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Chinese astronauts Fei Junlong (C), Deng Qingming (R) and Zhang Lu (L), crew of the Shenzhou-15 spaceflight mission, wave at a press conference before the launch

China launched the Shenzhou-15 spacecraft on Tuesday carrying three astronauts to its space station, where they will complete the country’s first-ever crew handover in orbit, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket at 11:08 pm (1508 GMT) from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwestern China’s Gobi desert, Xinhua said, citing the China Manned Space Administration (CMSA) said.

The team is led by veteran Fei Junlong and two first-time astronauts Deng Qingming and Zhang Lu, the agency said at a news conference on Monday.

Fei, 57, is returning to space after 17 years, having commanded the Shenzhou-6 mission in 2005. 

His team will join three other astronauts aboard the Tiangong space station, who arrived in early June.

“The… main responsibilities for the mission are.. achieving the first crew-handover in orbit, installing… equipment and facilities inside and outside the space station and carrying out scientific experiments,” Ji Qiming, a spokesman for CMSA said.

“During the stay, the Shenzhou-15 crew will welcome the visiting Tianzhou-6 cargo ship and hand over (operations to) the Shenzhou-16 manned spaceship, and are planning to return to China’s Dongfeng landing site in May next year.” 

The Tiangong space station is a crown jewel in Beijing’s ambitious space programme — which has landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon, and made the country the third to put humans in orbit — as it looks to catch up with major spacefaring powers the United States and Russia.

Tiangong’s final module successfully docked with the core structure earlier this month, state media said — a key step in its completion by year’s end.

“I expect that China will declare construction completion during or at end of the Shenzhou-15 mission,” independent Chinese space analyst Chen Lan said. 

China has been excluded from the International Space Station since 2011, when the United States banned NASA from engaging with the country.

Once completed, the Tiangong space station is expected to have a mass of 90 tonnes — around a quarter of the ISS — or similar in size to the Soviet-built Mir station that orbited Earth from the 1980s until 2001.

Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace”, will operate for around a decade and host a variety of experiments in near-zero gravity.

Next year, Beijing plans to launch the Xuntian space telescope with a field of view 350 times that of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Ice fishing is a popular winter sport in the northern US state of Minnesota, the so-called Land of 10,000 Lakes

About 200 early-season ice fishers were caught by surprise and stranded in a Minnesota lake when the frozen slab under their feet broke free and drifted into open water — triggering a complex rescue operation.

A member of the group called emergency services Monday when they realized the people ice fishing — a popular winter sport in the northern US state known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes — were slowly drifting away from the shoreline of Upper Red Lake, local police said on Facebook. 

“The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office and other first responders arrived on scene and discovered a large portion of the ice with up to 30 yards (27 meters) of open water stranding the fishermen,” Chief Deputy Jarrett Walton said in a statement.

Some of the group had not even realized the ice floe had snapped free. But “due to the urgent nature of getting people off the ice,” Beltrami County sent out an alert to the fishermen’s cellphones to notify them they would soon be rescued in an emergency evacuation.

The alert “allowed notifications to be sent to cell phones of those who are not enrolled in the local notification system and provided GPS coordinates of the evacuation site,” the sheriff’s department said. 

It took over three hours to complete the evacuate from the ice.

“A number of apparatus were deployed including airboats, water rescue boats, ATVs, drones and a temporary bridge,” the sheriff’s department said.

It also warned other local fisherman to use “extreme caution” on unsteady ice.

“The Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office reminds those who are thinking of heading on the ice that early season ice is very unpredictable,” the statement said.

Falling prices and rich deposits that have opened up in other countries have made times hard for Niger's uranium mines

Prospects for the world’s nuclear industry have been boosted by the war in Ukraine and mounting hostility towards climate-wrecking fossil fuels — but Niger, one of the world’s biggest sources of uranium, has yet to feel the improvement.

The deeply impoverished landlocked Sahel state is a major supplier of uranium to the European Union, accounting for a fifth of its supplies, and is especially important to France, its former colonial power. 

But its mining industry is in the doldrums.

“Over the past few years, the uranium industry worldwide has been marked by a trend of continuously falling prices,” Mining Minister Yacouba Hadizatou Ousseini told AFP in an interview.

