Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.8 earthquake hits the Volcano Islands off Japan.
5.3 earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.
5.2 earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.
5.2 earthquake hits Tonga.
5.2 earthquake hits Myanmar.
5.2 earthquake hits the Iu Islands off Japan.
5.0 earthquake hits Kyushu, Japan.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
There are currently no tropical storms.
Newsbytes:
Manitoba, Canada – As southern Manitoba saw a deluge of rain this weekend that forced people in several communities from their homes due to flooding, the province said the region saw four to six times the normal amount of precipitation this spring.Several municipalities have declared a state of emergency.
Decline of Tiny Dryland Lichens
Lichens that help hold together soil crusts in arid lands around the world are dying off as the climate warms, new research shows. That would lead deserts to expand and also would affect areas far from the drylands, as crumbling crusts fill winds with dust that can speed snowmelt and increase the incidence of respiratory diseases.
Biologically rich soil crusts, sometimes called cryptobiotic soils or biocrusts, are spread out across dry and semi-dry regions of every continent, including Antarctica. In total, the crusts cover more than 6 million square miles—an area about the size of Russia.
They are assemblages of hundreds of organisms, mostly algae, fungi, lichens, mosses and even cyanobacteria. Woven together by eons of evolution, the organisms become keepers of soil, building intricate organic structures with bacterial filaments and sticky polysaccharides to hold grains of earth and sand in place. Soil crusts build up land, slow erosion and suck a lot of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, storing it in the soil. Some crusts even fix nitrogen that fertilizes plants.
Wildfires – New Mexico
Since merging into one blaze a week ago, the Calf Canyon and Hermit’s Peak fires have burned 97,064 acres as of Saturday morning — a growth of over 30,000 acres in 24 hours, according to updates from state fire officials. The blaze, which is primarily impacting San Miguel and Mora counties, is 32% contained with over 1,000 firefighters responding.
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Sudden onset hepatitis in children – United Kingdon
In a follow-up on the cases of sudden onset hepatitis in children aged 10 and under in the United Kingdom, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported a further 34 confirmed cases since the last update, bringing the total number of cases to 145.
Measles – Liberia
The Ministry of Health says they have detected an unusual increase in measles cases here. The ministry has reported about 1954 suspected measles cases in the country of which 265 had been confirmed by the public health Laboratory.