Earthweek: a diary of the planet
Eruptions
Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano prompted more evacuations as new fissures opened, shooting fountains of lava. Scientists warned that an even more powerful and explosive eruption could occur. In addition, a blast from Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano shot a plume of ash high above Java, prompting officials to briefly halt operations at a nearby regional airport.
Emerging virus
A new virus that causes acute illness and even death in pigs has shown the ability to be passed on to humans, according to researchers at Ohio State University and Holland’s Utrecht University. Porcine deltacoronavirus was first identified in 2012 among Chinese pigs. It has since caused sometimesfatal diarrhea and vomiting in Ohio swine. Researchers say they have found the virus can readily infect laboratorycultured cells of humans and other species. So far, no human cases have been
documented, but scientists say they are concerned about the possibility.
El Niño outlook
The recent La Niña ocean cooling across the tropical Pacific might be replaced toward the end of this year by an El Niño warming, which could bring its own set of weather disruptions. The U.S. agency NOAA predicts there is a 50 percent chance that El Niño will return by the 2018-19 Northern Hemisphere winter. The most recent El Niño was linked to crop damage, deadly wildfires and flash floods during 2016. Dam good work
Returning wild beavers to their former habitats can help clean up polluted waterways and restore the natural environment for other wildlife, according to a new study by the University of Exeter in Great Britain. The British scientists worked with the Devon Wildlife Trust to find that the toothy animals can remove large amounts of sediment, as well as nitrogen and phosphorus pollution created by agriculture, from the water that flows through the ponds they create with their dams. All that material can create problems for wildlife and, without the beavers, needs to be removed at processing plants before the water can be used by humans.
Towelette pollution
Masses of wet wipes accumulating along riverbanks are causing concern that the waste product is altering the ecology and shape of some of the world’s waterways. The moist towelettes and baby wipes are made with polyester or polypropylene, and are not biodegradable. British researchers recently found more than 5,000 of them along the River Thames in an area about half the size of a tennis court. “People get
Western Japan was soundly jolted by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, centered in Nagano prefecture. There were no reports of damage. Earth movements also were felt in central New Zealand, south-central Mexico, central Oklahoma, parts of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Record wave
A 78-foot wave that formed off New Zealand in early May is believed to be the largest ever observed south of the equator. Scientists think a powerful storm near Campbell Island in the Southern Ocean whipped up the titanic wave. The swell was measured by a remote buoy. A New Zealand forecaster said that even larger ones could have been created by the storm.