Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.4 earthquake hits central Afghanistan.
5.2 earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.
5.2 earthquake hits Seram, Indonesia.
5.1 earthquake hits offshore Coquimbo, Chile.
5.0 earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Atlantic Ocean: Sam has transitioned to a powerful post-tropical cyclone over the far north Atlantic between Newfoundland and Iceland. There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.
Newsbytes:
Italy – Staggering amounts of rain fell in northern Italy on 04 October 2021, causing floods and landslides in Liguria and Piedmont Regions. Liguria’s environment agency reported a record 181 mm of rainfall in just 1 hour and over 900 mm in 24 hours. Severe weather was reported across northern and central areas of Italy on 04 October. Red Alerts (highest level) were issued for the regions of Liguria, Piedmont and Lombardy. The worst of the flooding struck in Liguria Region and in particular the province and city of Savona. Several rivers broke their banks in the region. The Erro flooded areas of Pontinvrea; the Bormida river overflowed in Cairo Montenotte; and the Letimbro caused flooding in the city of Savona.
Global Warming Kills 14 percent of Corals Worldwide
Global warming helped wipe out 14 percent of the world’s coral reefs between 2009 and 2018, the largest-ever survey of coral health has found, warning that more of the vibrant underwater ecosystems were likely to die if oceans warm further.
Corals in South Asia and the Pacific, around the Arabian Peninsula, and off the coast of Australia, were the hardest hit, according to the report which was released on Tuesday, compiled by more than 300 scientists in the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.
The report spanned data for 40 years, 73 countries and 12,000 sites and found the total area destroyed equal to about 11,700 square kilometres (4,517 square miles).
Besides anchoring marine ecosystems, they also provide food, protection from storms and shoreline erosion and jobs for hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The study looked at 10 coral reef-bearing regions around the world and found that reef loss was mainly the result of coral bleaching, but also overfishing, unsustainable coastal development and declining water quality.
Wildfires – California, USA
The KNP Complex Fire burning for almost four weeks in the Sierra Nevada range of eastern Tulare County grew by about 5,000 acres overnight, expanding to nearly 68,000 acres by Monday morning, within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Forest, with containment estimated at about 11%.
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Dengue Fever – India
Health officials in Delhi are reporting an increase in dengue fever this year. A total of 341 dengue cases have been recorded this season to date, including 217 in September (63 percent of the years total). This is up from 266 cases reported over the same period last year.