Earthweek: a Diary of the planet

2018 year in review.

Rising tiDes

A study found that the rate at which sea level is rising around the world has increased in recent years. It said the acceleration has been driven mainly by the faster-melting glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica.

Eruptions

Hawaii’s 35-year eruption of Kilauea volcano was punctuated by surges of lava that destroyed 700 structures, covered 14 square miles and created 875 acres of new land.

Weeks of falling ash at Vanuatu’s Manaro Voui volcano forced the entire population of Ambae Island to evacuate.

More than 80,000 people in the central Philippines fled lava surging down the slopes of Mayon volcano.

Emissions surge

A report said that instead of falling around the world as accepted by world governments, global carbon emissions will jump 2.7 percent to a record high by the end of 2018, mainly because of booming industrial output. The level of CO2, the main greenhouse gas, is already about 50 percent higher than before the Industrial Revolution, and many scientists warn that the time for action to avoid disastrous climate change is running out.

Dying ancients

The world’s oldest flowering trees are mysteriously dying after providing food, water and shelter from the African sun to humans and animals for thousands of years. The deaths of four of the continent’s 13 oldest baobab trees, and the withering to near death of five others over 12 years, are blamed on climate change. Towering over the savanna, the trees can live to be nearly 3,000 years old. One village held a funeral for its baobab, calling it the “mother of us all.”

Viral winDs

Scientists determined that astounding numbers of viruses are swept up from Earth’s surface and blown around the world in atmospheric circulation. Researchers believe at least 800 million viruses per square yard exist from just above the surface to the stratosphere. The global winds are spreading them and bacteria for thousands of miles, possibly from one continent to another.

RecorD wave

A 78-foot wave that formed off New Zealand in early May is believed to be the largest observed south of the equator. Scientists think a powerful storm near Campbell Island in the Southern Ocean whipped up the wave. The swell was measured by a remote buoy operated by the New Zealand meteorological service.