Antarctic sea ice loss is good news for the continent's penguins


Researchers equipped Adelie penguins with GPS trackers, accelerometers and video cameras. Photo by Yuuki Watanabe/National Institute of Polar Research

June 25 (UPI) -- While climate scientists worry about the loss of sea ice in Antarctica, penguins are flapping their flippers in applause. According to a new study, published this week in the journal Science Advances, many penguins prefer the Southern Ocean unfrozen -- the less sea ice, the better.

Researchers had previously illuminated a link between sea ice extent in Antarctica and breeding success among Adelie penguin colonies, but a correlation doesn't prove causation, and so scientists decided to investigate further

To find out what might explain the positive impact of reduced sea ice coverage on breeding success, scientists strapped a trio of instruments to several dozen penguins. The combination of GPS trackers, accelerometers and video cameras helped scientists track how the movements and behaviors changed over the course of several years, as sea ice extents waxed and waned.

"What is new in this study is that we used a variety of electronic tags to record penguin foraging behavior in the greatest detail yet, and found mechanistic link among sea ice, foraging behavior, and breeding success," lead researcher Yuuki Watanabe, scientist at the National Institute of Polar Research, told UPI in an email.

RELATED Seal behavior helps scientists predict changes in Antarctic krill distribution

The novel data revealed the ways in which ice coverage in Antarctica affects the way penguins move across their environs and access food resources.

"In the ice-covered seasons, penguins traveled slowly by walking and needed to find cracks in the ice, where they dived repeatedly," Watanabe said. "They were able to dive only through cracks, which also means that the competition among penguins was severe."

The data also showed that, not surprisingly, penguins move much more efficiently in the water than on ice. Adelie penguins travel four times faster by swimming than by walking.

RELATED Study reveals where marine species are moving as oceans warm

When sea extent was minimal, data showed the penguins were able to travel more easily, swimming and diving wherever they pleased.

"They came back to the nest quickly, which means that chicks waiting at the nest had food more often," Watanabe said. "Overall, foraging conditions improved by the loss of sea ice, which directly linked to improved breeding success. Put very simply, penguins are happier with less sea ice because they swim."

Less sea ice also allows more sunlight to enter the ocean, fueling larger krill blooms. Krill serve as the main source of food for Adelie penguins.

RELATED Picky penguins are more vulnerable to impacts of climate change

The latest findings don't hold for all of Antarctica, and in future studies, researchers hope to explore the effects of sea ice extent on different penguin species living in different parts of the continent.

"The relationship between sea ice and penguin reproductive success is apparently different in maritime Antarctica (e.g. Antarctic Peninsula) where sea ice is normally sparse," Watanabe said. "There, penguins look happier with more sea ice, but mechanics are unclear. I would like to conduct research in that region to understand the general patterns over the whole Antarctica."

Early peoples in Pacific Northwest were smoking smooth sumac


Researchers in Washington state found the residues of multiple strains of tobacco and the chemical signatures of smooth sumac in ancient pipes smoked by indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest. Photo by Washington State University
June 26 (UPI) -- Some 1,400 years ago, people living in what is now Washington state were smoking smooth sumac, Rhus glabra. Scientists found residues of the native plant in an ancient pipe.

The discovery, described this week in the journal Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, marks the first time researchers have recovered non-tobacco residues from an ancient pipe.

Scientists also identified the chemical signatures of N. quadrivalvis, a species of tobacco paleobotanists and archaeologists estimate was once widely cultivated in the Americas, but is no longer grown in the region.

"Smoking often played a religious or ceremonial role for Native American tribes and our research shows these specific plants were important to these communities in the past," lead study author Korey Brownstein, a former doctoral student at Washington State University, now at the University of Chicago, said in a news release. "We think the Rhus glabra may have been mixed with tobacco for its medicinal qualities and to improve the flavor of smoke."

RELATED Ancient plant foods found in northern Australia

Researchers used a novel chemical analysis technique that allows scientists to isolate and identify thousands of plant compounds, or metabolites, from residues in a variety of artifacts, including pipes and bowls.

