Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Bangkok suffering worst drought in 10 years, may run out of tap water in a month

Alisa Tang
Reuters
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 00:07 UTC
bangkok drought
© The Straits TimesHit by drought and seawater contamination, Bangkok's tap water may run out in a month
Bangkok's tap water supply may run out in a month, as the country waits for long overdue rains to replenish sources depleted by drought and threatened by seawater creep, the chief of the capital's water authority said.

Thailand is suffering its worst drought in more than a decade. In an effort to maintain water levels in the dams that supply water for agriculture in the provinces as well as taps in the capital Bangkok, the government has asked farmers to refrain from planting rice since last October.

Despite these measures, water levels are critically low in the three key reservoirs that flow into the Chao Phraya River, one of the two main sources of Bangkok's tap water.

The quantity of water collected in the three dams totaled 5 billion cubic meters last November, compared to the normal 8 billion cubic meters, said Thanasak Watanathana, governor of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority. As of Monday, there was about 660 million cubic meters left, according to the Royal Irrigation Department.
Read More...
Fire

Idaho governor declares disaster emergency due to fast-moving Cape Horn wildfire

Laura Zuckerman, Shelby Sebens
Reuters
Mon, 06 Jul 2015 22:50 UTC
wildfire cape horn idaho
Cape Horn Fire in Bayview, Idaho
A fast-moving wildfire in Idaho that destroyed several upscale homes and forced 200 residents to flee prompted the governor on Monday to declare a disaster emergency that would free up federal funds to help fight the blaze.

The Cape Horn fire has charred more than 2,000 acres (810 hectares) since breaking out on Sunday in a resort area in northern Idaho where there are clusters of multimillion-dollar homes on the banks of Lake Pend Oreille.

"We will continue to support the impacted jurisdictions in protecting lives, property and businesses," Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter said in issuing the declaration.

The Idaho fire was among nearly 40 large wildfires raging across the parched Western United States on Monday, including a blaze in Oregon that officials have deemed the biggest wildfire of the season for the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
Read More...
Question

Tens of thousands of nesting birds desert colony on Seahorse Key, Florida


News and Record
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 18:21 UTC
Image
© John RaouxIn this Friday, June 19, 2015 photo, Vic Doig, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist observes empty bird nests in Seahorse Key, off Florida’s Gulf Coast
The din created by thousands of nesting birds is usually the first thing you notice about Seahorse Key, a 150-acre mangrove-covered dune off Florida's Gulf Coast.

But in May, the key fell eerily quiet all at once.

Thousands of little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, pelicans and other chattering birds were gone. Nests sat empty in trees; eggs broken and scattered on the muddy ground.

"It's a dead zone now," said Vic Doig, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. "This is where the largest bird colony on the Gulf Coast of Florida used to be."

For decades, Seahorse Key has been a protected way station for myriad bird species. It's part of the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge, which was established in 1929 as a sanctuary for birds devastated by decades of hunting for their colorful plumage. Accessible only by boat, today it's a rare island off Florida not dominated by human activity and development.
Image
© John RaouxIn this Friday, June 19, 2015 photo, a broken bird egg shell is seen in Seahorse Key, off Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Read More...
Wolf

Teenage fisherman fights off coyote in Spotswood, New Jersey

Susan Loyer
mycentraljersey.com
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 18:11 UTC
Image
A teen fisherman reported a run-in with a coyote in Spotswood.
A 17-year-old fisherman reported a run-in with a coyote Sunday evening in the borough.

Anthony Bonsante, of South River, was fishing for catfish in a stream of DeVoe Lake, between Domino's Pizza and Immaculate Conception, an area that came highly recommended by his dad, who fished there in his youth.

"As it started to get dark, I lit my lantern," Bonsante said Monday afternoon. "As soon as it really got dark all around me, I heard something walking around. I thought it was something small like a rabbit or something."

But the noise kept coming closer. Bonsante said he picked up his lantern and started to look around.

"I saw two big yellow eyes in the small patch of woods nearby," he said. "I held my lantern up and it started walking towards me. It bowed its head and started to growl at me. It started to circle up on me. I was panicked for a second. I thought, "What do I have to defend myself?' "

He saw a big stick a few feet away and, without turning his back on the animal, he grabbed the stick.
Read More...
Attention

Bottlenose dolphins seen near Aarhus, Denmark for the first time in 7 decades


thelocal.dk
Mon, 29 Jun 2015 17:53 UTC
Image
© Gregory Smith/FlickrBottlenose dolphins, shown here near the Galapagos, are rare near Denmark.
The Bay of Aarhus has some new playful and curious inhabitants in the form of a breed of dolphin that hasn't been spotted in more than seven decades.

