Non-stop rain takes its toll in flood-hit south China

China
Mrs. Li looked up to the sky with resignation as rain poured down outside her shop in the southern city of Guangzhou, after a tropical storm passed through and drenched the population.

"It's been raining almost continuously for about two months, much longer than last year, and it's a lot of trouble," she said as shopkeepers around her swept water away from their stores.

Mrs. Li, who would not give her full name, is not the only one in Guangzhou fed up with nearly two months of almost non-stop rain.
Inhabitants of the capital of Guangdong province -- used to bad weather at this time of year -- say they have had enough of the freak downpours that have caused deadly floods in nearby towns and hit business.

Thin line between mayhem and safety

USA
Image: The Mississippi River rushes through a break in Indian Grave Drainage District levee north of Quincy, Ill., and south of Meyer, Ill., on June 18.

Story: Well before record floods overwhelmed at least two dozen levees in the Mississippi River watershed, government officials at all levels have raised concern about the ability of such structures to protect property and lives. For millions of Americans living in flood-prone places, all that stands between the waters of mayhem and safety is a pile of dirt. Earthen berms, dikes and levees, identical to those overtopped and breached in dozens of places along swollen rivers in the Midwest during the past few weeks, make up the vast majority of flood protection efforts across the United States. A growing list of levees around the country are being found wanting as tougher scrutiny from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, state regulators and private engineering firms reveals defects in design and maintenance. Even where levees are well-maintained, as those in the flood zone have been in most instances, officials note that the likelihood of flood levels rising higher than the tops of the berms seems to be increasing, because of a combination of more intense storms and changes in land use. Most of the levees that have been overtopped were built lower because they defend mostly farmland rather than cities. But places like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Iowa City saw rivers crest more than 10 feet higher than levels reached in the then record-setting flood of 1993 — making it impossible to pile sand bags high enough or fast enough on their levees to keep the water out. No one at any level of government knows where all the levees are, much less the condition of thousands of the structures. By some estimates, there may be 20,000 to 30,000 levees scattered across the country, but no one is sure. Maintenance of levees, even those operated by the Corps itself, is years and billions of dollars behind schedule. "The levees are already bad and they are going to get worse. This is not a joke. We know this is going to happen."

Weather warning

Dubai
FREAK weather could endanger the lives of anyone swimming in the sea or trekking in the desert, Dubai Police have warned. The Ports Police Station issued a “cautionary advisory” informing residents and visitors about potential weather changes and urged people to be careful when going to the beach or visiting the desert or hilly areas. They also warned people not to swim at night when the sea becomes rougher. People were advised not to go to remote, unsupervised beaches, which may have hidden dangers such as strong currents or whirlpools. Weather conditions are expected to change constantly over the coming days, meaning anyone going sailing should first inform the operations room at Dubai Police. “This will make it easier for the police to find them in case of any accident.”

Expert says drought to continue 9 more years

California
Earth Change
Expert says drought to continue 9 more years - From measurements of the height of the Pacific from space, it tells him the climate here is in trouble. The scientist has gone beyond the annual fluctuations of El Nino and La Nina. He measures the changing height of the ocean over a five- to 20-year range and sees what he calls a Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Over about a 10-year period, the elevation of vast tracts of the ocean will change and where it was higher and warmer becomes lower and cooler and vice versa. This oscillation has a powerful bearing on global warming and can dramatically reinforce the behavior of El Nino and La Nina, dampening or reinforcing their behavior. The last nine years are consecutively THE NINE DRIEST IN A CENTURY, and that can be traced to the oscillation. "We haven't had a big El Nino in a decade." He predicted temperatures will continue to rise in the region. Even in cooler years such as the one they are in now, temperatures will spike for a few days, resulting in dangerous triple-digit temperatures and heavy water use. He says a crisis is looming, and the only solution is for all of us to reduce water consumption by 50%. Golf courses are a major culprit. They absorb heat rather than reflect it back into space. Global warming has pushed the jet stream farther north, and there is less snow pack. He hopes we can control our thirst, but he has reservations. "The world is getting dumber."

