Earth ChangesS


Question

Biologists scrambling to find out why birds are dying along Florida coast

Osprey
Osprey
Local birds are dying and biologists are scrambling to find out why. The deaths are being reported up and down the coastline.

Experts are asking for the community's help in letting them know if they see something suspicious.

Some birds -- including ospreys, pelicans and other seabirds -- were close to death when locals rescued them, and they were rushed to the Bird Emergency Aid & Kare Sanctuary, or B.E.A.K.S.

Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said something mysterious in the ocean is making locals seabirds sick.


Attention

Humpback whale discovered dead on Anderson Island, Washington

Dead Humpback whale, Anderson Island
© Robert LydenDead Humpback whale, Anderson Island
Researchers are trying to determine how a humpback whale that washed ashore Tuesday on Anderson Island died.

According to the Cascadia Research Collective, a non-profit group that conducts research on whales, the humpback had been spotted in the area recently and looked small.

It washed ashore in the Thompson Cove area on the south end of Anderson Island.

Researchers are conducting a necropsy to determine how the whale died.

Friend of Q13 News and photographer Robert Lyden said the whale will likely be towed to McNeil Island soon for more research.

Cloud Precipitation

11 departments hit by heavy rain, floods and landslides in Colombia

Aftermath of the floods in Rivera, Huila, Colombia
© UNGRDAftermath of the floods in Rivera, Huila, Colombia
Colombia's National Risk Management Unit (UNGRD) says that 11 departments have been affected by severe weather events since 17 March 2017.

Overall, 55 municipalities have reported a total of 60 emergencies which have affected 1,396 families and left 12 people dead. The emergencies mostly include floods, heavy rain and landslides, but also thunderstorms and wind damage. Around 22 homes have been destroyed and another 565 have been affected by flooding.

UNGRD says the department of Antioquia has been worst hit so far with 14 events reported, followed by Cundinamarca where 9 events have been reported. The departments of Cauca (8), Valle del Cauca (7), Nariño (6), Santander (4), Chocó and Caldas (2 each) and Putumayo, César and Risaralda (1 each) have also been affected.

Snowflake

Record snow buries Anchorage, Alaska

Snow in Anchorage
© AP/Mark ThiessenSnow falls at a bridge crossing Ship Creek in Anchorage, Alaska, Wednesday, March 29, 2017.
It was a late March surprise for residents of Alaska's largest city, the kind that snarls traffic and keeps kids at home for the day.

The National Weather Service said 8.8 inches (22.4 centimeters) of snow fell on Anchorage between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. That's a record for March 29 in Anchorage, said meteorologist Rebecca Duell.

The Anchorage School District canceled classes for the day, and the deep snow slowed traffic.

One enterprising person on a bicycle with fat tires was caught by a camera from Anchorage television station KTVA. The cyclist was slowly trudging along a bike path adjacent to a long line of cars waiting to move off a highway exit ramp.

The snowfall wasn't unusual for Anchorage, or for the time of year, Duell said.

The latest snowfall on record of at least one-tenth of an inch is May 22, which occurred in 1964.

Since 1952, the average final snowfall in Anchorage occurs on April 18. The previous high snowfall for March 29 was 3.4 inches (8.6 centimeters) set in 2001.

Info

US scientists launch world's biggest solar geoengineering study

US geoengineering program
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
As all indicators for our Sun and the next solar cycle signaling a grand solar minimum and cooling temperatures as Earth enters a Mini Ice Age, the IPCC will need to explain our cooling world. Here is the excuse they will use a high altitude tethered balloon ice crystal delivery system that is supposed to replicate a volcanic eruption and block out sunlight. The groups from Harvard and funding agencies involved in the project will then take credit for cooling the planet and saving us from global warming. The stage is set, but the "experiment" is $29 Billion, so full implementation will run in the trillions. They will need your money.


Comment: What hubris! What desperate attempts at damage control as signs of Global Cooling become increasingly evident! See also:


Bizarro Earth

Chiba Prefecture, Japan - Severe cold like midwinter

Chiba
In Chiba Prefecture on March 27th, "it became severe cold as much as midwinter and snow flew in some areas ... it was snowing from early morning and it became "Silver World". According to the Choshi Regional Meteorological Observatory, it was 5 degrees or more lower than normal.

