Residents walk past the eruption of Taal volcano in the Philippines Monday. TED ALJIBE / AFP via Getty Images
The second-most active volcano in the Philippines belched to life on Sunday when it sent a cloud of ash miles into the air that forced thousands to evacuate and shuttered the airport in the capital of Manila.
<p>The eruption of the Taal volcano continued Monday when it began gushing lava, <a href="https://apnews.com/11cacd39a4aa509097d44d090e20c93d" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. People living nearby also felt tremors, and the country's volcanic institute warned of a potential "volcanic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tsunami" target="_self">tsunami</a>" in the lake that surrounds the volcanic island, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/12/world/asia/philippines-taal-volcano.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR1M6DseVcDdHa4lLzjX2gokfd6ewMyG441oZHhM1ClYTabMLoLQRYflPOo" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><p>"The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/earthquakes" target="_self">earthquakes</a> were strong, and it felt like there was a monster coming out," Cookie Siscar, who heard about the eruption from her husband Emer, told The New York Times.</p>
<div id="0081f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3B1PL91578927739"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1216322269670064129" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Streaks of lightning blazed through columns of ashes amid #TaalVolcano eruption as seen from Nasugbu, Batangas on S… https://t.co/88jBQNhGXo</div> — ABS-CBN News (@ABS-CBN News)<a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/statuses/1216322269670064129">1578828801.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology <a href="https://twitter.com/phivolcs_dost/status/1216329536536637440" target="_blank">raised</a> the volcano's Alert Level to four out of five Sunday evening, indicating that a "hazardous eruption" is "imminent."</p><p>Taal volcano is located on an island around 40 miles south of Manila in the Philippines' Batangas province, according to The New York Times. Around 6,000 people live on the island itself, but people in the surrounding areas are also at risk. More than 13,000 people in Batangas and nearby Cavite province have been evacuated to shelters so far, according to The Associated Press. But authorities expect that number to balloon. More than 450,000 people are estimated to live within the volcano's danger zone, the Official United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. </p>
<div id="6d9fd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="31KD5E1578927740"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1216539525066952705" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Over 450,000 people are estimated to be residing within the 14 km danger zone of the Taal Volcano. On 12 January, a… https://t.co/rdy7nVDu9U</div> — OCHA Philippines (@OCHA Philippines)<a href="https://twitter.com/OCHAPhilippines/statuses/1216539525066952705">1578880599.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51086961" target="_blank">According to BBC News</a>, Batangas province has already declared a "state of calamity."</p><p>So far, the major impact has been ash. The volcano sent ash, steam and pebbles six to nine miles into the air Sunday, The Associated Press reported. The ash spread more than 62 miles north of the volcano, reaching Manila, where it forced the international airport to close. More than 500 flights were canceled.</p><p>The airport was able to resume "partial operations" Monday morning, BBC News reported. But schools were closed, government work paused and the Philippines stock exchange canceled trading for the day.</p><p>In the villages, meanwhile, the ashfall threatened homes and livelihoods.</p>
<div id="b1f0b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="K71I821578927740"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1216509830191435776" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">LOOK: Tagaytay Picnic Grove covered in mud and ashes after #TaalVolcano eruption | via @_katrinadomingo https://t.co/WFo4oXF6jE</div> — ABS-CBN News (@ABS-CBN News)<a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/statuses/1216509830191435776">1578873519.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"My father is missing," evacuee Irene de Claro, whose father stayed behind when the rest of the family fled a village in Batangas, told The Associated Press. "We don't know too what happened to our house because the ash was up to our knees, it was very dark and the ground was constantly shaking when we left. Most likely there's nothing for us to return to. We're back to zero."</p><p>Fear of losing farms or livestock means some people are refusing to evacuate.</p><p>"We have a problem, our people are panicking due to the volcano because they want to save their livelihood, their pigs and herds of cows," Mayor Wilson Maralit of Balete town told DZMM radio, as The Associated Press reported. "We're trying to stop them from returning and warning that the volcano can explode again anytime and hit them."</p><p>So far, there have been no deaths or injuries reported.</p><p>Taal volcano has erupted more than 30 times in 500 years, according to BBC News. The last time was in 1977.</p>Because it lies on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the Philippines is often threatened by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It also weathers around 20 typhoons or major storms every year, according to The Associated Press. The last was less than a month ago, when <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/typhoon-philippines-2642182411.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">Typhoon Phanfone</a> struck the predominantly Catholic country on Christmas Day.
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The Pteris melanocaulon thrives in abandoned areas after an open pit copper mining operation. Mary Jean Apuan / Mongabay
Filipino scientists have discovered what might be the next big indigenous plant material for rehabilitating a mining site teeming with copper and arsenic — and it's a largely ignored local fern.
<p>Published in the peer-reviewed journal Chemosphere, the study by a group of scientists led by Rene Claveria of the Ateneo de Manila University records the unique ability of <em>Pteris melanocaulon</em> to absorb copper in its roots and arsenic in its leaves in large doses.<em></em></p>
<p>"It's not common for ferns to absorb both high concentrates of copper and arsenic," Claveria, an environmental geology expert, tells Mongabay. "Plants don't do it simultaneously in large doses. It's something new."</p><p>The fern was spotted in the mossy areas of an abandoned mining site in the province of Surigao del Norte by the scientists scouring major mining sites across the Philippines to study copper metallophytes under a government-funded research program.</p><p>The study of metallophytes, plants that have the ability to thrive on soils with high concentrations of heavy metals that are too toxic for other plant species, has been a growing interest among scholars, particularly for their possible use in phytoremediation, the process of cleaning up mineral-rich soil and groundwater using plants and trees.</p>
<p>"It's not common for ferns to absorb both high concentrates of copper and arsenic," Claveria, an environmental geology expert, tells Mongabay. "Plants don't do it simultaneously in large doses. It's something new."</p><p>The fern was spotted in the mossy areas of an abandoned mining site in the province of Surigao del Norte by the scientists scouring major mining sites across the Philippines to study copper metallophytes under a government-funded research program.</p><p>The study of metallophytes, plants that have the ability to thrive on soils with high concentrations of heavy metals that are too toxic for other plant species, has been a growing interest among scholars, particularly for their possible use in phytoremediation, the process of cleaning up mineral-rich soil and groundwater using plants and trees.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjUwMjI4Ny9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTY0NjQ3OX0.3iKZcQz-vGHIsS0z9LvKilNx0cFXNWMIJa4MHUWOdYw/img.png?width=980" id="767f1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3f84b638d1941a4140c76089cdf74a4e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
A fern species that flourishes in the mossy slopes of an open pit copper mining site in Surigao del Norte, a province in Mindanao. Teresita Perez / Mongabay
