Earth ChangesS

Attention

Minke whale euthanized after washing up in the Bronx, New York

Whale
The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society is investigating what caused a 15-foot whale to wash up in the Bronx Sunday afternoon.

The minke whale was stranded in Orchard Beach around noon Sunday.

Several agencies including the NYPD, Riverhead Foundation and veterinarians from the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo attempted to help the whale swim on its own back out to see.

Officials say though the whale was free floating, it kept sinking and washing up on the shore. They decided the most humane thing to do was to euthanize it, as it would not be able to survive in the wild.

Snowflake Cold

Photos of April snow in Turkish cities

snow
Residents in the Turkish cities of EskiลŸehir, Ankara and Bolu were surprised to see their surroundings covered in white fluffy snow April 23.
snow
snow
snow

Snowflake Cold

Evidence of Global Cooling: Eastern Europe still buried in snow during Spring

winter, snow, ice age
© Maksim Bogodvid / SputnikA man walks in the street in Kazan, 20 April 2017.
Roads, houses, and even flowers covered in thick snow - though it's mid-April, winter won't loosen its grip on Russia and Eastern Europe, as abundant photos on social media clearly illustrate.

"April 22, It's St Petersburg, baby," was a widely-spread comment on Instagram from residents of Russia's northern capital on Saturday.Local emergency services warned of snowfall, slippery roads, and fog on Saturday.

"81st day of February in St. Petersburg," one person wrote.

"This eternal winter is driving me crazy. What kind of April is this?!"

Comment: Regular SOTT readers aren't surprised, what we're seeing is the onset of another ice age. The question is, how long and how severe will it be?


Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills three horses in Giles County, Tennessee

lightning
As severe thunderstorms rolled through the Tennessee Valley Saturday afternoon, several homes suffered damage.

In western Ardmore, Roger Riddle's home was hit with golf ball sized hail that ripped through part of his wall, leaving several holes.

Up in Pulaski, Larry Hargrove lost three horses to the storms.

"You hate to lose any animal, but when you've had them for 20 years plus and you've raised them from a baby, they're family members," Hargrove said.

While he was away from his home, his three mares were struck by lightning around three o'clock.

Heart - Black

Algae toxin killing marine mammals along Southern California coast

marine mammals
© imagebroker / Michael Weber / Global Look Press
Dozens of sick and dying sea lions, seals, loons, pelicans and other fish eaters have been reported along the Pacific coast in Southern California. Algae bloom has caused a spike in domoic acid, a neurotoxin that is passed from fish to their predators.

Domoic acid poisoning is at least partly to blame for the spate of sick marine life from Santa Barbara to San Diego, according to reports. Fish eat algae then pass on the naturally occurring neurotoxin to its predators, causing seizures, brain damage and, in some cases, death.

Organizations like the Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) and the Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) have fielded hundreds of
calls per day in the last week or so, according to local reports, flagging sick or dead animals along Southern California beaches.

Wolf

Stray dog unleashes terror, attacks 11 people in Chandigarh, India

Victims (from left) Mohammad Irshad, VM Chopra, Sukhdev Kumar and Virender Gupta at Sector 15.
© Manoj MahajanVictims (from left) Mohammad Irshad, VM Chopra, Sukhdev Kumar and Virender Gupta at Sector 15.
MC team catches canine; not rabies carrier, says official

A stray dog attacked 11 persons, including senior citizens, in Sector 15 today. Though the dog was caught in the afternoon, the residents were not happy with the efforts made by the MC team.

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has failed to find a permanent solution to the stray dog menace in the city.

Kanhaiya, who works at the MC public toilet in Sector 15-D, was the first one to be attacked by the stray dog at 4 am while he was sleeping outside the toilet block. He said the dog attacked his left leg and he had to be treated at the Sector 16 hospital.

