ERTH15: Natural Disasters

NEWS CLIPS

• November 15, 2004: Strong earthquake strikes Colombia
  BOGOTA, Colombia - Six people were hurt, a dozen homes destroyed, and two hospitals evacuated after a strong earthquake shook a large part of western Colombia this morning, the government said. Most of the destroyed homes collapsed near the port of Buenaventura, 220 miles west of Bogota. The epicenter of the quake, which measured magnitude 6.7, was about 30 miles [off-shore] from the coastal town of Bajo Daudo in the jungle province of Choco near the border with Panama.
  The injuries and damage to homes and other buildings occurred near the quakes epicenter, said Social Protection Minister Diego Palacio. Two hospitals in Colombia's second largest city, Cali, were evacuated due to structural damage caused by the quake, which struck at 4:06am EST. Damage was limited by the fact [that] the quake hit most strongly in a sparsely populated region, where buildings are often made of wood. [...]
  In 1999, a quake measuring magnitude 6.2 hit the coffee-growing region of central Colombia, killing 1,250 people. Colombia is already struggling with the effects of torrential wet season rains, which have damaged the homes of 200,000 people and claimed 20 lives since the end of September.
  (Reuters, online news clip of the Wired News; Associated Press, online news clip of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
  
• November 09, 2004: Quake recorded at Mount Rainier beneath crater
  SEATTLE - Mount Rainier, considered the most hazardous of the Cascade Range volcanoes, shook last weekend with a magnitude 3.2 earthquake under the volcanic crater. Although scientists said yesterday that the quake isn't related to activity at Mount St. Helens and might not signal an eruption, they are watching it "carefully". The small quake at 11:23am Sunday was centered one mile below the surface of Ranier's volcanic crater, said Bill Steele, coordinator of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network at the University of Washington.[...] One other magnitude 3.2 quake has been recorded at the mountain in the past 30 years: on Feb. 19, 2002.
  Sunday's quake occurred within a cluster of 17 to 18 shallow tremblors, most of which occurred over several hours, Steele said. [...] Steele said quake activity at Rainier has increased above normal levels in recent weeks. Five quakes greater than magnitude 2.0 were recorded Oct.25-31, he said. Mount Rainier calmed down Monday and has been "blessedly qiet" since, he said.
  Scientists are watching for continuing earthquakes near the volcanoe's surface and a particular type of seismic activity that results from fluid moving through rocks. Those clues might signal an eruption, Steele said.[...]
  Rainier is considered the most hazardous of all Cascade Range volcanoes because debris flows could affect thousands of people living in nearby communities, he said.[...] Mount Rainier, volcanically active for between a million and 1.5 million years, lase erupted about 150 years ago and scientists say it's likely to erupt again. The quakes aren't related to activity at Mount St. Helens, 50 miles south of Rainier, said seismologist Seth Moran at the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash.
  St. Helens continued yesterday to build its lava dome, with molten rock reaching the surface at the rate of 7-8 cubic meters, about one large dump-truck load, per second. Moran said, "there's no evidence of any link between the two...They have completely different plumbing systems."[...]
  ( West of the Cascade volcanoes, the Juan de Fuca plate is sliding southeast and underneath the North American continental plate. As one plate dives beneath the edge of another, friction and pressure melt rock along the crumbly edges, called subduction zones. Sticky, gassy molten material gets superheated to 1600 deg F and tries to shoot up through cracks in the crust.
  Erin Van Bronkhorst, Associated Press)
  NB for ERTH15: We learnt in class that the subducting plate takes volatiles, such as water, with it and that the volatiles melt the rock, not the increase in pressure. In fact, a DECREASE in pressure melts rock as it rises from depth! The latter mechanism is found at mid-ocean ridges and so plays a secondary role in subduction zones.
  
