Earth ChangesS


Attention

Dead minke whale discovered on marsh in Wachapreague, Virginia

Hillary T Chesson
Delmarva Daily Times
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:50 UTC
The body of a minke whale was discovered beached in the marsh near channel marker WR6 off the coast of Wachapreague, Va. on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center's Stranding Response team performed a necropsy to determi
© Jay C. FordThe body of a minke whale was discovered beached in the marsh near channel marker WR6 off the coast of Wachapreague, Va. on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center's Stranding Response team performed a necropsy to determine the whale's cause of death on Sunday.

A mature minke whale washed up onto a mud flat near channel marker WR6 outside Wachapreague on September 17.

According to Jay C. Ford, the Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper, there was nothing obvious about its injuries or cause of death following a necropsy on September 18, but the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center's stranding team will send tissue and blood samples to a pathologist in Washington, D.C. The pathology reports will take several weeks to be processed.

"The body was pretty beaten up," said Ford. "The lead scientist cautioned that more than likely the cause of death won't be determined."

According to Ford, the whale was 24 feet long. It's heart weighed approximately 15 to 20 pounds and uterine scarring indicated that it had been pregnant at some point.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 children, injures 2 others in Nepal


my Republica
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 18:43 UTC
lightning
Three children died after being struck by lightning near Baghjhoda in Koshi Haraincha Municipality-1 of Morang district on Monday.

Three out of five children breathed their last while undergoing treatment at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan said police.

The deceased are Chirak Khulal, Rahul Subba and Sandesh Urau of Koshi Haraincha-1, police told Republica Online.

Meanwhile, Roshan Bhattarai and Ananda Bhattarai are undergoing treatment at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences.

Those children were playing near a bamboo grove when lightning struck them at 12:45 pm today.
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Camera

Tourist trampled to death by elephant after provoking it by moving too near to takes pictures in Kenya

Jenny Awford
Daily Mail
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 14:52 UTC
He suffered serious injuries to his left leg and died after the elephant (stock) charged at him
He suffered serious injuries to his left leg and died after the elephant (stock) charged at him
A 66-year-old Italian tourist was trampled to death by an elephant after 'provoking' the animal when he moved too close to get a better photo, police said.

Ferdinando Mocciola had been having breakfast with his wife in their tent when he left to photograph the elephant at a waterhole in Kenya's coastal region on Sunday.

The businessman suffered serious injuries to his left leg and died after the elephant charged at him outside luxury Swara Camp in Kulalu Ranch, according to officials.

Malindi Police chief Muchangi Mutava said the elephant attacked the tourist when he provoked it by moving closer to take photographs.

'He excused him while taking breakfast with the wife and proceeded to water point and started taking pictures, provoking the elephant that charged towards him and attacked him seriously wounding him,' Mr Mutava said.
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Moon

Kamchatka volcano Shiveluch spewed a 7-km column of ash in the air


TASS
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 19:48 UTC
Shiveluch volcano
© ITAR-TASSInstitute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Shiveluch volcano (3,283m) is the northernmost active volcano in the Eastern Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula

The northernmost active volcano in Kamchatka, Shiveluch, has spewed a seven-kilometer ash column in the air, the local department of the Geophysical Service at the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Monday.

Comment: See also:

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Cloud Lightning

Consecutive lightning strikes kill 2 farmers working in the same area in Bangladesh


en.prothom-alo.com
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 11:16 UTC
lIGHTNING
Two farmers were killed in separate incidents of lightning strikes in Karimganj upazila of Kishoreganj district on Sunday noon.

The victims are Md. Haris Mia, 55, son of Abdul Gafur of Barogoria village and Ramzan Ali, 40, son of Abdul Majid of Mukambari village in the upazila.

Police and locals said Haris Mia was critically injured as a lightning struck him while working in a paddy field during rains around 12:30pm.

Locals rushed him to the Kishoreganj sadar general hospital where on-duty doctor declared him dead.

The other farmer, Ramzan, who was working in his paddy field in the same area, sustained injuries in a separate lightning strike around the same time.

As he was rushed to Karimganj health complex in a critical condition, the on-duty doctor declared him dead.

Karimganj police station officer-in-charge Zakir Rabbani confirmed the deaths to the correspondent.
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Cloud Lightning

Boy killed by lightning in Cambodia; deaths increase to 100 for the year so far

Mom Kunthear
Khmer Times
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 10:48 UTC
lIGHTNING
Lightning killed a nine-year-old boy on Friday afternoon in Pursat province's Phnom Kravang district, according to police, with authorities continuing to appeal to people to stay safe during storms.

