Earth ChangesS


Snowflake

Heavy spring snowfall hits parts of US: 'We lost the Western Kansas wheat crop this weekend'

Chuck Abbott
agriculture.com
Mon, 01 May 2017 13:01 UTC
Finney County, Kansas
© Matthew LobmeyerFinney County, Kansas on May 1
Blizzard conditions and heavy snow swept western Kansas, including 14 to 20 inches in Colby in the northwestern quadrant of the No. 1 winter wheat state in the nation, said the Weather Channel. "We lost the western Kansas wheat crop this weekend. Just terrible," tweeted Justin Gilpin, chief executive of the grower-funded Kansas Wheat Commission.

The snow and freezing weather struck a winter wheat crop that was developing faster than usual, thanks to a mild winter. As a result, the crop was more vulnerable to spring snowfalls and frost. "Generally, temps below 32°F. for a minimum of about two hours will cause damage to the crop," says the Kansas Wheat Commission. "Freeze injury during heading and flowering stages can cause severe yield consequences." A quarter of the wheat crop was headed as of April 23, compared with the five-year average of 17%.

"Most of @KansasWheat country shut down and no power. Devastating conditions," Gilpin tweeted on Sunday afternoon. Some comments on Twitter were more hopeful: "Don't give up yet," said one, and, "Much-needed moisture but wheat will be flat on the ground when the snow melts."
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Cow

Lightning bolt kills 32 cows in Texas County, Missouri

Jackie Rehwald
USA Today
Mon, 01 May 2017 12:33 UTC
Texas County farmer Jared Blackwelder found 32 of his dairy cows dead on Saturday.
Texas County farmer Jared Blackwelder found 32 of his dairy cows dead on Saturday.
As he does every morning, Texas County dairy farmer Jared Blackwelder started milking his cows around 4 a.m. Saturday. He finished up just before daylight and headed back to the barn. He was about to lock the gate when lightning struck hard and close.

"It was so bright I couldn't hardly see," he said. "It just brought fire down the fences."

Later in the day, when it was time to milk again, Blackwelder returned to the field and found 32 of his certified organic cows dead.

A veterinarian confirmed the cows had been struck by lightning. Blackwelder suspects it was that same lightning strike that sent fire along his fences.

"I went down over the hill and seen them laying there," an emotional Blackwelder said. "They were just piled on top of each other. They were huddled up, trying to get out of rain.

"It's not like they are pets. But the ones I'm milking, I've raised every one of them," he said. "Dairy cattle are a little different because you mess with them twice a day. It knocks you hard."
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Camera

Massive chunk of road disappears in Rawdon, Quebec


CTV News Montreal
Tue, 25 Apr 2017 18:24 UTC
Rawdon sinkhole
© CBC
A massive chunk of a main Rawdon street disappeared on Tuesday morning, the second such sinkhole to open in the area in the last few weeks.

Officials say it will take at least three months to repair.

Nobody was injured in the road collapse on Queen St. but residents said they are concerned about how much worse the incident could have been, with two schools just down the road.

According to Rawdon Mayor Bruno Guilbault, a resident saw the beginning of the collapse at about 6 a.m. Tuesday. Power in the area was shut down due to concern the erosion could topple several nearby power lines.

With large amounts of spring runoff water flooding the area in recent weeks, the area in which the sinkhole opened had been monitored by officials for several days. The road had undergone several inspections per day, including one as recently as midnight, just hours before the collapse began.

"An inspection was made last night," said Guilbault. "It happens sometimes. We don't know exactly what happened, if it was the rain, or the snow thaw. We don't know."

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Igloo

Climate march in Colorado postponed due to heavy snow

Eric Worrall
Watts Up with That
Mon, 01 May 2017 01:13 UTC
Global Warming
© Watts Up with That
h/t Breitbart - The People's Climate March rally in Colorado Springs, scheduled for April 29th, was postponed due to heavy snowfall and treacherous conditions.
Winter Blast Putting Climate Protests On Ice In Colorado
...

Organized by groups seeking to ban the production of oil, natural gas, and coal, including 350.org, Sierra Club, and NextGen Climate, the "People's Climate March" is occurring tomorrow in Washington, D.C., and cities across the country to protest the Trump administration's environmental policies.

With the Washington protest reportedly expected to draw tens of thousands of attendees, hundreds of "sister marches" are planned for cities across the country. But one out of the twelve protests in Colorado has already been postponed due to an impending snowstorm. The National Weather Service's winter storm warning projects six to 12 inches of snow, but there is potential for up to two feet in the Denver Metro Area.

"Sometimes Mother Nature throws you a curveball!" 350 Colorado Springs wrote in a Facebook page earlier this afternoon. "Dangerous conditions and wet heavy snow in the forecast for tomorrow. Stay safe and warm and join us Sunday afternoon same time and place!!"

...
Read more: Winter Blast Putting Climate Protests On Ice In Colorado
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Bulb

Light pollution's serious impact on coastal wildlife

University of Exeter
Phys.org
Mon, 01 May 2017 00:00 UTC
coastal turtle
© EurekAlert!Coastal leatherback turtle
Scientists have recognised for some years that light pollution from buildings, vehicles and streetlights is a growing phenomenon that impacts on the behaviour and success of many animals including migrating birds, hunting bats and the moths they try to capture.