She blamed “pressure from ecologists” after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, but also the emergence of “particularly rich deposits” of uranium in Canada for depressing the market.

A concrete example of Niger’s problems can be found in its vast mine at Imouraren, which experts had said would yield 5,000 tonnes of ore for 35 years, but which has been closed since 2014.

“Mining at… Imouraren, which is one of the world’s largest uranium deposits, will get underway as soon as market conditions permit,” French miner Orano, which has the operating licence, says on its website.

Orano, previously known as Areva, has two subsidiaries in Niger.

Last year, its offshoot Cominak wound up activities at a mine in the desert region of Arlit which had been operating since the 1970s after commercially exploitable deposits of uranium ore ran out.

Production at a second site in Arlit by its other subsidiary Somair was 2,000 tonnes in 2021, compared with 3,000 tonnes nine years earlier.

– Grounds for optimism –

But there is good news, too, for the sector.

Prices have recently been on the upward track over the past two years. At around $50 a pound (half a kilo), they are double the price of six years ago, although still way off the record of $140 per pound, reached during a spike in 2007.

“Prices are low compared to production costs. Many mines have closed because of that,” a French uranium expert told AFP.

“But a slow improvement is underway. In the long term, there will be major demand, especially for power stations in Russia or China,” the specialist said, asking not to be identified.

This explains why foreign miners — from Australia, Britain, Canada, China, India, Italy, Russia and the United States — have been knocking on Niger’s door.

“There are 31 current authorisations for uranium prospecting, and 11 permits to mine uranium,” the minister said.

On November 5, the Canadian company Global Atomic Corporation began the symbolic start of uranium extraction at a site about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Arlit.

It has promised to invest 121 billion CFA francs (around $185 million) there next year.

“(Niger’s) uranium… is open to those who have the technological capacity to exploit it,” Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum said last year.

“There is a future for uranium in Niger, but not necessarily with France,” the French expert said.

– Tensions with France –

Niger’s open-doors policy today contrasts with the half-century entwinement it previously had with France — a once-cosy relationship that suffered from repeated rows out about pricing.

In 2007, former president Mamadou Tandja successfully fought for a 40-percent increase in price for uranium paid by Areva.

His successor, Mahamadou Issoufou — a former Areva employee — once voiced indignation that his country earned so little from uranium, even though it was the fourth biggest producer in the world at the time.

In 2014, Areva and Niger signed a deal, after 18 months of negotiations, that set down improved conditions for Niger through operations at the Imouraren mine.

Those benefits are still awaited, as the huge mine is closed.

“There’s no win-win partnership. Niger has had no benefit from uranium mining,” said Ali Idrissa, coordinator of a coalition of campaign groups called the Nigerien Network of Organisations for Budget Transparency and Analysis.

Uranium “has brought us only (landscape) desolation… and all the profits went to France,” said Nigerien specialist Tchiroma Aissami Mamadou.

In 2020, mining contributed to 1.2 percent of the national budget.

Accusations of abuse or exploitation are rejected by Orano, which said it had invested millions of euros in projects to improve health and education for local communities and spur economic activities around mining sites.

It also pointed to taxes, dividends and other payments that mining companies paid into state coffers, directly or indirectly.

The ice that covered Switzerland's Tsanfleuron pass for at least 2,000 years has completely melted

All regions of the world saw water extremes last year — both floods and droughts — and billions of people had insufficient freshwater, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Large areas of the planet recorded drier than normal conditions in 2021, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said in its first annual State of Global Water Resources report.

The report assesses the effects of changes in the climate, environment and society on the Earth’s freshwater resources — limited supplies that are under growing demand — so they can be managed better.

“The impacts of climate change are often felt through water — more intense and frequent droughts, more extreme flooding, more erratic seasonal rainfall and accelerated melting of glaciers — with cascading effects on economies, ecosystems and all aspects of our daily lives,” said WMO head Petteri Taalas.

“And yet there is insufficient understanding of changes in the distribution, quantity and quality of freshwater resources.”

Some 3.6 billion people face inadequate access to freshwater at least one month per year. That is forecast to rise to more than five billion by 2050, the report said.

Between 2001 and 2018, 74 percent of all natural disasters were water-related, according to UN studies.

