Earth ChangesS


Cloud Grey

Cirrus clouds create 22-degree sun halo in Alabama sky

Huntsville solar halo
© Via Instagram/spannpixSun halo today over East Alabama...
A veil of high and mid-level clouds spreading across the Tennessee Valley Sunday was the perfect setup to see a rare sight in the sky.

Several WHNT News 19 viewers, including Ramona Edwards and Tressi Downs, shared pictures with us of a large ring around the sun.

This optical feature is called a 22-degree sun halo.

Earthsky.org explains it very simply:
Halos are a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads. These clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals. The halos you see are caused by both refraction, or splitting of light, and also by reflection, or glints of light from these ice crystals.

Attention

Iconic 1,000yo California Pioneer Cabin tree falls victim to winter storm at Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Pioneer Cabin Tree
The powerful winter storm affecting California has claimed its oldest victim; the iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree, which is thought to be up to 1000 years old, was felled yesterday.

Photos of the fallen icon, captured by park volunteer Jim Allday, were posted to the Calaveras Big Trees Association Facebook page, accompanied by the caption: "The Pioneer Cabin tree has fallen! This iconic and still living tree - the tunnel tree - enchanted many visitors. The storm was just too much for it."

Seismograph

Earthquake of magnitude 3.5 recorded at Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland

Bárðarbunga.
© Páll Stefánsson.Bárðarbunga.
An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 occurred in the northern caldera of Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier shortly before noon yesterday. A few aftershocks followed, the largest of which measured 2.3 magnitude.

The Icelandic Met Office, which reported the seismicity, stated that there were no indications of volcanic activity in the area, ruv.is reports.

Bárðarbunga caused the 2014-2015 eruption in Holuhraun in the northeastern highlands.

Attention

Up to 80 swans killed by bird flu at UK nature reserve; avian influenza found at 8 other sites in the country

Up to 80 wild swans at the Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset have died after a bird flu outbreak
Up to 80 wild swans at the Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset have died after a bird flu outbreak
A famous swannery owned by one of the richest women in Britain has been struck by a bird flu epidemic.

Eighty wild swans have died at the historic Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset - with nine confirmed cases of H5N8 strain of avian influenza.

The site is owned by Charlotte Townshend, the granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Ilchester and daughter of the 9th Viscount Galway.

The 61-year-old - whose fortune has been estimated at £420 million - is the only person in Britain other than the Queen entitled to own swans.

It is the same strain of avian flu that has broken out in other areas of Britain, including the Wildfowl and Wetlands Slimbridge reserve in Gloucestershire.

The case is the latest of wild birds testing positive for avian influenza this winter
The case is the latest of wild birds testing positive for avian influenza this winter

Attention

Surfer injured in suspected shark attack off Bali, Indonesia

Shark attacks
An Australian man has reportedly been injured in a suspected shark attack while he was surfing at Balian Beach, Bali.

Local newspaper Tribun Bali is reporting that Daniel Qeran, 48, was out surfing when he was allegedly attacked by a shark at 7:30 am on Monday morning.

Qeran has reportedly suffered wounds on his right big toe from the suspected shark attack.

"It's alleged that the victim is suffering from a shark bite. The victim has been taken to BIMC Hospital in Badung," Tabanan Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Putu Oka Suyasa told Tribun Bali.

Attention

Bullshark attack on spearfisherman filmed on the Great Barrier Reef

This is the moment diver Kerry Daniel, 35, was almost eaten by a bull shark after the predator charged at him while in the water off the coast of North Queensland
This is the moment diver Kerry Daniel, 35, was almost eaten by a bull shark after the predator charged at him while in the water off the coast of North Queensland
They are known as one of the most dangerous sharks in the world - as footage of this terrifying bull shark attack seems to prove.

Diver Kerry Daniel, 35, was spearfishing off the coast of north Queensland near the Great Barrier Reef when he recorded the moment the predator charged at him.

Fortunately he was able to jam his spear gun into the shark's mouth, leaving the creature writhing around in pain while he escaped uninjured.

But as the video shows, a moment more of hesitation and the roles could have easily been reversed.


Daniel, who runs spearfishing channel Liquid Vision, told Daily Mail Australia that he was on a trip with friends when the incident took place.

He said: 'We've done this trip once a year for the past six years.

Seismograph

Shallow 4.9 magnitude earthquake recorded at Antirrio, Greece

GRAPH
4.9 magnitude earthquake 2 km from Antirrio, West Greece, Greece

2017-01-09 09:53:17 UTC

UTC time: Monday, January 09, 2017 09:53 AM

Your time: 2017-01-09T09:53:17Z

Magnitude Type: mb

USGS page: M 4.9 - 6km NNW of Rion, Greece

USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Reports from the public: 4 people

2017-01-09 09:53:17 UTC 4.9 magnitude, 10 km depth

Snowflake Cold

Deadly icy snap sweeps across Europe, first deaths of the new year reported (PHOTOS)

Russia winter
© Osman Orsal / ReutersA girl walks under snow-covered trees during a snowfall in Istanbul, Turkey, January 7, 2017.
Europe is beginning to count the cost of the deadly cold snap sweeping across the continent, with the first deaths reported over the weekend.

Social workers in Serbia have been trying to ease the living conditions of migrants living in makeshift shelters enduring the below-freezing temperatures. In the capital Belgrade, hundreds of people, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, are staying in an abandoned customs warehouse, with local aid groups providing heaters, blankets, clothes and food.

Comment: See also: Excessive snowfall forecast in some areas of Europe for Jan 8-11, 2017


Arrow Down

Giant sinkhole swallows two cars in Pennsylvania

Fishtown sinkhole swallows two cars
© Joe and Diane Sergi
Two vehicles were swallowed up by a giant sinkhole caused by a water main break in Fishtown.

Officials say the 6-inch main broke around 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2300 block of Boston Street. Neighbors say they woke up to water rushing into their basements, low presser and some spilling out of pipe covers on the sidewalks.

The break caused a large section of street to collapse, and two SUVs that were parked along the road went into the hole. "I just heard a really like a really loud bang. It startled me, woke me up from my sleep." "It sounded like a bunch of snow falling off a roof almost."

But neighbors say this isn't a shock. "About two months ago or so, there was a water main break, with all the mud like it is now. I had a feeling it might happen again this winter."

Seismograph

Magnitude 3 earthquake recorded under Teide volcano, Canary Islands

Location of today's earthquake under Teide volcano
Location of earthquake under Teide volcano
Teide volcano (Tenerife Island, Canaries): magnitude 3 earthquake under the volcano

A shallow magnitude 3 earthquake occurred almost directly under the summit of Teide volcano in 3 km depth today (at 12:18 UTC).

Whether the quake is volcanic in origin and might be a sign of a gradual reawakening of the volcano is impossible to say, but it is important to follow the volcano's seismic activity closely.