Earth ChangesS


Attention

Gaur (Indian bison) gores farmer to death in Goa, India

Wild gaur
Wild gaur
In an unusual incident reported at Dharbandora, an Indian bison, also known as Gaur, attacked and killed a 54-year-old farmer Yenu Soliyekar, a resident of Shivdem in Dharbandora.

According to police, the incident occurred on Wednesday and the victim died on the spot after suffering a punctured stomach and multiple injuries on the right side of his body.

Ponda police said that the incident occurred around 50 metres away from the victim's residence around 5.30 pm in the evening when Soliyekar was working in his banana and cashew plantations. According to locals, the Gaur was seen visiting the victim's plantation for the past few days to eat cashews.

On Wednesday morning too, the Gaur had visited the plantation of the victim, who drove away the animal. In the evening, the Gaur again visited the plantation which irked the farmer, who tried to attack the Gaur and in retaliation, the Gaur attacked the farmer and killed him.

Comment: See also: Wild gaur attacks two children in Tamil Nadu, India; second recent incident for the area

Woman dies following attack by wild gaur in Tamil Nadu, India; 3rd such incident for the locality in 2 years


Snowflake

California snowpack is one of biggest ever recorded, now poses flood risk

Snowpack survey in California
© Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesFrank Gehrke, center, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program for the Department of Water Resources, takes a sample of the Sierra snowpack near Twin Bridges, Calif.
The skies were gray, snow was falling and it was bitterly cold when state snow survey chief Frank Gehrke made his monthly march out to a deep pillow of snow in the Sierra Nevada town of Phillips on Thursday morning.

He plodded across the white mounds, plunged his metallic pole into the powder beneath him, pulled it out and made his proclamation: 94 inches deep.

The 2016-17 winter created one of the largest snowpacks in California's recorded history and it's loaded with enough water to keep reservoirs and rivers swollen for months to come.

"For recreation, there's a lot of pent-up demand for spring touring," Gehrke told reporters and viewers watching on a social media live stream. "Clearly this is going to be a good year for it. People have to be aware that conditions are different and they can't expect the same conditions they had a couple years ago."

With reservoirs and rivers already full from months of rain, the addition of melting snow will likely push water over the banks in some communities and cause flooding, said David Rizzardo, chief of snow survey and water supply forecasting for the state Department of Water Resources.

Comment: Global warming? Sierra Nevada snowpack 185% higher than normal


Wolf

Man dies following attack by dog pack in South Africa

Dog attack
On 7 March, Andries "Aloe" Afrikaner passed away in the intensive care unit at Dr Harry Surtie Memorial hospital in Upington. He died from dog bites 39 days after he was attacked on 26 January in Kakamas.

Captain Francois Steenkamp, communications officer for the Kakamas police, said Afrikaner was found at the corner of 15th and 17th Avenue, close to the Kakamas Hospital. A police officer out on his morning jog saw Afrikaner lying by the roadside. He called the police, who called the paramedics.

A paramedic from the nearby Kakamas hospital, who did not wish to be named, was amongst the first people to find Afrikaner. "His body had holes at the back and his torso had deep wounds. His shin bones were visible," said the paramedic.

Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills one in Manipur, India

LIGHTNING
Lightning killed a man as unseasonal heavy rainfall with hailstones and storm that lashed across Manipur in the last 24-hour wreak havoc and threw normal life out of gear on Thursday.

An official report said that lightning has killed a 45-year-old man at Jakuradhor pt-I under Borobekra sub-division of Maniupr's Jiribam district, bordering Assam today.

The deceased was identified as Nilakanta Das (45), a resident of Durgapur.

He was going at the MGNERGA worksite when the lightning hit him, police at Jiribam said.

The incessant rains also wreaked havoc and threw normal life out of gear here on Thursday.

Normal vehicular movement on NH-37 was also disturbed owing a landslide triggered by overnight heavy rainfall and hailstone in Tamenglong district along with other parts of the state.

Comment: Another similar recent report: Lightning kills man in Sylhet, Bangladesh


Arrow Up

First Major Eruption of Russia's Kambalny Volcano in 600 Years; Following Mini Ice Age Cycles

Kambalny Volcano eruption
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
Unexpected eruption in the southern tip of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia of the Kambalny Volcano. Ash already up above 26,000 feet and the eruption continues. This follows the pattern of increased volcanism as the Earth descends into a grand solar minimum. There is a direct relationship to the amount of galactic cosmic rays bombarding Earth and mega-quakes and volcanic eruptions.


