Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Jan. 17, 2014)

Predator and Prey
Loss of habitat and killing by humans are ravaging the populations of about three-quarters of the world's largest carnivores, according to a new study.  Researchers, writing in the journal Science, caution that the loss of animals such as lions, wolves and bears could have far-reaching consequences for ecosystems around the world.  "Their ranges are collapsing.  Many of these animals are at risk of extinction, either locally or globally," said lead author William Ripple of Oregon State University.  The loss of the predators at the top of the natural food chain is allowing the numbers of other species to surge, including elk, deer and even primates.  The study cautions that this trend is bad for vegetation, birds and small animals.  In Africa, the decline in lions and leopards has allowed baboons to thrive and now threaten crops and livestock.
Dead and Dying
The level of the shrinking Dead Sea dropped even further this winter despite drenching rains that filled up reservoirs elsewhere across Israel and the occupied West Bank.  Hydrologists say the widespread rain and snow even refilled most of the coastal aquifer while failing to replenish the Dead Sea.  Siphoning of the sea and its Jordan River source for agricultural use and industry, as well as evaporation, have caused the shoreline to retreat by as much as a mile in some spots over the past few decades.  By early January, the super-saline lake had dropped by more than an inch from what had been measured a month earlier, reaching a level 3 feet lower than just a year before.  The retreating shoreline has destabilized the ground, causing massive sinkholes that have devoured entire villages in the past.
Arctic Insecticide
The brutal Arctic vortex chill that brought shivers to people living across North America appears to have also killed off a large number of tree-eating forest pests such as the emerald ash borer, which forest officials say has killed more than 10 million trees.  U.S. Forest Service biologist Robert Venette said that 80 percent of those insects could have been exterminated by temperatures plunging to between minus 22 and minus 26 degrees Fahrenheit.  Venette explained that it takes that kind of cold to reach beneath ;the bark of infected trees, where the pests winter in a larval state.  The cold is also believed to have killed off a large number of gypsy moths, which eat the leaves of more than 300 species of trees, shrubs and other plants.  But the extreme cold also split or cracked the limbs and stems of some trees, leaving them vulnerable to insects and other threats.
Tropical Cyclones
Powerful Cyclone Ian suddenly jogged from a relatively harmless predicted path to one that wreaked catastrophic damage to the island nation of Tonga.  Ian underwent explosive and unexpected strengthening as it was entering Tonga's northern waters, striking the archipelago with wind gusts of nearly 180 mph as a Category-4 storm.   "I've never seen anything so fierce and so scary in my life," said Matelita Blake-Hour of the Tonga National Youth Congress.  "In some areas I can see the path the cyclone cut through the trees, it's complete destruction......every house has been destroyed and every family affected."
*     Cyclone Colin churned the open water of the central Indian Ocean, posing a threat only to shipping lanes.
Eruption
Lava streaming down the flanks of Guatemala's Pacaya volcano prompted the evacuation of people feared to be in its path.  Lava flows were nearly 2,000 feet wide and 2 miles long. Small explosions and accompanying bursts of gas and ash were also produced by the restive volcano.
Earthquakes
One of the strongest earthquakes to strike U.S. territory in recent years cracked buildings in Puerto Rico.
*     Earth movements were also felt in eastern Romania, southeastern Australia, the Los Angeles basin, Northern California's wine country, northeastern Arkansas and from northern Cuba to Tampa Bay.
Early Awakenings
The bulge of warm air over Northern Europe, pushed up by the Arctic vortex on the other side of the Atlantic, has caused bears to emerge early from hibernation in Finland and plants to bud earlier than normal in Norway.  While North Americans have shivered in the coldest weather in decades, Nordic residents have experienced one of the mildest winters in a century.  The Norwegian newspaper Sunnmorsposten published reader photographs of daffodils emerging as early as mid-December, along with crocuses, daisies, dandelions and honeysuckle.  "It was very unusual to see no snow in large areas where it is normal in December," said Ketil Isaksen, a scientist at the Norwegian Meteorlogical Institute.  "Only in the mountains and certain parts of Norway could you find snow."