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Thousands in Hawaii Flock to Watch Lava Ooze from Volcano

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Thousands in Hawaii Flock to Watch Lava Ooze from Volcano

The world’s largest volcano in Hawaii erupted with rivers of glowing lava on Wednesday, attracting thousands of awestruck onlookers who clogged a highway that the flow could soon bury.

Mauna Loa awoke from its 38-year slumber on Sunday, sending volcanic ash and debris into the sky. A major highway connecting towns on the Big Island’s east and west coasts became an impromptu viewing point, with thousands of cars jamming the highway near Volcanoes National Park.

Anne Andersen left her overnight shift as a nurse on Wednesday to witness the spectacle, fearing that the road would soon be closed.

“It’s Mother Nature showing us her face,” she said as the horizon was filled with gas from the volcano. “It’s quite exciting.”

Gordon Brown, a visitor from Loomis, California, could see the bright orange lava from his rental house’s bedroom. So he went out with his wife to get a better look.

“We just wanted to get as close to this as possible.” “And it’s so bright that it blows my mind,” Brown explained.

Thousands in Hawaii Flock to Watch Lava Ooze from Volcano

The lava was tumbling down the slope slowly and was about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the Saddle Road highway. It was unclear when or if the road, which runs through old lava flows, would be covered.

The road cuts the island in half and connects Hilo and Kailua-Kona. If Saddle Road becomes impassable, people traveling between them would have to take a longer coastal road, adding several hours to their drive time.

According to Ken Hon, chief scientist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, at the current flow rate, the lava could reach the road in two days, but it will most likely take longer.

“As the lava flow spreads out, it will most likely obstruct its progress,” Hon predicted.

Kathryn Tarananda, 66, of Waimea, set two alarms to ensure she didn’t oversleep and miss the sunrise against Mauna Loa’s eruptions.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. Incredibly, we live in this place. “I consider myself extremely fortunate to be an islander.”

Mauna Loa erupted last in 1984. The current eruption is the 34th recorded since written records began in 1843. Because Kilauea, its smaller neighbor, has been erupting since September 2021, visitors to the national park were treated to the rare sight of two concurrent eruptive events: the glow from Kilauea’s lava lake and lava from a Mauna Loa fissure.

Thousands in Hawaii Flock to Watch Lava Ooze from Volcano

The natural forces on display impressed Abel Brown, a visitor from Las Vegas. Later in the day, he intended to take a close-up helicopter tour — but not too close.

“If you get close to it, there’s a lot of fear and trepidation,” Brown said. “The closer you get, the more powerful and frightening it becomes.”

Officials were initially concerned that lava flowing down Mauna Loa would threaten the South Kona community, but scientists later assured the public that the eruption had migrated to a rift zone on the volcano’s northeast flank and was no longer a threat.

Along Saddle Road, where people were watching the wide stream of lava creep closer, the smell of volcanic gases and sulfur was strong.

Gov. David Ige issued an emergency proclamation to allow responders to arrive quickly and, if necessary, to limit access.

Thousands in Hawaii Flock to Watch Lava Ooze from Volcano

Ige, who has dealt with numerous volcano eruptions during his eight years as governor, believes it is impossible to divert Mauna Loa’s molten rock away from the highway.

“There is no physical or technological way to change the path of the lava,” Ige said at a press conference. He recalls wishing he could do that in 2018 when Kilauea erupted and poured lava across homes, farms, and roads.

“But, as we saw in that event, Mother Nature’s and Madam Pele’s power overwhelms anything we can do,” Ige said, referring to the Hawaiian deity of volcanoes and fire.

Ige stated that if lava does cross the highway, the Hawaii National Guard could assist in planning alternatives and attempting to establish bypass routes.

According to Hon, lava crossed the Mauna Loa Observatory access road Monday night and cut power to the facility. It is the world’s most advanced station for measuring heat-trapping atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The federal government is looking for a temporary alternate location on the Hawaiian island and is considering flying a generator to the observatory to restore power so that measurements can be taken again.