In 2021, all regions saw devastating water extremes, the report said.

There were record-breaking floods in western Europe and the Amazon, while water levels in rivers in Paraguay and southern Brazil dropped to an all-time low.

The report assessed streamflow — the volume of water flowing through a river — over a 30-year period.

Drops in water volumes were twice as widespread as rises.

Major river basins in the Americas and central Africa saw water volumes shrink. Rivers in northern India and southern Africa saw above average increases.

– Frozen resources –

Terrestrial water storage — all water on the land surface and in the subsurface — shrank more than it grew, the report said.

Negative hotspots included Patagonia, the Ganges and Indus headwaters, and the southwestern United States.

“Some of the hotspots are exacerbated by (over-extraction) of groundwater for irrigation. The melting of snow and ice also has a significant impact in several areas, including Alaska, Patagonia and the Himalayas,” the WMO said.

The world’s biggest natural reservoir of freshwater is the cryosphere — glaciers, snow cover, ice caps and permafrost — and changes to this reservoir affect food production, health and the natural world, the report said.

Around 1.9 billion people live in areas where drinking water is supplied by glaciers and snow melt but these glaciers are melting increasingly fast, it stressed.

It urged authorities to speed up the introduction of drought and flood early warning systems to help reduce the impact of water extremes.

Rivers of molten rock are visible high up on Mauna Loa, the world's biggest volcano

The world’s largest active volcano burst into life for the first time in 40 years, spewing lava and hot ash Monday in a spectacular display of nature’s fury by Mauna Loa in Hawaii.

Rivers of molten rock could be seen high up on the volcano, venting huge clouds of steam and smoke at the summit on Big Island, and sparking warnings the situation could change rapidly.

Pressure has been building at Mauna Loa for years, according to the United States Geological Survey, which reported the eruption could be seen from 45 miles (72 kilometers) away, in the town of Kona the west coast of Hawaii’s main island.

The eruption, which began shortly before midnight Sunday, was initially contained within the caldera — the concave area at the top of the volcano — but vulcanologists said Monday lava was now escaping from cracks in its side.

“The eruption of Mauna Loa has migrated from the summit to the Northeast Rift Zone where fissures are feeding several lava flows,” the USGS said on its website.

The agency said there was currently no threat to people living below the eruption zone, but warned that the volcano was volatile.

“Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa rift zone eruption can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.”

Experts also cautioned that winds could carry volcanic gas and fine ash downslope, as well as Pele’s Hair — the name given to fine strands of volcanic glass formed when lava skeins cool quickly in the air.

Named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, the strands can be very sharp and pose potential danger to skin and eyes.

– ‘Long Mountain’ –

Authorities in Hawaii have not issued any evacuation orders, although the summit area and several roads in the region were closed, and two shelters have been opened as a precaution.

An ashfall advisory has been issued downwind of the volcano, with a light accumulation of ash expected on ships in ocean waters along the Big Island’s southeast.

Vulcanologist Robin George Andrews said the eruption had originally been contained, but was now spreading.

“Oof. Lava is now erupting from fresh vents on the slopes along Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone, or NERZ. That brings a new hazardous dimension to the eruption,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The fact that it is a hazardous mountain that hasn’t erupted since 1984 — the longest eruptive pause in its recorded history — is why we should all keep an eye on it.” 

But Andrews predicted that unless the lava flow rate picks up dramatically, the city of Hilo to the northeast, home to about 44,000 people, “will be okay.”

The largest volcano on Earth by volume, Mauna Loa, whose name means “Long Mountain,” covers half of the Big Island and is larger than the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined.

The volcano’s submarine flanks stretch for miles to an ocean floor that is in turn depressed by Mauna Loa’s great mass — making its summit some 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) above its base, according to the USGS. 

One of six active volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843.

Its most recent eruption, in 1984, lasted 22 days and produced lava flows which reached to within about seven kilometers (four miles) of Hilo.

Kilauea, a volcano on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, erupted almost continuously between 1983 and 2019, and a minor eruption there has been ongoing for months.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is significantly impacted by climate change factors, according to experts.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage sites, according to UN experts who warned the fading wonder has been “significantly impacted” by climate change.

