Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Magma buildup in northern New Zealand explains spate of recent earthquakes, may signal beginning of new volcano

Taupo volcanic zone new zealand
© Ian Hamling A drawing looking south along the Taupo Volcanic Zone showing the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the North Island of New Zealand. Uplift of the surface measured by satellite radar and GPS suggests the presence of a magmatic body beneath the Bay of Plenty coast at a depth of 9.5 km
Scientists say they've discovered a magma buildup near a New Zealand town that explains a spate of recent earthquakes and could signal the beginnings of a new volcano—although they're not expecting an eruption anytime soon.

Geophysicist Ian Hamling said that since 1950, enough magma to fill 80,000 Olympic-size swimming pools has squeezed up beneath the surface near the coastal town of Matata, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Auckland.

A paper published Saturday in the online journal Science Advances outlines the findings. Hamling, the paper's lead author, said that while other parts of New Zealand have active volcanoes, there have been none near Matata for at least 400,000 years.

"It was quite a big surprise," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Using GPS data and satellite images, the scientists say they discovered an area of land about 400 square kilometers (154 square miles) has risen by 40 centimeters (16 inches) since 1950.

Hamling said a period of quick uplift between 2004 and 2011 likely triggered thousands of small earthquakes. Scientists had previously thought tectonic shifts caused the quakes.

Fire

Ash and dust from Canadian wildfires have been found in Switzerland

canada wildfire dust switzerland
Massive forest fires in western Canada have "injected an enormous quantity of dust into the atmosphere," which has now been found in Switzerland, according to the nation's meteorological authorities.
Ash and dust particles from the massive forest fires ravaging western Canada for the past month have been found in Switzerland, according to Swiss meteorologists.

"The fires have injected an enormous quantity of dust into the atmosphere, (which) is now being detected over Switzerland," the Swiss meteorological authorities said in a report discreetly issued on Tuesday and picked up by Swiss media Friday.

MeteoSwiss said it had determined that particles observed at the Payerne measurement station in the western canton of Vaud on May 24 and 25 had been emitted from western Canada around May 19-20.

Attention

Shark attacks kitesurfer off New Caledonia; 3rd attack in 2016

Shark
© Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
A shark attacked a kitesurfer sailing his board off the Pacific Ocean archipelago of New Caledonia, tearing off part of his heel, a report said Friday.

Pierre de Rotalier told Les Nouvelles-Caledoniennes newspaper that he was sailing along the coast towards Noumea Thursday when the shark struck.

"It was when I was gybing (turning) that the shark attacked me from behind. I was hit hard," he said.

De Rotalier said he thought he was going to die when he saw the shark rush towards him. The animal bit the board and tore off part of his heel.

He swam towards the shore and was picked up by a boat.

Fire

California wildfire threatens homes, mandatory evacuations ordered

California wildfire
© APThe 200-acre blaze that erupted Saturday afternoon northwest of downtown Los Angeles is threatening about 3,000 homes, according to Los Angeles County fire officials
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in Southern California, as three brush fires quickly spread on Saturday, one of which is moving dangerously close to homes in the Calabasas area, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

Witnesses reported that one fire began near 23062 Mulholland Highway at around 4:30 pm local time. It was originally said to affect two acres, but is now moving towards residential areas.

Local Agoura High School on West Driver Avenue is currently being evacuated.

Three water-dropping helicopters have been dispatched to battle the fire.


Windsock

Freak weather including whirlwinds, flash floods and giant hail cause havoc in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

freak weather in Kuala Lumpur
© YouTube/Rhapsodyx Entertainment (screen capture)

Drastic weather changes such as sudden night-like darkness and whirlwinds were seen taking place when a hailstorm hit the Bukit Jalil area here Friday evening, according to witnesses.

The two-hour hailstorm beginning 5pm, had changed the landscape at several areas in Bukit Jalil, with most trees of various sizes toppled, and some broken and hurled up to a 100m.

Other than trees, a container which was used as a guard hut, was also damaged after it was struck by a wind-blown object in the incident.

A signboard belonging to a drive-in cafe, the size of a car, had also fallen over.

A cafe staff, who declined to be identified, said during the incident, darkness descended suddenly, turning day to night.

"There were whirlwinds, (I) definitely saw the winds spinning yesterday. Luckily, no object was blown towards the buildings, so all (the people) in the buildings were safe. Several people who were outside sustained slight injuries after being struck by hailstones," he told Bernama when met Saturday while evaluating the damage at the cafe.


