Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.7 earthquake hits southern Sumatra, Indonesia.
5.3 earthquake hits off the coast of Costa Rica.
5.1 earthquake hits La Rioja, Argentina.
5.0 earthquake hits near the southern coast of Papua, Indonesia.
5.0 earthquake hits Mindanao in the Philippines.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Eastern North Pacific Ocean: Tropical Storm 06e (Estelle), located approximately 744 nm south of San Diego, is tracking west-northwestward at 1 knots.
Newsbytes:
Nigeria – At least 4 people have died and hundreds have been displaced after severe flooding in the state of Yobe in northeastern Nigeria. Flooding has affected other areas of the country since June 2022. Dozens of homes have been damaged or destroyed forcing around 100 households to move to emergency accommodation in public buildings. Floods also ravaged infrastructure, farmland and livestock across 12 communities in Gulani and Gujba LGAs. A bridge was destroyed, leaving four communities in Gulani Local Government Area (LGA) isolated. Food stores were also damaged, with many communities losing valuable food reserves.
New York Cut, USA – Multiple thunderstorms struck the New York City area Monday afternoon dropping roughly four inches of water over a 24-hour period. The downpour was so intense that some New York City streets quickly flooded, causing water to burst on the subway stations below. In the Bronx, the weather caused a 58-foot-long sinkhole to open up and swallow up a van. Up to 14 inches of water flooded the roadbed and impacted the third rail that provides electrical power to the subway trains.
‘Shocking’ report lists devastation to Australia wildlife
Australia’s unique wildlife is being devastated by bushfires, drought, habitat loss and global warming, a government report said Tuesday, warning that more species were headed for extinction.
The five-yearly State of the Environment report prompted calls for dramatic action to reverse the “poor and deteriorating” state of flora and fauna depicted by scientists on land and at sea.
The damage is being hastened by a climate that has warmed Australia’s average land temperature by 1.4 degrees Celsius since the early 20th century, the report said.
Australia’s 2019-2020 “Black Summer” bushfires burned more than eight million hectares of native vegetation and killed or displaced 1-3 billion animals, the report found.
Marine heatwaves caused mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017 and 2020, it said. Since then, a government report in March found the reef had again suffered mass bleaching.
Millions of hectares of primary forest had been cleared since 1990, the report said.
More than seven million hectares of habitat for threatened species were cleared between 2000 and 2017 without being assessed under Australia’s environmental conservation laws, it found.
In five years, more than 200 plant and animal species of national significance had been added to the list of threatened species under Australia’s environmental laws.
Wildfires – Europe
On Tuesday the wildland fire danger north of London reached the “Very Extreme” stage. At least 11 wildfires were being attended to across the UK involving almost 100 fire engines.
Hundreds of deaths have been attributed to the heat in Spain and Portugal since last week, and wildfires have forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes there, as well as in France. In southwestern France, wildfires have destroyed at least 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) as temperatures rose to 108.8 degrees (42.7 Celsius) Monday, when dozens of locations set all-time highs. Conditions eased Tuesday when a cool oceanic air mass arrived overnight.
Wildfires – USA
More than 100 million Americans are under either a heat warning about dangerous conditions or heat advisories amid record temperatures, as 85 major wildfires burn in 13 US states, scorching more than 3m acres.
Officials said on Tuesday that 14 new large fires were reported: seven in Texas, two in Alaska and two in Washington, as well as one each in Arizona, California and Idaho. More than 6,800 wild-land firefighters, and other support staff, were deployed to fires across the US.
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Bubonic Plague – China
A bubonic plague case has been reported in Northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The case prompted a level IV emergency response on plague prevention and control on Tuesday. It is reported that the individual contracted the infection outside of the region, although it is not specified where.
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever – Afghanistan
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) cases were reported last week in Afghanistan, according to the World Health Organization. The new cases were reported in Herat (4), Takhar (4), Kabul (4), Balkh (2), Laghman (1) and Parwan (1) provinces. This brings the total for 2022 to date to 115 cases with 8 associated deaths.
Dengue Fever – Vietnam
In a follow-up on the dengue fever epidemic in Vietnam, officials reported 10,000 dengue fever cases in the past week, bringing the country total for 2022 to 113,400. Two additional fatalities were also reported.