Earth ChangesS


Camera

Enormous 'jellyfish' sprite photographed over the Caribbean Sea


Strange Sounds
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 08:46 UTC
Huge jellyfish sprite in the skies over the Caribbean Sea
© Vimeo/Frankie Lucena (screen capture)Huge jellyfish sprite in the skies over the Caribbean Sea
On September 18, 2016, Frankie Lucena of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, photographed an enormous 'A-bomb' sprite over the Caribbean Sea. These rank as the largest type of sprite in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. And for a split-second, the sky lit up like this:

A-bomb sprite over Caribbean Sea
© Frankie Lucena
This type of sprite is often called 'jellyfish' or 'A-bomb,' and ranks as the largest type of sprite in both horizontal and vertical dimensions.

It consists of a bright halo approximately 85 km above Earth's surface surrounding sprite elements with long tendrils reaching down as low as ~30 km above ground level.

This kind of sprite tends to be triggered by a very impulsive positive cloud-to-ground flash.

But curiously, Lucena did not observe an instigating lightning bolt, but, Instead, just before the sprite appeared, he recorded a bright point-like flash of light. Was it a cosmic ray hitting the camera?.


Comment: Rare red sprites have been photographed this year over Texas and Arizona.

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Attention

3 surfers recovering after shark attacks all within 3 hours at New Smyrna Beach, Florida


wftv.com
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 09:31 UTC
Shark
Looking for Richard Dreyfuss, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw?
Three surfers were attacked by sharks on New Smyrna Beach during a two-hour period, Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue said.

Of the three bitten Sunday, one person had to undergo surgery, officials said.

The first attack happened at about 10:45 a.m. when a 43-year-old Longwood man was bitten on his lower leg near the ankle, Senior Capt. Tamra Marris said.

He was surfing just south of a jetty, she said.

The next attack was reported at about 11 a.m., when a 36-year-old Miami man was bitten on both hands while surfing in the same area, Marris said.


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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 11 across Bangladesh


bdnews24.com
Tue, 20 Sep 2016 09:19 UTC
lightning
At least 10 people including a woman and at least three children have been killed and two more injured in lightning strikes during thunderstorms in three districts.

Rain and thunderstorms took place in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country on Tuesday morning.

The casualties occurred in Sunamganj, Tangail and Kishoreganj between the early hours and afternoon.

On Monday, seven more people, including three in Kishoreganj, had died from lightning strikes in three districts.

Reports from bdnews24.com district correspondents:
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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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