"Not only does it tell you, yes, you found the plant you're interested in, but it also can tell you what else was being smoked," said study co-author David Gang, a professor in Washington State's Institute of Biological Chemistry. "It wouldn't be hyperbole to say that this technology represents a new frontier in archaeo-chemistry."

Previous analysis methods only targeted a small number of biological compounds, such as nicotine, anabasine, cotinine and caffeine. Early analysis methods weren't precise enough to identify different strains of tobacco or isolate the metabolites of specific plants.

RELATED Earliest evidence of cheese-making in the Mediterranean found along Croatian coast

In a second pipe recovered from an archaeological site in Washington state, scientists found the residue of a different strain of tobacco, N. rustica, grown by native populations on the other side of the country.

"Our findings show Native American communities interacted widely with one another within and between ecological regions, including the trade of tobacco seeds and materials," said study co-author Shannon Tushingham, an assistant professor of anthropology at Washington State. "The research also casts doubt on the commonly held view that trade tobacco grown by Europeans overtook the use of natively-grown smoke plants after Euro-American contact."

Authors of the newly published study are currently working with modern indigenous communities such as the Nez Perce to rediscover ancient plant management practices.

RELATED Hunter-gatherers in Africa were dairying as early as first millennium AD

At a greenhouse managed by the Nez Perce, tribe members are growing pre-contact tobacco, with hopes of smoking the same strains of tobacco that their ancestors smoked.

"We took over an entire greenhouse to grow these plants and collected millions of seeds so that the Nez Perce people could reintroduce these native plants back onto their land," Brownstein said. "I think these kinds of projects are so important because they help build trust between us and tribal communities and show that we can work together to make discoveries."

upi.com/7017723

Earth has been recycling crust for most of its history

To better understand the movement and distribution of recycled crust in the mantle, researchers analyzed the ratios of certain minerals in mid ocean basalts. Photo by James St. John/Flickr

June 26 (UPI) -- New research suggests roughly 5 to 6 percent of the Earth's mantle is made up of recycled crust.

The discovery, detailed Friday in the journal Science Advances, suggests Earth has been producing new crust at a similar rate for most of the planet's history.

Geologists knew that some of Earth's crust regularly sinks back into the mantle, but until now, they weren't sure how much gets recycled -- a key to understanding the history of crustal formation and subduction.

To better understand the trajectory of crust that gets swallowed back into the mantle, scientists collected 500 samples of basalt from mid-ocean ridges all over the world.

RELATED Mars' magnetic field emerged earlier and lasted longer than previously thought

"The chemical composition of oceanic basalt -- Mid-Oceanic Ridge Basalt, or MORB -- that erupted along the 40,000-kilometer long oceanic ridge system is systematically depleted in elements -- termed incompatible elements -- that are concentrated in the continental crust: elements like potassium, thorium, uranium and lead," study co-author Munir Humayun told UPI in an email.

What has long perplexed scientists is that MORB comes in three flavors, each with different concentrations of incompatible elements.

"Normal MORB is depleted to an extent sufficient to explain extraction of the continental crust from the mantle, but there are basalts that are more depleted than Normal MORB (depleted-MORB) and basalts that are more enriched than Normal-MORB (enriched-MORB), and both are present in significant abundances," Humayun, a professor and geochemist at the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, said.

RELATED Tectonic plates began shifting much earlier than geologists thought

Until now, researchers weren't sure what accounted for the differences in the amounts of incompatible elements found in basalt. Scientists surmised that recycled crust might help explain the formation of the three types of basalt.

"Recycled oceanic crust that melts at ridges produces melts that are lower in the ratio of the element germanium (Ge) to the element silicon (Si), two elements that are geochemically very similar in their behavior during melting," Humayun said.

"We developed a way of measuring small variations in the Ge/Si ratio and used this to show that enriched basalts have lower Ge/Si ratios consistent with the addition of melts from subducted recycled crust," he said.

