Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from areas near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Scientists found 34 per cent of 3rd generation butterflies had abnormalities, including smaller wings and damaged eyes.
The findings will raise fears over the long-term effects of the leaks on other species and people who were exposed in the days and weeks after the accident, as radiation spread over a large area and forced thousands to evacuate.
7.7 Earthquake hits the Sea of Okhotsk. No tsunami warning issued.
5.4 Earthquke hits Pakistan.
5.2 Earthquake hits the Bonin Islands off Japan.
5.2 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands region.
5.1 and 4.8 Earthquakes hit Taiwan.
A swarm of more than 150 earthquakes caused an underwater eruption of a previously dormant volcano ‘Havre’ situated in the Pacific halfway between New Zealand and Tonga. The 4 000 square mile island of floating pumice was observed by a New Zealand navy ship last week.
Anthrax outbreak in Jiangsu Province, China.
Mysterious cattle disease has killed 68 cattle in Cholistan, Pakistan.
At least 1 000 people have been evacuated from the Canary Island of La Gromera to escape the wildfires burning on the island.
2 people have died in the wildfires raging in Alicante, Spain.
In northern California, 480 homes have been evacuated due to spreading wildfires.
Tropical Storm Kai-tak [Helen] is expected to bring more rain to an already drenched Philippines before heading towards China.
At least 28 people have been killed in floods in Nigeria’s Plateau State.
Tornado hits Riverside County, Southern California, USA.
4.9 Earthquake hits northern Peru.
A waterspout came ashore in Duluth, Minnesota, USA to become that State’s first tornado on record.
A rare summer storm blasted the Arctic this week, beginning off the coast of Alaska, and moving over much of the Arctic Sea for several days before dissipating.
Nasa reports that Arctic storms such as this one can have a large impact on the sea ice, causing it to melt rapidly through many mechanisms, such as tearing off large swaths of ice and pushing them to warmer sites, churning the ice and making it slushier, or lifting warmer waters from the depths of the Arctic Ocean.
“It seems that this storm has detached a large chunk of ice from the main sea ice pack. This could lead to a more serious decay of the summertime ice cover than would have been the case otherwise, even perhaps leading to a new Arctic sea ice minimum,” said Claire Parkinson, a climate scientist with NASA Goddard. “Decades ago, a storm of the same magnitude would have been less likely to have as large an impact on the sea ice, because at that time the ice cover was thicker and more expansive.”
300 people have been killed and more than 2 000 injured in the series of earthquakes that hit northern Iran Yesterday.
6.3 Earthquake hits Xinjiang-Xizang border region, China.
5.3 Earthquake hits Reykjanes Ridge in the northern Atlantic.
5.1 and 5.0 Aftershocks hits Northern Iran.
15 large wildfires burn across Nevada.
Wildfires in Spain threaten world heritage ancient forest.
West Nile virus outbreak in the Dallas area, Texas, USA. 8 people have died with more than 120 cases reported. The virus is transmitted by mosquitos and the authorities are spraying against the spread of the insects.
Hundreds contract gastroenteritis in Kashmir, India after drinking contaminated water.
Tropical Storm Hector forms in the Eastern Pacific. The storm is moving away from land.
The death toll in the recent floods that hit Manila in the Philippines has risen to 85.
Floods in the eastern Sudan. 1 000 families lose their homes.
Tornado confirmed on east Long Island, New York, USA.
Earthquakes of 4.8; 4.8; 6.3 and 6.4 rock north-western Iran on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
6.2 Earthquake hits the Fox Islands, in the Aleutian Island chain off Alaska.
5.3 Earthquake hits southern Xinjiang, China.
A mass of golf ball sized volcanic rocks has been found floating off the coast of New Zealand, indicating a submarine eruption co-inciding with the eruptions at Mount Tongariro and Mount White.