At least 37 killed, 270 injured while seeking aid in northern Gaza: Hospital
Photo by Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images
(LONDON) — At least 37 people were killed and 270 were injured while seeking aid in northern Gaza near the Zikim crossing, according to the director of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital.
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
An increasing number of deaths due to malnutrition have been reported. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, seven people died of hunger over a 24-hour period on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths from famine to 154 since Oct. 7, 2023, including 89 children.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A volcano that has been dormant for hundreds of thousands of years could be gearing up for a massive explosion, according to new research.
Scientists have measured signs of unrest at the Taftan volcano in eastern Iran, near the Afghanistan border, despite no eruptions in the last 700,000 years, according to a paper published earlier this month in Geophysical Research Letters.
Rapid uplift was detected near Taftan’s 13,000-foot-tall summit between July 2023 and May 2024, while an analysis method to reduce random noise due to atmospheric condition indicated that neither rainfall nor earthquakes triggered the unrest.
Therefore, an explosive eruption is likely imminent, the researchers said.
Changes in gas permeability within the shallow part of the volcano, as well as undetected deep magma movement, have likely led to the hydrothermal pressure buildup.
Taftan experiences frequent fumarolic — or venting of gas — activity, but geologic evidence indicates that it has not experienced a major eruption since 700,000.
“Uncertain” eruptions may have occurred in January 1902 and April 1993, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.
Currently, Taftan is not monitored at the same level of scrutiny as other volcanoes due to its remote location. Space-based satellite sensing is the only source of data to detect transitions from dormancy to unrest for many remote and unmonitored volcanoes, according to the paper.
The study reveals an urgent need to revise the current volcano risk of the Makran subduction volcanic arc — a stretch of about 275 miles along the Indian Ocean — and establish volcano monitoring networks in the region.
“Our findings reveal that Taftan is more active than previously recognized,” the authors wrote.
(NEW YORK) — One of the most potent greenhouse gas emissions has been discovered seeping out of cracks of the Antarctic seafloor, researchers announced.
Methane has been measured escaping from crevices in the seabed at a high rate as the region warms at unprecedented rates, according to a paper published in Nature Communications.
A large reservoir of methane lies beneath sea floors around the world, which can escape through fissures in the sea floor, according to the paper.
The invisible gas can be seen in streams of bubbles originating on the seafloor of Antarctica’s Ross Sea — located on the northern coast of the continent — said the researchers, describing the mechanism as “seemingly widespread” throughout the region, rather than a “rare phenomenon.”
Numerous seafloor seeps of fluid and gas were identified in the shallow coastal environment of the Northern Victoria Land and McMurdo Sound — both located in the Ross Sea — with shipboard water column acoustic surveys and Remotely Operated Vehicle surveys.
One of the most concerning greenhouse gases, methane, has been described as a “super pollutant” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is responsible for about a third of current anthropogenic global warming and is 25 times more potent for global warming than carbon dioxide, according to the agency.
Oceans and coastlines contain the highest uncertainties of methane release, according to researchers.
“There is a continued gap between the measured increase in atmospheric methane and the total emissions predicted from currently known methane sources,” the authors wrote.
The methane leaks appear to occur in areas of the ocean that experience seepage of fluids rich in hydrocarbons, according to the paper.
Past research in the Arctic has identified tens of thousands of methane seeps — many of them linked to climate change impacts and the degradation of cryospheric caps, such as glacial ice, permafrost and gas hydrates, the authors said.
Reducing the weight of ice sheets and glaciers in the Arctic has been found to decrease hydrostatic pressure on subglacial hydrate reservoirs, which can then enhance subglacial flux and methane discharge on the coast, according to the paper.
Greenhouse gases stored in subsea permafrost reservoirs in ice-free regions of the Antarctic are similarly vulnerable to climate change.
However, the role of methane emissions in Antarctica has not yet been fully determined, requiring more study in the future, the researchers said.
“The increasing climate impacts in the Antarctic, including the widespread reduction in ice mass highlights the importance of understanding the current and future dynamics of fluid and gas release from the significant reservoirs predicted in the region,” the scientists wrote.
(LONDON) — Israel has begun its ground operation in Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Tuesday.
“We are going to increase and enhance the strikes of our operation, and that is why we called you,” Zamir said in Hebrew, addressing reservists who have been called up to serve in recent weeks. “We have already begun the ground operation in Gaza [City].”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also released a message addressing Israeli Defense Force reservists Tuesday.
“I want to strengthen and express my deep appreciation to you, IDF soldiers and reserve soldiers and your families,” Netanyahu said in the video message in Hebrew. “Now we are facing the decisive stage. I believe in you, I trust you and the entire nation embraces you.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
