**If what you’re doing is not your passion,
you have nothing to lose.**
LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday, 10/13/13 -
5.4 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
5.6 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.1 FIJI
5.3 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.
* In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon Nari is located approximately 192 nm east of Da Nang, Vietnam.
- Typhoon Wipha is located approximately 395 nm southwest of Iwo To, Japan.
* In the Eastern Pacific -
Tropical storm Octave is located about 315 mi (505 km) S of the southern tip of Baja California. Continuing to strengthen.
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Tropical storm summary -
Tropical Cyclone Phailin weakened to a tropical storm over northern India after making landfall on the northeast coast of India near the town of Gopalpur (population 7,000) at 15:45 UTC (11:45 am EDT) on Saturday. The cyclone brought a storm surge in excess of 3 meters (10 feet) to portions of the coast, and at least fourteen people were killed by the storm. Phailin was weakening substantially at landfall, due to interaction with land, and was rated a Category 4 storm with 140 mph winds by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center four hours before landfall.
Category 2 Typhoon Nari is headed for landfall in Vietnam, after battering the Philippines on Friday. Nari killed thirteen people and left 2.1 million people without power on the main Philippine island of Luzon, after hitting on Friday night near midnight local time as a Category 3 typhoon with 115 mph winds. The core of the storm passed about 80 miles north of the capital of Manila, sparing the capital major flooding, but the storm dumped torrential rains in excess of ten inches to the northeast of Manilla. Nari is expected to be at Category 1 strength when it makes landfall in Vietnam near 20 - 23 UTC on Monday.
Huge and powerful Category 4 Typhoon Wipha continues intensifying as it heads northwest towards Japan. The storm is expected to peak at 145 mph winds on Monday near 12 UTC. By Tuesday, Wipha will recurve to the northeast and begin weakening, passing just offshore from Tokyo, Japan, sometime between 00 - 06 UTC on Wednesday. Wipha will be rapidly weakening as it makes its closest approach to Tokyo, due to high wind shear and cooler waters, and the coast of Japan should experience winds below hurricane force if the core of Wipha passes offshore as expected. High winds and heavy rains from Wipha may be a concern for the Fukushima nuclear site, where rainfall from Typhoon Man-Yi on September 16 complicated clean-up efforts of the reactors damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Moisture associated with Tropical Storm Octave in the Eastern Pacific bringing rain to Texas. In the Eastern Pacific, Tropical Storm Octave is headed NNW towards Mexico's Baja Peninsula, but is expected to dissipate before making it there. Octave is embedded in a large plume of tropical moisture that is riding up to the northeast over Mexico and Texas. Flood Watches are posted over large regions of Texas, where widespread rains of 2 - 4", with some 6 - 8" amounts, are expected.
India - Cyclone Phailin Ruins 15% of Odisha Rice Growing Area. India carried out the largest evacuation in the nation's history, shifting one million people from the path of the cyclone that slammed into its eastern coast. The mass evacuations helped to limit fatalities to 14.
HEALTH THREATS -
Pregnant women warned of 80% increased risk of miscarriage from food heated in plastic - Pregnant women have been warned to avoid CANNED FOODS, MICROWAVED FOODS and PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES LEFT OUT IN THE SUN after a study found certain chemicals can increase the risk of miscarriage by 80 per cent. The same advice has been issued to men whose partners are trying to conceive, after research found similar compounds contained in the same products appeared to reduce male fertility by 20 percent.
"These studies extend our observations to the general population and show that THESE CHEMICALS ARE A CAUSE FOR CONCERN TO ALL OF US." One of the most important things to avoid is drinking from plastic bottles which had been allowed to get warm. : "Don’t leave your water bottles in the car in the sun. Studies show that levels of BPA increase by about 1000-FOLD in the water of a bottle that has been sitting in the sun."
Research on animals has previously suggested that the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) could threaten foetal survival but until now there have been limited studies on humans. The new findings suggest that high levels of contact with the chemical found in many plastics could dramatically increase the likelihood of miscarriage. The scientists behind the study said that it was impossible to avoid all contact with the substance, which is used in PLASTIC PACKAGING, TINNED PRODUCTS and CASH REGISTER RECEIPTS, but recommending limiting the impact of exposure.
In particular, they advised pregnant women to avoid cooking or warming foods in plastic containers, as chemicals leak far more quickly at higher temperatures, and to avoid letting plastic bottles of drinks get warm in the sun. Earlier this year the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists issued advice that pregnant women should "play it safe" and try to limit exposure to many chemicals found in plastics, because they said it would take years to properly assess the risks of exposure. Between 15 and 20 per cent of pregnancies end in miscarriage. While the risk increases with age, scientists have struggled to identify other causal factors.
The new study on 114 pregnant women found that those with the high concentrations of the compound in their blood were 80 per cent more likely than those with low or normal levels to suffer a miscarriage. "This is important because miscarriage is a very common occurrence and human exposure to BPA is near-ubiquitous....There are some simple things that people can do but it’s impossible to avoid it completely. Avoid anything that involves cooking or warming food in plastic as the chemicals leak out of plastic materials at a higher rate at higher temperatures." Even shopping poses a risk, because many cash register receipts are coded with resin containing BPA. "Avoid canned food, avoid cooking or heating plastic and then avoid unnecessary cash register receipts. Those are simple things that don’t cost a lot of money and are easy to do."
Researchers said it remained unclear why BPA appeared to have such an impact on miscarriage rates, and said further studies were urgently needed. While those who were most likely to miscarry had the highest level of the chemical in their blood serum, it was possible that they had metabolised the substance differently, so it stayed in the body longer. The chemical has previously been found to carry small risks to child development, and has been banned in baby bottles by the EU.
A second study found that high levels of a group of chemicals called phthalates, which are also produced during the manufacturing of plastic and found in many skin-care products, significantly reduced the chances of conception. The research on 500 couples found that when men had high levels of the chemicals - which are thought to disrupt the hormones - there was a 20 per cent lower chance of pregnancy, within a 12 month period examined.