<p>"We are interested in metallophytes … plants that grow on mining areas," Claveria says. "While analyzing all these plants, we decided that fern is the most suitable for our study because they have higher amounts of absorbed copper and arsenic and other metals."</p><p>The decision to narrow down to ferns came with scholarly backing: the <em>Pteris</em> genus, which includes around 300 species of ferns, feature other popular metallophytes that absorb arsenic. But unlike other widely researched species, <em>P. melanocaulon</em> was mostly unknown, in part due to the scarcity of research journals on the plant. Existing surveys conducted by the team across various large- and small-scale mining sites showed that it only proliferates in two areas in the Philippines.</p><p>"When we focused on ferns, there was one that stood out: the <em>P. melanocaulon</em>, which we didn't see in any other mining sites we surveyed," Claveria says. "We found it in Surigao [del Norte] and later on, in Carmen [in Cebu province] … and this fern happens to grow in areas [within these sites] that are supposedly barren."</p><p>The mossy open slopes left behind by open pit mines, notorious for their high levels of arsenic and copper concentrates, were the perfect breeding grounds for <em>P. melanocaulon</em>, which thrive in lush clusters that overpower the other plants in the Surigao del Norte mining site, Claveria says. Curious about the fern, they recovered samples and conducted initial tests to measure its copper absorption capabilities in 2014.</p><p>The results showed that the plant's roots have "anomalously high" concentrations of copper, Claveria says. After publishing their findings in the <em>International Journal of Phythoremediation</em> in 2015, the team expanded their research on the plant and threw arsenic into the mix.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjQ5OTAxMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTcyNzY1NH0.AgJ_5hIJp-G_Euq3S1qB15N3Tp-srdgf0gCZUhrHSME/img.png?width=980" id="fdba5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4e080f211718530294353c23505d6296" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Rene Claveria and Teresita Perez examining plants in Surigao del Norte. Teresita Perez / Mongabay
<p>The logic was since the fern survives alongside other species that are known arsenic metallophytes, maybe it could also absorb arsenic.</p><p>After collecting another set of samples, they conducted a series of tests that verified their hypothesis: the fern does indeed absorb the toxic mineral and stores it in its stems and leaves. They took the research a little further and funded a greenhouse to propagate spores of <em>P. melanocaulon</em> at Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro province, where they experimented with the potted plants.</p><p>They added different concentrations and solutions of arsenic to uncontaminated soil in a series of experiments that lasted for six weeks. The plant's ability to absorb arsenic varied, adjusting to the concentration of the element in the soil, much to the researchers' surprise. The team noted two important observations: that the fern contained more arsenic concentrate than the soil it was planted on, and that despite exposure to high levels of arsenic, it showed no symptoms of toxicity.</p><p>"<em>P. melanocaulon</em> is an accumulator of [arsenic], with the plant having higher amounts of [arsenic] than that of the soil," the study says. The study also noted that while the arsenic concentration increases, the fern can "efficiently absorb and store" arsenic and extract it from the soil, making it an "efficient arsenic accumulator and hyperaccumulator."</p><p>The results, according to Claveria and Teresita Perez, also of the Ateneo de Manila University who headed the research program, prove that the plant can be used to rehabilitate mining sites, especially since its "root system provides good soil cover" and "can ideally immobilize metal contaminants." This means that the plant can filter contaminated water and reduce the spread of heavy metals through the soil.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjQ5OTAxNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzk2MzU5MH0.5-MwFkx1ph0NxJCb84APJFbBtjIw34wj7TNOclmCzrE/img.png?width=980" id="b27f8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="86a64d183e6f270db436ab32cd2419bd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/01/philippine-fern-efficiently-absorbs-arsenic-copper-from-toxic-mining-soil/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mongabay</a>.</em></p>Rene Claveria collecting soil samples in Surigao del Norte. Teresita Perez / Mongabay
<p>"If you use the ferns to clean up arsenic, which is very toxic, there could be colonization or succession of plants," Perez says. "Eventually, a year after or after one and a half years, you can already plant some high value crops in the area."</p><p>With the protocol in the propagation of the fern species in the books, Perez says the possibility of using the fern to rehabilitate mining soil on a large-scale project is possible. But first, she says, decision-makers should be aware of metallophytes — and that there are indigenous plants that can be used as natural remedies to alleviate mineral-heavy soils.</p><p>"We have to recommend to our policymakers the use of indigenous plant materials to actually clean up arsenic-contaminated areas," Perez says. "In the past, rehabilitating mining sites involved planting invasive species — that was really a wrong move. But now, we're propagating the idea of indigenous and endemic species so these areas can develop new ecosystems."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Philippines residents wade through flood waters brought by typhoon Phanfone on Dec. 25. RONALD FRANK DEJON / AFP via Getty Images
Typhoon Phanfone battered the Philippines on Christmas Day, killing at least 28 and uprooting tens of thousands.
<p><br>Authorities revised the death toll upwards on Friday from 16, and said it might rise again, <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/philippines-typhoon-phanfone-toll-jumps-28-doc-1nb6kp1" target="_blank">AFP reported</a>. At least 12 people are missing.</p><p>"The likelihood is present that the casualty count will still increase," national disaster agency spokesman Mark Timbal told AFP. "We're hoping against it."</p><p>The storm made landfall Tuesday night and continued to hit islands in the central Philippines on Wednesday, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50913965" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. Wind gusts measured up to between 118 and 124 miles per hour, according to figures reported by BBC News and AFP respectively. The wind destroyed homes, trees and power lines. The storm also caused landslides and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/e80ea685e25d5407e28dd9aff3e55ed1" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>. Most of the deaths were caused by drowning, falling trees or electrocution.</p><p>The death toll was the highest in the provinces of Iloilo and Capiz, BBC News reported. In Iloilo, most of the deaths occurred in the town of Batad, disaster office head Jerry Byuna told <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/26/19/at-least-7-dead-12-missing-in-iloilo-due-to-ursula" target="_blank">ABS-CBN News</a>. One family was swept away by flood waters when attempting to reach higher ground.</p><p>One official said the town was entirely blacked out Christmas Day.</p><p>"You can't see anybody because there was a total blackout, you can't hear anything. The town looked like a ghost town," Cindy Ferrer of the regional Office of the Civil Defense told The Associated Press.</p><p>The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, and the storm meant that tens of thousands had to spend the holiday away from home. More than 58,000 people were evacuated ahead of time and around 15,000 were stranded at ports waiting for suspended ferries, BBC News reported.</p><p>"I join in the pain that affected the dear people of the Philippines because of the Typhoon Phanfone," Pope Francis said, according to BBC News. "I pray for the numerous victims, for the injured and for their families."</p><p>The recovery effort will now begin. Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross Richard Gordon told BBC News that water and power had been cut in many areas because of the storm and could take weeks to restore.</p><p>"A lot of people have lost their homes and they need food," he said.</p><p>The storm departed the Philippines for the South China Sea Thursday morning, AFP reported. It is headed towards Vietnam but is expected to weaken significantly before it hits.</p><p>The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms per year. Phanfone is the 21st to strike the country in 2019. The storms often kill and destroy harvests and homes, keeping people in poverty.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> only makes the country more vulnerable to typhoons. A 2016 study found that warming ocean temperatures had already made typhoons in Asia around 15 percent more intense and therefore 50 percent more destructive over the last 40 years. The storms are projected to intensify further.</p>"We want to give the message that typhoon intensity has increased and will increase in the future because of the warming climate," research leader and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Professor Wei Mei told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/05/asian-typhoons-becoming-more-intense-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> at the time.