25 Thousand Football Fans Flee Vienna Electrical Storm

(CNN) -- Thousands of football fans fled for safety and millions of TV viewers were left disappointed Wednesday night as an electrical storm in Vienna disrupted coverage of the first of the Euro 2008 semifinals.

Rain and high winds lashed Vienna's Fan Zone -- an outside arena where supporters had gathered to watch the match -- as lightning forked the sky above, forcing police to evacuate 25,000 fans, CNN's Pedro Pinto reported.

Two people were badly hurt during the evacuation, including a woman who sustained back injuries, according to media reports.

Some fans tried sheltering against giant TV screens while others, caught up in the occasion, kicked floodwater over each other or played with footballs.

The match itself, being played in Basel, Switzerland -- the tournament's other co-host -- was unaffected by the severe weather.

However, the feed to TV stations worldwide was lost: only Swiss public TV and Al-Jazeera were unaffected, agency reports say.

Limerick Hit By Torrential Downpours

Ireland
Image: Magdalena Kakol from the Haymarket in Limerick, attempts to avoid the floods on her way to work Pic: Owen South

Limerick hit by torrential downpours - Commuters experienced monsoon-like conditions en route to work this Thursday morning as the heavens opened on top of them. The city streets were submerged during the downpour leaving pedestrians side-stepping large puddles which appeared suddenly on footpaths. The weather is in "a broken mood at the moment because of an Atlantic depression which can affect us at any time of the year, but it is dominating our weather pattern at the moment".

Large ‘Planet X’ may lurk beyond Pluto

An icy, unknown world might lurk in the distant reaches of our solar system beyond the orbit of Pluto, according to a new computer model. The hidden world — thought to be much bigger than Pluto based on the model — could explain unusual features of the Kuiper Belt, a region of space beyond Neptune littered with icy and rocky bodies. Its existence would satisfy the long-held hopes and hypotheses for a "Planet X" envisioned by scientists and sci-fi buffs alike. Skywatch Media News MSNBC

NowPublic

Hundreds of fires sparked by rare lightning storm

California, USA

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) In less than a day, an electrical storm unleashed nearly 8,000 lightning strikes that set more than 800 wildfires across Northern California — a RARE example of "dry lightning" that brought little or no rain but plenty of sparks to the state's parched forests and grasslands. The weekend storm was UNUSUAL not only because it generated so many lightning strikes over a large geographical area, but also because it struck so early in the season and moved in from the Pacific Ocean. Such storms usually don't arrive until late July or August and typically from southeast of California. "You're looking at a pattern that's CLIMATOLOGICALLY RARE. We typically don't see this happen at this time of summer. To see 8,000, that's way up there on the scale." Despite the many lightning strikes that hit the ground on Saturday alone, the weekend thunderstorm brought little precipitation because the rain evaporated in hot, dry layers of the atmosphere before it hit the ground. The lightning storm struck California when the state was experiencing one of its driest years on record. From San Francisco to Los Angeles, cities have only seen a tiny fraction of the rainfall they normally receive in a typical year. In the Central Valley, the cities of Sacramento, Modesto, Stockton and Red Bluff have recorded their driest March-to-May periods since at least the 19th century. Even before the lightning struck, California had already seen an UNUSUALLY large number of wildfires, although the fire season typically does not start until July and does not peak until late summer or early fall. "This doesn't bode well for the fire season. We're not even into the meat of the fire season at this point, and the brush is extremely dry. It's not going to get any better, it's going to get worse." The weekend's lighting storm combined with extremely dry conditions to spark about 840 separate blazes. By contrast, 574 lightning-sparked fires blackened about 55,000 acres in Northern California in all of 2007. The weather service has said more dry thunderstorms could strike Northern California later this week. The weather pattern "could happen again across Central and Northern California."

