INFRASTRUCTURE COLLAPSE: "Sudden Spike In Temperature,... Catastrophic Event,..." - United States Military Satellite Explodes Above The Earth, Sending Dozens Of Debris Tumbling Into Different Orbits Around The Earth!

An artist's rendition of a DMSP satellite orbiting Earth Photo: Los Angeles Air Force Base

March 3, 2015 - SPACE - A US military satellite exploded after detecting an unexplained “sudden spike in temperature”, sending dozens of chunks of debris tumbling into different orbits around Earth.

Civilian company CelesTrak was first to notice the explosion of the once-secret weather satellite and the US Air Force subsequently confirmed that it had been lost.

The satellite was an ageing component of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program which the US military began developing the in the 1960s to help plan reconnaissance and surveillance missions.

In 1972 the system was declassified, and data made available to civilian scientists.

The lost satellite was the 13th to be launched as part of DMSP, designated DMSP-F13, and had been in Earth orbit since 1995.

Air Force Space Command confirmed to SpaceNews.com that the “catastrophic event” came after “a sudden spike in temperature” was detected, followed by “an unrecoverable loss of attitude control”.

While operators were deciding how to “render the vehicle safe” they detected a debris cloud which indicated that the satellite had been destroyed.

TLEs suggest event occurred on Feb 3 at ~1715 UTC

The explosion has caused at least 43 pieces of debris to scatter into orbit, which are now being tracked by the US Air Force.

Air Force Col. John Giles, the Joint Space Operations Center’s director, told SpaceNews.com: “While the initial response is complete, JSpOC personnel will continue to assess this event to learn more about what happened and what it will mean for users within this orbit."

There is speculation that the power system may have failed, causing the explosion.

Due to the age of DMSP-F13 it was no longer a critical part of the network, and the US government expects that its loss will cause only a “slight reduction” in real-time weather data.

Event time appears closer to 1723 UTC. Debris plane does not align with planes of B, C, or E

Like all DMSP satellites it orbited the earth at an altitude of around 500 miles in a “sun-synchronous orbit” – meaning that they flew in a path taking in the north and south poles.

On each path around the earth, which took roughly 101 minutes, they would see a slightly different part of the planet. This would give each satellite a complete view of the entire planet’s surface twice a day. - Telegraph.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: What's Causing This - Thousands Of Dead Fish Washing Up On A Beach In Milwaukee, United States?! [VIDEO]

June 25, 2014 - MILWAUKEE, UNITED STATES - Dead fish are washing up on Bradford Beach by the thousands! So what’s causing it?

FOX6 News spoke with Baylee and Brooklyn Bates. They’re sisters, and they were amazed by the amount of dead fish on Bradford Beach on Tuesday afternoon, June 24th.

So what, exactly is happening here?

FOX6 News spoke with John Janssen at the UW-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences.

He says the fish are “alewives” — coming to shore to spawn.

Janssen says the fish are dying because they are starving.

Mussels in Lake Michigan are apparently stealing food in the food chain.

Janssen says a big temperature drop can trigger these massive “die-offs.”


WATCH: Dead fish washing up on Bradford Beach by the thousands.

”This is a saltwater fish, and they have difficulty living in fresh water. It just weakens them a bit,” Janssen said.

Janssen says we’ve seen this before, but this die-off is occurring a little later than we’re used to.

Lake Michigan is warming up slowly this year.

Meanwhile, the seagulls are fat and happy. When they see dead fish, it’s like a buffet for them! - FOX6NOW. 

GLOBAL VOLCANISM: From 0 To ERUPTION In 60 Days - Study Of Mount Hood Reveals That Volcanoes Can Become Ready To Blow In Less Time Than Previously Thought, But Their Magma Is Usually Kept In A Cool, Near Solid-State!

February 19, 2014 - OREGON, UNITED STATES - For 100,000 years, a pod of cool magma has been sitting mostly immobile beneath the Mt. Hood volcano. Consider it cold storage.

As long as the magma stays cool, the volcano will not erupt. Cool magma is like peanut butter straight from the fridge — difficult to move.

But if the conditions are right, that magma can liquefy in just a few months, potentially leading to an eruption, according to new research.

Hot magma from deep in the Earth's crust bubbles up, mixes with the cool magma and causes it to liquefy. And when the cool, solid magma becomes less viscous and more runny, the volcano is in danger of exploding — sending red-hot lava out the volcano's top.

"Some people imagine that beneath a volcano is a bubbling vat of magma just ready to go at any time," said Adam Kent, a geologist at Oregon State University. "But we've found that the magma under Mt. Hood is in this mobile state maybe less than 1% of the total time it has been there."

In a new study in the journal Nature, Kent and his co-author, Kari Cooper of UC Davis, used radioactive dating to determine that the lava from Mt. Hood's last two eruptions — 220 years ago and 1,500 years ago — had been stored for up to 100,000 years beneath the volcano.

The scientists also analyzed crystals that formed in the lava to determine how hot the magma had been for most of that time.

"Crystals grow only at a certain temperature," said Kent. "If it is too hot, they dissolve, and if it is too cold, they don't grow."