Meanwhile, scientists are attempting to quantify the gas emitted by the eruption.

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United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

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united

United Airlines is attempting to reassure passengers following a spate of accidents on its Boeing jets this year. In a statement to customers, the airline states that safety is “at the center of everything that we do.”

“While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have captured our attention and sharpened our focus,” CEO Scott Kirby wrote in a Monday morning statement to customers.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

On Friday, a United Boeing 737-800 landed in Medford, Oregon, missing an underside fuselage panel.

Earlier this month, United experienced four mishaps, all involving Boeing jets. A United Boeing 737-900ER blew flames from its engine after takeoff from Houston, a Boeing 777 lost a wheel during takeoff from San Francisco, a Boeing 737 Max slipped off a runway in Houston, and a United Boeing 777 trailed hydraulic fluid as it left Sydney.

“Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups,” Kirby continued.

The airline is extending pilot training by one day, retooling training for new mechanics, and “dedicating more resources to supplier network management.”

Passengers witnessing a run of negative articles about the airline and its Boeing jets may consider booking elsewhere. In its letter, the airline is attempting to keep consumers from departing. As of the end of last year, 81% of the jets used on United’s mainline operations were manufactured by Boeing, compared to little more than half of the jets in rivals Delta and American Airlines’ mainline fleets.

Aside from the problems on  flights, the most dramatic Boeing incident this year featured an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9, which lost a door stopper on a January 5 flight, resulting in a gaping hole in the plane’s side. And last week, a Latam Airlines flight from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand, fell unexpectedly, throwing some passengers to the cabin ceiling.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

Investigators are still investigating the causes of both events, but a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board showed Boeing left the bolts required to keep the door plug in place on the 10-week-old Alaska Air jet. Boeing asserted that an incident in the cockpit rather than a problem with the aircraft’s systems may have caused the Latam accident.

The age of the aircraft in the United incidents suggests that the problem could be with their staff rather than Boeing’s well-documented quality faults. For example, Boeing purchased the jet that lost its panel on a Friday trip in 1998. So, Boeing’s quality difficulties are likely unrelated to that occurrence.

However, Boeing’s issues have impeded United’s operations. Due to the FAA’s production slowdown, it has halted hiring a new class of pilots since it will receive fewer new planes from Boeing this year, as previously promised. In January, the Alaska Air incident grounded its 737 Max 9 jets for three weeks.

united

United CEO Tries To Reassure Customers Following Multiple Safety Incidents

Furthermore, approval of a new generation of Boeing jets, the 737 Max 10, ordered by United, has been delayed due to the company’s quality and safety issues.

Kirby told investors last week that United is considering purchasing more jets from Boeing competitor Airbus. He also stated earlier this year that the Alaska Air incident was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” on United’s plans to receive deliveries of the Max 10 in the near future.’

SOURCE – (CNN)

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For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

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According to new data, the world’s oceans have now been subjected to an unprecedented year of heat, with new temperature records being smashed every day.

Global water surface temperatures began breaking daily records in mid-March last year, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer, raising fears about marine life and extreme weather worldwide.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

“The amplitude by which previous sea surface temperature records were beaten in 2023, and now again in 2024, is remarkable,” said Joel Hirschi, associate head of marine systems modelling at the National Oceanography Centre in the United Kingdom.

Gregory C. Johnson, a NOAA oceanographer, reported that the global average ocean temperature in 2023 was 0.25 degrees Celsius higher than the previous year. That increase “is equivalent to about two decades’ worth of warming in a single year,” he told CNN. “So it is quite large, quite significant, and a bit surprising.”

According to scientists, human-caused global warming, along with El Niño, a natural climate trend characterized by higher-than-average water temperatures, is accelerating  heat.

The biggest repercussions are for marine life and global weather. As the global waterwarms, hurricanes and other extreme weather phenomena, such as blistering heat waves and heavy rains, may gain more force.