Bottlenose dolphins are usually a rare sight in the waters surrounding Denmark but in the past week there have been several spotted swimming near the nation's second-largest city, Aarhus.

Rowers and boaters in the Bay of Aarhus have had unusual company over the past week or so. Several Danes have reported that they have seen dolphins swimming in the bay and a handful of videos are starting to circulate around the internet.

Marine biologist Carl Christian Kinze told TV2 Østjylland that the recent sightings of bottlenose dolphins are incredibly rare.

"They haven't been seen in the Bay of Aarhus with certainty for more than 20 years," he said.

Read More...
Attention

Humpback whale washes up on Danish shore for first time in over 100 years


thelocal.dk
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 17:44 UTC
Image
© Asger Ladefoged/ScanpixThe whale's remains were brought to the Natural History Museum on Monday.
For the first time in over a century, a humpback whale has washed up on Danish shores. Making the discovery even more interesting is the fact that its cranium had "fallen out".

Something seems to be happening in the waters around Denmark.

Not only are bottlenose dolphins now being found frolicking in the Bay of Aarhus, but now humpback whales seem to have arrived off Danish shores as well.

A five-metre long humpback washed up on a beach near Thy last week, creating a bit of a mystery because the corpse lacked a cranium and the whale's tail had been wrapped in rope.

Researchers from the Natural History Museum of Denmark spent Monday cutting the corpse into manageable-sized chunks for further examination in hopes of clearing up the strange find.

"This is huge. Humpback whales aren't normally seen in Denmark. There are only a few times per year that we need to cut a whale up and last summer it was a couple of sperm whales," the museum's Morten Tange Olsen told BT.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Storm brings flash flooding in Southern Nevada

Moira Johnston
Las Vegas Sun
Mon, 06 Jul 2015 17:24 UTC
Image
© Las Vegas Fire & RescueIn this photo provided by Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, a motorist is stranded in floodwaters at Rancho and Teddy drives on Monday, July 6, 2015.
A thunderstorm dropped heavy rain in parts of the Las Vegas Valley on Monday evening, leaving behind flooded roadways that made life difficult for motorists for several hours.

The hardest-hit areas included Lone Mountain and Summerlin in the northwest, which received 0.75 to an inch of rain, National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Stachelski said. The eastern part of the Lakes tallied 1.5 inches of rain.

Stachelski said the average rainfall around the valley was about 0.25 inch, with North Las Vegas only getting a trace.

Firefighters responded to a dozen weather-related incidents in the area bounded by Rainbow Boulevard to the west, Interstate 15 to the east, Alta Drive to the north and Desert Inn Road, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said.


Read More...
Arrow Down

Large sinkhole opens up in Detroit


clickondetroit.com
Mon, 06 Jul 2015 15:15 UTC
Image
Sinkhole
A sinkhole big enough to swallow a car opened up Monday afternoon at the intersection of Chene and Medbury streets on Detroit's east side.

A crew from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is on scene.

A DWSD spokeswoman said an 18-inch water main broke, damaging the sewer and leading to this sinkhole in the pavement.

However, the department dose not see a need to closed the street to traffic.

"We analyzed it. We're able to determine if (we needed to close the street) ... we would put up more barricades or actually make the area a little safer to work on and walk on," said DWSD spokeswoman Curtrise Garner. "We're pretty comfortable with where everything is. We're comfortable with the amount of traffic coming by."

Read More...
Arrow Down

Car falls into sinkhole in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Vijenthi Nair
The Star (Malaysia)
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 15:08 UTC
Image
The car fell into the sinkhole which was covered with water.
A motorist drove into a 0.6m deep sinkhole that was filled with water in Jalan Pinang in Kuala Lumpur at 5am yesterday.

Syabas corporate affairs executive director Priscilla Alfred said the car fell into the sinkhole measuring 2m wide and 2m long.

The water, she said, was from an unreported underground pipe that had burst, causing the sinkhole.

"The car was not damaged during the incident. The driver was also reported to be fine and could drive the car out unassisted."

Priscilla said a team was despatched to the scene immediately and water supply was disconnected to facilitate repair works.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.3 - 99km ENE of Shikotan, Russia


US Geological Survey
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 05:32 UTC
Shikotan Quake_070715
© USGS
Time
  1. 2015-07-07 05:10:27 (UTC)
  2. Times in other timezones
Nearby Cities
  1. 99km (62mi) ENE of Shikotan, Russia
  2. 204km (127mi) ENE of Nemuro, Japan
  3. 228km (142mi) E of Shibetsu, Japan
  4. 294km (183mi) E of Abashiri, Japan
  5. 1159km (720mi) NE of Tokyo, Japan
Scientific Data
Read More...