• November 08, 2004: Largest Colorado glacier is shrinking; 3 reports note shrinking ice levels
  ARAPAHO GLACIER, Colo - The state's largest glacier is shrinking fast, and University of Colorado researchers suspect global warming is playing a role. The surface of the 62-acre Arapaho Glacier along the Continental Divide west of Boulder has dropped 100 to 130 feet since 1960, according to recent university reports. A third university analysis concludes that the surface of the 25-acre Arikaree Glacier, about five miles north of the Arapaho, has also declined about 66 feet since 1965. The three reports are the first to document significant declines in colorado's pint0size Front Range glaciers, which are clustered along the Continetal Divide from Rocky Mountain National Park south to Interstate 70.
  [...] Two years ago, at the height of Colorado's multiyear drought, two year-round ice patches along the Continental Divide disgorged ancient bison horns that have been radiocarbon dated as between 2090 and 2280 years old. The animal remains suggest that, in some cases, ice along the divide has retreated to levels unseen since before the time of Christ. "Over the last couple of decades, and especially over the last 10 years, we have entred a period of warming and retreat that is as great, or greater, than any we know of since the end of the last ice age" 10,000 years ago, said glaciologist Tad Pfeffer, of the university's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research.
  The loss of glaciers and the so-called perennial snowfields would redefine places such as Rocky Mountain National Park. It would reduce habitat for fish that rely on late-summer runoff from glacial sources. Some alpine plants and high-altitude forests also could suffer.[...]
  Mountain glaciers have been retreating worldwide for a century. The declines are viewed by many scientists as strong evidence that global warming - caused, in part, by the buildup of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases emitted when fossil fuels are burned - is reshaping the natural world.
  (Jim Erickson, Scripps Howard News Service)
  
• November 08, 2004: Another earthquake hits northern Japan
  TOKYO - A magnitude 5.8 earthquake rocked northern Japan today near the area where the country's deadliest earthquake in years struck last month. At least eight people were injured. The quake, which hit at 11:16a.m. Tokyo time, was centered close to the Earth's surface in the Chuetsu area of Niigata prefecture, the Meteorological Agency said. There was no danger of tsunami, or giant ocean waves triggered by seismic activity, from the jolt, the agency said. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake Oct. 23 killed 39 people and injured more than 2000.
  (Associated Press)
  
• November 05, 2004: Icelandic Eruption
  Ash and steam poured from a volcano yesterday under Vatnajökull, iceland's largest glacier. The eruption, which began Monday, created a cloud that drifted over northern Europe. Plumes of smoke, ash and steam from the eruption caused some flights to be canceled and others to be delayed, but posed little danger, officials said. Explosions carried the ash as high as 40,000 feet.
  (Reuters)
  NB for ERTH15: Eruptions beneath Vatnajökull can be treacherous as they can cause extensive flooding when parts of the glacier melt. Grimsvötn, a volcano beneath Vatnajökull, has erupted 25 times since 1332, causing gigantic floods called glacial bursts (jokulhlaups). The sudden floods often exceed the flow volume of the Mississippi River. In late 1996, 3-4 cubic km of meltwater accumulated in Grimsvötn's caldera, before breaking through beneath the glacier five weeks later. Seismographs registered activity caused by the moving water 10 hours before the burst. This gave enough warning time for road closures and, ultimately, to avoid fatalities.
  Even though Icelandic eruptions are usually not explosive, some extremely large eruptions release vast amounts of volcanic gases that temporarily affect the climate. An eruption at the Laki fissure in 1783 that was studied by Benjamin Franklin released so much gases that Iceland and northern Europe were enveloped in a blue haze for months. The flourine in the gas mix killed much of Iceland's livestock which lead to great famine and the death of 10,000 people, 20% of Iceland's population.
  
• October 30, 2004: Profound changes in warming Arctic tied to emissions
  A comprehensive four-year study of warming in the Arctic shows that heat-trapping gases from tailpipes and smokestacks around the world are contributing to profound environmental changes, icluding sharp retreats of glaciers and sea ice, thawing of permafrost, and shifts in the weather, the oceans, and the atmosphere. The study, commissioned by eight nations with Arctic territory, including the United States, says the changes are liekly to harm native communities, wildlife and economic activity but also to offer some benefits, like longer growing seasons. The report is due to be released Nov. 9, but portions were provided yesterday the The New York Times by European participants in the project. While Arctic warming has been going on for decades and has been studied before, this is the first thorough assessment of the causes and consequences of the trend. It was conducted by nearly 300 scientists after representatives of the eight nations met in October 2000 in Barrow, Alaska, amid a growing sense of urgency about the effects of global warming on the Arctic.
  The findings support the broad but politically controversial scientific consensus that global warming is due mainly to rising atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, and that the Arctic is the first region to feel its effects. Although the report is advisory and carries no legal weight, it is likely to increase pressure on the Bush administration, which has acknowledged a possible human role in global warming but says the science is still too murky to justify mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.[...] The report states that [...] the Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate change on Earth. Over the next 100 yeras, climate change is expected to accelerate, contributing to major economic changes, many of which have already begun. Scientists have long expected the Arctic to warm more rapidly than other regions, partly because as snow and ice melt, the loss of bright reflective surfaces causes the exposed land and water to absorb more of the sun's energy. Also, warming tends to build more rapidly at the surface in the Arctic because colder air from the upper atmosphere does not mix with the surface air as readily as at lower latitudes, scietists say.
  The potential benefits of the changes include projected growth in marine fish stocks and improved prospects for agriculture and timber harvests in some regions, as well as expanded access to Arctic waters. But the list of potential harms is far longer. The reatreat of sea ice is very likely to have devastating consequences for polar bears, ice-living seals, and local people for whom these animals are a primary food source. Oil and gas deposits on land are liekly to be harder to extract as tundra continues to thaw, limiting the frozen season when drilling convoys can traverse the otherwise spongy ground.
  (Andrew C, Revkin, New York times News Service)
  
