Alex Pietrowski Waking Times Mon, 21 Nov 2016 18:00 UTC
In the background of modern life, as people go on debating politics and working for a living, something dreadful is happening to the eco-systems which support us. Major disasters like the ongoing radioactive leak at Fukushima, the apocalyptic fires burning throughout Indonesia, even bee colony collapse disorder, seem to fall out of view in day-to-day life, as we seem to have lost our power and will to directly participate in the stewardship of planet earth.
A new crisis is now happening all around us affecting trees. It appears that millions, hundreds of millions even, of trees are dying in North America and around the world from a basket of reasons, promising to completely and permanently alter the landscape and environment around us.
A Southern California teen nearly swallowed up by a 20-foot-deep sinkhole in her front yard fought to crawl from the opening that caved in right under her Monday.
"All of a sudden I just fell down," 13-year-old Lake Elsinore resident Macayla Wittman said.
Surveillance video captured part of the struggle, with Macayla's legs visibly flailing as she fought to escape the well-like hole in her front yard on Pennsylvania street.
She was walking on her front yard when the ground gave way underneath her. But Macayla stopped her fall by grabbing onto the edge of the 3-foot-wide sinkhole.
Seconds later she climbed out shaken, but not hurt.
Robert Lange of Pictou County snaps a photo of a dolphin that washed up along the shoreline in Big Island, N.S. on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016.
Another dead dolphin has washed up along the shoreline in Big Island, N.S. - the third in the last four days.
Robert Lange says he was driving home last week when he noticed a pod of dolphins splashing in the Merigomish Harbour.
"The dolphins were swimming very close to shore here and when I stopped and looked closer with the binoculars, there was a pod of maybe a dozen or more swimming very close together," said Lange. "The fins were all out of the water and the tide was very low with the supermoon."
Robert Lange of Pictou County snaps a photo of a dolphin that washed up along the shoreline in Big Island, N.S. on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016.
One of the animals died that night and another washed ashore the next morning.
The dolphins appear to be trapped by geography. At one end, Merigomish Harbour has a wide opening between Big Island and the Mainland, but it narrows significantly and closes at the other end.
"We assume that these ones were probably chasing a school of fish, and got up here and got out of the channel and into the shallow water and couldn't get back," said Lange.
A lightning bolt killed a 10-year-old boy and injured his three friends and a teacher in Binga last week. The boy and his friends were playing under a tree when it started raining in Tinde Village. Chief police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba confirmed the incident. "The boy was playing with three friends under a tree when it started raining. The boys were then struck by lightning including a teacher who was passing by and they all sustained injuries. They were ferried to hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead on arrival," she said.
Snr Asst Comm Charamba said the other three boys and the teacher were treated and discharged. "With the onset of the rainy season, members of the public are urged to take precautionary measures when it is about to rain, during or after.
"Please avoid taking shelter at isolated places or being the sole target at open spaces; avoiding contact with electrical gadgets and seeking shelter under isolated tall trees or other objects," said Snr Asst Comm Charamba.
Japanese broadcaster NHK World reported that people should evacuate immediately
Japan has lifted the tsunami advisories issued after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit its eastern coast.
The quake struck near Fukushima at about 06:00 local time (21:00 GMT Monday), triggering initial warnings of 3m (9.8ft) high waves. The waves which eventually hit the coast were much smaller.
Thousands were asked to evacuate the area and minor injuries were reported.
An earthquake and tsunami struck the area in 2011 killing 18,000 people.
That quake, one of the most powerful ever recorded, also caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, where a massive clean-up operation is still going on.
Officials have said there is no sign of damage to the plant this time.
The US Geological Survey initially put the magnitude at 7.3 but later downgraded this to 6.9, lower than the number given by the Japanese authorities.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said in its latest update that no tsunami damage is expected, although there may be slight changes to the sea level.
New Zealand has been hit by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake off North Island, USGS reports, just hours after Japan suffered a 7.4 magnitude jolt and a series of aftershocks off the Fukushima coast which unleashed tsunami waves.
The earthquake, initially estimated at magnitude 6.3, was registered at a depth of 37km (23 miles) and centered off the coast of North Island, some 123km (76 miles) from Palmerston North.
A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck Fukushima Prefecture in Japan, USGS reported. A three meter tsunami wave alert was issued for Fukushima, Nippon reported.
The quake struck 67km northeast of Iwaki, a city located in the southern part of the Hamadori coastal region of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
The cooling system of the third reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant has stopped circulating water following a powerful 7.3 offshore earthquake. TEPCO said it managed to restart the system some 90 minutes after the failure.
The cooling system servicing the Unit 3 spent fuel pool was not able to circulate water to cool the nuclear fuel because of a broken pump, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency.
The temperature in the pool went up to 29 degrees Celsius. It takes up to seven days for temperatures to rise to 65 degrees Celsius, which is the upper operational limit, Japan's national nuclear agency said.
At such a pace, the cooling system failure posed no "immediate danger," although the agency admitted "gradual" rise in temperatures.
The exact cause of the cooling system stoppage is currently unknown. However, the system might have been "shaken" during the earthquake, according to nuclear agency officials, as reported by NHK. The station's storage pool currently contains 2,544 spent fuel rods. No cooling water leaks or any other "abnormalities" have been reported.
The first tsunami wave which hit the nuclear power plants was about one meter high, while the second was "not very high," according to TEPCO. There has been no "major physical damage" to the nuclear power plants, NHK reported.
Steven Morris The Guardian Mon, 21 Nov 2016 19:03 UTC
The flooded Whitchurch Lane in Bristol, pictured, was hit with more heavy rain during the course of the day
A swath of south-west Britain is coping with flooding and high winds as another block of torrential rain swept into Britain on the heels of Storm Angus.
The Met Office issued an amber warning - the second highest severe weather alert - for Devon and parts of Somerset, predicting that up to 30mm of rain could fall within an hour. It also released a yellow "be aware" warning for areas of northern England.
By early afternoon on Monday, there were 15 flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required - in Devon, Somerset and Dorset. In addition, there were 89 flood alerts (flooding is possible, be prepared) across England and Wales.
Impacts were likely to include flooding of properties and parts of communities, the Met Office said, and significant disruption to travel, with a number of roads and rail services likely to be affected.
The Environment Agency said: "Across England and Wales localised impacts from river or surface water flooding are possible. Gales and large waves will affect the east Channel coast for a time overnight, giving the potential for soma localised spray and wave overtopping here."
A grizzly bear mauled a Montana hunter Sunday morning in a surprise encounter 15 miles west of Choteau, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
The man was in an elk hunting party on a creek bottom on private property near the Ear Mountain Wildlife Management Area on the Rocky Mountain Front, said Capt. Dave Holland, FWP's head game warden in Great Falls-based Region 4.
He was mauled at about 9 a.m. by a female grizzly with two cubs, he said.
"It appears the sow was protecting her cubs at this point," Holland said late Sunday afternoon.
I've had enough of someone else's propaganda. I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against. I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I am for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.
- Malcolm X
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Comment: See also: Two dolphins dead after stranding in Nova Scotia, Canada