Victoria 'Fireball' thought to heve been part of Russian Space Launcher.

Witnesses in the Australian state of Victoria reported seeing a fireball meteor on the evening of Friday 22 May 2020. A fireball is defined as a meteor (shooting star) brighter than the planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in the atmosphere, although on this occasion the Astronomical Society of Victoria believe it was caused by part of a Russian Space Launcher re-entering the atmosphere, noting the low angle and apparent speed of the object, which were inconsistent with an extra-terrestrial object. The fireball is thought to have been caused by one of the late stages of a Soyuz-2-1b rocket launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at about 5.30 pm Victoria time.

Fireball 'meteor' thought to have been caused by the re-entry of part of a Russian Space Launcher over Victoria, Australia, on Friday 22 May 2020. Paul Campbell/Twitter.

Extra-terrestrial objects large enough to cause a visible fireball enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a light brighter than the planet Venus. The brightness of a meteor is caused by friction with the Earth's atmosphere, which is typically far greater than that caused by simple falling, due to the initial trajectory of the object. Such objects typically eventually explode in an airburst called by the friction, causing them to vanish as an luminous object. However this is not the end of the story as such explosions result in the production of a number of smaller objects, which fall to the ground under the influence of gravity (which does not cause the luminescence associated with friction-induced heating).

 

 The launch of a Russian Soyuz-2-1b rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on 22 May 2020. The fireball seen over Victoria, Australia, is thought to have been caused by one of the rocket stages from this launch re-entering the atmosphere. Roscosmos.

 

These 'dark objects' do not continue along the path of the original bolide, but neither do they fall directly to the ground, but rather follow a course determined by the atmospheric currents (winds) through which the objects pass. Scientists are able to calculate potential trajectories for hypothetical dark objects derived from meteors using data from weather monitoring services.

 

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Dust storm envelops town of Mildura in Victoria, Australia.

The town of Mildura in northwest Victoria, Australia, was enveloped in a huge dust storm at about 5.00 pm local time on Tuesday 7 May 2019, reducing visibility to almost zero within a few minutes. This is thought to be the largest such storm to hit the town in about 40 years, and is a highly unusual event at this time of year, with dust storms common in northwest Victoria in spring and summer (September to February) but generally suppressed in autumn and winter (March-August) by higher rainfall. However, the southeast Australia has been suffering a draught this year, and while this has now broken in some areas, rains have yet to reach the westernmost parts of Victoria as well as South Australia.

Dust storm sweeping over the town of Mildura, Victoria, on 7 May 2019. ABC.

Most of Australia has an arid or semi-arid climate, and the continent has always been prone to dust storms. However, Human activities are thought to have made these storms more frequent an severe, particularly since the arrival of European settlers on the continent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which led to the introduction of agricultural practises that proved to be unsustainable in the Australian climate, particularly intensive Wheat farming and Sheep raising. These led to the 'Australian Dust Bowl' period of 1895-1945, during which large areas of topsoil were lost, severe dust storms hit coastal cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, and farmers reported entire flocks of Sheep being wiped out by storms. Since this time steps have been taken to better manage farming practises in Australia, leading to a drop in dust storm activity, but concerns are now being raised that a warming climate is leading to longer, driest summers, and that dust storms are becoming more common again.

Dust storm sweeping over the town of Mildura, Victoria, on 7 May 2019. 9News.

As well as the obvious dangers associated with poor visibility, dust storms can cause (sometimes severe) respiratory problems, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing respiratory problems. The dangers associated with such storms depend very much on the size of the particles involved, with larger particles involved (sand) seldom making it past the nasal cavities, where they are unpleasant but not life-threatening, but finer particles (dust) often penetrating to the lungs, where they can be difficult or impossible for the body to deal with. This is particularly true of particles of silicate rock (such as quartz or chert) which the body can neither break down nor expel, with extreme or repeated exposure leading to silicosis, in which repeated, but unsuccessful, attacks on the foreign material by the immune system lead to areas of the lung becoming hardened and non-functional, which has a severe impact on health and is often fatal.

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Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake beneath the Banda Sea.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake at a depth of 141 km beneath the Banda Sea, slightly before 1.30 pm GMT on Saturday 1 December 2018. Quakes at this depth are seldom dangerous, but are often felt over a wide area, and this one was reportedly felt as far away as East Timor in the west and Darwin in the south.

The approximate location of the 1 December 2018 Banda Sea Earthquake (USGS).

The Banda Sea is underlain by two tectonic plates, the Banda Sea Plate and the Timor Plate; two small plates caught between the colliding Eurasian, Pacific and Australian Plates. The Timor Plate is being subducted beneath the Banda Sea Plate. As it sinks into the Earth the subducting plate is being melted by the heat of the planets interior; some of the melted material then rises through the overlying Banda Sea Plate, fueling volcanism on a number of islands in the region. This is not a smooth process, and the plates frequently stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up, fueling Earthquakes in the region.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.