• October 30, 2004: Living on the Edge, Residents gamble with homes atop unstable bluffs
  SOLANA BEACH - Bluff-top life comes at a cost, and not just the multi-million-dollar price tag of most properties. The snadstone cliffs are eroding, undercut by pounding waves and washed away by winter storms, and several homes have suffered damage or are now precariously close to the edge. In recent years, no area has been hit as hard as the bluffs in the 300 block of Pacific Avenue: Of the 24 bluff failures recorded by the city's Engineering and Public Works Department from August 2002 to last month, nine occurred just west of the tranquil, manicured stretch of road. Slides along the bluffs, which are 80 to 90 feet tall in the area, have partially undermined several properties and left many residents feeling nervous.
  [...] A proposal for a sea wall below some homes was approved by the City Council in June and is under review by the Califonia Coastal Commission. [...] Surfrider Foundation and CalBeach Advocates sued the city last month, prompted in part by a recently adopted shoreline policy that allows the use of sea walls for at least 75 years. The groups say sea walls deplete beaches of sand and ask the city to rethink its basic rejection of "planned retreat". This concept calls for the gradual removal of sea walls to allow the cliffs to erode naturally, even if a residence is placed in danger.
  (Ben Fuchs, STAFF WRITER)
  
• October 28, 2004: Russia advances Kyoto Protocol
  Russia's upper house of parliament voted overwhelmingly yesterday to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, moving the country closer to final approval of the first international treaty to limit emissions of gases linked to global climate change. The council voted 139-1 in favor of thee treaty five days after parliament's lower house approved it, putting it on a fast track for final approval by President Vladimir Putin.
  (New York times News Service)
  
• October 28, 2004: Flash Flooding in Tijuana, Rosarito kills one, send 50 families to shelters
  TIJUANA, Mexico - Two-plus days of steady rain in this border city and the nearby beach community of Rosarito have triggered flash floods that killed a police officer and left at least 50 families homeless, authorities said Thursday. Downpours triggered mudslides and flooded streets, snarling traffic and forcing many in low lying areas to seek higher ground. Antonio Rosquillas, director of the city's emergency response tean, said 50 families were living in government shelters after floods damaged their homes. Investigators say flood waters swept a police cruiser off a low-lying road and into a drainage canal in Rosarito on Wednesday, killing Antonio Texis. The body of the 39-year-old municipal police officer was discovered by a group of people on a beach about 2 miles (4 kilometers) from where his car went off the road.
  (Associated Press)
  
