Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Oct. 18, 2013)

Hot and Hotter
The world is barreling toward a relentless increase in global warming that, within just a few years, will be impossible to come back from, according to a new study.  Researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa calculate that by approximately 2047, the coolest year from then on will be warmer than it was in 2005, which is when the world as a whole had its hottest year on record.  Writing in the journal Nature, study author Camilo Mora says that Kingston, Jamaica, will, in about a decade, become among the first to be off-the-charts hot.  He says it soon will be followed by Singapore in 2028, Mexico City in 2031, Cario in 2036 and Phoenix and Honolulu in 2043.  Mora says U.S. cities like New York and Washington will get there by 2046.
Disappearing Moose
From British Columbia to New Hampshire, North America's moose are disappearing.  One of Minnestoa's two distinct populations of the lumbering animals has dropped from about 4,000 to 100 since the 1990s.  The other population is down to fewer than 3,000 from 8,000 over the same period.  Wildlife experts say manmade climate change appears to be behind most of the decline.  They point to the increased number of winter ticks in New Hampshire, which have thrived due to a longer fall and less snow on average.  Brain worms and liver flukes, which thrive in moist environments, have ravaged the moose populations in Minnestoa.  And the loss of forest in British Columbia due to an epidemic of pine bark beetles, which thrive in warmer weather, has left the moose exposed to hunters and other predators.  Since moose shape the landscape as they graze, their loss could have a ripple effect through the environment.
Deadly Blizzard
A freak autumn blizzard killed tens of thousands of cattle in South Dakota during early October as the animals were still in their summer pastures and had not yet grown their winter coats.  Freezing rain was followed by up to 4 feet of snow, which was blown around with near-hurricane force and became lodged in some of the animals' lungs, suffocating them.  "I've been in this business 50 years and I've never seen anything like this," rancher Kathy Jobgen told Reuters.
How Mountains Fall
Scientists have discovered that lightening plays a major role in shaping the world's mountains ----- with bolts that explode their stony summits.  Researcheres from South Africa's University of Witwatersrand found that lightning can partially melt the rocks they shatter at the summit.  This allows the rocks to take on the orientation of today's magnetic field rather than the one from millions of years ago when the rock was originally formed and the continents were aligned differently.  Geographer Jasper Knight says this lets researchers use compasses to accurately map out where lightning has struck.  After observing how nearby rocks and boulders have been dislodged by the lightning.  Knight says it's clear that mountains can be altered very quickly.
Earthquakes
A powerful temblor killed at least 161 in the southern Philippines when it unleashed landslides that buried homes and wrecked colonialera churches.
*     Earth movements were also felt in southwestern Pakistan, southern Greece, Trinidad and southern New Hampshire.
Tropical Cyclones
Cyclone Phailin became the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded to make landfall over India when it struck the Bay of Bengal state of Odisha with maximum sustained winds of nearly a million coastal residents is being credited for the relatively low death toll of only 43.
*    At least 11 people were killed in central Vietnam when former Category-3 Typhoon Nari slammed into the coast near the major port of Danang.
*    Typhoon Wipha killed 18 on Japan's main island of Honshu and drenched metropolitan Tokyo as the center of the storm grazed the coast.
*    Tropical Storm Octave brought rains to northwestern Mexico while Priscilla formed briefly just to the west of Baja California.
Pointed Discovery
Elephants have been found to be the only animal other than humans to instinctively understand pointing gestures.  While responding to someone pointing comes naturally to even very young humans, dogs and chimpanzees have to be trained to do so.  But elephants seem to "get it" right away.  Researchers from Scotland's University of St. Andrews tested captive animals in Zimbabwe by presenting them with two buckets ----- one containing food.  When the bucket with food was pointed to, the test elephants chose the correct bucket about 68 percent of the time.  That's about the same performance level as a 1-year-old human, who typically chooses correctly 73 percent of the time.  Researchers think elephants use their trucks to point as acts of communication, and they plan to study it.