The lowest temperature in the morning was 0 - 3 degrees in Kimitsu Sakanohata, 0 - 6 degrees in Narita - shi, 0 - 9 degrees in Sakura city and Katori city, the same as in the middle of winter. In the morning, it became snowy in some areas such as Chiba city and Narita city and the outside bay toll road was temporarily closed due to snowfall.

Bizarro Earth

Monster El Niño forming - Will it be more devastating than the last one?

el nino
© PhysOrg
Gigantic masses of hot water are forming in the South Pacific, warns Peruvian scientist Jorge Manrique Prieto. A new El Niño, in other words. Prieto, an expert in satellite remote sensing, explains that literally thousands of square miles of hot water will hit Peruvian coasts in August.

When he uses the word "hot," Prieto is talking about 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31C) hot. He thinks this El Niño will therefore be more devastating than the last one because that one contained water "only" 81F (27C) hot.
el nino 2017
This map shows temperatures as high as 31C
These masses of hot water will lead to evaporation up to four times normal and cause heavy precipitation, says Prieto. On the Pacific Coast it will create greater problems than those caused by the 81F water known as Niño Costero, he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirms Prieto's observations (at least partially). "During January and February 2017, above-average SSTs (sea-surface temperatures) expanded within the eastern Pacific Ocean," says NOAA. "(There are) increasing chances for El Niño development into the fall." When you look at the NOAA map, you can clearly see the gigantic intensely red spots - the hot water masses - sliding towards Peru. The hot water masses measure more than 1,000 miles long (1600 km) and 450 meters deep. The first mass should hit the Peruvian coast in April and last until July. The second mass, a super monster, should arrive in August and last until October.

Attention

Large alligator snuck up on golfers at Kiawah Island golf course during tournament

alligator golf course
© Carrie Moores
A chance encounter with a large alligator at Kiawah Island Club's River Course has created quite the social media buzz for the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic.

Carrie Moores, the Marketing and Communications Specialist for the Johns Island clinic, was taking photos during a fund-raising golf tournament Monday when out of the corner of her eye she saw an alligator heading toward a group of golfers with their backs turned.

"I was marching up to the hole with my camera poised to get the golfers' picture. Then I realized the alligator and I were coming together in a 'V' right toward the golfers. I quickly snapped the photo, then ran back to the person who was driving a golf cart for me to see if she knew what the protocol was for an alligator on the golf course," Moores said.

Moores said she and her driver eventually got the golfers' attention, and they hopped in their cart and drove away. Meanwhile, the gator continued on its way before disappearing into a lagoon near where the golfers had been standing.

Ambulance

11 Asian Elephants rescued from mud-filled Vietnam War bomb crater

elephants
© WCS CambodiaEleven Asian elephants trapped in a Vietnam War bomb crater in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary in Cambodia.
A rescue in Cambodia saved 11 Asian elephants from a muddy death after they fell into an old bomb crater. The herd — three adult females and eight juveniles — was discovered in the large crater in Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary on March 24, covered in mud and unable to escape, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Local farmers notified the Cambodian Department of Environment, which called in the WCS to save the unfortunate pachyderms. [Watch Video of the Muddy Elephants Rescued from Pit]

"Too often, the stories around conservation are about conflict and failure, but this one is about cooperation and success," Ross Sinclair, the country director for WCS in Cambodia, said in a statement. "That the last elephant to be rescued needed everyone to pull together on a rope to drag it to safety is symbolic of how we have to work together for conservation."

Bizarro Earth

Costa Rica's Turrialba volcano keeps throwing ashes, gases

Turrialba volcano
Turrialba volcano
The Turrialba volcano has continued to release ash, gases and water vapor after its eruption shortly after 24 hours ago, the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica reported. The report indicates that from 01:33 local time last Sunday, the colossus began releasing a small continuous column of ashes that has become constant. At 07:52 local time Wednesday explosions from the Turrialba were heard after almost two months of relative calm, volcanologist Eliécer Duarte recalled.

The volcano's behavior in recent days confirms that since last year it has been going through periods of calm and active stages. After remaining quiet for over 130 years, the Turrialba woke up in 2007 and from January 5, 2010, it has been erupting, being the one in October of 2014 and of March 12, 2015 the most serious. An eruption last September forced the authorities to suspend air traffic in San José.