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Extracted from the sap of the coconut, the "lambanog" was once considered a lowly peasant's drink whose potency they claim puts those of well-known liquors and spirits around the world in the shade. JAY DIRECTO / AFP / Getty Images
Christmas celebrations turned sour when 11 people died and over 300 were hospitalized in the Philippines after drinking a batch of poisonous coconut wine, local police said on Monday.
<p>Holiday revelers in the provinces of Laguna and Quezon, south of Manila, fell ill after drinking a wine called lambanog, a traditional Filipino alcoholic drink that is made from coconut sap. It generally has a high alcohol content of around 40 percent, and is often distilled in informal and unsanitary environments.</p>
<p>Those who consumed the drink were rushed to hospitals with symptoms including stomach aches, vomiting and numbness, while some collapsed and lost consciousness, according to the police report. Two were reportedly comatose before arriving at the hospital for treatment.</p><p>The deaths occurred in Rizal, a small municipality of Laguna province, between Thursday and Sunday. Rizal's mayor, Vener Munoz, told local media that two people who were in critical condition were on the mend, and that the wine had been produced there.</p><p>"All had a sad history of lambanog ingestion," Reuters quoted the local police department as saying. "Some bought for leisure drinking and birthday party, while others were donated by local officials during their Christmas party."</p>
<p>Last year, more than 10 people died after consuming the same drink. Jose Jonas Del Rosario, a doctor and spokesman for Manila's Philippine General Hospital, told AFP that methanol, a chemical that can cause blindness and death, is one of the byproducts of coconut wine fermentation.</p><p>Some lambanog producers choose to keep the high levels of methanol because it allows for a larger production volume and is thus more profitable, he added.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eleven-dead-300-hospitalized-after-drinking-poisonous-coconut-wine/a-51777344" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Manila’s New Mayor Wants Solar Panels, Rainwater Collectors for City’s Schools
10 July 2019
Renewable Energy
A rooftop solar system was installed at Philippine Science High School in Diliman, Quezon City in 2010. Gregorio B. Dantes Jr. / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images
Manila's new mayor wants to turn the city's public schools into a living lesson in sustainability.
<p>Mayor Francisco "Isko" Moreno Domagoso unveiled a plan Tuesday to install <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar" target="_self">solar</a> panels and rainwater collectors on the roofs of primary and secondary schools in the Philippines' capital city, the <a href="https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/09/isko-wants-solar-panels-rainwater-collectors-installed-in-manila-schools/" target="_blank">Manila Bulletin reported</a>. He said the initiative would raise environmental awareness in students.</p><p>"If they are seeing these types of facilities, and it can be done since it's not even rocket science, they will know how to care for the environment," Domagoso told reporters, according to the Manila Bulletin. "When they would be given the opportunity in the future, they will do the same kapag malalaki na sila."</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9a6442491901b2ab299764bf1bbd1329"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mncl8x0f3hs?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>Domagoso shared his ideas at a meeting with the Manila City School Board and asked the board to come up with proposals for fulfilling his vision, <a href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1139620/isko-moreno-wants-solar-panels-rainwater-collectors-installed-in-manila-public-schools" target="_blank">Inquirer.net reported</a>.</p><p>He touted the rain collecting scheme as a way to bolster water security, citing low water levels in the country's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dams" target="_self">dams</a>.</p><p>"Nowadays, we're having challenges with our water in our dams. While it is true na mayroon naman tayong pag-ulan, we are still in below comfortable water level in our dams," Domagoso told reporters, according to Inquirer.net. "Having said that, I am now encouraging the board to come up with environmental projects, programs to harness <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energies</a>."</p><p>Environmental groups expressed enthusiasm for his proposal.</p><p>"YES to solar powered schools!" <a href="https://t.co/JedMWPWIa1" target="_blank">Greenpeace Philippines</a> tweeted.</p>
<div id="743b5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="G4LL9W1576664275"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1148775250588360705" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">YES to solar powered schools! ☀️
Support clean energy >> https://t.co/7qZb8h9j8H
@IskoMoreno
https://t.co/LsNfAmoXsR</div> — Greenpeace Philippines (@Greenpeace Philippines)<a href="https://twitter.com/gpph/statuses/1148775250588360705">1562724337.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Domagoso began his term as mayor in early July after defeating the incumbent mayor Joseph Estrada, the <a href="https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2019/07/03/1931514/changing-guards" target="_blank">Philippine Star reported</a>.</p><p>Early in his term, he promised to support the cleanup efforts of environmental groups and government agencies.</p><p>"My presence here is to show you that whatever you're going to do in the next weeks or months in the City of Manila, either as a government agency or non-government organization, I assure you, you have a friend in the city," he said in a speech Saturday, as <a href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1138534/isko-tells-environment-groups-im-your-friend-in-manila" target="_blank">Inquirer.net reported</a>.</p><p>He has pledged to expand Manila's Arroceros Park, known as the city's "last lung."</p><p>"Cleaning up" Manila was one of Domagoso's main campaign promises, and he took early action July 2 by booting flea market vendors from the streets in Divisoria, the city's traditional commercial center, <a href="https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/manila-mayor-draws-praise-for-clean-up-drive-1.65102683" target="_blank">Gulf News reported</a>.</p><p>"The syndicate that hold the vendors in Divisoria had offered me P5 million (approximately $100,000) just so they can continue with their activities of using the thoroughfare for their business. I turned it down," he said, as Gulf News reported. "If Divisoria gets messed up again, then that only means that I had been bribed."</p><p>He has also mandated a cleanup of the city's waterways.</p><p>While the new mayor has earned praise for his efforts, some have raised concerns about whether he can sustain the momentum, and whether he can clear the city of vendor traffic without harming the ability of poorer residents to earn a living, the <a href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/07/10/1933604/recto-iskos-efforts-fix-manila-show-charter-change-not-sole-solution" target="_blank">Philippine Star reported</a>.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">World's Largest <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Solar?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Solar</a> Panel Facade Powers Danish School <a href="https://t.co/AqaMXGTN9S">https://t.co/AqaMXGTN9S</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SEIA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SEIA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mzjacobson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mzjacobson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SolarRoadways?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SolarRoadways</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BillNye?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BillNye</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/832263130977882114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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The 18th century St. Catherine of Alexandria church is seen after its bell tower was destroyed following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the town of Porac, pampanga province on April 23. TED ALJIBE / AFP / Getty Images
At least 16 people have died, 81 are injured and 14 are still missing after an earthquake struck Luzon island in the Philippines Monday, according to the latest figures from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, as the Philippine Star tweeted Tuesday.
