EARTH WATCH
Diary of the planet
Deer-elk plague
A new, highly contagious, incurable and invariably fatal disease is spreading among the animal population of the western U.S. Zombie deer disease, or chronic wasting disease (CWD), was first discovered in a dead deer at Yellowstone National Park in November and has since been found in 32 other states. It is spread by prions, a set of proteins that are almost indestructible and can affect humans and animals. Around a year after becoming infected with CWD, animals show symptoms such as dementia, wobbliness, drooling, aggression and weight loss. Officials warn against eating infected deer and elk, because prions can survive at temperatures much higher than used to cook meat.
Even hotter
Meteorologists warn that the record heat of 2023 is likely to be exceeded this year due to a combination of factors, including an El Niño now peaking across the tropical Pacific. “We’ve never had a big El Niño like this on the background of
global warming,” said Adam Scaife of the British Met Office. “We are really entering an unprecedented situation.” Historically, El Niño’s warming influence is greater the year after it develops. The World Meteorological Organization’s initial analysis of data from 2023 indicates that the world averaged 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the pre-Industrial Age average, measured between 1850 and 1900. Greenhouse gas emissions are believed to be responsible for 2.3 degrees of last year’s heating.
Tropical cyclone
Cyclone Alvaro, the first of 2024, brought heavy rain and strong winds to southern Madagascar after forming over the Mozambique Channel.
Oldest tree
Scientists have examined an ancient tree still growing in a remote part of central Chile’s Alerce Costero National Park, claiming it could be the oldest in the world. They believe it has survived for more than 5,000 years, making it older than California’s 4,850-yearold
Methuselah, the bristlecone pine officially recognized as the world’s oldest. Known as “Gran Abuelo,” or Great-Grandfather, the Patagonian cypress can be accessed only by an hour-long hike and is patrolled by a number of park rangers to make sure it is not harmed.
Icelandic eruption
Huge lava flows stopped suddenly over Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula during late December after days of a colorful eruption that drew tourists and residents to the otherwise
desolate landscape. But the Icelandic Met Office issued new warnings at the new year of another possible eruption due to fresh cracks and fissures that were appearing in the ground near Grindavik.
Global population
The world’s human inhabitants now number more than 8 billion as we enter 2024, according to analysis by the U.S. Census Bureau. It says the worldwide population grew by just under 1 percent in 2023. The United States experienced half that growth
rate, at just over a 0.5 percent increase. The bureau projects that there will be one U.S. birth every nine seconds in 2024, while one person is expected to die every 9.5 seconds. The U.N. says the world population surpassed 8 billion more than a year ago, proclaiming Nov. 22, 2022, the “Day of 8 Billion.”
Earthquakes
Scores of people perished in a massive seismic thrust that devastated western Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture. The ground rose by more than 13 feet in places and shifted sideways by more than 3 feet.
• Tremors were also felt in western Java, northwestern Sumatra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, islands of the eastern Caribbean, New York City, the greater District of Columbia and Los Angeles.