Wildfires in Russia, Canada create poisonous ring around planet: "Raging forest fires in central Russia, Siberia and western Canada have created an enormous cloud of pollutants covering the northern hemisphere....

     "Thousands of emergency workers and military personnel have been working round the clock for almost three weeks to fight the fires in 22 regions, which have so far killed more than 50 people and left over 3,500 homeless. The immediate economic cost of the fires has been estimated at $15 billion."

Landslides complicate Pakistan flood relief efforts: "Landslides triggered by the worst floods in Pakistan in 80 years are hampering already troubled relief efforts, with aid workers using donkeys or travelling on foot to reach millions in desperate need of help. Poor weather has made it difficult for helicopters to deliver food.... The catastrophe....has killed more than 1,600 people and left two million homeless." God's l ight in the darkness

Gulf Oil Is in the [Gulf Stream] Loop Current: "'What the satellite pictures definitely reveal, he said, is that the time for modeling whether oil might get into the Loop Current is over. 'It's not a matter of predicting if it's going to be there or not,' Roffer said. 'It's there.'" See Map of Ocean Currents and Biblical reference to ocean Currents

BP's oil spill is an ecological disaster: "A vast amount of oil one mile beneath the surface has bled since April 20 into the Gulf of Mexico. According to BP, it's about 200,000 gallons a day... more recently engineers from Purdue University predicted it's probably closer to 2.5 million gallons a day. The ominous plumes of oil venting from this pipe at the equivalent of 152 atmospheric pressures — one mile beneath the surface — are behaving unlike any other oil spill ever observed before....

     "Florida is the only state in continental United States to have extensive (about 6,000) shallow coral reefs near its coasts.... Between the reefs and the sea grasses are more than 500 species of fish, spiny lobsters, snow crabs, Caribbean manatees, American crocodiles, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley and green sea turtles....

     "Some of the dispersants and oil have entered the Loop Current — a powerful conveyor belt that carries the warm Gulf water through the Straits of Florida. It contains 80 times the volume of water of all rivers combined on Earth. It then joins the Gulf Stream Current, which barrels past Miami carrying one billion cubic feet of water every second. As it passes Georgia and then South Carolina it triples its volume, and ... heads out into the Atlantic toward the only open sea... Eventually, the Gulf Stream becomes the North Atlantic Current, destined for Western Europe where its fan-like tendrils become the Norwegian Current." [It warms Norway -- even beyond the arctic circle].

racking the Oil Spill: "About the Oil Slick Areas Shown on the Map: The 'probable extent' of the oil slick is an estimate by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of where oil is mostly likely to go based on wind and ocean current forecasts, as well as analysis of aerial photography and satellite imagery."

5 Dead, Dozens Injured as Tornadoes Hit Plains: "Several tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma and Kansas on Monday as the storms moved through the area, dumping hail as big as baseballs and leaving tens of thousands of people without power." See Suffering

Stunning photos of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano and its threats to life: Take a look at these unforgettable pictures! See Seeing God through the darkness

One million homeless after India tornado: "A giant tornado that ravaged hundreds of thousands of homes and killed 137 people has left one million people in eastern India without a roof over their heads."

Research Gap Left Airlines Exposed to Volcano’s Blast: "A shutdown of European airspace that cost carriers $1.7 billion following a volcanic eruption in Iceland was exacerbated by a lack of research into the effects of ash on jet engines and over-reliance on computer modeling....

      “'Events in the Philippines and Indonesia are big ash- producing eruptions and are tens and hundreds of times bigger than the Iceland episode.... So it’s not really the ash that’s the issue.” See The Creator of all

Tornadoes killed 10 people in Mississippi: "Tornadoes ripped through the Southeast on Saturday, killing 10 people in Mississippi and injuring more than a dozen others. Roofs were torn off businesses, homes were splintered, vehicles were overturned and roads were blocked by toppled trees.... Malcolm Gordon, 63, stood with members of his family peering through a broken window. Above them, the roof was gone, a tree lay across part of the house and power lines stretched across the yard.... Gordon looked around at the devastation. 'It sounded like a train coming down that road,' he said." See Suffering

Iceland's farmers try to save herds from toxic ash: "Farmers across the region where the volcano erupted this week under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier have been scrambling to protect their herds from inhaling or ingesting the ash, which can cause internal bleeding, long-term bone damage and teeth loss. Near Skogar, south of the volcano, the ash blew down from the mountain, blotting out the sunlight and covering everything—pastures, animals and humans—in a thick, gray paste.... 'The risk is of fluoride poisoning if they breathe or eat too much,' Hilmarsdottir said through a white protective mask.

     "...near the volcano, the amount of ash is becoming overwhelming. The vast majority of the country's farming activity is based on herding cattle, horses and sheep, so the stakes are high for the farmers. On the north side of the volcano... 33-year-old sheep farmer Anna Runolfsdottir was preparing for the worst—that the wind direction could change and spread the ash over more land, including hers.... It's lambing season, and she expects between 60 and 100 newborns this spring."

Volcano chaos could continue for months: "More countries were forced to close their air space yesterday as the ash cloud continued to expand across the continent. More than 17,000 flights to and from European airspace were cancelled.... The Met office reported that volcanic ash had begun to fall across Britain, coating surfaces with a fine layer of dust and raising fears for people with breathing difficulties. Meanwhile experts warned of shortages of some foods with produce destined for British shops rotting in airport warehouses in other parts of the world. Geologists reported that activity at the volcano increased yesterday, spewing a plume of ash 5.3 miles high into the atmosphere." See  next link:

A volcano erupts and our Irish Famine past reappears: "Ireland is as cut off from America right now as if air travel never existed. Now the only way here is via boat thanks to the Icelandic volcano and our entire sense of what time represents has to change. Suddenly we are catapulted back to an era where planes no longer whisk us from one continent to another in under six hours....

     "The broad Atlantic back then was known as the 'bowl of tears' and we can for a brief few days imagine the sense of isolation and loss that the millions faced as they fled the Emerald Isle....In Famine times the poor, the hungry, the oppressed piled on board for the voyage from hell. The only consolation was that what they left behind was even worse." See The Creator of all

Ash may hover for days over uncertain Europe: "The Icelandic volcano that has kept much of Europe land-bound is far from finished spitting out its grit.... Modern Europe has never seen such a travel disruption. Air space across a swath from Britain to Ukraine was closed and set to stay that way until Sunday or Monday in some countries, affecting airports from New Zealand to San Francisco. Millions of passengers have had plans foiled or delayed.

     "Activity in the volcano at the heart of this increased early Saturday, and showed no sign of abating.... Scientists say that because the volcano is situated below a glacial ice cap, the magma is being cooled quickly, causing explosions and plumes of grit that can be catastrophic to plane engines, depending on prevailing winds." See The Creator of all

‘Terrible earthquake’ kills hundreds in China: "A series of strong earthquakes struck a far western Tibetan area of China on Wednesday, killing at least 400 people and injuring thousands as houses made of mud and wood collapsed, trapping many more. ...a lack of excavation equipment, downed phone lies, damage to roads, strong winds and aftershocks were all hindering the rescue operation. There was also concern for those without shelter as night-time temperatures plunge below freezing in the area most affected by the quake... which lies at more than 13,000 feet."

December 2009