<p>The 6.1 magnitude quake caused a supermarket to collapse in Porac, Pampanga province on the country's largest island, trapping people inside, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-quake/rescuers-race-to-find-survivors-after-philippine-quake-kills-15-idUSKCN1RZ05V" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. </p>
<p>"We're not sure how many people are trapped still," Porac Mayor Condralito Dela Cruz told television news channel ANC, as Reuters reported. "We can still hear some voices, the voice of a woman."</p><p>The Philippine Star said the death toll would likely rise as rescue crews continue to search the rubble of the Chuzon Supermarket. A state of calamity was declared in Porac to allow it to access funds faster, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/quake-kills-11-24-missing-northern-philippines-62565748" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported.</a></p>
<div id="1739c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="UAF11Y1576663925"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1120573539176697856" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Rescuers ushered a survivor out of the rubble of wrecked Chuzon Supermarket in Porac, Pampanga on Tuesday. | via Ja… https://t.co/XSj45lFf5Y</div> — The Philippine Star (@The Philippine Star)<a href="https://twitter.com/PhilippineStar/statuses/1120573539176697856">1556000525.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The earthquake occurred at 5 p.m. local time, and Dela Cruz said it was the strongest the town had experienced. Sixty-five-year-old resident Aurelia Daeng, who lost a wall of her home to the quake, agreed.<br></p><p>"It was very strong. It was our first time experiencing something like that," she said, as Reuters reported.</p><p>The earthquake also damaged the Clarke International Airport in Pampanga, injuring seven people when part of the ceiling over the check-in area collapsed, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/22/asia/philippines-earthquake-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. The airport has suspended operations for 24 hours.</p><p>The governor of Pampanga, where most of the deaths took place, said she would investigate why certain buildings collapsed and others did not, Reuters reported.</p><p>The quake was also felt in the capital of Manila, about 68 miles to the south, where office workers fled swaying high rise buildings. A video showed water flying out of a penthouse swimming pool, according to CNN.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4d179e7b3f1bfbb90cd0f1d188c7c0f0"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/michael.rivo.94/posts/2271194593103388"></div></div><p>Monday's quake was followed by another, stronger earthquake in San Julian town in Eastern Samar province, The Associated Press reported. That earthquake registered a 6.4 on the Richter scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It sent people fleeing from homes and offices, but no casualties were reported. There was no serious damage, but cracks were reported on roads, buildings and a church in San Julian.<br></p><p>The quake Tuesday, which struck the island of Samar, prompted fears of a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tsunami" target="_self">tsunami</a> from some in the Philippines. But the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it posed no tsunami risk.</p>
<div id="7521d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="L4JM121576663925"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1120582624982880256" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Netizen Zhaun Rosales Ortega said people are running out of fear of tsunami in Tacloban City on Tuesday.
Phivolcs… https://t.co/SrZecTnoww</div> — The Philippine Star (@The Philippine Star)<a href="https://twitter.com/PhilippineStar/statuses/1120582624982880256">1556002691.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The Philippines suffers from an elevated number of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-disasters" target="_self">natural disasters</a> because it is located on the seismically active "Ring of Fire" that surrounds the Pacific Ocean.</p>
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One World Animal Day event protests the killing of mother macaques as children are captured for the pet trade. Thai National Parks / CC BY-SA 2.0
Thursday is World Animal Day, a day dedicated to improving the well-being of animals across the planet.
"To achieve this, we encourage animal welfare organisations, community groups, youth and children's clubs, businesses and individuals to organize events in celebration of World Animal Day. Involvement is growing at an astonishing rate and it's now widely accepted and celebrated in a variety of different ways in many countries, with no regard to nationality, religion, faith or political ideology," the event's website says.
<p>Here are some of the creative, informative and sometimes adorable <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events" target="_blank">happenings</a> around the world in honor of both wild and domestic animals.</p><p><strong>Jakarta, Indonesia</strong></p><p>Activists in Jakarta, Indonesia have organized a moving protest to oppose the killing of mother macaques, whose children are then captured and sold as pets. On World Animal Day, the <a href="https://www.jakartaanimalaid.com/" target="_blank">Jakarta Animal Aid Network</a> <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/sending-flowers-to-remind-the-mothers-of-primate-babies-killed-for-the-primate-pet-trade" target="_blank">is asking</a> concerned citizens to mail or bring flowers to decision makers' offices in order to commemorate the thousands of monkeys killed in Indonesia every year as part of this cruel practice and to encourage them to put a stop to the deaths.</p><p><strong>Dhaka, Bangladesh</strong></p><p>The People for Animal Welfare (PAW) Foundation is offering free checkups to pets at its clinic, the <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/2018/10/04/world-animal-day-paw-foundation-offers-free-checkups" target="_blank">Dhaka Tribune reported</a>. They also offered discounts on vaccines and vaccinated 20 stray dogs for free.</p><p><strong>Cape Town, South Africa</strong></p><p>The Cape Animal Welfare Forum, a conglomeration of 31 animal welfare organizations in Cape Town, is organizing a <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/moonlight-dog-walk-1" target="_blank">Moonlight Dog Walk</a> on Friday to raise funds. They aim to get 1,000 dogs walking around the Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town for a first in Africa. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Serbia and the Philippines</strong></p><p>Organizations across the globe are teaming up for an international art contest to promote "care and responsibility to animals." The "<a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/art-competition-and-international-artwork-exchange--pets-are-family-too--" target="_blank">Pets are Family Too</a>" art competition, hosted by <a href="http://animalkingdomfoundation.org.ph/main/" target="_blank">Animal Kingdom Foundation</a> in the Philippines and the Society for the Protection of Animals LJUBIMCI in Serbia will invite school children from both countries to send in artwork celebrating their pets. Selected entries will be displayed at exhibits in both countries. </p><p><strong>New York, USA</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/" target="_blank">Cruelty Free International</a> and the <a href="https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/" target="_blank">Body Shop</a> are <a href="https://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/events/view/high-level-roundtable-to-celebrate-8-million-signatures-calling-for-an-end-to-global-cosmetics-anima" target="_blank">celebrating</a> their success in partnering to collect more than <a href="https://www.thebodyshop.com/en-gb/about-us/against-animal-testing" target="_blank">8 million signatures</a> in favor of prohibiting the use of animal testing for beauty products. The event will take the form of a roundtable hosted by the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations, and speakers will include representatives of the three host organizations plus members of British and European parliaments and actors Declan McDermott and Maggie Q.</p>
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Powerful typhoon Mangkhut attacks Hong Kong, China on Sept. 16 in Hong Kong. TPG / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
While Hurricane Florence inundated the Carolinas this weekend, Typhoon Mangkhut, the most powerful storm so far this year, battered the Philippines and Hong Kong before moving on to China's Guangdong Province Sunday, The Huffington Post reported.