RELATED Mantle, not core, may have produced Earth's earliest magnetic field

Researchers found that lower Ge/Si ratios were present in enriched basalts from all of the 30 different regions -- scattered across the globe -- from which the samples were sourced. This, they say, is evidence of a globally and historically consistent rate of crust recycling.

Many scientists have hypothesized that the crust that gets pulled back into the mantle sinks deep into the mantle's bottom layers and remains there -- with only small plumes floating back toward the upper mantle.

Others have estimated that recycled crust gets evenly distributed throughout the mantle, like a chocolate swirl in a vanilla cake -- the "marble cake" theory.

The latest findings support the latter theory. The findings have implications for the history of crustal formation and subduction.

"We were most surprised to confirm the theory of professor Alex Sobolev of the University of Grenoble that the mantle under ridges has an average of about 5 percent recycled crust," Humayun said.

"It could only have that much recycled crust if the vigor of subduction has been similar throughout most of Earth's history and that most of the recycled crust is not ponded in 'subduction graveyards' at the bottom of the mantle," he said.


upi.com/7017791

Judge orders ICE to release children in custody, citing COVID-19

Protesters hold up signs as they walk across the Brooklyn Bridge on June 30, 2018, in New York City. On Friday, a federal judge said immigration officials must release detained migrant children because they aren't being protected against coronavirus. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 27 (UPI) -- A federal judge has ordered immigration officials to release certain children held in U.S. detention facilities since they failed to provide health protections against COVID-19.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California issued the order Friday in response to reports earlier this month from independent monitors on Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

The reports were filed in accordance with the court's order in April to enforce the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits detention of children to 20 days.

As of June 8, ICE had 124 children at three detention facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania, court documents show. Another 507 children were in ORR shelters as of June 7.

RELATED CBP chief Morgan defends expulsion of migrants at border during pandemic

Gee said that while she appreciated that ICE and ORR made efforts to reduce the number of children in custody, the ICE Family Residential Centers and ORR facilities still lack enough protection from the novel coronavirus.

"Although progress has been made, the court is not surprised that COVID-19 has arrived at both the FRCs and ORR facilities, as health professionals have warned all along," Gee wrote.

Gee said ICE FRCs were "on fire" and "there is no time for half measures," since independent monitor Dr. Paul Wise said the FRCs lacked basic health protections from COVID-19. Wise told the court the facilities needed improvement in social distancing, masking and testing.

RELATED Appeals court rules Trump can expand expedited deportation policies

As of Thursday, at least 11 people detained at a FRC in Karnes City, Texas, have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and four employees at another FRC in Dilley, Texas, have tested positive.

No COVID-19 cases have been reported at Berks FRC in Pennsylvania, but six children had viral stomatitis, an infection in children which produces sores around the mouth, in or around April, "demonstrating the ease with which contagion can spread in the congregate settings," Gee said.

Under the order, children are to be released to available sponsors, or other COVID-19-free, non-congregate settings with consent of their guardians or parents, or released to guardians or parents.

Trump signs executive order protecting federal monumentsTRUMP DEFENDS SLAVE HOLDING TRAITORS

The Andrew Jackson statue is seen vandalized after protesters attempted to tear it down overnight Tuesday in Lafayette Park near the White House. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
VANDALISM OR CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY ARE NOT VIOLENCE
June 26 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Friday said he signed an executive order protecting U.S. monuments like those toppled in recent weeks for having connections to racism or slavery.

Trump hinted at such an order earlier in the week.

"I just had the privilege of signing a very strong Executive Order protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues - and combatting recent Criminal Violence. Long prison terms for these lawless acts against our Great Country!" he tweeted.

On Tuesday, he said he authorized police to arrest and prosecute anyone who vandalizes statues or monuments on federal property. He tweeted then that prison terms for such offenses would be up to 10 years.