RELATED EVENT
20,000 lightning strikes

North Island, New Zealand

Thunder and lightning roared over Waikato skies last night in an incredible electrical storm which struck the North Island.

HOT SPOTS Image above: A map from MetService shows thousands of lightning strikes in the 24-hours to 8am.

Heatwave Scorches the Balkans

The Balkans
(Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia) - Heatwave scorching the Balkans - Two people have died and hundreds have sought medical assistance as a summer heat wave grips the western Balkans. A period of extremely warm temperatures started as of this weekend and will last at least three weeks, meteorologists in the region said. They warned that temperatures – even above 40 degrees Celsius – may be set, creating TEMPERATURE HIGHS NOT SEEN IN THE LAST 100 YEARS. To make the situation even more difficult for the population, this period will also be marked by so-called “tropical nights” where temperatures will remain above 20 or even 30 degrees Celsius overnight. Medical workers warned the population to remain indoors between 11:00 and 17:00 and drink plenty of water. The heat wave in Macedonia has led the national Crisis Management Centre there to warn of possible wildfires due to the tinder dry conditions.

More rain forecast for rain-weary Midwest

USA
Image: Soybeans lie ruined in a flooded field outside of La Grange, Missouri, June 21, 2008. Floodwaters from the Mississippi and Iowa Rivers may have destroyed up to 15% of the this year's corn and soybean crops from Illinois and Iowa. (UPI Photo/Mark Cowan)

ST. LOUIS, June 26 (UPI) -- Heavy rains and forecasts for more rain dashed officials' hopes of taking pressure off rain-soaked levees holding back the Mississippi River north of St. Louis.

The National Weather Service predicts the Mississippi to rise until at least Friday at St. Louis and points upstream, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Severe weather is expected to target the Upper Midwest through Friday, AccuWeather.com reported, renewing flooding problems in the mid-Mississippi Valley area. Waves of thunderstorms were forecast to move across the area Thursday with the potential of producing damaging winds, hail, locally heavy downpours and tornadoes.

Meanwhile St. Louis and 22 counties in Missouri were declared federal disaster areas, which will help defray flood-control costs and cleanup, officials said. One immediate effect: The government will pick up 75 percent of the cost of sandbags, bottled water and other necessities.

Image Left: Farm fields in low-lying areas around Buffalo, Iowa, are just beginning to emerge from flood waters on June 23, 2008. Receding floodwaters from the Mississippi river have left massive crop destruction throughout Illinois, Missouri and Iowa.Officials expect at least 3 billion in damage and a loss of 15% of corn and soybean crops in Iowa. (UPI Photo/Mark Cowan)

Storm and rain lash South China

Hong Kong, China

Tropical storm Fengshen brought more rain and misery to southern China on Wednesday, throwing life out of gear in the economic hubs of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Fengshen, downgraded from a typhoon after killing hundreds of people in the Philippines, hit Shenzhen, Guangdong province, early Wednesday morning.

But before that it struck Hong Kong, uprooting trees, pulling down bamboo scaffoldings and causing a heavy downpour.

The storm caused rainfall in many parts of southern and some parts of eastern China. Though it hit Jiangxi province too, Guangdong bore the brunt of its assault.

Bangladesh is set to disappear by the end of the century

Skywatch-Media Special Report

Bangladesh, the most crowded nation on earth, is set to disappear under the waves by the end of this century – and we will be to blame. Johann Hari took a journey to see for himself how western profligacy and indifference have sealed the fate of 150 million peoplewent to see for himself the spreading misery and destruction as the ocean reclaims the land on which so many millions depend.

Wildfires Rage in California

Firefighters from neighboring states arrived to help Monday after an "unprecedented" lightning storm sparked more than 800 wildfires, from Big Sur to wine country to Humboldt County. Along the coast in the Los Padres National Forest, a 2,000-acre wildfire burning south of Big Sur since Saturday forced the evacuations of 75 homes and businesses, destroyed one house and threatened hundreds of others. It also led to an emergency airlift Sunday of eight endangered California condors. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters transported the seven juveniles and one adult bird from a wildlife center to the Monterey Airport.

