Eruption of Campi Flegrei would put area occupied by 500,000 people at risk, say scientists The slumbering Campi Flegrei volcano under the Italian city of Naples shows signs of reawakening and may be nearing a critical pressure point, according to a new study. Italian and French scientists have for the first time identified a threshold beyond which rising magma under the Earth’s surface could trigger the release of fluids and gases at a 10-fold increased rate. Related:
Hundreds of Beijing companies forced to stop production and hospitals prepare for surge in pollution-related illnesses The number of cars on roads was limited and factories were temporarily shut in some northern Chinese cities on Monday to reduce pollution during a national smog red alert. More than 700 companies stopped production in Beijing and traffic police were restricting drivers by monitoring numberplates, state media reported. In choking conditions, dozens of cities closed schools and took other emergency measures after the alert was issued for much of northern China. Related:
Soaring Arctic temperatures ‘strongly linked’ to recent extreme weather events, say scientists at cutting edge of climate change research The dramatic melting of is already driving extreme weather that affects hundreds of millions of people across North America, Europe and Asia, leading climate scientists have told the Guardian. Severe “snowmageddon” winters are now strongly linked to soaring polar temperatures, say researchers, with deadly summer heatwaves and torrential floods also probably linked. The scientists now fear the Arctic meltdown has kickstarted abrupt changes in the planet’s swirling atmosphere, bringing extreme weather in heavily populated areas to the boil. Related:
UN weather agency recorded 62ft wave in February 2013 in the North Atlantic, in a remote spot between Great Britain and Iceland after a strong cold front A towering 19-meter (62.3ft) wave in the North Atlantic has set a world record as the highest ever measured by a buoy, according to the UN’s weather agency. An automated buoy measured the wave at a remote spot between Great Britain and Iceland on 4 February 2013 at 6.00 GMT, on Tuesday. Related:
Emergency services say NSW and ACT ‘extremely vulnerable’ to bushfires as temperatures set to exceed 33C in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide Emergency services in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have predicted a worse than usual bushfire season, as this week’s heatwave breaks December records in south-eastern Australia. The NSW Rural Fire Service warned that drier than average conditions made NSW “extremely vulnerable” to bushfires this summer, while fire bans were declared in parts of NSW, Victoria and South Australia for Tuesday and Wednesday.
/ Fire: It is too late to leave for residents in Carrs Rd, Charles Rd & York St. Seek shelter as the fire approaches.
/ Fire: This video footage was taken about an hour ago by a chopper fighting the fire. Related:
A Total Fire Ban is now in place for many parts of NSW. Report all unattended fires to Triple Zero.
Fire: Our Very Large Air Tanker ‘Southern Belle’ has been dispatched to assist with this fire.
Fire burning near Oaklands. Fanned by strong, hot northerly winds. crews on way.
REMINDER : TOTAL FIRE BANS TODAY Tuesday, 13 December 2016 in TEN Fire Ban Districts
A farm in New Zealand with an active fault line running through it has become a mecca for geologists seeking to unlock secrets deep underground When dairy farmers Gray and Vicki Eatwell purchased a block of farming land just outside the tiny west coast village of Whataroa in New Zealand, the real-estate agent gestured vaguely at a cliff of striking, green-tinged rock on the border of their property at Gaunt Creek. “She said: ‘That’s the alpine fault, the meeting of the Australian and Pacific plates’,” says Gray Eatwell. “But we thought no more of it, locals were blasé about it. I had no idea my whole life would become about that rock.” Related:
6.9 magnitude tremor – felt as far away as Australia – leads to temporary tsunami warning and reports of damage in remote areas The Solomon Islands were rattled by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on Saturday, a day after hundreds of people along the coast fled into the hills following a 7.8 magnitude tremor. The latest quake initially triggered a fresh tsunami warning for the Solomons but that was lifted by authorities a short time later. No deaths were reported. Related:
Most people are back at home after last year’s disaster, but it will happen in Britain again Water is as much a part of the landscape of Britain as England’s cathedral spires, or the mountains of Scotland and the valleys of Wales. The nation’s cities were built on rivers and its fortunes on the seas. There is an ancient and respectful relationship that recognises the capacity of water not only to sustain but to destroy. This time last year it was water’s destructive capacities that dominated the headlines, as catastrophic flood in 10 years. On 5 December 2015, . Rivers in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England saw record peak flows. The volume of water racing down the Eden, Tyne and Lune peaked at around 1,700 cubic metres per second – enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall in London up to the dome in less than a minute. Between November and January, more rain fell than in any similar period since records began in 1910.
