Earth ChangesS


Attention

Another dead whale found in South China

Connor Frankhouser
That's
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 18:14 UTC
whale
Yet another whale has perished in south China, this time in Hainan's Wenchong City, a settlement of just over 100,000 people situated 60 kilometers southeast of provincial capital Haikou.

The whale's decaying corpse exuded a powerful smell that attracted a large number of onlookers, according to Tencent News.

Its been a hard knock life as of late for cetaceans off of China's coast. Not only are they being imported in droves, especially to Guangdong, to satisfy China's nascent water theme park industry, but they are also seemingly perishing en masse in China's coastal waters. A 20-ton whale was recently found dead off of the coast of Shanghai, a pregnant sperm whale died in Guangdong just days before it may have given birth and, perhaps most gristly, a decapitated dolphin was being sold at a wet market near Zhuhai. All of these deaths have occurred since 2017, clearly not the year of the whale in China, began.
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Snowflake

Unseasonal snowfall takes its toll on Sarajevo, Bosnia

Igor Spaic
Balkan Insight
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 18:16 UTC
Sarajevo snow
© Anadolu
Blocked traffic and power failures surprised many Bosnian citizens as an April blizzard took its toll on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday - with more snow expected

Heavy overnight snowfall in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, has caused massive traffic jams, leaving trees bent under the weight of the snow. Street cleaners have been working intensively throughout the night.

The severe snowfall has also caused damage to the power network and several areas within the wider Sarajevo area have lost power.

Comment: See also: Cold wintry weather engulfs central Europe; up to a metre of snow in mountains

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Ice Cube

Receding glacier causes dramatic change in terrain - Canadian river vanishes in four days as flow is diverted to different channel

Hannah Devlin
The Guardian
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:56 UTC
receding glacier yukon
© Dan Shugar/University of Washington TacomaA view of the ice canyon that now carries meltwater from the Kaskawulsh glacier, seen here on the right, away from the Slims river and toward the Kaskawulsh river.
First ever observed case of 'river piracy' saw the Slims river disappear as intense glacier melt suddenly diverted its flow into another watercourse

An immense river that flowed from one of Canada's largest glaciers vanished over the course of four days last year, scientists have reported, in an unsettling illustration of how global warming dramatically changes the world's geography.

The abrupt and unexpected disappearance of the Slims River, which spanned up to 150 metres at its widest points, is the first observed case of "river piracy", in which the flow of one river is suddenly diverted into another.

For hundreds of years, the Slims carried meltwater northwards from the vast Kaskawulsh glacier in Canada's Yukon territory into the Kluane river, then into the Yukon river towards the Bering Sea. But in spring 2016, a period of intense melting of the glacier meant the drainage gradient was tipped in favour of a second river, redirecting the meltwater to the Gulf of Alaska, thousands of miles from its original destination.
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Snowflake Cold

Cold wintry weather engulfs central Europe; up to a metre of snow in mountains

Everton Fox
Al Jazeera
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:39 UTC
Snow returned to parts of Germany after the Easter weekend
© EPASnow returned to parts of Germany after the Easter weekend
Spring warmth is on hold across Europe as cold weather brings snow to parts of Germany, Austria and the Balkans.

Parts of central Europe have had a late taste of winter over the last few days.

This comes after a spell of warm weather saw spring blossom burst through in many parts of the continent as the days start to lengthen throughout the northern hemisphere.

Just 10 days ago the temperature in central London touched 25C. Highs were back down around the seasonal average of 13C on Tuesday.

There was a similar contrast in Brussels with a top temperature on 23C on April 9. The high was nearer 10C by Tuesday.

That was actually four degrees below the April of 14C.

The warmth in Belgium prompted the apple and pear blossom to come out around 10 days early this year.

Recent nights have seen the temperature fall close to freezing.

That was actually four degrees below the April of 14C.
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Snowflake Cold

Irregular April snow causes havoc across Hungary

Christian Keszthelyi
Budapest Business Journal
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:30 UTC
A car stuck in April snow in District XII.
© Balázs MohaiA car stuck in April snow in District XII.
The middle regions of Hungary are experiencing snow irregular for the season today, causing slight havoc in affected areas, according to reports. Hungarian Police have even suspended an anti-speeding crackdown scheduled for today.

The precipitation brought by today's overcast weather has led to snowfall in the central areas of the country, causing traffic jams on the streets, according to reports. In higher hills in the country, some 50 centimeters of snow cover is expected by the end of the day.