A UNESCO-tasked report said on Monday warming seas and agricultural pollution had put the reef at risk and that its resilience had been “substantially compromised”.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s premier tourist drawcards and putting it on the in-danger list could substantially tarnish its allure for international visitors. 

UNESCO considered listing the reef after a damning report in 2021 but held off following intense lobbying from Australia’s previous conservative government.

It first raised the alarm about the reef’s deterioration in 2010. 

The Australian Marine Conservation Society said the reef supported 60,000 jobs and generated Aus$6 billion ($4 billion) in revenue every year. 

Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek acknowledged the reef was under threat but said putting it on UNESCO’s “World Heritage in Danger” list would be a step too far. 

“We’ll clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way,” she told reporters. 

“If this World Heritage Site is in danger, then most World Heritage Sites around the world are in danger from climate change.” 

World Wildlife Fund spokesman Richard Leck said the UNESCO recommendations should be accepted by the government. 

“These UNESCO recommendations are a reminder it is our choice to give the world’s most iconic reef the best chance of survival,” he said. 

Marine biologist Jodie Rummer said the UNESCO report showed Australia had more work to do. 

“Our action now will determine the frequency and severity of marine heatwaves the reef will face over the coming years,” she said. 

The report, written by experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and UNESCO, acknowledged Australia’s commitment to protecting the reef. 

But it found that despite the “unparalleled science and management efforts”, the reef still faced “considerable pressures” linked to climate change and pollution from agricultural runoff.

Australian scientists reported in May that 91 percent of the reef’s coral had been damaged by bleaching after a prolonged summer heatwave. 

It was the first time on record the reef had suffered bleaching during a La Nina weather cycle, when cooler ocean temperatures would normally be expected. 

Conservative prime minister Scott Morrison was voted out earlier this year in favour of a centre-left government promising greener policies and greater climate action. 

A UNESCO spokesperson told AFP that “a constructive dialogue is ongoing with the current government”.

A site must have “outstanding universal value” to be included on UNESCO’s world heritage list.

A spot on the list usually means boosted tourism and improved access to funds and scientific expertise. 

Only three sites have ever been dropped from the heritage list completely.

burs-sft/arb/pbt

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is significantly impacted by climate change factors, according to experts.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage sites, according to UN experts who have warned the fading wonder has been “significantly impacted” by climate change.

A UNESCO-tasked report on Monday said that warming seas and agricultural pollution had put the reef at risk, and that its resilience had been “substantially compromised”.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s premier tourist drawcards, and putting it on the in-danger list could substantially tarnish its international allure. 

After intense lobbying, Australia’s previous conservative government managed to keep the reef off the list in the summer of 2021. 

The Australian Marine Conservation Society said the reef supported 60,000 jobs and generated Aus$6 billion ($4 billion) in revenue every year. 

Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek conceded the reef was under threat, but said putting it on UNESCO’s “World Heritage in Danger” list would be a step too far. 

“We’ll clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way,” she told reporters. 

“If this World Heritage Site is in danger, then most World Heritage Sites around the world are in danger from climate change.” 

World Wildlife Fund spokesman Richard Leck said the UNESCO recommendations should be accepted by the government. 

“These UNESCO recommendations are a reminder it is our choice to give the world’s most iconic reef the best chance of survival.” 

The latest report, from experts at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and UNESCO, acknowledged Australia’s commitment to protecting the reef. 

But it found that despite the “unparalleled science and management efforts”, the reef still faced “considerable pressures” linked to climate change and pollution from agricultural runoff. 

Australia reported in May that 91 percent of the reef’s coral had been damaged by bleaching after a prolonged summer heatwave. 

It was the first time on record the reef had suffered bleaching during a La Nina weather cycle, when cooler ocean temperatures would normally be expected. 

Conservative prime minister Scott Morrison was voted out earlier this year in favour of a centre-left government promising greener policies and greater climate action. 

A UNESCO spokesperson told AFP that “a constructive dialogue is ongoing with the current government”.

To be included on UNESCO’s world heritage list, a site must have “outstanding universal value”.

A spot on the list usually means boosted tourism, and improved access to funds and scientific expertise. 

Only three sites have ever been dropped from the heritage list completely.

burs-sft/arb/lb

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is significantly impacted by climate change factors, according to experts.

Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage sites, according to UN experts who have warned the fading wonder has been “significantly impacted” by climate change.

A UNESCO-tasked report on Monday said that warming seas and agricultural pollution had put the reef at risk, and that its resilience had been “substantially compromised”.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia’s premier tourist drawcards, and putting it on the in-danger list could substantially tarnish its international allure. 

After intense lobbying, Australia’s previous conservative government managed to keep the reef off the list in the summer of 2021. 

The Australian Marine Conservation Society said the reef supported 60,000 jobs and generated Aus$6 billion ($4 billion) in revenue every year. 

Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek conceded the reef was under threat, but said putting it on UNESCO’s “World Heritage in Danger” list would be a step too far. 

“We’ll clearly make the point to UNESCO that there is no need to single the Great Barrier Reef out in this way,” she told reporters. 

“If this World Heritage Site is in danger, then most World Heritage Sites around the world are in danger from climate change.” 

World Wildlife Fund spokesman Richard Leck said the UNESCO recommendations should be accepted by the government. 

“These UNESCO recommendations are a reminder it is our choice to give the world’s most iconic reef the best chance of survival.” 

The latest report, from experts at the International Union for Conservation of Nature and UNESCO, acknowledged Australia’s commitment to protecting the reef. 

But it found that despite the “unparalleled science and management efforts”, the reef still faced “considerable pressures” linked to climate change and pollution from agricultural runoff. 

Australia reported in May that 91 percent of the reef’s coral had been damaged by bleaching after a prolonged summer heatwave. 

It was the first time on record the reef had suffered bleaching during a La Nina weather cycle, when cooler ocean temperatures would normally be expected. 

Conservative prime minister Scott Morrison was voted out earlier this year in favour of a centre-left government promising greener policies and greater climate action. 

A UNESCO spokesperson told AFP that “a constructive dialogue is ongoing with the current government”.

To be included on UNESCO’s world heritage list, a site must have “outstanding universal value”.

A spot on the list usually means boosted tourism, and improved access to funds and scientific expertise. 

Only three sites have ever been dropped from the heritage list completely.

burs-sft/arb/lb

During his trip to the Detroit Auto Show in September 2022, US President Joe Biden touted the very 'made in America' provisions of the Inflation Reducation Act that the EU has called 'discriminatory'

Certain provisions in US President Joe Biden’s landmark climate action plan, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), have provoked strong responses from the European Union, which fears it could hurt its industry.

With the IRA set to be one of the main topics discussed during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Washington this week, AFP answers some key questions about the spat.

– What are the measures in the IRA? –

The IRA, a behemoth piece of legislation that largely focuses on climate and social spending, provides more than $430 billion in US investments.

Of that sum, $370 billion will go toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030, making it the largest-ever US program to combat climate change.

Some of the investments are in the form of tax cuts for companies that invest in clean energy, but there are also significant subsidies for electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy projects — if they are manufactured in the United States. 

One is a $7,500 subsidy for households buying US-made electric vehicles, while another gives benefits to manufacturers of wind turbines and solar panels who use US steel.

– Why is the IRA ruffling European feathers? –

The IRA has caused a stir at EU headquarters in Brussels as well as in other European capitals, which see the various subsidies as “discriminatory,” in particular against the bloc’s auto manufacturers.

“This is unacceptable for the EU. As it stands, this text is extremely protectionist, to the detriment of European exports” said Czech industry minister Jozef Sikela, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

He did, however, stress the “goodwill on both sides” after a meeting of EU ministers with US Trade Ambassador Katherine Tai.

In early November, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton threatened to “go before the WTO” and consider “retaliatory measures” if the United States did not reverse its subsidies. 

“In some cases, the subsidies that the Biden administration offers are four to 10 times the maximum amount authorized by the European Commission,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who called on the Commission to create “European preferential measures or to accelerate the use of reciprocity instruments.” 

According to a French official briefing reporters ahead of Macron’s state visit, the hot button issue will be on the table. 

“We fully understand the US desire to be more independent,” said the official Monday, “but the problems come from the fact that in Europe we do not have this type of discriminatory instrument, we respect the rules of the WTO in this area.”