Christmas Tree

5,000 year old tree in Scotland is changing gender, a rare and unusual phenomenon

tree
Fortingall Yew, in Perthshire, has been recorded as 'male' for centuries, but in recent years it has started to sprout seeds, suggesting that part of it is changing gender. This 'rare and unusual phenomenon' move has baffled botanists.

The Fortingall Yew standing in a church yard in Perthshire, Scotland is estimated to be 5,000 years old. For as long as people have been recording data on the tree, it was assumed to be male - meaning that it produces pollen instead of berries. Yet, this year three red berries were spotted growing on its branches, which can only mean one thing: at least part of the tree is changing its sex to female.

Cloud Precipitation

Two dead, five injured as violent storms and floods hit east coast of Australia

Two cars are pictured being swept down in the floods at Toombul shopping centre near Brisbane. Australia's east coast is being battered by gale-force winds, strong rains and floods
Two cars are pictured being swept down in the floods at Toombul shopping centre near Brisbane. Australia's east coast is being battered by gale-force winds, strong rains and floods
Two people are dead and five injured as violent storms lashed Australia's east coast on Saturday, causing widespread damage and flash flooding to New South Wales and Queensland during the first weekend of winter.

The eastern states woke to horrendous storms on Saturday morning with gale-force winds and heavy rain forcing the Bureau of Meteorology to issue severe weather warnings, including a flood-watch for the entire New South Wales coast - the first in 30 years.

The extreme system is being blamed as a possible cause of a horror smash near Ipswich, west of Brisbane, that claimed the life of a man and woman on Saturday morning when an out of control truck jack-knifed and ploughed into a mini-van.

The driver of the van died at the scene on the Warrego Highway while his female passenger died in hospital later in the afternoon. The truck driver escaped serious injury and was taken to hospital.

The storms wreaked havoc across Sydney on Saturday, bringing down several trees in Napier Street, Paddington - resulting in thousands of dollars damage to parked cars
The storms wreaked havoc across Sydney on Saturday, bringing down several trees in Napier Street, Paddington - resulting in thousands of dollars damage to parked cars



Camcorder

Rare killer whale sighting off Oahu, Hawaii

killer whale

Amazing home video recently shot off Oahu's North Shore shows an orca, also known as a killer whale, swimming around a fishing boat.

Waialua resident Jarret Kuni was out fishing with his friends when he spotted it.

"I was reeling a fish in and I noticed a shadow under the boat. I thought it was a shark, but then when it surfaced, my friend realized it was a whale," he said.

Kuni grabbed his GoPro and stuck it in the water, and was amazed to see how close the whale got to their boat.

Cloud Precipitation

River Seine in Paris rises to highest level seen since 1982

 flooded banks of the Seine
© Pierre Terdjman for The New York TimesThe banks of the Seine on Friday. The river reached its highest level since 1982.
Heavy rains in France lifted the Seine on Friday to its highest levels since 1982, threatening Paris's cultural institutions and soaking the French countryside east of the capital.

The Seine has continued to swell since the river burst its banks on Wednesday, raising alarms throughout the city. As of 10 p.m. on Friday, its waters had reached 20 feet. The river was expected to crest on Saturday morning at up to 21.3 feet, and to remain at high levels throughout the weekend, the French Environment Ministry said in a statement.

Bizarro Earth

Floods kill dozens in Europe and Texas, thousands more forced out of homes

floods europe france
© Christian Hartmann / ReutersFrench firefighters evacuate residents from a flooded area after heavy rainfall in Nemours, France, on June 1, 2016.
Climate-change related flooding is projected to double in Europe by 2050.

Flooding across Western Europe this week has killed at least 15 people and displaced tens of thousands. That figure includes 10 dead in southern Germany, two in France, two in Romania, and one in Belgium, with more rain expected this weekend, the BBC reports.

The storms have also hit Austria, the Netherlands and Poland, with officials saying climate change is likely to blame. A study released in March 2014 predicts climate-change related flooding in Europe will double by 2050, with costly damage that spans borders.

In Texas, floods have killed at least 12 people, including seven who died late last week and five soldiers from Fort Hood who died Thursday when their Army truck overturned in a flooded creek. Four other service members are still missing.

CNN notes this is the second year in a row for 500-year floodsto hit the state.

"It just so happens that parts of Texas have seen them now in back-to-back years, and maybe even twice this year," CNN Senior Meteorologist Brandon Miller told the network. "The odds of that happening are infinitesimally small."

Comment: El Nino is a climatological phenomenon that has been recorded for centuries. To attribute these disasters to "anthropogenic (man-made) global warming" is ridiculous. Planet Earth has its own cycles and rhythms. However, there may be a connection between man and natural earth events, but not as most people would think.

Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection