Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 2 children in Bangladesh

lightning
Two minor boys were killed in a lightning strike at Sardarpara village in Melandah upazila of the district yesterday.

The deceased is Abdul Alim, 10, son of Ramjan Ali, and Raihan, 6, son of Fulu Mia, of the village.

Locals and victims' family members said a streak of thunderbolts struck the two boys while they were playing in a field during rain around 3:00pm, leaving them seriously injured.

Villagers took them to Melandah Upazila Health Complex where the doctors declared them dead, Kishmat Pasha, chairman of Nangla union parishad said.

Cloud Lightning

Tree bursts into flames from inside following huge lightning strike in Springdale, Arkansas

A huge crack can clearly be seen in the tree trunk
© ViralHogA huge crack can clearly be seen in the tree trunk
This is the dramatic moment a tree bursts into flames after it is hit by a bolt of lightning .

The foliage set on fire after a particularly vicious lightning strike in Springdale, Arkansas in the US on June 12.

In the clip, the tree appears to be on fire from the inside out, with a huge crack running down the entire length of the trunk.

Incidents like these occur when 'cloud-to-ground' lightning bolts strike tall objects, like trees or buildings.

According to the National Weather Service : "Most lightning flashes consist of one or more leaders/return strokes.

"Some flashes contain a continuous flow of electricity, called continuing current. Rather than the charge flowing intermittently in one or more quick surges (return strokes), in continuing current, the charge flows continuously over a longer period of time.


Attention

Two killed in Bali as island hit by dangerous king tides and large waves

Large waves hit Bali
© YouTube/German WOMER (screen capture)

Two people have died at a popular surf spot in Bali after the island was hit by a dangerous combination of king tides and large waves


Two tourists from Hong Kong and Singapore have died after being dragged out to sea in unusually dangerous conditions at Padang Galak Beach, a popular surf spot in Sanur, Bali, according to reports from local newspaper Tribun Bali.

A king tide combined with large swell left popular coastal restaurant The Rock Bar at Ayana Resort deserted and damaged, while popular Australian tourist destination, Ku De Ta in Seminyak was pounded by waves, WA Today reported.

Dubbed 'tidal waves' in much of the press coverage of the conditions, Associate Professor Robert Brander (aka Dr Rip) - an expert in coastal processes from the University of New South Wales in Sydney - reiterated that the waves should not be confused with a tsunami, with which the term 'tidal wave' is sometimes used interchangeably.

"The dangerous wave conditions in Bali recently were not a result of a tsunami wave, but the combination of persistent large swell waves generated from a strong mid-latitude cyclone in the southern ocean off Western Australia," Robert explained.


Comment: Earlier this month a newly-wed Australian woman died after being swept away by a 'freak wave' during her honeymoon in Bali.

During the violent storms that lashed Australia's east coast recently, the largest wave ever recorded in New South Wales was measured at 17.7 meters in height - as tall as a six story apartment building - smashing the previous record by several meters.


Fire

Wildfires: Goleta, CA; Arizona; Utah; New Mexico

Firefighter blaze
© Mike Eliason, APSanta Barbara firefighter knocks down flames as they approach a ranch near Las Flores Canyon west of Goleta, CA.
A fleet of aircraft dropped water and retardant to combat a wind-driven wildfire burning out of control Thursday in rugged coastal canyons west of Santa Barbara, where hundreds of campers, some rural homes and an oil processing facility evacuated as the flames crept toward the ocean.

Strong gusts and rising temperatures across the dry Western U.S. also worsened wildfires in other states. A blaze in central New Mexico exploded to nearly 19 square miles and forced residents of some small communities to flee after sending up a towering plume of smoke that blanketed the state's largest city in a thick haze. Some structures have burned, but it's not clear whether they were homes.

In eastern Arizona, a small community was evacuated and thousands of other residents were told to prepare to leave after a wind-whipped wildfire charred more than 12 square miles. Blazes also threatened homes in Utah, where a firefighter hurt his head in a fall.

Shirpa Fire
© Mike Eliason, APThe Shirpa Fire races down the canyon area near the ExxonMobil Oil Processing Facility.
The weather was expected to pose problems for crews in those states and California, where flames that ignited Wednesday afternoon chewed through nearly 2 square miles of dry brush in an area that has not burned in some 70 years.

Winds gusting to nearly 40 mph pushed the fire through canyons and close to a few ranch homes and an ExxonMobil crude oil processing facility that employs about 250 workers. No structures were damaged, and no injuries were reported. ExxonMobil evacuated non-essential employees from the Las Flores Canyon site, and those that remained through the night helped protect it against the flames, company spokesman Todd Spitler said.


Rainbow

'Rare' fire rainbow seen all across New Jersey

Fire rainbow
© NJ.com/UnaffiliatedVtrPeople all across New Jersey spotted a rare, colorful cloud formation known as a 'fire rainbow' on Tuesday, June 14. This was a view from Neptune City in Monmouth County.
If you happened to look up in the sky at the right time and in the right location Tuesday afternoon, you might have been lucky enough to see a rare, colorful cloud phenomenon known as a "fire rainbow."