Virender Gupta (45), a rickshaw-puller, who was attacked by the dog at 5 am, said he was sleeping in the corridor of the Sector 15-D market when he was attacked by the dog. He even punched the dog but it did not leave his foot, he said. Echoing a similar view, Sukhdev Kumar, a resident of Sector 15-A, who was attacked in the right leg, said it was 6.30 am and he was in the market opposite his house when the dog suddenly attacked him. He tried to save himself from the dog, but to no avail, he said.

Attention

Dead minke whale found on beach in Harwich, Massachusetts

Dead minke whale washed up at Sea Street Beach in Harwich
© Todd TelemanickDead minke whale washed up at Sea Street Beach in Harwich
A dead minke whale found on Sea Street Beach Friday was brought to the town transfer station where a necropsy is planned for Sunday.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare responded to a report of the minke just before sunset Friday, according to Brian Sharp, the Yarmouth Port-based organization's marine mammal rescue and research program manager.

The whale was collected Saturday morning with help from the Harwich harbormaster and the Harwich Department of Public Works, according to Sharp.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill five in coastal districts of Bangladesh

lightning

At least five people have been killed when lightning strike different coastal districts as the stormy weather continues across the country.

Three people were killed in Chittagong and one each in Patuakhali and Bagerhat on Saturday.

Sanaullah Shamim, 33, and Mohammad Didar, 40, were struck by lightning while bringing cattle home at Sandwip in Chittagong, Sandwip Police Station OC Moshiur Rahman told bdnews24.com.

Housewife Noor Banu, 40, of Fatikchharhi in the same district died after being struck by lightning at her homestead during a storm, said Bhujpur Union Parishad Acting Chairman Abdul Hamid.

The victim in Patuakhali's Rangabali was also a housewife. Manju Begum, 35, was out in the field adjacent to her home to harvest mung beans when lightning struck her, said Rangabali Police Station OC Shamsul Arefin.

Info

7 notable weather events observed across United States this April

Sierra Nevada snowpack
© NASAThis photo composite shows the snow water equivalent-- water content of snow -- in the Tuolumne River Basin in 2015 and 2017. White and the lighter blue indicates less snow, while deeper blue represents more snow. NASA reports: "The 2017 snow water equivalent was 21 times greater than 2015, which was the lowest snowpack on record."
Spring can bring interesting weather conditions to the U.S. and this year is no exception, with several impressive records having already been set so far this April.

While not setting records, a few other unusual and notable weather occurrences have caught our eye this month.

1) California's Northern Sierra Nevada Set Record For All-Time Wettest 'Water Year'

On April 13, California's northern Sierra Nevada set a new record for its all-time wettest water year with an accumulated average of 89.7 inches of water. The previous record of 88.5 inches was set during the 1982-83 water year. To put it in perspective, the average water year sees 50 inches of precipitation.


The water year runs from October through September, but most precipitation falls from November through March. By April, the storm track typically shifts reducing the chance for additional precipitation. This year, however, has been different with rain and mountain snow continuing to fall this month, allowing records to topple.

Comment: According to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center (SPC) there have been 5,372 preliminary reports of severe weather across the United States in 2017 (up to April 8), which is more than double the average.

For more coverage on the extreme weather affecting the entire planet, check out our monthly SOTT Earth Changes Summaries. Last month:

SOTT Earth Changes Summary - March 2017: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


Seismograph

Shallow magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits off Chile coast

Chile earthquake 23/04/17
© USGS
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake rocked central Chile late Saturday, monitors said, though there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The tremor took place at 11.36 pm (0236 GMT), centered off the coast at 42 kilometers (26 miles) west of Valparaiso, according to the US Geological Survey.

It had a depth of 9.8 kilometers.

Chile's National Emergency Office, or ONEMI, estimated its strength at 6.1 on the Richter scale.

The Navy's hydrographic and oceanographic service found that the quake "has the characteristics to generate a tsunami".

However, no warning was issued by the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

A series of smaller earthquakes in Valparaiso in the evening hours rattled locals.