<p>"Typhoon Mangkhut is a huge monster with very similar strengths as Hurricane Florence," Chinese University of Hong Kong associate professor Yuan Xu told The Huffington Post. </p><p>The storm first struck the northern tip of the Philippines' Luzon Island Saturday morning, killing at least 64 in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> and landslides, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/weather/2018/sep/16/typhoon-mangkhut-to-china-as-philippines-death-toll-rises" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. </p><p>The two most devastating landslides were in the mountainous Benguet Province, where 38 died and 37 are still missing, police said.</p><p>One of the landslides trapped dozens of miners and their families who had sought shelter in an old mining bunkhouse turned chapel, Itogen Mayor Victorio Palangdan told <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/typhoon-mangkhut-china-1.4825728" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>. </p><p>"They thought they were really safe there," Palangdan said, adding that the villagers were very poor and had few options despite wealthy corporations getting rich from gold mining in the region.</p><p>Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte repeated a desire Monday to "close all mining" in the country following the landslides, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/asia-storm-philippines-duterte/philippine-president-repeats-desire-to-close-all-mining-after-landslides-idUKP9N1TL00A" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>Government officials are also worried about the impact of the typhoon on <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture" target="_self">agriculture</a> in the Philippines, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45543664" target="_blank">BBC News reported</a>. </p><p>The storm devastated the key farming region of Cagayan, and adviser to Duterte Francis Tolentino told BBC News that only a fifth of the region's produce had been harvested before the storm. </p><p>Mangkhut then moved to Hong Kong Sunday, where it shuttered businesses, canceled around 900 flights and injured more than 200, BBC News reported. </p><p>Strong winds tore the corner off of a building, collapsed bamboo scaffolding and caused a storm surge that rose around 13 feet, The Huffington Post reported.</p><p>Winds also caused the city's high-rises to move.</p><p>"It swayed for quite a long time, at least two hours," Hong Kong resident Elaine Wong told Reuters of her building, according to BBC News. "It made me feel so dizzy."</p><p>Neighboring Macau closed all of its casinos for the first time in its history, BBC News reported.</p><p>The storm reached China's Guangdong Province Sunday afternoon with winds of 100 miles per hour, The Guardian reported.</p><p>More than 2.4 million people were evacuated before the storm struck, and the Chinese state broadcaster said four people had died as of Monday morning. </p><p>Schools in the area are closed until Tuesday, The Guardian reported, and the storm will move on to Guizhou, Chongqing and Yunnan provinces later Monday, BBC News reported. </p><p>While no study has yet been done assessing the degree to which <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_blank">climate change</a> contributed to Mangkhut, the storm the China Meteorological Administration called the "King of Storms," as The Guardian reported, is in line with the type of storm expected to become more common as the planet warms. </p><p>"We do know that, on average, climate change is making storms stronger, causing them to intensify faster, increasing the amount of rainfall associated with a given storm, and even making them move more slowly," Texas Tech University atmospheric scientist Katharine Hayhoe told The Huffington Post. </p>
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Rain covers the city lying on the path of Typhoon Mangkhut as residents prepare its approach on Sept. 14 in Tuguegarao city, northern Philippines. Jes Aznar / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Millions of people, including 1 million living below the poverty line, are directly in the path of powerful super typhoon Mangkhut as the 550-mile-wide storm churns towards the Philippines.
<p>Thousands are being evacuated from their homes before the storm is expected to make landfall on Saturday morning. The storm, which has maximum wind speeds of 170 mph, tore through Guam on Thursday, leaving 80 percent of the island without power. </p><p>"We haven't seen a typhoon this powerful hit the Philippines in some time," Alberto Muyot, CEO of disaster relief group Save the Children Philippines, told the New York Times. "We're particularly concerned about those living in coastal and low-lying communities, which are set to face ferocious winds, heavy rainfall and flooding, as well as the risk of storm surge." An HSBC survey earlier this year <a href="https://climatenexus.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=d8b50b9e19&e=992ed4d5cc" target="_blank">ranked</a> the Philippines the third most-vulnerable country to climate change in the world.</p><p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/14/world/asia/typhoon-mangkhut-philippines-hong-kong.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/14/asia/typhoon-mangkhut-philippines-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45517803" target="_blank">BBC</a>, <a href="https://www.axios.com/super-typhoon-mangkhut-strongest-storm-771e3ff0-d769-45ae-a2bf-25c27ff33aca.html" target="_blank">Axios</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-14/most-powerful-typhoon-of-2018-set-to-cause-disruption-in-asia" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/philippines-starts-massive-evacuations-huge-typhoon-nears-n909256" target="_blank">NBC</a>, <a href="http://time.com/5396032/philippines-typhoon-mangkhut-cagayan/" target="_blank">Time</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-asia-storm/wind-rain-lashes-north-philippines-as-huge-typhoon-approaches-idUSKCN1LU0WF" target="_blank">Reuters</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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Plates of leaf-like foliose corals are common on the Philippines' Benham Bank. Oceana / UPLB
By Allison Guy
In May 2016, technical divers descended 200 feet to Benham Bank, the shallowest portion of a huge underwater plateau off the Philippines' northeast tip. As they neared the bottom, an otherworldly landscape emerged from the dim cobalt blue.
Plates of coral grew one atop the other like china at a yard sale, dotted with sea fans and sprigs of algae. Coral columns encrusted in yellow, orange and pink coralline algae looked as though they'd been splashed with rainbow paint. Colonies thrived as far as the eye could see.