Comment: A few days after this unexpected volcanic eruption a powerful 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the Kamchatka peninsula.


Windsock

Massive windstorm rips through Las Vegas wreaking havoc

las vegas windstorm
© Sambalatte / Facebook
Roughly 40,000 people in the greater Las Vegas area have been left without power as a massive wind storm damaged power grids, knocked down street poles and trees, and caused major air and traffic disruptions.

High winds are being blamed for multiple scattered power outages affecting some 44,000 NV Energy customers in the Las Vegas area, local media reports.

Images from the gambling capital of the world show power poles damaged in the vicinity of the famed Las Vegas Strip, lined with its world famous casinos. Trees and streetlights have also been uprooted in the storm.

Officials have urged the public to stay indoors until the storm passes. Meanwhile, some people wrote that gusty winds of up to 70 mph overturned furniture in their backyards.

The adverse weather is also causing heavy traffic in the area, where the debris is preventing motorists from driving. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has issued a warning to motorists to avoid driving due to low visibility and blowing dust on valley roads.

The Northbound Interstate 15 was forced to shut down for about two hours after large lorries rolled over on the road.


Cloud Lightning

Two killed by lightning strikes in Tamil Nadu, India

LIGHTNING
Two persons, including a college student, were struck dead by lightning in separate incidents in the district on Wednesday night.

Police said K. Gomu (55) of Pirancherry near Gopalasamudram was killed when lightning struck him in his farm on Wednesday night.

Similarly, M. Mariappan (20), a college student from Thidiyoor near Munneerpallam, was struck dead by lightning when he was collecting paddy straw from the stackyard to feed the cattle in his house.

Munneerapallam police have registered a case.

Attention

Kangaroo attacks the car of tailgating driver in Lake Bathurst, Australia

Kangaroo attack
A driver on a rural Australian road at night ended up having their car whacked by a road raging kangaroo that didn't take kindly to being tailgated.

The driver said they were driving behind the kangaroo for more than half a mile March 2 in the Lake Bathurst area, and the dashboard camera footage of the encounter shows the marsupial hopping along the road a few yards in front of the vehicle.

The kangaroo, apparently deciding to change tactics, stops abruptly, causing the car to stop. The 'roo strikes up an intimidating pose before unleashing a brief flurry of punches on the car. The driver attempts to get around the animal, but it follows and continues to punch the car.

"I had followed this Roo for about 1 kilometre, and it just stayed on the road. Unfortunately, if you pass them, they will often jump sideways straight into your car. The Roo decided he had a better plan and thought he'd go for fight over flight!" the driver wrote.


Tornado1

Sharknado? Bull shark washes up in aftermath of Cyclone Debbie in Ayr, Australia

bull shark on road
© Queensland Fire and Emergency Services / Facebook
A storm can leave in its wake a trail of destruction and devastation, but as Cyclone Debbie made its way through Queensland, Australia, residents of Burdekin Shire weren't expecting to find a man-eating shark beached on the road.

The meter-and-a-half bull shark was discovered on a muddy road near Ayr in Burdekin on Thursday. Bull sharks are one of the most dangerous sharks in the world - alongside great whites and tiger sharks, they're the most likely to attack humans.

"He must've gotten caught in a torrent and confused, beached himself on the side of the road," journalist Philip Calder told news.com.au. "We were pretty amazed, we were turning up to shoot a flooding road, we weren't expecting to see wildlife as well."

Bizarro Earth

Harvard scientists announce launch of geoengineering program that could have disastrous results

Geoengineering
Officially kicking rumors of 'chemtrails' into overdrive, Harvard scientists announced the launch of a $20 million geoengineering program, set to kick off mere weeks from now — the first such project this comprehensive in scope — in a bid to stave off soaring global temperatures.

Geoengineering, in other words, just moved one colossal step closer to reality, on a massive scale, but what some scientists see as a viable, cost-effective solution, at an estimated $10 billion, others see as a nightmarish development — which could eventually spawn catastrophic drought.

"Sometime next year," MIT Technology Review explains, "Harvard professors David Keith and Frank Keutsch hope to launch a high-altitude balloon, tethered to a gondola equipped with propellers and sensors, from a site in Tucson, Arizona. After initial engineering tests, the 'StratoCruiser' would spray a fine mist of materials such as sulfur dioxide, alumina, or calcium carbonate into the stratosphere. The sensors would then measure the reflectivity of the particles, the degree to which they disperse or coalesce, and the way they interact with other compounds in the atmosphere."

Comment: US scientists launch world's biggest solar geoengineering study