Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Floods and storms in Brazil leave 3 dead, 79 injured

Richard Davies
floodlist.com
Thu, 16 Jul 2015 14:07 UTC
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© Photo: Marcelo Rossi/ Prefeitura de Esteio Port AlegreFloods in Esteio, Brazil 14 July 2015.
Storms and floods have affected three southern states of Brazil since 10 July 2015, leaving 3 dead, 79 injured and nearly 1,000 displaced.

According to the Civil Defense of the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, more than 30,000 people have been affected. Two people have died and 8 injured in Santa Catarina, and one death has been reported in Paraná, where 71 people have also been injured.

In Paraná, around 44 municipalities have been affected. Around 3,000 homes have suffered damage and 248 people have been evacuated.

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© Secom – SCFloods in Maravilha, Brazil, 14 July 2015.
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Umbrella

Scientists in Norway left completely baffled by freak storm that dumps 100mm of rain in one hour

David Trayner
The Independent
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 16:46 UTC
rainfall
© shutterstock.com
Scientists in Norway have been left baffled by a storm at the edge of the Arctic Circle that dumped more than 10cm of rain on a village in a single hour.

More than 100mm of rain fell on the Norwegian village of Ogndal, an amount rarely seen outside the tropical rainforests of Brazil or Indonesia.

The downpour, which left farm animals petrified and meteorologists scratching their heads, is believed to have shattered records for the area, the Local has reported.

More than a month's rain fell in 60 minutes and the precipitation more than doubled a record-breaking storm in Oslo, the Norwegian capital, last summer.

Government meteorologist Geir Ottar Fagerli told national broadcaster NRK: "This just does not happen in Norway, we have a hard time believing that it's true.

"It's not that we doubt the observations, but it is absolutely amazing. These are figures that you only normally see in the jungle."
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Black Cat

Woman attacked by bobcat outside her home in Luverne, Alabama

Erin Edgemon
al.com
Tue, 14 Jul 2015 16:07 UTC
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© Wikimedia CommonsBobcat
A woman was attacked and bitten by a bobcat outside her rural Crenshaw County home, according to reports.

Sheriff Mickey Powell told WSFA the woman was standing outside her Sweetwater Road home when the animal hissed at her and then jumped on her.

The bobcat reportedly bit the woman on her right arm several times before her husband was able to get the animal away from her and shoot it.

The animal was shot multiple times. The carcass is being tested for rabies.

The National Bobcat Rescue & Research organization said bobcat attacks are virtually unknown.

A representative from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources wasn't immediately available for comment.
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Attention

Portents and signs: Doubled-headed bullock sold at auction in Mareeba, Australia

Daniel Piotrowski
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 11 Mar 2015 15:08 UTC
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Two faces! This unnamed two-face bullock was successfully sold at Mareeba Saleyards by Queensland Rural selling agent Jack Shepherd
For a bullock with two heads, he's mighty healthy.

A cattle saleyard in Mareeba, North Queensland, hosted an unusual sight on Tuesday when a livestock agent arrived to hawk a two-faced cow.

Its second face, mounted on top of its first, had one eye, a single tooth and functional nostrils, according to the saleyard. It was in 'great condition'.

'Mate, he's as fat as a fool!' said Elders selling agent Mark Peters, who witnessed the animal's purchase yesterday.

Mr Peters said: 'It was an absolute prime condition animal, he just had two faces'.

Unsurprisingly, the two-faced animal attracted curious glances at the saleyards.

'It received a fair amount of attention,' said Queensland Rural livestock agent Jack 'Jacko' Shephard, who sold the bullock.

Comment: This year seems to have been very busy for this kind of thing:

Portents and signs: Rare two-headed Russell's viper born in Hyderabad, India

Portents and signs: Two-headed lizard hatched in Birkenhead, UK

Portents and signs: Pig born with two heads and three eyes in Columbia

Portents and signs: Piglet born with 2 heads in China

Portents and signs: Dog with two bodies and eight legs born on Tonga

Portents and signs: Mutant pig born with strange features and appendage in China

Portents and signs: Mutant pig born in Scotland

Portents and signs: Calf born with 2 heads at Florida farm

Portents and signs: Lamb born with face like an 'angry old man' in Dagestan

Portents and signs: 5-legged lamb born in Wales

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Cloud Precipitation

2 dead and 6 missing after floods wipe out homes, trees and cars in Flat Gap, Kentucky

Kelly Mclaughlin
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 14:02 UTC
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At least one man and one woman have died and six more are missing after flash floods hit northern Johnson County
Floodwaters in Kentucky have killed at least one man and one woman, left six more missing and sent rescue crews to comb the hilly Appalachian terrain on Tuesday, as the threat of more floods bore down on rescue efforts.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Steven Mounts said emergency personnel in the hardest-hit neighborhoods in Johnson County struggled with the debris and difficult communication as they went door-to-door Tuesday, searching for those who might be trapped in their homes.

Some people were rescued from trees they climbed to escape the floodwaters, according to county Sheriff Dwayne Price. The missing range in age from 22 to 74.

