When looking for signs of summers approach all one needs to do is notice the longer days and warmer weather.However here in the state of Maine, these signs of summer are also signaling the start of an invasion.When most of you think of invasions during the summer time you may think of swarms of mosquitoes and tourists who both possess the penchant to annoy us during the warmer summer months than disappear as soon as the first chill of fall rears its head.However the invasion that truly worries many here in Maine is the rampant infiltration of aquatic plants into our states waterways.
For several years now there have been warnings from environmental groups and agencies about the oncoming introduction of invasive plant species into Maine’s waterways, however for the most part a wide scale infiltration has been avoided.Yet this may not always been the case and has caused numerous groups and residents to set about cleaning up existing outbreaks and by establishing preventative measures.
The state is taking the threat so seriously that they have established Maine Milfoil Initiative which will contribute $500,000 in federal aid money to prevent to spread of the invasive plant species milfoil in Maine’s waters.In the town of Oakland this has resulted in a $13,000 dollar contribution to rid MessalonskeeLake of milfoil.The efforts to control milfoil in the lake will involve the installation of benthic barriers in high traffic areas of the lake.These barriers will rest at the bottom of the lake, preventing sunlight from reaching the milfoils root system and kill the plants.
There have also been state laws instituted to prevent the spread of these invasive species.Seaplanes landing in Maine’s lakes and ponds will now need to carry a water protection sticker.These stickers were already mandatory on all boats entering Maine waters however the Maine legislature added seaplanes to the list after establishing the planes potential to carry invasive species into the state.The stickers will cost $20 dollars and need to be applied to the outside of each pontoon.
For more information about invasive plant species residents can contact the Maine Bureau of Land and Water Quality.Also there are citizen based groups such as the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program who monitor the over 6,000 lakes and ponds in Maine trying to control invasive plant species.They have produced a comprehensive report about the current state of Maine’s waterways which can be viewed here; http://www.mainevolunteerlakemonitors.org/2009MaineLakesReport.pdf.
Measures need to be taken to stem the tide of invasive plant infestation or soon the problem will be much larger than it currently stands.The natural balance of Maine waterways rests in the balance and as experience in other parts of the country shows, the risks of waiting for an infestation to happen are much higher than the costs involved in preventing one.
A volcanic eruption on the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland has caused an evacuation of the area and flight cancellations throughout Europe.The eruption of this volcano is extremely rare with the last recorded eruption having occurred in 1821.This has been the second eruption of the volcano in 30 days and has caused more than 800 residents to seek shelter in Red Cross shelters.The evacuation of residents was caused by fears that the eruption would cause melting of the glacier and lead to massive flooding in the area.The melting of glacier ice has already caused the water-levels in rivers to rise over ten feet.
All of the smoke and ash billowing out of the volcano has had a dramatic affect on airline traffic in Europe.There are currently over 6,000 flight cancellations across Europe with many more expected over the course of this week.The countries of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, and The Netherlands have all announced closure of their airspaces.There is no known time table for when flights can resume, however there are several events which need to occur for these national airspaces to open up for airliners.
According to geophysicist Matthew Watson speaking during a CNN interview: "You really need two things to happen: You need the volcano to stop emplacing ash to the altitude that commercial aircraft fly at, 30,000 to 35,000 feet, and you then need the upper-level winds to blow the ash and disperse it out of the air space."He went on to add that if that were to occur right now that it would still take 24 to 48 hours to clear airspace of any volcanic dust and ash.And according to Icelandic authorities, at 1:30p.m.ET the volcano was still eruption sending plumes of ash and smoke into the atmosphere.
With the advent of social networking becoming an essential part of our daily lives, there is the tendency to dismiss these sites as a distraction for society instead of an aid.This is especially true with Twitter.Initially the site was viewed as frivolous and another example of how society has become obsessed with voyeurism and self promotion.However with Twitters use by people to organize and report news, it has become an invaluable tool for the news media.The Haiti earthquake has shown the effect that Twitter can have in reporting news and helping peoples affected by a disaster.
In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake Twitter was one of the sources used by television news stations like CNN.It was also essential in trying to get aid sent to the island by highlighting what conditions presently existed and what was needed to help with the relief effort.One of these people who used Twitter to report what was happening in the Haitian capital of Port au Prince was radio host Carel Pedre.He said during an interview with the BBC of his initial reactions after the earthquake; “My first reactions were fear, concern, frustration. Was my family safe? Would my house collapse? Was the world coming to an end? But as it happened I also had the first instinct to get on my phone and Tweet "Am I the only one who felt that?"It is because of other people like Mr.Pedre that Twitter became such an important aid in reporting news from Haiti.
This type of disaster reporting has also lead to the creation of software that will aid in filtering of information during a disaster coming from social networking sites including Twitter.According to the Huffington Post the software called Ushahidi was originally developed after the Kenyan elections in 2007.The software can be used to locate those in need during a crisis situation and send their information to relief agencies to help them.This was used in Haiti by freeing people trapped underneath rubble who had sent Tweets to Ushahidi and whose information was forwarded to the Red Cross on the scene in Haiti.