• October 23, 2004: Questions loom over proposed Pala dump
  SAN DIEGO - More than $4 million has been spent to convince voters that terrible things will happen if the Gregory Canyon Landfill is - or isn't - built. Proposition B on the Nov. 2 ballot, the most expensive measure in county history, will determine the dump's fate. If approved, it would stop development of the landfill and end a 15-year fight over it.
  QUESTIONS
  • Is the county [...]running out of landfill space[...]? No. There is enough space in the county's existing landfills to last many years, and at least one new landfill site is being considered. Expansion of existing landfills, and increased recycling, are other solutions. [...] About 3.9 million tons of county trash, including a bit from Mexico and Los Angeles and Orange counties, now goes to the counties five landfills. Of those, the city of San Diego's Miramar Landfill is expected to reach capacity in 2012, unless it is expanded. Sycamore Canyon Landfill near Santee in 2017, and the Otay Landfill near Chula Vista in 2027. Small landfills in Ramona and Borrego Springs will rach capacity in 2006 and 2046.Should Miramar not be expanded, a planned expansion of Sycamore would allow it and Otay to take most of the region's trash for up to 40 years. The Campo Band of Mission Indians has proposed a 400-acre landfill on 600 acres it owns about 65 miles east of San Diego.
  • Then why do some say there is an immediate need for a new landfill? Size is only one factor in judging landfill capacity.The other is the amount of trash that can be dumped into one each day, which is set by regulators. [...] If capacity limits aren't increased, the county will reach the daily dump limits of its existing landfills in three or four years. Increasing the tonnage caps is possible, but it involves lengthy environmental reviews.
  • Are there other solutions? Significantly increasing recycling also could solve the problem. In a report to be submitted to the state, it is assumed that San Diego County will divert 50% of its waster by recycling. Unincorporated areas have reached that level already, as have some of the county's 18 cities. "Every 10% increment gives[about] 3 to 4 years of additional time. With an increase of recycled material to 75% there would be no need for any new landfills through 2020". Wayne Williams, the county's recycling program coordinator said.
  • Would trash from Los Angeles go to Gregory Canyon? That's hard to predict. Gregory Canyon's developers say they have no plans to take any. They estimate that by the time the dump opens, there will be enough trash from North County to meet its annual limit of a million tons. But it is possible that position could change in the 30-year life of the landfill. Or, it could be sold to another company with different priorities. A small percentage of Los Angeles' waste - about 79 tons a year - already is dumped in county landfills, along with 12 tons from Orange County and about 11,000 tons from Mexico.[...] For health and safety reasons, Los Angeles major Jim Hahn says he wants to rid his city and its surrounding area of landfills by 2006, and the city is looking at numerous options. They inlcude sending the trash to landfills around Southern California and Arizona, as well as more recycling and converting waster into gas.
  • Where would North County trash go if Prop B is approved and the Gregory Canyon Landfill is blocked? Because North County has been without a major landfill since one in San Marcos closed in 1997, not much would change.According to the waster management board, 45% of North County trash is trucked to Sycamore now, and the Otay Landfill takes about 26%. About 11% goes to the Miramar Landfill, and 9% to the Prima Deshecha Landfill in Orange County, most of that from Oceanside. Waster from North County also goes to Riverside, Los Angeles, Kern, Ventura and Imperial counties.
    The route [of trash] often isn't a straight shot [from household to landfill]. Much North County trash first goes to Escondido Disposal, a transfer station, where items such as cardboard and green waste are pulled out.
  (Elizabeth Fitzsimons, staff writer)
  
• October 23, 2004: Russia bolsters Kyoto treaty
  TOKYO - MOSCOW - Russia's lower house of parliamnet voted yesterday to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on cutting greenhouse gases, all but ensuring that the sweeping environmental pact will go into effect after years of delay. Russia's ratification is the final acceptance needed among major industrialized countries after the United States rejected the treaty in 2001. The United States alone accounted for 36% of carbon dioxide emissions in 1990. The pact will apply only to nations that ratify it. Despite earlier protests from top Russian officials that the pact would hobble Russia's humming economy, the State Duma voted 334-73 to ratify the treaty, which gives leading industrial nations eight years to cut collective emissions of six greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels. Less-industrialized nations such as Russia are required only to stbilize emissions. The treaty still must be approved by Russia's upper house and President Vladimir Putin, which is all but certain. Negotiated in 1997 as part of a campaign to address global warming, the pact would take effect 90 days after Russia notified the United Nations of its ratification.
  With the United States staying out, Russia was the last hope for the treaty's supporters of getting the necessary 55 countries accounting for at least 55% of global emissions in 1990. Russia accounted for 17% of emissions that years, second to the United States. Japan, Germany and other indsutrial nations have already adopted the treaty. The United States and australia were the only other major countries to reject it.
  Officials at the headquarters of the European Union, which has long pressured Russia to adopt the pact, celebrated with Russian champagne upon learning of the vote. "The Kyoto Protocol may not be perfect, but it is the only effective tool that is available to the international community", said Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, the EU's administrative body. Greenpeace said it would be celebrating with vodka.[...] Former Vice President Al Gore, who wrote a book on global warming, called Russia's action "an importnt and historic victory for sanity, science and reason". The next round of international climate talks is scheduled for December in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and negotiantions on greenhouse gas emissions after 2012 are due to start next year.
  
  THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
  • Obliges leading industrialized countries that ratify the pact to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by an average 5.3% from 1990 levels by 2012.
  • Allows countries to offset requirements by properly managing forests and farmlands that absorb carbon dioxxide, knows as "carbon sinks". Credits can be earned by helping developing countries avoid emissions. Pact allows emissions trading - buying and selling rights to pollute.
  • Says signatory countries face mandatory punishment if they fail to meet emission targets.
  • Cannot take effect until it is ratified by 55 countries responsible, as a group, for 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Was rejected in 2001 by the United States, which said it would harm the U.S. economy and unfairly favors developing nations. Australia also rejected the treaty.
  (Mike Eacket, Associated Press)
  
• October 21, 2004: Vicious storm leaves dozens dead, missing through Japan
  TOKYO - Japan's deadliest storm in more that a decade unleashed flash floods that washed away hillsides, killing up to 51 people before it veered east into the Pacific Ocean today. At least 30 people were missing.[...]Public broadcaster NHK said the combined deaths and missing were the highest in 16 years.
  Typhoon Tokage blasted Japan yesterday before being downgraded to a tropical storm. Early today, the storm headed east to open seas, its fury spent.[...] Today, concrete frames, wood splinters and electrical appliances were all that was left of homes in Muroto in the southwestern state of Kochi, where massive waves broke through concrete tidebreaks and smashed into beachside properties. Parts of southern Japan, including Miyazaki prefecture, were virtually shut down as public schools closed and local bus, train and air transport came to a halt [...].
  Nationwide, more than 7,000 homes were flooded and hundreds of others ripped apart or buried [...]. Tokage, the Japanese word for lizard, was the record eighth typhoon to hit Japan this year.
  (Associated Press)
  
• October 16, 2004: Stone 'fin' in volcano's crater might be splitting
  SEATTLE - The stone 'fin' on the new lava lobe inside the crater at Mount St. Helens seems to be starting to split, scientists reported yesterday. The fin, about 200 feet tall and 300 feet wide, is building on the new lava dome, which is about 1,600 feet in diameter and 400 feet high, according to geologist Tina Neal of the U.S. Geological Survey.[...] Scientists are working on a way to safely get samples of the fin, which apparently was on the surface before the new lava flows, and also of the lava slowly extruding from the volcano, USGS spokeswoman Carolyn Bell said. The mountain was shrouded in fog and coulds yesterday, but brief views inside the crater from aircraft showed bright red lava glowing in sopts on the gray lava dome. Scientists continue to warn that the eruption could intensify at any time, but the USGS said earthquake activity remained low yesterday, and levels of gas found above the crater, which could indicate a stronger eruption was in the works, were unchanged.[...]
  (Associated press)
  
• October 16, 2004: Industrial spill leaves deposits along 21 miles of Puget Sound
  TACOMA, Wash. - State and federal agencies scrambled yesterday to limit the damage from an oil spill that left deposits on 21 miles of Puget Sound shoreline. The spill of heavy industrial oil was relatively small, an estimated 1,000 gallons, but environmental officials said its effect was magnified because whoever spilled the oil didn't immediately report it. The spill north of Tacoma was discovered early Thursday, but officials yesterday were trying to determine who caused it.[...] There were unconfirmed reports of two oiled birds, although wintering seabirds haven't arrived in large numbers at the ecologically sensitive area. The worst of the mess could be gone in a few weeks through cleanup efforts, the tides and wave action, said larry Altose, spokesman for the state Department of Ecology. [...]
  Vessels larger than 65 feet, mostly container ships, barges and tugs, and facilities on land were being investigated as possible sources of the spill, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Mark Dix said. Fuel samples were being taken from land facilities and about a dozen ships in the search for a match to the spilled oil. State penalties, among the toughest in the nation, could be as high as $100,000 per day if the polluter is identified, said Paul O'Brien, on-site coordinator for the state Department of Ecology.[...]
  Generally, seabirds are more at risk than fish because they have to dive through oily waters to reach prey. Turbulence can break up oil on the surface and reduce it to smaller particles that sink.
  (Peggy Andersen, Associated press)
  
