Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch spews ash 11-km above sea level


Sputnik
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 10:21 UTC
Shiveluch volcano
© IVS FEB RAS/Y. DemyanchukShiveluch volcano
A huge ash emission from Shiveluch volcano was registered in the morning on December 10, according to the ministry.

"The height of the ash plume was up to 11,000 meters above sea level. The height of the volcano is 3,200 meters [about 10,500 feet]," the Saturday statement said.

According to the local emergencies authorities, there are no settlements in the path of the ash plume and no Kamchatka residents were affected by the incident.

Comment: See also: Shiveluch volcano spews ash 10.7km above sea level

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Snowflake

Freezing temperatures, snow, icy rain to hit more than 200 million in the U.S.


RT
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 18:41 UTC
Chicago skyline with icicles
© Jim Young/ReutersChicago, Illinois skyline framed by icicles.
Ready, steady, bundle up! Jack Frost is about to dance across the Northeast with a freezing polar vortex making a dramatic return to the US. Chills, snow and rain are expected to make a landfall over the weekend, likely bringing old classics like slippery roads and flight delays.

Meteorologists predict that the freezing blast will cover midwestern and northeastern states for at least five to seven days. So, getting out extra scarves and gloves might be a good idea.

This year's polar vortex, or a shift in a stratospheric weather system, is already been predicted to be just as bad as the one that developed in January 2014, when record freezing temperatures gripped the US.

"Upper-level atmosphere configuration very similar in scale & magnitude as infamous Jan 2014 #PolarVortex popularized by me and @afreedma,"meteorologist Ryan Maue said on Twitter on Tuesday alongside maps comparing the two weather systems.

More than 200 million Americans are expected to be affected by freezing temperatures, snow and rain, or a mix of both.

Comment: See also: Bitterly cold air to come in waves across US into next week

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Seismograph

6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes off Solomon Islands


Reuters
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 20:47 UTC
Seismograph
© Flickr/ Matt Katzenberger
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck early on Saturday off the Solomon Islands, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake had a depth of 10 km (6 miles) and its epicenter was 89 km west of Kira Kira. There was no immediate tsunami threat, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

A 7.8 quake hit the remote South Pacific islands early on Friday, sending residents into the hills and triggering powerful aftershocks.

Comment: See also: Emergency tsunami warnings after 8.0 quake strikes off Solomon Islands' coast

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Snowflake Cold

Extreme cold, Arctic outflow, blizzard and snowfall warnings across Canada

Robert
Ice Age Now
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:17 UTC
Cold Yet?
8 Dec 2016 - minus 40 C (-40 F) range by Friday morning. Far colder in some areas

Alberta

Extreme Cold Warning for more than 50 locations (See link below)

With overnight low temperatures in the minus thirties (Celsius) and light easterly winds, wind chill values are expected to reach the minus 40 C (-40 F) range by Friday morning. Wind chill values will abate late Friday morning when temperatures begin to rise.

(Also ab4, ab28, ab5 and ab24 in the address link for the other affected areas)

British Columbia

Extreme cold warnings for the B.C. North Peace River and B.C. South Peace River regions (no temperatures given).

Extreme Cold Warning in effect for Yoho Park - Kootenay Park region. Very cold wind chills expected.
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Igloo

Heavy snowfall in Turkey forces 168 road closures

Robert Felix
Ice Age Now
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:05 UTC
Snow in Turkey
© Cumhuriyet
The Governorship of Artvin stated that due to snow and icing, all schools in the provinces of Artvin, Borçka and Murgul were suspended for one day.

According to the Provincial Directorate of Special Administrative Region, heavy snowfall in the center of Artvin province - 20 cm of snow, somewhere close to 1 meter in height - forced closure of 168 rural roads in provinces and districts. (I don't understand why there are two different snow amounts here.)

Due to heavy snowfall and storms in Ardahan, training in Posof, Damal and Hanak districts was interrupted for one day.

