Coral Bleaching due to Global Warming

Global warming has started showing it’s effect on the least expected places. Latest reports shows that the large scale coral bleaching is taking place as the oxygen levels in ocean plummet. According to Lisa Levin this is the biggest unknown climate change consequence.

Coral Bleaching

This is bad news for the corals that are already threatened by other factors. The reports from Australia says, coral eating star fishes are causing major damages to the great barrier reef. The Australian authorities are taking necessary measures to kill these crown of thorns star fishes that eat out the coral equal to the size of their body each night.
In the year 2016 the Great Barrier Reef suffered the biggest coral bleaching in its history when nearly two thirds of the stretch got damaged. The corals are still recovering from this massive damage when the star fishes hit the reef.

Hurricane Disaster New York Begins Environmental Clean Up

New York residents returned to work on Monday but the destruction that was left on the environment by Hurricane Irene made movement difficult for them. The town was standstill as there was no means of movement, train services was suspended because of bad rail lines.

The town was formless because the streets were blocked by trees, lives were becoming unbearable, and thousands of residents of the city were left without power supply.

The situation has become worrisome such that the Mayor of New York city Michael Bloomberg said that the authority is going to embark on environmental clean up. He lamented that over 38, 000 residents of the city were without power but was optimistic that the power situation would be normalized within few days.

However life is gradually returning to the city as subway services which were earlier closed had been restored. In the same way the normal bus services in the city is coming back gradually and it will be a matter of few days before everything comes back to normal in the city of New York. The mayor was addressing the press at the wake of the storm that had befallen the city.

Other parts of the country were also affected by the storm and they have their tales of woe to tell as well. That was the situation in places like New Jersey, Connecticut and some other parts of the country where movement was grounded as a result of the devastating hurricane. However normalcy is being gradually restored in those cities.

Flooded Atchatalaya River threatens Louisiana

Residents of Louisiana towns are put into panic as the water from the swollen Atchatalaya River is making way to bounce their homes. The evidence of the frustrations and fears which the water has inflicted into the residents can be felt from the signs they wrote outside their homes.

Some of the signs indicated that many of the residents have already started removing their valuable belongings out of their homes. The swollen water has made the officials to issue an evacuation order to the residents some days back but the warning was later withdrawn when the authorities had thought that they could put the situation under control.

Some of the residents had heeded the earlier warning and had removed their personal belongings out their homes. However when the authorities backed down on the evacuation orders some of the residents tried to provide some remedies by filling bags with sand to provide some resistance to the water when it starts rushing to their homes.

It would be recalled that on the 14th of May the army corps of engineers opened the Mississippi river at Morganza floodway for the flowing of the water from Mississippi which was then threatening the Baton Rouge and New Orleans with imminent flooding. The water was diverted from the Mississippi to the Atchafalaya basin. It appears that the diversion is now causing problems for the residents of Louisiana towns.

Mississippi floods raises political disputes

Water flooding in Mississippi Delta has opened another chapter in the political and historical evolution of the city. For years the people of the Cleveland are known to be fascinated about politics, crops and other important national issues that could better their future in American politics.

Since the flooding the tone of the conversation has for the first time in 76 years changed to another thing and that is the issue of water. On Friday morning the leaders of the Cleveland gathered together to talk about water which they acknowledged is both dangerous and wonderful.

Attention shifted to water since the flooding of the Mississippi river which affected the economic wellbeing and social life of the citizens for the first time in more than seven decades. The water bulge has caused some dislocations in the country as some of the residents of the city have since moved out of the water devastated environment.

The gathering on Friday was to brain storm on the best way to come on top of a similar situation in the future and to avert the future occurrence. The gathering was all expectants of new things that were never seen in the city before according to the key speaker at the occasion Col Jeffrey Eckstein who is the commander of the army corps of engineers that is located within the city.

Anxiety rises along the flood-swollen Mississippi

There is anxiety all over the neighborhood of the lower Mississippi. The residents have packed their belongings and the emergency workers are busy feeling bags with sands to prevent the river from overflowing the neighborhood.

Already thousands of residents have already started moving out of the area. From the intensity of the impending flooding this may be one of the largest disasters that befall the neighborhood since 1920s.

There is an expectation that the same thing which was done in Missouri where army engineers blew the levee where the water has to escape in order to save the teaming thousands of the population who would have been negatively affected. Already muddy and farmers are already in desperate move to have way out of the ugly situations.

There are indications that the water level has reached what was obtained in the 1927 and 1937 that produced some of the worst flood ever recorded in history would likely repeat itself.

However because of the protective measures that were put in place those years of turbulent floods the current threat may not be as destructive as that of the seventy years ago. The levees as well as the locks which were built then can be used once more to deal with the threats.

Devastating tornado takes 77 lives in Southern US

The United States faces vicious cycles of devastation once again, this time due to ravaging tornadoes killing around 77 people in the Southern part Wednesday.

Alabama lost 61 people in powerful storms while 16 people were killed in neighboring Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee. In Alabama, 15 people were found dead in the Tuscaloosa alone due to decimated infrastructure. Eleven people lost their lives in Jefferson County near Birmingham.

The University of Alabama was severely damaged due to collapse of many buildings and 100 people were injured and hospitalized for emergency treatment.