The active Mt. Hood volcano in Oregon. (Alison M. Kolesczar)

From this method, the research team determined that for nearly all the time the pod of magma has been around, it has remained at or below 750 degrees Celsius (1,382 degrees Fahrenheit). So it is only when the magma gets warmer than this that Mt. Hood will erupt.

The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, may help scientists predict future volcanic eruptions. Kent said researchers could conceivably use seismic waves to detect when the magma pod beneath Mt. Hood has liquid present. This wouldn't necessarily mean the volcano was going to erupt, however, but it would mean an eruption was possible.

Kent said the next step in this research is to learn more about cool magma pods beneath other, larger volcanoes.

"We'd like to move on to other systems that have bigger eruptions — Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines is a much bigger eruption to go look at," he said. - LA Times.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Hundreds Of Dead Fish Found In A Creek In Bargara, Australia?!

November 05, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - The flood gates have once again opened on the topic of fish kills in the regions waterways after hundreds of dead fish were removed from Moneys Creek at Bargara.

Bundaberg Regional Council crews arrived at Moneys Creek early yesterday morning as part of a scheduled opening of the lagoon, which occurs once a month.

FISH KILL: A large portion of dead fish have been found in the Bargara area near Moneys Creek.
Photo: Zach Hogg / NewsMail Zach Hogg

Division 5 representative Greg Barnes said while on site, crews worked quickly to clear away between 500 and 600 dead fish from the backwater.

"Humid weather conditions over the weekend, combined with a lack of rain and subsequent low oxygen levels in the water are believed to be the cause of death," he said.

"Council is concerned that freshwater from upstream Moneys Creek isn't reaching the backwater with a small dam pumping the water to a nearby private property.

"Crews will inspect the site again tomorrow morning (today) and council will continue to monitor the situation moving forward and has sought the advice of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

Cr Barnes said the council had previously organised an unscheduled opening of the lagoon between October 16 and 18 after being alerted to the low water levels by nearby residents.

"This gave the lagoon a reasonable flush and re-oxygenated the water," he said.

"I received another request for an unscheduled lagoon opening on October 29, however, due to the high cost associated with opening and closing the lagoon, approximately $4000 each time, and its popularity as a recreational spot for swimmers on weekends, council decided to leave it until the next scheduled opening, which was this morning (yesterday)."

The gates will remain open until Thursday morning with the next opening scheduled for Monday, December 2.  - News Mail.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Hundreds, Maybe Thousands Of Dead Fish Found In A Reservoir In Belvis de Monroy, Spain?!

November 02, 2013 - SPAIN - Several photographs disseminated through social networks have revealed the death of hundreds of fish of different species on the island known as Belvis de Monroy, in the Valdecañas, while their authors ask for the reasons that have caused this mortality.

Appears a lot of carp, catfish, Blases, pike and perch dead in Belvis de Monroy Island
(Valdecañas Reservoir). / Daniel Escudero

On the issue of the Union President Fishermen moralos, Santiago Serrano, told TODAY that days ago and reported to the general direction of the Environment the existence of thousands of dead fish floating in the waters of the reservoir Valdecañas, not only in the island of Belvis.


WATCH: Mass fish die-off in Spain.

Serrano says it could be due to a spill upstream from the dam may Azután, in Toledo, but will not know anything for sure until you get tested for dead fish. However other sources point out that it is a fact that is repeated almost every year when there are sudden changes in temperature, algae decompose faster and the water runs out of oxygen, causing the death of species not are native. This is what is known as eutrophication.

Finally include the need to remove the remains as soon as possible to prevent infections in people who go fishing or animals that drink the swamp. - HOY. [Translated]

ICE AGE NOW: Weather Anomalies - The Shortest Summer On Record In Alaska?!

October 08, 2013 - ALASKA - Back in May we had extensive discussion about the unusually cold spring conditions, which broke some longstanding records in Fairbanks - including the latest date with daily mean temperature below freezing (May 18). 

Barrow Sea Ice Webcam

With the early arrival of freezing conditions this month, it should be no surprise that the length of the continuous summer thaw season was the shortest on record in Fairbanks (despite the summer being much warmer than normal).  The most recent similar year was 1992 - again, no surprise, though it is interesting to note that 1992 was cold both in spring and in September, similar to this year.

See below for the data in graphical form; I've defined the thaw season as the period when daily mean temperatures are continuously above freezing.

In Bettles the continuous thaw season ended with the record freeze of August 31.  Remarkably, the season was bounded on both ends by hard frost (10 °F on May 19, 15 °F on August 31).  The 103 days of continuous thaw matched the outcome in 1983. - Alaskan Weather and Climate Blog.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: 8,000 TONS Of Salmon To Be Destroyed Due To Lice Infestation In Vikna, Norway!

October 07, 2013 - NORWAY - Five Norwegian salmon producers are mass-slaughtering some 8,000 metric tons of salmon from their pens in an area north of Vikna, central Norway, due to high lice levels.

Three of those, Marine Harvest, Emilsen Fisk and Midt-Norsk Havbruk, are rushing to empty some 5,000 metric tons within deadlines set by the Norwegian food safety authority (NFSA).

In late August, the authority had informed these three producers that they would have to slaughter all their salmon in the area, after all other measures to counter the lice infestation failed.

Vikna, located in Ytre Namdal, in Nord Trondelag, is one of the busiest salmon farming regions in Norway.

