Earth ChangesS


Snowflake Cold

Siberian snow theory points to early, frigid winter in U.S.

Brian K Sullivan
Bloomberg
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 03:10 UTC
winter siberia
© Andrey Rudakov/BloombergA frozen road in Yakutsk, Sakha Republic, Russia.
  • U.S. could get a blast of cold from north to south in December
  • MIT scientist's research contradicts prevailing U.S. forecasts
For those cursing the unseasonable November chill, there's an ominous sign up north. It suggests this winter will be long and cold, according to one eminent scientist.

He's the father of the "Siberian Snow Theory." In a nutshell, he argues that the more snow covering the ground in northern Eurasia, the colder we can expect it down below. Sadly, Siberia is looking pretty white already.

Judah Cohen, a renowned MIT climatologist, has been working on this theory for 17 years, despite skepticism from some U.S. government weather experts. Cohen, who figures his theory has been right 75 percent of the time, spies all the makings of an early, cold winter.

"This year, we have had this very textbook situation," Cohen said.

Comment: The signs are already here, with early snowfalls and cold records already being set:

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Snowflake Cold

Tailgating the anthropogenic-warming message: 'Elimination of GMO crops would cause hike in greenhouse gas emissions' - Green heads to explode

Natalie van Hoose
Purdue University
Mon, 07 Nov 2016 00:00 UTC
green explosion
A global ban on genetically modified crops would raise food prices and add the equivalent of nearly a billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, a study by researchers from Purdue University shows.

Using a model to assess the economic and environmental value of GMO crops, agricultural economists found that replacing GMO corn, soybeans and cotton with conventionally bred varieties worldwide would cause a 0.27 to 2.2 percent increase in food costs, depending on the region, with poorer countries hit hardest. According to the study, published Oct. 27 in the Journal of Environmental Protection, a ban on GMOs would also trigger negative environmental consequences: The conversion of pastures and forests to cropland - to compensate for conventional crops' lower productivity - would release substantial amounts of stored carbon to the atmosphere.

Comment: Just how widely this study will be used to help influence people into accepting GMO's as being vital to lowering the global CO2 footprint remains to be seen. If the GMO industry can manage to market successfully their toxic agricultural products using anthropogenic global warming as a means, perhaps even Edward Bernays would have been very pleased and supportive of a marketing tactic such as this.

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Eye 2

Mystery disease strikes American snakes

Colin Barras
BBC
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 19:39 UTC
A timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
© Daniel Heuclin/naturepl.comA timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
In 2006 biologists studying the only timber rattlesnakes in the state of New Hampshire recorded something alarming: a population crash. The already rare animals - numbering about 40 in total - began dying in unusually large numbers. No more than 20 rattlesnakes survived, and the population remained at that new super-low level five years later.

Many of the snakes showed signs of a severe skin infection on their heads and bodies just before they died. It was an early sign of a deadly fungal disease that is now sweeping through the snakes of eastern North America.

Today at least 30 species are affected. "Snake fungal disease" has been documented in more than 16 US states and in parts of Canada. How worried should we be?

Snake fungal disease generally begins with a relatively mild skin infection, often - but not always - where a snake's skin has been physically damaged.

The snake's immune system kicks into action, but within a few days the skin at the infection site has begun to thicken and die, creating a yellow or brown crust. In some cases this crust breaks off, exposing raw flesh and allowing the fungus to spread.
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Cloud Precipitation

Landslides and floods leave 5 dead and 3 missing in New Caledonia; 15 inches of rain in 12 hours recorded

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 18:55 UTC
Overflowing rivers in Houaïlou.
© Wawa Désirée WaiteaOverflowing rivers in Houaïlou.
Several days of heavy rain has caused deadly flooding and landslides in New Caledonia.

Eastern parts of the main island, Grande Terre, have been the worst hit, with the biggest landslides occurring in the municipality of Houaïlou, where at least 5 people have died and 3 are still missing.

President Hollande expressed his condolences to the families and relatives of the victims yesterday, and gave his full support to the inhabitants of New Caledonia. The President also acknowledged the work of the rescue teams who are fully committed to dealing with the situation.

Images of the landslide site show where a large parts of mountainside had collapsed, destroying everything in its path. A local commentator suggested that rivers and creeks have been blocked by mining waste, and mountainside eroded by bush fires and drought.

Accumulation of precipitation from 21 November 2016 at 11:00 to 22 November 2016 at 23:00.
© Meteo FranceAccumulation of precipitation from 21 November 2016 at 11:00 to 22 November 2016 at 23:00.
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Wolf

Pack of wild dogs attack a man while fencing on a farm in Western Australia

Sebastian Neuweiler and Joanna Prendergast
abc.net.au
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 16:35 UTC
Dog attack
A man working on a farm in Western Australia has been attacked by what is believed to be a pack of roaming wild dogs

Police have confirmed a man spent a night in hospital after receiving bites to his arms, legs and torso after the dogs attacked him on a property north west of Koorda in the Wheatbelt.

Police said the man was attacked last week by up to six dogs while he was fencing on the property and was taken to the nearby Wyalkatchem Hospital where he was required to stay overnight as a result of the severity of his injuries.

The attack victim has since been discharged from hospital.

The Shire of Koorda is currently investigating the matter to determine whether the dogs were wild, and what to do with them.

Pastoralists and Graziers Association president Tony Seabrook said an attack was inevitable, but the news made his blood run cold.

