Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Nearly two feet of snow wallops Wilmington, Massachusetts

snow
Thursday's snowstorm brought almost two feet of snow in some areas of town, with snow falling from 7 a.m. on Thursday through into the night. Wilmington DPW, however, was ex­pecting the snow to start at 3 a.m., so they delayed their start plowing until about 10:30 a.m.

Operations Manager Jamie Ma­galdi explained that the excessive winds make it hard to quantify exactly how much snow fell, but he provided an average of 17.5 inches throughout the day. This storm fell in the midst of an extremely cold week, with temperatures in the negative degrees, which made the cleanup and the aftermath of the storm particularly difficult.

Magaldi shared that the town had a total of 90 workers plowing from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon.

"We had 45 staff and 45 contractors," he said.

The equipment they use ranges from snow plows to front loaders to sidewalk cleaners.

Ice Cube

Record-cold wave recedes, but now ice jams are causing flooding in US northeast

River ice
Winter weather conditions continue to plague the Northeast.

The combination of melting snow, mild temperatures, and heavy rain have caused numerous ice jams to form in several Northeast states, including Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts. The ice jams have caused some evacuations in areas near rising creeks and rivers. The ice jams are also responsible for shutting down parts of roadways.

Despite much colder temperatures than the end of last week, the threat of ice jam-related flooding will remain on Sunday across much of the Northeast. Runoff from heavy rain in area waterways, combined with chunks of ice will continue to cause water levels to change. Some parts of the region have flood watches and advisories through Sunday. Some waterways will begin to refreeze on Sunday.


Black Cat

Leopard attacks five people in Maharashtra, India

leopard attack
First recorded incident of a leopard finding its way into Mulund-east; the cat covered a distance of nearly 5 km outside the National Park.

A leopard that strayed into a residential colony in Mulund east early Saturday morning attacked five people and could be trapped only after a marathon rescue operation by forest officials that left the neighbourhood on the edge for over five hours.

This was the first recorded incident of a leopard finding its way into Mulund-east and forest officials said the cat covered a distance of nearly 5 km outside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, its natural habitat.

Among the five injured in the leopard attack was Ganesh Pujari, 45, an electrician, who fought off the leopard to save his 18-year-old son's life after being pounced upon in their house in Nane Pada.

Info

Expedition reports findings from Havre Volcano in south Pacific Ocean, site of major 2012 underwater eruption

Remotely operated vehicle
© Woods Hole Oceanographic InstituteA remotely operated vehicle (ROV) lands on the seafloor at Havre submarine volcano to retrieve a heat flow monitor.
The first close quarters investigation of what was possibly the largest underwater volcanic eruption in modern history has uncovered a carpet of pumice rocks, some as big as motor vehicles, and unexpected ocean-bed lava flows.

In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, a research team led by the University of Tasmania in Australia and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in the US report on the use of two autonomous underwater vehicles to explore the aftermath of the eruption of the 2012 Harve volcano, which lies between New Zealand and American Samoa in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

The volcano blew on July 18, 2012, an event noted only when passengers on an airliner flying above the Kermadec Islands (of which Harve is an underwater component) noticed a huge number of pumice rocks floating on the surface of the ocean. The raft of rocks eventually covered almost 400 square kilometres.

Three years later, the joint Australian-US expedition headed to the blast site.

Comment: That right there is the real source of 'ocean acidification', increased CO2 and methane levels, and increased temperatures. The sea floor is literally opening up all over the place.


Info

Evidence of something much bigger: New bee species found thriving in former Arctic nuke site - study

Bees
© Sina Schuldt / AFP
A species of bee has been discovered that is miraculously capable of surviving in the high arctic region where the Soviet Union once tested nuclear weapons for decades, according to a new study.

The 'Bombus glacialis' species lives on the archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, which the Soviet Union closed off decades ago to carry out scores of nuclear tests. While previously considered to be a subspecies of the B. polaris - one of the only other arctic bee types in the world - a recent study published in Polar Biology confirmed B. glacialis to be its own species.