<p>The divers, part of a scientific expedition to Benham, were shocked by the reef's health and size, said Gloria Estenzo Ramos, the head of <a href="https://oceana.org" target="_blank">Oceana</a> in the Philippines. "Our country is at the center of the center of marine biodiversity, but there are almost no more reefs left that we can call pristine," she said. "At Benham Bank, we found a place that still has 100 percent coral cover."</p><p>Benham lies in the ocean's "twilight zone" between bright surface waters and the permanent night below. Only in the last decade has technology advanced enough to let scientists venture this deep. Recent discoveries reveal that these little-studied deep <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-reefs">reefs</a> are everywhere their sunlit cousins are—and that they're often bigger, healthier and home to species no longer common in the shallows.</p><p><strong>Lovely, Dark and Deep</strong></p><p>Almost 190 years ago, Charles Darwin dredged up tropical, reef-building corals from 420 feet deep. It's a strange place to find typically sun-loving organisms.</p><p>Tropical corals, the kind familiar to scuba divers, all need the sun to survive. Their tissues harbor tiny beneficial algae that convert sunlight into food. Life in the twilight zone's mesophotic depths—"meso" for half and "photic" for light—stretches this partnership to its limits. Deep-dwelling corals, like those at Benham, grow in plate and lettuce-leaf shapes to expand their surface area and capture as much sunlight as possible.</p><p>Corals aren't the only photosynthetic organisms in the mesophotic zone, a band between 100 and 490 feet deep. Halimeda algae, which look like strands of flat green beads, are common at these depths. For Celia Smith, a reef algae ecologist at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, light-dependent organisms are just one of mesophotic reefs' many mysteries.</p><p>"How does a photosynthetic organism function in extreme low light?" she asked. "How do they thrive? We're still at the very beginning of understanding how these ecosystems work."</p><p><strong>Frisky Fish</strong></p><p>On May 15, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte put almost 190 square miles of Benham's reefs off-limits to all human activities except research. A further 1,160 square miles of the Philippine Rise, where Benham is situated, were closed to destructive forms of fishing. This decision safeguards Benham's delicate corals from bottom trawling and potential threats like mining, and will help preserve the healthy fish communities necessary for reef health. </p><p>Duterte's declaration was spurred by a campaign led by Oceana and joined by ally organizations. Oceana launched its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> efforts soon after the May 2016 scientific expedition, where the team provided technological assistance. The campaign got a boost in December 2016, when the Convention on Biological Diversity declared Benham to be of "critical ecological importance."</p><p>Mesophotic reefs like Benham aren't just important habitats for corals and algae. Their intricate topography shelters fish and other animals as well. Some fish species are familiar from the shallows, while others, like a newly identified butterflyfish from the Philippines, are unique to the mesophotic zone.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODIyMDQwMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjQ1NzQwNX0.NAdLmLK517YxpgGElCDfNQ_vnS8YRAI1rrFKYgSrX6Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="e0698" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a59189ac1cbd01a737562799687d7db2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A diverse collection of fish thrives on this 250-foot-deep reef in Hawaii.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">NOAA</small></p><p>These smaller fish attract bigger fish, like groupers, snappers and sharks, many of which are important for local food security and incomes. "When you protect these reefs, you get a huge benefit in terms of fisheries species build-up," said Tyler Smith, a coral reef ecologist at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas, who is not related to Celia Smith.<br></p><p>So far, more than 200 fish species have been documented at Benham. The spot is the world's only confirmed spawning ground for Pacific bluefin tuna, a lucrative species that's plummeted to just 3 percent of its pre-fishing abundance.</p><p>Safeguarding mesophotic spawning sites pays off, Tyler Smith explained. In the Virgin Islands, after 20 years of protection, endangered Nassau grouper are returning to mating spots once decimated by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/overfishing">overfishing</a>. "We're starting to see their numbers rebound, and you now see them not so uncommonly in shallow waters," he said. "They're slowly coming back to being a viable species."</p><p><strong>Shelter From the Warm</strong></p><p>Benham is just one of a vast network of mesophotic reefs that could benefit from protected status—and protection begins with simple knowledge of their existence.</p><p>When Smith and his colleagues surveyed the ocean southwest of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, they were surprised to find that a single mesophotic reef system was "more extensive and well-developed" than all the islands' shallow reefs combined, with potentially hundreds of millions of coral colonies. On top of this, he said, the deeper ecosystems harbored a species of boulder coral that's all but vanished from the Caribbean's decimated surface reefs.</p><p>St. Thomas isn't the only haven for rare coral. In Panama and the Galapagos, a species of fire coral is thought to vanish from the shallows during the unusual warmth of the El Niño weather phenomena, only to be re-seeded from deeper-living specimens.</p><p>Scientists now debate whether mesophotic reefs can shelter shallower species from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>, like a Svalbard Seed Vault for corals. So far, the answer has been "it depends."</p><p>During the recent nightmare <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coral-bleaching">bleaching</a> that wiped out one-third of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, <a href="https://oceana.org/blog/shallow-reefs-fade-hope-deep-water-can-shield-corals-warming-seas" target="_blank">some mesophotic corals</a> appeared to fare better. But in other parts of the world, mesophotic reefs are more imperiled than shallow one. That's because twilight corals aren't acclimatized to the dramatic temperature swings that can batter reefs up-top. How well mesophotic reefs fare depends on local ocean conditions, like deep, cool currents, which can mean the difference between life and death. </p><p><strong>Deep Thinking</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODIyMDQxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTI3NDQ1NX0.7D_EqkCs9UlW2CuzmMfRr4EdAqOu6ldPlLgk00MzaP8/img.jpg?width=980" id="d4528" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dfc753da24dd1702794e378e49310f41" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Colorful creatures like this hawkfish enliven the "twilight zone." </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Oceana / Karl Hurwood</small></p><p>There's no debating that twilight zone reefs have one advantage on their side: distance from us. Living at a remove from humans helps insulate them from coral-killers like bottom dredging, coastal development and agricultural runoff. It's also tougher to fish at mesophotic depths, said Tyler Smith, so these reefs often host bigger and more abundant fish.<br></p><div><p style="">Tyler Smith's big fear is that fishing gear and other technologies will advance to the stage that mesophotic reefs will lose their built-in safeguards. This makes legal protections, like those on Benham, all the more vital.</p><p style="">We might not fully understand these reefs, said Celia Smith, the algae ecologist, but that's no excuse to ignore or damage them. "It's the precautionary principle," she said. "These reefs could have a significant role in the future."</p>
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</p><div id="6274f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="CHGPOE1576662630"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1011645626994561024" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Belize’s Incredible Barrier Reef Recovers From 'In Danger' Status https://t.co/DRQUnIB2bW @WWF @oceana… https://t.co/CuHbFGIt0V</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1011645626994561024">1530030087.0</a></blockquote></div>
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People visit The Bund before typhoon Ampil landfall on July 22, 2018 in Shanghai, China. VCG / Getty Images
From flash floods in Vietnam to a blistering heat wave in Japan, countries across Asia are suffering from extreme weather, CNN reported Sunday.
The events come nearly two months into the continent's annual rainy season that extends from June to November, according to The Straits Times.