Due to the snowfall and storm in Posof, many village roads were closed. At 2500 meters above sea level, linking Posof to the Damal district, Ilgar Mountain crossing is closed at 06.00 and Ardahan-Şavşat Karayolun is closed at 07.30.

Due to heavy snow and storms, primary and secondary schools were closed in Posof, Damal and Hanak districts.

According to estimates of meteorology, snowfall is expected in Istanbul on Wednesday.
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Bizarro Earth

Conservation body warns giraffes undergoing a 'silent extinction'

Marlowe Hood
Yahoo
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 16:18 UTC
giraffes
© AFP Photo/Mark RALSTON
Wild giraffe numbers have plummeted by 40 percent in the last three decades, and the species is now "vulnerable" to extinction, a top conservation body warned Thursday.

The population of the world's tallest land mammal dropped to below 100,000 in 2015, mainly due to shrinking habitat and illegal hunting, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported.

The group added 742 newly-discovered birds to the global species inventory, but said 11 percent were already facing annihilation and 13 previously unknown species have already disappeared in the wild.

"These majestic land animals are undergoing a silent extinction," Julian Fennessy, co-chairman of the IUCN's specialist group on giraffes, said in a statement.

Previously, giraffes held the status of "least concern" on the IUCN's Red List, which tracks the conservation status of fauna and flora and ends with the category "extinct".
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Tornado1

Did Golan Heights 'biblical' storm prevent Daesh militants from attacking Israel?


Sputnik
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 16:07 UTC
Dust storm in Syria
© YouTube/Realitynews
A mysterious conglomeration of dust, clouds, and rain briefly settled on the Israeli border with Syria, near Golan Heights, thwarting Daesh militants from entering the region, and many in Israel are certain the storm was a result of divine intervention.

On December 1, at around 8 a.m., an enigmatic weather phenomenon occurred on the other side of Israel's eastern border with Syria, "in the same place where [Daesh] attacked Israel," Israel News Online wrote in a Facebook post. Evidently the meteorological event would not cross the border between the two sides. It just remained in the sky like a gate preventing the two sides from fighting, at least for a short time.

Israel News Online opened up the floor, requesting that any suggestions of what it was, how it happened, or why it happened, be listed in the comments section. Some responded they "absolutely" saw it as the work of God, while other commenters said it was a "fake" news story.
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Snowflake Cold

Bitterly cold air to come in waves across US into next week

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 01:48 UTC
Around the middle of December, an even colder blast of air will follow this week's frigid conditions over the central and eastern U.S.

This next major push of arctic air will follow a series of snowstorms over part of the Northern states.

"The air mass on the way for the middle of December is likely to be substantially colder, when compared to that of this past week and this weekend," according to AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok.

Arctic blast predicted for week of Dec 12, 2017
© AccuWeatherArctic blast predicted for week of Dec 12, 2017
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Attention

Emergency tsunami warnings after 8.0 quake strikes off Solomon Islands' coast


RT
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:09 UTC
Solomon Island earthquake map
© USGS
A tsunami warning has been issued for the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Nauru after an 8.0. magnitude earthquake struck 70km off the Solomon Islands, according to USGS.

"Widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible," stated the warning issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The center called on the government agencies responsible for dealing with emergency situations to "take action to inform and instruct any coastal populations at risk in accordance with their own evaluation."
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Bizarro Earth

6.5 magnitude earthquake off Northern California coast


RT
Thu, 08 Dec 2016 15:26 UTC
California coast earthquake map
© USGS
The US Geological Survey has reported an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Northern California, with an epicenter 102 miles west of Ferndale.

Seismographs registered the quake at 6:49am local time (2:49 GMT), at the coordinates 40.507° North and 126.118° West, ten kilometers (6.2 miles) below sea level.

Reuters initially reported the quake was 6.8 in magnitude, in line with the National Weather Service reports for the same incident.

No tsunami warning was issued.
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