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Diluvicursor pickeringi: A small-bodied Ornithopod Dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria, Australia.

The southern portion of Victoria State in Australia contains extensive deposits laid down in the Early Cretaceous, when the area was part of a rift valley system formed as Australia separated from Antarctica. This region had a rich terrestrial biota inhabiting a series of river floodplains, with a high input of volcanic material. These deposits have produced a wide range of Vertebrate fossils, including Temnospondyl Amphibians, Ornithischian and Theropodan Dinosaurs, Multituberculate, Monotreme and Tribosphenic Mammals, Plesiosaurs, Pterosaurs and Chelonians.

In a paper published in the journal PeerJ on 11 January 2018, Matthew Herne of the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Queensland, Alan Tait of the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University, Vera Weisbecker, also of the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Queensland, Michael Hall, also of the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University, Jay Nair, again of the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Queensland, Michael Cleeland of the Bunurong Environment Centre, and Steven Salisbury, once again of the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Queensland, describe a new species of small-bodied Ornithopod Dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Eumeralla Formation of Victoria, Australia.

The new species is named Diluvicursor pickeringi, where 'Diluvicursor' means 'flood-runner' in reference to the deposits in which it was found, which are interpretted as having been laid down in a deep scour-channel in a fast moving river, and 'pickeringi' honours the late David Pickering for his contributions to the palaeontology of Australia. It is described from a single, partial specimen comprising the tail and right foot from a Dinosaur somewhere between the size of that of a Turkey and that of a Rhea.

Diluvicursor pickeringi, as prepared on five blocks of sandstone. (A) Specimen viewed from above, normal to the bedding. (B) Schematic. Abbreviations: as, astragalus; B #, host block number; Ca #, designated caudal vertebra and position; cal, calcaneum; fib, fibula; ha #, haemal arch/process and position; pd #, pedal digit number; tib, tibia. Stephen Poropat/Museums Victoria in Herne et al. (2018).

The specimen was located within the Eric the Red West Sandstone member, which is interpreted as a deep scour channel laid down within a wide, fast moving river. This bed contains a large amount of woody material, which suggests that the river was running through a forested terrain, and has produced fossils of Fish, Chelonians, Plesiosaurs, Pterosaurs, small Ornithischians, Theropods and Mammals, though most of these are yet to be formally described.

Artist’s interpretation of the early Albian, volcaniclastic, floodplain palaeoenvironment within the Australian-Antarctic rift graben, in the region of Eric the Red West. Scene depicting two individuals of Diluvicursor pickeringi on the cutbank of a high-energy meandering river, regional floral components and distant rift margin uplands. Floral components potentially included forest trees of Araucariaceae (Agathis and Araucaria), Podocarpaceae and Cupressaceae and lower story/ground cover plants, including Pteridophytes (Ferns, including Equisetaleans), Hepatics, Lycopods, Cycadophytes, Bennettitaleans, Seed-bearing Fern- or Cycad-like Taeniopterids and early Australian Angiosperms. Peter Trusler in Herne et al. (2018).

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Three dead in Australian Listeria outbreak.

Three people are known to have died and another twelve have fallen ill in a Listeria outbreak in Australia. All of the fatalities have occurred in New South Wales, with cases reported in Victoria and Tasmania. The outbreak has been linked to Rockmelons (Cantaloupes), Cucumis melo, from a farm in Nericon, New South Wales, with all but two of the effected persons known to have consumed  Melons before falling ill. Retailers in Australia have removed Rockemelons from sale as a precaution and people are being advised to destroy any saved Melons rather than eating them, particularly  if they belong to vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, elderly people or those with compromised immune systems.

Rockmelons (Cantaloupes), Cucumis melo. Scott Bauer/United States Department of Agriculture.

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative anaerobic Bacterium (Bacterium that does not need oxygen to survive, but which is not poisoned by it either) that is one of the most common causes of food-poisoning in Humans, causing an estimated 1600 infections and 260 fatalities in the US each year. It is a form of Firmicutes, tough cell-walled Bacteria that produce endospores capable of surviving desiccation and other extreme conditions, making the Bacteria very hard to eradicate.

 

 Electron micrograph of a flagellated Listeria monocytogenes Bacterium, Magnified 41 250 times. Elizabeth White/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikipedia.

 

Listeria monocytogenes is particularly associated with unpasteurised dairy products (such as raw milk cheeses), as it is primarily an infection of Ruminant Mammals. It can cause meningitis-type infections in Humans, and is particularly dangerous to the very old, very young and those with compromised immune systems. However it can also thrive in Human gastrointestinal tracts without harming the host (it is estimated that about 10% of people are infected) raising the possibility of direst Human-to-Human transmission.

 

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Workers rescued after chemical incident in Melbourne.