<p>A 2016 study showed that typhoons in Asia had gotten 50 percent more intense in the last 40 years due to increased <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">ocean</a> temperatures and were likely to get even more intense due to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/05/asian-typhoons-becoming-more-intense-study-finds" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>In Vietnam, Typhoon Son Tinh made landfall as a tropical depression on Wednesday, The Straits Times reported. </p><p>It led to flash floods and landslides that claimed at least 21 lives and inundated villages in the country's north, CNN reported.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> has damaged 15,000 homes and submerged 110,000 hectares (approximately 271815.92 acres) of farmland, The Straits Times reported.</p><p>In Shanghai, another tropical storm forced more than 190,000 people to evacuate as it made landfall Sunday afternoon. </p><p>"Ampil, the 10th typhoon this year, has made landfall on the island of Chongming in Shanghai at 12:30 p.m. local time Sunday (12:30 a.m. ET), packing winds of up to 28 meters (approximately 75.5 feet) per second near its eye," the municipal meteorological observatory told state-run media outlet Xinhua, according to CNN. </p><p>Both of these storms also battered the Philippines, which is now seeing the end of Tropical Depression 13W or Josie. </p><p>Philippines authorities said Saturday that at least five people have died and more than 700,000 have been impacted by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">floods</a> and landslides caused by heavy rain, The Straits Times reported.</p><p>Finally, a deadly heat wave has struck Japan as it recovers from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/japan-flooding-climate-change-2585147783.html" target="_self">catastrophic flooding</a>. </p><p>The heat wave has lasted two weeks and killed at least 30 people, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-44910435" target="_blank">BBC News reported Saturday</a>. </p><p>The government issued new warnings Monday as the nation's highest ever temperature of 41.1 degrees Celsius (approximately 106 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in Kumagaya in Saitama outside Tokyo, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/global-warming/record-heat-broils-japan-prompting-warnings/articleshow/65100646.cms" target="_blank">The Times of India reported</a>. </p><p>Temperatures in Kyoto have stayed above 38 degrees Celsius (approximately 100 degrees Fahrenheit) for seven days, the longest in recorded history. </p><p>CNN's Van Dam reported that the heat wave had impacted around 90 percent of the country and that the heat index, which factors in humidity, had risen into the 40s. </p><p>"Sweating is only as good as your body's ability to evaporate that sweat off of the skin. Heat indices in the mid 40s are making it nearly impossible for the body's response to properly take effect," he told CNN. </p><p>The heat wave is also making it harder for volunteers working in areas of the country hit by devastating floods earlier in the month, BBC News reported.</p>
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</p><div id="39e87" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="T4KPJN1576662492"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="974940977654845441" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">'Climate Change' Removed From FEMA's Strategic Plan https://t.co/9kst5Lvkld @TheCCoalition @ClimateCentral @carbonfinance</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/974940977654845441">1521279017.0</a></blockquote></div>
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The Philippines has an ambitious plan to deal with its capital's pollution woes—build an entirely new, sustainable city 75 miles from Manila.
The proposed New Clark City will be larger than Manhattan and house up to two million people, Business Insider UK reported May 9.
<p style="">The project's current price tag is $14 billion, and it will be funded through private-public partnerships.</p><p style="">New Clark City will feature innovative green technology like electric, driverless <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/electric-vehicles">cars</a> and buildings designed to be energy efficient and conserve water. Two-thirds of the city's area will be devoted to farms and green spaces in an attempt to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. </p><p style="">The <a href="https://newclarkcityph.com/about/" target="_blank">New Clark City</a> website describes it as "A destination where nature, lifestyle and business, education, and industry converge into a global city based on principles of sustainability." </p><p style="">The city is also designed to be resilient to disasters caused by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>. At 184 feet above sea level, it should be largely safe from flooding. Further, the green space means that rivers have room to expand without flooding infrastructure, the <a href="http://news.trust.org/item/20180326050041-1mrk2/?source=spotlight" target="_blank">Thomson Reuters Foundation</a> reported in March. </p><p style="">"The objective is not simply to build a disaster-resilient city, but rather a successful, innovative and economically competitive city that is also disaster-resilient," RAND Corporation researcher Benjamin Preston told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. </p><p style="">The project is being developed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), owned by the Philippines' government, and the Singapore urban planning firm Surbana Jurong. </p><p style="">Surbana Jurong CEO Heang Fine Wong told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/10/the-philippines-is-aiming-to-build-a-city-of-the-future.html" target="_blank">CNBC</a> that the city would act as a "twin city" to Manila. </p><p style="">Manila's Pasig River is so polluted that it can only support janitor fish and water lilies, according to <a href="https://sciencing.com/info-8788724-causes-pasig-river-pollution.html" target="_blank">Sciencing</a>. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">Air pollution</a> in Manila is also 70 percent higher than the World Health Organization's recommended safe levels, the Philippines' <a href="https://www.denr.gov.ph/news-and-features/latest-news/3295-air-pollution-a-public-health-concern-in-the-philippines.html" target="_blank">Department of Environment and Natural Resources reported</a>. </p><p style="">According to the Thomson Reuters foundation, it is also one of the densest cities in the world, so experts think the construction of New Clark City will relieve pressure on the capital and allow it to focus on making itself more sustainable and resilient as well. </p><p style="">"(It) has the potential to take pressure off Manila so that Manila can also invest in building a more resilient future," Lauren Sorkin, director for Asia-Pacific with 100 Resilient Cities, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. </p><p style="">According to BCDA President Vince Dizon, the government is working to develop the new city as quickly as possible while making sure it retains its green design. </p><p style="">"We need to strike a balance between fast-paced development that maximises value for the private sector, and protecting open spaces and making the city walkable, green and resilient," Dizon told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.</p>Currently, the BCDA is working to complete the New Clark City sports facility in time for the Philippines to host the Southeast Asian Games in 2019, breaking ground on the complex April 25, the <a href="https://newclarkcityph.com/2018/04/27/construction-of-2019-sea-games-facilities-ahead-of-schedule/" target="_blank">New Clark City website reported</a>.<p><br></p>
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2017 wasn't all bad. We got to know some fascinating fish, like this magma fairy wrasse. B. P. Shutman
By Amy McDermott
If you think 2017 was a garbage fire, we can't stop you. But the world wasn't the only thing in flames. You know what else was on fire this year? Fish discovery.