Trisha Garlatti, of Edison, was one of those lucky ones. As she was driving through South River at about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, she caught a glimpse of it and felt compelled to whip out her camera phone. "It was like a rainbow inside a cloud," she said.

NJ fire rainbow
© Toni HoffmanThe view from Spring Lake in Monmouth County.
Although it's commonly referred to as a fire rainbow, in the scientific world it's known as a circumhorizontal arc. And weather experts call it "cloud iridescence," said Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's regional office in Mount Holly.

Johnson said the conditions have to be right for this phenomenon to form, and on Tuesday those conditions were in play over parts of New Jersey: Thin clouds very high in the atmosphere, tiny ice crystals in the clouds, and sunlight hitting the ice crystals at a certain angle.

"It's basically the same principle behind what we normally see in rainbows," Johnson said. "But instead of dealing with rain droplets with regular rainbows, we're dealing with ice crystals, because these clouds are so high" and the temperatures are very cold up there.

If the clouds are shaped like an arc and the sunlight hits the ice crystals that are in those clouds, "they will refract the sunlight, creating the full spectrum of colored light instead of just white light," the meteorologist said.

Fire rainbows tend to form when thin, wispy cirrus clouds are high in the sky, as they were on Tuesday, about 15,000 feet above the ground, Johnson said. But they also could develop with even thinner clouds, such as cirrostratus clouds.

Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-headed piglet with 3 eyes born in China

This piglet was born with two heads
© CENThis piglet was born with two heads
The adorable little creature, just a few days old, has two heads and two mouths, but bizarrely only three eyes.

Farmer Zhong Xulong said he noticed the "special" piglet as soon as it was born along with 13 of its siblings.

One of the piglets in the litter is said to have died soon after being born, but surprisingly the two-headed animal survived.

Xulong's dad, Zhong Guoyuan, said the family has been raising the sow for more than three years, and that it was the first time she had given birth to such a piglet.

He also claimed not to have noticed anything strange prior to the sow giving birth to her latest litter in the village of Fengtian, in China.

The piglet has four legs and seems to be able to eat and breathe with either head, Xulong said, adding that he is not able to explain the bizarre "third eye" in the middle of its two faces.

Tornado2

3 waterspouts filmed over the Bahamas

Waterspout
A severe afternoon thunderstorm spawned three waterspouts over Lake Killarney and dropped several inches of rain in the capital, according to Senior Meteorological Officer Kaylinda Forbes.

A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect Wednesday afternoon for Andros, New Providence and their adjacent waters.

According to a release from the Met Office at 4.50pm, radar and satellite imagery showed clusters of severe thunderstorms affecting New Providence and Andros and additionally waterspouts were observed over Lake Killarney.

Some of the thunderstorms will be severe at times causing strong gusty winds, dangerous lightening, heavy downpours, hail, waterspouts or tornadic activity.



Ice Cube

Extreme cold freezes waterfall in Brazil

Frozen waterfall in Brazil
© Marilia Oliveira/Prefeitura de Upurema
Temperatures are already below zero in 42 Brazilians cities - and it will get colder in the next few days

Winter is coming. For real.

Brazil has already seen snow in 2016. In the state of Santa Catarina thermal sensation dropped to -22°C (-7.6°F). It was enough to freeze a cascade in the city of Morro das Torres. As you might imagine, this kind of event is not so frequent in Brazil - and it became an instant touristic attraction.

Weather forecasts say that temperatures will continue next to zero in the next few days. In 42 cities in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina (in the extreme South of the country), temperatures will remain below zero.


Attention

32 whales strand on East Java coast, 15 likely dead

The pilot whales that were not helped back to sea were brought ashore for burial in alignment with local tradition
The pilot whales that were not helped back to sea were brought ashore for burial in alignment with local tradition
Dozens of pilot whales have beached on the coast of East Java, discovered on Wednesday by residents in Probolinggo, East Java. The giant marine mammals are thought to have become stranded due to changes in the sea temperature.

The short-finned pilot whales were seen around the shore on Wednesday afternoon. Most managed to return to the sea but returned to shore as one had become stuck, leaving them all trapped by the sudden low tide.

Wahid, the Maritime Resources Management Office head, said at least 32 pilot whales had been found stranded. Seven of them were less than two meters in length and the local fishermen had tied them to prevent them getting washed further ashore.

"Approximately 25 whales came ashore around the estuary, 15 of these whales are not moving and are likely dead [...] the colony may have been searching for cooler waters but got stranded," he said as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Wednesday night.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills child and injures another in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Lightning
Lightning has killed a 12-year-old boy and injured his friend, 12, who was hospitalized after a thunderstorm in Kharkiv Region, Kharkiv police spokeswoman Oksana Kalmykova told Ukrinform's local correspondent.

"The tragedy occurred yesterday in the village of Varvarivka in Volchansky district. Two boys, aged 12, were riding on a swing attached to a tree branch. The thunderstorm began suddenly, and the tree was struck by a bolt of lightning. As a result, one boy died, and the other was hospitalized," said Kalmykova.

She noted the deceased child was visiting his grandparents in the village whilst on vacation.

"As to the other child victim, he lives in this village. He is now being looked after in the clinic. As a result of the neurological shock he suffered, he can't walk on his own. His general state of health is stable," the spokeswoman added.