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Showing posts with the label Climate Change?

Torrential rains triggered the disastrous volcanic eruptions in Hawaii two years ago; Study.

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Nature Research Will a changing climate make such events more frequent?  The answer? S ee footnote ! Lava flow from Kilauea south of Hawai'i Volcanoes Nat'l. Park. Photo by Ekrem Canli. A paper appearing in  Nature today,  suggests, t he 2018 eruption of the Kīlauea Volcano in Hawai’i may have been activated by extreme rainfall.  The findings indicate that rainfall should be taken into account when assessing volcanic hazards. Rainfall is known to trigger seismic events and can alter volcanic activity. However, observations of such effects are limited to the shallow subsurface of the volcano, and it is unknown whether rainfall can activate deep magma movement. The eruption of the Kīlauea Volcano in Hawai’i was complex and multi-stage, but its trigger has been unknown. From May to August 2018, rifts opened around Kīlauea and the summit exhibited explosive eruptions and caldera collapse.  Jamie Farquharson and Falk Amelung examined the impact of rainfall on the 20

Fires scorching Bolivia’s Chiquitano forest

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Science magazine Wildfires in the Amazon rainforests of Bolivia. Photo by  List Top 10. The Chiquitano Dry Forest - endemic to Bolivia, highly biodiverse, and considered the world’s best-preserved tropical dry forest -  has lost a staggering 1.4 million hectares to fires since July.  Story here.

How Airplane Contrails Are Helping Make the Planet Warmer

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Yale ENVIRONMENT 360 Contrails over Manitoba. A  PinP  photo. New research shows that condensation trails from aircraft exhaust are playing a significant role in global warming. Experts are concerned that efforts to change aviation engine design to reduce CO2 emissions could actually create more contrails and raise daily temperatures even more. Story here.

World's Largest River Floods Five Times More Often Than It Used to

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EcoWatch Extreme  floods have become more frequent in the Amazon Basin in just the last two to three decades,  according to a new study.  More here. Amazon River, Western Para Province, Brazil June 1996.  This image shows the flooded condition of a small section of the Amazon River,including the jungle towns of Obidos and Oriximina. The sun’s reflection off of the muddy looking river water, called sun glint or sunglitter, helps to identify land-water boundaries in this section of the Amazon River which is roughly midway between Manaus and the Amazon River Delta. By comparing this image to a detailed map of the area it is obvious that the river is flooding in the low lying areas that are adjacent to the floodplain of the main channel of the river. Large areas south of the main channel of the Amazon River are covered by standing water. Patches of cleared land can be identified within the densely vegetated terrain along the northeast side of the Amazon River. The main c

No record yields for potatoes on the Canadian Prairies this year!

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Western Producer A potato harvester at work in southern Manitoba. A PinP photo. The hot, dry weather Western Canada experienced this summer, is blamed. Story here.

Livestock Producers Temporarily Allowed to Cut Hay & Graze Animals on Crown Land

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News release - Gov't. of Manitoba Cattle graze on parched pasture. A PinP photo. Livestock producers will temporarily be allowed to cut hay and allow animals to graze on Crown land not normally designated for agricultural use due to dry conditions across parts of the province, Agriculture Minister Ralph Eichler announced today. More here.

'No grass': Europe's livestock sector stricken by drought

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PHYS.ORG A parched crop in the Netherlands. Photo by  Rasbak "Our cows hav been living off hay cut in June, there isn't any grass," says a French farmer who, like his counterparts across much of northern Europe, is wondering how he will feed his animals this winter.    More here.

Manitoba beekeepers fight to come back after extreme honeybee die-offs

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CBCnews Long, cold winter could be to blame for some  beekeepers losing more than half of their bees.   More here. A Manitoba beekeeper tends to his hives. A PinP photo.

Early rains expose risks for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, but worst ‘yet to come,’ warns UN agency

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UN News Rohingya refugees in a camp in Bangladesh. Photo by  Zlatica Hoke ( VOA ) The arrival of pre-monsoon rains in southern Bangladesh has revealed an alarming level of risks for Rohingya refugees, United Nations humanitarian agencies said on Friday, warning that they do not  have the funds needed to protect hundreds of thousands of desperate people once the rainy season begins in earnest. More here.

Ancient storms could have hurled huge boulders, scientists say – raising new fears of rising seas

The Washington Post Atop a jagged, 50-foot-high cliff on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera sit two enormous boulders known as “The Cow and the Bull.” Each is several… Details here.

Wildfire forces evacuation of southwestern Saskatchewan communities

CBC news Evacuation orders have been issued for towns of Leader, Burstall and Liebenthal. Story here.

Crash in sea-turtle births stumps ecologists

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Nature|News Leading suspect — climate change — doesn’t fully explain what is happening to leatherback turtles in the US Virgin Islands. Story here. Little leatherbacks leave their nest in Aruba. Photo by  Elise Peterson

More all-time heat records broken as California broils

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Los Angeles Times Wildfire in California, July, 2017. Photo by  BLM. California’s history-making heat wave set new all-time records for the second day in a row. Story here.

Military to help evacuate 3 Manitoba First Nations at risk from wildfire

CBC news Fire prompted evacuation of Wasagamack First Nation, partial evacuations of Garden Hill, St. Theresa Point. Story here.

Did Climate Change Intensify Hurricane Harvey?

The Atlantic “The human contribution can be up to 30 percent or so of the total rainfall coming out of the storm.” Story here.

UN health agency rushes to prevent malaria, cholera outbreaks in flood-hit Sierra Leone

UN News Agency The United Nations health agency is working closely with the Government of Sierra Leone to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as malaria and cholera in the wake of last week's mudslides and flooding in the country's capital, Freetown. Story here.

Environment Canada confirms tornado hit Ontario's cottage country, 3,000 still without power

CBCnews Too soon to know how strong twister was, but several structures damaged. Story here.

Record high temperatures grip much of the globe, more hot weather to come – UN agency (Story & video)

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UN News Centre Extremely high May and June temperatures have broken records in parts of Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the United States, the United Nations weather agency reported today, warning of more heatwaves to come. Story here.

62 dead in central Portugal forest fires

CBCnews Heat from fires so intense, crews having trouble approaching flames. Details here.

Churchill residents fear skyrocketing costs as flooded rail line closed indefinitely

Winnipeg Free Press First, the grain shipments shut down, shuttering the Port of Churchill. Then the blizzards hit, dumping 60 centimetres of snow in just three days last winter and forcing town authorities to call a state of emergency.  Story here.