Specimens of the bees were often collected by explorers who visited the island in the early 20th century, and are now preserved in natural history museums. Their existence, however, could be evidence of something much bigger.

Comment: See also: Russian military deploys radar array facility on remote Arctic island


Seismograph

Shallow 7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes southern Peru, leaves 1 dead and 20 injured

The earthquake struck off the Peruvian coast just after 4 a.m. local time Sunday.
The earthquake struck off the Peruvian coast just after 4 a.m. local time Sunday.
A strong earthquake struck the coast of southern Peru on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said, causing damage to some homes, collapsing roads and injuring around 20 people.

A strong earthquake struck the coast of southern Peru on Sunday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, leaving one dead and around 20 injured and causing homes and roads to collapse.

The 7.1 magnitude quake hit at 4:18 a.m. local time (0918 GMT) at a depth of around 10 km (6 miles), the USGS said. Peru's government Geophysical Institute said the earthquake was of magnitude 6.7 with its epicenter in Lomas, in the southern region of Arequipa.


Binoculars

Mayon Volcano in Philippines spews ash, threatens major eruption

Mayon volcano
© Erik de Castro / ReutersFILE PHOTO: Clouds partially covers the Mayon volcano
The Mayon volcano in the Philippines has spewed ash several times over the weekend, forcing authorities to evacuate two villages in its vicinity and raise the threat level, warning of potential "hazardous magmatic eruptions."

"The public is strongly advised to be vigilant and desist from entering the six kilometer (3.7 mile) radius Permanent Danger Zone to minimize risks from sudden explosions, rockfall and landslides," the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) announced on Sunday.

The volcano, located in Albay province of central Philippines, first spewed ash on Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday morning. Since the eruptions, a "faint crater glow" has been observed, while the "rockfall events have been intermittently recorded and are continuing," the agency added.


Wolf

Wolf discovered in northern Belgium, first time in over 100 years

Wolf
© AFP
A wild wolf has been found in the northern Belgian region of Flanders for the first time in more than a century, an environmental group said on Saturday (Jan 13).

"Our country was the only one in continental Europe to have not been visited by a wolf," since the animal began recolonising the continent, Landschap said.

Overhunting, industrialisation and urban sprawl progressively led to the disappearance of the wolf from most of Western Europe since the beginning of the 20th century.

Since the Bern Convention of 1979, the wolf has gone from public enemy to a protected species as "a fundamental element of our natural European heritage".

In some countries, like Romania and Poland where there have always been wolves, people adapt to treat an attack on sheep "like an accident, like a flock that falls into a ravine", says Farid Benhammou, a specialist on predators.

Igloo

Academics and politicians looking to blot out the sun and make it colder!

With the US experiencing possibly the coldest January on record, our top scientists and Democratic Party politicians are looking to spray pollutants into the atmosphere and blot out the sun - in order to make the weather even colder.
Climate News
© The Deplorable Climate Science Blog
Temps over US
© The Deplorable Climate Science Blog10-Day Temperature Outlook for the Conterminous U.S.
Last time we had winters this cold was in the 1970's, and scientists wanted to spray pollutants on Arctic ice in order to melt the ice cap and stop global cooling.

Snowflake

Heavy snowfall continues in western to northern Japan, 128 cms (50 inches) in 24 hours for Hiroshima Prefecture

snow Japan
Snow is continuing to fall on and off in areas of western to northern Japan.

The Meteorological Agency says some mountainous areas have received 30 to 50 centimeters of snowfall for the 24 hours until noon on Saturday.

As of 11 AM, the city of Ono, Fukui Prefecture, had 83 centimeters of accumulated snow, and Kitahiroshima, in Hiroshima Prefecture, had 128 centimeters.

The city of Niigata, facing the Sea of Japan, has had 8 times the average snowfall for this time of year.

More snow is forecast, particularly for areas along the Sea of Japan. Weather officials are warning of icy roads, avalanches and snow-related accidents.


Comment: See also: Heavy snowfall traps 430 passengers overnight on stranded train in Japan