The three producers had levels of five to six mature female lice per fish in the area affected — far above the national limit of 0.5/fish, said John Bjarne Falch, regional director of NFSA.

NFSA has ordered the producers to slaughter all their fish, or face a fine of approximately NOK 100,000 per day, for every day extending beyond the deadline, said Falch. One producer has to slaughter its fish by Oct. 3, another by Oct. 10 and the third by Oct. 23.

“It’s a question of capacity,” Falch told Undercurrent News. “The slaughterhouses are running at full steam, so the deadlines just reflect how fast they can empty their pens.”

Two other producers, Sinkaberg-Hansen and Salmonor, also operate in the same area. While these have not reached the national limit, they have come very close to it, and have decided to slaughter the fish of their own accord, said Falch.

This means some 8,000t are now being harvested from the area this month, he said. The fish affected are around 3.5-4kg in size, on average.

Need for bigger zone, better management
The farms in the area had started to show signs of resistance to traditional anti-lice measures. The producers had managed to deal with the situation so far, with best practices and biological means, but by the spring, it started becoming problematic, said Falch. The summer then intensified the situation, as sea lice reproduce faster in warmer waters.

Under Norwegian regulations, when a farm first exceeds its lice level limit, NFSA orders it to address the situation using all delousing methods available. Failing which, as in this case, the authority orders the affected pens to be emptied of all fish.

In Falch’s view, part of the problem in Vikna is that the farming zone designated for the area was too small. In Norway, salmon farming areas are divided into zones, in which farms must comply to certain rules on sizes and biomass, and must empty their pens and fallow at the same time.

This fallowing time is usually key in regulating sea lice, as they disappear when the fish are harvested, and are at their lowest levels when farming resumes. In this case, however, because the zone is small, the farms were getting infected immediately after fallowing from lice in neighboring zones, said Falch.

As a result, NFSA is working on expanding the zone in question. The area will also be ordered to fallow for the whole of February and March next year, he said.

Another issue, he said, is to do with how the farms are managed. “A bit further south, we have some farms, the same type of site, which have managed to keep the lice levels at 0.06 per fish — a tenth of what the regulation says.”

These sites do not have any other delousing methods than the ones north of Vikna, he said, showing the importance of good management. “If you use delousing products too early, for instance, you incur a higher risk of creating resistance among the fish.” - Undercurrent News.

MASS FISH/REPTILE DIE-OFF: Hundreds Of Dead Fish, Snakes And Iguanas Appear In The Waterways Of Cerete, Colombia?!

October 06, 2013 - COLOMBIA - Hundreds of fish known as Yalúa, Cherita, Bearded, as well as snakes and iguanas, kept appearing dead yesterday in the waters of Caño Bugre.

File photo.

Mortality of fish are Papoche evidence from the village, in the village The Retreat of the Indians, to the Caracas neighborhood in Cereté. The tour around the pipe can be seen from afar and small fish piled with garbage rotting.

After attending the event, Pedro Velasquez, Municipality Government Secretary, he called on the Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Valley of the Sinu and San Jorge (CVS), to report what had happened. "It is very unfortunate this environmental emergency, which had not happened for years," said the official.

On the other hand, some people believe that fish kills due to high pollution that has the spout all the way Bugre. - El Meridiano. [Translated]

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Huge Number Of Dead Fish Found In A Lake In Krasnodar, Russia!

October 06, 2013 - RUSSIA - A huge number of dead fish was found by local residents in one of the Karasunsky lakes.

Even yesterday, the representatives of emergency services removed the fish and sent for examination. The Ministry of Natural Resources edge explained that the problem is known and what is likely the cause of the incident was the temperature drop. - Kuban. [Translated]

MASS FISH DIE-OFFS: Latest Incidents In Brazil - Over 7,000 Fish Found Dead In A Lake In Silveira Martins And Hundreds Of Dead Fish Appear In The Capibaribe River?!

October 04, 2013 - BRAZIL - Here are two of the latest reports of mass fish die-offs in Brazil:

Over 7,000 Fish Found Dead In A Lake In Silveira Martins.

Second owner of the dam, seven thousand fish died in Silveira Martins
(Photo: Bernardo Bortolotto / RBS TV)

Thousands of fish were found dead in a pond on Thursday (3) in the locality of Line 2, in the municipality of Silveira Martins , in the Central Region of Rio Grande do Sul . Technicians from the city council were on site and collected samples of animals and also water. Samples will be sent to the Federal University of Santa Maria, which will do the analysis and find the cause of the destruction.

The suspect, according to the owner, which is a poison used on crops in the region has come into contact with the water of a pond community. This water, as the owner, ran up to her pond and would have caused the death of animals. About seven thousand fish have died poisoned, he says. - Globo. [Translated]

Hundreds Of Dead Fish Appear In The Capibaribe River.

Catfish died at low tide. Photo: Bruna Monteiro / DP / DA Press.

A shocking scene angered passersby near Rio Capibaribe at the time of Duarte Coelho Bridge on the morning of Tuesday. Hundreds of dead fish appeared on the river. The Department of Environment and Sustainability of Recife sent an inspection team to investigate the causes of mortality.

