Earthweek: a diary of the planet
Ice hazard
Climate change is creating a greater danger for ships navigating the North Atlantic, as icebergs from a shrinking polar ice cap drift southward in late spring, new research finds. During May and June 2017, Arctic sea ice surged southward through newly opened Arctic channels and clogged the normally open seas around Newfoundland. That trapped many vessels and sank others when the ice punctured their hulls. A study headed by Arctic climate researcher David Barber, of the University of Manitoba, concludes that the phenomenon is likely to go on for at least 20 years as the Arctic becomes more and more ice-free in summer.
Earthquakes
The Indonesian capital of Jakarta and the rest of western Java were jolted by a magnitude 5.2 offshore quake. There were no reports of damage. Earth movements also were felt in Taiwan, southwestern Iran, upstate New York and Vermont, and in north-central Oklahoma. Volcanic poison
Toxic gas belched by an Indonesian volcano sent 30 people to a hospital, with some experiencing vomiting and difficulty breathing. Officials closed the popular tourist destination of Mount Ijen in East Java and halted mining operations. Mount Ijen is famous for its thick, hardened layer of sulfur. Intrepid miners individually dig up the element and carry it out on their backs for use in a variety of products, ranging from cosmetics to matchsticks.
Tropical cyclones
At least 17 people were killed on Madagascar in floods and mudslides triggered by
Cyclone Eliakim. Cyclone Marcus raked Darwin and other areas of northern Australia before strengthening offshore during midweek. Marcus was expected to make a turn back toward the continent by this weekend, perhaps heading toward Perth.
Bovine split
A runaway Polish cow that joined a herd of bison in January is no longer roaming free on the range. Bison expert Rafal Kowalczyk, of the Polish Academy of Science, photographed the bovine mismatch earlier this year. He says the cow was recently captured, apparently by a farmer. Kowalczyk had warned that mating between the cow and a bison could have been dangerous for the cow because the offspring might have been too large for her to carry to term. Kowalczyk also worried that any surviving calf could have polluted the gene pool of Poland’s endangered bison population.
Fire season
A lengthening wildfire season brought on in many parts of the world by a warming climate claimed scores of homes in southeastern Australia. An out-of-season brush fire quickly engulfed the New South Wales seaside town of Tathra. It and other blazes destroyed at least 90 homes. Such wildfires have historically occurred in Australia between December and February. “Sadly, fires like this, well into autumn, are an increasing part of the southern Australian experience, as we move further toward climate disruption,” said Grant Wardell-Johnson of Curtin University’s biodiversity and climate department. Fire seasons are now 19 percent longer on average worldwide than they were in the 1970s.
Rodent-free
After a 125-year infestation, mice have been eradicated from an extremely remote sub-Antarctic outcropping known as Antipodes Island. The rodents were accidentally introduced in 1893 from a shipwreck or by seal hunters, and they have since ravaged the island’s unique land birds, causing local extinctions. But New Zealand’s “Million Dollar Mouse” project, launched in 2014, has exterminated the more than 200,000 mice that plagued the 8-square-mile island, located 470 miles southeast of New Zealand. The island’s unique parakeets, pipits, snipe and insects can now thrive on the predatorfree island, said New Zealand conservation minister Eugenie Sage.