Stavanger

An unusually cold, stable, and very dry January is increasing grass and heath fire risk in parts of southern Norway, with authorities issuing wildfire danger alerts. Several small fires have already occurred, often linked to bonfires or controlled burning getting out of control.

A large manure cellar collapsed in Gjesdal, Rogaland, threatening a nearby lake with a flood of animal waste.

Heavy rain, lightning and thunder are causing trouble in several places in southern Norway on Monday. But for farmer Sveinar Vadla, these are long-awaited drops.

Concerned ornithologists are asking the Norwegian Food Safety Authority to introduce stricter measures to avoid a new outbreak of bird flu. The risk of infection to humans is considered low by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, but we are concerned about infection between animals. Everyone who has poultry must be aware of the infection in wild birds, protect their own birds against infection and monitor the birds' state of health, says Anne Marie Jahr of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

A self-cloning and invincible enemy invades coastal areas. The carpet sea squirt (Didemnum vexillum) or “marine vomit” have been observed nearby Stavanger and Bergen. Large yellow flakes has spread on the seabed and kills everything beneath. It may grow on boats and can spread along the coast.

Bird flu has been detected in a goose found in Rogaland. The Veterinary Institute has analyzed samples from the bird, which show highly pathogenic bird flu A (H5N8). This virus has caused outbreaks among birds in several European countries this autumn. 

The species Japanese sea purse is found by divers in Stavanger harbour. "This is a plague we have been waiting for," says researcher Vivian Husa of the Institute of Marine Research. Now she particularly warns mussel breeders about the danger the species represents.

On 2 November 2020, the Japanese invertebarate Didemnum vexillum was detected by diver and underwater photographer Erling Svensen at Engøyholmen in Stavanger harbor. The aim of a new monitoring project is to register occurrences of the presumed recently arrived D. vexillum in the delimited areas, and then to map how it spreads locally, and also what impact it has on the local fauna.

You have to be early if you want plums this year. The cause is cold in flowering. It almost snowed when it was flowering. The bees were barely out, and we can see the result here.

The monthly temperature for the entire country in February was 4.0 degrees above normal, and the month became the 7th wettest in the series dating back to 1900.

Norway has recorded more than ten times as many vegetation (grass/heather) fires as last year, with especially dry, windy conditions in Western Norway and Trøndelag. Fire services are urging people to stop or strongly reconsider heather burning to avoid a major fire like the 2014 Flatanger disaster.