Source: earthfrenzyradio.com via steve468

NowPublic

Midwest floodwaters could linger for weeks

CHICAGO (AFP)The worst of the flooding that has ravaged the midwestern United States is nearly over, but it will be weeks before the murky water recedes in many areas. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri and Indiana due to the heavy rains and deadly storms which swept through the region in recent weeks. Early estimates place the damage in the billions as roads were washed out, rail and barge traffic shut down and millions of acres of crops were swamped. Scores of levees collapsed or were overtopped by the rushing waters which swallowed entire towns. The extreme weather which began May 25 and included a series of deadly tornadoes claimed the lives of 22 people, 17 of whom were in Iowa. More than 11 million people in nine midwestern states were affected by the flooding and extreme weather. All the tributary rivers of the Mississippi above St. Louis, Missouri have now crested, but it will take three more days before the towns down river know whether their levies will hold. The river is expected to rise by about another six inches (15 centimeters) in areas up to 150 miles (240 kilometers) downstream. "A lot of these rivers won't go back below flood stage until mid-July." Image Above: Farmer boats throught a corn field

598 dead or missing in typhoon

Philippines
Image: This image provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Fengshen taken Thursday, June 19, 2008 located southeast of the Philippines.

Story: 598 people are dead or missing after Typhoon Fengshen roared through the Philippines, the Red Cross and civil defence said today, dramatically raising the number unaccounted for. Landslides, severe flooding and the loss of dozens of fishing boats had left at least 224 dead and 374 missing, mostly in central areas which bore the brunt of the storm. The figures do not include passengers and crew from a ferry which sank carrying more than 800 people. So far, only 32 survivors have been found. More than 200 people were still missing in the central island of Negros, while 63,000 people are still in evacuation centres after flash floods and landslides forced them to flee their homes. Flooding had not yet receded in many parts of Bulacan province, just outside the capital of Manila. Power was restored in Manila but had not yet returned in some areas outside the capital where lines had been toppled. Typhoon Fengshen slammed into the central Philippines late on Saturday before changing course and moving north across much of the archipelago. It left through the northwest side of the main island of Luzon before dawn today, moving northwest at 15km/h towards southern China. As of 10am (midday AEST) today, the typhoon was charted 300km northwest of the country, packing maximum winds of 110km/h near the centre.

RELATED NEWS
Hopes faded today that more survivors would be found in what could be one of the worst Philippine sea disasters as rescuers failed to find signs of life inside the capsized ferry. Rescue officials said only 38 people had been rescued, including 28 passengers and crew members who came ashore today after drifting at sea since Saturday. A total of 13 bodies believed to be from the ferry Princess of the Stars have been recovered, including 9 that washed ashore today. Divers who beat against the hull of ferry Monday in search of survivors heard nothing that indicated life. Elsewhere, officials tried to assess the losses from the typhoon. Iloilo, a central Philippine province, was the worst hit, with fatalities approaching 100 as of today. It was too early to determine damage to agriculture and infrastructure, but officials said it could run up to millions of dollars. Another concern was the welfare of the nearly 70,000 people throughout the country who were displaced by the typhoon and are now living in evacuation centers. Coast guard officials said that they had cleared the ferry to leave Manila for Cebu, a city in the central Philippines, on Friday night because the initial forecast for Fengshen showed that the storm would only hit the eastern part of the country, away from the ferry's route. But the typhoon changed direction Saturday, moving toward the center of the country, running right into the ferry's path. Coast guard officials said they had advised the ferry to seek shelter, but that the boat's engine had failed after the ship was battered by strong winds and waves, thus leaving it even more vulnerable to the intensifying storm. Image Above: Rescue divers in the Philippines gathering Tuesday near the ferry Princess of the Stars, which was overturned by a typhoon Saturday.

(Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

Rare' gales set to hit Britain

Britain
People across the UK are being warned to brace themselves for UNUSUALLY stormy weather as high winds and heavy rain are forecast for today. The storms - with winds which could reach 65mph across parts of Britain - are expected to peak at about midday. The worst affected areas are expected to be north Wales and northern England, but Northern Ireland and southern Scotland may also be affected. The weather was ABNORMAL for June. It is more likely to be the sort of weather that is seen in the autumn. "Although it's not unusual to have this kind of weather during the winter it's RARE to see this kind of gale this time of year. The vicious gusts of wind will not only be reserved to coastal districts but may happen further inland too. Cities such as Manchester and Leeds are in the path of the heavy weather. Irish Sea coasts will be affected with heavy waves." Strong gusts are also expected as far south as the Bristol channel, Wales, the Midlands and parts of East Anglia.

Ice Shelf Collapses in Antarctica

Antarctica
Earth Change

June 16, 2008—Another large plate of ice has broken off the rapidly disintegrating Wilkins Ice Shelf in the Antarctic Peninsula, the above satellite images show. While the ice shelf, located directly below South America, shrank significantly in previous months (see March images), this is the first documented occurrence of an ice shelf collapsing during the Southern Hemisphere's winter.

Russia fears climate catastrophe in Arctic

RUSSIA fears climate catastrophe in Arctic - Global warming could bring “terrible destruction” in the Russian North, the country’s Ministry of Emergency Situations admits. He says global warming could bring “catastrophic destruction” in the northern parts of country by 2030. The melting of the permafrost could pose a major threat against northern airports, as well as underground reservoirs of oil and gas. A warming of only one-to-two degrees will reduce the firmness of the permafrost by as much as 50 percent. He adds that already today, the thickness of the permafrost is reduced by about four centimetres per year and that the permafrost zone over the next 20 years is expected to move 80 km north. The climate change will increase the chances of flooding and that major amounts of methane might be released from the ground

Massive Dust Storm Hangs Over the MIddle East

Middle East

A massive dust cloud hovered over the Middle East in mid-June 2008, stretching from Iraq to India and spreading south past the Arabian Peninsula. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on June 18, 2008. This image shows part of the storm, including some of the thickest dust, concentrated over the Arabian Sea. Besides the heavy band of dust south of Oman, the storm creates a faint dusty haze covering almost the entire region.

US crazy weather brings snow and heatwaves

USA

2008 has been a year of extreme extreme weather for the United States so far

From Miami to Seattle to Boston to Las Vegas, serious drought, historic flooding, sweltering heat and bitter cold have hit the country- and almost all of it during the months of May and June.

American meteorologists are citing an unusual late spring weather pattern for the spike in extreme weather. The jet stream, a narrow column of fast-moving winds in the mid-levels of the atmosphere which heavily influences temperature and precipitation, has been blamed for much of the widespread extreme weather across the United States. The jet stream has been stationary in an abnormal position, dipping in the mountain west and rising in the east, with the heart of the stream flowing through the center of the country. The dip in the west has allowed cold weather to filter through and bring extreme cold and even snow to parts of Montana and Idaho, while the rise in the east has brought extreme heat from the Gulf of Mexico, and minimal precipitation has fallen over the southeastern US.

But it's been the jet stream's flow through the center of the country that has produced the most damage. Pictures reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath are headlining American news networks, this time displaying images from the upper mid western states of Iowa and Wisconsin, where crippling and historic flooding has washed away homes and businesses not accustomed to intense flooding.

Flooding in Southern China Claims Scores of Victims

Skywatch-Media News: Special Report

South China
Some areas had THE MOST RAIN IN 100 YEARS.