Wild dog
Wild dog
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Attention

Dead sperm whale discovered on San Jose Island, Texas


Port Aransas South Jetty
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 15:26 UTC
Sperm whale
Sperm whale
A dead sperm whale was found on the beach on San Jose Island on Monday, Nov. 21, according to Tony Amos, Port Aransas coordinator with the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

No cause of death has been determined, said Amos, who also is director of the Animal Rehabilitation Keep and research fellow with the University of Texas Marine Science Institute. Samples were taken from the whale's body for analysis.

Today (Tuesday, Nov. 22), the 28-foot-long whale's body still is lying in shallow water not far from shore, slightly more than one mile north of the north jetty. It's unclear whether efforts will be made to dispose of the carcass, which weighs many tons, Amos said.

Amos cautioned that folks shouldn't touch or even get close to the whale's body. It could carry diseases, and a wave could push the huge carcass onto someone who gets too close, he said.

In addition, under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is against the law to touch sperm whales even after they're dead, Amos said.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 2 in Java, Indonesia


The Jakarta Post
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 15:13 UTC
lightning
A flood and lightning storm killed at least three people in Banyumas regency, Central Java, during high intensity rain in the area over the past three days.

The victims were Silan, 33, who was swept away by the flood in Watuagung village, Tambak district, Slamet Badi, 55, and Musirah, 58, residents of Wlahar Kulon village in Patikraja district who were struck by lightning while on their way to their rice fields on Tuesday.

"Heavy downpour had taken place since Saturday evening and caused several floods," Banyumas Disaster Response chief Heriana Ady said in a press conference on Tuesday.
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Tornado1

Otto sets new record as latest hurricane to form in Caribbean

Jenny Staletovich
Miami Herald
Tue, 22 Nov 2016 18:07 UTC
Hurricane Otto satellite
© CNN weather
The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season threw a late season curveball Tuesday: Hurricane Otto off the coast of Central America.

The rare late-season storm strengthened from a tropical storm after it spent much of the afternoon stalled over warm Caribbean waters. In Panama, the storm was blamed for three deaths, including a child, after triggering a landslide and downing tree branches.

National Hurricane Center forecasters said late Tuesday afternoon the storm was located about 375 miles east of Costa Rica with sustained winds of 75 mph and moving west about 2 mph.

Otto sets a new record for the latest hurricane to ever form in the Caribbean, forecasters said, breaking a record set by Hurricane Martha in 1969 by a day.

A hurricane watch and tropical storm watches and warnings were issued up and down the Central American coast, from Nicaragua to Costa Rica.

Otto is expected to strengthen and pick up speed as it approaches the coast on Thursday. Forecasters warn the storm could dump up to 12 inches of rain, with higher totals between 15 and 20 inches in some locations. Life-threatening rip currents could also slam the coast over the next few days.

Comment: If Otto does reach Costa Rica, it will be that country's first hurricane landfall in recorded history (since 1851).

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SOTT Logo Media

SOTT Focus: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - October 2016: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs


Sott.net
Wed, 23 Nov 2016 17:09 UTC
ECS October 2016
© Sott.netOctober 2016: another '1-in-1,000-year flood event' hits the Carolinas
While all eyes last month were on the most extraordinary build-up to a US election, Earth Changes continued apace.

The curtain-raiser in October 2016 was Hurricane Matthew, which left a swathe of destruction across Colombia, the Caribbean and the US East Coast. The strongest North Atlantic storm in a decade, Matthew was also the strongest storm ever recorded so close to the equator, dumped so much water that it broke rainfall records wherever it went, and cost over $10 billion in damages. Haiti, where over 1,600 people were killed, bore the brunt of it.

Extreme weather is so 'normal' now that South Carolina last month recorded its seventh '1-in-1,000-year' flood event in just 6 years, beating rainfall records set in... September 2016. While much of the US saw record-breaking warm temperatures for October, copious amounts of snow across Russia meant that the northern hemisphere's snow cover extent by late October was second only to that recorded in 1976.

We also have a dozen mind-blowing meteor events in this month's video, a reflection of what we suspect is another end-of-year uptick in 'space visitors'. As we reported at the beginning of the year, fireballs have significantly increased over the last decade, and the skies become especially 'illuminated' during the latter half of each year.

These were 'the signs' in October 2016...


Comment: Update 23 November 2016 - It has come to our attention that the 'meteor over south Wales' @15:14 is being claimed as the creation of some liberal artist, which may or may not be the case.

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Tornado2

Hurricane Otto to threaten Central America on Thanksgiving

Doyle Rice
USA Today
Tue, 22 Nov 2016 16:20 UTC
Hurricane Otto storm track
Otto strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday, killing three people in Panama and prompting hurricane watches for Nicaragua and Costa Rica, as it spun closer to a Thanksgiving Day landfall in Central America.

In Panama, rains and mudslides blamed on the storm killed at least three people, the Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, Costa Rica ordered the evacuation of 4,000 people from its Caribbean coast.

As of 4 p.m. ET, Otto was maintaining 75 mph winds, making it a Category 1 hurricane. It was located about 235 miles east of Limon, Costa Rica, and moving west at 2 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm, which is the seventh hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season, is expected to speed up Wednesday.

Total rainfall of 6 to 12 inches, with isolated amounts of 15 to 20 inches, are forecast across northern Costa Rica and southern Nicaragua through Thursday, and will likely result in life-threatening flash floods and mudslides, the hurricane center said.
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