Earth ChangesS


Red Flag

Hundreds of South Auckland birds killed by botulism-like disease


Auckland Now
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 18:24 UTC
Feather in waterflow
© Anna-Marie BakosThe disease is mostly affecting waterfowl including ducks and gulls.
Hundreds of birds in a South Auckland wetland have been killed in a botulism outbreak.

The Department of Conservation and Fish and Game are working with the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre to contain the outbreak.

The wetland is home to tens of thousands of rare native and non-native waterfowl and shore birds and it's estimated around 200 have died so far.

Fish and Game said it's an unfortunate thing to happen, especially in a significant wetland like Miranda.

"There is a botulism outbreak, which is a very serious bird disease. It is caused and spread by poor oxygen levels in the water - the birds ingest it and it's all over." said Don Rood, Fish and Game spokesman.

"It's not a nice way to go, it paralyses them then they die."

Rood said there's little that can be done, aside from burying the bodies, so the bacteria can't spread and re-enter the environment to infect healthy birds.

"What we're worried about is the deterioration of the general environment, when things like this happen there is a tendancy to down play it but anything that is killing birds in such a way is a concern." Rood said.
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Megaphone

West Island, Montreal residents captivated and creeped out by trumpeting sounds in the sky

Hayley Juhl
Montreal Gazette
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 14:00 UTC
strange sounds
Some West Island residents were captivated and creeped out by an eerie trumpeting sound that seemed to come from the sky Sunday. No one knows what caused the sound.

Early theories suggested people in Dollard des Ormeaux were hearing echoes of a Pointe-à-Callières Port Symphony. But those events happen at 2 p.m., and the sky trumpets were reported during the evening. Would sound have carried that far anyway? It's about 25 kilometres from the Old Port to D.D.O., and sound travels at Mach 1, so ... we don't know. Other atmospheric conditions would have to be factored in.

The Montreal Gazette asked a spokesperson at Environment Canada whether there any been any unusual meteorologic conditions Sunday night. "Not that we're aware of. There were no reports of anything in the Montreal area."

Witnesses to the sound say there was little to no wind at the time.

Montreal Gazette Facebook followers had a field day with the mystery. "Don't worry, Quebec will find a way to tax it," posted one reader. "Could they be clearing snow out there?" suggested a reader.

From another, what would seem to be the most obvious answer: "The wind does that sometimes, like with a pan flute." Then from the bottom of the earth: "We heard it here in Australia on Sunday. ... Birds went ballistic. Whether it's atmospheric radio waves or it is a warning, I know what side of the fence I would rather be on."

You can listen to the audio here.

Comment: For more in-depth coverage, check out our SOTT report on this strange phenomenon:

Strange Noises in the Sky: Trumpets of the Apocalypse?

Strange sounds were heard in Montreal in 2012 also. Link.

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Attention

Carcasses of Olive Ridley turtles found along Odisha's Puri coast in India


Odisha Sun Times
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 15:49 UTC
Dead and dying turtles
Dead and dying turtles
Ahead of the mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles, at least 40 turtles of the endangered species were found dead along the beach of Odisha's Pilgrim Town Puri.

Carcasses of the endangered turtles were spotted along the coast near Digabareni Khunti (Weather Pole) here yesterday.

Tourists and local people gathered at the site to witness the rare species of turtles which were lying bloated and decomposed. The forest officials buried the carcasses of the turtles to prevent it from being prayed on by predators like wild dogs, hyenas and jackals and minimise stench emanating from it.

Multiple injuries were found on the bodies of the turtles which points towards possibility of them being hit by fishing trawlers in the sea.

"We suspect that the turtles were killed after being hit by the fan blades of the fishing trawlers in the sea," a forest official said.

Comment: See also: Another dead whale found on coast in Odisha, India; fifth this month

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Attention

Green sea turtles hit by cold weather in Florida

Kristen Mitchell
Orlando Sentinel
Mon, 22 Feb 2016 15:07 UTC
Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA)
© Jim Damaske/The Tampa Bay TimesClearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) associate sea turtle biologist Brittany Workman listens to the heartbeat of a cold stunned green sea turtle while CMA senior turtle biologist Cassie Seebart tucks another cold stunned green seat turtle in to a heated recovery area Monday, Jan. 25, 2016 in Clearwater, Fla.
Juvenile green sea turtles are washing up on local beaches — dead or in distress — at an alarming rate this year, experts say.

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium has picked up more than 129 dead and 93 living sea turtles since Feb. 3, more than the total number of dead specimens collected during all of 2015.

"We've already done a year's worth of work," said Adrienne Cardwell, the aquarium's manager of sea turtles and aquatic biology programs.

Crews have been responding to calls about the stranded young turtles and patrolling Pinellas County's northern beaches for the past two weeks, searching for the aquatic reptiles as water temperatures dropped — leaving many turtles with already compromised immune systems in trouble.

Because sea turtles need external heat to regulate their body temperature, cold water can cause decreased heart rate and circulation, lethargy, shock and even death.


Comment: See also: Around 500 manatees crowd into a Florida spring to stay warm

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Tornado2

More weird winter weather: Tornado strikes southeast Virginia town, kills 3, injures 8


RT
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 04:39 UTC
Tornado damage
© Reuters
Virginia State Police said three people were killed and eight others were injured after a tornado hit the farming town of Waverly, southeast Virginia. Nearly 123,000 were without power.

