Friday, April 29, 2011

ECUADOR RAISES ALERT AS VOLCANO SPEWS ASH

ASH CLOUDS FROM TUNGURAHUA
VOLCANO PUTS ECUADOR ON ALERT
http://articles.cnn.com/ - Authorities in Ecuador closed schools and evacuated residents in areas near a volcano Tuesday after ashes spewing from its crater fell on homes and farms, state media reported.  Ashes from Tungurahua - which means “throat of fire” in the native Quechua language - rose more than 7 kilometers (4 miles) into the air Tuesday, the government news agency said.  Authorities issued an alert as monitors detected six eruptions, ranging from moderate to large, and a significant ash cloud Tuesday, state media said.  “According to our observations, damages to crops, pastures and small effects to the health of people are already evident,” the country’s geophysics institute said.  Officials first detected increased activity in the volcano April 20, with monitors observing regular small eruptions of ash and gas.
 
The glacier-capped, 16,478-foot volcano has erupted periodically since 1999, when increased activity led to the temporary evacuation of the city of Banos at the foot of the volcano.  Tungurahua erupted in December, sending ash and lava spewing nearly a mile into the sky.  Major eruptions also occurred in August 2006 and February 2008, according to the government’s emergency management agency.  Before the recent activity, the last major eruption was between 1916 and 1918. Relatively minor activity continued until 1925, the Smithsonian Institution said on its volcano website.  The volcano is 140 kilometers (86 miles) south of Quito, Ecuador’s capital.

Ecuador declared a national alert after the Tungurahua volcano, notorious for previous eruptions, began spewing lava again, forcing closure of schools and a widening evacuation of residents.  A 5-mile-high column of lava and ash generated a vast, stifling canopy of poisonous gases and smoke, forcing the authorities to issue repeated warnings to fleeing residents of towns to cover against the contaminated air.  Geological phenomena can not be stopped by us; but we can help to decrease the every day human actions which pollute our environment.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  
So much pollution, the ecology of the world according to environmentalists is on the brink of disaster.  Solarized caps are beginning to melt due to global warming. Global warming is due to unnatural pollutions which are born of simple violations of natural laws. Exploitation, with no concern for the earth, for living. ...  Unless we cleanse the pollutions, the artificial impositions that are upon our mind we can’t understand our natural state of health. So the purpose of human life according to the great acharyas, according to the great scriptures is to clean the mind, to make it pure. ... By chanting the name of the Lord it has the power to clean the mirror of the heart and allow our true eternal nature to shine, awaken our eternal love within, which is the source of real peace and real happiness.

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