Cheshire man requires hospital treatment after being bitten by Pike.

A man from Cheshire, England, has had to receive hospital treatment after being bitten by a Pike, Esox lucius, on Monday 7 September 2020. Steve Lightfoot, 55, who lives on a boat on the Macclesfield Canal, near Bosley, was attempting to retrieve his glasses, which he had dropped into the water, when he was attacked by the metre-long Fish, which delivered a lacerating bit to his hand. Mr Lightfoot had his hand bandaged and was treated with antibiotics and a tetanus inoculation, before being released.

 

A Northern Pike, Esox lucius, at Plzeň Zoo. Wikimedia Commons.

The Northern Pike, Esox lucius, is found in temperate fresh and brackish waters throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and is the largest freshwater Fish in the UK. Although not large enough to consume Humans, they are ambush predators that hang in the water column waiting for likely prey, and will occasionally strike at Humans splashing about in their environment. 

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Magnitude 1.4 Earthquake in Cheshire, England.

The British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 1.4 Earthquake at a depth of about 6 km, about 1 km to the east of the village of Bridgemere in Cheshire, England, slightly after 1.00 am British Summertime (slightly after midnight GMT) on Tuesday 27 August 2019). There are no reports of any damage or injuries associated with this event, and nor would they be expected from such a small event, though it is possible it was felt locally.

 The approximate location of the 27 August 2019 Cheshire Earthquake. Google Maps.

Earthquakes become more common as you travel north and west in Great Britain, with the west coast of Scotland being the most quake-prone part of the island and the northwest of Wales being more prone  to quakes than the rest of Wales or most of England. However, while quakes in southern England are less frequent, they are often larger than events in the north, as tectonic pressures tend to build up for longer periods of time between events, so that when they occur more pressure is released.

The precise cause of Earthquakes in the UK can be hard to determine; the country is not close to any obvious single cause of such activity such as a plate margin, but is subject to tectonic pressures from several different sources, with most quakes probably being the result of the interplay between these forces.

Britain is being pushed to the east by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the impact of Africa into Europe from the south. It is also affected by lesser areas of tectonic spreading beneath the North Sea, Rhine Valley and Bay of Biscay. Finally the country is subject to glacial rebound; until about 10 000 years ago much of the north of the country was covered by a thick layer of glacial ice (this is believed to have been thickest on the west coast of Scotland), pushing the rocks of the British lithosphere down into the underlying mantle. This ice is now gone, and the rocks are springing (slowly) back into their original position, causing the occasional Earthquake in the process.

   

(Top) Simplified diagram showing principle of glacial rebound. Wikipedia. (Bottom) Map showing the rate of glacial rebound in various parts of the UK. Note that some parts of England and Wales show negative values, these areas are being pushed down slightly by uplift in Scotland, as the entire landmass is quite rigid and acts a bit like a see-saw. Climate North East.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. If you felt this quake, or were in the area but did not (which is also useful information) then you can report it to the British Geological Survey here. 

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Monsoon Forest building at Chester Zoo destroyed by fire.

The Monsoon Forest exhibit at Chester Zoo in northern England has been severely damaged in s fire that broke out at about 11.30 am local time on Saturday 15m December 2018. All visitors were evacuated safely from the building, as were all of the Mammals housed there, including Sumatran Orangutans, Pongo abelii, Sulawesi Macaques, Macaca nigra, and Silvery Gibbons, Hylobates moloch, as well as larger Birds such as Rhinoceros Hornbills, Buceros rhinoceros, but many smaller animals are now known to have perished, including Question Mark Cockroaches, Therea olegrandjeani, Amano Shrimps, Caridina multidentata, Hendra Tommy's Fighting Fish, Betta hendra, Cinnamon Frogs, Nyctixalus pictus, Tentacled Snakes, Erpeton tentaculatum, and birds such as Grosbeak Starlings, Scissirostrum dubium. One member of the Zoo's staff was treated for smoke inhalation following the incident.

 Fire at Chester Zoo on Saturday 15 December 2018. David Clough/Manchester Evening News.

Chester Zoo opened in 1931 with an ambitious plan to show animals in cage-less environments (most of the exhibits were originally on islands, and is the UK's most visited Zoo, receiving over 1.4 million visitors a year. It has been described as the best zoo in the UK and the third best in the world by TripAdvisor. The Monsoon Forest opened in 2015, and covered an area of 60 000 m², making it the UK's largest zoo building (plans for an even larger Heart of Africa Bio-dome were shelved in 2011 when a change of government in the UK led to the abolition of the North West Regional Development Agency). The exhibit was designed to mimic the conditions of a Southeast Asian rainforest, with an internal climate, rainfall and a temperature of  26.6°C.

 The Monsoon Forest in 2016. Chester Zoo.

Chester Zoo is involved in conservation work, and hosts captive breeding programs for a number of endangered species, including Eastern Black Rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis michaeli, Tequila Splitfin, Zoogoneticus tequila, Ameca Shiner, Notropis amecae, Javan Green Magpie, Cissa thalassina, and Black Winged Starling, Acridotheres melanopterus, as well as supporting education and habitat-protection campaigns around the world.