A statement from the office of White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the order authorities the federal government to withhold "certain federal support" from state and local governments that fail to protect public monuments from vandalism.

"President Trump will never allow violence to control our streets, rewrite our history or harm the American way of life," her statement said.

Trump's order comes as protesters across the nation have pulled down statues, particularly those honoring Confederate leaders because of their support for slavery.

On Monday, demonstrators attempted to topple a statue of President Andrew Jackson -- who owned slaves and forcibly removed Native Americans from their lands -- in Lafayette Park near the White House.

In some places, local leaders have approved the official removal of such statues, including a Confederate monument in Denton, Texas.

17 Rikers officers face discipline for death of transgender woman

By Danielle Haynes

June 27 (UPI) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced 17 uniformed jail staffers at Rikers Island will face disciplinary action for the death of a transgender woman there last year.

He said the Department of Correction staff members will face charges for the death of Layleen Polanco, 27. Three officers were suspended without pay.

Polanco died in June 2019 after guards put her in solitary confinement against doctor's advice. She had a history of epileptic seizures, and had one while in solitary confinement.

She was found dead in her cell June 7, 2019, and an autopsy revealed she died from a seizure.

"The death of Layleen Polanco was an incredibly painful moment for our city," de Blasio said Friday. "What happened to Layleen was absolutely unacceptable and it is critical that there is accountability."

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark declined to file criminal charges in the case on June 5, saying that investigators were unable to prove officers committed any crime that led to Polanco's death.

"We are committed to ensuring that all of our facilities are safe and humane. Even one death in our custody is one too many and this swift and fair determination on internal discipline makes clear that the safety and well-being of people in our custody remains our top priority," New York City Department of Correction Commissioner Cynthia Brann said.

USA
Report: $38 billion in PPP loans canceled


Jovita Carranza, the administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, listens at the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearings on June 10. The SBA said Thursday $38 billion of the Paycheck Protection Program loans have been canceled. Photo by Al Drago/UPI | License Photo


June 26 (UPI) -- The Government Accountability Office reported that about $38 billion in coronavirus relief loans for small businesses have been canceled, in part because of large businesses returning loans after news broke that smaller companies were shut out of the process.

The GAO data, released Thursday, came from the Small Business Administration, which said that more than 170,000 loans had been canceled as of May 31 with more money being given back.

The SBA said Wednesday that 4.7 million loans had been approved under the Paycheck Protection Program worth $516.5 billion, including the cancellations.
"Consistent with the urgency of responding to serious and widespread health issues and economic disruptions, agencies have given priority to moving swiftly where possible to distribute funds and implement new programs," the GAO said.

"As tradeoffs were made, however, agencies have made only limited progress so far in achieving transparency and accountability goals."

Shake Shack restaurant chain and the Los Angeles Lakers were two examples of large companies that gave back PPP loans after sparking outrage of received them while mom and shop stores could not.

The SBA had not provided details on how many of the canceled loans were part of givebacks, duplicates or returned over payback concerns.

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., had asked the SBA inspector general to investigate reports of alleged thousands of duplicate loans being made, costing possibly $100 million.

Winds blow massive Saharan dust cloud into U.S. airspace

CHORONZON BY ANY OTHER NAME 

INVOKE THEE BARTZEBEL  THE MAGE WIND 

http://www.rahoorkhuit.net/library/ceremonial/evocation/bartzabel.html
https://tinyurl.com/ydec5956 



By Kevin Byrne,  Accuweather.com

Just this past week, the dust floated across the Caribbean into the southern Gulf of Mexico, and now forecasters say it'll move inland over parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast through Saturday. Photo courtesy of NOA

June 27 (UPI) -- Dust from the Sahara Desert that has been pouring off the western coast of Africa and into the Atlantic has effectively put the Atlantic hurricane season on pause, with the exception of short-lived Tropical Storm Dolly, which formed on Tuesday in the North Atlantic.

The dust is largely impacting the Gulf Coast, but could push northward into the airspace above a few other states farther inland.