According to Lacerda oceanologist Assisi, dead fish are catfish and most likely reason, for now, is that the problem was caused by a reduction in oxygen levels in the water because of pollution. He adds that the phenomenon usually happens at low tide. - Diario de Pernambuco. [Translated]


WATCH:  Fish appear dead in Capibaribe.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: 74 Very Large Walleye Fish Found Washed Up Dead Along Lost Island Lake - FOUR Major Fish Kills Have Occurred This Month Alone In Iowa?!

October 01, 2013 - UNITED STATES - Low Iowa water levels and pollutants have combined to produce four fish kills this month.

File photo.

A variety of pollutants -- fertilizer, manure, milk, silage, pesticide, petroleum -- when getting into a stream, are more likely to cause a fish kill when stream flow rates are slow.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources investigated a fish kill at Lost Island Lake Sunday morning that appears to have affected only walleyes.

Investigators counted 74 walleyes, mostly very large fish with some approaching 10 pounds, dead along the shoreline. The majority of the walleyes, especially the largest females, had extensive amounts of fungus present on their bodies and in and around their mouths.

"This leads us to believe that they may have been under stress for some time and may have had an underlying bacterial infection," Mike Hawkins, fisheries management biologist for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said.

Bacteria that cause fish disease are common in the environment. It becomes an issue when the bacteria are combined with other stressors leading to fish kills.

Lost Island Lake, like many lakes in the area, experienced very warm water temperatures in late summer and early fall. Walleyes become stressed in warm water with the larger fish most likely experiencing the greatest impact. The onset of a bacterial/fungal infection probably occurred around this time and culminated late last week with rapidly changing weather conditions.

"All of the walleyes we looked at yesterday had been dead for more than a day so we hope the worst of the fish kill is over," Hawkins said. "We will continue to check in to see if the numbers increase. Cooling temperatures should help ease stress on the walleyes."

Hawkins said he talked to many concerned residents Sunday and has received a number of calls again Monday morning.

"With the relatively low number of fish, this kill will not impact the fishery. It's just hard to see such big fish lying dead on the shoreline," he said.

Bacterial infection in fish cannot cross over to humans and there is no threat to eating fish of any species caught from the lake as long as the fish is prepared and cooked properly.

Hawkins said they found two dead northern pike on the south shoreline, but it was hard to tell if their presence is related to the investigation. 


SOURCES: TH Online | The Daily Reporter.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Algae Bloom Blamed For Massive Fish Kill At Sierra County Reservoir, California!

September 30, 2013 - UNITED STATES - A massive fish die-off at Stampede Reservoir, 19 miles northeast of Truckee, is thought to be due to an algae bloom.

File photo.

“The bloom appears to be causing oxygen to lower in the deeper water, and there are hundreds and hundreds of dead kokanee and lake trout,” said fisheries biologist Amber Rossi.

The lake, which is in the Sierra County portion of the Tahoe National Forest, is a popular fishing spot.

Concerned anglers have called both the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Forest Service’s Truckee Ranger District office for several weeks, said Rossi, who is Fish and Wildlife’s fisheries biologist for Sierra and Plumas counties.

“We’re still getting reports,” she said Friday , “so apparently it’s still going on.”

After the first call was received Sept. 8, a Fish and Wildlife warden checked for pollution and found none, Rossi said, so she took water samples Sept. 11.

“The oxygen was lower in the deeper water,” she said. “Fifty feet down, it was 2.6 parts per million – half of what fish need to survive – and 3.6 on the surface.”

Hardest hit were the kokanee, then the lake trout – both deep-water dwellers.

“We found hundreds and hundreds of them near the dam side of the lake,” Rossi said.

The bloom does not seem to have affected the rainbow and brown trout, which live in a different part of the lake where incoming tributaries help aerate the water, she said. Nor are the large-mouth bass affected – they can survive with less oxygen.

Although “we’ve had a really low water year,” she said, there have been no reports of fish die-offs at other area lakes.

“I can’t say with complete certainty what’s happening at Stampede,” Rossi said.

Because the problem does not appear to be caused by the lake “turning over” – temperature shifts that often happen in fall and spring – or by pollution, it’s more than likely caused by the algae bloom lowering the oxygen in the deeper water, she said.

“I would think the (predicted) rain and colder weather coming in would help,” Rossi said.

In the meantime, vultures, bears and eagles are having a heyday.  - The Sacramento Bee.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Thousands Of Dead Fish Mysteriously Die In A Lake In Afyonkarahisar, Turkey?!

September 30, 2013 - TURKEY - Which, from Afyonkarahisar and Eber Lake BOLVADIN Akarcayda feeding fish mortality caused concern was the increase in the district.

Factory waste sourced Estimated instances, almost all fish in Akarcayda reported to be due to oxygen yetersizliginden. Fish deaths BOLVADIN mayor makes a public announcement regarding Nazmiye bone "mysterious fish deaths reach fearful degree," he said.

That it is dangerous to ignore this incident highlights the gelinemeyecek Mayor spine, here's what you said:

"Massacre reached the size of the state authorities to investigate urgently Required. Creatures living here, working here Yoksa Eber Lake and will be out of business. Thousands of dead fish have Akarcayda halde, there are other creatures to show that the same threat. Lake Eber is a natural beauty that is vital to our region believe that there is a growing need to terminate this tehlikenin as soon as possible. " - Haberciniz. [Translated]

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Hundreds Of Dead Fish Found In A Pond In Lier, Belgium!

