Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Albert Einstein said that without bees, man would live no more than four years. Bothered by spiking mortality rates for bees, Europe's parliamentarians have voted overwhelmingly to urge the EU to provide more funding for the beekeeping sector, to support research and development in veterinary medicine to save the declining bee population, while also enforcing legislation on killer pesticides.
"Beekeeping is crucial for our society as pollination plays an essential role in preserving biodiversity and maintaining sustainable European agriculture and food security." Some 84 percent of Europe's fauna and 76 percent of agriculture depend on pollination from bees. Better data on hives and bee losses are needed as well as funding for medicines because pharmaceutical firms are reluctant to invest in a relatively small market. The European Commission also needs to issue legislative proposals to turn recommendations on pesticides into law, parliamentarians said.

**What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.**
Marcus Aurelius


LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.6 TONGA
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Yesterday -
11/15/11 -
5.7 PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.7 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.0 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.6 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
5.0 MOLUCCA SEA
5.2 SALTA, ARGENTINA

VOLCANOES -

ITALY - Etna volcano - 18th paroxysm of new SE crater in progress. A new eruptive episode is in progress at the new SE crater of Etna today. Starting this morning, tremor has been rising steeply and at the time of writing, the first strombolian explosions, or even small lava fountains, and perhaps already a small lava flow can be seen emerging from the SE-trending fissure cutting through the cone. All signs point towards this being the long-awaited 18th paroxysm of the new SE crater in 2011, following the previous one on 23 October, after 23 days - the longest-so-far interval since July. (photos) Webcam

CANARY ISLANDS - Residents Return Home on El Hierro as Volcano Calms. Residents of the fishing village of La Restinga on El Hierro island were allowed to return home on Monday night, after scientists said they are not expecting an imminent eruption from the nearby underwater volcano.

TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical storms.