Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders is usually among the top five phobias. Phobia sufferers in Britain probably aren’t too happy with this news, Exotic spiders crawl into the UK
Exotic species of spiders are making their homes in the UK, scientists say.
Researchers believe arachnids arriving in imports of food and plants are now able to survive and spread thanks to the UK’s increasingly mild climate.
The new inhabitants include a species of false widow spider and some believe the deadly black widow could be next to invade.
The black widow and brown recluse are the only native spiders for us to worry about as far as bites. Those sometimes big snarly spiders we see scurry across the floor are usually harmless wolf spiders.
California Battered by 3 Wind-Whipped Wildfires
Powerful gusts stoked three major wildfires in Southern California early Tuesday that have charred nearly 12,000 acres, destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate neighborhoods in suburban Los Angeles and northern San Diego County.
Two people died Monday as flames raged in the northeastern and western San Fernando Valley, including one motorist killed in a rear-end freeway collision after a looming fire stopped traffic.
Wind gusts have been reported at up to 80 mph making it difficult for firefighters to get the blazes under control. The LA Times has a live Google map up of the fire here. I don’t know how long that link will be good for.
Haiti’s land erodes away as years of environmental damage takes its toll
Haphazard farming techniques, poorly constructed homes on unregulated land, years of neglecting rivers and storm canals, lax enforcement of environmental laws — have all left Haiti’s landscape in a particularly fragile state. Even heavy rain showers can create havoc.
The United States Agency for International Development estimates that only 1.5 percent of Haiti is still forested, compared to 60 percent in 1923 and 28 percent in the neighboring Dominican Republic today. Approximately 30 million trees are cut down annually in Haiti, according to the USAID.
Devastating photo at the link. What was once a lush tropical island is turning into a barren wasteland.
tangledwing 