Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Nov. 7, 2014)

Ozone Healing Pause
The hole in stratospheric ozone over Antarctica has remained stubbornly large in recent years despite a worldwide ban since 1987 on the chlorine emissions that created it, according to NASA.  While this year's maximum expanse of the ozone hole, reached on Sept. 9, was about 9 percent less than the record set in 2000, its coverage was about the same as during 2010, 2012 and 2013.  Earth's ozone layer helps shield life on the surface from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer, cataracts and plant damage.  The reason the hole isn't closing up despite no new chlorofluorocabons being released into the atmosphere is clouded by a complex interaction between it and climate change, scientists say.  "The ozone hole itself is affecting the climate of Antarctica and Australia, and is being affected by it.  It is changing the wind systems," said Jonathan Shanklin of the British Antarctic Survey, one of the three scientists who discovered the hole in the 1980s.  He tells The Guardian he expects the ozone hole to gradually fill in even as the effects of climate change increase over the next 50 years or so.
The Zero Option.
The U.N. panel on climate change con0 cludes in its fourth and final volume of climate assessment that humans may be forced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero this century to avoid global temperatures rising to dangerous levels.  It also warns that failure to eliminate the use of fossil fuels could compel the world to find ways of removing carbon emissions from the atmosphere in the future.  The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's assessment also says humans are to blame for nearly all global warming since the 1950s.
Monkey Malaria
An emerging monkey-bone parasite spreading across Southeast Asia was released into the human population through unbridled deforestation in recent decades, primarily from expanding palm oil plantations and demand for timber.  Plasmodium knowlesi malaria has long been endemic among the long-tailed and pig-tailed macaque populations of Malaysia and nearby countries.  It remained isolated from the human population by the dense tropical rain forest habitats of the macaque until deforestation cleared the forests.  New roads that were built during the process allowed humans infected in the wild to carry the parasite elsewhere.  Research presented at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's annual meeting revealed that Plasmodium knowlest malaria hospitalizations in Malaysia.  While the parasite causes only mild symptoms in maca ques, it has become the fastest-replicating malaria parasite in humans, multiplying every 24-hours in the blood.  The research concludes that Plasmodium knowlesi has joined AIDS and Ebola as emerging or reemerging dangerous diseases being passed to humans as more and more layers of once-isolated tropical forest are ravaged by human devolopment.
Tropical Cyclones
Former Category-2 Hurricane Vance brought local flash flooding and gusty winds to northwestern Mexico's Sinalora state.  Moisture streaming northeastward from the weakening storm triggered heavy rainfall over Texas.
*     Super Typhoon Nuri attained Category-5 force over the open waters of the western Pacific before dissipating well east of Japan.  The storm was mainly a threat to shipping lanes.
Costa Rican Blast
The most violent eruption of Costa Rica's Turrialba volcano in 150 years sent a plume of ash soaring high above the country, prompting authorities to evacuate some nearby residents as a precaution.  Eyewitnesses said they heard "booming sounds" about 40 minutes before ash began billowing from the volcano.
Earthquakes
Eastern Zambia and neighboring Tanzania were rocked on Oct. 31 by a 5.3 magnitude temblor, centered in Zambia's Luapula province.
*       Earth movements were also felt in northern Holland, Western Australia, Costa Rica, the Alaska Panhandle and northwestern Nevada.
Bird Breakups
New research finds that while most birds appear to be attentive parents and faithful mates, divorce is actually common among many species and plays a role in breeding succies.  Writing in the journal Biological Reviews, study author Antica Culina says she and her colleagues observed that divorce occurs in 92 percent of all monogamous bird populations.  The team found that birds were most likely to divorce when breeding success was low.  But the research found that when birds break up, it isn't always good for the guy.   "Females who divorce gain better breeding success with a new partner, but males who divorce show no improvement," Culina says.  She found that since females have a little control over how many eggs they lay, a small number of offspring may mean the female is not happy with her mate and wants him to move on.