The robust plume of dust, which satellite imagery showed had reached into U.S. airspace by Friday, has been felt by many across the Caribbean, where it left behind a thin coating on the ground in some areas. The sky turned hazy over the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Cuba, and visibility was drastically reduced in some areas. By Friday morning, the air quality in Galveston, Texas, where AccuWeather's Bill Waddell is stationed, had plunged from "excellent" on Thursday evening to "unhealthy."

Dusty skies were also observed in Panama City Beach on Friday morning, according to video posted on social media, and dust appeared to be hanging low in the skies over the Houston skyline, a photo posted on social media by Sergio Chapa showed.

RELATED Month's worth of rain falls overnight near Houston

"A quick glance out the window, it's easy to confuse it for fog," Chapa, a 44-year-old Houston resident told AccuWeather, adding that the haze looked like fog but with, "a slight brown tint."

"This is much different from ozone action days, but not quite like a forest fire," Chapa said. "I wear glasses and I was wearing a face mask. My eyes are fine, but even with the mask, my throat is irritating after talking around for about 30 minutes in the dust storm."

Dust is often pushed off the African coast during the early stages of Atlantic hurricane season, but the vastness of this episode has raised eyebrows. 

RELATED Mysterious orange dust from Ohio pear trees identified as fungus

The cloud is part of what's known as the Saharan Air Layer, which usually occupies a 2- to- 2.5-mile-thick layer of the atmosphere, with a base starting about 1 mile above the surface, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

AccuWeather meteorologists have been tracking dust emerging from the Africa coast since April, but there has been an uptick in activity since around June 14. Dust is most commonly observed over the Atlantic into July before it becomes less of an issue later in the hurricane season. AccuWeather's top hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski said the African Easterly Jet has been stronger than normal and this has produced more dust.

"Certainly the dust episodes in the Caribbean have been more robust than normal due to the active jet," Kottlowski said.

RELATED Tropical Storm Dolly becomes 2nd earliest D-named storm in Atlantic


Just this past week, the dust floated across the Caribbean into the southern Gulf of Mexico, and now forecasters say it'll move inland over parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast through Saturday.

On June 23, @NOAA's #GOESEast viewed the #SaharanAirLayer (or #SAL) over Cuba, while a storm erupted through its dusty haze. During this time of year, the SAL often blows westward from Africa's Saharan Desert and can travel thousands of miles away.

More: https://t.co/aAyKeftLo8 pic.twitter.com/zxt5jPzm0A— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) June 25, 2020
RELATED Rare annular solar eclipse leaves 'ring of fire' above parts of Africa, Middle East, Asia

The dust is forecast to be primarily concentrated over Gulf Coast states, but some could expand farther north into Oklahoma, Arkansas and eastward into Tennessee, Kottlowski said. He added that the forecast does not call for high concentrations of dust to play a role in the overall weather pattern across the northeastern U.S. Some dust could "barely" reach into Tennessee and southern Virginia, Kottlowski said.

"Dust, like any pollutant, can find its way farther north over time and it's possible some dust could work into the Great Lakes next week but it probably would not be very noticeable. A storm system forming over Quebec this weekend will move southeast into Maine early next week and bring a wind flow out of Canada and not up from the tropics," Kottlowski said.

Dust particles can produce vibrant sunsets and sunrises, but if there is too much of an accumulation, then those sunsets or sunrises can turn out dull. Dust is usually most noticeable when the skies are cloud-free, according to Kottlowski. The cloud cover combined with the haziness from dust obscured the sunrise in Galveston on Friday morning, Waddell reported.

Air quality levels could also drop from moderate to unhealthy over southern and eastern Texas, according to Plume Labs. Those with respiratory issues are being urged to limit the amount of time they spend outdoors. AccuWeather and Plume Labs have a partnership that allows users to monitor the realtime air quality in a given location from the AccuWeather website or mobile app.

