Earthweek: A Diary of the Planets (Jan. 24, 2014)

Bee-Killer Suspect
Chinese and U.S. researchers say a virus that typically infects plants has been found in honeybees.  The pathogen could be at least part of what has killed vast numbers of the pollinating insects in recent years in a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder.  The scientists inadvertently found tobacco ringspot virus (TRSV) during routine screening of bees.  "The results of our study provide the first evidence that honeybees exposed to virus-contaminated pollen can also be infected and that the infection becomes widespread in their bodies," said lead author Ji Lian Li, at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science.  He added that the honeybees can also spread TRSV as they move between plants.  TRSV is particularly dangerous since it produces a flood of mutations that infect in different ways.   Bee colonies found with high levels of various viral strains didn't survive the harsh months last winter as well as those with lower levels of infections.
See-Through Wonder
A northern New Zealand fisherman and his two sons were baffled after pulling in anearly foot-long translucent marine creature that looked a lot like a see-though fish.  "It felt scaly and was quite firm, almost jelly-like, and you couldn't see anything inside aside from this orange little blob," Stewart Fraser told the Daily Mail.  Experts from the country's National Marine Aquarium examined photos of the catch and say it probably was a Salpa maggiore.  "The salp is barrel-shaped and moves by contracting, pumping water through its gelatinous body," said Paul Cox from the aquarium.  Little is known about the unusually large type Fraser caught, or how it came to be so far from its normal habitats in the Southern Ocean.
Global Smog Threat
The amount of air pollution from China's booming manufacturing industry is so great that it is affecting weather patterns across the Pacific in North America, according to a new study published by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.  The report documents that cities like Los Angeles receive at least an extra day of smog each year from the nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide that China's exprting factories generate.  Beyond being a public health threat, the pollution also causes changes in weather, the report cautions.  "The models clearly show that pollution originating from Asia has an impact on the upper atmosphere and its appears to make ....storms or cyclones even stronger," said Texas A&M atmospheric scientist Renyi Zhang.  The study concludes the pollution alerts cloud formation and precipitation patterns.
More El Ninos
The world's most influential global weather phenomenon is likely to more than double in freqency if efforts to limit global warming fail, according to a new report.  An international team writing in the journal Nature Climate Change says that the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions will bring twice as many extreme outbreaks of El Nino ocean-warming to the tropical Pacific over the next century as have occurred over the previous 100 years.  "Our research shows this will double to one event every 10 years," said study co-author Agus Santoso.  El Nino events can trigger large-scale weather shifts that bring storms or drought to various parts of the world.  The last extreme El Nino wreaked havoc on global weather patterns in 1997-1998, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing approximately 23,000 people.
Tropical Cyclones
Remnants of Cyclone June downed trees and knocked out power across parts of New Zealand 's North Island after the storm earlier drenched the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.
*      Tropical Storm Lingling triggered floods that killed 45 people across the Philippine island of Mindanao and areas to the north devastated by Typhoon Haiyan last November.
*      Five people were killed and hundreds made homeless in southwestern Madagascar by heavy rain and strong winds brought by Cyclone Deliwe.
Earthquakes
A 6.3 magnitude quake cracked buildings and tossed items off shelves on New Zealand's lower North Island, including Wellington.
*     Earth movements were also felt in southern Sumatra, southern Italy and across much of Costa Rica.
Damming Evidence
The first wild beaver to be spotted in the U.K. since the species was hunted to extinction during the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century has set up home on the River Otter.  A farmer suspected the returning animal after spotting several trees that had been chomped on and felled along the waterway, which runs through Somerset and Devon.  That's when retired scientist Tom Buckley set up a night-vision camera and captured footage of the animal chewing on a tree and approaching the camera for a brief close-up.  Some beavers have been kept as pets, but none in the area has been reported missing or released.