The official said that France wanted “Europe too, not just the United States, to emerge stronger” from the period of multiple crises that the continent is going through.

– Is there leeway to amend the IRA? –

Even if Biden wanted to walk back certain measures, or to broaden the number of beneficiaries, his legislative options are quite limited.

Any action will be more complicated when his Democratic Party loses their House of Representatives majority in January, after their loss in the November midterms.

It’s also not clear that Biden is even thinking about touching a key plank of his presidential legacy, which he salvaged only after protracted negotiations in the Senate. 

Biden’s initial proposal, the Build Back Better Act, was even more ambitious, providing $1.7 trillion dollars of investment. That plan cleared the House at the end of 2021 but was blocked in the Senate. 

The subsidies in question are also very popular, especially in states such as Ohio and Michigan, where the automotive industry remains powerful and their “swing state” status gives them considerable political clout. 

However, the United States is hoping to smooth things over with its European partners.

After a virtual exchange with France’s Le Maire, US Trade Representative Tai on Monday said that the countries are “working together to strengthen common understanding of legislation.”

For his part, Macron hopes to go further and obtain from his US counterpart “exemptions for a certain number of European industries, perhaps on the model of what it already agrees for Mexico and Canada,” according to an adviser.

The two US neighbors, who share a free trade pact with the United States, received carve-outs in the IRA for electric vehicle subsidies.

Rivers of molten rock are visible high up on Mauna Loa, the world's biggest volcano

The world’s largest active volcano burst into life for the first time in 40 years, spewing lava and hot ash Monday in a spectacular display of nature’s fury by Mauna Loa in Hawaii.

Rivers of molten rock could be seen high up on the volcano, venting huge clouds of steam and smoke at the summit on Big Island, and sparking warnings the situation could change rapidly.

Pressure has been building at Mauna Loa for years, according to the United States Geological Survey, which reported the eruption could be seen from 45 miles (72 kilometers) away, in the town of Kona the west coast of Hawaii’s main island.

The eruption, which began shortly before midnight Sunday, was initially contained within the caldera — the concave area at the top of the volcano — but vulcanologists said Monday lava was now escaping from cracks in its side.

“The eruption of Mauna Loa has migrated from the summit to the Northeast Rift Zone where fissures are feeding several lava flows,” the USGS said on its website.

The agency said there was currently no threat to people living below the eruption zone, but warned that the volcano was volatile.

“Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa rift zone eruption can be very dynamic, and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly.”

Experts also cautioned that winds could carry volcanic gas and fine ash downslope, as well as Pele’s Hair — the name given to fine strands of volcanic glass formed when lava skeins cool quickly in the air.

Named after Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, the strands can be very sharp and pose potential danger to skin and eyes.

– ‘Long Mountain’ –

Authorities in Hawaii have not issued any evacuation orders, although the summit area and several roads in the region were closed, and two shelters have been opened as a precaution.

An ashfall advisory has been issued downwind of the volcano, with a light accumulation of ash expected on ships in ocean waters along the Big Island’s southeast.

Vulcanologist Robin George Andrews said the eruption had originally been contained, but was now spreading.

“Oof. Lava is now erupting from fresh vents on the slopes along Mauna Loa’s Northeast Rift Zone, or NERZ. That brings a new hazardous dimension to the eruption,” he wrote on Twitter.

“The fact that it is a hazardous mountain that hasn’t erupted since 1984 — the longest eruptive pause in its recorded history — is why we should all keep an eye on it.” 

But Andrews predicted that unless the lava flow rate picks up dramatically, the city of Hilo to the northeast, home to about 44,000 people, “will be okay.”

The largest volcano on Earth by volume, Mauna Loa, whose name means “Long Mountain,” covers half of the Big Island and is larger than the rest of the Hawaiian islands combined.

The volcano’s submarine flanks stretch for miles to an ocean floor that is in turn depressed by Mauna Loa’s great mass — making its summit some 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) above its base, according to the USGS. 

One of six active volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands, Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843.

Its most recent eruption, in 1984, lasted 22 days and produced lava flows which reached to within about seven kilometers (four miles) of Hilo.

Kilauea, a volcano on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, erupted almost continuously between 1983 and 2019, and a minor eruption there has been ongoing for months.