Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Footballer dies after lightning strikes metal goalposts in Rubtsovsk, Russia

lightning
Russian authorities say a young football player has been killed and three others injured after lightning struck the goalposts during a game.

The 18-year-old, who has not been named, died during a game in a local competition involving teams of students Wednesday in the Siberian town of Rubtsovsk, regional investigative authorities say in a statement.

Players from both teams were crowded in the penalty area when lightning hit a set of metal goalposts. Investigators say the 18-year-old ''died at the scene'' and three other players needed medical treatment, without giving further details of their condition.

Source: The Associated Press

Cloud Lightning

Two killed by lightning bolt in Nepal

lightning
Two persons died after they were struck by a bolt of lightning in Siddhipur VDC-2 in the district on Wednesday.

The deceased have been identified as Chakra Bahadur Magar (55) and Jagat Bahadur Magar (50), police said.

The duo were injured when the thunderbolt had struck at a utility pole near where they were sleeping.

They were rushed to the Biratnagar-based Koshi Zonal Hospital for treatment. However, both of them breathed their last on the way.

Source: Rastriya Samachar Samiti

Map

Thousands of dead fish wash ashore in Turkey's southern Mersin province

dead fish

Hundreds of thousands of dead fish washed ashore in the Tarsus district of the southern Mersin province on Sept. 19, reportedly due to contamination from a malfunctioning wastewater treatment plant in neighboring Adana.

Officials have warned residents not to consume or touch the fish.

"The scene that you see here is heartbreaking. It breaks the hearts of Mersin and Tarsus residents. Millions of dead mullets have filled the beach and when we ask about the issue to the villagers nearby, they say that it's been going on for four months now," Mersin lawmaker Aytuğ Atıcı said as he visited the area, according to Doğan News Agency.

"We won't stop pursuing these incidents and will prevent fish deaths. We know that the people of Mersin and Tarsus are with us in this struggle. We are calling on them to support us," he said.

Eye 2

Alligator attacks homeless man near Melbourne, Florida

Alligator
© Eric Gaillard/Reuters
State wildlife officials believe that they captured the alligator that attacked and seriously wounded a homeless man swimming in the waters along Crane Creek in Melbourne on Monday. The alligator, captured by an independent trapper, was measured at 10 feet, 11 inches long, officials reported.

"They believe it is the target gator, possibly because of it's characteristics," said Greg Workman, spokesman for the Florida Wildlife Commission, the state agency tasked with finding the alligator in the hours after the attack. "That is a big gator. But it is not that uncommon for them to get that big in remote areas," Workman said.

A second, 11 foot long alligator was also captured. Both alligators have already been harvested, Workman added.

The attack happened about 9 a.m. Monday when the man, known in the homeless community by his street name "Ron Jon," suffered a number of deep punctures along his shoulder as a result of a struggle with the alligator, Melbourne police said. The man remained in stable condition late Monday, police reported. The attack happened under a U.S. 1 overpass, in a fishing spot popular with the area homeless community.

"He was in the river and an alligator came up and grabbed him. It grabbed him by the shoulder," said Cmdr. Dan Lynch of the Melbourne Police Department.


Attention

Dead humpback whale found near Sitka, Alaska

Stock image
Stock image
A dead whale found floating near Sitka last week was probably killed by a ship. That's the conclusion of a pathologist who inspected the carcass.

The humpback whale was spotted floating in Sitka Sound Sept. 13.

A team from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the University of Alaska Southeast arrived last weekend to check out the carcass, which was beached.

Researchers collect samples from a beached humpback whale carcass Saturday on a Sitka Sound beach
© Joe SerioResearchers collect samples from a beached humpback whale carcass Saturday on a Sitka Sound beach
Kathy Burek of Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services says the whale was a sub-adult, about 42 feet long. It had been dead for about a week.

"It had indications of hemorrhage where it had been struck and possibly carried by a ship. So there are areas of trauma that look convincing that it had had a major blunt impact," she said.

She says it was likely a large vessel, such as a tanker, cruise ship or ferry. But she's not positive.

