The Big Wobble - LOOK AT THE PICTURES

Photo Volunteers clean up plastic pellets on Hong Kong’s Lamma Island

• On just one beach in Scotland around 1.2 million plastic pellets have washed up, according to new research at Strathclyde University.
  
• Billions of nurdles end up in our seas
  
• 150 tonnes of nurdles leaked from shipping containers into the sea around Hong Kong.
  
• Killing fish and sea birds
  

It’s called a nurdle and it’s a tiny plastic ball which is used around the world to make plastic items, the nurdles are melted down to make almost all of our plastic products, such as phone covers, toy dolls, plastic bags and even spacecraft cables.
Nurdles are important building blocks of industry; however, for many companies around the Pacific Rim the only way to dispose these little plastic balls is to flush them into the sea. They are also thrown overboard from cargo ships, according to Sky News in 2012, 150 tonnes of nurdles leaked from shipping containers into the sea around Hong Kong.
Once these pellets are in sea they don't go away, the nurdles hit the water and become like a sponge, taking up pollutants from the surface water so they can be toxic too.
Sea birds, fish and other sea creatures are eating the plastic balls which give them a false sense of satiation leading them to starve to death. Birds like the puffin are said to be at particular risk.
The so-called "mermaid tears" swamped beaches and clogged up grass. Some of the pellets are found in the guts of fish and so locals became reluctant to eat seafood.
Closer to home, it is hoped the Great Nurdle Hunt will have helped campaigners to identify hotspots for nurdles around the UK.

Scotland, South Wales and Cornwall are already among the worst affected areas and FIDRA plans to share its research with the Government to raise awareness of the issue.
On Limekilns beach in Scotland around 1.2 million plastic pellets have washed up, according to new research at Strathclyde University.


Sky has launched its Ocean Rescue campaign to raise awareness of the damage being caused to our marine environment worldwide by single use plastics.

Nurdle hunt take part




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Photo Australia Network News
Heavy rain has lashed Victoria overnight with emergency crews responding to hundreds of calls. State Emergency Service crews have responded to more than 400 calls for assistance since 10pm last night as a storm his the state.
Melbourne's inner south east reported the worst flooding and storm damage.
SES crews were kept busy in the Glen Eira, Frankston and Sorrento council areas with 80 call outs made.
Ballarat was the busiest regional SES unit with 33 requests for assistance, while Geelong also received more than 30 call outs.
A plane was also diverted due to Melbourne's weather conditions, leaving passengers stranded in Adelaide.
Emirates flight EK407 from Auckland was due to land at Melbourne Airport at 8.50 but was diverted to Adelaide due to the torrential downpour.
One person waiting for the plane to arrive took to social media to vent her confusion, saying:
"I'm waiting for Aisea's flight from Auckland to arrive in Melbourne and I check the status online and it says it was diverted in-flight and is now in Adelaide."
The wild weather has caused the roof of a leading cinema in Waurn Ponds to collapse.
Facebook used Lisa Beardsmore posted: "The roof has just collapsed in one of the cinemas at readings Waurn Ponds."
Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rod Dickson said Geelong and Arthurs Seat experienced the most rainfall last night. "Arthurs Seat has received 50 millimetres and Geelong has had 45 millimetres," he said.
"Most of the state will be affected with heavy rain overnight and relief won't be in sight until late Monday." Melbourne isn't expected to clear up until the afternoon. "It will also be a cool day with a temperature top of just 19 degrees," Mr Dickson said.

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Stock photo (BBC)
Indonesia's Mount Sinabung in north Sumatra province erupted seven times in the space of a day. "The eruptions occurred from midnight until 4:50 pm on Sunday," volcanology agency official Arif Cahyo said.
The ash from the volcano was carried by winds to Berastagi, a tourist town in the Karo highlands south-east of the volcano.
Local officials in Berastagi told locals and tourists to wear masks and eye protectors to avoid being exposed directly to the volcanic ash.
The volcanic activity put the surrounding area on the highest level of alert.
Areas within a radius of seven kilometres were closed to villagers, while thousands were displaced by the activity and are still living in temporary shelters.
Martinus Sitepu, head of Karo district disaster mitigation agency, said the volcano ejected material up to 5,000 metres into the air.
Mount Sinabung has been erupting periodically since September 2013.