A factory was forced to evacuate and four workers needed to be rescued after a drum containing chemicals exploded at the site in the Thomsatown area of north Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, on Saturday 10 September 2016. The four workers took refuge in a safe area within the plant after the drum burst, releasing a clound of orange gas and about 100 litres of fluid. They were rescued by emergency crews from Melbourne's Metropolitan Fire Brigade using breathing apparatus, and checked for signs of contamination by crews from Ambulance Victoria before being released. A 250 m exclusion zone was set up around the site while the spill was cleaned up.

Emergency crews at the scene of the 10 September 2016 Melbourne chemical incident. Paul Stacchino/Twitter/ABC.

The drum that caused the incident is believed to have contained nitrous acid, HNO₂, a weak monobasic acid used in a variety of chemical manufacturing proceses and not generally considered a high risk substance (and not to be confused with the similar sounding but much more dangerous nitric acid). The problem is thoguht to have occured because the drum had not been cleaned before use, and contained traces of an organic solvent; acids tend to react strongly with such solvents, producing large amounts of gas, which would have led to the presure rising sharply inside the drum, untill this led to the top being blown off.

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Widespread flooding in southeast Australia.

Widespread flooding and at least one fatality have been reported in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia following heavy rainfall across the region on Sunday 3 and Monday 4 January 2016. Authorities are advising against driving into floodwaters and advising people to evacuate in some low lying areas. Warnings about landslides and bush fires have also been issued in some areas.

Flooding at Moruya Gold Club in New South Wales. Christa Poulter/Batemans Bay Post.

The sole reported casualty of the flooding so far occurred near Seymour in Victoria where a 63-year-old man identified as Max Loweke was swept of a road in a bakery van he was driving by a swollen creek. Elsewhere in Victoria people are beginning to return to the towns of Wye River and Separation Creek, which were devastated by bush fires over the Christmas period. Such bush fires seem an unlikely accompaniment to flooding, but they are fairly common in areas where a largely dry climate is accompanied by periodic storms, enabling dry  vegetation and timber to build up, and potentially be ignited by lighting storms.

The town of Separation Creek in Victoria following fires on Christmas Day 2015. Darrian Traynor/Getty Image.

In New South Wales people and livestock have been evacuated from parts of the Moruya River Basin where over 200 mm of rain fell within 24 hours from Sunday evening. Landslides have been reported in several areas in the Snowy Mountains; landslides are a common problem after severe weather events, as excess pore water pressure can overcome cohesion in soil and sediments, allowing them to flow like liquids. Approximately 90% of all landslides are caused by heavy rainfall.

 Flooding on the Moruya River rising at the Kiora Bridge in New South Wales. Susan Jameson/ABC.

In parts of norther South Australia over 150 mm of rain fell in the first three days of 2016, with some areas receiving over 40 mm of rain in an hour on Sunday 3 January, breaking a drought that had lasted since May 2015. Many rural communities have been cut off by flooded roads, however there are no reports of any casualties and many people are grateful for the opportunity to replenish water reserves in an arid and often erratic climate.

Storm systems form due to heating of air over the sea. 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. Such storms can carry large amounts of water, evaporated from the surface of the sea by the warmth of the Sun, which can then be released abruptly as rain or hail when the moist air encounters cooler conditions over land (the amount of water the air can hold relates directly to its temperature).

 

The South Pacific is currently in an El Niño climate phase, which typically brings dryer conditions in Australia. However it also brings very high temperatures to the region, which can lead to the creation of more storm systems, with associated flash flooding events. Flash floods are a common problem in South Australia (and other areas with a dry climate) as protracted periods of dry weather can cause topsoil to dry out completely, making it vulnerable to being blown away by the wind. When rain does arrive it then falls on exposed bedrock, which is much less absorbent, triggering flash flooding as the water escapes over the surface of the ground rather than sinking into it. These floods wash away more topsoil, making the problem progressively worse over time.

  Movements of air masses and changes in precipitation in an El Niño weather system. Fiona Martin/NOAA.

 

The El Niño is the warm phase of a long-term climatic oscillation affecting the southern Pacific, which can influence the climate around the world. The onset of El Niño conditions is marked by a sharp rise in temperature and pressure over the southern Indian Ocean, which then moves eastward over the southern Pacific. This pulls rainfall with it, leading to higher rainfall over the Pacific and lower rainfall over South Asia. This reduced rainfall during the already hot and dry summer leads to soaring temperatures in southern Asia, followed by a rise in rainfall that often causes flooding in the Americas and sometimes Africa. Worryingly climatic predictions for the next century suggest that global warming could lead to more frequent and severe El Niño conditions, extreme weather conditions a common occurrence.

 

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Landslide destroys house in Victoria, Australia.                                                        A woman was lucky to escape without injury after a landslide destroyed her house at Ovens in northeast Victoria, Australia, on the evening of Tuesday...

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Three confirmed dead as floods and cyclonic winds hit New South Wales.                       Three people are reported to have died in the town of Dungog in New South Wales, as cyclonic winds hit the Hunter, Central Coast and Illawarra Regions of New South Wales on Monday 20 April 2015...

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