Johnson County Coroner J.R. Frisby has identified the two people whose bodies have been found as 65-year-old Herman Eddie May Sr. and 74-year-old Willa Mae Pennington, both of the Flat Gap area.

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Cloud Precipitation

Flooding and mass power outages hit Auckland, New Zealand

Laura Walters
stuff.co.nz
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 13:45 UTC
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© Kat JacksonFinlayson Ave Manurewa is completely flooded just south of the marae.
Heavy rain has brought havoc to parts of Auckland, flooding roads and property, cutting power and disrupting traffic.

More than a thousand homes were without power during the night and dozens of homes are flooded.

Vector spokeswoman Sandy Hodge said power was out in the suburb of St Heliers, with about 1600 homes affected initially on Wednesday evening.

Crews were fixing the fault, which was believed to have been caused by branches coming down on power lines, Hodge said.

The fire service responded to 100 calls in the Auckland and Northland area during between 6pm and 9pm, with most of them related to the flooding. Fire crews have gone to more than 50 flooded addresses. It is still receiving 111 calls from affected residents in South Auckland.

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Fire

Canadian wildfires out of control as super blaze hits Saskatchewan (VIDEO)


RT
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 06:13 UTC
wildfires in Canada
Screenshot from YouTube.com video by Viala Nasum
Wildfires in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan have nearly doubled, following the merger of two separate blazes. The fires have been raging for almost two weeks, which has left tens of thousands of hectares of forest burning.

The Lac La Ronge, in Saskatchewan was like a sea of flames following the intense blazes, while the sounds of the wildfires could be heard from some distance away.

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Arrow Down

Dead humpback whale buried in Northland, New Zealand

Kristin Edge
nzherald.co.nz
Tue, 14 Jul 2015 17:44 UTC
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A decomposing humpback whale on Ninety Mile Beach was named and blessed before bones were taken and the remains buried.
A decomposing humpback whale washed on to Northland's Ninety Mile Beach has been blessed, named and the bonesburied.

The 8.8m juvenile whale came ashore last Thursday near the Waipapakauri ramp entry to the Far North beach.

Local resident Peter Kitchen said the high tides had pushed the whale up the beach and local iwi members had intended to carry out a prayer and work on extracting the bones on Sunday morning.

However, the high tides had washed the whale another 8km north by Sunday morning.

Mr Kitchen said locals had worked in with Department of Conservation (DoC) and were given the go-ahead to remove the bones.

"We had the gear to do the job and worked on getting the bones out. We had a karakia and named it Waiora before burying the remains and bones," Mr Kitchen said.
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Stop

Dead zones and toxic algae overcoming waterways thanks to industrial agriculture


The Conversation
Tue, 14 Jul 2015 10:09 UTC
algal bloom lake erie
© NOAA/NASA Algae overload: Lake Erie algal bloom 2011. NOAA/NASA
Over the past two decades, scientists have developed ways to predict how ecosystems will react to changing environmental conditions. Called ecological forecasts, these emerging tools, if used effectively, can help reduce pollution to our waterways.

Dead zone and toxic algae forecasts are similar to weather and climate forecasts. They can provide near-term predictions of ecosystem responses to short-term drivers such as this year's nitrogen and phosphorus inputs. They can also be used in scenarios to analyze the impacts of controlling those drivers in the future.

These particular forecasts are important because when they match actual events well, they build confidence in using the models to guide policy and management decisions. Doing these forecasts annually also provides a regular check on whether these problems are being resolved.

While knowing the extent and location of these ecosystem conditions could allow decision-makers to adapt their management decisions, current ecological forecasts - at least those related to dead zones and toxic algae - are not sufficiently tuned in space and time to support that scale of adaptive management. Hopefully, someday they will be. In the meantime, their use provides powerful reminders of unsolved problems.

Comment: One of the things that those who promote vegetarian diets often overlook or refuse to consider is the devastating effects that agriculture has on the soils and waterways. Far from being a benign choice, it has had devastating consequences for both the health of populations and the planet. For more information on the destructive nature of industrial agriculture listen to the SOTT interview with Lierre Keith: Dissecting the Vegetarian Myth.

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Windsock

4 waterspouts seen near Tangier, Virginia


13newsnow.com
Mon, 13 Jul 2015 15:22 UTC
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© Anna E. Pruitt-ParksSeveral waterspouts were spotted off the coast of Tangier Island, Va. on Monday morning, July 13, 2015.
Numerous waterspouts were spotted in the Chesapeake Bay near Tangier on Monday, July 13.

According to a Eastern Shore of Virginia 911 report, a waterspout was spotted at about 9:40 a.m. on the west side of Tangier Island.

Tangier resident Anna E. Pruitt-Parks earlier Monday morning reported seeing four funnel clouds at one time in the area.

The National Weather Service in Wakefield, Virginia, said to expect numerous showers and thunderstorms to move across Virginia and North Carolina on Monday and into the evening.

There is a risk of severe storms in the region Tuesday as a storm system moves southeast into the mid-Atlantic. Primary threats Tuesday will be large hail, damaging winds and isolated tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service.

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© Anna E. Pruitt-Parks
Source: The Daily Times ( Salisbury)
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