Story: Torrential rains continued to batter a huge swath of southern China on Tuesday near one of the biggest manufacturing zones in the country. The storms and floods killed at least 63 people over the past week, left 13 missing and affected more than 17 million people in nine southern provinces. The high waters have also inundated about 5.4 million acres of cropland, set off landslides and forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes in southern and central provinces. Some factories in coastal Guangdong Province — one of the biggest export centers in the country, producing everything from textiles to electronics — have been forced to suspend or curtail operations. The national meteorological service also warned of more danger in the coming days. The natural disasters this year have fed superstitions that this year is somehow cursed, even though many Chinese had hoped 2008 would be a year of Olympic glory, since the number eight is considered lucky.

Entire cities under several feet of water as monsoon rains continue - In many areas waters has reached rooftops and many roads have been cut off by rising flood waters or rain-induced landslides. Even in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, huge metropolitan areas with tens of million of people, are partly under water. Weather forecasts expect more torrential rain for the whole week in Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Sichuan. The eastern provinces of Gansu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guizhou, Yunnan and Fujian have also been affected. Rain-triggered floods have toppled 134,000 houses and caused economic losses estimated at 27.7 billion yuan (US$ 4.2 billion). Now dams are at risk and the authorities have rushed hundreds of people to shore them up and more than 40 rivers are exceeding their warning levels as tens of thousands of people continue to be evacuated. In quake-devastated Sichuan, non-stop rains threaten to cause landslides. Again uncontrolled deforestation has been blamed for the flooding. In many areas entire hills are denuded of trees and left without protection against raging waters, a situation that easily triggers landslides.

Up to 3,000 schools in Guangxi have been damaged due to the flooding. Since the rainy season began in late May, rains have deluged large swathes of southern China, while the northeast of the country is experiencing the complete opposite in the form of an UNUSUAL heatwave. Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province usually known as the "Ice City", reported an ABNORMALLY HIGH TEMPERATURE of 37.1 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) Tuesday - the SECOND HIGHEST IN THE CITY'S HISTORY. In quake-hit Sichuan province, where millions of refugees are living in tents and makeshift shelters, the evacuation of up to 110,000 quake refugees from dangerous mountainous areas threatened by rain-induced landslides in Aba prefecture was slated to finish today. In the south in Guangdong and the neighbouring Guangxi region, the rains have either swamped hundreds of roads or left them cut off by landslides. Thousands of transport trucks have been stranded in both provinces, cutting off food supplies to urban centres and fuelling price rises.

Heavy rain paralyses life in Ctg

Bangladesh
Image: Vehicles slog through knee-deep water on the main thoroughfare at Bahadderhat in Chittagong after deluge throughout yesterday swamped much of the port city. Photo: Zobaer Hossain Sikder

Life became paralyzed in Chittagong yesterday as major parts of the port city were submerged in knee-deep water following heavy rains throughout the day. Two walls collapsed at Lalkhan Bazar and Surson Road in the morning due to the downpour, but no one was hurt. Over 202 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in last 24 hours till 3:00pm yesterday. Many houses were flooded by the cloudburst. The traders at the traditional business hubs of Chaktai and Khatunganj suffered huge financial loss as the Chaktai canal, the backbone of the city's drainage system, overflowed and flooded several godowns and shops damaging goods and properties. The traders at the Chawk Bazar and Bohaddarhat kitchen markets experienced a bad day as the markets went under waist-deep water, disrupting business. Torrential rain also hampered the operations at the port to some extent. Almost all the flights to and from Chittagong airport were delayed due to the inclement weather

Artic Sea Ice 'Melting Fast

EARTH CHANGE

The Arctic

Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than last year, despite a cold winter. The year began with ice covering a larger area than at the beginning of 2007. But now it is down to levels seen last June, at the beginning of a summer that broke records for sea ice loss. Scientists say that much of the ice is so thin that it melts easily, and the Arctic may be ice-free in summer within five to 10 years. A few years ago, scientists were predicting ice-free Arctic summers by about 2080. Then computer models started projecting earlier dates, around 2030 to 2050. By the end of last year, one research group was forecasting ice-free summers by 2013. "I think we're going to beat last year's record melt, though I'd love to be wrong. If we do, then I don't think 2013 is far off anymore. If what we think is going to happen does happen, then it'll be within a decade anyway." The ice cap holds enough water to lift sea levels globally by about seven metres (22ft) if it all melted.