Inside the structure that hosted the Monsoon Forest after the fire. Chester Fire and Rescue Service.

The zoo was able to re-open the day after the fire, but faces major problems rehousing the animals rescued from the fire, and rebuilding the exhibit, which it is estimated will cost about £40 million. A JustGiving page set up in the aftermath of the fire raised over £100 000 within 24 hours, and has now raised over £135 000, though it has now been confirmed that the zoo's insurer's will cover the cost of the rebuild and the zoo has announced the money will be spent on its conservation work. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

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Atlantic Storm Ali kills two in Ireland.

Two people died in different parts of Ireland and several people were injured across Ireland and the UK as Atlantic Storm Ali swept in from the Atlantic on Wednesday 19 September 2018. In County Galway, in the Republic of Ireland, Swiss tourist Elvira Ferrari, 56, was killed when the caravan she was staying in was swept off a cliff by high winds, while in County Armagh Mathew Campbell, 24, was killed when a falling tree struck him and a companion, who was also injured. In Scotland several children were injured when they were struck by flying debris in Dumfries and Galloway, un un-named person was injered when blown over by high winds in Dundee, a  Highland Main Line was derailed after striking branches fallen from a tree and a cruise ship slipped its moorings in Greenock, Inverclyde. Both incidents led to passengers and crew needing to be evacuated, though neither resulted in any casualties. In England a woman recieved serious injuries after her car was struck by a falling tree in Crewe, Cheshire.

The remains of a caravan swept off a cliff in County Galway on Wednesday 19 September 2018. Niall Carson/PA.

Niall Carson/PA

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/20/tributes-paid-to-swiss-tourist-killed-in-ireland-after-caravan-blown-off-cliff-during-storm-ali-7963939/?ito=cbshare
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Niall Carson/PA

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/20/tributes-paid-to-swiss-tourist-killed-in-ireland-after-caravan-blown-off-cliff-during-storm-ali-7963939/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

Ocean storms form due to heating of air over the sea in tropical zones. As the air is heated the the air pressure drops and the air rises, causing new air to rush in from outside the forming storm zone. If this zone is sufficiently large, then it will be influenced by the Coriolis Effect, which loosely speaking means the winds closer to the equator will be faster than those further away, causing the storm to rotate, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.

 

Whilst the high winds associated these storms is extremely dangerous, the real danger from such storms is often the flooding. Each millibar drop in air pressure can lead to a 1 cm rise in sea level, and large storms can be accompanied by storm surges several meters high. This tends to be accompanied by high levels of rainfall, caused by water picked up by the storm while still at sea, which can lead to flooding, swollen rivers and landslides; which occur when waterlogged soils on hill slopes lose their cohesion and slump downwards, over whatever happens to be in their path.

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Elvira Ferrari, 56,

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/20/tributes-paid-to-swiss-tourist-killed-in-ireland-after-caravan-blown-off-cliff-during-storm-ali-7963939/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

Elvira Ferrari, 56,

Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/20/tributes-paid-to-swiss-tourist-killed-in-ireland-after-caravan-blown-off-cliff-during-storm-ali-7963939/?ito=cbshare
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

England and Wales hit by Measles epidemic.

England and Wales have recorded 696 cases of Measles in January, February and March 2018, up from 379 cases in the entire of 2017 and 366 in 2016. The city of Birmingham has been the worst hit, with 42 reported cases so far this year, up from seven in the whole of 2017. Cardiff has recorded 27 cases so far this year, Leeds 25, Cheshire West and Chester 18, and the London boroughs of Bromley and Westminster 15 each. The rise in cases has been linked to an epidemic that has been sweeping Europe, with 21 315 cases reported across the continent in 2017, including 35 fatalities, more than four times as many as in 2016. This in turn is thought to be related to a fall off in people being vaccinated against the disease, apparently having been put off by hoax stories circulating on the Internet, which claim vaccinations cause autism and other problems.

Child infected with Measles. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Measles is a Viral Disease, that presents as a fever combined with a cough and inflamed eyes, followed by the development of a rash first in the mouth and then across the body. About 30% of cases go on to develop complications, which can include diarrhoea, blindness, inflammation of the brain and pneumonia, and the disease can be fatal. Measles is a highly infectious airborne disease spread by coughing, with un-immunised people living in close proximity to infected persons having an approximately 90% chance of catching the Virus. The disease is easily prevented by vaccination, but hard to treat once people are infected, with small children, who are least likely to have been immunised, particularly vulnerable. This makes it particularly important for health workers to be alert for new cases once the disease becomes established in an area, and ensure that all potential cases are screened for the Virus promptly.

 Thin-section transmission electron micrograph of a Measles Virus. Cynthia Goldsmith/William Bellini/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Image Library/Wikimedia Commons.

Measles is caused by a single-strand RNA Virus belonging to the genus Morbillivirus, which also includes the Viruses that cause Canine Distemper and Rinderpest, as well as a variety of other diseases infecting domestic and wild Mammals. The genius Morbillivirus is in turn a member of the Paramyxoviridae, a group of Viruses that infect a wide range of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Fish, and includes the Virus that causes Mumps in Humans.

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