September 29, 2013 - BELGIUM - The past few days, hundreds of dead fish in the pond to the fortress of Lier, the Fortweg. The cause must be sought. By a lack of oxygen.

The firemen took the fish out of water.

Late last week already noticed passersby and fishermen that a lot of fish came to the surface in order to gasp for air. Lierse, the firemen were called in and enter the large pond with a boat off to move - to get in the water -. And so additional oxygen In addition, with a special gun sprayed water in the pond. That also had to provide extra oxygen.

Many no avail because the surgery Tuesday drove many dead fish in the pond. It was mainly pike and bream. "Both Tuesday and Wednesday we sailed the pond and we removed the dead fish from the water. Many smaller fish were gulls and other birds picked up from the water, "says Rudy Dirickx of Lierse fire.

In container

The dead fish were collected in a container. That created quite a stench. The dead fish will now be destroyed by a company.

There is a shortage of oxygen in the water. Perhaps the climatic conditions Moreover, there are also algae present in the water. Taking especially at night a lot of oxygen. - Nieuwsblad. [Translated]

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Large Number Of Dead Fish Found Spanning 7 Kilometres Of A River In Binzhou, China!

September 29, 2013 - CHINA - Xinli Road to the Yellow River Yellow River fifteen sections, a large number of dead fish floating in the river. The public arena, it was speculated that medication poisoning fish upstream or sewage into a factory. Subsequently, the reporter interviewed several relevant departments have not been a lot of new legislation River fish specific cause of death.

Reporter Patrick received a public hotline, said: "There are large areas of the West Bank Xinli dead fish floating in the water." Around 10:00, the reporter drove to the Yellow River Rd Xinli understand the situation. Just close the new legislation River, stench on nostrils. Reporters saw at the river, the river of dead fish floating in the large and small, and some fish have begun to pale glow bursts stench.

Reporter drove along the river looking for new legislation and found that the new legislation from the Yellow River Road from River Rd phenomenon began to appear dead fish dead fish phenomenon is most serious, until the Yellow River Road 15 dead fish floating in the river gradually reduced. The source of the Yellow River Road Department has an underground drains, near a floating dead fish.

According to the people walking around, said the new legislation could be someone in the River spilled medicines, fish was poisoned, then the other members of the public said: "There is not any drug can be a poison to poison the entire river fish, ah, Fish downtown drugs generally two, one is the "fish Teng spirit" is the "Seiden", these drugs are localized blocked the water, it is impossible to poison a large area of ​​the fish, which may be upstream sewage plants, contaminating the river. "

Reporter Li River area of ​​the new phenomenon of dead fish reflected to the Quality and Technical Supervision, Binzhou City, Binzhou City, Quality and Technical Supervision of staff, said: "The new legislation River did not find the sewage business, if you want to check the water quality problem, you need to dial the quality and technical supervision Bureau hotlines. "Afterward, the reporter called the hotlines, each staff member has said:" The main responsibilities of Quality and Technical Supervision on product quality and market goods quality supervision and inspection, the inspection is not responsible for water pollution, the specific situation requires ask the relevant environmental protection department. "

Subsequently, the reporter also interviewed Bin Binzhou City Branch of the EPA staff, Binzhou City Environmental Protection Bureau, according to Ben Thanh branch of law enforcement officers, said: "EPA main indicators of water quality monitoring is to detect COD (chemical oxygen demand) and ammonia, which two indicators of high water may have resulted in contamination, resulting in dead fish since early September, the new legislation river gradually began to appear dead, and we are closely inspected, it is determined that no industrial waste water discharged, if found illegal sewage must be severely punished. Synaptic River is the city's sewage river, there was a large dead fish may also be problems with the underground city sewage pipes, underground water and sewage pipes diversion problem. regarding sewage problem is Binzhou City building housing the Bureau. . "

Reporter then contacted the building housing the Bureau of Binzhou City Municipal Engineering Administration Department, Binzhou City building housing the Bureau of Municipal Engineering Administration Department Minister Li said: "The urban underground sewage pipes and no problems, the new legislation river water quality problems, should go Bincheng WCB responsible. "

Reporter BINCHENG WCB pull through the telephone, get the reply is: "foreshore City Water Conservancy Bureau is mainly responsible for the city's flood control and drainage. Synaptic River is not only the city's sewage river is river landscape, specifically responsible for the Municipal Water Conservancy Bureau." Ended 19:00 Reporters time ago, Municipal Water Conservancy Bureau Office Minister Li Tel yet connected.

Further reading: Zibo Nam Dinh village reservoir salvaged dead fish soup environmental protection departments to do: Do ​​not eat Binzhou new legislation a number of dead fish floating in the river under the bridge into a piece of dead fish Dongying Kwong Lee River and is now a large dead fish, said the public sewage by rain Zhejiang Qingyuan Songyuan cause of dead fish floating in the river suspected to have been poisoned villagers seized fishing (Figure) to identify a single cause of County ditch dead fish showed non-pollution causes sudden Wuhan government reach a large area of ​​dead fish upstream pollution allegedly because Heze Shan County ditch Jingxian County Environmental Protection Bureau said the number of dead fish are investigating a single. - Kaixian. [Translated]

MONUMENTAL EARTH CHANGES: Dead Sea Scrolls Of Biological Deserts - Why This Year's Gulf Of Mexico Dead Zone Is TWICE As Big As Last Year's?!

