Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.8 earthquake hits the west Chile rise.
5.3 earthquake hits Tonga.
5.2 earthquake hits northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
5.1 earthquake hits Java, Indonesia.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Atlanic Ocean: Potential Tropical Cyclone 15 is located about 160 mi…255 km sse of Kingston Jamaica and about 415 mi…665 km se of Grand Cayman with maximum sustained winds…40 mph…65 km/h. Present movement…w or 270 degrees at 12 mph…19 km/h.
In the Northwest Pacific Ocean: Tropical storm 26w (Nalgae), located approximately 291 nm northwest of Manila, Philippines, is tracking north-northwestward at 07 knots.
Tropical storm 27w (Twenty-seven), located approximately 101 west of Angur, is tracking west-southwestward at 13 knots.
Newsbytes:
Philippines – Disaster authorities in the Philippines report dozens of people are dead or missing after heavy rain from Tropical Storm Nalgae (known as Paeng in the Philippines) triggered flooding and landslides. A total of 379 incidents of flooding and 60 landslides were reported across the country as a result of heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Nalgae. Over 40,000 people were pre-emptively evacuated before the storm hit. As of 30 October, a total of 364,746 people were displaced across the country, with many staying in 2,125 evacuation camps. The storm has impacted the lives of 932,077 across 46 provinces in 14 regions. As of 30 October, 37 fatalities had been confirmed and a further 11 reports were awaiting validation. Four people were confirmed missing and reports of 18 others missing were awaiting validation.
Global Warming
Battle of the Alps – Water Woes
A battle is brewing around Europe’s rooftop over the planet’s most precious resource.
The crystal-clear waters from the Alps could become increasingly contested as the effects of climate change and glacier melt become more apparent. Italy wants them for crop irrigation in the spring and summer. Swiss authorities want to hold up flows to help hydroelectric plants rev up, when needed.
For the first time in four years, government envoys from eight Alpine countries — big, small and tiny — were meeting under a grouping known as the Alpine Convention, which was set up 30 years ago to help coordinate life, leisure and the limited resources from Europe’s most celebrated peaks to discuss shrinking water supplies.
96% of humans feel global warming
Whether they realized it or not, some 7.6 billion people – 96 percent of humanity – felt global warming’s impact on temperatures over the last 12 months, researchers have said.
People in tropical regions and on small islands surrounded by heat-absorbing oceans were disproportionately impacted by human-induced temperature increases to which they barely contributed.
Among the 1,021 cities analyzed between September 2021 and October 2022, the capitals of Samoa and Palau in the South Pacific have been experiencing the most discernible climate fingerprints, the researchers said in the report. Lagos, Mexico City and Singapore were among the most highly exposed major cities, with human-induced heat increasing health risks to millions.
Environment
One third of Sierra Nevada forest wiped out by drought and fires
The Sierra Nevada region of California covers nearly 27 million acres of forests that provide habitat for thousands of animal species and is home to dozens of species of conifers, including native redwoods (the world’s tallest trees), sequoias (the world’s widest trees), or Great Basin bristlecone pines (the world’s longest living trees).
Now, a team of scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, has found that, from 2011 to 2020, a combination of devastating wildfires, droughts, and drought-related bark beetle infestations killed a staggering 30 percent of forests in the Sierra Nevada mountain range between Lake Tahoe and Kern County.
Disease
Cholera – Lebanon
Still less than a month since the first cholera case was reported in Lebanon, the first such case in nearly thirty years, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) updated the situation on Saturday: As of October 29, 1,409 cumulative (suspected and confirmed) cholera cases have been reported, which includes 381 confirmed cases.
Dengue Fever
Bangladesh – In a follow-up on the dengue fever situation in Bangladesh in 2022, the country’s Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported 1020 additional cases Saturday, bringing the total cases to 37,151 year to date. In October alone, 21,059 cases have been reported so far with two days left. The death toll has increased to 136.
India – 150 people are getting positive every day. With the end of the monsoon, seasonal diseases started increasing rapidly in Rajasthan.
Measles – Angola
The number of cases of children with measles continues to increase in Angola. In the last three weeks alone, health authorities have recorded more than 2,000 new cases of the disease.
Earthquakes
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.4 earthquake hits Vanuatu.
5.3 earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
5.2 earthquake hits near the coast of central Peru.
5.2 earthquake hits the Solomon Islands.