Quake of 7.7 magnitude had put residents on alert in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and other island countries Buildings have been damaged in the Solomon Islands after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast early on Friday, but fears of a tsunami receded after initial warnings to numerous islands. Loti Yates, from the National Disaster Management Office in the capital Honiara, told Australia’s ABC there were reports of houses crumbling in parts of the country, including on the island of Makira, the largest in Makira-Ulawa province.
No damages, injuries or tsunami threat reported from earthquake that struck Thursday morning in Pacific Ocean, 100 miles west of Ferndale A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Northern California on Thursday, jolting residents of the coastal town of Ferndale but bringing no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The quake hit at 6.50am in the Pacific Ocean about 100 miles west of Ferndale, the US Geological Survey said.
Nearly 100 people have died in the latest disaster to hit Aceh as hopes fade of finding people alive in the rubble Aftershocks have rattled the survivors of a devastating earthquake in Indonesia that killed nearly 100 people as officials urgently appealed for medicine and doctors to treat the hundreds injured. The fresh tremors hampered rescue efforts in Aceh province on Sumatra where a shallow 6.5-magnitude quake
Death toll from shallow 6.5-magnitude quake that struck at dawn rises to 97, as officials call for excavation equipment and emergency supplies The death toll from a powerful earthquake that struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island at dawn on Wednesday has risen to 97, with more people feared trapped in collapsed buildings. Search and rescue teams in Aceh province, an area previously devastated by , used tractors to shift the rubble in attempts to reach people buried in their houses. Related: We immediately ran outside the house but it crumbled. Everything from the roof to the floor collapsed.
Indonesian emergency services clear rubble on Wednesday after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit northern Sumatra. At least 54 people have been killed by the earthquake with more believed to be trapped beneath the rubble. Sutopo Nugroho of the national disaster management agency says a state of emergency has been declared in Aceh
Extreme weather is driving up uninsured losses and insurers must use investments to fund global warming resilience, says study The ability of the global insurance industry to manage society’s risks is being threatened by climate change, according to a new report. The report finds that more frequent extreme weather events are driving up uninsured losses and making some assets uninsurable. Related: Related:
Judges approve payment of settlements awarded in class actions after Kilmore East-Kinglake and Murrindindi blazes Victims of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires will receive almost $700m in compensation before Christmas. The state’s supreme court justices John Dixon and Jack Forrest on Wednesday approved the distribution of settlements awarded in class actions to those who lost loved ones and property in the Kilmore East-Kinglake and Murrindindi bushfires. Related:
As global temperatures rise, extreme downpours will increase putting huge strains on infrastructure and agriculture, finds climate study When the skies open up and deluge an area, the results can be catastrophic, with roads washed out and homes destroyed by the resulting flash floods. Such are already occurring more often across the US, but a new study finds that as global temperatures rise, storms could dump considerably more rain and skyrocket in frequency. The study, in the journal , suggests that storms that now occur about once a season could happen five times a season by the century’s end, a 400% increase. Related:
Firefighters recover two cars from a sinkhole in Texas. An off-duty sheriff’s deputy died and two other people were hurt when two vehicles plunged into the water-filled in San Antonio on Sunday. It appeared after a sewer line ruptured during heavy rain
The giant hole appeared in the middle of the road after a sewer line ruptured during heavy rain An off-duty sheriff’s deputy has died and two other people hurt when two vehicles plunged into a water-filled in San Antonio, Texas. The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office on Monday identified the victim as 69-year-old deputy Dora Linda Nishihara, who was a courthouse bailiff. Related:
Highest ever rainfall recorded in UK was in December 2015 at Honister Pass in Lake District with 341.4mm falling in 24 hours An appraisal of the winter floods of 2015-2016, published on the first anniversary of , reveals it ranks alongside the devastating flooding of as the largest event of at least the last century. November 2015 to January 2016 was the wettest three-month period in records dating back to 1910, while December was both the wettest and, on average, the warmest on record for the UK. Related: Related:
Storm washed away bridges and flooded thousands of properties but the damage was not just financial, with lives still on hold When the river Eden swept into Angela and Ian Burrow’s house uninvited one night last December, they resigned themselves to spending the festive period in a rented flat paid for by the insurance company. But not in their wildest, darkest fears did they ever anticipate a second Christmas Day away from their smallholding outside Crosby-on-Eden, five miles from Carlisle. Yet that is their miserable reality, along with at least 700 other families across Cumbria, whose homes are still uninhabitable a year after being battered by the of Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank last December, which flooded across the UK.
