Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (May 16, 2014)

MERS Alert
Saudi Arabia has advised its citizens to wear gloves and face masks when around camels to keep from becoming infected with the deadly MERS virus.  Also known as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS has killed at least 157 people in Saudi Arabia alone since it was detected in 2012.  But passengers traveling to Europe, asia and the United States have spread the disease to several other areas of the world.  The number of new cases has soared over the past six weeks, especially in Saudi Arabia.  Camels are believed to be the main source of infection.  The animals are widely used for transportation, ritual sacrifice and racing in the Middle East, with some being kept as pets.
Rock Snot
A new and unsightly phenomenon known as "rock snot", which has appeared in some of the world's rivers during the past decade, is not an invasive species, but rather a native organism responding to a changing environment, researchers say.  Previously rare blooms of Didymosphenia geminate are the culprits.  The evolved forms of the algae have now been found in rivers of the United States, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.  Researcher Brad Taylor of Dartmouth College says earlier spring melt, run off of nitrogen from agriculture and even the burning of fossil fuels could be responsible for the recent appearances.  There is evidence that the long filaments of the algae blooms are promoting the growth of a worm that hosts a parasite responsible for "whirling disease" in salmon and trout.  When the parasite penetrates the heads and spines of the fish, it causes them to swim erratically, or whirl.  The affliction makes it hard for the fish to feed or avoid predators.
Antarctic Melt
A sudden and unexpected undermining of vast glaciers in western Antarctica is set to reshape the world's coastlines for centuries, researchers warn.  The bases of six of the glaciers are reported to be melting away due to the warming of the Southern Ocean, which surronds the continent.  A NASA report says "a large sector of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has gone into a state of irreversible retreat."  The glaciers involved have the potential to elevate sea level by 4 feet, but that was not factored into the recent U.N. climate change report.  It predicted sea level was likely to rise between 10 and 32 inches by the end of this century.
Cyclone Shifts
People living in population centers far north and south of the equator are coming under greater threat of powerful tropical cyclones due to a shift in where the strongest such storms can strike.  Researchers have found that the location of where hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons reach their maximum intensity has shifted toward the poles at a rate of about 35 miles per decade during the past 30 years.  Writing in the journal Nature, NOAA scientists say that the greatest poleward shift is found in the North and South Pacific, as well as in the southern Indian Ocean.  There is no evidence of such a shift for hurricanes in the Atlantic basin.
Earthquakes
A mild earthquake killed one person and left 70 others injured in southern Pakistan on May 9.
*       Earth movements were also felt in western India, southwestern New Zealand, Panama, southwestern Mexico, Alaska's Cook Inlet and along the Yukon-Alaska panhandle border.
Alaskan Rumblings
Alaska's Shishaldin volcano began producing long seismic tremors that geologists say could be signs of an impending eruption.  Shishaldin is located on Unimak Island in the Aleutians and is unique among volcanoes.  Rather than containing a lava dome or crater, the volcano has a deep, open vent.  When the volcano erupts, "gas bubbles come up through the throat or the vent of the volcano.  And when they pop, it just kind of throws magma up into the air," Alaska Volcano Observatory geologist Robert McGimsey told Alaska Public Radio.  The mountain is the most symmetrical and conical volcano in the world because its lava glides down the flanks, leaving a smooth layer.
In the Pink
Researchers attempting to tag wild flamingos in South Florida came across the largest flock of the birds ever observed in the state's history.  While the 147 pink birds counted in far western Palm Beach County may not seem like a large flock to some, the number startled the researchers.  "Since the late 1800s, we have had very small numbers show up in South Florida," said Zoo Miami's Frank Ridgley.  He and colleagues from the Tropical Audubon Society were attempting to tag some of the birds when a large helicopter flew overhead.  "It scared them all up into the air and we were afraid they were going to fly off, and it turned out to be Donald Trump's helicopter," said Ridgley.  The species breeds in the Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico and Ecuador, but the researchers said they didn't know exactly from where members of the large flock came.