Armada Intelligence » Environment

Wildfires Spread in Southern California $

karen — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:34:49 +0000

Wildfires have spread the past few days in California, and as of this morning one in Ventura County had spread to cover 8,000 acres. Over 2,000 homes are at risk as winds up to 35 miles per hour spread the fires quickly. At least 800 people have been evacuated from the area while firefighters battle to contain the fire and stop it spreading any further. Another fire near Los Angeles has burned nearly 3000 acres, but is at least 40% contained. There is also a current risk of fire in a large swath of northern California, as well as southwest Arizona and in

Fracking Ruled Out as cause in Famous Case of Methane in Wells $

karen — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:50:51 +0000

The state of Pennsylvania has ruled out hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, drilling for natural gas as the cause of methane gas that has been detected in nearby resident’s groundwater. The town of Franklin Forks has been visited by celebrities and anti-fracking activists from around the world who rallied against the dangers that fracking poses to groundwater, but this week Pennsylvania put a huge dent in their case after ruling that the methane detected in the wells is no different from that detected in nearby springs even before drilling began.

The impacts of drilling on groundwater has long been one of the largest environmental

Roundup Of Hurricane Forecasts Shows Active Year Ahead $

karen — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:35:28 +0000

A number of agencies have released their hurricane forecasts for the 2013 season, and if they are all correct, we should see a more active period than we have seen in the past 20 year averages. Across the 5 different groups issuing forecasts, we see that all of them are predicting the number of named storms, hurricanes, and major hurricanes will exceed the 20 year averages. As we have said, the lifting of La Nina and a return to a “normal” weather condition across the Pacific is

Largest Quake in 50 Years Rattles Iran $

karen — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:47:45 +0000

Iran has been hit for the second time in a week with a devastating earthquake, this one registered 7.8 on the Richter scale. The good and the bad of this quake is that it struck in a remote section of the country, in the southeast provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan. The quake rattled buildings from Pakistan to India. Early reports suggested that at least 40 people in Iran and 34 people in Pakistan were among the dead.

Since the earthquake was in such a remote area, the potential for loss of life was likely minimized. That would be the good news. The bad news is that these remote villages are very poor – and construction techniques are not able to withstand a quake of this magnitude. Rescuers and reporters can’t even get

New Icelandic Volcanic Threat $

karen — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 19:52:24 +0000

There were two major developments in Iceland this week regarding volcanic activity and the threat that this activity poses to Europe. First, and a bit of a volcano lessen, European researchers released a report this week that show

CDC Warns of “Nightmare Bacteria”

karen — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 00:51:17 +0000

The Centers for Disease Control has put out a warning to hospitals to immediately act to curtail the spread of what they call a “nightmare bacteria.” The family of bacteria, known as Carbapenem-resistant (CRE) bacteria, are referred to as a “triple-threat” because of their resistance to last-ditch antibiotics, up to 50% mortality rate, and their ability to pass on the antibiotic resistance to other bacteria. These bacteria are currently spreading in hospitals throughout the country, having showed up in 42 states. 20% of long-term care facilities have spotted them and 4% of short-term care facilities. The CDC is warning that if the bacteria are not contained it could begin to spread beyond the hospital walls to the general public.

Winter Storm Saturn Slamming Chicago, Heading East $

karen — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:22:03 +0000

Right now winter storm Saturn is hitting Chicago with up to 10 inches of snow. The storm dropped up to a foot of snow already in parts of North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin and is now forecast to take a turn to the East. The storm will continue to drop snow in the region tomorrow, with an additional 1-3 inches in Chicago, 5-8 inches in Indianapolis, and possibly 3-5 inches in Louisville and Columbus. Heavier snowfall is likely in the Appalachians, where some areas could see more than a foot. Several coastal cities could see heavy snow in the next couple days as well, including Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City, which could

NASA Watches Massive Sunspot Grow “Overnight”

karen — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:24:41 +0000

We’ve reported to you in the past that our Sun is approaching what is considered to be a 15 year peak in sunspot activity. Scientists have been focused on a sunspot area for the past 48 hours that has shocked them at how rapidly it has grown from a speck to a storm that is now more than 6 times the diameter of the earth. These storms are typically the source of solar flares – and this one would be highly volatile and could release a significant flare. Sunspots can also affect the earth’s weather patterns. The photo at right is from the Space Flight Center operated by NASA. The WSJ and other media sites have picked up on the story, but we wanted to just make you aware of it. The increase in potential for solar flares or “solar wind” can impact the ionosphere – disrupting communications and satellites.

Fascinating New Drought Map Tool $

karen — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 11:48:39 +0000

Those of you that have been with us for years know that we love “cool tools” for showing different sides of the economy. Today, we found another one. The University of Nebraska and the National Drought Mitigation Center have produced a new online tool that shows not only the drought, but the impact of the drought on various components of the economy. You can get the full interactive map here: http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/.

The map

Asteroid Rendezvous with Earth Next Week $

karen — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:03:34 +0000

Valentine’s day will bring with it near miss between the earth and DA 14, an asteroid that is half the size of a football field and moving at 17,450 miles per hour. The asteroid, if it were to strike the earth, would immediately destroy everything in a 50 mile radius around the impact zone. Scientist say that this will be the nearest “miss” to the earth in perhaps 105 years. That strike, which happened in a