High temperatures are already wreaking havoc on coral. In March, based on aerial observations, authorities declared that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is witnessing its seventh mass bleaching episode.

Bleaching happens when heat-stressed corals release the algae that dwell in their tissue and serve as a food supply. If water temperatures continue too high for too long, corals will starve and die.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

Data from NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program suggest that the crisis extends far beyond Australia, with the world potentially facing a fourth worldwide mass coral bleaching event in the coming months.

Ocean heat creates the conditions for more powerful hurricanes. “The warmer the ocean, the more energy to fuel storms is available,” said Karina von Schuckmann, an oceanographer at Mercator Ocean International in France.

Temperatures in the North Atlantic, an water area important for storm generation, have been unusual, startling some scientists who are still investigating the specific causes.

“At times, the records (in the North Atlantic) have been broken by margins that are virtually statistically impossible,” Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School, said to CNN.

If water temperatures remain high in the second half of 2024 and a La Niña event intensifies the Atlantic hurricane season, “this would increase the risk of a very active hurricane season,” Hirschi explained.

The oceans contain around 90% of the world’s excess heat generated by burning planet-heating fossil fuels. “Measuring water warming allows us to track the status and evolution of planetary warming,” Schuckmann stated in an interview with CNN. “The ocean is the sentinel for global warming.”

El Niño is expected to weaken and fade in the coming months, perhaps reducing record water temperatures if La Niña replaces it.

ocean

For The Past Year, Global Ocean Temperatures Has Set New Records On A Daily Basis.

“In the past, surface temperature values have decreased after the passage of El Niño,” Schuckmann said. However, she cautioned that it is now hard to forecast when water temperatures will fall below record levels.

While natural climatic variability will cause water temperatures to vary, NOAA’s Johnson predicts that in the long run, they will “continue to break records as long as greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere rise.”

SOURCE – (CNN)

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Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

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putin charged with war crimes

Vladimir Putin won a historic fifth term as Russia’s president on Monday, as the electoral commission announced the results of a referendum in which he faced no serious challenges and took place amid the toughest crackdown on dissent and free speech since Soviet times.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

Putin claimed that the landslide majority demonstrated Russians’ “trust” and “hopes” in him, while lawmakers throughout Europe blasted the vote as a hoax and Russia’s efforts to conduct elections in seized portions of Ukraine that it claims as its territory.

Here’s what Putin, European leaders, and others say:

“Of course, we have a lot of work ahead. But I’d like to clarify one thing: no one has ever been able to intimidate or stifle our will or self-conscience since our consolidation. They have failed in the past and will fail in the future. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia.

“The elections took place in an ever-shrinking political space, which has resulted in an alarming increase of violations of civil and political rights, and precluded many candidates from running, including all those opposed to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.” – Statement from the European Union.

“These Russian elections highlight the intensity of repression under President Putin’s administration, which tries to stifle all dissent to his illegal war. Putin eliminates his political opponents, controls the media, and declares himself the winner. “This is not a democracy.” — David Cameron, UK Foreign Secretary.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“Searches at voting stations’ entrances, attempts to examine ballots before voters place them in ballot boxes, and detentions of voters who arrived at noon. According to reports, at one voting location in Moscow, police asked that the chairman of a commission (of poll workers) unlock a ballot box and hand them a ballot with anything inscribed on it. This is the first time in my life that I have witnessed such ridiculousness.” — Stanislav Andreychuk, co-chair of Golos, the independent election watchdog, on Telegram.

putin

Reactions As Vladimir Putin Secures A Fifth Term As Russia’s President After Tightly Controlled Vote

“The Russian election was one without a choice. Holding so-called elections in portions of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia violates international law. It is all the more amazing that so many Russians made it known over the weekend that they do not agree with this Russian president. That you go to a polling station even if you’re surrounded by military earns me the highest respect.” — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

SOURCE – (AP)

 

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