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Photo Yahoo
AleutiansVolcanic Activity Summary: A short-lived explosive eruption of Bogoslof volcano was reported by several pilots around 0100 UTC (4:00 pm AST).
They reported a volcanic ash cloud rising to an estimated altitude of 34,000 ft (10.3 km).
Satellite data show a discrete, short-lived explosion just prior to 0100 UTC that detached and drifted to the south by 0115 UTC.
A subsequent pilot report from 0150 UTC indicated that activity had decreased.
On the basis of this information, the Aviation Color Code is increased to Red and the Volcano Alert Level to Warning.
There is no ground-based volcano monitoring equipment on Bogoslof volcano so AVO is unable to provide a forecast of future eruptive activity.
We will monitor satellite images and data from distant seismic and infrasound instruments for indications of significant explosive activity.

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Photo Visalia Times-Delta

In 2014 it was less than 4 million, last July it had risen to 66 million it now stands at more than 100 million.
California has more than 100 million dead trees in its forests, and there is no consensus on their impact on the environment or how to deal with them and it has become a major concern. “The scope and magnitude of the problem is seemingly overwhelming,” said Janet Upton, a deputy director for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
In November, the U.S. Forest Service said an aerial survey revealed that 36 million additional trees had died in the midst of a multi-year drought, bringing the total since 2010 to more than 102 million.
The tree deaths have been concentrated in the southern and central Sierra Nevada, but experts warn of increasing deaths in forests all the way up to the Oregon border.
The phenomenon raises questions on what causes wildfires as well as the role that wildfires play in the greater ecological scheme. Officials are also grappling with logistical, financial and public safety risks associated with the removal of the trees.
According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson, five years of drought in California has been the primary cause of the tree deaths. While a series of potent storms in early 2017 has alleviated the dry conditions, it has not been enough to undo the damage to the trees or to prevent the die-off from continuing.
“When you have severe droughts, trees are going to die,” said Adrian Das, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
Ironically the California drought could be over!  After a month of huge blizzards and “atmospheric river” storms, the Sierra Nevada snowpack, a source of one third of California’s drinking water is now at 177% of the historic average, the biggest in more than two decades.
We have to go all the way back to February 1st 1995 to equal the amount of snowpack now accumulated in the mountains.
It’s a breath-taking turn around after five years of punishing drought.
On Feb. 1, 2014, for example, the state-wide Sierra snowpack was just 9 percent of the historic average, the lowest ever measured at that time of year and even worse than the dismal 1976-77 drought, when it hovered in the mid-20s.
More than 25ft of snow has fallen with a new round of storms set to roll into California bringing a further 3ft of snow by the weekend.

State officials though are reluctant to cancel the state’s emergency drought declaration from January 2014 until the full winter season is over.

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Photo Getty Images
Over 40 people have been confirmed dead with hundreds of livestock dead and more than 100 homes destroyed as a snowstorm hits Afghanistan on Sunday, prompting the government to declare Sunday as public holiday.
The unprecedented snow in a decade has led to the closure of main highways leaving many people stranded, out of power and other supplies.
A high-level meeting chaired by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani directed the concerned officials and departments to be on their toes in response to the harsh winter.
According to the country's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the extraordinary snowfall has particularly affected some 19 provinces where up to 100 homes have been completely destroyed.
Syed Abdul Humayun Dehqaan, head of the Badakhshan chapter of the NDMA, told Anadolu Agency heavy snowfall in Maimy and Yaran districts of the province has claimed 18 lives and has left 12 people critically injured.

Photo Afghanistan Blizzard
The heavy snowstorm has also closed roads in Paktya, Khost, Parwan, Sar-i-Pul, Jawzjan, Bamyan, Daikundi, Paktika and Ghazni provinces as well.
Fourteen people were killed and four wounded in an avalanche in the Surkh Parsa district of central Parwan province.
Seven casualties have been confirmed in the southeastern provinces while at least six people have reportedly died in the northwest on Sunday.
The southern Kandahar province has also received an unprecedented snowfall in over two decades. Four main road links between the capital Kabul and the rest of the country are literally closed for traffic due to thick layers of snow.
Number of heavy goods career and public transport have been stranded on the Salang Pass which connects capital Kabul to nine provinces in the north.
Blockages have also occurred on the Kabul-Kandahar link of the AH1 Ring Road.
Piles of snow on the runway of Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport also delayed a number of domestic and international flights.