• October 16, 2004: Bedrock at heart of debate over landfill
  PALA - Aquifer or no aquifer. Whether one lies beneath the planned Gregory Canyon Landfill is a major issue in the dabte over the dump's environmental risks, surfacing in mailers and commercials on both sides of Proposition B, the measure to block the project. Proposition B supporters say the dump would sit atop, and jeopardize, an aquifer from which the city of Oceanside draws 3 million gallons of drinking water a day. Those fighting the measure say that's not true.
  The truth depends on your definition of "aquifer" [...]an underground layer of porous rock, sand, etc., containing water, into which wells can be sunk".
  Under Gregory Canyon there is, in fact, a porous bed of rock, containing water. and wells have been sunk into it. But landfill supporters say that bedrock aquifer under the landfill doesn't meet the commonly understood definition for an aquifer because it couldn't sustain agriculture, industry or a neighborhood. The measure's supporters say that doesn't matter because water can be drawn from it.
  And whether the bedrock qualifies as an aquifer may be beside the point. More important, supporters say, the water in the rock fissures could flow into the drinking water aquifer a quarter-mile away, bringing with it toxic contaminants if the landfill were to leak. It's this relationship between the bedrock and the nearby aquifer - the developer's own geologist agrees the two are connected ' that landfill opponents say is key to the argument. "The amount of contribution is small, but it's true they are connected", said Sarah Battelle, a geologist with Geo-Logic Associates, a consultant for the landfill developers. "It rains down and it goes into the fractures and it percolates through those fractures and by gravity, it's flowing down gradient", she said. There doesn't need to be much water flowing from the bedrock to contaminate the water supply, Proposition B supporters say.
  Richard Chase, the landfill's project manager, has said that the bedrock and the drinking water aquifers are separate entities, and that if there is a connection, it is minuscule.
  If approved, Proposition B would repeal a 1994 ballot initiative that allowed for a landfill in Gregory Canyon. The dump would occupy 320 acres of a 1,770-acre parcel three miles east of Interstate 15 owned by Gregory Canyon Ltd., a group of investors developing the landfill.[...] Chase said the dump would not take Los Angeles trash. [...] The Pala band has long opposed it, and has spent more than $2 million to support Prop B. Opponents contend that the Pala Band of Mission Indians, the primary financial backer of Prop B, is trying to protect revenue from its lucrative casino, whose customers would have to share state Route 76 with trucks going to and from the dump.
  (Elizabeth Fitzsimins, staff writer)
  
• October 16, 2004: City takes a dry run at rainless record
  SAN DIEGO - The city yesterday tied its record for the longest period without measurable rain. The last drops at Lindbergh Field came 181 days ago when 0.3 inches fell. Breaking the record seems doubtful as Mother Nature is set to rain on the county tonight. If drops fall before midnight, the streak ends. If not, a new mark will be set. The record is based on Lindbergh's rain gauges. Because they are the oldest in the county, dataing back to the 1800s, the National Weather Service uses them to compare historical data, forecaster Brad Doyle said. Thunderstorms appeared in the mountains and desert last month, prompting flash flood warnings. And there has been fog and light drizzle elsewhere in the county. But the last time a steady rain showered the urban area was in April, leaving it exceptionally dry.[...]
  Many are worried about the impact of the dry spell. [E.g.] Lake Hodges south of Excondido, that depends solely on rain, had stored 4,669 acre-feet, only 14% of its capacity. In September 1999, lake Hodges was at 22,379 acre-feet, or 67% full. One acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons, enough to serve two average households for a year. The other reservirs operated by the city, Lakes Murray and Miramar, are replenished through links with the water system. Overall, the 25 county reservoirs are at 30% of capacity, down from 38% in 2001. The region depends on local sources for about 10% of its annual supply.
  Despite the lack of the wet stuff, officials said there is no immediate threat of the taps drying up. Water imported from the Colorado River, Northern California and a new supply from Imperial County will keep the county wet during the drought, which experts estimate started about five years ago.[...]
  Like Southern California, much of the western United States is in a drought, meaning the Colorado River, the county's main water source, will barely be able to supply a normal allotment. A dry winter throughout the west would mean less supply[...]/"We've had an increase in demand over last year", said Ken Weinberg, director of water resources. "Everybody is going to be looking at the Sierra Nevada snowpack for next year."
  181 days The current record without measurable rain, which was tied yesterday. The previous streak ram from May 3 to Oct. 31, 2003.
  165 days The second longest period without rain, from May 30 to Nov. 10, 1998.
  The last recorded rain at San Diego's Lindbergh Field was 0.30 inches on April 17. However, showers have fallen elsewhere in the county since then.
  (Jose Luis Jimenez, Staff writer)
  
• October 15, 2004: A strong earthquake rocks across Taiwan
  TAIPEH, Taiwan - A strong earthquake shook Taiwan today, forcing the Taipeh subway system to shut down during the lunchtime rush. No serious damage or injuries were immediately reported. The earthquake's epicenter was in the Pacific Ocean, about 70 miles from the Taiwanese port city of Su'ao, the Central Weather Bureau said. It put the magnitude at 7, while the Golden Colo.-based U.S. Geological Survey said it had a strength of 6.7. The tremor gently rocked buildings for about one minute and was felt on Japan's southern coast. On Taipei's streets, the quake caused sidewalks the shake slightly. The weather bureau said the tremor was the strongest to hit the island since a magnitude 7.6 earthquake devastated central Taiwan in 1999, killing 2,300 people and demolishing thousands of homes. Earthquakes frequently hit Taiwan but usually cause little or no damage. A magnitude 7 quake is capable of widespread heaby damage.
  (Associated Press)
  
