Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
A large dust storm swept over parts of Iraq on May 16, 2022, grounding flights at Baghdad Airport and closing some schools, businesses and government offices. This is the 8th strong dust storm to hit the country since mid-April.
The Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon fire complex burning east of Santa Fe, New Mexico has spread to 121 000 ha (298 060 acres) on May 16, 2022, surpassing the state’s previous largest fire – Whitewater Baldy blaze in 2012.
Southwest monsoon seems to have arrived early this year as very heavy rains hit Assam, producing destructive floods and landslides.
More than 3 000 earthquakes have been automatically detected near Eldvörp in the Reykjanes/Svartsengi volcanic system in the past week, the Icelandic Met Office reports. In addition, recent deformation observations identified the onset of a new inflation event west of Thorbjörn which is likely caused by magma intrusion.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its fourth consecutive failed rain season and the worst drought since 1981. At least 15 million people across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia are already affected and there are fears this number could jump to 20 million.
Recently discovered speed-of-light prompt elastogravity signals (PEGS) have raised hopes for rapid and reliable estimation of large earthquake magnitude (above M8) to help mitigate the risks associated with strong shaking and tsunamis.
Staggering declines in bird populations are taking place around the world, mainly due to the loss and degradation of natural habitats and direct overexploitation of many species.
A new study published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment found evidence of surprisingly rapid upward movement of the earth’s crust on the island of Taiwan.
Significant seismic activity has been detected on the Reykjanes peninsula, Iceland over the past 7 days. The greatest activity was at Svartsengi, where slight uplift was recorded, and in the vicinity of Grindavik.
GNS Science Senior Volcanologist Geoff Kilgour provides a video update on the volcanic unrest at Ruapehu. He shares what future activity could look like at the volcano.