As the human population grows the problem is due to worsen and even remote coastal areas are now being affected by civilization's tell-tale glow-in-the-sky. Turtles, disoriented as they return to their nesting beaches, or confused hatchlings struggling to find the sea, are iconic examples.

Now, a new study conducted by scientists from the University of Exeter and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the University of Exeter looks at the true extent to which light pollution is affecting key marine wildlife in the UK.

Dogwelk
© Galleries - Looe Marine Conservation GroupDogwelk
The research team set up a series of laboratory experiments to determine whether the less well known, but highly important inhabitants of the seashore were also affected. Using the dogwhelk (Nucella lapillus), a key seashore species that modulates biodiversity and community structure of our coasts, they kept one group of dogwhelks in artificially-lit night sky conditions, while a control group experienced a more natural night/day cycle.

Comment: "Let there be...less light!"

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Seismograph

UPDATE: Shallow 6.3 magnitude earthquake 90 km from Haines, Alaska; second strong quake within 2 hours for the region


Earthquake Track
Mon, 01 May 2017 17:22 UTC
chart
6.3 magnitude earthquake 90 km from Haines, Alaska, United States

2017-05-01 14:18:15 UTC

UTC time: Monday, May 01, 2017 14:18 PM

USGS page: M 6.3 - 84km WNW of Skagway, Alaska

2017-05-01 14:18:15 UTC 6.3 magnitude, 10 km depth
Haines, Alaska, United States

Comment: See also: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - 88km WNW of Skagway, Alaska

UPDATE:

CTV reports
Several powerful earthquakes struck Monday in the northern tip of British Columbia near the border with Alaska and Yukon.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a 6.2-magnitude quake hit 88 kilometres northwest of Skagway, Alaska. That was followed by several smaller quakes, including one with a magnitude of 5.2 shake and another major 6.3 quake about almost two hours after the first.

USGS geophysicist Amy Vaughan tells the Associated Press that it's not completely uncommon for an aftershock to be larger than the triggering quake, though normally, following quakes are smaller.

Natural Resources Canada says the first quake struck around 5:30 a.m. Pacific time, at a depth of only 10 kilometres.

There are no reports of injuries or building damage in the remote region, and no tsunami warning was issued. But Yukon Energy confirmed that the quakes triggered power outages.

Several Twitter users reported feeling tremors, including many in Whitehorse, about 170 kilometres away.

Seismologist Taimi Mulder of the Geologic Survey of Canada tells CTV News Channel the quake occurred on the Fairweather Fault, also known as the Queen Charlotte Fault.

The Alaska area experiences a large amount of seismic activity due to the movement of the Pacific tectonic plate and the North American plate. In 1964, an earthquake centred near Prince William Sound in Alaska registered a magnitude of 9.2 -- the second-largest ever recorded.

Mulder says there could be more aftershock quakes to come after Monday's temblor.

There's also the potential this earthquake could be a foreshock of a larger quake still to come, Mulder added.

"We won't know until probably for the next week or two," she said.


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Attention

Signs and Portents: Boy discovers two-headed turtle in Whispering Pines, North Carolina

Jaymie Baxley
The Pilot
Mon, 24 Apr 2017 18:05 UTC
The two-headed turtle found by Jack Baggett
The two-headed turtle found by Jack Baggett
Jack Baggett, a nature-obsessed 6-year-old, was elated to find a newly hatched turtle while fishing with his father last week at a pond in Whispering Pines.

The boy scooped up the tiny reptile and brought it home, hoping his mother would let him keep it as a pet.

But when his parents inspected the turtle under a light, they noticed something odd. A few things, in fact.

"(It had) four eyes and two mouths," Mary Baggett, Jack's mother, said.

The turtle was born with a rare genetic deviation that causes animals and humans to form multiple heads. The condition is called polycephaly, and it is believed to occur when twin embryos fail to fully separate.
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Tornado1

Powerful tornadoes plow through east Texas, and massive flooding in parts of Missouri and Oklahoma (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)


RT
Sun, 30 Apr 2017 16:30 UTC
Texas tornado
© Stas Speransky / YouTube
At least five people were killed and dozens injured as massive tornados swept through east Texas, leaving behind a trail of mangled trees, overturned vehicles, and damaged houses, authorities sad.

Canton in Van Zandt County, some 50 miles (80 km) east of Dallas, was the city most affected by the extreme weather conditions.
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Ice Cube

And up next.... Global temperatures plunge in April - "the pause" returns

Anthony Watts
Watts Up With That?
Mon, 01 May 2017 14:32 UTC
global warming graph
Global temperatures have dropped 0.5° Celsius in April according to Dr. Ryan Maue. In the Northern Hemisphere they plunged a massive 1°C . As the record 2015/16 El Nino levels off, the global warming hiatus aka "the pause" is back with a vengeance. He writes:
Some good news to end April, global temperature anomaly has fallen to only +0.1°C today (snapshot) ... graphic is like stock market trace
Global Ocean Temperatures Drop To Pre-El Nino Levels
el nino levels graph
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Ice Cube

Record snowfall at Russia's Mutnovskaya Geothermal power station

Robert W. Felix
Ice Age Now
Mon, 01 May 2017 14:15 UTC
Russia's Mutnovskaya Geothermal power station
"Mutnovskaya geothermal power station in Kamchatka faced a record-breaking amount of snow during winter 2017."

Thanks to Clay Olson for this link

Comment: One picture says it all.

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