5.1 earthquake hits Oruro, Bolivia.
5.1 earthquake hits Samoa.
5.1 earthquake hits near the coast of central Peru.
5.1 earthquake hits South Island, New Zealand.
5.0 earthquake hits Chiapas, Mexico.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Northwest Pacific Ocean: Tropical depression 26w (Nalgae), located approximately 225 nm west-northwest of Manila, Philippines, is tracking west-southwestward at 13 knots.
Disease
Cholera – Philippines
Earlier this week, health officials with the Tacloban City Health Office reported some 192 hospitalizations due to cholera, including four fatalities.
Syphilis – Japan
Japan health authorities have reported the syphilis case count for 2022 as of this month has topped 10,000, a first since such records have been kept. Officials put the total nationwide figure to 10,141 as of October 23.
Ebola – Uganda
Latest numbers In an update on the Ebola disease caused by Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV) in Uganda, as of October 26, a total of 115 confirmed and 21 probable cases, including 32 confirmed and 21 probable deaths (CFR among confirmed cases: 27.8%) have been reported. Overall, 15 cases with four deaths have been reported among healthcare workers.
Earthquakes
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.8 earthquake hits near the coast of central Peru.
5.6 earthquake hits near the coast of central Peru.
5.3 earthquake hits near the coast of central Peru.
Two 5.2 earthquakes hit near the coast of central Peru.
5.2 earthquake hits near the east coast of Honshu, Japan.
5.1 earthquake hits Taiwan.
5.0 earthquake hits Fiji.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Northwest Pacific Ocean: Tropical depression 26w (Nalgae), located approximately 48 nm south-southeast of Manila, Philippines, is tracking west-northwestward at 08 knots.
Newsbytes:
Philippines – Flash floods and landslides set off by torrential rains left at least 47 people dead, including in a hard-hit southern Philippine province, where as many as 60 villagers are feared missing and buried in a deluge of rainwater, mud, rocks and trees, officials said Saturday. At least 42 people were swept away by rampaging floodwaters and drowned or were hit by debris-filled mudslides in three towns in Maguindanao province from Thursday night to early Friday.
Wildfires
Wildfires – Spain
Dozens of wildfires raged in northern Spain on Friday after unusually high temperatures hitting 30 Celsius (86F) in some areas a day earlier turned vegetation into dry fuel, adding to mounting concerns about changing weather patterns in Europe. In the Basque Country, Asturias and Cantabria about 40 blazes were reported, according to regional emergency services.
Disease
Cholera – Lebanon
On October 6, Lebanon health authorities reported the first confirmed cholera case in the country since 1993. As of October 27, officials reported an additional 182 cumulative cases, bringing the total to 1095–this includes 368 confirmed cases. The cholera death toll has risen to 15.
Earthquakes
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.4 earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.
5.3 earthquake hits east of North island, New Zealand.
5.2 earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.
5.2 earthquake hits near the north coast of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.
5.0 earthquake hits Hokkaido, Japan.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Northwest Pacific Ocean: Tropical depression 26w (Nalgae), located approximately 457 nm east-southeast of Manila, Philippines, is tracking westward at 10 knots.
Environment
Massive ‘proton aurora’ blasted a 250-mile-wide hole in Earth’s ozone layer
When a blast of solar energy slammed into Earth in June 2015, the resulting rain of particles tore a 250-mile-wide (400 kilometers) hole into the upper ozone layer, new research has found.
Fortunately, the ozone hole only appeared in Earth’s mesosphere — a high layer of the atmosphere that extends from about 31 to 53 miles (50 to 85 km) over Earth — and did not extend down to the much more important ozone layer in the stratosphere, which protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the researchers found.
Still, the ozone depletion in the mesosphere was far greater than researchers previously thought possible — and future events like this could alter climate patterns in lower layers of the atmosphere, all the way down to Earth’s surface.
Plastic Pollution
Greenpeace claims that about 95% of plastics used in U.S. households are not being recycled and wind up in landfills. The environmental advocacy group says it is not entirely due to the lack of recycling efforts, but that only a few types of plastic are actually recyclable.
The sorting and collection of plastic items deposited in bins is also problematic, according to Greenpeace. It says a significant portion of the debris is contaminated with toxic materials. Because plastic containers and wraps are so cheap and easy to use, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates their global use and resulting waste could triple by 2060.