Fish

Rare fish from warm waters washes up on beach near Tenby, Wales

Pictured is the four-metre blue marlin with Oliver Crimmen (right) and James Maclaine from the Natural History Museum.
Pictured is the four-metre blue marlin with Oliver Crimmen (right) and James Maclaine from the Natural History Museum.
An enormous blue marlin washed up at Freshwater East now has a new home in one of the world's leading marine collections - at the Natural History Museum in London.

The four-metre fish caused excitement locally when it was discovered at the South Pembrokeshire beach last week, with many people believing it to be a swordfish.

Since then, it has been identified as only the third blue marlin ever to be washed up in the UK, and the first full one to be recovered.

The fish was inspected in situ by representatives from Milford Haven Coastguard and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, before being collected from the beach by Pembrokeshire County Council.

Council staff stored it at the Templeton depot and reported it to Rod Penrose of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme.

And within 24 hours of him contacting the Natural History Museum, two experts from the Department of Life Sciences were on their way to collect it.

Attention

Signs and Portents: Two-faced calf born in Campbellsville, Kentucky

Two-headed calf
Two-headed calf
As Stan McCubbin walked his property Friday on Spurlington Road near Campbellsville, he noticed something out of the ordinary.

"From a distance, I thought I had twins lying together," said Stan McCubbin. "I saw two noses. I thought it was twins and then when I saw her, I was just completely blown away."

"He was just like, 'I've got a two-headed calf, so I was in shock," said McCubbin's wife, Brandy.

Lucky -- as she's known -- really earned her name.

"She has two heads, but I'm okay with that," said the couple's five-year-old daughter Kenley.

"I said she was lucky to live, and our little five-year-old, Kenley, said 'That's her name -- Lucky'," said Brandy McCubbin. "She is lucky and we're blessed to have this happen on our farm."

While the family says the heifer calf is lucky to be alive, Lucky does have her share of problems.


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill at least 18 people in Uttar Pradesh, India

Lightning strikes kill more than 2,000 people in India every year
© ReutersLightning strikes kill more than 2,000 people in India every year
Severe storms have battered Uttar Pradesh state over the past week.

Eighteen people have been killed after being struck by lightning in the Chitrakoot district of Uttar Pradesh, India.

Uttar Pradesh has been hit by a number of severe thunderstorms over the past week and more are expected over the next few days.

The storms killed eight people on September 16, and 10 more just 48 hours later.

A number of other people are still in intensive care, fighting for their lives.


Monika Rani, district magistrate, said that the families of those who died will be given $5,968 (INR 400,000) in compensation.

Lightning kills a surprising number of people in India. In Uttar Pradesh alone, lightning caused 59 deaths in August, and it's estimated that it kills more than 2,000 people across the country every year.

Attention

Elephant kills owner in Cambodia

Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
A 45-year-old man in Mondulkiri province was attacked and killed by his 37-year-old male elephant yesterday as he attempted to force the animal to return home after it had gone missing for several days. To Meng, Sre Ampoum commune deputy police chief, said that villager Mob Sreng was attacked when he and his nephew tried to catch the elephant, named Mai, to take him home.

A few days earlier, the elephant had become agitated and ran away. "The elephant herder victim was stabbed with the tusks in the ribs and groin," Meng said, adding that the elephant then used its trunk to pick up the man and toss him to the ground, causing instant death. After the fatal incident, the elephant charged at some vans along the road near Bousraa Waterfall, frightening tourists, he said.

Svay Sam Eang, Mondulkiri provincial governor, ordered armed forces to help maintain security and safety. He said Sreng's relatives told him to order his forces to shoot the elephant, but the request was denied.

Elephant keeper Mim Sreng did not survive the attack.
Elephant keeper Mim Sreng did not survive the attack.

Cloud Precipitation

10 dead after flash flood and landslides hit West Java, Indonesia

west Java flood
At least 10 people have died and three are missing after a flash flood and landslides struck Garut and Sumedang in West Java in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The flash flood struck Bayongbong, Karangpawitan, in Garut regency, at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning after heavy rainfall covered the area from Tuesday evening. The rainfall caused the Cimanuk and Cikamuri rivers to overflow, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Wednesday.

The flashflood in Garut resulted in the deaths of eight people. Many others are injured and hundreds of people have had to leave their homes, Sutopo said, citing data from the Garut Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).

The flood reached up to two meters in height after just three hours of rainfall.