According to the city mayor Maddox, the Tuscaloosa experienced more devastating impact of tornadoes due to its dense population and infrastructure.

President Obama had a talk with. Robert Bentley, governor of Alabama and approved emergency federal assistance for the state. He also sent search teams and rescue assets immediately to the places damaged severely. The Wednesday storm was initiated due to terrific weather conditions near Southern region and East Coast. More storms are being predicted even today.

Tornadoes have moved eastward now from Texas to Georgia and the experts fear more thunderstorms very soon.

Following the deadly tornadoes in this week there have been a continuum of storms killing 10 people in Mississippi and Arkansas.

UN nuk agency says Japan struggling to avoid radiation disaster

Yukiya Amano, Chief of the U.N.’s nuclear energy agency reveals that Japan is trying its best to cool the nuclear reactors after its cooling systems failed following devastating earthquake and tsunami in the country. The nuk chief stated this after observing the situation in Tokyo and a talk with the Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The UN diplomat says that the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant was more serious that what he predicted. The Japanese authorities are still trying to cool the reactor, whereas the unprecedented rise in temperature at reactors is exposing the spent fuel rods that are lying in empty pool in the reactor.

Japan has been offered assistance for assessing the dangers of Fukushima by the United States. It has also recommended a 50-mile evacuation zone for precautionary measure to avoid effects of harmful nuclear radiations from the plant, revealed the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jazcko. To regain control over the plant, a new power line is being laid to the plant to restore cooling system for the reactors, however its operators, Tokyo Electric Power Co. has already missed the deadline it set to complete the restoration work.

The Group of Seven industrialized nations has also offered to help Japan in this need of crisis and reinstall all infrastructure that has been devastated by the Friday earthquake.

However this effort would be focused on intervention on the currency market to weaken Japanese Yen and help Japan to gain from its exports.

Japanese emperor calls on people to keep hope

Japanese emperor calls on people to keep hope

Japanese emperor calls on people to keep hope

Following the devastating earthquake and Tsunami Japanese Emperor Akihito urges people not to give up their hopes.

The emperor, who rarely appears in public called on Japanese people to stay calm and united at this time of crisis when Tsunami and earthquake has devastated Japan and people are fearing nuclear catastrophe following failure of cooling systems at two nuclear plants of the country due to quake.

The 77-year-old emperor usually gives televised speech at the time of war or extreme crisis.

He supported Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s statement that this was worst crisis for Japan ever since the Second World War.

He assured Japanese people of international community’s support in this crisis and appreciated them for staying calm.

King’s speech was televised on the same day when Fukushima Daiichi’s nuclear plant was damaged and white smoke and fire coming from the reactors panicked people. More than 15000 people have been evacuated from the areas adjacent to nuclear plants to avoid radiation aftermath though experts are still denying possibility of any radiation catastrophe.

The reactor No. 4 was found with flames on Wednesday morning that raised concerns of dangerous radiation as spent fuel rods were lying in an uncovered pool inside.

Radiation level is being monitored at the plant and the area has been evacuated as a precautionary measure as the radiation level has been found fluctuating.

Japanese emperor calls on people to keep hope

Winter Storm Braces Midwest, Plains in US

More than 100 million people are praying for their lives amidst a massive winter storm in the United States. Plains and Midwest part of the country.

The deadly storm has hit the country on Monday with heavy snow and ice brought down from the Rockies Mountains leading to severe cold.

St. Louis, Milwaukee and Kansas City would be covered with 2 feet snowfall or a pile of snow up to  10 feet.

The areas with less cold are also not considered safe according to the weather experts as it may lead to tornados in southern part of the United States.

The Northeast region recorded highest snowfall in the region. A meteorologist Tim Ballisty estimated that around 100 million people are expected to be affected by the winter storm.

Thousands of flights were cancelled in Chicago and several other cities fearing snowfall. Road transportation authorities have already prepared clearing equipment to avoid problems.

Northwest Indiana, Southern Wisconsin, and northern Illinois experienced a blizzard for two days till Wednesday that speeded up to 60mph.

St. Louis had an inch of ice after snowfall whereas west Columbia had a predicted snow cover around 12 inches.

Jay Nixon, governor of Missouri announced a state of emergency in the state for the safety of people and also put 600 National Guards on duty in advance.

Severe floods, mudslides cause 610 deaths in Brazil

Heavy downpour has submerged all hopes for people of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. More than 610 people have lost their lives so far and authorities are searching for missing people. There have been around 274 deaths in Nova Friburgo city whereas the figure is 263 in Teresopolis, 18 in Sumidouro and 55 in Petropolis.

The state government has declared official mourning week from Saturday in the memory of flood victims who lost their lives. Emergency assistance works are being carried in areas where people are stuck or buried under heap of mud and stones. There was no electricity in the entire region particularly in Teresopolis, Petropolis and Sumidouro and this hampered the risk operations on Friday.

Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro Governor declared a 7-day mourning for people who died in the floods. It is estimated that more than 6000 people became homeless while thousand of people were forced to evacuate their houses in order to save their lives.

The state has still not been able to resume electricity supply, telephone services and water in the affected area.

President Dilma Rousseff observed areas affected by floods and mudslides and assured to provide an aid of $59 million to rehabilitate the victims.