Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

The Netherlands: June is wettest ever in the south, and changeable weather will continue

rainfall netherlands
© Leo Wouters
June 2016 has been the wettest ever June in the southern provinces of Limburg and Noord-Brabant, broadcaster NOS said on Wednesday.

The KNMI has so far issued four code orange weather warnings for the two provinces and rainfall is three times the average of between 60 and 70 mm over the month, NOS said.

Despite the heavy showers in the rest of the country, rainfall is not above average nationwide. And with an average temperature of almost 17 degrees, it has also been warmer than the average June.

Comment: According to the KNMI, the average rainfall across the country was 115 mm, around two times the normal average for the month June.

See also:


Attention

Jet streams cross equator with 'climate chaos' predicted

Jet stream crosses equator
© YouTube/Paul Beckwith (screen capture)
Scientists have observed an "unprecedented" event that could lead to an end of seasons as we know them, after Northern Hemisphere jet streams crossed the equator and linked with others in the south.

Usually separated entirely from each other by the equator where warm air acts as a barrier, both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere consist of jet streams made up of either warm moist air or cold dry air.

The streams usually run from east to west but new data shows that the Northern Hemisphere's streams have changed path and linked with streams in the south.

"Welcome to climate chaos. We must declare a global climate emergency" warned Paul Beckwith, a climate scientist from the University of Ottawa, when analyzing data from Earth Nullschool.

Beckwith explained the data in a video online in which he warned it could disrupt the world's food supply and lead to "massive geopolitical unrest."


Comment: Jet streams crossing the equator are not 'unprecedented'. But given the current lull in solar activity (The sun goes blank for the second time this month in the weakest solar cycle in more than a century) this latest incident may be quite significant. As Pierre Lescaudron explains in his book Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection:
So since about 1998, when the solar activity started to drop, the Arctic jet stream has shown signs of weakness (lower speed and more southerly location). Jet stream latitudinal oscillations have been acknowledged by mainstream science for years. They are allegedly due to changes in the Arctic oscillation. [561] So far, no convincing explanation has been provided for the causes of this 'oscillation'. However, if the electric nature of our solar system is taken into account, shifts in the jet stream begin to make sense...

Therefore, if solar activity is weak, the jet stream should be observed at abnormally low latitudes. This is what has happened in recent years, particularly over Europe, with the jet stream as low as 15° north in winter (above North Africa) when it should be around 60° north (above Scotland)...

In this way, a lasting decrease in solar activity would induce an overall cooling of the 'temperate' latitudes that would be increasingly less separated from Arctic air by a more frequently and abnormally south-shifting polar jet stream. This could be an aggravating factor in the quick onset of an ice age.



Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes claim 14 lives across Madhya Pradesh, India

14 people were killed as lightning struck various parts of Madhya Pradesh on Friday.
14 people were killed as lightning struck various parts of Madhya Pradesh on Friday.
Lightning struck various parts of Madhya Pradesh on Friday, killing 14 people, including a six-year-old child.

A 6-year-old child died while three others were injured when lightning struck them at village Imaliya under Raneh police station in Damoh district. The children were playing under a Mango tree. When rains started, they took shelter under the tree on which lighting struck. Six-year-old Mahendra died on spot while nine-year-old Sapna, 14-year-old Sakshi and 6-year-old Narendra were injured. They were rushed to Damoh district hospital.

Five of a family die in Singrauli village

In Singrauli district, five people died in lightning strikes at various places. Five of a family died at village Misiragva in Singrauli's Chitrangi block. According to local sources, lightning struck on the family of one Rai Singh, who fell unconscious but survived. Family members who died included 45-year-old Rajkumari, 20-year-old Shivkumari, 10-year-old Phool Singh and 17-year-old Chirojiya. In Singrauli's Tamai village, 40-year-old Ramjanak Kewat died when lightning struck him. Another 48-year old Subash Bais was injured in Singrauli's Jharkatiya area when lightning struck him.

Comment: Neighboring Bangladesh has seen a near-record number of deaths this year from lightning strikes, with 261 fatalities already - compared with last year's total of 265 deaths. The surge has even prompted Bangladesh's government to add lightning strikes to the country's list of official types of disasters.

The explanation provided by a physics and astronomy professor in California is indicative of mainstream science.
"Some specialists think that as the world warms up, we should expect more explosive lightning events ... rather than a gradual increase,"
Rather than 'global warming' it is the electrical nature of such phenomena that ought to be addressed. See also:

Electric universe: Lightning strength and frequency increasing


Attention

An 'unprecedented' number of whales appear off San Francisco, California

Gray whale near the Golden Gate Bridge
© Chris GallelloGray whale near the Golden Gate Bridge
The waters off San Francisco must be echoing with a glorious chorale of weee-oooos and uuuuurrrghhs. Spotters have reported a record number of gray, humpback, and massive blue whales in the region, making whale-watching as easy as strolling onto the Golden Gate Bridge.
Spotted some gray whales while I was on the GG Bridge! First time I brought my camera too, super lucky. pic.twitter.com/ePIMn5DsOy

— Chris Gallello (@cgallello) May 11, 2016

Tornado2

Waterspout filmed over Tampa Bay, Florida

Waterspout
© Asia Uluocak
The National Weather Service confirms a waterspout formed over Tampa Bay on Thursday afternoon.