<p>Last year, we brought you <a href="http://oceana.org/blog/6-amazing-new-fish-species-discovered-2016" target="_blank">six of our favorite fish discovered in 2016</a>. This year, we're upping the ante. Meet seven of our newly-minted favorites, discovered in 2017.</p><p><strong>1. </strong><strong>Snailfish of the Deep (Pseudoliparis Swirei)</strong></p><p>Plunge into the Mariana Trench, and you'll find a <a href="http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4358.1.7/13080" target="_blank">ghostly snailfish</a> cruising along the seabed, nearly 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) deep. It lives in crushing pressure and darkness, as one of the deepest-living fish ever collected.</p><p>Scientists found 37 of the pinkish, translucent, blobby-looking critters using abaited traps with attached video cameras. The snailfish's body is so pale that its liver, stomach and innards are visible through the skin. Other snailfish species have been found in trenches around the world</p><p>Just how deep does the new snailfish live? Well, from sidewalk to sky, the Empire State Building is 443 meters (1,450 feet) high. You'd have to stack 18 below the surface to reach snailfish territory. It's a bit deep. Your odds of stepping on one while frolicking at the beach are, luckily, very low. </p><p><strong>2. </strong><strong>Kaguya's Dartfish: A Fairy Tale Goby (Navigobius Kaguya)</strong></p><p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNjI3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODI3MTk4N30.Pi0UBlrkQ16lSJNKcRCupdK1cebNwUdqr5ZZI0PZMoM/img.jpg?width=980" id="b2da6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fb3bbc677af0ed8b3b0156fba128872f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">This fish is fit for a fairy tale.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">S.K. Tea</small></p><p>Called Kaguyahime-haze in Japanese, this <a href="http://www.mapress.com/j/zt/article/view/zootaxa.4347.2.11/12934" target="_blank">gorgeous goby</a> is named for the Moon Princess Kaguya, the central character in an ancient <a href="http://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2014/09/the-original-japanese-moon-princess.html" target="_blank">Japanese folktale</a>. The name is an allusion to the moon-like spots on the fish's dorsal fin, and its discovery on reefs in Japan, as well as in the Philippines.</p><p>The new goby looks a lot like another (as-yet-unnamed) species from Bali and the Maldives. Its head and body are orange to pink or yellow-grey, with purple stripes that sometimes become spots. Divers have spotted this species before and snapped photos of it. It's also sometimes caught for home aquariums. But it hadn't been named and described until November. Formal description in a scientific paper is how <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/species-discovered-amazon-2479945212.html">new species</a> are technically "discovered" in science.</p><p>If the world got you down this year, just take a deep breath and remember Kaguya's dartfish: the lovely new goby named after a moon princess.</p><p><strong>3. </strong><strong>Magma Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus Shutmani)</strong></p><p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNjI4MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNTc1MDk4NX0.18N25hHfg3OcFg6IX5bqN2zWOa0BPhl4Nu981Pc1wy4/img.jpg?width=980" id="55c41" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0c44246ed4057e7a093609e051ea4e5c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The magma fairy wrasse likes it hot.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">B.P. Shutman</small></p><p>If we're talking fairy tales, we can't skip <a href="https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4341.1.6/30176" target="_blank">the magma fairy wrasse</a>. Scientists sampled four spritely specimens from the underwater rubble slopes of the active Didicas Volcano in the Philippines' Babuyan Islands, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.</p><p>This fish is truly volcanic. The magma-red colors of its body and fins set it apart from other, closely-related wrasses.</p><p><strong>4. Korean "Dwarf" Seahorse (Hippocampus Haema)</strong></p><p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNjMyOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NTI3OTYyNH0.PMKiJUzfGpDs93_3RfM6UDVKka6voMi0KePjvq5sTP0/img.jpg?width=980" id="64c43" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="10f9fbe1d9330b6cc2b7a3887e500c77" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Good things come in threes.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Jin Koo Kim</small></p><p>If princesses and fairies aren't enough, let's throw in more mythical creatures. <a href="https://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=14955" target="_blank">Hippocampus haema</a> is the most common seahorse in Korea, but is also found in Japan, where it's called "himetatsu," meaning "dwarf seahorse" or "princess seahorse."</p><p>The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greater-mekong-new-species-2518885414.html">new species</a> is part of a larger group of crowned seahorses, also found in Japan and Korea. This year, scientists examined 182 seahorse specimens from the region, and sorted them into the three species. The crowned seahorse (H. coronatus) and painted seahorse (H. sindonis) had already been discovered and described. But a third, new species, H. haema, shook out of the mix, based on genetic and physical differences from the other two species. </p><p style="">Those other two seahorses also have epic Japanese names. The painted seahorse is "hanatatsu," which translates to flower dragon. And the crowned seahorse is "tatsu-no-otoshigo," or "dragon's bastard child."</p><p><strong>5. </strong><strong>Deep-Sea Anglerfish (Oneirodes Sanjeevani)</strong></p><p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNjQxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0Nzc3MzE3Nn0.Oi4eQWX3itt3-XZx0_LFOts_iATKRL_EqrlwBHb0UvU/img.jpg?width=980" id="c7543" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="03858105be8d67a1f5a7b5b7a24146ed" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Sure, this anglerfish is ugly, but it probably has a great personality.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">H. Kumar</small></p><p style="">Anglerfish are a departure from the whimsy of princesses, fairies, dwarves and dragons. But what they lack in cute and cuddliness, they make up for in peculiarity. A fleshy growth protrudes from anglerfish heads, and acts as a lure for curious prey.<br></p><p style=""><a href="http://www.asihcopeiaonline.org/doi/abs/10.1643/CI-16-467" target="_blank">Oneirodes sanjeevani</a>, the new anglerfish, has a short lure and a narrow head. Only one specimen, a female, has ever been seen. She looks like a giant mouth full of sharp teeth, tapering to a tail. The new angler was discovered in the Western Indian Ocean, between 380 and 600 meters (1,250 and 1,970 feet) deep.</p><p style="">Rows of imposing teeth, and horn-like protrusions from her head, make this critter look downright ghoulish. Luckily, she's only a few centimeters long.</p><p><strong>6. </strong><strong>Hoodwinker Sunfish (Mola Tecta)</strong></p><p>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzAxNjQ2My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjEyMjQzMX0.HUY4sLHgdozhRwikghY8DR78boCdANupSYTUOUQcpro/img.jpg?width=980" id="4f2eb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d331e248ed268ae98c06c3bab8406518" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Hiding in plain sight.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Maria Nyegaard</small></p><p>Ocean sunfish are hard to miss. They're huge and disc-shaped, with no apparent tail and long, flapping fins on top and bottom of their flattened bodies. <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/09/22/big-fish-story-malden-man-reaction-large-fish-goes-viral/TftWGEZiihOOpWj95DBEwK/story.html" target="_blank">Remember those Boston fishermen</a> who thought they'd found an injured baby whale in 2015? That was a sunfish. </p><p>If you've ever seen one, you might have called it a "Mola mola," which is the scientific name of one species. Turns out, there are even more Mola species: Mola ramsayi, and, based on genetic analysis, the new <a href="https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx040/3979130/Hiding-in-broad-daylight-molecular-and?redirectedFrom=fulltext" target="_blank">Mola tecta</a>. It's sleeker than its cousins, and the first addition to the genus in 125 years. </p><p style=""><strong>7. </strong><strong>Fire Goby (Palatogobius Incendius)</strong></p><p style="">With a name like a Harry Potter spell, <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177179" target="_blank">this Caribbean goby</a> rounds out the 2017 fish list in magical style. Its fiery name comes from its bright orange, yellow and pink scales. Fire gobies live in schools on deep reefs, from roughly 100 to 200 meters deep.</p><p style="">Back in 2015, before the gobies were formally described, scientists found a school of 50 swimming near a rock wall in Curaçao. The researchers filmed the gobies from inside a submarine, and then saw something unprecedented. Invasive lionfish, introduced to the Caribbean from the Pacific, attacked the school while the scientists watched. The researchers caught it all on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB2fRb4WVjE&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">film</a>, in the first recording of invasive lionfish threatening an "undiscovered" species. </p><p>If you thought this year was a trash fire, then fire gobies devoured by invasive species probably adds to the hot mess. Don't despair though. With princesses and dragons and volcano fish in the mix, scientific discovery was ablaze this year too. For fish at least, 2017 was lit.</p>
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