• October 15, 2004: Amphibians decreasing worldwide, study says
  WASHINGTON - Eye of newt and toe of frog may one day be gone from witches' grog. Indeed, not just frogs and newts, but amphibians in general are rapidly becoming threatened worldwide, a new study shows. [...]the rapid decline of animals such as toads and salamanders is raising concerns as it worsens, a team of researchers reported today. "What we are seeing here is completely unprecedented declines and extinctions", said Simon N. Stuart of the World Conservation Union, lead researcher on the study...published by the journal Science[...] There are a variety of reasons for some losses, though others remain a mystery [...] Amphibians have porous skin and narrow environmental requirements, and their decline might be an indication that something sinister is underway in the environment[...] Where amphibians proceed, others may follow, possibly us also [...]
  The research reported 1,856 species, 32.5% of the known species of amphibians, are "globally threatened", meaning they fall into the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's category of vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. By comparison, 12% of bird species and 23% of mammal species are threatened. [...] Overexploited species are concentrated in East and Southeast Asia where frogs are harvested for food, the report says. Habitat loss occurs more widely, but especially in Southeast Asia, West Africa and the Caribbean. A major concern, the researchers say, are the enigmatic declines and disappearances occurring in North and South America, Puerto Rico and Australia.
  (Associated Press)
  
• October 15, 2004: Smoke from fires prompts warnings
  KYBURZ - Firefighters held three Northern California wildfires in check yesterday, but dense smoke caused health warnings to be issued as the state entered the peak of fire season, fire officials said. Two wildfires that burned more that 20,000 acres in the Eldorado National Forest, were about one-third contained, but portions of two trans-Sierra highways remained closed. A third fire in Yolo and Napa counties northeast of San Francisco, which had burned 39,138 acres, was expected to be contained over the weekend. Another fire broke out about five miles away yesterday. Smoke from the fires cast a pall over the Sierra foothills and Central Valley, prompting counties to issue health advisories and forcing school officials in some communities to keep children indoors and cancel football games last night.
  (Associated Press)
  