The picture above was captured by @ValentianDanish.

The NWS said emergency management reported the spout approximately 10 miles southwest of Tampa International Airport.


Attention

2 dead whales found on opposite coasts of Newfoundland, Canada

Hiker Fern Burke came across this carcass while hiking near Tors Cove. DFO has identified it as a minke whale.
© Fern BurkeHiker Fern Burke came across this carcass while hiking near Tors Cove. DFO has identified it as a minke whale.
The decomposing carcasses of two different whales are creating a stir and a stink on opposite shorelines of Newfoundland, on the Avalon and Northern peninsulas.

Fern Burke was out for a hike on the East Coast Trail Wednesday evening between Tors Cove and Mobile when she came across one of the dead whales, at Kearney's Beach.

"It's pretty amazing, and then it's kind of sad, because you're wondering, what happened? Was it struck by a ship? Did something kill it?" Burke told CBC News, adding she only got as close to it as odour would allow.

"Oh yeah, there's a stench! Not so much say if the wind is off the land, but yesterday evening it wasn't, it was coming into the beach so it's quite strong — nasty."

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirmed the Tors Cove carcass is of a long-dead minke whale.

Attention

Dead humpback whale washes ashore at Dockweiler State Beach, California

A whale that washed ashore at Dockweiler State Beach is seen in this photo posted to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division Twitter page.
A whale that washed ashore at Dockweiler State Beach is seen in this photo posted to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division Twitter page.
Lifeguards were deciding what to do Friday about a dead whale that washed ashore on Dockweiler State Beach near Playa Del Rey the night before.

A whale that washed ashore at Dockweiler State Beach is seen in this photo posted to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division Twitter page.

The 30- to 40-foot-long whale, possibly a humpback, was spotted by lifeguards about 8 p.m. Thursday, according to a tweet by the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division.

Efforts to tow the carcass back to the water Thursday night were unsuccessful so the whale remained on the beach overnight.

Officials were hoping to try again to get the whale removed from the shoreline Friday, ahead of the large crowds expected to arrive for the holiday weekend.

Fire

Wildfires devastating parts of southern Spain

Southern Spain wildfires
© aeafma / Instagram
Authorities in the Spanish province of Albacete are desperately trying to tackle forest fires, fueled by strong winds in the area. Almost 150 firefighters and troops have been mobilized to try and put out the blazes.

The fire started in the small municipality of Lietor, around 110km northwest of Murcia. Around 500 hectares of woodland have been affected by the fires, which are still not under control.

The blaze has put two local roads out of use, while the authorities have managed to call in aerial help from a number of amphibious aircraft in order to try and put out the fires. The proximity of a local reservoir is helping efforts to tackle the fire as the firefighters are being given a regular supply of water.

There have been no fatalities; however, several firefighting vehicles have been lost due to the raging inferno.

Cloud Precipitation

Rostov downpour: Flash flooding devastates southern Russian city

Floods
© EMERCOM / Sputnik
Torrential rain streaming in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don caused havoc on the streets, killing one person and leaving about a dozen others injured. Hundreds of cars and businesses were destroyed in the deluge.

"One person, a 14-year-old girl, died after being dragged underneath a car by the torrent," TASS cited an official as saying.

Four people out of the 11 who sought medical attention remain in hospital in a satisfactory condition, the official said. Among them is a 16-year-old who was struck by a broken high-voltage electricity cable.

The thunderstorm in Rostov-on-Don started on Thursday evening, accompanied by storm winds of up to 90kph.

The downpour flooded the streets of Rostov-on-Don, a city of well over a million inhabitants.


Attention

Hundreds of starfish wash up on the shores of the Marmara Sea, Turkey

Starfish
© DHA
Scores of starfish, both dead and alive, have washed ashore the coasts of Turkey's Marmara Sea in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ, while the provincial environment directorate has said an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the incident.

Locals saw hundreds of starfish emanating a "bad odor" on a sandy beach in the Kumbağ neighborhood of Tekirdağ's Süleymanpaşa district at mid-day on June 27.

While some residents threw the starfish back into the sea in an attempt to save their lives, others collected the animals for decorative purposes.

"We come here during the summer months. I have never seen anything like this. Many starfish hit the beach," Didem Deniz, a vacationer, told reporters.