinese Cities Unfit for Living March 8, 2014
• You’ve Created a World Unfit for Living February 28, 2014
• Apocalyptic Smog Covers 10 Percent of China February 25, 2014
• Hazardous Smog Continues Choking N China  February 24, 2014
• Beijing 398  February 23, 2014
• Derisory “Yellow Alert” as Brown Smog Bears on Beijing February 21, 2014
• Smog and Mirrors in Beijing February 16, 2014

For earlier posts on Beijing AQI, search blog content.