Kottlowski said there is a second large area of dust over the open Atlantic, but it seems less impressive than the first batch of dust currently invading the U.S. The second round of dust is likely to dissipate faster, thanks in part due to stronger winds forcing it westward. However, it will still bring a "considerable" amount of dust to the Gulf of Mexico early next week which will result in hazy conditions and milky-looking skies.

Longer range forecasts show an easing in the amount of dust entering the atmosphere over the next week as the African Easterly Jet, which is responsible for triggering the potent storms that kick up the dust, is forecast to relax a bit, according to Kottlowski.

upi.com/7017838

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite analyzes Saharan dust aerosol blanket

NASA/GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

 

IMAGE: THIS JUNE 24, 2020 IMAGE IS FROM THE SUOMI NPP OMPS AEROSOL INDEX. THE DUST PLUME MOVED OVER THE YUCATAN PENINSULA AND UP THROUGH THE GULF OF MEXICO. THE LARGEST... view more 

CREDIT: CREDITS: NASA/NOAA, COLIN SEFTOR

Dust storms from Africa's Saharan Desert traveling across the Atlantic Ocean are nothing new, but the current dust storm has been quite expansive and NASA satellites have provided a look at the massive June plume. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed the blanket of dust had moved over the Gulf of Mexico and extended into Central America and over part of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

NASA uses satellites and other resources to track aerosol particles made of desert dust, smoke, and volcanic ash. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a visible image while the Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) Nadir-Mapper (NM) instrument aboard the Suomi-NPP satellite provided absorbing aerosol index values. The OMPS index indicates the presence of light absorbing aerosol particles (ultraviolet (UV)-absorbing particles in the air) such as desert dust. The absorbing aerosol index is related to both the thickness and height of the aerosol layer.

The Absorbing Aerosol Index is useful for identifying and tracking the long-range transport of volcanic ash from volcanic eruptions, smoke from wildfires or biomass burning events and dust from desert dust storms. These aerosol particals can even be tracked over clouds and areas covered by snow and ice.

Colin Seftor, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., created imagery from the Suomi NPP OMPS absorbing aerosol index and visible imagery from the VIIRS instrument He said that on June 23 and 24 the dust plume had moved completely over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, up through the Gulf of Mexico and into southern Texas. "At that point, the situation becomes more complicated because the absorbing aerosol index signal seen further north into Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc., is probably a mix of dust and smoke from the numerous fires burning in the southwest U.S. You can also see that the dust traveled over Central America and out into the Eastern Pacific Ocean."

On June 25, an animation that combined OMPS aerosol index and VIIRS visible imagery from NASA/NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite was created at NASA Goddard showing the movement the Saharan dust cloud from June 15 to 25, 2020,. The animation showed the dust plume streamed from Africa's west coast over the Atlantic into the Caribbean Sea and up through the Gulf of Mexico over some of the Gulf states.

Aerosol particles absorb and scatter incoming sunlight, which reduces visibility and increases the optical depth. Aerosol particles have an effect on human health, weather and the climate. Aerosol particles are produced from many events including human activities such as pollution from factories and natural processes such as smoke from fires, dust from dust storms, sea salt from breaking waves, and volcanic ash from volcanoes. Aerosol particles compromise human health when inhaled by people with asthma or other respiratory illnesses. Aerosol particles also affect weather and climate by cooling or warming the earth as well as enhancing or preventing cloud formation.

On June 18, NASA's Earth Observatory noted the thickest parts of the plume appeared to stretch about 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) across the Atlantic Ocean. By June 24, the plume extended over 5,000 miles.

Dust from Africa can affect air quality as far away as North and South America if it is mixed down to ground level. But dust can also play an important ecological role, such as, fertilizing soils in the Amazon and building beaches in the Caribbean. The dry, warm, and windy conditions associated with Saharan Air Layer outbreaks from Africa can also suppress the formation and intensification of tropical cyclones.

