Earth ChangesS


Attention

Whale found dead on Oman coast


Times of Oman
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 19:24 UTC
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© ONAWhale washes ashore on Oman coast
A 20-metre 'Ambar' whale drifted ashore on Tuesday at Fushi Beach located between centre of the Wilayat of Sadah and Hadbeen area after getting caught in a fishing net used by fishing boats.

Said bin Masoud Al Amri, Director of Fisheries Department in Sadah said that the Fisheries Research Center in Raysut will deal with the issue and the concerned authorities will remove it.
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Arrow Down

100ft-deep sinkhole swallows garden in Cornwall, UK

John Bett
The Mirror, UK
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 14:07 UTC
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© SWNS
A 93-year-old woman miraculously survived after a 100ft-deep sinkhole suddenly opened up in front of her missing her by just inches.

Stunned Kathleen Angel watched on in horror as the giant sinkhole 'devoured' her garden. The huge death trap appeared after builders burst a water pipe during work to construct two new homes nearby. Kathleen, a widow, who lives in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, said: "It was a great shock. I heard something and looked up and there it was, a very deep, big hole in the middle of my garden. It is very concerning, very much so."

The hole turned out to be a disused mine shaft, which neighbours estimated to be over 100ft deep, and has now been cordoned off by wire fencing. Next-door neighbour Jim Ashford, 92, said: "Kathleen has not been coping well, when she heard about it I thought it was going to finish her off. "She lives on her own, I know her son-in-law comes to visit her, but she is a very reclusive person."

His son Nick added: "The building work is a living nightmare. It's been going on for two months and we were given no warning beforehand about what would happen. "The effects of it all are terrible, and it all culminated on Saturday, just as the rugby was on, when suddenly a 100ft hole appeared in the garden next door. "If Kathleen was standing over it she would have died.
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Attention

10 pilot whales strand on Calais beach, France; 7 die


The Telegraph, UK
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 19:08 UTC
Image
© EPA/Fred Collier
Pilot whales stranded on a Calais beach, despite huge efforts only three of the mamals could be saved.
A school of 10 whales that washed up on Monday in northern France may have done so voluntarily after the death of the dominant male, an expert said.

Seven of the whales found on the beach in Calais have not survived.

"The group was in the middle of a deep-sea migration towards the Faroe Islands to reproduce and feed," said Jacky Karpouzopoulos, of the Centre for Marine Mammal Research at La Rochelle.

"It's possible that this was a voluntary family beaching, whereby the dominant male died at sea and the rest followed his body," she said.
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Arrow Up

Mexico's Colima volcano explodes five times in one morning


The International Business Times
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 19:03 UTC
Image
© screenshot via IB Times
Mexicos Colima or Fire volcano erupted once again on 1 November, as its period of activity rolls on. There were five explosions between 8am and noon local time, and ash from the volcano reached 1,500 metres into the sky.

Located in the southwestern Mexican state of Colima, the Fire volcano has been exhibiting continuous activity since 9 July. Over several months, nearby villages have been blanketed with thick coats of ash, leading to evacuations.

The eruption on Sunday morning required no such evacuation. But officials were releasing warnings to locals to cover their faces and to be careful before drinking water.

The volcano, officially known as Colima, was previously active in January and February of 2015 and is part of the Pacifics Ring of Fire.

Mexico has more than 3,000 volcanos, but only 14 are considered active. Major eruptions in Mexican history have included the Paricutin volcano in Michoacan in 1953, the Tacana volcano in Chiapas in 1982, and the Colima volcano in 1986.


Comment: Colima has been very active recently. See:

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Cloud Precipitation

Southern Italy hit by deadly floods following 2 days of heavy rain

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:21 UTC
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© Nazionale AnpasNazionale Anpas provide assistance after major flooding in Calabria, Italy, November 2015.
Calabria and Sicily in southern Italy endured heavy rain since Sunday 01 November 2015, resulting in severe flooding and an increased thereat of landslides. At least 2 people have died in weather related incidents.

Calabria

The Calabrian regional government said yesterday that it will request a state of emergency to be declared to help the region recover from flood damage. Italian news agency ANSI describe the damage as huge. Calabria has already endured major flooding this year when, in August 2015, more than 200mm of rain fell in 24 hours.

The city of Reggio Calabria is reported to be one of the worst hit areas. Local emergency workers has to respond to hundreds of calls. Evacuations were carried out in the city of Catanzaro.