Mississippi overflows levees, crops threatened

Breaking Earth News
Midwest, USA
Image: An aerial photograph shows the railroad tracks completely covered by floodwaters from the Mississippi River, bringing train traffic to a halt just East of Burlington, Iowa, June 18, 2008. The swollen Mississippi River ran over the top of at least 12 more levees on Wednesday, as floodwaters swallowed up more U.S. farmland, adding to billion-dollar losses and feeding global food inflation fears. REUTERS/Ron Mayland (UNITED STATES)
In Photos: Catastrophic Flooding in Midwest

FORT MADISON, Iowa (Reuters) - The swollen Mississippi River ran over the top of at least 12 more levees on Wednesday, as floodwaters swallowed up more U.S. farmland, adding to billion-dollar losses and feeding global food inflation fears.

Volunteers and aid workers were piling sandbags up and down the most important U.S. inland waterway to try to protect more levees and thousands of acres of prime crop land threatened as the river's crest moves south after last week's torrential rains.

About 10 levees were breached earlier this week, bringing the total to 22 on Wednesday. The levee breaches lowered the river level by letting water spill onto the surrounding land.

New Changes For Skywatch-Media News

From the Editor's Desk
Skywatch-Media News

Skywatch-Media News and all of its' affiliate websites will soon be implementing a streamline, user friendly website. Our goal is to bring top quality, multi-media entertainment to our regular viewers and Internet visitors. In order to achieve this, we have developed a new website that will serve our purposes as well as those of the general public.

Our new site, will provide all of the news and entertainment services we currently offer, including audio and video podcasts, our radio archives, radio blog, the newsletter, breaking earth news, a merchandise shopping cart, and much more. The new site will provide a private log-in service, both secure and user friendly.

Membership to our new site will be by invitation only prior to our launch, and by paid subscription through our paypal services or via credit card. After we launch the new site, all our news and media postings from our affiliate websites will require a log-in through our hosting services.

To learn more about our new services, or to sign-up for a new account, please email me directly at steve468@skywatch-media.info

As always we are committed to bringing our viewers the very best news and entertainment on our changing planet, and with our new website, we hope to get even better. We hope that all of you will continue to be a part of our growing network as we look forward to providing our new services across the Internet.

Sincerely,

Steven Shaman
Skywatch-Media

Southern Chile volcano erupts with renewed strength

Chile, S.A.
Image: Chaiten, a column of volcanic ash rose 20 miles high

Story: The Chaiten volcano in southern Chile has erupted with renewed strength, belching thick clouds of ash and hurling molten rocks into the air. The volcano first began to erupt in May after lying dormant for centuries. "There has been an increase in the volcano's activity." Witnesses reported seeing two new craters, and of seeing "significant gas emanations and volcanic material" coming from the volcano. The National Service of Geology and Mining said it registered 15 low-level earthquakes early Thursday in the volcano area. Since the volcano had calmed down in the past weeks officials were hoping to let evacuees return to recover their belongings - but that plan was put on hold "until we are certain that this increased activity is something temporary."

Lebanon hit by seven tremors since Thursday

Lebanon
Seven earthquakes struck southern Lebanon and northern Israel during the past 24 hours, Lebanese seismologists said Friday. Two of the tremors struck on Friday morning, measuring 3.8 and 3.9 on the Richter Scale, respectively. The other five hit within the space of three hours on Thursday.

