Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Persistent dense fog blankets Persian Gulf countries

Rob McElwee
Al Jazeera
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 16:16 UTC
An unusually long-lasting bank of sea fog has been wandering over the waters of the Gulf. This has invaded all Gulf countries in the past few days, causing travel delays.

Cold air has been drawn down in a series of chilling outbreaks from just west of the Urals. This brought winter to the Levant, thundery flooding to Iraq and snow to Iran.

Cold air over warm water causes evaporation until the point where the air will take no more. At this point, fog forms and if the wind is light, it hangs around as a fog bank.

Every night as temperatures drop inland, the fog creeps in. If you are lucky, daytime heat will send it back into the Gulf again.


Comment: Lately, there's been some unusually thick and persistent fog in a number of places, not least northern US, northern China, and northern India.

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Snowflake Cold

Thick fog blanketing much of the planet as flash-freezes bring record-cold temperatures

Adapt 2030
YouTube
Wed, 28 Dec 2016 15:37 UTC
fog madrid
© Adrián del Campo / ‏@acc037Thick fog covers Madrid, Spain, December 12, 2016
The December 2016 ALTA report otherwise known as the Webbot Report predicted flash freeze events, out of season weather patterns and bizarre fog events across the Northern hemisphere, among other things. This is a list of "Hits" the webbots got correct in weather prediction.


Comment: Countless other places have experienced unusually dense fog in recent days and weeks, not least central Spain and the Persian Gulf states.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills mother and her two sons in Zimbabwe

Walter Mswazie
The Chronicle (Zimbabwe)
Sat, 31 Dec 2016 13:56 UTC
Lightning strike
A Masvingo woman and her two sons were burnt beyond recognition when a hut they were sheltering in was struck by lightning, police have confirmed.

Ms Mercy Masvaure (31) and her sons, the Muneno brothers, Anywhere (10) and Tatenda (6) of Village 32 C in Mushandike Resettlement area under Chief Charumbira were in their bedroom hut when a bolt of lightning struck. The hut caught fire and the three were burnt beyond recognition.

Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Charity Mazula said the incident occurred on Thursday at around 1PM.

"We have received a report of sudden death by lightning involving a mother and her two sons. Their bodies were taken to Masvingo General Hospital mortuary for post-mortem," said Insp Mazula.
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Arrow Up

Over 6,500 earthquakes felt across Japan in 2016, THREE times more than previous year


NDTV
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 14:43 UTC
Japan earthquake damage
JMA confirms over 6,500 quakes struck Japan this year, three times more than in 2015
The number of noticeable earthquakes that struck Japan in 2016 exceeded 6,500, three times more than in the previous year, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Friday.

As of 7 p.m. on Thursday, a total of 6,566 quakes with an intensity measured on the Japanese seismic scale hit the archipelago, up from 1,842 in 2015, according to the figures revealed on Friday.

The JMA scale used to measure the intensity of earthquakes runs from zero to seven, with zero being the weakest, and focuses more on the affected areas than on the intensity of the tremors as is the case with the Richter scale, Efe news reported.

More than 10,000 earthquakes struck the country in 2011, most of them aftershocks from the devastating earthquake that triggered the tsunami which led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl.

Although the number of quakes has decreased considerably since then, the Japanese agency said the increase this year could be attributed to the powerful earthquakes that struck the Kumamoto prefecture in the southern island of Kyushu in April.

Comment: Today a 5.5 magnitude quake struck near Japan's east coast according to USGS.

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Fire

India sees "really alarming" 55% increase in forest fires this year

Mohit M. Rao
The Hindu
Thu, 22 Dec 2016 03:53 UTC
India forest fires
With fires raging across Central Indian forests and the Himalayan Pine forests, the frequency of such blazes has risen by a drastic 55 per cent in the past year.

The number has touched 24,817 in 2016, a "really alarming" rise, from around 15,937 fires in 2015, says the report by Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Renuka Choudhary, submitted on December 16. The committee has suggested a national policy on managing forest fires.

The increase is seen even though 2015, considered a drought year, had seen a decline in frequency of forest fires of around 16 per cent.

The three central States of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh contribute a third of the forest fires. Madhya Pradesh has seen a nearly ten-fold increase, from just 294 in 2015 to more than 2,600 in 2016.

The committee was formed after a series of devastating forest fires earlier this year, including the prolonged one that charred 4,000 hectares of forest land across 13 districts of Uttarakhand.

Comment: Another 'prominent factor' could be outgassing, possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes and other 'cosmic' ignition sources?

This week a rare winter wildfire ignited in Alaska, despite a foot of snow on the ground and forest fires broke out in Switzerland (in the dead of winter!)