Deputy district police chief Chet Sambath said yesterday that the boy had been carrying a pot to his home's water container when the lightning struck him dead, cracking the water container.

"The boy died before he could drink the water. We are really sorry about this accident caused by nature," he said, adding that there had not been many lightning strikes in his district this year.

Mr. Sambath said local authorities often educate people and make broadcasts about how to stay safe during electrical storms, including such advice as staying inside your home, not staying under a big tree and not using your phone when it is raining.

Keo Vy, a spokesman for the National Committee for Disaster Management, said last month that 139 incidents of lightning had happened in the past eight months, killing nearly 100 people and injuring 101, an increase over the same period last year when 64 people were killed and 58 were injured.

Mr. Vy added that 80 cows had also died from lightning during the past eight months.

Comment: See also: Lightning strikes kill 92 in Cambodia so far this year, compared with only 64 for the same period in 2015

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 3 in Jharkhand, India


Business Standard.
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 10:34 UTC
lightning
© 123RF
Three persons were killed and another one was injured seriously when lightning struck them in Deogan village under Chatarpur block of Palamau district today, police said.

The four were grazing cattle when rain accompanied by thunderbolt struck the area, killing three persons on the spot while injuring the other.

The deceased were identified as Naresh Yadav, Kailash Yadav and Sanjay Yadav while injured Janeshwar Yadav was admitted to a government hospital in Chatarpur, police said.

Source: Press Trust of India
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Ice Cube

Tropical Samoa hit by hail storm so rare residents thought it was a hoax

Eleanor Ainge Roy
The Guardian (UK)
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 05:11 UTC
Rare hail in Samoa
© Vaetasi Asiata/Facebook Hail has fallen in Samoa for the first time since 2011.

Meteorologist forced to release satellite images of the storm to convince some locals that the hail wasn't part of a practical joke

Samoa has been hit by a hail storm so rare that it was believed to be a hoax by many of the island's inhabitants.

The tropical nation of Samoa lies in the Pacific Ocean, where the average temperature at this time of year is 29C.

But on Friday evening an unexpected hail storm struck the eastern side of the island of Savai'i, accompanied by heavy rain and strong wind gusts.

It was only the second time since records began that hail has fallen on Samoa, the first was in 2011.

The storm lasted 10 to 15 minutes and produced hail stones roughly 2cm wide.

"The ice was very small and there were no reports of damage," said Luteru Tauvale, principal meteorologist for the Samoan Meteorology Service.

"Because it was so unexpected a lot of people thought it had been invented. We had to release satellite images of the conditions that led to to the hail for people to believe it was real."

Comment: A few months ago a rare and massive hail storm hit Alice Springs, Australia. It is likely that atmospheric dust loading from increased comet and volcanic activity is contributing to the 'strange skies' we are witnessing, the cooling effect of which causes ice crystals to form.

These 'atmospheric changes' are probably causing the strange cloud anomalies and rare ball lighting we are witnessing. See also:

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Cloud Lightning

Two ponies killed by lightning bolt in Berkshire, UK

Sarah Radford
Horse and Hound
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 17:16 UTC
Pony
Two ponies have been killed by a suspected lightning strike at a Berkshire equestrian centre.

Devastated staff at Snowball Farm found six-year-old Blue (pictured, above) and 11-year-old Beau (pictured, below) dead in the field after thunderstorms hit the Thames Valley overnight on Thursday (15 September).

"All the horses had been really quite upset during the night and when the staff checked the 'out' ponies this morning, they found two of our best ponies had been killed," said Snowball Farm director Nick Western-Kaye.

"We don't know exactly what happened, but they had been standing very close together. There were no burn marks, so the lightning probably went into the ground and went up. We think they wouldn't have felt much."

The ponies had been turned out in a large field used to host dressage during Snowball Farm's Burnham Beeches unaffiliated event on 4 September.

Pony
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Attention

Dead whale found on beach in Maharashtra, India; 3rd this month and 10th in 15 months for the state


New Indian Express
Sun, 18 Sep 2016 15:15 UTC
Representative image
© Hindustan TimesRepresentative image
The decomposed carcass of a blue whale, estimated to be around 32-feet-long was discovered on Murud beach in Raigad district of Maharashtra.

This is the third dead whale to have been discovered on the coastline between Mumbai and south Maharashtra in September.

Researchers are working to identify the species of this one.

In all, 10 Baleen Whales - a minor order of animals that includes blue whales, Bryde's Whales and Humpback Whales - have beached in Maharashtra alone since June 2015.

Gujarat saw at least two stranding in May and July this year, one of which was a blue whale. At least one Bryde's whale has stranded in Kerala.
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