Power has been cut in many areas of the region, and houses, roads and railway lines have been severely damaged. A 750 metre stretch of coastal railway line has been severely damaged. Around 250 emergency workers have been drafted in to help clear debris and repair damaged infrastructure.

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Attention

Researchers say Seattle, Vancouver and Portland are at risk of a megaquake

Ellie Zolfagharifard
Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 14:46 UTC
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Seattle, Portland and Vancouver are at risk of being hit by a megaquake, scientists have warned. Pictured is the Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates offshore of the Pacific Northwest. The plate moves eastward from the midocean ridge and spreading center on the plate's western edge to the trench on the eastern margin
Seattle, Portland and Vancouver are at risk of being hit by a megaquake, scientists have warned.

Researchers believe a killer quake along Cascadi - a fault line which runs from Cape Mendocino, California, to Vancouver Island - is 72 years overdue.

The 'Big One' will hit when Juan de Fuca, a 700-mile chunk of the Pacific Ocean, slides under Canada and America.

Now, scientists have a better idea of how this will happen after creating the first ever detailed map of the mantle under the tectonic plate.

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Sun

British heatwave: Hottest ever start to November since records began

Nathan Rao & Levi Winchester
The Express, UK
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 09:01 UTC
Unseasonably warm November weather in UK
© GettyUnseasonably warm November weather has delayed the arrival of winter this year

There may only be seven weeks to go until Christmas, but that did not stop Britons flocking to the beach as the country saw the hottest start to November since records began.

There was no need for extra layers yesterday as pictures from across Britain showed dozens of people sunbathing in balmy spring-like weather on Brighton beach.

Across the country the mercury touched 72.3F (22.4C) in Ceredigion, Mid Wales, beating the previous record of 71.1F (21.7C) set in Prestatyn, north Wales, in 1946.

It is the highest November temperature recorded by the Met Office since it began collecting data in 1910.

In Wales thousands of day trippers heading to the mountains and coast with youngsters playing on the sands.

One of the warmest Halloweens on record saw thermometers hit 67F on Saturday in Hampton, south-west London.

Comment: Unseasonal record breaking high temperatures have also been reported over Eastern U.S. and elsewhere in Europe

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Eye 2

Shark bites woman 'to the bone' off Brevard County beach, Florida; 25th local attack this year

Tim Stelloh
nbcnews.com
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 13:33 UTC
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© NBC News ChannelParamedics treat an unidentified woman who was severely bitten by a shark Sunday in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
A woman wading through waist-deep water just off Florida's Atlantic coast was bitten "to the bone" Sunday afternoon, a witness and authorities told NBC News.

Brevard County Ocean Rescue Chief Jeff Scabarozi said the 28-year-old woman was close to shore in Cocoa Beach, near Cape Canaveral, when a shark bit her ankle about 3 p.m. ET. NBC station WESH of Orlando identified the woman as a tourist and described the injury as a 6- to 7-inch gash on her leg.

The witness, who was about 100 feet away, never saw the shark — "only jellyfish," she said. Beachgoers helped the woman out of the water, and she was transported to a hospital.

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Sun

November heatwave over Eastern US and Europe, records broken...again

Bob Henson
Weather Underground
Tue, 03 Nov 2015 11:25 UTC
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Britons are enjoying near-summer temperatures in November
Sunday and Monday have felt more like midsummer than mid-autumn across most of Florida. In Tallahassee, Sunday's high temperature of 88°F and low of 75°F both tied for the warmest ever recorded there in November, and the day's average of 81.5°F handily beat the November record of 80.5°F set on 11/11/82 (records extend back to 1892).
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Tornado2

Sudden 'microburst' causes damage near Rome, New York State

Amy Neff Roth
Utica Observer Dispatch
Mon, 02 Nov 2015 20:22 UTC
microburst damage at Lake Delta
The blue, blue sky suddenly turned jet black, a crazy wind kicked up and something hit her house hard, said an eyewitness to Sunday's microburst near Lake Delta.

A huge trampoline from her neighbor's backyard had crashed into her house and landed on the roof around 1:30 p.m., said Regina Kekis, who lives on the Town of Rome side of Townline Road. "That wind was ferocious. It came out of nowhere. It was here maybe a minute and a half and it was gone," she said.

Kekis questioned officials' assessment that the damage from what the National Weather Service called a microburst was minor. Her house's siding now has a big gash in it and she can see at least 10 big trees along the road that were pulled up by the roots, she said. Her neighbor's shed was flattened and other area homes were damaged, too, she said.
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