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Tornado2

Waterspout filmed off Rhodes Island, Greece

Storm Chasing Video
You Tube
Thu, 29 Dec 2016 19:37 UTC
Waterspout Greece
Amazing footage of a water spout off the coast of Rhoades Island on the southeast of Rhodes City in the Aegean Sea in the Mediterranean Sea, southeast Greece.

Shot Description

Three clips of an amazing waterspout forming in the Aegean Sea.

Clip 1 Waterspout forming over open water.

Clip 2 Extremely close up views of the waterspout as it spins and pans over to a rain bow.

Clip 3 Continued tight shots of the waterspout over open water.

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Attention

Sperm whale washes up on Rabbit Island, New Zealand; third such incident for the country in under a week

Tracy Neal
radionz.co.nz
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 18:38 UTC
The dead sperm whale that washed up on Rabbit Island today.
© RNZ / Tracy NealThe dead sperm whale that washed up on Rabbit Island today.
Residents in north Nelson reported seeing large whales in the bay yesterday, which were initially thought to be either humpback or right whales.

Otago University zoologist and researcher Liz Slooten said it looked very much like a sperm whale, judging by footage posted on social media.

The carcass of a sperm whale washed up on the beach this morning.

People on the beach said early this morning it appeared that several whales were offshore trying to reach it.

The dead sperm whale that washed up on Rabbit Island
© RNZ / Tracy NealThe dead sperm whale

Comment: This the third dead whale on the coast of New Zealand in less than a week, see also: Beached Gray's beaked whale dies despite rescue attempts in Timaru, New Zealand

Weeks old dead whale found on beach in South Taranak, New Zealand

Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

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Attention

Thousands of passengers jetting away for New Year are stranded after dozens of flights are cancelled - including fifty at Heathrow - as heavy fog grips the UK for a third day

Mark Duell and Steph Cockrof
Daily Mail UK
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 17:42 UTC
The New Year getaway was ruined for thousands of disappointed Britons today as fog disrupted dozens of flights. London City, Gatwick and Heathrow were the world's three most delayed airports as travel plans were destroyed.

Passengers queued in the hope of taking another flight as the UK faced killer ice and fog for the third day in a row. Drivers were urged to take extra care as a fog warning was issued for the South East with visibility under 300ft. There were also problems on train routes in Hampshire, Cardiff and Kent - with the latter caused by slippery rails.

heathrow airport
Passengers queued at London Heathrow Airport in the hope of taking another flight as the UK faced killer ice and fog today
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Seismograph

Changing environment: 'Aurora sounds' recorded in Sweden


Spaceweather
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 17:12 UTC
auroras sounds
© Oliver Wright /oliverwrightphotography.com
For centuries, Arctic sky watchers have occasionally reported strange sounds filling the air as Northern Lights danced overhead. Hisses, crackles, and even loud "claps" have been heard and recorded. It may be time to add a new sound to the menagerie: blaster fire.

Photographer Oliver Wright sends this report from inside the Arctic Circle:
"On Christmas Night 2016, I was standing beneath an intense display of auroras in Abisko, Sweden, when I heard something that sounded like Star Wars blasters."
As the lights danced overhead, a series of rat-a-tat 'swooshes' emanated from a nearby set of power lines. "Other bystanders heard it, too," he says. "I rushed closer to the power lines and was able to record a sample using my iPhone."


Comment: Strange sky sounds, aurora sounds, meteors heard just before they light up the atmosphere... they're all electrophonically transduced. Question is; what has changed in the atmosphere/environment to make what were once inaudible... audible?

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Bizarro Earth

Food insecurity scare hits Upper East Ghana after 2016 floods

Edward Adeti
Ghana/Starrfmonline
Fri, 30 Dec 2016 16:51 UTC
ghana flooding
Residents of the Upper East region have expressed fears 2017 may unleash a degree of food insecurity severe enough to push several households over the edge.

Public anxiety about the hunger ahead follows some natural disasters that left some farmlands with poor harvests in 2016. Acres of croplands, estimated in thousands, were washed away in more than a half of the region's 13 municipalities and districts.

The affected areas, where 1,467 children were among some 2,718 people displaced after no fewer than 450 houses, according to the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), got submerged in tidal waves, included Bongo, Bolgatanga, Kassena-Nankana East, Builsa North, Kassena-Nankana West, Builsa South, Nabdam, Bawku West and Talensi. The livestock that got missing in the unstable belly of the blind floods were numberless.

"As I'm talking to you today, there are households that cannot even get their breakfast, not to talk about their three square meals a day. The year started with floods that [engulfed] the farms and when the farmers thought they could reorganise after the heavy rains, the [rain scarcity] came in. The aged are feeling the suffering more," a resident, Ayeoh-duko Akobulgo-zotipelba, told Starr News in Bolgatanga, the regional capital.
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