Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.3 earthquake hits the Russia-Mongolia border.
5.2 earthquake hits the Scotia Sea.
5.2 earthquake hits Ascension Island.
5.1 earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands.
5.0 earthquake hits the Scotia Sea.
5.0 earthquake hits the southern east Pacific rise.
Waste Personal Protective Equipment from Covid-19 is Killing Wildlife
Waste from lifesaving personal protective equipment is killing birds, fish and other wildlife across the globe, a study has found. Animals are fatally ingesting or becoming entangled in discarded latex gloves and disposable face masks, while others have started building their homes using the same material, researchers said.
Scientists found a fish trapped in medical latex gloves in a canal cleanup in the Dutch city of Leiden in August, which prompted researchers to explore whether there was a larger problem.
The biologists found hundreds of discarded face masks in Leiden’s historical canals over the course of a few months and soon realized a worrying picture was emerging. Those affected are not confined to small fish and birds, rather the entire animal kingdom globally will suffer from COVID-19 litter.
Wildfires – Nepal
Hundreds of wildfires are burning across Nepal, sending smoke and ash across its cities during one of the worst fire seasons in recent years.
Nepal’s dry season, which runs from late fall to early summer, typically peaks with the most severe fires in March and April. Since November, 73 of Nepal’s 77 districts have reported forest fires — the highest level on record in the past five fire seasons.
The country has recorded up to 2,087 forest fires nationwide since November 15, 2020. And as of March 25, there were still at least 524 active fires burning across the country, spreading a combination of dust, smoke and ash into the air.
Interesting Images
A resident of Hoboken, New Jersey spotted the unusual worm spiral after days of heavy rainfall.
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Mysterious Brain Disease – Canada
Officials in Canada are racing to find the cause of a mysterious brain disease that has afflicted more than 40 people in the New Brunswick province, according to news reports.
Symptoms of the mystery illness resemble those of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), a rare and fatal brain disorder; and include memory loss, hallucinations and muscle atrophy.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.5 earthquake hits western Xizang, China.
5.4 earthquake hits the Beaufort Sea.
5.2 earthquake hits the Mariana Islands.
5.1 earthquake hits the Mariana Islands.
Humans are throwing Earth’s energy budget off balance
Earth is on a budget – an energy budget. Our planet is constantly trying to balance the flow of energy in and out of Earth’s system. But human activities are throwing that off balance, causing our planet to warm in response.
Radiative energy enters Earth’s system from the sunlight that shines on our planet. Some of this energy reflects off of Earth’s surface or atmosphere back into space. The rest gets absorbed, heats the planet, and is then emitted as thermal radiative energy the same way that black asphalt gets hot and radiates heat on a sunny day.
Eventually this energy also heads toward space, but some of it gets re-absorbed by clouds and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The absorbed energy may also be emitted back toward Earth, where it will warm the surface even more.
Adding more components that absorb radiation – like greenhouse gases – or removing those that reflect it – like aerosols – throws off Earth’s energy balance, and causes more energy to be absorbed by Earth instead of escaping into space. This is called a radiative forcing, and it’s the dominant way human activities are affecting the climate.
Climate modelling predicts that human activities are causing the release of greenhouse gases and aerosols that are affecting Earth’s energy budget. Now, a NASA study has confirmed these predictions with direct observations for the first time: radiative forcings are increasing due to human actions, affecting the planet’s energy balance and ultimately causing climate change. The paper was published online on 25 March 2021, in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Russian Arctic coast has planet’s quickest warming
It was the second warmest year in the Arctic on record, and parts of the vast region saw air temperatures far beyond the traditional freeze. The year 2020 follows the trend of the past decades and its spring months were the absolutely warmest since measurements started more than 100 years ago, a weather report from Russian meteorological service Roshydromet reads.
Parts of the Russian Arctic are now several degrees warmer than just few years ago. The warming is the most significant along parts of the North Siberian coast, and especially around the peninsulas of Taymyr and Yamal. Heat maps show that an area on the coast of Taymyr in 2020 had average temperatures up to 7’C higher than normal.
Wildfires – Utah, USA
Two wildfires burning in eastern Utah have merged, and multiple structures are threatened. The two fires began Monday near the town of Myton, in eastern Duchesne County. Fire officials said the combined fire — later dubbed the “East Myton Complex Fire” — had burned 2,200 acres as of Monday night and was 10 percent contained.
Wildfires – South Dakota, USA
Wildfires in the Black Hills of South Dakota have forced evacuations of more than 400 homes northwest of Rapid City and shut down Mount Rushmore, authorities said Monday. A fire that started near Schroeder Road in the Nemo area, about 15 miles northwest of Rapid City, had burned as much as 800 acres and was “still moving” on Monday afternoon, according to the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Several outbuildings and possibly two homes have been destroyed, officials said.
The “6” Fire was reported in Jones County, five miles north of Okaton and nine miles northwest of Murdo. The fire is estimated at 5,000 acres but size is unconfirmed.
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.5 earthquake hits the Solomon Islands.
5.3 earthquake hits southern Sumatra, Indonesia.
5.2 earthquake hits Barbados in the Windward Islands.
5.2 earthquake hits the northern mid-Atlantic ridge.
5.0 earthquake hits the South Shetland Islands.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
There are no current tropical storms.
Newsbytes:
USA – At least 4 people have died after flash floods and severe weather swept through parts of Tennessee USA on 27 March 2021. State authorities said that severe weather crossed Tennessee on 27 March, bringing two rounds of heavy rain, high winds, flash flooding and tornado warnings. The mostly localized impacts of the severe storms included flooding of homes and businesses, scattered structures damaged, closed roads, downed trees, and power outages.
Wildfires – Alberta, Canada
Wildfires that forced approximately 275 residents to leave their village in southern Alberta on Sunday have now been contained. More than 5,000 hectares were damaged as a result of the fire. RCMP also said they responded to three semi-truck rollovers and two other collisions as a result of the winds. 1 person was transported to hospital in critical condition as a result of fire.
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.9 earthquake hits the Adriatic Sea.
5.7 earthquake hits the Izu Islands off Japan.
5.1 earthquake hits Taiwan.
Horns Down
Wildlife experts in Africa say they have found it is safer to relocate the critically endangered black rhinoceros upside down, sedated and blindfolded by helicopter rather than by land.
It is sometimes necessary to move rhinos from local overcrowding and to make them less vulnerable to poaching. Their blood oxygen levels are higher when they are upside down, compared to lying on their side on a flatbed truck. Nearly 98% of black rhinos disappeared in the wild after the 1960s, when more than 100,000 roamed the deserts, shrublands and savannas from Kenya to Namibia.