Police officials have not released the names of the victims but said a 2-year old boy, 26 year-old man, and a 50-year old man were killed when their mobile home was destroyed in Waverly, according to WTVR.

The bodies, found 300 yards from the mobile home, were transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner in Norfolk for positive identification.

The strike in Virginia on Wednesday came from a severe storm that had pummeled the southern states over the last two days with 20 tornadoes reported, and is now sweeping up the East Coast.


The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Virginia, and weather radars showed a twister did touch down in the state.

The tiny farming town of Waverly, in the state's peanut-growing region, took the brunt of the storm, #tornadogeddon, with winds as fast as 60 miles per hour.

Five structures in town were damaged, according to officials, in a town of approximately 2,000.Emergency Management said they spotted the twister touch down along Route 460 before slamming into Waverly. "It was only 3 minutes, but it was fast and ripped things apart," one witness told WTVR of the twister.

Leaving in its wake flipped cars, and snapped trees. In a separate incident, Timothy Williams told AP a friend had just come to take his new car for a drive when the storm hit.
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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods hit La Paz, Bolivia after torrential rainstorm

Alessandro Masoero
Floodlist
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:10 UTC
flash flood in La Paz, Bolivia.
© Andrea InnocentiBridge topped by the flash flood in La Paz, Bolivia.
Intense rain and increasing river levels have been reported in Bolivia since 23 February, 2016. So far Bolivia's rainy season, under the influence of this year's strong El-Niño, has mostly been characterised by drought rather than floods.

La Paz

A torrential rainstorm hit the city of La Paz on the 24 February 2016, causing a flash flood resulting in the overflow of the Huayñajahuira River, a tributary of the Choqueyapu River. Starting at 17:00, intense rain affected the upper part of the urban watershed of Choqueyapu River, with no rain observed in the southern part of the city, where the flood occurred.

Video below courtesy of Andrea Innocenti:


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Sun

Sydney heatwave: City sets record for days above 26C as mercury hits 41.7C

Paul Karp
The Guardian (UK)
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 08:15 UTC
Sydney heatwave
© Jenny Evans/AAP A father and daughter at Bondi beach. The Bureau of Meteoreology forecast temperatures of 41C in Parramatta, Penrith and Richmond, with 35C in the CBD.
Sweltering day 21st consecutive day over 26C as Bureau of Meteorology predicts temperatures above 26C for the next week

Temperatures in parts of Sydney topped 40 degrees today, as the city sweated through a record streak of 21 days above 26C.

In Penrith, the temperature reached 41.7 by mid-afternoon and hovered just below into the evening.

Closer to the city it wasn't much cooler with 39.2C recorded at Sydney Olympic Park and 36.9 at the airport.

Blair Trewin of the Bureau of Meteorology told Guardian Australia the scorcher marked the 21st consecutive day of 26C or over in Sydney, a record stretch not matched at any time of year.

The next-longest streak was 19 days of temperatures above 26C in March 2014.
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Attention

Fracking? Oklahoma earthquakes stronger this year; count slightly less

Brad Sowder
KOCO
Fri, 19 Feb 2016 11:24 UTC
earthquake
More 4.0 quakes this year

Since January 1 of 2016 until February 19 Oklahoma has recorded 339 earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater.

Through the same period last year the state had recorded 389 quakes.

This year, seven earthquakes of 4.0 magnitude or greater have occurred in the state. Through the same time last year, four earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 occurred.

The strongest earthquake this year was a 5.1 that occurred February 13 in northern Oklahoma.

Comment: See also:

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Snowflake

Heavy snowfall in Akureyri, Iceland: 43 inches (110cms) of fresh snow, most in 20 years


Iceland Monitor
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 20:48 UTC
Snow in Iceland
© mbl.is/Skapti HallgrímssonBorgarbraut in the Glerárhverfi district.
The city of Akureyri in North Iceland is seeing great snow accumulation for the third year in a row. This morning, residents woke up to 110 cm of fresh snow.

Snow depth has not been greater since the winter of 1995-1996.

Our Akureyri correspondent took these photographs this morning.

Snow ploughs have a hard day's work ahead.

Snow in Iceland
© mbl.is/Skapti HallgrímssonWalking to school takes a little longer than usual.
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Tornado1

3 killed, at least 31 injured as 7 tornadoes slam south Louisiana and Mississippi


RT
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 16:49 UTC
tornados louisiana 2016
© Assumption Parish / ReutersDebris from a damaged water tower is shown in this handout photo provided by Assumption Parish Sheriff's Office, west of New Orleans, Louisiana, February 23, 2016.
High winds and seven tornadoes slammed through the American South on Tuesday afternoon, killing two in Louisiana and another in Mississippi, while injuring at least 31 people and damaging dozens of homes and cars. The storm was part of a severe weather front moving across the southern states.

High winds and several tornadoes hit the Pelican state on Tuesday afternoon. One tornado came close to New Orleans Airport before touching down in a field, according to the Associated Press.

At Sugar Hill trailer park in Convent Parish, dozens of trailers were damaged and several people were injured, AP cited the park owner, Mark Anderson as saying.

Comment: Since when did February become tornado season? Something is seriously off with the climate, and it isn't "global warming". Be sure to check out SOTT's Earth Changes Monthly Summaries at the bottom of our front page.

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