Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Blizzard and damaging winds forecast for parts of Australia


The Guardian
Sat, 11 Jul 2015 13:01 UTC
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© Tracey Nearmy/AAP Skiers in Falls Creek in Victoria on Saturday.
New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria residents are bracing for damaging winds expected to reach blizzard intensity in the Snowy Mountains over the weekend.

Parts of South Australia and Queensland are also experiencing adverse weather as the country experiences some of its coldest conditions in 15 years.

Families returning from school holidays have been warned about road conditions as rain sweeps across Australia's southeastern states and move towards Queensland.

A strong cold front with a low to the south will move through New South Wales in the coming days, bringing cold, vigorous, westerly winds, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Blizzard conditions with winds in excess of 90km/h are expected to develop in the Snowy Mountains on Saturday, with the alpine peaks potentially experiencing gusts of about 125km/h.
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Snowflake Cold

Update: Heaviest snowfall in years kills over 171,850 alpacas in Peru

Robert Felix
iceagenow.info
Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:38 UTC
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Over 171 850 alpacas died in recent days
State of emergency declared in three provinces of Puno.

10 July 2015 - The Regional Council of Puno declared the state of emergency in the provinces of Sandia, Carabaya and San Antonio de Putina because of the damage generated by low temperatures, snow and ice.

On Thursday, the regional directorates of Transport and Communications, Agriculture, Health, Education, municipalities and other institutions announced that, to date, more than 171 850 alpacas died from the snow and ice.

In response, the regional government of Puno ordered the purchase of 15,000 bales of oats to feed the animals still alive despite the bad weather.

The regional governor of Puno, Juan Luque Mamani, said that compared with previous years, this year is the heaviest snowfall.

Thanks to Argiris Diamantis for this link
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Attention

5 additional dead whales found in Alaska waters since June; total 14 dead

Kortnie Horazdovsky
ktuu.com
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 11:59 UTC
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© M/V Kennicott crew / NOAAThe first of several dead fin whales discovered in the Gulf of Alaska floats outside Marmot Bay on May 23.
Several more whale carcasses have been found since the June announcement of nine dead fin whales discovered in Alaska waters, a UAF researcher told Channel 2 News Friday, though none appear to be newly deceased.

Kate Wynne, a Marine Mammal Specialist for the Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program, told Channel 2 News that since the June 18 announcement of the nine dead fin whales, four humpback whales and another fin whale have been found dead.

According to Wynne, the five whales appeared to have been dead for the same amount of time as the previously discovered whales.

Officials announced in June that nine fin whales had been discovered floating dead in areas between Kodiak and Unimak Pass, off the end of the Alaska Peninsula and Unimak Island.

After the first two whales were discovered in May, Wynne said it triggered a response from numerous agencies, including the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Comment: See also: 9 fin whales found dead in Alaska waters in recent weeks

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Black Cat

Strange animal behavior: Cheetahs hop aboard vehicle full of tourists in Kenya

Victoria Nielson
news.com.au
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 19:07 UTC
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© Picture Media The look on tourist Mickey McCaldin’s face says it all.
Silly or brave? This tourist got a little more than he bargained for while on safari in Kenya.

With its razor sharp claws and teeth, this is one moggy you certainly don't want curling up in your lap.

The bold big cat jumped into the back seat of the jeep as it drove through the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya.

Slowly it sauntered over to where Irish tourist Mickey McCaldin until it was barely a foot away from his face.

Cheetahs are seen as being the less threatening member of the big cat family, although attacks aren't unheard of. Adam Sandler was the victim of a threatening cheetah attack in 2013.

Scottish tourist Violet D'Mello was also attacked by a cheetah back in 2012 in Kragga Kamma game reserve in South Africa. And in this case the big cats were hand reared, not wild.
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Igloo

Scientists say Sun's heartbeat will bring on Ice Age

Robert Felix
Ice Age Now
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 18:45 UTC
Sun
© Yohkoh/ISAS/Lockheed-Martin/NAOJ/U. Tokyo/NASAMontage of images of solar activity between August 1991 and September 2001 taken by the Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telecope, showing variation in solar activity during a sunspot cycle.
A new model of the Sun's 11-year heartbeat suggests that solar activity will fall by 60 per cent during the 2030s, dropping to conditions last seen during the Maunder minimum.

Beginning in about 1645, the Maunder minimum corresponded with the severest portion of the last "Little Ice Age."

Results of the new study were to be presented yesterday by Prof Valentina Zharkova at the National Astronomy Meeting in Llandudno.

Many solar physicists think the solar cycle is driven by a dynamo caused by convecting fluid deep within the Sun. However, when Zharkova and her colleagues added a second dynamo close to the surface, they found that it completed the picture with unprecedented accuracy.

"Our predictions showed an accuracy of 97%," said Zharkova.