"While Saharan dust transport across the ocean to the Americas is not uncommon, the size and strength of this particular event is quite unusual," Seftor said. "Also, if you look off the coast of Africa you can see yet another large cloud coming off the continent, continuing to feed the long chain of dust traveling across the Atlantic."

###

By Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

WITCH Boiler Room London Live Set
► WITCH — the kings of Zamrock — blessed our home studio with the sounds of African psychedelic rock

SEVENTIES BAND FROM ZAMBIA, THE ONLY ORIGINAL MEMBER IS THE LEAD SINGER
THE BAND LIKE ALL OF ZAMBIA WAS PART OF THE AFRICAN UPRAISING AGAINST APARTHEID AND IMPERIALISM Support the crowdfund to make a film about WITCH and their first ever European tour: https://igg.me/at/weintendtocausehavoc

WE INTEND TO CAUSE HAVOC W.I.T.C.H. 

I POSTED ONE OF THEIR EARLY ALBUMS HERE THIS WEEK

 


WITCH - LAZY BONES [FULL ALBUM].
Tracklist 
01 Black Tears 0:00
02 Motherless Child 5:27
03 Tooth Factory 9:26
04 Strange Dream 14:03
05 Look Out 17:24
06 Havoc 21:29
07 October Night 25:59
08 Off Ma Boots 30:42
09 Lazy Bones 33:42
10 Little Clown 37:50

Label: Zambezi ‎– ZTZ 1
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album 
Country: Zambia
Released: 1975

Band Members
1 Emanyeo Jagari Chanda (lead vocals, cowbells, marracas)
2 John Muma (rhythm guitar, backup vocals)
3 Gedeon Mulenga (bass)
4 Boidi Sinkala (drums)
5 Chris Mbewe (lead guitar, lead vocals, acoustic guitar

Siberia's record-breaking heatwave is leading scientists to issue stark warnings about climate change
 Sirena Bergman in news

iStock

When you think of Siberia, you probably think of extreme cold, snow, darkness and frost.

None of us imagine sunbathing in scorching temperatures, but recent temperatures may change all this.

Scientists at a metereological station in Verkhoyansk, in Russia, recorded a record-breaking temperature of 38C (100.4F) on 20 June – the hottest on record since it started recording daily readings in 1885.

Verkhoyansk is one of the coldest inhabited places on earth, and regularly records freezing temperatures of up to -67C (-89F).

The previous temperature record was held by a reading of 37.3C (99.14F) in 1988.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has given “tentative acceptance” of the reading as a legitimate observation, but is currently working to verify the reading, which is a "very thorough and time-consuming project", according to Randall Cerveny, the WMO's special rapporteur on weather and climate extremes.

He said:
The end result will be incredibly valuable information that will help climate scientists better understand climate, engineers and medical doctors better prepare for climate extremes and even the general public in achieving a better appreciation of climate change across this planet.

A local reindeer farm worker told The Telegraph that:
We have seen a freaky heatwave. It’s really hard for us to bear this heat. The reindeer herders were the first to notice that something was wrong: reindeer started to feel unwell. They suffer from dehydration and don’t want to eat. Deer fawns are getting weaker.

But climate change scientists are not surprised, saying that warming temperatures are leading to a decrease in ice in the Arctic sea, and wildfires across Siberia.

Firefighters in the region are not equipped to handle the increase in fires, and are leaving them to just burn out in remote areas

Zachary Labe, a researcher in atmospheric sciences at Colorado State University, said:

Decades of climate model projections have shown that the Arctic is expected to warm more than twice as fast as the rest of the globe. We are now seeing the impacts of these extremes in real-time.

Dr Christina Schädel, the lead coordinator of the Permafrost Carbon Network, told The Telegraph that "what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic", and that the increase in temperatures could have serious implications for the rest of the world too.

That permafrost once thawed is never going to freeze back in our lifetime. The process is unstoppable and it’s irreversible.

She is optimistic that we could be able to slow climate change in order to avoid potentially catastrophic effects on the Arctic, but warns that "we just don't have that much time left".

Where is Greta when you need her?