August 15, 2013 - GULF OF MEXICO - First, the good news: The annual "dead zone" that smothers much of the northern Gulf of Mexico - caused by an oxygen-sucking algae bloom mostly fed by Midwestern farm runoff - is smaller this year than scientists had expected.

Dead Sea scrolls: In the red part, "habitats that would normally be teeming with life become,
essentially, biological deserts," NOAA says. NOAA.

In the wake of heavy spring rains, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been projecting 2013's fish-free region of the Gulf to be at least 7,286 square miles and as large as 8,561 square miles - somewhere between the size of New Jersey on the low end to New Hampshire on the high end. Instead, NOAA announced, it has clocked in at 5,840 square miles - a bit bigger than Connecticut. It's depicted in the above graphic.

Now, for the bad news: This year's "biological desert" (NOAA's phrase) is much bigger than last year's, below, which was relatively tiny because Midwestern droughts limited the amount of runoff that made it into the Gulf. At about 2,900 square miles, the 2012 edition measured up to be about a third as large as Delaware.

Smaller than expected though it may be, this year's model is still more than twice as large as NOAA's targeted limit of less than 2,000 square miles. Here's how recent dead zones stack up - note that the NOAA target has been met only once since 1990. Low years, like 2012 and 2009, tend to marked by high levels of drought, and high years, like 2008, by heavy rains and flooding.

Why such massive annual dead zones? It's a matter of geography and concentration and intensification of fertilizer-dependent agriculture. Note that an enormous swath of the US landmass - 41 percent of it - drains into the Mississippi River basin, as shown below. It's true that even under natural conditions, a river that captures as much drainage as the Mississippi is going to deliver some level of nutrients to the sea, which in turn will generate at least some algae. But when US Geological Survey researchers looked at the fossil record in 2006, they found that major hypoxia events (the technical name for dead zones) were relatively rare until around 1950 - and have been increasingly common ever since. The mid-20th century is also when farmers turned to large-scale use of synthetic fertilizers. Now as much a part of Mississippi Delta life as crawfish boils, the Gulf dead zone wasn't even documented as a phenomenon until 1972, according to NOAA.

The very same land mass that drains into the Gulf is also the site of an enormous amount of agriculture. The vast majority of US corn production - which uses titanic amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus, the two main nutrients behind the dead zone - occurs there.

The region is also where we shunt much of our factory-scale meat farms. This Food and Water Watch map depicts concentration of beef cow, dairy, hog, chicken, and egg farms - the redder, the more concentrated.

Big Ag interests like to deflect blame for the annual dead zone, claiming that other factors, like runoff from lawns and municipal sewage, drive it. But the US Geological Service has traced flows of nitrogen and phosphorus into the Gulf, and there's no denying the link to farming. "In total, agricultural sources contribute more than 70 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorus delivered to the Gulf, versus only 9 to 12% from urban sources," the USGS reports.

The Gulf of Mexico isn't the only water body that bears the brunt of our concentrated ag production. Much of the eastern edge of the Midwest drains into the Great Lakes, not the Gulf. And they, too, are experiencing fertilizer-fed algae blooms - particularly Lake Erie. The below satellite image depicts the record-setting, oxygen-depleting bloom that smothered much of Lake Erie in 2011, which peaked at 2,000 square miles (about Delaware-size). "That's more than three times larger than any previously observed Lake Erie algae bloom, including blooms that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s, when the lake was famously declared dead," a University of Michigan report found. The culprit: severe storms in the spring, plus "agricultural practices that provide the key nutrients that fuel large-scale blooms.

Then there's the Chesapeake Bay region, site of a stunning concentration of factory-scale chicken facilities (Food and Water Watch map)...

...and a massive annual dead zone. "Livestock manure and poultry litter account for about half of the nutrients entering the Chesapeake Bay," the Chesapeake Bay Program reports:

All of which raises the question: Are dead zones inevitable, a sacrifice necessary to feeding a nation of 300 million people? Turns out, not so much. A 2012 Iowa State University study found that by simply adding one or two crops to the Midwest's typical corn-soy crop rotation, farmers would reduce their synthetic nitrogen fertilizer needs by 80 percent, while staying just as productive. And instead of leaving fields bare over winter, they could plant them with cover crops - a practice that, according to the US Department of Agriculture, "greatly reduces soil erosion and runoff" (among many other ecological benefits) - meaning cleaner streams, rivers, and ultimately, lakes, bays, and gulfs. Moreover, when animals are rotated briskly through pastures - and not crammed into factorylike structures where their manure accumulates into a dramatic waste problem - they, too, can contribute to healthy soil that traps nutrients, protecting waterways from runoff. - Mother Jones.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Toxic Red Tide Of Summer Wipes Out ELEVEN MILLION FISH In South Korea?!