Japan earthquake death toll rises

Japan
Photo Gallery
Six people are known to have been killed and more than 200 injured in the 7.0 quake that struck the rural mountainous region of Iwate on Japan's main island of Honshu. Landslides followed the tremors across Akita prefecture - the epicentre of the quake. There have been more than 200 aftershocks. Those missing include seven people feared buried by a mudslide at a hot spring hotel in mountains outside the town of Kurihara, Miyagi region. With major roads buckled and unusable, search teams hiked through mountain trails to reach isolated towns. A small amount of radioactive water was leaked at a nuclear power station, but officials said there was no danger to the public from the minor spillage at the facility in Fukushima. Seismologists issued a warning of the earthquake moments before it struck around 0845 (2343 GMT) on Friday. Surveillance cameras in the city of Sendai showed it being shaken violently for about 30 seconds.

UPDATE - The quake death toll has risen to at least nine. Mountains were carved away by the force of the quake, trees crashed into newly slashed ravines, roads were cut off by landslides, and bridges buckled and broke. More than 260 aftershocks had jolted the area by this morning, and officials warned there could be strong quakes to come. Efforts to find seven people believed trapped in a hot spring resort swamped by a massive landslide resumed early this morning. Rescue workers picked their way through debris while scores of others, including soldiers, began carefully crossing a river of mud covered with makeshift wooden boards to get to the two-story inn, whose first floor had completely collapsed. Some 100 people were cut off in remote areas after roads were blocked by landslides. Experts said the scope of the quake was far smaller than the one that hit China a month ago and the region's sparse population and Japan's stricter building codes also limited the damage.

Floods hammer Iowa City

Breaking Earth News
Skywatch-Media Special Report: Floods Devastate Iowa
Iowa, USA
Image: Columbus Junction city councilman Mark Huston, left, and public works employee Fred Lukavsky inspect a flooded plain along the Iowa River. Sandbags failed to stop the torrent.

JULIE JACOBSON: ASSOCIATED PRESS

IN PICTURES: THE IOWA FLOODS

Sandbagging has failed as towns scurry to battle the surge

IOWA CITY, IOWA — A week's work of frantic sandbagging by students, professors and the National Guard couldn't spare this scenic college town from the surging Iowa River, which has swamped more than a dozen campus buildings and forced the evacuation Sunday of hundreds of nearby homes.

The swollen river, which bisects this city of about 60,000 residents, was topping out at about 31.5 feet — a foot and a half below earlier predictions. But it still posed a threat and wasn't expected to begin receding until tonight.

"I'm focused on what we can save," University of Iowa President Sally Mason said as she toured her stricken campus. "We'll deal with this when we get past the crisis. We're not past the crisis yet."

Some numbers from the Iowa floods:

Deaths from flooding: 3

Evacuees: Roughly 36,000 Iowans in 11 counties, including 25,000 in Cedar Rapids.

Counties declared federal disaster areas: 24. A total of 83 counties are covered by a disaster declaration by Gov. Chet Culver.

Iowa National Guard soldiers deployed: 2,500

Sandbags: 4.8 million

Gallons of drinking water distributed: 180,930

Acres of soybeans lost: 2 million

Acres of corn lost: 1.3 million

Tillable acres of farmland under water: 16 percent of the state's 25 million acres.

The lesson from Iowa's floods

Image: A boy carries his bicycle through flood waters in Des Moines, Iowa.(AP Photo/John Gaps III)

“The heavy rains and flooding will have national, and even global, consequences through rising food prices,” said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. There’s nothing the government can do about the weather, but it can avoid compounding the pain with “bad policy.” So the devastating rains have provided yet another reason for Washington to abandon harmful ethanol subsidies, which drive up grain prices, and inflationary monetary policy.

The floods have hurt so badly they’re “likely to change the way we do a few things,” said David Yepsen in the Des Moines Register, and they should. For one thing, the flood proves Iowa has neglected its aging infrastructure for too long,” and the state’s roads, bridges and, “yes, levees,” just weren’t adequate to face this test. “We're now paying a terrible price for that neglect.”

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California, USA
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