The Hungarian Meteorological Service (OMSZ) has issued yellow and orange warnings for wind and precipitation in the central and western parts of the country. The OMSZ said the current weather is being caused by a cyclone.

Some regions of the country have experienced repeated power outages, according to Hungarian news portal index.hu, while the capital's public transport has also been negatively affected, with some lines seeing delays due to the unexpectedly severe weather.
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Snowflake

Winter makes unexpected return in Romania

Irina Popescu
Romania Inside
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 14:21 UTC
sNOW
The weather will get cold and rainy in Romania these days, with snow returning to the mountain areas. Romanian meteorologists issued alerts for rain in most of the country, as well as orange alerts for snow in the mountain areas.

Moreover, temperatures will drop to negative values in the following nights in most of the country, including the capital Bucharest. Thus, the capital's heat supplier RADET plans to restart the public heating system on Tuesday evening (April 18), according to Agerpres.

On Wednesday, between 04:00 and 18:00, Southwestern Romania and the mountain areas will be under a code yellow for precipitations. While rain will take over Oltenia, Banat, and Western and Northwestern Muntenia, snow will return to the mountains. The quantities of water will exceed 20-25 liters per sqm, but could reach 40 liters per sqm in some areas, according to the meteorologists.
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Snowflake Cold

Spring snow hits Serbia (PHOTOS)


B92
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 14:05 UTC
snow
Snow in Serbia
Tow trucks and trucks with trailers were banned on Mt. Zlatibor overnight due to the snow on the roads, Putevi Srbije (Roads of Serbia) announced.

The public company said on Wednesday morning that the ban had been lifted, but advised drivers to adjust the speed of their vehicles to the conditions on the roads.

Traffic was also suspended during the night on several other roads in western Serbia.

More snow, forming a 10 to 30 centimeter cover, is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday on mountains, and hills above 800 meters above sea level.
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Snowflake Cold

Following spring weather, Slovakia faces record cold and snow


The Slovak Spectator
Tue, 18 Apr 2017 13:51 UTC
Snowfall hit also the Donovaly resort on April 18.
© Ján Krošlák Snowfall hit also the Donovaly resort on April 18
March and the first half of April were warm and mild but during Easter a cold spell began that took temperatures closer to the long term average.

It has also brought ground frost during the nights and snow cover in higher altitude and colder regions.

Starting on April 17, the Slovak Hydrometeorological Office (SHMÚ) issued several warnings, with the weather coming closer to winter than to mid-spring.

Cold air has moved to the territory of Slovakia from northern Europe and from April 19 on, Arctic ice-cold air will be influencing the situation here. It will transform quickly in lower geographical latitudes - under the influence of the overall spring conditions. Still, the temperature drop will not be short term, as the whole of Europe will be flooded with cold air.
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Arrow Down

Massive sinkhole opens up behind retirement home in Pinole, California

Devin Fehely
sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:37 UTC
sinkhole
An enormous sinkhole has opened up on a street in Pinole and is threatening a large retirement community.

The wet weather has exacerbated a shifting soil condition behind the Bay Park Retirement Community on the 2600 block of Appian Way

"You could actually stand three people up in the hole," said Bay Park resident Sylvia Gott.

Gott has watched for weeks now as the sinkhole which has swallowed the access road behind the building has grown to about 50 feet wide.

"I'm very concerned about it," said Gott. "I'm glad they brought in the generator so quickly because we've been on generator power basically the whole time."

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Attention

White-nose syndrome takes heavy toll on northern long-eared bats in Missouri

Ida Sophie Winter
The Columbia Missourian
Wed, 12 Apr 2017 13:16 UTC
Northern long-eared bat
© Jeanette BaileyNorthern long-eared bat
A winter survey of Missouri caves found an alarming decline in the population of a bat species once common across the state.

Surveys of more than 300 caves and mines earlier this winter found a total of seven northern long-eared bats, Shelly Colatskie, a cave ecologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, said.

The species' decline accelerated in the past two years. Surveys of 375 caves and mines in 2015 found 2,684 northern long-eared bats.

Shauna Marquardt, a biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Columbia, said the bats were absent this winter in numerous caves where they'd been seen before because of white-nose syndrome. The northern long-eared bat is especially vulnerable to the disease that has ravaged bat populations in parts of the United States.

Comment: See also: All but 23 of 10,000 bats in Durham, Pennsylvania bat mine have died

White nose syndrome: the mysterious bat fungus that threatens entire species, everyone else

US: A race to solve mystery of bat-killing fungus

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