August 06, 2013 - SOUTH KOREA - Fisherman Kim Yeon-bok, 58, went down to check his jwichi (tilefish or leatherfish) farm last week off Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang, and found thousands of his fish floating on the sea or washed up on the beach.

Fish farmer Oh Yoon-seok, 40, who raises chamdom (red sea bream) and jwichi (tilefish or leatherfish) in
Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang’s Sanyang County, clears dead fish yesterday from his farm
after a red tide swept the southern coast. By Song Bong-geun

They were killed by a toxic red tide that has engulfed a large swath of the southern coast.

The number of fish killed this year along the southern coast is 11 million, according to the South Gyeongsang Provincial Government yesterday, generating 6.05 billion won ($5.45 million) in losses.

“The catch has been down this year,” Kim said, “So I looked forward to selling 250,000 jwichi. But 90 percent of them have been killed by the red tide.”

The fisherman estimated his loss at over 500 million won. There were so many dead fish, Kim said it would take two to three days to clear them away.

Kim is one of hundreds of farmers suffering from the red tide, caused by massive algae blooms exuding chemicals harmful to marine animals. They are not good for humans to inhale either.

The algae blooms turned the sea a reddish brown color a few days ago.

“My fish farm was totally ruined by the red tide,” said Park Soon-bok, 59, who raises chamdom (red sea bream) and jwichi in the southern waters off Tongyeong.

“It is really daunting to deploy cranes to move hundreds of thousands of dead fish from the sea into the land,” he said.

In Tongyeong City, one of the most heavily-affected areas, 42 fish farms have lost 80 to 90 percent of their fish.

The government is considering offering financial assistance to the affected areas in the South Gyeongsang regions.

Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Yoon Jin-sook visited Tongyeong last weekend and pledged compensation for the damages.

Fish farms along the coast off Yeosu and Goheung, South Jeolla have been put on a red tide alert.

“I suffered a lot last year when the red tide killed a huge number of doldom [parrot fish],” said a 57-year-old fish farmer in Yeosu.

This year’s red tide is expected to be more severe than last year’s, which was blamed on sweltering heat, although the exact cause was never conclusively determined.

Prior to last year, red tides affected seas off of South Jeolla, where such phenomena were first detected. Last year and this year, the waters off South Gyeongsang were first affected.

“Farmers grow really frustrated because we have trouble using red clay to contain the red tide effects,” said the fisherman, “due to the South Jeolla governor’s order not to use it.”

Governor Park Joon-young banned the use of red clay to combat the tide, citing the potential of hurting other marine animals.

He also cast doubt on its effectiveness earlier this month, but the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries countered the governor’s claim.

Also affected is the eastern sea, prompting the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute to issue a warning for the region for the first time in six years.

The fishery institute upgraded a warning for Yeosu and Goheung, South Jeolla as well as the south coast last week.

Concerns are rising of a repeat of the red-tide nightmare of 2003, which resulted in 21.5 billion won in losses.

Experts said the tide could possibly worsen.

“The wind shifting to the south will pose a further threat and there are no signs of heavy rain or thunderstorms in the near future, which can limit the effect of red tide,” said Lee Chang-kyu from the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute. - Korea Joongang Daily.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Hundreds Of Dead Fish Found Dead In Assabet River Massachusetts?!

August 06, 2013 - UNITED STATES - While pulling out invasive water chestnut plants on July 20, Dick Lawrence of Hudson and other OARS volunteers discovered the floating remains of hundreds of fish in the Assabet River in Stow. Allan Fierce of Stow quickly reported the dead fish to OARS and the state.

Dead fish float on Assabet River.

Fish can be killed by spills of pollutants, but also by the combined effects of high water temperatures and the accompanying lack of oxygen in the water, which suffocates the fish. This is most common in shallow lakes and ponds, but can also occur in stressed rivers. Even though there appears to be less duckweed on the surface than previous years, high nutrient levels in the Assabet River continue to feed the algae and rooted plants that use up the oxygen that fish need to survive.

According to MassWildlife the hot weather, with temperatures hitting 100 degrees on July 19, is the likely cause of the fish kill. OARS water quality monitoring volunteers regularly measure the temperature in the rivers and their tributaries. On July 22, the water temperature exceeded 86 degrees, according to OARS staff scientist Sue Flint.

If fish have no deep or shaded places to retreat from the heat (“thermal refugia” in scientific terms), fish kills occur. Narrower sections of the river are lined with trees that provide shade. Groundwater also contributes cool springs that provide a safe haven for fish during heat waves.

To learn how to prevent fish kills visit OARS’ website: oars3rivers.org/take-action. OARS is a non-profit watershed organization dedicated to restoring the health of the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord Rivers. - Wicked Local.

MONUMENTAL EARTH CHANGES: Hot And Bothered - Study Says That Climate Change Amplifies Violence; Could Have Resulted In The Collapse Of Civilizations Such As The Mayans?!

August 05, 2013 - UNITED STATES - As the planet's climate changes, humans everywhere should brace for a spike in violence, a new study suggests. Civilization as we know it may even be at risk.

This file photo shows a temple in the Kingdom of Tikal, one of the most prominent of the Classic Maya Period.
New research links climate change to violence and the collapse of civilizations including the Maya.