The model predicts that the waves from the two dynamos will become increasingly offset during Cycle 25, which peaks in 2022. During Cycle 26, from about 2030 to 2040, the two waves will become exactly out of synch, leading to a significant reduction in solar activity.
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Wolf

Injuries caused by animal attacks increase by 39% in a year for Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Noor Nazzal
The Gulf News
Sat, 11 Jul 2015 17:40 UTC
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If bitten by a scorpion, the sting must be removed and then the area should be sterilised. If that is not possible, wrap the area with a bandage or cloth until help arrives
The Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services registered a total of 170 accidents caused by animal attacks in 2014 in Dubai

Injuries caused by animal attacks increased by 39 per cent last year in Dubai as more people are adopting pets, a report by the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services revealed.

Most of the accidents were caused by home pets, farm animals or poisonous reptiles the victims came across while camping in the desert.

The Corporation registered a total of 170 accidents caused by animal attacks in 2014 in Dubai. This shows a 39 per cent increase in comparison with the 122 accidents registered in 2013.

Dr Omar Al Sakaf, Technical Support Director at Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, said there is an urgency to approach animals carefully even if they are tame animals brought up in homes or farms.

Among the cases the paramedics treated were injuries caused by bites from dogs, scorpions and reptiles.

Al Sakaf also said many of the cases included injuries caused by pets that were treated violently in homes and farms such as dogs, cats, horses and camels.
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Wolf

Spate of coyote attacks on four children in Irvine, California

Kaylee Heck
news.yahoo.com
Sat, 11 Jul 2015 17:09 UTC
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© ABC News

California Town on High Alert after Coyotes Attack Children
California residents are being warned to be more vigilant about coyotes after four attacks on children in the past month in the Irvine area.

The most recent incident — this past Sunday — involved a 2-year-old child.

"It was a child, about approximately 2 years old, was in the garage. They opened the garage up and the coyote came in and actually got the child on the neck area and part of the cheek," California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lt. Kent Smirl told ABC's Los Angeles station KABC.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported four incidents involving coyotes and young children in the past month in Irvine, where the children have either been bitten or scratched by a coyote. All four had minor injuries from the attacks.

"These incidents highlight the importance of communities working together to eliminate sources of food that may attract wildlife to neighborhoods," Capt. Rebecca Hartman said. "When coyotes are fed, either intentionally or unintentionally by food being left out, they can become a public safety threat."

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Fire

Tendril of wildfire smoke shows an incredible, twisty picture on satellite

Angela Fritz
Washington Post
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 16:50 UTC
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A view of two circulations in the upper level flow mixing with smoke from Canadian wildfires
The National Weather Service in Glasgow, Mont., shared this amazing satellite image of wildfire smoke that got caught in the upper-level winds over the northern U.S. and southern Canada today.

The tendril of smoke is highlighting two areas of spin in the winds — one just north of Montana and the other in western North Dakota — that we wouldn't be able to see on satellite if the air was clear. The smoke is so thick over these areas that it's actually casting a shadow on the ground.

On Friday, 31 significant wildfires were burning in Canada from British Columbia to Manitoba. Smoke from these large fires and dozens more in Alaska has been filtering down into the Lower 48 over the past month. Earlier this week, smoke had prompted air quality warnings in Minnesota and Colorado, and Minneapolis saw its worst air quality in over a decade.
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Arrow Down

Sinkhole opens in area below Manhattan, Kansas dam

Jake Copp
kwch.com
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 10:30 UTC
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© littleapplepost.com
A sinkhole has opened up in an area below the dam at Tuttle Creek Lake in Manhattan.

It happened around 5:00 pm Thursday in a parking lot adjacent to the stilling basin, also known as the tubes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the sinkhole developed as a result of sustained high releases from the lake.

They say there is no threat to the safety of the dam.

Releases from the stilling basin continue on the opposite side until the sinkhole can be further investigated.

The area around the stilling basin has been closed to the public until further notice.
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© Facebook/Donna Baer
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Bizarro Earth

Colima Volcano in western Mexico erupts


MSNBC
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 23:31 UTC
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© AP/Sergio Tapiro VelascoLava flows down the banks of the Colima Volcano, also known as the Volcano of Fire, near the town of Comala, Mexico, Friday, July 10, 2015.
A volcano in western Mexico has erupted, spewing ash more than 4 miles (7 kilometers) into the air and sending lava down its flanks.

The activity at the Colima Volcano began Thursday and continued Friday morning. The volcano is also known as the Volcano of Fire.

Luis Felipe Puente is director of Mexico's civil protection agency. He tweeted Friday that preventive protocols were activated.

A statement from Colima state's civil protection agency on Thursday said the initial eruption occurred just after 11 a.m. Ash was falling to the southwest of the crater. People were advised to recognize a 3-mile (5-kilometer) perimeter around the peak.

A state helicopter was making a reconnaissance flight Friday morning.

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