• October 11, 2004: 33 more bodies found after storms in India
  GAUHATI, India - Rescuers searching through knee-deep water found 33 more bodies in India's remote northeastern state of Assam yesterday, bringing the death toll from unseasonably heavy rains in South Asia to 177. Four days of devastating rainstorms triggered landslides in some parts of Assam and battered large areas of eastern India, Bangladesh and Nepal, flattening mud houses and leaving tens of thousands of people homeless, officials said. In the northern parts of neighboring Bangladesh, tornadoes and heavy rains killed 39 and injured hundreds. Five people were killed in landslides in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal on Saturday.
• October 11, 2004: Volcano spews 'lazy' column of steam
  MOUNT St. HELENS, WASH. - A new column of steam emerged from Mount St. Helens yesterday, a lazy plume that rose from the crater for several hours and reminded scientists of the volcano's dome-building activity 20 years ago.[...] The billow of steam rose from the south side of the volcano's crater at dawn yesterday from the area where a large upwelling of rock has been growing rapidly. From an airplane, a thick, crooked plume of steam could be seen drifting at least 500 feet above the rim, dissipating a mile south of the 8364-foot volcano.
  Scientists believe the steam was created when part of the bubble on the south side of the dome broke off, taking some of the glacier with it. The ice melted, the water seeped down, and that most likely caused the steam, said USGS geologist John Pallister. The bubble of rock has risen to at least 330 feet since scientists first spotted it Sept. 30 and has become almost as tall as the dome's 1000-foot summit. [USGS geologist Willie] Scott described the emission as a 'very lazy conductive rise of this warm, moist air', unlike previous weeks' bursts characterized by more vigorous jetting that threw up ash, large pieces of rock and glacier ice.
  There had been an increase in earthquake activity over the past two days, with quakes of magnitude 2.4 occurring every two minutes. By yesterday afternoon, however, earthquakes were less frequent and weaker.
  (Associated Press)
  10 News Photo shot
  U.S. Geologic Survey's Cascade Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash.,
  latest news release of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network
• October 09, 2004: St. Helens' dome rises more; quake activity low
  MOUNT St. HELENS, WASH. - Part of the lava dome in Mount St. Helens' crater has risen 10 to 30 feet in the past day, on top of 250 feet in the past week, U.S. Geological Survey scientist said yesterday.
  Earthquake activity remained low, however, indicating molten rock is moving upward with little resistance, volcanologist Jake Lowenstern said.
  The south side of the dome has been rising for the past week and is nearly as tall as the dome's 1000-foot summit.
  Despite the swelling, scientists said there was no reason to raise the alert level around the 8364-foot volcano.
  (Associated Press)
  U.S. Geologic Survey's Cascade Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash.,
  latest news release of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network
• October 02, 2004: Mount St. Helens spits steam, ash
  MOUNT St. HELENS, WASH. - Mount St. Helens spewed a roiling plume of gray-white steam and ash yesterday, more than a week after a flurry of earthquakes warned that the volcano was reawakening. Within hours of the blast, seismic readings suggested that pressure was again building inside the mountain. Scientists said there could be more steam eruptions, possiibly within hours.
  Yesterday's eruption was the first in 18 years at the volcano, which exploded with devastating force May 18, 1980, killing 57 people. There were repeated minor eruptions between 1980 and 1986.
  (Associated Press)
  U.S. Geologic Survey's Cascade Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash.,
  latest news release of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network
• October 01, 2004: Quake activity builds at Mount St. Helens
  SEATTLE - The flurry of earthquakes at Mount St. Helens intesified yesterday, and one scientist put the chance of a small eruption happening in the next few days at 70 percent.
  Jeff Wynn, chief scientist at the U.S. Geologic Survey's Cascade Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash., said tiny quakes were happening three or four times a minute. Larger quakes, with magnitudes of 3 to 3.3, were happening every three of four minutes, he said.
  Scientists did not expect anything like the mountain's devastating eruption in 1980, which killed 57 people and coated towns 250 miles away wih ash. (Associated Press) (latest news release of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network)
• October 01, 2004: Storm death toll rises in Japan
  TOKYO - The death toll from tropical storm Meari rose to 19 yesterday after searchers found more victims, including two men buried inside their homes beneath mud and debris that barreled down a Japanese mountainside.
  Meari has cut a wide swath through Japan since Sunday, causing floods and deadly landslides and forcing about 10,000 people to flee their homes.
  By late yesterday, the storm - downgraded from a typhoon after it blew through southern Okinawa toward the main islands - had moved east out to the Pacific Ocean, about 250 miles northeast of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said. (Associated Press) National Hurricane Center
• October 01, 2004: 3rd strong aftershock hits Central California
  SALINAS - A powerful aftershock rattled central California yesterday, two days after a magnitude-6.0 quake struck one of the state's most seismically active areas. There were no reports of damage or injuries in the latest tremblor.
  The aftershock, which had a preliminary magnitude of 5.0, hit at 11:54a.m. about 11 miles northwest of Parkfiled, according the the U.S. Geological Survey. More than 650 aftershocks - most so small they were not felt - have struck the area since Tuesday. The latest quake was felt as far south as Santa Barbara abd north to San Jose. In Salinas, about 90 miles from the epicenter, the quake produced a slow rolling sensation.
  Aftershocks are common after a strong quake as the pressure relieved by the original shock causes minor earthquakes in the surrounding area.[...]
  Parkfield is of particular interest because it has had a regular pattern of quakes over the past century and sists on the San Andreas, a fault more than 800 miles long that separates the North American and Pacific plates.
  (Matthew Fordahl, Associated Press)
• October 01, 2004: Russian Cabinet approves the Kyoto Protocol on global warming
  MOSCOW - After years of public infighting, the Russian Cabinet approved the Kyoto Protocol on global warming yesterday and prepared to send it to parliament, where its expected approval would allow the long-delayed climate change treaty to come into force around the world. Rejection three years ago by the United States of the 1997 U.N. treaty had left the decisive vote to Russia, a major industrial polluter, where opponents have argued that it would harm the nation's economic interests. The treaty, drafted in 1997 at a U.N. conference in Kyoto, Japan, seeks to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other [greenhouse] gases that are widely seen as a major factor behind global warming.
  The treaty must be ratified by at least 55 countries the accounted for at least 55% of global emissions in 1990. Already 120 nations have ratified the treaty or acceded to it, but some large polluters have refused to do so, and Russia's agreement was needed to reach the required proportion of global emission. In 1990, the United States accounted for 36.1% of emissions, and Russia for 17.4%.[...]
  Disagreement on how to tackle global warming has been a major source of European ill feeling toward the United States. The U.S. government says the pact would harm the U.S. economy and also argues it favors such developing nations as China and India, which are big polluters. In Washington, the State Department [...] reaffirmed U.S. opposition to the agreement. [...] A new round of climate talks is scheduled for December in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  (New York Times News Service and Associated Press)