The dramatic finding comes from a synthesis of several dozen studies that examine the relationship between climate and conflict. The studies cover most regions of the world and points in time over the past 10,000 years. Across all, the findings are consistent: changes in temperature or rainfall amplify violence.

"As long as future populations continue to respond to climatic events the same way … we should probably expect an amplification of interpersonal and intergroup conflict moving forward," Solomon Hsiang, a public policy researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, told NBC News.

The underlying mechanism for the causal link is unclear, he and colleagues note in the paper published Thursday in Science. Theories range from the psychological effect of hot temperatures making people testy to drought destroying crops, which erodes local economies and raises unemployment.

"It is easier to start a riot when there are lots of young men around who have very little to do, who are not participating in the formal economy," Hsiang said.

Mark missed?

The research, he noted, is intended as a rigorous approach to the question of what — if any — role climate plays in human conflict in order to advance the debate beyond the question of a link to the development of policies that can break the linkage.

"The purpose of the study is ambitious and good," Halvard Buhaug, the research director at the Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway, told NBC News in an email. "Unfortunately, it falls short of its target and the sweeping conclusion does not hold water."

Among his criticisms is wide disagreement among the studies analyzed: A third, he noted, fail to show a statistically significant effect of climate on conflict and those that do disagree on the relationship — too much rain, or not enough, as increasing the risk of conflict, for example.

What's more, he said, the paper lacks case studies of real conflicts from modern times that were caused, at least in part, by climate extremes.

"If a general and strong causal link has been established beyond reasonable doubt, as the authors claim, I would expect them to be able to point to at least a handful of recent armed conflicts where unusual fluctuations in climatic conditions played a central role," he said.

Future warning

Hsiang holds firm to the analysis, which weeded out hundreds of papers because their quality was insufficient and open to biased interpretation. The few dozen that met the team's criteria were then reanalyzed and paint a consistent picture "that leads to a much stronger conclusion," he said.

The team uses a measure of how different a climate is relative to normal, called standard deviation, to compare different regions of the world, which have different climates.

A standard deviation of one, for example, corresponds to a month in New York that is 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal or a year in Nigeria that is 0.7 degrees F warmer than normal. This translates to a 4 percent rise in interpersonal violence, such as domestic abuse, and a 14 percent jump in intergroup conflict, such as civil war.

By 2050, most parts of the world are expected to warm by 2 to 4 standard deviations. "That suggests that we could potentially have a dramatic increase in violence, particularly in the form of intergroup conflict … it could be in excess of 50 percent in some regions," Hsiang said.

Such intergroup conflicts underpinned by changes in climate have been linked to the collapse of civilizations around the world, including the Maya between the 8th and 9th centuries and China's Ming Dynasty in the 17th century, which experienced prolonged droughts at the time of their demise.

"Many populations in the modern world," Hsiang noted, "actually exhibit a similar level of economic development that those historical populations had at the time of their collapse." - NBC News.

MASS FISH DIE-OFF: Unusually High Number Of Dead Fish Found Washed Ashore In Canandaigua Lake, New York?!

June 26, 2013 - UNITED STATES - An investigation is underway to learn why a greater-than-normal number of fish for this time of year are washing up on shore around Canandaigua Lake.

Dead fish are washing ashore on the north end of Canandaigua Lake but on Monday it wasn't keeping
people such as these playing with their dog at the small boat launch out of the water.
Jack Haley/Messenger Post Media

During spawning season it is typical to find dead fish washing up due to various stresses fish experience, such as in defending their turf and dealing with a rapid increase in temperature, said Canandaigua Lake Watershed Manager Kevin Olvany.

"The usual suspects" in Olvany's words are smaller fish like perch and sunfish. This season, he said, there appears to be a greater quantity of fish washing up of all varieties, which include larger fish — such as large bass. The situation warranted an investigation, Olvany said.

A recently deceased Sunfish washes ashore at the small boat launch at the north end of Canandaigua Lake.
Jack Haley/Messenger Post Media

A large fish washes up amonngst the large rocks on the north shore of Canandaigua Lake at Kershaw Park.
Jack Haley/Messenger Post Media

Over a dozen fish lay dead along with some garbage on the north shore of Canandaigua Lake along Kershaw Park.
Jack Haley/Messenger Post Media

Olvany was at Kershaw Park in Canandaigua on Monday looking over the situation, and he said other sections of the lake also appear to have more fish washing up. A fish sample has been sent to the state Department of Environmental Conservation for testing and results should be back soon, he said.

The DEC is having the fish tested for viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) virus. A serious pathogen of fresh and saltwater fish, the rod-shaped virus affects fish of all size and age ranges. It does not pose any threat to human health, according to the DEC. The virus is causing a disease issue in the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada; it can cause hemorrhaging of fish tissue, including internal organs, and can cause the death of infected fish, the DEC says. Once a fish is infected with VHS, there is no known cure.

Olvany said that even if the first test comes back negative for the virus, there will be further testing to confirm that. The virus was found in fish in Irondequoit Bay in May, Olvany said.

Paula Larivee, who walks regularly along Kershaw Park, said she was disturbed to see the number of big, dead fish — 12 inches or longer, she said — during a walk Sunday.

“When you walk there several days a week, you notice changes in the lake,” said Larivee. “This was alarming.” - MPN Now.