EARTHWATCH

Diary of the planet

Nanoparticle vax

California researchers say they have developed a new type of vaccine that protects against a spectrum of COVID-like coronaviruses, including those that have yet to emerge. Caltech’s Pamela Bjorkman says the new nanoparticle vaccine provides protection in monkeys and mice by training the animals’ immune systems to recognize up to eight viruses at a time, even triggering immunity to viruses never seen before. Bjorkman says if the vaccine works in humans as well, it could even protect against betacoronaviruses that have yet to make the leap from animals to humans. This would eliminate the need to tweak existing vaccine technology once new pathogens emerge.

Earthquakes

At least five people were killed and 44 others injured when Iran’s Hormozgan province was rocked by a strong temblor.

• Earth movements were also felt in western Myanmar, Indonesia’s North Maluku province and northwest China’s Xinjiang region.

Climate shift

Changes in the size and strength of the prevailing high-pressure system over the Atlantic have brought parts of Spain and Portugal their driest climate in over a thousand years. This expansion of the BermudaAzores High came as the western U.S. also developed a worsening “megadrought” that threatens cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas with critical water shortages. Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, U.S. researchers say the Mediterranean became drier as the high expanded dramatically during the 20th century in step with global heating. The vast high-pressure area controls where and when rain falls across Western Europe, typically directing storms into the Iberian Peninsula during winter.

Sandstorm surge

Global heating is resulting in earlier and more frequent sandstorms across parts of the Middle East. A single storm can swirl for days, causing havoc in a dozen countries. Storms this summer have caused hospitals to be flooded with patients suffering from respiratory ailments. Schools and businesses have been forced to close many times this year because of choking sand. Officials and environmental groups say the hotter climate, altered weather patterns and poor management of agriculture and water resources are turning the region’s soil into sand.

Swamped sydney

The fourth major flood emergency to submerge parts of Australia’s largest metropolitan area since March forced thousands of flood-weary residents to evacuate yet again. Overflowing dams and sodden ground unable to absorb more water have sent torrents into Sydney’s suburbs, where residents say they are fatigued by months of constant threats to their homes and lives due to an altered climate.

Nuclear returns

Some evacuated residents from near Japan’s meltdownplagued Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are being told they may return home permanently 11 years after intense radiation from the nuclear disaster forced them to flee. Police and fire patrols are being reestablished in Okuma, but it is unclear how many residents will return. About 130 square miles across seven Fukushima municipalities remain off-limits due to high levels of radiation and are likely to remain so well into the future.

Tropical cyclones

At least five people died from Tropical Storm Bonnie’s passage over Central America. Bonnie later reached hurricane force in the Pacific.

• A tornado spawned by Typhoon Chaba damaged buildings in South China’s Guangdong province.

• Southern Japan was drenched by Tropical Storm Aere and its remnants.

• Colin formed briefly over coastal South Carolina.