The powerful winter storm affecting California has claimed its oldest victim; the iconic Pioneer Cabin Tree, which is thought to be up to 1000 years old, was felled yesterday.
Photos of the fallen icon, captured by park volunteer Jim Allday, were posted to the Calaveras Big Trees Association Facebook page, accompanied by the caption: "The Pioneer Cabin tree has fallen! This iconic and still living tree - the tunnel tree - enchanted many visitors. The storm was just too much for it."
An earthquake of magnitude 3.5 occurred in the northern caldera of Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier shortly before noon yesterday. A few aftershocks followed, the largest of which measured 2.3 magnitude.
The Icelandic Met Office, which reported the seismicity, stated that there were no indications of volcanic activity in the area, ruv.is reports.
Bárðarbunga caused the 2014-2015 eruption in Holuhraun in the northeastern highlands.
Up to 80 wild swans at the Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset have died after a bird flu outbreak
A famous swannery owned by one of the richest women in Britain has been struck by a bird flu epidemic.
Eighty wild swans have died at the historic Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset - with nine confirmed cases of H5N8 strain of avian influenza.
The site is owned by Charlotte Townshend, the granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Ilchester and daughter of the 9th Viscount Galway.
The 61-year-old - whose fortune has been estimated at £420 million - is the only person in Britain other than the Queen entitled to own swans.
It is the same strain of avian flu that has broken out in other areas of Britain, including the Wildfowl and Wetlands Slimbridge reserve in Gloucestershire.
The case is the latest of wild birds testing positive for avian influenza this winter
An Australian man has reportedly been injured in a suspected shark attack while he was surfing at Balian Beach, Bali.
Local newspaper Tribun Bali is reporting that Daniel Qeran, 48, was out surfing when he was allegedly attacked by a shark at 7:30 am on Monday morning.
Qeran has reportedly suffered wounds on his right big toe from the suspected shark attack.
"It's alleged that the victim is suffering from a shark bite. The victim has been taken to BIMC Hospital in Badung," Tabanan Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Putu Oka Suyasa told Tribun Bali.
Chris Pleasance Daily Mail Sun, 08 Jan 2017 19:03 UTC
This is the moment diver Kerry Daniel, 35, was almost eaten by a bull shark after the predator charged at him while in the water off the coast of North Queensland
They are known as one of the most dangerous sharks in the world - as footage of this terrifying bull shark attack seems to prove.
Diver Kerry Daniel, 35, was spearfishing off the coast of north Queensland near the Great Barrier Reef when he recorded the moment the predator charged at him.
Fortunately he was able to jam his spear gun into the shark's mouth, leaving the creature writhing around in pain while he escaped uninjured.
But as the video shows, a moment more of hesitation and the roles could have easily been reversed.
Daniel, who runs spearfishing channel Liquid Vision, told Daily Mail Australia that he was on a trip with friends when the incident took place.
He said: 'We've done this trip once a year for the past six years.
Europe is beginning to count the cost of the deadly cold snap sweeping across the continent, with the first deaths reported over the weekend.
Social workers in Serbia have been trying to ease the living conditions of migrants living in makeshift shelters enduring the below-freezing temperatures. In the capital Belgrade, hundreds of people, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, are staying in an abandoned customs warehouse, with local aid groups providing heaters, blankets, clothes and food.
Two vehicles were swallowed up by a giant sinkhole caused by a water main break in Fishtown.
Officials say the 6-inch main broke around 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2300 block of Boston Street. Neighbors say they woke up to water rushing into their basements, low presser and some spilling out of pipe covers on the sidewalks.
The break caused a large section of street to collapse, and two SUVs that were parked along the road went into the hole. "I just heard a really like a really loud bang. It startled me, woke me up from my sleep." "It sounded like a bunch of snow falling off a roof almost."
But neighbors say this isn't a shock. "About two months ago or so, there was a water main break, with all the mud like it is now. I had a feeling it might happen again this winter."
Teide volcano (Tenerife Island, Canaries): magnitude 3 earthquake under the volcano
A shallow magnitude 3 earthquake occurred almost directly under the summit of Teide volcano in 3 km depth today (at 12:18 UTC).
Whether the quake is volcanic in origin and might be a sign of a gradual reawakening of the volcano is impossible to say, but it is important to follow the volcano's seismic activity closely.
Drivers and passengers involved in a massive pileup on Ontario's Highway 401 on Saturday are speaking out as new video footage of the collisions has emerged.
Close to 100 vehicles were affected in the pileup just outside of the Greater Toronto Area, with the new video showing a transport truck losing control and spinning as it crashes into several vehicles.
"I saw the death in front of me. I thought, 'Okay I'm not going to make it,'" said Kelly, one driver who had the roof of her car crushed in by a different transport truck. "It's going to be really bad and I'm not going to die in a nice way, it's going to be awful."
Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief.
- Frantz Fanon
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Comment: See also: Excessive snowfall forecast in some areas of Europe for Jan 8-11, 2017